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Turns out the IAC needed adjusting. Part of my problem (in my shop) is having too many parts laying around. This GL10 was a rebuild from the ground up and I had parts from my RX laying around also. Which means multiple IAC's to choose from (and not keeping stuff separated). So I grabbed the best looking one and cleaned it, then installed it on the GL. Only messed with it once, after getting the engine running, but knew too much fiddling is a bad idea. I got the car back to my shop last week and after going thru everything (again), I tried a little adjustment on the IAC. It worked like a charm, no more surging and fuel dump is almost gone. No more smoke after startup. It went home last night and the owner took it to work. He txt'd me and said it stumbles, shakes and farts at first, then runs better when its warmed up. I have the 2 10in fans on a switch now, the engine struggles to get to Op Temp but manages after several miles. Big reason is the radiator is a BIG 2 row aluminum rad (In prep for NA/T), so we may find a smaller rad to run temporarily. Now he needs to find another 5spd D/R trans as the current one is almost gone

Other side repeated today. Also took the opportunity to fit up the impreza wheel wells and strut towers I've saved. I cut the middle sections of the angle iron frame I tacked on when removing them, then using some more angle as a bridge I clamped them back together. I ended up somehow sacrificing a tape measure doing this, but I'm getting some momentum back in this project so if a cheap tape measure is the cost to get this back on the ground sooner over later I'm glad to pay it. I'll need to do a little more surgery to get them to fit truly properly, especially since the filler neck is on the opposite side of the vehicle, but I suppose if I'm doing this much fabrication that will be somewhat trivial. I'll also likely be cutting a lot of them out to fix some rust in them anyway, but it's a good start. Going to set this aside for a little while and return to the subframe setup. Any permanent install of these towers here is severely premature. Once I have a base I can measure from to get the strut towers to a proper height and location, I can start poking at this in more detail.

Very clever. So rather than continue to reduce your hoarded inventory of Subie parts, you intend on hiding it in plain sight from your wife in the form of a Baja?

I guess it's a good thing you got that spare 4EAT after all. UP weekend sounds like a blast, I'll have to join y'all again one of these times.

