Insured, plated, legal. Time to shakedown....
Insured, plated, legal. Time to shakedown....
Budget:
Car: 400
Oil filter: 3.15
Trans filter: 3.15
Rear trans seal: 3.99
3 inch exhaust, header, catless downpipe, catless uppipe, maxflow intercooler, some sort of intake manifold thats supposedly a bolt on upgrade: 250
Challenge budget total: 660.29
So, its legal and starting shakedown stuff. Im really, really liking the car. Its needy, but i knew that going in. No needs keeping me from local driving, but theres stuff it needs before I actually trust it or run it hard.
First on the list is the leaking trans seal, failed trans mount, amd rotted exhaust.
To that end, ive began collecting parts. Downloaded a factory service manual, started soaking fastners in weasel piss, bought the seal and filter at oriellys, and found an inexpensive replacement exhaust system.
Still need a trans mount and time.
Time for a tuner
In reply to Patrick :
I need to adopt a teammate that is a tuner. I can do tuning with romraider and a tactrix cable, but thats about the only option that i have found. And paying a pro isn't going to happen on my budget.
Sold tonneau cover for $100
Actual budget now 560.29
However, this is a cash in the envelope class car, so ill be keeping two budget sheets. Actual, and challenge.
So rad!
quickie polish of the headlights with neverdull made them suck less. Mind you, they still suck. But less.
Wife and I took this for our date tonight 50 miles away to see cast iron filter. Theybwere our first date 20 years ago, and have been broken up since almost then. Firstbsow in many many years.
im berkeleying STOKED. Favorite band of all time.
And she said the baja is just like her old legacy wagon, but less useful. So, ill take itvas a win!
Not shown yet: a LOT of hardware they didn't charge me for to remove the subframe spacers with.
And yes, thats a 25mm front sway bar.
Going back tomorrow for a rear subframe and steering column. I finally found the sketchy spots while fixing the trans leaks and mounts. And i need the column for spacer delete.
Anyone want to help me tune this one with romraider when I get there?
That's an awesome deal and I'm watching this with interest!
this job sucks. And its not cheap. But, the rear crossmember has some sketchy spots in it i found last night wheile doing the trans mount and seal. So it needs done, wether itf fun or not.
to finish first, first you must finish.
I'm really not sure how I missed this, but anything involving Duster and a turbo Subaru is bound to be interesting.
Dusterbd13-michael said:Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) said:
Or....
You'll want the 00-04 Legacy or Outback setup unless you want it to be reeeaaalllly low.
This car is not a $400 car up here in the rust belt, if you get sick of it advertise it somewhere that gets winter and you should make some money.
In reply to adam525i :
I didn't know that about the ride height on the height of the later Legacy struts. Id read they were a direct swap after tophat changes.
And it really isn't a $400 car here, either. After fixing the issues, it will easily be a 4k car here. But I really, really like it. It's a nice daily for now.
Everything will bolt up and the rear will work fine.
I went the opposite way, I had an 04 Legacy which is what the Baja is based on with JDM Bilstien suspension. I swapped that over to my 07 Legacy and gained around an inch of ride height and travel in the front which is perfect for me, in the rear I cut down some Outback springs along with some small spacers above the shocks to level things out in the back. Using the newer stuff on the older chassis will have the front end quite low compared to the rear.
Dusterbd13-michael said:Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) said:
Or....
Best way to get over that is to raise it a couple of inches and come and play in the dirt. 
Heck, Uwharrie is *right up the road* from you and makes for a great day trip picnic/nature hike destination.
just normal challenge car stuff. The awd gets up the steep grassy slope to the top of my yard with ease, pulling my free trailer. Ill probably use this thing like a tractor while i rebuild the privacy fence up there. Make it suck a whole lot less.....
Ah, yeah. I have a 2004 Forester XT steering rack laying in the garage if you need it. I'm not sure it would fit, and I think these came with a better rack, though.
Seat heater on the drivers side started working again, sort of. Ill take it!
Exhaust is STILL burning out atf and smoking, but no leaks that i can find. I washed the underside of the car again yesterday to see if that will help.
I also spent the purchase price on maintenance parts. Which dramatically cuts into good tire/wheel money. However, it needs to be done. There will be some stuff undone for budget purposes in the days before the event
Its going to clean up nicely. Hell, it already has!!!
I dig it!
Got torque lite running on it tonight on the way to pick up dakota rt parts. I know its been running funny. Bogs/hesitates/pops in exhaust doesn't seem "crisp". ASSUME boost and vacuum leaks.
Well, torque reported 76% max throttle, 7.8psi max boost. Fuel trims all ove the place, same with o2 voltages. Its an odd dataset that makes me either think this thing is barely running at all compared to what it should, or torque is not reading right.
As soon as this damned dakota leaves, it goes in the bay for actual service work. Theres no way mocar will be sone for the challenge this year, so ill pound on this so i have something to play with at the challenge.
Since everyone likes pictures, the time suck dakota rt
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