Rons' Rides

[Ronald6]

@Thatman : my stereo was tuned to the radio. It was scrolling some bands name. Bad timing.

@Doog: whats wrong with 322,000 miles? When we got it it had about 200,000. That was about three years ago. My wife drives alot for her job.

I've only had Aviendha for two or three weeks now and I've already put over 4000 miles on her. Please remember that I live fairly far out in the country. A trip to the local grocery store is 30+ minutes each way. I give myself an hour to get to work each day. When you spend this much time in a car you had better like the car.

I know alot of people who drive Subarus in my area. It seems like its the unofficial car of Oregon. I know a family of 8 who are all on their third Subaru. None of them would ever get anything else. Subarus are known to keep going long after other cars would have given up. And their inexpensive to maintain while being safe in our worst weather.

I have every expectation that Nynaeve will last to 700,000 miles. I'm not so sure about Aviendha, the throttle response makes driving her calmly difficult to say the least.

 

[Doog]

@Doog: whats wrong with 322,000 miles?

Nothing; I'm just impressed.

 

[Ronald6]

Nothing; I'm just impressed.

Thanks.

Never underestimate a well maintained car.

 

[Ronald6]

I had a fantastic time at a local SCCA Rally Cross event yesterday.





There were alot of people there (I didn't count but upwards of 50+). I was the only noob. Everyone else had dedicated mud tyres, I was on my street tyres.

There were a few "trailer cars" (as I think of them) that were far too modified to be street legal.

I was slow but not the slowest in my class (stock amateur, I think) but I was way off the best times. I didnt get a single DNF which some people there found impressive. Almost every 2WD (all of which had mud tyres) got bogged down and had to be pulled out by the assist vehicle/team at some point. Some of the 2wd cars decided not to compete after the first run.

It was probably the best time I've ever had, but I doubt I'll be using Aviendha for it again. She held up very well for the conditions but she did come away with one battle wound.

In the back half of the course was a deep long wide mud pit. Somewhere in it I bottomed out, hard, and my front drivers side tyre ripped the wheel well housing right off. It should be an easy fix for my local body guy. I'll have him put on the mud flaps while he's at it.

(Edit: a competator/track runner brought me the piece after the fourth run. Him, "I think you dropped this." Me, " I dont think so, nothing looks missing." I check the car, oh s**t. Me, "yep, that's mine." I'll post a pic of the piece, I can't believe something that big can fall of my car without me knowing.)

Everyone at the event was perfectly friendly and helpful. I found answers to questions I didn't even know to ask, and parts and offer for parts from parting vehicles. I'm not going to compete next month but I plan on returning to help out and hang out.

A couple of competators with similar cars agreed to let me snap a couple of shots at the end of the day. The car with the red and white hood got first in class, the other did better than me.

Once I got on the road I felt ok about the vehicle, it didnt have any problems, vibrations or noises. Then I hit the highway and at 50+ the car stsrted to shake badly. I pulled over quickly and cleaned out the wheels in a parkinglot with the help from one of my my wife's co-workers. I checked to see it the car had a jack when I bought it, but I didn't check for a lug nut wrench. :facepalm: 20lbs of mud later (slight exaggeration, but not by much) and I was on the highway with a beautifully running car. That has mud on it's roof, and not from other cars. Just ******* awsome.

As she is today:

The inside was very dusty but cleaned up in only a few moments with a microfiber cloth. Clean and beautiful on the inside, dirty and beautiful on the outside.

One competator thought my license plate was custom: Gran Touring Wagon. Nope. Just a happy coincidence.

Happy motoring.

Edit:
I almost forgot one of my favorite pics of the day. I wish I had taken more pictures but there were several amateur photographers there who will post their pick at OregonRally.com.

 

[CarBastard]

It's amazing how many miles that car has got! The power of proper manteinance indeed!

Nice work on the rally cross event, I actually envy you for having that much fun . As far as I'm aware of, a noob does a pretty good work if he is able to finish all stages and not stuff his car. That alone is an accomplishment !

 

[Ronald6]

Thanks @CarBastard. Much appreciated.

All that fun for only gas $ and 35$ for registration and SCCA membership. It blows my mind how cheap it is. One lady had a '8? Subaru that she bought for 100$ and she was kickin *** in it.

Edit:
To remind myself and for noobs: bring water! A jacket and some form of protein pack would be a good idea. Sunscrean is a must.

I'm burned and dehydrated, but I can't stop smiling.

 

[Ronald6]

I was scanning the threads on SL-I.net and loved how some people had painted some of their interiors for a two tone look. A few minutes of searching and I discovered that its as simple as a 6$ car of spray paint from my local NAPA store.

Zzzzzt, zzzzzt, bink! pop! Grunt, snap, "@$#&!," tug, tug some more,
then, clean, clean, clean.

Its amazingly easy to take apart the center console and vents. It also helps to have small hands and wrists.

Was: (from a couple of weeks ago)

In between:

End product:

Comments? Likes, dislikes? I'm interested in y'all's criticism.

 

[ildd]

It may just be me but none of the pics loaded

 

[Ronald6]

My phone doesn't like to post, .

