legacywarwagon

WELL HIDEY HO EVERYBODY!!! IT's been a little while since i posted a thread, things have been really HECTIC!! But on a happy note, my first brake job went as SMOOTHLY AS IT POSSIBLY COULD HAVE!! thanks again to everybody for the advice, tips, and little tricks. They all came into use. I actually got front and rear done in about an HOUR! HOORAY! I couldn't believe how easy replacing brakes could be. Now that i understand how the whole brake system works, i'm hopefully going to be buying new rotors and installing them soon. WOW...if only people could see how easy this stuff is to do by themselves, they could save a lot of money. SO...thanks again everybody for all of the great info! My main question here today is this...my buddy is looking at buying a new car, and i happen to know of an 87 XT turbo for about $800 that's sitting in this guy's yard collecting dust. THE SPECS: 85,000 originally owned miles, power everything, 2 door, Semi-new tires, sunroof, working a/c. I recently hooked up the battery and it started right up (i added gas as it had been sitting for a couple of years). Immaculately clean interior, exterior is decent, except for the back where it was hit. THE PROBLEMS: When i started it up, it had a hard time staying running when i took my foot off of the gas. While depressing the pedal though, it seemed fine. Possibly a fuel pump issue, but i'm guessing just old gas and not having been run for a while. Here's the main problem. It was hit in the back driver side wheelwell, and according to the owner, one of the arms leading to the knuckle? :-\ is bent. This causes enough of an angle to rub the tire against the wheelwell, shredding the tire. THE QUESTIONS: The low mileage seems like a deal for $850, especially considering the great condition of the interior and exterior of the car. He is going to include the replacement back panel where the acciddent occured, at no extra charge. How much work/money is it going to take to fix that rear knuckle arm problem? Does that make the price of the car too expensive or would my friend benefit from a cheap fix? 85,000 miles is practically brand new for a Subaru:slobber: , and this just seems like a great deal. The main thing holding him back is the unknown amount of time and money it would cost to fix the Knuckle problem. ANY ADVICE ON THE ABOVEMENTIONED QUESTIONS WOULD BE AWESOME!!! thanks again everybody, you all rock, and I WILL be sending pictures as soon as the rear hatch speaker fabrication on my car is complete!!!! HAVE A GREAT THURSDAY EVERYBODY C O R Y

Hey hey hey, I'm about to be losing all radio contact here shortly(unless my buddy has his new wireless setup going yet), as i'm going to begin my ascent to the mountains (GRAND LAKE--SO GORGEOUS). Brakes are goin on SUNDAY, and i just wanted to say once again how thankful I am for all of the information and tips. I've got all of it printed out, but i was curious to see if anybody was gonna be online sunday, in case i have some last minute questions. Grand Lake is a pretty Soob friendly area, so i should be able to get help, but just in case, i figured i'd check online for further assistance. SO...Sunday you all might be hearing from a very nervous and confused guy. We'll see. It's also Buffalo BBQ Weekend up there ( basically just another excuse for the entire town to get drunk:drunk: ), so i know that i'm gonna be hungover for the entire installation process. If anybody's goin up to the mountains, let me know, and if not, CHEERS TO A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYBODY...WISH ME LUCK. cory

I would stick with the stock air box and just remove the intake silencer that lives inside the fender cavity. Run a short pipe from the air box into the fender cavity to feed cooler air. End that pipe in a trumpet/bell mouth. . http://www.geocities.com/vik2r/Sube/intake2.jpg PERFECT! that looks like a great idea.(nice pic,very informative) One question, Does that mouth allow for a lot of extra debris to come into engine? I'm probly not going to be "rallying" this car on any dirt courses anytime soon, but Denver doesn't have the cleanest streets in the world...thanks again cory

I'm wondering if anyone knows a way to mount the 92 radio in a 96 and fill the gap at the bottom? Or just a way to plug my iPod into the aux/cd input in the back. Heck, if you've got a piece to fill it in maybe I'd send you my cassette and the storage tray that fills the space below... I've found a great way to fill the space in my 92 legacy (not sure if it's the same size in the 96 or not). Going to purchase a new center channel speaker from Clarion...the SRK5 - it's a half din unit that fits perfectly into a din sized application. Will fill the gap below my stereo and give me MUCH BETTER TIME ALIGNMENT, allowing for an IMMENSELY BETTER LISTENING EXPERIENCE. Plus, it'll get rid of that ugly gap. (guessing the size is approximately the same on these two cars) Give me some measurements, and i'll see what it'll do for your car. COry

okay, the only advice i can give you is that it is an EXTREMELY fun car to drive. After a recent car show, me and my friends got to drive the new cars from the floor all the way out of the convention center and down a mile. Out of the new Cadillac sts's, porsche cayenne's and saab's that i got to drive, the 9-2 turbo was amazing. I was in the wagon, but it was incredible. The handling (we raced a little through the convention center garage) was superb, and that turbo literally put me back into my seat about 2500rpm's into it. Haven't driven a new subaru, but from my experience, on performance alone(not really too sure about all of the other aspects) you would have a great time in the saab.....i really sound like a noob, but it's a great car. you did say ANY advice right:) cory

anybody ever put a k & n intake system in a 92 legacy? Figure while i'm down at autozone tommorrow for the brakes, might as well check into adding a few extra horses. There is a space (looks like you could put an extra battery there) on the passenger side of the engine that looks like a good spot to mount a cone, just curious to see if anybody has advice on if this is a good idea or not? Will it adversely affect a daily driver type engine without any other modifications? anybody else using anything different that they would suggest? thanks cory

