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The tale of two OBP OBXTs | low vs lifted


KevinEdgar

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Today I installed the "new" seat in the lifted outback, I had to excavate one of the bolts from all the rust. I initially tried a 14mm 6 pt that just slipped. Then grabbed my 14mm extractor socket that ended up slipping, thennn went for the 13mm 6 pt and hammered it on. Worked like a charm! So weird because the threaded area is totally fine and it was only this bolt that was super rusted. I wish I knew the story of this car.

 

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This split is why I wanted to change the seat, all functions work but my ocd can't live with the seat like that.

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Looks muchhhh better like this, the side bolster is more worn than the original seat but I prefer this one.

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I brought the subframe and other suspension pieces into the garage to get ready for paint. There really isn't a point in me doing this, but I want to and I can do it, so why not.

(only looks shiny because it was still wet from cleaning)

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Hopefully I can paint it tomorrow, let it cure over night then install Friday.

Edited by KevinEdgar
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Same deal here on my ‘08 XT daily purchased from a forum member out of Ohio. While he did a great job keeping the interior in great shape, it was still a salt country car. My front left drivers seat bolt and bracket look pretty much like yours, although thankfully not quite as bad. Still pretty manky tho. Appears that over time the elements get to the bottom of the exposed bolt and I’m guessing capillary action draws it up the threads where it gets into that seat bracket over time
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Same deal here on my ‘08 XT daily purchased from a forum member out of Ohio. While he did a great job keeping the interior in great shape, it was still a salt country car. My front left drivers seat bolt and bracket look pretty much like yours, although thankfully not quite as bad. Still pretty manky tho. Appears that over time the elements get to the bottom of the exposed bolt and I’m guessing capillary action draws it up the threads where it gets into that seat bracket over time

 

It's crazy how that happens. First and last time buying an east coast car..

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Got everything painted, I was worried I wouldn't have time before thanksgiving dinner. Now lets see if I can get it all installed tomorrow...

 

Everything cleaned and hanging

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Annnnd here's after paint! I wonder how it'll hold up, sure looks good.

 

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Here's a quick pic showing some of my painting materials and the paint I used. You can shoot it without reducer but it's super thick so I reduced it a little bit till it loosened up good enough to shoot out of a 1.4 tip.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Been working on the lifted outback here n there for the past week. Finally got it aligned today so let me walk through what I did on it/discovered.

 

Here is everything laid out ready to install.

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annnnnd the rusty rear end

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Beautiful sunset while I started to get to work

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From mudding there was this huuuge clump of mud on top of the heatshield that I believe was hitting the driveshaft at times causing a weird noise. I swear I will never take this thing mudding again.... I hope not, it's just so much fun in the moment.

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While getting the stock rusty holy catback off I discovered that the downpipe flange is totally gone!!!

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I tried to slap on one of my spare downpipes from a MANUAL car, but I learned why you cannot interchange MT/AT downpipes. Because the AT downpipe has to clear the large transmission pan, the MT dp does not fit. I painfully grinded off the remaining bits of the old flange and I order a grimmspeed oem dp - 3" cbe adapter. It came in so now I can buy a new flange and weld it on the dp. I really hope it doesn't make the car louder, just wanna get rid of the farty exhaust leaks.

 

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The subframe wasn't hard to get out, just pretty heavy, as you can tell by the dragging marks lol. Very rusty although it does have some old mud on it too. But mostly rust.

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I found out why the diff was leaking, the driver side axle seal was bad, so I ordered a pair. I painted the diff so it wouldn't look too ugly in its new cage.

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These rear seals do NOT install the same at the transmission ones. You do not have to remove the housings, not like these were gonna come out anyways. Broke off a few teeth trying to remove the housing.

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New seals and filled up with fresh subaru 75w90.

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I got aligned after getting rejected from a shop in town. The shop I took it to specializes in honda builds and I've had no issue with them before. When I took them my outback and they asked about suspension adjustments I told them the front camber is adjustable from the upper knuckle bolt. They said stock cars do not come with adjustable camber... I had to respectfully explain to them but I am a serious mechanic with extensive knowledge and I know what I am talking about. We came to an agreement that it is adjustable after the shop owner did some research. They don't do work on subarus so I am not upset with them, I just really wanted them to correct the positive camber up front haha.

 

I'll post the alignment sheet later but the car drives very nice and the front has almost 0 camber now. Looks soooo much better than the goofy positive camber.

 

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This is how the rear look so far, just gotta weld the dp flange so I can put the midpipe on. Oh yeah the rear cans are stock outback, idk why I thought they were from a different model.

 

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Good job! Must have been a lot of work!

why didn't you ask to get some negative camber in the front? I mean, it's not a race car but why not you know :spin:

Thank you, it was a fair amount of work, but nothing too bad.

 

I'm screaming because I was wondering if somebody would mention this hahahaha. You know, I want to soooo bad but I'm just gonna let it be for now. I'm glad we think alike tho lol.

