The deal of a lifetime

[buds302]

this journal is a little late... but i will work over the next few days to get it up to date.

first off...

Feb 21st 2009 i bought my first Subaru. it was a 2000 Impreza RS sedan in Silverthorne Metallic paint with 153,000 miles with KYB AGX struts, WRX pedal set, lightweight flywheel, factory RS performance gauge pack... only one works though a full cat back exhaust that was done at a muffler shop or worse... its one piece.. but sounds awesome and an Injen SRI with an AEM dry flow filter.

At the time.. i was driving a 1995 Impreza L coupe... it had 330,000miles on it.. it was a loaner.

The car was a complete mess when i bought it. The previous owner had lost control of the car and went into a rocky ditch... this is the story i got. My theory... spirited driving in the snow put it this way.

I first laid eyes on it on Feb 8th 2009 it was dark... i had seen a few pics.. but i had to go look for myself.

Upon initial inspection.. it needed 4 new wheels and tires to go with it and get this... they were new blizzaks on a set of steelies, i was able to salvage one whole wheel and tire.. so its my spare. Also needed new airbags, a new front bumper, new foglights, new fenders, a new front control arm on the passenger side and some serious body work on the drivers rocker panel and a new sideskirt on that same side. Immediately upon seeing it i knew it could be fixed. I told the guy that i wouldnt have the money for 2 weeks as i was waiting on my tax refund. He told me he was on the fence about selling it and that he would need atleast a week to decide. Well. He decided to sell it.. and i told him i was still interested and he agreed to hold the car until i had the cash. He told me he had received several offers on it already.

Three days prior to taking delivery of this car.. i started ordering parts. I scoured forums and <a href="http://www.rs25.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=195"><a href="http://www.rs25.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=195">ebay</a></a>.com and Craigslist for HOURS in search of select items and in all that searching, i found a guy in NJ selling his 05 WRX wheels with stock tires that had 7,000 miles on them....for $250... i made the 4 hour trek to jersey to get them.

Feb 21st... I rent a Uhaul full car trailer for $50 for the day and go get my new car. it had 3 flat tires, and i stalled it trying to get it on the trailer as it bottomed out... lol. I get it home.. 30 miles. Before i even attempt to take it off the trailer... i jack it up and put on my newly acquired wheels. Once i got it off the trailer and did a full walk around i was able to see more damage. I couldnt really tell how bad it was due to the extremely busted wheels that were on it. One wheel... the entire hub section was near broken off, making the wheel wobble horribly.. with the new wheel on.. it looked much better and didnt wobble. This was a good sign. I also noticed in the rear i had a SERIOUS camber problem. One side was straight... the other was way off. I drove the car around the block just so i could see if it was making any driveline noises. It checked out. I got it back home and once again got under the car and looked for obvious rubbing. The front passenger side where i needed the new control arm was rubbing pretty bad on the back of the fender. It made a cut in the tire. No big deal... i knew the new control arm i have on the way would fix this. The rear however... was trashed. I pull the left rear of the car... and a serious amount of rubber was on the strut body. Instantly telling me i have a bent strut. OK... <a href="http://www.rs25.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=192"><a href="http://www.rs25.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=192">tirera ck</a></a>.com to the rescue! I order a new one and it was delivered next day as most of their stuff i ever order from them is. I change it... MUCH better. I also noticed that all of my struts were blown... how great. All of them were leaking oil. I decided to let them go.... until i could afford to replace them as they are still semi functional.

I change the control arm just after that.. it was a 2 day process... it sucked. Lots of cursing and busted knuckles...

the next day.. Feb 23rd... cause if your following along... it was 2 days for the control arm..... I had an appointment at 8AM at sears for an alignment. It just happened to snow that morning. Not much... an inch and a half. I drove the car to Sears... it was a five mile trip... i thought i was going to wreck it a few times. I drove it with the blown airbags but i cut out the fabric part. Sears didnt want to align it because of the blown airbags.. i told them they were on order and that they would be fixed in a few days. They did the best they could.. the rear toe was out of spec on the left rear... the one i changed the strut on.. the camber was fixed. I take it home and start to look for the problem.. an hour of searching, i find that the rear subframe was bent into the gas tank. At this point i was out of cash. so my bright idea of the day was.... hook a chain to it and try and fix it myself. This worked brilliantly! not only did it make it almost fixed... but it also bent the shit out of one of the lateral links. I take it back to sears... they told me if i fixed the problem they would re align it. I tell them i think i fixed it. They put it on the rack and re align it. This time the rear toe was almost back in but now the camber on both sides is off by almost a degree negative. So it wasnt such a hot idea. Anyway... the car tracked much better and i could deal with it eating a tire


March 8th 2009... 2 weeks and one day from original purchase

I show up at the first Summit Point RallyX of the year. my airbags are replaced, car somewhat aligned.. looking good!

all morning long i took pics while my brother drove.. he bailed on me at lunch.. so i asked if i could drive the afternoon. they said yes but they would have to not score me. i agreed.

that day... i received many thanks for buying this car and using it like it should be instead of letting it go to waste. many people wanted to buy this car and many are glad to see it coming back together... mind you.. i bought it 2 weeks ago in rough condition.

ive driven this car now 7,000 miles since i purchased it.

