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9 - 7 - 00 I stumbled upon a short revievw of the 92 Legacy Touring Wagon in a Car & Driver issue and scanned it in. As you might imagine, i was stoked to find this as i'm a Touring Wagon owner myself. It's a decent review, just what i expected. I just wish i could have found a black one like they got! I got the Autometer 2204 gauge pod yesterday and finally mounted my boost gauge. It's a really nice way to go, and when i get the electrics set up right i'll take a few shots and post them. I just finished the boost gauge install guide. While i don't have any pictures yet it does give you a good idea of what is involved in the whole process. 9 - 5 - 00 I got my boost gauge last Friday and went about installing it the next day. It's not too hard to set up and route, but finding a place to put it has proved to be a worthy task. Matt has his stuck to the steering column, but mine has so much Armor-All on it that nothing will attach. I guess i need a good cleaner to get that stuff off and try it again, or search for a better solution or position. In removing some sticker residue i suceeded in scraping some of my paint off on the left rear. Obviously i'm not too thrilled about it but it's not a new car... In the process of removing that i also scraped off the ABS sticker from the window. No need for that! I also looked close at the "Subaru" and "Turbo 4WD" badges and found that they were halfway detached. I took the liberty of removing them and i honestly like the look much more. Once i get the new plates for the car i think i'll leave it that way. I also removed the front star badge but i think i'll get a new badge to go there, or something else, as the old one's silver saw fit to come free when washing it. In washing the badges for possible re-installation i found that they're just plastic with reverse-embossed letters. The letters are the silver color while the rest is painted red and a black seal is put over it. Why would they paint it red while the plastic behind is red? Adhesive. So, i'm going to leave it like it is, anonymous except for the "Legacy" in the rear, and see how it feels. Otherwise i'll probably epoxy them back on as they are, all clear except for the silver letters. Matt has started an eGroups message board/mailing list for 90-94 Legacy owners specifically. If you'd like to join just click the link and sign up!
9 - 4 - 00 In other news, i got my vdo boost gauge installed, sorta, but i'm having a hard time mounting it where i want to because the plastic just will not stick! 8 - 28 - 00 I've got a ton of stuff from Matt, aka Shik on the i-club forums, about installing the Hallman Boost Controller. His installation guide is now up and i highly recommend you give it a look. The HBC is an affordable way to increase boost without gadgetry. I grabbed some 1/4" vacuum hose, an L and T fitting and found a nice place to pipe in the orphaned solenoid line. I T'd it in to the line on the front of the median airbox. It worked really well and i had a few CELs that next morning but i've put almost 200 miles on since and the light hasn't flickered. The car has also started much easier as well. Maybe the Temp sensor was giving a misread. I'm going to drive it a bit more during the week to see if i get any more lights, strange idle speeds or problems starting. I eagerly await my boost gauge, while pondering where exacltly to put it... I just added Matt's Turbo to the Member Turbo section. Have a look at a great modified turbo. 8 - 24 - 00 Most of the new stuff i'm doing is being described in the Turbo-Centric page. Turbo owner or not, i welcome you to come and take a look at what i'm currently doing to the car. Current projects include: vdo boost gauge 8 - 24 - 00 I got in on a sweet group buy for a set of 8.5mm Magnacor wires. The prices on these group buys are just insane. I'm getting a set of four for $47 + shipping. 30 people are in on it and it makes a huge difference when bought in bulk. Too bad this is probably the only one i'll get in on, as most stuff is either Impreza-only or hella-expensive. I was going to get the temp sensor replaced yesterday but it seems as if i didn't give them enough time and they didn't realize it was a Turbo. Replacing the temp sensor on a Turbo is much more involved than on an N/A car i guess. Maybe i'll just do it myself, as i need to rip that stuff off to fix the orphaned boost solenoid hose anyway. I've installed the FWD fuse temporarily, to see if it was actually something in the transfer system. It is. I can now attest to the fact that AWD is absolutely necessary for this car without a frond LSD and large tires. 180 ft/lbs of torque makes for spinning wheels around corners and mad torque steer. Since i've got to spend nearly $800 on getting the transfer repaired, i'm considering a 5-speed swap even more than ever. Since my trans is otherwise healthy, subarist seems to think i can get a good amount for it and put that toward a replacement. He's replaced several AT's in his Turbo and finally had it swapped out. Instead of searching for a Turbo MT or importing something, he talked to a few people and reasoned that a hydraulic Legacy/Impreza MT is strong enough for even a mildly tweaked Turbo. I do know 2nd is prone to failure on turboed RSes but those are usually in the high 200's and low 300's for HP, much higher than i'll ever have i'm sure. So i need to find out what kind of price i'm looking at and start saving my pennies... 