|
Post by JonW on Jan 9, 2019 12:44:35 GMT 1
Folliwng on from the Christmas thread I thought we should start our own thread about our love of Subaru and Mitsubishi (and others if you have them). For me these were the 4 wheel versions of LCs, you can tune them and mess with them until the cows come home and many of us did just that in the era. This was what was said after Christmas 2018 : rdlccrazy.proboards.com/thread/46342/christmas-presents?page=2Aye Jon. Getting a one with no rust on the rear aches is a nightmare, but i found one, big service Tuesday the undersealing, cosmetically challenged but i'll get that done in due course, bloody love the thing! IMG_2565 by Andrew Jolly, on Flickr Superb buy Andy! I couldnt find a decent enough V5 or 6 here a few months back, so bought an Evo V from Japan with 53k kms. Love these cars, reminds me of how much ground I covered very quickly in the early 2000s in these. Enjoy! Aye Jon. Getting a one with no rust on the rear aches is a nightmare, but i found one, big service Tuesday the undersealing, cosmetically challenged but i'll get that done in due course, bloody love the thing! IMG_2565 by Andrew Jolly, on Flickr IMG_2557 by Andrew Jolly, on Flickr IMG_2561 by Andrew Jolly, on Flickr Thats a beauty! My Evo is also getting a service next week... at the local Subaru specialist as my mates owns it (LOL!) so I'm lucky enough to get to work using a lift and his expertise. Will get belts (I fear its never been done!), all fluids (there are many in the Evo as it has AYC - Active Yaw Control - in the AWD, of course i'm also doing the brakes and steering as well as gearbox, engine, transfer case etc), injector clean and fuel filters as well so that I have a good base point. Im not looking forward to doing the belts I have to say as the 4G63 is a tight fit in the Lancer. Much easier to do the belts on a scooby of course, tho head leaks and injectors are much harder of course lol. Swings and roundabouts... I always thought these cars were just like RDs in that back in the day we got them and set about making them our own. My MY00 was bought new but soon became Sti spec and also had the Godspeed 335 brake kit + brake bar/stainless lines etc, V5 STI spoiler and colour coded sills, PIAA driving lights, no cat full exhaust, Prodrive P1 17s, Eibach springs, ALK, Bump steer mod, uprated rear ARB and droplinks and more. Was an A road weapon. Seriously nothing was faster in all weathers. Loved that car. Less glamorous pic, I do need to do some... but this is my contemporary of yours: Obviously (its in the pic lol!) I have a modern Subaru WRX which sticks to the road like glue. It's comfy, quiet, safe and easy to drive fast... Great for everyday ....but driving the older cars is such fun. Where the modern AWD is all controlled by electrics the late 90s cars are mechanical and hydraulic. The light weight makes a vast difference as well of course. Direct steering and AWD, along with 280bhp (cough! more like 300+ in our later cars) = Such fun! Perhaps see if you can get hold of one of these if you fancy a read, they were out in Sept-Nov here but i think gone now from newsagents. www.magshop.com.au/motor-30-years-of-subaru-tecnica-internationalIn the vein of working on bodywork and also keeping this thread on track a bit as this is my Xmas present to my mate I offer this : As it's the Winter/Xmas shutdown at his place we've been restoring the body of his RX7 Series 2. It's been a punishing schedule (how on earth do those American shows do a whole car build in 2 weeks?!) to cut the rust out and prep all the panels even on an Aussie car which of course means less rust than a UK car as we don't salt roads in NSW. Tho this one has sat in a back garden for about 7 years and was pretty rough, even had holes in the rear of the roof along with floor, firewall (wiper box was full of leaves), A posts, interior pan box and hatch surround plus a bunch of small other areas. Here is the latest, finally seeing some colour in the engine and inside the doors etc. so it's starting to feel worth the huge 6 days a week, 10+ hours days workload... Lovely car there Jon, never owned an Evo but would love one. There's something about the scooby burble that i like though, this is my 5th so no stranger to the marque, the P1 was my favourite but prices have rocketed, but this is quick if not quicker than the P1, must be the Jap gearbox, there is a list as long as me arm of jobs to do, but it's a slow resto this one, just gonna enjoy it for a bit then slowly go through it. You are right, modern cars are just too easy to drive, not much engagement with the