1997 Legacy L wagon project

I've grown up with Subaru's in the family but this is the first I've actually owned. I found it on Craigslist listed for $3,600. Eventually talked him down to 2,800 and I bought it. I'm the second owner of the vehicle and it's been extremely well maintained with all of documentation to prove it. It's a 1997 Legacy L wagon with a EJ22E motor. 140,000 miles and counting! I have seen some awesome rides on the forum and can't wait to begin working on the wagon. I will post some pictures of my current set up and I'll keep updating the thread as I make changes. I've put together a list below of current and future modifications I have planned.

 

Future/Completed Upgrades:

 

Durlast Gold 750 CCA battery(DONE)

Hybrid intake(DONE)

K&N air filter

MSD Coil pack

NGK Platinum spark plugs(DONE)

Lightweight pulleys

CosmoRacing short shifter - Piece of shit. Don't buy. Please don't buy.

Prothane shifter bushings(DONE)

Prothane shift stablizer bushing(DONE)

Duralast lower ball joints(DONE)

Duralast outer tie-rod ends(DONE)

Weighted shift knob

RedlineGoods shift/parking boot

2-1/4" custom exhaust(GETTING QUOTE / NEXT MOD)

Duralast gold ceramic brake pads(DONE)

Duralast rotors(DONE)

Front strut support bar

Rear strut support bar

15%/20% Window tint(Next)

Aftermarket Fog Lights(DONE)

LED strips under the dash and rear seats(DONE)

Sand blast/gold powder coat stock 14" wheels for winter

New Goodyear all weather tires(DONE)

 

http://i46.tinypic.com/b5fdwx.jpg

^ Over all a very clean car. Some hail damage on the roof and hood. I'm looking for a GT hood with scoop to swap out my stock one.

http://www.thestove.net/images/car6.jpg

^ 14" stock rims :/ - Thinking about using these as my winter tires and getting some nicer 16"s for summer.

http://i49.tinypic.com/l85es.jpg

^ Took off the belt guard and sanded off all the rust and painted. Added a custom upper intake tube connected to the stock air filter box at the moment.

http://www.thestove.net/images/car2.jpg

^ The interior is super clean. I'm going to add a short shifter, new shift and parking boot, and a new knob.

http://www.thestove.net/images/car3.jpg

^ Eventually I would like a roof rack. Makes it a lot easier to travel with all my gear.

http://www.thestove.net/images/car4.jpg

^ I installed new fog lights but I am looking for a JDM front bumper with more aggressive over sized fog lights. Any suggestions?

anyone out there?

nice scoob! wheres that hole in the wall ski area, looks like my home hill here in SE Mich, and a roofrack would be nice for gear

Cant wait to see what you do with it. I got a 1998 legacy gt. I just started working on it too. just got done with my car payments so finally can start focusing on mods.

Freedom - Your wagon is pretty much exactly where I want mine. Bumper swaps, tint, set of nice summer wheels and tires. I'm in the process of finishing up payments on it as well. Pretty much every check I get I find a small thing to upgrade or sock some away to save up for something big. I'm was thrilled when I found the market place on here. AWESOME parts for sale. Super excited to get some stuff.

 

Thannks MichiganSoob - Yea.. that resort is in Weston Missouri. It's an hour and a half from my home town in Kansas. http://www.skisnowcreek.com It's the closest thing to make some turns on and being someone who is so obsessed with snowboarding I'm very grateful for it.

 

Taylorbailey2 - I'm still making payments on mine (within the family not a bank) So since my payments are low I'm still socking away a bit every check for mods. Super excited to get started.

**Update**

 

Just changed my valve cover gaskets and grommets. First time I've gotten to take a look inside the engine and see how well it was reallllllyyyyyy maintained. I'm so happy with the results. It looks sooooo clean inside. No gunk, no sludge, no buildup what so ever.

 

http://www.thestove.net/images/valve.jpg

 

Also just put in a new Duralast Gold battery. 650 CCA. The battery in the vehicle was the original!!!! 15 years old.. can you believe that? It still worked too.. The sides were starting to bulge and there was a lot of corrosion built up on the terminals. Thus the reason I replaced it. Subaru knows how to make one hell of a battery..

My duracrap battery lasted 2.5 years.

Mmm, clean valve covers.

Well Baddog I happen to be a manager at Autozone so I ended up getting the DLG battery for $34.99 as a "used" battery. It's only a few months old so even if it only lasts 2.5 years it would still be worth the money I paid for it haha.

 

I guess you could say I skimped out on the Optima :/ - They are awesome batteries but I just didn't want to pay full price lol.

i've had my red top for 3 years now and it is just as good as it was the day I bought it. a good grounding kit made, and better terminals help the life of the battery. easy flow = less stress on the battery

 

-B

See I feel like there is contradictory evidence on almost any battery and any brand. I've had fantastic luck with a 1 year warrantied battery just like I have with a 3+ year or a prorated battery. The duralast batteries have always been a "decent" battery for me. Provide me with a few more years of my car not dying. I have seen the red top batteries go bad fast and have to be dealt with just like any other cheaper battery.

 

Part of me wants to think your situation Freedom has to do with your climate and where you live. Do you agree? Seems like you've tried every battery brand under the sun!

