2000 OB off road/daily duty wagon

[miatapasta]

As you can tell, I come from the world of Miatas and personally own a 1990 NA model with a MP62 SC, coilovers, upholstery, etc etc. You can see it here.

 

http://clubroadster.net/vb_forum/89-roadster-projects/184033-reemergence-miatapastas-new-beginnings.html

 

So, anyways, the story is that the shop that built my Miata motor, Track Minded Performance in Atlanta, also dabbles in Subarus. The shop owner texted me about one he was selling, and a few weeks later he delivered it to my driveway.

 

 

Little bit of rust in the fenders, but it's easily accessible and nothing some POR 15 can't fix. 

 

218,000 miles with a new timing belt/water pump.

 

Within minutes of getting the key, I was already testing out the AWD. 

 

It was actually a pretty steep incline on some sandy soil to get here, so I was impressed. Then again, I'm coming from a Miata on coilovers, so I don't know if I should be, lol.

 

 

 

 

Window looks off track, but that's actually how it rolls down. Kinda weird looking. 

 

 

Lo and behold, the 200 acres behind my house has some utility trails and whatnot. The neighbors filled me in on how to find them. They're avid dirtbikers. I haven't really explored much.

 

 

You can't really tell in the above pic, but I bought some spray on bedliner and covered the ugly tan lower bumper pieces. I also painted the OEM wheels bronze. Looks so much better. I'll grab a pic sometime.

 

It also served its purpose quite nicely when hauling lumber today. (I'm building a dining room table.)

 

 

I tell you, after exclusively driving a NA Miata for 7 years, this is a whole other world. I almost contemplated making it my exclusive project and really going nuts with the off road thing, but I can't turn my back on my Miata. Plus the Subaru has an insane amount of rust in some places (it was an Ohio car originally, turns out). Ah well. I'll drive it til the wheels fall off.

 

 

 

[miatapasta]

I also got it all muddy and added crazy lights!

 

 

We'll start with the reverse lights. These are 4" LED bars bolted to a piece of aluminum bar stock. The bar/bracket itself is bolted to the license plate holes. The license plate is then bolted on top of the bar and hides the wires behind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then my friend and I found a trail with a bit of a muddy section. That's where all the dirt in the pics comes from, actually.

 

 

Now, the PO I think had hit something: The grille was cracked, the hood dented, and bumper cracked. I think my trail riding further exacerbated the bumper so I wound up taking a page from my inner ricer and zip-stitched it back together. It...kinda actually looks good. Rugged, even? (Can a station wagon be called rugged?)

 

The fog lights never worked, so I replaced those with LED units and yellow vinyl. 

 

Of course, I had to get a ridiculous 20" light bar too! And MAN, what a difference it makes at night. I need to snap a pic of the output but it is unbelievable. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What aren't pictured (and not very exciting) are the two door speakers I installed up front (the DS one wasn't working) and the tape deck AUX cord adapter thing.

 

 

one last pic of the full factory bumper. You can see how it's been beat up on the lower part. In fact, the smooth all-season tires have failed me less than the overhanging bumper has.

 

 

So yeah, I really like the way it looks - but of course it is much more functional too. Look at how much more of an angle I can go with.

 

 

Really all I did was follow the body lines and cut it all off with a jigsaw.

 

 

I painted all of the underbody stuff with regular matte black paint. Blends in nicely.

 

 

 

I think I might be able to retrofit a push bar/brush guard up front now that the frame is exposed and easy to access. On the other hand, the frame is a unibody structure, so any smash the bar takes translates to the entire frame of the car.

 

I also swapped out my 20" light bar for a 24" curved model. I sold my old 20" to my neighbor who's putting it on his canoe, so win-win.

 

 

Love the way it follows the curve of the car. It's actually a perfect match.

 

 

Other than that, just some random stickers here and there.

 

219,000 miles and counting. 

 

 

Rear end

 

 

[miatapasta]

Had to test out the new angles on the local dirt pile. It did not disappoint, and the cut bumper proved itself mighty worthy on the steep slopes. I wish I had some better trails to ride around here besides a utility line and a construction pit. 

