thebeephaha

I started out here in December 2009 with with my now old disorganized and lengthy journal on my 2003 Forester X in Sierra Gold with 63k miles. I purchased the car fresh out of high school in 2006. Now at roughly 93k miles it is time to close that and start a over as my Forester, now dubbed the "Honey Badger" by my girlfriend is entering an entirely new stage of it's life. I will get to that in a moment!

Click here for '03 Journal

I picked up a 1999 Forester L earlier this week (July 2012) in Canyon Red Pearl with 142k miles on the clock in a sad state of disarray. Found it on Craigslist with the owner asking $2000 for transmission and head gasket problems. I took it for a test drive and found that the car took ages to go into D and the car was running on just springs, the shocks were entirely blown. To add to it all, it has a classic external head gasket leak. It was an east coast car so rust is a plenty on the underside but the interior and the exterior were very clean for the age. I offered $1500 for it and took it home! This car will be primarily a spare, wintermobile, and a daily commuter for my girlfriend. She has named this car the "Red Panda".

Click here for '99 Journal

Below I will break down the details into two sections for each of the cars.

Thank you for looking!

__________________
See my '99 & '03 Foresters!

thebeephaha

Thread Starter

Details on my 2003 Forester X in Sierra Gold aka the Honey Badger

New mods to come soon...

• Subtle Trunk Brace
• Rear differential 4.44 VLSD

New engine build list...

• 2005 EJ255 short block from an Outback XT
• Manley forged high compression pistons
• 2006 EJ253 AVLS heads with AVLS deleted
• EJ251 non AVLS cam rockers
• EJ251 Delta 1500 cams
• ARP head studs
• ACL race main and rod bearings

Mods I have done, broken down into categories, scroll past for pictures:

Exterior

• JDM Forester Cross Sports "Sporty Grille" w/ vents
• Importology eyelids Plasti Dip'd
• JDM Forester STI headlight surround extensions
• JDM Forester Cross Sports bumper Plasti Dip'd w/ matching lightweight JDM bumper beam (ditched the Styrofoam, useless)
• Carr Lightwing mounted upside down with custom aluminum mounting bracket
• Forester XT hood vinyl wrapped matte black by GuardLine
• Roof vinyl wrapped matte black by GuardLine
• Rear gate trim vinyl wrapped matte black by GuardLine
• C pillar vinyl wrapped matte black by GuardLine
• 04-05 replica STI fiberglass hood scoop in Sierra Gold w/ custom mesh grille
• Subaru Forester XT bug guard
• FRONT Forester XS/XT mud guards Plasti Dip'd
• REAR Rally Armor mud flaps with grey text
• Rear spoiler
• Aftermarket rear gate handle bar (used to mount LED reverse lights)
• Aftermarket rear step plate
• Aftermarket rain visors
• Window tinting (35% front two, 20% rear sides & back)
• Removed roof rack crossbars
• SPT valve stem caps set
• Debadged rear except for an AWD badge to cover the holes left behind.
• XTI vinyl on rear below the AWD badge
• Supercharged carbon fiber emblem
• "Carbon fiber" license plate frames
• White Forester "F" vinyl on front windshield
• Too many misc vinyls on rear quarter to mention

Wheels (ever changing it seems)

• Beater winter wheels: MB Drifter 17x7 et45 black & polished lip w/ Hankook Ice Bear W300 235/45/17
• Summer wheels: Gram Light T57-RC 17x7 et50 (currently being power coated matte black) on 25mm hub centric spacers, tires undecided at this time. Might have the wheels widened to 17x8.5.
• Donut spare to fit foam tray & future Subtle Trunk Brace

Engine Bling

• Gimmick Motorsports hood dampers
• SPT oil filler cap V2 in blue
• SPT battery tie down V1 in blue
• SG9 Forester XT engine cover with 2.5 logo painted in Rust-oleum Champagne Mist
• Subtle Solutions radiator shroud in red

