vwhammer
Adventurer
Well, until I get my garage set up properly to do the 4x4 conversion on my Vanagon, I decided to build something a little less involved so my wife and I can do a little out of the way exploring and camping in this great country of ours.
I don't expect to do a whole lot of rock crawling or anything like that.
I just want something that can handle a little rough stuff when the going actually gets rough.
It would also be nice if it got decent mileage too to save a few bucks on our travels.
In keeping with the simple build scheme I also wanted something that didn't require a ton of custom fabbed parts to make it all work.
After talking with some friends, one friend in particular offered me a decent deal on a fairly neglected and practically abandon 06 Impreza Outback Sport.
It had been sitting for longer than a year, had 4 flat tires, a whole pile of scrapes and dents, some seriously trashed rear brakes and, to top it all off, smelled like a rats nest inside.
However, there was a little glimmer of hope left in this abandon pile.
1. it was cheap.
2. it ran like a champ and just (ok, 30,0000 miles ago) had nearly 1500 dollars worth of work on the engine which included a new timing belt and several seals and gaskets (unfortunately no head gasket work)
3. It has decent mileage (137557)
4. Did I mention it was cheap?
I am no stranger to Subarus. This would be my third Impreza so I know that, save for a couple of issues, they are reliable, simple to work on and fun cars.
With all that said lets get to it.
I mentioned that the rear breaks were trashed and boy were they.
Apparently he had the stereo blasting nearly every time he drove it and could not hear screeching as the right rear brake gave everything it had in an attempt to slow this thing down.
I don't know if you can tell from the pic but there is no pad left and there is more than 6mm of material ground off of the caliper itself.
The saddest thing about all of this is that at one time the friend that owned this vehicle was an ASE certified technician.
His dad is the president of one of the largest performance car parts stores on the planet and surely taught him better than that.
Anyway this is nothing that a few bucks at any online parts retailer and a couple of hours worth of time could not fix.
Then I pulled the car into the garage and went out the next day to find this...
As many know, this is not a good sign to anyone that owns any Subaru with the 2.5L engine.
However, I did realize that that seemed like an awful lot of oil from a gasket that I don't suspect is holding that much oil
I removed the factory plastic "skid plate" expecting the worst.
It was only as I was wiping everything down looking for a seriously busted head gasket that I found the oil filter loose enough to spin it with one finger.
I tightened the filter and the problem was solved... For now
For the record the head gaskets are weeping a little oil and will need repaired but I will work on getting the car running and drive-able first before tackling the gasket job.
Anywho.
I know this thing needs new tires and I also know that I am not slapping some puny stock sized tires back on it.
So I ordered up a set of General Grabbers in a size that is pretty popular with the lifted Subaru crowd.
Lifted?
Yes I plan on a lift.
A little bit of extra ground clearance is a welcome modification for when the going gets to the aforementioned "rough"
From my Knowledge the 215/65R16 tires will not fit on most stock Imprezas so I also knew a lift would be in order.
The problem with fitting tires this size on an Impreza is not hitting the fenders or body (well maybe a little) but the interference with the tire and lower spring perch on the strut.
The most common way to remedy this issue with with the fitting of the strut assembly from a similar year forester.
This is exactly the route I plan on going.
For the time being I am simply running a set of used full strut assemblies from an 04 forester.
I will get all the wrinkles ironed out then upgrade as necessary.
I know I would like some stiffer springs primarily because I plan on carrying a fair amount of stuff and I would prefer that the rear end not sag too much and I would like to avoid bottoming out all the time.
I got all the rear brakes taken off and the new parts ready to go on but a decided to clean up and paint a little to keep rust to a minimum.
Unfortunately I didn't get any pics of that so it will have to wait until next time.
Stay tuned for more details.
I don't expect to do a whole lot of rock crawling or anything like that.
I just want something that can handle a little rough stuff when the going actually gets rough.
It would also be nice if it got decent mileage too to save a few bucks on our travels.
In keeping with the simple build scheme I also wanted something that didn't require a ton of custom fabbed parts to make it all work.
After talking with some friends, one friend in particular offered me a decent deal on a fairly neglected and practically abandon 06 Impreza Outback Sport.
It had been sitting for longer than a year, had 4 flat tires, a whole pile of scrapes and dents, some seriously trashed rear brakes and, to top it all off, smelled like a rats nest inside.
However, there was a little glimmer of hope left in this abandon pile.
1. it was cheap.
2. it ran like a champ and just (ok, 30,0000 miles ago) had nearly 1500 dollars worth of work on the engine which included a new timing belt and several seals and gaskets (unfortunately no head gasket work)
3. It has decent mileage (137557)
4. Did I mention it was cheap?
I am no stranger to Subarus. This would be my third Impreza so I know that, save for a couple of issues, they are reliable, simple to work on and fun cars.
With all that said lets get to it.
I mentioned that the rear breaks were trashed and boy were they.
Apparently he had the stereo blasting nearly every time he drove it and could not hear screeching as the right rear brake gave everything it had in an attempt to slow this thing down.
I don't know if you can tell from the pic but there is no pad left and there is more than 6mm of material ground off of the caliper itself.
The saddest thing about all of this is that at one time the friend that owned this vehicle was an ASE certified technician.
His dad is the president of one of the largest performance car parts stores on the planet and surely taught him better than that.
Anyway this is nothing that a few bucks at any online parts retailer and a couple of hours worth of time could not fix.
Then I pulled the car into the garage and went out the next day to find this...
As many know, this is not a good sign to anyone that owns any Subaru with the 2.5L engine.
However, I did realize that that seemed like an awful lot of oil from a gasket that I don't suspect is holding that much oil
I removed the factory plastic "skid plate" expecting the worst.
It was only as I was wiping everything down looking for a seriously busted head gasket that I found the oil filter loose enough to spin it with one finger.
I tightened the filter and the problem was solved... For now
For the record the head gaskets are weeping a little oil and will need repaired but I will work on getting the car running and drive-able first before tackling the gasket job.
Anywho.
I know this thing needs new tires and I also know that I am not slapping some puny stock sized tires back on it.
So I ordered up a set of General Grabbers in a size that is pretty popular with the lifted Subaru crowd.
Lifted?
Yes I plan on a lift.
A little bit of extra ground clearance is a welcome modification for when the going gets to the aforementioned "rough"
From my Knowledge the 215/65R16 tires will not fit on most stock Imprezas so I also knew a lift would be in order.
The problem with fitting tires this size on an Impreza is not hitting the fenders or body (well maybe a little) but the interference with the tire and lower spring perch on the strut.
The most common way to remedy this issue with with the fitting of the strut assembly from a similar year forester.
This is exactly the route I plan on going.
For the time being I am simply running a set of used full strut assemblies from an 04 forester.
I will get all the wrinkles ironed out then upgrade as necessary.
I know I would like some stiffer springs primarily because I plan on carrying a fair amount of stuff and I would prefer that the rear end not sag too much and I would like to avoid bottoming out all the time.
I got all the rear brakes taken off and the new parts ready to go on but a decided to clean up and paint a little to keep rust to a minimum.
Unfortunately I didn't get any pics of that so it will have to wait until next time.
Stay tuned for more details.
Last edited:
