New Beater

Brought home the new beater today. It's pretty rough, but was literally the only 5 speed Subaru I could find in my budget that wouldn't need rust repair or a new transmission/engine. Despite the roughness, I drove it 1.5 hours into town through a snowstorm and it didn't miss a beat. Not bad, considering the odometer stopped at 350k some time before 2011.

Complaints so far:

• Hate cable clutch.
• Brakes need to be gone through badly.
• Snow tires = no bueno.

Work Planned:

• Grow fingernails and remove Harley Davidson sticker witch seems to have fused to and become one with the glass.
• WRX/RS struts/springs.
• WRX/RS brakes.
• Hyraulic Clutch set up.
• Might just throw a better clutch in there while the trans is out.
• Sway bars.
• Source a diff.
• Major tune up.

Pictures:

I wanna do that! But I'm too scared! Build thread please!

I'm a Subaru owner....and I wasn't aware a Subaru could actually make it to 350k miles, lol. Impressive. Here's to 400k.

I love cable clutches.

A Subaru in Asheville? I'm shocked!!!!!

ScreaminE wrote: A Subaru in Asheville? I'm shocked!!!!!

Sarcasm? Pretty sure Subaru's are huge out there.

In reply to mndsm:

Very much so. Asheville has a metric crap ton of Subys. And not the good kind. The Birkenstock, harry armpits, Impeach Bush bumper sticker kind.

Razor blade should take that sticker off the rear glass pretty easily. Looks like it's taken a few love taps in the rear bumper too, hopefully that's just a broken clip and nothing serious.

It looks surprisingly straight for the age. Good purchase.

irish44j wrote: I'm a Subaru owner....and I wasn't aware a Subaru could actually make it to 350k miles, lol. Impressive. Here's to 400k.

N/A subarus yes, when I was in high school I convinced my mom to check out a Subaru after the 91 protégé hit 306k, it was a 92 Legacy fwd wagon (tan and everything) with a 5spd bought with 145k with me and my mom driving it (dad had a bad hip and a hard time with the clutch) and a trip from mid coast maine to see me graduate basic training at Ft. leonard wood, MO and back (with the title in the car the entire time) it had 375k and still going alright.

Thread jack I'm sorry, but I will say early N/A subarus are actually quite stout overall.

ebonyandivory wrote: I wanna do that! But I'm too scared! Build thread please!

Do what?

ScreaminE wrote: A Subaru in Asheville? I'm shocked!!!!!

Yeah, yeah. This Subaru isn't going to be a granola-getter. Actually feel like a total hypocrite for E36 M3ting all over hippies and their subarus for years.

ssswitch wrote: Razor blade should take that sticker off the rear glass pretty easily. Looks like it's taken a few love taps in the rear bumper too, hopefully that's just a broken clip and nothing serious. It looks surprisingly straight for the age. Good purchase.

Thanks! There's hardly anything holding that bumper cover on. The foam bit underneath looks fine. PO hacked the E36 M3 out of the bumper cover and part of the spare wheel well to get that dinky trailer hitch on, though.

Okay, questions for the experts.

• '02 RS = WRX without a turbo?
• Same struts/springs as a WRX?
• Will the brake calipers be a bolt-on swap? Or do I need the RS hubs/rotors.
• Adapter kit available for RX-7 4 pots? (There's a couple at the junkyard. If I've got to buy adapters, I figure I might as well 4 pot)

Where in NC? I am in Fuquay...

Seriously, I thought all these came with $4,000+ mountain bikes mounted on the roof!

ScreaminE wrote: A Subaru in Asheville? I'm shocked!!!!!

Been watching a lot of Rallycross and it looks like so much more fun than autocross. It's too bad, I think the nearest event would be like a 4 hour drive. Thanks for killing racing in WNC...hippies.

Storz wrote: Where in NC? I am in Fuquay...

4 hours west of Fuquay

irish44j wrote: I'm a Subaru owner....and I wasn't aware a Subaru could actually make it to 350k miles, lol. Impressive. Here's to 400k.

Well, it will be along wait to see 400k if he doesn't fix that odometer!

I haven't driven a Subaru with a cable clutch but I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with cable clutches, my Samurai has one and it works great. It's much simpler than a hydraulic clutch.

GameboyRMH wrote: I haven't driven a Subaru with a cable clutch but I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with cable clutches, my Samurai has one and it works great. It's much simpler than a hydraulic clutch.

Maybe it just needs to be adjusted. Feel is hard to describe. I would say it feels "segmented," like the clutch is an on/off switch. I have to lift my foot out pretty far to get the clutch to engage (impending clutch doom?) and when it engages it doesn't ease on as I lift my foot, it just grabs all at once. Feels very different than the other manual trans beaters I've had, where the clutch begins to engage right as you bring the pedal up and it comes on smoothly.

Cable could be out of adjustment. Cable could also be seizing up due to wear and such in the cable housing. My Mustang was kind of horrible in this regard until I replaced the factory part with a new cable that also added an adjuster at the clutch end.

I'll have to look into adjusting the cable. Long term, I still think I'd rather have the hydro. No work is getting done today anyway, too cold. I need to find a plot of land where I can set up a hoop house garage or some other form of wrenchable, heatable shelter.

Found this while checking out a build thread. Maybe the best DIY garage I've seen.

Yeah, if you really want to get a hydraulic clutch into this thing eventually, I'd just start on that swap now. I'd prefer hydraulic, myself, even though they are slightly more complex.

In reply to pres589:

Despite the fact that a hydro clutch is more complex than a cable, it really is an incredibly simple mechanism.

Highlands Sports Car Club runs autocrosses at the WNC Ag center in the spring/summer/fall. He isnt joking about the subarus either, the only thing on CL in Asheville in the 1500-3500 range is subaru outback wagons and 2wd trucks. Also Haywood County is getting pounded with snow right now, roads are atrocious.

In reply to MrChaos:

I only shop for stuff under 1500 too. I used to shop only under a grand. The Asheville car market is E36 M3. A $1500 car in Asheville is $900 in Greenville or Tri-cities. Everything is over priced, everyone thinks their broken clap out beater is a "Classic" or "Near Classic." I've been seeing the latter a lot lately. A "Near classic" by definition, it something that is not classic.

You got this just in time for snow fun! There was a WRX in the parking lot across the road having fun last week when we got a few inches. Good luck, keep us updated!

RoughandReady wrote: In reply to MrChaos: I only shop for stuff under 1500 too. I used to shop only under a grand. The Asheville car market is E36 M3. A $1500 car in Asheville is $900 in Greenville or Tri-cities. Everything is over priced, everyone thinks their broken clap out beater is a "Classic" or "Near Classic." I've been seeing the latter a lot lately. A "Near classic" by definition, it something that is not classic.

very true. Or the vehicle is a 3/4 ton or larger 2wd truck.