Ed's P1 Impreza

[mtb_ed]

September 2013

So on the 7th September I collected my long awaited first Subaru P1 No 390.

My cousin had owned it after purchasing in 2007 from Research Subaru @ Nuneaton. In the last 6 years it has only done 21k and to be honest in the last 2 year it's not even done 200 of them.

I'm led to believe the car has been through RCM at some point but would like to chase the leads on that.

I bought it with the intention to restore the car to its former glory, thus keeping the car standard and any upgrades being within manufacture options at time of purchase.

This car was crusty green when I collected it, which apart from the front splitter peeling looks great after a wash.

On the day of collection it had 77,777miles on the clock and my friend Craig carried out a service, changing the engine oil, cambelt and tensioners, water pump and modified oil pump.

I didn't want to spend too much on the car before finding out any underlining issues so since then I have been filling up on Shell V-Power and clocking up the miles.

The brakes came back after running them hard to free them up but require a overhaul which I am in the process of collecting the pieces. I have collected a Alcon Caliper kit from KrissyB with thanks to him and Paul. The discs have been skimmed and calipers may even get a fresh coat.

May go for the rear 2 pot conversion for the rears but unsure as trying to stay standard but safety first.

Pictures to follow I'm useless.

Current Plans:

Brakes Overhaul
Restore to original Spot lamps
Park up for winter
Refurbish Alloy wheels

Future Plans

Strip to bareshell and repaint
Powdercoat
Rebuild

The car has been in the garage and had the chance to take it out for a drive this morning. After which I dropped it for a local Valet and here are the results.

Didn't pick up till 3pm so starting to get dusk so bad light pictures. If dry tomorrow I'll try and take some more.

As for the paintwork of the car I really thought it would need a respray, but it looks good.

Sourced a genuine spotlights.

Enjoy:

[mtb_ed]

October 2013

Big morning today!

1. Fit new radiator thanks to As Performace!
2. Fit Alcons upfront with nicely skimmed discs thanks to Krissyb
3. Fit 2 pot conversion at back thanks to Scooby Leicester.
4. Fit Braided hoses and change fluid.
5. New rear diff plate gasket and fluid change.
6. Bleed clutch and fit braided hose.

Before



Oh Dear



Really



Oh Yes



Finished



Rears Before



Oh Yes



Finished



Then the radiator went on.

Before



After



Then we bleed the Clutch, which has proved I need a new Slave Cylinder. So more shopping.

Wheels Next! Might be going silver!

I received a parcel yesterday too.

So after a little trip to RCM, which turned out to be well worth the trip.

A couple of hours later and:



The standard returns with a replacement centre section and Stamped Backbox.

Also bled the clutch, dropped the gearbox oil and Diff oil, which both looked brand new and very clean which is good news.

Whilst out I missed Postman Pat who left me a note to say my standard spot lights, brackets and covers are awaiting fitment.

Next on the list:

1. Fit Defi's
2. Refurbish Alloys and new wheel nuts.
3. Get the front splitter painted.
4. Source a cheap Standard intercooler without bent fins.
5. Order wing badge to replace missing one.

[mtb_ed]

February:

MOT time, passed with no advisories. Mileage was interesting! 314 miles between 2011-2013.



Also dropped my recent 18" wheels off for their refurb

Anthracite here we come!





Also Thanks to Shaky for the tyres! Yes Hankook V12's.

[mtb_ed]

February:

I like the postman, Wheels should be here Saturday! Canny Wait!

[mtb_ed]

February:

So had a Wheely good morning! I went and had my wheels fitted after a Refurb.

Before



After



Before



After



Close up's!









Don't forget the Rays!

[mtb_ed]

March:

So bumper removed last night revealed this!



Looks worse than it is. More surface rust, but ordered a new bumper bar.

Dropped the bumper off for it's makeover, should be done for tuesday.



Also dropped off the spot light brackets, Cover bracket and backing plates to be "Powder Coated"!

Then a small visit to Subaru for some clips etc.

All in all an expensive day, but worth it!

So the misses begged me to finally put a washing line up. So I did and quickly put it to the test.



Painted and fitted!



Powder coats rang to say my bit were ready for collection. Bumper ready Wednesday all being well.

Also Mike @ RCM called to say my hoses for the intercooler had arrived!

Might get the gauges fitted before the 12th after all!
Did someone say Powder Coating?

[mtb_ed]

March:

What difference an hour makes!

Before:



During:



After:



And yes Samco have put the logo's on the wrong side to the turbo as well as the inlet to intercooler logo came maked. Rcm are sorting that out!

But an improvement all the same with the refurbed intercooler. Thanks Belly.

Fitted Oil temperature sense above 3rd cylinder whilst intercooler was off ready for project gauges.

Bumper collected!

Looks amazing, Fitting after work.



So fitted the bumper, Finished in the dark so awaited daylight for some pictures. Had a day with the family but dropped the car at a mates for a spruce.

Quick picture but bad light.



Afterwards I pulled onto my drive a little quick and have scratched the underneath already. ****, ****, Ass, Doh! 18hrs must be a record. Wouldn't mind but can't have more than a 2% incline.

The boss inspecting for damage.



A little closer.



Will try and get some sunshine pictures tomorrow, if she lets me out!

Covers ready

[mtb_ed]

April:

So some may already know but after a great meet at RCM on Saturday I travelled home via M69 and when I got to M21a I pulled over as I noticed a noise under load. I pulled over and popped the bonnet.

With a blip of the throttle to me disbelieve you could hear a big end had given up! I made the decision right or wrong to get the car home if she held together. So I joined the M1 sat behind a lorry for 15 miles and reversed the old girl into the garage. Gutted but more annoyed as I've just got the car to where I want it to enjoy over the summer months and drive the damn thing.

Glad I didn't go to prodrive after the meet, that would have ended in a disaster and an interesting trip home behind a Rac van! Missed out for sure though.

So here's my options. Bearing in mind I'm aiming to keep the car standard but a remap to maximise the cars potential and correct engine running will be done.

1. Mate has a 60k P1 engine I can swap along with some cash as he's a breaker and will sell the good bits left.

2. Second hand Sti V7/8 bottom end and do piston rings and bearings before fitting.

3. ICP brand new out the crate Sti V7/8 bottom end via Subaru £2000!

3. Fully forge my bottom end if the blocks ok! (More than what I can afford but future proof)

4. Full Advance Automotive build with SCB. (Will mean divorce and probably the car off the road for rest of the year to save.)

So the last few days have been tough! My mind has been running around to one point breaking my car was an option as I didn't want to spend 4k on my perfect build making my car owe me more than its worth. Everything I didn't want this car to be.

To say the least I've seen the light after loosing the love even after a great meet.

I am awaiting a quote from RCM for a rebuild using a brand new v8 bottom end. (my perfect build) This will include stripping head and resetting valve etc! I expect this to be 4-5k but awaiting to see out of interest.

But the more realistic option is I'm going to pull out the engine with a friend that's just had the exact same problem with his turbo 2000. He's a master mechanic and been in the business for 30 years. Also his dad works for Welams motors in town who do all head rebuilding, boring, crank grinding for the whole of East Midlands probably including RCM.

Inspect the parts and replace broken or damaged parts. Parts will be new genuine, acl bearings, new crank no doubt and rings. If it gets to over £1000 in parts alone I'll be v8 bottom end myself as under 2k from icp and better value.

He did his and cost under £500 in parts.

Hopefully have some more updates soon, but going to enjoy the bank holiday first.

[mtb_ed]

May:

So I purchased No 946 and drove it back to my storage. Suspension felt tight and handled well. Kept of boost just to be sure as engine is done for my car.

Car:



Was tempted to use it as my bases as the car has only one previous owner and a complete service history but due to efforts on my current car I just couldn't do it!

So the Engine was Rebuilt less than 20k ago by Subaru at a cost of over 6k. The owner seems to have lost the love although shed a tear when I drove it off. He'd even used it as his wedding car!

Receipt:



Thursday I managed to get a free afternoon with work and started to take the engine out. Surprisingly after 3hrs It was out even with one of the Turbo bolts taking me 45 mins of blood, sweat and tears!! Think my swear box now has enough money for a Second House!

Hanging Around:



Whats Missing:



So a quick call to the RAC and my Car was carried away to the yard to remove the engine. Sorry no picture!

This time the engine came out quickly.

So Jobs to do:

Fit New Turbo stud
Swap over Exhaust headers & up pipe
Swap over Clutch as nearly New
Turbo oil feed pipe need swapping as not looking great.
Fit New Cambelt
Fit New Maf Sensor
Fit Modified Oil Pump Check Valve

Then Drop the engine in, top up fluids.

Run up to temperature and change Engine Oil & Filter!

So here it is then!

I arrived to see these two sorry looking cars!



Luckily my mate had covered mine up as he was drying some dusty beans!

Uncle Eeeeeedy Set about the clutch swap as my Engine had a next to brand new Clutch and flywheel.



I changed the Plugs and swapped over the Leads.

