Dark Blue Mark

I still cant get over the prices those merchants charged for the engine work.

Criminal

MB

scoobynutta555

8.5k, Jesus that's a massive amount!

Agreed with the running in thing Saxoboy, that's why always buy from someone that has used a reputable outfit, ie. API etc. I managed to find my knackered engined car on here so I had the choice of where to get it rebuilt.

Dark Blue Mark

Evo 6 Kenny

Do it.

MB

RB5RLP

Yeah I totally agree bud I nearly fell of me chair when I saw this reciept, looks like it was registered to a company so ripped them for every pound I suppose

LG John

I see your point John but with a wedding to save for I really can't push the budget that far. I don't fully agree with your post though - there must be some genuine well cared for classic sti's out there in the sub £10k bracket - probably just a case of sitting tight until one comes up.

Mark as I said before my beef with the evo's is that they hold their value too bleeding well.

Dark Blue Mark

Yes but im not listening to you

I think there are some good STi's left. And you have time on your side. I will keep an eye out too if you like.

MB

LG John

That would be appreciated mark £9k absolute MAX, would prefer between 7 and 8.5k and pref with full decat and reputable remap Whilst you are at it if you happen across a sub 100,000 mile punchy TD for £1,500 let me know

Dark Blue Mark

MB

john banks

I suspect you'll end up with two sheds for cars, a wife and a baby Kenny

Can't you just buy one decent all rounder?

RB5RLP

banny sti

iTrader: (68)

Kenny this is the cleanest one i have found by a mile!

eBay.co.uk: 1999 SUBARU IMPREZA WRX STi V5 IMPORT - BLACK (item 140060593028 end time 10-Dec-06 15:53:13 GMT)

Banny

LG John

The seat ibiza cupra TDI with a remap to 200bhp would tick all the boxes as an all in one car and can be had for around £10k. The only problem is I seriously doubt it would be fun and I very much doubt you get out smiling or laughing at the way it took those last few corners, etc

You seem to have gone very anti subaru john

LG John

Seen that one banny - it is one of the nicer ones out there just now. I really don't like the gauges though, they just look nasty. Also I suspect he'll be wanting a good £8k for it and I'd want to immediately change the alloys, the gauges, decat it and then remap it. I'd probably want it for a song given that money I'd like to spend on it to get it the way I'd like.

john banks

I'm not anti-Subaru at all, but the old classic imports do need money thrown at them to keep them good, and the UK cars just break gearboxes. Some of the cars you'd be looking at are 8 years old?

LG John

Money thrown at them in what regard John? In preventative measures or in rebuilds when they inevitably blow up. This was largely the point of this thread - I want to know if blown jap classics are just par for the course and something you should budget for or if it can be minimised through taking appropriate precautions. I'd probably be looking at a 1999 car.

Hol

iTrader: (1)

The engine in my old MY98 Type R had let go the bearings at 42K for the previous owner. The bill in 2001 to repair was £3800, including an uprated RCM oil pump.

I think the lot of the damage was done by the first owner, (I was 3rd) who bought it Brand New in the UK. Back in 98/99 people only had 97 ron and the people who had £30K to through at a car, did not really know about things like detonation and octance boosters.

The second owner was differrent and had the car remapped for 97, ran OB - but I think the damage had already been done.

I also had a mate with a P1, whose engine (which is in fact an STI5/6 unit) let go at 44K.

I personally never had any problesm in three years and the car cost me £5k during that time in both parts and depreciation (That includes servicing). I think my newage has cost me that in one year

What I am trying to say (finally) is that if the car has been run on 100 in japan and 98/OB since being in the UK, you shoud be fine so long as you look after it. At the end of the days these engines ARE stronger than the UK one.

If you think you cannot trust that logic, then as suggested above a few times, do as I did and buy a car that has been rebuilt in the uk and run on a remap and/ or OB ever since.

