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Project SF5

('98-'00) 
27K views 142 replies 32 participants last post by  civichx97 
#1 ·
On August 4th my wife (civichx97 on the forum) & I picked up a 1998 Forester that had been sitting for 1-2 years with a blown head gasket. Not knowing how much the vehicle had been driven with the blown head gasket or if it had been over heated we decided to purchase a used 2.5L DOHC engine from Area1320. It too had a blown head gasket, but the guys at the shop said it was a good engine & just needed a head gasket. We are currently in the process of fixing up that engine (new head gaskets, water pump, timing belt & so on).

The plan is to just get the Forester cleaned up & back on the roads for now. Then in a few years when we have the funds we are planning on doing a full 2004 STi swap to it. We've looked into it quite a bit and we realize that doing the swap in a SF5 is not easy, but it's something that we really want to do!!

Some pics for now:

Bringing it home






Cleaned it up some (it's in pretty good shape for sitting like it did. Needs some work, but it's a decent start)






Replacement engine/"build"






Engine cleaned up & going back together




More to come. I'm very excited to get it back on the road. Even more excited to start getting the stuff in order for the swap, but I'm just gonna have to be patient for now :biggrin:
 
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#7 ·
Just need to get the timing belt, timing belt covers, & valve covers back on & the replacement engine is ready to find it's new home in the Forester.


I also started working on disconnecting & getting the bad engine ready to come out of the car. I have it about 85-90% ready to come out. If all things continue to go well, I am thinking that it should be running again by this weekend if I can work on it after work a few nights this week!!

While I was disconnecting the engine, my wife started detailing the car. It definitely needs the love, as it was rather filthy and neglected, but it's coming back slowly.



She even did the door jams!!


Then she used plastidip on the Subaru emblem on the lift gate (sorry, didn't get a pic of the finished product yet, but it does look pretty cool).
 
#9 ·
Thank you very much. We sure are tying to get her on the roads again asap!!

Well, as of yesterday the Fozzy was moving under her own power again!! I got the the engine all the way in & gave her a few test runs and leak checks. So far so good!! We still have a bit of work to do before we can get her inspected, but the fact that she is up and running again was a huge step towards that!

Dropping it in:


All in:


Here is what the back emblems look like after the plasti-dip covering:
 
#16 · (Edited)
We were thinking about having them powder coated a bronze or a dark gold color, but they look like they are in very good condition, so we might just leave them be for now. When they are cleaned up & we see what condition they are in for sure, we'll decide if we're gonna change them or not.
 
#17 ·
I cleaned the wheel wells, applied another coat of undercoating, plasti-dipped the mud flaps, & installed the WRX wheels. I think they look so much nicer than the OEM Forester wheels. I need to get new tires for them, gonna go up a size on the profile to get a little bit more tire on it tho.

Before:


After:


WRX Wheels:
 
#20 ·
Thanks!

Nice. What size tire are you going for? How much of difference can you tell from the wrx rims compared to stock wheels as far as distance from the strut, being that they are a different offset?
I want around a 60 series on the profile so there isn't quite as much wheel gap. Nothing any wider than the 215 that's on it now tho.

The fronts there is no issues at all clearing the strut. It's closer, but still plenty of room. The back clear the strut, but I can't fit my finger in between the wheel & strut. I am gonna put a 5mm spacer on the back 2 just to be safe. The wheels are off & the beat stock ones are back on for now. I need tires in a bad way for the wrx wheels anyways.
 
#21 ·
Standard tire size should be 215/60R16, so it would match your targets just fine. I was thinkin of getting rims with a +55 offset, but I'm kind of glad I didn't, just to have that extra space in between. Also, the more and more I see Foz guys (you, mikedrives1, and some others) with the WRX rims, the happier I am with my XT rims. I love the WRX rims, but I'm glad I have something a little different than the others. And once you get the new tires on, you'll love the life it breathes back into the cars handling. Can't wait to see your progress with your Foz.
 
#22 ·
That is the exact tire size that I am planning on getting. As far as the wheels go, the main reason is that I liked the looks of the WRX wheels, but also the wheels that are on our Foz have seen much better days. The wife & I talked about getting them powder coated & looking nice again & then we found the WRX wheels for a really good price, so that's the route we went! I really like the looks of them on the Foz WAY better than our stock wheels (even if they were mint).