Fixed.

The yellow plug that attaches opposite the defrost and cruise control attaches to a blank piece where a switch could be placed. Any ideas what it's for?

 

[Hayden]

I don't know man, when it comes to interiors I think black is nearly always the best bet. The blue isn't really my kinda thing but it's good to see you fiddling with the car and making it your own.

 

[ildd]

I kind of agree with the above. I kind of like it, but at the same time it's not something I would do. I think it would look better if the dash part was still black.

 

[Ronald6]

Thanks for the comments. Perhaps it will be better received when I get the door cards/panels done in a matching blue fabric, possibly the carpet or seats (but not both).

After reading @homeforsummer s post about covering the armrest console in the same fabric instead of painting it I loved the idea.

After seeing the finished product my wife got a rare moment of excitement over the car and offered to do the fabric work. Boo'ya!

I also plan on obtaining a used instrument cluster and giving it a rework: paint the needles with glow-in-the-dark paint, paint the black face the same blue as above, remove the ugle green film and replace with white for the lit portions of the cluster. I might replace the stock bulbs with LEDs.

If I don't end up liking the painted two tone look it will be easy to repaint or even easier to just keep the painted pieces and switch out for U-pull-it replacements.

The red threading on my shift knob needs to go. Red just does not fit.

Edit:
I also plan on covering the ugly cup holder up and putting a custom cup holder mounted next to the shift lever on the passenger side, bolted to the console. I'm getting very annoid with not having a cup holder (My wife has made it clear what she will do to me in my sleep if I take the cup holder from Nynaeve (her car)).

Edit 2:
A quick scan through SL-i.net and a pic of my vehicle plate garnered the following information:
Legacy / Outback
2nd generation Wagon (flat top)
2.2L AWD
1999 (US only)
LHD for US/Canada/Tiawan from SIA
Brighton
DOHC NA 5MT

What I thought was a stock automatic swapped for a manual transmission is in fact stock on my car. Without a tachometer. The "Brighton" was aparently a no frills edition with the least amount of options (or bare necessities) available.

The idea of a stock manual transmission without a tachometer blows my mind. Still no OBD2 Bluetooth device in the mail today. I'll call Tmart tomorrow if it's not in my mailbox before I go to work. I have high hopes for the little device. And the an... tici... pation is making me anxious.

It should be easy and safe to remove the front seats tomorrow so I can clean the carpet easier and more completely, right? Just a couple of bolts per rail and they thould pop right out. That's my hope. We'll see how it goes.

 

[Thatman]

Yeah, imo, stock colors on the interior are where it was at. But hey, its your car. And yes the Brighton was the bare bones version. But it was also the lightest. And yeah, four bolts and the seatbelt bolt will take care of that seat.

 

[Ronald6]

Thanks @Thatman, good to know. 👍

Yeah, the more I look at I the more I dislike it. I wanted a much darker blue. I'll repaint it in a few days after the paint cures fully. The color I want should be a subtle difference from the stock black.

Edit:
Lightest? Good to know. I was thinking of trimming some of the rear trim and and unneeded parts for better weight. My gas milage is horrible (compared to my wife's car) and anything I can due to improve it would be welcome.

 

[Ronald6]

I didnt get to the carpet and removing the seats today. Instead I continued with the interior color scheme. Following a simple DIY guide from SL-i.net I removed my instrument cluster and painted the face and shroud. I did it more for the experience of removing and disassembling the cluster than for the painting. It should be a breeze replacing the lights on the cluster.

Before:

During:
Just a few screws, 4 (errr, 6) electrical connectors, and alot of patience so nothing gets scratcher or broken.
What is that yellow connector for? It goes to a false switch.

Safe so far, not a scratch on the dash or cluster.

Easily disassembled and cleaned.

After:

Even in the daylight (albeit typical Oregon overcast skies) the dash lights are much brighter and more distinct.

 

[ildd]

Should have rolled back the odometer a 100 Grand or 2

 

[Ronald6]

Should have rolled back the odometer a 100 Grand or 2

There's no resale value for a Subi legacy that's not broken in. Who'd want one with only 80,000 miles on it? They'd have to baby it for another 50,000.


This came in the mail today:

Yeah! Now I know when I'm about to blow the engine.

Seriously though its very cool. Less than 12$ and so much information. I don't even know what some of these numbers mean: engine load? MAF (I know what it is, but what is the number telling me)?

A direct readout of the engine temp (87*) is cool. As is the throttle position (usually 6 - 8%). But knowing what RPM "rrrr," "rrrrrr," and "rrrrrrRR" is is worth the price all on it's own.

I only had time to play with it on my way to work. Should help when I understand it more. 👍

 

[Ronald6]

I've scoured the internet as best I know how but I can't find data on what numbers my car should be running with this OBD2 device. Anyone have info on what I should be seeing?

 

[Thatman]

I've scoured the internet as best I know how but I can't find data on what numbers my car should be running with this OBD2 device. Anyone have info on what I should be seeing?

What numbers do you want to know?

