fishy

Absolutely the knock sensor can hurt performance and mileage... in fact they can even be flaky enough to affect performance BEFORE they trip an ECU code. In case you don't have any experience with these sensors I made a video when I changed one of mine out a couple years ago that might help give you some familiarity with the process...:

Beauty. thanks for sharing.

When I did a lot of patching on my old impreza (which is due for some more *sigh*) I went to a local body place and asked for a couple scraps out of their scrap bin. I got a door skin and a fender or two off of some random cars and then I cut and shaped peices to fit the holes before welding them in. Just an idea. I believe I remember reading that those door jamb rust holes happen on that generation Legacy/outback because water is getting in behind it from the forward side of the inner wheel well. So while you're poking around and doing repairs in there make sure you check that area too.

A couple things come to mind right away: The usual cold start stuff: check condition and level of fluids on it while cold and then keep an eye out for puffs of smoke on startup. Torque bind: after driving it up to temperature go to a parkinglot or somewhere big and paved. do a few slow, tight figure-8 type maneuvers to feel for torque bind. If you notice the car digging and hopping around like a 4x4 would do on bare pavement then the centre "diff" in the transmission is exhibiting what we call 'torque bind'. You can search lots about that around here if need be. Leaks (old subarus don't really leak, they mark their territory): Headgaskets in that generation tend to weep externally at a slow rate. if you can get under the front of it look for a line of dirt a scuzz stuck to the coolant/oil that has seeped out between head and block on either side. And of course have a look around for other general leaks. Hopefully others will speak up for things that I've missed, and good luck!

Not sure about your shock/strut mount questions but swaybar endlinks are pretty notorious for clunking and knocking sounds in these cars. The fronts usually go first/more often but any of them could potentially make annoying noises like that. good luck and I'm sure others will chime in with more info.

I've always wanted to try a "hybrid intake". You can search that up over at the nasioc forum but basically it's when you replace all the stock piping and resonator junk between the throttle body and the fiilter box with big aluminum intake tube stuff instead. Last time I read up on them there was a promising (albeit slight) increase in performance.

I wonder if an application of relatively thick grease to the mechanism would simmer it down any.

Forgive me if I'm wrong (and someone here should correct me if so) but in the North American market a 2002 legacy L and a legacy GT are really the same car. The GT had different trim and options, maybe a different diff ratio or something. Otherwise the engine/transmission/undercarriage, and therefore exhaust, should all be either identical or so close it doesn't matter. In other markets the GT may have been a turbo car but it wasn't here. I'm not sure about your suspension questions, though. Good luck with that part of it.

Bratman's comment about saving the motor for another project made me also think: if you can get it for filthy-cheap you could 'invest' in it and sell it on to some hotrod kid who blew up his motor or to someone else wanting to build a turbo project later on. You could also get the front bucket seats out of the wreck and put them in your car for a nice upgrade.

I'm sure I'll be corrected if wrong but I think the STi would be built with a lower compression ratio than a regular 2.5L. So you probably wouldn't gain any power from frankenmotoring it up with 2.2 heads. I suppose if you were going to make your own frankenmotor turbo setup that might be a good block to start with though.

Those rail trim pieces are just that. trim pieces. The problem with removing them is that they go from the base of the windshield to the top of the hatchback lid. At least they did on my 98 impreza hatchback. Mine were held on only with plastic clips that slide either fore or aft to un-clip if I remember correctly. Underneath the plastic trim bits you should find the factory mounting points for a roof rack... the primary reason I took mine off in the first place. hope that helps.

Cool. good to know! I'll be keeping it on hand as an emergency spare anyway. That poor Impreza isn't likely to last more than another couple years anyway thanks to the vicious amount of road salt and neglect it has seen over its lifetime.

Nipper, We're just talking about comparing rebuild kits to verify the same-ness of the Forester and impreza racks... And it looks like the two DO take the same rebuild kit. I'll pull the Forester rack before the it goes to the crusher. The parts on that thing are basically 'free' at this point so why not?

I'm with you guys on the 'probably fits'. Both racks are still in their respective cars or I would compare them side by side... Good idea to check rebuild kits and things for compatibility. I'll see about that.

