So this swap is coming to an end, everything from here on out is just me being picky about my quality of work. I've put some miles on it and have a few minor noises that need addressed, exhaust mostly. But no lights on of any kind, drives great. TONS more power than that jdm 2.0 had. I can't say that I learned much doing this, but this was my first attempt at a swap of this magnitude, and I can't be more happy with how it turned out. So enjoy some pictures. (and a funny fuck up on my part.)

For anyone curious, this took me just over 30 days of a few hours in the evenings and one full Saturday/Sunday to complete. Mostly completed by myself, but did have a couple of friends help strip the outback.

The missus finally found her dream truck and she is enjoying every minute of ownership.

For those who may not know, it can hold either 1/2 yard of gravel, 1 yard of garden soil, 4 bales of alfalfa, or a whole tractor!

Its life will be to transport goats and to tow our aluminum boat, which I'm restoring to match the two-tone color.

As of today, I just finished replacing the transmission mount and shifter bushings, it took me roughly 2.5 hours to do it all (Thanks YouTube). Next are the engine mounts. Oh, and some new shoes: the tires are 10 years old O_O...

She's a California car, so 100% rust-free with no leaks. Subaru did a great job engineering this thing. I'm looking at picking up a yellow model.

For those needing to change out the transmission mount, you do not need to drop the 17mm bolts all the way out; 3/4 of the way is plenty. Slide the old mount out and slide the new one in, wham bam.

Much love to the Baja community. 🤟

I'm thinking it may be time to pass this on. I bought it with a cylinder 3 missfire. Tried the easy obvious stuff but I'm pretty sure it's the head gasket. It's been sitting over a year and lost interest. Dark blue sunroof non turbo. I heard that putting in the WRX turbo gasket is the fix that solves this recurring issue.

absolutely in love!! planning to get spacers and a slight lift after some maintenance :)

He’s been back there for like 3 years straight, just have to repair or patch him every once in a while, the plastic is starting to get weak

hi! I just got a 2003 baja sport (I'm so stoked omg) and I'm wondering if anyone has found a good android auto unit that fits in with the dash? thanks!!

This has been my project this last month. 2003 3.0 swap from a LL Bean outback. Every harness has been swapped, engine bay scrubbed, cleaned and painted(bass boat barbie pink). Still have to button up the interior and several other small things. But we are at the point of running and driving. Also threw on some 06/07 wrx calipers front/rear.

After 20 years of ownership, I've decided it's time to part with my 2006 Subaru Baja Sport, which I purchased new.

It's now live on Bring a Trailer at no reserve, and I wanted to share it with fellow Baja enthusiasts.

The Baja has approximately 205,000 miles, with Subaru dealership service records spanning 2006–2026, including a transmission rebuild under warranty and extensive maintenance history. I've also included a recent Subaru dealer inspection and approximately 250 photos that includes about 90 underside photos.

I've tried to document the vehicle thoroughly and be transparent about its condition, including the known head-gasket and steering-rack leaks.

It's been a great vehicle to own, and I'd really like to see it go to someone who appreciates the Baja as much as I have.

Here's the auction for anyone interested in taking a look:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2006-subaru-baja-sport-5/

Thanks!

I am looking for a MT Baja (Turbo or NA) of any year with minimal rust and either under 100k miles or over with the head gasket and other 100k mile related repairs already done. I am looking on FB marketplace as well as literally every single website that lists cars and can’t find anything that’s not a ridiculous price (30k+.) If you guys were able to get a decent deal how long did it take you to find it? I’ve been looking for about 3 months pretty much everyday and haven’t found anything worth buying.

I finished up the sub enclosure over the weekend, 2 shallow 10” subs and thought it turned out pretty much perfect for my application. What do you guys think?

Anyone know where to find one of these:

https://www.subarupartsdeal.com/parts/subaru-pump-assembly-fuel\~42021ae06a.html

Local shop can't get their hands on one anywhere and my baja needs one.

Her engine blew about a year ago, and a couple months ago I moved into Redmond, but wasn't able to afford to have her towed at the same time.

Now she's coming home, and I can start swapping the engine and put her back on the road!

May sell these, I haven’t decided yet, they have always been kept inside, I installed them to show how they work and that they are indeed for a Baja! But wanted to share these!

Two inside nets are sold!!! Willing to sell the rear net for $160, which includes shipping!

Does anyone know where I can get a replacement for this piece? Went to change out the starter and it was kind of corroded and melted onto the starter solenoid. Went to put new starter on and now it just slips off.

I own a 2006 NA 5spd Manual Subaru Baja with 142k miles on it. The car was last serviced and inspected at a Subaru dealership about 1k miles ago where I had them do a diagnostic inspection and replaced my front brake discs on their recommendation. Before taking it on a 500 mile road trip. They didn’t find any other issues at the time, however I have recently noticed a squealing noise has started coming from the car after starting up. The noise isn’t very loud and can only really be heard while driving if I have the windows down and there’s something next to the car for the sound to bounce off of, but it is there fairly consistently. The noise is present when the car is running in neutral or while driving in gear but it goes away the instant I apply any pressure to my clutch pedal. Aside from that I have noticed that on rare occasions it hangs up going into first but once I put it back in neutral and hit the clutch again I can get it going without issue and that has only happened once or twice the last couple of months.

I only drive about 500-1k miles a month, haven’t taken it off road and tend to drive/shift in a relaxed manner. Does anyone have experience with this issue, how bad it is, how long till it’ll be a serious issue, and what parts/labor costs I would be looking at to keep the car running well. The vehicle is otherwise in excellent condition and runs nicely so I’d like to keep it that way for a long time.

Edit: I am planning to do a lift next year via a 2” ADF Subframe spacer kit and 1” ralitek shock replacements for 3” total, ideally if this isn’t an urgent issue I can wait to do the maintenance at the same time as the lift installation to save on the total labor costs. Since they would have to lift the car up and remove the transmission mounts anyway to put in the subframe spacers.

Had the day to focus on the baja. Next step is cleaning the bay, dealing with what rust I found and then primer/paint it. Didn't expect to get this far this quick, so going to do give the engine bay some extra love.

The last owner had a plate on the front and made it own holes, so a bought one wouldn’t fit well. So I made my own

Built this as a side project - The Baja Brattaroo in the Glamis Dunes - along with a couple other games featuring the classic - lmk what u think - thx !

I live in very rural area and at night my low beams just get eaten up by the darkness. I don't want to burn other drivers eyeballs but there has to be a better bulb than whatever pos I'm running. 2006 turbo. What do you guys run in the boonies?

So a few weeks ago I picked up some split headlights from an outback thinking they would be plug and play. Turns out I need a different connector. Do I need to completely rewire the headlights or just cut off the connector and replace the one on my Baja? Also my car came with 2 basic keys but no fob. I saw in the owners manual that there’s instructions on how to program a fob if you need to. Can I just buy a fob off of like Amazon and do it myself or does that need to be a dealer thing?