Zyla's 1993 Subaru Legacy - "Mandy" - Mandy's Last Days

[eiriksmil]

Here's a question: Should I rebuild and turbo the stock engine, or swap in a 2.5RS engine? The 2.5RS is turbo'd right? I like boost, but I hear it gets expensive.

If you have any ideas that I left out (which there are a lot, I just tried to tackle the important bits), please let me know.

Swap.. There is no such thing as turboing a NA engine on the cheap and expect it to be reliable.. HGs and conrods don't like boost.. Especially not if the internals aren't built for it in the first place.

I'd start off with the manual swap, then coilovers, wheels, exhaust if you must, wheel and possibly seats.. Seating position and steering wheel are the two most noticeable ways to make your car more enjoyable other than wheels/suspension hardware. Just here we're easily into $2k+ if you're not a master negotiator or parts finder.. Then do the engine and what not.. You got most of it covered

 

[SVX]

2.5RS is non turbo AFAIK. Same engine in MrMel's Impreza IIRC...

 

[motortrend]

I would personally go for all restoration (upgrades where possible) first and then start on the fun mods, but that's your choice.

 

[WrxScooby]

Welcome to the family. I would work on getting the car fully functional all the way around before I would start modifying. From what I have read your transmission is going fast so I would start looking for transmissions quick. Check all the forums if your looking used. Call around to local car yards. I wouldnt even think about swaps right now. A engine rebuild and reinforcement if possible would be a great idea with a new transmission. Allows you to push what you got comfortably, and won't cost a fortune especially if you do it yourself.

Once I went fully over the vehicle so you know there are no major failures on the brink of occurring. Start adding things. It's on you what to upgrade but keep your power to handling in mind. It's easy to chase power but you gotta be able to contain it so balance is crucial for me.

I have always wanted to take a vehicle like that and just make it tough so you can really beat it up and have fun. Without huge cost and upkeep.

IMO turbo'ing and swapping motors is fairly advanced and will require custom tuning and lots of supporting mods and when changing years of parts it can get some what complex as well. So I would start slow by getting used to what you already got and learning it inside out. Take your time and enjoy it.

Good luck in your vehicular ventures and I'm always available for questions if you would like to ask.

 

[Davis]

*useful stuff*

I think he's somewhere on naisoc now.

 

[Zyla]

I'm baaack. To be honest, I never actually left. I was called to visit some relatives in Montana after one was diagnosed with having a tumor. Sad day. I've been a bit stressed over certain things lately (sorry if I've come off as an ass to anyone), and the silly goodbye note was just my way of dealing with the news, but it... didn't go as planned, cause I forgot to lock the conversation. lol

Either way, the relative we went to see is doing okay as of now, and I have some more news on the car.

inb4 I get judged for doing this.
I have finally removed my roof rack. Took a lot of hammering and grinding to get off because whatever held the screws in had broken off on all four of the screws, so the screws were just spinning in place and not coming out. I had to improvise and attempt to cut off the screw heads. Eventually my dad just started ripping at the roof rack itself and it eventually pulled out of the roof. (There's one way to do it!) I was a little bugged, but at the same time, I knew there would be holes in the roof anyway, so I just shrugged it off.

And after I took off the rails in the center:

Mandy needed some band-aids after the operation:

Then it was a quick trip to the car wash to give the car a rinse.

Took this artsy picture while I was washing the car. I love the way it turned out. Since it was sunset when I went, the sun was shining through and the mist lit up the entire area around Mandy. This picture has only been slightly darkened and sepia'd.

 

[Zyla]

Until I finally get a DSLR, the pesky iPhone pictures I upload will be somewhat... mediocre. The editing I attempt is never much to write home about, but it adds a little life to the dullness of the original shot. They look okay, I guess, but it's nothing compared to the quality @Ferraridude308 provides.

A little over-edited methinks.

Personal favorite.

Mandy! You can't just show off your rust on a public forum!

 

[Katiegan]

Ooh, that rust is looking pretty bad! Mandy would definitely fail an MOT over here with that.

Nice pictures though. 👍

 

[Slash]

That rust is bad but that ain't nothing like New York rust.


I'm battling this ATM.

 

[ITCC_Andrew]

@Joey D has a point, really... Snokhana was a lot of fun...


Take it from someone else who wants to build a stage rally car, you'll want to start with rallycross.


I was one of the better drivers at Snokhana, and I still went sideways through 10 pylons.

Others got off far worse - one broke the rim he was driving home on, lost the wheel on the way home... Got stuck on the side of a highway.

Another ripped his front bumper and grille off.


