Back in April I picked up a 2002 bugeye that had been rear ended. I wanted to document the teardown and build up that occurred to save this car from being scrapped. Hopefully, some of you will find this thread interesting. Current Status: sold. Just about to cross 140k miles. Leaking oil from cam gear, was fixed, one bad wheel bearing repaired, another to go. A little background: I'm new to the Subaru world and I'm learning as I go along. I'm not a mechanic but I'm not scared of tools either. I consider myself an enthusiast. My current daily driver '05 s60 R. The volvo is similar to a legacy when you compare features/size/etc and it makes a great family car. I had two kids so a 2dr just didn't cut it, so it was time for my first 4dr. I probably cried like a little girl, I don't really remember. I was looking for a great all around car and wanted awd, something turbo charged and more power than the civic gave me. I ended up with the R over a Legacy GT The R packs a 5cyl turbo with 300hp, 330mm rotors front and rear, 4 piston Brembo calipers, and an active suspension. I preferred the 6spd manual. I've never actually owned an auto and I'm not sure I would know how to drive one. The 300hp is factory claimed but in reality it is more like 280ish with less at the wheels. Lets not talk about what hot weather does to it . The dual intercoolers are pretty much a joke and the AWD is haldex which is inferior to Subaru's 50/50. The R is a great all around car with top notch leather, super comfortable seats, great stereo, nice body lines, great brakes, and refined power thats more than enough for me. It's pretty much a sleeper as you don't see one on every corner, I love it. Here are a few pics of the R. It's mostly stock except for a few minor handling upgrades, catback exhaust, and a few other small tweaks. Enough Volvo talk, lets focus on the bugeye Fast forward a few months, it's now April (2010) and I again am suffering from 2nd car syndrome-a common disease. I've had it before but who hasn't...? I again start looking at Subaru. It doesn't help that my brother has a modified '02 wrb bugeye. The unrefined power in his sucks me in. My budget isn't great for a second car so finding a wrx at first glance is out of reach so an older NA impreza seems to be a good candidate. I start looking casually for Subarus. One evening I get a call from Chad (my brother) and he leaves a message. "Give me a call I think I might have found a wrx for you..." The next morning I give him a ring and says he found a car for a good price. The wrx has been rear ended but he doesn't know how bad yet. Regardless of condition he plans on picking it up for parts as the price is pretty good. I decide to tag along. The '02 was owned by another mnsubaru member: 'Scotty' He was rear ended and insurance totaled out the car. He bought it back from insurance and it's now mine. (I still want that second set of keys if you find them... :biggrin I'm not quite sure why but people were giving me all sorts of funny looks when driving it home. It drove but just barely as every bump would cause rubbing on the right rear tire so I navigated the potholes the best I could. What to do? Well apparently it won't buff right out so now what? Do I let the vultures who've claimed half the parts have it :yumyum: or attempt to fix? After sending some pics to a body guy for a knowledgeable opinion I weigh my options. Pros -over $4000 in engine work done 700 miles before being rear ended. This was the result of low compression in cyl 2. 35psi was registered and bent valves were found. Motor was pulled and machine shop found cracks in all 4 combustion chambers. New heads were ordered, and everything was installed @ Luther Bloomington Acura Subaru. -new tires -new clutch -it's stock -have a project once again. Cons -took a solid wack to the rear needs body work, paint, parts -some disassembly/assembly on my part. -salvage title (insert scary music) Decision made. I estimate what it will cost when all is said and done for body/paint, including the price of the car. After a nights sleep I decide to save the car instead of just sending it to a early death . Shortly after taking the plunge i get the uh oh what have i done feeling... it goes away as most somewhat impulse decisions do. Garage space Before even tearing into the car I need to get this thing in the garage and out of the driveway. I look at the previous empty stall and see it's full of crap and a ridiculously large bench that has made it's way to the spare stall. I spend the next two evenings clearing/cleaning out the garage and filling my shed in the backyard to new levels. I get it in the garage on night two and have a few beers while I start working out a rough plan in my head. The MN DVS Why is it that every time I go to the DMV/DVS, despite being as prepared as I can I always seem to get hassled. It never fails. I can't get plates because the lien release statement I was given was addressed to WI DMV and not MN DVS. Plus, I do not have the yellow lien release card, the DVS really freaked out about this too. The person helping me went from person to person in the office and i kept hearing. "he doesn't have a yellow card." and lastly by, "you better call that in." By this time I had a small audience who were waiting to be helped. Oh noes!!! they better lock me away for not having the card... Excellent, not off to a great start. Luckily, the previous owner picked a good bank, when