driver, i'm sure there are those that will disagree, but drive one of these and you'll see what we're on about! Now, roll on spring and some slightly warmer weather! Thanks, Andy. Lovely car there Jon, never owned an Evo but would love one. There's something about the scooby burble that i like though, this is my 5th so no stranger to the marque, the P1 was my favourite but prices have rocketed, but this is quick if not quicker than the P1, must be the Jap gearbox, there is a list as long as me arm of jobs to do, but it's a slow resto this one, just gonna enjoy it for a bit then slowly go through it. You are right, modern cars are just too easy to drive, not much engagement with the driver, i'm sure there are those that will disagree, but drive one of these and you'll see what we're on about! Now, roll on spring and some slightly warmer weather! Thanks, Andy. Thanks mate. I agree I love the noise the boxer makes. I have been a Subaru fan for 20years so the Evo is a departure for me, I actually am still a member of Scoobynet from when it wasnt full of chavs (lol!) and guys were learning about these cars and what made them tick. To be honest I really, really wanted a V5 or V6 GC8 Sti but couldnt find a good enough one, and then this Evo V came along so I snapped it up. I didnt realise til I got one just how well appointed it is for a 1998 car compared to the Scoobys of the era; The V came standard with 17" OZ wheels, Brembos on 300+mm disks, Adjustable spoiler, Air con, 3 point strut brace, FMIC, AYC, PIAAs and Recaros. A lot of that was stuff I would have added or wished to add to a GC8 etc. Of course nothing is for free or that easy and the downside is that the Evo is less easy to work on than a scooby. Eg. I had a squeak over speed bumps and traced it to 2 small screws being loose in the rear bumper cover brackets and the only way to get to them was to remove the whole bumper, they were just out of reach, you could see them... but.... LOL! Thats typical of Evos it seems, cramming the turbo engine and drivetrain along with the wide track and deeper/longer bumpers (to get the length / width for the rally regs) into the Lancer was done the quick way and not designed for easy maintenance it seems. Being an import I guess you also got the 180kph limiter and speedo in yours? I have it in mine, but here in the city there is little chance to get to 180 so I'll leave it in for now but in the UK Id have ditched it on day one given the quieter roads. We probably should start a set of threads for cars somewhere on here. I know a bunch of us own toys like these Put me down in the Evo club please I'm sure yours doesn't suffer from rust like the UK ones, see threads all the time where they are just 'disappearing' after a winters drive, very hard to get hold of a mint early Evo now unless you're prepared to wait a long time it seems. They look like they rust extremely quickly when you get to see some underneath and chassis pics. Put me down in the Evo club please I'm sure yours doesn't suffer from rust like the UK ones, see threads all the time where they are just 'disappearing' after a winters drive, very hard to get hold of a mint early Evo now unless you're prepared to wait a long time it seems. They look like they rust extremely quickly when you get to see some underneath and chassis pics. On topic I got a nice full set of JIS scredrivers, + the Impactor ones. Welcome aboard Bott! Yea Ive seen lots of forum pages where guys have been battling with rust on theirs, one guy bought a Tommi Mack that looked ok and had to a complete body resto in the end, The UK salt had eaten it up. I also watch a youtube feed of a guy with an import 6 and hes just last month battled some rust issues, he says quite a few recently imported cars have been rusty. Mine is really good, it spent most of its life parked up, its got just over 30k miles on it.
|
|
|
Post by JonW on Jan 9, 2019 12:49:40 GMT 1
This week Ive been doing a massive service on the Evo, its been a nightmare... Subarus are much easier to work on. After fighting with the fuel filter I had some easier tasks doing the engine oil/filter and the gearbox oil, but then its time for the belts... Sadly, doing the belts/water pump on the Evo means removing an engine mount, pulling a hose off the power steering and generally removing everything on the drivers side engine bay, or at least shoving it out of the way. No wonder garages charge a fortune to do this, its fiddlly work right next to the chassis rail with half the job in the engine bay and have in the wheel well. Tomorrow I hope to have it all back together. Wish me luck.
