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OK so I sold (GAVE!!) my 54 plate Wagon to my son the other week. I've owned it for almost 15 years and instantly missed it.
I've always wanted a project but I couldn't bring myself to hack my own low mileage car about so I had a look round for a replacement that I wouldn't be as emotionally attached to.
I found a 2005 SL Wagon that looked OK but it had 155,000 miles on it so wasn't a lot of money. So I bought it but just left it sat outside until I could finish sorting my new garage out.
The aim is to strip it completely, cure or replace any rust pop a saloon front end on it and weld in saloon rear arches as well.
I don't want a black car so a colour change is on the cards. I LOVE Nardo Grey but everything seems to be bloody Nardo grey recently so might go for something else.
I'd love to put complete STi running gear and interior into it but finding a cheap enough and knackered enough STi is proving difficult to say the least. The parts prices from the breakers are also a bit prohibitive!
I've eventually been able to finish my garage this week (Used to be a snooker room) so after having the new car sat outside I brought it in and had a good look around it and I'm chuffed to bits.
It really is virtually rust free on the bodywork and on the underside, rear turrets look fine, radiator mount spot on but the front crash bar doesn't look great but I've not taken anything off it yet so can't see how bad it is.
Wheels are crap but hey who has standard wheels? Thinking about some Rota Force to replace them.
The interior isn't my bag really so I will probably sell it on. The rear seat don't look like they have ever been sat on!!
Front seats are also in excellent shape.
Engine bay looks pretty clean but I have a feeling that one of the rocker gaskets has gone but that isn't a big deal as I will be pulling the engine.
Seal on the sunroof needs to be replaced but I have a feeling I will have to get the full glass.
This is going to be a very slow process as I'm a busy guy and also volunteer for Blood Bikes so don't have masses of spare time.
First off is to get hold of a saloon front end and rear quarters.
Yeah, waited a long time to get one. With grown up kids we now have 6 cars and 2 motorbikes in the family fleet so it is so much easier to service them with the ramp.
Like many people on here I used to crawl around under cars on axle stands in the p@ssing rain and freezing cold. I had to have emergency back surgery a few years ago so I needed to make things easier (and the wife said I could ).
Very interesting project, I really like your garage and scissor ramp, are you satisfied with it?
At what height does it lift the car and is it OK to work underneath it being (I suppose) on your knees?
Very interesting project, I really like your garage and scissor ramp, are you satisfied with it?
At what height does it lift the car and is it OK to work underneath it being (I suppose) on your knees?
I have a little stool with wheels so at full height it is perfect under there on the stool.It does have bars that run across it though. It really does make jobs miles easier.
Been doing it a few years now. Getting out on the bike when the roads are empty is great as well as giving something back.
Its a crying shame what the trusts have done to you guys. All Tory hand outs to bezzy mates at the tax payers expense. While treating you guys like garbage. A mate of mine who works at the hospital was telling me what they did to you guys.
There was a forum member on here who did something similar with his, might be worth checking his project thread out. Might avoid some head scratching moments lol
Its a crying shame what the trusts have done to you guys. All Tory hand outs to bezzy mates at the tax payers expense. While treating you guys like garbage. A mate of mine who works at the hospital was telling me what they did to you guys.
There was a forum member on here who did something similar with his, might be worth checking his project thread out. Might avoid some head scratching moments lol
North West Blood Bikes is a charity Bud as are the other Blood Bike Charities throughout the country.
No-one gets paid, every single one of us is a volunteer so the Tories haven't done anything to us.
North West Blood Bikes is a charity Bud as are the other Blood Bike Charities throughout the country.
No-one gets paid, every single one of us is a volunteer so the Tories haven't done anything to us.
Sorry mate, didn't word that one well
I know you and all of the blood bikers are part of the charity and its brilliant the time and effort you guys put in
The Tory hand out I was talking about was the multi million pound contract given to a company who doesn't have the vehicles or resource to fulfil the contract in the slightest. Instead they have carried on letting the blood bikers do the work that the other company should have done. Where has that money gone.
Speaking with my mate he was saying that the idea from management was once the contract was done they were going to let you guys know that your services were no longer required. But the company never managed to fulfil from its side.
Couple of hours spare today so I thought that I would check out the worst rust areas properly, the sills and rear arches.
So off with the side skirts and the end caps at the rear.
Is it any wonder that these cars rust? All the mud in these pieces is pressed against the sills.
I took nearly 5kg of mud out of the two side skirts, end caps and from around the lip of the rear wheel arch.
Lovely mud.
More mud.
End caps cleaned and stored.
Both side skirts have one broken clip so I will repair those and stick them up for sale as I want the Hawkeye twisted side skirts.
5kg of mud.
Rear of the nearside sill is completely rust free
Rear of the offside sill isn't so good. Under the endcap there is a hole where the plastic fixing was and the underside rear has started to rust. However those are easy repairs.
There is also the start of some corrosion on the rear wheelarch but that will be chopped out when I put the saloon quarters on.
To be honest for a 15 year old car with 155,000 miles on it I was expecting worse.
Last edited by Davybull wrx; 24 October 2020 at 10:07 PM.
There was a forum member on here who did something similar with his, might be worth checking his project thread out. Might avoid some head scratching moments lol
Yep his name is Gary Peskett and I have read through his project. He has THE BEST looking wagon out there in my humble opinion.
