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It'd definitely be a labor of love that's for sure. Even to cover costs, to just break even. Say a panel costs $60 not including mold cost. If someone's only willing to pay $50 to buy an unfinished panel. Then the numbers don't work. I'd have no issue making the panels and selling them for no profit. Just knowing I'm keeping cars in the community alive is worth it. But selling at a loss, that's difficult especially with the time investment. Again these are all ideas and I haven't moved forward with it but I have easy access to all the materials necessary to do so. Maybe if I'm ever in need of a body panel I'll make a small batch and go from there. I'd also love to draw up and 3D print NLA trim pieces. But I cannot afford design software at the moment. $2.5k/year for software... I have some opinions about that price and an orifice in mind they can shove it in.

Last weekend we did some work on B's Forester. His carpeting has been getting wet on the driver's side so he pulled off the fender, wipers, carpeting, etc to investigate. Eventually noticed part of the floor had some small cracks in it. After a little tar removal and poking he discovered about a 2-3" square section was basically rusted to nothing. So he cleaned up the sheet metal around that and welded in a fresh piece. Meanwhile I went through his front struts. Main task was replacing the bushings in the strut bodies. This pair of struts may have been on the black Outback, regardless they have seen a lot of abuse and the bushings were badly worn. Replaced the shock oil in one and replaced a few shims that were maybe slightly cracked. Verified our notes on the valving were accurate. Replaced some other boots/seals, repacked steering bearings with grease, etc. He says it's noticeably more solid now. Yesterday we worked on my Impreza. Still seemed like the radiator and condenser were pretty dirty so I got a long nozzle air gun and tried a few different modifications, this seemed to work the best. Plugged the end (M6x1) and drilled a .15" hole in the side. Then you can get that between the radiator and condenser and blast out one or the other. We got quite a bit more debris out. Replaced the steering rack. It was leaking badly from the driver's side. This would then quickly degrade the boot which would split open. I was refilling the reservoir about once a week by the end of the summer. Fortunately M had put a rebuilt rack in his (my old) blue Impreza a couple years before we parted it out so that one is (hopefully) still pretty fresh. We pulled the skidplate and replaced the rack. In the course of swapping that out I discovered that the bottom U joint on the steering shaft is nearly locked up in one direction. After putting everything back together, you can feel the tight spots in the U joint when turning the steering wheel with the front end off the ground. So I'll have to replace that. A bit disappointed, it's only been in there a couple years, new from Subaru (and extended by me). We had a bit more time and the front end was already off the ground and wheels and tires were off so we decided to go through my front struts. Didn't take too long, verified the valving mainly, added a bit of oil, replaced a wiper, regreased the steering bearings. We intend to go through our rear struts sometime this winter too. Still working on getting material for all the 6MT low range parts so we have a couple complete assemblies (including one for B). We should really tear down the one that was in the black Outback sometime and confirm the failure mode there. I think I have all the plumbing bits I need for the extra fuel tank. Need to get some electrical bits for that and the fan rewiring. We did take a peek at the ABS sensor wires and they're not super small, maybe 20 gauge, we think two of those will be adequate to power a fuel pump.

Caused me to chuckle somewhat , yes that’s the other issue among our beloved community. Thin wallets. But hey I’m among that group. Best car for thrifty types with even minor skills to be able to maximize roadworthiness. The fiberglass fender I bought on eBay many years ago like maybe the late 90s and pretty sure I paid $15 and fairly cheap shipping. Nothing is going to really make your old Subaru driving experience any better beyond dropping in an EJ22 and appropriate drive train. Kind of tricky with these old relics. Honestly I think like you do SP , somewhat. But no way beyond just personal use. There’s at least one guy in the Ducati forums who vacuum bags his own ideas for things like foot pegs and clutch cover , instrument mounts, etc. Yup, I’ve got my ideas too. For my 73 Coupe I’m thinking it’s an easy effort to make my window trim in carbon fiber. And more. But no sense spouting ideas I don’t really have the shop and equipment for. But like I said before it’s nice to see personal efforts. Like that guy on the Ducati forums I mentioned. Enjoy !

