JT95

Too funny! It's amazing what one can hear when the radio is turned off...

My 95 Legacy LSi has leather seats, but they are not heated. However, the plug is there under the seat. Now, where the heck the other end of that plug's wires goes...I have no idea...

Caught the slap? So, uh, is that a risk when your Subaru has multiple drivers??? :-\ 95 Legacy w/ 2.2 w/ 225k on it. Mine makes a noise like that upon startup, regardless of outside temp. I always assumed it was lifter chatter, as it sounds just like what I am famliar with in hearing lifter chatter in other cars. I've never actually heard piston slap that I am aware of. Is it a similar sound? "Dude, your car needs like some major oil added to it." "Nah--it's fine. It'll go away in a minute..." Been like that for 50k or more I guess...

As you may have read in earlier posts, I just bought two Impreza OBS wagons--both wrecked. I have a '00 w/ a good 2.2 and transmission with about 115k that is my parts car. A guy in a neighboring town hit a deer in his '99 Impreza Outback. The damage isn't too bad and the title is good, but I'd have to buy a hood because I'm already using the hood off the '00, and this deer-hit car has 200k+ on it. I'm going to see it in person this weekend, but in the pics it looks like a really clean car, so I was thinking of buying it and attempting an engine swap. To be honest, an engine swap scares me. I've pulled and dropped engines a couple times before, but the newest car I've done so with was an 81 Chevy w/ carb, so very little in the way of wiring and hoses. All the electronics in new cars intimidates me, and that's my biggest fear in attempting a swap. I do have a couple questions for those of you who have done this before: 1) I've got a cherry picker. For old detroit steel, I'd bolt a hook plate to the intake manifold where the carb would go and lift away. What's the best way to physically attach this Impreza engine to the cherry picker to lift it out? 2) Any tips to keeping track of what all is supposed to plug in where when it's time to give all those little wires and hoses and such a home? Thankfully, I will have another '99 Impreza sitting nearby with the hood popped, so I'm assuming that will make the process a little bit clearer. Any tips or advice you want to throw my way is appreciated. I won't actually try the swap until after I finish my 71k rebuild car first, but right now I'm trying to decide if I realy want to attempt an engine swap.

So, um, I guess with that disclaimer we "boys" aren't allowed to post any "Wanted: cute, single, Subaru girl" threads, huh?

My only experience w/ tone rings is when I had new bearings put on one of my front wheels. The guy who attempted the job the first time busted the tone ring and I had to grab another from a salvage yard and replace it myself. (The guy who did the job the right way after that was a Subaru owner, so he was good) That was almost 4 yrs ago. As I recall, they aren't exactly fragile, but you shold still handle the tone ring w/ a bit of caution...

Your Subaru is AWD all the time. I may be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure that yours puts 90% of the power to the front wheels and 10% to the rear all the time, under normal driving conditions. (5 speeds put a little more to the rear.) Honda has what they call "Real Time 4WD" in which theirs is 100% front wheel drive until the car experiences a traction loss to the front wheels, at which point the rear engages. Subaru is AWD all the time. However, it will redistribute power away from a non-traction wheel to a different one. I was driving on an ice-covered interstate a couple years ago and could feel the power transfer taking place...it was a weird/cool sensation.

Come to the south...especially for a "regular" Subaru. $9,000 for a '98? I was daydreaming about a Baja the other day while on the web, and several 2003 and 2004 Baja Sports are at that $9,000 mark. Even with low miles, that's a lot for a '98 Legacy. I'd find a clean '95 or '96 for much less. It will be the same body style and will have the non-interference 2.2 and will save you $3,000 to $6,000. Of course, how cherry the car is can be a factor. A car's interior is always the hardest (and usually expensive) thing to fix up, so if this Legacy has like-new interior, that'd be a plus for it. If the interior and paint look like any other '98, even with low miles, what's the point of a higher price.

I haven't really priced Imprezas that much around here (I guess I'm an hour from Crossville), and never priced a 2 dr Impreza. $4200 seems a little high unless the car is cherry, especially the interior. Maybe the 2 doors are hard to find and therefore worth more--I dunno. The mileage is pretty good for a car that old,though, and especially if it has been well maintained. The one thing you have going for you is that non-turbo Subarus aren't as much an in-demand vehicle in TN the way they are in CO or PA or such. More of a novelty and just another car to the average Joe. So, that helps you as a buyer. You can always offer him more money after your first price, but you can NEVER go down in price once you toss a number out there. Most people price stuff with the intention of knocking off a little anyway. Offer him $3800 cash and go from there... Whatever you pay, it sounds like you are going to have a fun little car. Post some pics after you sign the dotted line...

$800??? Super sweet deal. Did you check the trunk for a body? Enjoy the car. It's one thing to have a fun, dependable car to drive and something altogether different when you got it for cheap. It looks good.