Learn car control first, then build super awesome caged rally car. My own plans still also involve the same, but it comes with time and practice and money.
...

That said, though... I'm now subscribed and still wish you the best of luck.


Before you start, though, a few pieces of Subaru tuning/building/maintenance advice:


1: head gaskets must be changed on your EJ251. Not optional. Doesn't matter which engine you put in, head gaskets are a PITA with our beloved cars.

2: uneven length headers sound amazing and work on turbo cars, but your average N/A Impreza will get 30+ hp from even length headers.

3: if you're on tarmac, you need a rear anti-roll bar and mount kit above all else.

4: if you're on snow, take #3 and undo it. Same for gravel.

5: OEM suspension can handle rallycross, but not rally. Tarmac coilovers can't handle rallycross. Rally coilovers can handle all of the above.

6: lights are fun. Do them. Seeing where you're going can account for a huge difference between fast and slow.

7: Group N engine/transmission mounts are your best friend. They always work in your favour.

 

[Zyla]

@ITCC_Andrew

Thanks for all of that awesome info, and I'm glad you subscribed!

About the head gaskets... I actually want to leave the stock engine and keep it NA after I get it rebuilt. Will it still need head gaskets constantly?

The equal length headers are definitely what I had in mind. Colin McRae's Legacy rally car had them on it, and they made it sound incredible, in my opinion.

I found KSport coilovers a while back. Not sure if they're rally spec, could they handle it? If not, where could I find some? I already had all of the handling parts in mind, I just needed someone to specify which parts would be best or needed for rallying.

Lights are fun? Are you referring to something I mentioned earlier? Or are you saying that getting new lights is a good idea? I was actually considering getting a light pod for night driving. There's a perfect road in the canyon here for that.

Any way you could link me the engine mounts and such? That'd be awesome. I'm glad you're so interested in helping me out with this. Your experience/tips will come in handy!

 

[ITCC_Andrew]

Yeah, I can look up some stuff for you later.


When I say the head gaskets are a weak spot/PITA, I'm talking about how their life span is sometimes unpredictable. Usually, a new had gasket is good for 100,000-300,000 km... So, if your car is going for a rebuild anyways, just slap on some Cometic or Cosworth gaskets and be happy!


The light pod is what I was referring to. They're easy to wire up, (although I don't know about mounting) and the illumination is incredible.


The engine and transmission mounts, I'll get you a link after work.


If/when you get rally car mudflaps, the aptly named "RallyArmor" mudflaps look and perform great, and are easy to mount. On my car, they stopped 90% of audible rock-slinging-into-door occurrences. Trust me, though, they'll still happen occasionally. that is why we don't buy 2015 STi for rallying...


Anyways, the best way to stay at an inexpensive budget is to avoid some of the things I did - I bought too much cosmetic stuff like bumper spats, hood scoops and such. In the end, I like how my car looks now, but I've yet to get many performance parts..

Just tires and a roll bar and mount kit.

 

[ITCC_Andrew]

I took the opportunity to read through the thread...


You are going through the same kind of crap I did about a swap into a wagon... I find it exceedingly funny that people underestimate the wagon. The wagons can be equally fast OR faster than N/A sedans... And Mustangs (once, with one rear tire on sheet ice I scared the guy)... And Audi S4, and... Everything.


The wagons are surprisingly fast on gravel and snow. The automatics do suck, I won't argue that. There's not much power, but that doesn't matter in rallycross - you will never be full-throttle because even 170-180 hp (okay, mine is lightly modded,) is too much for your average $60 snow tires. I almost won Snokhana 2014... 8th fastest car, 8th fastest wagon... Beat several Audi, 10-20 STis, and 10-20 WRXs.


To the people underestimating wagon power: wagons are for people who are fast enough to surprise people by not buying some turbocharged 4 door. But, oh wait, the wagon is smaller and has a better center of gravity (no sunroof) because the roof panels are actually not very heavy unless they have the sunroof.


And, regarding the transmission choice, the 6th gear is more of an overdrive on anything without a turbo than an actual speed gear. However, if you put a turbo or supercharger on, the 5MT can only handle 280 hp reliably. Camaro guy mentioned earlier, they can handle 300 hp. Well, it's not worth risking it in my opinion.


But, don't forget your PCV valves. I guarantee they have never been changed and need to be. They save you money within a week or two after biting the bullet and spending the incredible $12 the Suby dealers charge for them. I'm sure someone in your family knows where they are - and you could totally tell me... the forums argue about where they are all the time!


And:



That's the difference. If @eiriksmil wants to blabber wrongly about structural rigidity (which may be a problem for your generation of Legacy; please don't be offended, I'm just being honest) then joining the transmission together into the frame will make it better.

