96LegacyWagon
03-02-2012, 12:20 AM
Back in the housing bubble my family lost our home and had to live in a one room place for a while. Well, we finally got a loan from a generous aunt of mine and it got us into an apartment, the problem for me being is that my job was suddenly 10 miles away rather than the 3 which I was walking from the temporary house. I had been saving up money as much as I could during this time without a real home and went to go see about half a dozen cars.
I saw a mid 90's Chevy Cavelier for $600 bucks. Well, I sat in the driver's seat and ended up in the back seat (the seat was held onto the floor with cable ties which broke with my body weight). Then I went to see a mid 90's Jeep Grand Cherokee which the junk yard would not part with for less than $2000 and I could not secure a loan because the car was more than 5 years old. I kept looking on craigslist, because the newspaper and the AutoFocus magazines were out of my price range. I ended up looking at a mid 90's F150 Extended Cab with dual gas tanks, but the ownder refused to go down $100 which would have allowed me to purchase that. Next came this 1996 Subaru Legacy Wagon L that was posted on Craigslist for $1250 and I had about $1400 saved up by that time.
I took the Subaru for a test drive, I had never heard of Subaru before, but I liked the AWD which I was looking for in the F150 and the Jeep Grand Cherokee. I also found out the mileage was great too, which is what I was looking for in the Cavalier. The car needed a headlight so the dealer dropped off $20 and sent me on my way to get insurance and a light bulb. When I got back the car didn't start! My heart sank, because I had just signed the paperwork and given them my cash... luckily they came out and cleaned the battery terminals and I was on my way.
Within a couple months my battery died, and I replaced it only to have the new battery die as well. I got a new alternator because I found out that was what had killed the old battery, then exchanged the newly dead battery for a newly charged one and was on my way again. The only real mod needed from the alternator was to file the hole on the ground connection gromet to make it big enough to fit the screw through it. Next came the realization that although I had good bulbs in the tail light boot, the brake lights were not coming on when I stopped! Well, luckily someone who knows a lot about working on cars was able to jump 2 of my fuses together to make the ground work on that (pulled 2 fuses and put a wire between them to connect the circuits), that 'temporary fix' has been there for about 2 years now. I would like to get new wiring for this, but I'm guessing the easiest way to go about this is to find someone who is parting out a 94-99 SUbaru Wagon so I can pick the wiring harnesses up off of them from the tail light bar all the way up to the battery. I also noticed that my radio and blower motor were connected to this 'dead circuit' that was jumped to make the circuit work. I may need harnesses for that as well?
While at the gym my car got blindsided and I didn't see it until I got out, and here is a current picture of that (the gym actually closed down within the past couple of years, so that ended up being the last time I ever went there). Ended up having to drill holes in the door to pull it out so I could roll my window up and down. I still have yet to replace this.
--pic yet to be uploaded--
While exiting a freeway ramp I ended up drifting around a dog which had run out in front of me unexpectedly, and I drifted safely to the side of it, however a nice wall and curb combination appeared so I had to drift back the other way before I could finish my original drift and then just barely missed pulling off the drift in the other direction, however I ended up nailing the curb at 60-70 mph and jumping the curb, which instantly blew both of my left tires, and ended up rolling another couple hundred yards, turning once to avoid a tree, and eventually stopping against the fence that prevented me from falling about 100 feet back onto the freeway. That is about the time I began to truly love my Subaru, because I came to the realization that any of the other cars I had owned up to that point would have rolled under those circumstances. Also, after a moment (and I saw my car steaming which startled me a little bit) I was able to reverse the car and limp it to the other curb where I ended up having it towed because I could not get a tow truck there before the police came (which ran me a couple hundred for the towing and another $500 for the undercar work to get the wheels to sit normally again).
Another random thing that happened was that my front right headlight stopped working. I replaced the bulb, still nothing... so a friend of mine ended up finding out that some of my wiring looked like it had been eaten through under the car and spliced some wiring from a Manza he had laying around in his backyard from the headlight assembly back to the part of the wiring that had beat eaten through. Later I started losing antifreeze in large quanities which lead to me getting a new radiator. While I had the radiator out we painted the fans and fan shrounds on the radiator.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/96LegacyWagon/260227_10150211050678616_502073615_7332865_8283120_n.jpg
We also painted the serpentine belt guards a nice blue (outside of car is currently blue and rust, so it matches). Then when installing the new radiator came the realization that the original bracket would no longer hold the radiator since the new one was taller than the old one, which caused the custom fabrication (from sheet metal) of the black metal flake bracket shown here.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/96LegacyWagon/257051_10150211049733616_502073615_7332860_7010896_o.jpg
The car started 'pissing oil' every time I started it or let it run, so I asked my friend to take a look underhood with the car on a jack while I started and turned it off. She noticed that it was coming from the valve cover and so began the journey of what was a valve cover gasket replacement. On the way home from her place I had trouble with my steering, being as if I had my foot on the accelerator I needed to take my foot off the gas whenever I needed to turn (which meant coasting around corners, luckily there was like 2-3 inches of snow and it was late at night so the roads were baren). Turns out it was both tie rod ends AND ball joints! I got replacement parts for both of those and now I am waiting for my day off (which ha ppens to be Friday this week) so I can get to work and replace those and be on the road again.
I also am having a few other issues with the car (one being the trunk not opening yet again, because the thing at the bottom on the inside appears to be bent or warped).
