1987 subaru: dual range

[Barry Donovan]

150000 miles even

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going for more photos, gotta share those old wipers.
Seriously, they are 30 years old.

it took 30 years to hit 150k miles, and rain used to kill this poor buggy.
Strange but true outcome on the wipers.

and the odom, as luck has it..right where it always parks...
exactly at 150k miles.
that must have turned over on my way back from a 80 mile ride.
Jumped me at first.
what are the odds.

Subaru may be sitting for the winter. As warm as this november is, the tease to weld up that last bracket, small chores. I'll wait.

Found the sailing couple, Sailing La Vagabonde some time ago. I shrugged it off as some attempt at voyeurism at first. Then they started getting more and more serious. Still are today. As of this post, Riley is leaving Elayna behind for the first time, for a leg near new zealand.

Got this sticker from their website.

C'est la vie came to mind, or Se la vie.. such is life.

I realized I am realistically old enough to be their father. At 23 I looked very old, and beaten. Exits to freedom was closer to dying than anything else. Military can be like that.

My subaru came from alaska, no doubt driven by a young man's will. A pile of uncomfort and doubts, running on fumes and next to nothing. The analogy of what is done sometimes... it comes back.

C'est La Vie...Deja Vu.

I wanted to put this on my subaru..
nah. I put it in my military brief case instead.

[Barry Donovan]

spreading the subaru around.

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I watched this

and the joined this:

https://drivetribe.com/

the subaru is hardly american, and doesn't belong to subaru.
I have found some interesting things from the top gear hosts new site.

[Barry Donovan]

damn cold

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I was watching sv seeker on you tube, they are building a big boat. Been subscribed for quite some time.
heading into winter, I see their breath and bending steel around to get what they want after cool downs, density gains.

I am thinking now, no one in the lower 48 can do winter structure and get away with it, unless all indoors to simulate June and july..
and then again, god's quench is cut short in the day length, and the anodizing to the systems volts is not in place..

I am reminded, the latest steel crack was an emergency weld in a november, some years ago..
I broke it in november of this year.

that is what I get..


that was a june weld on the rear stabilizer, and I had t fix it in the cold drizzle of a november for maine's state inspection.
Gotta stick to intuition.


my truck on the other hand is the most impressive thing i have tackled yet.
At the one year mark, the rear wheels took spacers to look like the front in the wheel wells.

the back end is +3 inches wider at the bed with the new cross sills, shock mount gains, rail gains...
my subaru did the exact same thing, in the back end.
More than a coincidence..
no doubt about it.

it takes some work to make a hardass.
that does not mean little.

[Barry Donovan]

The Ranchero Returns! Alaska or Bust: The Sequel


just watched this on MToD (I am a subscriber). Seems different than the first one, video is much better.

Even if for reposting, I have declared it my most favorite video of 2016...like the first edition, I declared it my favorite for the year then too.

My subaru is from an island off alaska. Metlakatla is its original title still in hand. That is more than 4000 miles from here.

It still has my daydreams to return it there. It is ready to go mechanically, time is ticking.The maps show it had a journey that even chokes up 3 axle 600hp rigs.

When life is in circles, and the miles rack up the same...
just the thought of that journey is so very enlifting.

I even flew in circles in airplanes. Never feeling like a destination. Just a place to be again. Threatened as a war boy, ignored to make it home.
I may even go for a regular registration again, add some 3 digit veterans plates I am nonchalantly handed. Those mean Valor or Disabled veteran by normal rules. My own record is in a black hole...those plates are my only hint. It would just add to the honesty of a grunt going that far.
A low number, great odds, with no valor at all.

if it made it.. I'd probably weep.

Love that alaska episode.

[Barry Donovan]

breakin the cold

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I know I got some florida heads now.
this build has not seen 17 below yet..
the good lifters banged around until warm..
liveliest throttle I have ever had with these motors for this time of year.
just add fuel and fire.

I did stay wimpy for the longest time.. hypermiling nerdy wimpy.

moved it around in 4x4 modes, see how much the stab bar wiggled. None.
get going down the road, and I know it needs it. stayed in the yard instead.

Love the sound of this.
I did add some 15w40.. and that was a mistake. Next time it needs some oil, will go real thin.
yesterday morning was -2F, it climbed into an ice storm to a peak of 43 above about noon or so.
-17 and a -12 is in the mix since last starts as well. One of those days barely saw zero for a high.

New motor with the florida RX engine parts... never saw this cold since 1985.
An ode to my garage machining skills. It still dialed right in.

Did I say I loved the sound of this?
I LOVE the sound of this.

Will get some thin oil in sometime.

