I know what you mean mate. With damper controls you can change the feel quite a bit. You could also add an EDC too.

 

Quick clean before hose ban. Alot of work to do on this but lack of time, disinterest and lack of decent specialists means it doesn't get the attention it deserves. Bit pissed off with it really.

 

Looks great mate!
The relationship we have with these cars is funny and frustrating in equal measure. I got fed up with being ripped off by so called ‘specialists’ which is why I do everything myself now. As you mentioned, the biggest challenge is finding the time to do it.
When I get fed up with mine, I stick it in the garage and forget about it for a couple of weeks, usually does the trick.

 

Good advice as usual Adam. Problem is that the car is suffering from the lack of a garage for the last 6 years and all the Subaru STI braces and Whiteline kit is disintegrating. Ive got thousands of pounds of kit to fit ( Ohlins, Sard downpipe, AOS, titanium exhaust etc) but zero time due to attempting to finish our 4 year self build, and to be honest, **** all spare cash as materials go through the roof.
And down here we have some great roads, that have been packed with tourist hire cars and vans, cyclists and pedestrians since April, making it impossible to use the car as it should be. Whilst I enjoy working on it, my last two surfing accidents have made it increasingly difficult to lie under a car. And like you, I've been royally let down by well known specialists.

 

Pack up the surfing , quit your moaning like a lil biatch and get those shiny bits fitted

 

Lol. I must admit I'm really interested to get your view on the Ohlins.

The whiteline bits will rust badly on the surface, but integrity will be ok, you can leave those and replace later, likewise the STI bits i would have thought.

 

id also like to know about the ohlins , i loved my asts 5100s but couldn't get them to stop leaking .
I've tried the miesters and the tein flex z , both garbage in comparison to the Asts imho.

 

harsh but valid advice

 

he has a point, love your hatch Hedgy just a shame working on her is causing you such issues.

 

Time and disinterest are my main issues, but thanks for your kind comments.
Ohlins out of the box are criticised because of the front high spring rate compared with the rear, for the GR hatch, so we shall see.......one day! I've got my eye on a brand new set of R205 struts and springs, to add to my collection of never fitted parts!!!

 

Here's a few pics of another Lands End to Edinburgh and back again road trip.
We were forced to take the dirty, unprepared Impreza after initially setting off in a fully loaded Skoda superb, carrying the Lad's belongings up to him. Problem was that the car had no MOT.
We're about 800 miles into it, on the way back.......60mph to save on the fuel that I wasn't expecting to use.
It's given me the enthusiasm to crack on with the car and get all the jobs done. The Fuji racing pitch stop has to go.

Holme Moss pass Yorkshire

Edinburgh

Borders

Into Galloway

Went through the Lake District but it was too beautiful to photograph and we had v power panic when the Kirkstone pass was shut!

 

Good to hear Hedge, I take it the steering wheel was like a fitting dog then? Got rid of my beatrush for a group n pitch stop ages ago as it's too much on the road.

 

Rusting, the over run is diabolical. I've updated every mount on the car, but the pitch stop is the only one that has created bad vibes

 

once a year or so 800 mile trip and save on fuel
torque solution pitch mount is very good, they are first who made billet aftermarket one

 

those You tried are in bc racing BR league, meisterR gt1 or kw v3 are closer ohlins rivals

 

Currently on 1140 miles with 220 to go. My busted vertebrae were whole last time I did this and it's all catching up with me. Way too old for long journeys in solid cars

 

Back under the car and well impressed how the Bilt Hamber has held up

 

Cleaning up before fitting some goodies.
Whiteline bits haven't faired so well. Pics to follow

 

Looking really good under there!

 

Looking good Hedge. I wasn’t impressed with the Bilt Hamber UC but I don’t think they put it on thick enough. I had mine redone and they used the Dinitrol variant instead. It goes on a bit thicker than the BH but it does leave you with a kind of tobacco like waxy film which isn’t very attractive in areas where it’s visible. It’s held up well though although my usage isn’t as much as yours and it doesn’t see the coastal weather either.

 

This is what the Whiteline rear kit looked like



And this is it cleaned up

 

Fitted Ohlins


Took off HKS mid pipe and Sti back box in preparation for Tomei

 

Most of the bits coming off are for sale....shocks and mounts, exhaust mid pipe, wheels, Cusco arbs, steering wheel, loads of stuff. I'll make a thread or link to ebay

 

The coilover covers are neat, and looking forward to hearing what you think of the Ohlins.

 

Did the Ohlins come with internal dust covers?

one of big issues i had with the cosworth coilovers, you can see on the pic the rears had no dustcovers and eventually dirt caused the seal to go, luckily bilstein rebuilt them but i then needed to prevent it reoccuring so i had looked at those sleeves but wasn't convinced that it would stop dirt/damp entering from the top so i made a set of ones similar to the fronts using mk2 escort bilstein dust covers and just cut down to size which went right up inside the top mount basically.

 

Yes the Ohlins have dust covers, but you have to cut them to size, and they need to be a bit longer than they say

 

A change of direction

 

Thanks

 

I zoomed in on the pie welds underneath.
Weld ****!

 

I'm still stuck on the driveway whilst my nieghbour ( electric/mechanical engineer) tests fan relays after work. Took the under tray off to facilitate access to fan wiring, only to find front drop link ripped, and leaking avvcs unit.
I may have posted this before, but if you have a spec C and you upgrade your bars, the listed Superpro trc1025 droplinks will not adjust small enough to be neutral. The Whiteline version is only just small enough. Superpro suggested trc1035, and the situation is probably also corrected by using extended roll centre ball joints, which improve most hatches anyway