Hello, my name is............................

[Jazz]

Tim

Hello to all the forum members.
I have been using this forum as a great resource for a couple of weeks now since I purchased an SVX.

So……………… I am a newbie her and this is my first post.

So lets talk cars (and bikes)? OK…….

My car for the last 16 years. My trusty 1990 Mazda Miata.
Never a problem, never a hiccup, just reliable and fun, fun, fun transportation for over 200,000 Kms of service. It is no wonder to me that these are the most raced cars in the world. But, I only drive in the winter and last winter had me stuck for a few days…………….. well that and the fact that I have 2 young boys now and there are no back seats. So I sold her for $1000 bucks and started looking for a SUBARU AWD!

Then the SUBARU I found. “Miney”
It was a 1995 Impreza. It was cheep and practical and AWD.
I drove this car for a total of 3 times before deciding that I could not live with it.
It sucked so badly compared to my trusty Miata.
I sold it for quite a loss just to get rid of it ASAP.

Miney


I had been searching for and researching the SVX for quite some time, but there were none to be had in my neck of the woods (Vancouver, BC). But then at the same time as I was trying to get rid of the Impreza, My wife spotted a small ad on Craigslist and responded to it immediately. The seller brought the car to me as he was hot to sell. When I first saw her, I knew I had to have her. I had not seen an SVX in person (only pictures). She was beautiful under all the dirt and grime (owner did not care for her). My favourite paint scheme and no spoiler!! My dream car had arrived. I looked her over very carefully and was amazed at the condition of the body and paint, almost perfect, one little scuff on the front corner of the bumper and no dents or dings down the doors or anywhere.

BUT and it’s a big BUT, she has 224,000 miles on her! Leaking oil, rims were shot, interior was filthy and leather has rips and cracks in the driver seat. A test drive revealed warped rotors and some serious tranny shift lag between 2 and 3 (felt like it shifts twice with a 2 second gap) , some vibration at highway speed and a little bit of play in the steering.

All electricals and power options are working except for the fuel gauge (intermittent), the rear defrost button backlight, and the cruise button backlight.
I BOUGHT HER ANYWAY (cheep)

First thing I did was change the oil and filter………. and man, it looked like it hadn’t been changed in a year of so.
Then the external trans oil filter got changed. She has an external trans oil cooler, Yay!
Then the air filter (she was choking)

Then I had to address the wheels. They had brand new tires on them, but the finish on the rims was flaking off like crazy. I put on a set of 18” RSS Syoua-10 rims (+42 offset is absolutely perfect) with Falcon 225/40/18 tires.
Well what do you know………… the stock rims were torqued unevenly and up to over 130ft/lbs. Once I got the new wheelset on and torqued correctly to 85ft/lbs, the breaks felt allot less warped and there was no more vibration at high speed….hmmmmmmmmmmm,

The remote key transmitters were not working, but a couple of batteries got that system up and running like a top.

The cars battery died a couple days later and I bought a new one and added the 4guage wire modifications (specified in this forum) to the grounds and positive direct to alternator post.

I have adjusted the transmission break band (3 times so far and counting) and the shifts are almost perfect now. There is a little slippage under full throttle between 1-2 and 3-4, but otherwise they are instant and solid. 2-3 still feels laggy (3/4 second) as the transmission shifts from the low to high drum (as I understand it from reading this forum). I will keep on tightening the band little by little till it feels right (Tell me if I am wrong in doing this).
The transmission has an external cooler and I will only be driving this car in the winter (up here in CANADA), so it should last if I maintain it properly (tranny #3 for this car by the way)

I have just bought myself a set of subs and an amp for the trunk, but have not yet installed them ( I have not had bass since high school).
What is really cool about the subs is that they match the pearl white paint perfectly; it is like they were meant for each other. (Infinity Reference 1030W)

Now I have allot of maintenance and mechanical work to do, so I will be asking questions here as I go along. I am planning on changing the tranny fluid and pan gasket and internal filter ASAP. I have a set of 4 new rotors and 8 break pads on order. I need to replace the head gaskets (there are indications of leakage). Then its onto timing belt and seals and hoses etc. etc.

“Jazzmine” SVX-LS-L








Here is my wife’s car “Alice”
This car is the reason I got turned on to SUBARU.
It is a 2005, 5-speed, Legacy, 2.5 Turbo, GTX wagon. The X you ask? It was added by the Kolb dealership (US import) when they modified the car prior to sale (full Borla exhaust, 18” wheels, suspension, intake, interior, sound etc)
What a machine!!

Alice


Alice GTX



I mentioned that I only drive a car in the winter.
Well….that is because I only insure a motorcycle for the rest of the year.
I have been riding for 17 years now.

My previous bike "Amber" had over 100,000 kms on her when I sold her.


The year before last I bought my first ever brand new vehicle.
My new bike. “Raya”
A 2007 Kawasaki ZX14. One word. CRAZY!! I can’t believe that they can even legally sell a vehicle like this. Let me compare its acceleration to a car. It is the equivalent of a 1000HP supercar (Bugatti Veyron)
ZX-14 0-60 in 2.5 sec (Vyron is 2.8)
¼ mile in under 10 Sec.
And that is bone stock.
The first winter I had her all apart, all over my garage, (my brand new under warranty bike). I logged over 20 modifications before the new year, now she is perfect.

My daily commuter and transportation for 6-8 months out of the year, rain or shine.
I just cracked the 20, 000 Km mark


This biking season I will be working on the SVX “Jazzmine” while she is off the road.

Raya Front end



My wife also rides (and the kids love to double up behind too).
Here we are the year before last, camping way up in the hills of Washington State


Now she has a new bike that is a better fit for her.
This is a pic from last years trip across Washington State.


Anyway, that is a little intro for me... Yah, I name my vehicles.
Cheers