8 - 23 - 00 I just ordered a 2" black-faced vdo boost gauge from Extreme Motorsports this morning. Shik recommended them because i think they're in his neck of the woods, and they're a DSM performace shop. I had to call to order, as i couldn't find the part on their page. The total, with a hookup kit and shipping was less than $60. It could probably be had for cheaper elsewhere though. Last night i got to fooling around with the vacuum system in hopes of getting the 12PSI boost that Pete found out about. Instead i decided to do Shik's original mod to get better boost measurements until i get the gauge and see if it actually does that much for me. I don't think i'd even run at 12PSI without an intercooler, as that's a lot of very hot air and the chances for detonation go sky high. I took a bunch of pictures and you can get to the page here. In tearing all of that stuff out i found that the bottom bleed tube for the boost solenoid had, at some time in the past, become detached from the median airbox and was plugged up with nothing to do. Since the fitting on the box had snapped off i couldn't just stick it back on. I guess i'll have to find something to do, or just let it vent to atmostphere, as it does right now. 8 - 22 - 00 Shik should have his Hallman Boost Controller article written soon, can't wait :) Pete fron the Impreza-RS Legacy Forum found yet another bypass that not only gets better vacuum but increased his boost to 12PSI with no other modifications. I'll have details as soon as i hear back from him. Shik and AZ-GT have both found the ECU's boost pressure limit. It seems that the "brick wall" comes at around 13PSI. Shik does it with and intercooler while AZ has reached this without one. Both run pump gas and neither has reported problems with detonation or running lean. It seems that the fuel system can hack it at least to 13PSI. It's a shame they dumbed it to 8.7 and "required" premium gas. I bet i could put 85 octane in my turbo and be OK, but i'm not going to try it :) Since most Turbos are automatics, more people may have this problem now or eventually, so it's probably a good idea to let you know what that "binding" feeling is when you're accelerating at slow speeds. There is a simple fix to the problem that will cost you upwards of $750 or more. What happens is that the teflon bushings in the tailshaft wear down a groove in the aluminum housing. For some reason they didn't diagnose and update the design till mid-97, so a LOT of cars are affected. This groove allows the tailshaft to wobble and causes that bumping sensation just below your butt, which is just about where the problem lies. It involves replacing the rear housing with a redesigned unit that incorporates a steel sleeve to keep the aluminum intact and the tailshaft from moving around. In conversation with the extrememly helpful service manager at Ogden Subaru, i feel that this is just one of those things... It can be left for a while, as the amount of wear is very slight. He also believes that no lasting harm can come to the transmisison by leaving it for an extended period. I don't know about you, but it's awful annoying! The process will likely take the better part of two days because the exhaust and driveline must be removed and swapping over the parts to the new housing and reinstalling the whole thing is a very complex process. Not something for a shade-tree mechanic, that's for sure. Hope this helps! 8 - 21 - 00 I got my new stuts installed this Saturday and they've made a huge difference! I took a bunch of pictures and wrote up a tutorial on how to do it: 8 - 21 - 00 My new KYB GR2s came on Friday and i installed them on Saturday morning, with the help of my brother. I've taken some pictures and written up a tutorial on how to do it. Have a look! 8 - 17 - 00 Legacy 777 from the USMB has put together a really nice page with all of his mods and with a ton of great info and excellent pics. His 90 is probably the most customized NA Legacy i've ever seen, and it looks really good! In other news, i purchased a used Pioneer DEH-P825 and 12-disc changer. It was a smokin' deal and i'm sure glad i walked into it. The head unit has a 135 page manual! I'm not sure if my KYBs are going to get here this week, as they were just shipped yesterday, but i can't wait to put them on. I'm also testing a new review format. Since i had to compress those images so much, they're hard to read and i though that it'd be nice if they had the pictures with typed text. Well it's a pain but i think it looks better. Tell me what you think. 8 - 16 - 00 I just got done talking to Mike at SPD about performance parts and what's out there for the Legacy Turbos. He's much more concerned about longevity and driveability than most places are when adding parts to your daily driver. He'll sell you the loud and harsh stuff for the track though :) In talking about the Underdrive pulleys he explained something that i missed before. Replacing those pulleys probably won't do a lot for your engine due to the removal and henceforth unbalancing of your crankshaft. The crankshaft is not a perfectly balanced item so manufacturers have to mount an unbalanced pulley on it to counter that. Removing this and installing a plain pulley will likely cause all kinda of harmonic problems. Presents for your car i guess. As for an intake, if you're willing to put up with the noise, something like the JCSports unit will give you some extra breathing when the RPMs get high, but you'll hear everything, and it'll be even worse with a turbo and all of the whizzing and blowing going on in the intake. Finally we talked about an intercooler. The 93-96 WRX ones fit on with little hassle other than removing the scoop shroud and tubing back and forth. 10-20HP is probably within grasp with one of these and no other changes. It's amazing how much better an engine can make power when it's intake charge is cool and dense. This coupled with an HBC can get you up to 200+ with little effort. I'm going to shop around for an intercooler :) 8 - 15 - 00 I've added links to some important turbo-related information up top. One is from a Chilton source i found a few months ago and the other is a document from Mike Shields of SPD Tuning. The latter is more of an essay on the '98 DOHC motor and why it probably shouldn't be turbocharged too much, but it's got references to the 2.2 Turbo and it's a fascinating read regardless of content. I know some people are curious about what improvements were made in the Automatic version of that Subaru transmission on the Turbo. In conversation with Mike i know that it uses a 6-pack clutch instead of a 4, probably to cope with the increased torque. Feedback! 