|
|
|
Post by veg on Jan 9, 2019 18:47:23 GMT 1
1 how the hell did this end up in the diesel thread? 2 wheels too many and 2 afraid I have to differ if it’s 4wd with a race and rally heritage then there can only be one that encompasses that, it’s German from Stuttgart and the original designers name started with Ferdinand 😁 Cool thread I will watch from afar just in case I get tainted and or violated.
|
|
|
Post by JonW on Jan 9, 2019 21:39:15 GMT 1
Its the outcasts diesel den... these are outcasts on this forum and 4 stroke Id have loved an Ur Quattro, but they are silly rare here and are an old car now and sadly slow compared these, but thats what another 15years of development will do
|
|
|
Post by loudpipes on Jan 9, 2019 21:42:48 GMT 1
WTF how can you compare a LC to a subaru or mitsubishi. Wasnt LC's the choice for hooligans not posh rich boys.
|
|
|
Post by JonW on Jan 9, 2019 22:18:28 GMT 1
Well I had one and certainly was not a 'posh rich boy'. I know these cars went through some different styles of owners through the years, especially in the UK, but theyre classics now and quite a few mere mortals own them.
I compared them as they are japanese, were fast already compared to what was out there and could be modded and we all did that and very few were alike back in the day. I modded mine the day i got it.
|
|
|
Post by veg on Jan 10, 2019 10:12:01 GMT 1
Irrespective still a cool thread, Jon you were slightly wrong it wasn’t a Quattro although they are cool, the only car that won on track and at rally and the greatest ever car in my opinion is a 911. However I completely get the scooby thing. Keep posting 👍
|
|
|
Post by andy748 on Jan 10, 2019 21:46:00 GMT 1
I am neither rich nor posh either, but i do like my cars, this is the fifth Scooby i've had, there's something about the turbo rush (Powerband anyone), i have a soft spot for the Jap stuff, but i also love Rs/St Fords too, as for the Porsche i've had a few, Carrera 911 C4S on an X plate, the Scooby would wipe the floor with it on any track, not top end though! Andy.
|
|
|
Post by JonW on Jan 11, 2019 13:04:40 GMT 1
Ive never tried a Porsche, but I did have a Lotus and a TVR (cue more abuse that im rich and posh I guess lol) when Im was in the UK, but then Ive owned quite a lot of cars over the years and spent all my spare money on cars and bikes and little else in my teens, 20s and 30s. I just love acceleration and cornering... all things I learnt from riding 'our' bikes.
Evo is mostly back together now. It has taken 4 days of hard work as everything is so tight and hard to get to on these cars when doing the timing belts, soo much needed removal it was unfunny. I've just got to put in the coolant and top up the power steering fluid and she'll be done! This huge service included all 3 belts along with new tensioners and water pump, plus fuel filter and the injectors were fully ultrasonically cleaned and new filters and seals fitted, and I also did the engine oil and filter plus gearbox oil change to which I added Redline MT85 as they say thats the thing for a sweet gearchange. Also smoke tested the exhaust and induction and tested the boost, which was spot on so turbo is in great condition and proved my OEM optional electronic gauge works as deigned. Just another half day to finish off the work and Ive saved a fortune but couldnt have done this without my mate's workshop lift and his help. I cant imagine what this would have cost at a specialist but defo not cheap.
I didnt notice before but you can see all the GC8 Scoobys in the background of the photo, I hope they didnt tease the Evo all night while I was away LOL! Joking aside other than the race cars there its probably the fastest in the workshop this week, not bad for a 20 year old standard car, tho usually there are some very silly things in there.
|
|
|
Post by veg on Jan 11, 2019 17:53:36 GMT 1
Mate had a fq evo it used to eat clutches like every few thousand miles. Only ever scooby legacy’ estates as a second car and was always impressed bar head gaskets going. Mate owns tvr power in Coventry and seen some great Trevor’s over the years but a little too hand built for my taste. Sadly sold my 997 C4s last year for my house build and I’m not rich I just work hard. Interestingly practical sportsbike mag this month have done an article on 100cc strikers and the fun you had on small bikes which made me think of the crack I had in my first car an original cooper s tiny light no power but bags of fun.