I call the loan department I get a nice sweet lady. She agrees to help me out but since the loan was paid off a few years earlier they only have limited information. The information they have shows a loan was taken out and paid in full but no other details. I relay the vin # and information about the car and she addresses a letter on bank letterhead and sends it out in the mail. As luck would have it she is a notary so she also notarizes it. Thank you, thank you, thank you! A few days later it arrives and I hit the dvs again and things go smoothly this time and get plates and the car registered. The Plan The plan to fix the bugeye is to source a rear trunk lid, bumper, bumper cover, and a new quarter panel on the cheap. Then, I'll only need to take the back seats out, move a little wiring, the rear window, and drop the headliner. It will then be ready for the body shop. The body shop will pull the car straight, weld in a new right rear 3/4 clip, and leave wrinkles in trunk floor which will save money. The bugeye will be straight, but would not be a repair that would be up to insurance standards due to leaving the trunk floor damaged. Since this is mainly going to be a winter car I don't really care. I estimate dismantling shouldn't take more than a few hours to do. Easily doable and I'll have the car ready for the body shop. Here are pics of the dismantle process and more on my 'expected' plan later... i love how easy the rear seats are to remove with two bolts down below to get the bottom of the seat, and 4 bolts to take out the back. I took out the sound deadening material behind the seats as well. Removing the trunk was a pain in the ass as it was really jammed in from the impact. I ended up having to crawl through the pass through to get at the jammed trunk latch. After removing the latch to free the deck lid I pulled the lock core so I can transfer it to a new trunk later. This also tested my patience as the trunk was crushed pretty good. The core is sandwiched between two layers of metal that comprises the lid. You can really see the impact was quite substantial and the floor is badly wrinkled. The damaged seemed worse than I originally suspected. If you look closely the seam on the inner fender is split. You can now see right through to the garage floor. That will need to be fixed as well, perhaps I shouldn't be saving this...
Parts Placing want ads in Craigslist/forum helped quite a bit. I locate a person who has a '07 decklid, '03 bumper, bumper support, foam core, and the metal bumper supports under the headlights and across the back. This is the bulk of the misc pieces I need. I make arrangements to pick these up. The person also has a clean '03 wrx shell with some '07 parts on it that I could purchase to swap everything over to and avoid body work. Unfortunately it has a cage and would require insane amounts of work. It wouldn't work well for the street but it is pretty sweet. I don't want to risk wrecking the leather in the Volvo so I borrow my brothers truck. Given that this is the first time I've used the truck it is fitting that i'm behind the wheel as it turns 250,000 miles and it looks better than the day it was new. With most parts secured this leaves me with the last part to obtain- the rear quarter. I email back and forth with a few people, call around at a few junkyards, and search the net. I end up finding a stripped out complete full rear clip. The price isn't great but not horrible either and it's nice to find out the car was black so this clip will match my bugeye fairly well. I negotiate a sale and work out delivery to my body guy. A Revised Plan After submitting new pics to the body shop we wait for the clip to arrive there. It arrives safely despite arriving on what one could 'loosely' describe as donuts. One spare is flat, the other is bent to hell and the tire isn't even on. The clip doesn't roll so my body guy Bruce has to take a hammer to things to get the things rolling. In his own words "he didn't do you any favors." Not cool in my book, but the clip is there and Bruce does not seem too fazed by any of this. He says he's seen it all. It's not how I want to start off with the body guy though so I'm still a bit annoyed with the delivery. We schedule a time to work out some details and make sure we're on the same page. Here are some cell phone pics of the rolling rear clip (I forgot a camera)... The clip is from a 2005 wrx, my bugeye is an '02. The body's are the same so I only have some suspension and rear differential differences to deal with later. The paint code is different but it's being painted anyway. The inside of the replacement clip is flat black and thats whats important. My paint code is 08V I believe, the black with blue tint to it and the clip is just black. Interestingly, my s60R is black sapphire and both cars look blue in the sunlight but black otherwise. My wife's car is black so now we have 3 black cars... I would have preferred a white bugeye if I were to pick the color. Drinks and discussion: You can see where the clip was cut along the roof. At the floor it's cut before the factory seam that runs below the rear seats. It is where you put your feet if you were to sit in the back. (pretend it has seats) A shot from the back. Like i said it's pretty bare bones but does have the complete rear suspension and the rear differential. A closer shot from the driverside that shows where plugs will need to be inserted