Subaru Crew - Modifications II

miksmi · August 2001

Hugo, thanks for the info. I'm following bit's OCD preemptive action.

..Mike in MD

barresa62 · August 2001

Juice:

I must have the most pig-happy battery eating digital camera but I'll try and get a couple of pics once they're on.

Stephen

maverick1017 · August 2001

Thanks for the info on the cat back system, now I can go ahead to do it my self. By the way, you wouldn't happen to remember if that impreza's aftermarket shifter was a T type would you? I think some T types would work with Subes but that's not what I am looking for, but if that shifter wasn't a T type, I may still have hope yet.

Thanks for all your help.

Mike

ateixeira · August 2001

It was actually on an automatic Legacy sedan.

Don't know what a T type is even. I did see it up close and shift it out and back into park, and it worked like a stocker.

Pretty cool. His interior had some extra guages, and even a fire extinguisher! He had a great sounding system (sorry, no specifics), the HIDs, and a brake handle to match the shifter (faux carbon fiber IIRC).

-juice

maverick1017 · August 2001

Those things you just mentioned just got my mouth watering...mmmmm...interior mods....mmmm (wipes mouth, excuse me) I checked out the extra gauges, but no one made a A pillar gauge pod for a Forester, legacys and imprezas yes, foresters no. I didn't realize the brake handle could be changed. I tried to take it apart but the plastic cover semms to be glued on or something. Yeah, fire extinguishers are necessary, even if never use it, just in case, plus it looks good. I got a blue one mounted on my passenger side A pillar.
well a T type is kind of like subaru's factory AT shifter, the push button is on the side and the entire shifter is shaped like the letter T. when you shifted his tranny, (did that sound right?) was the button on top or on the side. If you tell me its on top you are gonna make me a very happy boy.

TIA
Mike

ateixeira · August 2001

Do I have the right to remain silent?

I'm not 100% sure, but I'm thinking it was on the side, with a T shaped shifter.

-juice

barresa62 · August 2001

I went ahead and took off the stock black ones and replaced with the factory painted (in my case, platinum silver)side skirts. It was really easy. I just had to get underneath a bit and pop the 6 fasteners and one on the side. Remove the stock ones and replace w/the silver, reattach the fasteners and voila! It looks like it should have from the get-go, tidy, tight (dare I say "phat") and complete! I will try to get pics this weekend and post.

Stephen

maverick1017 · August 2001

A T type...I guess I'll keep on searching. I have heard that shift levers from Levoc and Razo MAY work with subes. but I don't feel like forking over $100 for a shift lever...guess I'll have to now and at least try...wallet is getting depressed

Mike

paisan · August 2001

Maybe try one out of an Axiom? They have the button up top, and it's not a T-kind. Just a thought.

-mike

ateixeira · August 2001

Stephen: should look good. It has the effect of lowering the car, at least visually. How much? Did they come painted? Couldn't you have painted the stock ones?

I'd like to paint the skirts on my Miata. Of course then it would look like it was a low rider. ;-)

-juice

barresa62 · August 2001

The skirts come painted in blue, silver, or white (maybe also the black, but not sure). They fit either the sedan or wagon. I looked into getting the stock ones painted but there have been various reports of paint not adhering to them well, especially the rubber strip at the top of the skirts that touches the car body. Painting prices ranged from $100 to over $200, and again, no guarantee that the paint wouldn't begin to chip on it's own. The factory ones cost me $208 for the pair. I had to pay shipping and tax @ 8.5% because (unbeknownst to me at the time) the net' dealers was actually the Soobie dealer in Tacoma. A WA to WA address situation necessitates the tax but it's still cheaper than the 8.8% in Seattle. The sum total was $249 and some change. The website, for those who are interested, is www.subaruparts.com

You're right, the car does look lower w/the painted skirts as opposed to the black ones. Now I can't wait until I get the 17"wheel/tire combo!