 

[Ronald6]

This is a screenshot of the Torque app I was using on my way home from work tonight.

I would like to know what the "normal" operating ranges are for:
MAF
Engine Load
Intake (air) pressure
Intake air temperature
Engine coolent temperature
Engine timer
Fuel pressure
Fuel trim sensor 1 1
Fuel trim sensor 1 2
O2 sensor 1 1
O2 sensor 1 2

And what RPM redline is (I think it's 6500, but some confirmation would be nice).

I was surprised at how low the engine revs at normal highway speeds. As shown above at 62.1mph (just before I exited the highway onto my road) Aviendha was running at 2,675 rpms. And virtually silent both inside and ouside the car.

I was also surprised at how easy it was to increase my MPG from going to works (apx) 26 mpg to 32.4 returning. Drafting and coasting sometimes provided a momentary MPG of over 180.

I plan on purchasing the full version of Torque in the morning. Of the apps I've tried, about 10, it was the most customizable and updated the quickest while also being the most error free. Except on my tablet, but it's over 2 years old and infested with several viruses.

I feel like a kid at Christmas.

Edit:
After watching me play with the Torque app my wife asked for pics of in dash tablet type displays. She asked me to call around to see how much it would cost, but I had to leave for work instead.

I'm sure I could aquire a small tablet for little cash. But there's no way I could program it correctly and I can't install it in the car without frying everything connected to the battery, possibly including myself.

 

[Katiegan]

What is that yellow connector for? It goes to a false switch.
View attachment 142907

I'd say that's probably the connector for your missing rev counter.

I personally think the two-tone dash looks pretty cool, but I think it'd look even better being painted the same blue as the car. Otherwise, neat looking Legacy! 👍

 

[Ronald6]

Thanks @Katiegan, I do plan on repainting the dash in a few weeks. I'm going to go with a much darker blue, but if I can find a paint to match my Deep Sapphire Pearl exterior paint (thank you SL-i.net) I'm going to jump on it.

The yellow connector is most definitely not to the tachometer. It is connected to a blank/false switch opposite the RW defogger and the Cruise control buttons. Its definitely for a switch, not a dial or readout. And I'm sure its stock, not some aftermarker hack job on the electrical.

... which reminds me, I need to fix the cruise control.

 

[Ronald6]

I found a new road. A gas attendant at Tillamook suggested a road called, IIRC, Cedar Butte. It scared my son doing it at night. It's a single lane logging road covered by mud slides, tree branches and large rocks. Good fun. He wants to do it again in daylight so we can actually see how far down the cliff edge is.

I also repainted my dash... twice.
Before:

Middle: Ack!

It was darker but came out of the can in splotches and spots. It took me another six hours of sanding (so many little nooks!) but I got it back to unblemished again.

After

It only takes me 15 minutes to completely remove all the pieces I painted. 40 minutes to put it all back together. The new color is much darker but with a metalic sheen.

I ordered a set of seat covers and a matching steering wheel cover. Black with dark blue. Should arive tomorrow or friday.

I ordered and have already recieved a center consol mounted cup holder, but it won't fit. Yeah for full warranties. Better luck next time.

 

[Davis]

Dark blue looks a whole lot better than the bright blue. Classy. 👍

 

[Ronald6]

Thanks @Ferraridude308, the more I look at it the more I like it. 👍 As my wife pointed out all those pieces need a layer of clear coat. :sigh: 15 + 40 minutes. Again. I think I'll wait to do this when I have a dremel tool and LED lights for the instrument cluster.

The two tone interior now matches the exterior as well as I can get it without costly color matching.

In between heavy rain showers and bright clear skies I was able to wash Aviendha and snap some pics.

The apple blossoms smell wonderful and look good. I snapped this pic in the middle of a reverse gust of wind. It's probably my favorite pic of her. I wish the hub caps hadn't been damaged in delivery. She could definitely use some wheel covers. She doesn't even look like she AutoXed a couple of weeks ago. I need to give her another wash next week and wax. And talk to my body guy about rust removal, repair and protection. Especially on the underside.

So much to do, so little $$$. I should go to school again. I've been thinking of a mechanics school. Any ideas?

 

[Thatman]

Yeah, darker blue is def better.

Also all these numbers are from memory and its been a year. lol.

Probably better off going to NASIOC.com

Engine Load-that should be around 20% when driving i think.
Engine coolant temperature 180 degrees no more than 212 or so on a hot day.Engine timer
Fuel pressure- I run about 40 on the 7
That's all I "remember"
And if you do the mechanic thing, You sometimes need to move for that.

 

[Ronald6]

Thanks @Thatman, those numbers look alot like what I'm seeing.
I think you missed something with engine timer.

Edit: No way in He!! I'm moving.

 

[Thatman]

Yes I was tired. Good to hear.

 

[Ronald6]

Before:

After:

Drastic change. Much cleaner. I was worried the steering wheel cover would be too slick but it was comfortable, even on H53. I'm sure as I break it in it will be even less slick.

Another beautiful Oregon day. At the end of H53:

 

[Ronald6]

H53, if this doesn't make you smile, I don't understand you: