So, you want to drive your 16 year old LGT to a meet eh?

[KZJonny]

Reserving for when I have a moment to list off all the critical and non-critcal things wrong with my 19 year old LGT Wagon.

Welcome to year 2 everyone!

So, like last year, I'll get started with some of the stuff that is wrong, needs doing, wants doing, etc... Thankfully last year I did manage to get a bunch of the list done. However, there is an embarassingly long list of things I meant to do before last year, and are still not done, with the car having been driven all summer:

- RR wheel speed sensor/CEL for ABS - done - new/used ss installed, everything has been contact cleanered, let's see if the code clears - 05/23 - code did not clear !!    new unused part arrived on the weekend. hopefully that will take care of it, and it's not a break in the wiring further upstream... we will see. worst case I don't have ABS for the trip, which isn't the end of the world, I do not expect to be driving fast in the rain, nor locking up the brakes... Aaaaaahhhh!! New part arrived and did not solve the problem. I suppose now it is pinning out the connector and finding out what signal is not getting where... FML. 

- replace windscreen - nope
- install AOS - nope
- ideally, install SMFW and Spec Clutch (probably won't happen) HAPPENING!!! Like this weekned!! April 20th
- bleed brakes!! - this one should get done... - not even, old fluid ftw ALSO HAPPENING WOOOOT!!!
- install oil press gauge (?where?) - ahah.....HAHAHAH!!
- do at least basic rust removal and primer on terrible rear quarters -  problem solved and I didn't even need to get my welder out...

None of the above have been done yet and duct tape, apparently does not constitute a permanent solution to your wheel arches rusting away.

 

I will add to all of that, some more things now that my 'to be installed' parts shelf is filling up again.

- Rear diff bash plate, however this requires I find a new rear diff/diff cover and replace mine, so not the simple job it is supposed to be
- boost gauge in addition to oil press gauge, tho I am beginning to think I will spend the money for a digital oil press gauge instead of running copper lines inside my dash, we will see...
- install STi Fuel Pump Controller
- install Heavy duty wiring kit for fuel pump
- get tuned for the above - might need to get new injectors beforehand to save on tune revisions...
- get an alignment with a little more camber; pretty sure the body shop that did the panel repair at the end of last summer restored the car to OE alignment numbers when they did the repairs, still handles well but I think I could be a little more agressive with the setting, and still keep it civilized...

This is just off the top of my head as well, I haven't even got the thing up on the lift to do a thorough inspection all around. Imagine what fun things I may yet find!

 

OMG - THERE IS MOAR!

- install windage tray and oil pickup that were on a great black friday sale, so I caved a bought more bling you will never see. Aaaand hopefully this saves my engine from the dreaded oil pickup failure, even tho it's an early '05 and should be okay.  -THIS ACTUALLY GOT DONE!!  - April -
-throw in some stock rear light housings... don't want to give @jaylew any reasons to talk smack. 
 

more:
- ¿replace? Water pump inlet housing or remove and reface the mating surface + replace the t-bolts I thought would be an improvement for the rad hoses with either spring clamps or worm clamps. Anything to stop the slow leak.

Edited April 19 by KZJonny

[KZJonny]

Okay, that is my start.

Who else is gonna throw down? Your list should be at least difficult, and even better if impossible to complete on time, so you don't make the rest of us look like complete amateurs for failing.

Edited December 15, 2023 by KZJonny

[GearJamr]

Doubtful I will be going to the meet, but I can throw up my list of stuff to do.  In no particular order:

1. Repair broken led taillight and install - repair started.

2. Check if I have cabin air filter and proper access - that'll wait until spring when it'll be easier to wade through the junker cars if I need to find an 06+ glove box.

3. Install brighter headlamps - intend to do on the weekend.  Still looking at other solutions.

4. Replace antenna wiring harness in the hatch - maybe cause of my radio problems?

5. Replace busted door speaker - have new set of speakers, need some modification to get them in brackets

6. Take apart console and reinstall - after airbag recall, it was not reinstalled....well.

7. Sound deaden the hatch area

8. Install turbo inlet, IC to TB coupler, fuel pump - retune of course required

9. Remove the blue T and replace with brass fitting

10. Install aluminum rear control arms

11. 6-speed swap - need more parts (clutch/fw, starter)

12. Lube my fuel tank cover release cable

13. Install wheel spacers - must acquire first

14. Get summer wheels refinished

15. Install new FPR - need to get, maybe sti or adjustable?

16. Get a/c checked/repaired - not a big concern for the winter

Sheesh.  That's enough to make me want to just sit on the couch a while longer. 