We then set on the cambelt, to which came to a heart in mouth moment when changed the tensioner over it pulled the thread! Luckily that section with the thread in is seperate to the block so stole that of the other engine. So all tensioners and pulleys swapped over as the 20K genuine ones were at best very worn and unusable!

So a few other bits changed over including new Maf Sensor and we dropped her in! Didn't take long and with all fluids topped up we turned the key, Vrooooom first time!



Warmed her up then dropped the Engine Oil and Filter, Good as new.

946 was then tucked away ready for the new owner to collect her!



Back where she belongs, 50 miles clocked up and to me it feels a lot smoother so maybe the Maf sensor was on the way out. Wanted to clock a few miles up but duty calls with the wife and kids!



Must find reasons to go out now!

[mtb_ed]

June:

Been clock up the miles on the recent engine and everything running fine.

Also just dropped these of to be valeted before fitting.



Cleaned and fitted ready for Sunday!



I could cry!

Opened the garage door, pulled out the car and saw a spanner on the floor. Put it back on the shelf not thinking much of it until walking past the front wheel I saw this.....



Canny believe it!

So finally I finished fitting my Defi gauges! Been in the boot a while!




Drivers side headlight got cracked and has been bugging me. Picked a what I consider to be a bargain. Both side genuine with covers for £100.

Replaced chipped headlight and fitted covers :thumbup:

[mtb_ed]

July, August, Spetember, October, November & December:

Basically I have been working like a slave. I doubt I've even put 200 miles on my car resulting in a new battery. Some my say it's made to be driven but I recall Krissyb telling me their not waterproof. So no watersports!

I have also spent xmas pondering over a KrissyB underside restore. Watch this space!

[mtb_ed]

January:

So I gave up pondering and after much discussion and help from Krissyb, I decided to do it myself. No question of Krissyb work just I really wanted to be involved to hand and with the mileage issue it wasn’t possible.

I have a friend (Yes maybe I have one or two) who I managed to convince to let me use his spare ramp that seems to have a project on it continuiously.

Delivered



Oh dear!



So it’s begun.



Hammer time!



More mud than rust! I wish.



Shouldn’t this be the easy part?



You bar steward!



With this I had to take a trip to the man Howard! Amazing set of skills. No pictures as he’s camera shy.

Some more progress.

[mtb_ed]

January:

So more time spent on the car, loads of parts have gone to paint.

Subframe off.



Dark beginning.



Let there be light.



Needs Paint.



Getting there.



Completely stripped.


[/QUOTE]

[mtb_ed]

February:

Wire brush time.

Suprising how clean the car is, considering I expected the worse.

[mtb_ed]

February:

So after wire brushing and rust was cleaned back, treated and zinc primed.

Now its time to sheet her up for wax oil.





Back to Black

[mtb_ed]

February:

So with the wax oil being tacky we opened up the shopping.

£1300 doesn't go far.




The List




4 x Brand New Struts! Lucky Me.




1 Down




Red on Black!




If the engines rocking!




Sti Mounts




Rebuilding the Rack




New Seals

[mtb_ed]

Currently:

Acid! Not 80’s style




Only job I’ve not sweat on!




Now where do these all go? Hubs have gone back, Spot the rust?




It's wheelie good!




Match




Snap




Love them.




Wrap it up before your slap it up!

[mtb_ed]

April

Rear Hubs



Heat Shields



Diff



Fitted



New Fuel Pipe Kit



Altogether now!





Must polish that Exhaust




Front End

Subframe



Shiny





Wheelie Good!



Underside



Sti Gearbox Mount



Complete

[mtb_ed]

May

Few teething problems, Arrrrrrrh Grease! Spilt CV



So I drove my car to Carnetix in Melton Mowbray to have the Minor issues sorted and Geo Setup. Should have the Car back Monday or Tuesday.



Whilst on the ramps a few cheeky snaps.









Canny Wait!

[mtb_ed]

May

I have been enjoying the car massively. The handling it amazing. Obviously the internal noise levels have increased with the Poly bushes and Group N mounts but it's not a daily.

A47 AutoJumble Sale (Bank Holiday Monday)

[Red Baron]

Lovely work and a lovely car.

[Steve_PPP]

Great job on the underside, that sure looks a shedload of work!

[Rdlangy1]

Amazing attention to detail

[Bytes]

Great read - you've done some fantastic work there

[bigemp]

Good read and one superb car had 2 p1's myself and they are a cracking car

[munk]

very nice indeed

[Junior]

Beautiful P1 you've got there mate - makes me want one! Bit of a strange one but I seem to recognise that reg... have you been down South near Brands with this at all? May just have been a P1 on the same reg block tbf but just wondering!