Long overdue trip report from early October. B and I decided to revisit some of the challenging portions of the trail riding with T in 2019. Friday morning before I left I shoved a couple pieces of hardware cloth between the radiator fans and grill/bumper. We met at Canyon Falls and headed north a little bit and started trail riding. Many of the trails we were on Friday were not on any of our maps and were quite overgrown. One of them stared getting soft and the Impreza started digging in to the mud. I locked the center diff and got out the folding recovery ramps and was able to get back to dry ground. We saw several different Notice of Authorizations posted for culvert and temporary bridge construction for logging operations. Some of these were about ten years old but we'd never seen them before anywhere. Impreza temp gauge started creeping up, the main fan fuse was blown so we replaced that. Not really sure why, it was fine the rest of the weekend. The hardware cloth in front of the fans did keep getting packed up with leaves and other vegetation all weekend, we cleaned them out quite a few times. Unfortunately none of the trails we explored for the first few hours went anywhere so we had to go back to the highway to go north a few more miles to some other trails. We were heading towards a hill on the topo that showed a trail going to the top so I tried to get there. Again wound up on some trails not on the maps and eventually came to a sign with a skull reading Paul Hytinen's trail of no return. That trail was basically a straight shot to the top of the hill. The first section was a fairly long and rocky climb, the only time I used low range all weekend. And yes that's an interior door panel lying next to the climb. We both made it up with no major drama and the rest of the trail was fairly mild. It was getting late so we camped in the little clearing at the top of the hill. In the morning B discovered that his RF tire had gone flat due to a small sidewall cut. He was able to double plug it. One of the first trails he had us go down was fairly narrow, rutted, and muddy but we made it through. At this point his plug was leaking so he replugged it which lasted the rest of the weekend (sort of...). Found a big tailings pile back in the woods. Found some decent campsites along a road next to a neat stream. Went to one of the stream crossings we'd turned around at on a previous trip with a less capable Subaru. Crossed it easily and continued. Went up a muddy climb that wasn't too steep but had a lot of logs that we're guessing other people put down but probably didn't help us. We both made it to the top but then I managed to go a little too far to the right and slide into a soft spot. Shortly after this I had a small stick jammed in my LF brake heat shield making an amazing amount of noise so we removed that. At that point I realized I couldn't open the RF door because the rocker was smashed up. Found an old RV way back in the woods. Went up to Mt Arvon from the west. Parking area was full of golf carts so we continued northeast. Got to another stream crossing we'd marked and turned around at with T but this time crossed easily. Eventually reached an old railroad grade that started out muddy and rutted which we had also turned around at on a previous trip. A little ways east a beaver dam was flooding a portion of the grade. This pond looks like it was probably occupied. Fortunately there was basically a beaver dam on either side of the road. We dug some drains in the dam on the downstream side and were then able to drive through. We were both briefly stuck but some jacking and logs under the tires got us back on the move. Just east of that was a four way intersection. We continued east on the grade and stopped at another beaver dam. This one was a similar deal but did not seem active, they had kind of dammed both sides so we dug ditches on the downstream side. Frog eating an earthworm, don't think I've ever seen that before. After a little draining It was starting to get a little late so we decided to go back to the intersection which had a big clearing and cook dinner. We then drove back to the beaver dam to check the drainage. Just before we got there B's Forester got stuck in a muddy rutted section and wasn't driving and making a noise that sounded like splines stripped out coming from the rear end. I was able to push the LR IB CV back in the diff and he was able to continue driving. We dug some more in the main section and fortunately kept walking to the far end and started draining a short but deep section at the end. By now it was getting close to sunset so we drove back to the big intersection to camp out. CV popped out of the diff a couple times on the way back. We jacked it up each time and were able to get it back in but it didn't seem like it had popped out far, maybe 1/4”. The next morning we started disassembling that suspension corner and got the axle out. Splines on the IB CV had stripped out, fortunately the diff gear looked fine. Put in his spare LR axle, ate breakfast, and drove back to the beaver dam to survey our work. Water levels had dropped almost a foot overnight. Found some more tadpoles and insect larvae We were both able to drive through, the hole at the far end was still deep enough to be deeper than my bumper so it's a good thing we drained a foot of water out of that. Of course just a little further was an even bigger beaver dam and this one was mostly on the downstream side of the road so we turned around and went back through the one that had been draining overnight to the intersection we'd camped at. Headed south and then continued east. Looped around to the other end of the grade and found another beaver dam quite a ways from where we'd turned around. Headed north, found some cool waterfalls. Revisited some other muddy spots we'd turned around at before and got stuck briefly and turned around again this time. A while later on another trail B got the Forester stuck in a frog filled stream crossing. Some jacking and shoveling and wood under the tires got him out. Then we got to another muddy rutted section. We walked it and poked at it with sticks and it didn't seem too bad except for the far end. Which is where I got stuck, somewhat high centered on some small trees that were fallen across the road we hadn't bothered to move. Probably with a little more momentum I would have gotten through. Took us quite a bit of high lifting, shoveling, recovery ramps, and wood stacking to get it on semi dry ground. Then B got stuck a little before where I had. We hooked up our straps and I was able to pull him up to the decent section of trail. We continued down that trail and just before we got to the major