Andrew's BF Legacy Turbo Wagon - UK

[andrew_baran]

Hello! I'm Andrew, i'm 23 and I work for a computer games development company in England, UK.

I've wanted a BF Turbo Wagon for a while now. It's everything i'd never owned in a car before - Turbo, Flat 4, AWD, JDM - whilst maintaining the 90's wagon shape that I love.
So I searched and searched, and fortunately for me a nice Legacy Wagon came up for sale. It was quite a way away - I had to take a 6 hour drive through 4 countries, a plane and a ferry to get it home. But it was well worth the adventure!

It's a 1993 car, with a few modifications that have been on the car for a while. It has:
- 'Hayward & Scott' exhaust system - straight through until backbox, with a subtle but huge oval exit.
- TD05 and aftermarket charge cooler
- 4 stage Blitz boost controller, high boost of 1.1bar
- Impreza rims (which I'm not too fond of)
- Impreza front seats
- Impreza WRX suspension
- Uprated fuel pump
- Other bits and bobs

In the Titanic Dockyard, Belfast - Northern Ireland!



No, I totally didn't hoon around on the gravel......


Cheers!
Andrew.

[Legacy777]

Welcome to the BBS Andrew and congrats on the Legacy! It looks like it's been very well taken care of!

Bonus points for a picture in the Titanic dockyard!

[James614]

She's beautiful!

Is the charge cooler still the water/air type, or was it changed to air/air?

[andrew_baran]

Thanks guys. I'm very happy with her. There are a few patches of rust poking through, but that's seemingly unavoidable owning a Japanese car In the UK!

The charge cooler is still water cooled. Actually, the pump is very noisey and I'm slightly concerned about it - it's easy to hear it with the windows closed and engine running!!

But she runs right as rain, and certainly packs a punch compared to the BMWs I've bed used to...

[alexandermf]

The fuel pump being loud you mean? If its an aftermarket then its usually a walboro which tend to be whiny...aka whineboros

[James614]

You should post up a pic of the aftermarket charge cooler. Kinda curious to see what the UK guys do with those. For us just the stock system is a huge upgrade

[andrew_baran]

To be honest, most people i've spoken to here ditch the water/air and go for a front mount.

I might have to do the same if this pump turns out to be dying - charge cooler pumps are apparently a nightmare to come by.

[kimokalihi]

Nah, you can get a nice bosch pump on siliconeintakes.com for $120 and it's better than the OEM one.

http://www.siliconeintakes.com/product_ ... 69b0b711be

[James614]

Or if you want to get really fancy, you can get a Jabsco Cyclone 50840-0012, which outflows the Bosch considerably. Its intended for either marine or industrial liquid transfer applications, but is a popular choice for automotive water/air intercoolers due to its ridiculous flow rate (30 gallons/min). I think I paid $180 for mine on eBay.

[kimokalihi]

Is it designed to be run constantly for long periods of time and years?

[James614]

Its "continuously rated". And its rated for hot water. Being designed for commercial applications, I can't imagine it being any less durable for continuous use than automotive pumps.

Josh is running the older style Jabsco Centripuppy I believe knowing him I'm sure he's already researched info on their longevity:)

[Legacy777]

Yes....I'm running the older centri puppy and I've been pretty happy with it. It's not super duper quiet, but with the engine running, it's not really noticable.

I've got a lot of info on the pump and my testing/setup here:

http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=23089

[andrew_baran]

Cool. Something to consider

Potential problem arose yesterday - went out to the car after heavy rainfall, there was a pool of water on the left side front floor mat. Looked like it had come from the top of the windshield, as it was too far back to be under dashboard.

I'm hoping i've not got a rusty roof...

[Legacy777]

You don't have a sunroof do you? I'm assuming the windows were up and all sealed well?

You can carefully peel the window seal back on the a-piller. This will let you get to the small screws holding on the trim piece. If you remove this, you might get a better view of any potential rust or leak that might be around the windshield.

[andrew_baran]

Been a while since I updated this.

Things that have happened:
- Headlining is out and being retrimmed in black.
- Investigating trim around top of windscreen - is it leaking? It's rusty in the centre!
- Charge cooler pump rebuild
- New rims (17" Rota Torque)
- New brake discs
- Fixed CV boot on Front driveshaft

The charge cooler pump was an absolute dick to strip down - all but 3 of the bolts came out smoothly. I had to resort to using a grinder and a drill on more than one occasion! I wish I had a pillar drill so bad....

Pictures!

Mid strip-down:


Charge cooler pump bearings had failed - 1GBP a bearing to replace!


Last problem - my hood scoop was coming loose! I need to replace these grommets - has anyone seen a Subaru part number for these, or another vehicle on which they are also used? I don't want to have to bodge a solution onto it!

[Legacy777]

I did a similar replacement of a bearing on my power steering pump. It was like $5 for the bearing.

Regarding the grommets for the hood scoop, epoxy them in. I'm pretty sure they are not sold separately. I had a similar issue and had to do that.

[andrew_baran]

My local Subaru dealership has confirmed that they never came separately from the hood scoop. Looks like bonding them in is the only option. I've only got 4 of them left - 2 wouldn't separate from the nuts - so i'll have to get creative for the ones in the centre of the scoop. I was thinking along the lines of grinding the heads off a couple of bolts, and bonding them into the holes.

Also, I can't thank you enough for the parts manual you have listed on your site, Josh. My dealership didn't have any first gen stuff on their parts databases, so it was a great help having your document to reference from and share images!

Cheers!

[Legacy777]

You're welcome! I'm glad it has been helpful for folks. I stumbled across that over 10 years ago on ebay and eventually got around to scanning it. There aren't many dealers or shops that know much about these cars any more. It's kind of funny, I've had two separate shops I know call me asking questions about these cars.

[CFK]

Raise the Roof

We don't get those ( obviously ) (( Keep It Coming ))

[silver03]

Great looking car. The roof, the roof...

[andrew_baran]

Went for it the other day - had an epic "get stuff done" day!

- Chargecooler pump reassembled and tested
- Front end rebuilt
- Front driveshaft re-fitted
- Brakes cleaned and replaced bleed nipples
- New brake discs
- Fitted Rota Torques!

Jobs left to do:
- Front number plate - buy a nice one.
- Replace clips on the upper windscreen seal
- Bond hood scoop grommets in and replace scoop
- Wheel alignment
- Headlining.

I think that the 17" wheels make it look so much more modern - really, really looking forward to driving it again!

[andrew_baran]

I visited Prodrive with the UK Legacy forums (uklegacy.com) last weekend, and some members kindly uploaded some great quality photos.

The meet was a joint venture between UKLegacy and the Forester owners club. There were 25 Foresters and 20 Legacies in attendance, including 4 Gen1s! Here are some of the photos:







I desperately wanted some coilovers before seeing my car amongst the other S2's, but now I realise I have a real ride height issue!!

[mike-tracy]

Fantastic shots! That's a whole lot of hot legacys

[CFK]

YES , that photo would be sick blown up HUGE

[Legacy777]

If you've got hi-res of those photos would you mind sharing? I can check with Dave to see if one or more would work for the rotating banner.