Topic: Drewfuspx 05 Forester XT Terboes! *SOLD*

[drewfuspx]

Time to create a build thread since I've now started putting new things into the car.

2005 Forester XT with 190,000 km's and in pretty darn good condition when I picked it up back in March. Some dings here and there and some rock chips but nothing to crazy, and nothing that I wouldn't end up doing to it myself over the next years of ownership. haha.

Pro's -
No Accidents - 1 Hail claim 2,000 bucks many years ago.
All Mobil 1 Synthetic Oil Changes for it's life. Either at All-Makes-Auto in Calgary or Midas.
9/3/2014 All new Brakes and rotors 1 year ago. ($710.70)
9/3/2014 New Air Condition Compressor and Clutch plus charge 1 year ago. ($909.83)
9/3/2014 New Accessory Belt ($65.89)
9/3/2014 New Battery 1 year ago. ($145.94)
9/18/2014 New Strut Assemblies all around "OE Spectrum Premium struts" (Kal-Tire) ($1,959)
01/01/2014 Recall for front lower control arms performed ($0)
22/05/2015 New Windshield - With Wiper Heater ($240.45)
25/05/2015 New Toyo Versado Tires 215/55/R17 Mounted and balanced on OZ Rims ($919.80)
11/11/2014 144,000 km’ Service (Oil, Air Filter, Brakes, Balance Rotate, New coolant, New Tranny Fluid, New Diff Oil, New Brake Fluid) ($736.47)
02/17/2015 (Replace Timing Belt, Replace Rear McPherson Struts ($1,725.15)
So jus there it comes to $7413.23 of new parts and maintenance outside of oil changes applied to the vehicle!! I bought it for $9,000!! This doesn’t include the brand new set of winter tires that went onto it in November as well ($750), and she got a really good detail done on it, and recently installed a bluetooth deck. (Pretty decent, sub no longer hooked up, will have to address…)


Con’s -
Small amount of rust on the inside of the hatch and on the inside of the filler cap. Friend says he’s got some good produces so we can stop that.
Engine is really dirty, but shows that theres no seeping or weirdness happening under there. Will get it into the shop and give it a degrease so we can see a little better what’s going on.
Few cracks and one piece missing on the Driver seat, and driver seat heated seat seems to not be working.
Original clutch, so it feels like it’s towards the end of it’s life. But still grips really well, just engages only at the very end.
Noise - much noisier than previous cars, I think it’s the mirrors causing the majority of the wind noise so I need to try and address that. But NOT as bad as some of the warnings made it seem like it would be.

Had been looking at another one, that had a hitch and the roof rails and a nicer deck, but it was 4 hours away plus would have cost me 2,750 more! So feeling good to go.

Would like to do's:
Snorkus Delete


Pic's

[drewfuspx]

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[drewfuspx]

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[drewfuspx]

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[drewfuspx]

So I am going to try and backtrack and keep things straight in terms of what happened when. I haven't done much too the vehicle as not long after I picked it up I no longer had a job with Subaru/Jaguar/Landrover here in town, so it's mostly pictures of the Forester in different situations.
I did some work to the headlamps shortly after getting the car as they were quite hazy:
IMG_4580 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_4574 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_4583 by Drew Bell, on Flickr

I also cleaned up the engine bay:
IMG_4597 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_4576 by Drew Bell, on Flickr

And Never-Dulled the Exhaust Tip:
IMG_5042 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_5045 by Drew Bell, on Flickr

And that night I got the summer wheels on and went to a Peter's Meet and became a true WSC Member b/c Jellynutz photographed my car!
IMG_4888 by Drew Bell, on Flickr


Went up to Sylvan to visit the Parents - They are also Subaru Owners. Outback.
IMG_4544 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_4535 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_4534 by Drew Bell, on Flickr

Oh and installed a Dog Guard for the pup to keep her drool off the back seat.
IMG_4527 by Drew Bell, on Flickr

[drewfuspx]

Got roof Rails and a Roof Basket and went camping:
IMG_4423 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_8515 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_8519 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_8518 by Drew Bell, on Flickr

Also, someone told me that I should NOT be taking my ProDrive's out to MacLean Creek...
IMG_8516 by Drew Bell, on Flickr

Oh and the Forester Replaced this car in my life:
IMG_8341 by Drew Bell, on Flickr

[drewfuspx]

I used to have a company plate at the dealership and drove many things. Was interested to see how similar in size the Fozzy was to a new Evoque. BUT I'd take the Fozzy all day long. (Though the heated steering wheel in the Evoque was sick)
IMG_5359 by Drew Bell, on Flickr

