DerFahrer

You got a brand-new 05 Impreza? You bastard So, what becomes of the old cars now?

Haha Bryan... What's wrong with it? Do realize though, crazy D, that most cars that apply to this forum are gonna be pretty rough. Back in the 70's, most of America was still thinking to themselves "What the hell is a Subaru??" and those that bought one only cared about getting from point A to point B as cheaply as possible. So they let the cars fall apart, and moved on when they didn't feel like dealing with them anymore. Cars like the one I have fit that description pretty well (I hate to say that, but it's true ) Cars like the one Bryan has, well, those are the exception :cool:

I should buy that Impreza myself. That's pretty much exactly what I'm looking for, an Impreza wagon, 5spd AWD. Then my EJ18 project will be code-named "High-Mileage" I've got an EJ18 sitting in my garage with 230k on it. Report from the prev. owner told me it ran fine, it was just leaking oil everywhere. I'm gonna use the block for an interesting build...

Nope, no way to mechanically adjust timing on any EJ series engine. Hang tight, I have a wicked EJ18 build which should see fruition within the next 6 months

Usually clutch cables get stiff when they need replacing. I think they start fraying slowly inside and dragging on the cable sleeve, causing extra resistance. Try replacing the cable (with an OEM one, I've read some horror stories on this board about aftermarket cables) and see what happens.

No worries Bryan. I'm gathering that accelerator pedals are items of questionable quality on these cars. Mine is removed entirely, I just have the pedal arm. Thanks for keeping an eye out!

Needless to say, yes your timing belts are subject to the elements when you do this, and will suffer in life expectancy as a result. But the beauty is that without the covers, it takes you all of 15 minutes to change the belts! So, who cares? The only reason I put them back on my XT is for the sake of originality.

I think all 2.5's are 105k, so looking at a 100k belt on a 2.5 won't tell you much. I have to admit, the 93 wagon had its original timing belt at 110k. It definitely needed to be replaced, but it made it. I still won't argue with 60k though. Better safe than sorry.

The newer Soobs have it, just the turbos I think. They go in between the intake manifold and the head. They force the intake charge into a tornado of sorts, which helps the incoming fuel atomize better, reducing emissions and improving gas mileage. They don't have any real performance purpose...

For reference... Although without center caps...

If they told you the Hill-Holder will release with some more gas, then you not only need to stop going to that dealer, you need to report them to SOA, because they don't know what they're talking about. The Hill-Holder operates on the position of the clutch pedal and has nothing to do with throttle application. That does indeed sound to be the problem, although I'm surprised it takes that much oomph to get the car to move with the Hill-Holder stuck, unless she is really pushing the brakes hard when she starts the car.

I'm not pleased with Subaru putting a timing chain on the EZ30. I would much rather have a belt. Anyway, they should have the HG issues resolved by now. I haven't heard of any problems with the newer 2.5's.

I had that many Soobs in my driveway at one time, but none of them looked that good Very sexy!

Yeah, it's an early one. I'm fairly certain its a 72-74, but I don't have my GenI identifying marks down good enough yet. Actually, Bryan, how's the accelerator pedal look on that one? I need one. Just the pedal itself, not the arm.

No offense taken Paul Paul is right anyway. I should honestly have mentioned that the numbers I got for parts availability came from the SOA warehouses, not dealer stock. So, it's indeed possible that 20 other dealers around the country still have a speedo cable somewhere on their shelves, and I can't check their inventories. Also, let's say SOA runs out of a particular part, that doesn't mean you'll never be able to get another one. FHI in Japan still has their own parts warehouses, and there will be plenty of parts over there that simply must be sent to SOA so they can sell them to us. For instance, I just rechecked the motor mount 741022090, and all of a sudden, national inventory is up to 77 qty! So, maybe enough people have still been buying these that SOA decided to go ahead and order more from FHI. Also, as I said before, the brake hoses, 627003363, there were none in the country, but they just backordered to FHI, and a week later, I had them in my hand. I'm pretty sure the water pump I got is one of the last though, as I got the last in the country, and only a few days after I got it, SOA made the number obsolete

