Check out what I just bought!

[AlpineRaven]

How did you know that?

Did you see something in the picture or do all jap cars have em.

I could see it in the picture, there is 2 buttons on the left and right where the mirror adjuster is (the adjuster is in centre).
Most Jap imported have them, specially this one would have.

If it has heated mirror - then it has foldable mirrors. Cant have one or other.
Cheers
AP

[ScubyRoo]

Quick update:

Car is in for its Vehicle Identification Verification certificate inspection and also for a RWC today. A quick $500 lost to the beauocracy of vic roads.... hopefully it passes, the seatbelts are a bit slow retracting but otherwise it should pass through no worries. Rego inspection is next or following week - I have a trip planned second week of school holidays so that's the deadline.

For now I'm concentrating on finishing the lib to get it ready to rego and sell, once that is finished then the OB will get:

New clutch as it needs it badly
Lift kit
Raised suspension
Hotdog into the exhaust
Roof racks
Spotties

Had plans for a uhf but that will have to be a few months off as I have other things I'd rather be paying for.

Bull bar and rear wheel carrier will come eventually (hopefully sooner rather than later) but don't have the time or cash at the moment. Either way, it will be ready for the SA road trip in september.

Also, because its a repaired vehicle the vicroads VIN is useless to get parts, and the JDM VIN just makes subaru dealers confused. I hear that the jap dom market is a bit a head of ours - i.e. '96 there is '97 here etc... does anyone have a VIN (I know there's a few of you with similar cars or have access to numbers) that I could give to parts joints to find the right part? Or would saying '97 outback suffice?

Cheers,
Owen.

[Venom]

Good to hear you are making some progress with the registration. I hope it all goes well. You will definitely be happy with a Gen2 for an off-roader, i am loving mine. The 2.5 quad cam in my opinion is a very good, torquey motor for off-road and i reckon my L series has more pulling power down low than the H6 in my gen2.

Let me know what you are planning when it comes to the bars. I am definitely interested in a front and rear for mine. Although i'm a bit hesitant about adding too much weight, the GVM for a Gen2 is only about 1900kg and the car makes up about 1400 of that. Add 4 people plus luggage...

Good luck with it mate!

Cheers,
Rhys

[Green_eyed_liberty]

you wouldnt want to sell the grill? or mainly the badge on the grill hehe m

[Psymon]

I'm not sure how the Subaru parts system works, but I work in parts for a few other manufacturers and there's usually other ways around it if you can't get a VIN to work. For instance with Nissan imports, if i can't get the jap chassis number to work i'll get the vehicle model code from the build plate and use it to identify the car. Then I can fill in the gaps with other info from the build plate ie build date, paint code, trim code etc. There's similar methods with Mitsu and Mazda. So i'm guessing a Subaru parts guy with a bit of knowledge about the imports could find a way around it for you.

[ScubyRoo]

Good to hear you are making some progress with the registration. I hope it all goes well. You will definitely be happy with a Gen2 for an off-roader, i am loving mine. The 2.5 quad cam in my opinion is a very good, torquey motor for off-road and i reckon my L series has more pulling power down low than the H6 in my gen2.

Let me know what you are planning when it comes to the bars. I am definitely interested in a front and rear for mine. Although i'm a bit hesitant about adding too much weight, the GVM for a Gen2 is only about 1900kg and the car makes up about 1400 of that. Add 4 people plus luggage...

Good luck with it mate!

Cheers,
Rhys

Thanks Rhys! Haven't had much of a chance to feel the goodness of the 2.5 as the clutch is slipping... feels a lot like the 2.2 so far. I get brief glimpses of power in second... But so far the gearing is more noticable than the engine... To be honest I think I prefer the gen 1 gear ratios as there seems to be big differences between rmps in the gen 2 boxes. It might just be the clutch being a shit but I haven't really felt good pick up off shift yet - making the shift around 4.5k rpm. I think a good/best combination might be gen one 1st-4th and an overdrive 5th with 4.11 or higher diffs. I'll find out in a few months.

