nepbug's 01 Outback - 9/10/2025 Tying a Bow On It

[superu]

^ Yeah, there's a difference in our experiences.

[nepbug]

I parked next to a twin today, good opportunity for a comparison.



Mirror height difference:

[superu]

ooh you gotta tuck up next to it, mirrors, squat down and show clearance differences and wheel gaps.

Look like a fool in the parking lot, man....taking pictures of cars...with your phone...lots of ways!!



It looks way better now, tinted and lifted.

[nepbug]

ooh you gotta tuck up next to it, mirrors, squat down and show clearance differences and wheel gaps.

Look like a fool in the parking lot, man....taking pictures of cars...with your phone...lots of ways!!



It looks way better now, tinted and lifted.

Yeah, and taking pictures of Outbacks too, that would definitely get some looks.

Yeah, the tint and lift helped with appearance. There are a few items on the to-do list, but I feel like this car is almost "done", which is nice. Though every day I drive it I think about how nice it would be to be supercharged (or have an H6), so that bug is growing in my mind.

[nepbug]

After driving around on the Baja Turbo springs for a little bit now I really like the ride. Handling is improved even at the higher ride height. If I were to do autocross or even rallycross with this car I think these springs with some amount of coil cutoff would be a good choice, you could get back down to stock height and increase the spring rate a little further by doing that, cheap, yet quality stiff springs.

[nepbug]

Recently I've had the opportunity to drive the Outback and the FXT back-to-back a couple of times, which allows me to compare the rides more easily. The OB rear is still under-damped in comparison, but better than it was. The fronts seem fine, but the back could use stiffer struts IMO.

[superu]

Recently I've had the opportunity to drive the Outback and the FXT back-to-back a couple of times, which allows me to compare the rides more easily. The OB rear is still under-damped in comparison, but better than it was. The fronts seem fine, but the back could use stiffer struts IMO.

it's a bit of apples and oranges though. Ya can't have everything! (where would you put it

There's a lot more back to the OB than the fozz, and ride height plus sway bar geometry and thickness, blahblahblah.

if you're going there, then you might as well complain that the OB doesn't have the get up and go either.
But I will compliment in saying jealously that it must be nice to have that ability to compare such beasts!




aaaaaanyway, that's all for now

[nepbug]

it's a bit of apples and oranges though. Ya can't have everything! (where would you put it

There's a lot more back to the OB than the fozz, and ride height plus sway bar geometry and thickness, blahblahblah.

if you're going there, then you might as well complain that the OB doesn't have the get up and go either.
But I will compliment in saying jealously that it must be nice to have that ability to compare such beasts!




aaaaaanyway, that's all for now

Well, I was just comparing them because I previously had stated that the ride felt like the FXT now, but now that I've driven them back-to-back I was correcting that to "not quite". I would still think the OB could use more dampening in the rear even if I wasn't comparing it to the FXT. Going over speed bumps takes just a tad longer to damp out than I would like.

With my setups right now, the OB has a solid 17mm rear sway bar and the FXT has a hollow 17mm rear sway, so it is very likely that the OB has a stiffer RSB at the moment.

I've also wondered just what it would take to fit SH (09-13) Forester suspension into my gen Outback. That might provide more lift than the Baja stuff and stiffer dampers.

[nepbug]

Took a nice long drive through the mountains to get to a mountain bike race this weekend.

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[nepbug]

Hit 190k miles today. The cars probably running better and being cared for better than ever before.


The miles are adding up quick though, just over 1000 a month or so since I took ownership.

[KNaph]

Damn haha, I barely even put 15,000 miles on my car in the two years I've owned it. But I hardly go anywhere far.

I really wanna get into downhill mountain biking, I've been debating a Diamondback 29er for a while, and there's tons of really nice trails around here.
It sounds like one of the best ways to spend the summer, cruise through the mountains and then ride for a while!
Any tips for someone looking to get into it?

[nepbug]

Intake Manifold Spacers

I recently made some intake manifold spacers for my Impreza, since I had some extra material I figured I would make a set for the Outback too.

