What was your worst mod on your Legacy. :)

[MRLancaster]

Just a fun thread....Post your worst mod you've done to your legacy. :)

Here's mine....https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/04/5853_1092547924981_1565010094_30225093_7-1.jpg
Fart cannon. I got it a few weeks after I bought the car. Looks absolutely horrendous. And I hated all the stupid stickers I plastered the poor car with.

[mike-tracy]

Running all seasons instead of summer tires, since I use snow tires during the winter anyways. Mostly because I'm poor, lol.

[anothernord]

Probably the mesh in the front bumper when I was in high school when I first got the car. I didn't know better.

I think there's probably still pictures in my build thread.

[Yamazaki]

I think the worst mod on any car is the one you can't un-do. I've done a few of those and regret them.

[httrdd]

Rust.

[Benfolio]

Rust.

I thought free mods were the best?? :lol:

[GTDrifter]

Stickers on the doors of my gt which then got the bright idea to remove with a green scotch bright scrubby pad

[anothernord]

I think the worst mod on any car is the one you can't un-do. I've done a few of those and regret them.

+1

[MRLancaster]

True. Im having electrical problems now because of something stupid i did a long time ago.

[rougeben83]

3 inch catback.

[Benfolio]

All around I'd say my JDM swap. There's a bunch of things I should have done different.

1. Wouldn't have let the guy helping me try to force the trans x-member over to the MT mounting holes (car was a AT so it used a different x-member and different holes). The bolt INSIDE THE FRAME broke off and we had to cut a hole, bolt on the x-member, then weld it up. If I ever need to drop the trans, I'm screwed. Kinda.

2. I would have not kept the trans. It already had 165k on it, 4th gear engaged hard sometimes, and 1st wouldn't engage below 10MPH or so. Common. But now both issues are worse, and there's a bearing in there taking a dump.

3. Read that I didn't need the 2.5L ECU, so I kept it simple by running the 2.2L ECU, and sold off the 2.5L ECU with the junk 2.2L motor to a Vanagon guy. Guess what? I have driveability issues when using non-name brand gas. And I get spark knock off idle if I get on the gas too quick. Might be the ECU, might be the JDM motor wanting more octane. I did notice an improvement when using mid or premium gas. But when regular is $4 per? F that.

4. Should have picked a better swap candidate. Like a white wagon. Or a Forester. I'm currently looking for a Forester. Cancer at the right rear wheel and around the windshield from a previous replacement on my car is only getting worse. And I've always loved white cars with blacked out trim. Panda wagon FTW!

[Grafton]

the gauge faces, least functional of my mods, hasn't really helped with the readability in low light anyways

[redlegacygt]

My weapon R intake... Not that i dont like the intake, I just dont like what i paid when i was new to the whole modding thing. lol Plus i could have started off with something that had alittle more impact on the vehicle.

[hapatimmy]

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2009/09/0921091808-1.jpg
Can I just say my hippo sleek replica grill?
I got sick of it rather quickly and the fact that it was not OEM at all
and did not have that stock look but a custom ricer look bugged me.

[Huffer]

Buying an automatic when I wanted a Subaru when I moved to the states 7 years ago.

[bulldozer24]

Putting interior LEDs in to light up the floor boards, but they are gone now.

[phi11]

I went cat less, for about a year.
worst gas milage ever.

[Wiscon_Mark]

Painting my interior Trim. uck.

[dodik]

living in brooklyn every single body panel has scratches or damage yes even roof and trunk

[MRLancaster]

0.0 roof....how did that happen

[dodik]

one is from stupid sunroof deflector other scratch i dunno,

[HeresMyMind]

hks axleback. COBB ftw

-B

[geckoboy86]

doing colors in the cluster lighting.....

cant undo it....*sigh*

[Sambo]

Lets see probably painint some of the dash lights to be red instead of green.... lights looked cool ... untill they started shorting out and not working ever...
another would probably be the sti shocks and struts.... Ever since i have had them i cant drive offroad easy... go down allies easy ... plus all the rattling is getting worse and worse and i blame the shocks...only good part is being able to take some corners at crazy speeds ... i want to keep em but ... probably gonna change em back to stock soon

[aekOne]

putting a shift kit and manual valve body paired with a B&M pro ratchet shift on a 4EAT gear box.

[xoSubieLegacyxo]

DIY Bumper lip. Now its like Swiss Cheese!!!!! lol

[slaytalera]

Deer mod....its a killer

[Kraziken]

Kind of regretting the JDM bumper and trust lip. It lookeds nice but it rubs on EVERYTHING.