dirt road there was an RV and a giant tent set up in the trail. Fortunately there was a side trail nearby that connected to the dirt road and we continued. Our next point of interest was the beaver pond where T had flooded his Impreza in 2019. If I hadn't had it marked on my GPS we would never have noticed it. The road was built up several feet and a new culvert had been installed. The pond was still there but not much risk of flooding the road anymore. We went to a waterfall B had taken us to before, it's probably about a 50' slide and does have a little parking spot alongside the trail but no signs or anything. There's some metal chairs and pots and pans, a legit grill, and other cooking supplies stashed there but probably not enough flat ground for a couple tents so we decided not to camp there. We continued north and found a spot on a side trail to cook dinner and camp out. We headed back south, not long after that B's RF tire had another sidewall leak, this one probably worse than the first. We just swapped on the spare tire. Headed down a long somewhat rocky trail/road and rediscovered the vintage Barrington IL city bus turned camper we'd seen in 2013 and haven't seen since. Also saw an old plow truck parked alongside the road. Drove up to Big Bay and got gas at the station on the south end of town, it's well stocked with groceries and even has a decent hardware section in the back. Stopped at Thomas Rock Scenic Overlook on the way back to the trails. Excellent view, short walk. B wandered us down some narrow trails in varied forests we'd never been on. Headed back west on a slightly more northern dirt road than we'd been on. This one must have been some kind of major route long ago as there was a concrete bridge near the (current) end of it. Drove around the trails in that area, some good fall views but everything was eventually either bermed off or overgrown. By this time we needed to go back to civilization so we headed south on a major dirt road. Stopped at a boat ramp/park to air up and eat PB&Js and checked out an old truss bridge that's only open to pedestrians. We were entertained by the bicycle hanging from the top and ratchet straps underneath. Convoyed down to Green Bay, got gas, ate dinner, and split up for the rest of our drives home. Shortly after we split off I was stuck behind some old man camped out in the left lane. I finally got a gap on the right to pass him and as I was doing so I saw a cop parked in the median. Looked in my mirror to see the lights flashing and the cop pulling out on the highway. He eventually caught up to me and pulled me over. I assumed it was going to be for speeding. He walks up to the passenger window and asked if I'd been having fun off roading. Then says he pulled me over for loud exhaust. Asked if the exhaust was modified or if something had come loose off roading, I chose the latter option. He came back with just a warning ticket and said he was jealous of the fun we probably had over the weekend off roading. I would definitely like to make the Impreza quieter I just don't know how. I do have a slightly larger muffler I want to try but I doubt it will make much difference. I have a little more motivation to try it now though. Overall we had a good weekend, only major repair was the rear CV axle, good weather, almost no rain, almost no flying insects, no ticks. Saw a surprising amount of frogs. Trails were relatively dry, fall colors were neat. Should probably go up in October more often. Over 200 miles off pavement, spent the majority of our time and maybe miles on trails/roads we hadn't been on before, probably a quarter to a third of our time on roads that weren't on any of our maps. Perhaps the biggest portion of just trail riding of any UP trip I can remember. We were on some major dirt/gravel roads but it was a small portion of the time. Probably only 10-20 miles of pavement driving all weekend. Had to go out of our way to get to a gas station. We'd both dumped our jerry cans in our tanks but I was still probably within a half gallon of being empty by the time we filled up. Definitely further encouragement to get the extra ten gallon tank hooked up. Used the weavable recovery straps a few times for recovery, 5-10 times for pulling/breaking logs out of the trail. Radiator fans getting blocked by vegetation was an ongoing issue but fairly easy to deal with. Glad I put the hardware cloth in front, it may have saved the condenser from getting truly packed and folded over with debris. B didn't have that problem, we're assuming it's a pusher fan thing. I plan on putting the two small puller fans on the primary fan circuit. Those shouldn't attract as much debris and hopefully will be adequate for cooling most of the time. Then put the two big pusher fans on the second circuit, probably with a bigger relay and fuse. One morning the clutch pedal was almost to the floor but still worked. Eventually pumped up and seemed to work normally the last couple days and ever since. Mpact clutch disc seems a lot smellier than the one I had before but worked fine. It smelled like I'd been slipping it badly a bunch of times and while I was certainly working it in the woods it didn't seem to be slipping. Only used the low range once but had the center diff locked most of the weekend. Unlocked it a few times for long gravel roads. It did lock itself a couple times but then stayed unlocked all the way home and the next day of driving. Not making any more noise than usual. The next day while driving parts to heat treat in town some hispanic guys in their 20s were stopped next to me at a stop light. They signaled me to roll down my window and asked if the Impreza was fast. I just told them it had a six cylinder. Driver says me too and asked if I want to race. Sure. Light turns green and I let out the clutch at about 5000RPM and it proceeds to slip pretty badly as the car accelerates. Meanwhile their Chrysler 300 front driver is burning a tire. I had a couple car lengths on him but he stayed in my blind spot up to about 50mph when I backed off. The next weekend my wife and I went up north and stayed with some of her family. Impreza cruise seems to be working consistently, I wonder if the connection to the trans was getting loose/dirty. Has a bit of a wiggle when cornering sometimes. Eventually figured out one of the inner lateral link bushings is shot. Trans was noisy on the way back up north but has been quiet lately. Mostly in the center diff portion I think, when locking that it's definitely quieter (when it's noisy). It does have three different models of tires on it at slightly different pressures. Did lock the center diff by itself a couple times after the rebuild but hasn't in a while.

