2005 WRX PPP Wagon and how I came to be here.
 

Hello.
My name is Stuart, and this is how I got here.
I’ve always liked fast cars. Back in the summer of 2015, I was very happy with my car. I had a low mileage 2006 Mondeo ST220, lightly modified, with a stainless cat back exhaust, panel filter, remap and braided steel brake hoses. It was comfy, quick enough, made a fantastic noise and easy to drive rapidly, even with my family on board. I really liked this car; it was always maintained with no expense spared. I decided to treat it to a “carbon clean” treatment as it was relatively inexpensive and I’d heard some good things about it. Sadly, 27 minutes into the treatment my car started to make a horrible rattle from the rear/underside of the car and run very rough. I guessed (and the guy from carbon clean agreed) that the rear cat had probably collapsed, rattling and blocking the exhaust.
I was very, very annoyed at this. Although it did mean potentially I could look at getting some 200 cell cats fitted. So I took it to my local garage for an assessment.
It wasn’t the Cat.
The crank bearings had failed in a big way. There were shredded bits of metal all through the engine. The Car was a total write off, as the cost of a new engine and fitting would be more than it was worth. So my car was put on the bay and sold for spares.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...17d76ce757.jpg


So now I needed a new motor and quickly. I needed to try and beat the “Pick any two from quick, fast and reliable” conundrum. Plus I needed something that could carry my young family and associated luggage around. We’ve only got one car in my family so I needed something that could do everything.
As I’m posting on scoobynet you can probably guess what happened next.
I found This:


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...13617ac743.jpg

Lowish miles. Perfect service history, with a huge folder documenting everything spent on it for the last 10 years. PPP and uprated Kenwood head unit/DVD player fitted when new, decent price, new 18” PFF7 wheels and Goodyear eagle F1 tyres.
Now I’m pretty good at buying cars for other people. I know a bit about cars, I do my research, and I’m thorough. However, when I buy cars for me my brain cuts out all the rational stuff and goes “Shiny! Fast!” So I missed a heap of obvious stuff. Broken Fog light, discoloured headlight, collapsing bonnet liner.
So, I bought it. I got the car home and a few weeks later was thinking I’d made a terrible, expensive mistake. The ride was so hard and noisy it was making my wife and children ill. The crashing over potholes was shaking my teeth out. The brakes were binding and above 4000 RPM the car had no power. Plus the clutch pedal was so heavy it was a major pain in traffic. The air conditioning just misted up the car. The interior is basic in the extreme. I was kicking myself, thinking I should have paid extra and got a Legacy b Spec R. Or even an Octavia VRS.
But I didn’t have the money to chop the car again. So I spoke to some other owners, stopped moping about and got to work. First job was to change the wheels for something smaller (it would be cheaper than replacing the suspension). I found a great pair of 5x100 PCD gold STi wheels a mere 2 hour drive away, then sold the PFF7s and made some money back in the process.
The difference was fantastic. Suddenly the ride was hugely more compliant. No more crashing over potholes and deafening tyre roar. I don’t know if the offset if different between the wheels, but the car was also much, much more nimble. And I prefer the look of gold wheels. Plus it meant the suspension could wait.
I replaced the discoloured headlight, the broken fog light, bonnet liner, car mats and boot carpet.
That left the brakes and power output to fix. I started with the brakes, thinking a quick strip, clean and re-grease would sort them.
It didn’t. They were almost rusted solid. And because they were binding the discs were starting to break up. So now (thanks to Barry’s Garage in Cambridge, they are not Subaru specialists, but extremely good, reliable, and honest) I’ve got two re-conditioned callipers on the front, and braided hoses all round, plus new discs and pads. The pads are all EBC ultimax2 and the pads are mintex. While the car was in the garage I also had a braided clutch hose fitted.
As with the wheels the change has been brilliant, the brakes are fantastic, and the clutch much smoother and lighter. I realise the improvement in the clutch may have been down to simply stripping and re-greasing.
Now just the lack of power and dodgy air-conditioning to sort out.
Having to sort out the brakes had wiped out a big chunk of my bank account, so I couldn’t afford professional help. I started reading the forums here and got some excellent pointers.
First off I replaced the air filter with a K&N panel. The old one looked like it had never been cleaned or replaced, which made me suspicious of how the car had been treated, despite the history file, so I also changed the oil, oil filter and spark plus (to be fair the plugs weren’t in bad condition). None of this this made no discernible difference to the power.
So I took out the MAF, which was utterly filthy, and gave it a good blast with contact cleaner. Next I took off the turbo boost solenoid and gave that a good blast with the contact cleaner. This made a small amount of difference, but not much. Possibly the throttle was a bit more responsive. I went back and did some more reading and found out about the “Green contacts under the steering column” aspect to cleaning the boost solenoid. I re-cleaned the solenoid and the pipes around it, was amazed at the amount of crap that come out, and now the power is back! If you’ve never cleaned your boost solenoid then do it this weekend. It’s very easy and the difference it can make is huge.
Now the car is quieter, smoother, more powerful, stops better and easier to drive. I think just using the air-conditioning and heaters has sorted out the misting up problems.
And now I seriously love this car. I love the noise the engine makes, the power, the handling, and the looks. The more I use it the more I love the interior. It may not have many gadgets, but everything works perfectly and despite having the messiest children in the world it cleans up beautifully. I love how easy it is to work on (especially compared to my mondeo). But most of all I’ve enjoyed becoming part community that come with owning one. The support from people on here, from other owners at work and random people at various events has been fantastic.
So, now it’s a question of what to do next. At low speed there is a clonking noise, which I think/hope is the drop links not moving smoothly on the ARB. So In the next few weeks I’ll replace those with meyle OEM units. The ARBs themselves are quite corroded so may also need replacing. In the next six months I’ll look to replace the suspension. Most thing I’ve done so far have been with OEM parts, so I’ll probably go for KYB excel-g shocks and possibly some PCA dynamics springs for a subtle lowering without ruining the ride. After that it’ll be the engine. It’s a 10 year old car with standard internals so I’m not going for mega power. So at the moment I think an STI intercooler to match the STI scoop and under tray, plus a Walbro fuel pump, then a trip to Zen Performance for a subtle re-map. After that I’ll have a look at tarting it up a bit. So, repaint the callipers, sort out a couple of stone chips and parking dings and replace the horns with hellas, as the standards have to be the weediest on any car I’ve ever drive. And some new speakers.
This is, of course, assuming nothing major goes wrong which sucks up all my cash…
And I’m definitely not letting Carbon Clean near it.