Edited December 13, 2023 by GearJamr
Got something done!

[KZJonny]

11 minutes ago, GearJamr said:

Doubtful I will be going to the meet

I know life gets in the way, but this one is at least not too far from Ottawa.

Throw that 6MT in the wagon and strap it down. Stop at my place to put the car on the hoist. Swap trans in an afternoon. Drink beer. (Will have to find/purchase a trans jack, but that is a problem for another day.)

Join @tysparks81 and I on the drive down to Finger Lakes.

[KZJonny]

I also took a gander at the last iteration of this thread from the 2023 ECM.

  

On 2/10/2023 at 7:56 AM, KZJonny said:

By the logic of don’t spend money on nice things, we’d all drive a Yaris.

 

I forgot I said that, and the irony is very much not lost on me.....

[GearJamr]

With my daughter having her license and my son about to get his G1, I don't think I'll be able to get away with having 1 car at home for 3 people for an extended time.  Maybe in a couple of years.

If everything works out, I'll be retired in about 6 years and time will be easier to come by. 

[tysparks81]

21 hours ago, GearJamr said:

With my daughter having her license and my son about to get his G1, I don't think I'll be able to get away with having 1 car at home for 3 people for an extended time.  Maybe in a couple of years.

If everything works out, I'll be retired in about 6 years and time will be easier to come by. 

I mean you could bring 1 or both of the kids down here with you, which should even the odds a little in your favor.

[tysparks81]

I also have a long list, some carry overs from last year, as well as some new things that popped up and some things I would like to do that probably won't get addressed for this trip but I will list them in the off chance that I can get to them.  I probably won't get started on any of this until next spring/summer unless we get a ridiculously warm day up here.  Listed them in the order of what will be addressed first.

Fix broken muffler or replace whole catback

Replace Turbo to downpipe gasket

Install Hella horns

Replace front break lines with stainless steel ones then flush and replace break fluid

Change front transmission fluid

Change rear diff gasket, and fluid change as well as install rear diff bushings

Install cusco rear diff brace

Install Group N engine mount

Fix passenger side blend actuator motor

Wire up headlight washer fluid sprayer

Wire up my folding mirrors and headlight leveling switch

Tint window

Paint & install facelift JDM bumper or Install rear defuser on pre facelift bumper

Replace windshield & install new rearview mirror (probably won't happen until I decide to repaint car and repair rust)

 

 

[KZJonny]

On 12/8/2023 at 11:00 AM, tysparks81 said:

I also have a long list, some carry overs from last year, as well as some new things that popped up and some things I would like to do that probably won't get addressed for this trip but I will list them in the off chance that I can get to them.  I probably won't get started on any of this until next spring/summer unless we get a ridiculously warm day up here.  Listed them in the order of what will be addressed first.

Fix broken muffler or replace whole catback

Replace Turbo to downpipe gasket

Install Hella horns

Replace front break lines with stainless steel ones then flush and replace break fluid

Change front transmission fluid

Change rear diff gasket, and fluid change as well as install rear diff bushings

Install cusco rear diff brace

Install Group N engine mount

Fix passenger side blend actuator motor

Wire up headlight washer fluid sprayer

Wire up my folding mirrors and headlight leveling switch

Tint window

Paint & install facelift JDM bumper or Install rear defuser on pre facelift bumper

Replace windshield & install new rearview mirror (probably won't happen until I decide to repaint car and repair rust)

 

 

Sounds like we could do at least part of that on the list some weekend day. Drinks and food on you, lift time on me.

Seriously tho, we could probably knock out all the chassis bracing and diff related stuff in like 1/4 the time it will take you doing it in your driveway.

[Claw]

Fix rear hatch wiring..  to me this was less of a concern up until this past weekend when the rear hatch lock/release stopped working.  Rear wiper I can go without but not a hatch lock.   Got some silicone sheath flexible wiring from Amazon that didn't stiffen up in -40C temps, gonna break out the soldering iron and get to it this weekend.

[KZJonny]

7 hours ago, Claw said:

Fix rear hatch wiring..  to me this was less of a concern up until this past weekend when the rear hatch lock/release stopped working.  Rear wiper I can go without but not a hatch lock.   Got some silicone sheath flexible wiring from Amazon that didn't stiffen up in -40C temps, gonna break out the soldering iron and get to it this weekend.