Suspension / Brakes

• 04' STI Steering Rack
• Whiteline steering rack bushings
• JDM 06-07 STI caster adding control arms (caster at +4.5*L/+4.6*R)
• Whiteline BSF10 22mm NA Forester front sway w/ Whiteline bushings
• Whiteline BSR37Z 22mm 04-07 STI rear adjustable sway w/ Whiteline bushings set to HARD
• Whiteline 22mm aluminum lateral lock kit on the rear sway, got tired of the rear sway traveling
• STI rear sway mounts
• STI aluminum lateral links
• Front and rear Perrin STI end links
• Swift Sport Springs
• KYB GR-2 Struts
• Subtle 1/4" Saggy Butt Spacers
• eBay Impreza front strut bar
• eBay Impreza rear strut bar
• Front Stoptech slotted rotors
• Rear drum brake to disk brake swap
• Rear Legacy "H6" upgrade, "H6" brackets & generic Duralast rotors
• Hawk HPS pads all around
• Perrin master cylinder brace
• Whiteline subframe locking bolts
• Camber bolts (unknown model)

Performance / Exhaust

• Perfect Power SMT6 piggyback ECU w/ Link 2.5 bar MAP sensor (good for roughly 22psi, far more than I'll ever be running)
• Raptor V Supercharger kit, 7.5PSI pulley
• AVO high flow bar and plate top mount intercooler w/integrated 5th fuel injector*
• *Bosch Injector - P/N 0280150036 rated at 485cc/min at 3bar (43.5psi) of fuel pressure with a resistance of 2.4ohms
• Custom aluminum piping and silicone hoses from www.siliconeintakes.com
• Weapon R 710-110-110 Secret Weapon air filter - 3" inlet / 10" long / 6.5" wide, inside the passenger fender
• Bosch bypass valve
• Walbro GSS342 255Lph fuel pump
• Semi-parallel fuel raid modification
• NGK BKR7EIX-11 Iridium IX spark plugs (1 heat range colder than stock)
• RalliTEK blue spark plug wires
• Custom oil relocation kit with Icore stainless AN-8 oil lines
• Ford style Wix 51515 over sized filter
• Dual catch cans - one vent to atmosphere for breathers and one closed for PCV
• Perrin 1.2LB lightweight aluminum crank pulley
• IxizPstop aluminum pitch stop mount
• RalliTEK 4EAT Transmission Mount Insert
• Replica Borla headers (TopSpeed Pro-1 Version III) wrapped in DEI Titanium wrap
• Stromung high flow cat wrapped in DEI Titanium wrap
• Prodrive oval tip Forester XT specific axle back welded to the OE mid pipe

Lighting / Electrical

• Morimoto H1 5.0 Bi-Xenon HID retrofit w/ XB35 4300k bulbs, Morimoto 5Five Ballasts, E46-R extended shrouds, aftermarket BMW E46 CCFL Halos
• Removed parking lamp lenses from housings
• LED 6000k SMD parking lamp bulbs
• LED 3000k CREE projector + SMD turn signal bulbs
• Chromed halogen corner side marker bulbs tied into turn signal circuit
• Clear corners mod (removed orange reflectors)
• 08 sport black tail lights with all SMD led bulbs
• Fog and spot lights have separate relays and switchs
• Catz Zeta 00 halogen "ballasts" (boosts voltage and regulates) low beam mode powers fogs, high beam mode powers spots
• Yellow H3 bulbs in fogs
• Hella Black Magic 500 spot lights mounted to Carr Lightwing
• CF-13 electronic turn signal flasher
• 3rd brake light "FORESTER" logo vinyl mask, SMD LEDs w/ "Mr. Brakesafe" momentary brake light flasher
• Dual 18w (3w x 6) CREE LED rear reverse lights, mounted on rear hatch bar
• 5000k SMD LEDs interior lights (map, dome, cargo)
• 6000k SMD LEDs for rear license plate lamps
• Forester XS/XT ignition key illuminated ring, tied into dome circuit, red Sharpied bulb
• Cigarette lighter red Sharpied bulb
• Hella Supertones painted in Rust-oleum Champagne Mist
• Hella solid state relay for Supertones
• Maniac Motors 140 amp alternator
• Alternator Diode MOD
• Optima Red Top 35 battery 8020-164
• XScorpion BTRP ring type battery terminals, "gold" for + & "platinum" for -
• Paranoid Fabrications "The Big Three" & "RS2.5 Lucid Grounding kit"
• Monster Cable 150 amp fuse between alternator and battery
• OE security system upgrade
• Fake alarm dash mounted blinking red LED
• Map light shroud removal mod
• Red cold cathode foot well lighting

