Eddie51

I have a 1998/99 Impreza wagon 110,000 miles . Bought very cheap from a guy who did not open the bonnet for 3 years.
I have just had a full service but notice that the log book does not say that the cambelt was changed at 90,000 miles (it was done at 45,000)
So I need to do it, any idea what the cost should be ? I have quotes from £160 to £350 !
Also as a new Subaru owner I would like some advice. I love the car but there are 2 minor quibbles 1- Poor headlamps , I only have the standard lights and find them poor compared to my last car a Volvo. 2- It seems to mist up all the time, need to keep the heater blower on nonstop.
Any comments ?
Any suggestions for cheapish improvement/ mods ? I am nearly 60 so not intrested in 'Boy racer' type stuff . Car already has the Subaru alloys on 15" wheels.

bigsinky

Hello and welcome to SN. cambelt will need to be changed,

Belt is about £100 so £160 is too cheap in my opinion best to allw for 200 - 250 quid.

Lights are crap no getting away from that. misting up all the time may indicate a leak inside the car somewhere.

scooby72

iTrader: (6)

Last time I had my Cam belt done it was £300 with an oil change - I supplied the oil.
1) the lights are really crappy on all the classics - you could try some better bulbs but not that much help or Bob sells HID kits on here (aztec performance) that would prob help. The best route seems to be retrofitting projectors from a merc into you original lights - there is a thread on here or you'll find it on one of the recent total impreza mags.
2)not sure on the misting - check the window seals on rear and windscreen.
You would do well to replace the standard 15" wheels with some 16s - a cat back exhaust. (I have a sensible backbox if youre in the market??) - cosworth or similar panel filter - and a good map to unleash a bit more potential -poss good places to start???

scooby72

iTrader: (6)

And prob everything bigsinky said! hahahaha!
Most of that you could do yourself though to keep the costs down Im sure!

Jolly Green Monster

iTrader: (4)

check the recirculate is not switched on the heater.. screen mists up lots if left on

Simon

Eddie51

Sorry ; at the risk of being branded an Ignorant B*stard what is a Map ( non ordinance survey) and a cat back exhaust ?
You are talking to a 60 year old scoobie-newbie here, my first car was a 1955 Austin Cambridge, followed by a Triumph Herald !!!! I'm still stuck in the 1970s car wise !!!!

bigsinky

eddie,
we are taking about the brain of the car the Electronic Control Unit (ECU). it keeps an eye on various parameters like air flow, fuelling, boost pressure, injector duty cycle and other things as well. the standard subaru brain can be tweaked here and there to allow for greater potential for horse power and torque, better cold start, better idle etc. when someone adds bits to their car like better cooling, better exhausts, bigger turbos, better cold air induction, these things affect how the cars runs to a greater or lesser extent. this is when the brain needs tweaked, so we pay someone who knows how to do this to get better performance from our cars.

the exhausts in subarus tend to be very restrictive to meet EU emmissions standards. people change the standard subaru exhaust for a more freer flowing unrestricted version which tends to make the car freer revving, sharper throttle resonse and has the added benefit of freeing up a few extra horsepower and torque. the subaru exhaust comes in 3 parts. downpipe, centre section and back box. they are also used to annoy the hell out of your neighbours either first thing in the morning or late at night.

scooby72

iTrader: (6)

He He - sorry - as he said. You can have the electronic brain changed to make the car perform in different ways depending on what you would like from your car. Mappers can change the way that different aspects of the car behave eg the fuelling system.

Going back to your lights issue - try a search on here for "what headlight bulbs" that should help a bit for now.

Not all the exhausts are loud but a good aftermarket exhaust will help your car expell the engine gassess more freely - as sinky said the original ones are fairly restrictive.

In my ignorance - Im not sure what an Austin Camebridge was???

[-(o)-]

iTrader: (1)

Welcome. Brave purchase if nothings been done for 3 years, but don't believe all the horror stories you'll read on here. Another vote here for the DIY route, they're surprisingly easy cars to work on - with the exception of spark plugs!

