My First Subaru: A 2007 Legacy Spec B Project Thread

[2_Liter_Turbo]

When it comes to cars, I refuse to buy boring appliances. While each car I own does serve a specific purpose, every single one is fun to drive. So when the time came to find a newer car for my new daily driver, I searched for something somewhat unique, fun to drive, but still safe and roomy for the family. I finally settled trying to find a Legacy GT after driving my buddy's '05 this last Christmas break. It just happened to fit what I wanted to a T. Me being me, I wanted to take it a step further, so I searched every day (every hour really) until I was able to strike a deal on a 2007 Spec B with 115K on the clock out of Santa Clara, CA (I live in the Phoenix Metro area in AZ). So Yesterday morning I flew out first thing, double checked the car, bought it, and proceeded to drive it home! Got back at 2:30am this morning!

 

So here are some pictures I took today after giving it a quick wash. I plant to have it detailed soon to try to restore some of the luster out of the faded paint, but it still takes some good pictures!

 

http://www.2literturbo.com/Forum%20Images/SpecB/01-07-18_SpecB_01.jpg

 

http://www.2literturbo.com/Forum%20Images/SpecB/01-07-18_SpecB_02.jpg

 

http://www.2literturbo.com/Forum%20Images/SpecB/01-07-18_SpecB_03.jpg

 

http://www.2literturbo.com/Forum%20Images/SpecB/01-07-18_SpecB_04.jpg

 

http://www.2literturbo.com/Forum%20Images/SpecB/01-07-18_SpecB_05.jpg

 

http://www.2literturbo.com/Forum%20Images/SpecB/01-07-18_SpecB_06.jpg

 

http://www.2literturbo.com/Forum%20Images/SpecB/01-07-18_SpecB_07.jpg

 

http://www.2literturbo.com/Forum%20Images/SpecB/01-07-18_SpecB_08.jpg

[2_Liter_Turbo]

So while the car is a daily driver, I can never leave a car even remotely stock! My plans are to make it very clean (in my eyes of course, everyone has their own tastes), reliable, and somewhat quick (no 10 second car here...). I'll do maintenance oriented stuff first, followed by simple suspension, brake, and breathing mods (in no specific order really). Being new to Subaru ownership (I've only helped a good friend of mine work on his EJ20K swapped GC really), I have a lot of research and learning to do, but I tend to learn pretty fast when I get a new exciting project to work on!

 

If anyone has any advice on these cars, whether it's preventative maintenance related or "first mods" type recommendations, I am all ears. I tend to search or read other people's build threads to figure things out, but sometimes, it's nice to get info direct from those who have been around the block.

[legacybt]

Looks like a super clean find! I'm sure a few people will chime in with recommendations, etc. Looking forward to keeping up with the thread!

[Enlight]

If anyone has any advice on these cars, whether it's preventative maintenance related or "first mods" type recommendations, I am all ears. I tend to search or read other people's build threads to figure things out, but sometimes, it's nice to get info direct from those who have been around the block.

 

Check out the Reliability Modifications thread to get started - it's been a great resource to me. Consensus on the forum is to:

 

1. Remove the banjo bolt filter feeding the turbo

A clogged filter can starve the turbo of oil, sending shrapnel into the engine. "YNANSB" is a popular acronym on this forum for that reason - you need a new short block. The thread I linked doesn't mention this filter, but there's a good forum consensus on this one.

 

2. Install catless uppipe

The stock uppipe contains a cat that can fail and cause the same problem.

 

3. Replace oil pickup with aftermarket

The stock pickup has failed in some cases, causing spun bearings. Some people lucked out and have hundreds of thousands of miles on their stock ones. This is a judgement call for you. I replaced mine with a Killer B pickup.

 

I would perform the mods in that order, the forum has many threads on each of these topics. And of course, check your oil levels regularly. I'm lucky to have low oil consumption but others don't.

[2_Liter_Turbo]

Looks like a super clean find! I'm sure a few people will chime in with recommendations, etc. Looking forward to keeping up with the thread!

 

Thanks! I'll do my best to keep it up to date!

 

Check out the Reliability Modifications thread to get started - it's been a great resource to me. Consensus on the forum is to:

 

1. Remove the banjo bolt filter feeding the turbo

A clogged filter can starve the turbo of oil, sending shrapnel into the engine. "YNANSB" is a popular acronym on this forum for that reason - you need a new short block. The thread I linked doesn't mention this filter, but there's a good forum consensus on this one.

 

2. Install catless uppipe

The stock uppipe contains a cat that can fail and cause the same problem.

 

3. Replace oil pickup with aftermarket

The stock pickup has failed in some cases, causing spun bearings. Some people lucked out and have hundreds of thousands of miles on their stock ones. This is a judgement call for you. I replaced mine with a Killer B pickup.

 

I would perform the mods in that order, the forum has many threads on each of these topics. And of course, check your oil levels regularly. I'm lucky to have low oil consumption but others don't.

 

Thanks! So far, it seems I'm lucky with low oil consumption as well, but I'll need to drive it a bit more to know for sure. I'm pretty sure the 07+ don't have the pre-cat, but I do plan on removing the banjo filters!

