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Just got a German Subaru Libero !!

Discussion in 'Microvans' started by franck2cv, Mar 22, 2010.

  1. franck2cv

    franck2cv Member


    Motorway driving: 'not by much' .... do you mean Max speed, handling?
    The max speed should be 134km/h according to my German spec. So I assumed cruising at 110 should feel ok?

    Headlights: Is it something that can be imported by Mini truck people in Canada?

    Rims: Nice looking wheels indeed. How did you figure out the Nissan Sentra had same patern, offset ect.....

    It looks brilliant, so cute! I can see a few differences with my Libero. It will be funny one day to have them side by side :D
     
  2. anthill

    anthill Member

    Handling is more the highway limitation... the van is tall, narrow, and light so the turbulence from an 18 wheeler is enough to push you around. Also while the engine may push the van to 134km/h on the flats, it can work pretty hard to pull it up a hill at highway speeds.

    I assume headlamps could be brought over, but it would probably be cheaper to watch for junkyard pulls to turn up on ebay.de or whatever the european equivalent of car-part.com is.

    As for the rims, there's a ton of knowledge on this forum... I just searched for 'sambar rims' and went from there. My choices were limited, since Nissan is the only car maker that sold cars with a 59.1mm centerbore and a 4x100 bolt pattern. Machine shops can widen centerbores, but at a cost and safety penalty. These chunky 13" Nissan rims would look even better, but I couldn't find a pair.

    It sure will be fun to have two of these vans in Eastern Canada... the Domingo is so much more drivable than the Sambars I've tried. Wish they were more popular.
     
    Last edited: Jun 26, 2010
  3. olddatsunfan

    olddatsunfan Member

    Nice I like the Domingo!
     
  4. franck2cv

    franck2cv Member

    Well that's forseable and being used to driving my Citroen 2cv (602cc - 29bhp) flat out, It shouldn't be a problem for me. (The vanagon is also very wind sensitive)

    Wheels: The Nissan is common enough so a set of wheels should be easy to track. I'd go for 14" steel rims as I want to fit Moon disk on my Libero! :)

    Franck
     

    Attached Files:

  5. tasos

    tasos New Member

    Hi, from greece.

    Hi, from greece. new owner also of a libero.What a brilliant car?:)
     
  6. franck2cv

    franck2cv Member

    Welcome!! So that's what?..... Three Domingo/Libero on this forum? Woaaaa!
    We want more!.... come one people, buy them and register!!

    Any pictures yet? :)

    Franck
     
  7. anthill

    anthill Member

    Just replaced the accessory belt, plus the air and fuel filters (belt came from Canadian Tire, filters from a JDM non-site-sponsor)

    Van seems to idle better, though it's hard to tell. Despite the records the van came with, I can't tell how long it's been since the air and fuel filters were changed. For example, the air filter had some black patches as well as a light coating of oil drops on the dirty side. Is that normal?

    Next up: spark plugs, cables, and cleaning the distributor.
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2010
  8. franck2cv

    franck2cv Member

    No idea about the oily filter !!??.... How about accesibility and ease to work on?
    Good news about the servicing parts being available in main street shops.

    Look what I found for you....
    http://www.autochoc.fr/fr/catalogue/marque-1-subaru/id-22775-optique-avg-subaru-vanille-08-86-02-00
     
  9. anthill

    anthill Member

    Hey Franck, great find! I sent a question asking if they have both left & right sides. Unfortunately they only ship within France...

    As for the mechanic-ing, not too bad. Access to work on the van doesn't require too much suffering:
    1. Oil filter - Remove right rear wheel, easy as can be
    2. Accessory belt - open hatch, remove one bolt supporting sump dipstick, no sweat.
    3. Air filter - open hatch, loosen hose clamps on top half of filter box, wiggle a bit. Slight bother.
    4. Fuel filter - remove left rear wheel, easy access but pulling fuel hoses off is always a bit of a pain.

    Unfortunately I couldn't take my wheels off since I got my new rims mounted at OK tire by impact-wrench junkies. I ended up standing on my 12" socket wrench to break them loose, without success... that's over 180 ft-lb of torque.

    I'm not looking forward to working on the plugs - the fuel injectors block access a bit (and I really don't want to ding those), plus there's some funny rubber engine cover around the plugs. Not sure what's under there.
     
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2010
  10. franck2cv

    franck2cv Member

    Hmmm okay, not too bad overall for such a compact vehicle I suppose..
    For the headlights, we have people coming over to visit us from France this Christmas. If you feel comfortable with that, there's always a way. And it's not actually heavy.
     
  11. franck2cv

    franck2cv Member

    I missed the part about the tight wheels..... Stupid gits!! :frustration:
    Why so tight anyway, is there any wheels out there that require to be tighten at 180???
     
  12. anthill

    anthill Member

  13. Stuff99

    Stuff99 Moderator Staff Member

    my toyota is like that but vents into intake
     
  14. anthill

    anthill Member

    Hm, thanks Stuff99... maybe that was the style at the time.

    Franck, it turns out Auto-choc only has the front left headlight (avant gauche = AVG). :( Thanks for the find, but I'd rather wait to buy a matching set.
     
  15. franck2cv

    franck2cv Member

    I understand. It would make things easy. A used set of R and L headlight is likely to be even rarer though. We never know, I keep my eyes open....
     
  16. Sirus

    Sirus New Member

    Hey guys.
    Well...
    I'm Australian and living in Germany.
    Just bought a 96 Libero, and it's running fine...a few problems with the earthing, a bit of rust underneath so my starter motor only receives about 6 volts which makes it a bit tricky to start but she's a great little bus!
    Has anyone even heard of a workshop manual for these?!?
    Lovin it!