Thinking about switching back to OEM, or trying to track down a GT-B bumper.

[ShadowGT]

You see the pic I'm using for an avatar? That was cool for a few months. The weight of the lights caused the grill to split apart after going over rough roads. Now I have an aftermarket plastic black grill. I'm not doing that again.

[DarkPhoenix]

Underdriven crank pulley! It is SHITE!!!

[ShadowGT]

Not the worst mod, but in the long run the most questionable decision I've made:
Lightweight flywheel and lightweight crank pulley at the same time. Don't get me wrong, the car spins up fast. Clutching took a second to get used to but there gains are there. The problem is the misfire CELs. They pop up occasionally. Random cylinders, no rhyme or reason to it. It makes me go crazy because due to the age of the car I have to go looking around to make sure nothing real is happening.

[MarkSubi]

I still have it to, for now anyways but with me I regret using the can like muffler or as some know it has a cheap fart can for my muffler when i made my custom catback exhaust did that a few months after i got my car. wish i used an actual brand muffler that was bigger and more hidden underneath, my leggy looks nice but the muffler is so ricey it annoys me at times when I look at it.

[pdawg]

Gauge face. Gauges never worked after that. Ended up with new gauge cluster.

[MRLancaster]

Gauge face. Gauges never worked after that. Ended up with new gauge cluster.


Happened to me too

[ouch1011]

I don't have any mods that I really regret, but the painted interior trim is probably my least favorite. Most of it looks great, because the interior is black and the painted bits are like a metallic gun metal color, but the trim around the stereo bubbled up when painted, and it looks bad. Need to get another trim piece and try again.

2nd would probably be the header. It made a noticable difference in power, but the "sewing machine" noise is annoying. Plus the part will be useless once I swap the engine.

[Oppey]

I put blue LED's in my guage cluster. I dont know if it was the brand i used or something else. but at night it didnt shine that bright so i have to squent my eyes and get close to read my cluster. Thinking about puting stock bulbs back in.

[r3v_v3ng3]

i painted the inside housing of the jdm fogs with transparent yellow and it came out like shiittt. took em out and undid it and left it alone

[ryu_haneda]

Um... worst mod on my Legacy. That would probably be:
Me: oh yeah, I've driven my green Legacy GT for a few years, I can replace the antenna, NO PROBLEM

...three hours later...

Antenna mount messed up, the antenna would go up and down no problem but sometimes the antenna would fall over. Embarrassed to the point where I disconnected the power to the antenna in the trunk so it stayed up (or down).

Lesson: if you're fixing your car, take your time or don't do it at all. :|

[chuckthefuk]

Worst mod....

Well i wont say worst.. i don't think anything I've done has me regretting but I can tell all of you..

Driving a Flat Black (no clear coat) fancy sued JDM interior and JDM bling all around is more stressful then getting 10 speeding tickets..

You cant eat .. smoke... sweat... cough.. god damn it you cant even fart in the car without worriing about something getting dirty ....

Not practicle... whatsoever...

Now on the other hand.. my Outback... Having a 2.5" exhaust on a EJ22... Epic Fail..

-Chuck

[losdiosdeverde86]

I didn't mod anything on my 99 GT Ltd, nor have I done anything on my 2010...yet

But my 96 however.. out of all of these:

Outback struts
205/75r15 light truck tires
Hella Driving lights
FIIAM Air Horns
Cherry Bomb muffler
Toggle switch in the change cup to raise and lower the antennae
AWD/4WD Duty-C mod
Sanding a rust spot and painting it with yellow and black caution stripes
Installing a stereo that didn't fit into the mount
Removing every heat shield known to man
Cutting off the plastic on the front bumper under the radiator
PA Speaker mounted under the hood
(I'm sure there's more...)

My BIGGEST regrettable mod was not changing the water pump when I knew it was bad and letting it overheat and crack the block.

RIP.

[BG5guy]

on my 92 legacy i would say the momo steering wheel. was a nice mod, but a real PITA to figure out. in my 97gt id say it was the rear wrx seats, again a nice mod but an even bigger PITA then the steering wheel

[losdiosdeverde86]

This is a spectacular idea for a thread by the way. This should be sticky'd. How many of the things you're reading here you thought were a spectacular idea back when the poster was originally talking about it? Now we have a repository or BAD IDEAS!

Great stuff folks.