Lights - most sensible bet is better bulbs I've got Osram Nightbreakers which are good, Philips do one as well that gets very good reviews. I'm assuming you've got crystal headlights? Projectors of course are best but a lot of work. Avoid HID conversions.

Misting up - check the boot for water (wheel well and the wells behind the trim at the sides). Light clusters and the boot seal on wagons are common leaks. If the boots dry check fit of the windows on the door seals. Last on the list is check water isn't getting into the heater and if it is that its free to drain. Check inside the pollen filter hatch in the passenger foot well for this.

Mods - I'd recommend some tweaks in the anti-roll bar area for starters. From then its down the slippery slope.

scooby72

iTrader: (6)

A quick Side step - -(o)- - Whats the prob with the HID kits bud - Im really cheesed with my lights at the mo so want an improvement. The projector retro thing may happen the the future but I need some thing better quite quickly - are the Hid kits in a set of Crystall really bad???

DJ_Jon

iTrader: (7)

Eddie - congrats on your purchase.

Getting the cambelt done should be around £250

Headlights - some better bulbs, I would avoid HID kits, personally - they aren't legal for a start

If the car is a 1999 car then a remap would be a good place to start.

Eddie51

This is an Austin Cambridgehttp://www.sterlingauto.co.uk/images/portfolio/Austin_Cambridge_1.jpg
Mine was Grey,
Thanks for the help I'll look into getting it mapped

Eddie51

Sorry did'ht activate the linkhttp://www.sterlingauto.co.uk/images/portfolio/Austin_Cambridge_1.jpg

[-(o)-]

iTrader: (1)

Scooby72 - HIDs just magnify the light output, they don't aim it any better than the standard bulb. Yes they were bright on dip, but you get lots of scatter which, other road users aside, isn't great when you go past a sign post. Also the main beam was useless against a normal bulb as its the dipped beam just lifted up. And theres MOT time...

I'm waiting for projectors to become more available too, in the meantime go for some good uprated bulbs.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Eddie,

Can we just clarify what year of car this is? 2 easy ways of doing this first is that if the front brakes have subaru on them then they are the 4 pots, 2nd is if you open the bonnet the coil pack is offset to the right as you look in then its a phase 2 engine, if its in the middle then its a phase 1.5 engine, its just that the MY98 car is different to the MY99 car, the MY99 car has a mappable ecu (it means that a mapper can enhance or increase the performance of your car by around 50bhp with some nice modifications )

Oh, is this a turbo or a non turbo? forget the map if its a non turbo, though still a good service will not go amiss with it if its a turbo then the above counts for most things but seen its on 15 inch wheels so.....

Tony

richgreenscooby1

iTrader: (2)

One other thing the cambelt change depends alot on if your using genuine parts or not , a genuine belt is £98 and you mite need idler pullies etc , .
so the price will always vary alittle to a lot depending on where you go and how much parts you use .

Eddie51

Thanks for the help. Car was 1st reg on 6th June 1998 so I guess it'sthe MY98
Non turbo. The tyres are nearly new so I won't be getting new wheels until thet need replacement. Had a new middle and tail pipe for the MOT but just the standard ones.
I have got 2 Zenon bulbs for the headlights so they may make a difference.
The car is noticablely improved after the service, the engineer said that it looked as though the spark plugs were the original ones from new !! Even he said they are a b*stard to change.

richgreenscooby1

iTrader: (2)

they not that bad to do .

Eddie51

Any one know the part no of the correct belt I have found a site that sell Subaru parts at a good price but only by part no My Impreza is 1994cc Non turbo 1st Registered 5th January 1998 ( sorry the June date I mentioned was when it was sold to 1st owner, looks like the garage used it as a demo for 6 mths) reg R284 PHY

Aztec Performance Ltd

iTrader: (234)

Our SuperHIDs work very well in classic headlamps.

Comments from people that have actually used them: https://www.scoobynet.com/group-buys...group-buy.html

Except taking your headlamps apart and trying to fit projectors, a direct fit HID kit is the best solution.

I've used them on my classic for over 3 years