Any fellow Alaskans?

[gandalfthew1te]

Hello,

I am from Fairbanks, Alaska. If you know AK, that brings two things to mind. Long hours of light in the summer, long hours of dark in the winter. It is the latter that has cause me frustration in all the old cars I have owned since the lighting on them is rather inadequate.

Bought a 1991 Subaru Legacy Wagon with relatively low miles (115,000) a couple years back. Great car, and at the time it had but the dealership is filling my head with concerns about necessary repairs, so I'm hoping to be able to have the experience of you all enable me to make wise decisions.

The dealer spoke of replacing head gasket, shocks, and CV boots.

I understand that the headgasket on the Subie to be done right (which the dealer does not in fact do) need to be installed with the engine on a stand since the horizontal piston system makes a good job all but impossible if the engine is still in the car....resulting in the same problem occuring again a couple years later.

Most forums seem to swear by KYB GR-2 struts, but here again I am told that our cold winters will cause them to freeze up, so I need to find the best non-gas struts....hopefully ones that will not crack due to our extreme temperature range of ~150 degrees.....sometimes in the winter the temperature literally goes from -40 to well above freezing in a matter of about a day when a Chinook wind (adiabatic weather system) comes through.

Concerning CV boots, I used to think that the aftermarket axle assemblies were fine until I read of horror stories of shoddy tolerances causing bearing failure and such, as well as there only being a generic after-market axle assembly which does not differentiate between the difference in cv boot size on the automatic vs manual subaru boots - leading to early failure since the exhaust system is closer to the cv boot on automatics than manuals. So, since I don't know if the car still has OEM axle assemblies, I was thinking maybe getting OEM axle assemblies, not aftermarket - though something cheaper that is known to have a great quality would be very welcome. I have to keep in mind, however, that shipping to Alaska can and often is quite prohibitive which is why I tend to favor Schucks (O' Reilly) and what they stock.

but to me the more pressing issue is being able to see! I bought a low-beam only HID kit from DDM Tuning, but I am afraid that it will prove unusable...and maybe I should not even open it and send it back for a refund....and if/when that happens I am really hoping to drop in some projectors, but I have found none made specifically for 1st gen subies, and I have no idea what other headlight assembly can be substituted. Meanwhile I tried driving with my highbeams on, but I can't seem to be able to lower the adjustment on them to make that work - manual says "take it to a dealer" which seems unreasonable and infuriating that it should not be adjustable by the end user, especially since between my summer and winter tires the height difference is enough to warrant adjustment.

Other car issues are the weather stripping in the back doors constantly freezing/pulling off....so then at -20 or more trying to put a stiff weather strip onto tiny little mounts every time I open the door....gets old really fast.

Heating is also an issue - and I'm wondering if anyone in a cold climate knows of an alternative thermostat or suchlike to make the cab temperature - without a parka, in the winter.

Anyone else in Fairbanks, Alaska by any chance? We certainly have a high demand for Subies and accordingly inflated costs...

I would really appreciate any sort of feedback from users with first generation subarus especially in regions with harsh winters.

[Huffer]

I believe greenspeed is in Alaska...

As for your questions:

1. head gaskets CAN be done with the engine in the car, but this is difficult. A better option is to do the HG and the timing belt (et al) at the same time with the engine out. This will give you a great amount of maintenance done all at the same time.

2. KYB GR-2's are considered the OEM replacement for all Subaru's, and I'm fairly sure there are plenty of gas-shock equipped vehicles being used in Alaska, and a lot of them are probably Subaru's. So I wouldn't worry too much about the GR-2 not being appropriate for your conditions.
If they fail they have a warranty, just like OEM hardware. In fact, KYB actually manufactured many OEM suspension components for a time (and I believe they still do).

3. CV boots/axles - you get what you pay for. OEM stuff is made very well, with a price tag to match. But there are plenty of remans and new-OEM aftermarkets that can match. Your best bet is to order at a store and inspect before you leave the counter. I have purchased many parts for many vehicles from O'Reillys over the years, never had a problem.

4. Headlights - you can probably retro fit some nice projector housings into your stock lights - the issue isn't with the power (HID) it'll be that lighting tech and lens style have dramatically improved since 1991. Your headlight adjustment might be broken also.

5. Weatherstripping - try spraying cooking oil on the seals - this helps prevent freezing, but the only way to make sure they never come off is to glue them on using something that won't be brittle.

6. Heating - might be time to change the waterpump, coolant and thermostat. You can do all that when the timing belt gets done (and the head gaskets). But if you get -40F, there's not much you can do to combat this.
Here's an idea though - you could try putting sound deadening material (like FatMat, or Dynamat Xtreme) on the doors and roof, and also on the floor. While it insulates for sound, a by product is that it helps to insulate heat transfer as well. Tinted windows also help. Making sure the weatherseals are tight is good too.

Good luck! And welcome to the forum. :)

4.

[gandalfthew1te]

Thank for the reply. Good idea concerning the weather stripping. Yeah, I think I will have to take the engine out. My friend has a garage and he may be persuaded to part with it for a week.

I was looking at the Projector headlights available here:
http://www.parts4euro.com/DCShop/product_info.php?cPath=2_27_109&products_id=724
It seems that with the various models available I should be able to find something that would work, but at this point I have no idea how to even go about trying to verify if it can be made to work.

I agree, lighting technology has come a long way, especially the switch to dedicated high & low beam bulbs rather than the cheesy one-bulb-do-it-all seems to have made a huge difference because now the reflector (or projector) can be made with only one light source in mind.

I had good success doing the axle assemblies on my Ford Escort, but I don't think the exhaust is an issue on that - and I only drove it for half a year before I slid it into the back of a truck so I don't know how well it would hold up anyway.

I think I will get some silicone spray and try that on all the rubber components including door seals, cv boots, hoses.