Leggyobw97

Yeah I had to replace one the first time I did seafoam on my 97 OBW, due to carbon build-up on the sensor. Maybe my engine was dirtier than yours and sent more soot out the tailpipe. Either way, removing the sensors definitely removes the risk of fouling them up during the treatment. Heard a lot of people call seafoam "opening up a can of worms" and that's one reason why.

Do yourself a big favor and remove your O2 sensors before doing a seafoam treatment, unless you want to replace those too.

Figured out how to get the Mishimoto radiator fan kit for the 1st gen to work on a 2nd gen. Wiring was easier than I thought: just color match blue to blue, black to black, then ground the green wires. Upper mounting points on the shroud match right up to where the old fans were, points at the bottom need to get mounted to the chassis under the radiator (instead of to the bottom of the radiator like the old fans). Coolant overflow tank gets mounted to the shroud, there are a number of ways you can do this. You could cut off the bracket from the old fan and use that, or you could find the overflow tank from a 1st gen because the bracket for that one comes right off and isn't welded in place like the one for the 2nd gen. If anyone is interested but this write-up doesn't answer all your questions I could start a new thread and include some photos. Right now everything is sort of in proof-of-concept mode and isn't ready to be shown off yet. But the Mishimoto fans sound great, feel more powerful, the aluminum shroud looks 100x better than the rusty old stock one, and is probably half the weight.

I put front seats from an 03 or 04 Outback sedan in my 97 wagon and the frames bolted right up. Even the seat heaters hooked right up. Only problem was the new seats are power sliding and that option wasn't available for 2nd gens. Pretty sure I ended up wiring them to the power window circuit with a 15A fuse in line, but it was a while ago. Pics below are from before I did the full leather interior swap. I ended up getting leather rear seats from a '99 Outback Ltd. Funny thing is my interior is almost fully stripped right now because my friend and I are doing bodywork, and to be honest it's kind of fun driving this way, so I almost feel like I wasted all that time and money on the interior because it's all sitting in my attic right now lmao.

You're right, I just did some measurements and compared them to the specs listed on the Mishimoto page for their 1st gen radiator and it looks like it would be too tall and too thick for our chassis. That checks out because the fan shroud I got from them looks like it will be a little tall for my radiator. I'm betting I'll find a way to make it fit though. I've seen a thread where someone with a non-turbo 1st gen used the radiator from a 2nd gen (http://main.experiencetherave.com/subaru/images/radiatorcomparison/) but it doesn't seem like you can do the opposite swap from 1st into 2nd gen. I messaged one of those sellers pretty recently about the price and got this in return Seems like a good product if you can get it at the right price though. Let me know what you think of it once you get it on there. I'll do the same once I figure out how to make that Mishimoto fan shroud fit.

OEM radiator works just fine for 90% of applications, can't say the same for cheapo replacement products. Even under heavy stress, high heat for extended periods, the Subaru radiator holds up. I know there's an all- aluminum 2-core radiator/fan shroud kit for the 2nd gen that you can find on eBay sometimes but they're expensive and I'm pretty sure they're out of stock right now. I think there are people on this forum who have that set-up though. As for the Mishimoto ones, I think the 1st gen legacy had pretty much the same size radiator with the same general layout as the 2nd gen, but there are a few differences between the two and you'd probably have to make some alterations to get everything to fit. I recently picked up the Mishimoto fan shroud for the 1st gen and I'm currently working out a way to fit it in my 2nd gen. Pretty much everything lines up but I'll have to make a custom bracket for the overflow reservoir and rewire the fan circuit -- the stock fans are 2-speed and the Mishimoto ones are single speed so I'm going to wire the low speed signal to one fan and the high speed signal to the other fan. I did A/C delete and models without A/C only had one radiator fan so I think I'll be fine with just one fan running most of the time. Side note - also running a low temp thermostat to help keep things cool. Edit: 1st gen turbo legacy radiator was different, they're such unicorns at this point I wasn't thinking about it. The radiator for the turbo model has an extra outlet to cool the turbo, so it wouldn't work for the 2nd gen. The radiator for the average non-turbo 1st gen is pretty much the same as the 2nd gen though.

