The Kid's 2005 LGT Wagon Build

I never really properly introduced myself here on the forums, but it's been of great help while I've owned my car, so I figured I'd start a build thread to share a little bit about my car and as a way for me to keep track as I go. Anyway, my name's Nick, I'm 21, and the owner of a Regal Blue Pearl 2005 Legacy GT Wagon Limited with a 5mt. From the moment I was able to work I got a job and began saving for a car of my own, originally I wanted an STI, but after looking into insurance at $300 a month I was dreaming.. Having been taught to drive in a subaru and being a skier I knew I wanted a subaru, so I kept my eye out for a WRX. By the time I was 17, my grandpa was looking to get a new car and I ended up buying his 2006 Legacy Wagon 2.5i Limited. Long story short, I ended up finding this forum as I was putting a stereo in that car and used the walkthrough for the JDM double din kit. I spent a little too much time on the forum, and having wanted a wrx and a manual car from the start I ended up selling my car to my parents and purchasing my 2005 LGT wagon after a few months of searching and finally finding one locally. Took a little bit of persuasion, but my dad and I went out and test drove it and I loved it. I picked her up with 77k miles on the clock, all the services done, new tires, brakes, and clutch, and mostly stock. I've consistently worked on her here and there over the last year or so, and every bit of work I've done or parts I've bought have been with my own money, so needless to say this is my baby. So without further ado, here is the current part list:

 

Engine:

-Cobb AccessPORT v3

-VF52

-GrimmSpeed Turbo Heat Shield

-GrimmSpeed Top Mount Intercooler (Thermal Coated) with Splitter

-GrimmSpeed Electronic Boost Control Solenoid 3 Port

-GrimmSpeed Intake

-GrimmSpeed Uppipe with Tial MV-S (38mm) External Wastegate

-Cobb Adjustable Wastegate Bracket

-CNT Downpipe

-Greddy SP2 Wagon Exhaust

-Koyo All Aluminum Racing Radiator

-Perrin Turbo Inlet

-GrimmSpeed Radiator Shroud Black

-GrimmSpeed Alternator Shroud Black

-DW65c Fuel Pump

-Injector Dynamic 1000's Fuel Injectors

-IAG Top Feed TGV Deletes Anodized Black

-IAG Fuel Rails Anodized Black

-IAG Turbo Oil Feed and AVCS Line

 

Transmission:

-Spec Stage 3+ Clutch

-Spec Lightweight Flywheel

-Cobb Short Shrow Shifter

-Cobb 5mt front shifter bushings

-Cobb rear shifter bushings

 

Interior:

-Redline Short Throw Shift Boot/Ebrake Boot

-Race Red Cobb 5mt Shift Knob

-2008 Spec B Interior with Rear Wagon Seat Reupholstered to Match

-Full Black Interior Swap

-WRX Pedals with Prosport dead pedal

-DAMD D Shaped Steering Wheel with Red Stitching

 

Exterior:

-Subaru JDM Rev A-C Spec B bumper

-Subaru JDM Rev D-F S402 Honeycomb Grille

-Subaru JDM Spats (Front and Rear)

-Subaru JDM Sti Lip

-Subaru JDM Rev D-F Wagon Tail Lights

-TRS 6k Retrofit Low Beams

-TRS 6k Fogs

-Cleared and Blacked Out Headlights W/Diode Dynamic Switchback Turn Signal

-Debaged Trunk

-Tinted Windows

-18x8 +45 Enkei Raijin Wheels with 225/40 Michelin

-Hella Supertones

 

Suspension/Brakes

-2004 STI Brembos (Front and Rear)

-DBA T3 ClubSpec 4000 Series Slotted Rotors (Front and Rear)

-Hawk HPS 5.0 Pads (Front and Rear)

-Stoptech Front Braided SS Brake Lines

-Legacy Specific Rear Braided SS Brake Lines

-Grimmspeed Master Cylinder Brace

-Perrin 25mm Front Sway

-Perrin 25mm Rear

-Perrin Polyurethane Endlinks

-AVO Rear Sway Reinforcement Brackets

-Swift Wagon Springs

-Koni Sport Struts

-Whiteline Roll Center and Bump Steer Kit KCA313

 

 

I went out and took a few photos today, but it was getting dark and I didn't get that many great shots. But here's a few for now and I plan to take a bunch more of the car and the work I'm doing.

Nice! welcome!

You're car is starting to sound a lot like mine. Couple different brands here or there and a little different progress. Clearly I like your style and performance mods. I approve. Thumbs up!

Minus a few things and you and I have the same car but I am twice your age, lol. But this is my 4th Subaru. They are addictive.

 

Something to be said about hard work and earning your own. Congrats on the Leggy, keep up the good build.

 

What did you do for your led blinker setup? Did you wire the inline resistors or do the relay swap? Also did you do your heads with a heat gun or bake them?

Wagons FTW!

Minus a few things and you and I have the same car but I am twice your age, lol. But this is my 4th Subaru. They are addictive.

 

Something to be said about hard work and earning your own. Congrats on the Leggy, keep up the good build.

 

What did you do for your led blinker setup? Did you wire the inline resistors or do the relay swap? Also did you do your heads with a heat gun or bake them?

