Easy Red 2 All Fronts

[Alacoque Whitchurch]

Afew years back, I undertook a large bookshelf project with a window seat. For the cabinet under the window seat, I bought premade cabinet doors. They look awesome, and the whole project turned out really nice.

Once I was satisfied with the positioning, I then locked it in place with a few finishing nails around the perimeter. I used about three nails on the left and three nails on the right. This strongly secured the shaker-style drawer fronts to my drawers.

I did run into a small hiccup attaching some handles. My wife picked out these card catalog-style drawer pulls. The problem was that the screws that came with the drawer pull were not long enough to pass through both my drawer and the drawer front.

Quick tip: to save time, cut one edge of your trim. Then, instead of flipping the saw blade, flip your trim over. Make sure the cut will form a trapezoid. This trick will make cutting all the trim so much faster versus constantly moving the blade back and forth.

Without sanding, the paint will always chip. Trust me, I have painted tons of IKEA furniture, and none of it has chipped. Make sure you use protective gear for this step, including eye and ear protection but especially a mask, since this will create a lot of dust and debris.

Once the trim was attached to the drawer fronts, I filled any gaps in the corners with wood filler. After it was dry, I sanded the corners smooth with p220 grit sandpaper smooth. Now, the cabinet is ready for priming.

Use a foam roller to prime the larger pieces, and a small paint brush for the drawer fronts. Also prime the edges since they will be painted too. Let the primer cure for about 24 hours. Ideally, you would give it a bit longer, but I was so excited to paint!

Before starting painting the drawer unit fronts and sides we want to start with a smooth surface. Some bubbles and texture came up after priming and so I sanded them lightly by hand to get rid of them. If I used my sander, it would take too much primer off. This is the best way to get that really smooth finish when painting furniture. I used a P220 grit sandpaper before starting painting but also in between coats.

To add the knobs, I found the centre point of the drawer fronts. The easiest way to do this is to lightly draw on an X on the drawer front from corner to corner. The middle of the X is the middle of the drawer.

This IKEA ALEX drawer unit is unrecognizable. No one would believe me if I told them I got this from IKEA. The shaker style drawer fronts make it look so expensive. With the touch of the gold knob and deep green paint, this IKEA ALEX drawer adds beauty and function to this custom home office.

We added on our huge front porch in the spring and have been finishing details, siding, lattice, ceiling, and all of the actual front porch construction for months. Now that it is finally put together, I am so excited to have a stage for festive holiday decor, starting with fall! Not only does the porch itself offer a great decorating opportunity, but I love the decor spilling down the front steps and towards the walkway.

I was once again thrilled to partner with The Home Depot to style my porch (remember when I designed the back patio for spring?) This time around, I focused on creating a cozy, festive, and still somewhat neutral space using easy front porch fall decor from The Home Depot.

While I love Halloween, I want to decorate for fall even before it is time for witches and skeletons! I find a middle ground by beginning with some amazing harvest decorations that will last through the whole season from September through the end of November. This way, I can add in the spooky decor in October, and leave the base front porch fall decor up all season through Thanksgiving.

I also found these Harvest Stackable Pumpkins that can either be stacked up, or used separately. I love the color variations, that remind me of the fairytale pumpkins I usually buy fresh every year. That subtle white and green is so pretty! With two sets I was able to spread the pumpkin love out around the front porch and down the steps.

Corn fields and hay bales feel so harvest inspired! I love the natural element, and although they are a little messy, the breeze of the season keeps blowing the stray bits away. Adding just a couple of these mini straw bales to my front porch fall decor creates such a fun, festive feel.

I also love the opportunity that adding levels with the bales gives. I can stack them, add more plants as I collect them, and they will be a perfect place to add spider webs and skeletons as we get closer to Halloween!

I mean, I have never been one to resist the urge to buy plants, and fall is no exception. I love the way bright mums add such a live energy to front porch fall decor. They come in such a great variety of colors and sizes, too, there are sure to be a few that fit just what you are looking for!

Adding some soft linens as the weather cools down makes the front porch a fun, comfortable place to hang out. We bring them in each night, especially if it looks like it will rain, but I sure love having the space welcoming and lovely for when the kids feel like sitting and swinging with me.