Finally got rid of the top speed limiter on my 97 Outback. All I needed was the OEM ECU from a 97 Legacy GT. Wiring harness is the same between different models of the same year, so if I had a 98 Legacy Outback I would have used the ECU from a 98 Legacy GT, same for 99. Not sure about 95/96, they may be different but I didn't spend too much time looking at those wiring diagrams. Some people on a different forum were guessing that you could cut the wire that goes from the speedometer to the ECU, since the vehicle speed sensor goes through the speedo before it gets to the ECU, so if there's a speed limiter that's definitely where the signal to cut the fuel comes from. But the thing is, all models have this wire and only some of them have speed limiters. Someone said something about that wire does something like tell the computer when send more power to the rear wheels, but that sounds like BS to me considering the AWD uses viscous couplings to determine how to distribute power to the wheels. What seems more likely is that even if it's not sending a signal to cut fuel it's completing the electrical circuit for the speedometer. The only difference (in that circuit) between models that had a speed limiter and those that didn't is the ECU. Swap in the ECU from the same year GT and that should get rid of your top speed limiter. No need for a piggyback or standalone ECU, at least not for this. Please note, I'm not going to get into whether or not it's "safe" to drive over the speed limit, or whether the Outback can handle speeds that high. Every driver should know their own limits and the limits of their vehicle, and sometimes you don't want other people telling you where that limit should be. But that's off topic for this thread. The next step, and it's kind of unnecessary, is getting a speedometer that can display speeds over 120 mph. The 95/96 had speedometers that went to 140, and the driven gear inside the transmission has an one more tooth than the 97-99, but pretty much everything is the same. My hypothesis is that if you swap out the driven gear and the speedometer faceplate you could have a working speedometer that can display speeds up to 140 mph instead of 120. It's a ton of work, but it's been done with the transmission still in the car, details here: https://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=48090 I'll add for reference that I'm running a stock 97 EJ25D with A/C delete, CAI, and nothing else I can think of in the way of mods that actually add power. I can get up to 115 pretty easy (and I'm happy just being able to do that considering it used to have a governor at 113), but getting it up to 120 and beyond took some effort and a loooooot of distance. Have fun out there, just don't come back here complaining to me that you wrecked your car driving too fast. Edit: forgot to mention that you probably need a used ECU from your same year because there have been part # supercessions since then and I don't know if the new ones they sell do or don't have speed limiters. Altogether cost me $50 on eBay and about 10 minutes of my life.

replaced the starter motor. after about a year of intermittent trouble, finally got bad enough to warrant replacing. haynes manual said because it would just give a click when i turned the ignition, it was likely the connections on the starter solenoid. rather than mess around inside the starter, i got the cheapest remanufactured one from the parts store, came with a lifetime warranty. was pretty easy to replace, especially with the added room from having the cai instead of the factory airbox. you can see the starter in the pic below, it has a green label on it: also done recently: the optima blue top died and i replaced it with a red top, broke one of those cheapo terminals while i was doing the starter, so i put on one from the new set that i haven't gotten around to installing, got that zero/sports upper radiator shroud (only held on with one bracket for now until i can get out a seized bolt right there), had to replace the lower radiator hose, flushed the coolant and changed the oil while i was at it. got a few other minor things to do, and i've got some (now vintage) jdm goodies on the way. planning to visit a friend of mine soon who's going to help me rig up the stock dual exit exhaust from his 05 legacy gt, and maybe some body work if we have time. i'm trying to get the car ready for its 25-year inspection next year so i can get the antique auto plates for it. the car needs to be or appear stock to get that plate, otherwise you can get the custom vehicle plate, but for both the car needs to be 25 years old. most of what i've done to the car isn't noticeable from the street, and all of my exterior mods are factory options (albeit for the japanese market), so i think if i get the body work done and get it all painted nicely then i can get the antique auto plates.

