My 92's: More Changes, More Progress

[Mike621]

As I was doing the counts and filing receipts from my recent car-related purchases, I figured that I should post again, since my car situation has changed yet again in the past few months.

I recently sold both the blue 1992 Legacy and the 1992 Pearl LS-L (which the new owner already totaled and junked )

Some of you are aware of the recent problems I encountered with my Claret. More on that shortly. First, my Ebony.

During this past summer, I dragged home another SVX, which I purchased from a member here. Long story short, this car used to belong to another forum member, who was very careful with the way he had maintained the car. I had in fact driven the car during some period in 2006, at which point it was still a great car overall, with a few little quirks, but nothing out of the ordinary, and had just around 188k miles.

Spring 2006:



The car had since been sold to a certain neighbor and Subaru enthusiast with several other SVXs, who not long after the purchase, blew the front differential and parked the car. I had forgotten about the car for quite some time, and was surprised went it up for sale with the trans still inop. this year.

The seller assured me that the car was not touched and in the same condition as when parked, and offered to include a handful of spare parts and a "good 4.11 trans and matching rear" with the car. What I got was a different story.




On a first look, the car had just typical signs of sitting for nearly two years. I soon discovered some unpleasant surprises.

The seller had not only switched off minor parts to his other SVXs like the tires/wheels and passenger side wiper blade , but had also
-switched the door handles, and locks
-swapped the nice grey leather seats for much more worn ones
-Swapped the newer oem struts out and replaced with older more used and worn units(the rears and possibly the fronts as well)
-cut out the radio and shoved a non-working head unit in its place so as to appear hooked up
-removed the floor mats (typical, not that big of a deal)
-removed the good master window cluster
-installed a faulty one with broken buttons
-took the good ashtray and replaced it with a broken one
-replaced the nice grey steering wheel with a very worn and damaged one (and installed it crooked)

[Mike621]

Both motor mounts were also shot when I picked up the car, and the bolts for them I found were only hand tight. Gee I wonder...

Needless to say too much more, but the car has been a lot of work so far.

The transmission which came in the car came out looking like this:


After further inspection, the replacement trans didn't turn out to be much better. I didnt get a chance to have a look at it when i picked up the car, as it was already loaded in the trunk when I picked it up. (the seller was not present at time of pickup). Anyway, the fluid was muddy looking with gratuitous amounts of shavings. Additionally, the gear selector on the side of the case would barely move from gear to gear. Tom and I made the determination that it wasn't worth the risk of relying on it, and began to prep for a 5 speed swap.

Since the trans swap, I have started to drive the car daily, since the absence of my wagon, and have begun the process of fixing items along the way.

I did run into two hiccups within two weeks, such as a small alternator meltdown and a water pump failure.




Since then, the WP, timing belt, front seals, etc have been replaced along with the tie rod ends, brake rotors, pads, lines, etc. I have also taken time to try to tackle the cosmetic issues bit by bit. (The car needed a detail job in the worst way.)



This car has obviously been taking the majority of my time on weekends, but I have not forgotten about my Claret. Sadly, this car has been parked since the head gasket failure became evident during my last trip home from OT's place.

On Saturday, I started preparations on a motor to be sent out to get powdercoating and machine work done. More good news to come for both of these cars!

[gwarusee]

Looks good man. Really clean in the last pic. Props on saving another svx.

[JaySVX]

Nice job Mike. Bummer how things turn out sometimes.

[SVXyGirl]

The car does look great Mike! Great job saving another SVX.

[TomsSVX]

Originally Posted by JaySVX

Nice job Mike. Bummer how things turn out sometimes.

When you change cars like you change underwear... That'll happen

Tom

[siceclipse]

looks great!

good to see its back in good hands

[Jeremy'sSVX]

Originally Posted by Mike621

Did you paint parts of your engine or just armor all it? It looks amazing! haha

[Mike621]

Thanks everyone for your comments.

Jeremy, the items in the engine bay were painted by a previous owner.

[Jeremy'sSVX]

Originally Posted by Mike621

Thanks everyone for your comments.

Jeremy, the items in the engine bay were painted by a previous owner.

I really like that, you wouldn't happen to know anything about what kind of paint they used would you?

[processengr]

Nice job! I like the black OEM wheels, do you have any side shots?

[Mike621]

Gordon,

The black wheels are actually off the car already, as I had the unfortunate occurrence of two flat tires.

Right now the car is on Tom's silver STi BBS wheels until my new tires come in.

[Mike621]

Here photos of what the Ebony looks like today:

I can see at night...


I can stop...


Race Concepts Brake Kit from SVXFiles

[kwren]

Bought in New Jersey from an individual with a svx graveyard??? Crooked as it gets??
Sounds like you got to know our crooked old New Jersey buddy from from EBay.
Your perseverance is certainly commendable.

Great job!
Keith

[TomsSVX]

No, he didn't buy it from anyone in NJ... It was someone else who did the deed on this car.

Tom