in the sills for reassembly. Bruce has already removed the rear window and drilled out the factory welds along the seam as a first step in prepping this clip. You might have guessed we scrapped the straightening idea and decide to use the full rear clip. This clip is clean and it makes sense to do a clean repair. I like this. No doubt this is a HUGE job but in the end it will take close to the same amount of time for Bruce to complete his work (all the bodywork/paint.) I on the other hand suddenly have much more work to do... Additional disassembly needed Well, now that I'm not replacing just the quarter I can no longer just pull the wiring wire harness from the trunk and call it a day. I now need to move the following. -solid brake lines: these run from inside the engine bay along the passenger side of car and drop down to the outside of the car just in-front of the fuel tank. -solid fuel lines: unlike most cars these also run along the inside of the car on the driver side. They run from the fuel filter in the engine bay to behind the dash, and run to the fuel tank where they also drop through the shell. -more wiring: including door sensors, rear decklid wiring for brake light, etc etc. -parking brake wires -front seats -prop shaft -exhaust -side skirts -some other things i'm probably forgetting. -additionally: I now need to swap suspensions, gas tanks, and the rear differential when I put the bugeye back together.
no doubt, It can be a poor choice but if you know what you are getting into or the repair of what was fixed it's not so bad. Things need to be rebuilt correctly. Since I know all the work that is being done it removes the unknown factor and gives me piece of mind. There are people out there that will scam, sell complete crap so I'm glad they are required to list them as salvaged. I agree, it's not real scary and nothing to be worried about.
Great read, great project! Thanks for sharing, I'm excited to see how this turns out. The work on Chad's car(s?) looks amazing! I'd like to see a larger version of you avatar too! I lol'd hard. This sums up every single one of the last 7-8 encounters I've had with MN dvs.
I'll be sure to post the body work pics, i find these the most interesting as well. isn't it the brutal truth though, every time i go. My first experience was the best though. I won't get into it too much, but transferring my license from WI to MN my WI drivers license wasn't good enough for proof of a name. Neither was a copy of my birth certificate and original social security card-had to be original birth certificate. Each time I got a different answer. All of this because my middle name on my license for WI said J. WI lists only the middle initial and MN wanted my full middle name James. 4 trips later....
I am in a similar boats... Driving a 9-5 Aero and rebuilding a car that was cut in half, also encountering issues with the DMV. haha
How do you like the aero? I had an 85 SPG a few years ago. It was a great car and was still running strong at 225k miles and it burned little oil between changes.
More disassembly The remaining work to free up the area where welding and rear clip separation will occur goes smoothly. I'm hoping it will go back together just as smooth. There is not much to say here except have some decent tools, remember where things go, and take pictures to document where things go should you run into problems later. Oh, and try to save as many plastic clips as possible as replacement could add up quickly. Picking up a trim removal tool helps immensely and they can be had for less than $10. Here is the WRB bumper I picked up, anyone have an extra license plate bracket?. In the background you can see the foam core. An '07 decklid, I'm not sure how I'm going to badge this yet but I'm going wingless so all holes will be plugged by Bruce. The night I got this home I loaded it in the garage securing it so it wouldn't fall, or so I thought anyway. I went inside and 5 minutes later I hear a loud crash. I come out and it's laying on cement, good thing it's getting painted anyway. You can see the rear brace for additional stiffness in this pic, also I noticed the car came with one rear mat, nice. Here is the wiring harness where it pops through the trunk, It's one solid piece and doesn't disconnect anywhere. It helps to label everything for easy assembly later. You can really tell how things are put together at the factory as you do the teardown. So far I've saved all wiring clips without damage, lets hope my luck continues. The front seats are out as well as some exterior trim. The headliner is now dropped. I should have waited on this as I had problems getting the rear window out. The harbor freight window removal tool failed me. I expected 1 use out of it before having to toss it but that didn't happen. So in case you are wondering I don't think you can remove the headliner without the front or rear window being out. There is a chance you can remove it through the front passenger door but the car was tucked up against a wall so that wasn't an option for me. All the window rubber and trim is out of the way. I broke my first clips too, some b pillar clips that hold in some plastic molding. I don't feel it could be helped after looking at things when disassembled. I managed to save a few on the other side. The rear carpet is out as well. It's amazing the stuff you find under the seats. I think i'm up a few $ in change, a money clip, etc etc.
