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The BattleWagon -- Mud's Outback

154455 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:
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It sounds like your transplant is coming along nicely! :cool:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]
I did in fact check the plugs! They had antiseize, and the gap was correct. Not sure if they were iridium, but I'll pull them at 30k anyway to check.
If they were NGK Iridium spark plugs, it would say "Iridium" on the porcelain. :wink:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]
^I wasn't looking at the porcelain! :lol: Du-oh!
2
Rechecked... yes they are iridium.


Oh... lookie what we have here....









It's still dirty, I haven't gotten around to cleaning it or repainting the intake tube. Also need to install the washer reservoir, and order the AC belt tensioner so that I can get that up and running, and get the accessory belt cover back on. I'll get more/better pics then. She runs like a champ... fired right up after I got the oil sytem primed (fuel pump fuse pulled, coil pack unplugged, crank until oil light goes out). All of the hobby shop employees gathered to see it fire up. :lol: Went for a test drive, and when I came back they had cleaned up my work bay for me! They're not supposed to do that. :huh:
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Rechecked... yes they are iridium.
They're suppose to last 60K miles, I'd guess twice that. :wink:

Congratulations on the successful heart transplant! :cool:

How many miles before you can pour on the coals? :confused:

Bobby...

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

1000 miles. Though, generally speaking, I always keep it under 4000RPM unless I need to get moving. It definitely has much more spunk than the old engine did... I've got about 10 miles on it now. The STI Group N engine mounts are cool as well. Little more noise, and vibration at idle, but you can feel the engine smooth out as it moves up through the RPM range. :biggrin: Gotta love the boxer.
Did you go with an upgraded pitch stop? :confused:

With all the rain here this year... another storm coming in tonight, we may not get to our '03 Forester project until next month! :frown:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]
No upgraded pitch stop... I was told from a fellow BH owner that it didn't do anything for his car but upgrade the noise. :lol: My OEM pitch stop is metal... not like the plastic one that our Foz has. :confused:
Sounds good. We're staying with the stock... yes plastic, pitch stop on our Foresters. :icon_eek:

I was going to mention your intake monifold eariler, how it blends in nicely. Glad you didn't go with red. :wink:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]
4
One year with the BattleWagon...

Well my friends, we're closing in on a year with the BattleWagon... it's certainly been a ride. :woohoo:

Then, and now...







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It appears we have something in common! The end of this month makes one year for my '07 FSXT & the start of my Member Journal! :cool:

Your engine compartment looks great, but me thinks you need to add back in some contrast... like the factory yellow pieces? :confused:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]
DANNNNNG. man i've missed a lot.

Lookin' better than ever man!
It appears we have something in common! The end of this month makes one year for my '07 FSXT & the start of my Member Journal! :cool:

Your engine compartment looks great, but me thinks you need to add back in some contrast... like the factory yellow pieces? :confused:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]
:smile: You gonna have an anniversary cake for the foz? :biggrin:

I've got plans to add back contrast. That battery will be replaced (possibly the tiedown too, and I'm thinking about an eBay oil cap. If anything, they will be red accents instead of yellow. :icon_razz: I like how the positive lead covers on the battery/alt cables pop against the black. Dunno if you noticed, but the airbox is now wrapped in aluminum tape. Dropped my IAT's by around 20deg! Still need to revise the intake to 3"... that will take some work. I need to find another airbox to use while I'm working on it.
^ LOL! No, heat-proofed. :raspberry:
Looks great m8. As I mentioned earlier. Your car gets newer as time goes by. :biggrin:
:smile: You gonna have an anniversary cake for the foz? :biggrin:
No cake for the Forester... I'm too poor after feeding it all those MODs! :icon_eek:

I've got plans to add back contrast. That battery will be replaced (possibly the tiedown too, and I'm thinking about an eBay oil cap. If anything, they will be red accents instead of yellow. :icon_razz: I like how the positive lead covers on the battery/alt cables pop against the black. Dunno if you noticed, but the airbox is now wrapped in aluminum tape. Dropped my IAT's by around 20deg! Still need to revise the intake to 3"... that will take some work. I need to find another airbox to use while I'm working on it.
Yes, I noticed the airbox & figured it was for heat reduction. That's a decent drop in temperature, should be good for some hp gain! :cool:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]
Dunno if you noticed, but the airbox is now wrapped in aluminum tape. Dropped my IAT's by around 20deg!
Holy crap, man that is awesome for such a simple mod. Did you do more than one layer?
It was one layer, but they do overlap a little bit at the seams.

20deg difference was on the same road at the same water temp, outside temp, etc, about two hours before the baseline run. Car had been running for the same amount of time... I think the biggest advantage for this mod is highway use. In traffic, it will still heatsoak the box, albeit not as quickly, so IAT's will still go up if there's no air going through the engine bay.

I think it'd look nice with your intake. :biggrin:

Check out this thread for my future plans:

CAI using 3" pipe and stock airbox - Subaru Impreza GC8 & RS Forum & Community: RS25.com
I'm kinda torn on this. The aluminum wrapped airbox look actually looks pretty good & has been proven to help keep the intake air cooler on your setup. Wrapping the intake pipe with aluminum will help, but IMO, not that much. Here I'd have to weigh the clean looks of the pipe with one that wrapped with aluminum. :confused:

Bobby...

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