11-09-2019, 01:59 PM | #741 |
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Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr |
11-16-2019, 02:12 AM | #742 |
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I had my buddy Chad weld up the vbands on my headers and make an intake pipe with an IAT bung. He does great work and will be doing the rest of the midpipe to connect the headers to the Stromung catback, once the engine is in and running!
I'm planning on merging ~32" from the collectors. Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr |
11-23-2019, 04:59 PM | #743 |
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I spent the last few days fixing leaks on the Forester.
I did VC gaskets on both sides. The passenger gasket was leaking onto the up pipe sending some awesome fumes into the cabin. I also replaced all four (yes, four) oil cooler seals that were hardened and leaking. I found my small coolant leak to be a pinhole leak from the radiator, and ordered some OE metal coolant pipes/hoses that have gotten rusty/hard. Going to order a Nissens rad and change all of the coolant parts out together. I also did some new iridium plugs while I was in there. I did a comp check on cyl 2&4 and the numbers were within a few psi of each other which was nice (didn't do 1&3 because the oil was drained at that point). RAAMmat is having a 10% off sale, so I ordered sound deadening and ensolite for the Fozz, in addition to new OE window guessets. I'm going to do the doors, hatch, and toss some over the rear fender arches. I am SO excited to complete this project. Here's a link to the package I ordered: http://www.raamaudio.com/package-1-2...-41-625-sq-ft/ Next batch of maintenance is going to be suspension. Inner/outer Tie Rods, FLCA bushings, ball joints, KYB GR2s, Swift Springs, new USMs, STI RCLAs, whiteline BSK003 Forester Swaybar kit and an alignment. The car runs so good as-is and is getting up there in milage that I opted not to do the VF turbo I had previously mentioned. Every time I come in from working on this thing I start looking at STI hatchbacks again.....man, what I would give to own a low mileage car.....is not enough to obtain one. Imagine what that smelled like: Terrible photo attempting to show the multi-pieced oil cooler assembly: |
11-27-2019, 10:29 PM | #744 |
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I just got done my sound deadening/ensolite install today, along with the installation of new OEM window gussets. The difference is absolutely night and day. I am using about half the volume to get clarity out of the stock sound system over outside noise. I am sold on this stuff. I'm glad I waited to do speakers, the stockers are fine.
I covered all holes in the doors/hatch with RAAMmat and then went over the SD with ensolite (foam). I followed this process for all four doors and the hatch. Behind each speaker I put sound deadening and a small square of ensolite (put too much and you lose mid-bass frequencies per the internet). I also pulled the drivers side rear quarter trim apart and put sound deadening and ensolite behind the factory sub. 10/10, if you have not done this to your Fozz, you need to. Here's to hoping I never have to replace a window regulator. Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr |
11-29-2019, 04:36 PM | #745 |
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That looks like no fun but I'm not at all surprised that it's worth it. Big empty spaces! There's a reason modern cars use heavy plastic panels instead of that crappy stick on plastic sheeting for vapor barriers and such.
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11-30-2019, 02:01 PM | #746 | |
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Thankfully the Forester's door cards are easy to remove- just one screw and a few clips! Unfortunately after fixing the valve cover gasket leaks I found a new leak, somewhere on the passenger side, back of block. The only thing over that way is the turbo, and nothing is leaking from up top. So it's either back of oil pan, turbo drain (low pressure), or external head gasket. My strategy: continue on as normal and take action if it gets worse. The PITA is that all of these leaks happen to be above the up pipe, and the smell of oil burning continues, sigh. I found a shop selling an '08 STI Hatch outside of Nashville with a new engine/heads/clutch/etc for $15K which is a deal. I just can't bring myself to sell good ole Sam. For whatever reason, I am attached. |
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11-30-2019, 06:58 PM | #747 |
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fozzy woes assemble.
I have an oil leak too, rear main seal, right onto the headers... i also gained a large exhaust leak over the last few weeks, so bad i can't drive the car with the windows up. Sometimes I think I should have been a honda kid... |
12-02-2019, 09:25 AM | #748 | |
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I’ve finally got a game plan. I need a van for life things, plus towing, plus touring, so after winter lifts I’m going to get a sprinter and a 325iX to daily and let go of the beloved forester since I will no longer need an AWD hatch do-anything car. Pretty stoked. I was talking with someone about this last week. Subaru has done some magical thing by creating a cult following for cars guaranteed to blow head gaskets and spin bearings every 100-150k miles. Oh, you’re sick of that so you want to buy new? You’ll have to add a quart of oil every 1200 miles (their oil consumption allowance on most of the newer N/A cars that drink their 0w20). Last edited by blue91lx; 12-02-2019 at 09:28 AM. |
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12-02-2019, 10:23 AM | #749 |
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Yeah, its pretty crazy.