 

IG collage

 

 

Ascent

 

 

 

Notice the big dirt piles that would have mauled the original bumper.

 

 

Big pile under the front. I do enjoy the better angles it's capable of.

 

 

So I think the only thing left to do is a 2" lift and some AT tires. Turns out I can indeed do a 2" lift with spacers on top of the shocks without horribly messing up the geometry. The AT tires should give me 3" extra of clearance total combined with the spacers. 

 

This thread is probably going to become a repository of semi-cool (to me) off roading pictures as I explore nature around my town. Don't mind me.

 

 

 

 

The cut bumper is really proving to be a great advantage. 

 

 

 

Found a dried up creek at the end of a new trail. I'm starting to love getting outdoors and exploring.

 

 

Favorite picture of the day.

 

[miatapasta]

So. First major repair down.

 

The backstory: I was going through a field with some tall grass. The grass hid a ravine, and so...

 

 

Yeah, live and learn I guess. When in doubt, walk it out...

 

So anyways, my friend came and pulled me out with his 700 ft/lbs man truck. When we got it out, the AT oil temp light was flashing. Ran the code via some crazy secret handshake and it gave me code 75: line pressure duty solenoid. Turns out the car was resting on the trans pan and it dented inward, damaging a solenoid.

 

I'll spare you the details but be glad the Miata community is so well-researched and documented. There is little detail about messed up Subaru transmissions.

 

Pulling the pan off was interesting. Ever been inside an auto transmission? This was my first time.

 

 

$90 later and I was back to normal. The price is steep for a little solenoid, but it beats $900 in parts/labor.

 

Side note: Turns out I'm very allergic to ATF. Good thing to know. This is very itchy. It'll be a rough week. It's also on my other arm, legs, torso, forehead...everywhere!

 

 

Just ordered a 2" lift kit, the max you can go without adjusting the other suspension components. 3" and up you start cracking subframes and etc, or so I've read.

 

And I thought this was supposed to be a cheap car...

 

 

Apparently this is a 2" lift. Obviously it has bigger wheels and tires, but this is the potential it has.

 

 

Also, I'm making a DIY roof basket out of a plastic pallet. Can't beat free. Here's the Jeep I got the idea from. 

 

 

 

[miatapasta]

So this brings us to today, 12/5/16. I've had the wagon about 3 months at this point.

 

As mentioned, the DIY roof basket so far.

 

I have sunk exactly $0 into this. All lights, materials, metal, hardware, etc. I either cannibalized off other pieces, picked up for free, or already had laying around. If you're interested in such a project, here's what I'm doing.

 

We start with the plastic pallet. My friend manages a grocery store and let me grab one of the pallets from behind the store. 

 

So you want to cut out the center cross pieces. There is actually a piece of square metal bar that runs through one of the pieces. I used a hacksaw to cut it out and managed to save a solid 4 foot piece. Save it for later as you will use it to mount your spot lights on.

 

 

Here you see the plates I made to cover the cross beam cutouts. All of the flat plating material you see in this project is called Polymetal. It is the same stuff they make the oversized "lot for sale" signs out of. 

 

 

Next, I chose to mount some side lights. They are 6.5" flood lights. These will be good for peripherals. I mounted them to a square of Polymetal, and then screwed the metal plate into the pallet itself.

 

 

 

 

Next up, I made the wind faring. Again, Polymetal. It is actually set up to be hinged in case I need to pass a long object through the basket. This way the faring can move out of the way.

 

 

Lights, wiring, faring. You can also see the stainless steel U-bolts I'm using as a mounting solution.

 

 

Test fit so far.

 

 

Rear view.

 

 

Then you want to paint the wind faring. I actually am going to cover it with a "Subaru rally" decal I found online for cheap that is originally designed as a windshield banner. (The vinyl decal doubles as a cover for all the old screw holes in the Polymetal wind faring).

