Rons' Rides

[SVX]

Glad my videos actually helped you Ron.

Also, I should mention, when you say 'running rough', do you perhaps mean an inconsistent idle? If the seafoam doesn't fix it, either the IACV valve is dirty/clogged/stuck, spark plugs might need replacing or the coil packs have died. Coil packs seem to be a pretty common fault with Subarus after sitting for awhile, often if we have a Subaru that's been sitting for awhile and runs rough, 9/10 times it's been the coil packs.

By the way, these are the last two videos I was going to include in my previous post if it wasn't for the five video limit:

Spoiler

 

[Ronald6]

Alot that I was going to do to Gareth I can't now. My wife's car, Nynaeve, needs 1,400$ in repairs. We debated setting aside Nynaeve as a parts car and buying another car. That would make a total of 5 cars. But my wife decided she liked Nynaeve too much. The car has many new replacement parts and can be expected to do another 200,000 miles if we maintain her properly.

So I'm driving Gareth while my wife drives The-Car-With-No-Name. When she got to work today she texted me how surprisingly well the car drives considering we only spent 750$ on it.

When my wife found out she might need a new car the first thing she did was look for another SVX. I think she likes Gareth more than she's willing to admit.

It's a sunny day. Time to go wash Gareth.

I have some video from the Wannabe GoPro. I'll try to post it tonight if I have the time.

 

[Ronald6]

I had a good weekend. My wife had a business trip in Bend Oregon, a three and a half hour drive normally. She doesn't like driving long distances so I volunteered to drive her while my mom watches our kids.

We took 26 to 217 to I5 to 22 to 20 to 97 on Friday. Sounds like alot but the pleasant voice on my wife's phone kept saying stay straight for the most part.

There were two parts to the drive; the pass and the straight. The pass started after we exited the Portland area. It was mainly one lane with a few passing opportunities. Gareth pulled the mountain hills like it was flat and could pass anything I encountered in the passing zones. We kept the drive mild for the most part. And enjoyed the beautiful sunny day and mostly empty roads through picturesque landscapes.

The straight part of the drive was relatively brief and boring. It's mainly grasslands and desert.

We stopped at Papa Al's in Mill City for lunch. Good food and service. If you're passing through it's worth a stop.

Bend was nice enough. I've only ever driven through before. While I waited on my wife to finish her business meetings I checked out the local wrecking yards. The Bend Wrecking Yard had a very nice almost complete SVX (92 I think). I grabbed the hood struts, radio cover trim, passenger heated automatic side mirror, the passenger handle and the radiator. This wasn't a U pull it style. More like a you point we pull. Still all that for 150$ in excellent condition and I walked away very happy. If the interior had been beigh instead of gray I would have ripped the entire interior out, regardless of cost.

Saturday we took a different route back: 97 to 84 to 405 to 26.

This time we were more in a mood to get home rather than enjoy the beautiful scenery. I won't say what speed we maintained for most of the trip, but I will say that Gareth rarely went over 3000 rpms.

This route through the mountains was mostly two lanes so I rarely spent time behind other cars. When we finally hit portland and just before H84 traffic started to get heavy. At one point coming out of Woodvillage onto H84 the exit is two lanes but only the left lane was backed up. There was no one in the right lane. My wife in no uncertain terms ordered me to take the right lane. She didn't feel like waiting through three lights. So I looked, jumped over, gunned it and passed 30 or so cars in what felt like 4 seconds, rotated the car on a dime, and continued on to pass another 15 cars on the offramp, where the lead car was trying to reach 30mph before the highway where traffic was flowing freely.

The instant accelleration, up steep hills, even while already at highway speeds is addictive. It was fun and exciting to enjoy the car with my wife on a weekend getaway but I don't plan on ever doing it again with quite that much, ummm, passing.

I took my youngest son on another driving lesson today. Now that he's been on highways his confidence has improved his driving. He asked to do the triangle, but he only made it to Tillamook on H6 before his arms were too tired and he developed a headache (a little less than an an hour of "slightly curvy highways" as @Ferraridude308 said). I took over and drove 101 to Miami rd to H53 to H26 home. Another beautiful sunny day if a bit chilly. Very light traffic surprisingly.

(Edit: :forehead slap: It was @Doog who said the above quote.)

I think it says something of how comfortable the SVX is if I want to drive 3+ hours a day 3 days in a row.

