What have you done to your SVX (or other Subaru) today?

[Conn SVX]

I never hear any one talk about the LL Bean outback. Did that have a bigger motor or was it just cosmetic mods. It was a 6 correct?

[reberto]

Originally Posted by Conn SVX

I never hear any one talk about the LL Bean outback. Did that have a bigger motor or was it just cosmetic mods. It was a 6 correct?

LL Bean edition could have either the 4 or the 6, but the 6 is much more common. You could get the 6 with the 45/55 front/rear VDC transmission as well

[1986nate]

Originally Posted by oab_au

Thats strange Nate, all the Liberty/Legacy 2.2 here in Aust have 4.11. and I can atest to the strength of that box, as mine, at 250klm, pulls 1/2 ton loads of gravel, no problem.

Harvey.

The 4.11's behind the 2.2 will last just fine, easily past 200k miles. however, when put in an SVX, they do not hold up. It's been proven and hence the reason OT refuses to put any 4.11 trans in an SVX. (IIRC, he had 3 consecutive failures in one customers SVX, the longest lasting about a month)

[AlcyoneSVX]

Had the windows on the Pearlie tinted!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/93691199@N05/8897542241/

[Conn SVX]

I was more wondering about the Tranny swap of the LL Bean into the SVX. They came with 5 speeds? The Legacy and Impreza are mentioned for 5 speed swap.

[huck369]

Originally Posted by Conn SVX

I was more wondering about the Tranny swap of the LL Bean into the SVX. They came with 5 speeds? The Legacy and Impreza are mentioned for 5 speed swap.

AFAIK
The only Subaru with a 6-cylinder and a 5-speed in the US market has been the XT6 (which won't fit the EG33)

[INVADR]

Originally Posted by AlcyoneSVX

Had the windows on the Pearlie tinted!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/93691199@N05/8897542241/

Looks great, Armando! My lust for pearl SVXi keeps building, with each nice one that I see. I need an intervention!

[Old Davy]

Couple of things this week.
Last weekend the car alarm started acting up, going off on its own - was a loose wire on the trunk latch switch.

Monday took the black graphite 17" 6-spoke summer wheels to the Powdercoat guy for a fresh coat of baked Liguid Silver...'cause black on black over black is just too 'Batman wannabe' for this old Davy.

On the way home the 4-way flasher button jammed at the halfway position, making the flashers impossible to turn off when the car is switched off but worse,disabling the turn signals.
Deductive reasoning and taking apart a spare switch pod showed me how to take the switch apart without breaking it.
Four penknife blades under the catch tabs and you can slide the circuitboard out. The only thing keeping all those contact feelers and springs in place is the factory grease - you've been warned. Also first remove the bulbs.
Problem turned out be to a teensy less than 1/16" square piece of switch cap tab broken off migrated up the side of the sliding element and back to the rear toggle spring channel where it fouled the toggle action.
Had to fix this switch in order to drive the car without hand signals. The spare switch pod is for a non-seat heater SVX so a swap was not an option.
Anyway, put it all back together and Eureka! Turn signals and flashers working as they should.

Biggest problem was getting to the pod harness connector to be able to work on it on the workbench. Every other SVX I've played with you pull the pod and the harness snakes out enough to disconnect.
My 97 has the connector factory riveted to the steel beam under the steering wheel. The harness snakes down a slim space next to the radio and back over to the connector plug.
Had to remove the dash cover and metal under panel to disconnect and pull the harness out. Now I know.

Picked up the freshly powder-coated wheels this morning ($40 each plus tire mounting & balancing for a grand total of $309 CN.
Had them installed by 3PM and went for a nice ride. Since I had to transport them in the Outback XT I had the summer wheels swapped on the OBXT as well.

Strange thing at the Powdercoater's place. While I was in paying a guy arrived in an all black 2006 OBXT that had also been lowered to LGT height like mine. We had a great chat.

[EdWindows]

Originally Posted by AlcyoneSVX

Had the windows on the Pearlie tinted!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/93691199@N05/8897542241/

Looks like the front windshield was tinted as well.

[dcarrb]

Other Subaru: Taped temporary registration into the back glass, then topped the tank of the '08 Outback 2.5I I just bought. Somebody made me an offer too good to refuse. (I hope.) Regretfully pondering which SVX to keep, thinking maybe both will have to go.

dcb

[Blacky]

Changed the internal tranny filter and fluid in the '97. I'll change the fluid a couple more times to get it all.
The hardest part was getting the dipstick out to refill. I had to grab it with vice grips and twist and pull forever. It was rusty around the top. Bloodied one knuckle but that's expected with DIY.