thanks! that pic doesn't really show the full battery/wiring situation tho: hope that clears some things up. the starter has its own ground, so there's a neg mate to that extra pos cable. same for the circuit panel, it has its own ground, so there's a mate for that as well. the primary neg cable is 0 gauge just like the pos cable that goes to the alternator. i even added an additional ground wire directly from the battery to the body. so i think there should be adequate neg flow from the battery. but if you have some thoughts i'd be interested to hear. i got most of my ideas for this set-up from watching aaron murakami (i think that's his name) on yt, the instructions for my grounding kit, and reading around on the forums. i think i'm also running a special kind of spark plug but i can't remember what it is rn. one other thing, i know those terminals are garbage. i had military grade terminals but they didn't fit right on these posts... or i lost one of the bolts... it's on my list of things, had mostly forgotten about it, thanks for reminding me to look at that area.

current exterior got a few parts ready to go for the ext, probably next year or something once i'm ready to do all the bodywork. hipposleek rear wing, jdm smoke tail lights to match my jdm smoke headlights, cf hood, bug shield on hood, window visors... will probably eventually get an alum skid plate. interior is done. full leather: front seats and cd player from a 04? legacy, rear sears and door panels from a 99 limited, full wood panel trim (except for steering wheel, not worth the hassle of pulling the wheel off imo)... freshly shampooed (in the before-quarantine days when you could still rent a rug dr...) got the ac delete, stage 1 clutch, full sti engine/trans mounts, lwfw, hoa, marine deep cycle battery, grounding kit, big 3, cai, short shifter, poly shifter bushings... iirc most of the rest is stock suspension, got f&r strut bars, shocks replaced w kgb not too long ago, will probably do king oem height springs soon... debating whether or not to do whiteline sway bars & endlinks, maybe just the endlinks... will probably eventually get rally spec rims and do sti brake upgrade, braided lines. other stuff in the works: dual exit exhaust from an 06 gt, lwcp, maybe powdercoat the intake manifold, probably some other stuff i can't remember rn debating: abs delete, ps delete. depends if i really want to commit to never passing inspection.

Cosmo CAI ACT Stage 1 clutch & lwfw new clutch master cyl cut off tow hitch exhaust leak sealed up (no longer an accidental muffler delete) new ignition switch (still needs a starter) just got it back from the shop today. they did the crank seals (which had gone bad) and i asked them to do all the other stuff i listed while they had the engine out. i had also given them the kartboy single pulley lwcp, but i guess the guy didn't install it because it didn't have a harmonic dampener like the oem one... told him it was fine, wish he had called and asked before just not installing it... but next time i visit my friend (maybe post-quarantine?) we're going to install it, and hook up the dual exit exhaust from his 06 gt now that my stock exhaust isn't all f****d up.

I got the ACT stage 1 with the ACT lwfw. Only 6 miles on it so far, but no CEL, no problems, drives nice. Not pushing it during the break-in period, so can't really say how different accel feels.

Did you have to cut into or modify anything underneath the car to fit the skidplate? Is it drilled for oil changes, or do you need to remove the entire thing each time? I might be interested in keeping that on there. That and the steering wheel, depending on what kind of price we can work out. I wouldn't mind if you want to remove the mirrors, stereo, horns, hu/amp, all the mirrors, and all of the other options you listed and put the stock equipment back on. Feel free to text me anytime about specifics. I'm sure I'll have more questions about the condition of other components but I have limited time to sit at the computer. Thanks again.

Hey, I'm interested. I saw your listing on CL, seeing it here now. Do you want me to PM you here or try texting you through the CL ad? Mostly wondering about the severity of the rust above the windshield... does it leak at all? Is there any rust on the strut towers, frame, or underneath the car? Also curious what your time frame is, because I probably won't be ready to pick it up for another week or two. I'm fine with you returning the car mostly to stock, wondering what exactly that would entail, though. I have a 97 wagon with a lot of stuff I can transfer right over, so if you want to keep some of your stuff that's cool.

I replaced my fuel pump with the Beck Arnley unit last year and it's been going strong. I second the comments about Autozone parts and the used pump you put in could have also been no good. Try the Beck Arnley one, replace your fuel filter at the same time. Also a good time to do other air/fuel/spark maintenance, like clean your MAF, check/replace filters, check your spark plugs, battery connections... Just while you've got some of that stuff taken apart already. Good luck

did some unexpected mudding this morning. it was deep enough in some spots it got up to the sidewalls. scraped a ton, really thought i was going to get stuck. made it home fine, no problems with tires or alignment.