Hopefully I'll get tires this weekend (depending how bad or not we get hit with this hurricane) & then an inspection & she should be returned to use-able status :)
 
#23 ·
Well, I knew things had to be going too well! Last night I found that the heater core is leaking........ The driver's side floor was soaked in coolant........ugh

So I ripped the dash out today & got the heater core out. I should have a new one sometime tomorrow evening & then start going back together with it. Oh well, better to find it now when I'm still on work mode on the vehicle.





 
#24 ·
Well, I got the heater core back in about a week ago & the interior is all back together. Since I had the cluster out when I pulled the dash I decided to copy MikeDrives1 with replacing the bulbs with red LED's. Sorry to copy, but I thought it really looked cool!!



Sorry, not the best picture.

Today I also cut out some rusted out flooring that I found under the spare tire & welded in a new piece. I just need to get my new tires mounted & balanced and then it is inspection time!! Can't wait until the fozzy can see the roads again.............legally!





 
#28 ·
The hard part isn't swapping the parts over into the chassis. The hard part from what I've read is the wiring. Not impossible, just a bit more work with the older foresters. Then again when I finally get to doing the work I might find is a lot easier than what I've been told/read. Time will tell, it'll be a few years before the swap even gets started as the money for that isn't here at the moment.


Great work! I too switched my gauges to red LEDs from superbrightleds and it looks awesome! I did however sand the green off the back of the faces and it is 5x brighter! It looks so cool now. I must warn you though, to do that you have to take the needles off and it takes some time to position the needles back correctly. Make sure you mark where all the needles were before if you attempt to do this.
Thanks. I thought about tearing it all apart & sanding the green off, but to be honest with you I'm happy with how it looks now. It's bright enough for me & I just didn't feel like tearing the cluster all apart. I just wanted to get it back together so I can actually use the vehicle!! LOL
 
#26 ·
Great work! I too switched my gauges to red LEDs from superbrightleds and it looks awesome! I did however sand the green off the back of the faces and it is 5x brighter! It looks so cool now. I must warn you though, to do that you have to take the needles off and it takes some time to position the needles back correctly. Make sure you mark where all the needles were before if you attempt to do this.
 
#29 ·
It depends how u do the wiring. I put a 06 sit motor in a rs and everyone was like I'll never figure out the wiring with the imobilizer system. And guess what I just put in a complete 06 harness t was plug and play and by far the easiest part. Now if ur merging a 04 to the foz harness it's not hard just time consuming. With out some know how it can be a head ache, but u seem to be mechanically inclined so don't let it scare you, not as bad as u think
 
#30 · (Edited)
We will be merging an 04 STi harness with the Fozzy one. I am mechanically inclined (I'm an airplane mechanic by day & car guy by night lol). I'm not really worried about it. Just when you look at it as the whole picture it can be a bit overwhelming, but when the time comes it'll be just knock things out 1 step at a time. Right now I am excited to just get it on the roads again. In the future will come the STi swap & that I am very excited for, I just have be patient on that for now tho.


Today I fabricated a new spare tire hold down in the new skin we welded in.



 
#32 ·
Yea lol. That actually isn't the spare. The spare is currently on it until I get the new tires mounted onto the wrx wheels. The wheel in that pic was on the car when it was sitting in the field, when we went to put the foz on the trailer that tire split cause of dry rot & went flat lol, so I had to throw the spare on. I just used it to get the right height for the new hold down. But yes, it is dirty lol.
 
#33 ·
Well I found out a couple weeks ago that I did not get the torque converter properly seated when I installed it when I put the new engine in....... Total newb screw up
It definitely messed up the front seal & I'm pretty sure it screwed up the front trans oil pump. So after licking my wounds and allowing my ego to recover from my stupidity, I've decided to do a 5spd swap (which I'd rather have anyways). I started stockpiling parts & will be doing the swap in the near future. Trying to make lemonade out of lemons type of thing :smile:

So here is the start of the stock pile:
 
#37 ·
Sorry, I have been kinda MIA lately. The 5spd swap has not been started yet. I have still been stock piling parts. I was at the Subaru dealership and ordered the last little pieces that I need. The plan is to do the swap over my Thanksgiving weekend (I have 4 days off so that should give me time to just get it done & not feel like I have to rush it).

good stuff... subscribed.
Thanks.
 
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