[Old Davy]

Had the entire day off so bit the bullet, removed the radio cage and installed the OEM underseat Forester sub. First I put it under the driver's seat but it was 'too stimulating'. Moved it under the passenger seat and it's just right, bolstering the bass frequencies to my liking, adjustable on the sub itself or at the radio tone controls, according to taste and passenger comfort. I recommend the OEM underseat sub (can be found online for less than $100) if you want to preserve originality and cargo space. I previously replaced the deck and door speakers with 3-ways for a huge improvement. But there are times on the hiway when you just want rock-out mirror shakin' thumping...
My 97 has the original cassette radio and a cubby pocket underneath. The customer in 97 had a Kenwood 10 CD changer put in by the dealership, mounted in the trunk. Plays through FM modulation. The wired controller was filling up the useful cubby pocket so I extracted it and ran the cable up under the windshield trim to beside the mirror mount and map lights.
Did you all know the SVX headliner fabric is Velcro-friendly? Got the garage door remote stuck up there beside the visor, as well...

My thanks to Dave Carter for his comprehensive Radio How-To and sending me the male/female SVX connectors from Texas. With his guidance I transferred the 2004 Forester harness pins to the SVX connectors for a clean plug&play install with no cut wires.

[reberto]

Do you happen to have any photos of the wiring and how the sub is mounted? I've been thinking about doing a setup like that for a while, it just seems as if no one else was brave enough to install the Subaru subwoofer until now

[Old Davy]

It's a straight forward procedure, Reberto, whether you have an original OEM or an aftermarket stereo installed. I chose to stay with the original radio - sounds spectacular enough to me.

The tricky part is modifying the Sub's wiring harness connectors. The SVX uses unique 20-pin connectors unlike and incompatible with other Subaru models, in which the same subwoofer is a simple plug & play. The sub harness carries all the same electric wires for front speaker signals, power, power antenna, and three three illumination wires, although in different pin positions.

Now, some folks have been in a hurry and just cut & splice but there is a member down in Texas that has SVX specific connectors that can eliminate such butchering. Well worth researching his posts and website for all the options. There's not any room behind the radio for a tangled blob of excess wiring because the back of the cage butts up against the HVAC ducting, so I chose to adapt the sub's harness to SVX plugs. Only adds a 10" bridge harness behind (which can be tucked inside the back of the cage or routed down below the radio. The cable to the sub underseat is a 50" long run down inside the console then down under the carpet at the seat's rear rail over to the sub.
There is a seat heater connector under the seat that gets in the way but like the driver seat, I removed the rear bolts and raised the seat rails 1/2" to get the clearance. Seats are awfully low in the SVX for a short 5'6" guy like me anyway...

David Carter has full information on pin assignments as well as a comprehensive How-To to extract the radio cage.
I carefully labeled the Sub harness wires, extracted the pins one by one and inserted them in the correct positions in the SVX male & female connectors.
Fussy but a piece of cake once you know how to cleanly remove the pins. Dave provided me with a cross section diagram of the connector catches which need only a tiny jeweler's screwdriver to release.

Dave's How-To has full pictures from installing an aftermarket radio that shows you everything you need to know. After I purchased the SVX connectors Dave emailed my more specific diagrams that made the pin adaption easy.

Dave's How-To:
http://ae64.com/SVXAudioInstall.htm

Dave's selection of SVX adapters for splicing installs.
http://ae64.com/SVXharness.htm

As I said, I bought just the connector ends and moved my own pins. Results is a tidy installation that is 100% reversible in about 20 minutes. You get really good at disconnecting the two RCA diversity antennas and removing the radio & cage to get at the backside.

cheapest OEM Forester sub from Byers Imports eBay store in Colombus Ohio; this is where I got mine:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Subaru-OEM-2...item257d6e68f3

[reberto]

Hmm. This looks pretty straight forward. What I had planned on doing was:

A 07-08 Forester radio w/AUX in (where I would put the breakout AUX box I don't know)
SVX - other model Subaru 14pin harness adapter
Forester Subwoofer


Seems that this should all just be plug & play if I go this route.