Outback '01 2.5 4eat VDC project

So couple years ago i bought myself my first subaru ever and after long time thinking took outback against forester. Didint had budget for newer one so went for some 2nd gen that i found

Top original, lower 2"" lift with BFG TA KO2 215/65 R16
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It was 2001 subaru outback 2.5 4eat eith rear LSD and early VDC package. All weather with heated seats, windows, climate control.
It has rear self leveling shocks still ok condition so i left them just put 2" spacer on top. Not sure is it made car harder and less comfy but it can take load very well. But its not soft car to drive fast on bad roads
Then i cut front bumper and put steel skid plate just for engine. Diy it myself from steel sheet from scrapyard
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It can be quite tough to say that the engine of that Legacy will be good once the head gasket is done because the engine will have to experience extreme heat and pressure for the EZ30's cylinder head and head gasket to give up. If the mechanic does a good job machining the surfaces and torquing the head bolts to spec, other parts of the engine may have already been damaged or compromised, so in due time, there can be premature wear on the cooling system, EGR system, oil feed, etc. It is a proper gamble, in that case. It may be a pain for your in the long run.

Also, are they willing to stress/pressure test all the systems in the car. When this is done, the technicians can pinpoint which parts are likely to wear out quickly after repair but it is extremely expensive. It is one way to properly resurrect an engine, though. I only know a few shops here who do that but mostly mechanics don't bother anymore because they always wish to move on to the next car to fix. Cheers.
 
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New 2006 3.0R VDC beast. Sportshift omg so cool . It made louder so hits that sweet note fast.
 
so black grill and black rims whould go nice on this gold color i think ? of course plasti dipped so i could remove that later if needed.
i wonder can those lights be upgraded , as they lenses now so they must be al ot better allready , but can they be upgraded even more with some better bulbs maybe someone knows ?
but man o man how it pulls... holly cow it just goes and that exhaust just .. wow .. maybe even too loud but for now i love . like you going 70km/h and you just pull to 120km/h like its nothing , coming from 2.5 it feels like going in sports car. thats why i wanted try that 180kw and im not dissapointed. will do some trips now short and longer see how it goes standard. maybe then lift . but not sure untill winter if it becomes cold soon i maybe just leave it as it is trough winter . as it has almost new winter tires on it . they grip very good now too.
 
Congrats on the purchase! I said that too when I drove the 3.0. It looks like that model has everything you need.

Does yours have HID or Halogen headlamps?
 
Not sure hids or halo. How to know? Remove bulb?
reverse light not good too but those simple things , just wonder can i put some LED in there and have better light on reverse. will try. will change all interior lights to LEDS as well.
for fronts so which are better ? can i change fron one to other ?
 
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scalman said:
Not sure hids or halo. How to know? Remove bulb?
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There is usually a stamp on the headlight bracket saying which type of bulb is installed.
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In this case, it is a D2S bulb, 12 volts and 35-watt ballasts.

This is what the connector inside the engine bay looks like.
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and which is better hid or halo and can i just plug it in better one? its shame seems like they fogging inside some.
could upgrade DRL maybe as well as i did on my 2001 outback. as in day i could just drive with those. but they kinda yelowish old style, would be nice for some led white color and less consumption.
 
scalman said:
and which is better hid or halo and can i just plug it in better one? its shame seems like they fogging inside some.
could upgrade DRL maybe as well as i did on my 2001 outback. as in day i could just drive with those. but they kinda yelowish old style, would be nice for some led white color and less consumption.
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I like the HID one as it is colder than halogen but has a better output of at least 2100 lumens when stock. If you have halogens, you can always upgrade to a better-engineered/updated one. The +30% ones already have a huge gain vs the stock. Here we have Narva halogens that can go up to +150%, although its filament life is much shorter.

People like to retrofit LEDs but they throw bad light output and usually burn out easily. HIDs usually outlast the car and LEDs, by definition, outlast HIDs but the LEDs that are sold in the market still have heat-dissipation issues and usually burn out much more quickly than halogens, haha, not to mention the poor lighting pattern they throw when installed in a halogen assembly.
 
ABFoz said:
not to mention the poor lighting pattern they throw when installed in a halogen assembly.
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+1 Not a fan of retrofit LED. spaff light everywhere except where yuo need it, particularly in the eyes of oncoming drivers. :/
 
I have h7 . So how they ? Can i put better ones there. ?

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hmmm iv used osram H7 on my 2001 outback and maybe because of bad light it was no better, iv used night braker laser , and they now both gone those bulbs. so maybe they muc better result on 3rd gen lense then. i can get some night braker laser here i think on H7.
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because on 2001 outback they did like nothing better . you sure they give much better results on 3rd gen outback ?
those i could get in local shop anytime.
 
scalman said:
hmmm iv used osram H7 on my 2001 outback and maybe because of bad light it was no better, iv used night braker laser , and they now both gone those bulbs. so maybe they muc better result on 3rd gen lense then. i can get some night braker laser here i think on H7.
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because on 2001 outback they did like nothing better . you sure they give much better results on 3rd gen outback ?
those i could get in local shop anytime.
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They have higher output so they will burn out much more quickly. Plus it was a reflector type lamp. Now you have a projector type so hopefully that will give you more volume.

I used Philips H4 in my SXV15 Scepter before and had a good run of up to 5 years. I saw good improvements even with the lens type headlamp. Try Philips Racing Vision. It's also a +150% light. It will burn out quickly though. Cheers.

Which T10 LED did you use for your park lights?

EDIT: Added a question.
 
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I just bought what they had in local shop some kind of like those
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Bought them same for all rear license plate lights too and trunk light. Though for trunk light it was too dimm still. Will look for something better and look online i guess where it will be more choise.
Couldnt find yet ones that goes in front reading lights and same into door when you open door.
 
So found examples for myself how my rims look with lift and how cut bumper looks.
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So i think my stages on car. Would be lift and thrn maybe just maybe cut bumper.
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i know that better use smaller wheels off road but that 17 oem rims with lift for me looks just right , right size more fits to all car size and form. at least from pic i think that way. and i have lift spacer allready and if need wheel spacers as well.
 
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Haha. The lower plastic part of the bumper looks like it is meant to be cut.

Regarding 17s, I have seen some BPs and SGs with 215/60R17 A/T tyres installed. They look decent and modern.
 
Instead they should just make it removable that lower part bumper i even thought that it is. Shame.

changed today front plastic covers in arhces as they where borken in some places and i got good ones with car so changed them , put somne more bitumen on naked metal there and checked brake pads , checked how links and stuff there changed from previous gen...
then wanted to see how lift would look, so first normal height that is now , second +5cm and third about +7cm wheel is in air allready
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and yes rear door was bended when i bought it couple more scraches there are .
 
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scalman said:
I just bought what they had in local shop some kind of like those
rodykfoto.php

Bought them same for all rear license plate lights too and trunk light. Though for trunk light it was too dimm still. Will look for something better and look online i guess where it will be more choise.
Couldnt find yet ones that goes in front reading lights and same into door when you open door.
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Looks this T10 has a better base than most of the plastic ones.

I found out that one of the biggest problems these LEDs encounter is around the chipboard-plastic base area. The frequency caused by the vibrations is good enough to dislodge the assembly.

We have Narva here which already has its 3rd gen LED globes and they seem to have solved that issue while providing better cooling.
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Also, it looks like you are already itchy to install a lift on that BP!
 
I just was reading how people have more problems if going with 2" lift on those 3rd gens, maybe just some but they talked how that camber is bad even with multilink spacers , so i kinda worried as i have now just strut spacers ,so hmm is there gonna be problem?
 
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