Audio / Video / Gauges

• Eclipse AVN4430 w/ removable TomTom navigation
• Eclipse iPC-409 iPod cable
• Eclipse AUX105 RCA AUX input cable
• 120GB Apple iPod Classic
• Alpine PDX-5 (5-channel amplifier installed under driver seat)
• DB Link PK4Z 4 gauge amp wire kit
• Stinger 20ft 9 conductor Speedwire (4 speakers + remote wire)
• HOSA 6.6ft 8 RCA connector snake cable (6 speaker audio channels, rear video out, rear backup camera)
• Pioneer TS-SW2501S4 subwoofer in Sea-Scooby V2 "custom" kit installed by Sea-Scooby himself
• AudioControl OVERDRIVE 2 Channel Line Driver (using to boost the low line output of the pre-fader on my head unit to my amp for the sub channel)
• Absolute RSW250 Amplifier Controller RCA to RCA (easy volume control for my sub connected to the above line driver)
• Subaru Tweeter Kit
• HERTZ "Special Car Audio by Elettromedia" ECX 165 6.5" fronts
• Dayton ND140 5.25" mid bass rears
• Sea-Scooby front and rear spacers with XTC foam baffles
• Gauge cluster PRND321 color mod, P & N are white, RD321 are red
• Gauge cluster LCD polerizer inversion w/ red LED bulbs
• Gauge cluster red LEDs for all gauges plus turn signal, and cruise. Blue LED for high beam indicator.
• ScanGauge II w/ LCD polerizer inversion w/ red back light setting
• Clock LCD polerizer inversion w/ red bulb
• ProSport amber/white series gauges: oil temp, oil pressure (T'd into front oil galley), vacuum/boost - installed in custom A pillar pod
• AEM UEGO wideband O2 air/fuel gauge - installed in custom ashtray gauge bezel, using AEM no weld bung for 2.25"-2.5" - installed right before front O2 sensor on my Stromung hi flow cat
• Escort Passport 8500 x50 Red radar detector with SuperCup mount and stealth cable install through the passenger A pillar
• eBay reverse camera with eBay adapter to make it work with my proprietary Eclipse camera connector

Interior

• 2004 Legacy LL Bean wood grain steering wheel w/ custom wrapped grips, paired with a Momo 04 WRX airbag
• 2002 WRX Black & Blue leather seats (heated but are not connected currently)
• Rear seats converted to "leather", I believe I used a "Katskin" aftermarket kit
• eBay black & blue "WRX" & "SUBARU" logo seat belt cushions
• eBay black & blue "Subaru" logo neck pillows
• Forester XT black carpet
• Dashboard pod (dual din, replaced stock storage compartment & clock, contains head unit)
• Second storage pod (single din, added above the stock pod to fill removed stock head unit)
• 2005-2008 Forester LL Bean AT shift knob
• Prosport aluminum dead pedal
• "Costco" all weather floor mats
• Subaru All Weather Floor Mat coaster cup holder mod
• eBay black fabric dashboard carpet cover
• Window noise fix using 3/8" clear tubing under the rubber door seal
• Gauge cluster upgrade trim
• Custom cut sun visor to fit around the custom A pillar gauge pod
• Black reupholstered sun visors (Thanks to amazing girlfriend, Amanda!)
• Forester XS/XT interior chrome door handles
• Forester XS/XT metal Forester logo door sills
• 2005 STI M/T shift trim
• Zero Sports 6spd M/T shift boot
• Plasti Dip'd dash
• Plasti Dip'd center console
• Plasti Dip'd over head console
• Plasti Dip'd custom made triple 60mm A pillar gauge pod
• Plasti Dip'd passenger A pillar to match
• Subtle Solutions Hazard Button Overlay
• Rear seat & side cargo nets
• Removed rear 5th seat middle seat belt mechanism
• Sound deadened rear hatch, rear quarter headliner, rear doors, and under rear seat with memory foam
• Air Spencer CS-X3 Squash air freshener

Misc

• STI key

See some additional pics below, this car is ever changing.

