jahsoul Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 So this is bound to be a long and slow project thread because I'm going through it in real time. About 4 weeks ago, I knew I was going to buy a Forester XT. After a potential buy fell through, I said screw it and just started looking for any nice Subaru I could find and then I saw the Legacy GT Wagon. I knew I had to find one but it looks like everyone else had the same thing in mind. One night, during late night Craigslist browsing, I saw an ad for a 2006 Legacy GT Spec B that was blowing smoke for $1500. Called the owner and he said that he believed that it was a blown turbo but wasn't 100% sure. Honestly, I didn't care because in my mind, I was going to take everything out and swap it into a wagon. I drove to Houston, looked at the car, and there it was, #481. The more I looked at the car, the more I wanted to keep it and turn it into my DD. With that in mind, I begin to research striking the fine balance between power and driveability. So this thread will focus on me trying to make that happen. With the last car I built being an MK3 Supra (RIP 87 ), the only Stage that I know is Stage 0 - refreshing the car and building the base for go fast parts, so I'm going to work on refreshing the engine. suspension, and body to build a base for the parts that I want. A compression and leak check was perform and engine flushed with clean oil pan, so I will be replacing the turbo to be able to drive it now while waiting for the summertime build. Also debating on replacing or removing the banjo filters. I've been gathering little pieces here and there and will continue to do so until I have everything that I want. * Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jahsoul Posted March 29, 2019 Author Share Posted March 29, 2019 My goal is to keep the car looking as close to a stock form as possible. I've never been on the JDM bandwagon but I preferred the look of every market's version over ours, without question. So I've ordered a JDM rear bumper with spats because it was so cheap and it was pure impulse. I'll wait patiently for a Spec B front end conversion to pop up but try to get things around it. I also bought a JDM OEM trunk lip spoiler that I need to find a template for (or just might see if Austin Subaru would do it for me). I plan keeping the Spec B wheels (the only others I would probably put on there would be the S402 wheels, if they ever drop in price) and getting them restored and power coated a darker color. I will end up getting front spats just because some came on my bumper but that is probably as far as I will go. I will get all of the parts that come in painted to match the Spec B paint code, get the few dents and rust spots fixed, and get paint correction done. Will update with picture (or post) as time progresses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jahsoul Posted March 29, 2019 Author Share Posted March 29, 2019 Reserved for interior plans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jahsoul Posted March 29, 2019 Author Share Posted March 29, 2019 Reserved Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jahsoul Posted March 29, 2019 Author Share Posted March 29, 2019 Reserved Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn06SpecB Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 nice find! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jahsoul Posted April 15, 2019 Author Share Posted April 15, 2019 So I picked up the car from the mechanic on last week and got the title situation taken care of. It's been 10 years since I've driven a manual and trying to get back in the groove of things. As I mentioned earlier, I don't take the staged approach. All I know is Stage 0 and faster..lol. My main focus is longevity and going faster staying within those confines, so I'm not focusing on any go fast parts now. I'm looking at getting the kinks out of the car but that gets me stuck at a crossroad. The car has 96190 miles on it, so I don't know if I should rebuild or refresh. I mean, there are some rebuild elements that I want to do, such as replace the crankshaft, bearings, refresh OEM rods, and add either Mahle or Cosworth pistons, while replacing the gaskets, tubing, and the such but the question is do I need to right now. Something else is the interior was not well maintained. There are tabs and nobs that will need to be replaced, looking into getting the windshield replaced with a Carlex version, remove the crappy tint, and hopefully move to the all black interior (while keeping the brick red in place). Something else that I'm wanting to do is have my shocks sent back to Bilstein to be refurbished and my springs replaced with GT Pinks. It's dark out now, so I'm getting up in the morning to take pictures of the mounting work that needs to be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitexc Posted April 15, 2019 Share Posted April 15, 2019 What did the shop find wrong? What work did they do? Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jahsoul Posted April 15, 2019 Author Share Posted April 15, 2019 What did the shop find wrong? What work did they do? Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk I didn't ask him to do a thorough check. I asked him to do a compression/leak check to make sure the engine and heads were good, as that was my biggest concern. Once he verified it was just the turbo, I purchased a turbo (2 actually, a VF40 and VF52) and had it replaced. I'm going to get a full check done in the upcoming weeks, but I'm going to go through replacing a lot of parts throughout the year to get it into "off the line" condition Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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