Subaru Forester Owners Forum banner

The BattleWagon -- Mud's Outback

154425 Views 761 Replies 62 Participants Last post by  abacall
12
On the road again... lifted, loud, and angrier than ever.

Car: MY'00 Outback (Base) 4EAT w/premium sound + Rear limited-slip differential (oddball option on the car)
Purchase Date: 8/14/2000
Purchase Location: Bremerton, WA
Mileage: 176,000, and counting (updated 1/5/12)

Mods: Updated 1/5/12

**Engine and Trans**
-Full 3" intake setup w/torque box mod, snorkel coming soon
-Borla replica UEL header, ported/polished
-Gutted stock catpipe
-Custom stainless 2.25" catback tucked into trans tunnel, glasspack muffler
-Painted stock intake mani wrinkle black
-Valve covers and injector guards shot in gloss black
-Ported/Gasket matched intake manifold
-Gasket matched and shaved heads (higher C/R)
-Gates Racing Timing Belt
-FelPro PermaTorque MLS head gaskets
-NGK Iridium Plugs
-Injectors cleaned, tested to new condition
-STI GroupN engine mounts
-Fully rebuilt 4EAT w/mods
-Centre diff lock switch
-Radiator fan shutoff switch (coming w/snorkel)
-Prosport Oil Pressure Gauge
-Prosport Oil Temperature Gauge
-Prosport Water Temperature Gauge
-Scangauge II displaying TPS, Water Temp, IAT, and Bat. Voltage
-Air conditioning delete (including condenser, etc)
-Shell Rotella T6 5W-40 engine oil
-Wix 51365 Oil Filter
-Subaru ATF-HP auto trans fluid
-Subaru OEM 4EAT filter

**Suspension and Rolling Stock**
-KYB GR-2 Struts
-Subaru OEM Subaru Baja front springs and Subtle Solutions spacers (+2" lift)
-RalliTEK Heavy Duty Rear Springs (+2" lift)
-Custom Alignment
-Axxis Ultimate Ceramic brake pads
-225-60-16 General Alitmax HP's on stock 10-spoke alloys
-Full size spare, roof mounted

**Interior/Exterior and lighting**
-MY'04 FXT 4EAT leather shift knob
-Pioneer DEH-P6000UB Head Unit
-Custom single DIN toggle switch panel
-RoadBlockR sound deadening in the hatch
-All weather front floor mats
-Subaru A/W rear floor mats
-Custom aluminum front skid plate
-Thule crossbars
-cheap Swagman bike rack
-DRL delete + GE Tungsram Selective Yellow H1 lowbeams
-Trailer hitch + various balls/hooks for towing/offroading
-Front tow hook cover removed, hook painted red


TABLE OF CONTENTS:


-The story, and the first detail job (You are HERE *big red dot*)

-Hawkeye WRX rim's (just a photoshop...)

-'04 FXT 4EAT Leather Shift Knob

-Comparison with '09 Outback, and Foglight rockguards removed

-Mystery box arrives, and what's inside

-HomeDepot hybrid CAI (for MAP Subbies)

-First pic with the new suspension setup, I say good-bye to the car for a few months

-Adding some more parts to the MOD box!

-I'm not a parts-whore... I swear...

-It's BACK!

-Permatex Headlight Restoration

-Custom Lightbar installed

-'07 FSXT 6CD Changer

-Borla Replica header installed

-Link to my Hella wiring mess, and Bbottomley's helpful expertise

-Just some more pics!

-Magnaflow muffler painted, ready for catback install!

-Soundclip of new stainless catback

-Got some SNOW!

-RoadBlockR Sound Deadening

- Protection for the dangly bits...

-Bad news :(

-Axxis Ultimate Ceramic brake pads

-eBay Swagman Bike Rack installed

-Trip to Paris Landing State Park, BattleWagon turns 150k miles young

-Spring Cleaning, and undercoating! :smile:

-Finished up the Pioneer install, painted my shifter surround

-Got tint!

-Subtle Solutions front lift installed

-Couple pics from the alignment shop

-Ordered the new engine

-Scangauge II installed

-Starting the engine replacement!

-Finished pics!

-Murphy's law... I get torque bind and a failed transmission clutch pack, as well as a new throttle position sensor.

-The TuRD... my transportation while the Scooby is in the shop!

-All fixed up, showing off the new shoes!

-A loose wire leads to another trip to a different dealer, and a tow truck along the way.

-GE Tungsram Gold (Selective-Yellow) Low Beam Bulbs

- DIY Intake V2... 3 inch, modded airbox!

- Painted my 'new' spare set of wheels.








[story snipped to save space... shoot me PM for details... lol)



First mod... resonator deletes! Eventually I will get a different tube to replace the piece between the scoop and the airbox, but for now, it adds a little more growl. I neatly sealed off the holes with electrical tape. Ghetto-tastic.

Before:



After:




Next, I removed the silly piece of plastic that Subaru put in front of the intake scoop to deflect air away from it.





