As the close followers of Oppo goings-on may recall, @Eury recently bought and decided to sell a rusty but otherwise pretty-good 2002 WRX. I finally took my own advice, and bought it.

Friday afternoon, I worked a half-day, then went to the local u-haul and picked up a trailer. Came home, had lunch, packed up, and headed to a friend's place in Erie, PA for the night. The first leg of a long trip.

Saturday morning, I pick up a different friend in the area at 7am and set the GPS... 600 miles, estimated 9 hours. It's rainy, but otherwise not too bad of a drive - pretty much I90 for 500 miles, then a jaunt north from almost-Boston up to NH. It was snowing in Buffalo because it always is. There were some significant storms in central MA, but then it finally cleared up as we made it into town around 6pm.

Side note: what is it with people in the eastern half of NY and in MA that will pass you, then even though the next half mile of road in front of you is clear, merge over approximately six inches from your front bumper? This happened literally at least a hundred times on this trip. I'm pulling a heavy-ass trailer, I'm not going 10 over the speed limit.

Finally, Sunday morning. We check out of the hotel (which had very chunky milk with their breakfast offerings but was otherwise nice) and meet up with @Eury himself. The car is, frankly, better than he lets on. There's rust in the rockers and rear quarters (and a couple badish spots underneath) but it is completely stock, starts on the first turn, and the interior is near mint.

The drive back to Erie was overall better than the drive out, since it wasn't raining the whole time. The truck did well pulling 3000lb of car on 2200lb of trailer, got a good workout but never missed a beat or so much as budged the engine or transmission temperature needles past normal. Then about 50 miles east of Buffalo... it started snowing again. This would continue until about 50 miles south of Buffalo, where it switched back to rain/snow mix. Other than periods of lousy visibility and the snow/ice caking over the headlights (because it was dark by now, of course...) it wasn't too-too bad. Could have been a lot worse.

This morning I left my Erie friends at, once again... 7am. After driving 100 miles on Friday, 600 Saturday, and 600 Sunday, the 100 miles home flew by. The weather was very nearly clear. I was home around 9:30, unloaded the car, and returned the trailer. I then grabbed lunch... and headed into work for a half-day because the world is crazy. Final trip odometer-of-towing (reset when I picked it up) reading: 1498mi. Not too bad for about 100 gallons of gas and half a quart of oil.

It's home, filthy, but good. I'm working on a shortlist of what it needs. There's a spot or two of rust that needs addressed before they become structural issues, mainly. I'll be keeping an eye on the coolant/oil/etc. to determine what's going on with the suspected headgasket leak as well.

With the Oppo Heritage of this car, you all will be the first to hear as things develop/progress (it'll get a sticker once I've washed it beyond a quick clean-the-windshield-so-I-can-see-to-get-it-inside).

Yesterday after work, I finished putting the rx7 back together (just had to put in the radiator/fan/shroud/etc. so not a lot), filled the fluids, turned the key... and it started. Checked the timing (close enough), monitored things as it got up to temperature and burped the cooling system, and shut it off. After a thorough investigation, it was determined there were no major leaks. By this point it was a significant storm outside, so a hoodless test drive was out of the question.

Fortunately, today at lunchtime I managed to con a coworker-friend into swinging by to help put the hood back on.

Today after work, I re-checked fluids and tightened one weepy hose clamp. Hopped in, turned the key... and it started. After warming up, I adjusted the timing (it was really close but now it's dead on), closed the hood, and backed out of the garage.

Went for a short drive around the neighborhood, getting back as the rain started (noticing a trend here? This has been all summer - it's hot and sunny until about 5:30 then storms, except for the weekends when it just rains all day). No major issues, seems to run about the same as before. The new clutch feels much better than the old one, which wasn't worn too badly when I took it out, but felt like it was on its last legs.

I've parked over a sheet of clean cardboard (a rarity!) so I can identify any leakages. I expect a little from the coolant hoses, as those usually take a set after a cycle or two and need snugged up. I'm also still very strongly suspecting that the oil pressure sender is leaking from the seam in the body, but haven't had any clean oil come out of it yet, so it could just be the old goop trapped in there getting hot and running out.

In any case, it's currently a whole lot better than it was (previously this exercise would have resulted in 3-4 dollar-bill sized oil spots on the floor by the time it even warmed up).

@nermal I dunno, I seem to still be encountering my fair share of ass wipes every time I leave home?

As planned, some friends and I went on a mini-vacation to the greater Nashville area (more on that later) and combined the trip with some truck shopping. Both parts of the plan were a success.

Having prioritized my saved links, we went to check out the first truck on the list (which was the most appealing option). It was everything the listing claimed, spotless underneath (those of us who live in the salted lands understand), and a fair-for-the-asinine-used-truck-market price, so I bought it.

It is everything I was looking for: single cab, short bed, 4x4, zero rust, maintained (single owner, dealer maintained, was a company truck of some sort, has corner strobes), has a/c and cruise control, and I could afford it. It has some miles (179k) but for a work truck of such age is in good shape. The steering wheel is a bit sun damaged but the interior is otherwise pretty good (and basic! crank windows!), there's a spray-in bedliner and toolbox in the back as well.

