Boxkita's wagon

[mr soul]

However, if you have a well-cared silver wagon, I might be interested....

 

I'm still occasionally drawn to this site and see what's cookin....not much

 

I'm also at a crossroads with my "well cared for" silver, 05 GT wagon. Yes it's the 5spd...black leather interior. I'm down in Olympia.

 

I bought the car at 98K miles from Florida and had it shipped in. I built a motor for it with a new factory STi shorblock, put drop in forged pistons and a head service. Grimspeed top mount, turbo back (subtle). That was at like 102K miles. It's got a rotorua BBK up front too. More recently bilstein struts/mild lowering spring, 04BBS. I have a 15K VF52 on the shelf too. RooPair Tacoma is my shop of choice, specifically because Josh (Jibber on most forums) is my tuner (open source). Car runs like a top, pulls really well, doesn't burn a drop of oil and is solid.

 

Currently sitting at 161K miles and the clutch/tranny needs attention/replacement. Great torque and power I think has taken it's toll on those poor gears and the clutch is just out of life now mileage wise so I'm not surprised it is ready for upgrade or just basic maintenance.

 

I'm debating going STi 6speed.....BUT trying to be honest with myself. Investing a bunch more, in an aging car, when really, I'm way less enthusiast than I was at early times in my life in terms of wanting a modified car. Frankly my wife drives it more than I do last 5 years.

 

So....how interested might you be for something like this?

[Lynne996]

No silver wagon. My dad is 79 years old and he bought the car new. I am his daughter and I bought it when out Jetta TDI had to be turned in. So he wanted a new Subaru and I bought his Legacy wagon. The TDI jetta’s are back and I got a black wagon last week with 14,900 miles on it. I love the Suby but dont like the mileage. The maintenance has been more than i want as well. It has been very well maintained. I have no interest in altering the car. It is at 138 k now.

 

Lynne

[Lynne996]

And yes, I have pic’s. There isn’t any wear on seats and the car/engine etc. are exceptional as well. You are right, I’m not very tech oriented. I don’t really like computers.

[boxkita]

I'm still occasionally drawn to this site and see what's cookin....not much

 

I'm also at a crossroads with my "well cared for" silver, 05 GT wagon. Yes it's the 5spd...black leather interior. I'm down in Olympia.

 

I bought the car at 98K miles from Florida and had it shipped in. I built a motor for it with a new factory STi shorblock, put drop in forged pistons and a head service. Grimspeed top mount, turbo back (subtle). That was at like 102K miles. It's got a rotorua BBK up front too. More recently bilstein struts/mild lowering spring, 04BBS. I have a 15K VF52 on the shelf too. RooPair Tacoma is my shop of choice, specifically because Josh (Jibber on most forums) is my tuner (open source). Car runs like a top, pulls really well, doesn't burn a drop of oil and is solid.

 

Currently sitting at 161K miles and the clutch/tranny needs attention/replacement. Great torque and power I think has taken it's toll on those poor gears and the clutch is just out of life now mileage wise so I'm not surprised it is ready for upgrade or just basic maintenance.

 

I'm debating going STi 6speed.....BUT trying to be honest with myself. Investing a bunch more, in an aging car, when really, I'm way less enthusiast than I was at early times in my life in terms of wanting a modified car. Frankly my wife drives it more than I do last 5 years.

 

So....how interested might you be for something like this?

Hmm... I have a 6 speed :-) sent you a pm

[boxkita]

No silver wagon. My dad is 79 years old and he bought the car new. I am his daughter and I bought it when out Jetta TDI had to be turned in. So he wanted a new Subaru and I bought his Legacy wagon. The TDI jetta’s are back and I got a black wagon last week with 14,900 miles on it. I love the Suby but dont like the mileage. The maintenance has been more than i want as well. It has been very well maintained. I have no interest in altering the car. It is at 138 k now.

 

Lynne

You could post it up here. Follow the rules.

https://legacygt.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/cars-sale-29.html

[boxkita]

Well its been a great week and a sh!t week. In other news, finally found a free day in my schedule to work on the race wagon... Wednesdays at 6 30pm. If you're local and want to work on a racecar, drop me a line. I'd like to have the wagon together by August.

 

I took the auto technician job with Mazda because their sister dealership is Subaru and they'll let me buy parts at cost plus sponsor me into the Subaru certification system.