I had an inexpensive Kenwood stereo installed on Thursday. I was told the rear speakers worked but the fronts were missing. So I bought a set of Memphis front speakers to then learn the rears were also Memphis. The sound is good but not great. I enjoy the engine too much too care but for long drives it's nice to turn up some Tool or Puscifer and jam. It has Bluetooth and USB so playing my music and audible books is easy. The screen has many colors but redorange blends with the interior so well both my wife and I instantly agreed that was the one.

That was long and rambling but hopefully you understood some of it.

Pics in a few days. I'll take before and after shots to show the changes the new parts make.

 

[SVX]

Good catch grabbing the radiator, $150 for all of that is a damn good haul as well. 👍

 

[Ronald6]

Thanks @SVX. When the guy at the counter told me how much it was I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. He knew how rare these cars are and knew he could get 150$ easily just for the radiator. And I would have paid it happily. I don't want this to be a car that sits in a garage for 20 years because I can't get parts for it.

After some web browsing I have confirmation that my car is in fact the highest trim model available for the SVX, the LSi. Not only that but it's equipped with the optional Touring Package.

Th stock L model came with so many cool features and gadgets that the LSi seems like overkill. But isn't a true Grand Touring car supposed to be a little over the top in luxuries?

@Ferraridude308 has a few pictures I hope he will share of an excellent condition L.

The LSi has, in addition to everything the L had:
Anti theft system with remote control locks.
(I'm missing the remote lock control.)
8 way adjustable power drivers seat, including lumbar support.
Storage tray under the passenger seat.
Beige leather instead of gray cloth.
6 speaker stereo with 6 disk CD player.
Power 2 way sunroof.
Carpeted Floor Mats (with SVX lettering).
(Also missing on my car.)
Heated power mirrors.
50/50 split rear fold down seats.

My Bodeaux Pearl paint is only available on the LSi.

The Touring Package includes:
Leather wrapped steering wheel, E-brake, and shift lever.
Speed sensitive steering wheel and windshield wipers.

The total number of SVXs produced in 1996 was 1,111. There were less than 15,000 produced in total.

I found this owners video on Utube:
Pt1:
Pt2:

I also took a picture of my Outback and a comparison pic of Gareth to show the cool window mounting. Instead of having bodywork between the windshield and side windows the SVX just has a thin piece of plastic.

I love how the side windows arc into the roofline. I'd love to do a panoramic sunroof conversion on this car.

 

[Ibonibo]

The A column is still there though? Just covered by the windshield?

Seals look good for that age 👍

But do i glance a ripped driver seat?

 

[Ronald6]

Yes, the pillar is still there. Subaru was proud of their technique for bonding the glass to the pillar and patented it.

All the stuff Subaru did for the aerodynamics of the car might sound hokey (the windshield bonded to the pillars, the glass in glass windows) but the effect is undeniable. At any reasonable highway speed there is no wind noise. None. Nada. Zilch. Everyone who rides or drives the car comments on how slow the car feels. There is no appreciable difference between 40mph and 90mph, it all feels exactly the same.

My eldest son drove it home Wednesday, from the Portland area down to just south of Eugene. I had to keep reminding him, "Son, youre doing 90," "Son, you're going 50," "Now you're back to 95 again."

If I keep my foot at the same position on the throttle the car will maintain the same speed, up hill, down hill or flat, irrelevant. But 3% of the throttle will take the car smoothly and quietly and with no apparent change from 55mph to 90+ in moments and unless I'm looking at the speedo constantly I can't tell.

Yes the drivers seat is a bit ripped. The stitching on the leather has separated. I make sure to support my weight fully with my upperbody till I'm positioned correctly until I set my weight on the seat so I don't twist the material too much. I plan on replacing/repairing it but not till after the body is cleaned up and painted. The seat is still exceptionally comfortable and after six hours of driving I want to get right back in and GO!

 

[Ronald6]

I started today just wanting to disassemble the SVXs dash and instrument cluster to see if the LEDs I bought for Aviendha will work with Gareth. Turns out removing the instrument cluster is a long and delicate process and without some help I would ruin something. So instead I did a little detailing.

Was:

Is:

I can read the buttons now. I also removed each of the lenses and cleaned the inside. Unfortunately the bulbs aren't compatible with the Legacy.

The center console is easy to remove, relatively. I don't think its been removed before. Some of the gunk looked 20 years old. I broke out the vacume and q-tips.

Before:

(Sorry for the sucky quality, I'm still learning my new phone.)

After:

So much better. My son commented on it when I picked him up from school.

I've commented before on how little the rear view shakes. I think that's partly from the nice suspension, but mostly because it's not mounted to the windshield. Another cool adition to a cool car.

