Brett's 99 Outback Sport Wagon

T

turbowgn

New member
Hello all, I'm new here but not to the Subaru family. I have owned two Legacy GT wagons before this. Just moved to Sanford, Maine. If there are any local meets, let me know and I will try my best to attend. Looking forward to meeting some of you folks. 

99 Impreza Outback Sport Wagon

5 speed

2.2

I bought this off my boss when I was living in CT for $1200. It ran good, but the transmission was on it's way out. I managed to make the transmission last 4 months before having to change it. I picked up a transmission from a 2003 Wrx and he also threw in a limited slip rear diff (R160 I think), and swapped that in a week before moving here. 

This was the car the day I bought it



an hour later... had these sitting in my garage



 
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So the clutch finally started slipping to the point where it wasn't drive-able anymore. 

At this point I had the Wrx trans, and rear diff. I wound up ordering an Exedy clutch kit and it came with a 12lb flywheel.

I also was tired of the black wheels so I traded for some stock Wrx wheels. While swapping the transmission I installed STI pink struts with cut springs (yuck) but to my surprise it rides alright even with cut springs.. Once I start getting paychecks here I will buy real springs. 

I had to swap the car from being a cable operated clutch to a hydraulic operated which was pretty simple. I bought a set of pedals from a 98 Impreza RS, which bolted right in. I then bought the clutch master and slave cylinder and installed those. 

I like it with the hydraulic clutch, just feels tougher? I guess you could say and the lightweight flywheel def helps with power. The flywheel set off my knock sensor, so I have to figure that out so it stops retarding the timing at low rpm. 

I will have more pics soon, just been moving and haven't had time for the car really. 



 
I bet the WRX trans makes it fun to drive, although I don't recall the gearing to be all that different.

Have to edit this:

Car looks awesome, I agree with the cut springs comment. occasionaly there will be some 1" lowering springs on here or RS25.com for sale. Those should be more reliable.

 
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CoupedUpSubie said:
I bet the WRX trans makes it fun to drive, although I don't recall the gearing to be all that different.

Have to edit this:

Car looks awesome, I agree with the cut springs comment. occasionaly there will be some 1" lowering springs on here or RS25.com for sale. Those should be more reliable.
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Yeah the Wrx transmission has the same final drive ratio so it feels pretty much the same. It's a Wrx transmission that they widened the gears to RA width for 1st through 3rd or 4th. I plan on doing a Wrx motor swap eventually but for now I need to find an inspection station that is a little lenient so I can get a sticker then I can register my old maine plates to it.  

Forgot to mention! I built a custom UEL header and welded in a piece of straight pipe in place of the stock muffler. It sounds alright but I plan on re building the header a different way and getting a inspection legal cat back exhaust. 

 
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cwiggin said:
Good looking wagon . Looked sweet with those black wheels
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I did like the black wheels but the tires were shot and the right rear had a bing ding in the lip although you cant see it in the pics. It's a pretty clean car, have a tiny bit of rust to fix before it gets noticeable 

 
Nice OBS, welcome to the fid, you'll see me hooning all through town, sometimes even down 111.

 
flat4awd said:
Nice OBS, welcome to the fid, you'll see me hooning all through town, sometimes even down 111.
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Cool, maybe we could meet up sometime. I need help diagnosing a strange shake in my car. I'm not sure if its a front cv axle going bad or something more complicated (which I hope not). Have you spotted the RS that parks at VIP?

 
turbowgn said:
Cool, maybe we could meet up sometime. I need help diagnosing a strange shake in my car. I'm not sure if its a front cv axle going bad or something more complicated (which I hope not). Have you spotted the RS that parks at VIP?
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Sure, just PM me. If it's a silver RS that you're talking about, I'm pretty sure that's Ryan. He works at VIP, and he doesn't post on here but he should.

Also, there is a meet in Portland this Wednesday if you are interested.

 
flat4awd said:
Sure, just PM me. If it's a silver RS that you're talking about, I'm pretty sure that's Ryan. He works at VIP, and he doesn't post on here but he should.

Also, there is a meet in Portland this Wednesday if you are interested.
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Met Rick today, cool guy! and your RS got the turbo itch back in me.. so I may pick up another motor and start doing work to it. I have a set of EJ22T pistons but they are all size B so I would need to find a 2.2 block to match that. 

Pic from today



 
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Do you have a lightweight pulley too?  I've never had a 12lb flywheel throw a code with a stock pulley before. 

 
JoshP said:
Do you have a lightweight pulley too?  I've never had a 12lb flywheel throw a code with a stock pulley before. 
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No but im not sure if the Wrx clutch itself may also be lighter than the stock Outback Sport clutch. Talking to a few people I have been told any light weight flywheel under 14lbs can throw the knock sensor code and misfire codes. 

 
JoshP said:
Now that I think of it I've only gotten the 13.9# er.  So that makes sense. 
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I wound up clearing the codes when I put in my new front o2 sensor, and I moved the knock sensor up to the threaded hole near where the bell housing of the transmission mates up and it has yet to come back on. A lot of people say that's bad to do, but people that have done it have had good luck. I know the motor itself is fine, plus I plan on building a turbo block soon anyway. 

 
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