Chris buys a purple outback

Here she is:

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z314/987687/purpy/IMG_4471.jpg

 

I payed $900.

Has come cosmetic issues, some mechanical ones.

- The clutch slips REALLY bad. It was a bit dicey of a 85 mile drive home

- Blown head gasket, but not bad enough to overheat or anything

- And a bad RR wheel bearing. Which, I found out are unit bearings and extremely easy to replace. So that's good.

- Has a bit of rust. Nothing bad, I have pics.

 

Yesterday, I took the engine out, got the heads off, flywheel off, etc.

Heads are going to the machine shop to be surfaced.

Also, I repaired the window switches. The contacts were just burned. The switches weren't designed for the loads they see.

Then I fixed the rear gate handle. It was rusty and stuck when you pulled it. Took the whole mechanism apart. Derusted it, greased it up. And now it works mint.

 

Here are some pics:

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z314/987687/purpy/IMG_4472.jpg

 

Driver's side rust:

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z314/987687/purpy/IMG_4473.jpg

 

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z314/987687/purpy/IMG_4474.jpg

 

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z314/987687/purpy/IMG_4475.jpg

 

Pass side rust:

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z314/987687/purpy/IMG_4476.jpg

 

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z314/987687/purpy/IMG_4477.jpg

 

And this has been poorly fixed already, which is too bad. It just makes more work for me to re-fix it...

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z314/987687/purpy/IMG_4478.jpg

 

The PO not only liked to ride the clutch and abuse 3rd gear synchro, but she also liked curbs. Yummy

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z314/987687/purpy/IMG_4480.jpg

 

Has a bunch of miles, but it's the smoothest running 2.5 ever. It's quieter than the 150k 2.2 in my other legacy. All the backlight bulbs are burned out besides the one behind the top half of the speedo. Expect an LED diy...

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z314/987687/purpy/IMG_4481.jpg

 

The lump is out. It was one of the most stuck bell housings I've ever dealt with on these. Which is odd, considering the engine has been out before and one head gasket has been replaced. At least, that's what it looks like.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z314/987687/purpy/IMG_4483.jpg

 

The flywheel, not as bad as I expected. It smelled like well roasted clutch by the time I made it home.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z314/987687/purpy/IMG_4484.jpg

 

Everyone needs a pic like this, too bad it's blurry. Maybe I'll do a reshoot.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z314/987687/purpy/IMG_4487.jpg

 

LOOK AT THAT CLUTCH DUST

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z314/987687/purpy/IMG_4488.jpg

 

Pass side head gasket looks fairly new. The head wasn't stuck at all, and it didn't leave any residue on the block or head:

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z314/987687/purpy/IMG_4490.jpg

 

DS head gasket... You get the idea. Head was stuck. It's a mess to clean up.

Forgot to get pics yesterday until it got dark. And since my shop is dark and dingy, I couldn't get a good pic with it out.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z314/987687/purpy/IMG_4489.jpg

 

So that's where I'm up to now. Tomorrow I'll bring the heads to the machine shop and order all the gaskets. I already have the clutch stuff and a new oil pan, which had a fierce leak.

 

Also, when I bought the car, it had a weird stumble at idle, and threw a cyl4 misfire code. It seemed to go away cruising at rpms, though. It was really hard to tell what was going on because the clutch was so bad. I just figured it was the cracked looking ignition wires or crappy plugs, and didn't let it bother me.

Well... When I tore the engine down, not only did I find bosch platinum plugs, which my 96 really hated, bad wires.. I found. The cam gear on the driver's side was one tooth retarded. Just like the mechanic who installed it.

The arrows on the belt were facing the wrong way, too. Pretty much new WP and tensioner, the rest of the idlers are loud.

Probably did one HG, wp, and the tensioner. It probably drove more like crap after, still had problems, and they just gave up on the car.

Enjoy and good luck

 

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z314/987687/purpy/IMG_4487.jpg

 

This new engine doesn't need gas or oil, but I believe it'll need more beer:)

Enjoy your new Outback!

 

After you fix the issues, put some rims on it, slamm it and enjoy the herra frush look.

Enjoy your new Outback!

 

After you fix the issues, put some rims on it, slamm it and enjoy the herra frush look.

 

LOL :lol:

What plans do you have for it?

Fix it up, fix the rust properly. Which I've started. Forgot to take pictures of the patches I've welded so far. But they're looking good. Then it's gonna be my DD. Get me to work, haul parts home from the junk yard. Rally car service crew rig for 2.5danRS or whatever his name is on here, etc.

I already have a subaru to take apart and play with

 

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z314/987687/rallyx/void0-11.jpg

Enjoy and good luck

 

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z314/987687/purpy/IMG_4487.jpg

 

This new engine doesn't need gas or oil, but I believe it'll need more beer:)

 

:lol::lol:

Enjoy your new Outback!

 

After you fix the issues, put some rims on it, slamm it and enjoy the herra frush look.

 

Rally car service crew rig for 2.5danRS or whatever his name is on here, etc.

 

2point5GT_Dan on here since no one cars about my RS on a forum full of slammed vws... errr.. I mean Subarus.

Also, we are going to fill the back of that thing with so much junkyard crap and/or rally tools/spares.

