the_bard Posted November 19, 2004 Share Posted November 19, 2004 I wanted to go old school, but the wife is giving resistance... a lot of resistance. So I'm gonna try another line of attack. Mechanic shop a few blocks down from me has a '93 Legacy Wagon for sale. 1. 173k on the ticker. 2. Engine sounds really strong, once the battery got juice. No signs of oil leaks, and no signs of them cleaning the engine up to hide it, either. 3. It is AWD, but auto. First and second gears are alright, third and fourth slip. It won't be going anywhere fast, to wherever I want to swap out the tranny. 4. Body is in decent condition... bubbling on the right front fender, left front fender has a slight ding in it. Right rear is the worst, where it's rusted through, about a one inch diameter hole. POR-15 and some bondo? ;o) 5. Tires have got some good tread on them, all the way around. Around 50%, I'd guess. 6. Exhaust sounds real nice, no leaks. 7. Talked to one of the owners of the garage, and he said make an offer. Tack on another $500-$600, and he'd replace the auto tranny for me (Um, no.) I'd want to swap out that auto tranny for a manual one... I would just need to find a place to work on it up here in Troy, which ain't easy. What would be a decent offer? I've noticed this car sitting on their lot for at least a couple months... I have a serious feeling that they'd be willing to get it off the lot fairly easily. Owner won't give me a straight up answer, price-wise... just "make an offer, but don't rip me off... I can't lose money on it." On the other hand, I've got a '93 Cougar that's keeping me going, so I'm not hurting bad enough to go too high. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swi66 Posted November 19, 2004 Share Posted November 19, 2004 Years ago it was common practice to swap out an automatic to get rid of a 4-speed. Doing the change to a newer car like the Subaru orens another whole can of worms. I could not begin to think about things like all the parts you would need unless you have a donor car, and to top it off, there could be some serious electronic issues to deal with. If a stick is what you want, buy a stick car instead of trying to make the conversion. My son just did this with a 96 Stratus, still has problems.............. swi66 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leg93 Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 I wanted to go old school, but the wife is giving resistance... a lot of resistance. So I'm gonna try another line of attack. Mechanic shop a few blocks down from me has a '93 Legacy Wagon for sale. 1. 173k on the ticker. 2. Engine sounds really strong, once the battery got juice. No signs of oil leaks, and no signs of them cleaning the engine up to hide it, either. 3. It is AWD, but auto. First and second gears are alright, third and fourth slip. It won't be going anywhere fast, to wherever I want to swap out the tranny. 4. Body is in decent condition... bubbling on the right front fender, left front fender has a slight ding in it. Right rear is the worst, where it's rusted through, about a one inch diameter hole. POR-15 and some bondo? ;o) 5. Tires have got some good tread on them, all the way around. Around 50%, I'd guess. 6. Exhaust sounds real nice, no leaks. 7. Talked to one of the owners of the garage, and he said make an offer. Tack on another $500-$600, and he'd replace the auto tranny for me (Um, no.) I'd want to swap out that auto tranny for a manual one... I would just need to find a place to work on it up here in Troy, which ain't easy. What would be a decent offer? I've noticed this car sitting on their lot for at least a couple months... I have a serious feeling that they'd be willing to get it off the lot fairly easily. Owner won't give me a straight up answer, price-wise... just "make an offer, but don't rip me off... I can't lose money on it." On the other hand, I've got a '93 Cougar that's keeping me going, so I'm not hurting bad enough to go too high. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance. I bought a 93 L sedan, automatic with the 2.2 engine, 2 years ago in much better condition for $2500. I would hold out for something in better shape. I think (Others on the board, correct me if I'm wrong) you'll spend more $$ fixing the tranny and other hidden problems than you would if you just got a better machine. Mine is an automatic and I am an agressive driver (Most people grab the oh hell handle and curse the first time they drive with me. From then on they offer to drive for lunch. Saves $$ on gas.) I don't miss the stick at all. I came from a Saturn SL2 with dual overhead cams and manual transmission. I have also test driven many of the newer cars in the same class just this year: Pontiac Sunbird, Cavalier, Ford Focus ZX3, Saturn L300, 2005 Saturn ION, Mitsubshi whatever it is, Mazda 3, Toyota Corrolla, VW Jetta, and the only one with more Gutspa than my auto Subaru was the VW, the ION, and maybe the L300. These cars were all 2000 or newer, none with turbo. I suggest waiting for something better to come along. And I agree with the other poster, don't swap for a stick unless you can get this thing for $500 and are willing to put in the long term heartache and pain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subeman90 Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 ok here is my 2 cents. Don't do it. Look elsewhere. Go on ebay and do a seller search for neautoauction he has a 91 wagon with some rust but is stick and awd and last I looked it was $200 or so. If you think you are going to do a conversion like Josh did you need to do it yourself and you need a shop. Also, a doner car would help a bunch too. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rweddy Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 ok here is my 2 cents. Don't do it. Look elsewhere. Go on ebay and do a seller search for neautoauction he has a 91 wagon with some rust but is stick and awd and last I looked it was $200 or so. If you think you are going to do a conversion like Josh did you need to do it yourself and you need a shop. Also, a doner car would help a bunch too. Matt I agree, unless it is a super nice or rare model (ie turbo wagon) I do not think the work, $$$, headache, etc. would be worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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