My Sti has honestly been pretty good with oil consumption. Subaru make great cars, but I am not sure how they haven't figured the whole oil / headgasket thing out. Maybe its time they ditch the flat 4 |
12-02-2019, 10:50 AM | #750 |
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Man are their regular FA engines using oil like that?!? My BRZ drank maybe half a quart every 5k and I drove the piss out of it, and everyone else I know with twins didn't have oil consumption issues... They still spun rod bearings though, lol
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12-02-2019, 09:53 PM | #751 | ||
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The 2.5i (non-XT) Foresters use oil like crazy. And even though it makes little sense, the manual cars use a significant amount more. I have a good buddy who works as a Service Advisor at a popular Subaru dealership here in Indy and it is shocking the amount of oil their new stuff is using. Most of the turbo cars are fine, though. Ironically enough! (I know that doesn't apply for the BRZ though, Doc). It was enough to steer me away from getting an '18 2.5i Premium Forester (last year of the 6MT). I figured the internet was blowing it out of proportion like usual, but I've confirmed it with different dealerships where I know folks. Who knows! My Forester drank oil (even T6) until I got tipped off by my 65 year old machinist who loves Subarus. He told me to try the European blend Mobil 1 0w40. Sure enough, one I started using that oil, I stopped burning it almost all together. Don't know why, also don't care to know haha. Now if I could get it to stop leaking..... Edit: and I'm sure you guys heard about the class action oil burning lawsuit https://www.classlawgroup.com/subaru...ction-lawsuit/ Last edited by blue91lx; 12-02-2019 at 10:00 PM. |
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12-02-2019, 11:34 PM | #752 |
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I ran 5w30 in my BRZ, but even before I modded it and was still on 0w20 it was fine. Who knows.
Interesting that changing to different oil fixed it, guess it had a lot more ability to cling and didn't get sucked past the rings and burnt. |
12-04-2019, 03:12 PM | #753 | |
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I am sure the issue is at least somewhat blow out of proportion. I have also seen a BUNCH of newer Foresters on the used market with replacement engines, too. Akin to the likes of the good 'ole STI, aka "selling my '07 STI, just had a new engine put in 3 months ago". Last edited by blue91lx; 12-04-2019 at 03:14 PM. |
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12-14-2019, 02:00 PM | #754 |
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I've been itching to daily an iX forever, but all of the ones I've had were too nice to put through winter months. I need a van for various reasons, so I will no longer need my Forester.
This means.........I can daily whatever I want.....which of course is an E30. I was originally searching for an '88 iX since they're fully loaded, manual coupes, but I'm too cheap and they're hard to find so naturally, I settled. The universe delivered me the perfect car: a rusty low mile '89 cream puff winter machine. I was scrolling through the Vintage page on FB, and saw a post asking if anyone had interest in "a project 325iX in the midwest". That was exactly what I was looking for. Turns out, the owner of a BMW shop in Ohio (and avid enthusiast) had been using this 325iX as his winter car up until he unfortunately passed away in the Spring. I sought out more information, and struck a deal. When I picked up the car, we were checking out the registration expiration and it ended up being on his birthday. The wife, who was so pleasant, despite the situation, said that meant that I was supposed to have the car. It was a nice experience. Anyway, she's got 130k on the clock, and runs great. It was repainted poorly, has rust in all of the normal iX places, but everything structural was taken care of. Crack free dash, no lights, everything works, etc. It has brand new blizzaks on it, too (and iX weaves with caps). They replaced the starter, battery, fuel tank, pump, lines, repaired brake lines, rebuilt the rear suspension with eccentric TA bushings, etc. They also had a body shop weld in new rear spring perches, which is nice. Plans: I have no plans to make this a super nice car. I just want to drive, maintain and enjoy it. I'm going to grind down and seal off the existing rust to prevent it from spreading further. It needs a timing belt and a tuneup. The head gasket leaks a bit of oil, etc. I know the forums are dead, but I thoroughly enjoy posting my progress up on here with my E30 endeavors. Anyway, here are some photos. The paint was so contaminated I had to clay it twice (first time I've ever had to do that). Should've used ironX but I didn't have any. So far I just washed and clayed the car, and polished the hood- I'll finish the rest of the car soon. I bought myself a Rupes machine for my birthday and it makes polishing a treat. I'm using a meguiars microfiber cutting pad with Rupes medium polish. Sealed with the new TurtleWax Hybrid Ceramic OTS stuff. Pre-wash (look how dark the paint is) [url=https://flic.kr/p/2hZdDHk] Post-wash and clay: Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr Working: Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr The hood all sealed up: Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr |
12-14-2019, 09:04 PM | #756 | |
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I spent the rest of the day checking the car out, inspecting things, and finishing the paint correction/ceramic coating. Good for 12mo, and it looks so different compared to how I got it. The paint has more depth, albeit still a poor paint job. Some notes/thoughts: -The hot boi wing has GOT to go, but they drilled into the trunk lid to mount it. -The passenger front outer ball joint has play -Strut housing gland nuts are destroyed from someone trying to remove them and failing -Steering rack has some play -CABs are worn -Drivers rear door is torn apart for a fix. It's the only door that doesn't lock, so I'll need to figure that out sooner than later since it's a daily. -Head gasket is leaking from the passenger front where they normally do. I'm going to deal with that after the first of the year. -Rust encapsulator is ordered. I'm going to polycarbide down the areas that need attention and seal it the best I can to stop the rust from spreading. -Left turn signal works but doesn't illuminate from the dash -Both rear windows are inop -At the house I have belts, vacuum hoses, timing belt/wp/tensioner/etc, cap/rotor, plugs, various gaskets/seals, etc. I'm just going to have to add the head gasket to the mix, which isn't too bad. -I HATE comfort seats. I have a decent tan drivers sport seat I'm going to toss in until I find a pair of black sports seats. I'll take care of the engine first, which is an easy job. And then I'll accumulate parts for the front suspension and do all that at once. After coating: Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr I put some 303 on the minty dash: Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr And started putting the interior back together: Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr Dirty engine bay. This will get freshened up when I address the above issues. Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr |
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12-14-2019, 10:31 PM | #757 |
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Man, the wing is rad.
Nice find, even if it is a bit rusty. Doesn't look too bad! The strut gland nuts sounds like a real PITA... What all is different about the chassis with iX that causes rust? Or is it just that they were more likely to see salted roads? |
12-14-2019, 11:48 PM | #758 |
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Love following this journal!
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12-15-2019, 12:40 PM | #759 | |
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Nah it’s not bad- it cleaned up much better than I thought it would! If I posted some pictures of the rust you guys would cringe. But all of the nice ones I’ve had I didn’t have the heart to destroy them with salt. The interior is minty fresh which is nice, and the mechanicals are very strong! Yep, you hit the nail on the head- these cars were bought and used as winter machines! The iX chassis is actually different up front in the strut tower area from it’s RWD buddy, but is otherwise mostly the same. It has vertical towers vs the slanted ones of RWD cars, making the iX a bit lazier due to some slight geometry differences, which is why folks don’t love these cars if not used for winter duty. They made the change to accommodate the front drivetrain (obviously). The trans tunnel is also slightly different to fit the transfer case, which slightly changes some things like seat mechanism handles, carpet, etc. The front subframe, steering rack, strut housings/mounts, control arms, etc are all different. The rear stuff is all pretty much the same aside from different bushings in the rear subframe and some other small stuff. The iX got a viscous rear diff vs the open or clutch pack LSD of the RWD cars. The iX also got stiffer front spring rates than the RWD cars (especially so compared to the 4cyl cars). And last but not least, you can’t retrofit any other steering racks into the iX due to its design, so you’re stuck with the hideous four turn L2L. Not enough of these cars were made for anyone to justify an aftermarket solution just yet, and to boot, most iX racks develop some terrible play early on in their life. My guess is due to the extra weight/stress from the front drivetrain. Anyway, enough of the history lesson haha. I’m just excited to drive it! Thank you! I try to keep it interesting. It sure is going to be fun to look back on this in later on. |
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12-16-2019, 09:11 AM | #760 |
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Man I'm not sure how you find these cars haha. When I first learned of the old iXs I thought they would make a great winter car but when I went to look for one the were either rust buckets or expensive, just like you stated.
It's awesome to see these old machines get the love they deserve and this car looks like a perfect daily driver. Also.... this thread needs more M3 content
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