Ruppster

The other day I picked up a Tamiya kit for an Impreza WRX STi and have been working on it for the last couple of evenings. This got me wondering if anyone else in the group likes to build car kits also. So how about it, are there any more kit builders out there? I think my next Subaru kit will be a Fujimi Legacy wagon. Ruppster '98 Legacy Limited GT

Sunday I finally had a chance to get some web page work done and set up a page with thumbnails for the pics I have from the East Coast Shootout and also added links to a few mpeg videos too. The Air Force let us return home on the 21st (they made us evacuate on the 17th due to Isabel) but have been pretty busy this past week between work and cleaning up all the junk in the yard. At least we had power when we returned. Anyhow, I took advantage of having some free time yesterday and finally got the pics up. They are at: East Coast Shootout pictures I also posted some pics of a tree that got blown down by the hurricane at the house we went to taking out the powerline in the process. The pics of it are at: Hurricane pictures Ruppster

Well folks, tonight I had planned on uploading my pics and videos from the east coast meet this past Saturday to my web page but it looks like it will be several days before I will be able to. The Air Force has ordered all base housing residents to get out of town by tomorrow afternoon due to that big bag of wind out in the Atlantic so I will be busy packing tonight. Boy, I sure miss Alaska. It might have been cold in the winter but at least you didn't have hurricanes to worry about. See ya all later. Ruppster '98 Legacy Limited GT

Yep, I had my digital camera. I also got a few mpeg videos of the racing. I will be uploading them to my web page in the next couple of days and will post the link here when I get it done. Ruppster

I'm standing in front of the right headlight of the rally car between the car and the tent pole. I'm the fatso wearing a black shirt and I have a scruffy beard. Ruppster

If the unknown GT was a white one with Harley stickers on the rear bumper that was me. :-) I also went up against a WRX in my first run and even won! He was having severe traction problems off the line. Ruppster

I'm in pic #4! How big are the video files? I have a few hundred megs of spare space on my Dodge semi truck site and can put them there if you want. Ruppster

Thanks for the info. I was going to start a thread on the event in the "The New Generation of Subarus" forum but I didn't want to create any waves so I was keeping my posts on it to this forum. I wasn't aware of one going on in the Old Gen Forum. I hope to make it to Harrisburg for the night but I won't be there till around midnight. It's a little over 300 miles from the shop I work for in Virginia Beach to Harrisburg and I can't hit the road till 6 pm on Friday evening. Either way I will be there on Saturday so keep an eye out for a 300 pound monkey driving a white '98 Legacy Limited GT with Virginia plates. I will most likely be wearing a black MDA/Alaska Harleys t-shirt. Looking forward to meeting as many people as I can. I do plan on entering the drag racing but as my car is 100 percent stock I will most likely end up providing a lot of laughs to guys with aftermarket intakes and exhaust. If I only had enough time to install a nitrous set-up. Ruppster

I know no one knows me yet as I just recently joined the group but I am going to throw my hat in the ring anyhow and anounce my plans to be there. :-) I will be driving up from the east coast of Virginia on Friday evening. I plan on staying in a hotel Friday night and then coming back home Saturday evening after the event. If anyone needs a ride and would like to come along I can be emailed at bryan at dodge-semis dot com. Ruppster '98 Legacy Limited GT

Yeah, but on a side note how many cars have you seen that have a dipstick on a manual? My Legacy has an automatic but when I was reading the owners manual I came across the portion pertaining to checking fluids in a car with a manual. I was shocked to see a dipstick on a manual. I have been around cars for almost 20 years and this was the first time I've ever seen this. Sounds like it was the first time for the kid too. Ruppster

Cougar: yeah, it does look like a good buy but I was hoping to find out for sure before wasting any money on it. Thanks for the link. theotherskip: I was thinking it referrred to being Forester only due to the instructions covering how to install it on that car only or maybe the use of a Forester specific bracket. I would try calling the dealer but I don't think they would have much info themselves. One thing I have learned while working at a motorcycle dealership is when a customer asked if a part from another bike would work on his it's usually best to play dumb and say no. You would be surprised what kind of questions people ask us mechanics. Ruppster