I'm thinking alloy bars to keep weight down, but they probably won't be built until christmas holidays as I need to clock up some good hours welding alloy before I get serious. I can't get the hours in till a) I sell the lib to make space in my garage and some capital to buy my TIG with

you wouldnt want to sell the grill? or mainly the badge on the grill hehe m

Nah its mine though it does need a paint... If I ever think 'hmm, might need a new badge' I'll be sure to let you know

So i'm guessing a Subaru parts guy with a bit of knowledge about the imports could find a way around it for you.

Bugger, there is no hope jk, the burson's near me is usually pretty good with just make/model/year... Just wondering if there will be a discrepency with dates between aus market and imports?

UPDATE:
Spoke to the mechanic and have a few things that need to get fixed up:

• Sump plug oil leak
• Steering rack leak (near imput shaft)
• RH steering belows split
• Rear diff RH output seal leaking

I'm stoked that's all to be honest! I'll book the rego inspection for first week of school holidays and should be sweet for my trip (bushwalking up in the high country, should be a good drive in!). I'm picking the car up tomorrow and the mech is going to leave it on the hoist so I can see what needs to be done.

Cheers,
Owen.

[AlpineRaven]

Awesome... Getting there and you'll love it!!
Yeah you wouldve noticed the ratios differences, bec gen1 has 3.9 and the outback has 3.7 but the gears are both the same in both.
Cheers
AP

[bobbyjimmy]

So i'm guessing a Subaru parts guy with a bit of knowledge about the imports could find a way around it for you.

Bugger, there is no hope jk

You need the model number off the Jap plate, i.e my Gen III Outback is "BH9DKBJ" and you can put that into the parts system and go from there.

Is yours actually badged as an Outback or a Lancaster?

[ScubyRoo]

You need the model number off the Jap plate, i.e my Gen III Outback is "BH9DKBJ" and you can put that into the parts system and go from there.

Is yours actually badged as an Outback or a Lancaster?

It's badged as a Legacy Outback Grand Wagon.

Jap model number is BG9C5DF. The full jap VIN is BG9-097095.

Tried subaru frankston, the parts guy there is a dick - avoid at all costs. Flat out refused to help without me providing an australian VIN. Would not work with any other information and was pretty rude.

Talked to Subaru Australia head office and they were much more helpful - gave me a few numbers of parts guys at dealerships they recommend:

Gerald @ West Ryde 02 9807 2200
Parts @ Broovale 02 9938 4011
Parts @ Sutherland 02 8545 8260

Haven't called them yet but may need to. Instead I'll remove the parts I need to replace and take them to Bursons, who I know from experience will match the original parts just fine. Would've just been easier to be able to order the parts I need and do it in one go.

An update on the history of the car care of my VIV inspector who investigated the lack of compliance plate with VicRoads... The car was one of several imported by a particular business who did the paperwork, but were investigated and actually screwed up several of their compliance plates. All their vehicles were therefore recalled and reinspected. They were then deemed compliant after reinspection and issued with an '6T9REPV...' VIN number. The compliance details were recorded by VicRoads however no compliance plates where made available.

So in short, the original import business screwed up the compliance plate and the car ended up with a strange VIN but is 100% legal and compliant.

What do you guys recommend for clutch replacements? I don't need this clutch for the long term as there are other ideas in the works, but it is useless as it is - and 'good value' brands to seek out?

Cheers,
Owen.

[El_Freddo]

dealerships they recommend:

Gerald @ West Ryde 02 9807 2200
Parts @ Broovale 02 9938 4011
Parts @ Sutherland 02 8545 8260

Haven't called them yet but may need to. Instead I'll remove the parts I need to replace and take them to Bursons, who I know from experience will match the original parts just fine. Would've just been easier to be able to order the parts I need and do it in one go.

So in short, the original import business screwed up the compliance plate and the car ended up with a strange VIN but is 100% legal and compliant.

What do you guys recommend for clutch replacements? I don't need this clutch for the long term as there are other ideas in the works, but it is useless as it is - and 'good value' brands to seek out?

