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Pleaides 5MT wagon build log - saving a rare bird from extinction


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I've been on here a few years and never managed to put a build log up here and wish I had sooner as the car has made a lot of headway from when I purchased it in December, 2018. Better late than never, right?

 

December 2018 - purchased the car with 202K miles. Raleigh Hills Auto in SW Portland informed me during my PPI that the car had numerous oil leaks, a suspect quality aftermarket turboback exhaust, many tossed suspension bushings, and the list went on. The front bumper had a major chunk of it missing and the rear bumper had some major blemishes that necessitate new paint on the bumper, which I recently discovered had already been repainted. A few dents here and there that have largely been PDR'd by now. Back then they advised I not buy it, noting that the car was already low on oil and the oil had been changed two weeks prior.

 

Mod list as it stands at the time of posting this, before getting into the progress of the car:

  • Perrin turbo inlet
  • VF52 turbo
  • ID1050X injectors
  • Perrin top mount intercooler
  • Perrin pitch stop mount
  • IAG TGV deletes
  • AEM fuel pump
  • Kartboy front and rear endlinks
  • Polyurethane sway bar bushings
  • Invidia catted downpipe
  • Borla catback exhaust
  • Perrin catless uppipe
  • Group N engine mounts
  • Group N transmission mount
  • Whiteline steering rack bushings
  • Whiteline front and rear shifter bushings
  • Whiteline rear differential mount bushings
  • Energy rear crossmember bushings
  • Koni struts + H&R springs
  • DKI replica JDM Valenti LED taillights
  • 6OVRCRST carbon fibre grille
  • JDM head unit adapter with Sony XAV-AX100
  • eBay front lip
  • Whiteline rear lateral link kit
  • Whiteline 22mm front sway bar
  • Whiteline 20mm rear sway bar
  • AVO rear sway bar brackets
  • Whiteline roll center kit
  • Whiteline rear upper control arm bushings
  • 35% ceramic tint
  • GSC single valve springs
  • GSC intake and exhaust valves
  • ARP head studs
  • Enkei Raijin wheels
  • Mach V wing

 

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However, given that I was young and dumb (and still am), and had nearly given up on finding a blue LGT 5-speed wagon before finding this car (I searched for a year just to find one in blue), I paid the seller a more-than-fair $4500 for the car and it was mine. First thing I did was get the rear main seal/clutch, major bushings, coolant leaks, and all the fluids taken care of, as well as replaced the tires that were at 3/32 tread with some Michelin AS3+ 215/45R17. I also rebadged the car as, IMO, it looked like the car had been crashed and poorly put back together missing its badges.

 

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Gave it a couple months of building the piggy bank back up and found myself a used front bumper to replace this old POS. SW Auto Body Painted it up nice for me.

 

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That's the before, and here's the after. Didn't know about the JDM prefacelift Spec B bumper at the time, but I'll be installing one of those at a later date. - 02/2019

 

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It should be noted that, at this time, I was always stockpiling money for a motor as the car burned a quart of oil every thousand miles or so, and the Rotomaster VF46 turbo on the car was new when I purchased it. With the bumper replaced, I had some misc. parts to sell, including an old grille that the owner of this absolutely minty identical LGT wagon wanted to buy to mess with. He was the guy who's car ended up in a Jalopnik article awhile back. - 05/2019

 

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Edited by Pleides
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With a new grille on the way from 6OVRCRST, I also ordered a shiny new Borla catback exhaust. Forgot to get an after pic, but it was nice to get this shitcan of an eBay exhaust off the car that made it sound like a Honda and barely fit right. I also decided to experiment with black plasti dip on the rear badges and plate garnish to match the black wheels. Put some 08 Outback taillights on too to modernize things a bit. - 10/2019

 

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After this, the car needed a good detail to correct some swirls. The original paint, all things considered, was in pretty damn good shape, despite the car's old car bruises. I added the Avicii emblem sticker over the badges (back one later fell off) and the nice carbon fibre grille came along. - 01/2020

 

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Lowered the car on Koni shocks and H&R springs and had lots of suspension work done with some rear control arms and new bushings in the suspension, plus a rear sway bar from Whiteline and Kartboy endlinks all around. 02/2020

 

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Added a front lip as a birthday gift to myself, just a cheapo eBay lip. 04/2020

 

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After a trip up to Seattle months prior to buy those rear control arms to get some nice camber in at the back, the friend I bought them from had some really nice DKI-replica headlights based on the JDM Valenti taillights that I loved. They were on his car when I visited before, then he decided to sell them, so I bought them. I had just put some 08 Outback taillights on the car the fall prior, but these were exactly what I wanted so I ponied up the $400 or so for them. - 05/2020

 

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During this time, I managed to burn through an entire quart of oil in just under 500 miles, freaked out a bit, and bought a shitbox Honda to run around in for a couple months while the Subaru got the treatment that all turbo Subarus eventually meet - new shortblock time. - 07/2020

 

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I opted for a factory replacement shortblock with several GSC valvetrain bits and ARP head studs. Here's the engine-less machine! Most of the shortblock components had some decent wear on them, the oil pickup tube was also clogged and that led to some issues while the car sat parked with the occasional startup to make sure it was alive (news flash, it didn't remain alive for long after parking it). ~ 08/2020

 

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Edited by Pleides
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After the engine came out, I paused on mods and stuff for a bit, only opting to replace my ugly old OEM headlights with some DEPO ones, amber and everything. Did this in February 2021.