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I have the same problem on one of my OBXTs. It sucks. Not sure how to fix this other than getting another seat.

 

Yeah it's super annoying, I will change the passenger seat at some point too, it has a weird rippled effect on the lower seat. By doing all these small things on the lifted outback, it is making the car more pleasurable to drive/own.

 

I really have to figure out why the windshield leaks horribly. Leaves a pool of water on both floorboards :confused:

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Yeah, this seat cracking issue sucks.

 

 

 

You sure it's the windshield? Maybe it's the sun roof draining hose or something? I've heard it can get clogged. But I have yet to experience this issue.

 

You know, I'm actually not certain it's the windshield. I just assumed it was since the water comes down the A pillar. Totally slipped my mind but I did JUST recently watch a headliner removal video where it showed the drain tube and the importance of it's placement/cleanliness. I know what I'm doing to the car this week! We are getting a lot of rain and I have to park the car a certain way to avoid in the inside from filling with water.

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I don't have the same issues, but I know there has been zero maintenance on my drain tubes the last 16yrs.

 

In other notes, condensation inside the car is noticeable on wet/cold morning. I think I'll need to re-do the door/hatch seals soon. Have any of you had this issue yet? How did you fix it?

MILKRUN  - Click Here

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I don't have the same issues, but I know there has been zero maintenance on my drain tubes the last 16yrs.

 

In other notes, condensation inside the car is noticeable on wet/cold morning. I think I'll need to re-do the door/hatch seals soon. Have any of you had this issue yet? How did you fix it?

 

 

When was the last time you checked/replaced your cabin filter?

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Keep us posted!

 

Will do!

 

I don't have the same issues, but I know there has been zero maintenance on my drain tubes the last 16yrs.

 

In other notes, condensation inside the car is noticeable on wet/cold morning. I think I'll need to re-do the door/hatch seals soon. Have any of you had this issue yet? How did you fix it?

 

I also have an issue with condensation on my lifted subie. This car has been a nonstop can of worms tho, this car was abandoned for some length of time in its life, based on the low mileage and amount of nature/pest debri in the car.

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When was the last time you checked/replaced your cabin filter?

 

I want to say about 20K miles ago. I can't remember the change intervals for these, but I imagine I'm well overdue. The dash is, and has been apart for the last month now, so now would be a better time than any to replace it. I also need to tend to driver's side blend door actuators —gross!

 

I also have an issue with condensation on my lifted subie. This car has been a nonstop can of worms tho, this car was abandoned for some length of time in its life, based on the low mileage and amount of nature/pest debri in the car.

 

Interesting, as I have also found a ton of nature in the car, under the hatch floor, behind the fender liners/mudguards. When, I find a dry day or some time to take it to the DIY-shop, I'll give the seals an in-depth once over.

MILKRUN  - Click Here

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For the first time ever I believe, both cars in the garage. I had an exhaust shop install a vband on the downpipe/midpipe so I can return the grimmspeed adapter now. The shop also had to modify the midpipe for better clearance since the rear subframe has spacers from the lift. The exhaust is super quiet and no leaks so I am happy with that. I filled up the gas tank, $75, not so happy about that.

 

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Edited by KevinEdgar
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As a photography aficionado myself, I fully appreciate a pic loaded thread, especially one with a such a great build as this one!

I also have an '05 OBXT myself (my first Turbo Subaru ever!) which currently has 210K miles! Everything is running fine now but given my car came with a few mods, I'm pretty sure it was tuned before, since it's giving me only 13.5mpg..

I plan on eventually overhaul the motor and will use this thread for guidance.. keep up the great work and fantastic photos!

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As a photography aficionado myself, I fully appreciate a pic loaded thread, especially one with a such a great build as this one!

I also have an '05 OBXT myself (my first Turbo Subaru ever!) which currently has 210K miles! Everything is running fine now but given my car came with a few mods, I'm pretty sure it was tuned before, since it's giving me only 13.5mpg..

I plan on eventually overhaul the motor and will use this thread for guidance.. keep up the great work and fantastic photos!

 

Thanks for dropping by and welcome to the cult. Even with light mods you should definitely be getting more than 13.5mpg assuming you aren't flooring it everywhere. My lifted wagon would get down to 16mpg and that was with a clogged air filter.'

 

If you ever have any questions feel free to pm me

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Yeah, I should at least be getting 20mpg combined and I’m not even driving it hard..

My current mods are: AEM CAI, DP, some aftermarket Intercooler, Grimmspeed EBC snd the turbo to AVCS oil line mod.

But my main concern is that it didn’t come with the Cobb AP and the previous owner doesn’t know anything about it either. He was just a mechanic who generally maintained it for 2 years, changing fluids, brakes, etc.. he bought the car this way..

I’ll have to figure somehow if the car was tuned and if there’s a Cobb AP married to it..

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