On second thought - let's just make every thread a sticky. We're wall on our way as it is.

[harrymaneuvers]

Worst Mod for me was swapping the JDM bumper beam WITHOUT finding a way to also keep the 5 MPH foam absorber.


A 5 MPH bumper tap punched a hole right through my bumper, bent the middle of the JDM bumper beam, and bowed in my radiator support enough to make my headlights out of alignment.

$435 to paint the new bumper and straighten the front end.


$50 for a new JDM bumper beam which required me to buy JDM fogs and ANOTHER JDM bumper. Selling and shipping the fogs was easy. Selling and shipping the JDM bumper was another story. Having to stockpile countless cardboard boxes from my office, custom wrapping the bumper in cardboard then taking it to greyhound for shipping was a HUGE PITA.

[Dead91silvia]

T-boning a Ford Fusion... My car still has a bent right side frame rail! :grin:

[1982gl4]

Outback struts in my 92 lego. It was cool, but a PITA to get them in, and then it didn't ride/feel the same and it rattled and clunked everywhere. I like my "new" 92 lego much better that one's getting wrx struts....

[losdiosdeverde86]

Outback struts in my 92 lego. It was cool, but a PITA to get them in, and then it didn't ride/feel the same and it rattled and clunked everywhere. I like my "new" 92 lego much better that one's getting wrx struts....

I LOVED the outback struts in my 96 legacy. They probably fit alot better though.

[98outbackpdx]

putting an i am the stig sticker on my back window and not doing a very good job, then it started bubbling so i pulled it off and now there is dried on glue on the back window. also putting a wag more bark less magnet on my back hatch when it was dirty and the paint is all scratched up where i put it now.

[Quest]

MSD Coil
I can't tell any difference in MPGs or performance
I would have been just as well off painting my factory Diamond coil red

[lazerface]

oil pressure gauge. i got it mounted up and wired in the power for the backlight and it looked really nice. problem was it was a mechanical gauge and by the time i had it in the car, i was having second thoughts about running a capillary full of pressurized oil into the cabin. it became a useless dash ornament.

[Dead91silvia]

OHH! I got one!!! However, it was not on my Subaru... I had a HUGE 5" chrome tip Maga -Flow muffler on my 83 Celica! (shudder)... I was about 18, the year was 1999... hahaha

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/11/83Celica1rs-1.jpg

[racingking951]

Off-roading my legacy within the first few days of owning her...

Blew a head gasket
Radiator cracked
3 wheel bearings shot
steering rack sprung a leak
Intake sucked up some water
Sand/dirt everywhere (inside the doors, ac system, intake box, and more)

Needless to say I fixed everything and she runs perfect again but im keeping it to the streets

[MRLancaster]

^ Sounds like me! I regret taking mine off road as well! Although it was a blast.

[Cervantes]

BOV....bad for business all around

[subie/legacy]

Putting on an outback rear bumper cover. Both of the bumper beam bolts got f'd on the passanger side, so they only go in half way. :mad:

[MRLancaster]

Everything in the left picture :)
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/11/b4png-1.jpg

[ShadowGT]

MSD Coil
I can't tell any difference in MPGs or performance
I would have been just as well off painting my factory Diamond coil red

Hey now.. I painted mine red. Just sayin'.
Don't hate!

Oh.. 3rd retarded mod for me:
Rear strut brace.. in the wagon. On paper.. on the road.. yeah sure. OK. Then whenever I have to use the wagonness of my wagon, I have climb back there and pop the bar out first. I still have it.. I don't really tighten the bar bolts down.

[httrdd]

What was your worst mod on your Legacy. :) :

Made it a DD!!!! :roll:

[Reason]

The worst mod is a mod not well thought out. And reading some of what you guys put it seems that's the mistake. Labeling a mod bad because of you installing it wrong shouldn't mean it was a bad mod. And expecting high power gains from something small isn't a bad mod, just that your hopes were just too high.

I plan certain mods out for months. Usually something I never done before, and usually have a back up plan If it goes wrong or If I don't like it.

My 2.5" would be a bad idea If I keep the car how it is. But I knew it was going to be boosted or have some sort of engine build. I had the opportunity to have an awesome exhaust built and I took it.
Another one was color matching a grill, had it on for 15 mins and took it off.

And now thinking of it, cutting up the radio bezel to fit gauges. Also cutting up the HVAC controls didnt work out.

