We'll start at the beginning, like all good stories should.
Back in September I woke up on a mate's couch after consuming a great deal of beverages (that night is a tale in itself, but we're talking about the Brumby now) and cracked it when my daily driver Corolla refused to start. Said mate's brother threw me the keys to his '89 Brumby (December '88 build) and said "have it for as long as you need, I've bought another ute and this one just keeps the garden gnomes company at the moment."
The drive home should have only taken fifteen minutes. I arrived home three hours later with the biggest smile on my face. I was in love with Subarus! This thing had so many fascinating quirks- the sports car-esque doors with no window frames, the spare tire was under the bonnet and of course that unmistakable Boxer rumble.
About a week later the owner gave me a call to make the sure the ute was behaving itself, and while on the subject he offered to sell it to me for half of what he had been asking for it everywhere else. I'd always wanted a ute, but couldn't justify owning two full size cars on my income (my other car is an LS1 Kingswood project) so that ticked a few boxes. On top of that, the Corolla was in such a sorry state to the point where I'd be better off buying another car. A deal was made and I was the proud owner of my first Subaru.
Pardon the phone pic.
The surprises kept coming- in the owner's manual came the service book, which had been filled out for nearly all of it's 175,000kms by a Subaru dealer. Sweet! That gave me the confidence that it had been looked after mechanically quite well. It was even a "Six Star Service" car (whatever that means) because it had some cool mint condition stickers from the 80s in there as well. Not sure whether to put them on or give to someone who's doing a concourse resto. Rust wise it was very clean, save for some front panels that appear to have copped some damage, but no biggie. Under the tonneau was the original bullbar, which I could either slap back on or give it a new home.
Originally, I had grand plans to turn it into a tarmac terror- coilovers, EJ20T and some grippy low profile rubber. I had a drive of a GC8 WRX a few months back and loved how well it handled and went.
But then I took it offroad for the first time...
What can I say- even with the shitty car tyres it was lumped with, it's gotten into some pretty hairy places and back out again. After two months of ownership I'm still yet to get it stuck or bogged, touch wood. That being said, a lift and some 27" tyres on 14s couldn't do it any wrong.
So the Rex ute idea was canned. The plan now is to make it even more capable offroad, and perhaps bump up the comfort level inside a bit. I'm mad on car audio and comms (UHFs, scanners etc.) so I'll be factoring in something there. Just yesterday I stumbled across a Leone in a local wreckers sporting power steering and A/C. Jackpot! That'll happen once I obtain a workshop manual and nut out what exactly needs to be done. Engine wise, I'm going to persist with the EA81 for the time being, perhaps with a Weber to wake it up some. Although I'd love an extra gear, AWD and a lockable centre diff. Dont like my chances though.
There you have it. I'm interested to hear your thoughts and suggestions, as I'm sure you guys know a tad more than I do about these rigs.
on an interesting side note, Gregory's is just down the road from me and you can always tell what particular car they're doing a manual for when the door's open!
the early brumbys and wagons had points dizzys but I believe after 1983 or 1984 all were electronic 
