Kookookachew Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 Hey guys, I've been on here for quite awhile since I got my '06 LGT, but now that I've got a project car thats not my DD and can actually fiddle with it, I can finally do enough stuff to make a build thread!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kookookachew Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 So, here she is, a 1993 Legacy L, started life in Colorado as a nice, normal, average Legacy sedan with a 2.2L and 4EAT. However, the previous owners have taken there toll, and I've got a chance to step in and rescue this poor Subie. Here are some pics of when I first got my hands on it. It had been sitting in a parking lot of my college in Northern NY for about 1 1/2 years. This whole time the passenger window was down about 2 inches, and the front and rear windshields were leaking badly. This created about 2 inches of water and ice, yes I said ice, accumulation on the floor, along with massive amounts of mold, and a smell that was a mix between mold, and rotten trash-juice. Anyway heres the pics... http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0449_zps318633b1.jpg http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0450_zpsed71a088.jpg http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0451_zps1f3b58ae.jpg http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0452_zpsfd79973a.jpg http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0453_zps23461d3c.jpg http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0454_zps5abeb52a.jpg http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0456_zps83b753b3.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kookookachew Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 So, to start out with, I cleaned all of the crap that the PO had left in the car. Seems he was using it as a storage container for his forgotten trash... It actually took me 3 carloads of garbage to the dumpsters just to get rid of his old stuff. This included: Boxes, bean-bag chair, sleeping bag, easter basket, travel books of the U.S, a broken DVD player, 2 very gross V8 juice containers, and countless other misc. things that were just generally gross. http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0457_zps917c850b.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kookookachew Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 Once the majority of the old stuff had been cleaned out, I worked on checking the car mechanically... From a quick inspection everything looked great! Clean fluids all topped up everywhere... New looking CV shafts, very little, and I honestly mean very little rust. I guess coming from Colorado really helped it out... So after checking fluids I checked for power, I didnt think there was any since none of the interior lights lit up. But upon inserting the key, I had power! tried starting it, but it only had enough juice to "click". So a quick jump-start later it was running like a champ! I removed the jump vehicle, put it into drive, and drove out of the spot... No issues whatsoever... Heres a pic of the car freshly out of its spot in over a year... And then one of it at out Car clubs shop where I vacuumed it out to help a little with the gross-ness and then the last one is in the parking lot of my residence on campus. I live in what Clarkson calls the "Townhouses". http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0459_zps2232e0d8.jpg http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0460_zps0b09f545.jpg http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0461_zpsb74f8d7f.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kookookachew Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 On the next chance I got I decided to take the leap and scrap the existing disgusting interior, and boy am I glad I did... Not only was EVERYHTING moldy, but the seats werent original, and the rear bench was actually out of a wagon, which didnt fit, and didnt latch... So I pulled out the seats, pulled out the vomit-inducing carpet, and whatever else I could. Along with scraping up the original sound-deadening material that was supposed to be glued to the floor, but with all of the moisture had just soaked up the smell and given up on adhesion. Here are a few pics, you can see how gross it was, unfortunately I forget to take a whole-interior shot with the sound-deadening scraped up... http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0463_zps37bd68ef.jpg http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0465_zps15c1936e.jpg http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0466_zps728ff337.jpg http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0467_zpsebd9edd1.jpg http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0468_zpsd777f75d.jpg http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0469_zpsbbfa5610.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kookookachew Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 Now that the interior was out and the smell inside was bearable again, I began to tackle the electrical issues... When I got it the dome light, map lights, dash lights, horn, rear defrost, power mirrors, and power windows were all in-op... Everything but the power mirrors and windows was due to blown fuses. This was caused by perhaps the poorest jobs I've ever seen done on installing an aftermarket stereo. The wires were cut from the original harness instead of using an adapter, and then just twisted together with no tape... Eventually the wires grounded out and blew all of the fuses.... I set out cutting and re-crimping with electrical tape all of the stereo wires and now upon replacing the fuses all of those electrical circuits work great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kookookachew Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 The power windows were even easier to fix, and the power mirrors... Well, I'll get to those... Here shows a pciture of exactly what went wrong. On 1st gen Legacys there is a circuit breaker and Relay mounted under the drivers seat, under the carpet, and under a metal plate bolted to the car. As you can see, the wires attached to the CB had become corroded and come loose. This issue was quickly resolved and then the power windows began to work, although slow and weak... http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0473_zpsfb19a86d.jpg http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0471_zpsc550901c.