Ninjabot's '98 BD GT Build

I've finally gotten my lazy ass around to making a build thread for anyone who may care to peek in on the progress of my '98 GT sedan build. The car was originally an Oklahoma car and I bought it from a guy in Wisconsin who had brought it up there. Minnesota winters are very hard on cars because of the salt mixture that we use on the roads. I bought this for $3,600 in the fall of 2017 because of the lack of rust, the awd, the fact it is a 5 mt, and it had less than 90,000 miles.

 

The car was mostly stock with a few cosmetic enhancements done by the last owner. He said the headlights and tail lights were JDM parts, had removed the airbox for a cheap pod filter, and had an exedy stage 2 clutch. There was a uel header and shitty fart can exhaust and cheap fog lights but was otherwise solid.

 

I discovered that his "craftsmanship" was garbage and I have undone much of what he did to the car. I had to do the head gaskets almost immediately after purchase. My goal for the Legacy was to have a reliable daily driver while I finished law school that I could build into a solid autocross car. With that, I started on my Subaru journey.

 

As of this introductory post, here are the mods that I've done (in no particular order), and the work I'm in the middle of or have parts ordered:

 

Done:

Kartboy short throw shifter and bushings

Group N pitch stop, motor, transmission mounts

Prothane front control arm bushings

Kartboy rear sway bar endlinks

K&N pod filter

Redline Shifter boot

Grimspeed phenolic intake spacers

Tanabe lowering springs

KYB AGX adjustable struts

KYB strut mounts

Powerstop calipers & slotted rotors front and back (WRX front & gen 4 legacy rear)

Stoptech stainless steel brake lines

Akebono front pads, Powerstop rear pads

Exedy stage 1 clutch

ACT lightweight flywheel

Sport Edition rims (currently plasti dipped bronze)

Achilles ATR sport tires

JDM stainless steel door sills

Cusco strut tower brace

Bugeye WRX front seats

2005 Impreza steering wheel (with 1998 Legacy cruise stalk)

New oem radiator

New oem steering rack

New oem power steering pump

Wrapped the uel header

Flowmaster muffler

Pacesetter high flow catalytic converter

2.25" exhaust from header back

Stubby antenna

3rd generation sedan window vents (direct fit!)

Grounding mod with distribution block

MDS Coil

SSI 4 point harness

 

Working on/parts ordered or obtained:

JDM Fog light install (what a pain in the ass)

Pioneer head unit, Infinity reference front speakers, and crossovers

Recovering door card inserts

Hood struts

Fender flairs (coming from Russia, due late June, 2020)

New valve cover gaskets

Knock off STI pedal covers

Grimmspeed master cylinder brace

Hella Horns

 

Parts installed then removed:

Grimmspeed lightweight crank pulley

Cusco strut bar

 

Thanks for checking this out. I'm sure I've forgotten some mods or repairs. I was able to autocross the car the last meet of the season in 2019 and won my class (Street Touring S)

 

Pictures are the day I bought it, what it looks like today (in the middle of the fog install that is taking too long), and me holding my Oktoberfest trophy at the 2019 Sports Car Club La Crosse meet.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask! I'll update projects with pictures as I go along.

 

Happy motoring,

 

Das Ninjabot

Edited April 30, 2020 by Das Ninjabot
Clarity

Swapped out the Cusco GC8 bar for a Juran bar that I like much better (and doesn't have clearance issues).

 

Also installed the Grimmspeed master cylinder brace, though it is tough to get a good photo of it.

Edited April 30, 2020 by Das Ninjabot

Nice! Good find at low miles no rust and manual. Those are getting really rare in good condition

Nice! Good find at low miles no rust and manual. Those are getting really rare in good condition

 

Exactly, especially here in Minnesota where most are just trashed by the salt. I wasn't too upset paying a little above market price because of those things. It will make it hard to cut up for the fender flairs, but I think I'll be ok after it's done.

