hklaine

When I first purchased my BRAT i saw some similar seapage at the bottom of the tank, noticed it melted off the undercoating. I couldn't tell where the leak was coming from but it seemed to be at the top of the tank as it only leaked on a full tank of gas while driving. I proceeded to drain the gas (luckilly it had a drain plug) and noticed that it was not coming out well, and with debris. As it turned out the inside of the top half of the tank had rusted (10+ years in storage with 1/2 tank) and filled the tank with sludge. I "sandblasted" the inside with water and small sharp marble chips then flushed with muriatic acid. A special gas-resistant epoxy/tape is available at auto parts stores for any holes. It worked great. I then sealed the inside (for seams) with an epoxy like the ones available from Eastwood. Never leaked again. Hopefully your tank is not in this bad of shape, but be careful with the seams, they can be hard to fill with the thick epoxy. The tank sealer works well and runs into all the seams of the tank. -Heikki

I have these on my Legacy (205/50/16) and am very happy with them. They are a great combination of performance and treadlife for the money. I haven't used them in the snow, as I have dedicated snow tires but in wet conditions they are fine. No complaints. -Heikki

I believe Nokian also makes some low profile winter tires. I agree though, go with a set of smaller steel wheels and tires with a taller sidewall. The handling might not be as good in the dry, but the tires will absorb more unseen bumps, potholes, etc before bending your rim, and give a little more protection on the side should you rub a curb or something which is covered in snow. Not to mention it will keep the salt off your alloys. If you plan to use the snow tires for more than one season the mounting/balancing charges every time you change the tires start to add up and may negate the price of the steel wheels. -Heikki (who can't wait to swap his WRX wheels for pretty steelies with hubcaps and snow tires)

I don't know about the small heater in the trunk...Something more insulated than a cookie sheet might be a good idea to prevent fire if that thing gets too hot or tips over for whatever reason. What kind of power do those draw? I had a small 12v ceramic heater in my BRAT but that was for use while driving since the heat was terrible, even in that little cab. I have used silicone spray on doors in the past, and it seems to do a pretty good job of keeping the seals separated from the glass in cold conditions. I don't think I had to climb in through my trunk a single time last winter. Has anyone tried 303? Thought of that the other day as something worth a try. Maybe? -Heikki (who would really like to disable his clutch switch and install remote starter)

From what I have read, having this done costs ~$6k minimum, but it seems a lot of guys are spending upwards on $8k or $9k for a good performance conversion.

WRX? STi?

I would take it out. You can't be careful enough pulling that out of there. Even the smallest scratch on the wall of the block (where the seal SHOULD seat) could cause a leak. -Heikki

Thanks. I'll try and verify that tomorrow evening. -Heikki

Where can I find the cruise control module? I see that there is a cruise unit of some sort on the firewall on the driver side, but where is the actual computer for the cruise? Thanks. -Heikki (details on my car below)

So today I took the dashboard apart in my '96 Legacy and found that there was a metal tube that runs across the dashboard directly behind the heater controls. Does anyone know what the functionality of this tube is? It looks to be relatively heavy duty. Is there anything inside of it. Thanks. -Heikki

From a Google search: Speed Sense: GRAY/BLACK IN HARNESS IN PASSENGER KICKPANEL Brake Lights: WHITE/BLACK AT SWITCH ABOVE BRAKE PEDAL I hope to have my turn-by-turn navi installed this weekend. If all goes well I will post pics/details once its complete. -Heikki

I have heard of this 10 year rule. (Ford sure doesn't follow it for SHO parts...) Does it also apply to accessories? These are the fogs that I have: I had a heck of a time finding this set. Called all over the place, most places only had the projector stlyes and all said these were not available. Hopefully I'll never need another set :-\ . -Heikki

The foglights and lenses (glass) for my older ('96) car are no longer being produced and are no longer available from SoA. I have the flat diffuser style which are not all that common. They are in fact discontinued. It seems that 5 years after a body style is discontinued its accessories are no longer a priority for SoA, understandably so. While it is not all that likely that one of these will ever break, its not a chance I am willing to take when I can greatly reduce the risk for ~$20. I purchased the heavier rockblocker (80 mil ?) in the flat style (not one of the custom-cut products) and it seems like a great product. I have not used the paint protection system as it seems like something that I would think is better suited for new cars. I have, however, heard good reviews of the paint protection products. -Heikki

RockBlocker. I have them on mine, though I just have the flat cut-it yourself style for my glass discontinued OEM fogs. Quality product. -Heikki