 

[Ronald6]

While taking my daughter shopping a couple of days ago we were gliding down the highway with the sunroof fully open and my window down (it's currently the only one that works).

My daughter comments, "Look, Dad, a ladybug." Out of the corner of my eye I saw her point to the sunroof. There, perched on the inner edge, calmly cleaning itself, was a ladybug. I tried to take a picture but after I stopped it flew away.

When it rains, as it does frequently here in NW Oregon, it doesn't matter much to me. As long as no one infront of me is creating too much spray I can have my sunroof open and windows down. No rain will enter the car.

Does anyone else have a car that can do that?

My son will graduate from Marine boot camp sometime around July. My family has planned a trip down to San Diego and back as a family vacation. We plan on taking two cars for eight people. One of those cars is my brothers new Mercedes uber high end with all the gadgets convertible. The other car was going to be my SVX. But my mother has decided to replace her Jeep Liberty with a brand new Mercedes GLA. Because my brother works for Freightliner he was able to get her a great deal on the car. So I'll be driving the GLA down to San Diego.

My mother was so proud of her new car she was rattling off its options and features the evening before she picked it up. Because she didn't want to leave her Jeep at work I dropped her off instead.

She was stunned by my car. I accidentally sped on the highway while dropping her off. When I realized how fast I was going I slowed and apologized. Neither of us noticed I was well over 20 mph above the speed I wanted. After she picked her GLA up she kept comparing it to the SVX.

I might pick up one of those OBD2 windshield HUDs. I don't think the cops in my area would believe, "I can't tell what speed I'm going," repeatedly.

 

[Hayden]

With the top down and perched at the legal limit of 110 I've driven through very heavy rain and stayed nearly bone dry in my 300zx. A little bit hits you when the wipers are on from the side of the windshield but it's negligible. I definitely wouldn't be game to try it with the window down though, I think it'd turn into a submarine pretty quick

I got caught speeding when a dash light failed in that car a year and a half ago, I honestly thought I was doing the legal limit. Blue and red lights soon proved me very, very wrong. I was lucky to have a officer who knew me, knew that It was an honest mistake and knew that I needed my license for my job. Didn't stop him giving me a massive fine and defecting the car though

I've had a GPS with an over speed warning in the convertible ever since. My 86 has a nice big digital speedo that can't be missed and it's a feature I really appreciate. I've heard good reports on the OBD2 HUDs and for the sake of your license it sounds like it'd be a good move for you.

Glad to see the progress you're making with the SVX too, Ron. It's a pretty special car that Subaru seemed to put a lot of effort into, so it's nice to see you getting it back to it's prime

 

[Ronald6]

@Hayden I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with a problem keeping a car near the speed limit. With my Legacy I could maintain a variance of 3 MPH comfortably over long distances. With the SVX it is hard to keep the car within 15.

As I've said before Gareth will keep the same speed despite the incline as long as the driver keeps the throttle at the same position. But the accelleration is so smooth and quiet and the throttle is so... I'm not sure how to describe the throttle. It's like the steering, and everything else about the car: smooth. The steering wheel and throttle don't push against the driver the way other cars do. It takes almost no pressure to move either.

I'd love to take a ride in a convertible with the top down in the rain. Just thinking about it puts a smile on my face.

Edit: anyone else hearing rumors of a 2015/16 hybrid SVX?

 

[Ronald6]

Rallycross starts this coming Sunday. Because Aviendha isn't any closer to being drivable than it was after the crash I'm going to have to use Bacon.

(For those that don't understand my name choice consider one of the families that lives near me. They have several pigs. Two have names like Jim and Bonny, the others are called Chop, Bacon, and Rib. Because the car was originally not going to be driven, just used for parts it didn't seem right to name him Jim or Bonny. 'K?)

Last Friday I took what paperwork I had to the Or DMV and was turned away because the previous owner didn't complete the paperwork correctly. On Monday he apologized and corrected the error (I also got an inspection report that the owner had Accolade Auto do the day before he sold it to me). Minutes later I was at the DMV. Under an hour later I had my new Tags in hand.

So yeah! I have a working and legal car.

Today I decided to tackle the mechanical issues now that the biggest issue is out of the way. If the car isn't legal then I can't Rallycross it. I started by running another diagnostic using the Torque app. I got something about a Gas exhaust code. The car was loping and running rough, like only three of the four cylinders were hitting.

Looking back at @SVXs first post on this page I thought the culprit was probably the coil packs. The sparkplug wires look brand new and from the inspection report I got yesterday I know the sparkplugs are also new.