8 - 15 - 00 Well i went out Saturday and got tint put on it. I must say that the contrast between black and white makes it look MUCH better. I've got newer picture in the My Legacy page showing how good it looks. I was also going to get a new CD player installed but it was going to take too long. I'm all for hi-fi but 2 hours to install a deck and tweeters it ridiculous. I was using a subwoofer in my old car, but it had the carpet in the back and it pretty much stayed still. Now i'm looking for the OE or an aftermarket cargo mat of some kind and not having much luck... I'm also exploring alternatives to that big, heavy box but i fear that there are few. I might possibly be able to have a small sub box made to fit on the side somewhere, but i'm not sure. The box adds 20-25 lbs behind the rear axle, not good for handling at all. I might just get the replacement KYB GR2 struts in the meantime. I drove the 90 around a bit last night and was immediately re-impressed at how well it rode. The finish on my wheels is flaking of badly. I think i'm going to swap the wheels and tires from the 90 for two reasons. The old wheels, even though mismatched and slightly different shades, don't have the finish problems. They also have the great tires i put on them, and they're 205/60s instead of 195/60s. Width helps with the ride too. If someone has a set of 15", but preferrably 16" wheels for sale, with or without tires, please contact me! 8 - 14 - 00 Due to popular demand, i've started up a section of Legacy Central devoted to the Turbo years. There aren't a lot of them out there but their owners think very highly of them, so it's only appropriate that some space be dedicated to their cars. Since i recently purchased a 93 Touring Wagon, i'm also afflicted with the Turbo bug. Also since my car is basically stock, it'll make for interesting reading and good info for those who are just getting into the mod scene. I'm going to enlist the support of the most experienced, non-reseller people i know to help you out. Shik from the i-club forums has volunteered his time and i hope others will also. I'm also going to make a registry of sorts with information on and about owners and what they do to their cars. I know there is a similar feature over at the i-club, but so what :) Stay tuned! 8 - 11 - 00 I got the Wagon! I have driven this one before, and a few other turbos, but it's really nice to drive it around town and feel the added power. Once i get above 2000 RPM and the impeller starts to spool up, torque just rushes through and it goes like stink! Having never driven a turbo 5-speed i can't be sure how it compares. I'm sure it's a tad faster, but that's OK. I have driven a 2.2 Impreza coupe 5-speed and i really disliked the amount of noise in the drivetrain. The auto is said to squelch it nicely, and in my case, it did. It'll need new struts within 10k miles, and i'm getting all of the boxes flushed soon. Go check out the pics i've taken this morning in the "My Legacy" section! 8 - 10 - 00 My hopes are all but dashed that i'll find a Turbo Sedan 5-speed local, so i'm probably going to get a Touring Wagon Auto. It's in great shape and is getting the wheel bearing installed as i speak. I've always liked the Touring Wagons because they continue the form of the sedan very stylishly. This one has a black bra on the front and the roof rack. It's got the dark interior, so i'm going to black out the windows and really make it look sleek :) Today could be that day i've been waiting for...we'll see. 8 - 7 - 00 Big news ahead! I've sold my 90L to my Aunt and have launched an all-out assault trying to find a Legacy Turbo 5-speed. There aren't a lot of them and the one that is local is very close to it's owners heart, so i have to look elsewhere. I did find one in Albuquerque, NM, in excellent condition for around $5k and 140k miles but a $160 ticket and nearly 1000 miles of driving home makes it a possibility, but i'd rather not fly down, look at the car and decide it's not what i want. So...If you have, or know of a Legacy Turbo 5-speed for sale, by all means let me know. The same goes for any Mitsubishi Galant VR-4s. While it's not a Subaru, it's still a very nice car and has everything i want. 7 - 26 - 00 I've made some MAJOR changes to the way the site will look now. Since i've long since banished FrontPage from use and now use Macromedia's excellent Dreamweaver, i have more options and easier ways to do things. You might first notice the new font. Nice, isn't it? I removed the frames from the page and am now using Templates. Every link you click on now loads a whole new page instead of a page inside a frame. It's going to take a little while to get everything ironed out but it's well worth the effort. If you like or dislike something, or find a bad/missing link just drop me a mail... 7 - 25 - 00 Well, i just went through the process of being re-added to the Subaru Webring. Some time in the past i was unlinked from them. Since it's a pretty large webring i'm hoping more people will come and see what the site has to offer. The Enthusiast Webring is smaller but has brought it's fair share of hits as well. If you've got any information you feel is important about Legacies, please mail it in to me and i'll gladly post it. I found this document recently. It's a write-up on the Subaru Legacy Turbo engine and drivetrain. Since i'm looking at getting one of these soon i was fascinated to find out how much was actually done to the engine and transmission to make it tolerate the extra horsepower and torque of the Turbo motor. Have a look! 7 - 5 - 00 I've updated the Links section with some more personal pages that you may find interesting, have a look! 7 - 3 - 00 An update so soon? Why not? My interest in Subarus has increased over the last few months and has now reached a nearly fever pitch as i patiently await the possibility of aquiring a 91 Legacy Turbo. It's owned by an aquaintance of my sister-in-law whom i can trust greatly. It's a charcoal color with tinted windows all around, 160k miles and a 5-speed. It has been religiously serviced and will soon have some work done on the front differential to cure an annoying and possibly even more costly future problem. It of course has it's share of external nicks and dents but that is to be expected. The sunroof is cracked but it has been replaced twice before. Thankfully it still works and does not leak. The thing is, he moves between wanting to sell it and not. Understandably he loves the car, but with his income he could easily purchase a newer vehicle that should be more reliable, maybe a Legacy GT 2.5 would fit him nicely :) I'll keep you updated. In other news i've found a few new and old links that i'd like to share. and a picture of copec's nice 2.5RS. He's a local guy who has the Subaru bug even more than i do! 6 - 21 - 00 Well, i'm probably going to see what it'll cost to get that stupid oil leak fixed. I'm still not sure where it's coming from but i know it's not simple, or cheap. In other news, I was surfing around some old Subaru links and came upon Teague's Auto. Teague's offers a LOT of Legacy stuff. He's