1996BlackBauer

So has ANYBODY tried swapping the Impreza top hats over to the Forester Struts? I have a '96 Impreza Outback Sport, which I have lifted with '98 Forester Struts, trailing arm brackets, and sway bar mounts, I have a VERY annoying rattle coming from the top hats in the rear, because I used the Impreza ones. What I noticed is that the Forester top hat is a one piece design, where the Impreza has a metal plate, and then strut mount. I used the plate, and the Strut mount together, like it was on the stock Impreza strut. I can't really see what's going on with the struts, because there isn't much room, and I really don't want to take it apart just to find nothing at all. Has anybody ran into this? I have talked to Miles Fox about this in person briefly one of the times I was up at his place, but he also hasn't looked into it too much either, and he has the same issue with one of his lifted Impreza's. I am willing to investigate this so others don't have to deal with this issue, I don't have much time, so I'm hoping somebody already has found a solution. On the plus side I've been driving the car this way for almost a year without any issues, other then the noise. Thanks for any input, Harold.

Hey guys, I will at some point this year be getting my self a (87?)Subaru brat in trade for working on my buddies GL, now this brat is pretty rough, so it will never be a show piece again, but I want to make it a practical, all around fun car/truck? I will be putting in a EJ18, or EJ22, but what I want more is to swap in a complete sub frame from a GF6, so I can have more options when it comes to struts, and so I can have 5X100 wheels fit it, like my Impreza, which I already have 4 sets of wheels for. I totally understand that this may take A lot of work, but I'm not worried about that, I want to use this a project so when I do a solid Axle swap on my '96 Explorer, I will be comfortable with welding, and custom fabrication. What I want to know is if anybody has done something similar to this? I kind of have this thing in my head of badass coilover hoops coming through the bed, with it being slightly lifted(the strut towers are literally gone). Let me know what you think, any input would be great, I am really excited to finally be able to have a older Subaru, even if it will be a unconventional build, lol. Thanks, Harold.

I feel like shipping may be a lot for a larger piece of exhaust though.

Very cool, thanks for all the input, I'll keep an eye out for something, if I really need to drive it I'll just piece it together, at least I know I actually can. Luckily this is not my only car, plus it will be down for a few days since I have to re seal the windshield anyway, so I have some time. I am still amazed how much my muffler really helps though, I mean you can see straight through it, but it makes a world of difference.

Hey guys so after the second time of my muffler falling off, I am finally just going to replace the piece that goes under the rear differential, and the up to the muffler. what happened the first time is that it broke at the 90 going up to the muffler, so some welds where stacked, and that lasted a while, but it broke again tonight, so I'm looking for a replacement, I don't really want to do a full exhaust because I just had a bunch of it re done at the front of the car, so what have you guys done? I'm hoping I can piece together some common over the counter parts to make this work, but I would like to see what other people have done as well.

So Maybe I am the only one with this problem? I'm still searching, and I still haven't found anything.

Hey guys, I've been searching for some time for some roof channel trim. basically the black piece that covers up the channels on the roof. I had a roof rack on my car(1996 Subaru Impreza outback wagon), but I want to get rid of it, and just cover in the large gap. I swear I've seen some 1inch think rubberized or plastic trim somewhere for sale, but cannot find it anywhere. I don't really care to find the stock stuff, for one it's pretty hard to find, and second I don't want to pay a whole bunch for whatever I get. Anybody have a solution for this? Even like a real quick hack or something, I just don't want the roof rack, but I also don't want a gap either. Here's an example pic of my buddies car, not the best but is shows what I need. I need something that fits in, or covers up the channel on the roof, it starts at the bottom of the windshield, and goes back to the hatch.

