wagonryan

Its been a little bit without an update, so here's a pretty damn cool one. Ive saved up some money this winter and am making some big changes to my wagon. Got this used from Scott for a steal. 6" SJR kit. Thanks again! and I want to put 29" dynapro mt's on the car so I bought some of these - and of course some 5x4.5 hub adapters. I'm going to start the lift early next week. If any of you have any info or tips on how to make the shift linkage work that would be a great help. Ive heard thats a bear. I'll also be buying the tires after I get my tax return. I hope to get a job with the National Park Service or similar this summer, so after summer I'll be working toward a 2.2/2.5 frankenmotor build and aussie 4.11 5mt awd dual range tranny.

Looks good man. I have a 2.2 in mine and I'm looking at putting in a d/r tranny like yours after I install the 6" sjr lift!!! I think I'm doing 29" dynapro mt for a tire. The 2.2 should be able to push them I think..slowly haha

hurry up i wanna see this thing get built! i'm on the fence about my next subie; its either gonna be a lifted leggy wagon just like that or a lifted first gen imp sedan. Where did you get that tranny?!?! if you have a source i'd be all over that!

ahhh thats awesome! good for you! every time I go to my local suby dealership I drool over the absolutely MINT 360 they have in the show room! ONE DAY

^^^ I have a UEL header on my 2.2 obs. I didn't notice any big changes in throttle response, but it feels faster haha. Its definitely cool to have the subie rumble. I think 300 or whatever they're running is a good price. keep it up keaton!

so everything got put back together and the car is driveable. I haven't been driving it because I still want to get the rear wheel bearings done and bleed the brakes. Also because i traded in my mazda for a new forester 2.5X and have been working 7 days a week. Things to take from rebuilding the front end. GD sedan axles are longer than GC axles. GD axles are a direct swap into '00-'01 gc because the tone rings are identical. I cranked the wheel to full lock and started creeping.. no more clicking or anything. I hope they hold up alright. a little bit more work to do and it SHOULD be solid for a while. -replace rear wheel bearings -get rid of mold -plug up some holes -get a cherry bomb - K&N filter I decided this is just gonna be my adventure car, not hardcore wheeler. I'll still take it on some easier trails, but I'm just done replacing ************ for a while lol. I'm trying to move out and its pretty hard when I spend all my money on this car. here's a recent shot of my outback with my buddies strut lifted coupe and the newest edition, 3rd subaru:

Still have the lift blocks??

haha yeah I have been using a broom stick for a while. The bolt hole is not accessible at the hatch unless I drill a larger hole on the other side. That might even be a better idea. I could just drill a bigger hole, get a nut on the trunk strut and bondo it back up. ding ding ding I think that's the winner. but for real, you don't realize how heavy the hatch is until the hatch struts give out

its a 2000 obs. I bought new lift supports, they are being shipped. The problem is that when I took the old one off, the nut that the lift support screws into broke off so there is nothing to screw into. I'm looking for a cheap way to fix this. I was wondering if jb weld is strong enough to hold the lift support in place sorta as a makeshift nut if you get what i'm saying

Hey i'm replacing my worn out trunk liftgate supports and one of the upper welded nuts broke off so I just have a hole and nothing to screw into. has anybody used jb weld or something similar to hold the lift gate bolt in place? do you think it'll work?

I am looking to have a skid plate and reinforced mounts made. I want a prerunner type plate that goes from the cross member bending upward at the front of the car to protect my radiator. and maybe a tube front bumper depending on the cost of materials. how much do you think it would cost to make a front bumper and 1/4" skid plate with the cost of labor?

Welp I learned that 2000+ imprezas use the same ABS tone rings as GD so the axles are a direct swap. good news. in the process of removing my hubs to get new bearings put in I ended up tearing the boots on both ball joints. I don't care what anyone says, the picklefork tool is stupid. It woulda been fine if the ball joints were bad and I was just removing them but ************, they were fine before I touched em. Oh well live and learn. picked up some new ones. I also picked up some new rotors, the other ones were rotting away Should get her all put back together this weekend if I don't hit anymore snags. If I'm real lucky and finish on saturday I'll mob up to the mountains across the hood canal and see if I can't get stuck in some SNOWWW. and just because i can

Whats new with the ol girl?! we want pictars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ahhhh wish I had the money!

