New member from Austin, TX

[ATXlegacyGT]

Greetings all!

My name is Chris and I just purchased my first Subaru, a 1999 Red 2.5 GT Limited. Fell in love with Subaru's after driving my cousins Impreza 2.5RS. I'm not a total newb about subies but could learn a lot more about my legacy for sure! I just took the car to its buyers inspection and even with 170k on the clock everything checked out great except for the exhaust. I live in texas and am not used to rusted cars but my mechanic said the car had a fair about on it(its from Massachusetts). Mainly the exhaust and all mountings were rusted along with a few other "minor" connections. I only spend $2500 on the car so I dont mind putting some money into it. I do want it to be the best it can be and eventually have it reliable enough to modify further rebuild or not. That does bring me to another question. I have found it hard to find aftermarket support for our cars... even just for simple things like exhaust and lights(both need replacing so why not upgrade). My mechanic would replace the exhaust starting at $1500 for just labor which i thought was ridicules and didnt even ask about parts. The service write thought it was crazy also and suggested finding a friend or good exhaust shop. Anyone know where I can find parts, i guess mainly starting with exhaust systems and we can go from there?

Thanks and look forward to learning from you all!

Chris

[httrdd]

Welcome man. You will learn a lot from these guys on here.

[MarkSubi]

Welcome dude! nice to have another Texan on here :)
im in Houston.

[Okin DaVanh]

Anyone know where I can find parts, i guess mainly starting with exhaust systems and we can go from there?
Chris

Search Member's Ride Threads, where you'll find a bunch of hybrid set ups. Also, the Natural aspirated and Swaps and Conversion sections should be useful.


Welcome to the site.

[ATXlegacyGT]

Thanks for the warm welcomes everyone! I will check your suggestions when I get off work. Cant wait to start dumping money into her! Anyone else have problems with rust? Before I do more than I/E/H would you recommend a rebuild? I want more power but reliability and driveability are my main focus first.

[sauceyf4]

nice car,
for exhaust stuff check with Supers587 and his MS3 stuff .
last I checked he was making headers and Hi flow cats for our cars
http://www.rs25.com/forums/f14/t103583- ... lable.html (http://www.rs25.com/forums/f14/t103583-ms3-high-flow-cat-pipes-now-available.html)

[ATXlegacyGT]

Thanks, Ill check the link out now! MS3 as in Mazdaspeed3? Ironic as that is the car I just totaled and to be honest should have died in! Thank you airbags! Walked away with a collapsed lung and a week long hospital visit! But that's another story. But the wreck is what brought me to my Subie! My subie has 4x the miles my MS3 did and I already love it 10x more! Nothing like AWD and the sound of a boxer motor... even with a rusted out exhaust!!!

[sauceyf4]

sounds like a pretty bad wreck, Glad your okay.


Thanks, Ill check the link out now! MS3 as in Mazdaspeed3?

not sure why, MS3 is the name. but I have the header and the hi-flow catalitic converter
he was building for subaru ej22s and ej25s. I absolutley love the sound and (slight) power increase.

[JunkerXL]

wow, where to start! welcome welcome, keep austin weird, lol. anywho, for the rust, kill it, asap, look up any of the rust death threads we have here. not a lot of rust in texas, so finding advice can be a trick out there.

regarding the exhaust, your mechanic is on drugs (maybe? :smt120 ). maybe he's quoting you flat rate on an official subaru exhaust install :smt104 ? but pretty much any muffler shop can custom fab you an exhaust system for 500 or less. i had a whole new system, from the turbo, all the way to the exhaust tip, installed on my gl-10 wagon for 325$ and i over paid. i can typically get a system put on for 250$ or less, and i just buy my own muffler and/or tip. go to ebay, select parts, and get a good muffler shop to install. fabbing a sube exhaust = not that hard. lol parts wise, it can be a trick, but they ARE out there, and this forum is the place to get the goods.

lots of jdm bits available. a helped a friend of mine put together a jdm clone postal wagon, and we built it for less than 1500$ call jhot importers in denton, i believe, they have great prices on everything from hoods and fenders all the way down to used st-i exhausts. we managed to snag a nardi wheel, a cool shifter, some floor mats, a hood, the glass jdm projectors, and the fogs to go with the bumper, all pretty cheaply. given your only 3 hours from there, it would make a killer road trip, just bring money, cuz you'll be sad if you dont :smt010 . and call ahead to see what stuff they have available for your car. one of the guys working there is a subaru junkie so they always have some stuff.

hope that helps and, again, welcome! :smt023




:smt020

[Bookem]

Thanks, Ill check the link out now! MS3 as in Mazdaspeed3? Ironic as that is the car I just totaled and to be honest should have died in! Thank you airbags! Walked away with a collapsed lung and a week long hospital visit! But that's another story. But the wreck is what brought me to my Subie! My subie has 4x the miles my MS3 did and I already love it 10x more! Nothing like AWD and the sound of a boxer motor... even with a rusted out exhaust!!!

