JT95

I used to dig around at the salvage yards a lot when I was in high school. I was always perplexed how so many newer cars caught on fire and burned to a crisp. Then someone explained to me that if you can't make the payments on your car, you torch it.

Haven't actually seen an STi in person yet, but I did spend a little time at the Subaru lot looking at the new Imprezas (among others). When I first saw online photos of the '08 design, my first reaction was "yuck!" When I looked at them in person, though, I didn't think as badly about them. A bad design? No. A great design? No. They could have done better. (I'm trying to figure out how people get paid piles of cash to design yawner-looking cars.) That said, I do like the 5 door cars, and I'm glad the STi is one. Plus, the STi's sheetmetal looks a little sportier/beefier, which is cool. I still say the 4 door version of the new Impreza is very bland, and I could never pay hard earned cash for a boring looking car. If I did have a wad of cash to blow on a fun play car, though, I think the STi would be a good one. But, what do I know about styling and big sales? I'm still in love with the Baja and they pulled the plug on that design...

I never got around to posting any photos of my wagon after I painted it a couple months ago. I had bought the car as a salvage titled vehicle several years ago and replaced the hood, bumper, and a fender. At that time, I simply re-painted the replaced parts with the intention of doing the whole car later. Well, the rest of the car was in need of some attention, so I painted her up in October. I've done little stuff on cars like door jambs and fenders, and I tried one full paint job aout 7 years ago, but painting this whole thing was still a new experience for me. I'm content with how it turned out. I was using a gravity fed paint gun for the first time and two different paint characteristics, so my white didn't go on as well as I hoped--got some orange-peelish effect. I had my pressure miscalculated evidently. Oh well, in the spring I will wet sand it lightly and shoot the whole thing with a couple shots of clear coat and thatt should smooth it out. This is the joy of owning a 13 yr old car. Anyway, here are some photos of it. I like how the black/white tailgate turned out. Didn't notice that spot under the car when I took the pic. (Public parking garage here--not my mess.) You'll also notice the mirror missing. It got whaped, so I'm in the process of mending the internal mount so it won't flop anymore. SOA sells only the whole mirror assemble, so it's JB Weld time... When I did the rebuild on this car a few years ago, I was on a tight budget, so I got non-Sube atermarket parts. Bumper and grille were plain. So, I recently got this chrome trim tape from the parts store and blinged the front some. I also painted he center of roof black with spray-can truck bed liner from Wal-Mart. I did it to protect the roof's paint that would have been scratched from me haulin' stuff up top, but I really like the look of it. I need to get a better daytime pic so you can see it better than this. Here's the before...after some wet sanding of course. I had painted the rocker panels flat black a few years ago, and that had a nice visual trick of more ground clearance than the car has--in case you wanna try the same thing. I'm about to hit 230,000 miles on this baby. I'm the second owner. The original owner was very good about taking the car to the Subie dealership for scheduled maintenance up until someone ran into him. I've done an okay job of being a good owner with proper maintenance routines, but I could have done better. Still, the car runs great. I'm curious to see how long it can keep going. The interior is still pretty nice too. Window tint has gone to crap, so I'm gonna either fork out the cash or try to do it myself this spring. I also redid the alum wheels this summer. They were corroded and lightly pitted and overall ugly, so i covered them with aircraft stripper and scraped the remaining coating off, took a wire circular brush on a drill, and buffed hard on those babies. Then I painted them with wheel clear coat from a spray can. Not the most professional looking, but much better than nasty and stained/pitted. Anyway, my car is looking a lot better than it did a few months ago, so I wanted to show it off to some fellow Subaru owners.

I wasn't aware that it was possible to buy and drive anything BUT a Subaru after you've owned one...

Wow--I must be in the wrong state...I can't locate a low mileage trans for less than $500. It sounds like that's more or a hassle than I want to fool with to try the swap. I didn't know if they would be the same because they're both 2.2 cars. Ah, the good ol' days...