currently working on a 95 FWD that he's installed an Unorthodox Underdrive pulley and custom air intake on. He reports a significant increase in acceleration and fuel mileage as a result. He's also going to begin stocking used Turbo rear Sway Bars. These are a good upgrade from the weak ones on the base and L models. Handling should be improved noticeably, especially around corners where body roll is bad. Please go check it out. 5 - 25 - 00 Hello all! Not a lot new in the Subaru scene, but i have a few things that i need to fill you in on. First off, Trey Cobb from Cobb Tuning asked me to add a link to his site. He's got a LOT of really cool stuff for Legacies, Imprezas and Forresters. The page is also well laid out and easy no navigate. Give it a look and help support the growing Subaru aftermarket! In other news, i think i'm back in the Subaru Enthusiast Webring but i'm not quite sure. I know a lot of you stumble across my page via one of these webrings so it's important for me to keep it around and up to date. Locally i've spotted a number of 2.5RS sedans, more than likely the same Silver one over and over, but i've also seen a few Legacy GT's and all i can say is wow! I honestly like the 90-94 design better because of it's squareness and masculinity, but the new 2000+ GT and GT Wagons are marvelous. With the body cladding they look much more similar to the old models than their predecessors' more rounded shapes. There is a white 93-94 Legacy Touring Wagon for sale at a local lot. It's been there for a while and i thought for sure they'd sold it, but it's popped back up again. It's asking price is $8995 so i'm going to at least look at it. This same place had a 91 Turbo some months ago but it wasn't in the best condition and had a TON of miles. Miles don't bother me if the rest of the car is in good shape. I can get a turbo unit if anything ever goes wrong, and i know the 2.2 in the Turbos is much stronger than the normally aspirated version, so i'm not very concerned about that. I'll probably take it for a drive today or tommorow. Fun! 4 - 3 - 00 I know it's been some time since i've updated, but again, i've not had a lot of news. I drove to Las Vegas again in mid-March. It was the second time for me and the second trip for my Legacy. It was much nicer this time because of the larger tires and improves suspension. While the ride was a bit rougher, it was better than bobbing over everything and being hesitant to go 90MPH. As before, i went through a lot of oil, most of it leaking from that mystery point at the front of the engine. I still haven't taken it in and had it looked at seriously by Ogden Subaru, although i really should. It seems to be getting a bit worse, and i'm tired of the smoke... If anyone knows just what causes this, it'd be of great help. It seems to be on the front driver's side (left) and right in front of the exhaust. My fan regulator went out again. I think this is the 4th time. It's also the second time it's gone out on the trip back from Vegas. I'm thinking that the fan motor is either clogged and getting too much resistance, or it's worn and is likewise causing more resistance. On a cold morning it rattles a little bit so i turn it off. I've not yet checked on the price for a new fan assembly, but i'm sure it isn't cheap. Last week's Motor Week featured a 22b STi versus some aftermarket 2.5RS tweaked with a turbo. They were very impressed at the speed and performance even with a failing clutch. The 2.5RX was faster in the 1/4 mile and 0-60 but it was much fresher than the obviously tired 22b. They also had some footage of a 2.5RS club meeting and short clips with some car owners. I've got it on video but have no way to digitally transfer it. Hopefully someone will do so and make it available. I've given up on FrontPage 98/2000 and have switched to the superior Macromedia Dreamweaver 3. It's got much less overhead and is much faster. It's not quite as secure, but i'm not concerned about that. I highly recommend it for people who are used to web design, and especially those who already use Macromedia products. It's also 1/3 the price if you're a student. 12 - 21 - 99 UPDATE! As you've probably noticed, i've mad a lot of changes to the opening page. It should load much quicker now because i've removed the Java Applets and Counter in favor of an imagemap and Local Unix-based counter. I hope this makes the page load faster for you! It's been a long time since i updated. I've done absolutely nothing to the car in a long time so i've got very little to report.My interests are concentrated elsewhere, as are my finances. I'm a computer guy and that takes a lot of time and money to maintain. In the past few months i have seen three turbos for sale and had the chance to drive one. It was a 93 Maroon Legacy Wagon. Rare indeed, but it was a cherry. 83k miles, great paint and interior. I was dying to give it a drive and really wanted to take it home with me. They were asking $10,900 for it, a reasonable price considering it's condition, but not enough to warrant trading in my car and taking on the payment for another 3-5 years. The others were red and dark grey sedans. Both had TONS of miles, easily 130-15k each, and neither were in as good of shape as mine is at the moment. Both were also Automatics and therefore i shied away from them even more. The grey one was the worst, but the cheapest at just over $4,000. Oh well... The oil leak on my Legacy continues to be a bother, but i can live with it because it burns away quickly. I'm not sure what it is but i'm not quite willing to spend $300 to have a tech rip the timing cover off and replace a $3 seal, or whatever. I've snagged a few pictures of notable Subarus i've seen around. I didn't get a pic of the Touring Wagon, but i saw a nice 2.5RS on the road and got a shot. Last weekend i was in Salt Lake City and spied a 2.5RS. It was blue and had the cool gold wheels. I whipped out the Digital camera and got a pic. I may post them, but no guarantees. Even though i don't update the site very often i do get occasional requests for information. I do handle these requests if i can. I hope that the information you find here makes it worth your while, and rest assured i'll have the page up indefinitely. Dave 8 - 16 - 99 Sorry for the lack of updates but frankly, nothing much has happened since the last post, besides the fact that FrontPage still won't cooperate. I guess i'll have to