I'm home BITCHES!!! Nimitz returns!
 

Well, the ship still has to make it down here from Bremerton where it's picking up civilians for Tiger Cruise... but since my wife is going to POP any days now with our second kid, I got to come home from there.

Anyways 8 months is a long damn time if you've ever kept track. First thing I did this morning was go test drive a new Forester and drop into Best Buy and check out new TV's. As soon as the wife get's home, it's off to Lolita's for lunch, then go pick up the kid, then see if I can't install the TMIC I bought for her MS6.

Now the bad news... the wife say's I'm smoking some good shit if I think I'm getting another Miata anytime soon, so expect a decent little partout of all the shit I've been hoarding over the years. I've gotta get organized and take some pics. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, especially since I'm about to add another turbo4-cyl AWD vehicle the garage.

Anyways, I'm back. I just found out I made the Navy Times photo-of-the-day a few weeks ago... check out my good side!
Navy News Service - Eye on the Fleethttp://www.navy.mil/management/photo...-3038W-444.jpg

Woot, congrats on a safe trip. Welcome back. Boo on no more miata, I always enjoyed your posts/build threads/etc..

OMG Joe Swanson can walk!

Welcome back. 8 months is a long time.

Welcome back, know the feeling, have fun!

welcome home mr navy.

but why camo pants on the water?

Wait I seem to be missing something on your to do list. Banging your wife who you have not seen in 8 months is not there. Or is that the part about being married?

he's going to have a third kid....just wait.

lars must have forgotten the porn thread.

Welcome home brother! And Thanks!

You really got to talk to the wife WTF its Miata time!

Welcome more sir. So the MS6 gets a new intercooler and you're getting her a Forester while you drive the MS6?

At least I'm not coming home to a wife that's only 3 months preggo after being gone for 8 months. She's literally ready to pop... any second now.

I'll have tons more pics to post... basically just shots of me being awesome in one manner or another.

For the cars... undecided yet. If it was up to me, I'd get an '05 Forester and do a full STi conversion at about 300whp. But she's sure she like the '09+ bodystyle. I'm still not convinced that one is big enough. I went back to the dealership this afternoon and took out a non-turbo Outback with a 6-spd... felt exactly like I thought it would, and that's a good thing. I've gotta do a bit more homework and drive a couple used ones to make up the mind. She refuses to drive a wagon though, so if it's an Outback, it's mine. And if it's mine, it'll be an older turbo... we'll see.

DO IT! This will be my next vehicle, or at least the Forester part, only a standard XT. I've been lusting over it for 6 months or more now. Leave it pretty simple, just do a few little upgrades, up the boost just a little, and pretty much leave it alone. Of course I always say that and it never happens that way. At the same time, the newer body style REALLY gives me wood, so I will have to see when the time eventually comes.

I've done the homework. An '04-'05 Forester is a direct and complete part for part match for the entire engine/drivetrain/tranny/dif/axle/brakes from an STi. Everything is a direct bolt-in. You leave the motor alone because starting in '04, USDM Foresters use the 2.5litre JDM STi block.

Most guys say they can find the ECU, intake/IC setup, and complete header-back turbo setup with VF39 from a wrecked STi for under $1k. Take that and your Cobb Accessport ($400 used) and have a bone stock reliable 300whp setup in a vehicle 75lbs lighter than a stock USDM STi. Pretty amazing. Not to mention that used STi aftermarket parts fall off trees on CL and NASOIC.

Starting in '06, the ECU is different but superior, and everything else still is PnP. In '09, there was a restyle and emissions upgrades and now there are some proprietary Forester parts... and only an auto. Guys have just started figuring out how to properly modify the '09+ ones.

Seems like I do recall reading that, but I guess I forgot. I guess maybe I will be getting some STi parts afterall. Damn the new ones are so sexy! Not that I don't like the old ones. The Forester for me is just perfect. It does everything I like at the same time. I think mine would be set up sort of semi off road capable (more so than stock) with tires that would work decently on the road and off, I'd have to have a bar up front for fogs, wheels, suspension, whatever little engine stuff I do, and be done. Which I guess is decently major work overall. They are quick AWD, plenty of room, decent handling on road and off, maybe even pull a small boat with it, or a utility trailer.

Welcome back.
GL with the baby.
THANKs for your service.
Do the forreser that would be badass

There is absolutely no need for an STI ecu or the stupid ass accessport.
You buy a tactrix cable for 130, and can tune the Forrester stock ecu to WHATEVER the hell you want with opensource tuning, which is ONLY the coolest shit around nowadays.

If you want more info or any questions hit me up, I'd be happy to share as much info with you as I can, I've been tinkering with subaru's for the past 3 years.

To make a forrester run low 12's (with a pathetic launch I might add) at 117 (that's right, not a typo, that's corvette z06 territory) here's what you do:

hta68 (roughly same size as a vf but is GODLY in comparison) - 800
dw750's - 200 (after you send them back your stockers)
wally250 - 100
ebay tbe - 300
oversized tmic - 200
tactrix cable for tuning - 130

That's it:)
I know cause I tuned one a few weeks back. I can show you the slips from the quarter mile times I claimed earlier:)

Welcome back mr samnavy

How reliable would that be at that level? How do they do at the track in terms of not blowing the transmission or other drivetrain parts. I know some of the early WRX's have the "glass transmissions".

What is this mythical opensource tuning you speaketh of?

Quoted for emphasis. Along with....

50 LBs lighter?! I figured it would be heavier.

That is sweet! Fuck the STi.