Nice work so far! really interested in seeing that widebody kit

Wanted to finish the JDM fog install but the 2.5 got impatient for the oil change that was planned for Tuesday and ejected most of it out of a failed cam seal. Was very happy that it's something that can be fixed without pulling the motor or even a valve cover. Unfortunately the valve seal retainers were a couple days out. Hopefully it'll be happy by Saturday.

 

Third pic is an unidentified plug coming from under the engine relay/fuse block. Wires are white w/blue and green w/black. I was unable to find it on the crappy diagram. My guess is it's for a wagon and unused on my sedan. Anyone familiar with it?

 

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

That plug looks like the one on the windshield washer reservoir.

+1 for it being the washer fluid pump, I guess subaru used the same front harness regardless of the car being a sedan or wagon.

That plug looks like the one on the windshield washer reservoir.

 

Oddly enough, that's how I found the mystery plug. When I was installing the master cylinder brace I removed the washer fluid reservoir and was confused as to why the plug was not going back onto the pump. Do wagons have more than one pump, one front one back? If not, the mystery continues!

Oddly enough, that's how I found the mystery plug. When I was installing the master cylinder brace I removed the washer fluid reservoir and was confused as to why the plug was not going back onto the pump. Do wagons have more than one pump, one front one back? If not, the mystery continues!

Wagons do have two connectors.

Man I was looking at that picture before reading your post thinking now I see why it's zero rust that oem oil leak anti corrosion protection lol

 

Wagons definitely have a rear washer pump. I have a spare pump and reservoir I was thinking would make either a poor intercooler sprayer or a wicked fruit punch dispenser...

Man I was looking at that picture before reading your post thinking now I see why it's zero rust �� that oem oil leak anti corrosion protection lol

 

Ha! Funny, that's the first crack I made about it!

 

Unfortunately I've hit a snag re-timing the motor and I'm now hoping I didn't bend every f*$#ing valve in the thing. I marked the belt on it's edge for the exact tooth spacing per the manual. I had it all lined up and released the tensioner and went ahead and started rotating the assembly by hand. It was very tight, though I chalked it up to cycling through the test with three of the spark plugs in. When I was done cycling it through twice the marks were about five teeth off on each of the four cam sprockets. I'm going to try to get it right the second time, but damn I'm pissed. This is the third time I've gone through this process, but first while the motor is in the car. I'm really surprised that it skipped teeth and really hope the valves aren't fragged. Wish me luck!

Ha! Funny, that's the first crack I made about it!

 

 

 

Unfortunately I've hit a snag re-timing the motor and I'm now hoping I didn't bend every f*$#ing valve in the thing. I marked the belt on it's edge for the exact tooth spacing per the manual. I had it all lined up and released the tensioner and went ahead and started rotating the assembly by hand. It was very tight, though I chalked it up to cycling through the test with three of the spark plugs in. When I was done cycling it through twice the marks were about five teeth off on each of the four cam sprockets. I'm going to try to get it right the second time, but damn I'm pissed. This is the third time I've gone through this process, but first while the motor is in the car. I'm really surprised that it skipped teeth and really hope the valves aren't fragged. Wish me luck!

The marks on the belt won't line up after rotating the assembly. Use the marks on the crank and cam pulleys for alignment. If they're in line, you're good. Post aa good front picture of the engine for us to see.

The marks on the belt won't line up after rotating the assembly. Use the marks on the crank and cam pulleys for alignment. If they're in line, you're good. Post aa good front picture of the engine for us to see.

Thank you for pointing this out, completely forgot that. Went back at it today and ended up with the same problem, but it was much easier to turn over via wrench. It seems that after I get it lined up, the left side (driver side) rotates backwards when the tensioner is released. I tried clocking those cams but still ended with the same issue. Any thoughts? Pics are after rotating the crank twice through.

