r/SubaruBaja

Never had to deal with poor threads..

So in the picture, one of the transversal mount bolts will only torque down till about 80lbs then you can still keep turning for ages.

I got a tap to clean out the threads. The flippin person gave me the m14 1.5 tap not the m14 1.25...

Did not realize this untill after I tapped it.

Went back and got the correct size with a brand new bolt from Subaru.

The bolt still continues to spin but I can get it to around 120lbs now.

I'm at such a loss with this I went ahead and ordered a m14 1.5 bolt and am gonna hope I have enough material left to tap back to the 1.5.

Here's the issue, I have talked with many specialists, machine shops, mechanics.

Keyserts, helicoil, and time serts are all too weak. Even manufactures that specifically make that stuff don't make the sleeves or coils with high enough tensile strength let alone the grade of the material for an application like this. What in the world would you guys do?

Someone very close to where I live is selling an 06 with a 5spd for around 4K.
It’s got 216k miles, runs good and had all the usual issues taken care of already but it’s rough inside and out, no rust or anything severe though. I’m genuinely wondering if it’s worth it or should I just keep looking for something else.

Got her home! So, the fella I bought it off of told me that the head gasket was shot and it would need to be trailered (which is how I got it for $400 instead of the $600 he initially wanted….). I showed up without a trailer. Told him I wanted to see first hand what the symptoms were and how it was behaving. He spent roughly an hour trying to dissuade me, to no avail. Drove it halfway home (about 20-25 miles) through western Mass hill country with zero issues. Ran at operating temp the entire time. I pulled over just to check fluid levels, etc but left it idling. Overheated in less than 5 minutes. Checked the rad fans. Nothing. Play around a little bit, can’t get anything from them at all. Turned it off, cooled her down, drove home no problem. So she runs mint when moving but overheats at idle…..that’s not HG….🤔 I have a brand new set of mishimoto fans (and radiator, not sure if it’ll work yet, it may have trans cooler ports) so gonna be see if I can’t sort those out and make them work. If not, quick trip to O,Reilly’s and we’ll be good to go, I think. Oh! Guy also replaced the trans and clutch 4K miles before he “sMoKeD tHe HeAd GaSkEt” and parked it 😂 And, some wild reason, he put a valvetronic exhaust on it so I can just open the straight pipe and dump it when I’m cruising out in the mountains and that’s a blast 🤣 Pretty sure this is my all time favorite marketplace come up, ever…… anyway, went ahead and ordered the maxpeedingrods coilovers and a strut mount brace and on the lookout for a set of Subie 18’s. Stiffen her up a little bit, buy the lady some new shoes, finish up the custom bike rack I started and we will be ready to bomb these New England mountain roads hittin up bike parks alllllll summer 🤘🤘

TL;DR I bought a 5-speed Baja with a “blown head gasket” for $400. Turns out the engine is fine and the rad fans just caca’d the bed. But homie went ahead and replaced the clutch and transmission 4K miles before he parked it 🤷‍♂️

I was so lucky to find one with a lot of service done to her!
Head gaskets, timing belt, exhaust/intake gaskets, and more all replaced.
And I just got the A/C compressor replaced so now she’s throwing snowballs.

Mishimoto radiator, two perfect WRX buckets and a random muffler/some exhaust pipe. For $100 total. The WRX Baja build is officially underway 🫡🤘

Edit: apologies for the double post, had terrible service at the time, apparently. Anyway, I think I got rid of the erroneous post. Cheers.

Hey all, just snagged this $600 Baja Sport. I’ll take possession of it on Tuesday, at which point I’ll know more about what exactly I’m working with. Then I intend to build it into…….something.

