2002 Subaru Impreza WRX

[redgatemodels]

Hi,

I've been dragged here by Peteh1969, known him ages

here's my baby, dressed up for a wedding job the other weekend



My first turbo, had two same year, same shape, same colour GX Sports before

[toast00]

nice ribbon

[Kaktus]

Looks brilliant! Love the white wheels on it, really suits it!

[norm75]

Nice one, the bugeyes have certainly improved with age.
I have a 2003 blobeye. Will have owned it 12 years next February.

[rblote]

I love it and I am sure that this will be a classic car in the (near) future.

[redgatemodels]

Here's what it looked like in April 2018



big list of parts swapped from the old GX Sport

Wheels, front brakes, coilover suspension, front bumper, splitter, grille and fogs, drivers side front wing, both door mirrors, both rear doors, boot lid including spoiler, rear roof spoiler, rear bumper (widetrack blobeye) and arch extensions, flaps, gear stick surround and knob, interior door handles.

I've since fitted an STI intercooler with water spray and larger Blobeye style STi scoop, Prodrive side skirts and a nice double DIN Android stereo (with reversing camera).

Headlights were split this year and the internal panels sprayed black, orange indicator bubbles removed and white DRL halos fitted in place. Chrome orange indicator bulbs. The side markers are also fitted with orange LEDs so also work as indicators.

Plans for next year? Rear wash wipe if I can locate a rear window with the hole in and the wiper arm etc.

[redgatemodels]

So as I said, the process of swapping bits from the GX to the WRX started once the 30 day warranty had expired. First was the wheels and the bigger scoop (that was new, I never got the urge to add one to a non-turbo) ...



then me and the lad started in earnest.

Front end including driver's wing, at this point the whole front bumper was transferred over.



Boot lid and spoiler - easier than removing the spoiler and refitting ...



rear bumper after a respray, look how rust free it is inside and outside the boot even after 16 odd years .....







New exhaust at Cobrasport



Bit subtle this one, but coilovers swapped over, at this point the GX was put on knackered JDM Sti shocks



Fornt brake calipers, straight swap, but the ones from the GX had been completely refurbed by Gaz Watson, new disks all round came later





That was about it for 2018, I'll post this years changes next

[thebaron]

Welcome. I love Imprezas and would definitely get another one. Bug eyes are my favourite of the lot.

[Midland Performance & Retro]

Nice car. I own several different Imprezas myself from early classic to Hawkeye.

We have the remains of one parked outside our unit at the moment ready to be weighed in once I’ve stripped it of a few bits I require, so lots of spares going free (and a few tastier bits available too) if there’s anything you or any fellow owners need.

[peteh1969]

Looks much better now Ian.

[redgatemodels]

Sept 24, 2019 18:52:45 GMT Midland Performance & Retro said:

Nice car. I own several different Imprezas myself from early classic to Hawkeye.

We have the remains of one parked outside our unit at the moment ready to be weighed in once I’ve stripped it of a few bits I require, so lots of spares going free (and a few tastier bits available too) if there’s anything you or any fellow owners need.

Ta

In reality I have almost all I want. The holy grail is the rear window and wash/wipe arm from a JDM import. My friend Curtis Hurt keeps trying to talk me into a Spec C roof vent, but they are so much money and I'd lose the map lights etc. I'm also planning on putting a DAB aerial in that location too .....

Toy trains are taking my money at the moment as well - Pete will be pleased, as I'm building a layout that needs one of his products - pisssshti cuff!

[redgatemodels]

Sept 24, 2019 18:26:29 GMT thebaron said:

Welcome. I love Imprezas and would definitely get another one. Bug eyes are my favourite of the lot.

Mine too, although the later Blobeye rear end is mandatory

The addition of a JDM grille and headlight split/paint makes so much difference to the front end and really addresses the issues with the factory look of the Bugeye.

Sadly I didn't take any pictures when I split the headlights only got a before and after shot

[norm75]

Sept 24, 2019 18:52:45 GMT Midland Performance & Retro said:

Nice car. I own several different Imprezas myself from early classic to Hawkeye.

We have the remains of one parked outside our unit at the moment ready to be weighed in once I’ve stripped it of a few bits I require, so lots of spares going free (and a few tastier bits available too) if there’s anything you or any fellow owners need.

wouldn't happen to have a td04l on it that is surplus to requirements by any chance, mine works ok but is doing a very bad impression of Roger Whitaker when pressing on. Also require an air con compressor and have a slightly weeping Pas pump.

To be fair, those few items and the fact it could do with some new transfer gear bearings as they are whining a bit, are the only problems we've had with ours over the near 12 years of ownership and daily use, other than wear items, and it's just about to roll on 156k

[redgatemodels]

I did promise an update on what has been happening to "Bugs" this year. Well, now it's autumn and I'm not planning to do any more that keep it running over the winter (I have winter wheels with proper Avon WV7 snow tyres that will go on as soon as it drops frosty) I thought a quick summary was in order.

