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The BattleWagon -- Mud's Outback

154455 Views 761 Replies 62 Participants Last post by  abacall, 
MudRunner
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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MudRunner
2.5x_sleeper said:
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]
Click to expand...
Well, in one of those pics his setup was wrapped, but he's since taken it off. I was more referencing to his converting the intake to a 3" setup. The throttle body opening is some 2.5-2.75" I think, if not 3", and the smallest part of the stock intake tract (the airbox inlet) is about 1.9".


My car now seems to have a classic case of Torque Bind... so my focus has shifted from mods to fixing this problem. :icon_frown:
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2.5x_sleeper
Okay, intake MODding is on hold! :icon_eek:

Can I assume you didn't have this issue before the heart transplant? I seem to recall you having to change some drive component? :confused:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]
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MudRunner
^ I did have the issue, but it was not constant. Only happened a couple times, so I thought it was a fluke of sorts.

The driveline component was the CV half shaft, and I've tested to make sure that it's not the problem. Car drives fine in FWD mode. :(
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2.5x_sleeper
I was just reading your other thread on this issue. Some times crap happens! :frown:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]
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MudRunner
Very true. :frown:
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MudRunner
Car is sitting at Parkway Subaru in Wilmington now. Diagnosis was failed solenoid, and failed clutch pack. Having them replace a few other typical failure items while they're in there.

Bill? Estimated at $1200. Probably won't have the car back until Thursday next week at the earliest due to parts being ordered. They tried their best to get me a loaner car, but their insurance said no (since I'm 18).

I did, however test drive a 2011 Outback 2.5i Limited with CVT for the heck of it. I was very impressed. They made the car bigger without compromising what makes the Outback so much fun. It's still nimble and light feeling, with a taut but very planted suspension. Wish they'd executed the SH Forester as well in that regard (making it bigger without killing the original car's soul).
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2.5x_sleeper
Sorry to hear of the added expense, but what can you do? :frown: On the positive side, your OB will be ready for full power when the break in period is over! :cool:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]
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MudRunner
Well, I polished the turd this morning. Yes... my daddy always told me that I would a good turd polisher, **** shiner, etc...

Meet our 2010 Tacoma... named affectionately, the 'turd'. Turd... as in TRD (Toyota Racing Development).

Anywho... it will be my transportation for the next week or so unless dad takes it up to DC next week. Then I'm stuck with the Volvo. lol

Just gave it a bath and cleaned up the interior.
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2.5x_sleeper
Nice detailing job on the TRD! You'll get spoiled driving something that new. :wink:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]
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thebeephaha
2.5x_sleeper said:
Nice detailing job on the TRD! You'll get spoiled driving something that new. :wink:
Click to expand...
But it's no Subaru!
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2.5x_sleeper
thebeephaha said:
But it's no Subaru!
Click to expand...
It's way better than walking while the OB is in the shop. :wink:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]
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MudRunner
2.5x_sleeper said:
Nice detailing job on the TRD! You'll get spoiled driving something that new. :wink:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]
Click to expand...
Eh, I like it! It's a 2WD PreRunner V6, with a limited slip rear diff, and Bilstein sport suspension. This one is an auto, but they do make them in a 6spd manual. :wink: Not sure how many ponies the V6 makes, but it certainly moves it along nicely.

Don't like it as much as my car though. :icon_frown: No 4WD, no boxer rumble, no corner carving. In fact, it's all but silent in there. It is the Toyota Camry of pickup trucks (it even sports what appears to be a Camry steering wheel and shift knob). The upside? It's rated for 21 hwy mpg, I think... and the last two tanks we've gotten between 23 and 24.5 mpg. :icon_eek:

thebeephaha said:
But it's no Subaru!
Click to expand...
That pretty much sums up my thoughts on it. Really nice truck, has some cool features (composite bed, 400W power outlet in bed, rearview camera, etc...), but I like my car better for what I use it for. The truck WAS the transport device for the BattleWagon's old heart though... which is now sitting in the back yard. I need to make a wooden stand for it to put in the back of the BattleWagon for the trip home.

In other news, the BattleWagon should be finished with its transmission work today... will be picking it up bright and early at 7AM tomorrow unless they don't finish. :chair:
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MudRunner
Got my baby home today... hour and a half trip back from the Parkway Subaru in Wilmington. It misbehaved once, but after that settled back down and acted like it should. I think it was probably a little air in the system that needs to work its way back out. No more binding in the corners!

Got my A/C belt and tensioner back on, it's nice to have cold air again. Also fixed a vacuum leak around the MAP sensor.

If there are any more little incidents, I'll take it back to the shop and have them figure it out, but for now I'm going to just give it some more miles to make sure all the air is out of the system. :smile: Got my aluminum battery tiedown installed too.

So nice to have it back.
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2.5x_sleeper
All right! Now you can work on getting in those break in miles! :cool:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]
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jgrote
So tell us (me) what all they did.:N_poke:
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thebeephaha
Glad you got it back!

Random but I had always wanted an Outback but was unable to fine one I liked when I was in the market for my car. The Forester showed up and I was sold. Still love the Outback though.
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MudRunner
^IMO, the Forester looks better modified than the Outback does, which is why most of my stuff has been pretty subtle visually, and it's quite a bit more maneuverable in urban environments. However, I like the Outback better than the Forester as a road car (longer trips).

jgrote said:
So tell us (me) what all they did.:N_poke:
Click to expand...
:lol: I was just about to send you a PM...

Here is the invoice... unfortunately I don't have the full names of the parts as he didn't include the original estimate sheet. :icon_frown:

Total parts: $686.23
Total labor: $544.32
Out the door (tax, slight discount): $1223.73
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MudRunner
I will sum up today with my plans for tomorrow.

First, get new tires shod. I have an appointment that I really don't want to cancel again because of some other service center's incompetence. :chair:

Second? Limp the car down to Wilmington....

If anyone has a 5mt with matching diff laying around as a yard ornament, let me know.
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MudRunner
Since I've cooled off slightly...

Basically while following my dad up to New Bern Harley Davidson, behind him and his new bike at about 55-60mph, my tranny gets the bright idea to shift in to second without any warning whatsoever. YES, second. Which... if you know anything about Subarus, puts me right at the redline. With 300 miles on my engine. I am still pissed beyond belief. After that, it was all over the place. Jumping 4-3-2-4-3-4-3 etc, no matter how I modulated the throttle. Ended it up limping it 60 miles back to the house at 45mph in 3rd.

I'm just tired of it. Every vehicle I've had with an automatic transmission has eaten itself once or multiple times. I've followed every rule in the book on them (proper fluid and filter changes, coolers where applicable, etc) and they STILL fail.
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thebeephaha
That is really weird, especially since it was just in for a completely different issue. Sounds like they messed something else up.

BUT before you take it back, pull the battery on the car, pump the brakes, let it sit for a while and plug it back in. Do an ECU/TCU reset. It could just be confused.
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