live with changing and updaing this way. Justin Brande has swapped a 2.0 Japanese spec engine in his Turbo and his site has a ton of new information of the swap and whatnot. Check it out here. The CV boot hasn't given me any trouble since and the car is running great. I need a balance and rotate but that's free and i can just stop by Big-O and have it done. I do wish i would have purchased a more performance-oriented tire but i'm satisfied with the Legacy Tour from Big-O overall. If you have a picture you'd like posted please send it in and i'll try and get it posted ;) 7 - 7 - 99 I guess I never really got FrontPage to do what I want. I may have XMission purge my ftp space so that I can repost everything. I think the problem lies in the fact that I don't know the password for the root web. Oh well, I guess I'll have to do it this way by updating then FTP'ing the .html file to the server. In other news, I had to replace my CV boot and joint. I had been hearing a tic-toc sound under acceleration and cornering but hadn't checked it out until yesterday. I found a lot of grease splattered around the strut and inside of the fender and upon closer inspection I found a tear in the CV boot. I was hopeful that the joint hadn't been damaged too much since the tear was relatively new but when I took it into the shop I found out it was damaged enough to need replacement. I ended up paying $220 for the boot, halfshaft and labor. I don't think this is a bad price and I'm sure it would have been $50-100 more at the dealership. If you ever even suspect your boot has cracked or torn, get it replaced because you might save yourself a few bucks. On a side note, I was told that the CV joints are much less expensive than they used to be, even up to 40% from 4 years ago. I don't know why this is but I would imagine the fact that more FWD cars using CV joints are finally coming of age and needing replacement. I'm sure the aftermarket is blooming and that tends to lower prices. I still love my struts but the stupid sunblocker on the passenger side has given up on me. I'm not going to replace it but rather spend a little time trying to come up with a way to keep it against the headliner. I haven't heard anything from anybody in quite a while, if you have any questions, pictures, advice or want to chat in general, please e-mail me. Oh yeah, I went through and spell checked this News page because I rarely capitalize "i" and mix letters in wierd, piece and so on... I've gotten over 2100 hits! I guess these webrings are doing good. I really hope you get something out of this site when you visit. I haven't updates as frequently as I used to but not so much is happening. 6 - 18 - 99 Long time no post, I think I finally got Frontpage to do what I need. A lot has happened since I last posted. The struts are a dream and with a 4-wheel alignment, my Legacy rides great, if not a little harsh on occasion. I would recommend them for anyone that has over 60k miles. I hear KYB has a new line of adjustable struts, interesting for those rally-minded enthusiasts for the dirt or the pavement. I had to replace my blower motor resistor again. I guess you can ignore something for a long time until you need it. Running the AC on 4 made it a little cold and loud. I went to the local dealer, Ogden Subaru, and they replaced the part for free since I had purchased one just four months earlier, cool. I have a few new pics of my car and a few sent in by a reader. Now that I can update the page easier, I think I'll add some more information. My ISP, XMission, upped the local FTP space from 10 to 50MB. Not that I could ever really fill that much but I was pushing 8 megs with all of the pictures I have. Maybe I can think of a few more things to fill the space with... 5 - 24 - 99 Well, I still haven't figured out how to use FrontPage 98, NT and a ftp site without FrontPage web extensions so I guess I'll have to do it the old way. Update a file and then use and ftp program to send it. It's ok for single file changes but when I add a lot, it's a real pain. I changed my struts on Saturday. What a difference $300 and 6 hours can make to the pocketbook, patience and a lot of dirty rags can make. I ordered the 4 KYB GR-2 struts on Wednesday and was told they'd arrive either Monday or Tuesday. Much to my surprise they were in front of my car when I woke up from a nap on Friday afternoon. I wasn't expecting this so I had to make arrangements with my brother to get the job done Saturday. With all the right tools, you only need three different sockets to remove and two to reassemble and reinstall the struts. The socket that fits your lug will also fit the lower mounting bolts and nuts and the replacement strut piston nut. It might also fit the bolt on the spring compressor if you have the same kind as I used. Anyway, we started by making sure we were using the right ones for the front and rear. It seems the rears are longer than the fronts but that's the only noticeable difference. I took some picture of this event that will be developed, eventually... Removing the lower bolts was relatively easy with a little WD-40 and a good helping of elbow grease. The top three nuts were removed and the strut assembly drops out. Next we clamped on the two spring compressors which used a long threaded bolt with a U shaped appendage and a nut with a similar setup. By turning the bolt, you bring the nut closer to the head and compress the spring. Being careful not to tighten one too much more than the other, this can be done in less than two minutes with two people. A vise comes in VERY handy at this point. With the spring compressed you simply remove the top nut and the mounting assembly, boot and bumpstop, then then spring and reassemble in the same order on the new strut. Making sure the spring fit into the strut is important. Tighten the nut, decompress the springs and reinstall. The fronts were done but the backs would prove a little harder... If you have a FWD Legacy or Impreza, this should be a breeze relative to the fronts, otherwise read on and try to understand how frustrating this could be if you do it wrong. The lower bolts on the rears point forward with the nuts on the front whereas the fronts point to the rear with the nut on the back. This isn't so bad except the lower nut cannot be removed unless the bolt is hammered partially out because of the proximity to the rear CV joint. This wasn't so bad on the drivers