Ps. When the engine on my ST220 went I put in on ebay for spares or breaking as I didn't have the time or facilities to do it myself. But I know I would have made more if I had stripped it.

I'd always do the oil yourself in future. Pre fill the oil filter before you fit it, disconnect the crank sensor and spin the engine over and build oil pressure before you start it up so you don't end up with the bearings running dry.

UPDATE: Good news is I'm bringing I back to life! Going for a full rebuild and then squeeze a few more ponies out of it. I'll be uprating a few bits along the way and also adding a baffled sump.

In terms of cost......it's a lot! I couldn't bring myself to break it for spares.

Fantasti!. Good luck to you. That'll be a really fantastic car when you're done.
Look forward to seeing your progress.

Good on ya Matt!

Look forward to seeing you bringing it back, better than ever!

Paul

Rebuild is pretty much complete and hope to be running in this week. A few photos below to show some progress.

I always like an engine build photo! What spec are you having the engine built to?

In my opinion it's a fairly standard rebuild, only real changes are V9 cross drilled crank and ACL race shells and mains. The remaining parts like piston rings, oil pump, water pump etc are all OEM parts. Also put a new clutch and radiator in as they were both on the way out.

Main failure was due to spun shells and wear on the others, seems like the engine failure was going to happen at some point.

It's a 10 year old engine, so even with low miles and good servicing it's going to wear.
If you don't mind me asking, what was the bill? You mentioned a 4k rebuild quote earlier, will it still come to that much?

I'm yet to have the final invoice but expecting it to come in at under £3k with remap. The run in period is going to be hard, been driving a diesel estate for a few weeks and it's so slow!

That's not too bad at all, especially considering it includes a new clutch and remap, I just hope I'm not going to have to do the same one day. What power are you going to go for when it's been run in?

Who is doing the build work and have you kept the original block/cylinder and just replaced the internal parts you mentioned?

I think 330 is achievable so I'll aim for a figure around that. I'm more interested in having a good quality map than chasing a number. The previous map was only 280 but it drives very nice and wasn't overly aggressive.

The work is being done at CCA Developments by Tim Farmer who seems to have a good reputation on the forum.

Reusing the block and changing the internals, a new block really pushed the price up.

Sounds sensible. Tim is coming to give my wagon a service and through going over this Saturday.

That's interesting to know. I'm budgeting for a rebuild in the near future as my engine is well past 161k now but refuses to die - even with doing 1k+ a week.

Bad luck with yours going with far fewer miles. When you say oil pickup, was it blocked or had it broken in some way?

They've not found a noteable reason as to why the engine has failed yet. Up until early this afternoon they'd put it down to wear and tear but what's failed is fundamentally due to lack of oil (from what I've picked up on).

I've not managed to collect it this evening as it's now developed a misfire when warm. Compression test is showing all clear so checking injectors and coilpack next. Either of these could also have contributed towards the engine running poorly and in theory oil starvation.

I'll post any updates tomorrow :-)

Faulty injector was causing the misfire, final checks tomorrow and then hopefully it's ready to collect!

Have you fitted an oil pressure gauge now?

It crossed my mind before the engine went so it's likely I will. I'll probably hide it in the ashtray out of site as I'm not keen on the dash or pillar pods.

Picked up the car yesterday and successfully got home with no issues. I'm already 100 miles into the run in period which is between 500 and 1000. It's so tempting to put my foot down but I'm holding back.

Failure was due to worn shells of which one had spun but all of them were worn. Ive now got ACL race shells which should limit the wear due to the bronze coating on them. Also had a vacuum leak which caused a lumpy idle, not something I'd noticed before but it idles perfectly now.

Cleaned and ready for some more run-in mileage!

That's great news. Wonder what caused the shells to wear in a relatively short time (mileage). Wrong oil? Too little oil? Infrequent oil changes? Driven hard before oil up to temp? Simply driven hard all the time?

I guess we'll never know.

The service history is spot on but that obviously doesn't tell you how it's been driven. First owner was a Subaru company car driver and then one before me a chap who cherished it and did a few thousand miles a year. It's had a very easy life with me but the damage was probably well on its way by then.

This is just a theory, but I think sometimes low mileages can be deceptive. My ST220 had only done 59,000 miles (in 8 years) , six monthly oil changes occasionally driven enthusiastically but never thrashed when it had a big end failure. I think if the car sits around too long between drives, or does too many short trips then it can lead to problems.

