What did you do to your subie today?

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BlueRidgeGrl

Discussion Starter · Mar 20, 2010

Thought it would be fun to start a thread on everyday things we do here and there to our beloved Subarus. The weather is getting nicer, so I'm sure we will all be outside more tinkering on our cars.
(if this is a repost, please delete it)

Today has been a busy day for me! Got my Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 tires in yesterday from Tirerack for the Sti and had them mounted and balanced today by a real cool guy off of Nasioc. If anyone wants his info in the PNW PM me. He runs a legit business out of his home doing tire stuff n such, for a really good deal. But let me tell ya, these tires are STICKY!!! They pick up gravel everywhere but they are SOOOoo nice! It feels like a different car

When I got back from joyriding the STi in it's new tires, I washed the Forester (for the second time this week) and finally got around to hand waxing it. Looks pretty, but boy is there a lot of bumps and bruises on it!

What did you guys do to the subarus today?? :biggrin:

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problemcat13

· #202 · Apr 1, 2010

Wow, this thread is moving!

1. Drove my 120mi round trip to work (generally cruising at 80mph).
2. New engine air filter.
3. Topped off gas and added Lucas fuel/injector treatment.
4. Purchased some pretty decent polish/wax which I hope to use on it sometime in the near future!
5. Uh...carried a wheelbarrow, rake, two water hoses and bunches of sprinklers home. Does that count?

problemcat13

· #1,423 · Oct 11, 2010

I autocrossed the deathsled, took 1st in STU, proceeded to do fun runs and overheat the tires to the point it was all over the place and I actually spun out for the first time :icon_biggrin:

Oh, the good: I washed and waxed Friday in preparation!

problemcat13

· #1,475 · Oct 20, 2010

Pulled off my summer/autocross wheels and tires and put on the all season set.

Which of course includes inspecting the brake pads, brake lines, struts, springs, sway bars, endlinks, endlink bushings, rear diff, exhaust, valve cover gaskets....doesn't everyone inspect all that when switching wheels? Haha!

problemcat13

· #1,933 · Jan 20, 2011

pigboat_2 said:
Hey how hard is it to replace the valve cover gaskets? I have a leak in one of mine . Also, are the cams right there when you take the covers off? I could replace with the Rallitek ones...

Erich

What do you drive (NA or turbo)?

I JUST replaced the passenger side valve cover gasket set tonight myself. Hope this fixes the oil leak, as I did not pull out the little half-moon plastic pieces from the head and re-RTV them.

It took close to 3 hours but that included coming inside to look things up a few times...like the half-moon pieces which I didn't expect, and what to do about the crimped hose connector (ended up replacing it with a hose clamp). The dealer said it would be 1.5 hours of labor, I figured 2 for myself having never done it, and could have pulled it off in 2 if I had stuck with it. Having hands that aren't that big helped because that's the hard part, getting in there to get the bolts off. Not hard, just a little tedious. Shallow socket and a wrench for a couple of them.

All this is on an XT. Similar job for an NA (did that before too).

EDIT: as for cams, you'd have to do a full timing belt job too, eh.

problemcat13

· #1,973 · Jan 28, 2011

Shakeman said:
While washing it today I found a nail in one of the tires. Replaced the tire. The road hazard program made the replacement somewhat painless.

You do know all four tires have to be the same size, right? So if the others are already worn down a bit, you need to get that one shaved.

Or you may already know all this (hopefully)...

problemcat13

· #2,194 · Feb 27, 2011

Interesting thing for me. I replaced this small gray/green/blue hose (I'm color blind) on my XT that goes from the intake tube to a sensor on the inside of the right fender near where the EGT plug is. I had to replace it due to cracking it during maintenance (the old tube was hardened).

I swear it was spooling faster when I drove around today! Felt much quicker by my butt dyno!

problemcat13

· #2,481 · Apr 7, 2011

I ran it out of gas.

Really. On the freagin' interstate. Hadn't done that in 20 years. Had to wait on roadside assistance to show up with gas.

[Sorry deathsled]
*hangs head in shame*

problemcat13

· #2,750 · May 19, 2011

Repainted my grill. It was originally plasti-dip, and when I went to sand a few nics it started peeling so I just rubbed all the old plasti-dip off. Took a while to do that!

But a few hours, sanding, and three coats of plasti-dip later it looks great! (Yes, I pulled the badge off and did it separately).

(P.S. I didn't paint the whole top which is under the hood, so it looks dusty. Just the first step on top).

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problemcat13

· #2,752 · May 19, 2011

The previous owner had done the plasti-dip at some point before I bought it - I've had it since August of 2008. It was actually plasti-dip over another paint on the chrome/plastic.

There were a couple of spots where it looks like a rock knocked the finish off down to the chrome. Not really a problem with the plasti-dip.

I did, however, make some of it loose a while back (maybe 8 months ago) when I was using the pressure-washer at the car wash. It seemed to bubble a little where either something hit it or there was an imperfection that caught my eye. So yes, the plasti dip came a little loose unfortunately; but I don't know 100% if the surface under it was nice and perfectly prepped for finish.

I think the plasti-dip had faded a little too...but it's been on there for years. And the nice thing, not too hard to peel off to redo.

The few bad spots is why I pulled it off to redo it. I can tell you, I really like the way the plasti-dip looks after drying. Nicely evened out and looks quite professional.

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problemcat13

· #2,771 · May 22, 2011

Drove the "Tail of the Dragon" four times, haha!

problemcat13

· #2,792 · May 26, 2011

Slapped the 17" 5-spokes back on (had the 18" for the Tail of the Dragon this past weekend) with my NEW set of BFG G-Force SuperSport A/S. An awesome all season tire...but the new tires felt real squishy after the 18" RE01s!

problemcat13

· #2,830 · Jun 3, 2011

Lazer said:
DP and catback fitment were just fine in length. The catback is Impreza spec so I had to do the whole xl hangers, but otherwise it's great! The only thing that popped up on the DP was that I had to use a crush washer and a different nut on one of the turbo studs as the factory nut has a small seat on it that wouldn't clear the DP. So far I love it and fingers crossed no exhaust leaks over the next couple of weeks!:banana:

I just picked up a downpipe/cat from an STi, hopefully will take care of my P0420! For $60, it's worth a try

problemcat13

· #2,863 · Jun 12, 2011

Replaced the original downpipe/cat (with 109k miles on it) with an STi take (with 49k miles on it). Hopefully this resolves my P0420 issue.

Oh, I also cleaned and put the turbo heat shields back on, have had them off for a few weeks. PITA they are.

problemcat13

· #5,836 · Nov 28, 2012

I'm thinking of putting a kartboy sticker on the back of my VW GTI. Thoughts?

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