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My '03 Baja


c4pt1n54n0
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I inherited it from my dad who passed away back in February. We both fell in love with it the second we drove off the used car lot (bought it back in 2010) We suspected it had been hit from the rear drivers side corner before, and that was confirmed when it happened again, bondo was everywhere! the rocker panel/pinch weld has completely rotted out on the drivers side, and its burning/mixing a little oil and coolant, but I'm not going to do the gaskets. I want to do an H6 swap, but that will be once I'm out of school in June at the very soonest, so I'm going to try some Subaru (Holts) Coolant Conditioner to string it along till then through the winter. It's no longer my daily car, reg expired, still in my dads name, he didn't have a will, my sister who is in charge of the estate is dragging her feet, its a screwy situation. anyway, its sitting up behind my grandparents house where it wont bother anyone for now. here are some pics from earlier in the year when I was driving it regularly (in no particular order at all)

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My driveway apparently is very popular with the birds

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He just panted over the removed bondo, and never had a chance to put clearcoat on the new light assembly

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cheapo oil change in the driveway ( next change I'm switching to 10w30, maybe it'll help the leaking from the valve covers for a bit)

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I was actually really impressed, even with my knowledge of Subaru AWD, with how well it handled this 3 to 7 inches of half melted snow.

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After some VERY light offroading, not looking to break the frame in half or anything...my buddy Mike is topping off the air, I've got a slow leak, and a bit of an oval shaped wheel. I know, I know.....

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I let the brakes go a bit too long...

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After building a kind of poorly designed desk. (Hey, it gets the job done)

 

 

 

Here are my plans for it, in chronological order

1. Get someone to weld a new chunk onto the frame. I have next to no experience welding, and this project is not the time for me to learn, it needs to be perfect. I go to a tech school, and a friend of mine said he'll do it for $500 plus materials. a local welding shop that I know does outstanding work said they'll do it for $1200, guaranteeing their work for ten years.

2. Take care of leaks; head gaskets, valve covers/spark plug seals.

3. Look into a new engine if the sealer stuff starts failing. which is inevitable. i got a quote for the head gaskets for $2k, and I can find a close year H6 outback for a bit more than that around here.

4. Body work: new rear bumper cover, fix the flip down lic plate that doesn't flip down, STI hood maybe, repaint the tailgate inside.

5. Electrical stuff: new radio, my dad put an old pioneer in a couple years ago, but its failing. also, fog lights need rewiring and I want top mount offroad lights.

6. Bull bar and skidplate, the plastic thing that's usually covering most of the underside of the engine bay ripped off a few thousand miles ago.

7. Maybe a 2in lift kit, I don't want to have to replace half the suspension, and that will bring it up to being as tall as some of the newer ones.

8. Sometime in the future, not a big deal, I want to get vanity plates as a tribute to my dad.

That's all I can think of for now.

 

All I wan to do is the rocker panel this year, I want it back on the road for the winter at least. I have a backup car which is my daily driver now, a '98 Maxima 3L V6. though it IS fwd, the tires are pretty wide and I would always prefer Subaru AWD, plus the Baja has practically brand new all terrain tires, they never failed me last winter.

 

It's all  dependant in when I have free time, when I can get a bay at school or someone's garage to work on it, and when I have a bit of extra cash. I'm a highschool senior working maybe 25 hours a week, so that is seldom, after insurance and gas and other little things (i drive at least 70 miles a day to school then work then home) but I went over and started it up and drove it around a bit for the first time in a couple months a few days ago, and I really wish I hadn't, I am SO itching to get it back on the road again now.

Hopefully all of the above mentioned work will be documented and uploaded here, depending on where I end up doing it and if I want to take the time to do that, which I most likely will.

 

I'm always scrolling through the forum, not posting much but I do want to get more involved with the community. Sorry, I tend to get a little ramble-y when I'm talking about things I'm passionate about...

 

Any other suggestions/things to avoid/general tips?

 

Warmest regards,

               ~c4pt1n54n0

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