I got a Polish and Sealer done to the Fozzy before the summer rains hit:
IMG_6865 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_6863 by Drew Bell, on Flickr

And stepped up my Alberta pride game:
IMG_6570 by Drew Bell, on Flickr

Then I did a Photoshoot:
IMG_6525 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_6523 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_6519 by Drew Bell, on Flickr

[drewfuspx]

INTERLUDE

Then in the summer of 2016 after I was out of work and when my wife had 2 weeks we did a pretty epic bike trip from Calgary into and through BC into the states then back around. Was incredible.
IMG_9372 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_9373 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_9370 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_9292 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_9291 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_9232 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_9212 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_9106 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_9096 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_9060 by Drew Bell, on Flickr

[drewfuspx]

Then we got home and 4 days later this happened:
IMG_9517 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_9797 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_9522 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_3113 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_3104 by Drew Bell, on Flickr

Which makes me pretty ticked. After going back and forth with Insurance which would only agree to my car being worth less than $6,000 bucks I ended up with a payout for $3,800 or so. Also I cannot have comprehensive on the vehicle now it's liability only. If I get the vehicle repaired and inspected and it passes in the future I will be able to get it 'recertified' to have Comprehensive coverage again.

[drewfuspx]

But I suppose the benefit of hail is that it is only Body Damage at the end of the day, so the car was A.O.K. for a Vancouver Island Trip:
IMG_9794 by Drew Bell, on Flickr

Drive out was uneventful... except for the trim coming off from around the windshield... thank goodness for the giant sunroof my wife was able to catch it before it completely flew away:
IMG_0152 by Drew Bell, on Flickr

The turbo is so incredible in the mountains, and even though at this point my clutch was beginning to slip a bit it was an absolute blast. Also felt like it handled decently (At this point I was unaware of the fact that one of my Endlinks had broken and the front sway bar was doing nothing) and we got to our campsite just south of Port Alberni.
IMG_9959 by Drew Bell, on FlickrIMG_9960 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_9966 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
Morning Views:
IMG_9977 by Drew Bell, on Flickr

We ended up in Powell River for a few days and from this distance you can't see the hail...
IMG_0250 by Drew Bell, on Flickr

[diamondedge]

Drew! That last picture! 

Nice, you got a thread going. Looking forward....

[drewfuspx]

Which basically catches us up to the present. Within the last few weeks some things have gone pretty wrong.

#1 Those stupid smelly vent clip things... never use them:
IMG_5601 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_5598 by Drew Bell, on Flickr

Luckily there was a fellow from the community who's Forester was being parted out and I was able to find these pieces again for relatively inexpensive:
IMG_5555 by Drew Bell, on Flickr

#2 Radiator... not so healthy I had gone over to Asstuna's to top up my coolant as I noticed it was low and I wanted to bleed the system. Discovered it was leaking from here. This is of course after we'd topped it off and I then drove across the city. The Video shows the extend of the leakiness:
IMG_2370 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
However there was some excellent style that day:
IMG_2379 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
It was also at this point we discovered my End Link Problem:
IMG_5691 by Drew Bell, on Flickr

Fast Forward a few weeks I have now had the Clutch and Radiator replaced at Subaru Calgary. (I still get a bit of a discount for being an X-Employee so it ended up being cheaper than having it done at Vex, but not by much. All OEM bits, but the Warranty appealed to me, and the simplicity.
This is Derek, he did my work, it seems o.k. He looks a little possessed here. Also he was kind enough to take lots of pictures from under my car while it was on the hoist.
IMG_3079 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_3080 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_3081 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_3077 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
IMG_3076 by Drew Bell, on Flickr



The End Links I did myself, chose to go with MOOG:
Untitled by Drew Bell, on Flickr
Untitled by Drew Bell, on Flickr

Car handles incredibly different now, soooo much flatter in the turns. Still no race car, but a marked improvement. Bushings appears to be in good shape while I was under there.

Though getting back to Derek I did notice I need some new clips for the plastic under shroud, surely he could have done that for me and charged me the 10 bucks for clips... these ones:
Untitled by Drew Bell, on Flickr

[Player One]

Drew! That last picture! 

