hello!
fairly new to being a proud soob owner. (license plate literally reads "soob") haha.
on my second Impreza now. i started with a $200 '97 Impreza with the 1.8L. that car served me well! i was hoping to find a forester to do the lift and make a little "battle wagon" but i never did find a cheap parts forester.. however i did find another Impreza, a wrecked 2004 Impreza Wagon RS with the 2.5L N/A 5spd, and the owner was looking to trade for a kayak/mtb/SUP etc. i offered my kayak and i got a subaru for the price of a kayak, which i got for free! haha. after getting my second subaru i was told i had to sell one... haha that was a hard decision but i ended up selling the 1.8L to a friend (which i had piped and never heard drive away, as he drove across town i regretted selling it.. haha but cat and muffler delete on this new 04 and she'll sound better. (actually already deleted the muffler and put on a tip) love the popping when i'm downshifting, gah that nearly turns me on hahaha
when i got the '04 Subaru it needed love. o2 sensors were unplugged, (front sensor didnt work) cylinder 1 & 3 sparkplugs had nothing left and were misfiring. was low on oil. BUT the head gasket and timing belt had been done about 20000k prior. the fender, hood, and passenger headlight was smashed, looked like the previous owner wedged himself under something... cracked one rim as well, but very small crack and repairable. will be a back up set of rims once i find new ones, but nothing to cry about (and on the inside lip, so its not even a cosmetic issue). all damage was/is repairable or replaceable. so thats what i've been doing.
i've popped the fender dent out, but am still looking for a hood and headlights before i get the few rust spots dealt with. the car cleaned up really good, i gave it a tune up, new spark plugs, filters, oil change, etc. and even with a faulty o2 sensor she does pretty well. (that is being replaced soon! parts car coming!)
i have also taken a set of JDM Turbo Legacy GT brakes and installed them on my car, 11" rotors in the front & 10" in the rear now, and twice as thick as my original rotors, larger pads as well. and the calipers are blue now. colour adds horsepower everyone knows this. haha but there is less than an 1/8th inch between my rim and caliper now haha I had to remove the wheel weights as they wouldnt fit between the caliper and rim. currently rocking 16"x7" RTX aluminum rims for now, but I will be going to 17"/18" soon very likely.
next upgrades: i'm looking to do sway bars and end links! also top strut stabilizer for the front. after that will look into upgrading the headers & intake. i also have a used bilstein strut kit available to me... only 3 struts though, haha. so idk, maybe put the 2 fronts on for now. if its cheap enough i'll use them for the meantime, then get a new set from rockauto or somewhere with the next best deal.
car is sitting at 241xxxkm (head gaskets and timing belt done at 220xxxk) so once i hit 300 i am going to fully rebuild the engine, upgrade injectors, use turbo head gaskets, give the heads a shave, hoan the cylinders, and get a proper rebuild kit with forged piston arms and maybe some cams.
this is a wagon build for road tripping and enjoyable driving. i am a rally enthusiast and love to drive all conditions. these cars are perfect for just that. my daily driving ranges from casual to race mode haha, depending who i'm rolling with..
i always use 91 octane or better. (anyone who doesnt is a fool!) lol. compression of 10.1:1 and up you should definitely be using 91 octane IMO. even in my ford 302 v8
look forward to sharing my build, and maybe some rally videos along the way!