|
|
|
Post by andy748 on Jan 11, 2019 20:13:57 GMT 1
Ive never tried a Porsche, but I did have a Lotus and a TVR (cue more abuse that im rich and posh I guess lol) when Im was in the UK, but then Ive owned quite a lot of cars over the years and spent all my spare money on cars and bikes and little else in my teens, 20s and 30s. I just love acceleration and cornering... all things I learnt from riding 'our' bikes. Evo is mostly back together now. It has taken 4 days of hard work as everything is so tight and hard to get to on these cars when doing the timing belts, soo much needed removal it was unfunny. I've just got to put in the coolant and top up the power steering fluid and she'll be done! This huge service included all 3 belts along with new tensioners and water pump, plus fuel filter and the injectors were fully ultrasonically cleaned and new filters and seals fitted, and I also did the engine oil and filter plus gearbox oil change to which I added Redline MT85 as they say thats the thing for a sweet gearchange. Also smoke tested the exhaust and induction and tested the boost, which was spot on so turbo is in great condition and proved my OEM optional electronic gauge works as deigned. Just another half day to finish off the work and Ive saved a fortune but couldnt have done this without my mate's workshop lift and his help. I cant imagine what this would have cost at a specialist but defo not cheap. I didnt notice before but you can see all the GC8 Scoobys in the background of the photo, I hope they didnt tease the Evo all night while I was away LOL! Joking aside other than the race cars there its probably the fastest in the workshop this week, not bad for a 20 year old standard car, tho usually there are some very silly things in there. Pleased the service went well Jon, mine was changed Tuesday, T/Belt, tensioners, coolant flush, oil and filter, let my local expert do it as i don't have time! I had a couple of TVR's a Chim 450 and a Tuscan 4.0, the Tuscan was awesome the noise was fantastic, had a full Powers re-build, but it wasn't too reliable, clutch went and all the suspension bushes needed replacing, the Chim was great, old school and not too bad with the old V8 Rover motor. Fastest car i've had was a 56 plate XKR, bloody hell, magic, lord knows what the 5.0 goes like! I'd like to try a 997 Porsche, but it's out of reach at the minute, so i'll stick with the Subaru till it's all sorted (Not selling it, just going to use it on high days and holidays, like the bikes). Andy.
|
|
|
Post by JonW on Jan 12, 2019 13:38:39 GMT 1
Thanks, car is now home after all the jobs complete and roadtested. Drives much better with cleaner injectors, of course, its like doing the brass balls in the LC carbs.
My TVR was a Tamora, loved that straight 6 engine, power for days and mine was totally reliable and nothing fell off. Id still love a T350, or a Sagris which is an acquired taste maybe, but so few of them come to Aus as they are only personal imports here and prices are beyond silly now. I had an Elise as well before the Tam, it was total junk, never again. So much broke on that Lotus gave me a power upgrade and extra warranty and I still sold it back to them after 2 years. J U N K. all caps).
My mate had a mini in his workshop a while back. I used to drive them all the time back in the day but this thing freaked me out as it was so small and just a box of tin as the cars and trucks here are huge and the driving skills are far below par, I had to get out of it.
I agree with just using old cars for fun tho, you cant beat a modern car for everyday; safe, comfy and easy to use.
Re safety, check this out... Ok not strictly relevant with the late 90s cars that are the subject of this thread which were much better, but even they are still not a patch on a modern car of course:
|
|
|
Post by cb250g5 on Jan 12, 2019 18:06:20 GMT 1
Well I don't like any of them.
I had a Lotus Sunbeam for 11 years. These AWD things made it obsolete overnight....
Just my 2p
|
|
|
Post by JonW on Jan 12, 2019 23:26:35 GMT 1
So many haters Ahh well cb, that's the price of progress.
|
|
|
Post by JonW on Jan 14, 2019 1:36:41 GMT 1
Love this pic of the back I took yesterday, make the spoiler look very silly lol
|
|
|
Post by fozzy17 on Feb 3, 2019 15:07:27 GMT 1
had a evo 6 and a evo 8 friend of mine has the quattro ur
|
|
|
Post by JonW on Sept 15, 2019 23:54:21 GMT 1
Had a bit of a drama with the Evo the past month, I had no main beam. Had high beam and sidelights tho. Turns out it was the rotating stalk switch on the column which swaps the earth between the circuits at the switch and they wear/burn out. As usual the Aussie main dealer wanted too much (Au$568) compared to importing it myself from Japan (Au$123) and for what is about 70quid I reckoned it was a bargain for a complicated switch. All fitted in minutes (5 screws) and i have lights again. Wahoo!
