Das Ninjabot Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 Can confirm that the above instructions make this a quick and painless process. Take lots of pictures from every conceivable angle, you'll want them for later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setnev Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 Can confirm that the above instructions make this a quick and painless process. Take lots of pictures from every conceivable angle, you'll want them for later. YES!! Picture are key, especially when you take apart your intake manifold to paint it and have to remove the sensors, vacuum lines, and harness. Took me nearly an hour longer to reassemble it than it needed to because I had no reference and the FSM is almost useless in that regard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted March 28, 2017 Author Share Posted March 28, 2017 Where were you guys like two months ago!? You just wanted to see me struggle haha That would have been way easier.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doublechaz Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 +1 to setnev's instructions. I admit I didn't undo the trans to trans mount, just the dogbone when I jacked it like that. Didn't seem to hurt it. I did put in new trans mounts this last time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Das Ninjabot Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Where were you guys like two months ago!? You just wanted to see me struggle haha That would have been way easier.. I actually just pulled mine and rebuilt/reinstalled it between Jan and now so I'm right there with you! I'm sure the next time I pull the motor I can have it done in about an hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setnev Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 Where were you guys like two months ago!? You just wanted to see me struggle haha That would have been way easier.. Brighton, these instructions came from many many hours of literally ripping my hair out and pulling the motor in my 99 for the umpteenth time. Lifting the transmission came to me while I was under the car the last time pulling out my exhaust bits to make changes to the headers. While I was under there, I saw the three bolts and just about died when I realized how incredibly easy it was to lift the transmission. I could kick myself a hundred times for not finding this out sooner. Every article in the past that I read never once mentioned lifting the transmission, and if it did, it only mentioned removing the torque mount and lifting it from the little bracket on the top of the transmission. I could never get that to work right and seriously dreaded installing an engine because it was literally hours of frustration. Pulling the engine wasn't the hard part for me, it was getting it back in and lining the damn thing up and then remembering how the motor mount studs never went in their slots and stripping the threads on the last pair (hence why I bought new ones). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted March 29, 2017 Author Share Posted March 29, 2017 Well thanks for sharing the info, it'll come in handy for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted April 8, 2017 Author Share Posted April 8, 2017 Got a set of freebie strut bars the other day from my coworker. They are generic no name adjustable ones that she had installed on a GC/1st gen impreza. I have to go remove the rear one and will attempt to install them both whenever I get a hold of spacers, so that they sit flush on top of the seam sealer. I am also going to track down some nicer looking hardware, these ones are rusted/painted so they look like crap. Gotta get that nice stainless for the "showcar" haha http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/DSC_0005_zpseizswu66.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted April 14, 2017 Author Share Posted April 14, 2017 Got the new tint installed today by a shop since they have a lifetime warranty and they use the nice ceramic tint that keeps out heat, so far looks pretty decent and its 20% so not too dark not too light. Sorry for the crap picture, I was shooting in super bright light and with my phone :/ http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/IMG_20170414_131427956_zpszcxevfxa.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted April 22, 2017 Author Share Posted April 22, 2017 Just a short update: Since the starter was installed, the weird not starting right away issue has been eliminated. The issue was that you'd have to turn and hold the key in the start position for a few seconds before it would actually engage and start spinning the motor over. Also I do have some oil consumption but I'm not sure where it's leaking from or disappearing to, it seems only to happen on longer trips that are a couple hours, it's only been noticed twice so far but I have small amount of usage. So far since the motor build, I've put in about a 4oz (1/8 of a quart) in the past 1500 miles. No obvious leaks yet so I'm think making it's the thinner marvel mystery oil breaking down or something along those lines. Choover was nice enough to send me a set of intake spacers so I plan to install them in the next 2 weeks or so, I'll post pictures and info once I get a chance to test them On a less great note, I've developed a rattle in the front end but only when the weight is shifted to the back of the car, as in driving up hills or under heavy acceleration, so