Subaru Crew - Modifications II

locke2c

I have a fairly large K&N cone air filter on my M3.

There's a decent bit of intake noise when you really go after it... but otherwise I'm happy. It was on the car when I bought it and I've cleaned & re-oiled once.

I think they're worth it to avoid buying paper filters. I do think AMSOil or other foam air filters trap more funk than K&N filters do though.

-c

ateixeira

Loosh: you should've seen how much sand my snorkus-free intake sucked in at the Pine Barrens!

Do they make AVS-i tires in that size, Loosh? Maybe Tire Rack has some left over.

-juice

lucien2

just the dB. Also the sport 5000.

hondafriek

They were about my impressions as well, and yes Stephen I have a hard time leaving well enough alone, if the grill and bumper cover had been a little more radical I would have gone for it, but I do not think the difference is worth the hassle of swapping them out.

Cheers Pat.

hondafriek

How about a list of the mods you have done so far to Lana,s Legacy.

Cheers Pat.

paisan

Well I went to my buddy's house who is putting in my ATF cooler and filter last night...

I get there and walk into the garage, what do I see? Oh the whole front of my car MISSING. He actually disassembled my whole front end to put it in. While he is at it he's cleaning my yellowed headlights, and removing the airbox silencer. I only wish I had the $ for the HID conversions since it's so nicely apart we could easily do that. The car is totally non-aerodynamic w/o the front end on!

-mike

ateixeira

In no particular order:

15" alloys from Jim's Legacy Turbo
Donut swapped for true Full size spare on steel rim
ASC 750 one-touch programmable power moonroof, 17"x30"
Take-off 6CD changer plus cassette from a WRX
Rubber cargo liner
Leather shift knob
Cargo net

I think that's it. We might tint the windows next. That is one BIG green house, I think it needs it.

She's basically lookin' like a 2003 L/SE model. Had I known I might have waited, but maybe not. I'd have gotten a single CD instead of a 6CD, and vanity mirrors on both sides, but not much else. Oh, and the rims would have been 16s.

But I've invested $19k, and a 2003 L/SE with a 6CD would run at least $20k.

-juice

hammersley

My window tint is, depending on the window: a)peeling at the edges, b) has chunks missing (cargo shift & kids) or c) delaminating, perhaps due to heat. Someday I'll just peel it all off & start over!

Cheers!
Paul

ateixeira

Did you install it yourself? I thought about doing just the baby's window myself, but I dunno...I imagine it would end up bubbling.

-juice

hondafriek

That is quite a little list, way to go in a short time, BWT. what is Lana,s impression of a wagon now after having lived with one for a little while, I will bet she still does not think it is a Mom and Pop car.

Cheers Pat.

jres

I had to tint the back windows on my Legacy wagon two years ago when my little girl went through a "The lights in my eyes" screaming fit. Our local target had a roll of "reusable" window tint for sale and it was a wonder. It is essentially "colorforms" You cut it to shape, moisten the window, stick it up and squeegee out the bubbles. It lasts a couple of weeks before it starts to bubble. I just put it up and the peel it off when it starts to look bad and reapply the same piece when it's needed. If you don't want a permenant tint that might be the way to go.

John

ateixeira

She sort of grins and admits, time and time again, that a wagon was a smart choice. We can store the stroller inside, and still have room behind it to change a diaper. We use this space, oh, about every day. Sometimes multiple times.

John: interesting idea. Maybe I'll do that if we decide to do something temporary. I'd prefer a full tint, we'll see.

-juice

hondafriek

Well juice glad to hear that, I am also glad that you were persistant enough to get her to try the legacy.

It is great when things work out even better than you expected them to.

Cheers Pat.

paisan

Ok, we got the SVX back on the road yesterday. So far the upgrades:

ATF Cooler
Cleaned Headlights
Painted rear wiper arm that had the paint off it
Replaced wipers
Reconnected the stock horn in parrallel to the air horns
HID conversion on the low beam Projectors.

Still waiting for the ATF Filter kit to come in, then I may need to upgrade the stereo to a single din so that in the 2nd Din we can put in guages.

-mike

ateixeira

I have a couple of single DIN Subaru stereos. They're just cassettes, but you can have one, as a freebie, if you want it. I'm not sure if the harness is the same, though.

You did HIDs? Did you get before/after pics? What did those cost, $500 or so?

-juice

paisan

They are actually Hypov's HIDs. We had to do some work to make em fit in the SVX properly and still need to get proper bulbs for the 9006 slots. Currently we have the original HID bulbs in there and we used a dremel too make em fit in the 9006 slot.

Thanks for the offer on the single DIN cassette. I may take you up on it. I'd like to find a single DIN Cassette/CD but not sure they exist.