The seller had no idea what they had, so I didn’t press questions I didn’t get super clear answers on. I’m pretty sure a head gasket kit is going to be one of my first orders of business. Which is fine, I can put in head studs, new timing belt, etc at that point. I have a home shop (no lift, but, engine hoist, plenty of tools and most anything I’ll need) and a bunch of Subaru/ej205 parts and pieces sitting around (my roommate builds WRX’s and STI’s). I know I want to upgrade suspension and do intercooler/intake/cooling system shit once I see what I’m working with. Obviously top priority is mechanical integrity, but I also wanna make sure I maximize the potential of having the engine torn down that far. Also thinking pull the backseat, and gut the interior, install a budget friendly roll cage (I’m fine cutting holes in the floor to mount), couple of racing buckets….just have fun and see where it goes. Maybe do some casual rallycross if everything goes well…… Kinda wanna gut the bed and put a jump seat in à la Brat style…. Let’s just say I have a lot of ideas and nothing set firm as far as a plan, haha.

This’ll be my first Baja, so I’m just curious if there’s any Baja specific things to keep in mind or great places to source Baja specific upgrades? Or any leads/advice in general, I don’t assume to know anything, haha. This thing has plenty of rust, from what I’m told (It doesn’t look that bad in the photos and videos I’ve seen. Not compared to what I’m used to in New England, anyway, so I’ll be doing a lot of cutting and welding and repairing stuff. That being said, I’m open to cool mods we can do to these cars that require intermediate to decent fabrication skills. Any ideas, advice or input is very welcome and super appreciated. I know making a “race car” out of a Baja probably isn’t the most practical idea, but I’m at a point in my life and my love affair with Subarus that that’s kinda exactly the point, haha. I want to keep it legal, for the most part….. but I also really want an irresponsible, impractical, FUN project 🤣 A $600 turbo boxxer Baja sounds perfect for that haha. TIA for any help or guidance and I couldn’t be more hyped to be a Baja owner! Be well, y’all! ✌️

*Also, I’m not necessarily new to Reddit but I am new to this sub (and making posts in general), so I apologize if I made any mistakes in my formatting or anything, not intentional! Thanks again!

Just bought my Baja yesterday and this started today only when I go up hill. Any advice?

Hi guys!

Now, I know she's a rusty girl, but she's got a pretty face and she's mine. I'm working on it along the way, and I swear one day I'll do something better than a little rust converter. Just trying to buy some time until I can get something else to daily and give the Baja the makeover it deserves. (or find a manual with less rust and this be my parts car. lol)

Anyway, The Check engine light came on about a week ago in my '03 NA Auto with a small EVAP system leak. (code P0442)

I generally understand that that means the gas tank and associated plumbing has an air leak somewhere, so I put it on the ramps and took a peek at said plumbing. There was some rust and flaking on the filler tube, but nothing that felt bad enough to leak air, so I sanded it as best I could and hit it with some rust converter. There was another metal piece that joins a smaller tube to the larger one that goes into the mystery box on the passenger side that was similarly rusty, but still felt pretty solid. (What is that box for? is that where the EVAP sensors live, maybe?)

What I did find were a fair number of crusty flexible hoses that I'm more willing to bet on as the problem.

It's still running great and AFAICT it's not leaking fuel, so while I plan to fix it this summer, I'm not super worried about it, but I wanted to see if someone smarter than me or who's been here before knows a reason I should take care of this more urgently, and if I'm likely on the right track with the hoses being the issue.

I’ve had this beauty for 13 years. About 194000 miles on it now. Timing belt snapped on Sunday and after replacing timing belt it seems engine is severely damaged. I’m thinking I have to part ways with it as I don’t want to pay for an engine swap and am not a mechanic myself to take the time to work on it. Has anyone done it themselves? And also, is anyone looking to buy a Baja in need of an engine swap? I’m thinking I can get a couple grand for it? What do you guys think? It’s in good condition otherwise.

Currently located at a garage in bee cave, Texas outside Austin.

Recently “upgraded” from an 08 Legacy to an 06 Baja.

Sunroof worked fine when I bought it. Then I took it through a car wash, and now it won’t close (wil open).

Gonna replace the motor switch, but wanted to see if this is normal for the Baja sunroof to not be flush with the roofline when closer.

The left is my Baja. The right is my Legacy. The Legacy sunroof sits flush for-what looks like a tighter seal. There’s almost a quarter inch gap for the Baja (but it looks closed).

Is this normal?