mtsmiths

Living in Hawaii for twenty years breakin's were de rigeure. Every car we owned was broken into at least once. Every bicycle I ever owned in the state was stolen, and three out of my four surfboards. Oh, and then there was the Toyota pick-up, found in the macadamia orchards two weeks later stripped. Hell we even had one of the cylinders stolen off our airplane engine while it was tied down at Honolulu Intl. Talk about pre-flight inspection shock! Live Aloha?

Classic timing belt, yes? Sure was for my '87.

I wouldn't steam clean the engine on an older car. It's just too much for old rubber and insulation.

Well, aside from what I wrote at the out set (none of which would I change, BTW), I'm going to add a social comment in the form of a question. Why in God's green earth would you even consider going an extra $4K to buy a faster car that you are gifting to a 22 year old male. If you want to buy your kid a car fine, but don't foster raging testosterone. Sounds like silver spoon syndrome to me, but then hey, I had to buy ALL my own cars.

I think that most, if not all of the solvent based engine cleaners have paint warnings on the containers. Shyte, you can drink Simple Green, and then ... refer to the first word. It cleans fine, sometimes takes a couple of applications, but you don't have to worry about hurting anything with it. Our house just got sprayed with a plume of highly atomized Rotella oil from a Caterpillar Bobcat. It took four of us four hours, but we got all the oil off the walls, window frames, gutters, decks, furniture, hot tub, the cat ... used three quarts of SG Degreaser concentrate at a 10:1 solution from a pump sprayer.

'87 GL 5spd D/R Whitefish to Baltimore (58 hours) ... and return. 70-75 all the way, 5th gear, except 4th to pass, and two or three hills on the whole route.

"Worth it" is a relative term. The four thousand dollar question is: How hard do you drive, how many tickets can you afford? In my (far too long) experience most performance cars are rarely driven to their potential (who can afford THAT, after all ... see second half of question above). Is it worth an extra $4K, higher insurance premiums and greater maintenance, over and above the less expensive and perfectly adequate alternative (99.5% of the time), for the occassional few seconds of YIPPEE! ? Only YOU can answer that question.

Ditto, spray it all over with Simple Green Degreaser when warm, drive it to the wash bay and spray it off while running. Simple Green overspray wont hurt your paint.

For those of you that asked about the amount of lift - 2.5 inches. That's with 14" rims and stock tires. Happened to park next door to IIAWAH's clone at the hardware store this am.

http://www.3wheelers.com/fuji.htmlHow'd ya like to see the Seven Sisters on THIS thing?

I dunno. When I bought them from WJM he said I could use the same springs ... so I did. Mind you, I'm not after 'lift', just a little more air space under the car for snow and the occassional Forest Service road 'speed bump' (if you look at my exhaust pipe in the "Taller Rear" pic, you'll see what I mean).

I haven't actually measured it yet, But I parked next to an Outback of the same vintage, and it sat at the same height (less the wheel and tire diameter difference).

I guess none of youse guyz listen to da Boyz, Click & Clack. They've had many 'conversations' about this. Ya know why modern car tires are black? 'Cause they add carbon to the rubber (which is a milky white in it's natural state). Ya know what carbon black is? An excellent conductor. Tires vary from manufacturer to manufacturer as to carbon content, and some conduct electricity better than others, but all will carry the voltage from a lightning bolt, especially when wet. Static buildup from the car running and moving through the air, rarely reaches the capacitance to discharge to ground ... except when you hand the quarter to the toll booth person, or occasionally through a gas pump nozzle (whoops). Airplanes take hits all the time, on the ground and in the air. BTW airplanes are ALWAYS grounded before fueling! They have an appaling tendancy to go BOOM if you don't.

Gee karinvail, I wonder if you're gonna like that tattoo as much when you get out of jail?

Well, it's nice not having those snobs in the Outbacks looking down on me.

At least in winter! I've got 15" steelies mounted with my studded snows. When the 14's wear out, I'll scare up some 15's and remount. BTW, how do ya like my soda blasted alloys?

OK, OK, sheesh, you guyz are SOOO pushy! But, you're gonna have to work for it, I've never figgered out how to direct link photos. Go here. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showgallery.php?cat=585 Struts only, still has Legacy springs. NOT a 'dumb question' (I hope), 'cause I asked WJM the same thing when I bought them.

My '95 Legacy wagon now thinks it's an Outback. I grabbed the 'One Day Sale' '96 Outback struts and got them installed yesterday. My wagon now sits about three inches higher and rides much firmer. Onliest prob is my wife is mad at me now. She wanted her '00 Leg lifted first.

Or, as one of my office mates (who HATES Subarus) said when I showed him the picture: "SEE, God doesn't like Subarus either!"

Could be even simpler, like you forgot to tighten the gas cap. Typically, it's a minor pollution control system problem, and can be safely ignored. Our '00 Legacy threw bogus CELs for twenty thousand miles, then on day it magically cured itself. Go figger. It'll probably come back 'cause I typed this.

Outback is just a trim and suspension level. Bodies are the same, Legacy or Impreza.

I can't imagine why the MHP would bother you in a Rest Stop, that's what they're for. Fruit, water, strong coffee and cheap cigars. The most efective stay-awake aid: clutch a hundred dollar bill in your left hand, roll down the driver's window, and hold the hand out in the slip-stream ... guaranteed you won't fall asleep.

Actually the price is about right for Montana, but then why bother here, it'll get broken on the way home from the auto glass shop. They don't ticket here, heck half the MHP cars have stone chips and cracked glass.

We have '00 and '95 Legacy wagons. I like the Legacy handling on dry roads, and we have never had any problem in snow. That includes driving the '00 from Whitefish to Polebridge during a semi-blizzard through almost 30 miles of unplowed 18" snow. We've never been stranded by either of our Legacies. I can't imagine a scanario where you would 'need' the extra ground clearance in Spokane. IMHO, If you want it to off-road, you should get and rehab an older 4WD D/R, not an AWD. If you want a good all-around all-year handle whatever the NW can throw at you car - get a Legacy and put the extra $6K in your kid's college fund.

In short ... YES! And then if it leaks you can take it back.