1999 Legacy Outback - RallyWagon project

[TheYonks]

Hey folks!, New to the forum but not to subarus. Figured I'd go ahead and make a build thread.

Back in April I picked up this 5 speed 99 Outback with 223,000 mi on her. The car has been a southern car all its life with zero rust.

 

 

After previously owning a few WRXs I hadn't owned a subaru in 2 years till I picked this one up. I'd been itching to do some wrenching and also get back into some amateur motorsports. It didn't take me long to start doing some mods and then I ended up going to my first RallyCross event. After the first event I was hooked and ended up driving in all the events for the rest of the season. The car has amazed me with how tough it is, its been reliable as my daily driver even though I beat the s*** out of it at these events.

 

Current mods (as of this post):

JDM grill

JDM taillights

Short throw shifter

Kings lift springs

KYB GR-2 Struts

Group N front top-hats

Group N transmission mount

Kartboy trans brace bushings

Torque Solutions driveshaft carrier bushings

WRX steering wheel

04 WRX front seats

RockBlokz mudflaps

 

pics:

 

 

 

I had been entertaining the idea of doing a WRX swap into the outback and after making a spreadsheet and calculating the cost of everything I would need, I knew it would be much cheaper and easier if I pickup a donor car. So one day on craigslist I found this beat-up 2004 WRX wagon for sale stupidly cheap due to a burnt exhaust valve. I borrowed my buddy's truck and hauled it down from north-eastern NC. I just got done stripping it down and had the bare frame hauled off 2 weeks ago. So far I've already gotten my money back + some out of the WRX by selling parts I won't be using.

 

 

 

When factoring in costs of rebuilding the heads on the EJ205 I figured it more worthwhile and cost effective to source a JDM EJ205 longblock from a local importer here in Charlotte for a little over a grand and use the accessories, manifolds, harnesses, crossmember, and computer from the WRX I parted out. I also decided on going with a JDM trans and rear diff since the 4.44 final drive ratio would be well suited for rallycross and general hoonery. In a few weeks I'll be picking up the new longblock, trans, and diff.

 

One of the most frustrating things about the outback so far for me has been the horrendously slow steering ratio (19:1) it has from the factory, I feel like I'm driving a f***ing sailboat. After doing some research I found posts saying a 1st gen legacy rack with a ratio of 16:1 will directly bolt up to a 2nd gen steering knuckle. So I decided to take the plunge and buy a re-manufactured one.

 

This weekend I'll be getting part of the swap out of the way by going ahead and putting the WRX crossmember, 1st gen steering rack, and wrx control arms in the car. I plan on unbolting the motor mounts and jacking the motor up a bit in order to drop the old crossmember/control arms/rack out.

 

 

Also going on the car this coming weekend will be WRX front brake calipers with new rotors, pads, and stainless steel lines all around.

 

[TheYonks]

I'll be posting more pics and updates in the thread as I progress in the swap.

[jdmcargirl]

Love it! Great job!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[TheYonks]

I've already acquired a bunch of parts that will be going in with the swap which include:

VF48 Turbo

565cc Injectors

DW 255lph Fuel pump

Autometer Boost & Oil pressure gauges

AEM UEGO Wideband

Gates timing belt & water pump kit

Group N motor mounts

 

 

I went ahead and picked up a bulkhead wiring harness from another 99 5-speed outback so I can start the wiring merge to the WRX harness without downtime on the car.

 

To mount the gauges I picked up a cheap glowshift clock pod mount. I plan on cutting a section out of the legacy dash board to mount the gauge pod and have it look factory.

[TylerHartman]

Sub'd for more good stuff I'm also 205 Swapping my LGT. I'm wanting to do the same thing with the WRX Dash pod for my Wideband etc.

 

 

Do you know what bulkhead harness's I could use on my 99 LGT 5 Speed with sunroof? I've been wanting to pick up another harness and send them to iWire so I don't have a torn apart car for a weeks on end.

 

99 Legacy GT

5 Speed

Sunroof

NO cold weather package etc..

[TheYonks]

Sub'd for more good stuff I'm also 205 Swapping my LGT. I'm wanting to do the same thing with the WRX Dash pod for my Wideband etc.

 

 

Do you know what bulkhead harness's I could use on my 99 LGT 5 Speed with sunroof? I've been wanting to pick up another harness and send them to iWire so I don't have a torn apart car for a weeks on end.

 

99 Legacy GT

5 Speed

Sunroof

NO cold weather package etc..

 

From my understanding you need the bulkhead wiring harness from the exact car as the one you are swapping into. I would check an FSM for our cars to look at wiring to see if there are any differences in the bulkhead based on what options the car has. However, my thinking is there wont be a difference based on the options since it would make it difficult to mass produce harnesses that were different for each option opposed to a singular one for all models of that bodystyle, easier to add-on wiring elsewhere in the car for things like power sunroof or heated seats.

[TheYonks]

Update,

 

The turbo crossmember, WRX wagon control arms, 1st gen steering rack are all in my car right now with the stock EJ25D.

 

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It all went well after dropping the old cradle/rack/lcas out until I went to put the N/A header back on and realized they hit the lower part of the WRX crossmember. Had to take a hammer to my headers and cut a small notch into the crossmember for them to clear. On a side note the quicker steering rack along with whiteline bushings really improved the car.

