The Legacy SS is gone SOOOOOOOOO...... enter the 88 GL

smelt240

smelt240

Active member
I was looking around at a pile of cars today. Noticed a 1988ish Subaru GL wagon, with a flushmount sunroof.   Huh..... Never seen one like that, so we went in for a closer look, body looked OK, quarters are fairly roughly but solidly rebuilt...then we walked behind it and saw the TURBO sticker on the rear hatch!  Its a 1988 GL-10 Turbo wagon!   I threw a battery in, fired right up, sounds good, plus its a 5 speed. Everything including the AC works. Diff lock, outside temp, the digital slider tach, the digital speedo.... on and on, it all works.   102,000 miles. Interior is bordering on Beautiful. New brake lines, tie rod ends, underneath is in pretty darn good shape for an 88 (we picked it right up on its rear bumper with the tractor for inspection purposes...) Turns out an old lady owned it, and her mechanic was trying to sell his Legacy.... so her car fails inspection, but he "just happens" to have a nice safe reliable wagon for sale... somebody should slap him... but anyway...

 Now I know, the motors are next to nutless, and cant handle any boost or temperature problems (Im old enough to have known/ driven a LOT of XT turbos when they were new...) But how cool is a square turbo wagon? I just wish I knew of some nice wheels for the huge bolt pattern.   My computer is dead, so I may be slow with pics, or responses for a bit, but had to go to my parent's house and use their internet to throw my latest find up here! Pics tomorrow hopefully, when it gets delivered. Now I need to find an RX......

 Also, for the Legacy, I ended up getting $1000 cash, a Remington 870 20 gauge in nice shape and a 1990 Jeep Wrangler with a straight 6 and a 4 spd, runs good, needs a little work, but its pretty nice... So I think I did OK. 

 
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Let me know if you need any parts. I have a bunch, and can get stuff pretty easily.

 
wheels.......   im typing with a 360 control    it is slow.     but id love to find some aftermarket rims... or a 5 lug bolt on conversion? anything work for that?  i have lots of legacy and forester parts to pick from at the junkyard.....and i own 5 or 6 sets of wheels already.  how rare are the turbo wagons??  ive never seen one til today- or never noticed it if i did.....

 
I actually have a 5 lug swap. Not entirely sure if I want to get rid of it though. Hmmmmmmm. Wheels are a hard one. It is a 4x140 bolt pattern. Peugeot wheels are about the only other wheel that is the same. I know a place that has some of those, but they aren't super cheap, and they'd need to be cheap. Turbo wagons aren't super rare, but old Subarus up here are. I'm looking forward to pics to see how decent it is. Have you looked at my 1990 Loyale build thread?

And you can only use Legacy/Impreza?Forester suspension components for the front conversion. The rear is where it get's more challenging. You need XT6 stuff.

 
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smelt240 said:
i haven't seen an xt6 since about 94.......anywhere.   ill do some detective work.
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Yeah they aren't around anymore for the most part. You need the XT6 rear hubs to do the 5 lug swap. And having the front control arms helps a lot too because the EJ style ball joint is bigger and won't fit in the old GL style. I might let my stuff go, maybe even trade for something?

 
also     i have yet to find a usb keyboard. stupid computer virus.       car should be here in a couple hours.   now if the rain will ever stop

 
let me get it registered- ill run it for a few days and see how it does.    i figured 400 bucks was a reasonable gamble.... i have a ton of datsun parts that look similar too..... then i could run my ssr meshies..... ill get pics as soon as its here and let you know on the swap stuff

 
Looking forward to pics. The best info for the old ones is on ultimatesubaru.org People on there have done everything and anything that can be done to them.

 
so whats the best way to lower it?     i also need to grab a spark plug     compression is slightly escaping by one....not seating well i hope....PO compression written on hood is 3 at 120 psi one at 125...... pics later today!

 
NGK is the only plug you should run in it. And it's a little hard to lower those. You can if you do a 5 lug swap and get some cheap coilovers. Other than that, you have to cut coils.

Hopefully the compression is just that. Those motors are not known for being very reliable!

 
pics as soon as i get to my parents place..... after reading about somebody lifting one- i might have to copycat.... that things a beast....been busy tearing up the backyard in my nifty new 1990 4.2 4 speed wrangler...... never had a jeep til now......a locker and the wheelbase makes fun happen........  

 
Haha. Yeah they do look sweet lifted! Wheels for bigger tires are still somewhat of a challenge. But you can either drill out the hubs for 6 lug or get Peugeot wheels.

 
I cant get pics to work again, and my laptop is still sick.    Im at my parents place now, and still cant get them to go..... Sooch saw the car in person, Im having an issue with a coolant leak, we cant tell if its the head gasket, or the water pump, it only happens under hard throttle, the it dumps out pretty hard, Im having a hard time thinking the head gasket could leak this bad, and not do it all the time.  I want to drive this thing on the road bad!  I got all the goodies for my OBS lift, but cant be carless for too long, and with my useless right arm, Im not sure how long a lift will take me. We broke all the fixed nuts off the inside of the donor Forester trying to get the control arm brackets, only way I can see to fix it on my car would be to cut the body open where the inner fixed nuts are ( not IF it happens, WHEN it happens....)... but Im getting off topic here. I haven't upgraded my membership yet, (I hate paypal), but keep an eye out, this thing might end up for sale, just to get my money back.... Id like to see it get the attention it deserves....

 
Hopefully you can get pics to post. I want to see this! Not saying it is, but head gaskets are very common on the EA82T.

 
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