wagonista's '96 BG7 [goodbye, old friend.]

[Wagonista]

1996 BG7 Legacy Outback. EJ22 5MT

- Purchased in CA July 2007 with 191,000mi on the clock. It has something like 136k on it as of fall of 2014.

Exterior:
- Aerotech knockoff (ebay) front grille
- JDM rain deflectors
- Ganador Aero mirrors (removed) Power / Folding mirrors [outbacks do not have them standard]
- Shaved pinstriping
- Removed fog covers
- DIY mudflaps do not want.
- Tinted 5% rear, 35.5% front
- OEM wing
- OEM sideskirts Need a new passenger side one...

Lighting/Electronics:
- Hyper yellow fog lights
- DIY red gauges
- LED dome lights and license plate lights
- Clarion DXZ585USB head unit

Interior:
- Greddy counterweight shift knob
- eBay pedal covers
- Door cards and armrest covered in black microfiber suede
- Razo 300mm rear view mirror
- 2003 WRX bucket seats
- DIY red hazard switch

Engine/drivetrain:
- Butchered stock intake
- SPT oil filler cap... Won in a raffle at a very large Subaru meet. Bling!
- 1995 Impreza L transmission 1999 2.5RS 4.111 transmission
- Kartboy front shifter bushings
- Group N Transmission mount
- GrimmSpeed lightweight crank pulley
- ACT Streetlite flywheel
- Exedy organic clutch

Suspension / etc:
- 2003 WRX 16x6.5 +53 225/60/16 // JDM Legacy GTB 17x7 // XXR 530 18x8.75 +35 235/40/18 // 2013 WRX 17x8 +53
- 2004 STi struts & springs KYB AGX Adjustable struts, STi springs
- Rear strut bar
- Drilled/Slotted rotors with ceramic pads

Pictures:

At stock when I got it:


From a couple years ago:






Then for a while it was like:

[DLC]

The RMIC Classifieds section on NASIOC has a lot of traffic, so you might see if you can find some WRX/STI takeoffs for struts/springs. There have been many writeups on here about that sort of swap. Much cheaper than new OE parts also...

[caoutback]

Best bet would be t find Sybir, he's got SIC lowered Outback and has used MANY different setups suspension wise (Look through his members rides page). I personally am going to go with KYB GR2's and a set of WhiteLine Control springs when I get to lowering my 98 LOB. Nice ride and good luck with it. Is yours a stick or auto? I'd highly recommend an e bay intake to help with the upper rpm umph.

[Wagonista]

Yeah, I love sybir's car.

I've been watching the RMIC classifieds on and off for a WRX or STI partout. I'd love to get my hands on suspension and seats from one. For suspension, do I need to get parts from a wagon or will sedan parts work the same?

Yeah, it's a 5 speed manual. My first car with a stick and I can't go back to automatic, i love it.

Where are you from caoutback? I used to live in sonoma county.

[IwannaRally]

i like your grill i am planning on getting one does anyone know if it would fit a sedan?

[WinterKnoll]

Yup, the grille would work with a sedan too, but I'm not sure which ones, some have the "short" style grille and some have "tall", the short will work in a tall style legacy (despite the fact that there will be a small gap underneath), but not the other way around. I don't know whether this is a tall or short grille.

[Wagonista]

The grille is a short style. It leaves a gap, but it's not really noticeable.

[Tadashisan]

you shoul get rid of those ugly fog light protectors...since they dont do anyhing. i like it though, looks like mine...but clean lol

[caoutback]

Yeah, it's a 5 speed manual. My first car with a stick and I can't go back to automatic, i love it.

Where are you from caoutback? I used to live in sonoma county.

I live in Amador County . Mine is a 5 speed also and won't buy anything (unless super special) that isn't a stick (auto's blow IMHO). DEFINITELY do yourself a favor and do the e bay intake from an RS, biggest and best mod I've done so far to help get over the falling on face loss of grunt in the upper rpms (above 3k if I remember). My ride with all the goodies (and even with just the intake) REALLY likes to pull to red line .

[Wagonista]

Yeah, it's a 5 speed manual. My first car with a stick and I can't go back to automatic, i love it.

Where are you from caoutback? I used to live in sonoma county.

I live in Amador County . Mine is a 5 speed also and won't buy anything (unless super special) that isn't a stick (auto's blow IMHO). DEFINITELY do yourself a favor and do the e bay intake from an RS, biggest and best mod I've done so far to help get over the falling on face loss of grunt in the upper rpms (above 3k if I remember). My ride with all the goodies (and even with just the intake) REALLY likes to pull to red line .