side but the passenger side was a pain in the @$$ and took us at least an hour and a half to pound that lower bolt out after partially removing the rear wheel hub and the caliper. The most important thing about the rears it that the top mount does NOT swivel and must be perpendicular to the car BEFORE the springs are decompressed. There are markings on the top of the mount to direct you but we didn't realize this the first time and had to do it over again. The upper nuts are a little hard to get to, and the rear seat has to be removed, but it's really more time consuming than difficult if everything goes right. I didn't break any tools or fingers and only lost one lug nut. I only swore when it was completely necessary for motivational purposes. Altogether it was a very good experience and I'm very pleased with the result. I still need to get an alignment but I don't think it's that far out. As usual, if you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me and I'll try to explain how it can be done. It really wasn't that hard, except for that one bolt...and the ride is a lot better now... 5 - 9 - 99 I haven't updated anything in several weeks for a few reasons. The big one is that I reformatted the hard drive on the system on which I maintain this page. I reinstalled Windows 98 but also installed Windows NT 4.0. For those of you who have never used NT, it is a superior operating system in most regards when compared to the Windows 9x variants. I play a lot of games and NT does not do the newer games. I used FrontPage 98 to build this page and it runs on both operating systems but I prefer NT for the important things like FrontPage and MS Office. On the more familiar side, my uncle just traded his Isuzu Trooper in for a new Subaru. I have not talked to him and I honestly don't know what model or year it is, but I am not surprised because his wife just got a Forester a few months ago and is very pleased. I hope to get some pictures within a few weeks. I am pondering the replacement of the struts on my car. They are very worn and don't do what they were designed to nearly as much as they should. I will be getting the KYB GR-2s as soon as the finances come into order. I think I need to get my rotors turned or replaced. They pulse an awful lot when braking hard. Sure that would be normal on an ABS equipped car, but mine doesn't have ABS! I can feel it grabbing and releasing while slowing to a stop light. While it isn't dangerous it does lessen the effectiveness of the brakes noticeably. This was a problem when I got the car in January so I have anticipated it. My heater blower resistor went out again and the fan only works on 4. I just replaced it two months ago. Although the part is only about $5, it shouldn't go out so soon. I'm going to check it against the one I took out before and a new one and see what exactly goes wrong. I could have an electrical problem or a problem with the blower itself creating too much resistance. We'll see. 4 - 19 - 99 I have made some significant updates to the page tonight. I moved all of the scanned reviews to the Car Reviews button on the index. There you will find all the reviews you can stand. You may notice that there is another Turbo review, I got it from Road & Track and it's very good. I also got a Motor Trend review of the an LS with a sidebar from the record setting endurance run the Legacy made back in '88 or '89. I also moved a few things around and changed some colors. Check out the Family Subes button for some pictures of the Subaru's in my family along with some information. 4 - 14 - 99 Not much going on lately. I'm still anticipating a strut upgrade. I can get a set of 4 KYB GR-2 struts for about $300 plus shipping. This is a good deal compared with the other prices from other local and specialized parts places. I do still like these Big-O tires. They're quiet and they have great traction. I have scanned in another article. This one is a comparo between the Legacy Turbo and the Mitsubishi Galant VR-4. The VR-4, for those who don't know, was essentially a Galant body with the Eclipse running gear including a 190HP turbocharged/intercooled 2.0 liter 4, AWD and get this, All-Wheel-Steering. It's quite a car, I've been lucky enough to see and sit in one or two. It's too bad they only made 3000 of them... Check the index for the article. If you haven't picked up the latest Sport Compact Car, do so. They are modifying a 2.5RS with a turbo and all kinds of cool bits. A must read for any Subaru enthusiast, and a good mag to boot! 4 - 2 - 99 I bought a set of tires today. Rather than getting the Dunlop or Bridgestone performance tires I went to the local Big-O and purchased a set of 4 Legacy Tour Plus H. These might not be quite as good as the others but there are very good benefits to purchasing these tires. They are H rated and have two water channeling grooves to combat hydroplaning. They are about 10% more expensive than a comparable tire but I get Free Rotating, Balancing and Flat Repair for the life of the tire. I and my family have owned at least half a dozen sets of their tires on cars, vans and four-wheel-drive trucks and we have been very pleased with their service and quality. For a picture of the Legacy Tour Plus H click here. Big-O has stores across the west and all of their warranties are good at all stores. More snow please! Now I need to get some KYB struts to relive my leaking original factory units... 4 - 1 - 99 I picked up my new Legacy 2.5GT today, NOT! April Fools! I have finally been inducted into the Subaru Webring. I've been waiting for about a month but it's worth the wait. I should be more hits and more people can take a look at what I have to offer. If you have a page that's Subaru related by all means apply to be on the Webring. I got one roll of film back from Seattle Filmworks through the internet. They post your pictures on a website so you can download them but they still send you the prints and a CD with them all if you desire. Not bad but you do pay for it... We got 6 inches of snow last night and today. What a way to open up the month but with a big storm. I've become convinced that a Subaru with four high-performance tires that only have a few miles left on them is still better on the snow than %90 of the rest of cars with new tires. There's no substitute for All-Wheel-Drive and a good set of tires. I counted no less than 20 Subaru's today and most of them were on the road. An Outback Sport I saw came inches away from causing an accident when he/she turned onto the street and understeered halfway into the inside lane. Don't overestimate your car, just because it's probably AWD doesn't mean it steers much better. 3 - 26 - 99 I'm still waiting on the pictures I sent to Seattle Filmworks a couple of days ago. No rush. They're sending me the prints, replacement rolls of films and all the photos on a CD as well. As I mentioned before, all of the Subaru's in my extended family were assembled two weeks ago. There are six total including mine. You may not care but I'm going to put up some information you might or might now find interesting:
A couple of things stand out as interesting. The L was obviously the most popular model of the Legacy. All of them are equipped with Automatic transmissions. Four of these were purchased used so that says the Automatic was also much more popular. Two of the earlier Legacies are FWD so Subaru did sell them when they made them. They may not have the "Beauty of All-Wheel-Drive" but they are still great in the snow... Leah's 90 and 97 Legacy are driven 70-80 miles a day. That's why there are so many miles on them. They are imminently reliable and have had regular service intervals for their entire life with only minor repairs. Impressive I am looking hard at the Dunlop D60 A2 as a replacement tire. They are much easier to get and are rated as well or better than the Bridgestone Potenza RE930. 3 - 24 - 99 I updated the car and engine pictures with some stuff I was sent through e-mail. There is some good stuff in there, take a look! If you have a good picture of your Legacy, send it on in! I finally sent in those 2 rolls of film to Seattle Filmworks. What a hassle to send them to Seattle to get them developed. It's 10 bucks a roll and they send you another roll to use and send to them. I guess I'll see how good they are and I might do it again, I guess I'll never learn... If you have any suggestions for the site feel free to let me know and I'll consider your criticism. 3 - 22 - 99 I scanned in an article from the June 1989 Car & Driver about the Legacy LS AWD. Much kinder words about the then-new Legacy than in the Turbo article. It give some good background on just how important the Legacy was for Subaru, how much of a stretch it was and how successful they were immediately. Very cool. Check it out on the index to the left. I messed around with my car today and removed the resonator from the intake system. It's the big part in the fender that looks like a black box with two tubes coming out of the top of it. I removed it after a bit of trouble getting the splashguards off and I am pleased to say that my car sounds a little better and should be a bit happier without having to suck air through that monstrosity. I'll take a picture and put it in, one of these days...:) 3 - 20 - 99 I still haven't got those pictures developed, I guess I am just a bit pissed that I have to send them to Seattle. At least it's not too far from Utah... I got some pictures and a tale of trouble from a JCSports Intake owner. I have seen a few Turbos around town, today I saw a red one, not a common color for a Subaru, much less a Turbo. I think I am going to call around and see what salvage yards have Legacies and see what they are exactly and see if I can use an parts, like a Turbo 18mm sway bar or hood and spoiler. My hood is fine but I like the scoop in the Turbo and the slick little spoiler. I guess I could go out on a limb and get some calipers and rotors but it is risky to buy those used, especially from a wrecked car. Please drop me a mail if you have an aftermarket intake because I want to get some kind of consensus as to what companies do good business and what products work. JCSports, Turn3 and Minnam Racing are the big 3 but if you have concocted your own from other parts, send me in a photo and some information and I'll post it. I have started using ICQ. If you don't know what ICQ is, get a life, or go here and find out. ICQ is a cool program that lets you chat real-time with other people and has an AOL/AOL Instant Messenger Buddy List like feature. My ICQ number is 34071936 and my nickname is DLCentral. Feel free to add me to your list and send me a message if you see me online. 3 - 14 - 99 Today I had the chance to photograph all of the Subaru's in my extended family in a single group. There are five Legacies and one Forester. We had a family gathering and we kind of organized a group shot off the cuff. It was something that I had wanted to do but never thought would happen because four are on one side and the fifth is on the other side of my family. I was as pleased as you could possibly be, much to the amazement of most people, but it was worth it... I got a few new pictures from Matt in PA that were taken at a recent get-together. 3 - 10 - 99 Not much new to talk about. I added a link to DJ's page in the Links section, duh! He has a very nice Turbo Wagon that those of us in the States can only dream of. It snowed last night and was a bit icy last night, no problem this morning though in the Legacy...If any of you have have experience with aftermarket intakes, Minnam Racing's', JCSports or Turn 3, I would be glad to hear from you. There is so much debate about the subject on Subaru Adventures' message board but little about the quality and improvement in performance or gas mileage. I'm still trying to find a good subwoofer setup, the MTX didn't seem to cut it because the sub was, well, subpar for the box. I have a JL Audio 12" at the moment in a open faced ported box. It seems to sound a bit better but I need to see if I can tune the amp to make it sound a bit better against the strained OEM speakers. 3 - 6 - 99 I resized the 22bSTi article. I went through and made the images smaller, both physically and how they display on the screen. This should make the download much faster and you need only scroll down instead of left or right as well. I just got a Rockford Fosgate 45.2 amplifier installed last night. It's running a 12" MTX sub in a bandpass box. There's more that needs to be done to the system as a whole, but it sounds respectable as it stands. 