Mitchy

From now on our cars are going to have a slightly easier life; the council has just surfaced 3/4 of a mile of our rural camino!

I learned a lot from YouTube videos- both the right ways and the wrong ways! After having a very sloppy shifter in our’ 99 Forester, I looked for new bushings. I soon realized that the originals had disintegrated to the extent that one had completely disappeared! At 30 notes for a new set I decided to make my own from some black PVC irrigation hose. I’m not a mega cheapskate but I do like to DIY what I feel is possible. Often it is more practical than driving into town and spending bills. -Easy to make, and easy to install as long as you can safely lift the car a bit, and four years later the shift is still crisp. On the little subaru Vivio we had I made some bushings out of galvanized steel collars and washers. That really feels crisp! I now have to make some more bushings for our new ‘00 Foz which is not really happy (now that I have fitted a stiffer Group N transmission mount). Removal of the shifter linkage isn’t a big deal either, if you have some basic tools and some goggles!

We’ve been driving our ‘99 Forester for six years, encouraged by the fact that it is faultless in traction whilst climbing our hill during the summertime on dusty dry and loose stone which becomes slippery wet lumpy mud in winter. The ‘97 Legacy we had also negotiated these condition with no problem. The only failing with the Legacy is that it had no dual range, the Forester’s low ratio gears we use daily. I found the legacy’s lower centre of gravity invited me to push it harder on the open road, whereas the Forester felt taller and had more roll. I crashed the Legacy after six months, the Forester has survived six years. Having removed and refitted everything on these cars I would assume that the Legacy is a better handling car due to the lower CoG and slightly longer wheelbase. The Forester wins in off-road capability for its clearance and shorter wheelbase, plus the dual range and larger wheels. (And all the interior cubby holes) Oh, and we don’t drive automatics so I can’t comment. 5mt all the way.

Well at least now it is dried out and with the sunny weather it doesn’t stink any more. Time will tell when the rain comes again. But meanwhile, as we also have a leaky out-house roof, the ‘Silver Bullet’ acts as ute/builder’s van... cheers

It was fun until it happened!

The Legacy got a high speed grazing blow on the rear RH quarter panel. The lower suspension arms got bent, but I straightened them a little and the car drives fine (not on the road of course). The filler cap area is destroyed, boot / trunk still closes... pic with the rear arms “straightened”:

And it continues... I ripped out the sound proofing up as far as I could to seek the source of the drip (it is running down the firewall), unblocked an inner wing drainage gap which seemed to have helped, squirted water all around the engine side of the firewall, removed the windshield side trim and squirted water. Took it to the jetwash and blasted all around the windscreen, no drips inside. Then I got crazy and blasted the firewall, got some drips inside again. Probably to be expected though.... I hope that’s that now! I was going to remove the heater motor box but I realise that I’d have to remove the whole dash. Not going to happen just yet.

Amazing comeback! i’m really stoked for you and your coupe, so much work going into it. It’ll be better than ever, no doubt. Looking at the post-crash pics, I suppose you were a bit nose-dived when you hit the high bumper of the suv, so really the hood and upper front panel took the impact, and not the chassis rails. I‘m now wondering if it wouldn’t be a great idea to fix the smashed Legacy.....

We don’t have so much luck here in the Spanish islands; the one Subaru dealer is super expensive, but I do buy from them my gaskets, seals, and certain one-off parts (like a flywheel). Other parts stores mainly only stock aftermarket-quality parts such as Blueprint etc. I have great difficulty in finding Japanese parts such as Denso or NGK. I have bought loads of stuff on the internet as it gives me the choice to buy the parts I want. Including a stock of NGK plugs! Perhaps I should make do with what is available in store but I don’t think the car would like it. I will certainly be looking out for the fakers, but I’m a seasoned dab-hand at getting a good deal and/or refunds. I wince when I look over the Subarupartsdeal site and similar, often selling the parts I need at a third of the local price. The delivery (usually not available) and high import costs make it prohibitive. I did use jp-carparts for some really obscure pieces for the Vivio restauration, even down to a genuine brand new glovebox handle replacement. So yes, I would use a good parts store if I knew I was getting top-end replacement parts, but this is not the case, so internet shopping is here to stay. At least ebay provides customer protection, and this has never let me down. Thanks for the heads ‘up!

Pulled out the glovebox, peeled the cracked and loose ‘asphalt’ coating off the sound deadening foam to let it breath. That stuff really holds a lot of water. Now to leave the engine running with the foot blower on full heat to dry it out a little. I couldn’t find any leaks inside behind the dash, sprayed water all around the windscreen, but no drips, wet spots, nothing. Just that soaked carpet and sound deadening foam. Higher up the firewall it’s all dry. This car has no rust, no visible holes in the floor.. maybe I have a faulty window seal, or the PO left the passenger door or window open when washing/raining. No other wet footwells. Not been using air con, drain is clear and dry. Weird.