LOL good call

First off thanx again Setright and everybody else for the huge help with brakes...i'm now excited (instead of fearful) to get my paycheck on friday to pick up the parts and end the squeaky madness. Wanted to let everybody know i'm gonna start custom fabricating my 92 Legacy's (love this car) rear hatch for some 6 x 9 infinity kappa's next week. I love to camp, and it's always fun to have some extra music (besides my guitar and scratchy voice) that you can have while roasting smores. This will be accomplished by creating some very custom (and hopefully very cool) boxes that can be taken out and stretched to wherever. First, i'm going to fabricate a new back panel that goes across the entire back hatch (below the window), allowing more air space to produce better sound while im driving. The boxes i will build for the speakers are going to fit into this fiberglass enclosure about 10 inches below the back window. I'm working on a sliding track and latch system right now, so that when i get to a spot I'd like to take them out (i.e. campsite, concert, garage), I can simply flip a button and they'll come poppingright out (I might end up using magnets, notsure yet). I'm also working on a spool wiring sytem that i'll have mounted in between the speakers which will allow me to pull the speakers out, then retract them in again up to 50 ft with ease. Trying to match the blue color scheme of the soob might be a little difficult, but the finished product should be pretty amazing. Wanted to know if you all would be interested in pictures over the course of the project?? I don't know if this is the proper place to post or not. I'm a big audiophile, and this is my first fiberglass job, so i'm PUMPED. If any of you have questions regarding any kind of setup for your own soobie soundsystems, i'd love to help....fairly knowledgable. ALSO, if you just want to learn more about music, sound, or anything stereo related, you NEEDto go to www.caraudiohelp.com jason bowlds is the man, and really explains everything quite well....it's free, it's great, and everybody can learn a LOT. SO....brakes first, then onto sound. Sorry for posting so much, i'm just really excited about having a subaru again, and love to share Slap me if i get annoying CORY

wow, i am so glad this is all being told to me now...i'm gonna print this stuff out and keep it next to me as i go along. thanx again BTW, the mechanic i ended up taking the axle to (very short drive with the tip of the screwdriver protruding from one end of the lock pin) told me that in all his years of wrenching, he had never come across a pin that hard to remove (thankfully i'm not as stupid as i thought). He had told me that the LAST person who had replaced it had somehow put it in wrong. I really didn't ask for a huge explanation, but was just really happy he showed me proper ways for installation for next time. It's always nice to have a mechanic that is more interested in your car's well being than your wallet. thanx again setright, and pics will be on the way for that trannybolt.

oh and by the way, haynes manual forthcoming and i will get a torque wrench. and can i reuse the shims that are on there?

WOW - it's really nice to have experienced people giving me advice. THANK YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH. After work yesterday, I had the opportunity to have a friend of mine come take a look at it. After about 3 minutes of brake cleaner and an air compressor, i managed to dislodge a DISTURBINGLY LARGE amount of dirt......i guess that stuff they spray on mountain roads can really get caked on. Needless to say, after much cleaning, and a quick test drive, problem solved YAY:grin: !! I am buying another can to do the rest of the brakes with today, as i figured it would probably be beneficial to get it all done now. Friday is still the big day (first brake job) but with everybody's tips (and i have a friend at spider customs who's gonna let me use some jacks ) and some luck, I should be squeak free in a couple of hours!!! As far as the tranny goes, i'm working on getting some pictures for yall, i just don't think my camera phone's gonna do it justice. If it helps, the bolt is on the "bell?" part of the transmission, driver's side, and it has a ball and spring assembly that fit inside of it. My buddy says his friend had an old CJ that the same thing happened to (busted off on a rock, not with a hammer ), and he lost shifting ability. SO....hoping the jb weld will hold. No problems as of yet, no loss of extra fluid, and shifting seems fine. but i WILL try and get some pictures... THANX AGAIN EVERYBODY.....wish me luck on Friday, i'll post monday to let yall know how the brakes went. cory aka the impatient hammer-wielding non mechanic

thanks again - will check mentioned areas, and post new thread. THANKS once again, NICE BRAT

