MikeC5

Love the DX tableau...

Great photos!

From a safety standpoint, I'm not sure how much better the folks on the interior would fare in a serious accident (I mean for any make of this era)...

I discovered the problem. 5th gear thrust face where it contacts the 5th synchro hub was badly galled, essentially fusing the tranny into 5th gear. Makes sense since this had no effect on the shift forks doing their thing (as long as clutch was pushed in). My guess is that the owner or previous owner(s) did a lot of driving with low lube.

Did you know Alfred Sloan, former chairmam of GM started out at Hyatt? He eventually became president and owner of the company.

This generation (2000 - 2004) Outback does not have the hill holder. I did have a '96 Legacy that had it (thanks, Studebaker). Believe it or not, the manual trans on this generation only has a neutral start switch and reverse light switch as far as electronics go. The AWD is controlled by a center differential / viscous fluid clutch pack within the transmission that does the power distribution to rear wheels.

Here are a couple photos from my '25 Dodge vacuum tank that may help. How long since it has been run? Modern gasoline (with ethanol) breaks down after a year or so. You may need to drain the tank and put some fresh gas in there.

The clutch fork actuates and retruns to normal position. If it were a clutch problem, I don't think I'd be able to start the car without lurching.

Thanks, Guys. I am beginning to suspect something bad in the tranny. It is AWD, but there are no exectronics involved. It uses a center differential with a viscous coupling. Symptoms of a bad viscous coupling are binding of drive train on sharp turns. The VC unit is behind the 5 spped gearbox, so I don't think it is causing the issue. It's something within the 5 speed. Broken shift fork maybe?

I know this isn't quite meeting the 25 year rule, but I'm baffled as to what is going on with this... I was adding freon with car idling and the car lurched forward a bit and stalled. I got in, pushed the clutch in and restarted it. With the clutch still down, I made sure it was in neutral. It seemed like it was, but letting clutch out it stalled. Pushed in clutch, started it again and same thing... I thought maybe the clutch fork? I pulled back the rubber boot on tranny and fork looks ok, actuates ok and returns to original position (hydraulic). With clutch in, the transmission feels normal (feels like it goes into each gear), but if I try to move forward or reverse, it stalls as if I have the brake on. With car shut off, shifter in neutral, I noticed if I push the car, it will move but engine rotates (like it's in gear)... It's like I'm missing neutral... If the clutch wasn't disengaging, I would have trouble starting it or the car would lurch when trying. But it cranks at normal speed and starts right up. I checked the axles, because I know strange things can happen if one pops out (of rear diff), but that isn't it. I looked at the shift linkage and see no obvious problems there. I thought maybe an ABS malfunction but that wouldn't explain why engine turns when I push the car (when shut off). Other than the ABS, the car is pretty simple, but I can't figure this one out... Any ideas?

Frank Zappa lived there for a while....

Do you have a fuel filter in the line from tank? If not, it could be some crud has gotten into carb. I installed a filter in the line, accessible with rear floorboard removed. It should crank at around 60 rpm (one rev per second). When I first got my car, the stater/gen wasn't working, but I was able to hand crank it with a battery hooked up direct to coil (and it has 50 psi compression). So if everything else is right, except it's cranking too slow, see if you can hand crank to get it going.

You verified spark, so I'm leaning toward a fuel problem. It sound as though fuel supply is making it to fuel bowl on carb, so it should at least run on that and what you put into the vacuum tank (even if VT isn't working it should run for a few minutes). Plugs are dry, so it's not flooding... Hmmm. Could something have crawled into the intake and is now plugging the intake path in the head?

Knob and tube era, I assume...

You know you've arrived when you become a member of the brass club club. Love those brass shifters! What a beast!

Love that Tokheim...

I have to wonder; what part of this 2 ton automobile has non-functioning brakes and I need to get it down the hill to the trailer-situation did they not understand? Did they think it was a physics holiday?

I visited Australia around 15 years ago and wanted to bring home some 'Oz' plates (not necessarily antique) for garage decor. I discovered that it was technically against the law for them to sell used plates. I found this out from a flea market vendor selling, of all things, U.S. plates. I asked why it was easy to find used U.S. plates, but no Oz plates and he explained that it was unlawful to sell Australian ones. He noticed my disappointment, looked around furtively and then pulled out a newspaper wrapped package from under a table. It had an example plate from each territory. He sold it to me for a reasonable price and said be sure and forget who sold it to me. They made it home in my suitcase...

This is the stuff sold on-line by the yard. https://www.albrightssupply.com/products-search?qs=jute

Yup, just look at the 'galvanic series'. I would guess, since Mr. Ettore was very much into making his mechanical marvels esthetically pleasing, that it was done just for that reason.

Looks remarkable!

I was wondering, if you aren't fully immersing the part, how often do you have to turn it to avoid geting demarcation witness lines at the solution surface? Maybe it's not an issue?

Nice find! Beautiful car.

And let's not forget Studebaker cars on Mr. Ed...

I like the varnished top bows. Do you plan to leave them uncovered?