Just cruise up and down 6th st with the exhaust rumble!!! Chickies will love ya.

[ATXlegacyGT]

Saucey, thanks! Glad to be alive myself!

Junker, are you from ATX? Thanks for all the help! glad to see some fellow texans on here!

I will be researching all this info over the next couple of days. Thanks for all the help! I will be keeping an eye out for parts on here as well. I really wanna build the car back from the group up because of the rust. The car came from up north so unfortunately she isnt a texas rust-free car. Hopefully with this site and the place in denton i can find most of what i need tho. Nothing extreme, like I said for now ill be focusing on keeping it running, suspension, breaks, handling and some cosmetic upgrades. End goal would be a simple wrx swap with a nice suspension and break setup. Anyone know if the outback legacy sedan suspension would fit on the BD? I would kind of like to eventually build the car into a streetable rally car. But thats down the road, first things first. Exhaust to pass emissions to keep her on the road!

[JunkerXL]

i used to haunt various parts of texas until i disappeared into the mountains. austin's a neat place. http://www.jhotimports.com/ is the place in denton. texas is a great place, and one day i might pop down there, and have some good tex mex. mountain folk dont understand the difference between that and mexican food :smt013





:smt020

[sauceyf4]

Exhaust should be 1st on your list so you can get it inspected, But nothing will make
your car more fun to drive than a dialed in suspension system.

Im not sure about the GT but the suspension on my legacy L felt like a wet noodle in stock form.

Springs, struts, steering rack bushings, bigger swaybars, strut tower braces, differental outrigger bushings,
control arm bushing kits or Anti-lift kits (ALK) make the BD chassis feel sharp and responsive, predictable and safe. All this stuff is easy to find , relativley affordable and most of it you can do yourself .
I wouldnt dream of having a WRX swap without doing the suspension first.
in fact I stopped wanting more horsepower along time ago. Right now my goal is to
see how long I can make the stock engine last.
Oh yeah, and get some JDM projector head lights, but be forwarned :
they will make you put gas in your car and drive country roads all night long, which
can get expensive.

[ATXlegacyGT]

I agree, the wrx swap will be the last on the list. Speed isnt everything for me right now though I will be craving more at some point. But its not always about power. Like you said, a properly dialed in suspension can make a world of a difference and is essential when adding so much power to a car. That and upgrade the brakes. The stockers on my GT feel very soft.

First things first will be the exhaust tho and I would like to pick up some of those jdm projectors! Someone was selling them on here, ill have to check and see if he still has them!

As of now parts I guess I am looking for are

1. headers
2. cat
3. custom catback
4. projectors!

Would nice to source all that for under $1k!

[ATXlegacyGT]

Thanks for the link junker! Ill be checking them out! Have family in Dallas so a Denton trip is do-able.

[Bookem]

I agree, the wrx swap will be the last on the list. Speed isnt everything for me right now though I will be craving more at some point. But its not always about power. Like you said, a properly dialed in suspension can make a world of a difference and is essential when adding so much power to a car. That and upgrade the brakes. The stockers on my GT feel very soft.

First things first will be the exhaust tho and I would like to pick up some of those jdm projectors! Someone was selling them on here, ill have to check and see if he still has them!

As of now parts I guess I am looking for are

1. headers
2. cat
3. custom catback
4. projectors!

Would nice to source all that for under $1k!

I have a used Apexi N1 muffler and custom piping up to the two cats, front cat has flange gone (ugly but works) that was on my car before the swap, I'd sell cheap but I don't know how cheap shipping would be.

[ATXlegacyGT]

shipping shouldnt be much, any idea of how much "cheap" is?
What exactly do you mean by "custom piping up to the two cats, front cat has flange gone (ugly but works)" is it custom piping including the two cats or would i need a high flow cat still? "ugly but works, no exhaust leak or anything? I dont care about looks as long as it works properly. Any pics you could send? Very interested!