This only applies to side feed injectors on older subarus. I'm fairly sure your 2008 is top feed and bad orings will leak externally, you'll see fuel on the block.

That’s very frustrating. I’m feeling for you mate.

Sorry to say mate - That question is where it always starts. I’m not in the market for composite panels so I have no idea. And again, what someone is willing to pay theoretically and what they choose to do about a purchase is another thing. Many ppl get a better kick out of researching holiday ‘what ifs’ than they do attending the actual holiday experience. Same goes for the prospect of cool reproduction parts. Someone might bite the bullet and just do it, it needs to be a special someone that does it without seeking full reimbursement or good profits - that’s not to say it can’t happen though, just don’t peg your expectations that it will go that way. I’m not trying to, or wanting to dissuade you from pursuing this idea; I am being the realist for you from what I’ve seen in the past with Subaru aftermarket small batch items. All the best!

Even though I called them on thursday and they said they'd hold it for today, it had already been crushed. Wasted half my day driving there and back. $@#$@#!!!!

If you were in the market for these parts what would you consider a fair price for the different panels? Also I'm not excluding the possibility of 1st and 2nd gen body panels. Just throwing ideas out there.

Right, Benny picked up where I left off or didn’t quite declare too well. Demand. And what Benny said about the community is 100% dead on. SP - we can surely appreciate your enthusiasm but you’ve got to realize there’s a few of us who’ve travelled the same path of thought. Only to see the light/darkness and turn back. The one good group purchase we did , we actually did a second successful purchase as well , was for the front windshield rubber gaskets for gen one. Been talk about lots of possible repro parts but no way is a manufacturer going to get involved given the vintage Subaru numbers. Back yard, basement, garage efforts are super great to see. And I’m still always scheming to try to work out some type of personal vacuum bagging, makeshift autoclave type of set up.

The other issue with these ideas and looking for numbers of those that put their hand up to buy. Subaru owners are typically tight on stuff like this - yes ppl in a way if you like - but once it comes to the commitment to buy most of them will scamper! This happens time and time again. Someone needs to pony up without any expectation of others buying to cover costs. This bit sucks. Then you just wait & hope that the units sell. Much like the remanufactured tailgates here in Oz. Someone made them with ppl aware of them being made. From my understanding they sold several batches, I don’t know how many were in a batch. These were very well made and I want one, but other priorities plus my brumby isn’t the best looking one getting around but it’s complete and can be dailyed if I want. I do hope you work out a way to make it happen if this is what you want @SuspiciousPizza!

Anyone by chance, have any fuel rails that are taking up valuable storage space? I’m looking to buy some to fit my current 93 legacy turbo wagon. Let’s free up some of that garage space for you!

Not likely worth the mold making effort. There are fiberglass front fenders out there for gen one that show up once in a while. I might even still have one. There were two shops that did those or at least two different results. Some have a wicked nasty orange peel texture and others don’t. Mine is the smooth finish type. Some seems to come from Canada and not sure about the others. One seller in the Pittsburgh area had a small amount of them a few years back. That guy seemed to fade away but those were the lower quality anyways. Back to contemporary composite panel construction, I also work with the stuff with autoclaves and molds and all that fun stuff. But I’m not about to start mold making. Had thought about just vacuum bagging the panel with a homemade caul plate. But I don’t have time and space. And I do that stuff at work for aircraft. Also in the “wuz gonna” file is the front air damn from Kamei that I had that I think Galen H has now.

I could be interested in the driver side rear door assuming it is rust free. We are looking to save a 83 GL sedan with a dented door. Let me know the results if you can.

I think there's about a whole dozen of us still working on old gen subarus...