I'm strapping the generator to the roof. That way I can just fire it up and plug the welder in whenever.

Nice write up with lots of pics, your shot in the engine bay lolz!!

I got something back from the machine shop!

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z314/987687/purpy/IMG_4501.jpg

Well, engine is in, it runs and drives!!! I had fuel rail issues that wasted a bunch of money and 4 hours of time, but I got it all sorted out. I'll updated with pictures and stuff later (tomorrow after I clean up the mess in my garage).

The car is pretty much sorted, needs a RR wheel bearing and the hood bolted back on. That's about it!

Thanks!

Ok, so I went out to the garage to look at this beauteous thing, and brought my camera back with me.

Fuel rail issue....

So I had the longblock assembled except bolting on the intake. I flipped it over to clean off the mating surface, and saw this :|

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z314/987687/purpy/IMG_4519.jpg

 

It really kinda ruined my day for a little while. It meant a 45 minute drive to Norm's, and $25 for another one. Yes, I know there are cheaper routes, but I wanted it done NOW.

I cleaned everything up, and put it all together. After everything was in the car, turn the key, and hear a weird noise... The weird noise was fuel spraying out of the fuel rail. At this point, I should mention that when I took one of the fuel rail bolts out, it took the threads with it. So I had to source a longer bolt so it could grab some un-used threads. That's another part of this that wasted my time...

It turned out that when I put the fuel rail back together, one of the top o-rings was a bit hard, and crunched out of shape when I put it together. Just friggin' fantastic. It was 4.50, I couldn't make it to napa in time. I figured out I still had a bunch of o-rings from an AC job, one of those worked. YAY.

 

I once again turned on the key with the intention of cranking with no ignition until the oil light went out. The oil light was already out. It took me another 20 minutes to track down the wiring issue.

 

In the end, it fired up right away and runs really smooth. It ran with a really loppy idle before and misfires. That would be due, in part, to the pictured injector. The driver's side cam being a tooth retarded, and a plug missing the electrode...

 

Here's how the car sits now. Just needs the RR wheel bearing done (I have the parts), and the hood bolted one. It should be sorted by the end of tomorrow

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z314/987687/purpy/IMG_4521.jpg

1. It's not purple, it's Winestone Pearl!

2. Great job, man! Looks like you are having fun and you know what you're doing.

3. If I may, I would like to invite you to join Factory3rd on FaceBook, if you have an account there. It's a pretty active page with 100+ 3rd gen legacy members and a few other gens! You are more than welcome to share your knowledge there and keep us updated with your work! We will be glad to be your audience

Good luck with your project!

...damn I wish I had a garage...

 

Looks like an awesome project that you're progressing well on!

It's nice having a garage!! It's wicked cramped, but it's insulated, so my little propane heater keeps it at a bearable temperature. It's below freezing today, so it's definitely nice.

 

I replaced the wheel bearing today. Not a job I'd want to do again in a hurry. When the guys at FHI were sitting around, I think they decided to make it as difficult as possible to get to the rear caliper bracket bolts. Overall, it wasn't a terrible job, though.

 

I drove it another 10 miles today, it's running and driving great, I'm really happy. Tomorrow or Friday, I'll get it insured and registered.

 

Disclaimer... Before someone rants at me for driving an uninsured vehicle, consider where I live... In the middle of nowhere in Maine, I drive on roads where I'm unlikely to see another car

 

Izzy: I'll definitely check it out!

EDIT: I can't find the page on facebook, just a forum? I'm bad at the whole facebook thing. hah.

So the PO had screwed up paperwork. When I tried to register it, turns out the car isn't mine. It doesn't even technically belong to the guy I bought it from.

So now I have to drive 2 hours south, deal with him, spend probably $100 in fees and lots of money and time driving, and wait a month for title paperwork to be processed. This is best case scenario.

 

And I'm stuck driving everywhere in my lifted GL until this crap goes through....

So I finally got around to fixing the fuel rail leak, drove it around a bit, and it's all fine.

And the couple I bought it from dropped the title in the mail today!!!! Which is sweet, I'll most likely have it by Monday, which is fine. My town office isn't open on Mondays anyway, so it'll be Tuesday before I can register it regardless.

So I got the car registered and stuff today. Which is awesome. I went for a ride to fill it up with gas and just drive it around.

It's gonna need front brakes at some point, feels like there's some air in the system.

It needs another damn back wheel bearing.

It runs and drives awesome and perfectly straight.

It already threw a p0420 code, but I don't care because I'm not in cumby county.

Within the first 10 miles of driving it, the hydraulic clutch system failed.

I have no idea why it failed, but I have the old master/slave from dan's rs. I bench bled that system and installed it. Apparently the outback is more fat and bloated than a 2.5rs, because the hardline was too short. I bent it a bit and ziptied the mount on. It works again... Stupid subarus.

Hey, when you get at the brakes please let me know how they react. I got newer pads and rotors. New master cylinder bench bled, and bled out brakes. Still got more play than i would like

It should be pretty firm, start braking right as you start pushing the pedal down.

You did it properly by bench bleeding the MC. You have to bleed the brakes kind a lot to get all the air out of the ABS crap.

Did you replace the rubber hoses? When they get old, they can expand a little causing the brakes to be mushy.