[Guest]

Check out the

 

2. Install catless uppipe

The stock uppipe contains a cat that can fail and cause the same problem.

 

07 does not have cat in the uppipe, so no need to worry about that.

[covertrussian]

I was waiting for this thread to pop up! Congrats on the purchase!

 

How's the rust on that thing? Being form west coast it's probably pretty pristine. But if it does have rust, make sure the rear brake lines look good, there is a recall but it doesn't proactive fix the issue unless there is leakage.

 

3. Replace oil pickup with aftermarket

The stock pickup has failed in some cases, causing spun bearings. Some people lucked out and have hundreds of thousands of miles on their stock ones. This is a judgement call for you. I replaced mine with a Killer B pickup.

 

This one is interesting, I remember seeing a lot of ~07 STI owners having oil pickup tube issues, guess it makes sense for Legacies to have the same issue.

 

Sorry forgot to mention this one to you 2_Liter_Turbo, 05-06's seem to have better designed oil pickup tubes so we don't think about it as much . I do have a spare Moroso sitting waiting for the day I decide to replace my rusted oil pan anyway.

[covertrussian]

Oh, when are you changing your name to 2.5_Liter_Turbo?

[2_Liter_Turbo]

I was waiting for this thread to pop up! Congrats on the purchase!

 

How's the rust on that thing? Being form west coast it's probably pretty pristine. But if it does have rust, make sure the rear brake lines look good, there is a recall but it doesn't proactive fix the issue unless there is leakage.

 

 

 

This one is interesting, I remember seeing a lot of ~07 STI owners having oil pickup tube issues, guess it makes sense for Legacies to have the same issue.

 

Sorry forgot to mention this one to you 2_Liter_Turbo, 05-06's seem to have better designed oil pickup tubes so we don't think about it as much . I do have a spare Moroso sitting waiting for the day I decide to replace my rusted oil pan anyway.

 

I will definitely have to look into the best option for the oil pickup thing. And there is no rust at all that I've found so far. I'll be getting under the car quite a bit this weekend though, so I'll know more soon!

 

Oh, when are you changing your name to 2.5_Liter_Turbo?

 

Lol, the screen name I've had for 12 years, and my race car is still a 2L turbo, so it's more of an identity thing now more than a description of what I have. My youtube channel and instagram are also "TwoLiterTurbo", so I'm reluctant to change it!

[covertrussian]

Lol, the screen name I've had for 12 years, and my race car is still a 2L turbo, so it's more of an identity thing now more than a description of what I have. My youtube channel and instagram are also "TwoLiterTurbo", so I'm reluctant to change it!

 

Just yanking your chain . Maybe when you buy an 2015+ WRX it will match again

[2_Liter_Turbo]

Just yanking your chain . Maybe when you buy an 2015+ WRX it will match again

 

LOL, I'll most likely never change my screen name unless I change the engine in the race car!

[covertrussian]

Oh no those are 2.0L, that's why it would match.

 

Since you said your doing suspension mods first get yourself caster LCA bushings first, they made the single best handling improvement on my car. I bet your bushings look just as bad.

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=253935&stc=1&d=1502334150

 

How To thread here. I'm using Whitelines, but if I did it again I would get Superpro's, since Whiteline lied about these being anti-lift too (and only have 5 year warranty on "racing" KCA models).

[2_Liter_Turbo]

I'll definitely look into it! After generally maintenance and preventative failure work, that's when I'll start on suspension. I DID buy a front lip though... ha! It was cheap, so whatevs.

[2_Liter_Turbo]

So with my first full weekend with the car, I decided to a little maintenance. I didn't get to everything I wanted (bought more parts than I was able to install... so more for next weekend!), but I did a decent amount.

 

First off, I ordered new plugs because the previous owner didn't have any record of replacing them. Good thing too, once I pulled them they were pretty worn (looked good in terms of how the engine is running though). I also decided to throw on new coil packs as well, just so I didn't have to worry about ignition issues down the road. While installing these, I found the driver side valve cover/oil fill tube had a pretty bad leak (covering the two coilpacks in oil), so I replaced the valve cover gasket as well. O-Ring for fill tube is next week. I forgot to take a pic of how bad it was before removing anything, but this is the VC right before I removed it:

http://www.2literturbo.com/Forum%20Images/SpecB/2018-01-14_SpecB_01.jpg

 

After removal I inspected the cam surfaces, etc. Everything looked pretty good!

http://www.2literturbo.com/Forum%20Images/SpecB/2018-01-14_SpecB_02.jpg

 

Poking around the engine underneath, I did find an oil leak coming from what I think is the oil drain tube for the turbo. Am I correct?

http://www.2literturbo.com/Forum%20Images/SpecB/2018-01-14_SpecB_03.jpg

It looks like the clamp on the bottom isn't secured properly, but I could be wrong. I couldn't see the lower clamp with my eyes, just my phone's camera.

