328isport

iTrader: (6)

Hi guys,

another update as I'm starting to get moving on this again now, the cars booked in with Extreme Scoobies again, this time for the alloy lower arms/ALK to be fitted, at the same time I'm having the ball joints replaced and some SuperPro droplinks fitted, so should freshen up the front end somewhat.

The more exciting news for me is that I'm picking up a new set of wheels from a fellow scoobynet member on Saturday.. of course those who have read this will have noted that I'm a fan of 16's, so what better than a set of Rays TE37's from a V6 STi RA

The downer is that they're gunmetal not gold which is my preference, but I think I can live with it!

This does of course mean my Speedlines will be up for sale if anyones interested, looking for £160 but will put a for sale thread up over the weekend.

328isport

iTrader: (6)

Hi all,

Small update, I got the Rays and got them on the car, a few little issues to begin with, firstly one had a nail in and ended up needing a new tyre, I wasn't about to scrimp on this though so on went a new AD08, next up given the ET53 offset they didn't sit as nice in the arches as my ET50 speedlines.

I decided to resolve this with 5mm spacers all round, I got these off Ebay from ET Plus, anodized black and decent quality, I'm happy with how much thread was left on the studs and the car is now sitting how I wanted

The tyre did mean I had to delay my trip to Extreme Scoobies, so this is now happening next week. Looking forward to getting the alloy arms/alk/super pro links & new ball joints fitted, as I think the cars in need of having these parts refreshed now..

Anyway a couple of rubbish pics in fading light when the car was dirty for you.. damn I need a new camera lol, or just to spend some time actually taking pictures!!





Overall I'm very happy with the wheels, don't think I could do much better when it comes to 16's! tyre wise the 215/45s firm up the ride somewhat compared to 205/50, but the biggest difference is the levels of grip AD08's serve up in the dry, shocking really, almost give you the feeling something mechanical will give up before the tyres do!!

sunny1989

Like the new wheels, perfect colour combo for mica green.

How do you find the two pot brakes? I'm going to have to space my Rotas out to fit bigger brakes under them, 5mm will be sufficient I think, Il check et plus out.

328isport

iTrader: (6)

Cheers Sunny! It looks better in the flesh, will take some decent pics soon.

5mm is the most I'd risk on stock studs, even then it may depend on your particular wheel, what I did is buy a pair to start with, checked I was happy with them and then ordered a second pair.

The two pots.. well they are what they are, I've got Black Diamond discs and pads on mine which I'm guessing make them slightly more effective than most, to be fair they aren't too bad on the road and do stop the car surprisingly well when needed, but they don't inspire much confidence when pushing on.

I have been thinking the Subaru 4 pots on the front with 2 pots on the back would be enough, but by the time I've costed it up I'm starting to think I may as well go for a custom front set up by Godspeed using Brembo GT calipers from a Leon Cupra R on a 304ish mm disc (I've had this set up under 16s on a previous car and it was mega on road and track, albeit it in a lighter car!) or just go for K Sport kit designed to fit under 16s...

Scott.T

iTrader: (2)

Nice, thread.
How's the rust repair and prevention holding out.

Mine is in a similar condition and about to go into a body shop to have it corrected i.e 2 or 3 bubbles on the passenger side and nothing on the drivers.
However, inspecting the inside the passenger is slightly less than yours (in the pics above) and the drivers is actually worse with no signs on the outside !!!!

I think I may remove the boot liner and climb in for a tidy up, sanding off the surface rust that's accessible and treating the bits that are not.

I think it may be worthwhile giving the inside of the wings (from the boot side) a spray with something that will protect from condensation running down into the seams. It may be worth running a bead of sealant along the seams that have none.

I would listen to any thoughts you or anyone has on this.

328isport

iTrader: (6)

Cheers Scott

Rust prevention is holding out fine at the moment, I'd definitely work on the inside or make the bodyshop aware of it before having the outside painted, otherwise you'll be in the same position a year on.

Be warned though, even once you have all the boot panels out it's not that accessible, end up in all sorts of positions trying to get at some areas! But yea I'd suggest sanding down any rust you find to bare metal if possible and treating/painting accordingly. Regarding sealer, I saw a thread by a guy with an old Legacy a while back who was doing a very thorough job when it came to rust removal, his theory was that it's actually the sealer that's partly to blame, trapping moisture underneath, also he found that on removing the sealer there was wasn't even paint beneath, so he's probably got the right idea, I think this will be my next step, he removed all the sealer and then sanded back to bare mental/re-painted etc.

I'd definitely suggest removing your rear bumper if you haven't done so already, as you really need to know whats going on behind here, the condition of the rear slam panel, bumper bar, and the areas directly behind the corners of the bumpers, which almost always seem to have at least surface rust.