I know next to nothing about the EJ25s, and only limited experience with my EJ22...BUT, your situation sounds like an experience I had w/ my EJ22 Legacy when I first got it. Now, I did the thermostat swap myself and later the enine still overheated. Did it another thermostat, (and was irritated that the thing wasn't on top of the engine...) Perplexed, I figured out that squeezing the upper hose actually worked out air from the system and lowered my coolant level as I did so. Turns out, there wasn't as much fluid in the system as I thought because of the air pockets. I think folks here refer to "burping" your coolant system. Now, your problem probably isn't that simple, but it wouldn't hurt to as a Subaru-experienced mechanic to double check. Anyway, as far as an engine swap...if you can find someone you trust for a reasonable price, the EJ22 is an amazing little engine. And, somene mentioned a '95 2.2 and that engine is te design where if your timing belt snaps while driving it won't fry your engine. If you go the swap route, most places will give you 60 to 120 days guarantee on it. My EJ22 is pushing 230,000 miles and still runs smooth and peppy, so it's an amazing engine design. Now, you might want to consider going the cheapest route and trading the car in for something else if you don't feel that attached to it. Not sure if that would be better than selling the car as-is or not. Anytime you drop a couple thousand into an older car, you'd better make sure you love the car because you probably won't get your cash back if you needed to sell it right away...

Thanks for the info...even though I didn't ask for it. I'm wanting to replace the leather buckets in my '95 LSi soon, so that's good to know. I think my car had just about every option except heated seats, although I think the plug for them is under there, sticking through the carpet, so maybe I'll look fr heated... Anyway, I figured it would be hard to find older leather seats in good shape, so I'm excited to hear someone has put newer ones up front w/ success. Mine don't actually look that bad overall--it's just the drivers seat has that worn crackly patch on the left side of it that just looks bad because of the white. Is there a product that I could use to "restore" the color on just that spot???

Yeah--if those are aluminum wheels, that's a steal. If not, if the tires are decent, $20 a wheel is probably cheaper than the local salvage yard would try to get out of you...

As mentioned previously, I was looking at a '99 Outback Sport w/ low miles but w/ body damage, considering it as an economical way to replace my '95 LSi wagon that's pushing 230,000 miles. Well, I thought the little Impreza would be a decent enough project (depending on me finding the sheetmetal needed at a reasonable cost), but I decided at 6'3" my Legacy was just a more comfortable fit for me. Besides, my LSi has leather interior, sunroof, cruise, premium sound, etc., and the Impreza was pretty bare options and comfort-wise. I'm still considering the car anyway, though. I'm looking ahead at keeping my '95 and just replacing the drivetrain as it starts to go kaput, andI was curious if the automatic transmission in the '99 Impreza is a direct bolt-up to my '95 Legacy. They're both 2.2s, but does anyone know of any issues I might encounter if I swap them out??? I'm assuming that doing an engne swap would run into some trouble though, so I'll probably just look at this car as a tranny doner if I get it. I've been told the auto trans in my Legacy will die long before the engine should, and it's startin to make a vibration when at a standstill in D. Now, another issue. The car has limited drive capabilities, so what's a good driveway test to ensure that the AWD system hasn't been clobbered on this thing. It was said to have been flat towed, but you never know. Can I raise all 4 wheels off the ground and tell anything? How so? Much appreciated to know that...

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, the 2.2 in my LSi has been bulletproof--230,000 and still purrs and humms and runs amazing. (I think my auto tranny's days are numbered though.) I'm driving 3 hrs to go see the car today. It's got some light body damage, but I do body and paint work, so ths might be a good deal for me. Owning a high milegae Subie the past 4 years has really built a lot of faith in me for the brand...hard to pass up a cheap 71,000 car. I'll report what I find...