[Barry Donovan]

the delicate subaru of love.

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No need to forget why it is mythological at the darndest times.

post# 1338.
happy thirtieth birthday old sube.

the snow got deeper heading back to lagrange.. a car off in the woods at my most feared turn.

My truck got lucky. The subaru had 18 inches of dense snow on it. I brushed it off to the sides making it look even more buried and then...
4lo and hammered my way out. The deal here at this rental is snow removal. I am leaving the pile.

Happy 30th year little sube.
This summer is going for the best yet.

click on photo for large view.
Hosted by google.

another registration in place. the sticker number 17...for 2017.
87,97,07...
oldest vehicle I have kept going for consecutive years.
when asked for the miles, it is literally exactly at 150,000..that is just where the parking spot showed up on the odometer.
30 years exactly, and exactly 150000 miles on the reg.
got the car in october 2006.

Roads are bad right now, just climbed down the AWD icy hill at the old town office, where checks and cash are the only way to pay.
3 gears to the driveway with the truck. Longer legs, bigger existence...with a heater.

I had heard the sound when I was walking here as a teen, bad roads , feeling bad. The manual v8 would roll through. My first automotive daydream.. I had to have one. That was carbs and snappy twack exhaust back then.. four speeds and wooly booger tires sounding their wobbles.
305 was the little motor back then...

The subaru was a gimmick to humor. I had to take it way too seriously to forget, like the 3 digit veteran plate on my truck.

[Barry Donovan]

porsche 718

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there is a video on motortrend on demand..
the 718 at willow.
it is one second behind the Z06, 4 cars ahead of that is the nissan gtr.

I had joked that my boxer had bent cams on purpose, subarus runting.. to stop it from being a super car.

the porsche is 2.5 liters, boosted flat four.

will post a video if I can find it.
I knew porsche would fix the runt...imagine 3 main bearings instead of todays complex friction builds on porsches timing and fuel/air.

[Barry Donovan]

leones -

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my new net bringing in some different videos.

here is an ea82, sounds carbed, tiny single port with solod lifters..
still turning the little tractor tires.

my dual port sounds like an exotic freak in comparison...same engine.

here is nother one with a flat six.

and here is subaruLT with a fresh one.

he has done some smart things with it...several versions.
EJ swaps, lockers, all kinds of things offroad related.

thinking of summer plans...
the power steering is easliy fixed, may swap out for the more common loyale version. I have the tightest turning radius of any subaru ever made.. 1985-87. It took its toll on pumps, pinion, and the back end gets strained.

and finish the frankenstein back end. I like smooth an 105mph even.. not all that difficult for these.
live axle is much easier, I digress.
it has crossed my mind to find a mini-pickup rear end. Four link mini like a chevelle or mustang etc.
..but that legend that not many took on back then, it is is inspiring to keep it going. Truly an animal...add some big paws.

here is another one with the little version of the engine.

[Barry Donovan]

brachistochrone curve

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this goes through my head as a mechanic...and some computer programming.

the straight line is the win, it launches the cycloid.
some don't see that.
I blame unstable lands.

horsepower therefore, is a result of torque...a pressure...
like the universe.

real simple for truckers to catch on. Most racers don't (some do.)

I share that in this slippery boxer thread.

[Barry Donovan]

enough babble.
back to the japanese kenworth.

post #1339.
10 years of a journal on this. I have been skipping about a month at a time.
Everytime I start it, especially the past 3 years or so... you just know it does not exist.
it was weird when it was new... what is it now?

sparked it right up. Had some cold, even a 16.6 below. A lot of ice, snow, rain, fog, wind. Wiper bay is filled with ice.. hopefully warmed it up enough to get that out.

will be putting this on a trailer to weld the last rear end pieces.
Air fuel fire.. right on the money. After all that sitting in bad weathers. Went to the local store with it, added two gallons of fuel. I am thinking I may drop the tank to hammer out the last frankenstein rear end welds.. just get stuff out of the way.

[Barry Donovan]

30 year 150,000 mile warranty

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I guess its expired. I feel so ripped off.
never buying a subaru again. Ever.


getting anxious, looking over the last welds for the back, may redo some sheet metal gauge pieces underneath.
1 rear quarter needs the swap to stainless, like the other one.


A most enthusiastic runtime, this starts up into high idle all year.
I must be some kinda nerdy 1 barrel genius.

This now surpasses that clever 1 barrel TBI (36mm?) I loved to drive..as it stayed the same all year. way below zero was starving, but did good.
This one keeps fuel in the 13-14-15 all year.
I did get quite detailed, trial and error with the rochester(43mm).