Latest:



Mostly current pics:



From 2006 to 2013:


That's all for now!

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__________________
See my '99 & '03 Foresters!

thebeephaha

Thread Starter

Details on "my" (in reality my girlfriend owns it) 1999 Forester L in Canyon Red Pearl aka the Red Panda

Currently I have a small list of things I need to fix:

• Head gaskets eventually when I HAVE to, external leak with evidence of cheap repairs in the past, looks like silicone gasket from a tube on the valve covers. Not overheating but eats coolant slowly.

This car doesn't hardly have any major mods yet but this will change! Scroll past for pictures:

Performance / Exhaust[*]Custom short ram intake attached to stock torque box[*]Replica Borla Headers, non stainless[*]OE '03 catalytic converter[*]$30 SMP SG712 Front O2 sensor from eBay turned out to be a Denso and works great![*]$50 "Martins Mass Air Flow Sensor" from eBay to replace OE 22794AA000 MAF sensor works great!

Wheels

• MB Motorsports Boost 17x7 et48 Gunmetal, for winter we are running some 215/55R17 Dean Wintercat XT tires
• 16" full size spare steelie from my '03 w/ Yokohama Geolander 215/60/16

Suspension / Brakes

• '03 Forester stock struts and springs
• '05 STI tophats front and rear, these were supposed to go on my '03 but I needed them on short notice for the '99
• '03 stock rear sway bar (almost 25% thicker than the stock 1999 RSB)
• '03 stock rear knuckle/hub/bearing/drums
• O'Reilly BrakeBest Select (96658RGS) front brake rotors
• O'Reilly BrakeBest Select (C721) ceramic front brake pads
• Unknown brand front strut bar

Lighting / Electrical

• Fog lights tinted yellow
• Hella Optilux 2500 w/ 100w yellow bulbs, mounted on crossbars for off road flood lighting.
• Dual OE horns, added an extra stock horn off my '03
• Rear hatch dome converted to 6000k LED

Audio / Video / Gauges

• Kenwood KDC248U w/ 80GB iPod Classic
• Unknown model 6.5" Sony front speakers
• Crunch PowerZone P500.2 amp mounted under the driver seat
• Polk Audio db1040 subwoofer in a generic slim box in rear

Interior

• Subaru all weather floor mats in front
• OE dead pedal from my '03, original was missing
• Drilled two 1/4 holes in the spare tire compartment, water was leaking in and pooling

Exterior

• Chrome license plate holders
• Fogged license plate cover on front
• Spoiler (being painted then will mount)
• OE '03 roof rails with Thule Universal Flat Top ski/snowboard racks
• OE '99 roof rails behind the '03 rails for additional roof top storage
• Red anodized aluminum valve stem caps

Engine Bling

Misc

Some Pictures:

After a bath here it is!


Yellow fogs, a must have:


Engine bay:


Rooftop goodies:


Assessing the worn and damaged suspension to repair:


This is the Forester as soon as we got it home. Seen in the picture is the proud owner of the vehicle, my wonderful girlfriend Amanda.

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__________________
See my '99 & '03 Foresters!

thebeephaha

Thread Starter

BEHOLD! My RAPTOR SUPERCHARGER build!

Teasers:

• Raptor Supercharger, Impreza GC Series EJ20 Kit pulled from Forester_007's build, sold to me from phrostbyte, scheduled to arrive on the 23rd of July (UPDATE, SC arrived early July 16th!) Raptor supercharger unit, 2 SC pulleys @ 6psi & 7.5psi, SC bracket, SC air cooling unit.
  
• Engine management undecided at this time
• Custom intake piping
• Raptor Stage II air cooling unit for the SC.

__________________
See my '99 & '03 Foresters!

MatteBlack

lets see those boosts on there

I just did wheels on my 98 in the same color, check my journal for pics

k3nj11

Haha, you're in my neck of the woods man! The White STi with Teal wheels belongs to a good friend of mine

pigboat_2

Not such a fan of the extra reverse lights...they just look out of place, especially with them being hose clamped on and all. Otherwise it's pretty sick, especially with the headlights.