I always liked the ixizIce intake manifold spacers because they measure up well to the phenolic spacers for heat transfer and are thinner, only 3mm instead of 8mm or so. The issue with the ixizIce spacers is that they are made for the turbo heads, thus they do not have the correct guide pin pattern for the EJ251/252 heads. I did a bit of research and it is likely that they are made from G10 material. So, I ordered up a sheet of 1/8" (~3mm) G10 material from MSC Direct and got to work hand fabricating some.

I just traced them out on the G10 and then began working it with my drill press and a variety of Dremel bits. It was a bit of a trial and error process, but at the end I was using a few different carbide burrs, a sanding drum and a drill bit to do them. Still took a little while to do each one. I spent the most time on the intake port as it is most critical, the other stuff could be rougher and not affect anything.

First port done.


First spacer done, matched up well.



Both spacers done.


I'll install them with a new gasket on each side at a later date.

[nepbug]

Damn haha, I barely even put 15,000 miles on my car in the two years I've owned it. But I hardly go anywhere far.

I really wanna get into downhill mountain biking, I've been debating a Diamondback 29er for a while, and there's tons of really nice trails around here.
It sounds like one of the best ways to spend the summer, cruise through the mountains and then ride for a while!
Any tips for someone looking to get into it?

Mountain biking is a great sport. For a tip, buy a decent bike to start, but not what you think a dream bike should be; after riding for a while you will be able to really hone in on the type of bike you really want. Only other tip I'll give is don't go out too hard, try to keep yourself in check a bit, you'll be able to go further and enjoy it more, mountain biking can be punchy, requiring bursts of power to get over obstacles so try to ease up between those to recover. Slow riding is better than stopping to recover. And get out there and ride as often as you can!

[superu]

Well, I was just comparing them because I previously had stated that the ride felt like the FXT now, but now that I've driven them back-to-back I was correcting that to "not quite". I would still think the OB could use more dampening in the rear even if I wasn't comparing it to the FXT. Going over speed bumps takes just a tad longer to damp out than I would like.

With my setups right now, the OB has a solid 17mm rear sway bar and the FXT has a hollow 17mm rear sway, so it is very likely that the OB has a stiffer RSB at the moment.

I've also wondered just what it would take to fit SH (09-13) Forester suspension into my gen Outback. That might provide more lift than the Baja stuff and stiffer dampers.

Copy that.
It would be an interesting fitment to do 3rd gen Foz into a 2nd gen OB. Agreed it could provide better lift and shock feel than just springs and Excel-Gs. It could also do good for 3rd gen and possibly 4th gen OBs. . .

Hmmm....

[nepbug]

I'm back in the country and getting a few things done on the car now.

My wheels on the OB look like they've been neglected by the previous owner, I'm pretty sure they were never cleaned. So I grabbed some Griot's Garage Heavy-Duty Wheel Cleaner and tried to see what it would do. I only had time to get the fronts done, so the back will be another day. Here's a comparison of the backs that haven't been cleaned to the front that have. I'm happy, the baked-on brown gunk is an eye sore.

Not cleaned:


Cleaned:


Also, my driver's front axle split it's inner boot so I replaced that axle with another OEM one I had hanging around. I'll reboot this one and keep it as a spare. I think the Baja spring lift was the final straw for that boot. Hopefully this one holds up a bit better. I'll have to bust out my Subaru-powered power washer to clean up the rest of the grease spatter as I just gave it a quick wipe with paper towels.

[r3v_v3ng3]

Thats a great DIY on those spacers and great job on cleaning those wheels. Don't they come in gold in the shadow area (not the face)?

[nepbug]

Thats a great DIY on those spacers and great job on cleaning those wheels. Don't they come in gold in the shadow area (not the face)?

I think the Limited trim level had them come with the gold on the inner part. I have seen them around before. I actually think I prefer the silver though.

I was impressed with the wheel cleaner too, I'll make sure I've always got some on hand, useful stuff.

