Dum-Dum's WRX Wagon

[Dum-Dum]

I saw this shed advertised on ebay for just shy of two grand, the listing expired with nobody having bought and I knewthat was my time to go and offer sensible money.
   




After some hardcore grade haggling I agreed a far more realistic price of £1300 and went and laid out the reddies
   




I drove her out of the site and round the corner where me and a buddy spent just shy of an hour making her look a little more roadworthy and fitting a Japspeed induction kit as the airbox was cracked.
   




Got her home and this weekend started straightening her out as the main structural bit of the chassis leg isn't bent
   




Headlight and new wing now sit perfectly on the chassis
   




I'd sadly painted the new wing the wrong colour due to ordering the wrong paint but managed to get the door straightened out a little and covered the bare metal with a little paint till I can find a door in the right colour.
   




And I cable tied the cracks in the bumper together till I get the right paint to paint the new bumper I have here.
   

[ozonehostile]

This is already amazing

[Dum-Dum]

While fixing the damage I decided to fit a FMIC for a later power upgrade and so that I can put on a non vented and less "look at me" bonnet. Many shinies came in the post, this kit appears identical to the Japspeed FMIC kit but was over £100 cheaper.
   




Got to work starting fitting it when it arrived in the post
   




You know it isn't gonna be a fun day when you have to make one of these tools. I had to cut off a bracket on the fan cowling as it fouled the FMIC pipe.
   





Got a splitter dump valve for more noise because I am a massive chav, had a little bit of a bodge to get it to meet the old pipe.
   




Kit all fitted
   




And the car looking awesome, needs a couple of clips put in once I get it up in the air tomorrow. Gonna have to get the STi covers for the fog light holes as alot of the fog light support had to go because of the intercooler pipes.
   

[bashbarnard]

#pikeywagon

[impotentials]

Ive got spare sti side bonnet vent sitting around if you lend us your arch puller.

[Piggy]

#chavvypikeywagon

EFA

[Niall]

You know what? Nothing surprises me any more

[7057sam]

Awsome mate

Can't wait to see where this goes and be great to see you sneak it on track a fcs

[Dum-Dum]

Ive got spare sti side bonnet vent sitting around if you lend us your arch puller.

No thanks, as above the bonnet is staying un vented for the stealth look as the vent is now largely pointless with the FMIC. It is a shame that the unvented bonnets are steel unlike the WRXs ally one.

#chavvypikeywagon

EFA

And what!

You know what? Nothing surprises me any more

Yeah, this is all kinds of awesome though

Awsome mate

Can't wait to see where this goes and be great to see you sneak it on track a fcs

Well I did book hill runs at pugfest while I still had a peugeot so whatever I buy next will no doubt be tearing up the hill LOL.
I do intend on buying track time for FCS

[lolsteve]

Well at least I won't have the chavviest car on the FCS stand this year

[Eeyore]

You know what? Nothing surprises me any more

amen.

Removes bonnet scoop as doesnt want to appear pikey chav.... adds massive dump valve for more noise....

[Matt-Rallye]

Having had an impreza i can tell you its damn addictive

Also wiping the smile of most evo drivers faces when its a properly tuned impreza is just fecking priceless

[Dum-Dum]

Well at least I won't have the chavviest car on the FCS stand this year

Why, are you not bringing the Rover?

You know what? Nothing surprises me any more

amen.

Removes bonnet scoop as doesnt want to appear pikey chav.... adds massive dump valve for more noise....

Man logic mate.
You'd understand if you were a bloke.

Having had an impreza i can tell you its damn addictive

Also wiping the smile of most evo drivers faces when its a properly tuned impreza is just fecking priceless

Yeah man, utterly grin inducing even just driving to the shops at sensible speeds.

It really does live up to it's reputation for understeer on the limit though, I've heard a STI rear ARB will help solve that. I don't think the cheap tyres help mind.

[silverzx]

Yes Broooooo! This is my type of project.

Dents, hammers, bodges, FMIC, powerrrrr!

[welshpug]

getting it set upo to PPP geometry will help lots, Curtis at AST set up AdamB's old late classic and it was very different, he added whiteline wishbone bushes too.

From what I remember driving it like FWD and doing the old liftoff gets the nose in and you basically point and plant it and the 4wd fires you out of the bend.

[Matt-Rallye]

Subaru has a good power split front/rear so driving it like a fwd works well Mines was proven 336bhp classic shape and was so chuckable the ass would try overtake the front driving it like fwd before any understeer!

[Dum-Dum]

Yes Broooooo! This is my type of project.

Dents, hammers, bodges, FMIC, powerrrrr!

I should have known you'd approve.

getting it set upo to PPP geometry will help lots, Curtis at AST set up AdamB's old late classic and it was very different, he added whiteline wishbone bushes too.

From what I remember driving it like FWD and doing the old liftoff gets the nose in and you basically point and plant it and the 4wd fires you out of the bend.

Yeah cornering is a bit different. Tend to have go go a bit slower into the corner and maybe apex a little earlier but I'm on the power much earlier on the way out.

