THE RZA Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Thanks! It wasn't super clean when I bought it, but it's getting there! The struts are doing fine. I was surprised to find the dampers functioning well when I removed them for the spring swap.... maybe they've been rebuilt? I don't know. If they do end up blowing I'll just replace them with a new set of Billys or some Konis perhaps. Working at a suspension shop I'm not too worried about it Ehh I'm not sure it's the same one.... When I bought it, it was bone-stock except for the aging catback and there is no evidence of prior modding as far as I can see, and I've been in it pretty deep. The bushings I've replaced were verrry much the original ones, the brake components were all OEM and showing their age, the front bumper looks like its seen every mile read on the odometer, but maybe the JDM parts weren't on the car too long? Hard to say. It would be cool though! I think I might be the fourth owner... I have the entire vehicle history report at home I can dig through. It was originally purchased in St. Johnsbury though, not Burlington, and I want to say it was sold at auction at some point? I'll give it a look! ! Not sure, from what I remember Jon (aczwild) did the jdm conversion and sold the car less than a year later, he also owned 3 other cars so I don't know how much road time it really saw. North East weather does age a car much faster one winter with my WRX last year and the underside already looks 3-4 years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Books Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 Just passed 170k and thank you!! I only had to replace just about everything haha!! :lol: Honestly, I have a strange love for stripping out interiors and giving everything a reallllly deep clean- I do it with all of my cars (that I intend to keep) whenever the time presents itself! It definitely gives the car a "new"-ish feeling regardless of the mileage! I think recovering the pillars and headliner will really finish off the feeling, then it's on to the motor I would love to be able to do this... What products/techniques do you use to get it so clean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legacybt Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 I would love to be able to do this... What products/techniques do you use to get it so clean? I've been asked by a few folks what I use when I do a big interior clean and these are the products that I've found work well and yield awesome, long standing results: SONAX Alcantara CleanerSONAX Leather Cleaner/ConditionerDiluted Simple GreenChemical Guy's Interior Cleaner/DetailerBlue Coral Carpet ShampooLysol scented disinfectant spray Horse hair brush for alcantaraPlastic bristle brush for carpet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnusonsubie Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 Hey man some people are literacy challenged. I'm glad you were there to help them though! 2005 Vader Wagon Material Tests on Ringland Failure Piston I should have held off and purchased a wagon instead of the spec.B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BagRidersJohn Posted January 24, 2017 Author Share Posted January 24, 2017 lol you guys :lol: My 2007 specB (full undercarriage & drivetrain refinish, every nut and bolt replaced, full engine rebuild/restore, glass-out respray, air ride, wide body, and more! All done by me, at home!) Instagram: @bagriders_john for more Subarus (and also my wife and cat) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LatentWagen Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 Dude's name is Books, too. Oh, the ironing... LW's spec. B / YT / IG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Donated Too sigmafour Posted January 24, 2017 I Donated Too Share Posted January 24, 2017 Dude's name is Books, too. Oh, the ironing... So what you're saying is your're not very good at pressing your shirts and I say that with no sense of irony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Books Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 Hey man some people are literacy challenged. I'm glad you were there to help them though! Brushed past it... Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Books Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 LOL I totally missed this. Thick-skulled mistake sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Books Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 Dude's name is Books, too. Oh, the ironing... Short for Bookbinder... Even more ironing ha.ha.haaaaa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BagRidersJohn Posted January 25, 2017 Author Share Posted January 25, 2017 Well I've had a couple different DP's on my WRX and really love my current GrimmSpeed one so I decided to pick one up for the specB too. Stage2 here I come oh boy! I didn't ball out and get the "limited edition" one with the fancy-pants milled flange but I'm not too worried about it. I might have it coated