The only missing nicety is that it is the 3.7 and not the 5.0, but at least it isn't an early ecoboost (concerning) or a 3-valve 5.4 (even more concerning). Having driven 500 miles home, the V6 is definitely adequate (and gets decent mileage), so I am very satisfied. No signs of issues with the waterpump that these can develop. The six-speed automatic is a six speed automatic and always wants to be in one-too-high of a gear, but that's how anything is. It kicks down if you ask it to; foot on the floor it revs to seven thousand RPM. In a truck.

The chrome hubcaps, smoker vents on the windows, and questionably-legal-here tint are on the short list to address (aka remove). Otherwise, it doesn't really need anything beyond a normal new-to-me round of fluids and filters and a couple stone chips touched up before they rust.

The trip overall was also excellent, I'll post more about the two main Oppo-interesting places visited later.

A couple (apparently masochistic) friends came by again today to continue work on the WRX. After much parts cleaning, hanging out, and wrench turning we were able to go from this:

To this:

The used engine of unknown providence is installed with the stock intake-and-everything-else, a fresh timing belt, clutch, valve cover gaskets, and a bunch of other odds and ends. All that's left is everything else.

As planned, after work I killed a little time to let traffic decrease, hooked up the battery, and fired up the Chevelle for the first time since late November-ish when I turned it around in the garage to do the bodywork on the rear. After various checkout and warmup, I went for a very short drive - all is well. The new steering wheel is very good.

When I got back, I checked everything over again, then changed the oil. A fresh 7ish quarts (why does my made-in-USA oil come in liters?) and filter and it should be good to go. Since the engine is still pretty young, I'm going to see how the plugs look and check the valves (and adjust if needed) tomorrow, then it should be ready to go for some real driving... and get washed. It's filthy.

The @Curators are proud to announce that Oppo's own classifieds section, Hyphen's List, is now active!

This can be reached by navigating to the appropriate category from the "Categories" page, or by clicking here. Hyphen's List is intended to be both a location for members to sell their secondhand goods (car parts, etc.) as well as providing a space for members to promote their own personal shops and storefronts as vendors.

How does it work?

Hyphen's List is divided into two sections, explained below. In addition to the section rules pinned in each section, the regular code of conduct for Oppositelock applies - be excellent! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to the curators as always.

Swappo

Swappo is for member-to-member private transactions. This is where you, an individual, would post parts, cars, and other goods for sale to other members. Think of it like a swap meet - individuals selling their junk goods to other members. In Swappo, you will find a pinned post outlining the guidelines and requirements for ads; both "For Sale" and "Want To Buy" are permitted.

Shoppo

Shoppo is for business-to-member transactions. This is where member-owned shops, vendors, etc. are able to post ads, deals, and so on to sell to members. Think of it like a shopping center - businesses and companies selling their products to members. In Shoppo, you will find a pinned post outlining the requirements to get your shop's post approved as well as general guidelines.

A couple friends came by today to assist in de-engine'ing the WRX. With none of us having ever worked on a Subaru, it was... interesting. With an average of about 2.5 people working on it at any given time, it was about 9 hours to get it out. I'm not sure how people claim to be able to do this in an hour.

Everything is held in with far too many bolts, half of which have no reasonable way to access without inhumane contortions and/or combinations of extensions and universal joints approaching silliness. My biggest concerns (disconnecting the exhaust [because rust], getting the engine off the trans/dowels [because rust], and the weird pin-pulling for the clutch [because... why does it go the wrong way?]) ended up being on the more minor side.

A ton of time went into figuring out how to get the A/C compressor and power steering off without disconnecting the lines (answer: contortions and every tool from the box). Other difficulties included, well, access to most any and all bolts. That said, to my knowledge no fasteners were broken (it's a post-christmas miracle) and the only thing we cut were the two "bolts" holding the bottom of the downpipe to the rest of the exhaust, which were more blobs than bolts and will be replaced.

I may post a little more tomorrow about it (and the clutch, which is definitely end-of-life, deserves its own post) but for now, I'm tired... so goodnight.

That's all.

@FourMalibus With what, black ice and a white puck?

@Snakesm13 The chevelle is a little dirty but it doesn't show, the rx7 is still clean from fall since it's been in storage over a cover... and I've washed the other three in the past weekish.

@PowderHound said in Full Fleet Family Photo:

@MM54 Great Fleet and those are some big trees!

Thanks! These are the small trees of the lot

@facw said in Full Fleet Family Photo:

@MM54 The Fiata looks huge compared to the bugeye, but I guess that's being in the foreground. Looks like the Subaru should be half a foot wider, and nearly two longer.

They're actually fairly close in dimensions; the fiata is a lot closer to the camera than the wrx though as you noticed.

@Shop-Teacher Thanks! I'm pleased with it; I know what I'd like to add but I'm already more than out of space.

Conned a friend into spending this very nice weather evening helping me move my cars around so I could take a picture to celebrate that they all work (and because I've not taken a picture of them all together in a long time).

@t0ast I am extremely jealous, and look forward to seeing more of this car. Nice purchase!

That's all.

@Qaaaaa I'm impressed, well done!

@Nauraushaun Can I post my friend's 20V swapped aw11 since I sadly don't have one to participate in mr2sday?

@KITT222 I'd be down if it wasn't, you know, a thursday evening. Detroit is a biiit far to go (like 4 hoursish) when I have to go to work the next morning.