keltik

Sure its not a Outback, but my Legacy Sedan gets lost easy enough. Dents add character and you can always tell mine apart by the wheels. Easiest mod to do and makes such a big improvement to the looks of the car. If by any chance some other persons white Legacy has Impreza rims - i just check the plates.

Update: So far ive got the front brakes swapped over and the difference is phenominal! Now im working on doing the back brakes as well and i had a "what the hell" moment. It didnt occur to me until i took the rotors off my donor car that Subaru uses a drum brake for the e-brake and disks for the service brake. So this swap is proving to be a bit more difficult than id first hoped. It also doesnt help me that the hubs on parts car are stuck on there, im sure its nothing a blow torch and sledge hammer cant fix. The new motor is in my garage now, the front of it was full of this odd rusty crud so i have to replace all timing belt idlers and the front seals. Im looking forward to getting this thing in so i can enjoy an extra 40 ponies in my Legacy. On the side im also wrestling with wiring as the MPFI and SPFI cars have different wiring looms would you believe, so instead of taking the dash out and swapping the harness over im stripping out all the engine related wires i need and im just going to add them into my car. Im praying to god at the end of this i'll just plug in the motor and VROOOOM it will go but we all know life isnt that great. Anyone out there who has a wiring diagram for the SPFI EJ engine - im begging you!!! Send it to me!! And make a man and his multimeter much happier. Finally how many people out there have butchered up their own wiring harnesses for the EJ? Did it work and what kinda problems did you have?

If were talking about a Legacy here then it will of course have an EJ series engine and ONE timing belt, unless of course your referring to the EA82 which does have 2 belts. Yes getting the marks lined up is tricky but im about to do the same job (replace seals and belts) on the front of a quad cam motor. I see headaches in my future. Oh also i managed to pick up a kit containing all front seals, tensioners, cam belt and water pump for $500 NZD. Not sure how good a deal that is compared to what you get in the US of A.

Lets hear it for parts cars!! Got me a 1989 VZ Legacy on the way. Will update with pics and bananas when its here. Looking to steal new brakes all round, front struts, ecu and motor for reseal and transplant, climate control thingy, electric windows. Only thing wrong with it as far as i know is a grenaded 4EAT. For those who arent familier with the VZ spec, it should have 4 wheel disk brakes, 4wd, electric mirrors/windows/heater controls and should have a quad cam EJ20 in it. Updated with pics: Found it in the corner of a field with other "projects" The cars in a pretty decent shape, only problem is the motor needs a water pump and the timing belt/tensioner and stuff put back together. Hehehe i now have a new engine for my legacy and something to do on weekends.

Sway bar was worth it! Pressed in some new bushes on the rear link arms to get the correct cammed bolt installed, now everything is worn in nicely. Body roll is greatly reduced and the car corners flatter and much nicer. My brake pads on the one side are almost down to metal and i found its almost as cheap to buy new turbo spec rotors and pads than to buy the replacement non-turbo ones. Therefore im going to pick up the turbo gear and try to procure some Legacy RS calipers to bolt on up front. How hard is it to get the new calipers to fit? Will i need to change the backing plate? Still impressed with this motor - its taken one hell of a beating and just keeps on turning (tough terrain and hauling heavy loads responsible for beating - not speedy driving).

My high idle problem is still annoying me, at times it can hold as high as 1800rpm with the air con on. Usually the rpm stays at about 1500 with a/c and 1200 without. On a good day the legacy will idle beautifully at 600-800rpm, but thats getting rarer. The motor doesnt show any sign of vacuum leaks, carb cleaner has been splashed about and i cant get an idle change. Knock sensor has been replaced recently but that had no effect on the idle problem. As far as i can tell the PCV system is operating correctly even though i cant recognize a PCV valve or a place where one would be fitted. My biggest hint is that the high idle problem tends to occur after holding a constant rpm for a while. It also occurs much more with a hot engine than cold. Everything seems to point to a faulty IAC valve/motor but i cant find one and cant recognize the system that controls the idle, hence my need for someone who is familier with the EJ series SPFI system to chime in here. Thanks for any help you can give.

Now thats a mean looking imp. Me like!

Sway bar fitted perfectly, this conclusively proves you CAN fit a bar from a 92 turbo wagon onto a 89' 2WD sedan. But we all knew that right? Only tricky part was getting this mounting bracket bolt on as its right under the fuel filler. The new exhaust didnt age as well as id hoped, its only seen 8000miles and 2 months and already looks like this. The forward half of pipe is the new stuff, the rear half is proper aftermarket pipe that came with the muffler. As you can see theres a massive difference in quality. I know its only surface rust but still....thats kinda poor... Now all i need is a wheel alignment and i can go drive this thing to see if it was worth the $50. Modding makes me happy :-p especially when its this easy.

Its not the cop behind tryin to keep up is it? Umm only cars with a high speed warning that ive seen have been Volvos, Saabs and other Europeanish things. Never heard of it on a Jap-mobile, they usually just cut out.

