I was driving home, enjoying the Type R and its new/old suspension, when suddenly the battery charging and the brake system warning light lit up in bright crimson. My first thought was: “alternator.” Just to confirm, I turned on the air conditioning and the windshield defroster, then got out to check the headlights. Bingo, they had that dim yellowish, amber glow. Without wasting any time, I switched off every electrical accessory I could and gently limped the car home, as if I were competing in a rally where every drop of petrol counted.

The culprit:

So I took it out:

There’s a workshop in Kraków that specializes in this sort of thing. Luckily, I also had an alternator from a donor car. It turned out that not only had the control module (which regulates the alternator and voltage) burned out, but part of the coils had also melted. The circuit board was replaced with a new one, and the coils came from the donor alternator.

The technician knew his way around Subarus. He joked about melted pistons and the infamous fourth cylinder, saying that failed alternators caused by excessive engine bay temperatures are practically standard on Subarus. By the next morning, the problem was solved.

I also finally found a bit of time to install the passenger-side glove box. Until now, I’d been driving around with the airbag cover held on by double-sided tape. I naively thought it would just be a few screws and that would be it.

So I started taking things apart.

Then came the horror! It ended up with the steering column lowered and the entire dashboard unbolted. Fortunately, I didn’t have to remove it completely, just pull it away from the windshield.

If I’d known how much work it would be, I definitely wouldn’t have started at five in the afternoon. And let’s not even talk about how badly I managed to smear the inside of the windshield!

Then, on Sunday I installed a Cusco rear strut brace. I know, I know, the performance gains are homeopathic only. But it looks really good and matches the front brace perfectly, with carbon fiber here and there.

Mounting points:

With the back seats removed, I took the opportunity to tidy up the sound-deadening mat. It’s now sitting perfectly in place, secured with new tape all along the edges.

Finally, I discovered that the carbon fiber trim inside the cabin, which I’d never really liked, was actually just a plastic overlay. So off it came.

My hand trembled a little, considering it had been in the car for a good 25 years.

But I think it looks infinitely better now.

On Monday, I took the car in for a quick inspection. The technician checked the suspension and said it was in first-class condition. Unfortunately, by the time I remembered to ask for a photo of the damper test results, they’d already been cleared. Oh well, next time. I also had the wheel alignment done because the car’s behavior on roundabouts had become slightly comical.

With everything sorted, I headed to Nowy Sącz. After the short block rebuild, we’d agreed that once the car was road legal again, I’d come back for testing. So I did.

Two days later I got a phone call. Carfit said, “I had a good look at the car, I’ve driven the car a bit, collected logs, listened to everything, and looked it over with an inspection camera…” He was speaking in such a serious tone that I was already sinking into my chair, expecting him to say something like, “Well… it really is a cobbled-together mess.”

Then he finished with: “…and I’ll tell you this: it’s an absolute beast!”

Needless to say, I couldn’t stop smiling.

While it was there, I also had:

• Gearbox and differential oil changed
• Brake calipers rebuilt
• DBA Street Performance brake pads installed
• DBA slotted front brake discs installed

• Impreza
• Gc8
• Type-R