I'm going to look at a '99 Outback Sport. I wasn't really looking to buy a car, and I hadn't really seriously considered an Impreza before. My '95 LSi wagon has hit the 230,000 mark and I figure it's only a matter of time before I have to sink some dough into it...probably the tranny before anything else. Anyway, I ran across a maybe really good deal on this little Impreza wagon, which is smaller than what I'm used to. Anyway, I don't know much about the Imprezas. I have loved my 95 Legacy and the 2.2 is one amazing engine. How does the drivetrain in this '99 Impreza compare to the '95 2.2? Did the Imprezas ever have the head gasket issue, or was that just some of the Legacys and Foresters? Are there any known quirks/issues with this model? The car has 71,000 miles on it. I figure I could get another 100,000 out of it easy. It is a sporty looking car, but I am looking at it mainly because of the low mileage. I was consideing a plan to replace the engine and tranny in my LSi in the future as my mileage hit 300,000 or when something happened because it is such a fun car to drive. But, I could buy this little Impreza wagon cheaper than replacing the drivetrain, so it might make more sense. This Outback Sport is an automatic, which I would prefer it to be a 5 speed, but oh well... Anyway, I'd appreciate any comments/insight on this specific model of Sube. Thanks!

Dude--awsome response--thanks so much! Now, why the heck couldn't Haynes have made it that clear in their manual? I just kicked myself for not thinking to stick the punch in a socket and extension--geez--that shoulda been a non-brainer...

OK--this is my last thing left to do before I pull the shaft out. There are two spring holes on the inner shaft assembly--one has an indentation around it. Which side do I put the punch on to drive it through? (Or, does it matter?) Is there a specific size punch to use? I only have one, and it is too short to work, so I need to buy another one. (My Haynes manual says nothing and is pretty useless with this step, so I have no idea what to expect or do specifically to get it out.) How hard do you have to whack on the punch? There isn't much room for any leverage on the passenger side of the car. Sorry for another question on this shaft procedure, but thanks in advance for any help.

Thanks for all the tips, guys. Geez, those things were boogers... I went to Lowe's and bought a 4' piece of pipe, slid it over the breaker bar, and after some serious tugging/pushing, I got the bolts to break free. Now, the real fun has begun...

I was at the local u-pull-it yard on Saturday. It’s hard to find Subarus in the salvage yards around here, so I was seeing what they had, which was only one—a ’93 Legacy sedan. If you need any parts for your Legacy that share the same body as a ’93, this car had a very very good body. It was at the yard for a “bad engine” and no collision damage whatsoever. You could have washed and waxed the car and it would have looked sharp—that’s how good the body/paint is. The interior was kind of gross because whoever owned it evidently had little kids and didn’t clean it out very often. Door panels are probably good, though. All glass good. Good grille. It’s a FWD car, though. Just thought I’d post the info if anyone is looking for good body parts. I’ve dealt with this yard a few times, but never for anything major, so I don’t really know how reasonable their prices are. If you want to see, here’s their contact info. I asked the counter if the pulled and shipped stuff, but after all that is said and done, you might be just as well to buy new aftermarket. I dunno—but here’s the info if you want to inquire: http://www.parrishautoparts.com/

Oh, and another related question. I currently have my FWD fuse in, because I had one tire go completely to crap--(put two new on the back), but was waiting to swap in new CV shafts and then get the front two replaced w/ an alignment. (And the outer CV joint busted up before I got around to doing the swap.) So, in FWD mode, the car does nothing but make a nast grinding noise when put in drive. If it put it back to AWD, would it be drivable at a low speed? Would doing so screw anything up in the tranny? If I could drive it, there's a big-rig garage a mile down the road, and maybe they could bust the nuts loose for me if I could drive it there. However, I'm too nervous about screwing something else up to put it back to AWD and trying to drive it. So, I'm asking before I consider trying that...

OK--I'm off to snag a piece of pipe. We'll see if this gets me anywhere--hopefully not the chiropractor's office. Someone mentioned elsewhere that he ended up cutting the bolt off. If nothing else works, what's the best way to do that?

Tough to imagine what your hearing, but rooster-dude may have something there with his comment. My wife's Volvo got this annoying ping-y rattle-y type noise from some of the heat shield on her exhaust system near the engine. I'd never heard the noise before, so it took a bit to figure out its source. Only thing for your case, though, hers did make the noise while at idle and/or in park, so that might rule it out as a possibility...