Stephen

1subydown1togo · August 2001

Have you decided which wheel/tire combo yet?

barresa62 · August 2001

Serge:

I have a little spreadsheet going (of course I do, LOL) listing my fav tire and wheel choices, ratings from consumers (on tires), prices, wheel offsets, etc.

My wheel considerations are:

Speedline GT-1
Prodrive P7 - silver
Prodrive P1 - silver
COBB CT-1

My tire considerations are:

Bridgestone Potenza RE-930
Bridgestone Potenza RE-950, all-season(only available in 130mph rating, max)

Bridgestone Potenza S-03
Firestone Firehawk SZ-50 EP

If I go with the COBB wheel (7.5" width), I will have to go w/a 225/45 x 17" tire size.

I've got until latter part of Feb to decide.

Stephen

locke2c · August 2001

Stephen, I'd personally go for the Prodrive 7 on looks alone. You should run a 225/45-17 no matter which wheels you choose.

-Colin

maverick1017 · August 2001

Mike, an Axiom huh? Interesting...have to check it out. But how the heck am I gonna get my hands on one of those? The darn car is barely out on the market now...still interesting though...maybe...no, never mind, that's illegal

This just occured to me...anyone know if the Sube AT shifter is the same type used by Nissan, since Sube use some Nissan parts...just wondering.

Thanks for the suggestion

Mike

That darn Isuzu site sucks!! I can't even get a interior view of the Axiom, all they have is Joe Isuzu's head plastered all over the place anouncing some summer sale. Earth to Isuzu... MAJOR site redesign needed!! In the mean while anyone has a site where I can see what the inside...read, the AT shift lever, look like?? anybody? anybody? Bueller...Bueller...

barresa62 · August 2001

I've always leaned towards the silver P7's but still undecided. Based on my continuing research, I have to agree w/your recommendation of the 225/45x17 tires. The diff in speedometer variation is also very close to that of the stock tires, 205/55x16. I also like the way they look on the WRX. Additionally, I don't plan on lowering my WRX. I personally think it's pretty stupid to lower the WRX as it was designed as a rally based car and that includes the suspension.

Stephen

maverick1017 · August 2001

Just went to their site to look up some parts, but all I get was a message saying they are undergoing major changes and more info up soon. What's going on??

Mike

ateixeira · August 2001

A 205 tires is a little over 8" wide in section width, so they'll fit on 6.5"-7.5" rims easily. I'd still go with 225s though.

-juice

paisan · August 2001

My xt6 has 205s on a 5.5inch rim.

-mike

locke2c · August 2001

Guess I'm stupid then, Stephen-- my RS is lowered about 2". ;-)

It wasn't for looks, it was for tarmac performance. Wouldn't dream of taking the car down a logging road now!

-Colin

ateixeira · August 2001

So long as you didn't cut springs. ;-)

Actually, I know that you didn't.

How's the 2 wheeler coming along? Did you sell the cams yet? Notice Mods is less busy now that you're not autoXing?

-juice

locke2c · August 2001

Nah, I called off the whole cams thing. I'm selling a few other things but it just wasn't worth the 20-30 hours of labor to swap heads with someone. When it's all said and done I wouldn't feel $300 richer. The perspective purchaser was very understanding and it was a non-issue.

The bike is going great! Actually about ready to do the first mod on it, new exhaust. Found a cheap, never used Supertrapp 4-2-1 exhaust on eBay for it, now if the punk would just ship it.

Anyway it's much nicer riding and doing routine upkeep than was putting in massive hours restoring it.

Oh did I mention the mini vacation to the Ozarks? It's been a few weeks back now but it was great fun in the Miata. Very rarely heard any tire squeal, but the pace was brisk enough to be FUN and yet plenty of margin for safety.

