Weekend junkyard fun

"NaturallyAspirated" (NaturallyAspirated) 03/31/2014 at 12:19 • Filed to: Junkyard visit

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I hit up the big "Pick Your Part" junkyard in Sun Valley, CA this weekend to grab a few parts for my '98 Subaru Legacy Outback. I had a pretty good time scoping out what was available and practicing car surgery on cars that I don't own.

My first victim was this 1995 Subaru Legacy L. I grabbed the door mirrors off of it, since the '95 has the larger folding side mirrors instead of the newer "Shrek ears" style on my '98.

My second victim was this Subaru Outback. The grease paint on it said it was a '96. This one had the door tweeters, which I grabbed. I thought about grabbing the fake wood trim pieces, but decided I didn't really care for the look in such a Spartan interior.

I didn't grab anything off of this 2001 Subaru Outback SUS, I was just surprised to see an Outback SUS.

Here was my "jackpot" car of the day - a 2004 Subaru Forester XS. There is a rumor going around the Internet that 03-08 Forester suspension will lift a first-gen Outback by somewhere between .5" and 1.25", stiffen it up for better cornering, and best of all, it will all bolt right up. I grabbed all four spring/strut assemblies off this one. Even if I don't get a lift out of it, these struts are 6 years newer than mine and almost certainly have less than 220,000 miles on them (the Forester had a digital odometer, so I don't know how many miles it had).

Now for a few cool / odd cars I found. I don't know what model this BMW is, but the forward slanting front grille looks pretty old.

This was badged as an Opel. I don't think I've ever seen one of those in person before.

And, perhaps most ignobly of all, there were three old roadsters. I think this on is a Fiat Spyder. Perhaps one of them was an MG? You can see a second roadster (it's silver) directly behind the black one.

offroadkarter > NaturallyAspirated 03/31/2014 at 12:22

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not an expert here, but I'm pretty sure this is a E21 3 series

daender > NaturallyAspirated 03/31/2014 at 12:30

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Opel Manta!

RacecaR > NaturallyAspirated 03/31/2014 at 12:35

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3rd gen camry?

RacecaR > NaturallyAspirated 03/31/2014 at 12:36

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And concrete, at a u-pull?!?! All I get around here is mud/dirt and gravel!

Meatcoma > RacecaR 03/31/2014 at 12:45

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This ^. Can't go to pick and pull for 3 more days because it rained for 5 mins.

NaturallyAspirated > daender 03/31/2014 at 12:46

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Cool! I was hoping someone would recognize it!

NaturallyAspirated > RacecaR 03/31/2014 at 12:48

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Yeah, the concrete is a fairly recent (and welcome!) addition. Last time I was out there, it was half concrete, half gravel.

NaturallyAspirated > RacecaR 03/31/2014 at 12:54

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Probably, there were an awful lot of Camry / Corolla / Accord type of car there, which makes sense given how many of those there are on the road.

It was also interesting to note which cars were conspicuous by their absence - like the '80s-'90s Nissan / Datsun Pickup (there weren't any of those), and the near complete absence of Mazdas.

Takuro Spirit > NaturallyAspirated 03/31/2014 at 12:56

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Yeah the fozzy struts will lift it about .5 inch. The brake hoses attach differently on the Forester struts than on the Legacy, so you'll have to be inventive. I used zip ties. Don't laugh, they held up to 15k miles of abuse. :)