now I get to play detective to find out which of my new parts is failing on me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setnev Posted April 27, 2017 Share Posted April 27, 2017 I've always wondered what LL Bean wheels would look on my wagon. They look good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted April 27, 2017 Author Share Posted April 27, 2017 I've always wondered what LL Bean wheels would look on my wagon. They look good. Thanks! I honestly don't like them, they were the only set of 5 wheels I could get just before winter hit after selling my GTB wheels, so I just took whatever I could get. I've been thinking of having them powder coated though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo F Posted April 28, 2017 Share Posted April 28, 2017 Just a short update: Since the starter was installed, the weird not starting right away issue has been eliminated. The issue was that you'd have to turn and hold the key in the start position for a few seconds before it would actually engage and start spinning the motor over. Also I do have some oil consumption but I'm not sure where it's leaking from or disappearing to, it seems only to happen on longer trips that are a couple hours, it's only been noticed twice so far but I have small amount of usage. So far since the motor build, I've put in about a 4oz (1/8 of a quart) in the past 1500 miles. No obvious leaks yet so I'm think making it's the thinner marvel mystery oil breaking down or something along those lines. Choover was nice enough to send me a set of intake spacers so I plan to install them in the next 2 weeks or so, I'll post pictures and info once I get a chance to test them On a less great note, I've developed a rattle in the front end but only when the weight is shifted to the back of the car, as in driving up hills or under heavy acceleration, so now I get to play detective to find out which of my new parts is failing on me. It sounds like the exact same starter issue we had with the '98 GT as soon as we bought it. Not a single issue with the rebuilt Denso starter since we put it in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedeadhp Posted April 28, 2017 Share Posted April 28, 2017 Same here. All I had to do was clean the plunger and put some grease on it so it wouldn't get corroded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted May 8, 2017 Author Share Posted May 8, 2017 I went to a subaru meet/car show today and it got me out of my unmotivated slump so once I got back I started dealing with some of the things I've been putting off. I ground down some thick washers in order to install the strut bar. The washer were very hot, hence the welding glove haha http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/Subaru%2011_zpswj8hacqa.jpg I put a coat of white paint on the washers to keep the install nice and clean looking and hopefully stopping them from rusting. http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/Subaru%2016_zpsp1yv1vtw.jpg I got the front strut bar installed but unfortunately the rear bar will not work with a 2nd gen legacy. The mounting holes are in the wrong location and I am not going to hog out/drill out the holes in order to make it fit. These bars came off a 1st gen impreza so it was a long shot anyway. Also, I had to twist the strut bar over so that it won't interfere with the hood. http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/Subaru%2017_zpsor0gxmug.jpg I jacked the front of the car up and put it on jackstands so that I could inspect all the front end chassis parts and I even loaded up the wheels individually in order to try to track down the front end acceleration rattle but no luck, so while I was at it, I treated the rusted sway bar mounts with rust killer, this was before http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/Subaru%2019_zpsnvval8gc.jpg And this was after I put a coat of heavy duty chassis paint on it, I know it's not the same color or ever close for that matter, but it was the heaviest duty paint with a rust inhibitor that I had on hand so it'll do. http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/Subaru%2020_zpsxnqsne79.jpg While I was waiting for the paint to dry I fired up the air compressor and checked all my tires and the rear right was at 20psi down from 35psi and I checked it about a week ago, so I pulled the tire off and found this nice surprise on the inside lip. I did a typical tire plug but I'm not hopeful on it working since the hole is technically on the sidewall. http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/Subaru%2022_zpsnprimncw.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted May 18, 2017 Author Share Posted May 18, 2017 Weekly update, the tire plug I installed last week has held beautifully so not ideal to have a tire plug but I'm happy with it. The car also developed a bad lifter tap on the way to help my buddy bleed his clutch so I turned around and parked it until today. I isolated the tapping to the drivers side so I pulled the rocker assembly and found that 2 of the HLAs had blocked oil passages, so I cleaned everything out with pressurized air, brake clean and needle files. After I cleaned everything, I prefilled the rocker assembly with oil and reinstalled it and good as new! Also I've gotten my motivation back so time for more modding! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whopper Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 I wish my car was nice clean and rebuilt like yours. Some day I will dish out the money I should use on a new car to fully restore mine. Actually tho my car is like the ones from those YouTube videos that have titles like "cold start after 20+ years, NO OIL." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted May 19, 2017 Author Share Posted May 19, 2017 I wish my car was nice clean and rebuilt like yours. Some day I will dish out the money I should use on a new car to fully restore mine. Actually tho my car is like the ones from those YouTube videos that have titles like "cold start after 20+ years, NO OIL." Thanks, the only problem is I can never sell it without losing my shirt, I stopped keeping track of money that was put into it a long time ago haha. But I guess, it's one of the first "restored" 2nd gen wagons haha, still have to do some body work before I can claim that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted June 14, 2017 Author Share Posted June 14, 2017 (edited) I finally had a whole day off where I could focus on my car, I started reinstalling the A/C but then realized I'm an idiot, so now I need more junkyard parts. Being that the main plans for the day fell through pretty quickly, I did lots of little stuff, like installing the better looking drivers mirror, shampooing and cleaning up the new seats so they'll be ready to install soon and then I restored the new tail light sets I got. I also got my one high beam working and then I replaced a few of the bulbs so that I can take it to get inspected soon and then I put on my new license plates! This was how they looked before (I washed them out hence the water drops behind the lens) http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/DSC_0006_zpsqgyq7mmc.jpg And this was after I sanded them with 1000 and 3000 then buffed and sealed. http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/DSC_0020_zpswz3wq4fj.jpg The lens are really brittle but I'm happy that they don't have any small spider cracks like my currently installed set. Edited May 18, 2019 by Brighton96 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setnev Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 They came out looking good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted June 15, 2017 Author Share Posted June 15, 2017 They came out looking good. Thanks! For a couple hours worth of work it was definitely worth doing, I'm probably going to do my headlights and fog lights next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zachariahc Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 That's going to be one clean wagon when you get done with it! Nice work!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted June 26, 2017 Author Share Posted June 26, 2017 (edited) I finally had a break from working on other peoples cars to finally show my car some love. I got the mint junkyard taillights swapped in, I compounded and waxed under the taillights and resealed them with new Butyl Glue and then I took off that little evap sensor bracket since the paint was chipping and I went a little overboard with it... Here was how it looked under the taillight after 20 ish years. http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/DSC_0002_zpsfgwcmgw3.jpg This was how it looked after I cleaned off most of the black sealant crap and compounded/waxed the paint http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/DSC_0003_zpsuegbstqq.jpg This was the Butyl glue I used, I just put a new bead of it all the way around the mounting face of the taillight. You can get the roll of sealant from https://www.theretrofitsource.com/accessories/build-materials/morimoto-retrorubber-butyl-glue.html That's them after install, pretty happy to no longer have any sort of little cracks in the lenses. http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/DSC_0011_zpswoulvntb.jpg And here's the bracket that has the 3 little evap/intake sensors mounted on it and that is mounted to the passenger side strut tower. I've never liked how it looked and after figuring out that those sensors mounting positions doesn't make a difference (they are free floating in my engine bay atm) I drilled out the spot welds and removed the ugly secondary bracket. Tomorrow I'll weld in new mounting studs and then will paint it to match the other engine bay stuff and will re-plumb the vacuum lines to get the cleanest looking routing that I can. http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/DSC_0012_zpsooq9iq58.jpg Edited May 18, 2019 by Brighton96 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton96 Posted June 26, 2017 Author Share Posted June 26, 2017 Today wasn't all too productive but I got the bolts welded into their new homes on the bracket and then coated it with a few coats of the graphite engine paint and a few coats of clear bed liner http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/DSC_0005_zpscgh46ill.jpg http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/DSC_0008_zpsxvjwmgus.jpg And that is it after installation. I'll re-route the vacuum lines once I can swing by and pick up more hose http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/96Brighton/DSC_0013_zpsybe90e8o.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doublechaz Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 Those things would normally be under the intake where they are impossible to work on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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