Sorry mate, didn't word that one well
The Tory hand out I was talking about was the multi million pound contract given to a company who doesn't have the vehicles or resource to fulfil the contract in the slightest. Instead they have carried on letting the blood bikers do the work that the other company should have done. Where has that money gone.
Speaking with my mate he was saying that the idea from management was once the contract was done they were going to let you guys know that your services were no longer required. But the company never managed to fulfil from its side.
Oh yes I know what you are talking about now. It was the Warwickshire and Solihull group. There was a real fuss kicked up about it and yes the suspicion of a rather large back hander but that was not proved to be correct.
Originally Posted by NOSSY_89
On a different note your son looks well happy
My son doesn't want a mainstream car, he had a Daihatsu Copen but the turbo blew on it the day he graduated from Uni this year. We looked at it but it was an absolute b@stard to work on and the body was rotten. We thought about breaking it but someone bought it as a whole.
Last edited by Davybull wrx; 24 October 2020 at 10:11 PM.
Good project the car looks clean apart from the mud build up , i also like your ramp will it take your 110 tho
Not tried the defender on there. Should be OK as the kerb weight of the 110 is about 2000kg. Couple of problems though, it is on raised suspension and there isn't a huge amount of height in the garage. I can raise the impreza to full height but there is only 6" space above it.
Last edited by Davybull wrx; 01 November 2020 at 10:33 PM.
Been away for a week so no progress.
Got back this afternoon so stripped off the back bumper.
Plenty of broken and missing clips to sort out. I'll have to order some bulk packs, plenty of companies out there do them.
The two brackets under the lights and the centre bracket have had it so will have to be replaced with new. I'll have to remove the main bumper mounting beam and have a good look at it. I think that can be saved.
I wanted to remove the rear quarter trim but I've got a bad back and was struggling so I called it a day.
Pulled the jack from the compartment in the side panel. 15 year old car and the jack is brand new. Even the threads are shiny.
Mad busy at work this week. One member of staff off with Covid so I will be doing his job as well as mine. I will try and get the rest of the rear trim stripped out at some point. We also maybe closing for the second lockdown so I'll have loads of time to plod on.
Rest of the rear trim and rear seats stripped out now. Glad to say that the rear arches are generally in good nick but they have started to rot so I'm glad I checked. I had a good poke about but no major repairs needed there is just a bit of surface rust to wire brush and treat.
Some metal has disappeared from the back of the rear wheel arches but if you look at the mud that was stuck there it isn't a surprise! Off side is worse. Only a small job to replace it thankfully.
OK this is where I need to make a decision.
My plan originally was to buy a cheap STi and transfer front end, rear doors and rear quarter panels, engine, gearbox, suspension and pretty much everything else over into the Wagon to make what is essentially an STi Wagon.
I came across a cheap 2005 UK widetrack totally standard car. I thought it would have a number of issues at the price that was being asked for it but I spoke to the guy selling it and he seemed genuine enough so I bought it sight unseen!
It is now at home and after a quick test drive I now have an idea of what needs doing to it. Needs a new clutch, starter motor sticking, bit of a clonk on the rear suspension but mechanically that is about it. Timing belt is due and it needs a bloody good service.
However, although it looks nice the front end bodywork is rotten. I've not had a chance to check out the rear arches properly yet but I think they are probably going to be pretty rotten as well.
However I have to admit that it is better than I expected. I was expecting to buy a much worse car to transfer into the wagon.
Now, my predicament is do I do the swap into the wagon or do I keep the car whole and buy in the parts separately for the wagon and keep the STi for a future project?
I know that the head should say keep the STi and restore it and it will go up in value but the heart says do the swap and sod the financial suicide.
Last edited by Davybull wrx; 04 November 2020 at 08:42 PM.
It is only part stripped yet and I'm running out of room!
I need to be able to get my bike in and out of the garage easily. It's a big bugger and takes up a chunk of garage space.
Something else in bits today new rear tyre ordered.
Thats a tough one mate. Buying all the bits separately will add up very very quickly. However the price of a wide track is rising quick and they are getting thin on the ground too.
Bit more progress on the interior today. Headliner, centre console, lower dash and carpets are out.
I need to take a video of the engine running before I do much more as it's being sold.
I'll get that done and then take out the radio and the parrot thing which will be for sale as well.
Then the front bodywork after that.
Good morning pottering today.
Rest of the centre console removed. Everything being labeled.
Wings, arch liners and bonnet removed.
Had my first snapped bolt at the bottom of the offside wing so that will have to be sorted, I've tried and the bugger just isn't coming out. I'll wait until I can lift the car to full height when I've shifted all the stuff being stored on the roof!
More ****e came out of the bottoms of the front wings.
Once they were off I've found that the 'U' frame is probably knackered and there are a couple of small holes that need to be repaired. Apart from that the bottoms of the 'A' pillars are sound and only a bit of surface rust elsewhere.
Poor thing looking a bit sorry for itself.
I need to do a tidy up now and get some of the parts stored away. Got know where I'm going to put it all.
Whipped the undertrays and the U Frame off this evening.
I thought the U Frame might be OK but it is rotten inside so will have to be replaced.
The bolts needed some persuasion to get loose!
22 October 2020, 06:03 PM
2005 Wide Body Wagon.
).
