Hello all,

I've been busy restoring a P1, time has not been to kind to the classic Impreza whilst correcting the std rear strut tower corrosion I set about a full nut and bolt restoration of the car... feel free to browse the progress so far. I had uploaded to the P1 specific site but you have to be a member to view.

Restoration shots

http://s1383.photobucket.com/user/m3_stu/profile/








































The shell arrives early in Jan so will post more progress as it happens...

Thanks

Stu

 

Fair play mate, looking good so far, love these restoration threads, makes a refreshing change to the chasing big bhp numbers projects!!!

 

Simply epic!!

 

Echoing the above, well done! Did you do all the work yourself?

 

Thanks- Pretty much apart from the re-spray, plating and powder coat.

Its taken about 12 months of odd days and weekends!

 

Dude thats awesome!!

I know your just outside but check out somerset scoobys on facebook. good owners club!

 

Top work buddy. I seriously much prefer to see Classics being restored/maintained than turned into monsters!

Without folk like you they won't be around for much longer!

Lee

 

That's serious work for sure very commited indeed

 

That's amazing, good work. I'd love to do something like that soon.

 

Do both I have, best of both worlds
OP great work, I look forward to seeing more of this.
I've gotta agree with lee it's nice seeing these cars get restored

Joe

 

To true, problem is with the big bhp tuned cars, when the owners get bored they get stripped for parts as there worth more in bits, and the shells are pretty much worth sod all in some cases, at least with restored impreza's they should be good for another 10-15 years.

 

Thanks for all the replies, have pulled some info from the other Forums that may be useful…

The corrosion issue on these cars-

Corrosion was starting to form on the inner and outer rear ¼. Sound repairs are possible but for longevity both rear quarters have been replaced and the inner wheel arch on both sides- there is now zero corrosion in the chassis. The corrosion actually starts in the strut tower. For me the rear top mount needs a gasket this will prevent the chassis and top mount from fretting which will lead to corrosion. The corrosion then tracks down to the 3 layers of panel that form the rear ¼ inner section / strut tower. It then eats through this area (where you cant see) and then lets water run into the boot and forward sill section so its an inside to out process. Strut towers were shotblasted to bare metal, treated and protected with epoxy mastic, thoroughly seam sealed etc.

The new outer wheel arch sections were from Subaru USA (Removed from larger panel). The interface between 1/4 and outer wheel arch will be bonded with Aviation adhesive- spot welding (factory spec) is not the best for corrosion prevention) Nor is the lack of cavity wax from new! This process is now common place for auto repair. Once painted the seams and shuts will be treated with wax...

The rear 1/4's were direct from IM in Birmingham but were shipped in from Japan they are still available or at least they were a few months ago- about £500 a side. I wasn't comfortable with a repair to the rear 1/4 it's a long way to go to strip it for paint and considering the price of a repaint it was worth the cost and I dont want to do it all again in a few years time!

I also sourced a set of genuine front fenders as they can start to crack where the bumper mounts to them...

To answer a few questions on suppliers-

Plating- EC Williams in Birmingham (all parts stripped / shot blasted prior to arrival)

Powder coating / shotblasting of chassis components carried out at CFI in Banbury

Paint work will be in the skilled hands of Lee at BP Motors in Cheltenham

Various Genuine Subaru parts from Crossroads Subaru near Banbury and from Luke at ICP (Import car parts)

Various other parts (Starter, Alternator, Brakes etc from Gary at Frenco’s parts suppliers in Banbury.

All of the genuine STi bushes came from Dave at Rallispec in the USA the gasket set from them is also considerably cheaper than I could find in the UK.

 

Awesome mate

 

Last few bits going together, other photos can be found here-

http://s1383.photobucket.com/user/m3_stu/library/

 

Simply stunning Stu. Great work mate, great work.

 

Can't wait to see it go together looks brilliant. Well done mate

 

Wow credit to you mate top work

Ryan

 

Subscribed

Keep the photos coming, looks like an awsome project.

Adam.

 

Truly awesome......

Subscribed

 

I can't get over this build. It's going to look even better than when it left the showroom! I wish i can do this with my p1

 

Wow

 

Hope he's got a good mate for the powder coating and plating... wow...

I want to do this with my type r.. lol

 

Trust seems a bit expensive lol.





How much did the zinc plating cost mate for evrything?

 

It ain't cheap I know that lol

 

Lol hmm. My engine will be out next 2 weeks for a 2.1 so i'm thinking maybe just do the engine bay for now..

 

I'm just doing bits and bobs for the blob atm type r project won't start til it's back from paint til end of feb but it will all be done lol

 

Credit to your commitment and attention to detail .

 

It's about £350 for everything you see in the photo, the price goes up as there are 2 processes either steel parts or cast (uprights / callipers etc).

Also the larger parts have to be hung in the solution so you end up needing quite a few batch runs. A bucket full of bolts is about £60 though.

I would recommend shot-blasting first or floating the rust off the parts using electrolysis (battery / washing powder and a piece of scrap metal)

Cheers

 

m3 stu
You have just been promoted I to the top ten league of great threads with the likes of silver sport ,joe and john Mc and fraze

Great work there
Zinc plating talk me through as I'm a non techie
Are they all the orginal parts which ate then shot blasted them sprayed ?
2015 sees my Greenwagon going down the same route and I was getting by big bits powder coated ( lime green ) as I like garish colours
Are all the nuts and bolts new from Subaru or do you match them up at an ironmongery or are all the old bolts treated ?
Another fan of these renovation threads as there is not many classics left
I took mine out today for the first time in weeks and it certantly turned heads as rarety value compared to 7/10/14 years when loads of people had them

 

this floating technique
What is it rather then spend hours woth wire wool /wet and dry amd wire brushes ?