*Finally* got my JDM door visors. Ordered them back in Feb, and it's been a huge headache going back and forth with the seller about shipping. I'm not gonna get into it - I'm just glad they're finally here. They're obviously wrapped in cellophane in that photo, so it's just a sneak peak, but they're a little lighter than I expected. They almost looked like a reddish/tan silvery color in direct sunlight. Can't wait to get them installed as part of doing the body work this summer. Also say bye to the Baja in the corner over there because I have a buyer lined up. Taking a little less than I wanted but it still needs tires and will need front pads/rotors soon. Message me if you're into Bajas and want to check it out, maybe make a better offer?

Car looks great, man. Very clean, definitely unique. Hey did your new taillights make the car think that a bulb was out? I installed my JDM taillights, and the blinkers worked fine at first, but about a minute later they started blinking faster like a bulb was out. Checked all the bulbs and they were fine. Wondering if you had this same issue.

Is that a custom fuel rail? I've been suspicious of a leaky injector myself, figured I'd wait until the engine rebuild and maybe do a similar set up... Are those the Deatschwerks injectors? What size are you running? I'm not going to turbo this car, so I don't need anything crazy. But I'm curious what you're doing with all that.

Got a set of 30th anniversary leather rear seats, cleaned and polished them up, rented a carpet cleaner, cleaned the carpet on the back of the seats, pulled the other seats out, cleaned the whole carpet and the floor mats. I now have the full 30th anniversary interior (except stuff like the dash and the a/b pilllars, etc, and except for the front seats which are newer). I might get the front bumper and fenders from the guy I got the seats from, and the left fender has the 30th anniversary badge on it. Would be kind of funny on a 97 but I do have the interior. The guy was cool too, he pulls the motors out of Subarus and puts them in old Beetles. He had a really nice JDM looking 3rd gen Impreza, said it was his son's. Also removed some more AC components, only have that one canister over on the right side by the firewall left to remove. I want to find a way to rewire the AC button on my dash to do something stupid like, spray confetti from the vents. I'll tell people, please don't turn on the AC in my car, it doesn't work. I'm sure the set-up would pay off someday. Or I'll think of some other use for the button.

Finally installed my new door panels. Nice having doors that aren't all clawed up, and the wood bezels are nice. But oh nO the grays don't match perfectly! D: lol the new panels are definitely darker than the originals, but now they match more closely to my new seats. The one thing is that I didn't realize the new rear door panels aren't cut for speakers, so I'm gonna have to do that myself. I don't get why someone would spring for the leather interior, wood bezels, AND the extra speakers behind the mirrors, but not get rear speakers. smh. Whatever they're mine now. Really starting to come together inside.

I feel like you can probably still buy a lot of those tabs at the dealership, or if they stopped making one, someone at the parts desk might be able to give you something comparable. I really like your idea of insulating the headliner. It's so cold where I live, I bet it would make a big difference. Right now I'm in the waiting room of the tint shop. So sick of people poking their noses around my car. Should also help make up for the loss of the A/C system in the warmer months of the year. Who am I kidding? It rarely gets above 80F here

um it's definitely green but it's not the same shade of green as the exterior paint so obviously i'm really broken up about it... today i'm going to find out exactly what engine my OBW has in it! went to install a new coil pack from Subaru that i bought based on my VIN and it didn't even come close to matching up to the bolt-holes on top of the intake manifold. called up the shop that did the engine restoration a few years ago and they said the guy who did the work would be back in today. i can see the EJ25 stamp but i can't find the VIN on the engine to locate the source vehicle. i'll post pictures if anyone is curious, but the only glaring one is that the coil pack i bought is too big for the manifold by like a cm or two on each side.

back on topic of what we did to our 2nd gen legacies today though, i did the wiring for the radio you see in that last photo.

The stock interior of my friend's 07 GT: greyscale and black The stock interior of my 06 Baja: greyscale and black My 97 OBW with front seats from an 04ish OBS: do the seats match the door panels? is one of the grays a half shade darker? who cares? seriously, guys. oh no, the stock black leather on my shift boot doesn't match the stock dark gray pleather or whatever on my steering wheel! even if the front seats are "black" and i get some "dark gray" rear seats, i will still say they match. it's really not a big deal, and i personally do not care at all which is darker.