If you can, try out the self-soldering waterproof heat shrink connections. I did the same job on my OBW with a soldering iron in the cold, and it was super not-fun. That, and the continued motion of the wiring on soldered joints tends to cause it to fail again.

Learned from my own mistake, and will be doing the repair on the GT before long, only this time, ensuring all the repairs are done up inside the roof and in the hatch itself, so no joins are made in the bundle of wire that gets flexed with the trunk hatch. Using just a set a crimpers and a heat gun is also a real joy by comparison to trying to get a soldering iron up into the roof cavity.

[Claw]

Cool, thanks for the tip.

I grabbed a harness last time I was at a Pick'n'Pull, hoping that it worked (and it did.. for 18 months).  I'll be soldering my original harness and then swapping it in.

Do you recall which wires you needed to replace, or did you just do them all?

[KZJonny]

Ah... On mine, I had lost the wiper function, or at least it was spotty and the defroster was totally gone. Maybe lights were sporadic.

Pretty sure I ended up replacing sections of at least a half dozen wires in there. I used wire from a parts car as well, so I could keep the colour coding, but made sure to only use wire from sections of the harness that were not in the area that flexes as the hatch moves, eg: they had not been stressed and worn. I figured it took 16 years for my OG wiring to fail, which really isn't so bad. Also, it was my OBW, which is the winter beater, so I really needed that defroster + wiper.... A couple of the wires I repaired still worked fine but were very clearly not long from failing.

I am not 100% sure how I will do the GT repair, but probably with better wire + crimp and heat connectors. It is a summer only car, so the functionality is less important, but I like knowing everything is done right anyway, and it gives me the chance to see if any of the wires on the verge of breaking but have not yet...

[tysparks81]

On 1/16/2024 at 3:45 PM, KZJonny said:

Sounds like we could do at least part of that on the list some weekend day. Drinks and food on you, lift time on me.

Seriously tho, we could probably knock out all the chassis bracing and diff related stuff in like 1/4 the time it will take you doing it in your driveway.

Yeah man, we could knock out part of that list for sure, but I put the truck on the road this past weekend, so the Legacy is off of the road for the winter, and will be back in april/may.  but if you have couple free weekends I'm sure I could tow it out to you and tow it back when we are done.

[KZJonny]

2 hours ago, tysparks81 said:

Yeah man, we could knock out part of that list for sure, but I put the truck on the road this past weekend, so the Legacy is off of the road for the winter, and will be back in april/may.  but if you have couple free weekends I'm sure I could tow it out to you and tow it back when we are done.

It'll have to be when things warm up a little. My wagon is in the lift bay, and like yours is 'off the road', so no insurance etc....  Also, really no way to get it out of the garage, since it's across the back yard with all the snow, etc... lol!

It should be easy enough to find a day in April/May when things warm up a little and we can pull my car out and get yours in. I really doubt the two of us would need more than a solid day to do all the 'lift related' work. Much of the rest you can do just as easily in your driveway, etc...

I also don't have a trans jack yet, and no money for one, so the engine mount stuff will have to wait a heartbeat until I car afford one!

[KZJonny]

Supposedly going to have 3-4 whole days of weather above 10C coming up this weekend. Think it could be a good time to get onto some of this list, after cleaning and tidying in the garage to make space to work. (I more or less put down my tools where I was using them and walked away from the garage sometime in January. It was just too cold to work.)

Probably won't knock down any of the big projects, but new brake fluid is certainly overdue, and I think I have some speed bleeders to install while I am at it....

 

June is going to be here before we all know it. And while i think there is 14% chance I will have the bodywork fixed before that, and a 0.6% chance I will have the money to pay someone else to do it.... I would be good to have all the speed and steering parts installed anyway...

[tysparks81]

On 2/29/2024 at 2:21 PM, KZJonny said:

Supposedly going to have 3-4 whole days of weather above 10C coming up this weekend. Think it could be a good time to get onto some of this list, after cleaning and tidying in the garage to make space to work. (I more or less put down my tools where I was using them and walked away from the garage sometime in January. It was just too cold to work.)

Probably won't knock down any of the big projects, but new brake fluid is certainly overdue, and I think I have some speed bleeders to install while I am at it....

 

June is going to be here before we all know it. And while i think there is 14% chance I will have the bodywork fixed before that, and a 0.6% chance I will have the money to pay someone else to do it.... I would be good to have all the speed and steering parts installed anyway...