So I replaced the belt with a used one, after looking my my buddies car, it had just under 15k on it, since the last belt was done, with all new pulleys, The parts that I got my my friends car are all Aisin parts, Pulleys, belt, and tensioner, and they all have the same mileage. So I feel pretty good about that, I'll probably do a real timing Job when I do the Clutch some time next year, but for now the car runs great. I also pulled the plugs, checked the gap, and replaced a suspect spark plug boot due to burn on the rubber. All in all, even with messing around with steam cleaning the whole front side of the block, so I don't have to worry about oil getting everywhere again, it probably took 4 hours. I was even able to get it done without removing the radiator. Thanks for all the help guys, and thank you Subaru for not having an interference engine in my car, lol.

Very cool, I'm super glad that there was no damage. I hate to be that guy, but between the two engines I did work on over the winter, I have a timing belt with 20k on it, and enough good pulleys to do all the work. I'm going to clean up all the oil down there to, I have a feeling that doesn't help at all. I have fixed the leak, but never cleaned it all up.

Thanks for the heads up, I was able to take the whole cover off and the belt isn't broken. but no matter how many times I turn the engine the timing marks never line up. so it had to of slipped. I made a video though. might be better that way.

So I was leaving my house today, turn out on to the main road, shifted into second, got on it a little bit to hear it wind up, nothing more then 4k if that, shift into 3rd, hear a pop noise, thought the engine was running, no throttle input, pulled it out of gear, tried to do it again, it was dead, coasted into a parking lot. I then tried to restart, sounded a little weird, but turned around just fine, but nothing at all. I peaked in the crack of the timing cover the belt spins, so nothing is locked up. I'm thinking I might have skipped a few teeth. The car in question is a 1996 Impreza Outback sport, with an EJ22, it is completely stock at 216K. Any input would be great, thanks, Harold.

I did notice how the top bolt was large on one side, but when I tried to spin it it didn't move, I'll remove it again, take it to the wire wheel clean it up, ans throw some grease on it and see if it spins then, thank you! I might just have that bolt in stock, I disassembled my buddies '93 Impreza over the winter and kept all the bolts. Thanks for the suggestion, that if for sure one way to keep it cheap!

Hey guys, I finally got off my but and put my Forester lift on my '96 Impreza outback. and WOW, it sits really tall, much more then I was expecting. But it achieved what I wanted anyway, so I'm not worried about it. I do have one issue with it though, it appears that my car now has quite a bit of positive camber, I searched camber bolts, but I'm not sure what is best. I've seen many ways to adjust camber on vehicles with struts, oblong the holes, oblong bolts/washers, and a camber plate? So what would be my best bet if I wanted to do it on the cheap. the way it sits now, I'll be burning though my tires before fall gets here, lol. thanks for any input. BTW, this would be for BOTH the front and rear. Thanks again, Harold

I am uncertain if the bearing was replaced, I bought the car as a semi running vehicle. the previous owner had dumped some serious cash into it, struts, brakes, clutch, then it needed a hub, and needed all the oil leaks fixed. So he got rid of it, I got a few receipts from him, but nothing about parts that where charged out for the clutch. What do you mean by a sleeve kit, it basically sounds like a dry bearing noise. like a chirping/squeaking noise, but it is constant. That would make sense, about the pivot that is, I'm pretty sure that was probably never replaced during the clutch replacement. So I guess I'll start looking for a clutch, I really like the sounds of the Exedy Stage One, but I'm not a fan on the price. I keep hearing success stories about some Ebay clutches. Something like a Stage 3/4 clutch is similar to a stage 2, IDK, but I like the price.

So my '96 Impreza Outback has a slight squeaking at idle, and while running in general, sometimes it just goes away. it sounds like it is coming from the back of the engine, right in the bell housing almost. when I put slight pressure on the clutch fork it goes away, likewise when I push the clutch pedal in it also goes away. I'm 99% sure it is the throwout bearing, it would make sense really, but I really don't want to take everything apart just to replaced the bearing, then put it back together. If I was doing that I would replace the clutch, but then again money is tight, and the clutch only has about 25k on it as well, and is still working great. what would you guys do? Just hoping I can buy a little time to save up some money for a new clutch.

Awesome! Thanks guys, I'll play around with it and see what happens. But I'll keep in mind that loose, will be lower.

Hey guys, Over the weekend I finally got around to putting the rest of the Franken motor back together, and finally got the the new lightweight Exedy flywheel on with a new Exedy Stage 1 clutch and pressure plate. Now I know I can set the clutch up the same as it was when I originally got the car, but the owner(My Best Friend), didn't like how it released so far up in the travel. So how can I adjust it so it releases lower, and how do I make sure I did it right? Specs: 1995 Impreza L Wagon 5 speed Cable clutch new clutch(stage 1) new flywheel(light weight) 2.5L Block with 2.2L heads DOES NOT have hill hold If you need any more info, I would be happy to add that as well. Thank you in advanced!

OK, that makes complete sense, but what do I have to work with on Springs? Like WRX springs? It actually kind of funny, because I have been toying with the idea of ditching the sway bar, but don't want to for the fear of more body roll, and possible roll overs and such under hard cornering. Then again, I don't want to go too crazy on the car, because after all it was a free car, And dumping money into might not be the best idea.

Do you have any pictures on how you did that, I am willing to do something like this.

That makes sense, BUT I do play on Rally Crossing my car, plus I also plan on doing some time attach asphalt events as well, so I would like to keep the on road handling as god as possible.

Alright guys let start at the top, I have the Forester struts, I have the trialing arm brackets, I have the rear sway bar brackets. So 70% of the stuff I already have, the two things I have questions on hopefully are easy ones. 1. Has anybody successfully transferred the tops hats off of the Impreza Strut, and put them on the Forester Strut? 2. Do I really need to buy $120 Kartboy Rear End links for the front? I can get factory replacement links for under $50 for the pair, I am just not sure on the dimensions for both. I drive pretty hard, So I would really like to keep the sway bar operation intact. Thanks for any input guys, it is greatly appreciated.

Well hopefully it will make some sense in the vehicle. I'm not going to go crazy over it, I just can't for the life of me figure it out. but honestly if that's my only problem so far, I would say I'm doing pretty good, lol.

So since I've been doing everything on my car on the cheap. Has anybody successfully swapped the top hats from the Impreza to the forester struts? Also has anybody simply used stock STI rear sway bar links instead of Kartboy ones? The factory ones are WAY cheaper, I suppose I could try and swap the top hates, but I just want to be sure before I do, any input would be greatly appreciated.

Hey guys, I am currently doing an engine swap on my Buddies '95 Impreza wagon. I have most of everything done already, but I have one thing I can't figure out. There is some sort of sensor, and or valve that attaches to the back of the #3 cylinder intake runner, it has a vacuum line that runs to the top of #3 intake runner, into a port, so, that's all good... BUT I don't know where the other line goes, I tried searching for a line on the car, and on the old engine, and found nothing that looked right. So any idea where it goes? Just for some more information here is whats going on. the Engine that came out of the car is a stock 1.8L, and the one going in to the car has a '98 or '99 2.5L block with '96 2.2L heads, with a '93 1.8L intake. The block and heads are no big deal, but apparently there are slight differences in the '93, and the '95 intakes, So I have had to swap the engine harness, a sensor for the EGR, and this one other sensor. Like I said I can't find anything that leads me to where this goes, so any input would be great. Thanks for any input guys!

Good to know, thanks for the input. Well I have now driven about 240 miles without a single misfire, loss of power, bucking, or stumbling, it actually appears to be driving WAY better then it ever has, it almost a new car. I am almost curious as if the MAF was having issues since I have owned the car, and it only really got bad more recently. when I first got the car it was super sluggish, it BARELY got out of its own way, and that was only if it was to the floor. Now is is actually quite peppy. I still can't thank everybody enough, it feels great to be able to drive my car again. now that I have fixed most of the oil leaks, the running issue, its time to prep it for a few rally cross events and have some fun, like I was originally going to do.