=CC=

Lol, neither actually! I was thinking more of the Bugs Bunny cartoon with the big dog. It seems to fit this car's personality. He kinda looks like a George. My husband called his old 87 S-10 Gertie for the same reason, lol.

Been a while since I've updated, but there's nothing really much to note. I think I'll name him George. We are planning to part out the 97 Legacy. For whatever reason, the Legacy gets terrible fuel mileage, which just won't work for my husband (this was going to be his winter beater). He really likes my Outback, but with the distance he has to commute, he needs something that gets good mileage. If we could figure out how to put a VW diesel into the Legacy, he'd do that and rock on, but that's probably easier said than done, lol.

Always cool to see one get passed down through the family.

Update time! Turned out that the clunk was caused by the transmission mount. It was torn in 2 places, and one of the bolts had backed halfway out. That's because someone at sometime had cross threaded it so badly that the threads were completely smoothed out. I really don't know how it stayed in there as long as it did. We ran the tap up through the hole, and the die over a new bolt, but the bolt is a little thin, so it's pretty precarious. If it starts backing out again, we'll being re threading a 12 " bolt to fit. There doesn't seem to be another option. We also ran the carpet cleaner over the entire interior. It was truly disgusting what came off those seats (thank god for seat covers!), so it doesn't stink anymore. We replaced the old suspension a couple weeks ago with new KYB struts and King springs. What a difference! I don't know exactly how many of the 340K miles were on those struts, but when we got the assemblies apart, the strut just collapsed. The ride has improved about a thousand percent.

Glad I saw this thread...this is my job this weekend on my Outback (that lived most of it's life at the beach). Time to read up

The small compressors are kind of a pain in the butt to use, but they will work. The problem with them is that unless you have an extra set of hands, they can be awkward to place and compress. If you have access to air tools, that will make it a lot easier. We just purchased a large floor mounted spring compressor, and it is a million times easier to use than the small ones. Best advice I can give is take your time, and have someone around to help position stuff. Check the nuts on them as well; we had one break (!) and go flying across the garage. My husband was lucky to not lose an eye with that piece of crap...it went straight to the scrap metal bin.

that's some good info to know, thank you! I think we may have chased the clunking noise to the driver's side axle. The CV boot is torn and has been flinging grease everywhere (which we knew about since we found that when we changed the tires.) I've got new axles on the way for both sides up front, so we'll be swapping out the pair when they get here. While we're doing that, we'll be checking the motor and transmission mounts, as well as control arm bushings.

Well, I spoke too soon. Killer does, in fact, seem to have a case of terminal head gasket-itis. She is currently sitting in my back yard, waiting for my garage to get cleared of old VW crap, so I can get to the engine hoist and do an engine-ectomy. I think that we are going to pull the engine and take it to a local shop belonging to a friend. One of his employees used to work at the local Subaru dealership. This shop is geared toward Audi/VW, but they will work on pretty much anything, and they do excellent work, so I feel pretty confident having them do the head gaskets. With no experience doing this kind of job, and no good place to do it, I think I'm much better off paying someone who knows what they are doing, rather than trying to cheap out on it. Since we only paid a couple hundred for this thing, I guess I can throw a little cash her way.

Believe me, I thought it was going to be one of those stories, too. I finally had to threaten legal action, which I hated to do, because, while the guy was one of the dumbest individuals I've ever met (sorry, but it's true), he wasn't a bad guy. Just really, really stupid.

It's an EJ22, so I'm going to err on the side of caution and change it. Around here, the older Subarus have gone the way of the old Suzuki Samurais...rusted off the road. It made it's first drive today! We finally finished the exhaust and suspension over the long weekend, and I drove it to work as a shake down run today. It has an unusual clunk occasionally, seems to happen when downshifting or letting off the accelerator. Otherwise, she runs pretty good for an old crock. I'm really enjoying driving it...guess that's because I had to jump through so many hoops to get it to this point. One thing I've noticed is that the shifter (now that it's been fixed) really puts me in mind of the Samurai. It has that same, mechanical feel to it, unlike my old Audi, which had such a smooth shifter. I don't mind it at all....it's different than what I've been driving for so long. I think I'm really gonna like this car. We've had to take the Legacy off the road for now, because I've been nursing it through a case of a terminal headgasket. Since the OB is now driveable, we'll be running that around, and pulling the engine from the Legacy to get the headgaskets replaced. More a pain in the butt than anything else, but since we only paid $200.00 for the Lagacy, I guess we can drop a few bucks into fixing her up.

Finally got tags, but still can't drive it. I haven't gotten the exhaust replaced yet, and I'm waiting for the rest of my suspension parts to come in. Also on order is a complete timing belt kit, because at 300k, with a questionable service history (more like NO service history), I figure it's worth doing just for peace of mind. It would seriously annoy me if, on the first real drive, the timing belt let go, and ruined the car. So, I'm still waiting. In the meantime, I'm clearing all the VWAudi stuff out of my basement and garage. Selling what's worth selling, scrapping what isn't. I saved a LOT of crap over the years.

I decided to name this one Killer....it's either invisible to squirrels, or has a built in squirrel magnet, not really sure which but in the past week, I've hit half a dozen of those dumb little boogers with this car. Killer figured that 1 week was long enough to go without a dopey problem. Today's adventure included a dump run, and on the way home Killer started running really hot. I thought maybe a torn hose, or something similar...surely couldn't be the radiator or water pump, since the PO had installed both about a year ago when he had the timing belt service done. Turned out to be none of the above. It was the radiator cap. Thanks to all the info on this forum, I decided to try that first, and voila! Problem solved. Wonder what next week will bring.