I looked beforehand and there is no label on the rear of the diff. North Ursalia and Commuter: that's what I was figuring. Thanks. Ruppster

Okay, everything is just about set for going to the shootout this Saturday. I have room for a passanger or two if anyone needs a lift. I will be leaving the Hampton Roads area of Virginia Friday evening when I get off work and staying the night in a hotel. Then I will be driving back home Saturday evening. Here is a link to the route I will be taking: http://maps.yahoo.com/dd_result?ed=xTowJeV.wimQQVd6MsEKU7USFw--&csz=23665&country=us&tcsz=17812&tcountry=us I will pay for fuel and the single rate for the hotel room but only ask that the passenger(s) pay the difference (if any) for the hotel room due to more then one occupant. This should only be a few dollars. I can be reached at bryan at dodge-semis dot com if anyone wants to ride along. Ruppster '98 Legacy Limited GT

Just got things all lined up and I will be there. I will be leaving the Hampton Roads area of Virginia Friday evening when I get off work and staying the night in a hotel. Then I will be driving back home Saturday evening. I have room for a passanger or two if anyone needs a lift. Here is a link to the route I will be taking: http://maps.yahoo.com/dd_result?ed=xTowJeV.wimQQVd6MsEKU7USFw--&csz=23665&country=us&tcsz=17812&tcountry=us I will pay for fuel and the single rate for the hotel room but only ask that the passenger(s) pay the difference (if any) for the hotel room due to more then one occupant. This should only be a few dollars. I can be reached at bryan at dodge-semis dot com if anyone wants to email me. Ruppster '98 Legacy Limited GT

The stereo in my '98 Legacy is the AM/FM/WB/CD/Cassette unit and I would like to upgrade it with a factory 6 disc CD unit that goes under the front passenger seat. While searching eBay for one I came across the following item: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&category=43948&item=2428973625 Is the CD unit in the above auction the same one used by Subaru in my Legacy? If not does anyone know if my factory radio can be used to control the Clarion CD unit? Also, does anyone have a working 6 disk CD unit for sale that will work in my Legacy? Thanks, Ruppster

I have a '98 Legacy Limited GT with an automatic transmission. I noticed a referrence to newer Limited GT's coming with an LSD in the rear but need to now if this is true with my '98 version. How can I tell if there is an LSD in the rear diff? I am about to change the fluid in the diffs to synthetic using Mobil 75W90 but if I understand it correctly I need a special additive to the oil if the rear has an LSD. Is this correct? Also, can anyone tell me what gear ratio came in these cars? It cruises at 70 mph at 3,000 rpm. Thanks, Ruppster

I thought this was about an indy, not a factory dealership mechanic. I have heard a lot of people say "go with an independent as they are so much better" but I have had wacky service from both types, so I've never seen any advantage to it. You can get a bad mechanic anywhere. And training don't mean anything. I have seen guys with a lot of training try to take a short cut to get the job done faster only to screw something up instead. Its the mechanics access to current manuals that means the difference between an okay job or a service that is done perfectly. But it is up to the mechanic to take the extra time to look stuff up in those manuals. How many indy's do you know that have all the factory manuals that a Subaru dealership does? At least with a dealership you have a higher authority to go to. It doesn't always work but a lot of times it does. You can't do that with an indy shop. Ruppster http://dodge-semis.com/subaru/ '98 Legacy Limited GT

I noticed you are in Norfolk. I'm in Hampton. Do you know of any other Subaru nuts in the area and if there is a local Subaru club? Thanks. Ruppster