Hey gang, I've been going through www.opposedforces.com for things I should pull off my parts Forester for my Impreza and I wanted to know about the steering rack. I see on OF.com that it isn't a direct replacement part between the two but I can't help but think that it would have to be close enough to use anyway because so much of the suspension, crossmembers, etc are direct swap-over parts. Has anyone done a rack swap between the two before? I have a hunch that there is some minute difference between them in ratio (for different tire size maybe?) or something that makes them not 100% identical parts but that they would still swap in and work in place of each other. Any ideas? I'm trying to farm out as many spares from this rig as I can before having it hauled for crushing. So far I've put all four struts and springs on my impreza as well as a bunch of stereo mounting dash parts and the nicer front bucket seats. I've also pulled all the axles and the front control arms to have 'in stock'. I think I'm getting pretty good mileage out of a $250 parts car.

I've noticed the same lack of braking power in my same Outback... But in a panic brake I still managed to make the tires talk to me without activating ABS. Once in a while I've thought about braided stainless lines or better pads. It would be interesting to feel the difference each of those makes individually. Good luck with upgrades, I'll be reading along closely

I've also got an A/T 2005 Outback. If you have the 2.5 non-turbo I'm pretty sure it's the 4eat. The turbos got a 5eat version of the trans. If you start from a stop in 'sport' mode and 'shift' it through the gears yourself you should see the indicator in the dash count up to 4 and no more.

My 05 Outback 2.5i has heated seats but that _may_ be part of the 'canadian package' because I think they all came with heated seats and mirrors here. At least for a while.

I've been a subscriber of MCM for ages and I'm following the Gramps build very closely... they're basically building my dream sleeper. I reckon with the bigger engine but somewhat stripped car they're right around 3100lbs with that car and making pretty respectable power to the wheels. I don't know squat about drag racing but I bet it will put in a pretty damned good time even if they can't make 11's with it.

If you can get past the bragging rights of having an STi I think the WRX is really the way to go for a comfortable, sensible daily driver. A friend and coworker of mine is on his second STi. They're fantastic cars and he loves them... but every they ride harshly(makes my 05 Outback feel like a Cadillac) and everything for them costs extra money. The newer 265hp style WRX really seems like the smart money to me. Especially if it's newer and lower mileage. Just my opinion and all...

Great save! It's reassuring to know you can rely on your driving and also on your car's ability when you need it, eh? Recently I had a deer teleport out in front of my 05 Outback. I was on a paved road and travelling about 75kph with my 4 year old son in the back seat. I stood that poor car on it's nose with the brakes so hard that I heard the tires chirping (must have been JUSSSSSSSST before ABS cut-in). Thankfully the deer missed us by a couple feet. Those pesky deer belong on BBQ grilles not car grilles.

I had the tank in my 99 legacy replaced once many moons ago. I had a garage do it because it involved taking the whole arse-end of the car out and my wife needed the car to commute with. I got a rust free southern gas tank from a local place that imports tanks and radiators and stuff. I think the replacement tank cost me a whole $125 so at least that part of the job was cheap enough... I wonder if there are any shops or businesses in your area that import southern tanks and things like that. You're in a rust belt zone so you may very well have someone nearby.

I know the 2005 Baja is based on the 2001-2004 Outback... but I have no idea how close their back seats are. If you could get access to an Outback in person and take a good look/measurements you might be able to tell if it would be close enough to fit.

Thanks for the table. There are lots of choices there and probably none of them are any good You're right about the newer cars holding up better. Just about any new car you get now would likely go 5+ years before rust even started in on it. I seem to have a knack for buying older japanese cars that deteriorate in both body condition (rust) and mechanical condition (mileage and regular wear) at about the same rate so they fall apart around me while they fall apart underneath me beyond the point where they're worth fixing. Don't be jealous

In a situation like that for a 3000mi/year I'd be pretty tempted to get a set of cheap or used snow tires. That way you're covered for any weather and with the low number of miles the wear rating and fuel mileage difference of snows versus all seasons won't make much difference. I freqently run snows year-round on my subarus anyway because even in the summer I might go adventuring down a woods road or something like that and the extra luggy tires help out.