BLMPKN'S 98 Forester

[IBratmanI]

The headlights and tail lights are different. 98-00 is one style, 01-02 is different on the front and rear as far as lights, hoods, and rear hatches go. But the doors will swap.

 

[SUBARUDE]

I am pretty sure the forester dan had was a 2000 cause the hatch dan has doesn't have taillights on it like the 01-02 foresters

 

[IBratmanI]

I am pretty sure the forester dan had was a 2000 cause the hatch dan has doesn't have taillights on it like the 01-02 foresters

Yeah I think so too. But just wanted to make sure he did know about the differences when getting parts.

 

[SUBARUDE]

Don't worry will is pretty knowledgeable

 

[2point5RS_Dan]

hah it probably was a 00, I don't know foresters. the thing was in my yard for two days.

 

[blmpkn]

Im gonna miss having projector headlights, does anybody make clear ones I could have retrofitted?

 

[Matt]

Mikey has been doing it recently. Ask him to make you some.

 

[blmpkn]

The lenses on the lights are glass and fluted iirc, not crystal clear like the lights on your rs. Having the fluting (or whatever the f you call it) would pretty much cancel any benefit of having a projector wouldent it? I havnt been able to find anything clear for 98s.. Just 2000+. Mabey ill do a front end conversion lol

 

[IBratmanI]

The lenses on the lights are glass and fluted iirc, not crystal clear like the lights on your rs. Having the fluting (or whatever the f you call it) would pretty much cancel any benefit of having a projector wouldent it? I havnt been able to find anything clear for 98s.. Just 2000+. Mabey ill do a front end conversion lol

From what I've seen, people sand the fluting out, and then polish it clean and clear before installing projectors. So that's an option.

 

[blmpkn]

Never ever would of thought of that! Thanks bratman, you gave me hope haha

 

[IBratmanI]

Never ever would of thought of that! Thanks bratman, you gave me hope haha

No prob! I haven't done it personally, but have seen a bunch of people do it, so it must be possible! And a first gen Forester with a retrofit would be sweet!

 

[blmpkn]

Without a doubt! Does anybody know if a 2.2 would bolt up to a 5 speed trans from an 05 obxt? When the new motor goes in, id like it to be connected to a trans that doesn't have 300k on it, what I was thinking was having the trans and rear diff that came out of my wagon rebuilt and putting them in the forester.

Reason being that the 4.44 gearing is awesome, I definitely want a limited slip (L's aren't equipped with lsd's), and the turbo tranny would be practically bulletproof with over a hundred less h.p than its used to.

Definitely wouldent be the cheapest way out, but im NOT going to be buying any used parts of that caliber.

 

[SUBARUDE]

Should just need the clutch to match the tranny and the extra gearing will help out with the power loss of the 2.2

 

[blmpkn]

Yes, another reason I want the obxt tranny. Thanks gabe

 

[SUBARUDE]

Bump for will

 

[blmpkn]

Whoop whoooop! Thanks gabe for the bump and Bryan for the link. This thread didn't show up in my content or whatever for me at all.

I got the motor and the tranny out of this last weekend. My first time doing a job of that size but it went well and I had a blast.

Car has 300k on it, and it's been sitting for 5 years. Despite all that, the body is in EXCEPTIONAL shape and everything came off and or apart suprisingly easy. Had a total of 2 broken, and 2 rounded off bolts, but even they came out easy enough

Next up is replacing the rear end&subframe, fabbing up a new rear bumper, and replacing alllllll the bushings. Wish me luck!

 

[blmpkn]

Update! Sort of.. the car has pretty much sat untouched since I pulled the motor and tranny out. Too many projects, not enough time..

But I've started my stockpile of parts! And after months and months of going back and forth I'm pretty sure I'm on my "final draft" of planning the direction of the build.

Sitting in my hallway are boxes full of new struts&mounts and yesterday my new wheels came in!

The wheels are Bassett racing "d" window steelies 15x7 with 0 offset.

Here's the rundown of what the builds gonna be:

Anderson fab 2" lift with homemade trailing arm spacers

225/70/15 General grabbers on basset 0 offset steelies

3/16" primitive front&rear skidplates

Cut front bumper for better approach angle

2- 9" 54w led bar lights to replace factory fogs

Custom steel rear bumper for better departure angle & to replace rotted stocker

"high clearance" fenders

Monstaliner truck bed coat the exterior

Gigantic roof basket

Mishimoto rad&hoses

Shifter extention (extention? Whaaaaaat?)

And apart from all that "cool" stuff I'm still gonna need to:

Motor&tranny

Subframes/crossmembers

Brakes all around

New header back exhaust

Struts&mounts

New carpet&hopefully seats (black)

Pretty sure that sums it up! Gonna be a lot of work; but at the same time not really, as I will enjoy building what will become my daily at my leisure. Once my pile of parts is a bit more impressive I'll upload some pics.

 

[IBratmanI]

Any progress with this Will? Nice to have another lofted Forester on here!