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The BattleWagon -- Mud's Outback

154490 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
The two you see in the video are Oil PSI (left) and Water Temp (right). The oil PSI is pretty straightforward. It has a low pressure warning that is either audible and flashes red, or just flashes red and is silent (which is how I have mine set up). You can set the low pressure alert point too.

The water temp gauge measures the temperature at the upper radiator hose, which is handy for comparison with my Scangauge II, which measures from the ECU's sender at the coolant crossover pipe. This way I can see the difference when the thermostat opens and closes, and can monitor the coolant at it's hottest point (as it goes into the radiator). The gauge has a high-temp warning that works like the oil PSI's low pressure warning.

Both the oil temp and oil PSI senders are run off a sandwich adapter between the oil filter and the block. Everything is pretty easy to install as well... all plug and play, except for a few splices for power and lighting. :smile:
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Wessneroo
Awesome, thanks man! Fun to watch the oil pressure gauge dance around through the revs with the tach. Might have to install one of these just for that!
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2.5x_sleeper
Looking good! :cool:

I hope you didn't have to buy the oil filter sandwich adaptor, since I have two that that we took off the Foresters. I would have sold them to you for cheap. :wink:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]
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MudRunner
2.5x_sleeper said:
Looking good! :cool:

I hope you didn't have to buy the oil filter sandwich adaptor, since I have two that that we took off the Foresters. I would have sold them to you for cheap. :wink:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]
Click to expand...
I bought it with the gauges. :lol: :icon_frown:
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MudRunner
hehe. eh... hehehehehehe.
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2.5x_sleeper
Now that's why you need a sreet car & the OB for off roading! :cool:

I see you reinstalled the hood protector. Adds some contrast to the lighter paint. In addition... I bet it's clean under there. :wink:

Bobby...

['07 FSXT MODding Journal] ['03 X MODding Journal]
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Wessneroo
So dirty. So beautiful.
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MudRunner
3
Wessneroo said:
So dirty. So beautiful.
Click to expand...






:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:
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MudRunner
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bucky katt
MudRunner said:
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:
Click to expand...


another dumb question from a Subaru neophyte.............what is torque bind and is it something to look for in my stock (for now) 2003 forester.



very cool build thread! i am becoming inspired to tweak and tune on my 03 Forester x now. full exhaust from the Borla header to the tailpipe will likely be next. i read this whole thread in one sitting, well done!
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bucky katt said:
another dumb question from a Subaru neophyte.............what is torque bind and is it something to look for in my stock (for now) 2003 forester.
Click to expand...
Torque bind in a Subaru is when it feels like you are dragging that inside back wheel through a turn. If you notice this there is a fuse in the engine compartment you can remove which effectively puts the car in FWD mode. If the car drives normally when that is done you have torque bind. From a technical standpoint the transmission is not balancing the amount of torque between the front and rear wheels.

I have a Gen 1 OB with AT and at some point started experiencing it around 140,000. I had the AT fluid purged and the problem went away.
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MudRunner
Flotsam said:
Torque bind in a Subaru is when it feels like you are dragging that inside back wheel through a turn. If you notice this there is a fuse in the engine compartment you can remove which effectively puts the car in FWD mode. If the car drives normally when that is done you have torque bind. From a technical standpoint the transmission is not balancing the amount of torque between the front and rear wheels.

I have a Gen 1 OB with AT and at some point started experiencing it around 140,000. I had the AT fluid purged and the problem went away.
Click to expand...
Thank you sir! Yes... this is correct.
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jhelm007
MudRunner said:
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).
Click to expand...
Here's a random question about an old post, but... how was Parkway to deal with? I've recently moved to Wilmington and am going to need some work done soon.

Your O/B is pretty sweet BTW.
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MudRunner
Sorry for the delayed reply... but I cannot express my great displeasure in dealing with Parkway Subaru's Service Department enough. It was a nightmare from top to bottom, and eventually led to Subaru actually refunding me most of the money I spent there on repairs. Truly a horrible experience all the way around. They kept trying to fix things that weren't broken, I'd get the car back worse than it was before, and then they would try to charge me to fix THAT problem the next time I brought it back. Really, a horrible place to work with. It's been two years since then, but I will never take my car back there... ever, ever again.
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MudRunner
Little update...

Ludwig has been doing well the past few thousand miles since his build. I drive him to work occasionally, and use him as a backup most of the time for foul weather and hauling various things. However, due to some new future plans (engagement, new job with plenty of room for advancement, making plans for after college) I will be driving him more now and leaving Sora (the MY'07 Sentra SpecV) under cover for a while. The plan is, after graduation, to possibly sell Sora and purchase another Subaru for the fiance... and get rid of her horrid old Chevy Malibu.

The reasoning behind getting rid of a new car to purchase another older car, to go with my already old car?

All cars are out of warranty. The Nissan already has a bunch of small, nagging issues. I'm not familiar with it, nor do I know how to work on it really (the little that I have done has been miserable work). It has less versatility, doesn't get a ton better gas mileage (except on the highway), is FWD, and so far costs as much to maintain as an old BMW.

Ludwig, on the other hand, does break sometimes, but I've now literally turned every bolt and nut on the car, and I can fix pretty much everything in him. If someone names a part of the car, I can name the sizes of the bolt heads that secure whatever that part is. I can name most of the torques as well. So we're looking into getting the girl a Forester after I graduate and we get married... something of the '03-'08 vintage that I can work on and maintain, and keeping the rest of the money from Sora's sale to build somewhat of a little bitty nest-egg.

Early to be thinking about all this, but hey... I guess it's never too early? :biggrin:
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pleiad7
Sweet... get her an XT! :biggrin:
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Oromis
I am glad to hear this thing is still in action. Otherwise I reading the fifty million pages of yourjournal would have been a waste of my time.:icon_wink: It did give me a couple of ideas though. I copied your intake idea and so far its working great. Long live senior Ludwig!
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MudRunner
pleiad7 said:
Sweet... get her an XT! :biggrin:
Click to expand...
She wants a WRB FSXT, but isn't too picky really. :icon_biggrin:

Just mandates that it must be a Forester.
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pleiad7
Excellent... your girl has great taste in cars. :icon_cool:
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MudRunner
pleiad7 said:
Excellent... your girl has great taste in cars. :icon_cool:
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I've tried talking her into another Outback or a Legacy or a WRX wagon... but no. It must be a Forester. And a SG model. :lol:
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