Hey it's been a while. Since my last post, I've really beat on the car and broke a few things. I'm in the process of replacing both front axles with GD sedan axles for their extra .5" in length. While I was taking everything apart I found that the Pass side wheel bearing is toasted and I'm waiting on funds to proceed. I'm debating whether to get WRX brakes and hubs because i've heard that my car uses an internal abs tone ring and the GD axles have one on the actual axle. is it possible to take the tone rings out of my current hubs, or can I take them off the GD axle? Would it be okay to have WRX brakes up front and drums in the back? I'm confused about a few things at the moment. ___________________________________________________________ So option #1 is to get new hubs, hub bearing kits, rotors and pads and rebuild my brakes and some how take the ABS tone rings off the new axles or get them out of my hubs. Option #2 is to get WRX hubs and brakes and not have to do any modifying of the ABS tone rings. But will I run into a brake bias issue having drums in the back? more miscellaneous things I want to get done soon: -sealed battery box -bedline the underbody -fix some holes in the body -speakers/amp/sub -tint -fix the condensation problem in my car. its ridiculous. I just found mold growing on my seats; last winter condensation would get on all the windows and freeze on THE INSIDE. Bad heater core? is water getting in somewhere? -get a muffler -skid plate & diff protector

MOAR updates on the winter wagon! I'm getting mine ready for the snow. I might have to try that underbody protection stuff that you used. I work at my local ski hill and they always cover the roads with salt. I'm gonna go hunting for one of those compasses...

Very nice! I really like the seat fabric

I am very interested in what you ended up doing to get it! I want the D/R but would prefer to spend a bit more on something that is somewhat of a direct swap than using the 20+ year old GL stuff and making it work. let us know!

haha it was right side up! the angle was from the front of the car looking back to the rear on the drivers side. the area in the picture is where the tranny should be sitting, but its not because (I think) the tranny mount in front of it isn't the 5spd legacy outback xmember. its my obs one. I guess it's supposed to drop it down a little bit. there aren't any leggies in my local p&p so I might try to make my own. I have another observation, my pedals vibrate. it's subtle. I'm really thinking thats my issue now because since the tranny isn't completely secure, so its just bouncing around. or something. did you notice any added vibrations when you put on the wheel spacers?

I think I found part of the problem... I didn't use the tranny xmember from the legacy outback which created this gap when I first did the body lift I stuck skateboard wheels on the xmember to make up for it, but it vibrated like crazy. I wonder if that'll fix it. wheel spacers are on tight, and didn't feel any play with the wheel bearings.

that thing is sweet! looks giant with the 6"

do you think it would work for a 2000 outback sport with out modification? and is that the only year or is there a range where the outbacks stayed the same? The driveshaft is really whats offputting about this swap. That would be sweet to be able to use oem pieces.

Thanks a lot man! I'll check those things over and see whats what. Stella has been a good build to guide me.

so some background, my car is a strut and outback body lifted 2000 obs. I recently added 1" wheel spacers, which have added a little vibration, but I don't think that is the sole issue. I've taken it to Tahuya and other orv parks around the area. I usually don't take it on extended trips at freeway speeds, but this weekend I went to bellingham and noticed intermitent vibrations at speeds 60-75 and thought it was the front axles. at the end of the trip I noticed a clunking sound every once and a while when turning left. after my amatuer inspection (pulling and pushing on all axles and other suspension components) I can't figure it out. nothing looks broken or loose. I don't know how much play axles are supposed to have. both fronts don't appear to be broken but the have some play by the upper boot and can wiggle a little where they connect to the trans. the shifter vibrates some and it feels different (almost sluglike) to drive. could it be a ball joint or seized wheel bearing? I have all terrain tires and no muffler so it's possible I didn't hear the warning signs. luckily its not my dd so I have some time to figure this out, but I'm gonna need some help tracking down the problem. if you can think of anything specific to look at that doesn't involve splitting my tranny, I think I can handle it. would you recommend I take it to les schwab for a suspension check? it's only $15 bucks and they might be able to find something I can't. Ryan

this build keeps getting better! props for all the fab work.