WoodsWagon

Could be a leaking water pump and the coolant is running out of the timing belt cover drain right under the crank pulley. That will run down the front of the oil pan. A leak where the upper radiator hose attaches to the coolant crossover manifold will puddle under the power steering pump and then run down the front of the block and onto the oil pan.

Rather than the DL light conversion (which I think is ugly and makes the car look even more dated) you could do the HID projector retrofit that Turbone has a write up on. The yellow tint on the lights now sure isn't helping brightness. You will really like the d/r 5mt. Make that the next priority to swap in as it makes it a completely different car.

Yup, going larger in wheel size is always fine. On the later cars with bigger brakes you can't run the 14" wheels or in some cases the 15" wheels because of caliper interference.

What kind of subaru is it? Year/body/engine? You get most of the ground clearance from oversized tires, so pick what size tire you want to run and we'll help figure out what size lift/trimming/bashing you'll need.

You can put two new tires on one side of the car and the two older ones on the other. The open front and rear diffs will cancel out the difference so the center diff will see equal speeds front and rear. You have a toe issue that needs to be adjusted. You can do a pretty good job with a tape measure if you have to.

Manually turned. Remco Axle-lock

They make a CV axle disconnect for FWD cars to be towed behind motorhomes. They are expensive. You would have to modify one to splice it into a subaru axle.

I think there were updated rear suspension alignment specs too, so that was subaru's "fix" for the issue.

The squealer tab goes on the inside pad on the leading edge of the pad as the rotor turns forward. That's because the inner leading edge is usually the fastest wearing area of the pads. That means the pad you put on the right side outer spot really belongs in the left side inner spot. Doesn't really matter though, it's not a safety issue.

Second on the Mitsubishi rims. Here's mine with a subaru center cap: They have about the perfect backspacing to tuck the wheels without rubbing on the frame too bad at full lock. With 235/75r15's I didn't need to run fender flares and never got hassled by police for the tires sticking out.

If you put $1500 into your 97 legacy you will have a much better car than the Loyales ever were. If you can do the work yourself you should be able to do brakes all round and rear struts for $400.

Oh, believe me it will work. The rear driveshaft transfer gears in the transmission will not like it though. If you don't weld up the rear diff, the spider gears won't like it either. If you do weld the diff, have spare stub shafts on hand. I blew a couple sets of rear transfer gears and a few diffs. One diff the crosspin broke and cracked the carrier too. What it boils down to is bring a tow strap and a cell phone if you plan on having fun with it in RWD. It is a lot of fun though.

I think 99 is a phase 2 trans with a 8 bolt bellhousing and a spin on oil filter, so not the same trans as a 98. Try the trans-x first.

Make sure the caliper moves freely on it's sliders and the piston pushes back with a c-clamp when you put the new pads in. You don't even need the anti-rattle clips. Every time you do a brake job you need to wire wheel the clips and grind the rust off the surfaces the clips sit on with a cut-off wheel so the new pads slip in easily. Or if you're in a hurry or using cheapo pads, you can grind the tabs on the pads so they fit smoothly in the clips. Just coat the tabs with hi-temp brake grease so they don't rust up too. If the wheel seized up, I'd be more suspicious of the E-brake inside the rotor hat of causing your issues. You'll see when you have the caliper and pads off if it turns freely. If it doesn't, you'll need to get into the E-brake shoes. Your back brakes look the same as 90% of the mid-late 90's cars on New England roads. As long as the body isn't rusted out, fix it cheap and keep driving it.

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=116818&page=17 Note the eliminated brake booster so it's just manual brakes. Steering column was shortened and the steering coupler lengthened to clear the turbo. It really makes more sense to just run a single turbo. If you can pick up a twin turbo cheap, you can swap the exhaust manifold and run a single.

Isn't there also some pipe plugs in the heads under the valve cover that go into the cooling jacket? If they started leaking coolant would run directly into the oil.

Does the AT temp light flash on 16 times on the dash when you first start the car?