Thanks for the reminder 'bout my wagon, believe me every time i get behind the wheel i remember that. Theres a lot of winding nasty roads here and i can assure you my driving habits have changed since my crash. As much as i can agree with you on driving responsibly - modifying my car is my hobby, not a way of getting to work faster. Im also signed up for track days to get my craving for speed, public roads are not the place to do it. So now i hope that ive avoided a debate on my driving... Regarding the spring sugestions - i'll look into that, sounds like a good cheap idea. I bolted the sway bar mounting brackets up tonight and it all fitted reasonably well, other than scraping a bit of underseal off there wasnt any drama. Next week ill consider swapping out the suspension arms and actually fitting the bar. I want to buy some new bushings for the lot first. Edit: Wanted to add all the bolts i needed to remove came undone easily - cars here dont seem to rust up like in the USA so i didnt even need to crack out the PB blaster once. Anyone know more on swapping disk brakes onto 2WD models?

Well after chasing my friend who bought himself a 90' Legacy non-turbo, i found some small problems with my 89' Legacy entry level econo-box. 1. The brakes caught fire whilst pursuing someone down a windy country road, this immediately puts rear disk brake conversion on the cards. 2. The engine took an immense caning and behaved beautifully. I love the EJ18 with its simple one injector fuel squirtation system but more power would be good. So an EJ22 swap is on the back burner which im slowly accumulating parts for. 3. The car rolled like hell, closer inspection revealed the lack of a rear sway bar so after a few nights playing at the wreckers i pulled one and have brought all the necessary bits home to try and bolt one on. 4. My rear shocks were stuffed causing lots of oversteer and fun times. Nice new KYB GR2's have been fitted and they make me very happy. Tonights job is doing the sway bar, im attempting to fit the bar from a 92' turbo 4WD model onto my 89' non-turbo 2WD. It should be interesting... This thread is partly so i can document my work and maybe help others but also to ask this question: Anyone know if the wagon and sedan sway bars are different? Some people will say i should have just bought an RS in the first place - but wheres the fun in that?! Also wheres your 34mpg in an RS? P.S have checked with legacy central and although the stuff there is good i couldnt get that question answered. Also im playing with filthy JDM stuff so who knows whats gonna happen.

Toothpaste cleared my lights up lovely, and its the only thing that will get the bugs off my windsheild and front licence plate.

Actually the button thing was on a Toyota Levin and on my old Honda you had to push they key in. Wouldnt be seen dead near a ford nipper Unless its one of them Falcon XR8 utes /hijack

On the note of turning the key more than one click, most of the cars ive owned or driven require a button to be pressed or you have to push the key further into the lock to turn it the final click. Perhaps some auto engineers have already thought of this.....?

They dont teach any of that stuff here, emergency procedures have been dropped from the theory tests and practical stuff like emergency stops and parallel parking have been dropped too. IMHO every motorist should know how to check fluids, change a tyre and deal with possible emergencies such as hood flying open or throttle jamming.

Does it still have the EA engine in it? Or is it snowing or something?

+eleventymillion. I have a 3inch exhaust on my car, when i pass people it makes me smile. Also Subaru is just associated with rally and coolness whereas Honda is associated with old people leaving the turn signal on and boy racers with veetak yo'.

In this country Hondas are known for being very reliable and economical, whilst Subarus are most frequently seen on the side of the road either out of gas or broken down.... But who the hell wants to be practical!? Making the sensible choice and buying a petrol powered wheelbarrow (civic) isnt nearly as much fun as trying to make a Subaru fit the bill. Our Dual Range box also had a 0.871 fifth gear and a 3.900 final reduction, i wonder how many of the other gear ratios are the same as in the EA series box....

Theres your problem...it err doesnt work with swedish steel... Ok so forgetting the fancy rustproofing stuff - i had a look under my car today and you really cant beat a good old fashioned oil leak.

Hammerite! Best paint ever, just slap it on and forget about rust. If i could afford to hammerite my entire car in black or metallic blue i would. :-p But as its rather expensive stuff i just use it for my tow hooks on all my cars and have never had it flake off even after painting on over rust. If i had steel wheels i would probably try doing them in it too.

perhaps carb cleaner instead of brake cleaner - that stuffs a little too harsh IMHO

The JDM 5 speeds offered with the 1990 to 1994 EJ22 had a 3.700. With a 0.871 5th gear, so that sounds like your best bet. Of course this is all Japanese market rubbish but still something for you to consider. All info from my 1991 Subaru owners manual. (My car must have a FWD 4.111 in it as it takes about 3000rpm for 60mph on 15inch rims)

Hey GD, could you tell me where this idle up signal for the ECU comes from? Mine idles up to 1800rpm and its annoying me so im going to try and do something about it.

I cant wait to hear what actually happened when you did this, several times i nudged my Hondas shifter into reverse - at low speeds it just stalls and the only time i did it at highway speed i got it back into drive before any explosions occured.

1. Thank god you dont own a new Legacy 2. 2.5inch cat-back exhaust anyone?