-mike

ateixeira

They might, but I'm not sure if Subaru ever made one. They has cassettes before, the CD was an add-on unit. The changers are all 6CD double DINs.

When they put CDs in the head units, they dropped the cassettes.

Aftermarket?

-juice

taddison

Single-DIN CD/Cassette's do exist, but they are rare. Try these:

Sanyo EXCD-1000
Sanyo FXCD-1100
Pyle PLCDCS-90

paisan

I really just need to get one that has a headphone-input jack on it. Basically so I can use my GPS/DVD in the car and have the audio play out the speakers.

-mike

ateixeira

OK, now you're getting picky. ;-)

-juice

paisan

I don't need the cassette deck. I just figured that was the easiest way to get the computer output into it via a cassette converter. If some of the audiophiles out there know of a way to get the computer output into a non-cassette equipped head unit, I have no need for the cassette deck.

-mike

taddison

There are a bunch of single-din CD players out there with front panel aux input jacks, nowadays often labelled as MP3 inputs. The sound quality will be better than using a cassette adapter.

Many players without such jacks still have equalizer or pre-amp input jacks on the back which you could attach to, but in many cases (like on my Sony) those inputs bypass the player's built-in volume, bass and treble controls so you would have to use the volume control on your DVD player.

The other way to get external signals into a stereo is to use an FM modulator so you actually pick up the signal on a radio channel. The quality usually isn't great and they require batteries or yet another power cable. They are good for people who are stuck with their OEM CD player, but if you are buying a new stereo anyway then just get one with an input jack.

paisan

Thank you very much! Now I just need to see if I can find a harness that adapts to the SVX wiring harness and I should be set to making guages. Of course that won't happen til spring as I'm broke

-mike

kens

Removing shop applied window tint is not an easy task. I believe they need to steam it off your windows and costs as much as the tint job itself!

I've got some small nicks in my tint in the cargo area from some snowboard edges. Usually, a little grease pencil will touch it up to the point where it's not super-noticeable.

Ken

hammersley

Juice: Nah, the tint was on the car when I bought it... looks decidedly aftermatket to my eyes, and if it's 5 yrs. old like the rest of the car, it's probably lived its life.

Ken: it almost looks like the windex & razor blade treatment might be sufficient to persuade the tint off the glass. (note to self: careful on the back window with the defrost wires!)

Cheers!
Paul

originalbitman

Some helpful info on removing tint:

http://www.tintdude.com/remove.html

bit

sebberry

I have been doing some research into a new vehicle over the last year or so. I have concluded that the Subaru Legacy or Outback would be my final car of choice.

I went to the dealer recently and sat in an Outback. To my amazment, there was slightly less room for the driver than my 1990 Legacy Wagon. I have done a number of camparisons on legroom to other makes and models, and have found that that the measurements say the Outback has more legroom than the Volvo XC, Audi Allroad, Ford Explorer, the list goes on for about 20 vehicles. I found that with the seat all the way back and down, I felt a little cramped to the poing I would not drive this vehicle.

My question is are there any aftermarket modifications that can be made to the seat rails to permit more legroom and possibly more headroom?

There must be many 6'2" drivers out there who want a vehicle with the brawn of a small SUV but the "parkability" of a car...

I would be greatful to hear of your findings.

Ciao.

qbrozen

Well, you can do the old backyard mod. Remove the front 2 bolts, buy longer replacement bolts, install many washers under the seat rails, and install the new bolts. This (obviously) raises the front of the seat, bending your legs a bit more to accomodate them. I think Juice did this on his Forester. I didn't go as far as to buy longer bolts yet, so I just used a few washers and kept the original bolts. Helped a little in my case, but more would be nice.

ateixeira

Someone here in the Town Hall did it, I forget who. I think they spoke about it in the Legacy/Outback topic under Wagons. Got an extra inch or two just by removing some stoppers, something like that. Sounded easy.

-juice

hypov

juice-
somehow Loosh comes to mind.

-Dave

ateixeira

He did swap seats and deal with the seat track a lot, but I'm thinking of someone else.

FWIW, the track on our Legacy looks pretty straight forward. On the Forester, the front of it slants down, but the Legacy's looks straight and more basic.

-juice

lucien2

=8^O

;')

lucien2

Any opnions of the yokohama AVS dB? The Tirerack ratings seem pretty good....

eric102

That was probably me. I did mine on my base Outback about a year ago. Had to drill out one rivet and 2 new bolt holes and gained about 2 inches of seat travel. It only works on the drivers electric seat. The manual passenger seat looks much more difficult. If the Legacy has the manual seat, then probably the same problem. I'm 6'3" and find the seating position very comfortable with the additional 2 inches, plenty of headroom also (no sunroof).

