Would the bigger brakes for a 1996 Legacy Outback be a direct bolt on to my 1996 Legacy L?

Yes. You need to use the rotors and caliper bracket too. And then make sure your wheels will clear the larger brakes as well. But everything will bolt right on.

Sweet.  thank you!  Now i'm stoked.  gonna get what i need from the junk yard tomorrow.  and yeah, my 17's will fit those brakes no problem.

Pretty much any Subaru front caliper will bolt on, with the exception of XT6s and EA cars.

 

Look into rotor diameters as that will also tell you what is "larger" too. I plan on bolting on some '05 and up Legacy GT/3.0R front/rear brakes on my '04 Outback.

 

Now also with increasing number of pistons/larger piston diameters, you'll also need to upgrade the master cylinder to a larger bore size. Most EA cars run a 13/16" bore diameter, my XT6 has a 15/16" bore, earlier Imprezas and Legacys with single piston calipers run a 15/16" bore, later Imprezas/Legacys with two piston front calipers run a 1" bore, WRXs (with 4/2 pot calipers) and STis run a 1 1/16" bore. It will say on the master cylinder in small numbers what size it is so make sure you check the car the parts are coming off of and verify size vs your master cylinder. Also make sure it has the same number of ports on it and the location of them. You can "adjust" brake lines a bit around the master to get certain ones to work just don't get too happy about bending lines or one could break.

 

I have tons more info as I do a lot of undercar work on Subarus...