 

You'll also notice that I cut the bottom edge to contour to the roof.

 

 

And this is where I've left off. It still isn't mounted yet. The basket will house a shovel and a hi-lift jack for recovery purposes. It should have a higher weight limit than OEM because I've removed the factory adjustable crossbars, which had a pretty weak mounting system to begin with.

 

 

I have four spot beams to add to the front and I still need to run all the wiring, but it's starting to take its final shape. I'll update later when I have more done. It's been a fun project and you can't beat free!

[ironworkerboomer]

Nice wagon she will take you to the edge and back. I've always had a soft spot for the Miata maybe after I'm done with my vette I'll cannibalize one. 

[idosubaru]

Nice work. Ohio rust sucks. Too bad you can't grab a nice rust free southerner and put all the effort into that.

 

I've repaired trans pans and sokenoids too. It's known in Subaru world you just didn't ask or the right people didn't see. Good job that handshake is nuts.

[miatapasta]

Yeah, but for $1600 I'll take a rusty car over a $3000 model. I'd rather rag out this one and save the pristine models for other folks. 

 

 

Oh yeah, so I finished up the pallet basket yesterday. (Well, almost finished. I need to loom the wires up top and add some mesh around the pallet to make it a true basket.)

 

So I tried to find a way to run the wires without drilling the roof. I wanted to route it through one of the 'humps' that bolt the OEM rack to the roof. However, this would be near impossible without pulling down half of the headliner to get to the one bolt, so I drilled away.

 

 

I superglued a washer on to the hole so the rough edges wouldn't damage the wires. (I didn't want to use a rubber grommet because it would interfere with the silicone waterproofing.)

 

I then used this stuff called Amazing Goop to waterproof it. (This stuff really is cool. It's malleable like silicone, but dries like a silicone/epoxy blend).

 

 

I didn't photo where I ran the wires, but it goes under the headliner, down the passenger side weather stripping to the door hinges, then passes through the fender & over the wheel well into the engine bay where I spliced into the connector for the OEM fog lights. There is a button in the cabin that Subaru used to control the fog lights, but it is now used to switch on/off these aux lights. They aren't on when oncoming traffic is present, of course.

 

Here's a route of where the wires run, for the curious. I couldn't find a route through the firewall.

 

 

And then...bam!

 

It is obscene how much light gets thrown!

 

 

I have four spots on top, two of which are angled to the corners. The sides house two 6.5" flood lights. Then the grille has the 20" flood/spot combo light bar. They are all wired to the same circuit.

 

While driving, I have a complete 180* field of view. I also have those 4" lights in the back, so when reversing, I have full on 360*. Of course, the side lights don't do much for street driving, but for off road, these are indispensable for doing U-turns when in a field or on a trail. Some of the trails I ride at night have me making sharp turns, so it's really nice to have that peripheral view, especially since (as I have learned) there are some nasty ditches and ruts hidden in the tall grass...

 

So in a nutshell, is it ugly like a pallet bolted to the top of a station wagon? Oh yeah.

Does it serve a greater purpose? Yep. Greater weight capacity and night time visibility.

Do I like it? Yeah!

Was it free? Nope, I have $20 sunk into a set of lights. Everything else was already available though. (I suppose if you tried real hard, you can spend $60 on it, and most of that is lighting.)

 

Hope this inspires somebody!

[miatapasta]

So I've been working on a winch mount for the rear. It's been kinda tricky but I'm glad it's panning out.

 

I first removed the stock hard plastic bumper. I then was left with two pieces of the frame protruding outwards where the plastic originally mounted. Then I was able to mount two 4 foot pieces of 1/4" thick angle iron, tying the two pieces of the frame together. 

 

Mind you, this is a 100% bolt on application as I don't own a welder. Each side gets four bolts tying the angle irons to the frame. Two of the bolts are the original mounting points, and two are ones I drilled out. The pics don't show them, but you know.

 

 

 

Then you just bolt on the mounting plate, and then the winch goes on top of it all.

