Mid 80's Subaru 4wd wagons. Any good?

Hey guys I have been thinking about getting a wagon for quite sometime since my RX-3 was totaled. I have always loved wagons for some odd reason.Well I have been called odd my whole life so why would it be odd that I like wagons,right?

I have found a clean,and partially restored 84 4wd wagon for not a ton of cash that woudl need to be finish sanded,and little dings fixed,but rust free. The engine bay is all finished paint wise,and the car seems really solid. I know these are not rocket ships,and have no street cred,but that isn't what I am looking for. I want a cool little japanese or other brand wagon that I can take the kids out in during the nicer weather,and such that will be different.

Now I know these cars were oh-so-common in the 80's-90's,but here in New England they have all but disappeared. Would this be a good,fun car for my intended use?

The seller was planning on making a US Ski Team replica wagon out of it,and that would be cool but I don't think I would head in that direction. The car has crazy low miles at only 70k miles,and is very affordable with tons of spare NOS parts in boxes.

Chris

Wow.. a rust free '84? I didn't think those existed. My '82 was damn near rusted away when I bought it in '88.

Personally, I would totally go for it since so few have survived. If my car had been a 5 spd with A/C, I'd still be driving it. I loved that little car.

My dream Subie would be an '84 GL10 wagon with a 5 spd and dual-range 4WD.

I've had many many many Subaru wagons over the years - I currently have an '86 BRAT that runs on the same platform (but mine has an '01 Impreza motor swap among other things)...

They are SLOOOOW and fuel economy is not the best, but they have a ridiculous amount of charm. They feel a lot quicker than they actually are - lots of low-end in that flat-4. They can also get through virtually anything in 4WD.

This car is an 84 GL with the 5-speed,and a swapped in dual range,and I believe it has AC as well. The GL-10 is nicer,but this one isn't too bad.

Do it!!!

And go here for all you need to know about it; http://ultimatesubaru.org/forum/

Mid-eighties and earlier Subarus find themselves in the ironic position of those cars that are great in inclement weather yet rust at the drop of the hat. There are few left in the Midwest because of rust - many rusted a year or two after leaving the new car sales lot. They're relatively common in the northwest.

If this is the car I'm thinking of it has sat on the USMB for a while with no takers, though that board is full of folks who already have a project or three just like this one going at any given time, which could be why.

There are plenty of directions you can go with these cars - lift 'em up and put brush guards on, swap in an EJ22, Ski Team replica - you name it. The only thing preventing me from giving a full recommendation is the propensity for rust, and the '88 I bought for the wife to drive blew up driving it home from the seller's house.

bastomatic wrote: ...and the '88 I bought for the wife to drive blew up driving it home from the seller's house.

That actually reminds me of a pointer - EA-series Subarus have a VERY specific method for getting all the air bubbles out of the cooling system. It is very easy to pop a head gasket by bleeding the system incorrectly.

Mazdax605 wrote: This car is an 84 GL with the 5-speed,and a swapped in dual range,and I believe it has AC as well. The GL-10 is nicer,but this one isn't too bad.

Please buy it so I won't sit at home thinking about it.

It may not have 'strteet cred' but you'll still run across guys like me who will pass by one and gawk like an idiot.

Friend had a late '80s GL wagon in high school.

Great memories bombing around in that thing.

I remember it had a thing for CV axles. Ate one about every 30k. Even his mom, who wasn't super mechanically savvy, could replace a CV axle in that thing.

The miles of vacuum lines make the carbs finicky to diag. and keep running right. Since it sounds like the engine is out, now is the time to upgrade to a fuel injected turbo engine from the same era, if not a more modern OHC engine.

Junkyard_Dog wrote: The miles of vacuum lines make the carbs finicky to diag. and keep running right. Since it sounds like the engine is out, now is the time to upgrade to a fuel injected turbo engine from the same era, if not a more modern OHC engine.

The EA82 turbo swap is a ton of work for very little gain (~110HP, meh), and parts are more or less unobtainium at this point...my buddy swapped a Weber carb onto his to simplify the system, and I just went all-out with a later EJ22. Swapping in a modern engine is so easy, and so much better (about 150hp N/A, which is virtually impossible on an early engine, and you'll regularly see 30+ MPG) that it's hard not to recommend.

bastomatic wrote: Mid-eighties and earlier Subarus find themselves in the ironic position of those cars that are great in inclement weather yet rust at the drop of the hat. There are few left in the Midwest because of rust - many rusted a year or two after leaving the new car sales lot. They're relatively common in the northwest. If this is the car I'm thinking of it has sat on the USMB for a while with no takers, though that board is full of folks who already have a project or three just like this one going at any given time, which could be why. There are plenty of directions you can go with these cars - lift 'em up and put brush guards on, swap in an EJ22, Ski Team replica - you name it. The only thing preventing me from giving a full recommendation is the propensity for rust, and the '88 I bought for the wife to drive blew up driving it home from the seller's house.

This car is on the USMB forum. It hasn't sat there long as it was only posted last month. I am not opposed to swapping an engine normally,but this one has super low miles and seems so original it would be a shame. I would like to have a look at it in person,but in pics it looks clean,and the low miles would lend it to being in good shape if they are accurate.

The seller also has an 84 sedan that is a FWD automatic with really super low miles,and looks brand new. The sedan was originally from New England,and would be returning back home.This would be an easier buy,and sell to the wife as it is turn-key,but it isn't really what I want. I am a wagon guy,and my wife like the idea of a wagon as well even though she wouldn't drive it as it is a manual,and she is stubborn about learning again.

Chris

FWIW, early Subaru automatics are complete and total garbage. Most don't make it past 80k - there are a lot of USMB stories of engines overheating simply because the engine has to work way too hard to freeway cruise...we're talking about a non-O/D 3-speed here. The 4EAT transmission that was introduced in the later 80's is significantly more robust.

I plan on thinking about this a little while,but a paint job,and reassembly should be too tough on a car as simple as this one. Should I try to get all of the NOS parts as well? I know there are brand new white wagon wheels in boxes. Not that they are rare,or anything but I like the wagon wheels.

I had an 86 GL10 Turbo Sedan. It was fun when boost kicked in. It wasn't fun that it had an airbag suspension which was blown. nice thing is that suspension could be swapped to conventional via just replacing the whole strut assembly.
Make sure you always keep the oil cap on or the car won't idle/run. If the car isn't level it will overheat with the A/C on (hood closed). I got mine from the original owner after he put a new turbo in and the suspension failed. I sold it later on to a guy I knew who then sold it another friend of mine with it running on 2 cylinders. a tune up later and it was running on all 4 again. Lost track of it after that.

If I recall correctly, I think some of the late 70's / early 80's Subarus had a grill emblem that flipped up to reveal a center mounted fog light.

Woody, you are correct.

My '82 Brat had one in High School.

I also had a '85 Brat. Both were super slow. The '85 had a two barrel carb and a 4 speed stick w/dual range 4X4. It would take a while, but it would bury the speedo given enough miles and a slight tail wind. Speedo buried at 85 mph.

Correctamundo

Slickdizzy, solid looking brat! that looks killer haha

My '82 had that center grill light, although it never worked.

Those pictures give me evil thoughts... but given that 80's Subarus are rarer than hen's teeth here in the rust-belt, those thoughts are more like dreams.

brat with a WRX drivetrain sounds tasty

You know how many Loyale turbo agons I seen in boneyards out west when I lived in Cali? Many were 4x4 too. Even seen a column shift auto 2 door 510. I have always liked the 80s Scooby wagons.