I've been talking to a coworker who does composite work on the side. Right now he only focuses of making carbon fiber parts for KTM super motos. I've had the idea for a few weeks to start manufacture of NLA body panels for these old Subarus. I talked to him about this and he doesn't have any objections to taking on the project but he doesn't know if there's a market for these parts. Making the molds takes significant investment of both time and money. Would anyone be interested in composite body panels? I'm thinking just fiberglass (to keep the cost down) but face layers of carbon or kevlar would be possible. Or even panels made entirely of carbon or kevlar would be possible. No sanding, no paint. They'd ship as bare parts to he finished by the buyer (or just throw them on without sanding or paint). If anything we'd start with 3rd Gen front fenders and hoods and we could move from there if there's enough demand. Just putting feelers out there if this would be worth our time. No ideas on a price at this time. :]

A leaky injector will leak regardless of being plugging in electrically or not from what I understand. It’s worn injector components or grit that holds the injector open allowing the residual fuel pressure to leak out. You could bench test this easily enough. Build up pressure with an external efi pump, shut it off and watch for leaks with a cup under the injector to catch any fuel (this will give you an idea of how much is leaking too). Also check the injector wires to ensure there’s no current keeping the injector open after engine shut down. That would be a long shot but anything is possible.

https://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/186723-junkyard-82-84-gl-wagon-2wd-parting-out/ If this hasn't been crushed, and they haven't caved it in moving it with a forklift, do you want me to pull you a door? If so, what is the minimum condition you're looking for? Perfect, minor dents and rust, anything that will fill the gap between the hinges and the striker,...? It looks clean in the tiny picture I got, but there's not a lot of pixels...

Yes, I know there's a forum just for these posts, but I think this one is more likely to be spotted by people in the very limited fimeframe... Through a friend-of-a-friend, I got word of a old gen getting towed to a near-ish junkyard earlier this week. If they haven't crushed it yet, I'm going to head there this saturday morning to pull parts. I don't know anything about its condition other than one text that's been forwarded too many times to have any pixels left. They close early on saturdays, and I'm working 66 hour weeks and can't go there any other day, so I'll only have at most a couple hours to pull parts. Anyone want anything? As I said, very limited time, so nothing complex. I also don't know what they'll charge - I've never been to this junkyard before. From what I've heard, they'll probably crush it almost immediately. If you want the whole thing, let me know and I won't go and strip it, or if you're genuinely committed to a major part (engine, trans), they'll probably wait to crush it if you give them money.

I got a 2009 Outback special edition instead. Only 95,000 miles on it. It spent 2016-2025 in Arizona and before that in Colorado. Pretty much rust free. I drove it home to Fairbanks, Alaska.

Most are non turbo. How many miles on the block? Leak down and compression tests? Check the PCV valve system for blockage? Seems like a long shot but if you're confident the valves and rings aren't it.... Was it burning oil before you replaced the rings? After you replaced the rings did it burn less, more, the same, or can't tell? When rings were replaced were there any signs suggesting which cylinder was the culprit? Did you replace all the rings? There's only two ways for oil to enter the cylinder: valves and rings. Rings are most common

Great choice, the turbo's with age are highly problematic. Gas turbo's in general are be design more complex and don't age well. The turbo's fail, replacement turbo's often aren't good quality, any overheating or low oil situation quickly plants the seeds for catastrophic block failure. And by this age it's not uncommon for one to see oil or overheating issues at somepoint in the past.

Good luck! I'm from Carroll county, was at the Lock House Museum close to you in the spring or last spring on the way back from Philly.

2008 Legacy - oil level seems to be rising and smells like gas and thinned out, running poorly. No check engine codes. Can I unplug the electrical connector to the injector as a test? Or do they just internally whether they are plugged in or not?

John in KY - you still on here, I know I just talked to you recently person to person but thought Id reply to this old post. Did this end up being an injector issue or oring issue? I have high oil level and it's also running poorly in a 2008 legacy EJ25. Orings can cause an internal leak into the cylinder? How does that happen? I have orings on hand, but not injectors....

That was what I was thinking about as you described the process.