The 1" PCV hose coming up from the oil separator port on the back of the block and up to the PCV valve on the intake is often clogged with carbon gick. Try cleaning that hose and the nipple on the bock that it attaches to and putting a new subaru PCV valve in. It's worth making sure that it's not just sucking oil into the intake.

Start by sledgehammering and porta-powering (if you have one) the quarter back into shape. It will make lining up the new sheetmetal easier, and if you get it close enough to call it good you saved cutting and welding. Before sectioning the top half of my trucks cab after it's rollover, they straightened it out as much as possible so all the pillars were back where they should be. Made lining up the new roof and pillars much easier for them. Your main concern is getting the trunk to seal. You will get exhaust leaking back into the cabin if it doesn't. Here's a handy tool for overlapping and spot welding if you do replace the quarter: http://www.harborfreight.com/air-tools/specialty-air-tools/air-punch-flange-tool-1110.html

So you going to hold off on the rebuild for a while longer? Good to hear it worked out for you.

Hatch or 3 door coupe? Does it have overhead cams and timing belts on the motor? If it's a hatch with the EA81 OHV instead of a 3 door coupe with the EA82 OHC engine, it will be a tighter fit to get the DOHC engines in. The room from the spare tire isn't where you have clearance issues with twins. The brake booster, steering coupler, and crossmember is where you have problems. Honestly, the twin turbos won't make much if any difference in acceleration in a light car. They also add a huge amount of complexity and packaging issues. Have you driven a newer WRX? The acceleration is more than adequate in a much heavier car. Put that in a light car and it will rip. The only reason for twins is so you can brag that "It's a twin turbo yo" If you want to offroad it, there isn't a subaru manual transmission built that would work well. The D/R 5spds will break, and all the stronger 5 and 6spds don't have the gear reduction to work well with bigger tires. That's what makes the auto better. If you are set on a manual trans, using Bill Hincher's adapter bellhousing with a 4x4 toyota trans and transfer case would work. That requires extensive modification and enough lift to clear a front axle, which doesn't sound like what you're looking for. The 2.5l's have a lot better bottom end than the 2.0's. That's why I recommend the leg/for 2.5XT's as a donor

Make sure the dowel in the case lines up with the hole in the mainshaft bearing and don't bend the pinion depth shims. That's all off the top of my head.

The clutch type LSD's actually make a big difference if they are still tight. The more abusive you get with them offroad, the harder the LSD grabs. Mine was great for mud, snow, sand, and wet leaf litter that would stop it before. You also don't get the total loss of power and forward momentum when lift a wheel. Plus it was great when I'd have a broken front axle and run RWD for a week before replacing it. Easiest car to do consistent tight donuts in short of an old RX-7.

Twin turbo is awkward. You can make a 350hp EJ25 with a single turbo and have it drive nice, so there's really no reason for twins. I'm going to rain on your parade a bit here, but if you're paying for professional work to make an offroad beast, there are a lot of better platforms to start from, like say a Jeep Cherokee. Massive aftermarket, stronger drivetrain, and cheap to start with. You're looking at a complete drivetrain swap, engine, transmission, driveshaft and axles, wiring harness, ect. Everything will be custom work, which if you're paying to have it done will cost a lot. A 2.5l turbo backed with a 4eat auto trans is probably the best bet for an offroad car. If you can find a donor Forester XT or Outback XT that's been rolled or something, that would be the best way to start. Buy it salvage, and start swapping parts into your car.

The best thing you could do while you have it apart is put a front LSD in it. The Helical OBX LSD's are reasonably cheap and will hold up fine to the power level your planning. http://www.ebay.com/itm/OBX-Helical-Front-LSD-93-97-Impreza-5sp-M-T-Front-Limited-Slip-Differential-LSD-/180849779113?hash=item2a1b7ca1a9&item=180849779113&pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr I never broke a front stub shaft. I did blow out 2 or 3 sets of rear transfer gears and I think one front diff. At least pieces of something got caught between the ring gear and the case and blew the bottom out of the transmission. A LSD front will make a world of difference in how it drives. I was always having issues putting power down especially on rainy days and that was with 235/75r15 tires on it.