For future reference import car parts do brand new ej207 short blocks for around 2100 so well worth considering rather than a rebuild

I'm toying with the idea of selling up already.....whilst the rebuild was being done I ordered a truck with the intention of being able to tow a track car.

I've been tempted by a few bike powered kit cars but the Impreza needs to go to fund it. I don't really want to sell but it's not raw enough to be a weekend/track toy.

I'd like around £6k for my car, not sure if that's a realistic figure?

It's on the high side for a wrx, but given the money spent I'd hope so. I know you've got pca dynamics springs, new shocks and a rebuilt engine. What else have you had done?

Much better than a French car! Had 2 of them and absolutely hated them

This what I've pulled together for the advert:


Overview:

· Premium silver metallic with colour coded side skirts.
· Registered 27/03/2006 (UK car) – very rare ‘06’ plate blobeye.
· Lower car tax band (K)
· 68,000 miles
· HPI checked and cleared
· SL model with sunroof and black leather interior (front heated). Leather regularly treated.
· Certificated Prodrive Performance Pack- Exhaust backbox, blue silicone hose, mid pipe & ECU.
· 12 months MOT (to Aug 2016)
· Full service history (stamped/invoiced) – last serviced 11/07/2015
· Cambelt changed at 67,000 miles
· Always run on Tesco’s momentum 99 RON super unleaded fuel (receipts for last 12 months to prove!)
· 2 x keys
· Subaru wallet with manuals, service record, log book and instructions for devices.


Interior:

· Remote central locking and Thatcham Category 1 alarm.
· Air conditioning.
· Electric windows front and rear with driver override panel.
· Electric and heated wing mirrors
· Rear wiper and demister
· Fold down split rear seats with 3 rear head rests, 3 seatbelts and ISOFIX points
· Momo leather steering wheel (standard), Momo leather race air gear **** with black leather gaiter
· LED interior bulbs.
· Black luxury mats front and rear.
· Parrot hands-free Bluetooth car kit
· Sony Double-Din stereo with DVD, MP3, Ipod connectivity.
· Pioneer uprated speakers all round.
· Integrated Scangauge2 diagnostic tool/trip computer/multi-gauge – Gives useful readings such as boost, coolant temp, intake temp, mpg etc.
· Extensive soundproofing with silent coat products including under the bonnet, all 4 doors, under the rear seats, the boot and boot lid, sunroof and centre console.


Exterior:

· Inovit Redline 18 x 7.5 alloy wheels in anthracite with locking nuts and anti-tamper dust caps
· 4 x 225/40r18 Bridgestone Potenza tyres
· Black Zunsport upper and lower grills
· LED rear number plate lights
· Headlight inserts painted black
· Phillips Xtreme Vision 100+ low beam bulbs and Osram Nightbreaker main beam bulbs
· Front and rear chrome indicator bulbs.
· Bosch aero twin wipers & rear wiper.



Suspension & Braking:

· Subaru 4 pot calipers, fronts recently stripped and re-greased.
· STI Mintex brake discs & new pads all round.
· Excel G front and rear shocks – Fitted Nov 15
· PCA Developments Prodrive Springs – Fitted Nov 15
· 20mm rear anti roll bar & superpro bushes.

Engine & Performance:

· Certificated Prodrive Performance Pack- Exhaust backbox, blue silicone hose, mid pipe & ECU.
· Prodrive hi-flow sports cat downpipe.
· Stainless Steel Harvey ‘trick’ de-cat up pipe.
· Hayward & Scott exhaust centre section.
· V9 cross drilled nitrated crank
· ACL race shells and mains.
· V9 Rods
· Baffled sump plate
· NGK uprated spark plugs – Fitted July 16
· Exedy Blue Box clutch – Fitted July 16
· Mishimoto silicone turbo inlet hose, MAF hose and intercooler hoses.
· Upgraded IHI VF34 roller bearing turbo (de-burred and polished).
· K&N panel filter retaining original air box.
· Optimised standard WRX intercooler.
· Deatschwerks DW200 uprated fuel pump (255L)
· Misc. rebuild parts – piston rings, oil pump, water pump, cambelt, pulleys, cam seals, head gasket etc.
· Remapped to a conservative 279bhp & 303 lb/ft (print out to show power & torque curve).

That is a really well sorted wagon...

I am interested in this wagon but can only afford 5k, i am in Birmingham so not far.
please message back if interested.
thanks rob.