[LYH45]

Hi.

This is my Dec 1997 GF8 Impreza RX. Bought for $2200 in January 2017 with 309,000 km's stock and original after my my old gc8 became a lost cause. Nothing too special but it's a clean Wagon and nothing about it says it has 350,000 km's.

I never clarified this in any posts but this car has the original motor and gearbox.

This Project so far cost Roughly $3350 (not including tyres and rims) and I'm sure there are things I've missed in the mods list. The plan is to focus on handling and other cheap mods, and once (well if at this point) the engine dies then I'll look at the EZ30/EZ36/EJ207/EJ206/EJ22 options.


Mod List

Handling
- Front Brakes off a 2008 Outback
- Rear Brakes off a 2002 Outback
- GC8 5 Spokes Wrapped in Federal EVO ST-1's
- Unbranded Alloy Front Swaybar Links
- Lowered on Low King Springs
- Whiteline 22mm Front Sway Bar
- Whiteline 22mm Rear Sway Bar


Visual
- Axleback off a GC8 WRX (Came with old car so unsure if accurate)
- Felted Dash and Glove Box Pocket out of a Forester
- Brushed Aluminium Radio Trim
- V4 STI Steering Wheel
- Black Generic Floormats
- Leather Handbrake


Other
- Blackvue Dashcam
- Rola Crossbars
- Variable Wiper
_______________________________________________________________________________

Stock Options Equipped - All the things that are usually done that I don't have to.

Engine
- EJ20E

Exterior
- V4 Front Bumper with Fluted Fog Lights
- Side-Skirts/Rear Spats
- Front and Rear Aero Guards
- V4-V6 Smooth Rear Bumper
- Smooth Doors and Fenders
- Smooth Fuel Door
- Roof Rails
- Rear Fog Light
- Top and Mid Wing

Interior
- All Black Interior
- Red Hazard Light

Luke

 

[CJenator]

Really clean wagon man, especially the paint for that many miles. Excited to see what you do with it

 

[LYH45]

Thanks CJenator.
So here are some photos of the work that I've done to the Wagon.

Here she is stock as a rock.

New Brakes

Then I decide to finally got around to lowering it. This is a photo with new wheels, brakes, and springs. Would like to get some KYB AGX when these struts die.

Finally painted the syms wing after doing repairs with fiberglass for the first time

Thanks for reading.

Luke

 

[LYH45]

Time for the next installment. Took the wagon for a skiing adventure where I camped in the back for 2 days in about 20cm of fresh powder. Car also ticked over to 320,000km finally.

I picked up some RS 6 Spokes for $60 ($45 USD) in brand new condition, and some RS Goldies for $80 ($60 USD). Sadly the Goldies has been painted over in black, to the plan is to plan them back to gold.

My brother also got a car. So what else apart from a Subaru wagon with way to may Km's. So I found him a 2001 Blue Forester with 360,000km (224,000 Miles). We picked some roof rack and a few other pieces to clean it up. He want's to go the battlewagon direction so I'll up date that on here as well.

I also rough concept of what my wagon could look like. It won't but it could.

And that's been that for a little while.

 

[LYH45]

/deleted/

 

[George.of.the.Jungle]

nice work so far. that quick sketch looks awesome! can't wait to see what you come up with.

as for the spats up front..you could also use a heat gun to soften up the plastic and then mold it shape and tape it down to cool and harden.

 

[LYH45]

Thanks Brian. I'm a big fan of your car, it was actually one of the wagons that inspired me to get mine.

Sadly I've put the front spats on hold, but that idea seems a lot smarter than what i was doing, so if i pick it up I'll definitely do that.

 

[LYH45]

Today, discovering damage, paint prep and the deal of the year. I finally managed to remove the rear bumper to see the rear quarter damage. It's not as bad as I expected and I think i can get away with just replacing the panels below the quarter and just pull the quarter back to shape. I'll use the panels off the parts car and I'm just waiting for spot weld drill bits to arrive.

I've started to repair the WRX 5 spoke in preparation for paint. This is one of the ones in better condition. The plan is to paint them gold and put them on the wagon.

Hope this was off some interest.

Luke

 

[FryphaX]

Brake clean on a rag makes short work of night shades on tail lights, fyi.

I'm also SUPER happy that the ricer tails were the ones being replaced.

 

[LYH45]

Yeah I knew it was the first thing that had to be done on the car. I'm seeing if they sell and if they don't I'm going to get rid of them with a sledge hammer and get someone to film it. Thanks for the tip on the night shades. He gave then to me for free so i wasn't going to say no even if I couldn't remove it.

 

[FryphaX]

I had a set of those on my shelf for about a year and a half before I finally convinced someone to give me $20 for them. I suggest tannerite.

 

[George.of.the.Jungle]

Thanks Brian. I'm a big fan of your car, it was actually one of the wagons that inspired me to get mine.

well hotdamn! that's a hell of a compliment. thank you sir. can't wait to see what you do with yours!

 

[LYH45]

I suggest tannerite.

I had to google what that was. I now know that's the right choice. Sadly it isn't available in Australia due to our gun and explosive laws. So I'll have to think of something else.

Thanks Brian. In future plans for the wagon are roof racks/ basket and maybe some rectangular fog lights. No engine swaps atm because I'd like to see how far the ej20e will get me. So far at 323,000 it still has no leaks and doesn't burn oil at all. Its also more than fast enough to get my into trouble.

I forgot to add yesterday I managed to pick up the remaining pieces for Peters (brother) forester. OEM fog lights and a cargo cover for the back. Just waiting for it to stop pouring down with rain so we can install them.

I also have a small projects to show. I picked up a takara 22b that I'm going to get my spare key from the wagon and put the key through the grill.

Hope this has been of some interest

Luke

 

[LYH45]

Today just a quick update. I have removed about 300 grams of silicon from the V4 bumper.

Also finished the spare key in the 22B project.

I decided to make a DIY thread about it so here's the link if anyones interested.

https://www.rs25.com/forums/f105/236426-22b-key-model-diy-post3466970.html#post3466970

Thanks for looking

Luke

 

[George.of.the.Jungle]

that's a really cool idea. bravo.

 

[NemeGuero]

more pics of that Syms rep wing please!

 

[LYH45]

more pics of that Syms rep wing please!

Here's a photos. The first day I put on the car.

If you want to see any specific angles just ask.

Hope this was of some interest

Luke

 

[NemeGuero]

awesome thanks!
Did you just mount it with silicone to the window?

 

[LYH45]

Nah is just uses the two lower mounting holes from the WRX/RX wing. I didn't want to silicon it because I wanted it to be easily removable.

 

[Stew3223]

Nah is just uses the two lower mounting holes from the WRX/RX wing. I didn't want to silicon it because i wanted it to be easily removable.

Interesting...was this an E-bay wing? I kinda want one, even understanding quality issues. My main concern is mounting...