    (and yes, Sirus IS my real name and Harry Damn Potter did not not exist when my mum named me!)
    ...ahem.
     
  17. franck2cv

    franck2cv Member

    Welcome to this Forum Sirus!
    Any picture of your Libero to share?
    So far, no workshop manual has been found! I'll try to approach Subaru Switzerland soon. I've heard they can be pretty good with customer service...
    Oh and whilst I'm here... 11 months left before shipping mine across!!

    Franck
     
  18. franck2cv

    franck2cv Member

    At long last, my Libero has reach the Canadian shore but..... Just got the bad news: the three cars that were in the container weren't anchored properly and they're suffered cosmetically. (there was two Citroen 2cv and my Libero).
    I will soon be seeking a body panels supplier to help whoever is going to do the job (covered by insurance). If any of you can share good addresses, it would be great. Of course, we need first the report from an expert to assess the damage and dress a list of parts. I did not get any pictures yet but I already know that both bumpers suffered.

    Franck :(
     
  19. Sambarmon92

    Sambarmon92 Member

    Sorry to hear that Frank. :eek: I've got a feeling the 2CV MAFIA was responsible. :sly: :p Hopefully the damage is minimal and limited to bumpers only. Keep us posted
     
  20. franck2cv

    franck2cv Member

    Thanks! Just got a phone call and Bumpers only have suffered but that's just a visual assessment. 2cv can't be suspected!! They suffered a lot more than the Libero (each one have the four fenders, bumpers, hood, grill, tail lights, rear valence ...)
    Japanoid got back to me saying they're very likely to have what my Libero needs. I passed on their URL to the relevant person..... More soon!
     
  21. Sambarmon92

    Sambarmon92 Member

    Your replacement front bumper will most likely be from a Domingo. Make sure you keep your old front bumper. Unlike the Domingo, the Libero bumpers came with headlight washers, it's a nice feature, I'm sure you'd want to keep. (I know I would) :cool: If your Libero bumper can't be fixed make them retrofit the washers into the Domingo bumper, it shouldn't be difficult.

    Sorry to hear about the poor 2CV's :( , I love those little buggers. :eek: (Always had a soft spot for Citroens) I'm sure their owner/owners are fuming !!!:mad::mad::mad:
     
  22. franck2cv

    franck2cv Member

    Good point about the washers! Thank you. I'll address it to whoever is going to do the job. As per the Citroen.... I'm the owner of one and the friend who managed the shipping owns the second one! He's been doing car (expensive ones) import/export for the past 25 years and such thing never ever happened. The occasional ding and scratch maybe but not cars crashing into each other for days!!!.... so yes, we're fuming indeed but we will make sure we'll end up with better cars under the insurance cost.....as a consolation.
     
  23. anthill

    anthill Member

    I've said it by email, but I'll drop it here - Franck, what a pain! Wring that insurance company for all it's worth. And put in a 'hot' exhaust system to replace the one that might be damaged... Brraap braap :)
     
  24. franck2cv

    franck2cv Member

    Well.... still have not seen my van!! I've asked my friend to go through the Qc mechanical inspection without doing the repairs which happen to be less dramatic than expected: Rear bumper (both sides and central panel) needs replacing, front one: only needs a good buffing for now. I found and purchased a rear bumper from Japanoid.... Same color! I will put it on myself and, whenever we get the insurance money, will spend some cash on paintwork if required. The expert's report quoted the repairs @ $3800 !!! ......Until next time!
     
  25. Sambarmon92

    Sambarmon92 Member

    Wow, it's been a long time. I was wondering what happened. Thanks for keeping us posted, hopefully you'll see your van soon. And we wanna see pics. ;):pop:
     
  26. franck2cv

    franck2cv Member

  27. Sambarmon92

    Sambarmon92 Member

    That's awesome, thanx for sharing. I must admit, it's a little weird seeing these vans, with the steering wheel on the left side. :cool:
     
  28. franck2cv

    franck2cv Member

    :p Just opened a new thread with a Right Hand drive van gathering!
     
  29. franck2cv

    franck2cv Member

    Update.... !
    Got a phone call from my friend today with some good news: My Libero passed the inspection and is now registered. I spare you with all the administrative non sense Vincent had to go through. It's beyond reasonable!
    Anyway.... next step now is to get it insured, which should be done this week. Then, finally, we should be going to fetch it this Sunday at my friend's place. I can hardly believe it really. Then, I'm going to give a very very thorough service and proceed with a few things on which I might need your help on!
    First, I 'm going to need an CV boot (rear / wheel side): Any clue on a known Canadian car equivalent that share identical CV boots ?
    Same thing for brakes just in case.
    That's it for now
    'till next time :rolleyes:
     
  30. franck2cv

    franck2cv Member

    Home at long last !!

    Well, the title says it all! I drove 90 minutes from home to fetch lat little trouble maker!
    .... and drove back home with it in the evening. What a brilliant little van! I'm not disappointed.
    Although the excitement is a little tainted with problems that will have to be addressed quickly. Some help (and reassurance!) will be much appreciated :

    - First, due to its extended storage time, the front brake calipers are sticking.
    - There seem to be a malfunctions with the defrost heater mode..... the air coming out of the windshield vent is next to none!
    - Rear outer CV boot (left side .... so driver side for me, :p) is punctured
    - .... there will be more I guess!

    Thank you for your help & interest.

    Franck
     

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