I started with this



Pretty uninspiring to the uninitiated, but I'd been after one for years - JDM heater vents with credit card holder drawer. Stock UK spec cars just have a solid panel next to the larger cupholder drawer. Cost silly money as I had to buy the whole dash set, lost count how many spare cupholders and stereo surrounds I have now LOL

Next I got hold of a proper STi undertray to match the larger bonnet scoop I fitted as soon as I got the car. This comes with a water jet to help keep the IC cool in traffic etc.More of this later



So my birthday arrived and #1 son had been whispering in the wife's ear. An STi intercooler was duly unwrapped. Of course now I wanted to do the complete job and fit the water spray bottle and pump. Now UK spec cars have the bottle in the boot (trunk for you in the USA) with a long pipe running the length of the car. JDM cars have a bottle under the bonnet (Hood) so I set about getting one of them.

Fitting it involved a lot of bad language and removing lots of parts to get it in - the main power feed to the starter motor being one, fuel lines and filter pushed aside etc etc. Good news was that even though the bottle came with both brackets the bottom one was already present on the car, good job as without a lift it would have been a right pig to fit. Top bracket was cleaned up, painted and fitted with nice anodised fixings.

Intercooler being offered up



bottle fitted, wiring to be done



The spray bottle pump is controlled by a timer and a push switch in the dash from the factory but I took a better route and bought a cheap chinese timer pcb from eBay that gives me a controllable "on" time and a controllable "repeat" interval. pushing the switch gives an immediate 2s squirt then another squirt after 30s and the cycle repeats until i press the button again or switch off ignition.

Job done



A few weeks later the car was due to be on stand with Mansfield Modified at Trax Donington so we got to work on the engine bay. Wiring was tidied up but splitting the tape on the stock harness and inserting the wires into the plastic covering then re-taping up the ends. Looks like I have not been there

The "STi" logo on the IC cover had to go, I really don't like sticking badges on cars that are not right -it's a WRX. The cover was sprayed with silver wheel paint and then a card stencil cut and "samco blue" paint sprayed on. Pretty good job even if I do say so myself.



Keen eyes will also see that Josh got busy with the high temperature paint on the inlet manifold too.

The "Gaz Watson" refurbished alternator from my GX Sport was fitted to add a little more bling.



Must have worked as the club won Best Club Stand on the Sunday I was there as well as another trophy the day before at Japfest Donington



At the same time the intercooler turned up I also got my hands on some Prodrive side sill covers, again pretty rare as they were only fitted to the Prodrive "Bug Eye" cars. I think around 760 were made and only 360 ish are still either registered or SORNed. Silly money paid again and they were the wrong colour being 02C "World Rally Blue". Now, I have had some success in the past spraying parts having cut my teeth painting and fixing fairings for a race bike many years ago and know my way around primer, filler, abrasives etc. So I decided to have a go with the side skirts.

Primer



Colour - 95H from a rattle can (or two) matched by a local motor factor



2K clear coat again from a rattle can (or 3) applied the same day before the top coat fully hardened and then cut back with 1200 grit wet or dry (wet) and Meguires cutting compound



and fitted



Car is pretty much how I want it now. A rear window wash wipe would be great and I's like to retrim the headlining and A/B/C pillar covers to get rid of the dated light grey to something a little more modern looking. Charcoal grey alcantara sounds nice. We shall see

[peteh1969]

Well done and very nice Ian.

[redgatemodels]

Jobs for next year include aircon. Seal has gone twixt high pressure hose and condenser, had it regassed in spring but most if not all the gas is now gone and it's clear where from. Plan is to rip the whole lot out of the GX, get the GX pump refurbished (cleaned, lubricated and painted then drop the lot into the WRX. Garage down the road has a machine so they say they can reclaim the gas from the GX before I start and then regas the WRX when I'm done.

Probably doing the whole lot as the high pressure hose on the GX is practically brand new, I got it from the USA as it was cheaper than the dealer getting one from Japan ....

[redgatemodels]

Must be getting close to show season, this little lot arrived today from Royal Steering Wheels



Got a ticket for the SOS Workshop open day on the 11th April so need to get fitting them asap

[redgatemodels]

All fitted now

[peteh1969]

Looks nice Ian

[redgatemodels]

So been a while since last update. Mainly underbonnet work done this year. First off the cooling system needed attention. A previous owner had dumped some form of rad weld in and It's been suffering from time to time with occasional spikes in the temperature - usually sorted by reverse flushing the heater matrix. The cooling circuit passes round this all the time unlike some cars where the flow is blocked off by a valve.

So, armed with a new set of hoses, rad flush and some brand new OAT coolant it was drained, refilled with flush, ran for 20 minutes and then drained, reverse flushed etc etc. New hoses fitted and coolant header tank given a refresh too







Also the aircon was sorted. It had a leak from the high pressure hose/condenser joint. I decided to strip the condenser, pump and top hose from the old GX Sport as I knew they were all good. However, removing the low pressure hard line from the condenser caused the end of the union to shear off in the condenser, so the "spare" from the GX was needed too. After lots of removing bits, cleaning and repainting and refitting it was all back together. Took it to a local specialist to get it trefilled, needed a new O ring or two, but £107 later and I have cold air!


















I went a bit mad painting the pump, but I like it