 

 

So the winch is actually mounted at an angle; it's technically facing downwards. It's just the only way I could have installed it.  Therefore I do need to fab up a way to mount the roller fairlead, but it'll be easy (I already know what I need to do).

 

Next up: wiring - just wanted to show that I used grommets to protect the heavy gauge wire from shorting out on the unibody frame.

 

 

 

I have not finished running all the wiring to the front where the battery is yet. I stopped after breaching the spare tire well. 

 

At this point, I decided that I'm just going to give up and return it back to normal. I removed the winch and put the stock bumper back on.

 

 

Ha ha, just kidding. 

 

 

If you look closer you'd see the flap I made to access the winch. I really like how that turned out! It fits perfectly under the bumper. All you'll see when it's finished is the fairlead and hook.

 

It flips right on up when you need to access it.

 

 

It's not done yet, but I'm past the halfway point. Until next time!

 

Edited December 23, 2016 by miatapasta

[Numbchux]

Cool idea. I would love to do a hidden winch mount on our Outback.

 

 

I have to be honest, just looking at those pictures, the size and configuration of those mounting bolts holding that angle steel on scares the hell out of me.

 

 

5000 lb is relatively low as far as winches go, but that's still a lot of force for what looks like a few 3/8" Grade 5 bolts. I would recommend adding some 1/2" Grade 8 hardware, right in the middle of the angle, if you can.

[miatapasta]

Don't worry. All bolts are grade 8. There are four bolts holding each side down: two on top, one up front, and one on the bottom. At least one bolt on each side is the OEM bolt that used to hold the factory bumper piece on. Although I'm not sure about size, each bolt head and nut is 14mm. The pics don't show the complete setup as they're in progress photos. 

 

Once everything is mounted, I'm going to disassemble it all, rust proof the factory frame bits, and have it all welded together at my local shop.

Edited December 23, 2016 by miatapasta

[pontoontodd]

You can get a 110V MIG welder fairly cheap.  They are easy to use and indispensable.  I think after you have a socket set and a vice grips, that's the next most important tool.

 

The hidden winch is cool, how is the cable going to come out?

 

I'd definitely recommend some kind of protection for your oil pan and radiator support.  Something like 1" x 2" tubing running the width of the radiator support with another one under the oil pan going back to the front crossmember.  If you've already started hitting hidden obstacles, it's a short matter of time before you bash in the oil pan and/or radiator support.  If you're going over a lot of rocks, something to protect the gas tank should be next.

 

Since you like to go fast (judging by your Miata use), your best entertainment per dollar would be a set of rally struts/shocks/springs.  They will make the car much more fun.

 

Also, consider mud tires instead of all terrains.  They're not much more expensive or noisier than all terrains.  They will definitely save you from getting stuck in the mud and should be harder to puncture, and will work about the same as the all terrains in all other conditions.

[miatapasta]

Hey man, thanks for the comments. I can see myself with a welder in a couple of years. I'll keep that in mind. It would make some under bracing easier, but so far I've had good luck with nuts & bolts. Necessity breeds ingenuity and all that, I suppose. 

 

As for the tires, the AT ones came with the car. I'm waiting on them to wear out before I swap out for something better. 

 

Finally, I do have the winch fairlead mounted. Keep in mind this is a rough draft version. It needs some fine tuning, but the idea is there. Could probably benefit from some more bracing. I'd also like it moved closer to the winch by about 1". Perhaps a trim plate out of diamond plated steel would look nice to finish it all off.

 

 

 

 

That being said, it does work quite nicely. I haven't put a real load on it but I tugged my brother's car up the driveway and the cable doesn't rub on anything. 

[miatapasta]

Here you go. Finished product. I moved the fairlead 3/4" closer so it fits flush with the bumper, and added a trim piece out of a scrap piece of diamond stamped aluminum.

 

Edited January 2, 2017 by miatapasta

[OSC Jake]

Can't wait to see more on this.  I'm really impressed with the creativity.  

[thewillstokes]

Any word on the lift?