|
|
|
Post by andy748 on Nov 4, 2019 15:27:05 GMT 1
Been busy with mine Jon, upgeaded the brakes to four pots, new DAB radio, big spoiler fitted, H&S group N cat back and a nice alloy radiator, oh and a set of period 17" Speedlines! Sadly the rear arches have bubbled slightly at the back, so i reckon it's time for some bodywork in the new year. Andy. IMG_3184 by Andrew Jolly, on Flickr IMG_3177 by Andrew Jolly, on Flickr IMG_3181 by Andrew Jolly, on Flickr
|
|
|
Post by JonW on Nov 4, 2019 23:43:14 GMT 1
Love it Andy! I always think these cars look great with the huge spoiler and the bigger wheels. In fact that's exactly what I did with mine back in the day: As a 2000 car mine came new with 4 pots and I went bigger with a Godspeed big brake kit that spaced them out over some huge Mercedes disks on Ian's own top hats. Braking was amazing as you might imagine with such a light car and hanging out with Ian was a cool day out. Sadly my Evo has been a bit 'unused' the past few months as my Achilles has been playing up and where i live its much simpler to drive the modern WRX as its auto, but I did take it out for a blast last week and it reminded me just how well these things go and corner. The light weight and the position you sit in means a totally different driving experience to a modern car. What is also good is that the cleaning of the injectors and the new seals we did last year along with fuel filter and fuel system cleaner has really helped the drivability, especially when cold. Its revs so much cleaner now and its so eager as well. Power pick up is instant which it wasn't before from low revs, its like a different car now and much more like what people said about the torque in the contemporary reviews which before I just assumed they meant 'for the day', but really mine was not working right, so that has been a very good thing to do. I recently watched an old 5th Gear youtube where they did work on an old Corrado VR6 to see what simple things they could do that would help give it back its original power figure and fuel system cleaner gained the most (something like 6bhp), but its the drivability that you get when things work properly where it really scores I reckon. I live on a steep driveway and now even when cold the Evo shoots up there, before it would bog down and you'd need to 'manage' it and it was worse with two people in it. Cars dont like to sit... 30k miles in 20 years means a lot of sitting. During my mate's shut down this year Im thinking that this years service will also be the time to do my front bottom ball joints, something Im not looking forward to. I think its fair to say that I never look forward to working on this car. Its a joy to drive, but not to work on... tho that light switch was very easily swapped lol. Im considering refurbishing my calipers as well this time round as well as they've gone brown (typical of all red brembos on evos) and I'd love to refurb my wheels but I need some spare wheels to use when I send these off and that's not been easy to find for sensible money here, I might have to leave the car on blocks... the driveway will look like early 2000s rough end of town for 2 weeks lol. At least if i do the calipers and suspension at my mates place its easy to redo the tracking and the bleeding as it'll be on a lift. We did the tracking earlier this year when I did the shock top mounts (the originals had cracked and I fitted new Group N Ralliart units) and that helped turn in which I thought was fine before but was instantly better after, the new mounts would have helped as well of course with less wander. Great to see the new additions Andy, thanks for posting them up. I reckon yours is looking better n better with each post.
|
|
|
Post by JonW on Apr 17, 2020 4:58:51 GMT 1
Not much to report on my Evo but Ive been driving it to the shops during lockdown to give it a run and its enjoying the regular use, even if the journeys are short.
When this is over I'll give it a service and finally replace the rotting lower ball joint covers. Ive already got the parts, I just dont have a lift to get it high enough off the ground to pop them out and back in etc. At the same time I aim to do the job I wanted to do over Christmas shutdown and pull off and repaint all 4 Brembos. On the Evos these were painted with a paint that when heated went reddish brown and most cars now have that look. This car being low miles would really benefit from having these red again. Although it will probably make the wheels look like they need redoing lol. My issue with the wheels has been to try and find someone who sells a proper size replica of the 'OZ Racing F1' decal. Lots of them online but none for the 17inch wheels on the Evo 5. hmm...