Most tranny shops would chargbe BIG money to disassemble the tranny to replace that seal. Most would not even replace just this seal, they'd want to rebuild the whole thing for like $3000. Not an option for most people.

*****It's worth noting that I also replaced the front shaft bearing (the one with the dowel) since there had been play on that shaft. The pilot bearing in the flywheel that supports the very front of the shaft had grenaded, so the bearing in the trans was doing all the work. I'm sure it was wobbling causing the seal to go. I believe it was also making for crunchy shifts. It was $34.17, and replaceing it was super easy while apart and made for better shifts.

It also would be a good time if one was inclined to replace the diff/axle stub seals, as this way you don't need to remove their retainers or reset backlash. As well the rear output seal and the crush washers for the neutral and reverse switches are accessible and would make for a FULL reseal. *****

Next, remove the four bolts on the coverplate on the rear. You'll see the shifter shaft, and teh little arm that locks it into the reverse checker(lockout) remove the 10mm bolt that holds that arm in place, careful not to drop it down in there.

Now remove all 8 14mm bolts holding the rear section to the front case halves. Rotate the shifter rod CounterClockwise to disengage it from the forks and then slide off the rear section. This is what you'll see. Take note of how the 3 shifter rods notches are alinged, as you'll need them this way for reassembly. All the slots line up. Here's what the *finger* on theend of the shifter shaft that engages them looks like.

Now it's time to open the case halves. Set it on the left side, you'll be lifting up the right half (left half has all the shift rods and forks in it) Remove all the bolts around the edge, and 4 14mm ones that are in the middle, 17 in all. Make sure you haven't forgotten the two that I mentioned above in the rear where the shaft retainer bolts on. Double check that you got all the bolts, and split the case.

Now, there are a few important notes to the reassembly. First, there is a dowel pin in the recess for the bearing in the middle/front of the shaft. The hole in the bearing must seat onto this pin or the case won't go back toghether right.

And, at the rear of the shaft, there is a snapring around the large bearing. it only goes about 2/3rd of the way around, leaving an *open* section. That open section must be towards the lower shaft. Otherwise, the ring hits the lower shaft retainer ands again won't seat.

Now bolt the 2 halves back toghether, make sure to use sealant (I used threebond, Grey or black RTV would probably work.) No pics of that, but once it's toghether stand it on end. You'll need to set it on something with a holein it so the input shaft can stick through. I used an old wheel.

Now, there is a real tricky part to get the shifter shaft to line up with the selector rods. First, pull all the rods so they are in *neuteral*, the middle notch of their travel. It's pretty obvious when all the slot are aligned.

Apply sealant (or a new gasket) to the edge. And get ready to drop the rear section on. Now as you drop the section on, you need to rotate the shifter shaft CC. Then once it's seated, you can rotate it back to where it engages the rods. It's tricky, and I wish I coiuld take pictures but I was by myself. Took me 4 tries to get it right. I kept getting the shaft to far in, and catching behind the openings in the ends of the rods and moving one before the other engaged.

Once you think youi've got it, put the interlock bolt back in, then try shifting to all the gears. If you can't get all six positions, remove and try again. It sounds hard, but once you've got it all in front of you it becomes pretty clear.

I read your post on front seal replacement. Great info !! I have to do the rear trans seal on a 95 Impreza sport wagon I just picked up for my sons first car. Would like to know what problems I may run into. I know I have to drop the cat converter to remove the heat sheild first. Are there seals between the cat and the pipes ?? And will be able to get at rear seal since it sits so deep in rear of trans ?? thanks wrongtu...@wmconnect.com

I suggest dropping hte exhaust off entirely, just disconnect it from the heads, and hte one bolt at the rear of trans, the rest is held on by rubber hangers that pop off fairly easily, the n the whole shebang can be dragged out fo the way.

Yup, 5th can be pressed off easily. But be careful of the shift collar and synchro set-up. I lost one of the 3 sliders and ended up having to order one ($2.51) from subaru and wait. Then of course I found the lost one hiding inside the cleaned and waiting AWD transfer section. They can really fly if you let em just spring outta there.

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