Hey I can come give you a hand with things just send me txt when you know your going to be working on things.

[KZJonny]

This keeps on exploding into more work. Lol!

Pulled the engine just to do the head studs, for boosty purposes. Now have a whole new/used OE fuel rail coming from Ebay, All sorts of gaskets, oil pressure gauge and sender (non-mechanical this time), new tools to suit.

ONE out of 16 valves is out of spec. FML. So : new feeler gauges to get more accurate reading across all valve lash to be sure, valve removal tool in case I need to clean that valve up. (It's out of spec on the high side, so I wonder if there is some carbon/bit of dirt keeping it open atm.... no meaningful amount of misfire recorded, so I don't think that will be the problem...) New nuts and bolts to replace rusty old ones.... *sigh*

There are days I wish I was more of a 'do the job and slap it back together' person, but I just can't bring myself to do it....

[KZJonny]

It gets better.

So at least after doing all this work, I was right, and there was a little combustion leak/head gasket failure.

Glad I decided to try and get this all done before the driving season, and the ECM in particular.

No significant damage, but this head (both I guess) will now have to get pulled down and dropped off for a skim at the machine shop, which is okay. I was hoping to get away with just refinishing by hand and new gaskets, but at this point, I’m too far in to do anything in part measures.

Edited March 17 by KZJonny

[KZJonny]

Okay.....

So heads can go out tomorrow for a skim. Only the one pictured above really needs it, but I figure I'd rather have them prepped for the best possible seal, and also that while the difference between the two would end up being *tiny*, I'd rather not have one side of the engine with a slightly difference compression ratio than the other.

If this was an NA engine I would have just the one machined and send it.... However, it is not, and we all know how touchy these things are about tuning and details, so away they go.

 

NOW. I am debating over weather or not to do valve seals while I've got the heads off... Who would/would not? They are cheap enough, and it's not a terrible job, but my feeling is also that they're not really known to fail much in these engines... Kind of the same as the rear main. It's a thing you can do, but also not really regarded as a weak point in these engines.

I'm leaning towards just tidying up the head mating surfaces, ensuring all is super-duper clean and throwing it all back together ASAP. But if this would be a critical misstep, then I'm willing to listen to others. Valve seals can be done in the engine bay in future at worst case.

Edited March 18 by KZJonny

[KZJonny]

On 12/8/2023 at 11:00 AM, tysparks81 said:

I also have a long list, some carry overs from last year, as well as some new things that popped up and some things I would like to do that probably won't get addressed for this trip but I will list them in the off chance that I can get to them.  I probably won't get started on any of this until next spring/summer unless we get a ridiculously warm day up here.  Listed them in the order of what will be addressed first.

Fix broken muffler or replace whole catback

Replace Turbo to downpipe gasket

Install Hella horns

Replace front break lines with stainless steel ones then flush and replace break fluid

Change front transmission fluid

Change rear diff gasket, and fluid change as well as install rear diff bushings

Install cusco rear diff brace

Install Group N engine mount

Fix passenger side blend actuator motor

Wire up headlight washer fluid sprayer

Wire up my folding mirrors and headlight leveling switch

Tint window

Paint & install facelift JDM bumper or Install rear defuser on pre facelift bumper

Replace windshield & install new rearview mirror (probably won't happen until I decide to repaint car and repair rust)

 

 

How is this going for ya dude? I took a look at my list and laughed.

I've managed to spend at least 100 hours this past month and a bit working on the car, and somehow have avoided doing most of the things that I had on the "to-do" list and did other things instead....

I stopped thinking about how much I've spend on the GT this Spring. I need to be able to look at myself in the mirror and not cry. 

[tysparks81]

57 minutes ago, KZJonny said:

How is this going for ya dude? I took a look at my list and laughed.

I've managed to spend at least 100 hours this past month and a bit working on the car, and somehow have avoided doing most of the things that I had on the "to-do" list and did other things instead....

I stopped thinking about how much I've spend on the GT this Spring. I need to be able to look at myself in the mirror and not cry. 

I haven't even touched the list yet, outside of trying to put insurance back on the car.

[KZJonny]

Sounds about right.

If I bleed the brakes, I can take another one off the list, and get the two year old fluid out at the same time. Hah!

 

When the insurance is on, the offer of a day on the lift is still there. Good incentive to get lots done is to only have a day to do it... (tho you know you're welcome to more than one day.)