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[nepbug]

Well, I'm starting to notice the clutch pedal acting up again, it's only a matter of time when a hot day comes along and it sticks to the floor. So, to remedy this I have ordered a new clutch slave cylinder and clutch hose, that should take care of it.

[nepbug]

Well, today I hauled home an EJ25D for a @superu project.

So much room left in this thing too, workhorse!



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[nepbug]

Tonight I used an OEM boot and re-booted the axle that had recently broken its boot. Stripped it all, cleaned it added new boot and 120g of synthetic CV joint grease. Now, I've got two spare axles hanging around for the Outback, an OEM and an aftermarket.

[nepbug]

Clutch Slave Cylinder Replacement

Odometer: 190,866 miles

I replaced the clutch slave cylinder to fix the hot weather clutch pedal feel problem. I bought a new hose as well, but I didn't replace that, just the slave for now, if needed I've got the hose ready to go. Bleeding went pretty easy, did as much as I could by myself and had the wife help me for the last 2 minutes to get the final bubbles out. So far so good.

Old and new, I went with the Centric Premium replacement:


New installed, I used some Lucas Red 'n Tacky grease for the contact point.

[nepbug]

New Window Gussets


I bit the bullet and ordered new window gussets to ensure the wind noise is gone for good.

Old vs new:


Old:


New:


I did both sides. Nice and quiet thus far.

[superu]

Well, today I hauled home an EJ25D for a @superu project.

So much room left in this thing too, workhorse!



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Hand-off received...
So little room left in this thing, not-the-most-versatile-but-pretty-damned-fun-daily, of a car

[superu]

New Window Gussets


I bit the bullet and ordered new window gussets to ensure the wind noise is gone for good.

Old vs new:


Old:


New:


I did both sides. Nice and quiet thus far.

that looks like a much better fix than the hand-squeeze job, or even the 'remove-the-tweeters-and-clamp-them' fix

[nepbug]

Baja Grill

I thought I would change up the grill a little, swapped in an 05 Baja Turbo grill.

So here's a shot of the grill collection I have right now:

Top = 2000 Legacy
Middle = 2001 Outback
Bottom 05 Baja Turbo




I was running the 2000 legacy grill before this, it is going to be part of a custom grill project now (eventually).

[nepbug]

I decided I want my high-flow cat wrapped, so I did a quick wrap and spray on it. Install will be in a few weeks, I've got a lot going on in the near future.



It's a bit ratty, if you want to see a nice wrap job, check out the wrap I just finished on my OBX EL headers for my Outback Sport.
http://www.dirally.com/forums/showth...l=1#post411461

[nepbug]

Just did an oil change today.

Utilized an Amsoil EA012 synthetic media filter, Supertech 5W-30 oil and a can of BG MOA.

Also, I have had my engine temp rise to the 3/4 mark a few times in the last week. I'm not losing coolant and have no bubbles, so the head gasket is fine. I suspect a possible sticking thermostat, but today I noticed that it appears that my primary fan (not the one triggered by the A/C) doesn't seem to kick on. I'll troubleshoot that a little more before I replace the thermostat (which I've already ordered an OEM one).

[nepbug]

Well, the main fan fuse was blown (20A in the engine compartment fuse box), so I replaced that. I'll see if it blows again or if it was just a fluke.

[nepbug]

So it looks like the fuse was the only issue, I guess it was just that fuse's time to go. It's been fine since, no drama. If I come across a good deal in the future I might upgrade to an H6 radiator, plus it would just keep giving me reason to consider an H6 swap or supercharger.

[nepbug]

Just realized that a few days ago (Sept 12th, 2015) marked one year of ownership for the Outback. Happy anniversary workhorse, you're much nicer than when I got you!

The next year should be slower in the mods as I feel like I'm getting pretty happy with where the car is. In the near future will be a few body work things as I want to get that done before winter and also some brake upgrades.

I'll say that the best mods to the car so far have been the Baja Turbo springs/RSB and window tint. That would top my to-do list for another one of these.