 

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

So I bit the bullet and bought a "new" car for a dd to get back and forth to work while looking a little more professional. This has got me pondering how to get the subbie back up and running. Currently, the timing marks on the drivers side do not line back up after rotating the crank by hand. It did occur to me though, the marks line up if I don't pull the pin on the tensioner. When you rotate the crank by hand, should that be done with the pin pulled or not? I have no recollection of how I did it the last two times. Any thoughts?

The marks on the cam sprockets and crank sprocket should line up after rotation, the marks on the belt won't line up after rotation as the belt is not an integer multiple length of the circumference of the cam sprockets.

 

When you are putting it together you get all the marks lined up with the slack in the belt where the tensioner will take it up not somewhere else in the run. When you're extra sure pull the pin and nothing should move except the tensioner should go taught. The sprockets are still lined up. Then you rotate by hand 720 degrees at the crank and when the cam marks line up so does the crank mark. If they don't and you didn't jump a tooth then something is wrong. It's a lot harder to explain than to demonstrate. Are you missing the dowel in the back of a cam sprocket so it is slipping relative to the cam?

The marks on the cam sprockets and crank sprocket should line up after rotation, the marks on the belt won't line up after rotation as the belt is not an integer multiple length of the circumference of the cam sprockets.

 

When you are putting it together you get all the marks lined up with the slack in the belt where the tensioner will take it up not somewhere else in the run. When you're extra sure pull the pin and nothing should move except the tensioner should go taught. The sprockets are still lined up. Then you rotate by hand 720 degrees at the crank and when the cam marks line up so does the crank mark. If they don't and you didn't jump a tooth then something is wrong. It's a lot harder to explain than to demonstrate. Are you missing the dowel in the back of a cam sprocket so it is slipping relative to the cam?

Thanks for the clarification. It's on the dowels, but I can't seem to line it up to get the slack out at the right spot. It's a little frustrating because I didn't have any issues the first two times. Its very tempting to 3.0 swap it now but I think I'll get another season out of the 2.5 first and get my galaxie back on the road.

 

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

The single cam version isn't bad to get assembled. The twin cam is pretty awful. I've done a few of each and the last time I did a twin it still took two tries even using the proper tool to hold the cams. That twin also was off on one of the four cams when we took it apart, so I'd say everyone dislikes doing it.

The single cam version isn't bad to get assembled. The twin cam is pretty awful. I've done a few of each and the last time I did a twin it still took two tries even using the proper tool to hold the cams. That twin also was off on one of the four cams when we took it apart, so I'd say everyone dislikes doing it.

I do have a set of 2.2 dual exhaust heads that I was thinking of using at some point. Wonder if that point should be now. My understanding is that I'd need a 2.2 intake but the ECU and everything else would be fine. I had planned on sending the sohc cans to delta for their stage 1 regrind first.

 

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

You can get the twin cam setup installed. It is just annoying. It helps a lot to have four hands.

You can get the twin cam setup installed. It is just annoying. It helps a lot to have four hands.

 

Very much so, and double that when it's in the car. Other two times have been on the stand and much much easier.

I've only ever done it in the car, but I do take out the radiator so that leaves lots of room.

I've only ever done it in the car, but I do take out the radiator so that leaves lots of room.

 

I did not pull the rad this time. I figure that if I have to pull the rad, then I'm draining coolant, if I drain coolant, then I'm pulling the motor. I know that's a silly threshold. I did just order a cam lock tool, no idea why I didn't order one earlier.

I swap coolant about every two years, so I don't mind pulling the rad and cleaning everything out. I credit my 305k no head gaskets to keeping on top of coolant swaps.

I swap coolant about every two years, so I don't mind pulling the rad and cleaning everything out. I credit my 305k no head gaskets to keeping on top of coolant swaps.

 

The coolant that is in it is only about a year and a half old, close to 15k miles or so. I could catch and re-use, but I'd rather not even **** with it. The cam lock tool should make this work. Then it's crossing fingers for the valves to be good. If they aren't, I think I'll swap the 2.2 heads onto it. I'll be calling delta cams on Tuesday to get a quote on a regrind either way.