Lets talk Suspension upgrades for a 1990 BC Leggy

[Legacy777]

I like the list above.

I however felt more of a difference with the steering rack bushings. Depending on the condition of your existing engine, trans, & trans crossmember bushings will determine how much of a benefit you see. Honestly, I'd start with the shifter linkage bushings. Do the front & rear shifter stay bushings from kartboy, and replace the old shifter joint bushings or get a newer shifter assembly and the new shifter joint. I don't personally care for the short shifters with these transmissions. The shifting effort increases quite a bit (at least in my old 5spd) and actually made driving less enjoyable.

I didn't really notice much difference with the crossmember bushings when I was running the STi engine & trans mounts, but again it depends on the condition of your old ones.

I can tell you the rear diff bushings in the unabomber's rear end kit probably won't work. I do think the lock bolts and front outrigger bushings are definitely worthwhile doing. If you want to do the rear lateral link bushings too, you can, but I don't know if they'd be the first thing on my list.

These are really the only rear diff carrier bushings I've found to work with our cars.
http://www.main.experiencetherave.com/s ... fbushings/

[Legacy777]

I'm happy to develop a planned build journal and from what I read and information I gather from here do bits of upgrades at a time...

My suggestion is to develop high level goals and/or a road map of what you think you want to do vs. trying to develop a very detailed plan that could span several months/years. You don't know what is going to change between now and then, and so may your interests. Having a goal of improving the springs & struts would be a better goal then saying I want these adjustable coilovers.

Trust me when I say the modification bug and things you do are an ever-changing journey. What is the best or best option for YOU now may not be the best in two years. Likewise, your preferences will likely change as well, so keeping those high level goals are better and allow you some flexibility to move within your road map vs. scrapping or changing your entire plan when a change will inevitably come up.

[Plazma]

The shifter has already been upgraded to the short shifter I believe the part number on the shifter was C1010FA001 along with Cobb shifter bushings front and rear.

I just got back from Cobb a little while ago. I picked up




KCA319A Anti-Lift Kit with +0.5* caster (Sport Stiffness)

and the complimenting front bushings for the control arm as well Whiteline has the part listed as W51709A the part from the catalog was KCA51709A don't be confused by that.

Also, if you have a 1990MY Legacy and you're looking for front inner bushings you'll need the ones listed above W51709A to finish the second control arm bushing. I'm assuming they fit because they'll also fit into a GC Impreza which is a direct bolt up into the 90MY Legacy as discussed somewhere else on the forum.

Now as far as front suspension bushings go I've addressed most of the front end. I'm left with my sway bar bushings, my steering bushings, sway bar links, and rubber strut mount. These are all available through STi in a size that will fit my legacy (I'll sort that when I haven't been drinking).

Other front end bushings that I still need include Engine Mounts, Pitch mount, and transmission brace (I've seen perrin also makes one). I can't think of any others that I'd be missing upfront? List is:

• R&L Control Arm Front
• R&L Control Arm Rear (Anti Lift Kit)
• Engine Mounts (Look at Perrin as well)
• Pitch Mount
• Steering Bushings
• Transmission Mount (Look at Perrin as well)

The rear I'd like to tighten up the bushings as well before I work on getting struts/springs/wheels. There's a lot of bushings out back and a lot of work to do List Is:

• R&L Trailing Link Upper (x2)
• R&L Trailing Link Lower (x2)
• Rear Suspension Crossmember Bush (Is this part of body lock kit?)
• R&L Lateral Link Inner Rear Bushing (x2)
• R&L Lateral Link Inner Front Bushing (x2)
• Lateral Link Outter Bushings (x4)
• R&L Rear Diff Front Bushing (x2)
• Rear Diff Rear Bushing (x2)
• Rear Diff Rear Mount bushing

Most if not all of these bushings are available as Group-N through STi, others are available through aftermarkets (will need to search for the these later. So far I know of Perrin, and Whiteline.)

Now I guess I begin figuring out what fits here. I know that Josh said *most all* of the 93-01 Impreza bushings would fit the 1st Gen Legacies.

If I go and purchase the Group-N bushings for a GC8 MY97-01 does that mean it should swap over with little to no problem?

http://www.rallispec.com/mou_bush_rstbk1.html
The kits are listed as RSTBKN12, RSTBK1, and RSTBK2. RSTBK1 would be the GC8.

Did I miss anything?

[Plazma]

I'm happy to develop a planned build journal and from what I read and information I gather from here do bits of upgrades at a time...

My suggestion is to develop high level goals and/or a road map of what you think you want to do vs. trying to develop a very detailed plan that could span several months/years. You don't know what is going to change between now and then, and so may your interests. Having a goal of improving the springs & struts would be a better goal then saying I want these adjustable coilovers.

Trust me when I say the modification bug and things you do are an ever-changing journey. What is the best or best option for YOU now may not be the best in two years. Likewise, your preferences will likely change as well, so keeping those high level goals are better and allow you some flexibility to move within your road map vs. scrapping or changing your entire plan when a change will inevitably come up.

That's a really great idea, I really kind of want to make a bit of a road map for others to follow as I'm sure I'm not the last one to get bitten by the 1st Generation Legacy bug. At least this way there's a record of this sort of info for the future 1990 Legacy LS owner wondering the same thing I am.

My goals are this. I want a car that I'm comfortable with keeping as my daily driver. I'd like tighter suspension, I don't need adjustability out the gills but I would like things not to wiggle around if I take a lively turn here and there. That being said, I'd like to also be able to go to a track on the weekend and fling myself around a few corners at an unsafe speed on a closed track and not worry that my suspension is going to fall apart on me as I fly into a corner.