Okay, I finally have time to play on the computer since I have a couple of days off. I was going to post this yesterday but a riding buddy of mine called me up Saturday night and asked me if I wanted to go riding Sunday. Since I haven't been out for a good ride for two months I wasn't about to say no. :-) While it's a lot of fun working at a motorcycle shop it can be a royal pain when you are busting your arse fixing someone elses bike so the owner can go riding while you're stuck in the shop. Anyhow, time for some reponses. subieman: Thanks! calebz & applegump: I'm enjoying this car a lot. The down side is I like driving just as much as I like riding my bike. So everytime I get ready to go to work I spend about 10 minutes debating which one to take. Cougar: I was stationed at Eielson AFB near Fairbanks from April '91 to August '95. While there I had a '77 440 powered Dodge Ramcharger 4X4 that I had brought with me from California. I had tried to get another 4 year tour up there but the Air Force wouldn't do it so I had to leave. If I had gotten the extension I was all set to buy a Subaru AWD for the wife. But since the AF sent us back to Florida there was no need for it. I ended up gettting a medical discharge while at Patrick AFB in '96 and my wife signed up and went active duty in '97. Some of the bases she requested were in Alaska and in the spring of '98 the AF offered her an assignment to Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage. Her commander thought she was nuts when she jumped on the chance to get back to Alaska. She was stationed there from November of '98 to November of '02 when we moved to Virginia. While in Anchorage I ended up getting an AMC 4 wheel drive wagon as used Subarus were just too much. You might have even seen me around town as I had a few jobs working in malls around Anchorage. I used to work for a company called Sugarloaf taking care of claw machines filled with stuffed animals. That was during my third year up there. During my second year up there I was the repair technician for the video game arcade in the Dimond Mall. Before that I was a security guard at Northway Mall. It was when I was working there that I got a job offer from the newly opened arcade in the mall as an attendent. Not the best job in the world but the pay was the same as the security guard job and I didn't have to worry about the drunks trying to fight with me. But the arcade didn't do so well so the owner shut it down and transferred me to the Dimond Mall location and promoted me to repair tech. My last summer up there was spent working for the Harley dealership on Spenard when they remodeled it and expanded the place. So we probably crossed paths a few times. While I hated having to leave Alaska I like the longer riding season down here. But this October I will really miss the PFD check. Are they still talking about an income tax up there? subyluvr2212: Yeah, I tend to enjoy looking at cars in general reqardless of who made them. Years ago I had a Chevy Monza that came stock with a small block V-8. Looked like a piece of junk but would blow the doors off of Mustangs and IROC Z's. I could care less about paint jobs as I appreciate a well built car on the mechanical level over looks. But I still get a good chuckle out of cars with 5 inch tail pipes and excessively large rear wings. Now the big question is do I continue with my plan of building a killer big block for my old Charger or putting the money in to a turbo set up for the Legacy. The need for speed; it's not just a hobby, it's a disease. Ruppster

First off let me introduce myself. I am a 35 year old gearhead that has been tinkering with muscle cars for about 20 years and motorcycles for 22. I currently work as a mechanic at a Harley dealership. And no, I am not an anti-import vehicle kind of person as I appreciate all cars and motorcycles regardless of origin. After owning Chevy's and Dodge's I have become a big fan of the older Mopars. My current project is a 1977 Dodge Charger Daytona with a big block V-8. But I needed something that would get better gas mileage as I commute 35 miles each way to and from work. And since Dodge doesn't make anything I like that I can afford I knew I would have to look elsewhere. While I was living in Alaska I started checking out AWD Subarus but never went as far as to buy one. But when Subaru started advertising the WRX they really got my interest. So I thought I would look for a Subaru. What I found was a 1998 Legacy Limited GT with 60k miles. After I took it for a test drive I was impressed. The last several days I have been searching the web for sites pertaining to these cars and came across this one. I have spent several hours reading old messages and have learned a lot about the engines and drivetrain. Thanks guys. Looking forward to learning more as I am thinking about putting a turbo set-up on this car. I have added a small picture of it below. Several larger pictures of it can be found at http://dodge-semis.com/subaru/. I just put the web page for it together this evening and will be adding more stuff to it over the winter. Ruppster '77 Dodge Charger '98 Subaru Legacy Limited GT '02 1200 Harley Sportster