My current goal with the car is to restore it and/or mod it to my liking... and that is how I landed upon this wonderful forum. :)
PS-- I am from the metro Detroit area. Does anyone else live out this way (or at least visit from time to time)?
I saw a mid 90's Chevy Cavelier for $600 bucks. Well, I sat in the driver's seat and ended up in the back seat (the seat was held onto the floor with cable ties which broke with my body weight). Then I went to see a mid 90's Jeep Grand Cherokee which the junk yard would not part with for less than $2000 and I could not secure a loan because the car was more than 5 years old. I kept looking on craigslist, because the newspaper and the AutoFocus magazines were out of my price range. I ended up looking at a mid 90's F150 Extended Cab with dual gas tanks, but the ownder refused to go down $100 which would have allowed me to purchase that. Next came this 1996 Subaru Legacy Wagon L that was posted on Craigslist for $1250 and I had about $1400 saved up by that time.
I took the Subaru for a test drive, I had never heard of Subaru before, but I liked the AWD which I was looking for in the F150 and the Jeep Grand Cherokee. I also found out the mileage was great too, which is what I was looking for in the Cavalier. The car needed a headlight so the dealer dropped off $20 and sent me on my way to get insurance and a light bulb. When I got back the car didn't start! My heart sank, because I had just signed the paperwork and given them my cash... luckily they came out and cleaned the battery terminals and I was on my way.
Within a couple months my battery died, and I replaced it only to have the new battery die as well. I got a new alternator because I found out that was what had killed the old battery, then exchanged the newly dead battery for a newly charged one and was on my way again. The only real mod needed from the alternator was to file the hole on the ground connection gromet to make it big enough to fit the screw through it. Next came the realization that although I had good bulbs in the tail light boot, the brake lights were not coming on when I stopped! Well, luckily someone who knows a lot about working on cars was able to jump 2 of my fuses together to make the ground work on that (pulled 2 fuses and put a wire between them to connect the circuits), that 'temporary fix' has been there for about 2 years now. I would like to get new wiring for this, but I'm guessing the easiest way to go about this is to find someone who is parting out a 94-99 SUbaru Wagon so I can pick the wiring harnesses up off of them from the tail light bar all the way up to the battery. I also noticed that my radio and blower motor were connected to this 'dead circuit' that was jumped to make the circuit work. I may need harnesses for that as well?
While at the gym my car got blindsided and I didn't see it until I got out, and here is a current picture of that (the gym actually closed down within the past couple of years, so that ended up being the last time I ever went there). Ended up having to drill holes in the door to pull it out so I could roll my window up and down. I still have yet to replace this.
--pic yet to be uploaded--
While exiting a freeway ramp I ended up drifting around a dog which had run out in front of me unexpectedly, and I drifted safely to the side of it, however a nice wall and curb combination appeared so I had to drift back the other way before I could finish my original drift and then just barely missed pulling off the drift in the other direction, however I ended up nailing the curb at 60-70 mph and jumping the curb, which instantly blew both of my left tires, and ended up rolling another couple hundred yards, turning once to avoid a tree, and eventually stopping against the fence that prevented me from falling about 100 feet back onto the freeway. That is about the time I began to truly love my Subaru, because I came to the realization that any of the other cars I had owned up to that point would have rolled under those circumstances. Also, after a moment (and I saw my car steaming which startled me a little bit) I was able to reverse the car and limp it to the other curb where I ended up having it towed because I could not get a tow truck there before the police came (which ran me a couple hundred for the towing and another $500 for the undercar work to get the wheels to sit normally again).
Another random thing that happened was that my front right headlight stopped working. I replaced the bulb, still nothing... so a friend of mine ended up finding out that some of my wiring looked like it had been eaten through under the car and spliced some wiring from a Manza he had laying around in his backyard from the headlight assembly back to the part of the wiring that had beat eaten through. Later I started losing antifreeze in large quanities which lead to me getting a new radiator. While I had the radiator out we painted the fans and fan shrounds on the radiator.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/96LegacyWagon/260227_10150211050678616_502073615_7332865_8283120_n.jpg
We also painted the serpentine belt guards a nice blue (outside of car is currently blue and rust, so it matches). Then when installing the new radiator came the realization that the original bracket would no longer hold the radiator since the new one was taller than the old one, which caused the custom fabrication (from sheet metal) of the black metal flake bracket shown here.
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/96LegacyWagon/257051_10150211049733616_502073615_7332860_7010896_o.jpg
The car started 'pissing oil' every time I started it or let it run, so I asked my friend to take a look underhood with the car on a jack while I started and turned it off. She noticed that it was coming from the valve cover and so began the journey of what was a valve cover gasket replacement. On the way home from her place I had trouble with my steering, being as if I had my foot on the accelerator I needed to take my foot off the gas whenever I needed to turn (which meant coasting around corners, luckily there was like 2-3 inches of snow and it was late at night so the roads were baren). Turns out it was both tie rod ends AND ball joints! I got replacement parts for both of those and now I am waiting for my day off (which ha ppens to be Friday this week) so I can get to work and replace those and be on the road again.
I also am having a few other issues with the car (one being the trunk not opening yet again, because the thing at the bottom on the inside appears to be bent or warped).
My current goal with the car is to restore it and/or mod it to my liking... and that is how I landed upon this wonderful forum. :)
PS-- I am from the metro Detroit area. Does anyone else live out this way (or at least visit from time to time)?