Otherwise the Evo life is good.
Hows the Scooby Andy?
|
|
|
Post by andy748 on Apr 17, 2020 8:46:36 GMT 1
Hi Jon, Scooby is running ok, just had a service and had to replace the rear discs (Non vented fitted but should have vented), exhaust has a blow coming from the cat where it bolts to the gearbox, but my search for a standard one cheapish is fruitless! i've got rust appearing on the arches so i'm waiting on the bodyshop to get back with a slot to get it done, £450 all in isn't bad really. Need the speedline 17" wheels powder coating but i'll wait till all this virus stuff is over. Got a company car now so the Scooby will only be used high days and holidays, should keep the miles down. Andy.
|
|
|
Post by LC_BOTT on Apr 17, 2020 13:15:42 GMT 1
Wasn't it just the lacquer that went brown on the Brembo calipers Jon, sure I read some just carefully removed it, and then just re-applied on the cleaned calipers.
|
|
|
Post by JonW on Apr 18, 2020 2:11:23 GMT 1
Hi Jon, Scooby is running ok, just had a service and had to replace the rear discs (Non vented fitted but should have vented), exhaust has a blow coming from the cat where it bolts to the gearbox, but my search for a standard one cheapish is fruitless! i've got rust appearing on the arches so i'm waiting on the bodyshop to get back with a slot to get it done, £450 all in isn't bad really. Need the speedline 17" wheels powder coating but i'll wait till all this virus stuff is over. Got a company car now so the Scooby will only be used high days and holidays, should keep the miles down. Andy. Yeah thats the problem with standard parts here as well now, lots of guys are returning these cars to standard so those standard exhausts that were worthless and went to the tip for decades when folks cleaned out their sheds are now getting exy. My mate had a bunch of pipes but over the last few years the young lads who work there (and all dive GC8s) have seen to it that the stack has dwindled. £450 for the arches sounds like great value. If only bodywork was sensible money here, sigh. I do think that keeping on top of these jobs is how we will save these cars, Ive the odd bit of sun damaged clear to get sorted on mine and Id like to repaint the spoiler 'ends' and protect the alloy wing with something at some point, tho i did managed to get some very old bird poo damage off it a month or two back so thats improved it. Cool on the wheels, they will really lift the car even if they are nice now. Im in two minds about paint or powder for mine as they have painted 'decals' which means I may have to paint them which is shame as Ive access to a powder coating setup. Nice work on the company car. I reckon that having a modern car really serves to remind you just how good these cars are. Fast and light with a short 'driver-to-nose' distance, no screens and electronics to draw your eyes and lots and lots of glass area. I do love driving this era of cars, they may have come from the stable of 'cheap and cheerful' but they offer something that modern 'fat cars' dont in the handling department. Interestingly compared to the Scooby GC8 the Evo 4/5/6 body is that little big bigger inside and out than a GC8, bigger even than a GD etc. That was one of the reasons I was sold on the thing really as I liked the extra room as it seemed more 'modern'. Amusingly my Mrs said the other day after going to the shops that the Evo actually feels and drives well, almost comparable to a modern car. She mentioned that the only thing that seems less than modern is that its a manual. lol! Where we live our modern auto WRX is just so easy to live with and will sit and idle in traffic all day long without complaint, not that the Evo wont but I never even need to look at the dials on the Subaru lol. Amusingly, the Evo's huge bonnet vents (behind the rad and above the turbo) mean when its 40+DegC here that in traffic that the cars in front look like they are in a wavy heat mirage even when the car is just ticking over and engine temp is bang on correct lol At least with the minimal traffic around right now we can enjoy the Evo a bit more as we dont sit it traffic quite so much. I was in some ways idly hoping that the price of GC8 STis (limited to 400 units in 2 door V5 and 4 door V6) would drop in price here due to C-19 and we might be able to pick up a V5 or maybe find an imported (rare here) RA or something like that as Ive always wanted a 2 door. There is one (maybe 2?) P1s here in Aus that came in as personal imports from the UK, but they would cost too much of course. I have seen more V5s for sale the past few months than ever before but so far the asking price for those cars are waaay out of my price range being A$50k (£25k) plus still. But... you never know... I could buy a GC8 yet
|
|
|
Post by JonW on Apr 18, 2020 2:12:49 GMT 1
Wasn't it just the lacquer that went brown on the Brembo calipers Jon, sure I read some just carefully removed it, and then just re-applied on the cleaned calipers. You could well be right Bott, Im not quite sure how I'd get it off tho. Any tips? If i could get it off and re-clear that would be wonderful. I did get new decals and Ive red/white/clear caliper paint but... well... it'd be nice to keep as much of the OEM as possible.