FWIW: I replaced the BPT - back pressure transducer - that sits on top of the EGR valve and has 4 vacuum lines connected to fix my p0400. These are readily avl. on most EGR subarus from the '90s and Toyotas - I used a (used) Toyota version on my '96 Legacy w/the 2.2.

I decided to not get a the XT based on turbo failures. Often when looking at an XT for sale the seller would say something about the turbo just replaced. Also I didn't want to buy expensive premium fuel. I got a 2009 Subaru Outback special edition with 95,000 miles on it instead.

You can use a cereal box to make those gaskets. Done it many times with no problems.

Sent out today!

1+ on KYB. If you have time and search the yards, I've found almost new KYB struts for <$50 each. Complete, just unbolt and bolt the replacements on. Has to be your lucky day in the yards.

Are you referring to the older 2 piece tensioner bracket? O.

no, not worth it. Just get some KYB's for your model and call it a day. O.

I’ve just heard that the newer style are prone to more failure, besides looking weird. I guess I’m just stuck in my old ways and don’t like change very much unless I’m forced to. moosens you’re amazing and I would never be able to thank you enough! If you don’t find one it’s all good, I’m just going to move over to the newer style. cheers!

A mate of mine here in Oz swapped over to the newer tensioner style with its backing plate recently. Far easier to get replacement tensioners than finding the original style. All the best with your search!

Been away from the project for a little bit - but I got your DM- we can chat about it there. Finally got back to a little bit of progress - Bit another bullet and decided to do a little exploratory deathwheel surgery to get a better perspective for the rear subframe mounting solution. I chopped out the passenger bed wheel well and I think I will likely be widening the rear frame slightly to accomodate a stock subframe and subframe bushings (hooray, buying more parts... 😶) This will end up being a much cleaner solution to my problem and I think the creative use of some welded captive nuts and box tubing will yield pretty great results. I kind of half-assedly leaned the new coilover through the wheel well cut after also chopping off the stock bumpstop - and I think the space will be tight but sufficient, especially since I'm planning on using the old Impreza wheel wells as a base for the new structure. There'll probably be some reinforcement of the stock bed sides too, but I'm gonna approach this as close to one problem at a time as possible. Like i said - tight but doable. Everything is also just loosely stacked in place, and the rear end is jacked up about 8" higher than it probably would be so everything seems short at this perspective. I only need about another 1.5"- 2" of real estate to mount the forward bushings, and I think I have a pretty good idea how I'm going to get those in once I've got a new subframe to play with. If anyone has a '98 or thereabouts Impreza subframe handy with the bushings still intact (I botched the original by being hasty - see previous posts), reach out quick or I'm gonna get impatient and go to ebay for one 🤣 Gonna repeat the procedure on the other side of the bed, then it'll probably sit for a little while again while I locate a suitable subframe replacement.

40+ together. Wow, what an amazing achievement! Here's to another 40+!!

