Jordan's '98 GT Build Thread

[jordanleevan]

Thought I would make a thread of my current build This is only my 2nd post so I apologize for my formatting. I have a 1998 Subaru Legacy GT Limited Sedan. I am the 3rd owner and has 287,000 miles. Surprisingly, it has no rust anywhere.

 

About Me

I am a 20 year old guy that lives in St. Paul, MN. I am currently going to college, but have no idea what I want to do. I used to work a lot until corona came lol. I've always been into cars but didn't actually still working on them till about a year ago (thanks to my group of friends) and I absolutely love it.

 

History

This car started it's life in North Carolina. To what I know, the first owners were an old couple that owned it for roughly 17 years. The second owner bought it in NC and has kept it sitting in his garage for some years. He wanted to do a WRX swap with it but never had time. Then he moved up to Minnesota this past January and brought the legacy with him. Then in April, he puts the car up for sale and this is where I come into the picture. I didn't plan on building up a car, but here I am lmao. The past 2 owners took really great care of the car where there is no rust anywhere whatsoever.

 

The Plan

The plan is to do what the second owner wanted to do, a WRX swap. I bought a USDM EJ205 w/ 55k miles and a 5spd wrx transmission with about 57k miles. I'll include more of what I'll be doing down below

 

What I've Done so Far

Since the car came with no engine, I didn't have to worry about pulling one out. I've taken out the automatic transmission and sold it. I've put in 2002 WRX front seats and 2005 WRX rear seats. Took a little modification but not too bad. I've taken everything out of the engine bay and put some clear coat on.. and oh my... the paint came back to life. My buddy gave me 11mm spacer adapters off of his WRX and put it on the legacy. Another one of my friends gave me his wheels to use till I buy some later on. As you can see in the picture below, it has some poke haha. But that gives me the opportunity to put some fender flares on The previous owner had tons of subaru parts and he gave me a '98 legacy GT manual wiring harness to send to iwire. I also had to buy a wrx wiring harness to send to iwire as well. iwire has already finished merging the harnesses and I will have them in my hands on Thursday! Today I took off the badges and repainted them gold to give them a better look. I also painted the intake manifold and valve covers on the EJ205 gold. I've also replaced the rotors and pads with brand new ones.Last week, I bought a very cheap non-running '98 Outback as my "donor" car for this legacy lol. Very out of the blue, but it has helped me out a lot.

 

 

Parts I Have

• USDM EJ205
  
• 5spd WRX Transmission
  
• Mishimoto Radiator
  
• Exedy OEM Clutch Kit
  
• OEM Flywheel
  
• WRX Front & Rear Axles
  
• WRX Rear Diff
  
• JDM Momo Steering Wheel
  
• JDM Xenon Projectors
  
• Grimmspeed Top Mount Intercooler Y-Pipe Kit
  
• '98 Outback Driveshaft
  
• Invidia Catless Downpipe
  
• Cobb Shift Knob
  
• New Ebrake Shoes
  

 

Parts That Are OTW

• Turbo XS Catless Catback
  
• Mishimoto Turbo Inlet Hose
  
• Merged Wiring Harness from IWire
  
• Redline Shifter Boot
  

 

Parts That I Plan on Buying/Installing

• Cobb Cold Air Intake + Airbox
  
• Cobb Accessport
  
• JDM Tail Lights (having a hard time finding them)
  
• Coilovers
  
• Hood Struts
  
• Fender Flares
  

 

So What's the Plan Now?

Well later today (6/10), I am going to be installing the transmission, driveshaft, rear diff, and all WRX axles. Later this week, I'll probably be spending a couple days installing the merged wiring harness. Then when all of that is done, I'll be dropping in the engine. Unfortunately, I won't be driving it right away till I get a tune... which is July 28th but will be worth it.

 

I'll be posting my progress on this thread. If you guys have any suggestions or feedback please let me know! And I definitely forgot to mention some things on this post, so keep that in mind! Thank you for reading and I hope you stay tuned on my project

Edited June 10, 2020 by jordanleevan

[doublechaz]

Welcome! Good intro. That should be a fun project.

[Brighton96]

Good thing you have the space for a build of that magnitude, it'll be tedious but worth it in the end. Also, ALL JDM importers say their engines have 50-60k on them (that's the typical estimate, they have no idea in actuality) but do your due- diligence to inspect the engine to make sure it's healthy.

[Das Ninjabot]

Welcome and good looking ride! I'm just across the river from you and have my own '98 gt sedan build, though not as ambitious as yours. If you need any local help, shoot me a message!

[jordanleevan]

Today me and a few friends started to put in the wrx transmission! We got it lined up and connected the pitch stop mount. The only problem now is that on one of the sides of the bracket, the bolts don't wanna thread on. Tomorrow, I am going to get a tap and die set to get those bolts on. Once we get them in, i'll be ready to put in the driveshaft, rear diff, and the axles!

 

I also bought a Turbo XS Catback today (pic down below)

 

If you guys wanna see my progress on my instagram, follow me @jvlgarage

 

I post a lot on my story haha. And of course I'll keep this thread updated!

Edited June 11, 2020 by jordanleevan

[doublechaz]

Be careful with the tapping. Those nuts are not very securely welded into the frame rail and may tear away.

[jordanleevan]

Alright so I finally got the transmission all bolted up. I just had to create new threads with the tap and die set and it works like a charm. Then I took out the legacy rear diff and axles, and replaced it with WRX ones! Still got to put in the driveshaft though lol. Tomorrow I'll be putting in the merged wiring harness... not really looking forward to that [emoji38]

Edited June 13, 2020 by jordanleevan

[jordanleevan]

Alright so It's been a minute but I'll give a whole update after this post. I am just stuck on something and need some help. This is basically a question for anyone that knows about the EJ205. On each side of the valve covers, there are two hoses on top. And my buddy has only one hose on each side (all shown in the pictures. The gold valve cover is my engine btw) I was just wondering if anyone has seen this and where do they lead to? I know on the passenger side, one of them has to go to the intercooler, just not sure where the other hose goes to. The other two on the driver side is all connected, so im not too worried about that. I just can't find anything online to answer my question.

 

Another question I have is a plug on the top of my A/C Compressor. The plug from the wiring harness seems to be too big to fit in. My buddy doesn't have this either in his car. (Picture shown below. The one that is plugged in is my friends).

 

If you guys know anything, lmk! Any help is appreciated.

Edited August 15, 2020 by jordanleevan