I looked at the airfilter and it was a little dirty so I exchanged it for Aviendhas. While doing that I noticed that the air filter housing was cracked and the pieces were misaligned. I put them back together and took the car into town to get a new coil pack. While I was in the parkinglot I cleared the code using Torque, but after a minute of waiting the engine icon didn't disappear. So I went inside and asked about the coil packs. Answer: 98$ minimum. No thanks. I left to go to the wrecking yard for a used one and a minute down the road the engine icon went away and the car noticeably improved in power and smoothness. The engine stopped loping.

I went home and spent two hours switching the tyres and wheels on Aviendha for Bacons, one tyre at a time. PITA.

Then I took it up the hill for a little enthusiastic fun. I miss driving on gravel. The car is so much better than it was and much more powerful then Aviendha (but not a lick on Gareth). Throttle steering is so much easier.

On Thursday Accolade will install the skidplate and bleed the brakes for me.

Rallycross here I come!

 

[Ronald6]

Update on the first Rallycross of the season later. Right now I'm replacing the Intake Manifold on my Outback 'Bacon'.

What's the best way to clean these:

.

 

[Ibonibo]

A wooden or plastic scraper and a good solvant/thinner & some q-tips and a rag should get you quite far.
Just be sure it doesn't attack the materials of the intake/engine (aluminium, iron, plastics,...)
I think there are special products to clean the carbon that is especially made for engines

Scrap as much off as you can
For harder parts, steel wool/ brush
The rest with the thinner/solvant.

You could also take a dremel, and polish it all while you at it

 

[Ronald6]

Because it's an aluminum engine I'm going to avoid anything that can scrape or damage the surface. I have plastic razor blades (who knew?) and gasket remover for the old gaskets (first pic). Plugging the holes with old rags to stop debris from falling in should be sufficient I hope.

I'm using carburetor cleaner, paper towels and q-tips on the throttle body (second pic).

What I'm unsure of is how to clean the gunk from the holes in the first pic without it damaging the rest of the engine. Carburetor cleaner and paper towels?

 

[Ibonibo]

Yes, I think that is safe 👍 Good thinking with the carb cleaner

 

[Ronald6]

Gee, I wonder why the car ran rough.
(PCV valve)

(No idea what this is for)

I'm done for the day.

Update on the Rallycross:
There were about twice as many competitors as I saw last year.

Usually we start around 9:90-10:00. Lunch at noon and then the second field runs till 3-4ish. This time we didn't lunch till 2:00. Ouch.

My father and both my sons were able to make it. My oldest boy will be in Marine boot in a couple of days and this was the best way I could think of to spend time with him and send him off. Both my boys did a ride along with me, both got to ride with my friend GG in his Prepared Class Impreza, both got a ride in the Mutant and my youngest got to ride in the Anarchy and Talon cars. Both agreed I was the smoothest driver by far (brown-nosers).

It was just as muddy as lasy year. Large sections where many cars DNF'd. We brought Bacon and Nynaeve just in case. And I made sure to bring my snow tyres on the alloy wheels along with the hydrologic jack.

To find out the wheels won't fit over my brakes. @$#!&%!

So just like last year I'm running a completely stock car on stock tyres through mud pits. Joy. In a car that had half it's horsepower if I'm lucky.

I still got 5th out of 15th for my class. Beating all Evos, WRXs and STIs.

My sons and dad had a great time, I enjoyed it but came away disappointed. Next month I'll be prepared. I'm fixing (hopefully) the engine problem and will have the tyres switched over by then.

Only half the fun is driving at the events. The other half, even for me, is the people. You have to experience how friendly and welcoming they all are to believe it.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

So just like last year I'm running a completely stock car on stock tyres through mud pits. Joy. In a car that had half it's horsepower if I'm lucky.

I still got 5th out of 15th for my class. Beating all Evos, WRXs and STIs.

My sons and dad had a great time, I enjoyed it but came away disappointed. Next month I'll be prepared. I'm fixing (hopefully) the engine problem and will have the tyres switched over by then.

Only half the fun is driving at the events. The other half, even for me, is the people. You have to experience how friendly and welcoming they all are to believe it.

Congrats on beating the evos, wrx, and stis. That's quite an accomplishment. Those tend to dominate at rally events. Also so glad you had a great time with the family.

 

[Ronald6]

I forgot to post these pics.

A big thank you to the professional photographers who risk their own safety and health to capture these great pictures.

Kevin Bacon looks so beautiful.

Because Rallycross.

Good times. Even better people.