Ok, im new, but the first thing i had to replace on my 92 legacy was a throwout bearing. (sorry to say at a shop, but i'm still learning) Just to let you know, it was a "whistling" noise that happened when i depressed the clutch, not a knocking noise. Hope that rules out a couple of possibilities

Hi again everybody, this is my first real question post, so i hope i do everything right and give proper information. This is Probably a dumb question, but i'm just starting to try my hand at the whole do it myself aspect of cars. SO....i've got a 92 L legacy wagon (awd, 5 sp M, ) and i'm getting ready to replace the brakes on the front. However, recently, i've been getting this HORRENDOUS noise (similar to very squeaky brakes but a definite grinding) when i make right turns. It starts and continues from my right rear wheel until i straighten the wheels out or get up above about 35 mph. Kind of weird. And i've noticed that when my "husky" girlfriend (extremely beautiful and the best damn cook around) sits in the passenger seat, the noise doesnt happen. Again, only when i make right hand turns, and it continues until the wheels go straight. Took off the tire to examine the pads, they seem to have plenty of wear left, and there doesnt seem to be anything hanging loosely. VERY DUSTY, as it was purchased from my grandmother who lived up near estes and drove on dirt roads all the time. Question 1, is there a proper way to clean the entire area, and question 2, does this sound like a bearing problem? Will replace both front and rear discs here on friday (Its gonna be a scary thing :-\ :-\ ) but i'm gonna try it. First time doing breaks...YIKES. One more thing. Recently, i had to replace my front left axle (cv halfshaft) and it was QUITE the experience. I don't have a nice set of jacks unfortunately, so space under the car was limited. The last shop who had replaced the shaft had somehow gotten the pin nearest the inner boot JAMMED VERY TIGHTLY IN THERE, and i was having a helluva time getting it out. Im a fairly "husky" guy myself, and so here i am, crammed awkwardly under my car(in 90 degree sweltering heat) banging away with hammer and screwdriver, getting very angry. (patience is something i'm working on) After i KID YOU NOT two HOURS of pounding, i finally got that frustrated addrenaline boost and began BEATING THE SCREDRIVER (not smart i know). WELL...i should also tell you that my accuracy witha hammer is rivaled only by my ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound, and i missed... NAILING one of the bolts on my transmission. KABOOOOM, explosion of bolt and nearby tranny. With the bolt came about a half inch of the bung surroundingit, as well as a spring and ball(not quite sure what these are for) FORTUNATELY, i was able to get the entire bolt assembly back in about 4 turns, and jbwelded the whole thing. I know, I know, i'm really not a mechanic. But hey, it was DEFINITELY worth learning a little lesson regarding patience. So, any help with the brakes would be greatly appreciated, as i am a complete and utter noobie when it comes to soobie mechanics. THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH sorry this is such a long post, but i hope you all can at least laugh with me (or at me) and my continuing mechanical endeavors. Cory Denver

Hey hey hey, finally found a forum dedicated to my favorite brand of car out there. HOORAY. As everybody knows, the reliability of these cars is incredible and never ceases to amaze me. The first one I ever owned was a 1985 GL Wagon, and it ran for 397,423 and 6/10 miles before finally giving up the ghost on the way to Maryjane (WinterPark Ski Area) one morning last year. WHAT A CAR....4 wheelin in Grand County, Colorado, isn't easy on most trucks, let alone station wagons. That car took me to countless mountain parties, fishin holes, hilltops, snow covered trails and was a sound daily driver. Recently, I had the opportunity to purchase a 1992 Legacy Wagon L from my grandmother (bless her original owning little heart) which she has kept in near pristine shape for the last 13 years. Nearly everything in the engine has been replaced at the first sign of wear and tear, so I've got an engine that looks floor room-esque when I peek under the hood. At about 130,000 miles, I've got this little beauty in the prime of her years. AWESOME FEATURES TOO - power everything, 5 speed manual, this VERY HELPFUL hill assist type feature, AC that WORKS!!, and a slightly modified stereo (Pioneer Premier DEH P850MP deck, Infinity kappas in the doors, and a brand new Infinity Kappa Perfect 12DVQ sub with a 600 Watt Pheonix Gold AMP!!!!!). I love this car, and plan to really expand my mechanical knowledge with this baby. I've already replaced the front left axle (HOLY COW-for a first timer, that's scary), and now i'm gettin ready to tackle all the brakes. Little Nervous, but I look forward to learning. Over the next couple of years, I'd like to put a lot of work into this machine, so I might be asking for help from alot of you knowledgeable enthusiasts from time to time. I don't bring a whole lot to the table, but I CAN get GREAT DEALS ON CAR AUDIO, so if you guys (and gals ) need help with that kind of thing, email me. ANYWAYS - great to be a part of the subaru family, and look forward to hearing from you and possibly drivin by you on the road. I'll be the guy with my head noddin around and my hands wavin. HELLOOOOOOOO EVERYBODY cory