The £150 Impreza WRX gamble
Discussion
A neighbour of my Dad had this impreza which hadn't been used for some time. He enquired with my Dad if I might be able to get it back on the road again for him. It'd been sitting there under a tree for about 3 years with a suspected blown head gasket and with a leaking heater matrix. Anyway, after chatting to the him, it was clear that this wasn't going to be a small job and quite a bit of time and potentially money needed to be spent on it. I offered him £150 to take it away and he agreed. This is when the fun began.
The first job was to move it from it's resting place and get it down into my Dad's driveway. It was completely overgrown and slowly being ingested by the plantlife coming up from the ground and a bush next to it. It had 4 flat tyres, seized brakes and a completely dead battery. We cleared it out, pumped up the tyres, and then towed it down to the yard. This is the state it was in.
A quick powerwash got the majority of the dirt off, and to my amazement it wasn't acutally that bad underneath. I charged up the battery as I wanted to see what might work, and if it would turn over. I cranked it over by hand first to check it hadn't seized. After working out how the utterly stupid sigma alarm/immobilier worked, I got the ignition on and cranked it. It burst into life and started first time, completely to my amazement. It wasn't happy, though, there was something not right with it.
A few weeks later I borrowed a trailer, picked the car up and brought it down to my garage with a view to getting it back on the road and using it as a winter hack/workhorse. It's perfect for lugging bikes around, moving rubbish, going to work, and all the other crap jobs that I don't want to involve my other cars in. A day later the engine was out. It wasn't too tricky, although I'm not entirely sure how I'll get the clutch fork back in! Also, I had to cut one of the engine mount nuts off as it had completely rusted solid. After getting the heads off, it looked like a failed drivers side head gasket. Anyway, a new gasket set was bought, heads were skimmed and then back together. One thing which was a total pain in the arse was removing the cam pulley bolts. They were so tight and instantly rounded off. Luckily I had a decdent bolt extractor, heat gun and long breaker bar and out they came.
Total spend up to this point £150 for the car, £80 gaskets, £72 head skimming.
I then set about sorting out the heater matrix as it had been disconnected due to a leak. The floor of the car was completely wet on the passenger side and the carpet had been pulled up. I also found the fan motor had died and was distinctly asthmatic. As I started to investigate removing the dash I I discovered there was also all sorts of aftermarket crap attached to the dash, like additioanly gauges, white backgrounds to the dials, and some multicoloured lights with some dial to change the colour.
The horror of the wiring.......
Anyway, it all came out, and I found that yes the heater matrix was leaking, and the fan had properly died so it was time to find some new ones.
On to order some more parts from ebay. I found a set of engine mounts for £10 and fan unit and heater unit (complete units!!!!) for £15. This all went in surprisingly easily, and the dash is now back in.
I then ordered a new cambelt kit (£120), plugs (£30) , filter (£5) and oil (£30) bringing the total spend so far to £512. I'll check the clutch for wear, but hopefully if it's okay the engine is going back in this weekend and I'll see if it will fire up.
Next things on the list are to rebuild the nearside front brake caliper, and get another sigma alarm fob as the one I have doesn't really work.
The first job was to move it from it's resting place and get it down into my Dad's driveway. It was completely overgrown and slowly being ingested by the plantlife coming up from the ground and a bush next to it. It had 4 flat tyres, seized brakes and a completely dead battery. We cleared it out, pumped up the tyres, and then towed it down to the yard. This is the state it was in.
A quick powerwash got the majority of the dirt off, and to my amazement it wasn't acutally that bad underneath. I charged up the battery as I wanted to see what might work, and if it would turn over. I cranked it over by hand first to check it hadn't seized. After working out how the utterly stupid sigma alarm/immobilier worked, I got the ignition on and cranked it. It burst into life and started first time, completely to my amazement. It wasn't happy, though, there was something not right with it.
A few weeks later I borrowed a trailer, picked the car up and brought it down to my garage with a view to getting it back on the road and using it as a winter hack/workhorse. It's perfect for lugging bikes around, moving rubbish, going to work, and all the other crap jobs that I don't want to involve my other cars in. A day later the engine was out. It wasn't too tricky, although I'm not entirely sure how I'll get the clutch fork back in! Also, I had to cut one of the engine mount nuts off as it had completely rusted solid. After getting the heads off, it looked like a failed drivers side head gasket. Anyway, a new gasket set was bought, heads were skimmed and then back together. One thing which was a total pain in the arse was removing the cam pulley bolts. They were so tight and instantly rounded off. Luckily I had a decdent bolt extractor, heat gun and long breaker bar and out they came.
Total spend up to this point £150 for the car, £80 gaskets, £72 head skimming.
I then set about sorting out the heater matrix as it had been disconnected due to a leak. The floor of the car was completely wet on the passenger side and the carpet had been pulled up. I also found the fan motor had died and was distinctly asthmatic. As I started to investigate removing the dash I I discovered there was also all sorts of aftermarket crap attached to the dash, like additioanly gauges, white backgrounds to the dials, and some multicoloured lights with some dial to change the colour.
The horror of the wiring.......
Anyway, it all came out, and I found that yes the heater matrix was leaking, and the fan had properly died so it was time to find some new ones.
On to order some more parts from ebay. I found a set of engine mounts for £10 and fan unit and heater unit (complete units!!!!) for £15. This all went in surprisingly easily, and the dash is now back in.
I then ordered a new cambelt kit (£120), plugs (£30) , filter (£5) and oil (£30) bringing the total spend so far to £512. I'll check the clutch for wear, but hopefully if it's okay the engine is going back in this weekend and I'll see if it will fire up.