The center console is removed, I noticed part of the alarm module hidden under this console. I think I'll be getting bushings for the shifter to tighten things up and perhaps a short shift kit. That can always be added down the road easily though as removing the console takes no time at all. Here you can see the 3 fuel lines that need to be removed, they start below the grey plug. Another shot of the fuel lines for some reason. What do you have hidden behind your interior trim??? Thankfully, all this rust is being lopped off along with the clip. . This could have been an unwanted surprise down the road. I couldn't believe there was rust here. There was also quite a bit thats out of view in this pic. Moisture was definitely coming in someplace. I also noticed very little seam sealant from the factory in this area, perhaps that contributed. I was also surprised to see how thin the air ventilation was that runs to the rear seats. It's now time to take on the solid gas/brake lines and parking brake cables. The fuel lines are solid up to the filter under the hood. Further inspection shows the space is tight as it passes into the cabin. Looking at the inside of the car and under the dash you can see how tight things are for moving the lines unless you want to remove a lot more wiring and dash pieces. I think it's time to come up with a different plan for getting these lines out of the way. I ultimately decide to remove the soft lines under the hood, this provides enough flex in the lines to tie them in the back of the car to the top of the b pillar. This will provide Bruce with enough room to do his welding without them getting in the way. I won't have to bother snaking these out or back in later. I go through a similar process with the brake lines by removing them from the clips and securing them to the b pillar as well. The fittings for the brake lines under the clip are solid though. You can simply drain the brake fluid by backing off the fitting just in front of the fuel tank. I should have grabbed a pic for this but I neglected to. I suggest investing in some flare nut wrenches for this procedure so you don't damage the fittings. The wiring in this picture is for the fuel sending unit. This unfortunately is different on the '05 clip I picked up so I'll now be dropping the fuel tank later to swap out this harness. I was hoping they were the same.
Meanwhile at the body shop... Bruce is prepping the '05 rear clip ahead of time. The passenger c pillar gains some material for the plug. The driver side c pillar gains some material as well. A shot of the plug for the passenger side sill/rail. A shot of the driver side sill/rail plug. Here i one last shot of the passenger side c pillar showing the outside of the pillar. I'll end with a pic for the outside c pillar on the driver side. The clip is now all ready and waiting for me to deliver the car.
Final disassembly for body shop and delivery! Just from getting in and out of the car you can see the salt taking it's toll. This is just a bracket for the fuel door and trunk release hardware. I'll clean this area up a bit during re-assembly. Oops, I almost forgot to take off the side skirts. It seems a little dirt has gotten behind them and the fender lining. Since paint work is being done I've decided to have the skirts painted as well.I also destroy the two front clips (one per side) holding the skirts on. They just wouldn't come out cleanly so add them to the list of items I need to order. I'll need to remove exhaust and prop shaft as seen in this pic. The exhaust comes out easily, it's in decent shape and can be reused. I ran into some stubborn bolts on the metal cage that protects the rear diff and prop shaft. A few bolts came out easily but others were starting to round even with 6 point sockets. I hit them with some PB blaster and let them sit overnight. The next day they come out without further issue. I drain the transmission fluid by removing the (22mm I believe) drain bolt and undo the 4 bolts that connect the prop to the rear differential (8 mm). This requires a trip to Sears for a second set of metric wrenches. One bolt holds tight and requires some extra swearing to break free but it finally relents. I remove the 2 bolts holding the prop shaft up and pull it out carefully. The entire thing comes out easier than I thought. It isn't as heavy as I would have expected either. In grabbing all the parts for delivery I realize I forgot to prep the '07 trunk by removing the lock core and wing. I quickly remove the lock core and realize I need a 10mm deep socket for the wing removal. I have some deep sockets but I probably don't have one in 10mm, I need to obtain a decent set of these. I check my set, nope, nothing. The smallest I have is 14mm. I fish around in the tool box for an alternative since stores are already closed. I'm about to call it a night and I see a deep socket lying in the back of a drawer. I grab it and it's 10mm! That is a win right there, I have no idea where it came from either. Disassembly for now is complete and it is time for delivery, yea!
