My wagon and other "stuff"

[charlesr]

Hello!

Found a flier on my scoob at the breakfast club last year. Taken me a while to sign up..... I'm on sussexscoobies normally.

First a potted history of my vehicles:
Bikes:
Rayleigh Winner (snapped in half doing a jump... stupid on a road bike really)
Specialised Rockhopper A1 (snapped handlebars doing a jump followed by "full tree interface" and unconsciousness)
Current: Rocky Mountain Hammer (survives all my crashes - amazing piece of kit)
Current: Mission Prodigy (indestructible mod trials bike - no seat, motorcross tyres etc. Not the best ever, but was only £100 with all the upgrades 2nd hand)

Motorbikes:
My first go on a powered bike was a 90cc Vespa with twistgrip gearchange. I drifted sideways across the grass, hooked the front up when I hit the tarmac and promptly wheelied straight into a garage door (it was shut). Amazing tyre mark on the door....

Undetered, I took my direct access and got a Kawasaki ZZR600 (comfortable touring bike, but still dead quick with 95bhp or so). After discovering it had been crashed previously and welded back together (paint peeled off after a couple of years), I got scared and PXd it for a brand new ZX6R. That was in 2000 and I still have it today. I've thrown it down the road once (very stupid), but other than that, it's been roses. Off to Nurburgring on it next weekend!

If I was to get another bike, it would be a supermotard (motorcross bike with road wheels/tyres, cos the roads round my way are normally covered in mud anyway. I had a go on a motard KLX650 single cylinder Kawasaki. Totally hilarious. Drive through holes and not notice.

Cars:
Learnt to drive in a Renault 5. It was pants.
Took my test in a Nissan Micra. It was maginally less pants, but much easier to drive.

Got insured on my Dad's Nissan Prairie 2L (MPV with sliding doors). Enjoyed that for 4 months and then promptly spun it off road after a lapse in concentration saw me with wheels on the grass verge, knocked down 3 trees and 40 yards of fencing. Coincidentally belonging to one of my sister's teachers. 17 years old and thought I knew it all. Oh well....

Stopped driving for 5 years. When I finally tried again, I'd actually forgotten and it took 10 mins to get back into the swing of things, although that might have been something to do with the dodgy Metro I was driving.

Realised life was too short to be messing around in that deathtrap, so got a Ford Orion GL 1.6. What a weird car. 40mph in first gear. Handled pretty well, although it always felt like it was going to tip over. Gripped hard enough and drifted neutrally which was nice. That survived and I sold it in perfect nick to a friend who actually drove it as intended, i.e. sedately.

The reason I sold it was because my gf had a car so I didn't need one (we worked at the same place and lived together) and so used the cash to get into motorbikes (see above). Luckily her car was a fantastic 1989 Honda CRX Si (Jap Import 1.6 16v). It wasn't as fast as the UK Vtechs or the SiR but insurance was cheap and it was a joy to drive. Like a go-kart. Until I spun it off the M25 at 60mph after getting a blowout. Not too much damage - just a bit of trim, but the wheels were never the same again They were beautiful Mugen Splitrims and although the wheel restore guys did their best, no one could ever cure the vibration that kicked in above 70mph. Only thing that ever went wrong with it was the fog lamp that the importers had retro fitted. When I first used it, it set the wiring on fire. Aces. Very useful on a dual carriage way in the fog with no hard shoulder.

She then got a company Golf (MkIV?), so we sold the CRX, vowing to get an SiR one day. Annoyingly SiRs are going up in price for decent ones. The Golf was the most insanely boring thing I've ever driven. Due to the nature of the job, they kept on giving her other cars as well with advertising on to drive around. New VW Beetle. Also very boring, but at least it looked vaguely cool. Vaguely. And a Crysler Cruiser. Possibly the worst car ever. Due to the styling there was sod all space inside, it was far too heavy so the 2L engine did nothing, and it went straight on in corners. Rubbish.

