Memeticism

Exactly. I'm puttering around in traffic, I don't need the crazy S# map that seems to go WOT the moment you even remember the throttle exists. Plus, keeping it in Intelligent all the time makes it that much more fun when I do put it in the other modes because I'm so used to it being gutless.

It's JDM Motor Import out of Long Beach. I deleted the text messages after I got the front end and the website doesn't list it but I know for a fact he sent me pictures of an Atlantic blue pearl (or JDM equivalent) Outback nose cut. I can't remember if it was facelifted or not, I think it might have been pre-facelift. No way it's been sold in the last 15 days so I'd try messaging them. I really wish I had gotten started on the subframe drop before I moved. I was hoping I could get a parts car as well but now it's off the table, my garage is too small to comfortably disassemble two cars and I don't want to be that neighbor with the cars on the blocks all the time. I'll have to order it all separately now. Yeah, so the Outback has the exact same sheet metal hiding under the fender flares as the older Legacy wagons. The difference is 6 drill holes on each side for the plastic retainer clips on the Outback fender flares, seen in this low-quality image: The section outlined red is where the Legacy's little plastic panel goes, which I've ordered. The Outback's flare normally dips into and covers this area, obviously. All I've gotta do is get those holes covered up, figure out if it's cheaper to just get Legacy doors or cover those holes up as well (because the molding on the Outback door is larger), and the rest of the bodywork is no different than any other USDM to JDM wagon swap.

It did start pretty early, didn't it? It's felt like ages since I've bought the thing when it's actually only been about 9 months. I was planning on waiting longer until I saw the front end pop up from an importer I've dealt with before. I had originally bought a regular GT JDM front end I saw listed for cheap from him; a few days later the dude calls me apologizing up and down saying someone in the warehouse ran a forklift into the headlight and fender. He texts me some other front ends they had in case I wanted any, and I'm looking at them really disappointed because they were all either JDM Outback or pre-facelift nose cuts. Then he sends the last one which happened to be from a D-F Spec.B. I couldn't say no to that, obviously, especially since I bought a regular nose at a cheaper price. Now that it's here and on the car I can't believe I ever considered not getting the Spec.B style, it's so elegant.

As for the aforementioned Spec.B nose swap, I don't have as many pictures as I would like of the process. I was so hyped about it that taking photos of the whole thing was on the backburner in my mind. I'll update this with some better photos tomorrow. In the last week: -JDM sideskirts with aero spats -JDM rear bumper with aero spats (waiting on beam to install) -JDM Spec.B nose cut, everything except fender liners -USDM Spec.B driver's seat, more for the convenience of the memory function than anything else Massive thanks to AW4BYT for his headlight/motor/mirror wiring adapters. Like I said above, hacking up the wiring makes me nervous if I don't have to so having a simple conversion kit made my day.

Hey everyone! I made a post on the introductions a few months ago about myself, my Outbacks, and my plans for them. Since then, I've sold the '08 2.5i Limited to save on space during a sudden move across town and used that money to invest in my '09 XT. I've committed to my original plan for it, which was to convert it to a Legacy wagon. Seen here the day I picked it up in Denver: I'm not talking dropping the suspension a couple inches to the Legacy level. I'm talking ripping off every single thing Outback and Outback-adjacent on this vehicle and replacing it with stock Legacy/JDM parts where applicable. My ideal Legacy is exactly as Subaru envisioned it for their home country, not the Americanized version. Hanging out with some friends: The main obstacles I've come across here are the 12 drill holes between both rear arches for the bodywork's plastic retainers, the USDM wagon's unfortunate roof rail humps in the sheet metal, and the simple lack of documentation for some of the finer details on what exactly is different between the two. For example: I was wondering why my engine undertray wasn't fitting with the Spec.B nose cut like it should even though the part number is the same when I realized that it's because there's different bolts and plastic spacers on the car itself to accommodate the larger Outback bumper. I already know the people at the dealer's parts department better than I know myself, so buying new Legacy bits will be a regular occurrence. There's going to be a lot of "oh cool! Turns out I actually need this from the Legacy to make that work" and the car sitting for a week or two as a result. To that end, I'll be installing a complete revision D-F Spec.B nose cut (complete at the time of writing), sideskirt/spats, rear bumper, D-F taillights with trim, and some minor interior work. I'm going into this with a clear goal of what I want, but things always change with time. Goal: mostly JDM 2009 Subaru Legacy Touring Wagon in satin white pearl. I expect welding the holes shut and repainting it to be the big ticket item by a very wide margin. Temporarily swapped the lower panels to DGM: FAQ - Why are you ruining a perfectly good 5 speed Outback XT? I figured that picking up an Outback was simply the path of least resistance to getting what I wanted, short of hunting down a 2005 Legacy GT Limited 5 speed wagon (which I considered). The problem with a 2005, aside from the sheer rarity, is the fact that it would need a lot of interior work to bring it to my facelifted standards. To me, this would have included Si-Drive. I know some people view it as a gimmick but I routinely use it, and with my plans to get a European D-F center console, it would have been awkward having either a gaping hole where it should be or a rotary knob that does nothing at all because the wiring isn't there and I'm not messing with wiring if I can help it. And honestly, I wanted a challenge! I knew I wanted a wagon, I knew I wanted Si-Drive, and I knew I wanted a Legacy, so I got two out of three to make it all three myself. I'll feel much more attached to the thing, that's for sure. - Why not just get a Legacy sedan and skip most of this headache? Where's the fun in that? Besides, I love wagons. See above. - Is this skin deep, or are you going to give it what it needs to act the part? It is absolutely skin deep and I will not be throwing money down the hood scoop if I can help it any time soon. Everything under the sheet metal will be preventative maintenance or suspension. I suppose it's not skin deep if you consider that I'm ripping out every suspension bit past the subframe spacers, but given that I'm replacing all of that with mostly stock parts it circles back around to being a milquetoast JDM wagon. I want this thing to look like someone shipped a JDM Spec.B wagon to the US, minus the drive side and electrical nonsense. Eventually, as parts begin to fail I'll replace them with upgraded alternatives, but honestly this thing makes more than enough power for me to be in love with and is in such good condition mechanically that it's just not a priority. - TL;DR? Yeah I can get wordy, I know. There'll probably be more of that out of me throughout the thread. On the plus side, updates will be very infrequent between shipping times and the fact that I don't want to post an update for something as minor as "replaced a mud guard retainer clip today". I want to have something worth saying when I say it.