Subaru has a good power split front/rear so driving it like a fwd works well Mines was proven 336bhp classic shape and was so chuckable the ass would try overtake the front driving it like fwd before any understeer!

330bhp would be a good number

[Matt-Rallye]

It was certainly fun but the fuel bill was simply f*cking rediculous!!

[Dum-Dum]

It was certainly fun but the fuel bill was simply f*cking rediculous!!

Yeah I just topped up the tank and I haven't been driving particularly quickly and It was barely over 20mpg








I think the dump valve is gonna be replaced with a pure recirculating one of a larger bore as this one is massively reducing response immediately after a gear change.

That said dump valve noises are awesome

[Toms306]

Could always buy one of those fake dump valves, all the noise without ruining the drive...

[Matt-Rallye]

Mine was straight back on the power with every gearchange, perhaps your expecting a little bit too much from your turbo?

[Dum-Dum]

Mine was straight back on the power with every gearchange, perhaps your expecting a little bit too much from your turbo?

Nah it's definitely not as good on the aftermarket valve as it was on the OEM dump valve.

[silverzx]

Just bung it up and get some chatter going Chris.

[Dum-Dum]

The Scooby is going well, towed almost half a tonne of scrap like it wasn't even there (hadn't realised it's unbraked towing weight was only 500kg oops)
   




Treated her to a shiny exhaust. It is basically a Japspeed full 3" system with no cats (there are 4 standard). Japspeed sell Toyosports systems at a big mark up and Toyosports sell these at a mark up so I saved a fair chunk of money. It's got a 4.5" tail pipe with a removable noise reducing bung.
   




I had a massive fight to remove the standard up-pipe (the pipe that runs between the manifold and the turbo). It needed 6 heat shields removing plus loads of pipework, brackets and part of the steering column but I'm glad I did as not only does it have a cat in it that if it breaks down will destroy the turbo but it was 39mm in and 40mm out compared to the aftermarket one which has a 60mm inlet and 54mm outlet
   
   
   




You can tell the quality Chinese build quality of the exhaust here. That bracket is over an inch away from the hole it's supposed to line up to and not even in line. That photo is taken after I'd spent ages trying to bend it to fit.
   




Anyway after getting all the front exhaust bits back together decided to fit my silicone inlet hose to replace the standard corrugated plastic one, apparently worth a tiny bit of power top end but mainly for shiny value. Got all the pipes disconnected and found that the old one was held on with a 6mm allen bolt that you couldn't get a tool in because of various hard pipes in the way so decided to tap it round with a chisel and then I had a massive Dum-Dum Smash moment oops
   
   




Got loads of pics I've realised I need to take like my big bore recirculating dump valve, the silicone inlet pipe, K&N filter, my fog light covers and boost controller.

Hoping to have it on the road and bwaping for Saturday.

[Ben]

Looks pretty good. Shame about the chisel incident, get the copper stick out!

[Dum-Dum]

Looks pretty good. Shame about the chisel incident, get the copper stick out!

Had to order a new manifold. At £35 delivered it was cheaper than taking it to be welded.

[Dum-Dum]

Here is the exhaust from underneath at the back, sounds awesome (videos some other time)
   




Got the old inlet stripped off (PITA) to replace it, engine bay looking very bare.
   




Here is the comparrison between the old and new dump valves, the new one is the silver one and TBH almost as loud as it probably flows twice as much air and I guess alot of that is coming back out through the filter. It's definitely improved pick up on gear changes.
   




Got my nice silicone inlet hose fitted, this was a huge pain in the arse but should be worth a horse or 2 at the absolute top end as well as taking a join out of the inlet tract.
   




Managed to knock a hose off my already shitty looking rad (I will replace it soon with a nice ally one). Found a great hose adapter and some fiberglass to get 'er done
   




Engine bay back together and looking very lovely.
   




Took the car for a test drive and within a few miles had managed to set fire to the under tray as one of the heat shields didn't get refitted as it was bent and rusted to f*ck.
   




The exhaust is probably a bit of an acquired taste looks wise but it's growing on me and even without the baffle I don't wake my neighbors up if I come home at 2am (thank f*ck)
   




So with an estimated 250bhp it tows rather nicely and picked myself up a new project
With the trailer empty it goes like it's not even there. When I took it back I even managed to put in a couple of overtakes with the trailer on the back (within the speed limit I might add)
   

[MitchellR32]

Wicked man! I love a scooby wagon! Good job on the repairs!

[Dum-Dum]

Wicked man! I love a scooby wagon! Good job on the repairs!

Cheers mate, I see your not too far down the road.



The car has been a money pit this week after I commented on how great she is as a reliable daily.
Had to have the nearside wheel bearing done and I was getting near on the pads and the discs looked shitty, the garage found that 2 of the pistons on one of the calipers were seized, they managed to get one freed but not the other so didn't bother even looking at the driver side, changed the bearing and gave it back to me advising that is 2 pistons had seized on one caliper then the other one likely had seized pistons.

Today I have been fitting a pair of brand new copy engineered calipers, they are a great fit and just need painting red again as scooby calipers should be. Braking is a little better but it drives much much better. Love this car.
   

[Danny Wideboy]

Suits you, sir.