The goal for delivery is to get the car to the shop without incident. Loading and unloading will need to be done without brakes since they are none functioning. It turns out it's nothing to worry about, loading up the car (Wed. May 26) was really easy. With weight removed from the back the bugeye rolled up onto the trailer up to the front wheels with no effort. We use the straps to ratchet the car up the rest of the way pushing a bit as we went along. It only took about 10 minutes to load up. That is good as we were getting a later start than we planned on since we forgot the straps for the trailer and didn't realize it right away. This killed an hour easy and it certainly didn't help that 35w is a mess so side streets were necessary. My little guy was all excited to see uncle Chad and the car loaded up. Here are two other shots of the car loaded up. It gets strapped down securely and we head off to the body shop. Now the easy work, well for me anyway... I just get to watch the progress. Thanks to Justin for letting me use the trailer, I appreciate it. Say goodbye to the carnage. "Thanks, you'll probably use that one too." Yep, of course I will. Hi Jeremy... he's my good neighbor who graciously let me use his truck so we didn't have to use the old Toyota to tow the bugeye. Here is one last shot that shows the brake lines tied up. It was a good idea to wrap them as some extra fluid seems to have leaked out. So far everything is going smooth and I'm happy with the progress. I've put in about ~15-20 hours thus far. I haven't really been keeping track of hours so i could be off, it probably took a bit longer. I've just done a little bit each night after the kids are in bed. It's been relaxing having a few beers, listening to the twins, and making progress. I could have done it in less perhaps but I'm just taking my time and having fun. Next up is body shop progress.
Looks like quite the project, and also that volvo (especially the interior) is sweet. I will be sure to follow the rest of this!
All in a days work Friday morning when I get into work I have an email from Bruce. He sends a few pics on the work he did the previous day. I really wish I had the knowledge to do this type of work. It's really hard on the body if you do it for any length of time but it's amazing stuff. The welds are drilled out at the factory seam to prepare for separation. Separation is complete, the car is officially in 2 pieces. A second shot from the other side. The two chariots shown side by side. Hopefully Bruce puts the good one back on... After measuring everything 6 times Bruce merges the new clip with the rest of my car on the first day. Of course not all the welding is done, just some initial welds to secure things but I still think it's pretty amazing stuff. Bruce though always seems to downplay it all.
Bummer... you didn't go with a stretch limo bugeye lol Looks like really good work so far! I love his lighting set-up too.
I like the quality of bodywork. The plugs are great since the metal is re-annealed from welding. The car should be almost as good as new when it's done. I say almost since none of us can e-coat a car.
His lighting setup really helps with paint prep I'm sure. Ohh, i didn't even consider a stretch, I think I really blew it... Creating some sort of strange 2dr though with an old RS rear would have been interesting. The work Bruce does will become its strongest feature. I will still have a door that has a minor issue that you can see in certain light. Looks like some previous PDR where it didn't come out 100%. The front bumper has a small tear and the front hood has a crease at the end on the passenger side where it must have been pushed into a car in front of it. I'm not trying to make it perfect so some of that cosmetic stuff can wait. Can't have it all I will get it looking pretty good though but I'll let me pocket book recover some before doing any upgrades, wheels, etc. thanks!