3 - 4 - 99 I just posted an old review of the Sport Sedan. It is from 1991 and it deals with the then new turbo sedan. It is critical in some places but also praises much of what the Sport Sedan represents. The car they review looks almost exactly like mine, sans the spoiler and hoodscoop of course. It has the same wheels and is the same color, too cool! I just wish I had a turbo :( 3 - 2 - 99 Not much going on right now, I just need a news set of tires. The Dunlop D40 M2's on right now are a little worn and aren't that good in the snow, in fact, they're terrible. If anyone has a recommendation for a good high performance all-season tire, please let me know. I am currently looking at the Bridgestone Potenza RE930. It looks like a high quality tire and it should do everything I want. It seems I have a leaky front main seal. Bummer. I am awaiting the Chilton's Subaru manual and I am going to see how difficult it would be to do myself. It involves removing the belts and timing belt cover as well as a few other things. This operation is about $250 at the local dealership, ouch! I really noticed it on the way down and back from Vegas. The oil leaks and then drips back onto the exhaust making a terrible mess. It only leaked about 1 quart in 1000 miles though, most of straight through. I installed a Clarion RDB345D CD player last Monday. It was a very straightforward installation. It took a few minutes to find all of the screws and a $10 wiring harness but the rest was pretty simple. I just wish I had something to fill in the 1" gap between the bottom of the stereo and the top of the pocket. It doesn't look all that bad though. If you dread replacing the stereo, let me know and I can type up some instructions. I put together a nifty little C program to calculate tire size from inputted variables. It is only a DOS program and must be run in a dos window to work properly. I don't know how to do GUI based windows programming, yet. You can find the program here, or in the Downloads section. I also compressed the Index to the left. I am used to a monitor that displays 1024x748 but I'm sure many of you use lower resolutions. 2 - 25 - 99 I just posted a picture of my car with the new wheels. It is in the "My Legacy" section. You can see to comparable pictures one on top of the other. What a difference wheels make! I had to replace the blower motor resistor today. Sometime during my Vegas trip is had gone out, leaving me with "4" as the only setting. The replacement part was $24 at Ogden Subaru. It was quite easy to replace and it works just great, all you have to do is take out the glovebox, two screws and a plug then pull the old one out and put the new one in then reverse the removal process. I need some new tires. The Dunlop's on my wheels right now are worn and are not well suited for Utah's winter climate. The Bridgestone Potenza RE930 is my lead candidate for a replacement. It has good traction and treadwear. They are rated as a high performance all-season radial. If you have any recommendations for another tire brand, please e-mail me. 2 - 22 - 99 Well, I got my wheels, finally... They look marvelous! They are used but that really doesn't bother me so much because I got a great deal on them. Changing the wheels and tires has made me realize that I need new struts. I just got back from Las Vegas yesterday. What a place! It is just so weird to see a place like that in the middle of the desert. I have a pic of my Legacy in front of a palm tree. I will have some new pics of the tree and my wheels very soon. I can replace the car on the front page with my own now...:) 2 - 17 - 99 I updated the Brakes section in the Modification area. I was planning on adding all of that stuff earlier but I got carried away...it's just so much fun doing this stuff! Please check out Subaru Adventures' "Subaru Dogs" section. It has a pic of my dog Archer and my Legacy. My wheels should be here Friday..I hope... 2 - 16 - 99 I finally replaced the sidemarker cover. I had to go to the salvage yard to get a few small clip parts. I can't wait for those wheels... Have you checked out Subaru Adventures? It has a great message board and some cool pics. You may also want to check out the Usenet group Alt.Autos.Subaru. There's a lot of very good discussion about all kinds of Subaru models. Post a question and you are sure to get an answer. If you have a dog and a Subaru, get them together, take a pic and send it on in. There's nothing like the smell of a wet dog in an automobile...yech! 2 - 15 - 99 I have made a few minor changes, mostly aesthetic and grammatical as well as a few pictures that did not work. I got the part from Ogden Subaru to replace what was damaged when I hit that dog. Luckily the part was less than $100 and it is easy to replace. The dog is OK as well. She just ran off and did not come back until the next day. I can't wait to get those wheels...My links page is updated with more links to more places, duh! I have scanned in the cool article from Car & Driver about the Subaru 22B STi. Sure it's an Impreza, but how can I resist when they call it the "Subaru from hell". It is a good article and I hope it features some technology FHI will be including with the Subaru's they send over the pond. Oh yeah, check this out if you want a used EJ20 motor for $900. My Subaru Legacy Turbo Don't know what an EJ20 is? It is a turbocharged 2.0 liter motor imported from Japan. 2 - 12 - 99 I got in a small accident yesterday will a medium sized dog. Luckily the dog should be ok and it only took out the sidemarker and signal cover. The owner of the dog will pay for the part and I can go back to worrying about more important things, like sway bars. 2 - 10 - 99 I ordered a set of used wheels and tires from Mike at SPD Tuning. It should be later next week when I see them. I hate waiting for things like that but what can I do! Mandy from PA is selling me a 18mm sway bar from his Turbo when he gets his 20mm unit. I should be looking good with new shoes and turning a little better with the bigger bar. Kewl! 2 - 5 - 99 I went in to the Q-Lube that I used to work at today. I changed the fluids in the rear differential, final drive and auto transmission. For a vehicle with nearly 90k miles, I don't think any of them have ever been changed. If they had ever been drained, it was some time ago, and they sure did need it again. There are perks with knowing the manager at a lube shop, you get great discounts (read: free) services that would cost you a lot otherwise. If you haven't changed the fluids in your boxes recently, do it, nothing is more important for the reliable operation of your AWD system than to keep clean fluid in them. |
