Many thanks there Bob refurbising was always my main goal as you will have read earlier it was important in my vision to maintain the integritory of the car as much as possible apart from a few upgrades, but your correct there regarding costs as I simply could not afford to just replace everything for new, I dread to imagine how much all those fixings would cost alone.

Hopefully the thread will give you good guidance when the time comes to start on your wagon

 

And again, I simply lost track on time catching up the thread. Excellent job and superb result. Congrats!
Some older pictures start to fail what is a pity for me, at least on my computer.

I took some ideas for some restoring I am doing on mine, hope you don't mind :P

Keep up the good work and keep us posted.

cheers

 

Cheers and please take any ideas you wish too your more than welcome that's what it's all about I struggled to find info on some areas that's why I decided to do a full thread with nothing missed out

 

I managed to get out and get a couple of miles on the car today, good to warm everything up and get the wheels turning at last......





I'm still in two minds if the car could be a little lower, maybe the P1 Spring group buy maybe worth a closer look or similar.





Great to get out

 

Nice to see it out Si ,think you would look better a little lower

 

Looking great :-) but yes agree a slight drop would make it even better. I usually don't like impreza's too low but somehow it seems more right on an RA!

 

Looking great Simon.

Agree with a little bit lower. Can't help but feel that it may be worth using some black underseal in the rear arches as well? Seems so weird being so bright (clean!!) in there

 

I think if you come down an inch it would sit spot on. What size tyres are you running as they look like a lower profile than they should be, not sure if its just an optical illusion though.

Other than that its stunning

 

Agreed.....but then a bit more of those dazzling white arches would be hidden!!... An inch would make a massive difference to the stance...

Looking stunning Si, have you got much more to iron out?.

 

Cheers both

Black underseal.... Wash your mouth out there Kosta it's got a layer of stone chip with paint on.... Nice and easy to maintain

 

I'm running 215/40/17's possibly a 45 would have filled them a little more, I think the white paint does exaggerate it more than if they where a darker colour.

Cheers Bren... What's left can be done when I'm using the car which is great

Gauges need fitting.
Head unit speakers and small amp.
Dent man.
Clay Bar and Detail.
Also some over spray on the glass so that needs a clay bar or machine clean.
Decals, fog covers, wing badges and maybe the boot badge.
Plus general tinkering

 

I had the fidgets this evening and felt I needed to do something on the car, the weathers a nightmare so I have failed to roll the car out and make a start but tonight I decided to unpack a few things ready.... I'm hopeful that tomorrow is going to dry and I can get the centre console apart and look at starting to get the gauges fitted.











Wires ! Not comfortable for me but I'll have a go, the intention is to fit the dials and drop the wires into the footwell then I'll get the wires into the engine bay and cable tie them up ready for Ace to plumb them in. Also I have a Knock sensor that I will fit in the same way plus I'll have to construct a bracket to mount that on and find the best place to house it.

Any idea what that red LED is for ? It's connected the the boost gauge wiring.

 

Could be a high boost threshold warning...is there anything that can be adjusted on that gauge Si?

Pony connections everywhere too...get the soldering iron and shrink wrap out

 

Yes good idea Ian, I should cut them all off and re do them tidy really.
There is no adjustment on the gauge and that led is on the far end of the cable... whatever it is it's aftermarket and I don't think anything to do with the set up so I've cut it off to save some weight

 

I had another hour on this today to get a feel for it and see which was the best direction to take....

firstly removed the head unit and fixed the gauges in the top slot.



Dropped the head unit back in then to get a feel for fitment... the tray will no go in the unit has to be srewed directly in, I do have a new unit this one will do for set up.



I'm going to mount the KS-3 knocklink in place of the ashtray, it's out of direct light down there plus I can make a false back plate and the wiring will be as out of sight as I can make it.



I have a short length of stainless strip to shape in order to mount to link on.



As a rough fit this is how it will look when done, the good thing I noticed immediatly is down there angled correctly it's out of direct light and there is no direct reflection off the screen.





Next task will be to cut into the lighter socket wires and splice a double socket in there which will allow me to run the KS-3 plus a sat nav cable out of sight.

Edited to add I phoned Phormula a while back to see if they could give me a price on fitting a new face on the unit as there are some marks on it and they kindly sent me a replacement screen and fitting instructions free of charge... great customer service.

 

Looking at it again you are right...looks like it was just tapped into the gauge for power

 

It's been a while since I've had a look at your thread Simon and the car is looking fantastic I must say, I just wish I had your attention to detail and patience.

The one thing I forgot to ask you when I saw you at the meet on Wednesday was where did you get your Rally Armor flaps from? I've ditched the idea of the carbon fibre flaps I've got and I'm looking to get a set of either red or black Rally Armor flaps.

 

Thanks Ty, I'm getting there now it's great tobe back together and on the road.

Flaps came directly from rally armour in the states, they are on FB as well.
There are no uk suppliers but they are great to deal with.

 

Looking superb mate,I'm thinking of trying out one of those knock sensors as well any good?.SJ.

 

Thanks this is the first time I've owned this design of knocklink in the past I've had one of the old Link designed ones, always useful to have extra information.

 

Just had a little catch up on your thread si and again I'm well impressed with what you have done its a credit to you mate

 

stunning car, looks amazing. those gauges are pretty rare

 

Very nice, it those little mods that make the big differences

 

Thanks Lee... I've surprised myself there's a lot I've done on this project that is not my normal tinkering lol

I was very lucky with them they found me from a local owner who was changing his car so they would not fit the new one, old school oem for sure and a bonus that they are white faced.

Dead right Jon and thanks matey, always handy to have some extra info as well.

 

Looks alright, I 'spose.

Out of interest, and it's not blindingly obvious, where's your rear foglight switch?

 

You know Micky I'm not quite sure I'll check it out next time I get the cover off

 

OEM retrofit FTW.

 

is the KL audiable? you wont be able to see it down there are full chat lol

 

Yes it has an audiable tone on it as well as the display

 

I've had another little go today, trial fitting of the boost gauge... It's not quite at the right angle so I'll drop a few washers behind the one fixing to try and angle it out a little.

Micky the fog switch is on the right hand side mate !! Lol







I also managed to take the car out after the road dried and covered a small local loop, with the car being in so many parts recently it takes time just to build the confidence up to make sure all is well so I covered the local loop a couple of times then back home and checked under the bonnet and climbed under the car for a good check around... Pleased to say all is well. There is one thing that I need to check on and it's a small clunking noise from the rear passenger side wheel area when on full lock to the left when pulling on my driveway, I'm not sure if that's normal in regards diff noise? The trouble is they are all new noises to learn about