-Colin

barresa62 · August 2001

Colin: Yeah, I guess I should have qualified my comment first, huh? I was really referring to those that do the lowering and then still expect it to do ok off the pavement for the occasional dirt road or such. I, personally, don't want to lower my WRX because of the hilly (and not such great condition) streets I drive on in Seattle. I remember that my Integra wasn't lowered but I was always scraping the tow hooks or something on dips and driveways.

Stephen

ateixeira · August 2001

That's what my Ducati buddy put on. We did some side-by-side ride and drives, and while I used to hear cams and gear noise, now all I hear is exhaust.

BTW, what bike did you restore?

Yes, Miatas are a hoot. Too bad we can't fit in ours most of the time, so it gets the errand/commute duty.

Speaking of clearance, I actually scraped bottom for the first time ever in the Forester. Turns out it was the bike rack, which is still on from that beach trip (and because we're going again in a couple of weeks).

-juice

seamus3 · August 2001

i just went up to one of the many national forrests here in washington, mt. baker for those of you who know the area. we had to take a forrest service road to get to a trail we were hiking up. the road is dirt/gravel, tons of potholes and pretty twisty ro as i now call it, heaven. i took my H&R springs out last week so i was able to rally up the road and back down. in a couple of spots the road was about 15 feet wide so i felt safe to let it slide through some corners and give the AWD a workout. afterall what did i buy a subaru for. i did the same thing on the way back down. it was so much fun. i can only imagine doing it in a WRX at about 50-60 MPH (i only hit 35 MPH). needless to say my passenger was neither thrilled with my driving or feeling safe when we hit the pavement. the car was nice and stiff in the corners(rear upper and lower bars and ront strut tower brace), basically a great drive. now my sooby is very dirty and in need of a bath. oh yeah the hike was fun too. there is a possibility of a picture of my dirty sooby at the trail head, but i'm not sure.

maverick1017 · August 2001

I just changed the color of the front badge to Rally Blue...or a close approximation there of...good contrast with the black paint of my car. Followed the directions from i-club mod section, it was easy. Hardest part was sanding all the original color off the back of the badge. Prying the thing off was a bit of work but relatively easy, just have to be careful and use two flat head screw drivers of different sizes if you can. One of them should be the smallest and thinest head you feel safe working with, it makes getting behind the badge so much easier. I'll try to post some pics soon but my camera is dead right now, have to shop for a new one first...I'll see if I can borrow my friends digital.

Mike

ateixeira · August 2001

Is it stuck on with two-sided tape?

I would use a long exacto-knife blade. Then WD40 to get the goo off.

-juice

locke2c · August 2001

Actually keep the knives away...

Use a hair dryer or heat gun to warm the area. Don't keep it in one place so long as to melt the badge, natch. ;-)

Then after it is warm use dental floss or fishing line to scrape behind the badge. After removing it, use WD40 as Juice says and then make sure to clean / wax the area.

-Colin

ateixeira · August 2001

So that's what floss is for! ;-)

-juice

maverick1017 · August 2001

unfortunatly I don't have the luxury of a garage or even an out door power plug as I am away from home at school and live in an apartment. I tried using the floss but mine broke...cheap floss?! So the two screw drivers were my best option. I used an adhesive remover made by 3M which is safe to use on cool pained surfaces (just in case of an accidental spill and comes in handy for clean up after debadging the rear) to get rid of the factory adhesive. I can't seem to find my buddy with the digital cam anywhere, I guess he's MIA for the moment. (New semester just started yesterday...AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!)

mike

ateixeira · August 2001

Time to hit the books. At least you'll have Labor Day off.

-juice

maverick1017 · August 2001

yep, looking forward to that. Going camping from Fri to Mon. HAHA!! I am sooo looking forward to that. I hate not having a camera

Mike

seamus3 · September 2001

what effect will a good deal of bracing and suspension mods have on the AWD? i have a '96 legacy: strut tower brace, anti-sway bar(20mm) as well as a rear strut tower brace. i had springs in, H&R, but took them out for various reasons. my car is much stiffer than stock, will that have an effect on how my AWD reacts to different situations? or does it always behave the same, no matter the suspension? what variables besides road surface and speed effect the AWD?
thanks
seamus

lucien2 · September 2001

manual or automatic? These cars actually use different systems depending on tranny choice, but I can't come up with a situation in which your modest suspension changes would have any effect on your AWD

ateixeira · September 2001

Well, any suspension change that affects traction may affect the AWD.