Then she got a Focus. What a revelation. Coming from the Golf which was well built and put together, albeit boring, the focus was the opposite. Dash made of dodgy plastics and nothing fitting together properly, but it wasn't boring. It went round corners. It stopped. It went (even though it was a 1.6)

She then changed jobs, so we lost the company car. After loving the way nothing ever went wrong with the CRX, we decided to go Japanese again. Subaru Impreza Sport Wagon MY99 was the final choice. We could fit the mountain bikes and tents in it and drive down to the Pyrenees (which we did regularly). Lovely car.

I got offered a company car, so I went for the cheapest one on the list because it was less than my allowance, so they actually paid me every month to have it. Luckily it was the superb New Fiesta. 1.4L Diesel (chuckle). Very slow, but round corners it was far better than any of the other small cars that I test drove.

Then she needed a bigger car to put her personal training stuff in (new job), so she got a Subaru Legacy RE Estate - 2L with all the trimmings (leather etc). We still have this and it's a billiant drive for this size car. Nippy enough, but what really impresses is the steering response - it's like it knows what you are thinking. Not that grippy, but fixed that with some GSD3s.

After working at home for a bit, the company fiesta had to go, so I decided to get a sensible family car so I could take my kids to the childminder with ease. The only sensible option was an Impreza Turbo 2000 Wagon MY00 Classic in Deep Blue Mica.

It was dirt cheap, so I was expecting some spending, but in the end it's not been too bad.

No mats, so I found some official "Impreza Turbo 2000" mats on ebay in good nick.
New brake caliper (seized open), front discs and pads.
New PS/alternator/AC belts
New front undertray
New alarm blipper and key
Exeedy Clutch and forged 6kg flywheel
New 3 layer dry filter for HKS IC
New starter motor
GSD3s
Official 2nd hand leather gearknob (to replace dodgy plastic item)
Intercooler>>Turbo Silicon hose (to replace split item)
New battery
New Front and rear ARB bushes (worn) and rear metal links (didn't know about this - mechanic has an impreza so just went ahead without asking me - good man!)
Rocker cover gasket
NR-G Earthing Kit
Cool air induction scoop
2 pot subaru rears + large disc conversion
Whiteline rear adjustable anti-roll bar (vast improvement)
Prodrive geometry

The car was mostly standard and still with the original paint, apart from the middle and back exhaust sections and the HKS IC. He was trying to sell it with some 18" alloys, but tyres are just too pricey, so I knocked some money off and got him to put the some gold speedline corse 16"s back on it. These were the 16" rims that were on the P1s when Japan sent them over. Prodrive replaced them all with 17"s and sold these 16" versions via dealers.

Next up is probably a steering pump (making funny noises when cold but works fine) and then turbo/fuelpump/remap/springs/dampers. But that will all have to wait because I just spent all my money on an awesome snowboarding holiday.

Wow some first post

Welcome to SouthEastScoobies

Don't forget to introduce yourself to the 555wagon squadron
http://www.southeastscoobies.co.uk/v...splay.php?f=18

Hello mate & welcome

[Steve_PPP]

hi, if you've got a silver classic then it was probably me who put the flyer there

[charlesr]

Pics of both my wagons.

[charlesr]

Nope. It's blue, but it was probably you anyway.

Whats all over the Legacy?

[AndyWRX]

hello mate welcome to ses, good introduction

[scatz]

Gotta agree, what a first post. Welcome to the fold buddy

Originally Posted by MrX???

Whats all over the Legacy?

Aye, what's the spiel........?

[DukeBoy]

Hello & Welcome

[charlesr]

er... go faster stripes?

My wife's personal training business (starfish personal training) was all over it (decals were pretty good, all swooshy down the side), but now that she's spending most of her time helping people set up their own businesses, most of the decals have come off.

[stiggy]

Hi there, welcome

[SUBARMAN]

Leggy Wagon Yum Yum !!

Hi and welcome matey.

Hi Mate
to SES
Great intro.

[Chunk]

Hello there

[The-Fly]

Hi & welcome

[666subaru]

Hi mate and welcome to the club buddy from Baz and Shaz

[Cath]

Hello there matey and welcome to the otherside

[BIG"E"]

To SES. what a brilliant 1st post.

I hope to meet you soon at a meeting.