beating a dead horse: a drivabeater

o, small update.

Polished the headlights. I wanted to be able to compare a good set of stockers to the projector retrofit. The originals were so bad that I assumed there would be no saving them. I started with 120 grit and worked my way up to 3000 before two stages of rubbing compound. They actually turned out incredibly well. I also swapped in the legacy L grille. That didn't turn out so well.

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Still going to try the HID vs restored stockers. I want to see a side by side comparison of them before I decide the route I want to go. These headlights no longer suck, so its not a major priority to get the projector swap done before I get killed.

The family and I took a trip to DC and back this weekend. For the long drive, I tried an experiment. At family dollar I found a memory foam mattress pad for 15 bucks. Its a bout an inch thick, and a very light density for memory foam. So I made a double layer and duct taped it to the seat. So, so much better. Needs a third layer and some more aggressive bolsters to be perfect. But I now have a battle plan there.

I also had the head gaskets get significantly worse on this trip. Like a quart of oil and coolant are hitting the ground in 300 miles. So today I ordered the felpro head gasket set from oreilleys, and decided that im also going to order the timing set with next pay day. Ill do a full tune up, fluid changes, and that pesky cv axle/rack boots at the same time.

Lastly, I put the legacy L dash trim in. I like it better than the woodgrain, but think im going to plastidip it black so it may match the interior better.

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Pro tip on the headlights, use a rattle can clear coat or they will haze up in 6 months again. Ask me how I know...

Best of luck with the headgaskets, mind posting up about the process after the fact? I've wondered how bad it as to replace them but have not yet owned a Subaru to find out..yet

I have been reading up on the head gasket job. It's going to suck. But I'll do a brief write up.

Head gasket job isn't too bad on the SOHC engines, you don't have to pull the cams to get them off like you do on the DOHC motors.

Good Luck!

Really curious how the Fel-Pro part is going to do, I've only had experience with the Cometic.

Might be worth taking a look at the oil pump seal once you have the timing cover off, people tend to ignore them until idle pressure gets low. The pumps last for a really long time but I would feel stupid if I didn't at least check the seal for leaking before buttoning everything back up.

I've been putting off my own head gasket job in the '03 2.5TS I own but the leak is nowhere near as bad as yours sounds and is basically just oil. I think it was at least partially caused by the totally clogged PCV system that was on the car when I bought it.

You mention getting the 17mm Baja Turbo rear bar in the first post, here is mine installed on a Legacy L wagon. It interferes with the subframe brace going to the spare tire well, I have removed one of the bolts but it is still up against it. I'm planning on taking some thicker flatbar and bolting it to the swaybar mounts to offset the bar down 3/4" to avoid the interference (and the odd clunk).

Adam

Wound up removing the same bolt. Thanks for the heads up.

And I see bilstien on the back. Can you elaborate? I like bilstien.

I also like Bilstien, I bought mine used through one of the JDM importers off of ebay. I rolled the dice but it worked out for me in the end, everything was in nice shape and seems like it came off of a wagon. The car sits at stock height front and rear with a firmer more controlled ride, with the rear bar it is very neutral and fun to toss around.

ebay link

Adam

So when we left off last time, I had polished headlights, aggressive leaks, broken rear sway bar, parts strewn around, and about 174k on the clock.

Well, heres where ive been at.

First up is the leak: not all the head gaskets fault. Somehow the oil filter loosened up. Either the gasket shrank, I didn't put it on tight enough at the last oil change, or the magnetic field of the earth rotated perfectly around the canister. I don't know. But one full turn, and oil consumption back to normal. Which buys me some time, hopefully until I get the duster back on the road so I have something else to drive while I yank the engine out of this. Or summer, when I can steal my mazda back from the wife while her and the munchkin are out of school

But, this is a build thread, so lets get on to some building.

As with all builds, some wins, some losses, and some smacking yourself in the head while saying “aw, E36 M3!”

First head smacking win came with the headlight conversion. Its done. 55 watt 5000k bulbs and ballasts, relay harness, all sank into a factory housing. Looks pretty good. Unfortunately, due to the head smack, they don't work right. You see, when I mocked them up, I didn't reseal the housings. Which left an extra ~1/2 inch or so between the projector lens and factory clear lens.

This 1/2 inch doesn't actually exist. If anything, you're a few thousandths shy of things working properly. When resealed, and I went to do adjustment against the back wall of lowes, I found that the projector bulbs slightly touch the lens in one spot, making the factory adjusters useless. I may have stripped them before figuring it out. Im not sure. The headlights were aimed way too low, which should have sent a red flag for me. But, in the interest of needing the car to go to work the next morning, I shimmed the whole housing up with some 1/4 washers under the lower inner bolt and longer bolts. The aim still sucks, the pattern is suffering, and they are worse than the halogens. Hopefully the 60 hour workweeks will be done soon, and ill be able to redo the install. But, in the interest of providing educational proof of don't be a dumb-ass, measure, heres what they look like.

You'll also note that I discarded the orange reflectors that were glued to the lenses. This was an accident on the first one, and intentional on the second. I like the looks, and will find some clear/orange bulbs to put in there at some point.

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Next is the cold air intake curtsy of lowes racing products. Its some fernco fittings, a pair of 45 street elbows, and about a foot of 2 inch pipe. The original flex coupler was shot, as well as the rubber isolation mounts on the stock setup. I figured id try this. Nice noises, maybe a little more power at lower rpms, possible a little more throttle response, and no MPG change. Still averaging a low of 23 with AC on, and 25 mostly highway with ac off.

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Next is rear sway bar. Its a 17mm off a baja turbo. I was told it would be a direct swap. Its not. You have to pull one of the cross-member reinforcement bracket bolts out, and kind of force it into place. It rubs and squeaks. But the turn in was a LOT better, and the car is more predictable overall than with the stocker. Much more better. Granted, a not broken sway bar would have also been much more better.

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Lastly of the things I have pictures of: I tinted the car. I noticed the frequency of my migraines increasing, and was trying to think of what changed. Only thing I could think of was that this car wasn't tinted. All my others have been since it was recommended to me to try. So I did it, and I went back to my standard frequency. I went 35% on the front windows and rear glass, 20% on all the rest of the side glass. None on windshield, and 5% on the sunroofs. I will say that I accidently bought the static cling tint for the 20%. Not impressed, but it was non-returnable by the time I realized my mistake. So I used it. Well see how it holds up, but it is not nearly as clear as the normal tint. From the inside it looks like the windows are fogged. Cant see it from the outside. But don't buy this stuff.

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That brings us up to today. No pictures from today.

I found when getting tires rotated that my passengers side tie rods had a bunch of play. This coincided with vibrations in the wheel at highway speeds, and VIOLENT vibrations under light braking. No vibrations under heavy. So I swapped in some import direct inner and outer tie rod ends on that side, as well as a masterpro rack boot and went for a drive. The vibrations are drastically reduced to the point of almost not being there. Still some though, and I checked everything else on the front end out. I found excessive movement in the rearmost bushing in the front lower control arms, as well as seriously degraded rack bushings. Suggestions on this front are encouraged. What should I buy, and from who, and why? Anything I may be missing?

Up next is installing the alpine components I found in pull a part last week ($12!) and rebuilding the drivers seat before I can no longer walk.

Oh, 178k as of the way to church this morning. Michael