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kookookachew Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 As for the power mirrors... When I got the car the passenger side mirror had been broken off by presumably someone in the parking lot since it was just sitting on the hood.... And I couldn't figure out for the life of me why the driver's side mirror wouldn't work... Well I eventually gave up and went to adjust the glass by hand, when I discovered the problem... As I pushed lightly on the mirror to adjust the glass it just fell off.... Apparently that mirror had been broken off before and just glued back on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kookookachew Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 Lots of pictures soon to come! I managed to acquire a massive amount of great stuff from the U-Pull-U-Save in East Syracuse, NY... Actually I managed the passenger taillight and center piece, passenger front turn signal, MAF sensor, door panel pockets and speaker grills, a complete set of seat-belts, rear quarter window trims, front windshield trim, both power mirrors, a factory amp+sub out of a 3rd gen Legacy, an entire leather interior in perfect condition from a '99 Legacy GT including carpet, tweeters, and premium speakers, and a rare information center from a forester that I want to try and retro-fit, all for $71.50!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobydoo73 Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 Thats a lot of work but for a low rust chassis, worth it in my opinion. It makes me sad to see people doing stuff like cutting up that door panel to put a wrong size speaker in....looking forward to seeing it restored to former glory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hemingway Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 Great work so far ... thanks for the write up! Keep us informed ... love to see a good car restored to its former glory (or even better). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kookookachew Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 Thats a lot of work but for a low rust chassis, worth it in my opinion. It makes me sad to see people doing stuff like cutting up that door panel to put a wrong size speaker in....looking forward to seeing it restored to former glory. Yeah, it is nice to see an older Subaru almost rust-free. And although it is alot of work, I'm not too worried, I've actually been wanting a project car for quite a while, something I can work on and not have to worry about messing with my DD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kookookachew Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 Did some more work today, will be back on it after dinner settles So, I pulled the drivers seat back out, and then used laquer thinner to clean and prep the floors and began to prime them. After the primer was dry I laid down a few coats of rubberized undercoating to help insulate and sound-proof a bit since I had to scrape up the original sound-deadening. While that was drying I replaced the knock sensor, cleaned the MAF sensor and put in some new NGK plugs. Before it was definitely not running correctly because it would idle around 550 rpm and very rough, and also had no power and sounded like it was running on 3.5 cylinders... After I pulled the knock sensor I could clearly see why... http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0518_zps2e5a84cd.jpg Once the undercoating is done drying I can swap out the seat belts for some new ones out of another 1st gen that aren't moldy and disgusting, and then the new carpet and leather seats can go in. Eventually I plan on going back to the junkyard and getting seat belts out of a 2nd gen that will match the new leather seats and then I'll have manual seat belts instead of the problem prone automatic ones... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiyo1990 Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 You sir are going off on this car. I cant wait to see more pics and follow your progress Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kookookachew Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 Haha thanks! I really am excited to have a project to work on again, after I sold my '99 OBW and got the '06 I was a little saddened because there was only soo much to do on the LGT without spending big bucks... With this car there is so much to do, and so much potential. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiyo1990 Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 I completely understand you there. I myself gotta work on a mustang but am loving building up the legacy. What's the next step on the 93? And where the heck do you find those engine covera Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shwagon Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 love this m a proud owner of a 93 as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kookookachew Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 ...And where the heck do you find those engine covera Haha well, this car came with its original cover, I still have the badge for it too, just fell off after the PO re-glued it after painting it red. I will be re-painting the cover myself, but not sure if I want to go back to black or do something more interesting. I've seen a few on the cars at the junkyards though... So you could always try there, or if theres one at the junkyard the next time I go I can pick you up one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kookookachew Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 Also... Much work was did last night! In fact I got soo wrapped up in working on the car I forgot to go to bed, and it didn't roll back out of the garage till about 7:30 this morning First I was still waiting on the rubberized undercoating to dry, so I took off the old broken mirrors... http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0503_zpscaf8bbe5.jpg And replaced them with nice working units that even properly fold