The other area you 100% need to check is up in the rear suspension turrets, you can't see this from inside so you need to get your hand up by the top mount and have a feel around, its generally always the outer side that goes. This is repairable if not too bad but very tricky to work on from what I understand.

Other little bits I'd suggest would be to remove the rubber lip sections if you still have them, and fit mudflaps which will help with the sections that rust behind the bumper on the corners, as without mudflaps these are open to all the water/dirt kicked up by the rear wheels, mudflaps on the front will also help stop the front wings rusting. I'm not a mud flap fan hence just have mini ones but these are good enough.

328isport

iTrader: (6)

Found it - have a read :-)

https://www.scoobynet.com/projects-4...on-1993-a.html

328isport

iTrader: (6)

So, an update on the car.

I finally got into Extreme Scoobies and had my alloy arms, whiteline ALK, SuperPro droplinks and new ball joints fitted, swiftly followed by alignment the following day, and am very happy with the results! The front end feels ultra solid now and nailed to the road (no doubt the AD08's help here too).

However Paul did pick up on a split steering rack gaiter, which has somewhat dictated the next steps I need to take. Given that the rack needs work it makes sense to now swap over to a fast or quick rack, and if this means another alignment then it's a good time to change the dampers and top mounts all at the same time, so it looks like more front end work for now!

This is the plan in terms of parts;

2.25 or 2.5 LTL rack, depending on what I can get
Whiteline steering rack bushes
KYB Excel-G front Dampers
STi Group N top mounts, about the only thing I can afford to buy from RCM!

I'll also add a 20mm Whiteline ARB but this can be done further down the line as will focus on the rear ARB first when I get to this point.

I've also picked up a Lamco steering cowl mounted boost gauge, I decided I'd like a boost gauge a few months back but wanted something that looked as stock as possible, so a Lamco was the only option really.

As happens quite often with me I've been thinking more long term about what I should do, this is a bit of a constant dilemma for me now in that as much as I'm really enjoying my car, it's not my dream Impreza, I really want either an early STi RA, a Type R or an STi 555, and I'm aware that if I leave it too long as the rise in prices of the aforementioned models picks up pace I could leave myself priced out of the market. Taking this into a account the sensible thing would be to limit spending on this car with a view to save up and trade mine in towards one of the above.

The flipside to this is maybe I should consider myself fortunate to have a good UK turbo, which I know well and have spent some decent time and money on, and remember that the grass isn't always greener, whilst a very good STi may be a wonderful thing, with so few decent ones around I could find myself ending up with a car less enjoyable than my current one.. not to mention that my UK car is actually pretty cheap to run, with silly low insurance and decent MPG..

Decisions Decisions! Ultimately I normally come up with the same conclusion, which is to carry on with what I have and do all the mods I want to do/enjoy it as much as possible. Thankfully a decent look through the classifieds now and again usually cements this view, as I rarely find anything decent enough!

Scott.T

iTrader: (2)

Cheers for the reply re-rust.
I don't have any issues with strut towers/wheel arches as mine are double sealed and also smoothrited.
It was done back in 2009 and gets topped up every year or so. Hence, No signs of any rust under there.


Having a dig round in the boot today, the problem is solely on the inside of the boot and probably due to poor quality finish and condensation sitting in gaps and in some cases trapped by the sealant.
My worst case is where the fuel filler vent pipe rests against a blob of sealant. It seems to of trapped moisture causing rusting.

I see the guy with the Legacy (in the above) link, removed all his sealant. Is this totally wise, as doesn't it also prevent water ingress through minute panel gaps.
Maybe a good rust prevention, paint and smaller amounts of sealant would be better.

PASSENGER SIDE



DRIVERS SIDE

328isport

iTrader: (6)

Hi Scott, good stuff, looks like yours has mostly been kept on top of!

I don't see an issue with running no sealant provided you've treated/primed/painted the areas nicely like the guy with the legacy, I expect this will fill the gaps, plus of course for classic owners checking these areas should be a a matter or course perhaps twice a year or so, so any issues such as moisture ingress can be sorted before any issues arise.

Personally I've seen so many now with rust seemingly originating from behind the sealant that I don't think I'd replace it if I stripped it all off.

That being said, if you do treat/prime/paint properly and use a small amount of sealant it shouldn't cause an issue as I think a lot of the issue is caused by so little paint under the sealant anyway.

Scott.T

iTrader: (2)

True, but I'm just a little pissed off, as after all the effort of protecting it from the outside, it's the bloody inside where it all starts......

xe dan

nice build i will be keeping an eye on this as your local to me

328isport

iTrader: (6)

Right guys,

Update on this..

