bratman18

You getting LB??

Man that sucks. I really hope it's not too bad. Good luck!!

Looks like you're doing a great job!! Yeah it's always that way, the farther you dig into them, the more you find!!! That's how it was with my Brat too!!

As long as it was on the exhaust side it would have been fine, and it kinda sounds that way. I didn't think it had anything to do with the banjo fitting, again, that has only been a problem on the other style block (Legacy GT, Outback XT, and Baja XT) Glad it's all good now!! Hopefully it stays that way!!

That looks amazing!! Great job

Did they say what the issue was???

If you remove the fuse you are asking for problems if you ever get in a wreck and someone investigates. Chances are, no one will, but if they find you deliberately removed the ABS fuse and therefore had no working ABS, they might make a stink and then you insurance company will fight it all the way.

Very well said!! Thank you!

Still kinda sounds like some snow may have fallen on to the exhaust or something.

Sweet. That's good to know. For some reason, I thought the steering shafts were different sizes

^Headgaskets are not an issue on the turbo Foresters. I'm not saying it's never happened, but as a rule, the N/A 2.5's are the ones with the issues, and not the turbo'd ones. Oh and book value on mine with 78k on it and it's a 5spd is 11,500, it will be a bit less for the mileage on this one, and the fact it's an auto. I paid 9500 for mine

You'll love it. The auto's are great in these and the motor is very reliable. You will have to run at least 91 octane in it, the turbos don't like the lesser grade. It would be a good idea to use synthetic oil when doing oil changes, other than that, the maintenance is about the same as any other Subaru. Timing belt is due at 100k, so yeah try to get him to do it. It's not a bad price, but it could be better, so if you can get that stuff to be done, it would be better for you. It doesn't have serpentine belts, it has the same old 2 belts on the front, and then the timing belt behind the cover.

how did you do it??

+1 3eyedwagon.

That's BS. Salt doesn't work. It melts the ice and snow, and then it will just freeze again, it does here anyways. Sand does work, they might have to actually use a little more of it, but it works, or just leave the some snow on the roads, that is also great traction. Another idea, use pea gravel like they use in many parts of Europe!! They spread that on the roads and there is plenty of grip, then in the spring they sweep it back up and re-use it!!!! The only down side is they all have braws on their cars to protect from rock chips in the paint. Just my .02

+100!! I had one and miss it all the time:-\

Haha yeah the resemblance is crazy!!!

They take the oil screen out. But unfortunately, the stuff that clogs the screen in the first place is metal shavings from the main bearing:-\. But again, this was only a problem with the Legacy GT's and Baja turbos. They had a completely differently designed block from the 06+ WRX's, STi's, and the Forester XT's

Looks like an awesome project!! I will definitely stay posted!

This doesn't usually happen with the Forester turbos. They don't have the same turbo and motor issues that the Legacy GT's and the Baja turbos have. That and 3500-4000 miles is fine between oil changes if you use synthetic. But regular oil should be changed more often!! And yes, definitely let it warm up and cool down!!

Redcap, you look exactly like a guy I work with!!

Wow, you'd think they'd see what has happened in the north east and know better!! I hate salt with a passion, along with calcium chloride!! Yeah I have about the oldest Subarus anyone has ever seen around me. It's bad when cars that are 2000 and newer are rusting out already. Sorry guys!! I feel for ya!!

When I did my Brat I used a 220 Mig welder, it was so hard not to burn through. I had to do lots of little spot welds, but had to wait for each one to cool a little before doing the next. Looks good though!! Keep it up, and take your time!

Nice!! Looks pretty solid. Head gaskets are EASY to do on the EA81's, so even if you gotta, it ain't that bad. Nice trade!

I did that once!! I noticed no difference with anything, so I just left it