 

Thanks! As for my blinker, I went with the the relay swap. Didn't want to splice into a wire if I didn't have to and it's been great using the resistor so far! I actually took my headlights apart twice since I blacked out the housing before doing the retrofit, the first time I used a heat gun and the second time I baked them. I highly recommend baking them, it makes the job much easier and takes a quarter of the time. If you pull you headlights apart, definitely reseal them, I scrapped out all the old sealant, and used rubber butyl that comes in a roll and can be found at any auto store.

It's been a busy couple of weeks, I installed my TRS retrofit and wasn't able to get them to turn out, figured out it was a faulty harness, thanks to Scott (IDRVSLO) for all his help, highly recommend his service. If you're thinking about doing anything headlight related, Scott is a great resource for doing so, he fully backs up his product and does some amazing work. I had the bumper of the car for awhile waiting for the fog light bulbs to come, in the mean time I decided to try and clean up my headlight lenses using the mothers restoration kit. My headlights weren't too bad to begin with, but it certainly cleaned them up and made them look good as new!

 

I found a good deal on some swift wagon springs from a local member last month planning to pair them with some koni struts. I bought some perrin endlinks from a local member last month, scored a 25mm perrin front bar and AVO rear reinforcement brackets on black friday, and found a perrin 25mm rear from a member on here. Just started going at it, wasn't too bad of an install until I had to remove the bolts and nuts holding the y-pipe to the muffler, those things were rusted into one piece... I tried PB plaster to no avail, but ended up taking it to a muffler shop just to get the bolts off. Took me two days for the install, but definitely an amazing upgrade for these cars!

Headlights look good! Glad to see you're getting the car all dialed in.

Headlights look good! Glad to see you're getting the car all dialed in.

 

Thanks! Definitely getting it a little more dialed in, it's safe to say I have caught a bit of the mod bug...

Wagons FTW!

 

Hell yeah, wagon mafia! I saw you finally got one yourself, looks like a rad wagon, hope you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed mine!

It's been fun for a day so far. About to cruise up to some snow.

Very nice wagon!!!

Looks great, I gotta do my headlights

First thing I did was the Mother's kit - works wonders

 

Thanks for the butyl tip, I will look for it.

 

Did you do the Diode Dynamics Relay? Or this one?

 

Hell, while I am at it, which bulbs, lol?

Forgive the potential noob question, but are your foglights HIDs also? If not, which bulbs did you use to match the color of the headlights? I'd love to do HIDs someday, but I like the look of having all lights up front be the same color. Any info you have would be great. And if you don't mind me asking, how much did the whole retrofit (headlights + fogs) cost?

Damn, thats actually the combo that I wanted but couldnt find! Ended up with an RBP sedan. Love the look, good job

First thing I did was the Mother's kit - works wonders

 

Thanks for the butyl tip, I will look for it.

 

Did you do the Diode Dynamics Relay? Or this one?

 

Hell, while I am at it, which bulbs, lol?

 

I wasn't joking around about the mothers kit! Haha. The butyl comes in a rubber roll, and you can kind of stretch/thin it out and lay it into the groove of the headlight housing to seal it back up. I personally used the Diode Dynamic relay since I ordered there switchback bulbs. And so far no complaints, I love how the corners light up the color of my headlights and blink amber when the turn signal is in use. Let me know if you have any more questions!

 

 

Forgive the potential noob question, but are your foglights HIDs also? If not, which bulbs did you use to match the color of the headlights? I'd love to do HIDs someday, but I like the look of having all lights up front be the same color. Any info you have would be great. And if you don't mind me asking, how much did the whole retrofit (headlights + fogs) cost?

 

No worries! And yes, the fog lights are also HID bulbs, I know there is the whole debate about HID fogs being pointless but as you said, I wanted the headlights and fog lights to be the same color. All together with the fog lights, the retrofit was $430ish.

Damn, thats actually the combo that I wanted but couldnt find! Ended up with an RBP sedan. Love the look, good job

 

I searched so long for a Limited wagon with a 5mt... I was originally hoping for black leather, but this popped up and I couldn't pass on it, not to mention it was local. And I actually like the tan interior a little bit better anyway.

No worries! And yes, the fog lights are also HID bulbs, I know there is the whole debate about HID fogs being pointless but as you said, I wanted the headlights and fog lights to be the same color. All together with the fog lights, the retrofit was $430ish.

 

Did you do the retrofit yourself? If so, was it a lot of work? Sorry for all the questions haha, but it looks good, and I've been thinking of doing HIDs eventually also.

I had a little bit of help from Scott, but did most of the work myself with some help from my dad. And honestly it wasn't too much work, just take your time and be patient and you shouldn't have a hard time.

Yeah that's what I figured. Not too difficult, just a bit of patience and time to get it done. Thanks for the info!

Yeah that's what I figured. Not too difficult, just a bit of patience and time to get it done. Thanks for the info!

 

No problem! Let me know if you have anymore questions, feel free to shoot me a PM. I'm loving the output of these lights, great investment.

A little update of what's been happening over the last week. My koni's showed up last friday and I'm just getting everything all in line to hopefully do the install this weekend if I have sunday off of work. Also, my JDM double din dash kit which I purchased from a fellow member showed up, looks flawless! I already have a pioneer double din unit with nav, so just need to round up all the speakers, amps, and sub. I'll be keeping this updated with pictures as I go!

Installed my Koni/Swift today! Ride and height of the car are phenominal, very thrilled with the results. Pictures to come!

I like to see younger people buying these cars over the imprezas. Really dont see a legacy as a young person car. Im 20 and have my obxt and i always get asked why i didnt get a wrx wagon.