 

Finally picked up the engine and transmission I will be using. I got a JDM EJ208 (sequential twin turbo motor from a Legacy GTB RSK) along with a JDM 4.44 WRX Trans from a local importer here in Charlotte.

 

 

Went ahead and put USDM manifolds on the motor, blocked off the extra coolant passage, and re-purposed the banjo oil feed on the driverside for an oil pressure sending unit. Also threw in phenolic spacers with an aftermarket turbo inlet and brand new timing belt component kit.

 

 

I now have everything ready except for the wiring which I started on yesterday. Following Brydons wiring merge guide on the 2.5rs forums I pulled all the unnecessary wires from the WRX bulkhead and front harnesses which you can see in a pile below.

 

 

I laid the wires I needed from the WRX harness ontop of the outback harness and have gotten about halfway done splicing.

 

 

So far the main issue I've run into are two wires from the WRX ECU labeled as 'Line End Check 1' and 'Line End Check 2'. I cannot find any corresponding wires listed in the ECU pinout for the outback wiring harness for these to splice into. If anyone has successfully merged a legacy harness for a EJ25D with a WRX harness I'd love to hear from you what you did with these wires and have a few more questions as well.

[thedeadhp]

Awesome update! Can't wait to hear more, gonna be doing a usdm ej205 swap on mine and this is really putting it in perspective!

[TheYonks]

After doing some searching I found out what to do with the 'Line End Check' wires. Over on the sl-i.net forums a member named Alphius posted up this awesome excel spread sheet of pinouts from a 99 Legacy to an 02 WRX ECU.

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15YeiTRZZdTR8wm6Fq7KO9w8l-aLN6bVwx96skvS8md8/edit?pref=2&pli=1#gid=1518810680

 

Anyone using it as a reference be aware the 04 ECU connectors have different designations in the FSMs than the 02-03 (e.x. connector B84 on 02-03 is connector B136 on 04).

 

Links to ECU pinouts:

04 WRX

http://www.northursalia.com/modifications/misc/wiring/04_DOHC_ECU.pdf

 

02-03 WRX

http://www.northursalia.com/modifications/misc/wiring/wrxpin.html

 

I'm almost done with the wiring, Since I'm using a WRX transmission all I have left is to wire the WRX neutral switch, back-up lights, vehicle speed sensor, and rear 02.

[TheYonks]

Had a very productive weekend. Finished up the motor by putting on the turbo, flywheel, and clutch then mated the trans up to the motor. I also completely finished the wiring harness and wrapped it back up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the help of some friends I got the old motor and transmission out and got the new ones in along with the new rear differential in a few hours.

 

 

 

 

 

The whole drivetrain is now in the car and bolted up. Today I pulled the dash and hope to put the merged harness in tomorrow. I did run into an issue though, I had bought a 2 core WRX radiator only to find out today it's too tall to fit in my legacy without modifying the radiator support bar.

 

 

[TheYonks]

Another update:

 

Got the merged harness and dash in the car over the weekend as well as the WRX throttle pedal and pedal covers for the brake + clutch. Finished the car up today after wiring and mounting the fuel pump controller.

 

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Made this picture for wiring the fuel pump controller in-case it might help someone else trying to do a similar swap. This connector is located under the passenger rear seat. The two remaining FPC wires (Violet/White and LightGreen/Red) go to the ECU.

 

 

 

I mounted the FPC to the inside of the plastic trim piece next to the rear passenger seat. Plenty of space back there and the wires don't have to be long to run to the previously pictured connector. I also don't mind the two studs coming through the plastic.

 

 

To mount my 3 gauge 'clock' pod, I cut a hole in the top of my dash with a zip saw. Just had to remove the center ducting piece to make sure I didn't cut through it accidentally. The clock pod I bought came with brackets that are supposed to bolt to tabs on a WRX dash. I just drilled holes outside of the large hole I made in the dash to bolt them in. Here it is mounted up

 

 

Ended up using the stock legacy radiator for now. In order to feed coolant to the reservoir mounted on the manifold I bought a water temp gauge sensor adapter that T's into the upper radiator hose. I put a 1/8" NPT barbed fitting into the threaded hole on the adapter and clamped the feed hose to the reservoir on it.

 

The car cranked up and idled on the first attempt!, Drove it around for awhile and everything seems to be in order. Currently running wastegate pressure until I get the clutch broken in and start working on the tune. Hoping to make around 300whp with this setup

 

 

To finish the car up I need to wire the boost, oil pressure, and wideband O2 gauges and my mac valve boost control solenoid. I also have a JDM gauge cluster to go in the car (because the tach goes up to 8k), going to swap the USDM spedohead into the gauge cluster to have mph displayed instead of kph. Should also be receiving a set of JDM projector headlights in the next few days.

[gutted]

This car is awesome! I love the look and I'm glad you're driving the snot out of it.

[RumbleRumble]

Sweet build. I like what you've done a lot. Super clean.

[thedeadhp]

I get an email that said I had an update on this thread and I was like"OHHH! MOAR UPDATES!" guess I'll have to wait... they are definitely worth the wait though

[Alphius]

Hey man, good to see my wiring spreadsheet has been useful for yet another person! I like the swap, it's looking really well done. If you have any more questions, feel free to hit me up on here.

 

I usually don't post over here on LGT.com, but I very recently picked up an 05 GT Ltd wagon with a 5mt for a ridiculously low price so I've been reading up here and happened to notice I've been mentioned a couple times!