Having just checked, the windscreen appears to be aftermarket, branded XYG, compared to the Splintex original on our ‘99. I have just been doing some research on the XYG screens- appearing to be an unpopular choice. Bugger. So now at least I have a likely culprit to start tracking down that leak.

Now to find out where that water in the rh foot well is coming from.... -Sunroof drains all good -Cleared the mud from the windscreen lower cowl drain holes. -HVAC box and drain, all dry and clear -Pulled out tonnes of mud and plant shoots from inside the lower front splash guard and trim panel. It has been raining heavily and horizontally for a few days, but actually the car already smelled fairly musty when I took delivery. Probably never get rid of that smell ...

I have been offered a cheapish OE option nudge bar p.n. E7718FC000 Will this fit a ‘00 (facelift) Forester SF? I’d take a look but it is far away from here (over water)... I wonder if anyone can tell me. Many thanks normally found here: but will it fit here?:

There is a great satisfaction in repairing driveshafts. I don’t really know why.... ....and also giving the dirty motor the once-over. They always come out nice after a little scrubbing... Ready for the overhaul work to come.

Just for reference, here is a photo of the 334167 (front) and 335020 (rear) struts:

Thanks for your thoughts. the 334166-7 KYB are strut only, looking very much like the forester ‘00 struts, though I have not compared them side-to-size yet. KYB specifically stated in an email that these are the correct available part for a 96-99 Outback. There are other number struts which are no longer available. I understood that Forester struts fit a Legacy/Outback (up to Legacy II / Outback I) with the correct tops, and the springs are essentially interchangeable - The springs on our ‘99 and ‘00 Foresters, and ‘97 Legacy are not tapered, and all have the same diameter. I therefore assume that the longer-than-Legacy ‘Legacy Outback’ struts are compatible on an SF Forester, and if using the Forester’s springs and tops should maintain a similar ride height, and furthermore give slightly more rear tire clearance to the spring perch than the original SF rear strut. Here’s hoping when I start to pull the forester apart....

Love that Brat!! Thanks

The repair schedule so far: Rear quarter/tail lamp damage letting in water, so unhook all that trim and unleash the panel beater’s kit.. Not too bad for a preliminary hammered repair.. ...and then sweep up the accumulated detritus whilst in there Rear diff plug: now I know why the magnet. Is this serious? The rocker covers will be coming off soon...all four seals are leaking And the PO threw in an unused steel skid plate. How kind.

Here is our new twenty-year old lugger. ’00 SF 2.0i. Solid, rust free, 140,000 miles, 5MT dual-range. It needs a few of the usual bits fixing: axle boots, oil seals, new plugs etc. etc. but it runs fine and vacuum gauge reads a healthy motor. I have a howling rear bearing and tired rear drums. Perhaps I can swap the broken Legacy’s rear hubs complete with disc brakes to save some money.... So we now have two Foresters; a fine team.

Hi and welcome. You joined an excellent forum.

Hi there I was recently stuck in the same decision, a 91 Legacy wagon or newer Impreza wagon. I admit that the Impreza would have been a ‘heart’ purchase rather than ‘head’. I love the look, especially when prepared for some light of road duty. Definitely too small for practical needs in the boot/trunk department compared to the other options though. The Legacy purchase fell through, so i plumped for a Forester instead, with is a great compromise. Only I am in Europe and I believe all of the gen 1&2 Foresters are dual range 5mt. I’m not sure about availability in The Americas.

Me and the Vivio passing through Gibraltar last year.

After all the humming and haa-ing I am grtting a ‘00 Forester 2.0. It’ll accept the Legacy OB struts, but using the Forester springs and hardware. There will not be a noticeable difference in ride height, but the difference will be felt in the fact that the OB struts are new, and not 20 years old!

Good info Bennie I know all about the centre diff failure- After paying the dealer for the Forester I took it for a long fast drive to fill the time before boarding the ferry to our island, and soon after discovered the clonk-clonk-clonk in tight slow turns. They sent me a replacement, and I fitted it myself (three years later!) - This blue wagon has the 2.0 with 125hp, like the Forester- it’s a big car and I don’t know if it’ll be up to the job we would throw at it. The EJ20 in the Forester seems OK with the manual gearbox, and the dual range gets used every day. After all I reckon that another Forester is our best option, for a power-to-size-to-offroad capability, plus I know it inside-out! You'll be sure to find out as soon as I have made my final decision! Thx

Hi guys - thanks for the replies. I now remember that the 3rd gen has the integrated rear hub carrier and single-bolt struts. As it goes I am not going for a Legacy s there is very little availability here, so the top candidates are a ‘00 Forester SF facelift or a ‘02 Impreza wagon. The 334166-7 struts are the correct and only available KYB (Europe) numbers for the Legacy Outback 96-99. I initially bought them for my gen 2 Legacy sedan. That isn’t happening now. From what I have gathered (lots of trawling the forums) there is no problem fitting Forester SF struts on a gen2 Legacy (gen1 OB) with either Forester or Legacy springs, so I ASSume that these OB struts should therefore fit a Forester SF using the correct strut tops etc. Correct me if I am wrong. Thx