[Huffer]

Oh.. 3rd retarded mod for me:
Rear strut brace.. in the wagon. On paper.. on the road.. yeah sure. OK. Then whenever I have to use the wagonness of my wagon, I have climb back there and pop the bar out first. I still have it.. I don't really tighten the bar bolts down.

Easy fix - make some quick release bolts like bicycles have on their seats and front wheels. Or you can go bling and buy Whiteline's Quick Release bolts.

[ShadowGT]

Oh.. 3rd retarded mod for me:
Rear strut brace.. in the wagon. On paper.. on the road.. yeah sure. OK. Then whenever I have to use the wagonness of my wagon, I have climb back there and pop the bar out first. I still have it.. I don't really tighten the bar bolts down.

Easy fix - make some quick release bolts like bicycles have on their seats and front wheels. Or you can go bling and buy Whiteline's Quick Release bolts.

I actually thought about doing the quick release things like on bikes. After about the 5th time getting back there I was thinking "there has to be a better way.."

[prodriver1]

CAI, subarus HATE them, powerband felt like a honda

[Reason]

Bump

[96LegacyWagon]

CAI, subarus HATE them, powerband felt like a honda

What did you notice when you did the CAI? I am interested in MPG currently, but added power would be appreciated as well. Have not driven a Honda before... */hearing Baby Got Back in his head from the part where he says, "She's got a motor in the back of her Honda"*

A graph would be awesome (showing mpg/horsepower changes throughout the rpm spectrum), but have not come across such a thing yet on google.

[xoSubieLegacyxo]

CAI, subarus HATE them, powerband felt like a honda

What did you notice when you did the CAI? I am interested in MPG currently, but added power would be appreciated as well. Have not driven a Honda before... */hearing Baby Got Back in his head from the part where he says, "She's got a motor in the back of her Honda"*

A graph would be awesome (showing mpg/horsepower changes throughout the rpm spectrum), but have not come across such a thing yet on google.

The most you would get "horsepower" wise out of an intake is not even 2-3hp. If your looking for fuel economy then I would say to get a CAI. When I had a CAI on my legacy my best was 27mpg on the highways traveling the speed limit.

[Wiscon_Mark]

CAI, subarus HATE them, powerband felt like a honda

What did you notice when you did the CAI? I am interested in MPG currently, but added power would be appreciated as well. Have not driven a Honda before... */hearing Baby Got Back in his head from the part where he says, "She's got a motor in the back of her Honda"*

A graph would be awesome (showing mpg/horsepower changes throughout the rpm spectrum), but have not come across such a thing yet on google.

CAIs don't address the airflow restrictions in a stock motor. I went back to stock as well, and feel like the power is exactly the same, minus the extra noise.

[GTDrifter]

I had a cai on my gt and when it rained my car was lucky to do 20 mph

marks right, there more of a noise maker than performance

[N3M3S1S]

Got HID conversion kit, and now I want JDM projectors :(

[ShadowGT]

Putting thermal wrap on my headers and living on the gulf coast where it rains a lot is making me second guess my decision. Driving in the rain, or through puddles, getting the wrap wet causes my car to steam excessively when I stop. Steam billows out from beneath my car when I'm stopped. People look at me like something is wrong. When I park, it looks like my car is smoking and people point and look but it's steam.. from beneath my car.. the wrapping is wet. It's more annoying than anything. Old folks knock on my door at my apartment telling me my car might be "burning." (That's happened 4 times now.)

My CAI I believe is causing my car to suffocate and overheat in traffic jams. The air filter is right behind the fog light. I noticed in prolonged traffic jams where I have to idle for very long periods of time.. even when I know I'm topped off with coolant and my fans are working and the radiator is less than 2 years old, (and so is the water pump and thermostat) I'm having big temp spikes. But only in prolonged idling ever since I switched to a CAI. I never had this using a SRI and open hood scoop.
I might go back to the SRI.
I can attest my car is working order. But since I changed to the CAI.. this spiking started but only in bad traffic with long idling delays. This may be attributed to the "dry bag" on my filter but other forums have and K&N said that the dry bag wouldn't restrict air flow that badly to cause that.
I have a K&N dry bag over a K&N cone filter.

After some considerable time.. I'm starting to hate looking at the coffee can muffler that I have. I realize it was an emergency purchase after a cinder block destroyed my stock muffler. I don't mind the noise. I hate the look of it now. I think it's to "rice." I wish it looked a bit more stock. Or perhaps a way to retain the rumble yet stay stock looking.