Body work continues Work is progressing quickly, tentative plans put the car being complete this friday already, just 8 days after dropping it off. Another set of pics are in from Bruce with a quick note saying all the welding is done/ground down and the floor has been caulked. A shot of the passenger c pillar on the inside. Here is the inside of the driver c pillar. Here is the floor at the factory seam with welds complete. This pic was taken before the caulking was completed. Here is a shot of the outside driver c pillar. You have to look carefully at this pic as the seam at the very bottom was discovered when the rear clip was prepped. Unfortunately, this clip had a quarter panel put on it at some point The welds aren't so hot either in this spot. The rest of the visible work looked good though so I'm not concerned. If you look 2 inches up you will see Bruce's fresh welds. I think I know which one is stronger... You can also see some bondo showing below the lowest weld. Here is the passenger c pillar outside welds that were completed. This is the lower sill now plugged and fully welded on the passenger side. Finally, here is a shot of the driver side sill all welded up. I believe that things will be prepped for the painting process next. I can't believe how fast things are progressing. Before I know it I'll have a ton more work to do swapping suspensions, gas tanks, and putting everything back together.
OMG You cut my baby in half Looks like things are coming along nicely.... I have my eyes out for those keys yet. Oh, I found this picture of the other car from the crash - your license plate bracket is somewhere in here:
LOL, yeah sorry about that. Wow that was a good impact. Thanks for posting that pic! The Subaru held up really well seeing the damage on that Focus. Hard to believe the wrx was still driveable (although barely). I love the door too, "Be Successful." Maybe I need a little window sticker that says: 'Focus killer' or a tiny vinyl decal on the front quarter showing my car's kill.
Agreed. The driver told the cop he was doing 40 before he hit the brakes at the last second... I barely heard his tires screech so he must not have slowed down much. I was likewise impressed how it took the hit.
Body work is complete. Another day of successful work on the bugeye is completed. I received word today that the bodywork is done. A lot of work remains yet and tomorrow begins with much featheredging, taping, and priming. Things are progressing so quickly that my thoughts return to the re-assembly work. Currently, I'm planning on where to put the old clip back at the house. I need the old clip so I can grab the suspension parts, fuel tank, and parking brake lines. I do plan on selling the remaining leftover '05 wrx parts. Here is a shot of the left c pillar all smoothed out. This of course is the matching right side c pillar. Here is a shot of the driver side rocker panel. This pic also shows work on the door that was completed. Previously, there was a failed PDR attempt that didn't look so good. Here is a shot of the opposite side (passenger) rocker panel. I'll follow the last pic up with a full shot of the door that is now repaired. Finally, I'll end this update with a shot of the trunk that was cleaned up by welding the holes for the wing, the '07 badge, and some other cosmetic issues. I'll be posting the final pics of the paint preparation soon.
Everything is in Primer I received another round of shots from the body shop. Three different primers were used for the bumper cover, side skirts, and the car. A quick pic showing the decklid. A shot showing the rear bumper. A quick pic with the side-skirts primed. The driver side is all primed. Passenger side is primed too. Sanding, jambing and some re-priming in a few areas will occur tomorrow/monday. If all goes smooth the wrx will be ready for paint on Monday.
WOW, although I cant believe he primed over the door handles like that... side note - his welds could be a lot better IMO... especially seeing as he ground a lot of them off to clean them up... just saying.. but this repair/rebuild is incredible.. so will you end up ahead instead of just buying a running one??
I will come out ahead on this. If the motor didn't have new heads I probably would have reconsidered and had the car parted out. The plus side is I'll know this car in and out. Besides, sometimes just having a project and working on it is way more satisfying than just picking something up. I won't be worried about keeping the thing pristine so it'll get plenty of use.
Great progress! You must be getting excited/nervous about all the work ahead of you! If I had a porch I would buy the rear clip off of you and turn it into a porch swing. Maybe it would fit in the sun room...
I say get the clip from me and roll it down to como and give rides.... forget doing details for extra $$$ I'd say I'm more excited than nervous, I have some things to learn but that should be fun. I'm not on a schedule for getting it done except have it ready by first snow fall. I'll probably try to get it going as soon as possible though because i really want to drive it. Speaking of details, when the paint is finally cured enough I'll need to bring it down to your place so you can tackle the front end. The paint is in need of some cleanup i think. I haven't seen the car clean as it was pretty dirty when I picked it up but I believe it was swirl city.