 

My boss has asked if I'd race a Miata again. I guess I should say for the right sponsor, sure.

 

The first week was 51 hours in 4.5 days. Not sure I'm up for this pace. Starting back to school tomorrow, so work load will drop to 23 hours in 4 days.

 

Boxkita is no more. Long live his memory. Like his first, his last ride was in a Subaru.

[boxkita]

2 years later...

 

The wagon has about 1000 miles on it since the last rebuild. Pulled it in the garage for an oil change and it never left. Driving it to school was a bad idea as the honda kids kept messing with it, so started driving the old nissan truck. Time moved on.

 

Been buying parts for upgrades/maintenance on both wagons. Bought an "wanna-be baja racer" outback with a failed #4 piston, mostly to get the extensive parts list.

 

Got a 1 year certificate of auto technician training a couple days ago. Have one more class this August to get my Associates in Auto Technology. At which point, I only need a year of working for my ASE certification tests to convert to actual certs.

 

Covid made a mess of my school schedule so I had a free quarter as the instructor for the fabrication program didn't come back to school (He's 70, I'd have stayed home too), so I went looking for a job. Porsche wanted me to goto their school for 4 months and then take a job at the next available dealership somewhere in the USA. I passed. Audi said not hiring old guys or something like that. Mercedes hired me on at minimum wage plus benefits as a full time maintenance technician and gave me my own bay. I'm 3 months in. Passed the 90 day probation and am now "permanent" as much as that's possible in a "at-will employment" state.

 

Racing has become a thing to watch from the sidelines. I had my 10th blackout concussion in July 2019. Recovery has taken a long time. I lost the ability to "see" what's coming next. The "whoo-woo" thing that separates front runners from last place. I had some but not enough. Now I have none. You don't realize what you have until you lose it.

 

I recently returned to teaching at Driver Skills. being able to do this is only possible because of covid. We debrief outside the cars so I can view the whole run and coach. I don't have to stay several seconds ahead in the car. When we return to in-car instruction, we'll figure it out.

 

Mrs Boxkita has been after me to fix or sell the wagons. Working all day on cars has made it difficult to work all night on cars. I never understood tired before. Part out is starting. End goal is a running race car (engine still sitting there waiting on final parts) and running track wagon. Track wagon is most likely converting to cobb accessport because tuners wanting to do open source are getting rarer.

[NSFW]

Congrats on the new job. Sorry to hear about the concussion though.

[boxkita]

And the drama continues. Mercedes fired me because I bought my new toyota tacoma from a competing dealer. They called it "restructuring". In the past, restructuring happens Friday end-if-day. My restructuring happened in the middle of a job in the middle of the week in a full shop. "Punch out, clean out your bay, never come back". They let me go out and tell everyone my version. Morale, predictably, has nose-dived.

 

Mazda (same company new building new management) hired me back with a pay raise, a bigger work space and up-front training. Mercedes can suck it.

 

Wagon continues to be a garage ornament. Race wagon might be finding a new home (I hope). Fjuan's car might actually get an engine and be sold. The baja wagon will continue to be a "huh, what now" project.

 

Ever so slowly selling stuff. A 5mt and a Perrin up sold a few days ago. Need to get a smaller thread up for parts.

 

The 2 specb cats are apparently worth a fortune now. I should probably find a buyer.

[shralp]

And the drama continues. Mercedes fired me because I bought my new toyota tacoma from a competing dealer. They called it "restructuring". In the past, restructuring happens Friday end-if-day. My restructuring happened in the middle of a job in the middle of the week in a full shop. "Punch out, clean out your bay, never come back". They let me go out and tell everyone my version. Morale, predictably, has nose-dived.

 

Mazda (same company new building new management) hired me back with a pay raise, a bigger work space and up-front training. Mercedes can suck it.

 

Wagon continues to be a garage ornament. Race wagon might be finding a new home (I hope). Fjuan's car might actually get an engine and be sold. The baja wagon will continue to be a "huh, what now" project.

 

Ever so slowly selling stuff. A 5mt and a Perrin up sold a few days ago. Need to get a smaller thread up for parts.

 

The 2 specb cats are apparently worth a fortune now. I should probably find a buyer.

 

WTF? If a guy needs truck he buys a truck, does Mercedes sell pick up trucks? NO THEY DON'T!! Total douche nozzle move by the dealership....