But I imagine that if anything you have better traction, reducing the need for the AWD to adjust as often. On smooth pavement, it's better.

As a trade-off you give up suspension travel and perhaps some ground clearance. Those can increase the burden on the AWD a bit in tough terrain.

-juice

paisan · September 2001

Hey all, I'm going to start importing ECB nudge bars for subies. Be sure to check out http://isuzu-suvs.com/ecb for the subie borchure, no concrete prices yet, but I should have em in a few days.

-mike

ateixeira · September 2001

I like that 47mm bar on that Outback, towards the bottom. The others are a bit much for my tastes.

I also like that basket on the Trooper's roof. That would be totally useful.

-juice

miksmi · September 2001

mike, Scott Frey is (considering?) importing ECB too. Maybe there's some synergy. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/outback/message/8082 If you can't read this, I'll post it.

..Mike

maverick1017 · September 2001

Juice,

ECB makes one for the forester too. I asked them about it a while back and they quoted me a price of ~$350 plus shipping and any customs fees. I assumed that quote was in Australian dollars, and they ensured me that it was Air bag compliant.

Mike

pkleung · September 2001

Hello,
I have a 01 Forester and I saw that many of you have after market sway bar installed. Are you guys using 18mm or 20mm (or others)? Are they Subaru products and what are their part number when ordering?
Thanks!
pkleung

ateixeira · September 2001

I have the 18mm bar. I dug up the original e-mail from Darlene, but she never gave me part numbers. Her prices were $82.57 for a 20mm bar with bushings, $83.40 for the 18mm bar and bushings. Shipping was free.

I say "was" because they're basically out of business. I imagine you can find them for under $100 delivered, still worth it.

Ken had part numbers on his home page, but homepage.com went out of business!

-juice

kens · September 2001

Ah, the good old days of Homepage.com. I remember those, juice.

Luckily, I still have the HTML files saved locally.

The part numbers are:

OEM 18mm sway bar: Part# 20450FA020
OEM Bushings (2): Part # 2104726A671

Ken

ateixeira · September 2001

Good to go. We're like an on-line encyclopedia for Subie stuff. :-)

-juice

leo2633 · September 2001

I think the correct part # for the sway bar bushings is 21047GA671. I'm reading off the invoice for mine, which, ironically, just came today. Anyway, I'm looking forward to installing it. The sway bar part # is correct.

Len

pkleung · September 2001

Cool, thanks for all your help!

pkleung · September 2001

Does anyone know what will happen if I pull the handbrake while the car is moving (in the sense that related to the AWD system)? Is it gonna demage the AWD transimission?
Just curious..
Thanks

lucien2 · September 2001

it'll smoke the center diff if you do it too often. A quick jerk once and a while is probably o.k., but any major e-brake abuse will result in center diff failure.

qbrozen · September 2001

I put on a 20-24mm adjustable from whiteline and set it to "20". I love it. I don't think its too big at all. Combined with the front strut tower brace, it made a world of difference in the handling and feel of our '98. Wish I could remember where I got it from. I posted it on this board, but that was quite some time ago. Oh well.

locke2c · September 2001

loosh is right, and the strain on the center diff varies proportionally to the traction the tires have before you yank. if you're on ice, no biggie at all. if you're on gravel-- still not that much strain really. if you're on dry tarmac, that hurts quite a bit. also can easily flat-spot tires so watch out.

-Colin

ateixeira · September 2001

I say leave the handbrake trick for rental cars. You can get the tail to swing around nicely in the rain with practice.

-juice

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