Hello from Japan

[96wagonzilla]

I just found this site a couple weeks ago. sli is the $hit!!! I am stationed at Yokota AB in Tokyo. I have a 1996 Legacy GT Twin Turbo that I paid a whopping $900 for. As far as upgrades, it has an HKS cold air intake, HKS full exhaust (very loud), TEIN fully adjustable coilovers, Drivers side AAR racing seat, and suede interior. Other than that, I have upgraded the sound system. This is the most fun I have ever had driving a wagon, thats for sure. I will be posting a classified ad pretty soon, as soon as I get some pics. I have a white 97 GT wagon that I am parting out. a lot has already been taken off of it, but I might have that one part that you have been looking for. Have a good one.

[4n70n1n0]

Welcome! to SLi

[scotty_frank]

its not fair I almost payed quadruple that and all I got was a lousy na 2.2 :( But anyway thats awesome man send us some love from the land of the rising sun, and nice car!

[Plays_with_Toys]

if the white wagon happens to have a spoiler that covers the light section on the trunk, I wants!

[deadlydave]

That's an awesome ride, and welcome to the site!

[96wagonzilla]

thanks for the warm welcome. I appreciate it. I have a question for y'all, what is the big deal about mud guards? I have seen many posts about them on this site of people looking for them. They are pretty much standard on the cars over and are fairly easy to get hold of. Are they hard to find in the states or something? This is the first subby I have owned, so I never had the pleasure of trying to find certain in the states.

[J-Rock!]

its not fair I almost payed quadruple that and all I got was a lousy na 2.2 :( But anyway thats awesome man send us some love from the land of the rising sun, and nice car!

haha im in the same boat lol


welcome to the site!!

[Huffer]

thanks for the warm welcome. I appreciate it. I have a question for y'all, what is the big deal about mud guards? I have seen many posts about them on this site of people looking for them. They are pretty much standard on the cars over and are fairly easy to get hold of. Are they hard to find in the states or something? This is the first subby I have owned, so I never had the pleasure of trying to find certain in the states.

They're not standard on the cars in the USA. Subaru America cheap-o-d out on a lot of things:

sidemarker lights
projector headlights
exterior body moldings
rear windscreen wiper on sedans

oh,
and the boosted engine.

If you do it right, you can make some decent money off parting out a JDM car here.

[96wagonzilla]

How much do you think the turbos would go for in the states? I have two perfectly good ones, and for the right price, I would part with my mud guards/flaps, I also have a grill, momo airbag JDM steering wheel, heated electonic mirrors, Chipped ECU with fuel controller, intake, front and rear bumper, and many other things. All from a white 1997 TT wagon. I have many other parts too. The intercooler, headlights, fog lights and center console are already spoken for, but pretty much the rest of the car is there. It spun a rod bearing, so the inside of the engine is pretty much toast. Whatever I can do to hook you guys up, let me know. There are many parts stores over here (new and used) that sell probably everything you guys look for. There is even a Subaru Upgarage (used parts). This place is a gold mine. Solely Subaru parts. Let me know what you want or need and I will see what I can find. I have a military apo address....US address, so shipping wont be too much of a hassle.

[Huffer]

The turbos are basically useless without the wiring harnesses, unless you can find an enterprising modder... that and the fact that very few production cars are using sequential turbos - the new GTR uses parallel twin turbos...

check ebay.com and nasioc.com, and SL-i's wanted section for the hotly desired items.

Suspension and exterior mods are always sought after.

[96wagonzilla]

I wish I knew of an easy way to make mine parallel. The sequential turbo system is fast as hell top end, but the mid range 4000-5500 on the tach leaves some to be desired.

[Huffer]

That's the "VOD" Valley of Death - turbo lag.

One way to improve things is to remove the catalytic converter in the primary downpipe, and install a basic electrical grounding system.
This is proven time and time again on Subaru's imported into NZ. I saw a dyno done back to back with a vastly different torque & HP curve, along with a greatly improved response time from the 2ndary turbo.

Any good subaru shop in Japan should be able to convert you to single turbo, then you'd just need to find a GT ECU instead of a GT-T

[subba]

or go with a Zero/Sports Sequential Controller :grin:

I got mine but it isnt installed yet..

900 ummm i paid 786 for my first Leggy and 1800 for the one in my avatar lol but lucky u, you dont have to pay shipping :-(

Welcome to the Forums BTW.

[rad rex]

I'd like the grill if it's available. How much?