I'm so lucky and grateful to be apart of the ORG.

 

[Ronald6]

Everyone I talked to for advice about switching the Intake Manifold in my Outback was correct: it was much easier installing the new one one than taking the old one off.

It only took me 4 days from the time I dropped my kids off at school till the sun set but I finally got it all cleaned up and put back together. During the install I had one hose I couldn't locate till I found it in my picture diary of the removal. I'm so glad I took all the pics I did or I would have been lost on the install.

First try and he turned over with only a few seconds of rough high idling and then he was smooth and quiet. I set up the Bluetooth Torque app and took Kevin for a ride up the hill. I fully expected to spend a day or two finding out why the car wouldn't start so I was amazed at how readily he started up and how well he ran with no diagnostics needed.

I can't wait for next month's Rallycross. All I have to do now is change the tyres and wheels over and I'm ready to kick ass.

 

[Ibonibo]

Pictures are so handy in dissasembling/ assembling process. 15 Years ago... when smartphone and digital wasn't standard

Good work on bacon. 👍

 

[Ronald6]

After I saw how gunked up Bacons engine was when I changed his Intake Manifold I ran a couple of cans of Seafoam through his gas and I have noticed a slight improvement in his performance. However... his fine control on the throttle is fine, but past about half the pedal I got no more responce from him. So I took him up the hill again with the Torque app hooked up and tried to see what the problem was. It wasn't till I hit the highway that I discovered the problem. Pulling onto the highway from a dead stop with WOT the Torque app showed that my throttle position was only 67%. :facepalm:

I fiddled with the throttle cables that I messed with while replacing the Intake Manifold. Voila. Now the car will rev to 6000rpms with WOT and showes 96% on the torque app. I could adjust it to 100%, but I won't.

I'm still getting an occasional "gas recirculation blah blah" error code and "cylinder 1 missfire detected" so I still have some work to do but now I have POWERRRRRR when I put my go foot down so I'm at least making progress.

Here are some pics from up the hill yesterday.

They were still laying fresh gravel farther back. It made for nerve-wracking driving. I could only drive half as fast as I could've in Aviendha. The back end of Bacon is much more inclined to oversteer.

If you think that's green you should have seen it in person. It had rained a little before I went driving, just enough to clear the air and dampen the ground. I'm so glad I live where I do. The smell was as good as the view.

 

[SVX]

That cylinder one misfire could very possibly be a coil pack issue... clogged injectors is also a suspect and free to do, but just time consuming.

 

[Ronald6]

I wasn't able to attend the SVX Reading meet but I downloaded this pic from the SVX world network. I wish I could have made it.

@SVX

 

[Ronald6]

I bit the bullet today and bought a new ignition coil pack for Bacon. When I ordered the part I was quoted 140$, but when I picked it up it turned out to only be 101$.

The car is running much smoother, but I'll have to wait and see if my milage improves.

Thanks for the suggestion @SVX. You mentioned the coil pack a couple of times but I was hoping I could solve the problem without replacing it.

I will probably still clean the injectors. I can only imagine how dirty they are considering how the part of the engine I saw looked. Now... where are they? I'll find out after work tonight on SLi.net, hopefully.

 

[Ronald6]

My youngest son and I spent a few hours detailing Bacon today.

The previous owner obviously owned a dog. This is what I pulled out of the center coin holder. Some of the parts don't fit together as well as they used to because the grime bent the plastic after so many years without any attempt at cleaning.

I also put new seat covers in, with my "aftermarket" seat bosters double sided taped in place. They are gray and black. I plan on changing out the door cards soon using Aviendha as the basis.

I'm also thinking of doing a spray can / camo paint job in gray, dark gray and black. Thoughts?

 

[Davis]

You'll probably gain a few tenths on the rally circuit without all of that grime in there.

 

[Ronald6]

You'll probably gain a few tenths on the rally circuit without all of that grime in there.

When I vacuum it out tomorrow I expect to trim another ten pounds. I'll take every tenth I can get. Last year during the last day of Rx, IIRC, I beat second place by less than a tenth for all four runs totalled.

 

[Doog]

When I vacuum it out tomorrow I expect to trim another ten pounds. I'll take every tenth I can get. Last year during the last day of Rx, IIRC, I beat second place by less than a tenth for all four runs totalled.

Skip breakfast and you'll double your gains. 👍

 

[ildd]

Always nice to see a clean interior amazing stuff you might find.
I tried your suggestion of the double sided tape on the floor mat today, by the way. Unfortunately it didn't really work.