__________________
Rawr PFF!

250+k mile club

phrostbyte

Glad to see the supercharger in good hands :)! Can't wait to see what you do with it.

__________________
2001 L 4EAT Aspen White Journal

k3nj11

I'm curious as well....

k3nj11

NICE!

I always loved those wheels and the P1's as well.

thebeephaha

Thread Starter

Well... this happened:



My girlfriend was driving home behind me the other night from downtown Seattle, there was a huge bump in the road only a block from our house from some road work being done, my car went over it fine, but when hers went over, the wheel went flying off after a loud bang. 4 of the 5 lug nuts look like they vibrated clean off, the 5th the lug bolt itself sheered off.

I had to get the car out of the road so I just drove it half a block to a gravel lot, rear knuckle and drum sending sparks everywhere. We left it overnight then the next day I came back and put a spare on the 4 remaining lugs and limped it another half block home. It took an hour to clean up the threads enough to get some lug nuts back on it...

My thoughts are, I know when I put the wheels on her car I checked and did about 75ftlbs per lug nut. Apparently the car had been making funny noises and wasn't driving straight on the highway before the incident happened my girlfriend told me and I have now concluded that she must have gotten a flat and she didn't fully realize it (she thought it was the bad CV joint that we are already aware of gave way) and driving on it like that vibrated 4 of the lug nuts loose then the last lug just snapped clean off with the wheel.

We never did find the wheel by the way, searched for hours around the area...

Fortunately no one was hurt and the damage to the car is minimal and I was already planning to replace all of the suspension components anyways.

Now to call Discount Tire and see if they can source me a single replacement wheel.

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__________________
See my '99 & '03 Foresters!

k3nj11

(@_@)"

What the.....holy hell man, I'm sorry, that blows....

thebeephaha

Thread Starter

About 20 hours of intense labor the past few days and this is all the rusted broken crap pulled off the car:



The entire resulting mess in my garage:



The stock shocks were so bad, I compressed them by hand and they stayed that way and never came back out. The car was literally riding on just the springs. The top hats had the rubber cracked all around the center too. Also from the rust on the car the dust shields on the front brakes cracked and fell off when I was taking the caliper off to do the brakes...

I was able to install "new" used stock shocks/springs taken from my '03, used STI strut mounts (these were intended to go on my '03 but needed them for the repairs), thicker stock rear sway bar from my '03, rear drums/hub/wheel bearings from my '03, and brand new front brake rotors/ceramic pads from O'rilleys.

Next up alignment tomorrow and then the stock exhaust from my '03 and a new CV axle for the front right wheel, all of the grease leaked out and it's clicking badly.

Also on a good note. Discount Tire was able to locate me one replacement wheel for $130 shipped half way across the country for the one lost in the accident and I found an almost perfect matched tire on craigslist for a mere $65. I should get these mounted in the next few days. Right now, rockin' the full size 16" spare and Yokohama tire from my 03'.

I'm dead tired... but this $1500 car is turning into a great learning experience and an awesome daily driver for with little money out of pocket for repairs despite losing a wheel. Well worth the purchase.

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__________________
See my '99 & '03 Foresters!

Wessneroo

Wow that's crazy. Glad you're getting things fixed.

I'm guessing someone else found your wheel for you and took it.

__________________
-Matt
'06 FXT Limited 4EAT CGM - "Roo II"

thebeephaha

Thread Starter

Just did the Legacy "H6" rear brake upgrade on my Forester. "H6" brackets, Duralast rotors, Hawk HPS WRX pads, and of course I was able to keep my stock calipers.

I have to say, this was well worth the $150. Nose dive is dramatically reduced under hard braking and the car feels more stable overall while braking. I've not noticed any change in feel while braking around corners but I'll have to test that out some more.
Bottom line, I highly recommend this upgrade, it is stupid easy to do as well.

Autozone part list for 2000 Legacy Outback H6:

Caliper bracket: 14-1605
Duralast rotor: 31273

__________________
See my '99 & '03 Foresters!