Another factor is the history on the car - my dad bought it new off the truck and never hammered on it, then sold it to me. I never raced it, or even modded it, as it was my only car between wife and I while she was in grad school so I needed it to run every day. Up until the incident with the valve, everything had been great on this car.
Swirl city is right... I am still trying to remember who did that to it, but I can't imagine my old man doing any buffing and I don't think I did when I owned it, must have been a bad detail shop.
I'm no body man but my guess is his welds are meant to penetrate without heating the metal too much. And I would guess that instead of laying a continuous bead, you stitch here and stitch there to control heat. So they may look different than a weld that is meant for some exhaust pipes where you can lay a nice smooth bead on easily. And grinding the welds seems like a necessity when you are going for a flush panel.
Thanks for the additional history, I didn't know if it had multiple owners besides you and your dad. I'm not going to worry about the paint too much. I'll keep it clean/nice but I don't intend to try and win any detail awards.
Dude, I totally agree with idget on this one. The damage was to the rear bumper and rear QPs. You could have chopped it behind the rear doors, then welded the new rear end up to that. Then, all you'd have to do is get a fist full of "SUBARU" letters and rearrange them to say "ASSBUS." I think, down the road, if I can find some GF wagons that need some TLC, this is the route I'm gonna go.
even stitch welds shouldnt have bubbles/holes in the middle... I know a little more about types of welding then just welding exhaust tubing and you can still stitch weld flatter then a big booger.. just get the right wire speed and voltage and use the right gas... and if you are gonna grind it off.. at least spot weld with good penetration so that when you grind it down it's at least welded thru.. either way this car will hold good.. was just pointing it out as the OP made comments about previous welding done..
First round of paint A few more pics have rolled in. It was a short day of work yesterday but the car was sanded down and the some door jambs were painted. A shot of the right side door jamb. The driver side door jamb painted. The trunk opening is painted on the inside. You can see the flash picks up the blue in the paint (code 08V). Bye, bye WRB, it was nice knowing you... The underside of the trunk lid gets it's paint. A quick shot of the side skirts all ready for installation. That reminds me, I have 2 clips I need to order and I need to grab some fuel line at a local subie dealer. I also need to grab some transmission and brake fluid, any good recommendations? I was thinking I should changeout the rear differential's fluid as well since it will be out of the car. The rest of the car should get painted Monday or Tuesday, I'll post the next set of pics at that time.
Looks good !! Keep up the work! I brought my bugeye back from the dead too ! Mine was a front and rear hit my dad was saying it might be a back half situation but it ended up pulling out really really nice...Your getting close you may have it on the road soon! Can't wait to see more
Thanks for the tip, I will grab some. Can the same gear oil can be used in the rear diff? My Volvo requires different fluid since it's a Haldex unit. We were going to pull this one out too and just do a right quarter but in the end finding a full rear clip seemed to warrant cutting it in half. Yeah, I can't wait to get it on the road, hopefully by the end of the month but we'll see.
The car is painted and ready I received an email from Bruce stating he painted the rest of the car today. A quick pic of the passenger side shows some things still taped up. Here is a view showing the new trunk and bumper. I'm glad the inside was bagged so the dash doesn't get a new paint job. The trunk was opened for this pic. I have to remember to bring the rest of the bumper hardware with me, it's only being held up with a few clips I was able to save from the accident. I should probably get a new torsion bar too so the hood doesn't snap open. A second shot shows the driver side with the trunk open. A pic from behind shows the lights added to see how the wrx looks mostly complete. It's practically a car again. If you look really close at the review mirror, you'll see that the auto dimming mirror has lost a bit of whatever fluid is in there. I assume there is no way to fix without replacing the entire thing??? The rear window should go in shortly. Tomorrow, I head out to the body shop to attack the rear clip that was cut off to grab the suspension, fuel tank, brakes, etc etc. At that time the rest of the rear clip save the good left quarter will get cut up. Hmmm, will I remember where everything goes??? At-least I can mix in some interior re-assembly/wiring with the suspension/exhaust/fluids/prop shaft work to change things up as I put it everything back together. It should be fairly easy to do in all seriousness.