in! After that was done I took out the Walmart special door speakers from the front and put in a nice set of the original Subaru premium speakers, cleaned up the mess of wiring, and then threw on the door pockets and speaker grills I grabbed form the junkyard. The color doesn't match, but I'll get to fixing that at some point. After the doors were done the under-coating STILL wasn't dry so I set to work on the tail lights. I replaced the broken center piece with the junkyard unit and new bulbs, and then set to work on the quarter panel with a sledgehammer and a mallet... Once I got the panel knocked out enough I was able to fit the replacement taillight in, it still needs a good bit of work back there, but its legal now and when the weather warms up a bit, I'll set out on doing some real body work. After I finished that the taillights was able to get back inside and pull the old, disgusting moldy seat belts. I installed the junk yard ones that are more worn unfortunately, but at least usable. Once the seatbelts were in I finally got down to the tricky part, fitting in the carpet... I was both surprised and not when I fit the carpet from the '99 in... It fit surprisingly well, with many of the holes cut in it in exactly the right spots... However it did take soem trimming where the seat belt retractors come out of the floor and also around the center console area where the seatbelt retractors are located there. Unfortunately I did trim a bit too much off of the center and so there is a spot where you can see the edge of the carpet at the rear of the center console, but everything else went perfectly. I will probably rectify the carpet issue by throwing in one of those large carpeted floor mats that goes over the center "hump" and I can tuck it under the center console. Once the carpet was in I thoroughly vacuumed it and installed all of the trim pieces, which went on well, and matched up with the carpet almost exactly. Then came the most anticipated part... I installed the rear seat first, which went on perfectly and works great. The original seat to the car was non-folding so had to pull the steel bar the ran along the center of the gap behind the seat, but not even a concern. Its even better then the replacement seat the PO had thrown in since he had thrown one in out of a wagon that didn't fit correctly, and didn't latch either... After the rear seat I bolted in the front ones, with the only extra step being swapping out the buckles so that the seat-belts will latch. I also installed the factory under-seat sub from a '01 Outback while I was installing the passenger seat, but I have yet to wire it up. Next went the center console and then I was done! Now the car is completely legal, with all of the lights working properly, it runs like new, and the interior is not only pleasant to be in again, but is actually very luxurious and comfortable with the nice leather seats! And, as most people will probably just skip to the pics... Here you go! Undercoating in... http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0523_zps5312320e.jpg http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0527_zps5bda1de1.jpg Door panel pockets and speaker grills... http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0533_zps9ce5e7e4.jpg Seats!!! http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0534_zps889aa5f6.jpg http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0536_zps7e4dada8.jpg http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0537_zpsfccb2dc5.jpg http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0538_zpsb3daaa7c.jpg Taillight pieces installed, and looking much better.... http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0540_zpsb5a83f0d.jpg Front turn signal installed to replace smashed one... http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af213/ClarksonSportsCarClub/IMG_0541_zpscc8bbd7a.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hemingway Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Amazing work so far ... what an improvement ... especially the seats ... sweet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiyo1990 Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 You did a quite bit. I enjoy reading it, and glad to see it back on road. I cant wait to see whats up next Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kookookachew Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 Thanks guys, and yeah, its been quite the transformation. I didn't even want to get in it before, and now its so nice to be in and drive that I dont want to get out Progress will probably slow a bit since there is only tid-bit things or really big stuff. Will be getting a fair bit of body work and a fresh, quality paintjob this spring/summer and hopefully exhaust and a manual swap before that. Eventually I'd like to do some sort of engine swap too, but not sure to what yet, an H6 would be fun, or maybe a 2.2T or possibly a WRX swap, not sure. Have seen plenty of build threads on all 3 options, just not sure which one I'd liek to go with. Wil also be receiving suspension at some point, can't decide on whether I want a lower, sportier set-up, or a lifted, more off-road set up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiyo1990 Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 kook- that would be awesome man. I would love that. They dont have any here sadly. As well, keep at it. I think suspension and paint would be a great thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOHCEJ22E1 Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 EG33 swap in that car will turn it into a road rocket with plenty of power to spare. You wouldn't ask for any more power if you did that plus it will be extremely reliable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kookookachew Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 That sounds awesome to me, this is my first 2.2L and my first Subaru auto and man is it a dog! The Outback wasn't fast either, but at least a 2.5L mounted to a 5-speed made it feel peppy, and the LGT just feels downright fast This car definitely feels under-powered for the way I like to drive... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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