Wagon liftgate handle interchangeability?

[James614]

Just wondering if anyone knows if the liftgate handle assembly from a 2nd gen '95-'99 Legacy wagon will fit a 1st gen? 99% of the wagon liftgate handles I've ever seen are rusted terribly, but I found one today that's completely rust free and it'd be awesome to restore confident functionality of my liftgate.

O/T: Silly u-pull-it cashier said they had no Subarus. I look around and find 3 mostly complete 2nd gen wagons... if they aren't in the system that means everything off them is free right? Haha... one was a '95 Brighton with no tachometer or rear wiper, didn't know Subaru ever made a Legacy that basic. Had rear drum brakes, too.

[92wagon]

The brighton should also have manual windows and no passenger side mirror. it was the Base Base model.

[James614]

No passenger mirror? Shenanigans. No vehicle I've seen made after the 70s/80s has had just 1 side mirror. And there were a lot of vehicles more basic (or at least equally so) than a brighton (Cavaliers, Escorts, Tercels, older Hyundais, etc).

Edit: it had power steering and A/C, so it couldn't have been THAT bassic. I mean back in '95 manual windows and no tach and drum brakes were acceptable on upper-trim models of quite a few cars.

[Legacy777]

I've seen some newer base model cars without passenger mirrors.

When I think he was saying they were base base models for Subaru.

Subaru does some weird things sometimes between the model line up. They'll include things that you would think should be on the next model up, or don't include things that should be on all models.....

[James614]

I dunno... Unless its a fleet vehicle, 1 side mirror doesn't seem like it'd save much money/weight and add a huge blindspot/liability. I'm gonna get my googlotionmotion on and see if I can find some newish cars with 1 side mirror.

[oldscoobyturbo]

never tried swapping the 2nd gen handle to a first gen but I have a couple of near mint handles and garnishes.
I'm going to watch this and see maybe on saturday if this can be done

ps: there are tons of 95up wagons around our local yards

[James614]

Still haven't grabbed the handle from the yard, the yard is on a liesurely 9-4 schedule and I work 7-5 Sometimes I miss my older shift work with varied hours...

I saw some photos of a Brighton without the passenger mirror. Weird... I'd be quite irritated if I brought a car without one, and said car didn't roll off the assembly line with bias-ply tires and a carburator.

[deadhp1]

I did swap some tailgate handles around on my wagons.
I specifically took the handle from my 99 legacy outback and used it on my 94 Legacy. I believe it was a direct swap.

I also had the handle from my 2000 Legacy parts car which I used in the 99 Outback. I did however have to switch from the rod assembly to the newer cable from the 2000. I also put my older 94 rusty handle into my 2000 legacy parts car. I used the rods from the 99 Outback which needed to be bent in order for it to function.
I think the part # for the 99 Outback handle is 62150AA211 list price is $31.42

I'll try to open up my rear panels to see if I got everything correct...I may be remembering the order wrong.
I'm planning on replacing mine again anyway.

[Alphius]

I had a Brighton wagon. It was my slammed '96.

No tachometer (easy to swap one in)
No power windows/door locks. Even had to unlock the hatch manually with the key.
No cruise control (also swapped in easy. wiring was all already there)
No power mirrors
No ABS
Rear drum brakes
All black trim and mirrors
No roof rack
Basic AM/FM tape player
No rear speakers, only front door speakers

It did still have a rear wiper and a passenger side mirror though.

[James614]

Revived from the dead, but I came across this topic looking for other info and realized I never mentioned that I did in fact find a rust-free liftgate handle from a 99 wagon and used it on my '93 with no issues.

At the yard I pulled the entire panel that the handle attaches to (the one with the license plate lights attached to it). I think I pulled the rod that goes in the handle also.

Upon replacement I realized that the piece the handle attaches to is different on the two cars, the 1st gen piece appears to attach to the rear garnish (I think? This was quite a few months ago so I can't remember 100%, but I'm pretty sure I took the rear garnish off to get it out of my car, which was not necessary on the 99). So I had to settle for taking the handle itself off and replacing just that part. I cleaned up some of the rust on my stock piece while I was in there. The stock actuating rod fit right in.

My original handle looked like it was 1 winter away from snapping off completely. Definitely a worthwhile replacement. I no longer feel like I will get locked out of my hatch every time I open it

[Legacy777]

James,

Did you take any pictures?

[James614]

Unfortunately I can't find any pictures from that project.