Snow Plowing

Romping around in the snow on lowering springs was going to result in getting stuck.

A nice man in a van helped me get out so the fun could continue!

Non-Domestic Racing

I picked up some kick-ass vinyls from the discount store. They absolutely complete the ride. Here is a sunset photo shoot for you. Kind of silly, it was really cold but I had fun and I didn't care how the pictures came out. It is sort of my way of deconstructing the process. I am shooting for shooting's sake, being out in the fresh air, enjoying the light as it bounces off our filthy rides. Some times I am pointing the camera in the right dirrection, most of the time I am just shooting at the sun. Its a fun mash up so enjoy it.

 more pictures of light after the break

Roof Is Next?

So here's the deal:

I'm done with the interior, carpet is in, dash is in, glove box and seats are in. Next on the list was going to be the roof rack. I had one from of a '95 Legacy LS wagon. Come to find out that its WAY too long for the roof of my car. So Squarebush and I are talking about getting a Thule rack. We're going with the:

Direct Mount TK Base for Sheet Metal Roof
430 Tracker II Foot Pack
50 Load Bar Pair

Getting low

Yint joined the lowered club yesterday, November 16th, 2010. He was inducted in by none other then me, Squarebush who joined the club the end of last month. Its now all about cornering, scraping, and of course morelow. 

Yint's bumper tilts up a bit in a rally inspired positive ground clearance way, please expect a fix for this "problem" among other creative finishing touches. Right now both cars are sitting in a higher more compliant stance... Something you shouldn't expect to last long. Low is an addiction.

Click to the break for more pictures from last night

What Friends Are For

(11:17:15 AM) Nii: Still thinking of locking down the subframe, but I'm thinking of doing it right.
(11:17:23 AM) Squarebush: good
(11:17:54 AM) Nii: oh, did Yint torque those bushings on ramps here?
(11:18:32 AM) Squarebush: um... no.
(11:18:51 AM) Squarebush: they may have torqued them on the ground...?
(11:19:04 AM) Nii: so all you did here is drink my alcohol?
(11:19:12 AM) Squarebush: yes
(11:19:16 AM) Squarebush: exactly.

Today

Tons of excitement today. I raised my car a tad for snow and extra complince. Driving on the bump stops starts to hurt your back.

Here are some kick ass heavy night air pictures.

 Check out more pictures after the break

Additions

This week I stared putting money into beefing up sound in my car.

I have two major (for me) components on the way. This will be my first adventure is performance sound. I am already addicted to buying one more part--thinking, "Hey is there room for one more speaker?"

I've created a monster now, I am totally hooked on all this after-market car junk. It used to be just about making a tad more power or grip, now it is a bit of dress up, a little bit of flash. I like it so far but I think I am going to be broke really really fast.

Anyway, Polk PA 330 2channel Amp

Polk db series 6.5" component system

Now I am up to my neck is wires trying to figure out how I am going to do this all. All in all it is going to be fun, hopefully rewarding, and I'll take a bunch of pictures.

Coming Soon:

We are getting a new domain and host.
Look for us soon @ www.serioussubaru.com, a division of YNS Production.

Also roof rack got some new paint... New door cards to replace worn arm rests. Added some Subaru wood trim. I'm also researching some new sound for my wagon... Some one please either convince me I need a sub or talk me out of it. I am totally on the fence right now. I don't want to lose wagon functionality buuuut subs do sound fantastic.

Later, yous guys.

Cool Stuff from Today.

Started some accent work. Can't wait to get my hands on a matching steering wheel... You know, the WRX Momo unit.




So I went to the store for this...




And like a total sucker ended up with this...




Oh yeah, Craftsman 302 piece set. Box fell off a pallet so I got 25% off!

I guess I should do some wrenching to make back some money. Let me know if you got some jobs you want done!

New...

Purple Wheels  well, hub caps at least.

Pictures... Pictures, Pictures.

Lets get some before and afters going...

Yint's before...

After. We will get some serious actions shots, right after a good solid tune.

Two more after the break...