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...1867b1093b.jpg

welcome! nice car

Thank you. I've been lurking for a while but I thought it was time to join in.

I probably would have sold the car on but fair play to you for having the patience and getting it sorted.

That would have meant. A) Admitting I got it wrong and B) Another pile of cash I didn't have.
If changing the wheels hadn't made such a difference then I probably would have given up and gone for the cheap+reliable. And resented it.

think i saw this car for sale and was tempted by it, It wouldnt of put me off to be honest mostly serviceable parts

My clutch pedal is also pretty heavy... what stripping down and regreasing did you have done?

Very true. So far I've not found any problems with any of the big stuff. And if the low speed clunking is the arb/droplinks then that also won't break the bank. They're 10 years old so probably need replacing anyway. But if not then potentially I think I'm looking at new suspension or cv joints.

Hello. Had the pedal assembly out, and moving parts greased. Changed the fluid, bled the system and a braided hose fitted. All done by Barrys garage in Cambridge as to be honest that's beyond my technical ability!

Always good to see another wagon ;)

Right then, new meyle drop links, front and rear subaru ARBs and superpro poly bushes ordered. All I need now is some decent dry weather so i can fit them!

Ps
 

Anyone know what size bolts are needed to fir the drop links? Mine are rusted solid.

Do the new drop-links not come with bolts?

Front droplinks the "bolts" should be part of the droplink.

Rears should come with replacement nut/bolts.

The fronts currently have this kind of 8 shape plastic link (see below), rather than the type that have bolts as part of them:
So I've gone for direct replacements for what is already there. But I'll check if these do come with bolts.

http://www.micksgarage.com/proddetails.aspx?pid=1720849

This is what's on the car at the moment.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...db76b4163.jpeg

Should come with bolts. I have some unopened Whitening ones at home so can let you know on Friday. Or look on their website for KLC30 and it should say what size the bolts are.

Thanks for the offer, I appreciate it. I'll message you either way once they turn up.

Bu33er
 

No nuts, bolts or washers supplied with meyle kits. Something to remember if you're planning on changin your drop links!

2 x M10 high tensile bolts
2 x M8 high tensile bolts
2 x M10 nyloc nuts
2 x M8 flange nuts
2 x M10 * 32mm washers (large)
2 x M10 * 22mm washers (small)
2 x M8 washers

Thank you!
 

Thanks for that! Sorry to keep asking questions but that the kit list for the front or rear?

I'll be watching this thread with a keen eye as I too have just purchased an 05 black wagon... bit of a story behind it which I might bore you guys with in a different post but I'm doing a few servicing bits and will definitely check out that turbo boost solenoid thing you mentioned (although my car doesn't seem down on power tbh) thanks for the heads up

Congratulations on your purchase! I hope enjoy it. I'd really recommend the boost valve and maf cleaning, it only takes 15 minutes (max), even for someone as technically incompetent as me.
Anyway I had a crawl under the car today and the drop link bolts are about 55mm. But I don't think longer bolts will catch on anything. So time to order some nuts and bolts and hope it stops raining.

Same spec as mines, had mines 3 years now and still love driving it �� Although I miss driving mines at the moment as its having some major work.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...8e9254180.jpeg

These wagons are great cars. I drove mine home after bonfire night, cross country on new roads (laid for the tour de France when it was in essex) late in the evening with no one else around. It was fun. I almost turned round and went back just for the drive.
So if it's not raining next weekend and all the parts are delivered I'll have a go at the drop links and arb's. There is a rattle at low speed over bumpy ground and I hope this will cure it.

Ps. I'd love to hear what you're having done to yours. ..

It stopped raining so it thought I'd have a go at the ARBs, drop links and bushes. And I've learned some lessons which are probably obvious to everyone else here but I thought I'd share.
1. Don't rely on your 8 year old son for directions when backing onto ramps.
2. Make sure your ramps can fit under the car. I bought mine from a land rover fan and they're way to steep to get under the front. So I've only been able to do the back.
3. Getting the rear arb out is a fiddly pain in the backside.

Apart from that is was a pretty easy job. Now I need to get some ramp extenders and I'll do the front.

Or, just jack it up and stick it on axle stands. :thumb:

Right, just bought a new de-cat up pipe off the bay for the princely sum of 10.50 plus postage. I've no idea of the make, if it will fit, how to fit it, if it will mean my car fails it's mot, or if my car will need a remap afterwards. But it's nice and shiny.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...b649b2376c.jpg


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...ebad4ab722.jpg

For info here's mine with Exel G's and PCA's fitted, really impressive setup so far.

Attachment 40128

You'll be fine passing an MOT with the up pipe, the only cat I have is a sport cat downpipe and it passes.

Are you fitting an adjustable rear ARB or just changing the bushes?