So Im new to this fourm, I have been looking for people that actually take ther Subarus offroad in my area and the seams to be the board to be on.

 

So this is my car, Its a 1998 Subaru Legacy Outback. Here is the mod list and some pictures, it dosnt have a huge lift on it but it gets the job done.

 

JDM Projector headlights

HID headlights 6000k 35w low 55w hi

HID Hella 500s 3000k 35w

Hi Low and Fogs can all run at the same time

K&N OE replacement filter

Weathertech floor mats

Weathertech cargo mat

OE rear spoiler

ALPINE SPS-610 & SPS-610C front and rear speakers

V9 EJ205 swap

Subaru 4EAT Power Mode

Window tint

CB radio with PA

New stereo head unit

Roof rack

Basslink sub

1" Subtle solutions lift with 3/8 spacers

Larger tires 215/65/16 Geolanders with full size matching spare

Subaru OE snowflakes 16"

WRX Brake upgrade

Off-Road Lighting

custom front tube bumper

winch



Future mods/or projects.



Snorkel

LSD rear diff

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 14, 201312 yr by legacygt4

Looks great! Love that front bumper.

Hmmm, dont think I ever seen your car at Outback before (I worked there most of last year).

Going to be at WCSS15?

Hmmm, dont think I ever seen your car at Outback before (I worked there most of last year).

Going to be at WCSS15?

  Thats becaus I didnt own it last year.  Rob I sold my camry altrac to buy the WRX swap, that should clue you in to who this is I will be at WCSS for sure.

So this is whats been going on with my car the last few weeks, Engine Swap!

Its almost done I'm just waiting for the wiring harness and then I can put the interior back together. After that drive it down to the shop and finish the exhaust and get it tuned.

I had to get the garage all cleaned up and ready. The shop was completely full, and because of a blown head gasket I couldn't wait any longer, so I had to do the swap at home.




First days work we puled the old engine out and put in the STI cross-member, It went in really easy. Also did a little engine bay clean up, The mud pit at WCSS was brutal.





New engine waiting to go in.





On day two I wanted to get the engine bolted up and the dash pulled out to remove the harness.


Here is the engine just after bolting it in I put the inter-cooler on because it was exiting!



This is the after I pulled the dash, what a PITA.






After the harness was puled I could take my time hooking up all the accessory's , hoses and mount the stuff the new engine needed.


AC and alternator hooked up as well as the radiator, This is about the time I discovered that my WRX engine actually came out of a JDM Forester XT which ended up being a good thing. For instance the Forester XT radiator hoses needed no modification to fit perfectly, the power steering lines are a better fit and the longer Skinner inter-cooler works really well with the stock Legacy hood scoop.





I put in a Walbro I didn't want to have to worry about fuel.




This is pretty much were I'm at, all the vacuum lines are plumed, fuel is hooked up all the accessory's are there just need the harness to finish up!

 

 

 

I was out of stuff to do on the Outback until Wednesday, seamed like the perfect opportunity to do an interior swap.
A friend was nice enough to sell me this beautiful Outback Limited leather interior for a good price, so between new engine and new interior it should feel like a new car.




The driver seat is still out until I can reinstall the wiring harness and dash.






I like how they actually say Outback!

sweet!

Nice.  Have you done the LSD rear yet? You'll want to get that swapped in before Saturday if you can.

Nice.  Have you done the LSD rear yet? You'll want to get that swapped in before Saturday if you can.

No LSD yet, Iv done OK without one, however  I do want one. I'm thinking about trying to see If I can get an ARB locker to work in an R180 out of an SVX, they have a couple of lockers for the Nissan R180 so I feel like its just a matter of money to make it work.

Very cool.

Nice clean build!

Yesterday I got all the engine bay stuff taken care of, so everything under the hood is ready to rock.

 

I had enough time to do most of the interior stuff too, I'm thinking the car should be running by noon today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The engine bay is finally done.

 

 

 

The hood scoop finally does something!

 

The hood scoop finally does something!

 

 

 

Wish mine did.  Looking forward to seeing this one in action.

So you are rocking the stock automatic trans ?

So you are rocking the stock automatic trans ?

yep

For EJ series cars, the auto seems to be the desired way to go for an off road vehicle. It can crawl along without issue. The manual bucks around trying to go a low speeds and abuses the clutch. My impreza is fine for trail riding, but for slower, tougher wheeling, I find myself wishing it was the auto.

 

The other, more labor intensive option is to stuff an old dual range in there. (Unless you can find an imported EJ dual range) Then you have the best of both worlds.

Well there is good news and bad news. The good news is it runs and
drives. The bad news is there are some major wiring bugaboos that need
to be ironed out so Ill keep you updated.

Missed you at Walker.  Any updates?

Missed you at Walker.  Any updates?

Yea we took my buddys toyota up that day.

 

The car is at friends shop Outback Auto, in the next few days we are going to go through the wiring and see what went wrong. I getting pretty restless, as soon as the car runs Im going to head to walker valley again.

Very cool Outback !

I finally finished the rock sliders, they seem pretty solid cant wait to try them out.Finished the skid plate, I had to make it fit the STI cross-member.
Painted the new "D"rings. With all that out of the way once the car is running properly I'm am headed straight to the mountains.

 

 

It's official, the Outback lives!

 

This week John at Outback Auto finally had time to fix the wiring issue, I finished putting the rest of the car back together today.

Everything went well, the only problem we ran into was a bad idle air control valve. After replacing the faulty IAC valve all that was left was to flash a base map on to the ECU.

 

The car runs and drives great I'm going to drive it the way it is for a while to make sure nothing breaks. Once I'm satisfied with the reliability I will start installing power adders like exhaust and a dyno tune.

 

First drive and tank of gas, premium of corse.

 

 

And in the next couple of weeks I will be installing my snorkel and adjustable rear trailing arms.

Nice.  Which trailing arms did you get?

I got the GodSpeed ones there cheep but they look solid, I guess i will find out soon.

Did some more work on the outback, installed new KYB struts did the rear trailing arms and mounted the snorkel. I have had it off road to and the new engine works great, I'm climbing up stuff at 1/8th throttle that I used to have to hammer down to the floor to get up. The turbo is great for high altitude, I have the same power at 3000 feet as I do sea level.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where did you get the snorkel?