First repair...replacing the thermostat. On my way home from work yesterday, I noticed the temp creeping up. While driving, the temp crawled up and up, but sitting at a red light, it went back down. Luckily this happened right around the corner from home, so I managed to get it home with no overheating. I continue to be amazed at how cheap parts for this car are...a thermostat for my old Audi would have cost me about 5 times as much, if it had even been available. I'm also diggin how easy they are to work on. It kinda reminds me a little of the Suzuki Samurais we used to play with.

Head gaskets are fine, no issues there. What the po took to be a valve cover gasket leak is actually the power steering pump leaking. It's dripping onto the exhaust and smells like burning cat pee (gross). Parts ordered include the seal kit for the power steering pump, new brakes (rotors/pads/pin sleeves), and eventually new struts. So, now for a DFQ....will Outback springs fit/work on a Legacy? I'm not looking to lift this car, just upgrade the springs a bit. If they will work, my plan is to replace the Outback's springs with new, then swap the old springs from the Outback onto this Legacy.

Finally got the title, but the thought of a 3rd trip to the MVA in less than a week has me cringing. I'm waiting til Friday to tag this puppy. Then suspension and exhaust repairs, and we're good to go.

Made an offer of $200.00, and he accepted, so we'll be trailering it home tomorrow. Had full timing belt service done about 20k miles ago, new radiator (old one had a hole in the end tank), new axles due to broken CV boots a couple of years ago. This guy had all his receipts, so no questions that the work was done. Of course, it needs the shifter fixed (groan), needs brakes (shakes), and definitely suspension. On the bad side, there is a suspicious looking sheen to the coolant in the overflow res. It doesn't look like a chocolate milkshake, just a little shiny. Not sure what that is, so we'll be looking into that a bit further, but for $200.00, I'm not complaining.

So, it looks like I may be inviting another new (old) Subaru into my driveway. This one is a 97 Legacy wagon, with the 2.2l, 5mt, and it's fair share of character. According to the ad, it needs a windshield, valve cover gasket, and brakes. Since the guy is asking $350.00 for it, and it doesn't look like the Jolly Green Giant used it as a shoe, this seems like a pretty good deal. It looks a bit saggy in the back end, so suspension work looks to be in it's future. The owner says he's been driving it, so it has tags and a good title (thank god). Since the Outback is STILL sitting with no tags, and no title (yet), this may end up being my new daily...after fixing it's issues. Fingers crossed!!

So far, things have been progressing kinda slowly. We did finally get the shifter fixed....all I can say about that is hopefully that booger will last another 300k, because what a pain!! I had to get the new parts from a dealer, because I couldn't find anyone who made an decent aftermarket u joint that would work. I ordered one that, according to the ebay site would work, but it didn't. So, if anybody needs a shift u joint for a 97 or newer Outback, let me know, cause I have one, lol. We ended up demolishing the original u joint in order to get those ******* spring pins out, and demolished them in the process as well. So, it was a Samurai T case bolt to the rescue! It's a perfect fit, and has one heck of a lock washer with it. It's snug, and not going anywhere. What a difference!! If I ever get this car one the road, it's gonna shift great! The exhaust still isn't finished yet, that's on the list of things to do this weekend. I've also got new shocks to install, and if the weather holds (and my enthusiasm) we'll get that done too. So, if I could only get that jackwagon that I bought this car from to send me the ************* title, I'll be able to actually DRIVE this car, instead of sitting in it making "vroom vroom" noises. I'm going on 2 months now, and this is really starting to piss me off.

Been a while since I've updated. Shifter fixed. Oil changed. Spark plugs/wires replaced. Still on the "to do" list: Exhaust. Suspension. Timing belt (and all related bits). I'm also still working on getting the title straightened out, so I can get tags. I'm really looking forward to driving this car, now that the shifter is fixed. I have discernible gears!!! It's very exciting. That shift bushing replacement is a big pain in the butt, so hopefully this new set will last another 300,000 miles. I do NOT want to have to do that again.

Shifter bushings arrived today! If we get some decent weather over the weekend, that job will get done (thankfully). Yesterday we replaced the spark plugs and wires...she seems to be running quite a bit better. We'll see if that takes care of the cylinder 4 misfire. Next one the list of maintenance items to be addressed will be an oil change/filter change. Hopefully, I'll get the title issues straightened out so I can get it tagged. Then it's off to the shop for a timing belt (and associated parts) change. I've been told that timing belt service is pretty straightforward, but I don't even have an owners manual for this thing, let alone a shop manual, so I'll be leaving that job to a professional (this time).

Yep! She's a beast! I was playing in the snow/ice in the backyard with it on Tuesday, gotta say I'm pretty impressed so far. Still trying to get tags on it, so it's not road legal yet. Soon hopefully.

Most of my parts are here, but the weather is crap, and I'm sick. Blah.

I just bought a 96 OBW with 350,xxx on it. Still runs strong.

Exhaust arrived yesterday...just in time for the ice/snow. Bummer. Seatbelt fixed! Just removed it from the car, and found where it was hanging up at. Now it works perfectly. Yay!! Goober I bought the car from screwed up the title, so now I have to get a duplicate title from the original owner before I can tag it. Bummer.

New exhaust arrives Monday. Shifter bushings are on order, can't wait to get those! After I get the tags, I'll run to the local dealership and see what they say about the seatbelt. I'll take it there to get that fixed if it's covered under a lifetime warranty. I saw that noted on a couple other threads, but wasn't sure if it would be covered, since I'm not the original owner, so it's good to know that doesn't matter. Might as well get a new one.