I love the sound of this.
the biggest motor they never made..and all I did was make the cfm correctly match the engine. Nearly twice as big as subaru left it.

4 years after buying the lawson muffler.. I get a notice from amazon.



this was a perfect match, still is.
This boxer has the ricer flames when you play with the timing, like the newer WRX claiming precision of anti-lag.
I keep timing tight, no fires..and a big bypass by rochesters own nature. I did have to think of those fire dragons before they happen. The mufflers are right next to the gas tank. I have some melt on the bumper plastic, 14 feet of pipe from the engine.

These are cheaper on amazon, than Lawsons own website, so if you have a jeep or other very tight fit on high compression or hot rod anything.. this muffler does good for laws, and does not catch on fire.

a few steps up from glasspacks for sure.

[Barry Donovan]

3 days

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1 degree in the morning sun. We are headed into deep 20 below.
Looking forward to it.


Some neighbors helped get the subaru out of the hole. 4wd lo and a quick shove..climbed right out. No shoveling. That really is a fun buggy. the lightweight of it all. I see those pushes in rally races all the time. Just a few people picking up these things right out of the impossible scenarios. Part of the fun.


A pause between storms. Started right up, AFR gauge loves the stainless pipes. that is an important ground on these subarus: the headers. Gives no errors even in this cold. Parking spot all cleared out...waiting for the next storm.

Added 3 gallons of fuel from a little store down the road. I have already forgotten the mechanical runtime. The clutch feels like all or nothing, like the brakes. Part of a new learn for me 20 years ago, my first edition of this model. I am still a brick at the throttle after getting me back into my american routine. I do have some big brake on this. The master cylinder is from a subaru tribeca. Snow piles on the road in the background, they make me feel like a rodent low down on a path.

I do not miss that at all in any way. In fact it is frightening.

I love my truck.

We never saw double digit temps for yesterdays storm. A very cold windy one.. but snow totals, they do not seem so high.
As my dad says "the real storm is coming monday."
He keeps on trucking.

I'll add to this post as time goes by. We should be seeing the coldest temps for some time before then. It is 0F in this photo. I have been at this location 2 years, and 21 below was the coldest. This year was a -16.6F..saw quite a few evenings in that range.
Not unusual for this place.
When the threat for -30s is in the forecast discussion. Gotta stay prepared.

[Barry Donovan]

Local subaru accident of the day.

In a post on the department’s Facebook page, Brunswick police said they heard a loud “thud” and looked out the window to find electric wires swaying and a Subaru on its roof.

this is what happens when the headgasket leaks from day one and goes a decade in a forum fairy tale of longevity.

you become sleepy, and dreamy, like a crack addict...
and crash and die... sometimes on fire or on the roof.



I better check all eighteen headbolts on the solid deck block of mastery right now.

shame shame, the EJ engine and the holocaust market.
I wonder why mine starts below zero even with a 41 yr old carburator...

timing. That is what it is. A crazy thing called "timing."

somewhere a long the way addicts lose their heads and lose the timing.
Ever hear this song? GREAT tune.

[Barry Donovan]

been another week.
Ground had some bare pavement, pulled out to get a real charge on the battery. Never died this winter, started every attempt. The carb and ignition after a long trial and error... Very good. Starts right up into high idle. Very nice motor.
It is what I wanted to build all along.
The exhaust wants to be where it is at. Stainless steel does wonders. I have never heard one of these motors keep their header, until this one, all custom.

Found this welder. ESAB is the company that invented the stick welding, in 1904.
out of sweden.



found this gem with all accessories and an electronic screen. 150A on 120V, they are certainly up to date.



Found some more steel begging for mercy..and then it hit me.

My subaru was certainly hit by something... hard thud into the right front.
I had guessed this and shrugged it off.. but after the november side bar crack, I knew to check further.
Deciphered the exact angle today. Right front.
This is also the subaru that broke while sitting still.. in 2007.

Anyway, it is getting a trailer to the garage some time this spring. Get to the weld chores.

[Barry Donovan]

a dry spot on the ground!

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this is how long it takes to get back underneath a november problem.

Got down on the dry spot to get a look at the rear for the countless times beyond memory.
The steel I was concerned with, causing a side wiggle, very easy going break. Still connected, more of a crack.
Sucks I have to trailer it to the garage...
the sound and build of the drivetrain keeps me going confident with this. Very unique subaru.
Still don't know power numbers, that was not the initial goal anyway.

I learned to combine any given scenario with this one engine.
I stay with my v8s now...easier going.

I go no further after making this tidy for what it is now. May sell it off too cheap if I have to.
I would feel bad if I did.

I do not like little cars at all. This is the only one I kept.