Next things on the list are to rebuild the nearside front brake caliper, and get another sigma alarm fob as the one I have doesn't really work.
I think in reality it'll probably come to around £700 in total. It really depends on how bad the brakes are and if the clutch needs replacing. I also had an 'incident' with the trailer and there's a big dent in the bonnet, so I might get another bonnet off ebay. However, if it's on the road for £700, that'll be a bit of a bargain.
I'll stick some winter or all season tyres on it as well (means the Z3M can actually hibernate over the winter rather than getting covered in crap everyday!)
I'll stick some winter or all season tyres on it as well (means the Z3M can actually hibernate over the winter rather than getting covered in crap everyday!)
lufbramatt said:
just needs a tin of satin black spray paint and a fat mate with a penchant for handshakes and it could be the script of a Wheeler Dealers episode 
"Old out yer 'and!"
What a bargain!! Would snap one of these up if I came across one at that price.... My garage yearns for a track project.
- Begins the search....*
ChezzaV8 said:
I think in reality it'll probably come to around £700 in total. It really depends on how bad the brakes are and if the clutch needs replacing. I also had an 'incident' with the trailer and there's a big dent in the bonnet, so I might get another bonnet off ebay. However, if it's on the road for £700, that'll be a bit of a bargain.
I'll stick some winter or all season tyres on it as well (means the Z3M can actually hibernate over the winter rather than getting covered in crap everyday!)
You’ll be lucky to get much over 90k on the original clutch, mine started to slip @ 80k. Clutch swap took me about half a day at a very relaxed pace, wasn’t difficult. Don’t bother skimming flywheel, despite what everyone trying to sell you a skim will tell you, they don’t always need it. I’ve put 40k on mine since and it’s fine. I'll stick some winter or all season tyres on it as well (means the Z3M can actually hibernate over the winter rather than getting covered in crap everyday!)
Re the brakes, they’re ok when working, not great tbh so if they feel bad that might be them at 100% working!
but after sitting for so long they may be past it, check out the back of the front calipers for corossion ( they can look totally fine front the front and be rotten on the back) and check out the base plates of the rear discs for corossion too, they have hooks and and things to attach the handbrake to and they are known to rot and fail, new OEM ones are available from ICP pretty cheap, not tricky to swap.
Maybe check inside the boot down by the rear arches, they rot there too.
Good luck with it, always liked the wagons
Oh and check out these guys for used parts, they’re very reasonable and super helpful. I’ve had a load of things from them. https://m.facebook.com/MBDevelopments1/
Caliper seal kits are peanuts for these and easy to replace.after splitting the engine and box at least replace the spigot bearing chances are the old one will collapse soon. Clutch forks are surprisingly easy to 're fit one you clean and grease the shaft. It will be a great work horse for small money
Ved said:
This has great potential and even if you spend £5k on it to bring it up to scratch it'll still be worth more. Congrats and look forward to hearing more about it!
Sorry, what? 
Five grand?I'm with everyone else on this thread, in that a total spend of £700 would be a billy bargain... Even £1k overall would be pretty good, to be fair.
But five bags of sand? Nah mate!
MorganP104 said:
Ved said:
This has great potential and even if you spend £5k on it to bring it up to scratch it'll still be worth more. Congrats and look forward to hearing more about it!
Sorry, what? Five grand?I'm with everyone else on this thread, in that a total spend of £700 would be a billy bargain... Even £1k overall would be pretty good, to be fair.
But five bags of sand? Nah mate!
DoubleTime said:
Surprised the heater matrix went so easy. Did one on a 306 years ago that was a complete 
of a job.
Looks like a bargain you've got there though. Top work!
Some time back I thought the heater matrix may have gone on my Mondeo... thankfully it hadn't but I looked into how tricky a job it was to replace it. I s of a job. Looks like a bargain you've got there though. Top work!
t you not the process to replace it (ignoring the obvious facia/dashboard, central console and hundreds of pieces) includes removing the steering column, both front doors, front cross member, windscreen wiper motor (and linkage). Its an utterly horrendous job that could easily write off the cars as they age. Anyway, nice work.
What a bargain. I'll be following this with interest. I'm a former wrx wagon owner now upgraded to a JDM subaru legacy.
Just as a warning, over on scoobynet there are a few examples of crank bearings going after a head gasket failure. If you've already got the engine out it might be worth investigating those.
Best of luck to you.
My tips to check on theseare: the front 4 pot brakes seize, the rear shocks knock, the rocker cover gaskets ooze, the radiator carrier rusts, as does the front arches in front of the footwear behind the arch liner. Rust generally is becoming a problem. Other than that you may need to replace a couple of drop links and bushes to eliminate knocks and rattles.
Just as a warning, over on scoobynet there are a few examples of crank bearings going after a head gasket failure. If you've already got the engine out it might be worth investigating those.
Best of luck to you.
My tips to check on theseare: the front 4 pot brakes seize, the rear shocks knock, the rocker cover gaskets ooze, the radiator carrier rusts, as does the front arches in front of the footwear behind the arch liner. Rust generally is becoming a problem. Other than that you may need to replace a couple of drop links and bushes to eliminate knocks and rattles.
Nice project, enjoying this thread.
If you are intending to keep it for a while, I think I would have been tempted to find a lower mileage engine to stick in there, especially if it's been sitting for years with water in all the wrong places. Unless it looks pretty spotless in there and the compression is good on the other pots I guess.
If you are intending to keep it for a while, I think I would have been tempted to find a lower mileage engine to stick in there, especially if it's been sitting for years with water in all the wrong places. Unless it looks pretty spotless in there and the compression is good on the other pots I guess.
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