Nope: aut-yo-matic

They emphasized that the 300hp model was "four wheel drive"--would that indicate that the base 200hp car is 2WD? Would that make it FWD, as the 2WD Subes used to be, or would they stick all the power to the rear wheels, as a true 2WD sports car should be? That's an interesting tidbit of info. I was reading recently how Toyota picked up some of the Subaru share when GM bailed and that there's a good chance that in the future Subaru will become another division of Toyota. Be curious to see how that plays out...

OK--screw that. It came up as the first hit on google: http://www.picresize.com/ Handy tool.

I'm feeling far too lazy to google and search around for it, but there used to be a web site I used occasionally tha would resize photos for you for free--and instantly--that did it with no funky distortation. Handy for moments like these.

1) '99 Outback Sport. I want to upgrade the seats to leather as soon as I can locate a doner. Does anyone know if the interior saw a major redesign in 2002? Up to what year of rear seat will swap into the '99? I'm not worried about getting front buckets to fit. 2) I want to upgrade the wheels. Will non-factory wheels not intended for this model affect the AWD system? If I stick with 15" wheels from another model of Subaru, will I be fine? 3) I would have preferred a stick, but can live with an auto trans; however, I'm not so sure I can live without a sunroof. Did Subaru install factory sunroofs in the Impreza wagons? I don't think I have ever seen one of this generation w/ a sunroof. Other than the threat of a botched job or future leaks, are there any dangers of having an aftermarket sunroof installed on this OBS? Thanks.

Sounds like a sweet deal. Shoot a photo up here when you can and show that thing off...

Congrats on the new Sube and welcome to the board. People here are great to help you out in times of need. This site is worth at least five times the membership fee to join. Anyway, I'm currently driving a 95 LSi Legacy wagon, so our engines are pretty much the same, I believe, so yours is a non-interference 2.2. I've currently got 225k on mine and still going strong, so if you do regular maintenance, you should be driving your Sube a long time. I don't do any serious off-roading in mine, as it is my everyday transportantion, but it has seen it's days in the woods and through the mud on several occasions. The biggest drawback to Subarus is ground clearance. These things are nothing short of amazing in the snow. My car came with 15" wheels, so they will work for sure. Check eBay for some used Subaru wheels. If you aren't wanting bling, you should be able to pick up a set of the steel Forester wheels that still look decent after a shot of fresh paint.

Um, is there like a clinical term for that disease? I have recently found myself in the mood of creating my own minerature Subaru salvage yard. Is there a support group for this???

As far as I know, the car never had it. I've seen several other OBS Imprezas w/o cuise control, so I'm assuming for these it was not uncommon to not have cruise. I didn't know if swapping factory parts would be a bigger headache than an aftermarket kit that comes with instructions.

Yeah, I'm currently driving a 95 Legacy LSi wagon. I hate to give up my 95's 2.2 engine, but I think a 77k interference 2.2 engine should do me better service in the long haul than a 225k one... One thing I hadn't considered, though. I like to "camp" in my 95 a few times in the summer by laying the seat down--I'm sure this Impreza will have much less leg room for sleeping. Bigbusa--that's a sweet looking car for a $1700 investment!

It is for a 99 Impreza 2.2.

Thanks for the tip. Yeah--I think I'll just try to get a factory Subaru tape/CD combo and that way I won't have to fool with all the install stuff. I noticed a lot on eBay for a very reasonable price. I'll just have to make sure I figure out what years/models will fit the factory plugs I have.

Well, I've committed to buy two Impreza wagons--one as the rebuild and the other as the parts car. I had looked at the rebuildable in person a couple months ago, but decided after I bought all the replacement parts that I might have more invested in it than I wanted. Then this week I notice the guy had picked up another wagon of the same color scheme that was hit in a totally different spot. So, I'm excited to have a fun little Outback Sport to work on and get going for this spring. I should have all the parts I need, will buy some nicer wheels, put in a CD player, and have the timing belt changed. The rebuildable one is a '99 and has under 80k. I haven't actually seen the parts car in person. It has about 40k more miles on it, and starts and runs, so I'm curious to see it in person. It has the rear spoliers, which is good, so I won't have to buy them and can just swap the entire hatch from one to the other. I'll keep you posted as I get started on this project. I might end up having some 99-00 Impreza parts for sale too. I don't think I can get a salvage title with the 00, but I might look for an Impreza of the same year with a crapped out engine and/or damage on the driver side or rear and put those two together. Who knows...either way, I'm gonna have some fun within the next couple months.

Anyone had any exposure to aftermarket cruise control systems? I'm going to be driving a little Outback Sport soon, and while it has 150k less miles on it than my Legacy, it doesn't have some of the comforts I'm used to in my LSi. I figure I can salvage some upscaled seats at some point, but this Impreza doesn't have cruise control, and I was wondering about adding an aftermarket system myself. Never done one, nor seen one in person. Any experiences with an aftrmarket cruise control unit?

Well, on the video that I linked to, you can tell that it is not the Impreza. I was talking about the movie trailer at the theatre and on TV, if anybody's caught those. I wasn't saying the car was a dead ringer for an 08 Sube, but that at a glance the new Impreza resembles that same basic shape/style of several other cars.