[Bookem]

After work I can get some pics and more info, it was a wrx cat back lengthened and adjusted to fit a BD chassis. When I removed it for my swap the front flange was cracked and broke. Just cut the one from your existing exhaust if usable and weld on, if not flanges are easy to get.

[JunkerXL]

no prob on the link :grin:




:smt020

[ATXlegacyGT]

Hey Bookem,

Would you be willing to to sell just the muffler? I found a good connection on an exhaust shop that can do the exhaust from the headers back for under $500. I think they could fab up a muffler but dont want a fart pipe sound or nothin'. I guess the muffler doesnt have to be a subie specific muffler, push comes to shove could go to my local speed shop and find a decent one, right? Just dont wanna pay to much so if you got a good deal for me that would be great.

Also, does anyone know if the JDM lights and grill will bolt right up to the udsm BD cars? Found some good deals on ebay for some but dont wanna invest in them if they dont bolt up =P

Just found out my alternator is bad so gotta replace that this weekend. Not very upsetting, only paid $2500 for the car so you gotta figure you have to put some money in it! Almost tempted to just do a stock na motor swap though if things keep bustin on it. I've seen them for under $1000 and with my motor having 170k miles its bound to need some serious work(and money) soon. Plus i think the motor mounts are a little rusty so if i gotta replace those might as well replace the motor while its out! Should hold up for a little longer though

[Bookem]

Hey Bookem,

Would you be willing to to sell just the muffler? I found a good connection on an exhaust shop that can do the exhaust from the headers back for under $500. I think they could fab up a muffler but dont want a fart pipe sound or nothin'. I guess the muffler doesnt have to be a subie specific muffler, push comes to shove could go to my local speed shop and find a decent one, right? Just dont wanna pay to much so if you got a good deal for me that would be great.

Sure I can sell just the muffler, it's definately not loud, or canny sounding. I had borla headers when I was N/a so it was a nice deep rumble and a little throaty when you get on the throttle, $20 I'll check on shipping prices. It weighed 11 pounds, if you want the midpipe for another $5 plus shipping, it weighed in at 6 pounds so shouldn't be much to ship.What's your zip?

And jhot is the place to go for your jdm engines and other stuff. That's where I got mine, you'd be surprised on prices.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/JDM-Suba ... ccessories (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/JDM-Subaru-SF5-EJ20-G-Turbo-Engine-Set-Swap-M-T-5SPD-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem1c164f0755QQitemZ120633362261QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories)

^Doesn't have the z4 ecu or tdo5 turbo but that price is pretty appealing huh?

Anyways here's some pics.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2010/10/exhaustoct132010003-1.jpg
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2010/10/exhaustoct132010004-1.jpg

[ATXlegacyGT]

78757, so $25+shipping for muffler and mid-pipe? I cant beat that! you got a deal as long as shipping isnt crazy! And you said no leaks or anything, right? I see surface rust but it doesnt look like much more than just that, surface rust.

forgive my ignorance, but with the mid-pipe and muffler you have pictures what would be left for the shop to fab together? Would i need those cats you have pictures also? If so it doesnt seem like there would be much left for the exhaust guys to even have to make! you could really save me some money man, thanks!

Sorry for bein such a newb. I dont know what it is about these subie motors that are throwing me off but everything seems so much different than every other motor ive worked on. (7MGTE, 4G63, L28, SBC, the list goes on... even motor cycle motors!) I know my supra had two cats but when looking at the system it seemed a lot more straight forward than the subies. Maybe its just how they have it separated into sections or maybe i have partied too much and been out of the car scene too long! haha!

[JunkerXL]

good deal on that set up. use mothers aluminum polish, and the muffler will look pretty much new, spray down the exhaust with exhaust paint, so the pipe looks new, and you'll have a clean looking set up :smt023 shoot 50$ for shipping and it would still be a solid deal




:smt020

[Bookem]

Pm'd you on more details.

[httrdd]

Glad I took so long to get you a price on that stock setup aren't ya? Great deal on that setup there. Bookem is really hooking you up. Good work man!

[ATXlegacyGT]

Cant wait to get it installed! Will be a major improvement over the rusted out exhaust rattle!