locally, haven't decided. I went with a catted one because I've already got one fully catless anti-environment-stink-mobile, not to mention the fact that this one sees winter driving so I figure the cat will help fight boost creep a little bit. It's sitting on my shelf at home, just haven't got around to install it but they sure are pretty if you haven't seen one before. Fitment is also much better than other brands I have experience with, and ground clearance is greater too. In other news, I've been hawking Craigslist for an 06/07 WRX or 07-09 LGT with a blown motor. Once I obtain one of those, I'll yank the motor and store the roller, rebuild the longblock at my leisure (installing new headers and up pipe while its out, why not, maybe other stuff as I'm spontaneous like that), then whenever I'm done rebuilding it do the ol' switcharoo with my specB in a glorious zero-downtime engine swap. I'm debating between slapping in forged pistons or just some new stockers from Crawford, but that will largely depend on the condition of the cylinders in the "donor" motor. My 2007 specB (full undercarriage & drivetrain refinish, every nut and bolt replaced, full engine rebuild/restore, glass-out respray, air ride, wide body, and more! All done by me, at home!) Instagram: @bagriders_john for more Subarus (and also my wife and cat) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chhrisd Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 Curious why you are excluding 05 and 06 LGT's if you're just going to steal the longblock. I've been eyeing this one, but already have too many cars :s https://vermont.craigslist.org/cto/5959186189.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BagRidersJohn Posted January 26, 2017 Author Share Posted January 26, 2017 Front lip showed up today, for now it's chillin on the coat rack in my office until I have a free evening or night to install it I think this will make the front end look a bit nicer, honestly not a huge fan of the front bumper on the BL Legacy http://i.imgur.com/WVqKbJG.jpg My 2007 specB (full undercarriage & drivetrain refinish, every nut and bolt replaced, full engine rebuild/restore, glass-out respray, air ride, wide body, and more! All done by me, at home!) Instagram: @bagriders_john for more Subarus (and also my wife and cat) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BagRidersJohn Posted January 26, 2017 Author Share Posted January 26, 2017 Curious why you are excluding 05 and 06 LGT's if you're just going to steal the longblock. I've been eyeing this one, but already have too many cars :s https://vermont.craigslist.org/cto/5959186189.html Main reason being that 05/06 have different cylinder heads. The secondary air injection pump was introduced in 07 in the Legacy which adds provisions on the cylinder heads and a few extra plugs on the engine harness and a different ECM and slight difference in size of combustion chamber / compression ratios with 05/06 having lower compression than the Ej255v2 in 07+. I can certainly make it work, but I'd much rather have a direct swap without having to deal with any ECU modifications, block off plates, etc. My 2007 specB (full undercarriage & drivetrain refinish, every nut and bolt replaced, full engine rebuild/restore, glass-out respray, air ride, wide body, and more! All done by me, at home!) Instagram: @bagriders_john for more Subarus (and also my wife and cat) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnusonsubie Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 JDM bumpers look sooo much better than the USDM bumper on these cars. And prefacelift bumpers swap right on without needing fenders and headlights like the facelift swaps require. 2005 Vader Wagon Material Tests on Ringland Failure Piston I should have held off and purchased a wagon instead of the spec.B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BagRidersJohn Posted February 2, 2017 Author Share Posted February 2, 2017 JDM bumpers look sooo much better than the USDM bumper on these cars. And prefacelift bumpers swap right on without needing fenders and headlights like the facelift swaps require. Totally! I just haven't seen any without big holes/provisions for the front plate? My 2007 specB (full undercarriage & drivetrain refinish, every nut and bolt replaced, full engine rebuild/restore, glass-out respray, air ride, wide body, and more! All done by me, at home!) Instagram: @bagriders_john for more Subarus (and also my wife and cat) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnusonsubie Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 They all do have the cutouts for mounting a plate. My front end came with a bracket and I have to run a front plate otherwise I will get ticketed while in my schools parking lot. But it wouldn't be hard to fill the area where the holes are and smooth before getting paint done and then you'd have a nice smooth JDM front end. 2005 Vader Wagon Material Tests on Ringland Failure Piston I should have held off and