 

I also inspected all the brakes, and everything was good there. Also checked all the bushings, and the only ones that looked like they NEEDED to be replaced, were the sway bar bushings. front lower arm rear bushings (duh), and the rear diff subframe bushings (not pictured)

 

http://www.2literturbo.com/Forum%20Images/SpecB/2018-01-14_SpecB_04.jpg

 

http://www.2literturbo.com/Forum%20Images/SpecB/2018-01-14_SpecB_05.jpg

 

http://www.2literturbo.com/Forum%20Images/SpecB/2018-01-14_SpecB_06.jpg

 

I also changed the engine, transmission, and rear diff oils because while I know when they were changed last, I don't know what sort of oil was used, and I'm a bit OCD, LOL.

 

I know this update isn't too exciting, but the work still needed to be done!

[Guest]

I would get neither. Get Group N bushings. Stiffer rubber in stock design.

 

 

 

 

Oh no those are 2.0L, that's why it would match.

 

Since you said your doing suspension mods first get yourself caster LCA bushings first, they made the single best handling improvement on my car. I bet your bushings look just as bad.

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=253935&stc=1&d=1502334150

 

How To thread here. I'm using Whitelines, but if I did it again I would get Superpro's, since Whiteline lied about these being anti-lift too (and only have 5 year warranty on "racing" KCA models).

[Guest]

Poking around the engine underneath, I did find an oil leak coming from what I think is the oil drain tube for the turbo. Am I correct?

http://www.2literturbo.com/Forum%20Images/SpecB/2018-01-14_SpecB_03.jpg

It looks like the clamp on the bottom isn't secured properly, but I could be wrong. I couldn't see the lower clamp with my eyes, just my phone's camera.

[/img]

 

 

The worm clamp there is not a stock one. Clearly somebody was trying fix the leak before. What you see in hanging down is the stock clamp that was in place of the worm clamp. It just wasn't removed.

 

The stock clamp there is indeed ineffective.

[2_Liter_Turbo]

The worm clamp there is not a stock one. Clearly somebody was trying fix the leak before. The stock clamps there are indeed ineffective.

 

Yeah, I definitely thought that as well

 

The turbo has been replaced (about a year ago with new banjo filters), so I'm sure that's when that was done.

[covertrussian]

The leak is probably from the turbo oil drain hose. It's another common failure point and adding more clamps doesn't seem to help. Mine had a hole in the middle of the hose, I replaced it with a much better quality hose when I replaced my turbo.

 

I would get neither. Get Group N bushings. Stiffer rubber in stock design.

 

Do we have any very long term experiments with Group N's? Any pictures of their design? It's really hard to find anything about Group N's.

[Guest]

Do we have any very long term experiments with Group N's? Any pictures of their design? It's really hard to find anything about Group N's.

 

Group N use the stock mold so they are identical just stiffer.

 

I've had them long time on the car, but not enough miles to say how they last.

[2_Liter_Turbo]

Group N use the stock mold so they are identical just stiffer.

 

I've had them long time on the car, but not enough miles to say how they last.

 

What about making a spherical insert (with teflon liner of course). Would definitely transmit more noise, and you may have to replace bearings once in awhile, but it would be very rigid and feel great!

[covertrussian]

That's actually how Perrin LCA bushings are, or even the stock on newer STI's (they are sealed though). Perrins are known not to be great on the street and tend to wear out.

 

This is why I advocate Whitelines or SuperPro's, I've had my Whitelines for 40k miles with no issue, we'll see how good Superpro's do on my Outback (that goes offroading too), but have no doubts about them either.

[Gabo]

Check out the Reliability Modifications thread to get started - it's been a great resource to me. Consensus on the forum is to:

 

1. Remove the banjo bolt filter feeding the turbo

A clogged filter can starve the turbo of oil, sending shrapnel into the engine. "YNANSB" is a popular acronym on this forum for that reason - you need a new short block. The thread I linked doesn't mention this filter, but there's a good forum consensus on this one.

 

2. Install catless uppipe

The stock uppipe contains a cat that can fail and cause the same problem.

 

3. Replace oil pickup with aftermarket

The stock pickup has failed in some cases, causing spun bearings. Some people lucked out and have hundreds of thousands of miles on their stock ones. This is a judgement call for you. I replaced mine with a Killer B pickup.

 

I would perform the mods in that order, the forum has many threads on each of these topics. And of course, check your oil levels regularly. I'm lucky to have low oil consumption but others don't.

Lucky for you the stock uppipe on the 07 Spec B does not have a cat.

[covertrussian]

Lucky for you the stock uppipe on the 07 Spec B does not have a cat.

 

You know, I thought so too for a while, but after doing a Aux air pump delete, I'll take a catted up pipe any day.

 

For aux air pump delete, you need to remove the up pipe anyway, to get to the block off plate on the head. Then you MUST tune for it, no resistor patching it like you can on catted up pipes.

[2_Liter_Turbo]

Well, it's a good thing I'm picking up an Accessport on Saturday... LOL

[sshole]

The leak is probably from the turbo oil drain hose. It's another common failure point and adding more clamps doesn't seem to help. Mine had a hole in the middle of the hose, I replaced it with a much better quality hose when I replaced my turbo.

 

Care to share what brand hose? Or where you bought it from?