Had (have actually, they are sitting in my living room :jerkit:) some BFG all seasons on my DSM that were atually pretty darn good at everything. Cheap too.

Yeah, something like that. Good enough to keep my on the road with 300hp, and handle decently, but also allow me to take it on smoother trails and dirt roads without having a panic attack. Ride height would probably stay about stock, maybe even go up an inch with fatter tires (sidewall). That, along with the light bar up front, and some good lights for night driving mountain roads, the engine related parts for the power should make for a super fun, economical, comfortable daily driver. Something that won't bore me to death and will let me have fun while I build the Mi8a.

Tactrix
Seems legit.

Remove that $130 tactrix cable, add $20 ebay cable (or $10 if you want to try the one's shipping from hong kong). I used this setup last night to turn off a P0420 code in an '04 FXT, using the free/opensource tools ecuflash and romraider. Subarus FTW.

I'm gonna pick 18psi's brain when the time comes for me to start tweaking my '05 outback XT. Instead of the coolass HTA68 I'll probably go with a 3071 vband, feel more comfy with garrett stuff.

Welcome back Sam!

Welcome back man!

Good luck on your next car project...will stay tuned, whatever it is.

how come every time I look at foresters, they dont look that cool?

It will be pretty damn reliable to about 300 wheel. after that all bets are off: some have blown up at 350 while others made 400-450 on BONE STOCK motor.

Their weak link is piston ringlands. They blow like ------s.
Rods are usually very stout. Cooling is excellent. Exhaust bolts NEVER fail ( :giggle: ) and they sound like sex:)

Transmissions are indeed weak, but their lifespan heavily depends on driver. Some have gone as high as 400whp on them while others have blown them at 250.

A quick upgrade to an STi tranny and its bulletproof

Opensource is this awesome program that allows you to plug into obd port and completely tune the car as you would with an engine management system. And its free:)
I've never heard of anyone using ebay cables. Got a link?

I've got 2 brand new tactrix cables that I'll sell and get me a fleabay one if it works just as good:D
I'm a cheap fuck ya know?


And feel free to contact me whenever you want: in fact I'm building a 2.5/2.0 hybrid motor right now with cp pistons, bore/hone, race bearings, cosworth gaskets, etc etc etc. I'll post up dyno sheets when its broken in and tuned.

PS: 30r. I LIKE YOUR STYLE;)

Forester back seats are fail size. With you in the front, nobody with legs can sit in the back.

Sam,
Thank you for your hard work and your sacrifice of time away from your family.

Welcome home.

I just thought I'd point out that strapping a baby seat to a rollbar is probably safer than actually putting them in the car. Get a miata.

Don't fucking laugh, but I've done this.

The Autopower bar is great for attaching that top strap...shit isn't going anywhere.

My daughter loved that trip...mom wasn't so pleased. :vash:

Fo sho. Won't work with the CAN ecu's however, so you should keep your tactrix if you want to flash the newer ecu's.
http://legacygt.com/forums/showthrea...ble-96737.html
The initial post is from '08 so it's not as accurate as if you read the entire 20 pages (ha!).

This is the cable I have. Blue connector w/silver braided cord. There's some on ebay for 1/2 the price but I wanted something that shipped from the USA quickly instead of waiting 2 months for something from china.
VAG-COM USB KKL 409.1 cable for AUDI VW OBD2 OBD 2 : eBay Motors (item 250568438689 end time Mar-24-10 08:00:23 PDT)


When replacing my cracked exhaust valve I went with Manley inconel's on the exhaust, kept the original intakes as they looked pretty good, and replaced all the springs & retainers with Manley stuff as well (ti retainers FTW). I'm semi actively looking for a shortblock to rebuild with forged stuff as I didn't have the time to "do it right" over the winter. Lowered rusty Miata + bald summer tires + snow + new subaru in pieces = fail


another reason to go with the legacy chassis ;)

legacy having a stronger transmission than the forresters and wrx's is another reason;)

Welcome back. I too want to thank you for you dedicated service to our country so that we can live here. It is for people like your self that makes me very thankfull that I live in the best country in the world. Yes, we have our problems, but which one has none.

Again thank you. Enjoy the time with your family.

Have a great day,
Jared

welcome back :-) man its been a while

Well hello there stranger. What collection of lovely bacteria and virus' did you bring back to share? :giggle:

^Dude, you've seen movies of a bunch of sailors standing outside the medical ward a couple days after pulling out of Thailand... that shit is no joke. There's a fucking LINE halfway down the mess decks for sick call. Everybody is the same way... dick on fire.

It's funny to walk past those guys and read the looks on their faces... they all say "not worth it".

And I know about the '08 and older Forester rear seats... suck! But the '09+ is money!!! The rear seats even recline.

Glad you made it back safe and sound. Welcome home!!!

Welcome back Sam. Anybody you launch get to fire a shot in anger?!?

I'm guessing with the wife about to pop all that porn you took will continue to see action.

During the winter months, the insurgency dies down a lot due to weather precluding transportation... they don't like the cold any more than we do. Battlegroups there during the summer get much more action, ie, "Spring Offensive". But I think the last count was something like 60 bombs, 100 strafing runs, and 150 shows of force/presence... those numbers are not precise, just a ballpark.

I think the worst injury we had on the flightdeck during cruise was broken humerus when a guy missed a ladder getting into the catwalk and went down. Back in March '09 or so, a helo went down with 4 souls onboard during training... but to go out on an cruise, especially an 8 month combat cruise, and lose not a single life and not have any aircraft mishaps is rare... and lucky.

"We now return you to your regularly scheduled war..."