 

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After a couple years of looking at the Enkei RSF1 wheels, they needed to go, and I already knew the wheels I wanted. A guy I watch on YouTube, Avenged Media, was selling the wheels off his Legacy GT wagon - some Enkei Raijins I knew I wanted as soon as I saw them on his car from YouTube videos I watched of his prior. Got his number, arranged meeting him at Griot's in Tacoma, and drove back with them on my car (with the Falken FK510s at around 25 PSI on every tire... oops). Singlehandedly did the most work for making the car look way better. His account here is LegacyKid, or something along those lines. Thanks Nick! He and I had been discussing these for months and months prior with some delays, so he gave me a Griot's PFM towel for the hassle!

 

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Lo and behold, the extremely aftermarket taillights lost a turn signal resistor, so I had hyperflashing when making left turns. Ran the old amber left light to get by for a bit until I could get a Diode Dynamics solution that replaces a factory relay. ~04/2021

 

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Now, a mod I had saved up for for awhile. I have wanted gold Brembos ever since I bought the car. The brakes were all in great shape and I didn't even need to replace pads after buying the car or anything, but it was time to fix the squishy brake pedal these cars are notorious for, plus bling up the car. I could have had better brakes for far cheaper than I paid, but DBA slotted rotors, Hawk HPS 5.0 pads, and shiny gold Brembos were what the heart wanted and I think they were worth it. I also got my silly vanity plate that says HYDR8. Drink water folks!

 

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Sometime before the time this photo was taken, Surgeline installed a billet VF52 for me. Recently got some ID1050X and made ~320 WHP at 19 PSI.

 

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And now we're at the present day. Got a white Mach V wing from my friend who I bought the taillights and rear control arms from before. Currently scheduled at the local body shop for June 7-9. Can't wait to get the wing painted the right color! They're also gonna fix the stuff that's awry with the rear bumper as well as paint the cargo protector body-color.

 

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Edited by Pleides
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  • 2 weeks later...
Wheels are Enkei Raijins! I love them too. Thanks all. Car got back from the body shop yesterday, I'll post pics when I get a chance.

 

"Thanks"

 

Glad to finally see a thread dedicated to the car, and it receiving the attention it deserves! Excited for the how the rear bumper turned out. I've never seen a USDM bumper paint matched up top.

MILKRUN  - Click Here

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Hey all, sorry about being a day late. Here's the "new" car! I love how it looks! Little subtle things go a long way. Not really sure why the photos are sideways as they're the right way up in Windows, but oh well.

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  • 1 month later...

Trying out the new uploader for image content. Got a couple pics with my friend's lifted Outback 3.0 a couple weeks ago. 

 

Also looks like the uploader compresses pretty hard. These photos are 3000*4000 on a DSLR and got compressed to a couple hundred kilobytes. I'm excited to hopefully see photos last on here rather than using dead Photobucket links though! It does appear, however, as of writing this that old photos from this post are removed, so we'll see how many guides get lost to time.

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Edited by Pleides
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Love that Outback! Very well done. Never been a huge fan of ABP but with the raijins and good brembos, it looks really good, you’ve go one a good job with it. Car looks good too with the new paint and Mach V wing, wish they still made them…saw all the swirls in mind the other night and it needs a paint correction like no one’s business.

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1 hour ago, SoobyDoobyDoo said:

Love that Outback! Very well done. Never been a huge fan of ABP but with the raijins and good brembos, it looks really good, you’ve go one a good job with it. Car looks good too with the new paint and Mach V wing, wish they still made them…saw all the swirls in mind the other night and it needs a paint correction like no one’s business.

I borrow all the detailing supplies from work on the regular, so swirl marks are no trouble for me. A Griot's polisher and some correcting cream would make your car look so good, I promise! Thanks for the compliments on the Brembos and all that :)

 

The Outback is my friend's. His IG is It's_a_3.0_thing. 

Edited by Pleides
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  • 1 month later...

Got my last car wash at the old job so I went a little above and beyond with the wax. This was a month ago and the car is filthy now after moving (hence the new job).

 

Of course I dinged the rear bumper a bit with my dresser when loading it into the hatch last week so it's got a smidge of paint missing from the shiny fresh paint job 🙃 Oh well, it's a car and I'm using it as such. Gotta take a little damage here and there to remind myself that I can't fuss too much over the paint on a 17-year old car with 200K+ miles.

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  • 1 month later...
3 hours ago, Pleides said:

I didn't get too many PNW Wagonfest pictures but here's one from my friend with the Outback.

 

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Oh, and one from the Avants page

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Cars looking good! What’s the front grill emblem? 

In the top pic what’s that white wagon in the background? Is that a (edit:Loyale-couldn’t think of the name)? That’s awesome! Also digging the 3rd gen oozing the 90s vibe with those wheels…thanks for the pics! Looks like there were some cool cars there. 

Edited by SoobyDoobyDoo
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56 minutes ago, SoobyDoobyDoo said:

Cars looking good! What’s the front grill emblem? 

In the top pic what’s that white wagon in the background? Is that a 1st gen legacy? That’s awesome! Also digging the 3rd gen oozing the 90s vibe with those wheels…thanks for the pics! Looks like there were some cool cars there. 

Front grille emblem is Avicii's logo. He passed away by suicide in 2018. Was a big EDM star and I loved his music growing up!

I think that background car is a Loyale? There were so, so, so many cars that I just can't remember too many individual ones, but lots of older Subarus there!

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