5 GT Turbo GTEEEE!!

[bbob]

I'll think about it - right now i'm sick and tired of messing with the torsion bars
As it is now, it's about 0,5cm higher off the ground in the back compared to the front.

 

[bbob]

didn't know how old the gearbox oil was, so out it went.

and in with the new oil.
3,2L in total.


also decided to add some weight, so i bought a strut brace.

 

[bbob]

Changed the right headlight today as it had a broken indicator mount, and i had a spare one laying around.
The droopy indicator irritated me every time i saw it, so it boggles the mind why i put it off for so long.


also managed to find the annoying squeaky sound that made the car sound like an old rusty bedframe.
turns out it was the exhaust donut gasket!


pulled it out, sanded the edges a little and popped in a fresh one.

access was really tight, and getting the right side nut back on turned out to be impossible, as i couldn't get the nut on to the thread past the spring.
guess i will have to get it up on axle stands tomorrow, get a jack under the downpipe and try again.

easy jobs sure are hard some times

 

[bbob]

Wiggled the jack underneath the downpipe, jacked it up, and barely managed to screw the troublesome springbolt on after fiddling for a while with both hands at impossible angles.

Oh the sweet, sweet sound of silence while driving around the block.
No more squeaking and creaking when the engine moves, and oh so smooth and buttery shifts from the fresh gear oil.

 

[andybond]

How did you find out it was the exhaust donut gasket ?

 

[bbob]

finding the source of the squeak was actually quite difficult for a novice like myself!

i couldn't reproduce the sound by rocking the car or wiggling the suspension, neither did shaking the engine around or wiggling the exhaust.
i checked all the heatshields and metal parts i could find, and wiggled the gear linkages.

in the end, after googling how to check the engine mounts, i slowly released the clutch at standstill while braking (with the bonnet open) to see if one of the engine mounts were shot, and that finally reproduced the sound.

the engine mounts were fine though, so i took a chance and ordered a new exhaust gasket, as that was the only possible moving part left.

 

[andybond]

How frustrating! Good find though

 

[bbob]

update time

Not a lot of exciting stuff happening around these parts - had to get the dynamo rebuilt, exhaust patched, balljoints changed and of course lots of electrical gremlins, but the GTE is still chooching along.
i keep thinking about selling it, as i dont have a proper parking space for it, but once spring comes along and it's all waxed up and nice looking i always end up changing my mind
still looking for ph1 30mm lowering springs though

 

[andybond]

Looks perfect!

 

[bbob]

yep, unfortunately people keep bumping into it when parking, so it keeps accumulating small dings and scratches.
just have to accept the wabi-sabi and keep waxing to get it shiny again!

 

[bbob]

An era is over - the GTE is off to a new owner. Sad
i wish i could have kept it for longer, but oslo is getting less and less car friendly so i just couldn't justify having it anymore, as the subaru van was just more useful as a year round car, and you cant really street-park two cars any more.
Hope the new owner will enjoy it as much as i have.

 

[Big Steve - Raider]

Sorry to hear she’s moved on.

 

[bbob]

well, at least she's not dead
the car did get a fresh MOT before the sale, and the only problem (that i know of) was an oil leak from the camshaft seal, so it should hopefully live a long and happy life outside of my caring hands.

 

[bbob]

and maybe the new owner will google his way into this thread one day and take over the torch.