I would have voted for it in the calendar contest

[drewfuspx]

So now Denty, but running smoothly and quickly I need to look towards mods... Of course this A-Hole is in my parking lot at work which just makes everything seem unattainable...
IMG_5814 by Drew Bell, on Flickr

But the plan for now is to get through the winter, ensure that no other mechanical issues pop up, while keeping eyes open for budget friendly options:
- Silver XT Hood that I can replace mine with since the paint is cracked due to hail so repair will be cost prohibitive
- STI Hood scoop to install into said hood
- Proper polish on the headlights since they have once again faded and don't look that great
- I have a spare grill I snagged on Kijiji so I need to modify that into an STi lookalike, need to find mesh.
- Alternatively while looking for these things if I can find a front cut from a same-color-silver JDM STi then I would gladly go that route.
- Chatted with a guy today that said he can do my roof/pillar hail repair for $1500... if that's the case may look at that in the spring assuming the new job continues to go well.
- Really want this car to sound better, will be looking at exhaust options
- Need to replace Trim around Windshield, it has come off.
- Driver Seat 'leather trim' has cracked and is deteriorating, will be looking for new seats. Ideally from a WRX or Impreze Special Edition. #rally4life.
- Whole car needs a really good detail as #doglife = drool spots and hair all over the back. Project #bigbrotherxTerra now pulls dog duty so this one can be cleaned w/o fear of re-offense.
- Would like to find a double din... the pocket drives me bonkers
   - Would also like to do a Canuckerz style dash cubby replacement and put the stereo in the higher position.

Updates to come

So that catches the vehicle up to now:

[ultimatt]

This is a good thread!

Sucks about the hail, hopefully it can be repaired.

[drewfuspx]

I would have voted for it in the calendar contest

Thanks guys, sometimes the light just works! This ones a little closer, and the hail becomes apparent...
IMG_0256 by Drew Bell, on Flickr

[Player One]

Are those not dimples to reduce drag? 

[drewfuspx]

Are those not dimples to reduce drag? 

Haha.

[jakesubie]

Nice looking forester you got! Sucks about the hail damage though.

[drewfuspx]

Wow been a while. But having hit a Milestone Mileage I figured I should do a bit of an update on the old Fozaru.

First off 222222 Km's - so great:
IMG_5213 by Drew Bell, on Flickr

So about 30,000 km's on the car and so far so good. Has broken more than any other car I've ever owned, but is also more fun. Went through a stage of planning to sell it, but my wife loves it too much so until theres some sort of catastrophic failure or she decides having a baby and driving stick is too much work will be keeping it.

My mudflap came off - reattached
20170902_150056 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
20170902_150034 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
20170902_150020 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
Yah a little bit rusty so I drilled out the old clips, pulled the fender liner, put in new clips a-la-lowes and resinstalled the stock flaps. Been making it through winter so I think we done good.

Also had a bad oil leak THROUGH a sensor on the top middle front of the engine. Replaced. No More Oil Leak.
20170902_114655 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
20170902_120443 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
20170902_121242 by Drew Bell, on Flickr
Nerve=wracking tightening this as I didn't have access to a torque wrench... But been a few months and no leaks as of yet.

FUEL SMELL
So I had this issue starting last winter but only a few days, all summer long no problems, but when the cold weather hit it was persistent and VERY strong. With my wife pregnant and this being her daily it as time to get fixed ASAP and so the car went into Balance Auto Garage to get all the fuel lines and clamps changed. Picked up in -30 afterhours (Jackie was nice enough to charge me over the phone and stash the keys under the mats) and she started no problem and NO fuel smell. Overall really happy with the shop, they missed a couple of really minor brackets and a damper on reinstallation of everything but he was quick to have my stop by so he could fix it.

One of those annoyingly expensive 5 hour jobs that shows no real change under the hood but no fuel smell is better.

From here I've got a clunk in the suspension, guessing worn out bushings, so i'm going to start getting together some new bushings to tighten the old girl up a little bit. Starting hopefully with a Group N transmission mount and some new bushings for the shifter.

OH and I finally invested in a set of weathertechs for this thing. What a difference, ended up buying a set for my company truck as well. So good.

And just a bit of eye candy from a Snowy Timmies Meet:
IMG_20171219_231851_666 by Drew Bell, on Flickr

[jellynuts]

Anything light up on the dash while oil was spilling out of your oil sensor? 

[drewfuspx]

Anything light up on the dash while oil was spilling out of your oil sensor?

No sir, even with the leak it was still only going through about a liter between oil changes. Which was only up about 1/2 liter more than normal lol.

[Asstuna]

Suspension clunks? Let me sing you the song of my people.

[05LGT]

Suspension clunks? Let me sing you the song of my people.

[drewfuspx]

Suspension clunks? Let me sing you the song of my people.

As in this is a standard Subaru feature, no extra charge... And no returns.

Was back at Balance Auto today for smoke billowing out of the hood scoop. Coolant line nmloosened up near turbo and a few other little bits they missed. Jackie brought me back in for 5 and they did 45 minutes of work on the car no charge because inconvenience. Pretty happy with the experience generally... And I was able to swing it for a Tuesday so I am already up here for therapy... Err timmies.