So a few weeks ago I decided it was time to sell mainly because I need to focus on my cycling, as much as i love the Impreza its most certainly a distraction, purely for the fact I can't go too long without driving it! I therefore made a fairly half hearted attempt to sell it, advertising on here to begin with..

Well guess what, I never made it any further

I thought f**k it, I get a lot of enjoyment out of it and I need something to tinker with, I've spent a load of time on it since I got it, as well as a decent sum of cash, it's well on it's way to being the car I wanted so now would be a silly time to move it on..

The decider not to part with it came in the form of a set of silver STi Prodrive Bilsteins and the correct blue Eibach springs, this is the set up i've always wanted so I had to have them, given that its rare they come up at all nevermind in good condition. And of course there would be no point buying the suspension to not use it.. so the car is now staying with me

I also picked up an STi intercooler, I know this is not much better than the standard UK intercooler but I figured it's still a nice mod and if anything will tidy up the engine bay!

I've also set out my next steps, keeping it realistic so I can get it done.

Brakes will be first up, I wanted something a little special initially, but this can't happen yet so for now I'm going for 4 pots, godspeed discs and kelvar pads and braided hoses all round, I'll stick with the black diamond discs and pads on the rear for now.

Next up will be a new steering rack, hopefully a Type R one, I've found a split in one of my gaiters so a good time to change it, and if i'm doing it I want a quick rack. Whiteline rack bushes will go on at the same time.

The third stage for now is going to be arb's and a proper geo set up, ideally I'm after 22mm bars front and rear, probably Whiteline with alloy rear droplinks, given that I already have alloy arms, ALK, superpro front droplinks, and now the Bilsteins the above should get me up to the level where a decent set up is needed, Ideally by Chevron or Powerstation but both are a trek from me, still maybe I can make a journey out if it.

So now I've got that sorted, back to the latest mod, as usual I got too excited about fitting the new bits that I took next to no pictures! I'll sort this at the weekend. First impressions of the Bilsteins are very good, it's taking a bit of getting used to as is quite the opposite to the old set up, it used to have a bit of a nose down look on the Eibach Pros, with the back noticeably higher, its now the opposite, the back is much lower than what it was and now if anything the car looks slightly tail heavy, it feels quite different to drive due to this, but not in a bad way, the suspension is without doubt firmer, but altogether better in reacting to bumps, and corners much flatter than before.

The pics I managed to take are as below, the rears shortly before fitting and the difference in droop when jacked up between the billies and the original dampers, as can be seen the drivers side rear was way off the ground before the original left terra firma

sunny1989

Glad you decided not too sell, its a nice small scale project you've got going.

I'm going a similar route, buying another completely standard classic at the end of the year to restore. Thinking aesthetically standard but small modifications to improve on certain areas, braking etc.

328isport

iTrader: (6)

Sounds good sunny, I think buying an unmolested one and modding it to your taste is the way to go.

More progress today, my STi intercooler from CutMasterT turned up today (can highly recommend this guy as a seller btw), which I'll be cleaning up and fitting tonight, I'll even try to take some pictures!

I've also got my hands on a Type R steering rack :-) once this turns up I'll measure it and get the Whiteline rack bushes to suit, I was looking at doing the brakes first but the MOT is due next month and with the gaiter being a fail as far as I know, plus Type R racks being rarer than 4 pot calipers, it made sense to get the rack done first.

Actually really looking forward to this mod, a quick rack combined with poly rack bushes should be a really noticeable improvement over my current rack and original bushes

CutMasterT

iTrader: (2)

Glad the intercooler turned up ok mate

328isport

iTrader: (6)

OK so thought I'd crack on with the intercooler tonight, firstly though heres how the car is sitting now it's on the Bilsteins



The intercooler as it arrived



First job was to clean up the red hose...

Before



After



The intercooler after a bit of attention with wire wool, not a lot i can do with the fins/spars



And fitted to the car



Its no work of art but i'm dead pleased with it, it was worth it for the red pipe alone which is of so much better quality and fit than the ASH hose I had on my old intercooler, which felt much softer and i'm not convinced it wouldn't have been collapsing under boost somewhat.

Safe to say the car was all good on road test, it's probably all in my head but it did seem to feel better on boost

328isport

iTrader: (6)

So we have another twist in this project! I've been buying up more parts for a trip to Extreme next week.. however!

As some of you who've read through this thread may remember, I have a soft spot for pre-facelift Type RA's.. well, when doing my usual surfing of the net for interesting Impreza's I came across one.. I dismissed it at first given that I'd decided to stick with my current car, but I kept finding myself coming back to it, eventually deciding there would be no harm in viewing it...

