ccrien

Good on you Tony. Thanks for posting.

Belt will probably “look” fine but worth changing based on its age. Based on the low mileage, you should find the tensioner and idler bearings are still ok if they were changed last time so just a belt change - hopefully no need to buy and change the idlers/ tensioner? Its also a good time to drain and change the coolant if it hasnt been done in the meantime. Im planning similar with our cars - 5 years since last cambelt changes, forester will get done this year with only about 30 k miles on this current belt, impreza this year or maybe push to next year, since less than 15-20k on the current belt.

Assume it’s an auto box, and relatively few of those in the UK. Only common fault I’ve read/heard of on the 4 speed auto boxes is maybe the integral transfer boxes starting to go (vibrate / rattle etc ?) especially noticeable when reversing and turning at low speed. Making sure that all 4 tyres are matched up in terms of equal wear / rolling diameter and auto box oil changes as per spec. are the only obvious things I can suggest as preventive measures.

Bloody hell, insane clown ( the before pics I am referring to!!). Thats a lot of advanced corrosion ( meaning holes). Got my 2003 Forester due in October for its next MOT, keep thinking mine's got bad rust at the back, and each year is a bonus, but its probably got a few more left before it gets to your " before" state. Nice to hear what youre doing. Hope the after pics give me some inspiration. If using ipad, same as Tony says, " click to choose files" bottom left then straight to photo albums. There may be a limit to how many digital units ( dont know the proper technical word) you are allowed load but Im sure our old friend ScoobyFloz can fix that problem that if youve got too many!

Welcome bugeye-loc,. Silly question from me so i can also join in. Where are the pics taken,. Where are you based?

Do me a google translate please, you seem to be repeating yourself meister axelbach.

Mines an N/A,. 4 months on from the original post and hasnt reached 201000 yet, due to earlier lockdown. But a few bits of rust treatment around the back end and new header pipes and cat fitted in the meantime!

Welcome, lovely looking iconic version.

Crackng lookng car W5ray. And the spec sounds fantastic, not least the heated garage its kept in!

But dont tell, till were all sitting down!

You,ll get many opinions! economy option : Comma SX75/90 semi synthetic good mid - high price option: Motul gear 300 synthetic. ( also 75W/90) best advice is to change regularly and keep an eye on condition of what comes out and for anything more than a very thin slimy coating of grey matter on the magnetic plug.

Great tip, Just ordered myself some.

Great advice from Tony in both posts above! Reminds me of a few things: The best most appropriate phrase ever heard: "knowing when a seized / rusted bolt is about to snap comes with experience. Usually, thats from a lifetimes worth of experience of breaking things." I tried my electric impact socket wrench on the first bolt, thinking it would come out easily - - sheared the head straight off - don' t do it! you might be able to get a thin punch or drift in the back of the "straight through" hub threads to also tap the back of the bolts hard before trying to remove them? if you need to drill any snapped bolts out, try drilling from the back, if its a straight through thread. I got lucky and the drill just somehow bit and wound the remaining bit of bolt straight out in the direction it was meant to come out! Tony' s right though, about 2 in every 3 come out OK. best wishes for your restoration.

Cant match Tony's multiple cars, reg. numbers or action shots, so Ive gone for a different theme: ( remember in the olden days, there was something called " the great outdoors" ).

Cheers, And welcome back,. All healthy here for now but the cars are sitting doing little, apart from the battery charger top up every week and plenty washing and polishing. And the Forester is the only one thats gone to the shops over the last couple of weeks! Pics would be nice.