[Plays_with_Toys]

I am looking for this spoiler if you ever come across it!


http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/1552/50358577fulliz6.jpg

As for what americans want, the japanese mud guards are quite different looking than the standard mud guards here. I don't personally like them, they look too bulky. Here's some key items:

headlights
grill
aluminum door sills
tail lights
tail light center section
side marker lights
spoilers
interior accessories with nice stitching, so upgraded steering wheels, shift knobs, etc...

[Huffer]

Screw that, I want those rear fender flares!

[sharky nrk]

welcome, does said subaru parts yard have many STi bits I would definately be interested in finding some parts

[96wagonzilla]

I have seen all sorts of STI things at the used parts stores over here, everything from STI seats for $30 a piece to strut bars, gear shift knobs etc etc. STI over here is like chevy blazers in the states......everywhere. The new stuff is expensive, but the used stuff is fairly reasonable.

[96wagonzilla]

are you talking about the mud guards on my car Huffer? If so, I will be selling them soon. I am going to put some side skirts on my car after I paint it, so I wont need them. Not sure how much I will sell them for yet. If you make a decent offer, there yours. I will post some better pictures tomorrow, if I sell anything, in order to stay within forum rules.

[Huffer]

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/

I meant THOSE ^^^^ fender flares.

[deadlydave]

are you talking about the mud guards on my car Huffer? If so, I will be selling them soon. I am going to put some side skirts on my car after I paint it, so I wont need them. Not sure how much I will sell them for yet. If you make a decent offer, there yours. I will post some better pictures tomorrow, if I sell anything, in order to stay within forum rules.

Wohoo, people reading the rules FTW! Does that suby-only parts store of yours have any eyelids for a BE/BH legacy? :cool:

[)2edline]

I have a 1996 Legacy GT Twin Turbo that I paid a whopping $900 for.

As soon as I read that, I feel like everyone else does here that are from the states =[

But i actually have a 97 White BD soooooo, your 97 front bumper will be mighty tasty. the steering wheel and grille are also really interesting. I'm pretty sure i can find one in the states...but wabout the hood...?

[4n70n1n0]

PM SENT

[96wagonzilla]

as far as the eyelids, I will check next time i go to the suby store, i cant say i have seen too many of them around here, but I will look for you. The hood off of the 97 is toast. My friend cut the scoop out of it to fiberglass to his skyline hood. Sorry

[blackgtbeauty]

Blah blah blah somethin' somethin' SUBY STORE blah blah blah...

:shock:

SUBY STORE!?

[96wagonzilla]

yeah, the suby store is the shit.. The only bad thing is that it is about a 2 hour drive through Japanese traffic to get there. I make a monthly trip up there. Its worth it though........trust me..........STI heaven

[4n70n1n0]

i know this may sound crazy but can you post the address to the Suby heaven\store

[Airgne]

if you can get one go for a tomei downpipe and get that. email this gurl at tomei aota@tomei-p.co.jp she speaks english pretty good. also if you can drive there it wouldnt be a bad idea since there is a up garage next to tomei. its on 246 off the 16. about 45 min if i remember right. also welcome and enjoy. i cant wait to get back to japan.

[blackgtbeauty]

Pics of said store please.

[96wagonzilla]

THis is the link to the subaru store site.

http://translate.google.com/translate?h ... H%26sa%3DG (http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.upgarage.com/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=2&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dupgarage%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26hs%3DTDH%26sa%3DG)


This is the link for the address. The pages are translated so some of the sentences dont make a lot of sense.

http://translate.google.com/translate?h ... H%26sa%3DG (http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.upgarage.com/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=2&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dupgarage%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26hs%3DTDH%26sa%3DG)

[96wagonzilla]

the links didnt take you to where I thought they would. On the first link if you go to the bottom, you will see subaru upgarage. Click on it. That is the store.

Than on that page, just to the right of the picture of the store, there is another button that says, list of stores list. Click on that for the address and phone number. If you call them, good luck, they dont speak a word of english. Next time I go, I will take some pics of the inside of the store, so you can get an idea of what is there.

[96wagonzilla]

also check this site if you want some high end racing type parts. The AVO japan shop is about 5 minutes from my house, and the one in the states is in Washington, I believe. They can get you just about anything.

http://www.avoturboworld.com/

[96wagonzilla]

here are some more pics of my car.