Over twice what I paid for the car And that is employee pricing, 10% above cost! All the parts came in, and I barely had enough money to pay for them all and continue surviving through the next week 1 - Water Pump 21110AA040. The last one in the country, part # is now obsolete 1 - Air intake hose "chimney" thingie 644033053. Less than 5 left in the country 12 - Shifter bushings 633124170 and 633124180. Plenty of these left 1 - PCV valve 11810AA000. I know this is the same PCV valve as 90-94 Legacies, so this is still readily available 1 - 4WD transmission dipstick 32025AA010. Not too many left, I don't remember the exact number 2 - Tie rod ends 631510070. Pretty sure these are the last in the country 1 - Speedometer cable 686502540. Pretty sure this is the last in the country 5 - Motor/trans mounts 641002491, 741022090, 641002491, and 641002570. All these are in short supply 2 - Ball joints 623220043. Pretty sure these are the last in the country 2 - Intake manifold gaskets 14035AA150. My dealer had these IN STOCK!! 1 - Carburetor-to-manifold gasket 16173AA052. Plenty of these left. 1 - Oil pan gasket 11121AA011. Pretty sure these are still available too 7 - Misc oil seals, 806738040, 806770013, 806947020, 824206100, 806910050, and 806915050. From the oil pump seals to the rear main. All still readily available 6 - Brake hoses, 699901440 (last two in the country), and 627003363 (were 0 in the country, but SOA was able to get 4 of them from FHI) So that oughta keep me busy for a while . Well, once I get time to even screw around with the thing. I still have two other Soobs that take priority over this one. Once I get the XT back roadworthy enough as a weekend car and the Legacy where I feel comfortable enough driving it daily without toying with it, then it's onto this car (and if I get any spare time past that, I'll start with my EJ18 motor... ACK!) While this may seem like a beacon of light, that I was able to get all these OEM parts for a 27-year-old Subaru, do realize that I'm the rotten bastard that just bought a good chunk of the last available OEM parts , and also, for every part I looked up that was good, I looked up 3 that were obsolete. So the OEM parts supply for these cars is still a dire situation. There's a lot of aftermarket stuff of course (I've been checking that too), and I think a lot of the basic engine stuff like oil seals and such, are still gonna be available for a while, because I'm willing to bet a lot of those parts work with EA81's also, which went up to 1989. But anything like body panels and interior pieces, I wish you good luck Also, I'm fairly sure I might have ordered some parts that might not be intended for my car specifically, so worst-case scenario, if they don't fit my car, I'll throw them up for sale for a good price

... but it's not mine. GOTCHA! It's a company car actually, a customer shuttle. That's right, my dealership is actually that cool, we have a WRX for a customer shuttle! There's some story behind it, somebody bought it and decided they didn't want it or something like that, so I think they traded it back in with 1500 miles on it. Anyway, I get a call this afternoon from one of the guys at the UCF car club, and he's telling me he needs cars to be in a video shoot. Naturally, he didn't take too fondly to the idea of my Legacy being in it (c'mon, the car is absolutely beautiful right now ), so I racked my brain a bit and came up with an idea. I asked him if I could borrow the WRX shuttle car for the video shoot, assuring him that it would only be in the video for about 10 seconds, sitting still. And since my manager is just that cool of a guy (he loves me to death), he didn't even hesitate, he said "Sure, go ahead, keep it overnight, take it home! "Just have it here tomorrow morning at 8, in case we need it..." Ack, so yeah, I gotta get up really early. I should be in bed already. So it was in the video shoot, which will be airing at the Black Ops Performance booth at Hot Import Nights in Orlando this weekend, and in the credits is a little thing that says: Special Thanks to Star Imports Anyway, so what do I think about it? I'm not going to lie, the overall experience was quite entertaining... without getting into TOO much detail, let's just say I didn't drive it like I was afraid of it being a company car Anyway, yeah, it was pretty fun, despite the Edsel front end. But I do feel the car leaves a fair amount to be desired... First off, I'm quickly growing away from the EJ255. Yes, that means the LGT/OXT/BajaT too. While I can definitely appreciate the extra torque of the bigger engine between 1k-2.5k rpm - it's a lot easier to pull away from a stop than an EJ205 - I just think the EJ255 has too many driveability issues. Yeah it tries to start boosting at 2.5k rpm, instead of 3k like the EJ205. But the EJ205, once it hits 3k rpm, it's fully boosted and ready to go. The EJ255 has to think from 2.5k rpm to 4k rpm about whether it wants to be on boost or not. And yes, by that I mean hesitation. And LOTS of it. I'm reading many negative reviews of LGT's having this bad hesitation in the 2.5k to 4k rpm region. I've driven a couple LGT's with this problem, and this car had it too. I'm inclined to say there's a factory ECU reflash for this, but I'm not sure, I'll have to check on it. To be sure, I tried it with the A/C off, and it still hesitates. Anyway, it's extremely irritating, and it makes the car feel a lot slower than it is. So, at this point, I still stand by my previous opinion that I prefer the EJ205 to the EJ255. We know the 06 WRX got upgraded brakes, standard 4-pot calipers up front and 2-pots in the back. I did take a few opportunities to test them, and I sure hope my disappointment with them is just due to the factory pads, because I wasn't impressed. I was seriously expecting my teeth to get pulled out of my skull, and I feel I have the right to expect that, but it definitely wasn't like that. Like I said, maybe with a good set of pads on it, they'll bite harder, but as they are now, I'm not impressed. Fit and finish... I really like the center tach, the TR seats do feel really nice, and the car does have a real quality feel to it. The headlights just plain ROCK. Compared to Patti's headlights, it felt like I was driving around with WRC foglights all over the place While it is good that people aren't using RE92's as a scapegoat for their screw-ups as much as when the WRX first came out, I still feel that RE92's suck for the most part. I still lost grip on a few twisties, despite being perfectly setup for the turn. And I have been able to take those same turns faster in Patti, which doesn't have any better of suspension, and has higher-profile, although sticker tires. I still think if I were to get a new Subaru turbo, the first mod I would do would be tires. Lest we forget, RE92's are standard equipment on Camrys Anyway, I need to go to bed, but in conclusion: The 06 WRX's are entertaining, but the hesitant EJ255, overrated brakes, and, yes, the Edsel nose, still put me off from having one.

Maybe I missed something in another thread, but I don't see anywhere that he says he has an automatic. Regardless, the EJ255's seem to have a big problem with hesitation as the manifold pressure goes positive (i.e. comes on boost). It will jerk and shimmy and rattle, but it will move once it's on boost. I've noticed several Legacy GT's that do this, and also an 06 WRX that I've driven (the WRX's now have the same EJ255 that the Legacies do). Lemme do some more digging on this...

Yeah, they had Forester SF (1st-gen) STi's. Needless to say, they never came to America, coz we don't deserve cars that cool

Yeah, now that the engine is out, an impact gun is the only way. Stick a screwdriver in one of the teeth in the flywheel too, to keep the engine still.

While I'm not a fan of aftermarket parts, the OEM bearings are garbage anyway, so I figure the aftermarkets can't be that much worse. I've done over 10k on the 4 aftermarket bearings in my red Legacy, and don't have any problems so far...

I'm surprised I never posted in this thread. I don't like the new grill. I haven't from the day I saw it, and I never will like it either. I too agree it looks like an Edsel. That's my official nickname for them, the "Edsel" Subarus. I see about 15 Imprezas and 20 Tribecas everyday, and I still don't like them. In fact, the Tribeca just looks uglier and uglier to me everytime I look at one. I really, really, really, really, really, really, really hope Subaru doesn't bastardize their whole lineup with this grill.

Yeah, the old one has to be pressed out, and the new one has to be pressed in. I would only put the same type of bearing in. Advance should have aftermarket bearings for your car that will be cheaper. I think the ones from Advance are Federal Mogul. Any shop can do it, doesn't have to be a dealer. Make sure the new bearing is sealed properly upon installation. Many wheel bearings fail because they run out of grease.

Can you edit your post to make it more clear what you're saying?

Bite thy tongue. I can quote you Mazda prices that'll make Subaru look like Ford.