Over last thanksgiving the topic of cars came up and some friends of our family mentioned they were trying to get rid of a couple cars (these are not usually car people). One of them was a Saab with a blown headgasket, but the other was a 2002 Subaru Outback LL Bean edition. Having grown up in the back of a base model Outback of that generation, I have a general fondness for early 2000 Subarus and jumped on the offer of buying the car for $200 (plus a set of practically new Winterforce snows on steelies for $300).
It had 246k miles, and the steering rack boots were completely shot. The rear subframe had been welded up, the exhaust had been replaced, and it drove straight. Something in the drive shaft was definitely going (it clunked rhythmically between 35-45) and the rear suspension had some issues (I think shocks). But all the accessories worked, and the H6 was smooth (if leaky); I figured that I could make my money back and would have a floggable winter vehicle in the meantime. This worked out pretty well, except for the really mild winter -- I only put 1300 miles on it.
As nice as the Bean was, I could not stand the automatic transmission; I started looking for a Forester. I have never owned a Forester, nor has my family, but I found them intriguing as they are based on the Impreza chassis (like my friend's supercharged 2.5RS) so they are smaller and more nimble than the Legacy, but simultaneously have more height in the wagon area. The last part is crucial to me, as I have built some subwoofers that were 15" W x 30" D x 38" T, a size that meant I could only fit two of them in the Outback (lying on their sides with the seats folded down). I expect to fit four comfortably in the Forester. :-)
So this past weekend I went out to Erving, MA and looked at a Forester. Without some aftermarket stereo stuff, the seller and I agreed on $300. The front CVs are bad, the transmission may be bad (or the clutch is bad, but I doubt it), but the interior's okay and the EJ25 has the cleanest underside I've ever seen. Not a drop of oil on the block or heads (the seller claimed to haven never touched the head gaskets). Fortunately, I happen to know a guy who needs an EJ25 to replace his supercharged one (a rod decided it wanted to explore the great outdoors after he stuck some silencers up it's butt).
Which brings me around to the reason for this thread: I intend to transplant the H6 from the Outback into the Forester (and maybe do some other stuff to it too). The H6, with it's timing chains and lack of headgasket issues, should be more reliable in the long run than the EJ (I realize I may have just cursed myself). In exchange for reliability, it drinks 91 octane, but also yields a torquey but linear power band with about 200hp (this one being well used). Enough power to be exciting, without instantly destroying the 5MT behind it. This thread is a big inspiration for me; I don't think I would be doing this if it didn't exist.
Currently, I still have the Outback in the driveway, and the engine is still in it. I've sold $100 in parts off of it, but would like to sell more... I need the Outback gone by the end of this week, and will be picking up the Forester tomorrow evening (in a Roadmaster + Uhaul dolly, probably. Should be exciting). I would like to have the car running by my birthday (August 20th), though I think that's optimistic...
The dash said it was a "Lil Sammy Mover", complete with a disturbingly cheerful anthropomorphized truck-dog thing. Lil Sammy did a fine job though, being comfortable, quiet, and having a decent sounding stereo to boot. About 2hrs after picking the truck and trailer up, we (me + another car-afflicted friend) arrived, loaded the Subaru up, signed the paperwork, and handed over three Benjamins. An hour later we pulled into the Blandford service plaza and I took some pictures to document my new Subaru.
Looks pretty decent for a $300 car, right?
The rust prone areas have already been "fixed" once, and if it's bondo, it's pretty solid. I'm not too worried, as long as they hold on long enough to get really invested in the car, I will come back and weld in patch panels in a few years.
There were a set of little stickers like this behind the driver's seat... Not really sure why I thought the Che sticker was worth taking a picture of.
Ah, the optional factory "Muffler Delete". Sounds pretty good, actually.
The only tool casualty of the pull:
That panel mismatch is because the PO of the PO hit a deer in the left front. The silver is simply sprayed on over the red of the replacement panels, and doesn't even match. So I'll be doing some painting after this is up and running. The Hakkepelita magnet is because I had it lying around and thought it would look good on the silver; I'm disappointed the equivalent space on the other side has the fuel filler door...
The yellow on the headlights is a film that will come off, thankfully. And the grill also needs paint (it's held in with zipties to boot).
The sex-spec rear seats. Yes, they lock that far back! 
The Forester, prepped for pulling the engine. Note the red hood and driver's fender, on the list to get fixed 'eventually'.
I've been using the hatch area of the Forester as storage space (with a tarp to prevent coolant / oil soaking the interior too much), though it's notable more empty now that I've sold the interior bits. 
Literally turned around from the last picture to take this one, of the grill / smoker. Cooked some burgers for lunch, and had smoked pork for dinner (both were absolutely amazing). The setup of working outside right near the fire really helped with keeping it super smoky.
This is some of the rust that I am slightly concerned over. Mostly because to fix it right I think the windshield will need to come out. Interestingly, it's just the one side, the passenger side has been caulked differently and is not at all rusty. It's not worth my time to fix it yet, so I'm going to ignore it (maybe try some rust converter + caulk to slow the progress) until the car at least runs and drives in a way I like.
The other main bit of rust I'm concerned about. This one will take a bit of skill I'm not sure I possess yet to form and weld an appropriate patch panel; something I'm not about to embark on when it doesn't move yet...
A blurry shot of the H6 on the stand in the back of the garage (manoeuvring it around my immobile Fiat wasn't fun). I checked the spark plugs (all present, in decent condition, and the correct plugs) and did eventually succeed in pulling the AC compressor, otherwise it's still complete.
Yaaaaaahh... It leaks a bit. Pretty sure it's just the bottom of the valve covers primarily (maybe also the timing chain cover / some oil piping near the oil filter), the spark plug holes were pretty clean. The motor mounts are still quite good though, so at least I don't have to buy those!
First of the three bolts I broke off trying to get the bracket that held the AC compressor on off. 
The other two bolts. Note that these two are perpendicular to the previous one; all three broke off just below the head [of the bolt]. I initially appreciated this, since I can weld onto the studs and yank 'em out... But the AC bracket's still in the way, and obviously won't budge (due to the arrangement of the bolts). So, I'm thinking I'll have to drill out the one on the side slightly, but that makes removing it a much PITA... I hope this won't end up as ugly as I feel it could be.
This is how far apart I had to take the Outback to get the harness out; you can also see where I cut the dash bar to get it out.
A picture of the outside of the Outback before it was hauled away. I really left far too much on the car, I probably would be further ahead if I had pulled more and had it towed for free instead of trying to get the most out of the scrapper.
Lastly, for giggles, here are six of the seven air fresheners I found in the Forester. Also not pictured are the two bars of fine, German "chocolate" -- they weren't really chocolate any more, just brown goo that seemed an awful lot like something a baby might excrete from being left in the glovebox for god knows how long...