Speed signal 0.5Hz - 4 kHz /square wave signal Low-level <1.5V high-level 5V-16V I may have just found something. A guide I came across online states that such a signal may be available from a green/black wire in a harness under the passenger kick panel. I'll have to take a look and see if I can't find it. -Heikki

I am looking for a source that I can attach a tap to permanently so as to run a speed signal to a naviagtion system (hopefully). -Heikki

Where can the cruise control brain be found? I see that there is a cruise actuator on the firewall but it doesn't seem to have wires connected to it. Anyone have a pinout for the cruise brain or the ECM? I would prefer to find a source at the cruise as this seems to be safer than using the ABS system and cheaper in case of problems than using the ECM. Thanks. -Heikki

Does anyone know where I can tap into the vehicle speed signal? Thanks. -Heikki

New Jersey, my home state, is luckilly one of the states where state cops still haven't phased out X-Band radar which is can be detected much farther than say K or Ka (which a majority of the local cops have now switched to). If you don't speed now and plan to once you get the radar detector, then don't buy oneno matter how good it is. If you are the person that speeds either way, then drop the $300 or $400 for a good detector. If it allows you to avoid even a single ticket it could pay for itself. I strongly recommend staying away from $100 Wal-Mart detectors as these provide nothing but a false sense of security and may make you more likely to get caught. I have run tests between the best of these detectors and the Passport and the difference is huge. If anyone has personally run a Passport vs. V1 test or a Passport 8500 vs. X50 I would be very curious to hear the results. -Heikki

On the note of jammers. I have done some testing with these "passive jammers" that are on the market and have found them to be essentially worthless. While active jammers, which actually transmit a signal to jam incoming radar CAN work, they are very illegal most everywhere and are often NOT fast enough to counteract modern radar technology as they simply cannot interpret incoming radar and send out a counteraction in time to fool the police radar before he has a fix on your speed. Just some thoughts on issues that are much more involved and probably worth looking into. I imagine you can find plenty of resources online regarding these topics. I have not done much V1 testing but do own a Passport 8500 which I am very happy with. Looking into comparisons on these products will lead to endless results and extremely mixed reviews. -Heikki

I punched the fender on a Saturn and it caved in pretty seriously....and then popped right back out with no trace of being hit as soon as I took pressure off of it. Are these panels painted or is it just dyed plastic? I have a feeling it might be the latter. -Heikki

Fog Lights: Put out a wide, low, diffused light pattern in an attempt to light up the area immediately in front of the car beneath the fog with minimal glare. As stated these should not be used for regular driving as they will constrict your pupils and make visibility in the long range (darker area) worse. I like to run them without the headlights in heavy fog (where higher light sources like headlights reflect right back into my eyes) for best visibility. Driving Lights: Best when mounted at headlight level or higher (there are legalities in most states as to maximum height for road use which require them to be covered on public roads if mounted too high). These shine into the distance for use in clear conditions. As for wiring these to your high beams, make sure to check local laws. In most states it is illegal to run auxiliary lights while high beams are on! Headlights: Subaru USDM OEM headlights and wiring are cheap! A great affordable upgrade is to use the stock wiring as a signal lead for relays (essentially takes all load of stock wiring and switches). You can then run direct power from the battery with some high quality wiring to some higher quality higher output bulbs. I have done this upgrade in my Legacy and the improvements are amazing! PM or email should anyone care for more details on this upgrade. Just my opinions/experiences for anyone looking for such. -Heikki

I try to stay out of the trans fluid discussions/arguments, but I also use 75/90NS and I love it. Has always treated my Subi trannies well, particularly on those cold winter mornings. -Heikki

I don't know what the stock tire width is on those Outbacks, but from my experience I would suggest that if you change the width for snow tires go narrower rather than wider. This will help the tire cut through the snow and minimize floating. -Heikki

I purchased a '96 last fall, and found that the driver seat was sagging pretty badly. After some inspection when the weather got warmer I found that one of the bars that runs front to back on the side of the seat was broken. There are a bunch of wires with springs at both ends that run left to right under the seat to hold it up, and the rod that these attach to is what was broken. I hope this makes sense. If you take a look under the seat and this is the issue you will know it right away as there will be some loose pieces of wire down there. I took out the seat, replaced the broken rod and reattached the spring-loaded wires. Seat firmed up nice. As for other seats, the WRX and STi seats are certainly better and seem to be a common swap. Beware, they seem to sit considerable higher which may be an issue if you are tall. -Heikki