Restore Or Modify ?

[~ ~ Cal ~~]

It's occurred to me the all Scoobs are soon to be pretty rare........

1993 classics are now like 16 years old.....

When do you think we'll all start talking about restoration rather then modifying ?

My old boy used to own old MG's, Lotii Elans, Mini's, Scimitars etc and he basically restored them all and drove them as they ought to be driven.

Question is :-

When will we slide into the pipe and slippers phase and old be like auld badgers at an auto mobile club ? A concours competition, a picnic and them some pimms.

OR will we still all be belting round KH and trying to get 2000 bhp out of these beauties.

I ask this question as I am slowly modding but also doing a lot of preventative maintenance and replace dubious bumpers, re-spraying sections and rust proofing right now.

It's basically future proofing.

I notice guys like Arch spend a lot of time scrubbing and undersealing etc.

Cheers

Aristotle

[C_WRX]

Have to admit Cal I have thought in years to come will I just keep buying modern or at some point will I have that 2nd fair weather car that never leaves the garage and is just lovingly restored....hang on that's the Scoob at the moment and getting it to the way it should have been !!

Technically, with the classic scoobs more so, is it not a little bit of restoring and modifying at the same time ?? Why have chocolate Subaru OEM suspension when you can get much better more reliable aftermarket kit !

[JohnSt]

I notice guys like Arch spend a lot of time scrubbing and undersealing etc.

He does that so it'll look good when flips it on its Lid

[dan_jess]

Ive often wondered this aswell. My uncle has had around 15 mk2 escorts over the years, when we go to shows he often says "i had one like that" or the usual "i wish i had kept that one, look at the price of them now".

I wonder how many of us will be saying things like that in years to come.

[cusco kid]

It's occurred to me the all Scoobs are soon to be pretty rare........

1993 classics are now like 16 years old.....

When do you think we'll all start talking about restoration rather then modifying ?

My old boy used to own old MG's, Lotii Elans, Mini's, Scimitars etc and he basically restored them all and drove them as they ought to be driven.

Question is :-

When will we slide into the pipe and slippers phase and old be like auld badgers at an auto mobile club ? A concours competition, a picnic and them some pimms.

OR will we still all be belting round KH and trying to get 2000 bhp out of these beauties.

I ask this question as I am slowly modding but also doing a lot of preventative maintenance and replace dubious bumpers, re-spraying sections and rust proofing right now.

It's basically future proofing.

I notice guys like Arch spend a lot of time scrubbing and undersealing etc.

Cheers

Aristotle

cal if you are going to restore a car dont use underseal m8 .wax the car .underseal allows water under it and then it falls off and you got problems

i always coat and inject my cars with merc wax inc driveshafts, hubs, struts, brake pipes etc

one of my old cars a seat now 7 years old, that i still see every year for mot and checkover is like new underneath mot guy says he cant believe how good it looks for its age

cheers geo

[colin_ross]

Have a look at mkI and mkII escorts. Some restore them to look as if they've just had the wrapper pulled off them, some are modded to the hilt with dba's or cossie motors. All of them are sought after and command a premium (as long as they are 2 door).

There is room for both and the owners preference will dictate what becomes of the car. Keep it clean and straight and you can't go wrong.

[craigdmcd]

Have a look at mkI and mkII escorts. Some restore them to look as if they've just had the wrapper pulled off them, some are modded to the hilt with dba's or cossie motors. All of them are sought after and command a premium (as long as they are 2 door).

Do they have really big brakes or do you mean BDA's

[jodie typeRA]

am sorta doing it now, ive got a mk2 golf gti 1989 plate ...its got wee bits of rust hear and there (it is lighter than carbon fiber though ), ive just put a new subfram,ARB,droplinks,front&back bumper, underseald ect ect ect,next is 2 front wings ,2doors,1 bootlid,1 bonnet, then spayed in flatblack rattle cans old skool dont you just love it ,,,5 more years and no more road tax ......she will never be worth a mint, but the way the market is going shes worth more than some scoobs ......if i had somewhere to keep her she would get a full stripdown& rebuild but thats not going to happen ,,

would i restore a subaru? yeh for sure i would ..but i would rather restore a mk1/2 golf /camper/mk2 escort/ mk1 astra/cav turbo.. and keep the subaru for modding/ belting it about knockers,,,i dont know why i would pick those cars ,maybe because thats the cars i grew up with and have a soft spot for. and i dont see subarus as old cars yet (even though some are)...

give it time and am sure there will be a Scottish Classic Subaru Owners Classic Club (SCSOCC)

Edited March 5, 2009 by jodie typeRA

[arch]

He does that so it'll look good when flips it on its Lid

Fud just coz mine is shiny under neath and ur fat boy isnt

[~ ~ Cal ~~]

Cheers Geo - I may quiz you more about this. I have not done anything underneath as yet ( other than spray waxoil on a few small vulnerable spots) Shall wait for the summer and get it on a ramp again for some TLC.

Arch - what was the name of that paint you used again - seemed to be good stuff ( unless you got it on yer coupon !)

Jodie - cannot beat old skool. In my teen years I had many favourites but Colin McCrae obviously got me hooked

Has anyone got anymore tips in keeping the engine bay in good nick ? I may install a reverse FMIC scoop because i get some water ingress at the moment because of the FMIC install. The cold air is welcome but not at the expense of corrosion. Do you guys ever replaces bushes and the like frequently ? I am also keen to replace all OEM bolts that are not in tip-top condition. I may go bonkers with powder coating at some point too.

See you all in 15 years when a Type R gear box in good nick with DCCD etc shall be worth about £10K !

CGS

Edited March 6, 2009 by ~ ~ Cal ~~

[neill54]

my wrx is 17 this year and still feels good to drive etc it does need some cosmetic surgery soon and the odd bush nut bolt and washer changed but i love it ill post a wee pic of it. it certainly doesn't look 17

neil

[dipsy]

You lot will be going on Antique roadshow with them next

[craigdmcd]

My Legacy RS was made 20 years ago, and I'm trying to do subtle mods so as not to change the look too much, but am trying hard to get it looking good again and keep it corrosion free.

And if we are looking for cars that are going to remind us of the good 'ole days, then classic Scoobs give us no better memories of Messers McRae and Burns (unless you count a barrel rolling Focus!)

[paddy247]

Good question this one, id imagine in a few years it will be hard to get an early unmodified classic impreza, so if u have a good one it might be worth keeping it that way, Personally id like to have a standard, concours series mcrae in my garage.

With plenty fresh imports of the early versions available at the moment we havent really had to consider restoring rusty old shells as most of these cars as a good as some 2-3 year old uk cars, however some of the early uk cars are showing signs of corrosion, its probally about the time to start on the upkeep of special edition such as the mcrae, terzo, ect, ect,

And like has been said on this post already, standard and restored or modified and restored! as long as its done right you cant go wrong.

cheers

Paddy

[Scuba]

my wrx is 17 this year and still feels good to drive etc it does need some cosmetic surgery soon and the odd bush nut bolt and washer changed but i love it ill post a wee pic of it. it certainly doesn't look 17

neil

c'mon then where's the pics?

[iainc]

ive got a mk2 golf gti 1989 plate

<snip>

,,,5 more years and no more road tax ......

If only that were the case... dunno why the introduced the "over 25yo" rule and then froze it at 1973...