Now, for my first appearance mod. This may not seem like a mod, but it certainly made a difference in the way the car looks. The paint's clearcoat was contaminated with all sorts of stuff, from old wax buildup to waterspots to ground in road grime, you name it. It gave the car an odd grey-ish tint. :huh:

Today I was determined to remove the aforementioned 'tint', and make her shine again.

First step was removing the bug deflector, and doing a two-bucket wash. Here's what it looked like after that:


Then, I claybarred the entire car. The clay took out most of the surface stuff that was left behind, but the paint still felt rough to the touch. So I broke out the Griot's/Porter Cable buffer and Meguiar's Swirl X for a test spot. Here's a pic of the spot:


After verifying that the method worked, I started working my way across the hood. Here you can see that the right edge of the hood is whiter than the rest. :icon_razz: I love seeing progress being made.


After that, I added a coat of Meguiars Gold Class wax for protection. I'll follow up with another coat of NXT 2.0 Tech Wax once I get some at the store later. Then I moved on to the interior... sorry, no before pics, just an after:


I <3 big gauges...


After pics of the exterior (total time invested: 12 hours):










More to come, I have some fun stuff in mind. :biggrin:
See less See more
  • Like
Reactions: 1
281 - 300 of 762 Posts
No text to go with the picture? :confused:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]
Notice anything different? :smile:
No more saggy butt! Or new tires...?
The glass does look darker & the rear looks higher. Is that a new outhouse? :confused:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]
Fresh tint? Looks good!
The glass does look darker & the rear looks higher. Is that a new outhouse? :confused:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]


Or it could be the tint... lol
Fresh tint? Looks good!
We have a winner. :lol:

MN legal 50% all around (looks dark in the pic due to it being twilight, and looking down in to the dark interior) and a strip of 35% over the blue area at the top of the windshield. Not sure if I like that yet really. It's sort of odd when viewed from the inside. I guess I'll get used to it. :confused: If not, I only paid $15 extra, so I'm not going to loose much if I decide to have it removed. So far the feeling inside the car is MUCH better.

No more upside-down fishbowl syndrome. If people think Foresters have it bad, they should ride in an un-tinted Outback. The way the glass curves over lets lots of sun in, and the top of the windshield is almost to your forehead. The ride home was sooo much nicer.


Lol @ the outhouse, Bobby! That's what it's supposed to look like. It's really just mom's garden tool shed. The ride height and rubber is the same as before. :smile:
Mudrunner: your car looks too good. you need to make it ugly. like paint it bright green with some random pink spots around. that should do the trick. :biggrin:
Just kidding about the outhouse, but your OB does look higher in the rear. :confused:

The glass looks good, gives the OB a new look & you'll love the difference! :cool: I've seen others do the piece over the windshield, but I've never had it done on my vehicles.

You said it's a 50% tint? Is that what it's called? Here we have 5%, 20% & 35%, which means the amount of light that gets thru. 5% is also called limo tint. :smile:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]
Yep, 50%. Lighter than any of the ones you listed. The Forester is tinted as well, but even lighter. I'm not sure what it is (I was gone for the summer when it was done), but it's barely noticeable.

The windshield I'll have to get used to. I do like it though, don't have to wear sunglasses all the time (they give me headaches).
It sure looks dark in the picture, but as you said, it was twilight when the picture was taken. :wink:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]
I'm still not entirely sure that there wasn't some sort of factory UV coating already on the glass... it IS darker than I expected it to be.
The factory glass has a very light tint, one of the reasons I don't tint the front glass. I went with 20% tint on our Foresters, which still makes it easy to see thru when it's dark out.

Way back when I had the '03 X glass tinted, they screwed up & tinted the glass 5% (limo tint)! It looked great, so I said I'd try it. It was so dark that I couldn't see a vehicle thru the tinted glass, unless it had it's headlights on & that was during the day! It was way too dangerous, so I had the 5% tint removed & went with the lighter 20% tint. :smile:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]
4
Some more tint pics... The dark interior really makes it look dark! Kinda funny. Once you get inside the car, you realize it's really not. Perfect! :biggrin: The white also exaggerates the tint's contrast effect. Black is definitely a theme color on the car. I wouldn't go putting black wheels on it, but the little accents really set it off. I've also been debating on clearing the headlights... but the more I look at the pics, I think I'll leave them alone.

Pardon the dust. No rain in about three weeks here... it's a dust-bowl. Our driveway is clay gravel, so it's awful! I don't mind the car slathered in mud, but dust just annoys me. :catfight:







See less See more
The tint has totally change the way your OB looks! :cool:

As to the dust... no air compressor to dust off your baby & a light wipe down with a microfiber cloth when you get it parked? :wink:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]
7
Saggy nose is gone!













See less See more
Looks good! :cool: To tell you the truth, I thought you liked the raked look... didn't look bad to me. :wink:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]
It is still slightly raked... I like it that way. Before it was 1 1/4" difference, now we're at about 1/4". Subtle.
281 - 300 of 762 Posts
Top