It was the throttle body gasket. After I installed it I pressure tested the coolant system. I also had a leak at the temp sensor but after tightening that I had no pressure loss at 10psi over 3 hours. It started up fine, took about 20 minutes of idling to blow most of the coolant out or burn it off. Idled nice and healthy, though it was noisy due to the HLA's needing to fully prime. I am about half way through the retorque and I have an oil pump leak to deal with. I used a plug where the old sensor was as I added an aftermarket one. But other than that she's ready for the road. Also, I noticed there's no pressure values for the cooling system in the FSM only head pressure. For that 20 minutes mine sat right around 4.2psi. Not sure if this changes with extended driving but I'll post if I notice a pattern. What a learning experience. It was quite disheartening at times. :]

Real estate has been a million an acre for a while; why LeBlancs sold out even with all the toxic chemicals from many decades of activity on the property. LaJoies will not sell exhaust parts claiming that they rot from the inside out. I agree that F and S is the area expert on Subarus, I've driven up to Waterbury for a specialist to install a water pump on a prior vehicle.

Larry, it’s tough around here. Too many lawyers. Most places don’t let you walk around anymore. You guys enjoy what you have ! Tom, there’s always F&S. If it’s older than 20 years just talk with one of the guys in the Roxbury yard like Jeff. Not sure about Johnny’s in Thomaston, i think it’s changed hands but that was another good yard where he would let you walk around. Which place do you go to? LaJoie’s?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/156158523728 333235 LH https://www.ebay.com/itm/126419603634 333234 RH

Drove the GL to work for the first time Wednesday and have some initial impressions. 1. I need an alignment. 2.The heater is fantastic. 3. Driver side axle started knocking like my brat did back in 07 with a janky parts store axles. 4. I need a cupholder. 5. Hard left turn, my fuel gauge went to zero and then came back up. This was before I filled up with 100% gas so I assume it was sticking float. Once it came back up, it registered half-a-tank. I got a few thumbs up in it. Definitely gets more attention than my WRX does.

Older, pre Legacy Subarus were never numerous in the borderland. They petered out in the pick a parts, over a decade ago. Suspect the pacific NW might be different. While they were here, though, the metal parts were excellent.

Have 50 lbs of Halibut? Yards. www.car-part.com Left or right side or both? Pic would be nice. I could pull them for you. Larry

It should be doable - if it uses the speedo cable that’ll sort a major hurdle. If it requires a speed sensor it will need more wiring added to make this work. The rest should be repinning as needed. Don’t worry about the height sensor indicators. You could probably look up what resistance will show low and high, then pick what ride height you want to see all the time and wire that in. It’s a super cool looking instrument cluster! We didn’t get anything like that over here - not even in the Vortex range. Maybe us Aussies weren’t 80’s enough to handle a digital cluster of that era (we got the MY touring wagons with digital clusters so go figure…), I doubt it though.

O'reilly's rebuilt CVs are a crapshoot. I've gotten 1,000 to 50,000 miles out of them. Certainly never 200,000. Also, last I asked, they were NLA. What someone told me is that the rebuild shops regrind them, but not re-case-harden them, and their life expectancy has a lot to do with how much hardening is left. The first time they get rebuilt, you get 50,000 miles. The second time.... I repack my wheel bearings every time I do CVs, which is every couple years on average... and I've had them go out on two cars now. Front right of my daily driver started growling about two months ago... got the bearings, but no time to change them.

The cylinder head compression tell you whether you need new velpro gaskets. Less than 140 psi and you should replace. Wheel bearings can be stuffed to the max with synthetic grease every time you replace a cv joint and you will go forever on them. The water pump has a special height to the pulley so pay attention to that. You have periodically make sure the timing belts are tight by loosening the two bolts for each and allowing the springs to tighten up the belt. Do it every 5000 miles. The water pump has a hole in the top and a hole in the bottom. Plug the top hole up with a gasket maker otherwise dirt will get to the bearings and you will be back to replacing it every 15,000 to 25,000 miles, instead of 40,000 or more. Rebuilt CV axles last 200,000 miles from O'Reillys. Don't waste your rebooting them because they are going to start clicking soon thereafter. Nowadays, the only suppliers for cables is the aftermarket parts from your favorite parts store. Subaru stopped making them. U-pull-it has lots of parts, when you can find the cars there. But Facebook is your best place to find a car that you can get parts off of.