Eric

ateixeira

I gotta remember that, 'cause someone asks about once a month or so.

OK, Eric, power seats only. Got it.

-juice

kleinkid

Anyone have a thought about a failure at this low miles? How about installing a Cobb cold air filter kit. I already have a Stromung cat back exhaust using their twin tip muffler. Do any of these mods effect the warranty? Thank you in advance for your input.

lucien2

That is a problem on some 2.5l cars. Thankfully mine have held, but there are plenty of Legacy owners less lucky. It has nothing to do with your exhaust and is a warranty item.

kens

I think a head gasket failure at such a low milage PLUS the fact that it's on a Phase II engine makes it very unusual. The repair should be covered under warranty regardless of the mods you've posted. Some dealers might give you a hard time, but they'd need to prove the modification caused the failure before denying repair work.

Ken

ateixeira

Yeah, the Phase II has different heads (in fact, it's SOHC). I thought that problem was exorcised.

Maybe it's an anomaly, let the dealer check it out. Let us know if the dealer resists, we'll put you in touch with SoA service.

-juice

locke2c

Some phase II engines have blown head gaskets. Here's one:

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4292183933

It is much more rare than 96-99 DOHC engines though.

-Colin

barresa62

a WRX sedan or wagon:

http://forums.i-club.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=262179

Stephen

ateixeira

I forgot yours was a Phase II, Colin.

I still prefer DOHC.

I could have told you the Forester had the same center console, no wonder it fits.

-juice

lark6

I also had a leaky (not blown) head gasket on a Phase II, at 31K miles. I was pretty upset but it was repaired with no recurrence yet (hit 46K this weekend).

Ed

locke2c

My car wasn't undriveable with the head gasket issue documented in the link above, but it was loosing quite a bit of coolant, fast.

The engine ran and made plenty of power to move the vehicle. I'm sure it would've overheated enough to cook the block & heads if not dealt with immediately though.

-Colin

ateixeira

What do you think caused it? It must have had hairline cracks from the start, no?

In your case, Colin, did you have the heads off to do your mods? Did you use new gaskets? Just curious.

-juice

locke2c

juice, I suspect bad gas caused detonation and it blew the head gasket. the coating also could've been faulty from the onset, but I doubt that.

yes I did have the heads off to install the cams. the cam cover has six Torx Plus 45 bolts and on my 24k mile engine, the rear-most ones were frozen in place due to heat from the headers and the liquid gasket used to seal the cover.

once three bolts partially stripped, I made the decision to pull the heads to get better access. one of them was destroyed getting it out, I used a chisel at a 45 degree angle to the bolt head to get it rotating.

I figured while I had the heads off, might as well do some light porting. ;-)

-Colin

kens

Colin,

I wonder then if bad gas detonation is the cause for gasket failures in both the Phase I and IIs.

Did you tear down the engine before or after you took your RS in to the dealer?

Ken

ateixeira

Noticed that porting in the pics.

Did you use new gaskets? You dodged the question so I'm thinking you didn't. ;-)

-juice

locke2c

oh sorry... didn't mean to dodge.

of course I used new head gaskets when I had the heads off! new intake manifold gaskets too, even though it's not the same with a floating manifold like the EJ series uses it was still a good idea IMO. I did reuse the exhaust manifold gaskets though... they seemed like new.

ken: before and after, actually. I tore it down at 24k miles to install the cobb street cams and ported the heads.

then around 37k miles, it was overheating a bit and I suspected water pump, head gasket or something along those lines but the dealer didn't find much of anything interesting. they topped off the coolant and installed a new crankshaft front oil seal. (had a slow oil leak for a while.)

39k, massive coolant leak from the blown head gasket. I decided to not risk paying full dealer rates in the event this wasn't a warranty-covered repair and did the head gasket again by myself.

42k, overheating again and purging into the coolant overflow tank until it was full. I start looking for a different car, and ditch the Impreza for $11,000 at the BMW dealer. with 42k miles, scratched up interior from 2 terriers riding along, and stonechips galore I thought I did alright...

wish I hadn't ported the heads. if I hadn't I would've made the dealer fix the overheating problem and I'd still be driving a Subaru. I also wouldn't have a car payment, which would be nice.

-Colin

ateixeira

I guess that's why you're keeping your future cars pretty much stock?

I should stop fiddling, too. The snorkectomy was fun but you do end up with more intake noise. Fine with me, but I wonder if the next owner will mind.

I dunno, I just feel like I have to customize whatever I own to my liking. But I probably ought to leave the engines alone - not enough experience to fix whatever I screw up.

-juice