I've heard that the GC8 Impreza - even with a roll cage - is less structurally rigid than the GG/GD chassis without a roll cage. I heard that from several rally tuning shops... And I've seen the frames for myself, too...

Engine mounts help too.

Another thing worth looking into, if you're looking for bushings - roll bar bushings - are an inexpensive way to reduce wagon roll... They won't make it go away, but they'll make the roll bar take effect sooner. For these, Whiteline is the best on the market... Straight from the land of your friend UrieHusky... I have the bushings on my car... With the bar and mounts. Best. Money. Ever. Spent. Ever.

And, before I go into too much of how to make power, you want this car to be street legal, right?

 

[Zyla]

@ITCC_Andrew

Again, thanks for all the help.

Let me just cover my basic goals so you know what I'm shooting for. You already read that I wish to swap in the 5-speed. Not planning on having over 250hp, so the trans should be fine. Leaving the engine non-turbo, and wanting to eventually have a roll cage, plus other mods for handling and performance. In short, I want something that is as close to a rally car as I can get while still being street-legal.

 

[Zyla]

My left turn signal has been blinking at twice the speed since I bought the car, so I went in search of the burnt bulb. Turned out, none of the turn signals, nor headlights/tail lights were out. So I started inspecting the car more closely, and noticed that the front-left signal bulb was much dimmer than the right side. Used that as my reason, and headed off to AutoZone to buy two new front bulbs for both the headlights, and the turn signals.

Before putting in the new headlight bulbs, I took the time to clean what I could off of the lens.

Made a noticeable difference, but I feel like they could still be a bit cleaner. They might just be a very hazy-looking kind of lens.

I'm still paranoid about barely touching the bulb, so I'm gonna try to not drive at night until I can wipe the bulbs off with some rubbing alcohol. As of now, only the driver's side is completed, and the turn signal still blinks fast.
The headlight only appears to be a tad brighter, but at least it doesn't have a big swell on the side of the bulb like the old one.

---

In other news, I went on a short drive today just to get out of the house, and move Mandy for the first time all weekend. Found myself taking some shots of the car and experimenting with various filters on a photo editor.

I give it a 7/10.

I'd like this one a lot more if it weren't so darn grainy.

Same with this one.

I love how smooth this one looks.

Grainyyy.

This one turned out the best, I think.

 

[ITCC_Andrew]

Sounds like a corroded signal wire. :/

 

[Ameer67]

Some edited pics of Mandy. (Nobody likes grainy photos!)

 

[Zyla]

Lovely. I've had my transmission's condition officially confirmed by a transmission shop as: ruined. I was at least expecting it to just need a torque converter replacement. They claim that it's totally done for. Not super surprised, but not too happy about it either. Guess that means the fund for a manual transmission just got opened. That should be fun, and totally worth it.

Aside from the bad news, I do have something more exciting and fun to read about. This past Wednesday, I went into work only to find out that my shift had been covered by another employee, which meant I got to go home. Thing is, I didn't go straight home. Let's just say I took the long way through a canyon.

I've been there before in Suzi and Lana, and Mandy will be revisiting countless times. Little Cottonwood. Not to be confused with Big Cottonwood, which @Ferraridude308 prefers (and that I've yet to visit). Don't get me wrong; I was expecting my poor transmission to struggle like none other on the way up that mountain. To my surprise, it pulled right on up and hardly even lagged as much as I expected. Before I knew it, I was past the point where I had set in my mind to turn around, and arrived at the ski resorts. After that, I started getting a little bugged by all the random boy scouts running in the road, and once I saw a toll booth, I flipped a U-ey and was on my way back down.

Due to the fact that I was busy focusing on the progression and performance of the car, I didn't get to gaze at the scenery very much until I turned around. This is where the visuals come in.

Shoutout to my big thumb for accidentally sliding it to "square" in the camera app without me realizing it.

And a little video as well.



---

Current status: Mandy is sitting gloomily in our garage at the moment after spending 7 hours trying to figure out how to put on the new AC belt. First I couldn't figure out how to move the compressor over, then I realized the store gave me the wrong belt. So I went back to get the correct one (which was technically free, because they dropped the price to what the refund would have been), then went back home and realized the compressor didn't need to be moved. So I put that back, and the belt wasn't taut at all. Turns out the last owner didn't even have a belt tensioner on the car for the AC belt, so I ended up buying one. I'll also be needing to buy an alternator mount bolt, as the one that was on it literally twisted in half yesterday before I even got it nice and snug. In other words, the car can't be driven quite yet. Sad, I know, but it's nice to know it's getting the proper TLC it needs.