purchased a wagon instead of the spec.B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BagRidersJohn Posted February 3, 2017 Author Share Posted February 3, 2017 They all do have the cutouts for mounting a plate. My front end came with a bracket and I have to run a front plate otherwise I will get ticketed while in my schools parking lot. But it wouldn't be hard to fill the area where the holes are and smooth before getting paint done and then you'd have a nice smooth JDM front end. Yeah that's what I've got going on with my WRX, but that involved deleting the big square protrusion in the Impreza bumper. Front plates are required around here but the two times I've been pulled over for it in my WRX I've said that I was taking photos of the car and didn't put it back on and they've let me go. I'm not real eager to do any body work on the Legacy but that certainly doesn't rule it out as a possibility My 2007 specB (full undercarriage & drivetrain refinish, every nut and bolt replaced, full engine rebuild/restore, glass-out respray, air ride, wide body, and more! All done by me, at home!) Instagram: @bagriders_john for more Subarus (and also my wife and cat) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BagRidersJohn Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 Took the specB up to Maine this weekend with my wife for a little getaway and snapped a couple pictures with my DSLR that I haven't used in way too long but it got me excited to get back into it! http://i.imgur.com/5YeF1qdh.jpg http://i.imgur.com/ehKUrT8h.jpg My 2007 specB (full undercarriage & drivetrain refinish, every nut and bolt replaced, full engine rebuild/restore, glass-out respray, air ride, wide body, and more! All done by me, at home!) Instagram: @bagriders_john for more Subarus (and also my wife and cat) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BagRidersJohn Posted June 8, 2017 Author Share Posted June 8, 2017 Long time no updates! I spent most of my "car time" working on my WRX over the last few months and got it back on the road, so the Legacy is back under the knife! Both of the quarter panels have been rusting very, very badly and given the age/mileage of the car, I couldn't stomach a ~$3000 job for a "proper" full quarter panel replacement. I do however really like the car so I didn't want to let the rust kill it, so I decided to fix it myself to my best ability. The solution is fender flares. While I definitely can't do a proper quarter panel replacement in our shop here, I'm perfectly capable of chopping stuff up, hammering metal and tacking it together! So I decided to take that route-- install fender flares that will cover up the cut out/welded up wheel arches. Fitting up the fender flares was easy peasy. I picked up some generic 2.75" (a bit on the big side, oh well) flares and got to work with fitting them on the car. This part is very straightforward-- figure out where you want them to go, use a heat gun to form the flare to the body panels, then secure the flare to panels. Clecos (basically a temporary/removable rivit) are amazing for this sort of thing, which are the metal pins you see in these photos: As you can see I painted them the body color of the car and that came out alright. I think I'm gonna have to get a new set of winter wheels or run a massive spacer for those 17x7.5's! I made my first cuts into the car on Wednesday night and almost have the quarter panels done. The front doesn't need any welding, just cutting out material. This process is easy too-- draw a line, cut on the line, cut out the rust from the inner arch, hammer the inner arch up to the outer panel (some relief cuts help here), grind the material then tack it up. Here's one quarter tacked up and the other hammered into place ready to tack up tonight. I'll be coating these in POR15 and seam sealer, then have a body shop use a snake to spray the inner arches like I did for my WRX when doing the sedan conversion. As you can see I used nutserts/rivit nuts to secure the fender flares which work great and make the flares very easy to remove! I have some 18x9.5 +35 wheels with 265/35 rubbers to slap on the Legacy once I'm finished up, and I also installed some BC Racing BR Type coilovers the other night as the Bilsteins started clunking a bit which is super annoying. I'm excited to see how the car sits once I finish up this work. Aside from the quarters, the bottom of 3 out of 4 doors is pretty rusty, so I'm strongly considering picking up some clean doors and vinyl wrapping the car as I'm not trying to drop $6k+ on a respray (that shit is expensive around here) Alright that about does it, I'll post some photos of the wheel fitment without the flares and of course the end results once I get it out of our shop My 2007 specB (full undercarriage & drivetrain refinish, every nut and bolt replaced, full engine rebuild/restore, glass-out respray, air ride, wide body, and more! All done by me, at home!) Instagram: @bagriders_john for more Subarus (and also my wife and