ace275's Subaru Legacy JDM Twinscroll Manual

[ace275]

Are the STi springs more progressive than the OEM Bilstein ones maybe?

No, just shorter and stiffer I think. The importer at Torque GT who was dealing with this import says he thinks the Spec B's drive alot better than the Tuned by STI cars as they're too stiff for our roads. I think the Spec B springs are about as stiff as I'd want tbh.

 

[rhythmeister]

No, just shorter and stiffer I think. The importer at Torque GT who was dealing with this import says he thinks the Spec B's drive alot better than the Tuned by STI cars as they're too stiff for our roads. I think the Spec B springs are about as stiff as I'd want tbh.

Do you think she's got stiffer springs than my GT? I find it tolerable and not too squidgy, the arch gap isn't sexy mind you

 

[ace275]

Small update. Got the rear brakes on. The first bracket I bought had all the holes in the right places but used spacers to create the offset which just dosen't fit the back of a legacy, so maybe the older imprezas can only use them as the legacy is multi-link at the back and the arms were in the way.

New bracket arrived which needed a slight bit of filing but only minor adjustments, and they're now on and matching

 

[Gambit]

Serious value there....just get send it now to lift it for you

MSSUB151 + 152 Milltek for Subaru Legacy 2.0T Auto Cat and Downpipe 05-09 | eBay

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[ace275]

Serious value there....just get send it now to lift it for you

MSSUB151 + 152 Milltek for Subaru Legacy 2.0T Auto Cat and Downpipe 05-09 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for MSSUB151 + 152 Milltek for Subaru Legacy 2.0T Auto Cat and Downpipe 05-09 at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

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That is cheap, though mine's a Manual so likely wouldn't fit. Not sure if it's simple to change it to fit a manual, or whether the pipe bends are different

 

[Gambit]

That is cheap, though mine's a Manual so likely wouldn't fit. Not sure if it's simple to change it to fit a manual, or whether the pipe bends are different

id say its probably just the mounting bracket is different. the sport cat alone is about £700 worth

 

[rhythmeister]

I've a rather splendid HKS pre facelift auto downpipe sitting here that fits the manual apparently...but it's half a grand's worth and might not bolt up

 

[ace275]

Looks like I'm on the hunt for a replacement boot spoiler

Opened my boot whilst my ladders were on the roof. What a t**t

 

[svensktoppen]

Bummer

 

[Boydie]

Well this news has spoiled the thread

 

[svensktoppen]

Should be an easy enough fix if they're still available. Just annoying.

 

[ace275]

Little bit of maintenance carried out.

@bludgod was correcting the fueling for BP's Super Unleaded 97 and noted there was a slight hesitation on acceleration and advised checking and/or replacing the plugs, so I ordered a set up a while ago and finally got round to changing them last night

The facebook pages for these cars are full of horror stories of people spending 4-5 hours trying to change them, having no clearance etc. But it actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I removed the air pump and batter from the passenger side, and removed the airbox from the drivers side, loosened the engine mounts off and jacked the engine up and I had loads of room. 90 minutes start to finish.

Engine jacked up a bit

Thought I'd give the area a wash down while I'm in there. Next time I've everything off I'm going to cavity wax these front chassis legs too

It's my first time seeing the underside with the undertray removed, other than a few specs on the manifold it's very clean underneath.

This panel in particular is often quite rusty in Subarus of this age. I had to weld the one on my old Impreza. Nice to see one so fresh

And finally, when the timing belt was done this radiator clamp was not orientated the same as it originally was, so I corrected that. Bit of a @Boydie moment correcting something so trivial

 

[Boydie]

That dip stick could do with a clean....

 

[ace275]

That dip stick could do with a clean....

I'll do a 50:50 just for you

 

[ace275]

Oh and some plug stats for the curious

The plugs I removed were LFR6AIX-P and the new ones ILFR6B. The new plugs were gapped around 0.72mm when they arrived, but I gapped them down to 0.65mm

The old plugs gaps on removal:

New floor mats also arrived today, good to get rid of the badly fitting 'Universal' ones. I did keep the 5th mat over the transmission tunnel hump however

This weird Japanese thing was on the seatbelt which could be used keep it slightly slack on you which they're all into, but I removed it as it wouldn't retract with it on and just found it annoying

Then finally, a small sticker modification for my own amusement

 

[Gambit]

Very clean underneath, even your sill kick plates still have the blue protective film on the

 

[ace275]

Very clean underneath, even your sill kick plates still have the blue protective film on the

Thanks, the missus keeps asking me if she can remove that film, but I told her if she does she may source 4 new kickplates with blue film on them if she does It's a great sign that it is still there.

 

[svensktoppen]

It's my first time seeing the underside with the undertray removed, other than a few specs on the manifold it's very clean underneath.

A fresh Japanese import for you, not rusted out UK/Euro cars. Get it all properly cleaned up and then well sealed. I know it's tempting to leave it as it looks so good, but it won't last long here without protection on our salt infested roads

 

[ace275]

Spoiler: Spoiler Alert

Sorry, literally just a spoiler

Picked up a replacement spoiler a few weeks ago, albeit in a wrong shade of blue. Brought it to a bodyshop who wanted £600 to paint it (Off the car) which I definitely wasn't prepared to pay, so I got a second price which was much lower, however he couldn't get the base coat to not react every time he painted it so he abandoned the job and gave me the spoiler back and I paid him for the paint used. Nightmare.

Ordered some aerosols from Omagh on eBay as I'm fed up of looking at the damage and I've had great results with aerosols from there in the past too.

Primered, sanded, and painted with 3 coats of 35J Regal Blue: (Think I was only 2 coats in in this picture)

First good coat of lacquer:

Metallic finish looking promising:

Naturally, two flies kamikazed into the wet lacquer. I resisted the urge to pick them out as I've learnt over the years no matter how tempting it is to touch something in wet paint, leave it be and sand it out!

Just awaiting it being hard enough for a good sanding to remove the marks, then another 2 or 3 coats of lacquer, then a wet sand and machine polish to give it a good even gloss.


No reactions at all, so I'm not sure what was going wrong for the painter, but it sounds like it must have been something in his own paint

 

[svensktoppen]

With painters you do get what you pay for in my experience. Or at least you don't get what you don't pay for

Looks a good job there

 

[Boydie]

Which reminds me, I have a black RS3 spoiler sitting in my garage this last 2 years or so at least. Need to check 100% it will fit my car if I change the wee fins either side of the spoiler, then see how the F I get my spoiler off the car as its a pain in the hoop.

 

[Ben P]

£600 to paint a spoiler is madness.

 

[ace275]

£600 to paint a spoiler is madness.

I was expecting £150-£200 to be honest. I just couldn't justify that on something that isn't a high collectible car.

 

[DJMCA]

I use that same seller for all my aerosol paints, good quality and finish.

I do all small bits myself now due to stupid prices of bodyshops

 

[ace275]

I use that same seller for all my aerosol paints, good quality and finish.

I do all small bits myself now due to stupid prices of bodyshops

They've been consistently excellent, great colour match, good spray pattern and minimal to no spitting either. I don't risk buying from anyone else now days.

For anyone who doesn't use them, they use an account "Fiona_mcgowan123" on ebay