I'm going to use this thread to document the build of my 1998 2.5RS. The car is from Oregon and has little to no rust but a dead engine and until recently caved in body work from sliding sideways into a pole. The plan for the car is to clean it up, fix everything that is broken and then start prepping it for rally X initially and then reconfigure it for some auto x later. Here's how it arrived this spring:
Here's the bodywork progress. I paid someone to do the work. It cost $700 for those who are curious. I was able to save money by pulling the interior apart and removing the exterior trim before I delivered the car:
Got the car back, ordered some plastic clips that had broke and she's looking pretty good. Body work done! I also threw on my WRX's winter tire setup for now because the other wheels didn't belong to me. I removed about 50lbs of old school stereo equipment from the car and put in a stock clarion tape deck I got for free from a friend. Next on the weight reduction is removing an old car alarm.
I should also mention that it seems all impreza's suffer from bolts to the window regulators coming loose and door mechanisms that freeze up and get really stiff. So I pulled both door panels off and sure enough the bolts were loose and some had fallen out. Also, the passenger door was so stiff you had to slam it extremely hard to get it to close. A little lube on the hinges and it was like factory new. One last interesting thing is somehow Subaru had dropped an extra door lock rod in the bottom of the door. Everytime you shut the door it rattled and it must have rattled going over bumps. That poor previous owner! Removing that from the bottom of the door fixed that. I will be updating this when I start the engine repair.
What's the intent of the build? What extent in engine work, suspension work, plan to keep the interior or gut the car? The older chassis is a bit flexible, so some key bracing helps a lot.
I'll have to post some pictures of the work that was done on the car the last couple months. My friend took a bunch of photos of the progress. But here are a couple photos from yesterday's autox. I'm really happy with how the car drives considering we just got the engine in it last week. At this point, the car will be continually developed for autocross. (ST specifically).
Finally got the pics from my buddy. Old motor out: Replace your idlers when doing a timing belt: Seized bearing snaps pulley: Tear down of good used engine: Assembled engine, had the heads decked, all new gaskets from Subaru, valve lash adjusted, new timing belt and waterpump.
New engine in: New engine runs, Rota G-Force with REO1Rs, we had to roll all the fenders because of rubbing: Put on some BC Racing coilovers, we did a brake job after this picture was taken because the rotors had rusted so bad from sitting for 2 years. Had the car aligned by Jeff the alignment guy. Thanks to Phil for the vinyl! Still to come is swaybars, bushings, new vinyl, gauges, seats....
Ah, so that's your car. You kept beating me by a little bit at Mowog, grrr! How much camber is that up front? Any added caster? I'm around -2.5 degrees, and my tires say they want a little more given the wear pattern. I got most of mine through camber bolts or slotted holes (to whatever can be done before the tires rub) but still have my camber/castor plate set at zero but with full caster added. I'm always curious what other people are running and what kind of results they're getting.
just gonna ask the same question but it doesnt have the goofy body pillar in the middle of the rear 1/4 window. if it was cut out the body shop that did it did one hell of a job. looks a lot like an escort.
We were able to get 3* with the BC coilover top hats and the factory camber bolts. See you at MW3? It's a very intermiitently active project Sierra Cosworth. Here's my build thread: http://www.mnautox.com/forums/showt...erra-Cosworth-Build-Thread&highlight=cosworth
A couple upgrades. Tribeca 25mm front swaybar with whiteline end links. Had to modify the bushings and bracket but fits well. Whiteline 24mm adjustable rear swaybar with whiteline endlinks. Need to get the stronger GD swaybar mounts yet. Car has virtually zero body roll now and its a noticeable improvement over an already well handling car. Got a freebie stainless exhaust from a friend too. And the ebay borla knockoff header. It had to be persuaded to fit but with the stainless exhaust, sounds great.
As much as I like your Impreza, after seeing the Cossie first hand (remember, i borrowed your flat bed to pick up that Datsun Fairlady a while back) I think the Sierra is a much cooler project . Nice work on the Subaru though, for sure.
I do remember that! Do you still have the Datsun? That in itself is an awesome project. The 2.5RS has been a bit of a distraction (not in a bad way but a distraction nonetheless) but there is a whole lot of cosworth in my near future. Thanks for the comments guys!
Did we see you at the last MAC Autox in Centerbury Park in Oct? My old eyes are starting to deceive me, but I think we saw your car. I should've came over and said "Hi." We got too busy trying to get Skittle's to work. I like it!
excellent build. I'm still considering selling my saabaru and going after a GC...this thread is just fuel on the fire!
Yup, my friend and I codrove as many MAC events as possible this year. I think we started to figure out the car pretty well too. I took 1st at the Canterbury event in ST (with all the good local drivers present). My friend and I took 2nd and 3rd overall for the season too. So that was pretty rewarding. Next year will be more local autocross events and we want to get out for a track day or two. The car is in storage for the winter but next spring we plan to do some brake upgrades, different intake system, chipped ECU, an auxillary gauge cluster, and maybe some racing seats. We are pretty limited to what upgrades we can do for ST which is kind of nice because it keeps the budget down while still being very fun to drive. I'll be sure to update this thread.
Congratulations and great job driving your way to the podium. Looking forward to seeing you boys do it again next season. Maybe we'll see you boys out there again for a few events. Definitely come out on a few track days I'd like to checkout the car either at BIR or a full course with the BMW's at DCTC, I bet the car will do great at a mid speed technical course. Keep us posted!
So them headers be why I thought you had a turbo motor up in there. hahahha I tell you what, that car look real nice out there at Canterbury Park.
