1998 Subaru Forester S - DOWN BY THE RIVER!

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

Snatching victory, from the jaws of defeat.   Better hop to with bathroom detail.  Remember if Momma ain't happy,ain't nobody happy.

Not to distract you, but were you or were you not supposed to finish the Grosh cabinets and then the kitchen like... 2 years ago?...

In reply to Mad_Ratel :

I'm working on things for the kids here. This is totally different. 
Besides, grocery shopping done, bathroom is clean, lawn is mowed, sheets and towels are washed (and the beds will be made soon)heading off to pick up the second batch of two kids,  and hot dinner will be on the table when Mrs. Deuce gets home. It's not like I was just hanging out drinking coffee staring at a motor all day. 

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

You know how sometimes you can find a dishwasher on the side of the road with rusty racks? Most of them are a garden hose and an extension cord away from being plastic interior bit washers.

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

Man. I'm tired after reading that.  I guess it's time for a cup of jo and shenanigans.

oldopelguy said:

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

You know how sometimes you can find a dishwasher on the side of the road with rusty racks? Most of them are a garden hose and an extension cord away from being plastic interior bit washers.

You sir, are an evil genius. 

Glad you're getting the AC sorted out; I'm excited to know how the bearing replacement works because at least one of mine needs the same thing.

Also, here's the source for online factory service manuals:  http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/

Picked up a pair of body clip pliers at HF when buying the pressure washer. They really do work well. I pulled the carpet but got distracted washing the house and then ran out of gas. Maybe I'll wait and let the kid do it Saturday? Can I wait that long? It's gross. 

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

This picture made me laugh.  You're using a pressure washer, and I've got the snowblower out by the deck.  Carry on.

Is there some hidden sarcasm in there??? Curious any rust spots under carpet?

AngryCorvair said:

Mr. Deuce --

 

You've got a pretty good gig.  Don't berkeley it up.   Go clean the bathroom.

 

Respectfully,

every other man on the planet

I don't know.  I have 3 little kids and I've been home with them all day on various days when my wife was sick or she was out of town.  I would much rather be at work then watching kiddos and washing dishes and cleaning toilets.  Dont get me wrong, I love my kids, but it's exhausting! My wife's job is way harder than mine, but I'm very thankful that she does it.  I need to remember to tell her that more often.  Anyway, carry on.  

In reply to Papabishop :

None. Which brings me to an interesting point about this car. It's ugly, though before it got backed into I bet it wasn't bad for a 20 year old car creeping up on 300k miles. The interior is a bit dirty but almost every car like this eventually reaches a point where it becomes a work car. It's the car you drive to work so that you can get in at the end of the day in your work clothes and that your wife never has to ride in it and get pissed at you. It gets dirty. Even if you're careful and clean it gets dirty. The interior of these types of cars are sacrificial and compared to a bunch of the cars I see in junkyards this one is a peach. So you've got a car that's dirty inside and dented outside and has a noisy compressor and a torn CV boot and 272k miles. It's only when pull the seats or climb underneath it that you see what you're really dealing with. These are the passenger side floor pans of a 20 year old Subaru. 

Not only are they rust free, they're basically perfect. You can see from the top that there are no dents. If you climb underneath the car there are no dents. The pinch welds are even good. When I get it up on the lift I'll show you. The parts of the car you can see are rough, but the parts you can't see are pristine. This is a lifetime Texas Subaru Forester. It's as rust free as any Forester on the planet. In that respect, it's really quite amazing. 

Today I washed things. Lots of Super clean and scrubbing. The problem with washing carpet is that it's kind of a bowl which makes rising difficult. My solution was to hang it from the step ladder to rise. Worked great. 

The carpet looks really good now. I need to do a little more scrubbing on the passenger foot well area where the bottle of ATF emptied itself, but it's basically new-ish looking. The only real problem area is the dead pedal where the carpet has worn through. 

I have a plan that involves a skin graft of sorts using carpet from under the front seats where it can't be seen unless you're upside down in the rear seat. Anyone who ends up like that deserves to see what they see. 

I also washed the drivers seat and all the floor mats. Things are drying well and if all goes well the interior goes back in early next week. My sister is coming to visit and I need to get some parts back in cars before then. 

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

Try Folex. This stuff is amazing and available everywhere. Process goes, soak, agitate and pressure wash. You can get it anywhere, I found it at HEB.

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

Whew.

I'm really glad that you cleaned the carpet and posted the results.

The last post with the dirty carpet and the pressure washer setting there was making me anxious.

I knew you would do it, but knowing that you weren't going to right away and then waiting to see the results probably bothered me more than it should have.

Sharing too much?  

:)

Graft in some rubber floor mat in the area, of wear.  Decent foot rest of sorts.  Looking good.

