Vimmy Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Sadly to say that the trusty old wagon has gone to meet its maker. With the rust issues on all jacking points costing more than the car is worth to sell and rusty arches costing more and brake issues the hard decision was made to call it a day However I am the owner a shiny, almost new, MY1997 V3 Sti Type R, so it's not all bad Time to rip all my bits off the old car and reuse/sell the rest in pieces. Cheers, Col Link to comment
thebigfelly Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Shame to see it go but congrats on the new motor.. wheres the pics? you know the rules cmon!! Link to comment
johnmacdonald Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Good to see that you replaced with another Impreza. Done that five times since 1997! Link to comment
kaylz_555 Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Hope you've got deep pockets buddy, I hate people putting a downer on posts aswell but I really hope it all come together for you and it wasn't cheaper to keep the wagon Link to comment
lewisscoob Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Very sad news Colin, I know you loved the wag... Onwards and upwards for you I hope! Get some pics up now buddy! Link to comment
Vimmy Posted October 30, 2012 Author Share Posted October 30, 2012 Hi Guys and Galz, apologies for the delay busy day in work and then a busy night in training getting beaten up I didn't think I'd ever buy another Impreza again as the wagon was just running without issue, I don't dare think how longer the engine would have gone past 257,000 miles but I reckon it would have gone to 300,000. However its due, sadly, to be stripped and sold for bits to recoup the funds. The history is a bit scant to say the least, but it was too nice a car to give up, I'll take the huge risk that internally its ok, although I have heard one or two discerning things and want to be proven wrong. To drive though, the car seems a tad on the quick side, even just pulling away gently, not sure if its due to be a lighter car or short ratio gears but it puts the smile back on my face. Some of the old car will live on in this one, the wheels and whole exhaust sytsem has been swapped over, including new exhaust manifold. The modified sump with cosworth baffle was moved too, I wasn't spending shed loads on that part to have it rot away. All my gauges and sensors were taken off the old car along with a mass of earthing cables I put in. Time to restart the modding on what seems to be a virgin car I say virginal but i found it has an upgraded ignition system that the previous-previous owner had put it along with 8mm ht leads too. I know this works as I accidentally knocked off one of the ht leads and it decided my hand was a better earth return than the car was - laugh, i nearly sh1t myself Anyhoo, below are a coupe of piccies taken the day after I got it home, I would put more up now but its minging at the moment and that wouldn't do to show her off in a dirty state The good thing is with it being so stock is that all the prior testing on the blog i'd started can carry on as I want to test the effectiveness of things like turbo blankets and radiator top slam panels and side radiator panels and a whole bunch more. The down side is a had just finished fully painting a new JUN splitter and folding headlights which are on this car by default. I'd even made a controller box for the wing mirrors too, all other planned mods are pretty much now on hold, oh well.. Cheers, Col Link to comment
Vimmy Posted October 31, 2012 Author Share Posted October 31, 2012 (edited) Well just when you think buying cars can't get any more interesting, I have had confirmed that the engine block in the car may not have a full sti pedigree, time to go back to the seller and ask how so..... Edited October 31, 2012 by vimmy Link to comment
lewisscoob Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 What do you mean by full STI pedigree? Link to comment
Vimmy Posted October 31, 2012 Author Share Posted October 31, 2012 (edited) Yes mate, bought from Warren but via the CS books so there are a few routes to take. After having a good informative chat with Kaylz it comes to light that the seller had known that the engine block had blown and was rebuilt using unknown bits. It was alson known that a new sti block was used. Looking at the block now i can see that the head gaskets are rather shiny and there are lots of grey sealant bits holding other parts together. To me this says some form of rebuild has gone on, this I understand, but what I cannot accept as that when asked directly if the engine was the original block the answer came back yes, or at least to their knowledge that nothing had been done to it.... Things are progressing at the moment and being an optimistic guy hoping that a fix can be found ie replace the forged internals properly but discussions are under way. I'm off to another garage around the Shipston on stour area for a second opinion. No blame is being placed anywhere as I have trust in the team I have been with for a while now and loyalty works both ways....I'm hoping that people will do the right and honourable thing otherwise I may have to look at other places for my servicing needs. Hopefully this will be resolved.... Cheers, Col Edited October 31, 2012 by vimmy Link to comment
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