Before the incident with the AC belt, I went to AutoZone and got a quart of oil (Mandy sorta burns oil because high revs), some metal putty for the roof, and the belt itself.

Then I went to buy the correct belt.

And this is basically what Mandy is gonna look like until next week.

I also purchased some yellow headlight tint that I'm reluctant to install until the car is painted. I'll have pictures of it whenever I put it on.

 

[Zyla]

My headlight tint arrived in the mail today! I'm gonna test it out with the stock paint to see if it'll look good against brown. If not, it will be nicely rolled up and stored until the paint job happens.

---

Still no sign of the belt tensioner or bolt I ordered. I'm hoping they arrive before the weekend so I can get them on as soon as possible. I'm dying to drive my car.

 

[Zyla]

The alternator tensioner bolt showed up in the mail today.

Needless to say, I didn't hesitate to put it on so I could drive my baby (yes) for the first time in a week.

I think Mother Nature must really like me, because right around the time I put on the bolt and went for a drive, a huge storm cloud rolled over the valley, which made for a very beautiful view in the west and a perfect temperature to drive in with the windows down.

I don't have the steadiest hands while driving.

 

[Zyla]

Came in the mail yesterday while I was at work.

Gotta love when they don't include mounting hardware or instructions.

After going to Lowe's to buy bolts and washers to mount it, and using our combined knowledge, my dad and I finally figured out how to put it on. I can only hope it's the correct way, but the belt is tight and the air conditioning works once again. Feels great.

---

On a side note: When I removed the rear speakers in my car a while back, this reservoir was left hanging there after I dismounted it from the speaker assembly. I have no idea what it is, and it's bugging me. The car was making a strange whining sound in this area of the car after driving it a few weeks ago (it continued after the car was a turned off and got quieter as it sat). There is now a very small amount of liquid inside of it now. I don't know what it is; it looks to be an orange color. It is over the rear passenger side wheel well. Any ideas?

 

[Joey D]

It looks like the washer fluid reservoir for the rear windshield wiper. The sound you were hearing sounds like the pump was acting up that pumps the washer fluid into it.

 

[Zyla]

@Joey D Unfortunately the answer isn't that simple, as the reservoir for the washer fluid is on the other side of the car closer to the liftgate.

I've read something on a forum that suggests it could be some sort of evaporative chamber that has something to do with the fuel? Not sure what that is, but I guess I'll just have to leave it alone until I can get some more answers.

I appreciate you trying to help, though. 👍

 

[ITCC_Andrew]

Evap, definitely. My car has it in the same location. I'd guess, if your check engine light is on, that is the problem. If it's not on yet, it will be soon.


Tough luck, too; expensive to replace if it needs to be replaced.


Edit: the sound was the purge valve pulling the gas fumes out of the canister for use in the engine; improving mileage by reducing emissions, without costing power. Works wonderfully.

 

[Zyla]

Damn, I love having a Subie wiz on here. @ITCC_Andrew

My check engine light is on. Are you saying I need to replace the evap thing?

 

[ITCC_Andrew]

Damn, I love having a Subie wiz on here. @ITCC_Andrew

My check engine light is on. Are you saying I need to replace the evap thing?

First, check if it's connected. Second, see if there's a part which is obviously missing; you'll see a hose that leads nowhere.

Then and only then, will it be appropriate to let someone else have a look ($), because that actually is the source of the check engine light...


Keep in mind, though, my check engine light once came on because of a loose electrical connection in the EVAP system, so I tightened the connection, and it went out. Also, a loose gas cap acts the same as a leak in the system, prompting an engine DTC.


Lastly, though, my own EVAP system is hanging on with nothing but zip ties; during my 22mm rear sway bar install, it had to come out. I saw how rusty the bolts were, and thought "nah".... Just having the EVAP system hanging a bit won't inherently cause the DTC, but it could if the connections are loose...

Lastly, thanks.

 

[Korza]

Damn, I love having a Subie wiz on here. @ITCC_Andrew

My check engine light is on. Are you saying I need to replace the evap thing?

It might pay to have the CEL codes pulled from the ECU before you start messing with things.

 

[Zyla]

What're those? lol @Korza

 

[Korza]

The Check Engine Light comes on when the ECU detects a fault in the car. You can pull said code off the ECU to find out exactly what has caused the ECU to throw a wobbly.

This page here will explain how to get the codes without the need for a scan tool and has a table for the various codes.

 

[ITCC_Andrew]

It might pay to have the CEL codes pulled from the ECU before you start messing with things.

I never knew about that wire jumping technique... No matter, I have an Autel....