October 4th 2009.. i cant compete in the Summit Point RallyX because of bad tires in the rear.. it took 7,000 miles to eat the rear tires off the back. roughly 1,000 miles ago, i had the tires flipped on the rim and swapped to the opposite side. so the inside of the tire is on the outside of the rim now and they are on the opposite side of the car. But now. they are toast. and BALD! In a sprinkle of rain... i can get sideways with little to no effort. I decide to just shoot pictures today

October 5th 2009 I decide to finally take action! i take a trip to Baltimore Md to go to a well known set of junkyards.. Crazy Rays U pull it. I scour all of their locations for an RS.. nothing. I decide to go back to one where i saw a 2001 OBS that was hit in the front. The rear was in MINT condition.

October 9th 2009 I return to the junkyard to get what i need. i go to the OBS and get the rear sub frame, one rear lateral link, and both the rear struts that might i add... were in the most ridiculously clean look i have seen for a junkyard car. total price $100 even. I plan on going back to get the fronts shortly.

October 10th 2009... the repairs begin. OH MY! This is the first thing ive done to my car in 8 months... im excited!

i get the subframe off.. and while im looking under there.. i decide to inspect a few choice parts... since i really never got under the car before. The entire underside of the car is a nice desert sand color... just like what a military vehicle in Iraq looks like... lol completely covered in dried up mud.. since all this is nice and muddy looking... its easy to find leaks. There appears to be a leak coming from the front input of the rear diff. Lovely. Well.. im not here to fix that... so. It will have to wait. My old subframe is all one color.. light tan... instead of black.. i have a nice pic of it next to the new one. The new one looks out of place under there. I get the new one in. But apparently.. nobody has ever done work on this car before... i attempt to change the front lateral link.. the bushing is seized on the long bolt that runs through the knuckle. I had to cut it off. AWESOME!

Same day i happen to win an auction on <a href="http://www.rs25.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=195"><a href="http://www.rs25.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=195">ebay</a></a>.com for 3 used RE92 tires. for $80 shipped... just cant beat that...ANYWHERE. The tires look new in the pictures. We shall see. They should be here in a few days.


This brings us to today. October 12th 2009. the car is waiting for the tires to show up before it goes for an alignment... but the rear end looks much better than it did. I think im going to spring for the lifetime alignment from Firestone this time... just so i can have it aligned whenever.

Currently the car still has a busted front bumper. A dent in each fender, a ripped rocker panel still, along with both sideskirts missing ( i lost the other side to an unfortunate cone death at a RallyX in Smithton hole in July), the airbag light is still on (although it has both airbags, i havent replaced the module yet), no foglights still, and a check engine light due to an exhaust leak im sure about... due to a set of <a href="http://www.rs25.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=195"><a href="http://www.rs25.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=195">ebay</a></a>.com headers that dont match the flange size for the cat section... i will probably fix this this week... im tired of it.

My future plans for this car are as follows.

Turbo
STi internal swap
new bumper in the near future
repair the rocker
HID retrofit in the not so near future..
Tinted windows

What do you guys think?

TABLE OF CONTENTS


Post 1: Index and initial timeline
Post 2: A few pictures
Post 8: Zip tie bumper repairish
Post 16: Pictures on the day of purchase... in the condition i got it in
Post 19: Pictures of the bent control arm and bald tires and underside of car
Post 21: More pictures i found

[buds302]

* for updates











































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[01rs25]

Care to explain the title?

[Eloheem]

Very nice!!

[Tim.Flat4]

I like the front bumper, seriously. Mend it up with some zip ties and call it radical.

[Ryanwsays]

Originally Posted by Tim.Flat4

I like the front bumper, seriously. Mend it up with some zip ties and call it radical.

that's for mad tyte drifters yo

[moosedude2.5]

Zip ties are the best.

[buds302]

Originally Posted by Tim.Flat4

I like the front bumper, seriously. Mend it up with some zip ties and call it radical.

already done..




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[buds302]

Originally Posted by 01rs25

Care to explain the title?

whats to explain...

[Smezmerz]

I like it