travelvw

Nice to see a rear bumper on yours and a rear strut tower bracing on B's that continues to come apart due to rust and wreck. Thanks for taking the time to edit and post these Mr P Todd! K

Wow man, what a trip!!! K

Strut swapping for fun/research, you guys are nuts! Yeah, I'm used to no A/C in my old Toyota with a little heater core foot burn in the summer time. I'm not sure what all is going on with your high lifts, but I always spray a little lube on mine and work it up and down before I head out. They like to stick and not function properly after they sit for a bit. K

Weather looks like it was still nice and cool up there. The random, dumped mound of potatoes is super bizarre! I think I've only seen one leech in person. Lighter weight vehicles are more fun to drive. Sounds like the rig you built will work well for you in the long run. Congrats, after all that hard work and seeing it thru. K

Given the intense customization that went in to this car, it sounds like a very successful first trip out, congrats! It's been a long process. Nice too see the Impreza finally huckin' some dust! K

Sick!!! Awesome progress! Raspy? Exhaust must be perfect then, leave it. Didn't you go stand alone to avoid electrical issues? But congrats on finding the issue. Looks like you are really close to having a driver. With trimmed bumper covers and a set of rally wheels, and you'd have yourself a cover car. Ha! K

Ehhhhh... Really incredible build. Patiently executed and well thought out. And it's so clean and rust-free! Hopefully you get the cam sensors figured out soon. K

It runs!! Nice progress. Hope to see it on the trails this year! K

Nice progress on the green Impreza, I look forward to seeing it finished. Thanks for documenting the death of that legendary first gen. Man, that car really took a beating. Save some of that blinker fluid for the new one! K

Bummer about the low range, that helical gear looks roached! Get that thing sorted; I want one that can handle even more thrust force and a similar driving style. Whenever you get to disassembling and rebuilding it, I am curious to find out if there are any additional parts with excessive wear, or if it is just that one gear. I think it's time to focus on the first gen, right? You should be proud of the years of use and abuse you got out of the black Outback. Gorgeous up there. K

Love the addition of the hi/lo shift levers over the cables. Looks like you are about finished mocking up the rear suspension. The entire skid plate frame looks well executed. Everything I'm seeing is an improvement over the Outback... man, you are taking this car to the next level! K

The first gen is coming right along. Lets see the final install of L/R billet knuckles and chromoly trailing arms. Headers look close enough to the rack boots, I'd make heat shields or wrap the ends. K

Lots of great work going on here, but I can't believe you bought headers: love it!! K

Lower 'frame' on the second gen pic is gusseted at the firewall; that certainly looks stronger. Good point. K

Love it! I can't believe you bought headers; car is going to sound good, too. How about doing those head gaskets now while it's out of the car instead of later when it's in the car? Looks like these cars need more bracing for the front a-pillar; same place that repeatedly cracked on the Outback? Does B's Forester have any bracing up front like a WRX? K

YES! Heck of an upgrade! K

Whaaaat? K

Exactly what D said, minus the scoops and vents... if it is indeed factory matched paint: green or Miller High Life. The gas tank skids look great. Bumper could use more K or B, but it's a good start :). K

The answer is a minimum of 3.5" subframe spacers for 235/75R15, so I'll be making 4" spacers to be safe. Also, I forgot to post this video from spring of this year:

^That's what I figured. I would personally like to limit the body cutting. It's more work than making spacers, which will in turn give me more floor/rocker clearance from the unforgiving Ozark rocks. We all have slightly different goals for our projects. So, hopefully J is capable of answering a simple question with something more than sarcasm? My experience with vintage portal axles is wheel hop, blown bearings, and oil leaks: my bus will not have portals by the time I'm done with it. K

Love the aluminum spacers. I'm clarifying my original question: I did say top of the fenders, but I did not mean to imply the top of the fender well, but the perimeter of the fender lip. You have 1.5" subframe spacers to fit your suspension with 215/75R15 on factory wheels, while staying just inside the fenders (a perfect fit). I will be running 235/75R15 with my custom wheel offset, which would put the tire tread well up into the fender lips with just 1.5" spacers. I do not want to cut into the fenders, if possible (especially in the rear, which will open up a body cavity I would otherwise have to stitch back together). So, I am asking how far past the rear fender lip your tire tread is at full bump (looks like 1.25" to 1.5")? With that reference, I will have an idea of what size spacers I need to make to clear the rear fender lip with my tires. It'll be something like 3"-4" subframe and 1.5"-2.5" for the strut tops. This might be a useful reference for Slammo too, even if he chooses to cut. Text me if you need further clarification. Thanks, K

Nice progress!! Pretty clear from these pics that anything over 215/75R15 is going to require more lift and/or a lot of cutting, particularly in the rear. I also have slightly decreased backspacing in my wheels to clear the strut perch for 235's (so I hope), which will push the tires out. I would rather not cut into the top of the fenders... will you measure how far under the rear fender lip, the top of the tire tread is? Looks like 1 1/4" or so, which means I'll need at least 2" more lift. I realize first gen is different than bugeye/hawkeye, but it would be a decent reference point. K

Bad@ss trip! K

The moth was super cool (never seen one here like that), but the baby snapping turtle was a helluva find! K

Great trip, happy to show you around my local woods. The Subaru's had no problem doing the toughest trails in the area. What video we shot will(may) show how impressive the low range is, particularly the Outback's 3:1/6spd combo, really incredible!! Nearly crawls like my pickup at 4.7:1, which is crazy to see a Subaru do in person! The short, rocky climb we did Saturday where we passed the horses had me thinking they were riding the ideal transportation for that particular trail. Friday had a long muddy, washed out, steep climb, too and ya'll scooted up it like it was nothing. Yep, I already have a set of long travel struts, but I'm convinced the low range and 6spd is the ultimate gearing/drive train combo. That said, B's Forester required only a little more throttle and momentum, which is the complete opposite of the last trip we did in the Ozarks. Both cars were extremely capable and nothing broke. The only thing I would change for these kind of trails (as you mentioned), is more ground clearance and larger tires. Most folks doing any serious off-roading in a Subaru have 4" plus spacers; I'll probably do at least 2-3" and 29" tires. Sure, it won't handle as well at speed, but as you saw, with 2' or so more body ground clearance on my truck, I never got any more tipsy on those trails. Anything can be put on it's side given the wrong obstacle/route/driver, but you're nowhere near top heavy, IMO. There's certainly something in between here. Beating your cars thru obstacles is really hard on the body and I think it's mostly unnecessary, but I guess we will agree to disagree :). Looking down the horse trail (which seems like a muddy rut in rolling hills in the pic), is damn near a straight shot up, rocky climb from the creek to the top of the ridge. Subaru, no problem. More of the muddy, rutted section I drug my diffs thru w/33's and barley made it pinned in low 3rd. Last section of that climb out has been created by 35-40" tires. Sunset camp. K