Heater matrix has gone in my Scoob ( car looks like a dry ice machine when heating is put on ) what I want to know is has anybody done this job themselves and if so any pointers etc, also is there any step by step guide for doing this sort of thing anywhere ??

 

urg...
I half did this job on my old Golf... omg if its ANYTHING like that pay someone... honestly.

 

BTTT

 

Agree with Dizzy

I'm sure car manufacturers start with the heater matrix and then build the rest of the feckin car around it.

No experience with scoobs but Celica ST185 was a nightmare, and before that P6 Rover was even worse.

 

I had a matrix go a couple of months ago. I have a MY93 WRX and was reliably informed that the early jap and uk cars have different pipework. I ended up ordering my replacement from Grade A and paid a garage a lot of reddies to have it fitted. The garage had told me originally that it would take 3 hours labout - try 2 days labour . I also went to see the car after the dash had been gutted and the original matrix had been removed - all I can say is omg. Well worth paying some of yer hard earned to get a replacement fitted.

 

Unfortunately it is a dash out job...mine's been disconnected for over a year now waiting till I really feel like removing all those bits

Still it's an excuse to cage the car once the dash is out

 

Befoe you part with your readies do what I did.

Flush the system out and use a good quality "rad weld" type product.

Did mine in June worked a treat...

Cost = £10

 

Been there, done that, doesn't last...plus would you be happy running a high performance car with clay in the water system...particularly one with a turbo?

I wasn't, flushed it out and bypassed the heater matrix until I could get round to doing a proper fix

 

I did mine on my MY96. It's really not as bad as I thought. It took me and a mate about 4hrs to get it out (taking it slowly because we weren't sure what needed to come out and in what order) Ordered the new one from Midland Impreza for £60ish fitted it in about 2hrs and although it was a tedious job not worth anywhere near the £4-600 pounds I was being quoted by garages to do it!!

All in all I paid about £85 (new matrix, anti freeze and few beers for mate). Has been done for about 6 months now and has been fine since.

Ade

 

Well I did it myself not as bad as most of you made it out to be, thanks to ade for his tips on doing it also to Grade A Subaru for supplying me the matrix.

I have taken piccys if anybodys intrested

 

wah.. definatly interested in pics.. congrats your braver than me

mail me offline if u like

 

Dizzy will mail you them tonight from work if thats ok

 

Wah,

Very interested in pics too please
JollyGrnMonster@aol.com

Also how do you by pass it anyone?

My MY96 is getting on abit 118,000miles and this is a job I expect to come up soon.

JGM

 

As am I, mail me a set too please! I've still got to get 'round to it' and if the dash does have to come out...then it's cage time

 

Lol the dash does have to come out piccys sent

 

Thanks Simon...

So, replaing the heater matrix is going to cost me somewhere around a grand... 25 quid for a heatermatrix and 900 from the full cage and 75 quid to have the windscreen taken in and out

 

lol you gonna cage it then my matrix cost more close to £60, I don't care what anybody says it was easy and I would do it again tomorrow if need be

 

what sort of cage you fitting if the screen has to come out?

 

I glad you managed to do it alright. I must admit after doing mine I wondered how garage owners quoteing £600 could sleep at night (probably on a fat mattress stuffed with cash the robbing ba$tards)

Ade

 

David...if I can scrape the money together a full Custom Cages Group N weld in Job...with pick up points off all the suspension...bye bye rear seats...and unless I go for custom job, b'stard to get in and out because of the cross bars...which means the door cards will need modding too Still, it would give me quite a stiff chassis

 

If you fit a roll cage the bars around the A frame of the car can foul the fan blower box,so it will need modding.But it depends on the type of rollcage.

 

My understanding of it was on the later car's like mine there's a ruddy great tube that runs accross the car behind the dash and all that Custom Cages to is replace this with something a little beefier connected up to the rest of their cage...I need to strip the dash out and compare it with a car already fitted with one of their cages...I wonder if Colin still has his caged shell, and whether he would let me have a look see

 

Tim mine has the tube your are talking about just didn't get a piccy of it in place and it a MY93 WRX