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Posts
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Joined
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Days Won
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alex0856 last won the day on April 18
alex0856 had the most liked content!
Personal Information
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Location
Portland, OR
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Car
05 OBP LGT Wagon 5MT
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Interests
Wasting money
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Occupation
Fire Equipment Technician
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alex0856's Achievements
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Getting very very close. And feeling grateful for kind and patient friends. I had been hoping to be able to drive the car to my grandfather's interment yesterday but it just wasn't in the cards. He always liked my car and always had fast and impractical cars himself. I wish I would have had the chance to take him for a ride in it, but that's okay. A word of advice to all - call your grandparents/parents/elderly friends and relatives today. They've simultaneously got lots of time and limited time, and they'd love to hear from you. Back to business - The trans and driveshaft are in, with new bushings to boot. My subframe was like a wet noodle before (I pulled it off the trans in one piece) but now it's much firmer. I'm expecting a solid improvement in handling. Tonight I blew 3 hours trying to replace a CV axle boot that I accidentally tore. Unfortunately an OE boot would not fit my aftermarket axle so I decided to fill the small tear with gray gasket maker for now. Since I've got two new boots I'll probably hit pick N pull for an axle and rebuild it. The inlet and AOS are all set, just need to make connections and decide on how I'm going to reroute the wiring harness. Question for all - does your shift linkage have this much play between the washer and trans bracket? I had lightly sanded mine before reinstalling to remove some built up surface rust. My bushings fit snugly in to the linkage itself but I've got this gap and can't say if it was there before. The linkage has about 2mm of lateral play. The bushings are almost new. If that's supposed to be solid then I suppose I'll buy a new one.
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Never. After this go round of remodeling there will be very few plastic and rubber pieces left to replace. When I did my suspension and brake overhaul it felt like a brand new car. I'm expecting it to drive like a dream. Also, I'm in way too deep at this point. Sunk cost isn't a fallacy in this context, it's a way of life.
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The trans is ready to go in. Replacing the oil seal on the linkage was pretty annoying but I got it without damaging anything. I attempted the screw trick but there's just not enough meat to get a proper bite without risking marring up the linkage or housing. I found that a heat gun, a shaved down pick, and patience was the way to go. Last night I put in new rack bushings, shifter joint, trans mount bushings, and tore down my short shifter. The bushings are pretty new but the metal needed cleaning and the grommet that goes on the tunnel badly needed replacing. I didn't expect to be able to get that part new but it turns out Subaru still uses it in other cars. Go figure. I'm on the road for work today so no shop time tonight. Tomorrow everything should be coming together.
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Being a car person is a bummer sometimes. I should sell it and buy an automatic Corolla. My car still isn't done unfortunately. A mixture of the "while we're here" curse and finding more problems has dragged it out quite a bit. The trans is sitting on the jack ready to go with a new fork, spring, and pivot ball, and the clutch is installed. I drained the coolant to pull the turbo because reasons and found the lower oil drain was crushed - probably from 22 year old me using channel locks on it. It wasn't causing a restriction from what I can tell, it was just oval shaped and causing a leak. Fortunately you can buy replacements still. Today I'll finish getting the perrin inlet installed, then the AOS and rack bushings. I might even get the boot swapped on my year old CV that somehow got a hole in it. While swapping my heater hoses and pulling the upper rad hose I found what appeared to be coolant seeps, likely from the car sitting for so long. I think I've got contamination in the system as well. I'll probably do some sort of flush once it's on the ground. Hopefully my shift linkage seal and turbo oil drain will be here by Tuesday. I'm supposed to be driving it to Seattle next weekend. I think the problem all along was misalignment caused by dumb kids replacing a clutch without the proper tools. Here's some pics of the gore. You can see where the clutch disk was only partially grabbing. I wish I had got one of my bell housing before I cleaned it out. The ring on the back of the flywheel was from a nut that fell in to my bell housing and landed perfectly behind the flywheel. I'll have to find it and take a pic. It's got nice char marks on the head. I'm glad I bought a new timing inspection cover.
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Oh definitely. He has told me this himself. I find myself feeling self conscious about using his lift every time I ask. So I help him with his projects whenever I can. He's been working on scrapping a WRX for a while now which was tied up on the lift so we spent a Saturday stripping it so it can be hauled off. Although I won't lie, I found dismantling a car that I didn't need to put back together a lot of fun.
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Didn't start until almost 5 because I'm a dysfunctional person. It's a wonder that I can even get myself dressed in the morning. I went until about 9 before calling it a night. Fluids drained, bolts removed, thingies and gizmos disconnected. The subframe bolts are loose. Just gotta remove the driveshaft and I should have the trans out within an hour tomorrow. Feeling very grateful for my desert and west coast car (sorry midwesterners)
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Well, as I feared, adding deadening and insulation to my hatch means it no longer opens itself until you get about halfway, even with new struts. If I give it a little momentum when I open it it'll go to the fully open position. I probably added 10lbs at least. It stays open without issue and does not close itself if you push down on the hatch until you get about halfway. This will likely mean that the struts will wear out sooner. Still can't bring myself to shell out for OEM especially because they may have the same issue. I think the next step is to look around for struts on newer Subarus and see if they have the same mounts. If I get lucky, I'll find one that bolts on and was built for a heavier hatch. It's a minor inconvenience for now and definitely a fair trade for cabin noise. Sitting in the cabin you'd never know that my exhaust is as loud as it is, even at freeway speeds. Today I'm starting my clutch replacement so that should be fun. Hoping I can finish by tomorrow night.
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Today I sorted through my weekend pick n pull haul and started the final step in my insulation project. An 06 NA wagon showed up and it fortunately hadn't been picked clean. I've been wanting an extra set of roof rails so needless to say I was stoked to get a set for $13. I'm hoping I can get the rubber bits off in one piece so I can get them powdercoated. I'm sure I'll have spent more than the $180 it would cost to buy them new (yes you can still buy them) once it's said and done but it'll be a neat project and that's what matters. The most exciting find though was a cupholder liner. I've never had one in my car and have yet to be able to find one that wasn't trashed. I'm still beating myself up for not stripping the black interior 07 OBXT 5MT that was at the Vancouver pick n pull in January. I was in the middle of moving so that was low on the priority list, but the car had everything I would have needed for an Si drive upgrade. As for the hatch, I peeled the felt off the hatch panel, added a layer of luxury liner and put the felt back on top of that. The panel is quite heavy now so I'll be picking up new clips tomorrow to make sure everything stays tight. I've just got to add damplifier to the hatch itself and I'll be 100% done. For now anyway, until I inevitably rip out the headliner and door panels. Don't mind my fire hose, I needed it for work.