GuyTDi Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 Hi people, My name is Guy, 30y/o , carmechanic at a local porsche dealership and schoolteacher in the evenings and i live in Antwerp Belgium. I have owned well over 20 cars so far but never any japanese makes, only europeans. At first, i found them to be very grey and unimaginative, especialy in the design and interior department. A year and somewhat ago my entire carpark was either broken down or in 'projectmode'.I needed a new car and so i checked the Belgian version of craigslist. The cheapest government inspected car was a 1997 subaru justy hatchback, wich is the euro variant of the 4wd Geo metro / suzuki swift / ... . In Belgium we have a mandatory technical inspection by a government controlled inspection centre, somewhat equal to UK MOT, but ran by nazi's as youre not allowed to change anything. Anyways, the justy ... Its a hatch with a not so mighty 1.3L but with only 40.000miles on the odometer, power everything and complete dealer history it was a steal at 1000$. As in the meanwhile i bought a 140 y/o schoolhouse to restore into our new home, it imediatly served as a worktruck, regularly hauling 400kg or more cement, sand, cinderblocks, etc. Being a car mechanic, it was unacceptable the car ran for 20.000 miles without even lifting the hood to check oil. I gave the car a long overdue service sith a nice new timingbelt and waterpump and gave it to my wife. As i was using my dads vw touareg to haul my trailer, i decided a new car was needed. I decided because i realy started to apreciate the japanese efficiency and no nonsense design approach i wanted a subaru. A real one this time. I came across a 1997 impreza wagon with power everything , EJ20 with low range-able 5-speed gearbox and a trailerhitch so u wouldnt need to use my fathers vw touareg to haul my trailers around. The car came with a destroyed clutch and exhaust, 150.000miles on the odometer for the monstrous amount of 650$Now the low range gearbox was not by accident. One of the other cars i have is a 1990 landrover discovery diesel that over the years mutated in a horibly disfigured monster wich i only use for offroad competition. I figured a lifted wagon would be the solution for all my offroad traveling and greenlaning. So, only one thing to do. Give the car a new clutch (damn that gearbox was heavy ...) , new filters, lubricants, belts and waterpump and forester struts / wheels with a 27" mud tire. One cant go mudding without a decent skidplate, no pics of that as of yet ...Here it is in standard, grandpa-mode.Here it is with forester struts, wheels and tires. Also went mudding that night ... Did my best digging to china there !Yeah .. Had to happen ... Had a great time tough ! Not too happy with the forerster mcphersons in the rear tough. I redrilled the chassis zo it would take the complete forester strut tough it looks very bottomed out in the rear ... Gonna have a look into that and ask around in the unofficial impreza lift topic as to how i'm gonna correct this ...I'm also bonna build myself a decent steel front / rear bumper and a spare wheel carrier. No reason, because it looks cool i think 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olnick Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 Welcome aboard USMB, Guy! Sounds like you're enjoying your Subaru experience. You've found a great resource here--good folks, willing to offer advice and help. Thanks for the pics and good luck with your Subie adventures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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