*smiles*

I think he got ripped of big time on more than just the MAF, as buppa po says those prices are stupendously crazy

I am having a STi 9 bottom end built for my v5 Wagon with uprated pistons, bearings etc for just over 2k, plus I am having new organic clutch and other bits so bill we about 3k just over

API quoted me only 2.5 k for a full standard v5 rebuild including the recondition of heads. Scooby Clinic also does a v9 bootom end rebuild for circa 2.5k also.

john banks

I think the standard ECU mapping in the 99/00 STIs is a time bomb on UK fuel even with octane booster. Knock and MAF sensors going iffy can result in the engine letting go often with no fault condition.

LG John

Surely a MAF sensor upgrade, a knocklink set up with det cans and a remap by someone such as yourself or A.F. would go a long way to offsetting those particular risks?

john banks

Probably, but they still seem to randomly do big ends, and remapping a 7-8 year old engine even properly may expose earlier damage.

swtmerce

My 98 STi had 112,000 miles on it when it let go. And it let go due to oil pump failure, not detonation. For the first four years of its life it used octane booster, and for the following four years it used Shell Optimax only. When I bought the car (at a price where I figured in a rebuild at some point) I only had it for 200 miles when the bearings span. Anyway I got it rebuilt by Special Scoobys and the car makes more power across the board comparing the rolling road graphs I have of before and after the rebuild. Also, the car is run on V Power only and there was absolutely no sign of detonation at the rolling road recently.

robby1

green dot maf

Bubba po

Ok, clever clogs, let's hear it.

banny sti

iTrader: (68)

How about this? not keen on the colour but the price and spec are very good

Subaru : 3 door type r version 5 (Special car) £8600

Banny

RB5RLP

Could you really be seen driving a scooby in that colour

Dark Blue Mark

John, I had Bob check the ecu map on my STi V5 when it had no mods apart from an HKS system. Had not a sign of det with the det cans, and was not pulling any timing at all on the map. This was on Optimax alone. I think the problem lies in any form of breathing / boost mods and or failing MAF. They are lot closer to the edge than a UK spec car.

While I think the later cars / engines are stronger and the ECU seems to be more clever in terms of det - you can still get good reliability from a classic STi. The trick is to find one from here or SIDC that has got the right mods on there from the day it was brought over. I bought mine as stock, and contacted the original owner (through some detective work) and found it was pretty stock all the time. Mine never missed a beat. But there are some **** ones out there. This also obviously applies to the P1.

Still not convinced my EVO is as much fun...

MB

James Neill

iTrader: (1)

I personally was going on no more than this thread when I read it

http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache...ient=firefox-a

"I was told by Merv from PE, that the new batch of MAFs for the MY99/00s are better than the first lot. These ones have two green dots on them. One near the top of the sensor and one near the bottom. The MAF I replaced, which was the MAF on the car from brand new, had only one green dot near the bottom. Merv said that he had not come across any cars with a faulty MAF that had one of the newer MAFs installed."

Hol

iTrader: (1)

You learn something new every day!

GC8

Id look at fitting a high-pressure oil pressure warning switch, if thats what youre worried about, connected to an extra bright LED tell-tale. A conventional pressure switch illuminates the warning lamp at about 4PSI, by which time everythings about f*cked. You can buy 20+PSI high-pressure type switch from Demon Teeks or somewhere similar and itll give a far greater chance of turning it all off before the engine starts to eat its self.


Simon

Dark Blue Mark

I though the green dot was common knowledge?

You can but them as a single element for £90. I wouldn't buy an STi without fitting one.

Simon, that will only warn you of wear and thus depleting pressure. What tends to happen is the pump siezes, and that is pretty instant when it happens, so no oil pressure light is going to help you. Still think its worth doing, but catching a failure is rather tricky.

If you want to be really safe when buyign one of these cars, and doing it in the extreme, I would do the following:

Buy one where you know the history, ie from here or a very fresh import
Buy a new MAF for it
Get a full service
Look at fitting the RCM oil pump
Fit KL and get it remap'd
Fit a couple of gauges

If its got all this already, bonus.

MB