OK--I started to work on my CV shaft replacements today. Holy sh*t, how the heck do you get those axel nuts off??!!? I've got my 32mm socket on a decent length 1/2" breaker bar, and that booger isn't budging. There's no reverse-threading on these things, right? Lefty loosey I assume... I just bought a propane torch from Wally-World. Tried heating it a little, but still wouldn't budge. How long is a reasonable time to heat it for expected results? I'm not Hulk Hogan by any means, but I'm not too wimpy either--at least I didn't think so until now. 190lbs. I got the tire compressed tight against the garage floor as I jerk, tug, push, or stand, but no budge on the nut. I don't have an air ratchet. My compressor is too small to juice one with any oomph. My car is a '95. Any other tips for getting these axel nuts loosened? I was all geared up to tear into this job, and I can't even get past step one... The Haynes manual says to put the car in drive and have somebody sit on the brake while you loosen the axel nut? Does that make any difference? I toasted the CV joint, so putting it in drive does nothing but make a nasty noise, so I didn't want the car started anymore.

It's too difficult to tell diff color tones with small digital pics. Ask why the car had its title salvaged. If the seller can't tell you, then I'd be suspicious of anything they say. As far as the repaint. The only way that a rebuilder would repaint the entire car white is if it was that color to begin with. Changing colors on a car is a HUGE headache. And, changing a color to white is one of the worst changeovers. Now, I'm assuming that the factory Subes that were 2-toned have that secondary color carried onto the door jambs. It is possible the car was salvaged because it was a severe theft/strip, in which case the interior would need replaced. Me, personally, I'd never buy a rebuilt titled car sight unseen unless it was one heack of a deal.

The local u-pull-it yard has a '93 Legacy sedan. I haven't seen it yet--I had just called over there to see if they had any '90s-ish Subes. Supposed to have a "good body but bad motor". Anyway, I was thinking of checking out the "bad" engine and possibly buying it if they don't want too much for it. I've got a '95 LSi wagon with 215k on it, so while it runs fine now, going kaput is somewhere in the future. I thought it might be fun to do a gradual rebuild/overhaul of this engine from the '93--that way, when the day comes to replace my engine, I've got one ready to slide right in. My questions: Is the '93 EJ22 the same as the '95 EJ22, or would there be some incompatibility issue(s) at play with this "swap"? Also, having never done a rebuild w/ a Sube, is the Subaru engine a do-able project for joe-average car guy? The block is aluminum with cast iron sleeves in the cylinder--correct? Does a machine shop bore the sleeves or tap them out and replace with new ones? (I have never fooled with an engine that has an aluminum block before.) Thanks.

Thanks for the tips. I don't have a little torch, but was eyeballing one last week at the hardware store, so here's my excuse to get one.

Thanks. I've never done this job before, so I guess this is trial by fire here. I'm going to see how far I can get into it before I have to call in "the old man" for backup. The task intimidates me some, but money is a pretty powerful motivational tool for automotive experience... I don't know if a flat-tow was a bad idea or not. I live less than a mile away from where it broke down, so it was minimal rolling.

Well, the boots had been torn for some time and started popping recently. I've been putting off the chore of swapping in new ones until I have some vacation time in a couple weeks.

Timing is everything... I was supposed to replace my CV shafts in two weeks. I'd been pumping some grease into my torn boots off and on, in an attempt to preserve their life until I could swap in new shafts. As luck would have it, I'm driving home last night, make a right turn from a stop sign, and--SNAP--my outer CV joint on the passenger side busted. Less than a mile from home. Naturally, that stranded me. The boot was already torn open, so I felt inside and found chunks of the chewed up joint. The shaft itself had some in-and-out play as well. Is it likely that all I need to do is replace the CV shafts, or is there a good chance that in the process of chewing up a CV joint, other parts of the auto transmission was toasted as well? I hate to put the hours in of swapping in two new shafts only to discover that I chewed up more than just an outer joint. Thanks for any insight...