I think so; under threshold.

Sold my '89 parts wagon roughly three plus years ago. Via a Denver craigslist ad, yep it took forever. Young man from Ruidoso came down and bought both the Wagon, and the spare 49K mile EA-82 engine assembly in two separate trips. Don't recall his name, possibly "Wyatt" but he's Subaru Kid to me. I could see if I have his contact information in one of my older phones. Am guessing he's on Social Media, am not on those platforms yet.

Yeah howdy! There are no holes in the face of it. The backing plate hides the back of the drum so no puller will fit there. The brat didn't move for 6 or 7 yrs and that wheel sunk into the dirt. One extreme way is to unbolt all the brake mounting nuts and beat the whole assembly off. I had intended to take it to my mechanic but it won't roll. I will look into the old forums, glad you are still around.

Disconnect the battery for 30 minutes or so. Clear the ECU co.des and see what comes back

Yep, several of both. I'm not a fan of the Baja, it's an Outback with less usable space, less weight capacity, and a novelty price premium. But my wife has always loved them, so we have 2. Non turbo Bajas use the single bulb headlight like the Legacy L. Turbos have the Outback/GT 2 bulb set. The exhaust is probably the same to the flange at the rear axle, but muffler is different (rear overhang is longer. Might be able to lengthen Outback muffler assembly to use on a Baja. I haven't looked that closely). Fuel tank is not specific to the Baja, but there are a few different part numbers depending on year and emissions. But a Federal 04 Outback and Federal 04 Baja will have the same tank. There are many things that are interchangeable but different. Dash trim is silver instead of wood grain, but interchangeable. Fenders, doors and front bumper will fit, but is different (I've heard that you can drill mounting holes in the Outback sheet metal and put the Baja cladding on it, but I haven't verified). Rear door glass is specific to body style (Sedan, Wagon, Baja). Outback seats will physically bolt in, but as with swapping between Outbacks, some have side airbags, power adjustment, etc. I think the rear seat will swap, as I remember someone wanting to have 3 seats there instead of 2, and I think they were successful. Most specific things to the Baja are unobtanium. Although I have been seeing more and more 3d printed parts for them. Some of the clips and trim for the bed area.

I’d say the most effective way would be tank out and clean with whatever method of choice. You could source a good, clean tank, put that in and be done with it too.

How can I reach you to possibly get this CAD so I can have none made?

DMV always seems to be a pain. Glad you got it worked out.

This was my 3rd Subaru - best damn car I ever owned and I kick myself for getting rid of it. ©1995

It might work, not sure though. The issue is the strut sockets into the steering knuckle, so you'd need a strut that had the right diameter and spring mount location. Here are the 4WD strut parts numbers I had in my notes. There are some used Loyale struts on eBay at the moment (both right and left). Front Right Sachs: W0133-1932779 Front Left Sachs: W0133-2038805 Front Right TRW: JGM4031SR Front Left TRW: JGM4031SL Front struts are very difficult to find. They are available but the parts availability seems to come in waves. There's not really any "upgrade" parts for these cars (there are overload springs out there). Just finding parts designed for these cars is an accomplishment. :]

My 2005 is nonturbo 2.5 and has the non cable electronic accelator pedal.

No, I'm a woman who enjoys spending time wrenching and driving, not retiring a vehicle due to lack of parts. I'll see if one of the drift Miatas around here can compare to the Brat for hardware. If a custom mount is all that would be needed to unlock more suspension parts that wouldn't be so bad. The new Brat bushings from DRW Poly Bushings are fantastic. I don't have the full set in yet but the couple I've done so far are so much better than the "fruit leather" consistency of the current ones.