|
|
|
Post by JonW on Nov 4, 2020 23:27:08 GMT 1
All my pics are gone now due to hosting issues, but I'll see if i can add them back in below.
A word on prices of these cars during Covid in Aus... In a word; 'Mental!' Its like so many bikes and cars, everything is costing more and more each week!
Some history/background - 5 years ago a basic WRX was cheap. Here after you pass your test you have 1 year of red Ps and 2 years of green Ps, during those years you are limited to cars of less power (no turbos is a basic rule of thumb) and you have a top speed cap in motorways etc. Someone in the equivalent of our DVLA in NSW (and maybe other states?) added the GC8/GF8 WRX to the P plater list. Opps. They removed it quickly, but had to let a whole year of test passers have scoobys. This meant prices of the dropped cars went up as they were snapped up like mad by the lads n lasses wanting legal performance, but when they moved on once they had full licences these cars were often useless well used dogs worked on by kids with little money and very high milage, ie 2-400,000 kms.
Jump forwards to end 2019 a 225kms WRX with some peeling paint (our climate is harsh, what turns english backpacker chicks at bondi into lobsters also lifts clear coat) was worth about $6k, and really nice low milage one would be low teens, very low miles always garaged cars were 15-20. Leap to now and the 6k cars are high teens and the nice ones (very few ever for sale) are in the mid to high 20s and 40k asking for anything actually nice.
Of course the STIs are a lot more. 2 door V5s and 4 door V6s were imported here in 400 units each in 98 for V5s and 99 for the V6s. V5 are $60-100k, V6s are 40-60k. V6s tend to be 200kms+ and V5s tend to be around 100kms for some reason. 22Bs are $200k+ but could be more, you dont see them for sale often and we have very few here.
Imports rules (based on year and model) open up soon to allow the 2 door RA in, that will help prices but importing anything of this age is hard now as the cars have gone up in Japan (and other places) as they are not long off allowed into the USA under their 25year rule and importers are buying cars and storing them ready for later import.
Same thing happened with Evos, but they were never P plate friendly of course. To be honest Evos were never that cheap or plentiful here (only the 6.5 in low numbers and as a full model from the 7 onwards was brought in by Mitsubishi) and always commanded more money than a normal WRX, they are STI equivalents (better specs really than the equiv subaru really) so commanded the same money as the STI V6s. Whats interesting is that Evos along with all 90s japanese performance cars have gone up in value, but at a lesser rate for some reason. Ie an Evo 5 or 6 (and 6.5 Tommi Makkinen of course) which are the sweet spot classics, like the subaru GC8 have is probably 25% higher, not 50%. The thought is that they are currently under valued here due to most people knowing and seeing subaru WRXs, 200SX, GTRs etc on the road so thats what they want. This will defo change with the USA wanting these cars. They know what they are and also that our currency is great value to them. We (and NZ probably) could soon become the source for cars like these that they USA dealers cant find in Japan. Aussie Delivered 6.5 TMs are around the $100k mark for a nice low milage one, but many imported cars are in the mid to high 60s with high milage and mods. 5 always command more than the more plentiful 6s, but that gap has narrowed during covid as 6s have come up in value. All 5s and 6 are 30k+ low miles nice cars are 50ish.