Cheers,
Owen.

The mob in bendigo are also good value, the old guy Graham loves nutting out part numbers etc. Problem is that they're in bendigo and you're in frankston...

That's interesting about the vin and compliance - sounds like vicroads stuffed up as well by not issuing new plates...

Clutch replacements - just the disc/plate or the pressure plate/clutch kit? With mine I'm using second hand stuff except the clutch plate which is new - I can't remember what brand it is, just whatever my local (awesome) parts joint sent in my direction...

When will we see this sucker rego'd and jacked?

Cheers

Bennie

[AlpineRaven]

Owen,
I bought a new clutch kit back in August for $175, from a place in Sunshine. Its still in my wagon and going well.. Its unusual brand and does the job... If you wanna further information let me know and i'll try find it for ya.
Cheers
AP

[Phizinza]

It was listed as "Circa 96, Subaru, Liberty, 2GEN MY97 LX AWD, Wagon". I looked up the rego on vic roads and found:

I was going to bid $2000 for this car, but you got in with the $2000 first obviously and I didn't want to take it further! haha. Never mind, I picked myself up a nice, well damaged, 99 GEN3 Outback the other week.

[El_Freddo]

Awww... Should I be getting an outback too??? I'm starting to feel a little left out of the conversation...

Where are you at with this anyway Owen?

Cheers

Bennie

[ScubyRoo]

I was going to bid $2000 for this car, but you got in with the $2000 first obviously and I didn't want to take it further! haha. Never mind, I picked myself up a nice, well damaged, 99 GEN3 Outback the other week.

Wow, well there you go! I would appologies if I wasn't so happy about winning it . How are you going with repairs?

Awww... Should I be getting an outback too??? I'm starting to feel a little left out of the conversation...

Where are you at with this anyway Owen?

Cheers

Bennie

Certainly enjoying the move to a newer car, Ruby isn't finished yet though - I think you need to enjoy her first! You should put newer seats in

Car passed roadworthy and Rego inspection is tomorrow! After that I need to get the clutch sorted by saturday as that's when we leave for our trip!

[Phizinza]

I just wrote a reply, the forum killed it saying it was too short. 3rd time it's happened here. So screw it.

[ScubyRoo]

YAAAHOOOOOOOOOO! I now have a registered subaru again! FAN-FU*KING-TASTIC! I am so stoked!

Ooompa!

VicRoads inspector didn't even leave the building - looked at the paperwork and issued the plates without leaving his chair - should have got the lift kit in beforehand.... ah well!

Cheers,
Owen.

[El_Freddo]

YAAAHOOOOOOOOOO! I now have a registered subaru again! FAN-FU*KING-TASTIC! I am so stoked!

Ooompa!

VicRoads inspector didn't even leave the building - looked at the paperwork and issued the plates without leaving his chair - should have got the lift kit in beforehand.... ah well!

They wouldn't have cared about the lift - just the numbers under the bonnet. The lift could have been a problem during the roadworthy stage, but being only a 2 inch lift you would've been fine...

So you got rid of libby already? And what's this subi's name???

Yeah, Ruby's still got a long way to go. I'm trying to chase down some standard offset rims now and I think this will be the way to go rather than using flares - I'm actually enjoying the 13 inch rims with standard offset! Didn't think I'd ever say that!

Cheers

Bennie

[AlpineRaven]

YAAAHOOOOOOOOOO! I now have a registered subaru again! FAN-FU*KING-TASTIC! I am so stoked!

Ooompa!

VicRoads inspector didn't even leave the building - looked at the paperwork and issued the plates without leaving his chair - should have got the lift kit in beforehand.... ah well!

Cheers,
Owen.

YAY!!! congrats mate - time for your lift mate.. & Clutch replacement!
Cheers
AP

[Fatz]

Did I spot this car today near shepparton? Could have sworn I seen it

[ScubyRoo]

must have been the good twin (I'm the evil one ) as I've been in melbs all week.