July 15, 2023

Rust Diaries, Day 2: Turntable mounts and gearbox

Whit the chassis frame entry points in sight it was now time to attach the mounts. As described in a previous post the front required angle brackets welded in, which attach to the frame with two bolts and slide in to the turntable nicely:

The back fits just as snugly, utilizing the bolt holes originally present on the frame:

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July 14, 2023

Rust Diaries, Day 1: The starting point

Goal for today: main chassis frame. We don’t have a garage lift (at least not yet), so the plan is to do all the work using a paint-shop-style turntable. This will give us good up-and-down movement, and when we need to strip the underside, we should be able to tilt the car sideways easily. The inserts for the chassis frame will be made from 50x50mm thick-walled profiles (which fit perfectly into the internal profile of the turntable mount). At the rear, there will be 3 bolts on each side, directly into the frame rails. At the front, an angle iron will be welded to the profile, with 2 bolts on each side, going into the beam mounting holes.

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July 13, 2023

Rust Diaries, Day 0: Nowy Sącz

Alarm set for 5 a.m., quick coffee, and off we go. Of course, via Jasło and Gorlice, not the A4 — never miss a chance to take a few more corners. By 8:04, we’re at the workshop: Tomek in a tow truck from a friend, and me in the Impreza. Rendezvous back at 12. By 12:58, this is the view:

It will be a good few weeks before that EJ257 will be reunited with the rest of the car.

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July 12, 2023

About those two guys who decided to...

The idea for the project is simple: on one hand, it should be as close to the original as possible, but on the other , it should last for years. My boys are already thinking about who they will pass the car on to, even though they’re still at an age far from being able to drive. I’m lucky that the community around the brand is active and eager to share their experiences. A lot of inspiration and know-how comes from the online forums.

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July 7, 2023

Blue tooth and green lights, for the second time

History has a way of repeating itself, and this was the case here. For the second time, I set off on a crusade in emerald green. This time, the task was more challenging. In addition to replacing the light bulbs, I also wanted to upgrade the backlighting of the driver’s door control panel. It bothered me that only the LOCK and AUTO buttons were illuminated. It turned out that the board had connectors for the other LEDs as well, so I soldered the missing resistor and three LEDs. Since they differed in color from the original ones, I decided to replace those two as well:

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July 1, 2023

Rallye Boží Bojovníci

Since it’s an STI, a true thoroughbred with roots in WRC, I thought it would be fitting for the Impreza to take part in a rally. As spring approached, I started browsing maps, checking out rally stages, and planning a route. Meanwhile, I had some stickers printed — after all, every rally needs stickers. Then it was just a matter of waiting for the first warm weekend, pulling the Impreza out of its hideout, and heading out for our “rally” stages.

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June 30, 2023

20555

Now, let’s spill the milk. The Forester has been joined by an MY07 STI Impreza, a Hawkeye. But before we talk about the car and the plans for it, let’s start with where the Impreza spends most of its time — the garage.

I took advantage of the kindness of my local council and, at a promotional rate (dictated by the non-normative ceiling height), I became the tenant of a garage in a very hipster part of the city, which fits the car’s character quite well. The garage is nice, heated (the lowest recorded temperature during the winter was 18°C), in a closed courtyard, but it has just one small (narrow) flaw: it was built in the mid-1960s, in a building that once belonged to the Forests Commission (a coincidence? I don’t think so!) and was designed with the dimensions of cars from that era in mind. And while there are some people who could fit into it sideways, see:

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June 21, 2023

But actually, why the Forester?

Rumour has it that I was once a forester myself, but whether that’s true or not, we’ll never know – nonetheless, it gives some clue as to why a Forester. Moving on, we all know that the pre-facelift SG models are the most beautiful, and that the 2C6 (Green mica/Gray mat) is the best color for them*.

And why this particular one? I searched for a long time and tried to be reasonable, as one does when buying a car that could walk into a pub and legally ask for a pint. The Swiss gentleman diligently collected stamps from his local dealership, changed the oil when needed, and in general, it was clear he liked his Forester. The seller even went out of his way to provide many underside photos (I encourage you to browse listings on the web – it’s rare to see this), so I thought: I have to go and at least check it out.

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June 14, 2023

Lamco

I once drove a USDM Hawk, though that story is for another day; a bit sad and a bit happy. But what’s important is the boost gauge that was in that Impreza: Lamco. In my opinion, it doesn’t really match the Hawk with its beautiful crimson-red Feng-shui, but I remember thinking: “Hm, in the Forester, that would look really good.” I kept it at the back of my mind thinking about it from time to time, and when, a few months later, a similar one showed up on eBay, I clicked on “Buy it now” without much hesitation. The installation is very simple and well-described at blingstorm.

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