Promised ya it was a solid car!! Hit it right on nail, was the car for work, hauling stuff in back, pulling a trailer for bigger items. Never was the "date night" car. It's like that pair of blue jeans that are years and years old, worn out, holes everywhere, but is always comfy! Think what I loved most about this car is the years  I've owned I never had to do much keep her on road. Yes it needs this and that, but doesn't need this and that. Will probably be the most boring car in your stable , and hopefully mainantence free too. Won't be the next auto/rally X car, but will serve the everyday day appliance needs. Hopefully be good car for your sons first ride, nothing better then being 16 and having your own ride. Anyways I'll stop the rambling. Btw how did the bearing for ac work it? 

In reply to a_florida_man :

My wife actually took a picture of me doing the initial spray down at dusk after dinner that night. I couldn't wait. I have some things to do on the Miata, hopefully 10 yards of gravel is getting delivered, and I need to get the Accord organized for a track day Sunday, but I'm also hoping that i can get those last few areas of the carpet clean today. If I can do that, then it can dry next to the dehumidifier in the Grosh over the weekend and I can start putting it back together next week and free up some much needed space. If I can get the AC working and the interior back in then I can start to focus on other issues. Like cabinets for the kitchen. 

In reply to Dirtydog :

I'm tossing around a couple of ideas. I need to set it back in place and see how big a cover for the tear would need to be. The Accord actually has a really nice dead pedal cover that I'm sure I could cut out of a different Accord in the Junk yard that would cover the top nicely. Not a huge hurry on it other than it will be easier to fix with the carpet out of the car. 

In reply to Papabishop :

I'm half tempted to sell the truck and claim the Forester as my new work truck. At least the Forester is 4wd.  The bearing is supposed to come Friday or Saturday. I have some other stuff on my list but pressing it out and in should be quick enough that I'll HAVE to give it a try if I can squeeze in the time. I'm pretty excited to see if it solves the issue. 

Why not cover the hole with an actual dead pedal from another car? Civic Si, Miata and Tacoma could all be suitable donors. 

Woody said:

Why not cover the hole with an actual dead pedal from another car? Civic Si, Miata and Tacoma could all be suitable donors. 

Thats a great idea! My wifes mazda5 is worn through at the dead pedal

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

It'd make a good "truck" replacement. Good ground clearance for any off road excursions , seats lay down flat for good cargo room, roof racks for hauling sheets of plywood for cabinets, and a hitch to pull trailer also! Always wished they lift gate was split where either had a tailgate/glass riser or the glass itself could be lifted separate so could have stuff hanging out back. Sure the wife would be happy with one more vehicle gone, cheaper insurance, and lil more money in bank. I'm not an enabler though just talk too much!!

Cleaned and 303 Aerospaced all the plastics that I've pulled. I'm impressed at how well they cleaned up. Still a lot of plastic in the car though. 

Washed the drivers side seatbelt. This is the first bucket of water/cleaner. I did a second bucket with cleaner and then two with just water to rinse before the water was clean. Mostly clean anyway. 

If this is the car that Deucekid#2 is going to do his driving hours in that means that Mrs. Deuce will have ride/drive it some. Getting is super duper clean is more important for that than the Challenge. 

Thanks for sharing this man. My boy passed his permit exams today and goes for the permit in the morning.  Forester is on a lot of the internet’s cheap first car, good on insurance lists. 

In reply to VWguyBruce :

The Forester seems to have escaped the Subaru bros at a higher rate than Imprezzas. Keep in mind that they're a bit taller and are more likely to turtle themselves at RX. 

The bearing came in the mail. I'm glad I bought a shop press. I don't use it often, but it lets me try fixes like this that would be difficult without it. Bearing goes out.....

And the new bearing installed. Like a glove!

Does anyone know the easy way to remove and install the bottom bolts on the AC compressor? You can get a socket with a universal on them, but only for the first 2-3 rotations and then it's too far out and binds. I can sort of get a box end wrench on them, but then I'm moving them 1/16 of a turn at a time. It works, but spend half an hour tightening two bolts sucks. Anyway, this is the motor running. With the AC on, making cold. And it's not noisy. At all. The compressor isn't anyway, maybe the alternator has a little groan, but I think it'll be fine. 

The $13 bearing has fixed the AC. Victory! For today anway. 

Congrats on getting ac back working especially on the cheap. Might want to change cabin filter, can't even begin to imagine what it looks like. You ever hear from Nate about his fozzy for parts?

In reply to Papabishop :

I haven't reached out to him yet. I want to make sure that everything is where I want it to be so that I KNOW that I want to keep the car (instead of something like throwing the drivetrain in a Brighton) and then I'll start parts collecting. Right now I'm just spending energy and very little money. If I can get it where I want, then I'll spend the last bit on body stuff and suspension.