So whats happening with values in the UK?
|
|
|
Post by JonW on Nov 4, 2020 23:38:04 GMT 1
These are some of the pics lost from this thread before: A pic of my Evo that makes it bum look big in that spoiler... lol And yes, proof it does get warm here... And during servicing... well a 2 day cam belt swap which I did myself. Damn these cars are hard work on compared to a Subaru... and yes its in a Subaru workshop as my mate owns a subaru place. The young lads love it when the evo comes in, cue lots of banter.
|
|
|
Post by JonW on Jan 14, 2021 13:26:12 GMT 1
Another year and more service and other work on the Evo.
This year along with another slug of synth oil and a genuine filter I replaced the rubber covers on the lower ball joints as they had started to crack and one had a small split but hadnt spoofed its grease out luckily. Genuine covers were a bargain at under five quid each. Wahoo! ...and the joy of that was compounded by the fact that this was the easiest work Ive ever done on the Evo, well apart from oil n filter of course.
The lower control arm came off like... well, a 'normal car'....! For once the Evo trick of making you dismantle half to car to get to some bolt you cant access on some part you can see in front of you was null and void. The Evo is like this for so many jobs as it started as a production Lancer and then they added a bigger engine, threw on a turbo with intercooler and water spray and for good measure stuffed AWD into the new wide track suspension and then the boffins delivered the AYC (Active Yaw Control - hydraulic locking diffs) system and the engineers worked miracles to get that to fit as well. Great, but... maintenance? Well if you go rallying you have a team for that job, less so for the road cars. Only Ralliart dealers were allowed to work on these cars in most places, and DIY is only possible if you have access to workshop tools really.
So the LCA removal was a simple case of the fixings at the '3 points' of the alloy arm's triangle plus the drop links. On my car these had never been removed in all its 22 years of course. I found that with the arm off Mitsubishi had even cast a grove in the alloy to allow a screwdriver under to pry the cap up and off. Even Subaru dont do that. Nice one! Putting the new one on needed only a bit of pipe and a mallet. Simple as!
Both sides were done and back on in an hour. Having access to two lifts helps as you have to do the some of bolts up with the car on its wheels of course. Anyway, peace of mind is restored as these lower ball joints are not available on their own (other than Taiwan copies) as Mitsi only sells (if you can find em) the complete alloy arm with bushes and joint fitted. I know what they cost... Lets agree never to discuss buying them.
I also fitted covers I bought and adjusted with a heat gun to protect the PIAA lights in the bumper. This meant the bumper had to come off to get the lights out (Yeah, Evo!). With the bumper off I repaired the broken water spray clips and squirters and got that all back in and since I could access it so easily I also flushed the clutch fluid as it was horrible. The clutch felt the same before and after, but clean fluid is always better.
While I had the wheels off I also cleaned up and tried to polish some red back into the Brembos. I was amazed at how well that worked out, but its a losing battle as the heat turns the gloss dark and they end up looking brown. They'll need a repaint at some point, but for now they are still original.
I also noticed the rear diff obviously had a small oil leak. no drips but not pretty. Could have been a breather but after a really good degrease and nipping up a few of the AYC bleeds and filler/drains (some were looser than I'd have expected) I should be able to see the culprit after a few miles if the tightening didnt get them.
Anyway with all that done. Ive been driving it this week each day and loving it. Has been 30+ and sunny all week, 38 today. Sadly that means 50+ in the workshop but with lots of jobs to do weve had to keep going. Back in my modern WRX tomorrow as need to swap the brake fluid in that. Less keen on that commute really, not often you feel that way about a WRX... LOL! Im sure I'll cope lol. I do just love driving the Evo, so light and nimble. Powerful and handles well and does not 'enjoy' rock hard suspension so is compliant over many smaller bumps unlike modern cars with massive wheels and hard shocks. And, well... its just 'fun'.
I hope you enjoyed another post of this (very) occasional series of posts... sorry no pix, I was getting on with the work!
|
|
|
Post by LC_BOTT on Jan 14, 2021 14:33:02 GMT 1
|
|
|
Post by 29davyt on Jan 14, 2021 17:39:59 GMT 1
I’ve had 3 Evo’s over the years, a 6 an 8 and a 10 all great cars , deffo the 6 that I have fondest memories of though,
|
|
|
Post by JonW on Jan 14, 2021 23:00:14 GMT 1
WOW! now that is CLEAN! just lovely. Thanks for sharing. Pics are always nice if you do come across them.
|
|