Engine wise, it's naturally aspirated well damn that's a bummer. I know that as I add more power I'll be as a rule of thumb I believe, losing low end torque, if I lose too much of that, no bueno. So I know I can add an Unorthodox Racing pulley (Or so I would imagine since I believe that it works on some of the 1st gens). Maybe I can find an intake that flows more air. Will I gain anything by putting in an upgraded ignition like an MSD or something like that? But lets be honest the only way to really do anything would be to swap for a turbo motor like an EJ22T but I don't really want to go that far with this car just yet at any rate.

I think for the suspension I have a good plan in place. I'm going to replace the bushings so there's less flex at those points. Once I finish all the bushings front to back. I'm going to work on getting some firm struts like the GR-2/Excel-G I would need to change o the 93-01MY Impreza strut pieces though which isn't a problem because it opens up options for me in the area of springs. I don't know about lowering if I did 1.5" in the front and 1" in the back, how would that affect my maneuverability in regular city driving? I don't want to have to worry about scraping on speed bumps or bottoming out on dips in the road. Will I run into that problem with a 1.5/1" lowering of the suspension?

[Legacy777]

Now as far as front suspension bushings go I've addressed most of the front end. I'm left with my sway bar bushings, my steering bushings, sway bar links, and rubber strut mount. These are all available through STi in a size that will fit my legacy (I'll sort that when I haven't been drinking).

Unless your stock anti-sway bar bushings are completely shot, I wouldn't worry about them if you are going to get new anti-sway bars at some time since the new bars will come with new bushings.

Other front end bushings that I still need include Engine Mounts, Pitch mount, and transmission brace (I've seen perrin also makes one). I can't think of any others that I'd be missing upfront? List is:

• R&L Control Arm Front
• R&L Control Arm Rear (Anti Lift Kit)
• Engine Mounts (Look at Perrin as well)
• Pitch Mount
• Steering Bushings
• Transmission Mount (Look at Perrin as well)

The rear I'd like to tighten up the bushings as well before I work on getting struts/springs/wheels. There's a lot of bushings out back and a lot of work to do List Is:

• R&L Trailing Link Upper (x2)
• R&L Trailing Link Lower (x2)
• Rear Suspension Crossmember Bush (Is this part of body lock kit?)
• R&L Lateral Link Inner Rear Bushing (x2)
• R&L Lateral Link Inner Front Bushing (x2)
• Lateral Link Outter Bushings (x4)
• R&L Rear Diff Front Bushing (x2)
• Rear Diff Rear Bushing (x2)
• Rear Diff Rear Mount bushing

Most if not all of these bushings are available as Group-N through STi, others are available through aftermarkets (will need to search for the these later. So far I know of Perrin, and Whiteline.)

Have you run across this thread for the rear bushings?

http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=35369

Don't do the hardened pitch stop mount, trust me on this. You can search, but it adds a lot of noise and if you have the STi hardened bushings for the trans and engine, IMO the pitch stop mount really doesn't do much.

As mentioend before I do not recommend going with the STi hardenend bushings over the split poly bushings. Your bushing list for the front looks complete (minus the anti-sway bars). The rear list doesn't look correct. The subframe locks eliminate the need for any bushings on the rear subframe.

If you go with the whiteline kit, it's just a spacer for the outrigger, and is very easy to install. I definitely recommend that over trying to get a new STi bushing. The trailing arms have a front and rear bushing. I think you have all the lateral link bushings. There are only two bushings for the rear diff mount, that's it.

One thing to let you know is that on the 90 MY the end links for the anti-sway bar are drop links and go through the lateral link vs. the newer style that uses C end links that bolt to a bracket. If you upgrade to a different bar, the whiteline bar came with the upgraded drop links. I'm not sure of any other bar that does this. If you're replacing bushings, I'd suggest upgrading to the newer style lateral links and C style end links.

Now I guess I begin figuring out what fits here. I know that Josh said *most all* of the 93-01 Impreza bushings would fit the 1st Gen Legacies.

Everything other than the rear diff mount bushings will work.

If I go and purchase the Group-N bushings for a GC8 MY97-01 does that mean it should swap over with little to no problem?

http://www.rallispec.com/mou_bush_rstbk1.html
The kits are listed as RSTBKN12, RSTBK1, and RSTBK2. RSTBK1 would be the GC8.

Did I miss anything?

Again, I don't recommend the STi bushing kits. Price out the poly bushings.

[Legacy777]

I don't know about lowering if I did 1.5" in the front and 1" in the back, how would that affect my maneuverability in regular city driving? I don't want to have to worry about scraping on speed bumps or bottoming out on dips in the road. Will I run into that problem with a 1.5/1" lowering of the suspension?

My car is lowered about that much. I like the ride height, and while the suspension stiffness can kind of suck on poor roads, that height reduction shouldn't be too bad if you plan to keep it on the road.

[SILINC3R]

Where did you end up getting this bushing, W51709A inner control arm bushing? I really don't want to pay $80 to have it shipped from Australia. And can't find the split bushing anywhere else but from that website.

[jamal]

One of my distrubutors had a couple last I checked and another place has the superpro split bushings that go there.


For the rear I have the whole turn in concepts kit and it is very nice. Similar price to group n but a whole lot easier to install. There are a few pictures of the process here:

http://jamalb.net/gallery/v/98lgt/suspension/?g2_page=3

And then I have kartboy lock bolts for the subframe.