Slammed - Excerpt.1

Wishing to believe I have some influence over Squarebush's mod path, I insisted on installing the steering rack bushings first.  I had done these in my own Subaru (an identical year/make/model), and although the perceivable difference is small, the amount of confidence the increase in feedback grants the driver is phenomenal.

I installed the steering rack bushings three nights ago.  It was a pain and took forever, but at least I didn't break anything this time (the bolts rust badly; I broke the captive nut inside the crossmember free on my car).  Best mod for the money, but just go slow getting the bolts out.  I had to go back and forth a few times with each one, using a lot of penetrating lubricant.  Because It's so easy to break these bolts I left the impact gun in its drawer.

Two nights ago, we installed the Ground Control height adjustable spring kit and put in the camber bolts.  It went well, the car handles, and it's dropped hysterically low.  It's 45° out and I'm sitting on the ground outside laughing, looking at Squarebush's car next to mine.  At least that's what I thought after three cocktails, which I'm getting better at making.

Bushwacker:
1/2 oz. coffee liqueur (Kahlua)
1/2 oz. amaretto
1/2 oz. light rum
1/2 oz. Irish cream liqueur
2 oz. light cream
Pour in that order into an iced filled glass. I prefer to stir. I made mine a double the other night.

I was next going to make a gin and tonic, but poured the gin and couldn't find any tonic (one of the many hazards of not living alone).  I found some 'birch beer' in the fridge and tried that instead.  It was amazing!  Tasted like wintergreen.

DRINK RESPONSIBLY.  DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE.  SHUT UP, I WASN'T DRIVING, SQUAREBUSH WAS.  OH, AND DON'T LIKE, DRINK A BIT TOO MUCH, THEN LOOSE A FINGER TO AN ANGLE GRINDER.

Slammed - Pt.2

Here you go... The moment you may not even know you were waiting for.

Nii trimming the strut for new collars, the rest after... the... break... :-P

Slammed

I slammed my car to the ground... Pictures in the morning.
Still a little leveling to do and I need some good light. It is pretty goofy.

Parts!

My Ground Control kit showed up this afternoon. We have a few other parts on the way (camber bolts and steering rack bushings). I'll probably cave in and want to put them on Sunday before the temps start diving further.

The big trick/task will be establishing a good base alignment without equipment. The plan is to go as negative as possible since my last alignment bottomed out at 0° with the stock bolts. The camber bolts will move me in the right direction and we will see how far we can go before doing camber plates.

Squarebush Legacy

I'm starting a ever growing suspension project on my 98 wagon. The couple major things done to it this year and I setting up some thing big right now. However I still have no idea what I am doing or why.

So its time to come up with a plan.

Right now I have my car sitting on a fresh set of KYB GR2's. These provide about 25% stiffer damping over stock plus however much I lost from high mileage. I'm running the uprated rear sway bar I mentioned before which did a bit to help stiffen up the rear.

Now I am in search of some added anti roll effect. I looked into and purchased an impreza ground control spring set up. I crunched a bunch of number, read countless forum posts and did everything I could to end up more confused about what is going to happen to my vehicle when I put them on. Basically it is all going to be a fairly useful experiment in struts and springs. Also on the way are extra camber bolts for front and rear along with TIC steering rack bushings.

More suspension nonsense after the break

Squarebush - Part.1

So I will be contributing a lot of content to this blog/project. I'm Paige "Squarebush" Rowntree.

I like to mold a variety of automotive styles and ideas into my work. I'm a fan of anything different no matter how not different it really is. I've grown up with a variety of different types of cars in the family. We started off with Volvos, moved onto a Landrover, had a Mazda hatchback, a couple of Mercedes, a couple of Jetta diesels, and recently a couple of Subaru Legacy wagons.

I got my start working on my vintage Mercedes projects. The main work was on a fantastic 1972.

Here is a little background for you.

1972 Mercedes 280se 4.5

Dirty engine from years of use

Getting cleaner

Final product of months of work resulting in basically abandonment of the project due to electrical complications

Join us later for Part.2 of my introduction, I will be discussing my more recent and sucessful mods and projects, or at least stuff I can still find pictures of.