Well, it's been damn near forever since I've really truly been active on this board, and actively working on my cars. I still have the same 3 Turbo Legacies, the '91, '92, and the '94. A lot has happened since I was last really "into" this. I moved out from Orlando, FL to Elko, NV in 2006 thinking I would be able to continue my remote development work on the iPod accessories that had become my bread and butter for a couple years. Apple changed all that with the new iPod Touch and iPhones that were just coming out, so all the old developers needed to pretty much start completely over in order to become Apple developers again and gain access to the latest API and documentation.
So, I did the freelance engineering thing for a while and eventually got a job at a gold mine in the area working in the I.T. department. I found the work extremely easy and excelled at it, but was incredibly bored not writing code or programming anything. I tried to get back into it several times, but only ended up writing scripts to help the network guys manage a crapton of Cisco devices and got no recognition for my efforts. I finally left that job last year and went back to the freelance engineering thing as I searched for a decent programming job.
Long story short, I'm working at Intel now. It's great, although I had to use my own resources to move up to the Portland area (no relocation assistance was offered for the contract position I was offered). I'm finally up here and am making arrangements to move my personal belongings up here with me. I drove up beginning of May in my '94 and climbed several mountains that were in the way (ended up going the scenic route by Klamouth Falls and up through Medford on I-5). The Subaru took it like a champ. Even used A/C the majority of the way, and I did not drive gently. In hindsight, I was asking for trouble as I passed through an area with zero cell coverage for about 4-5 hours -- if I'd broken down there, I'd have been waiting for someone nice to stop and help me out
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
The '92 was used as a daily driver by someone that was not very mindful of things like letting the engine idle for a minute before taking off in cold weather, and parking on irregular surfaces (like the corner of a curb). When I got it back, the driverside front brake caliper was just straight LOOSE and eating away at the wheel. No telling how long it was being driven like that, but needless to say I was not happy and I'll never be lending a vehicle out again - even to family.
![Evil or Very Mad :evil:](./images/smilies/icon_evil.gif)
The '91 has an even worse story; a couple years back, I tried to start it up and it felt like the engine was freewheeling. Felt like there was very little resistance in there - so I drew the conclusion that the timing belt had snapped and perhaps I wasn't feeling the valvetrain cams rotate along with the crank. I suspected that it needed a timing belt anyway and I rarely drove this vehicle, so I accepted that as the answer and went about my life - planning to have it towed in and fixed at some point or perhaps finding a friend with a garage that wouldn't mind me working in there.
This did not actually occur until earlier this year, when I was planning for my move up here to Oregon. I had it towed in to a mechanic and had it all planned out to replace the timing belt, but then I got a call back saying that was not the problem. This car had no compression in 3 of the 4 cylinders
![Shocked :shock:](./images/smilies/icon_eek.gif)
Now, since I had not driven this car in a long time and it was parked in a different location / position than when I had last left it, I can only assume that the family member that had access to the keys had borrowed it at some point and driven it without checking fluid levels (a no-brainer for me, I never drive a car that's sit for any period of time without checking the fluids first!), probably had a coolant leak somewhere and it was driven enough to cause the damage I mentioned above. Ugh.
Luckily, since I found a Subaru mechanic up here, I have options such as engine swaps available to me. I have done this before on a Saturn but that was with a buddy and all the right tools, in a double-wide garage with some space, and that was replacing with the correct model engine... I have a barely single-wide garage and would rather not stumble my way through such an operation in my free time, at least not at this point. So - we are planning to find a good WRX or STI short block somewhere and jam that into the '91. At least then I can still make use of the center and rear limited slip diffs - I was quite devastated to learn that this car had major engine troubles.
Anyway, that's (a summary of) my story, I'm back now and expect to be much more active on this board again as I will actually have the time and funding to work on my cars again. Thanks for reading!
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
Edit: I had the '91 and the '92 shipped up here from Elko using an auto transport service; that was a whole other nightmare but since it's behind me and it was quite frustrating I'll forget it for now. Just realized I did not mention that these cars are now up here with me as of this past weekend.