07Evolved's '91 AWD Wagon 5MT

[07Evolved]

My name is Brad and I just recently acquired a 91 Legacy L Wagon 5MT N/A. I live in Virginia, right outside of Roanoke and I have always had a passion for Subaru's. I actually had to just sell my 07 STi due to the hard economic times. My brother has an 05 STi that is heavily modified and I love his car. We both love Subaru's, no matter what year or model.

Starting from the beginning with this car, my parents actually bought this car brand new in 1991. I remember growing up and riding in the back seat of it for years. It is weird when I start to think about it. In any event, she sold it to my step-sister back in 2002 or so. I just bought it back again off of my step-sister and let's just say it was in pretty bad shape. It had about 211k miles on her and she had been neglected for a while. It has always been in the family and I am happy to have her back again so that I can take care of her.



The motor had barely in oil in it and the idle would constantly fluctuate from 500 to 1500 rpm. It needed a battery. I picked it up from my step-sister's house and drove it home. It was bad, inside and out...



You can see the difference above when I washed it after years of neglect. I went out and bought a brand new battery and cables, oil and oil filter, and checked all of the fluids.



After I completed the oil change, it ran AMAZINGLY better! Idle went down and stayed at 500-600 rpm.

I did all of this the first week, around Nov. 16-20th. I got it titled and registered on Nov. 21st.

[07Evolved]

The next week, I worked on changing out all of the transmission, transaxle, and rear diff fluids. I changed them out and the clutch even seemed to feel better to me. It still engages about half-way up, but I don't plan on replacing it for a bit.

I took it to a local garage for a full-on inspection, and they told me that the entire exhaust needed to be replaced, the clutch and flywheel needed to be replaced, and the wheels needed to be re-balanced. Other than that, they said it was a great car.

I worked on it last week and found a front ball joint needed replacement and the front brake pads were shot. I went to Advance Auto and bought everything for $39. I did all the work myself and was surprised at how simple the ball joint was to replace.

I have completed all of the work myself thus far on the car.

The tires needed to be replaced and the shifter is very sloppy on it. I went last friday and bought a set of 04 WRX wheels/Bridgestone tires and an 04 WRX shifter assembly with Kartboy bushings and short shifter and a titanium STi shift knob.









I bought the shifter assembly, but I am still waiting on a joint and spring (spring (33022GA081) and the linkage joint (35047AC030) from 1stsubaruparts.com. ), which should be in this week. This will complete the shifter assembly so that I can install it in my car.

My car looked like this at the end of last week with the wheels...

[07Evolved]

More pictures from last Thursday...

[07Evolved]

The exhaust had no leaks at all except the stock muffler was rusted out and it needed to be replaced. After researching on here for a pretty good muffler for a N/A. I decided to pick one up locally for a pretty good price of $52...Dynomax Turbo muffler with a 2.25 inlet and outlet.



My friend has a garage and he installed the muffler for me last Friday night...I think it turned out well...

[07Evolved]

Today, I finally got the state inspection for it so it is completely legal now!!! I don't have to worry about the state troopers giving me trouble.

I plan on installing the shifter assembly this week/weekend if the parts do come in.

So, all in all so far, I have cleaned the car up inside and out. I have replaced the motor oil and filter, trans oil, front diff oil, rear diff oil, etc.
I have put on a set of WRX wheels/Bridgestone tires, installed the Dynomax muffler and I am awaiting installation of the WRX short shifter assembly...

[kleinkid]

My name is 07Evolved and I am a Subaruaholic.

[07Evolved]

My name is 07Evolved and I am a Subaruaholic.

Ha ha very true...

Just had her first snow (with me, at least) this past Saturday...

[07Evolved]

I am also in the process of installing my brother's OEM 05 STi struts/springs on the car. I found out that the front perches won't fit and the rear tophats are off a bit.

[07Evolved]

My STi that I had to sell...but thankfully my friend bought it from me so I know he will take care of it.