[boxkita]

Apparently I'm not the first to feel the wrath either. They fired the service manager for similar purchase last year. Hired her back a week later due to backlash from employees.

[boxkita]

In the interesting news, the recently hired shop foreman is the former head engine builder for parent company's Subaru dealership. I'm going to be bugging him for hints. Might have to put a subaru engine under the bench for slack time work

 

cranking out the lemonade like its free margaritas during spring break...

[boxkita]

And the rain keeps coming. Mazda job has been slow. Like watching paint dry slow. Giving notice next week. Going to take a break from job searching for awhile and take advantage of the state's unemployment benefits. Probably look for a shop with older ppl. Refining my ability to change oil, rotate tires and a full inspection in 20 minutes or less has zip appeal.

 

I originally started all this to be able to fix my own cars...seems like a better approach.

[NSFW]

I haven't looked at the rules in a couple decades, but I don't think you can get unemployment if you quit.

[boxkita]

I haven't looked at the rules in a couple decades, but I don't think you can get unemployment if you quit.

 

Yeah, I'm kind of hoping they let me go.

[boxkita]

My journey with boxkita's wagon has come to an end. Watching it drive away was heart wrenching. So many memories...

I didn't drive it, just rolled it off the rack for the new owner. 3 years of sitting, changed the oil, put on the jump box, started on the first crank.

still have a couple more wagons to get rid of. 

18 years passed so quickly 

[wpmarky]

Did it stay local at least?  Cheers to the memories, I'm still working on clearing out extra parts in my shed.

 

What's the next ride?

[boxkita]

it moved to Portland, Oregon. About 150 miles away. So pretty much local

When I sold the spec miata race car several years ago, I knew I would miss it eventually. I looked at a couple but street miata is not race miata.

However, a 2023 Toyota GR86? That has been everything good I remember about the race mista with not much of the bad. Slightly heavier, twice the power, comfortable ride. 

Getting into / out of the'86 is going to require going back to yoga. The turn around and drop into the seat is about as much contortion as I can manage with my back. However, once inside, it's a perfect fit. 

10 days of ownership later, I'm at 1200 miles driven. I've been on more twisty roads than in last 5 years.

Subaru wagons taught me alot about momentum cars. But not much about high power to weight ratio rwd cars. I've spun the '86 twice from a lapse of attention. Turns out a no-nannies awd car isn't the same as in rwd.

I have 2 more wagons and a sedan. Currently planning on keeping one of the wagons for a bit unless I find a buyer. Driving the '86 to the shop to work on wagons hasn't been working so well...never make it there. 

[wpmarky]

Nice, I was eyeing the gr86 too - tho the Lotus Emira looks dreamy.  Maybe in a couple years when the kids are out of the house xD.

Tho whichever car is next, I think I'll miss the feeling passing cars in my wagon tho.  It was fun driving a slow looking car fast - getting a fast looking car raises expectations lol.

[boxkita]

I have free range racing's 5x114.3 converted wagon in dark blue. Its a non limited with a 6mt. It needs alot of work to get back to a drive able condition.

Also have a "baja 1000" outback wagon project. It has a ventilated block. The wagon is filled to the top with upgrades. 

I've been holding off selling them because I might get them running again. I know I should cut my losses and get rid of them. But wagon....

The GR86 is nearly the same dimensions as a Lotus Esprit, except 8 inches taller. The original Esprit was about same horsepower/weight ratio as the '86, too. Just missing the mid-engine aspect. It handles really well, not quite Lotus epicness; but still high on the fun quotient.

I took the'86 over to the tech school to borrow their professional skills scan tool. Bummer. State run schools don't have funding to keep scan tools current. However, the number of techs in training drooling over the car was fun. It's definitely a fast looking car. Their first questions were "have you been to the track yet?". Nobody asks that about a wagon. 

 

[boxkita]

First 3 pics are from a video I did a number of years ago. Its a bummer the drift session with the wagon wasn't in the video. Wheels are enkei pf01 17x8 with 235/40/17 bfg r1 slicks. Pf01 had cross hatching under bead which kept tire from rotating under hard acceleration/deceleration. 

rest of pics are of the enkei rpf1 18x9.5 +35 wheels saga.

The one pic of the car on the alignment rack shows the 275/30/18 Continental slicks mounted. It rolled but the body plastic popped off from the rear tires hitting while rolling. It really looked good, too bad it needed a little work on the rear trailing arm to make it actually work. I should have just done it.