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Thanks to everyone for the help. porcupine73: That gasket looks just like the one that came with the midpipe. I assume that the rounded end goes toward the rounded flange on the midpipe. Thanks for the pics. RallyKeith: Thanks, very good info. Can you describe in detail the flange that you welded? Was it just flat with an appropriately sized center hole and appropriately spaced mounting bolt holes? It looks like I'll have to throw the plates back on the ULSD-leaking TD Jetta and run around looking for this flange today. The suby is WAY too loud to drive. I'll take the cat off and take it to work and weld it with the MIG. Thanks again, :cool:

While out of the country recently I got the news that the exhaust had fallen off of the outback. I'd bought an aftermarket midpipe before leaving for Sweden as I knew the midpipe was in sad shape, but I hadn't had a chance to put on yet. Upon inspecting the damage I found the midpipe was broken in half, not a surprise, but I also found that the flange on the rear of the cat was completely gone. The cat itself is in good shape, so I hate to replace it ($$$$), but I can't mount the replacement midpipe as it is. The front of the midpipe has what looks like the socket part of a ball and socket flex joint. I would like to find the matching flange to weld to the cat. Normally I would just weld the pipe to the cat but like I said it looks like a flex joint. Any ideas, pics, suggestions that may help me in my quest are greatly appreciated.

Safe travels! And it's not camping unless it's on the ground, everything else is just "sleeping outside". I know how you must feel, my wife won't go camping anymore either.

I used to order all of my parts from 1stsubaruparts. Apparently they have changed owners and some of the people that I had pleasantly dealt with no longer work there. I sent a friend of mine there to get parts for a project we are doing in a couple of weeks and they treated him like total crapola!!! Canceled his order, didn't reply to emails, never contacted him, never answered questions. Treating my friend badly based on my recommendation is equivalent to treating me badly, and I will never order from them again. From now on it's http://www.subarugenuineparts.com/ for my Subaru and the Subarus I work on.

DON'T DISCONNECT THE AC!!!!!!! Just unbolt the compressor and bungee it to the left strut tower. The power steering can be unbolted and bungeed to the right strut tower. The lines for both can be left connected. The oil separator plate is cheap, just replace it. They don't always leak, I've found them not leaking before, but they usually leak, and it's easy and cheap to fix permanently. Clean both surfaces with acetone and carefully apply RTV.

Magnefine makes a highly regarded external filter FWIW. http://www.emergingent.com/subpage1Magnefine.htm

I'm getting ready to do this same project to my friend's '97 so I have the spreadsheet handy. Oil separator plate part number 11831AA150. Don't forget the exhaust gaskets and probably studs and nuts as well. Pinion bearing should be added to your list of clutch related parts if you haven't already, some kits come with it, others don't. I opted for an Exedy kit which includes it.

I had about 115k on the one that I replaced a couple of weeks ago.

Yes, MAX lab. I don't know the people that you listed, though Greg now works at a facility in Australia at which we recently commissioned another large machine. Happy New Year!!

I think I'll stick with my current plan, OEM parts and machined flywheel. To me it stands to reason that this should put the clutch function back very close to when the car was new. Thanks for the link nipper.

I was at the synchrotron at the university. If remember, the next time I go to Lund I'll drop you a PM to see if you need any small parts. My next trip is to Taiwan for two months.

I'm exceptionally happy with the Yokohama Avid TRZ as a three-season tire. If I were looking for a four-season tire I would start with the Nokian WR, knowing what I know about their snow tires.

Interesting about the machining of Subaru flywheels. Conventional wisdom states that flywheels should be machined. I'm preparing to put a clutch in my good friends '97 legacy, and I was planning on buying a machined used flywheel, and returning the current one for the core. I'm wondering, should we skip the machining? His clutch is in fairly rough shape right now, slipping in the higher gears. About 175k on the car and clutch. We were planning on using OEM components, as is my custom with Subarus. I suppose we could buy the flywheel and return it if we decide not to use it. I think he'll be disappointed if he gets chatter, as the car has never done it.

http://www.rockauto.com says that they do international shipping. You may want to check them out. They do have caliper kits for subarus, though I don't know if they will fit your car. I spent 7 weeks in Lund for work this fall, a very nice city. I just ate some pepparkakor and singoalla. I brought my wife home some hjortronsylt, good stuff! I don't anticipate traveling to Lund in the near future, or I could bring the caliper kits with me.

I hear you, the key is subtly convincing her that she wants another suby. Not helping my case is the fact that she just rode in her friend's new Toyota Sienna AWD. I really hate every aspect of minivans, driving them, putting gas in them, and especially working on them.