2015 Subaru Legacy Premium · TekForge field project

Weekend-built.
Honestly documented.

Passenger-side damage forced a choice: patch it cheaply, ignore it, or rebuild it deliberately. I chose the long route. Restore a Nerd Legacy follows the car from baseline inspection through teardown, parts decisions, repair, fabrication, protection, and validation.

Read the Build Log →How the Project Runs
This is a weekend-warrior project. Work advances around a full-time career, family, finances, available tools, and Michigan weather. Updates follow meaningful inspection, repair, fabrication, and validation milestones rather than a manufactured content schedule.
Project pace

Real progress without manufactured urgency.

The project moves when inspection, parts, weather, money, tools, and available time line up. The goal is an accurate record of meaningful work, not a performance schedule.

// Self-funded work

Milestone-based updates

  • Update when inspection, teardown, purchasing, repair, training, or validation materially changes the project.
  • No filler posts and no work performed solely to create content.
  • Quiet periods are acceptable when life or project dependencies take priority.
// Supported work

Monthly status plus milestones

  • At least one status update each month while a supported item remains open.
  • Milestone updates when the funded part, tool, training, or repair changes state.
  • An honest no-change update when weather, life, parts, or dependencies hold the work.
  • A closure note showing the outcome, changed plan, retained capability, or reallocation.
Roadmap

The rebuild as change control.

Every phase needs a reason, a constraint, and a validation point. The wrap and the bigger ideas come after the foundation earns them.

P00
Baseline and project setup
Document current condition, inventory known damage, identify unknowns, and build the parts and tool decision log.
Active
P01
Front-end teardown and diagnosis
Remove the bumper, inspect supports and mounting points, and verify the actual failure domain before ordering.
Next
P02
Safety, structure, and alignment
Correct or replace damaged panels, brackets, lighting trim, supports, and alignment-related hardware.
Queued
P03
Interior recovery and protection
Headliner, detail work, corrosion prevention, winter hardening, and long-term comfort fixes.
Planned
CAP
Fabrication capability
Welding safety, practice material, equipment, jigs, brackets, and repeatable shop capability that remains useful across TekForge builds.
Capability
P04
Finish and identity
Surface preparation and the green-to-gold finish only after the mechanical and protective foundation is ready.
Future
CH2
Long-horizon platform work
Major drivetrain or EV-conversion ideas remain a separate future chapter, not a promise attached to the initial rebuild.
Someday
Support model

Fund an outcome or build a capability.

Support is tied to visible work. Durable equipment is disclosed as a retained TekForge capability rather than presented as though it disappears into one repair.

// Direct repair

Parts and consumables

Specific Legacy components, fasteners, coatings, trim, materials, and specialist services needed to close a documented repair.

// Durable capability

Tools and shop infrastructure

Welding, fabrication, lifting, measurement, and safety equipment retained for later Legacy work and other documented TekForge builds.

// Skills and validation

Training and practice

Safety instruction, practice stock, certification, test pieces, and inspection that turn purchased equipment into a credible, repeatable capability.

// Direct support

Support the build through Venmo

Scan the code or open Venmo directly. Contributions may support the current repair, fabrication equipment, materials, safety gear, or training described in the build log.

Open Venmo → Discuss parts or sponsorship See current needs

Weekend-warrior terms still apply. Support creates an obligation to report status and outcome. It does not purchase schedule control, design control, or a financial return.

Venmo QR code for supporting Restore a Nerd Legacy Scan with a phone camera or the Venmo app

Contributions are voluntary support, not an investment, purchase, charitable donation, or promise of a completion date. Supported spending and outcomes will be summarized in the build log, with personal information redacted.

Evidence over polish

The record keeps the work honest.

Photos, costs, changed assumptions, failed attempts, inspection notes, and validation show whether the work actually improved the car.

// Evidence

Before and after

Consistent photos, measurements, part numbers, and condition notes instead of a highlight reel.

// Accounting

Traceable spending

Clear spending summaries for supported items, with reusable tools categorized as retained capability.

// Validation

Close the loop

Fit, function, inspection, road testing, and lessons learned. “Installed” is not automatically the same as “done.”