cat) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BagRidersJohn Posted June 9, 2017 Author Share Posted June 9, 2017 Just about done now! I spent some time with the grinder getting rid of any lingering surface rust on the inner quarters then began rustproofing. I used POR products and followed their procedure to a tee: degreaser, etcher, POR15. I did two coats of POR15 and once that was dry enough, I went to town with seam sealer which filled in the gaps between the spot welds. It sealed up really well and overall I'm pleased with my work especially considering I've never done anything like this before! Here's one side all sealed up and ready for the fender flare to be bolted back on I'll have the car off our lift this evening and I'll snap some photos of the new drive height and stance My 2007 specB (full undercarriage & drivetrain refinish, every nut and bolt replaced, full engine rebuild/restore, glass-out respray, air ride, wide body, and more! All done by me, at home!) Instagram: @bagriders_john for more Subarus (and also my wife and cat) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madrig Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 sub cause i like people that cut fenders ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BagRidersJohn Posted June 15, 2017 Author Share Posted June 15, 2017 All done, the big ol' wheels fit great with a little spacing. Car is slower now They're 9.5's with a 265/35 and with 25mm of spacing up front and 40 (:eek:) in the back. I could easily fit a 10.5j +20-something but I don't think that's quite necessary Anyhow, picture of dirty car. Next up is addressing the rust on the doors and probably wrapping it as the 10 year old paint is really showing its age. I also have a downpipe I've been putting off installing, so I should probably do that soon My 2007 specB (full undercarriage & drivetrain refinish, every nut and bolt replaced, full engine rebuild/restore, glass-out respray, air ride, wide body, and more! All done by me, at home!) Instagram: @bagriders_john for more Subarus (and also my wife and cat) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BagRidersJohn Posted September 10, 2017 Author Share Posted September 10, 2017 I finally got around to doing my interior with ultrasuede! The pillars are all done, decided to do the headliner last. Its about 90% done and coming out real nice so far! http://i.imgur.com/SxMDZKn.jpg http://i.imgur.com/wh2W6Oc.jpg I'll get some photos of the other pieces and interior once I get em back in. Not sure what I'm going to do for the sunvisors yet. Anyone know if 08+ WRX/STI sunvisors fit the BL chassis? My 2007 specB (full undercarriage & drivetrain refinish, every nut and bolt replaced, full engine rebuild/restore, glass-out respray, air ride, wide body, and more! All done by me, at home!) Instagram: @bagriders_john for more Subarus (and also my wife and cat) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BagRidersJohn Posted September 13, 2017 Author Share Posted September 13, 2017 Alrighty well I took the plunge and purchased a used VA chassis WRX sunvisor that looks like this: http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/H28AAOSwjDZYmghH/s-l1600.jpg It looks pretty close. I'm hoping it will fit! Given the other similarities between the BL and GR/GV chassis and roof panel (same bolt holes for map, dome lights, sharing other plastics, etc.) I think its very likely that the STI sunvisor will fit but it does not have illumination like our Legacies do. That is why I decided to first try the 15+ WRX (and STI, same part) sunvisor. Here's the 08-14 STI sunvisor (as you see, no wiring for illumination): http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/Us4AAOSww9xZAluS/s-l1600.jpg The part will probably arrive next week as its shipping from Florida so I'll let you all know how it fits. If the 15+ sunvisor doesn't fit I don't know what I'll do. I had some old sunvisors kicking around so I decided to spraypaint them with vinyl/fabric spraypaint to see how that would turn out. Removing the sticker is difficult and masking it is also not easy so that's a whole different problem. Maybe these can be sourced individually? If none of the WRX/STI sunvisors work I'll probably end up importing JDM sunvisors: JDM Sunvisor part number info: Right 92011AG210JC cap 92011PA000JC hook 92018AG000JC Left 92011AG120JC cap 92011PA000JC hook 92018AG000JC http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=248960&thumb=1&d=1494378973 Thanks to this thread for the sunvisor info: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/darker-side-legacy-black-upper-trim-262063.html My 2007 specB (full undercarriage & drivetrain refinish, every nut and bolt replaced, full engine rebuild/restore, glass-out respray, air ride, wide body, and more! All done by me, at home!) Instagram: @bagriders_john for more Subarus (and also my wife and cat) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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