[ericem]

Your legacy is really coming along nicely! What a huge difference in performance from your beautiful STi to the Legacy eh? Sucks that you had to sell your STi

[07Evolved]

Your legacy is really coming along nicely! What a huge difference in performance from your beautiful STi to the Legacy eh? Sucks that you had to sell your STi

Thank you very much! Yeah, it sucked bad to have to sell my STi but I will be honest...I am very proud to still have a Subaru and I really take a lot of pride in keeping this one in great shape and fixing her up. I don't plan to mod it heavily or anything, but I would like to get it in good running condition and really spruce it up a bit..

[kimokalihi]

Awesome, great to see you've got a build thread now! I like the car, looks good. If you can find some black trim that goes above your windows at a junkyard that isn't paintchipped and showing chrome that makes a big difference in appearance. I found some at the junkyard and when I put it on to replace my paintchipped trim it looked way better.

That sti is beautiful! I love the black on black. I'm a sucker for black. My favorite color lol. For some reason I have a white car. I hate white.

Keep up the good work, don't forget to take pictures when you install that shift linkage. Are you using the stock accordion shift boot?

[07Evolved]

Awesome, great to see you've got a build thread now! I like the car, looks good. If you can find some black trim that goes above your windows at a junkyard that isn't paintchipped and showing chrome that makes a big difference in appearance. I found some at the junkyard and when I put it on to replace my paintchipped trim it looked way better.

That sti is beautiful! I love the black on black. I'm a sucker for black. My favorite color lol. For some reason I have a white car. I hate white.

Keep up the good work, don't forget to take pictures when you install that shift linkage. Are you using the stock accordion shift boot?

Thank you very much Kimo! I was actually wondering the other day what I could do about the black trim on top...thank you for the tip. I will have to look into that.

Thank you for the compliments on the STi. I loved that car and put a lot of work into it. I will miss it, but I plan on getting another one in the future. For now, I am very proud of the Subaru I do have!

I will start taking pictures of everything I do. I have been meaning to do that, but always get my mind on the work and forget my camera!

I don't know what I am going to do with my shift boot. I don't really want to use the stock one. Have any suggestions?

[kimokalihi]

I suggest the STI shift boot/trim piece. Looks great. I don't know how it functions yet because I have a shortshifter on mine for the moment which I don't think I'm going to use because it makes the shifter too far back which is annoying already and I haven't even driven it yet.

Since the shortshifter is shorter than the stock one the boot sags and I haven't figured out how to get the top of the boot mounted to the shifter so it stays put.

I also used a shift knob from a newer legacy GT. I think probably 04 or something. It's a really nice setup. Took quite a bit of searching on NASIOC and ended up costing me like $30 but it was worth it in the end to get that knob. Best knob I've seen in my opinion. Feels good in your hand. lol You just gotta sift through about a million WRX knobs which are pretty ugly in comparison, just a full leather wrapped knob with the H patten engraved in the top.

[07Evolved]

Wow Kimo, that looks really nice. That looks like it has always belonged in the car. I already have the STi knob, so i will probably stick with that.

As far as a boot, I will start looking. Thanks for the info!

[kimokalihi]

Yeah it does look somewhat stock. Espcially since that aluminum trim piece matches the aluminum H pattern trim piece below the shifter quite well.

It can be had over on NASIOC for probably $30-$40 along with the boot. All you have to do to make it fit is cut out that hole a tiny bit wider on both sides and the trim piece drops right in.

[07Evolved]

Yeah it does look somewhat stock. Espcially since that aluminum trim piece matches the aluminum H pattern trim piece below the shifter quite well.

It can be had over on NASIOC for probably $30-$40 along with the boot. All you have to do to make it fit is cut out that hole a tiny bit wider on both sides and the trim piece drops right in.

Thanks I'm going to start looking on NASIOC

[07Evolved]

Santa came early...

[07Evolved]

I installed the WRX shifter assembly yesterday. It took me about 3 hours to do yesterday afternoon. I went into it thinking it was going to be a huge PITA, but it turned out not to be too bad. I just took my time and made sure everything was in order. It was definitely worth it...the shifting is AMAZING now with the WRX short shifter and Kartboy bushings.

I started off by jacking the car up and putting it on stands...