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... nt/001.jpg (http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj291/denisbryant/001.jpg)
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... nt/002.jpg (http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj291/denisbryant/002.jpg)
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... /003-1.jpg (http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj291/denisbryant/003-1.jpg)
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... /004-1.jpg (http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj291/denisbryant/004-1.jpg)
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... nt/005.jpg (http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj291/denisbryant/005.jpg)
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... /007-2.jpg (http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj291/denisbryant/007-2.jpg)
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... /008-2.jpg (http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj291/denisbryant/008-2.jpg)
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... /009-2.jpg (http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj291/denisbryant/009-2.jpg)
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... nt/010.jpg (http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj291/denisbryant/010.jpg)

[subba]

here are some more pics of my car.
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/05/001-1.jpg
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/05/002-1.jpg
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/05/0031-1.jpg
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/05/0041-1.jpg
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/05/005-1.jpg
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/05/0072-1.jpg
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/05/0082-1.jpg
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/05/0092-1.jpg
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/05/010-1.jpg

Nice Car, U should make a post in the Members Ride Thread.

I would kill to get a steering wheel like that back, i love it.

[henryq89]

dude...welcome and thats an awes0me car u got there....especialli for that price lol....is there any way you cud get me STI seats or JDM grille for my 97 Legacy GT :grin: ...im in New York

[4n70n1n0]

That AAR seat is so nice.

That car is so nice and the engine WHOA!

and it looks like your front fenders are rolled NICE!

[Huffer]

I would kill to get a steering wheel like that back, i love it.

You'd kill for a busted up Nardi Torino OEM WRX wheel?

I don't see coils, so those must be some low springs...

[96wagonzilla]

thanks for all of the comments. I appreciate it. Its a work in progress. I have some things I will be doing to it soon. I just installed a rear strut bar today.....so nice. We went to the mountains to do so "driving" today....wow, what a blast. I see why subarus are made for racing. I hung curves in a wagon that I never thought was possible.

[subba]

I would kill to get a steering wheel like that back, i love it.

You'd kill for a busted up Nardi Torino OEM WRX wheel?


Had one in the first Leggy

[96wagonzilla]

The suspension is TEIN. There adjustable coilover all around. I have them lowered completely. I wish they went lower.

[Huffer]

The suspension is TEIN. There adjustable coilover all around. I have them lowered completely. I wish they went lower.

You have TEINS with stock tophats???

[96wagonzilla]

Yeah, I know, I thought it was odd too when I got the car. I'm having a hard time finding the camber adjustable tophats for them.

[decke48]

gc, gf, sf will work for tophats

[96wagonzilla]

I'm still pretty new to the subaru world, what does gc gf and sf stand for

[decke48]

gc= 93-01 impreza sedan or coupe. gf= 93-01 impreza wagon
sf=98-03 forester

[Airgne]

get a chance to email tomei?

[96wagonzilla]

I saw your car today, on my way to work. Very nice

[DOOK]

BE/BH 2000-2004 legacy tophats should work too I believe... mine look identical to that.

[subba]

So how is life in japan? The language barrier must be tough eh?

[96wagonzilla]

it was at first, but japanese is surprisingly easy to learn. You learn enough to get around fairly quick. The thing about the Japanese is, even they dont understand a word you are trying to say, if you write it down they know it. They are required to take a lot of english in school so they can read and write english pretty well. They are very interested in learning the language. There are a lot of base personnel that teach english to the locals (for $20-40 an hour)

[subba]

i want to plan a trip with my buddies before we get old and kick the bucket, i am scared that if i go i wont want to come back, everyone said Japanese is easy to learn :-/, i know writing it might be a pain.

[Reuben]

Sounds like you're enjoying it there, from the states originally are you?

For used cars and JDM parts NZ is just as much a paradise, but we severely lack the big aftermarket parts stores here, it gets quite expensive to ship stuff over. I wish i could visit some day.

[96wagonzilla]

Yeah, I'm originally from Kentucky in the U.S. i've had fun over here, its different than what I'm used to, but its fun

[Reuben]

How long you going to stay there? Going to bring a car home for a full conversion when the time comes? :wink:

[96wagonzilla]

I have 1 year left over here. I'm not going to bring a car with me, but I am considering bringing an EJ20 TT engine with me. Bringing a whole car is too costly after the conversion, shipping, and whatever taxes and fees go with importing a vehicle.

[Huffer]

But you could slice it in half and ship it as parts, then reweld and reinforce...hey presto. JDM badass.

I thought about that myself... :lol:

[adw_terror]

dude didnt you used to live in tower 3000? i swear ive seen that car over at my tower a lot... oh and fyi theres an up garage about 45 min down 5... its not all suby stuff but its got a lot for our cars
-Josh

[wagonofdoom]

lol you guys havent figured out how to order on the internet for UG yet?

i have a running tab at that place.