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Other side repeated today. Also took the opportunity to fit up the impreza wheel wells and strut towers I've saved. I cut the middle sections of the angle iron frame I tacked on when removing them, then using some more angle as a bridge I clamped them back together. I ended up somehow sacrificing a tape measure doing this, but I'm getting some momentum back in this project so if a cheap tape measure is the cost to get this back on the ground sooner over later I'm glad to pay it. I'll need to do a little more surgery to get them to fit truly properly, especially since the filler neck is on the opposite side of the vehicle, but I suppose if I'm doing this much fabrication that will be somewhat trivial. I'll also likely be cutting a lot of them out to fix some rust in them anyway, but it's a good start. Going to set this aside for a little while and return to the subframe setup. Any permanent install of these towers here is severely premature. Once I have a base I can measure from to get the strut towers to a proper height and location, I can start poking at this in more detail.

I decided to not get a the XT based on turbo failures. Often when looking at an XT for sale the seller would say something about the turbo just replaced. Also I didn't want to buy expensive premium fuel. I got a 2009 Subaru Outback special edition with 95,000 miles on it instead.

You can use a cereal box to make those gaskets. Done it many times with no problems.

Sent out today!

1+ on KYB. If you have time and search the yards, I've found almost new KYB struts for <$50 each. Complete, just unbolt and bolt the replacements on. Has to be your lucky day in the yards.

Are you referring to the older 2 piece tensioner bracket? O.

no, not worth it. Just get some KYB's for your model and call it a day. O.

I’ve just heard that the newer style are prone to more failure, besides looking weird. I guess I’m just stuck in my old ways and don’t like change very much unless I’m forced to. moosens you’re amazing and I would never be able to thank you enough! If you don’t find one it’s all good, I’m just going to move over to the newer style. cheers!

A mate of mine here in Oz swapped over to the newer tensioner style with its backing plate recently. Far easier to get replacement tensioners than finding the original style. All the best with your search!

Been away from the project for a little bit - but I got your DM- we can chat about it there. Finally got back to a little bit of progress - Bit another bullet and decided to do a little exploratory deathwheel surgery to get a better perspective for the rear subframe mounting solution. I chopped out the passenger bed wheel well and I think I will likely be widening the rear frame slightly to accomodate a stock subframe and subframe bushings (hooray, buying more parts... 😶) This will end up being a much cleaner solution to my problem and I think the creative use of some welded captive nuts and box tubing will yield pretty great results. I kind of half-assedly leaned the new coilover through the wheel well cut after also chopping off the stock bumpstop - and I think the space will be tight but sufficient, especially since I'm planning on using the old Impreza wheel wells as a base for the new structure. There'll probably be some reinforcement of the stock bed sides too, but I'm gonna approach this as close to one problem at a time as possible. Like i said - tight but doable. Everything is also just loosely stacked in place, and the rear end is jacked up about 8" higher than it probably would be so everything seems short at this perspective. I only need about another 1.5"- 2" of real estate to mount the forward bushings, and I think I have a pretty good idea how I'm going to get those in once I've got a new subframe to play with. If anyone has a '98 or thereabouts Impreza subframe handy with the bushings still intact (I botched the original by being hasty - see previous posts), reach out quick or I'm gonna get impatient and go to ebay for one 🤣 Gonna repeat the procedure on the other side of the bed, then it'll probably sit for a little while again while I locate a suitable subframe replacement.

Disconnect the battery for 30 minutes or so. Clear the ECU co.des and see what comes back

Very clever. So rather than continue to reduce your hoarded inventory of Subie parts, you intend on hiding it in plain sight from your wife in the form of a Baja?

It might work, not sure though. The issue is the strut sockets into the steering knuckle, so you'd need a strut that had the right diameter and spring mount location. Here are the 4WD strut parts numbers I had in my notes. There are some used Loyale struts on eBay at the moment (both right and left). Front Right Sachs: W0133-1932779 Front Left Sachs: W0133-2038805 Front Right TRW: JGM4031SR Front Left TRW: JGM4031SL Front struts are very difficult to find. They are available but the parts availability seems to come in waves. There's not really any "upgrade" parts for these cars (there are overload springs out there). Just finding parts designed for these cars is an accomplishment. :]

My 2005 is nonturbo 2.5 and has the non cable electronic accelator pedal.