98 LGT in OR

[ouch1011]

Hi all. My name is Kevin and I just recently purchased a 98 LGT Ltd as my DD. Always liked the look of these cars, but honestly never thought I'd own one lol. I'd originally planned on getting a 98-01 2.5RS coupe and making my own version of a JDM STI, but they are too hard to find and too expensive if they are in good shape, so I got the Legacy instead. I'm certainly not disappointed with my choice, especially since I always enjoy taking the road less travelled.

Anyway, bought the car June 1st, June 7th it blew a head gasket. Guess its a good thing I paid way less than KBB for it. So, I pulled the engine and completely cleaned and resealed everything, including replacing that (stupid) plastic oil separator cover on the back of the engine with the updated metal one. The car now doesn't burn or leak a drop of anything. I love it! :)

Sometime in the future (depending on money really) I plan on dropping in some variant of the semi-closed deck (Phase 4?) EJ25. In an ideal situation, I'd like to run the same entire drivetrain as the STI (complete with the 6-spd trans, DCCD, and LSDs). I'm pretty much set on the trans and rear diff being from an STI, but I'm not sure on the engine yet because I won't just drop in a stock engine. It will be fully rebuilt with all forged internals. I plan on running 400bhp daily, with the engine being reliably capable of 500bhp max. So, I might get an engine from a Forester or a newer WRX just because they seem to be less expensive. That's probably still at least a few years away though.

Just briefly about me, I'm an ASE certified mechanic and that is what I do professionally. I repair cars as my job, but my passion is modification. I have never owned a car and kept it completely stock. I like to think I know a little about everything in the automotive field, so hopefully I'll be able to help out with at least some of the general technical questions on the forum.

Just thought I'd drop in and say hey. Here is the car, still basically stock for now. The only things I've done for now is swap in the Outback rear sway bar and my friend bought me a Worx Tuning light crank pulley.
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https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2009/07/dscn0704-1.jpg
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https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2009/07/dscn0654-1.jpg

[peugoby]

Hey beautiful GT Limited! Where in Oregon are you from? I live in West Linn, go to school and work in Portland. Welcome to the forums.

[ouch1011]

Thanks! I'm really pleased with the condition the car is in given its age. I live in Salem.

I just went up to Portland this morning with my friend (he owns the STI in the pics) to pic up some tires from another guy up there. I think he said his name was Tony, and he had a 98 Legacy as well. He bought some 225-45-17 Potenza RE070s (stock STI tires I think) to put on his Legacy but I guess they rubbed the struts. I was busy trying to figure out how to fit 4 tires in the back of an sti, but I overheard him say that. I'm curious to see if he is on here. If so, thanks for the incredible deal on those tires, and the reason the tires were rubbing the strut is because of the offset of the wheel, not the tire itself. I fit 235-40-18s on mine and they just barely rubbed the stock fenders. A little rolling or cutting and they'd fit. Should be able to fit 225s with the right offset.

BTW, I just ordered a set of OBX equal length headers earlier today thanks to the keen eye of Reason. I'd been looking for them, but I thought OBX stopped making them and I couldn't find them anywhere.

[ScoobySnack]

Hey kevin, glad to see you on here now. Let me know how it your new legacy treats you. Keep in touch I may need a helping hand with a new engine swap in the future!

-Tony

[peugoby]

He bought some 225-45-17 Potenza RE070s (stock STI tires I think) to put on his Legacy but I guess they rubbed the struts. I was busy trying to figure out how to fit 4 tires in the back of an sti, but I overheard him say that. I'm curious to see if he is on here. If so, thanks for the incredible deal on those tires, and the reason the tires were rubbing the strut is because of the offset of the wheel, not the tire itself. I fit 235-40-18s on mine and they just barely rubbed the stock fenders. A little rolling or cutting and they'd fit. Should be able to fit 225s with the right offset.


I run 225/45/17 Pirelli Pzero on a +48 offset. I previously had my fenders rolled, and lightly pulled. I don't rub at all and I'm low.

[ouch1011]

Hey kevin, glad to see you on here now. Let me know how it your new legacy treats you. Keep in touch I may need a helping hand with a new engine swap in the future!

-Tony

Hey, you are on here. Nice! I'd certainly be willing to lend a hand with an engine swap, it is really straight forward on these cars. One of the easier ones I've done.



I drove up to a small car show in Hillsboro today and on the way back the check engine light came on. Great. Get back in to town and while car is still running smooth, it has NO power below 3000rpm. Computer is obviously pulling timing, which on these cars typically means knock sensor. Get home, hook up my laptop and sure enough, knock sensor code. It came on after I'd been sitting idling for about 10 minutes with the A/C on in hot weather, then had to floor it to get back into traffic so I thought that maybe the engine had knocked more than the PCM liked. Tried resetting the code, came back within 1 mile. So yeah, knock sensor is bad. Great.

I still love the car, but I hope this isn't the beginning to a horrible money pit experience.

[ScoobySnack]

Yeah, I have already spent to much on my 98 legacy. A few weeks ago I just did a basic tune up and then I went to start the car up and it didn't start. So I went to get a new fuel pump and fuel filter and that didn't do the trick. 4 hours later I was researching on the internet I realize their was a fuel pump fuse that the subaru manual does not tell you. I replace the fuse and it kept blowing on me. However, last couple of weeks I have been lucky and it has not blown again. I am puzzle... I checked all the grounding and everything! Also, just spent alot of money on two new o2 sensors (ntk). I should of just went with one cat instead of two oh well. I saw that you just purchased a equal length obx headers, I always wanted one but never came around to finding one since the unequal length headers are much easy to find. Good luck with that. Saw you also have a LW pulley. I never really looked much into that, since I read so many forums that they mention how the stock pulley has a harmonic balancer that you would throw off if you put a after market one on. What performance gain do you benefit from? Well, let me know if you find some 04 bbs like on rubens sti! They are so spendy! Well, maybe we can meet up sometime when you head up let me know man. Good luck on your new LGT it so clean.

[ouch1011]

Yeah, I was just about to (reluctantly) buy a set of UEL headers as well because my stock setup is leaking somewhere and driving me nuts. I knew either Cobb or Perrin had made an EL header for our cars (well, the 2.5RS) previously but stopped, then OBX "borrowed" the design and produced some but I thought they stopped too. I found info about their header but nobody that sold them. Then Reason pointed out a whole set of them that had just been listed on e-bay, so...yeah :)

On the lightweight pulley, typically you would be right, but everyone I've talked to (including Mike at Worx Tuning, the guy who designed this pulley) tells me that the Boxer engine is naturally balanced and thus doesn't need an external balancer. The stock piece is actually pretty light compared to other engines. I probably wouldn't have bought that pulley for myself but it was given to me as a gift, so it would be rude of me to not use it. Performance gain is less weight for the engine to spin, and so more power can be used to propel the car rather than just to spin the engine itself. Its a pretty small amount though, maybe a couple HP.

And if I find some 04 STI wheels for sale at a reasonable price, I'd probably end up buying them for myself lol sorry. I plan on running the STI Brembos at some point and I think finding a wheel to clear the front calipers and not rub the fenders is going to be a tall order.