You can probably guess where these is going lol, after viewing and a long inspection/chat with the current owner (a member on here and all round nice guy, plus a serious petrolhead, so says 2 x RA's and an E39 M5!) I was pretty taken with the car, everything about it just seems that bit more special than a UK turbo.

So after lots of number crunching and working out how I could make it all fit, I made an offer and am pleased to say in a couple of weeks time I'll be the proud owner of a MY93 WRX Type RA

So I've gone from deciding to get out of cars for a bit to being in the situation where I might have two impreza's on the drive once the RA arrives!!

Of course I'm very excited to get my hands on the RA, but this has thrown up the question as to what I do with my UK, the decision made is that I'll be returning it to mostly stock, moving certain parts like the Hardrace engine mounts over to the RA and selling other items like the Prodrive ECU and Rays TE37's, then selling the car close to standard at a sensible price.

So if anyone wants anything in particular from the mods I've done then let me know.

In the meantime heres a couple of pics of the RA..

ScottyPPP

You can straighten the fins on the cooler with a flatblade.

328isport

iTrader: (6)

Thought I'd stick up a quick update as lots going on mostly with the green car but let's start with the RA :-)

It's going for an MOT on the 14th, assuming all is well I've arranged to collect it early morning on Saturday the 20th, after picking it up we'll be heading straight to Rallyday with it It will probably also be going along to the Festival Of Porsche at Brands on the Sunday, followed by a visit to Extreme Scoobies on the Monday to have my Hardrace engine mounts and Whiteline steering rack bushes fitted, I've also collected a few more bits including Whiteline ali rear drop links and PIAA wipers.

Now for the UK turbo, firstly it flew through it's MOT this week bar a split steering rack gaiter which I knew about anyway, so was pleased with that and a good step forward to it being ready to sell.

I've decided to return it closer to stock and sell the car at a cheaper price, this was driven by me wanting the Hardrace engine mount kit for the RA and also because I wanted to sell the Rays separately, therefore the engine mounts/gearbox mount were replaced with the originals by Extreme today, and I also met Richard who bought the Rays, funnily enough Richard bought my old gold Speedlines off me so a deal was done and the Speedlines are now back on my car :-)

Next up is to refit the original Subaru fog lights and the original dampers with the Eibach Pro springs, the Bilsteins will be sold separately.

I was going to refit the original ECU and intercooler, but the cars running so well at the moment that I can't bring myself to do it, besides the Prodrive spec is a nice selling point for the car.

By next weekend it should be all ready to go and I can advertise it properly, I don't expect to have it sold before the RA arrives, but it will be much closer than I thought so that's a bonus

d4nnyc

Good write up, I'm doing the same with my UK turbo, and I also keep looking at type RA and R's as a next car! How is your new car? Is it loads better than the UK turbo?
I also liked how you removed the side skirts to make it look cleaner. I want to do the same to mine but not completely sure how to go about about. Do I just remove the bolts along the bottom? Was it straight forward? Are there any clips that break off !?
Dan

328isport

iTrader: (6)

Hi Dan

Thanks, my RA is now pretty much there, had a number of jobs to do/parts to fit it and a few issues to fix, but it pretty much all came together last weekend.

In terms of UK vs RA, it's certainly not clear cut as they're surprisingly different animals, the UK car is hands down a better every day car, in almost every area, but for sheer enjoyment it can't compete with the RA in any way whatsoever! The way the RA drives is much more like a hardcore hot hatch than a performance saloon, so it really comes down to what you want from a car :-)

I didn't leave the skirts off on my UK car, I considered it but there's a lot of work involved, theres two rows of holes which would need welding up and then of course repainting, to do it properly would be quite a big job.

d4nnyc

Interesting to hear your thoughts on both cars. I'd love to try out an RA one day.

I took my side skirts off. I don't mind the holes, I still think it looks 10 better even with the holes. The side skirts were also full of mud and crap, probably weighed 2 kgs each!

328isport

iTrader: (6)

Hi Dan,

If you want to follow my RA project thread you'll find it here:

http://www.type-ra.com/subaru-forum/...type-ra.18022/

To give you an idea of the RA's nature compared to a UK car, gearbox wise in my early car you're 4th gear is exactly the same as my 5th! so yea best part of 4000rpm at 70mph in top lol, though of course the up side is extremely lively acceleration in the lower gears..

You should be able to get away with just leaving the skirts off if you can get over the holes then! Though I'd look to fit some grommets in the holes if poss, don't really want water getting in there.

jaygsi

iTrader: (46)

How did you find you sp ecu when fitted?