 

While I'm aware Duralast batteries and even Optima's aren't the best battery. It's still a good deal for what I pay for them They are all made in mexico anyways..

New pads and rotors in the front.

 

http://www.thestove.net/images/rotor1.jpg

^My buddies dog hanging out why we finish work on the car.

 

http://www.thestove.net/images/rotor2.jpg

^Nice and clean New painted calipers are next.

 

http://www.thestove.net/images/wheel.jpg

Exactly the same situation for me. Squeaking and a bit of shimmy/play when braking hard. Took them off and had like 75% of pad left, just crappy pads. Being from Autozone i put on Duralast Gold ceramics. Just left a brake training class a few days ago for work. They explained how the new DLG pads have changed. Bosch developed them and they are super quiet with exact OEM design. Made in small batches so the braking material mix is consistent. They are much improved over the old DLG formula. So far so good. All I care about is the lifetime warranty though.

 

Also just added Sylvania Silverstar Ultra headlights. In combination with my fog lights I loveeeeee the end product. I can see soooo far down the highway and country roads. I'll post a pic soon.

snow in missouri damn yeah here in michigan we have lots of places especially Up North im subscribed i want to see where this wagon goes

I went ahead and did a little interior accessory lighting. Went with the blue LED's and wired up a blue LED switch to control it all. I have 2 more to add for the rear seats as well.

 

I'm trying to be careful about not.. ricing out anything.. I hope this doesn't cross that line. I think it looks pretty nice.

 

What do you guys think?

 

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/580435_3083456404068_1193580071_32318349_992059328_n.jpg

 

http://i42.tinypic.com/dp72mq.jpg

Where's the switch? Cool! I may have to do this. How did you wire them in?

Where's the switch? Cool! I may have to do this. How did you wire them in?

 

First I ran a positive and negative wire into the cabin from the battery through the firewall. In particular I used the little rubber grommet about half way down the firewall on the drivers side.

 

If you look at the top left corner of the first image you will see part of a switch. I drilled a hole through and have the switches for my fog lights and interior lighting flush out of the plastic there.

 

Since I work at Autozone I just snagged a few 14" blue LED strips. I think they are around $25-$30 for two. I have four all together. I plan on wiring the other two for in front of the rear seats

 

Each light has a positive and negative wire coming off of it. You need to combine the positives for all of your wires separately and the negatives as well. They all need to connect to your three pronged switch. One prong is for your power coming straight off the battery. One prong is for the combined positive cables from all your lights. And one prong is for the negative coming straight off the battery as well as the negative wires from the lights.

 

ex. http://contentinfo.autozone.com/znetcs/additional-prod-images/en/US/drm/85910/2/image/2/

 

All in all it took me about.. 3 hours to mount everything and make it look nice.

I've took a few decent photos. Not the best lighting and the car wasn't even washed but I needed some better ones!

 

http://www.thestove.net/images/edit1.jpg

 

http://www.thestove.net/images/edit2.jpg

 

http://www.thestove.net/images/edit3.jpg

 

http://www.thestove.net/images/edit4.jpg

Good looking project.....

Looks good! That bumper is begging for some JDM fogs.

Looks good! That bumper is begging for some JDM fogs.

 

I would need a JDM bumper swap to fit in the JDM fog lights right? They don't fit into those dark grills on the outside of the bumper If I remove them do they?

 

I just ordered a Ralco RZ short shifter and Energy Suspension shift bushings to replace my stock unit that has tons of play. Hopefully it will stiffen and shorten things up quite a bit. I'll make sure and post some pictures and reviews next week when I get everything in.

dAMN nice wagon. Keep at it

Found a guy from craigslist in Kansas City parting out his '97 Legacy Sedan. Getting a ton of great stuff for cheap in good condition. He's gutted the interior and most of the exterior for a rally build project. He posted the whole gutted list for $300 - I don't quite have that cash to drop at the moment so I've made a list.

 

• Driver & passenger head lights
  
• Driver & passenger seat belts
  
• Front OEM grill
  
• Bag of misc. panel retainers and clips
  

He quoted me $100 for the parts listed above. What else do you think I should snag considering my interior is in pretty damn good condition and his car is a sedan so not all the body features will fit. I'm picking up the parts in a week.

Went ahead and picked up the stuff I had listed above from KC. Got the seat belt installed as well as the polyurethane shift bushings and a new drivers side power window switch. Here are a few images from the work.

 

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/538812_3283205157662_1193580071_32398079_1595695924_n.jpg

Old seat belt ^^ Major issues.

 

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/543707_3283204397643_1193580071_32398076_1993226521_n.jpg

The parts ^

 

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/551177_3283204757652_472704547_n.jpg

Installing the new belt ^

 

All in all it wasn't too bad, but I've ordered another part from Subaru to end the play I still have in the shifter. It almost looks like a u-joint for the shifter arm below the vehicle, but after reading lots of forum posts about it I've decided it definitely needs to be replaced. Cost me $60 for the part and I will go ahead an order a new poly rear mount as well. In combination with a new short shifter, it should feel like a new car!

Man I wish people out here had legacys....just a lot of civics and such.