1997 Subaru Impreza Classic - The Terrorist

[ToolsnTrack]

So this is car number 6 in the Overdrive stable. It came to visit a few times when it wasn't mine for various bits and bobs...



Then one day this happened:



Smacked pretty hard by a drunk driver reversing into it. Buckled the slam panel, bent the radiator support, killed all the outer panels back to the wings... So the car was brought to me once again to strip and sell off for spares. Got pretty far, eventually the money was recouped, then the question of what to do with the remains came up. Being zero value and liable for scrap, and not one to back down from yet ANOTHER challenge, I took it on. The car dubbed "The Terrorist" in a previous life would be resurrected. The Zombie Terrorist.

So... What does it need? Well, the obvious first. The front end was beyond hammering out, and these are bad for rotting here, so I picked up a chopped front end panel. Then i luckily sourced a white drivers door to replace the one that had been removed and sold. I popped that on first to keep the water out...



After that, i got shipped out to Dubai for 5 weeks for work. Sat there, somewhat bored, i found myself perusing eBay. Keeping things sensible, I only bought what i KNEW i needed. In other words, the bits that were previously stripped and sold. The car has no engine, no interior, and no brake flexi lines. Yup, that was one of the bits I sold off, and i wasn't particularly cautious with the removal. I'll come to that later...

Most of the ordered parts were delivered to my brothers (I was out the country to be fair) and I will have them at the Skunkworks this weekend. Last night, with the replacement front end, and one wing, I got this project rolling...



A 15 minute shuffle with the Skunkworks lugger (Passat) and a towing arm, the Terrorist was in its new location. Out with the 10mm socket and...



The buggered panels are off. Not binning these just yet though...

Next up, some careful picking of loom, and various sundries were disconnected. That ABS pump is pretty close to where the join is, so that was unbolted..







Right, that's enough of the careful thinking nonsense. Pass me the angle grinder...



...and offer up the replacement panel...







Loads or metal to play with. Oh, and i had to see how it would look:




Stay tuned..

[daver555]

Liking the sound of this. I love the classic Impreza's with a passion (hence the username!?!) Used to live just down the road from Bell & Colville in Surrey and I would go past on my Yamaha RD 125LC every morning and evening when these were brand new! I've been into them ever since and especially during the McRae and Burns years. I'd love to see this go down the most unconventional path you can take it as soooooo many have had a stupidly huge wing put on, an exhaust you could fit your head in and luminous dials added inside! Subscribed.

[ToolsnTrack]

Jun 20, 2014 7:56:30 GMT daver555 said:

soooooo many have had a stupidly huge wing put on, an exhaust you could fit your head in and luminous dials added inside! Subscribed.

No wings, no dayglow dials.... This will be a bit different.

[qwerty]

Flat 6 from a legacy?

[ToolsnTrack]

The shell cost nothing, so I'm planning on making this a cheap (very cheap) resto. Focus on literally bang for buck, as many horses for as little pennies.

Legacy flat 6 (I'm sure the flat 6's were limited to the SVX, must be wrong)is well out on cost grounds.

[Xenocide]

Unrelated but I can't help but stare at your avatar for a few seconds and do the same motion.

This post will make no sense in a few months when you change it.

[ToolsnTrack]

Its been there for a year, and is literally the most relevant Avatar i've ever had. Its gaun naewhere!!

[andrewbaran]

Having a Subaru to do up/own "on the cheap" is a terrible idea from the start. Just pray you don't have have to visit the dealership/Import Car parts very often!

Enjoy it! I miss my classic Legacy a lot!

[ToolsnTrack]

So despite the Passats best efforts to keep me out the garage yesterday, i made a bit of progress here. I was hoping to get the Passat back as it had all the remaining bits needed for the car to be externally complete...



Including new gen seats...



...and an STi alloys bunnet. Sadly all that swag is sat in Glasgow, safely(!) stored in a Passat that has a 90% complete radiator. Rage.

Cracking on with the front end merge, i added some "wings" to the chassis legs. These will allow me to throw down some thick fillet welds and ensure that the legs themselves are joined in a sturdy fashion..



They also were quite handy for supporting the front end during the fine tuning with the flapper wheel...



In true Skunkworks style, I got lost in the job and totally forgot to take pictures until this point:



It actually looks quite squint here due to the fact that a lot of parts merge in an odd way where i cut it. Needless to say, look at the bottom of the chassis leg: It's straight. On the other side:



Only just ground back the first seam weld. Will put a lot more strength into this down the line. I did have one wing to test out the fit with...



Lined up pretty good up top...



...and not too shabby on the outer to inner wing holes!

One last shot from the front for luck:

[grifterkid]

Superb!

[Ian]

I do like a classic impreza, but sadly when I test drove one, I got pulled over by the police, to be fair though it was fresh import with no plates, but its the one car that my mrs says I am still allowed to have at some point (she has quite strong car views and her taste is questionable)

Now then, when are you going to shoehorn in the V8 from the camaro?

[ToolsnTrack]

Oh my good god, that garage needed cleaned out. Snuck out for a cheeky hour tonight and got in about it with a brush...



Of course, it only takes 10 minutes to sweep a floor, so i cracked into a small repair. The centre support spar on the front of these are sooo common for rust. Luckily mine was just surface, so i wire-wheeled it back to bare metal, then hit it with a few coats of primer...

[ToolsnTrack]

Guys, guys, guys! I got the Passat back from its impromptu breakdown. All parts unloaded, and i couldn't resist a wee loose-fit trial...



Mwuhahaha.....

[joem83]

This needs a 1UZ-FE & RWD conversion...

[stealthstylz]

Nooo 1300 beetle flat four just for the LOLs

[sciclone]

I like how the light reflection in your last pic looks like 555

[ToolsnTrack]

I'm keeping this one simple, got enough crazy non-original engine madness going on in the garage as it is! I think a EJ20 will suffice.

So a bit more last night. Got the 2 wing ends spot welded up...



Which leaves me with a grinding session to get them looking good as new. As you can see I made a start on this in some places here and here:



I had to spot fill some places on the chassis legs post grinding to mage them look a bit less... welded! Same on the outside:





Coming together now. Just to flatten out then hit with a coat of primer to see how it looks.

[Ian]

Great work, looks like you can never have enough projects, with the MR2, Camaro, Locost, this and the daily, as well as doing the garage build you have been pretty busy!

[ToolsnTrack]

No update in over a week because.. I've been in the garage grafting! This is starting to shape now...

Last update was the welds being put in place. Since then I ground them back and hit the front end with some primer and paint...





With that tidied, it was time to start prepping and painting the new panels. The alloy bonnet was the hardest to paint, but flattening was easy:







Unlike the wings, which due to them being quite moulded hid a lot of sins...



I just used scotch pads to prepare the surface,

[imghttp://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/t1.0-9/10441201_493486984118702_6509062748093877989_n.jpg[/img]

and rattle cans to finish...



Once done, it was time to trial fit, and ultimately discover if my weldathon had been as accurate as i had hoped...



It had.







As you can see, i decided to do the vents black. Wee bit of contrast...



Once the final coat was done on the bumper, it was final trial fit time. Weather was good so I pulled her out to see the finish in the sunlight...









Next up, a slight change in discipline. The original Tommy Kaira split rims were on loan, literally to allow me to maneuvre the car around the garage. Having taken delivery of a new set of OZ 17's from a Celica GT4 it was time to swap them over...









Offset WIN!

[Ian]

Looking good, perfectly reasonable excuse for no updates!