I borrowed a set of Snap-On roll-pin punches for the job which definitely made the job easier. It always makes the difference when you have the right tools.



I first went under the car to take a look at the general picture of what I had to do. I knew I had to take the roll-pin out and also take the lower bushing off (which took a 12mm socket) and then basically disconnect the assembly inside the car with the 6 bolts holding in the gasket (I guess that is what it's called) and the frame. I quickly realized that the cross-brace of the transmission was in the way to be able to take the roll-pin out. So, I decided to first remove the cross-brace.



It was only 2 bolts and 4 nuts to remove the brace, all being 14mm in size. The transmission dropped just a bit so I used my floor jack to lift the transmission back up in order to remove the brace.

After I removed the brace, I started on the roll-pin...



The inner shaft came out relatively easily, but the outer shaft took a bit more muscle to remove. Overall, it wasn't as bad as I thought to remove it.

I then took off the lower bushing with a 12mm socket and the spring. After that, I took off the 6 bolts on the top and removed the entire assembly. It took a bit of muscle to remove the OEM joint off of the transmission shaft (used a little WD-40 to motivate this).

Here you can see the two assemblies together...I'm so glad everyone pointed out to me that I needed that WRX joint and a new spring to make this assembly work with my car...Here is the link to my original questions on this assembly...
http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=42085



Here is a closer view of the stock assembly....wasn't there supposed to be bushings in this joint!? No wonder the shifter was sloppy as hell!!



I installed the WRX assembly in the same fashion in which I removed the stock assembly. I first slid everything into place and I worked on the roll-pin. I found it easier to place the roll-pin on top of the punch and use duct tape to keep them together (that way I could line it all up with one hand and use a hammer with the other hand. It worked out well with the outer and inner roll-pin shafts.



I then bolted up the lower bushing and installed the new spring. I made sure everything looked good below the car and re-installed the transmission cross-brace. I then went inside the car and worked on installing the 6 bolts up there and I put the console back together.

I decided I need a new shift boot and I am going to look to get a 5MT STi assembly like what Kimo recommended to me. Right now, I just don't have a boot on it since I think the OEM boot is ugly...





It all worked out well and I am so very happy that I installed this! The shifting is very smooth now and I love the short shifter kit. It really is amazing how much of a difference it has made!!!

Thank you to everyone that helped me out with this and to figure out what I needed. I love this car and I'm looking forward to continuing to make it better. It really does make you proud when you do stuff like this to your own car.

[07Evolved]

Next thing on the list...

I have to replace my valve cover gaskets...yippee.

I also have a set of Hella fog lights to install. I'm thinking of a light bar or something...I'm open to options.

[kimokalihi]

Awesome, looks good. I'm jealous of the kartboy shortshifter and I think I'll have to get me one.

Is your shifter in neutral in those pictures? It looks like it's in the right place for neutral which is good because my group A shortshifter is tilted back when it's in neutral. So if I use the kartboy shortshifter it looks like it should be much better.

Then I'll sell the group A shifter on NASIOC.

[kimokalihi]

I decided I need a new shift boot and I am going to look to get a 5MT STi assembly like what Kiko recommended to me.

My name is kimo, btw lol. I get called a lot of things but I think kiko is a first.

[07Evolved]

Yeah Kimo, it is in Neutral in the pics. Everything seemed to be placed nicely with this assembly.

I highly recommend the Kartboy short shifter. It is unbelieveable man! My dad drove it last night and he got back and was like "Holy sh** Brad, it feels like a race car now!"

I love it, it makes the car so much more enjoyable to drive.

[07Evolved]

I decided I need a new shift boot and I am going to look to get a 5MT STi assembly like what Kiko recommended to me.

My name is kimo, btw lol. I get called a lot of things but I think kiko is a first.

I know, I'm sorry man. I had too much on my mind last night when I typed this all up. I fixed it.

[Legacy777]

I decided I need a new shift boot and I am going to look to get a 5MT STi assembly like what Kiko recommended to me.

My name is kimo, btw lol. I get called a lot of things but I think kiko is a first.

It's better than kiki