Yeah I was looking at the writeup on those and really wanna get one. I cut a huge hole in the intake box when I did the silencer delete, and the acceleration increase and boxor rumble were unbelievable just from that. I'd love to see what one of those intakes would do.

you shoul get rid of those ugly fog light protectors...since they dont do anyhing. i like it though, looks like mine...but clean lol

I dunno, I kinda like the fog covers. They give it a sort of rally style that I like.

[Wagonista]

I got a new SLR, so here's a nifty picture:



In july, say goodbye to that front plate. Utah's passing a law.

[Reason]

Is it me, or does that plate say California?

[Wagonista]

It does, I moved here pretty recently.

[Reason]

Cool, it must be a huge change.

So nice wagon, are you trying to make a sybir clone?? ;-)

[Wagonista]

Yeah, the culture shock was pretty big.
Haha I do want to copy a bit. I'm not actually a huge fan of the black things around his headlights, although I do want projectors.

I did have one idea that was fairly original for my wagon, though. I've seen outback bumpers where the black plastic part around the fog lights and lower grille were part of the bumper rather than an insert. I want to find one of those for cheap, color match the main body of it, and then paint the black area the same color as the dark blue of the rest of the car, kind of like that last manipulated picture.

What do you think?

[Reason]

Yea that should look good.

[Wagonista]

So about three weeks ago I bought a set of WRX rims. The day after that, I got sick for a week. The next week I had my wisdom teeth out. Now after barely recovering from that I've got the flu. :insert nasioc unamused face:

I have the rims, I have the paint, and I would have the time if I wasn't running a fever... :|



I'll be painting them bronze btw. (They're not actually on the car if you couldn't tell. The tires are past the wear indicators.)

[4n70n1n0]

Yeah, the culture shock was pretty big.
Haha I do want to copy a bit. I'm not actually a huge fan of the black things around his headlights, although I do want projectors.

How about some black housing projectors

Check ebay - They have some.
- - - Sorry I can't get the link right now

[Wagonista]

Like on Legacy's car? Oh hell yes.

Edit: Just saw the ones you were talking about. Wow. I must have them. I'm in between jobs right now so I'm a bit stripped of cash... I might be able to afford those though.

[Wagonista]

Bump, for...

Bronze WRX stockers. Complete with bald tires!

Edit: There are a lot of images on this page, there are near-identical ones below.

[valentip90]

wheel color looks great. it would look even greater on a drop.

[Wagonista]

Three updates: JDM Rain guards, Ganador Aero mirrors, and new rubbers.







The mirrors are fantastic as far as noise goes. The deflectors reduce the amount of turbulence in the cabin with the windows down, and with the windows up, they completely abolish the annoying wind noise above 45mph. (A lot of subarus seem to get this, but not everyone is affected it seems.)

[sybir]

Looks really nice, man
Let me know if you off the mirrors....heh.

[Wagonista]

Taken into consideration, sybir. I drive through sac town a few times a year when I drive out to visit my brother, so maybe we could arrange a trade.

[xXGTBspecXx]

Hmmmmm now why is your car just sitting way too high??? LOWER IT!! can i have your trailer hitch??

[Wagonista]

I would pay money to have someone take that trailer hitch. It's a piece of 6 or 8 gauge steel welded to my frame and a towball bolted to it.

And I'm still deciding whether to get rally/gravel suspension or lower it. One or the other is coming within a few months. My suspension has been totally shot since I bought the thing.

The problem with where I live, is that my mother's toyota avalon bottoms out everywhere she goes. as you can see from the pics, I live in the rockies. The combined snow and the far from flat roads are why I bought an outback. If I was as low as some of the other legacies here, my bumpers would be gone after a few days or weeks. I'll have to take some pics of the roads here, they're plain ridiculous. I have the only car in the family that doesn't bottom out constantly.

That said, I still LOVE lowered legacies. (and strangely, raised imprezas. Impreza + Forester struts = win) If I move back to CA, it's getting a drop. If I stay in utah, it's probably turning into a rally car or a WRX/STI wannabe. Probably the latter due to cost concerns. I'll likely just mount up some WRX takeoffs.

[xXGTBspecXx]

take that trailer hitch off and ship it to me then lol. cutting wheel and black paint to cover up where it once was. it shouldnt be welded on it should be held on with 4-6 bolts

[Wagonista]

Naughty bits acquired...

[Wagonista]

Slow and low, that is the tempo:







2004 STi struts & springs. No rubbing!

[AussieDan]

Looking good!