jonah84

Hey guys
I was hoping some of you knowledgable guys on here might be able to help me out, im going to look at a wrx 03 plate at the weekend.
I know the engine has been re-built by api at a cost of £4000 with reciepts to prove question is will i be buying trouble or will it be a fairly reliable motor bhp is around 300 mark clutch has also been upgraded along with a frontmount intercooler. Its up for quite a good price with only 48,000 on the clock think the re-build was done it 36,000. Would you guys recommend something that has had this much work done on it or would i be better off buying one less messed around with?

Any advice would be much appreciated

Tidgy

api built = rock solid

make sure its been mapped for the mods and you'll be fine, if needs be give david a ring at api, sure he can help you

jonah84

I have phoned them but not spoken to david personally. Apparently it hasnt been mapped this is just the power from the mods that have already been done to the engine so im told. What power would i be looking at roughly with a map done aswell im told the engine should now handly 550 bhp but i aint after that much lol

Tidgy

did that figure come form api or the seller?

550 is alot of power, £4000 doesn't sem like a realistic budget for that.

not sure why they'd be doing a power run without it being mapped, its asking for trouble, especialy with the mods mentioned.

jonah84

That came form the guy who is selling it now? i actually know the guy who is selling it as i used to go to school with him but he wasnt the one who had the work done it was the previous owner. The guy who has it now has only had it for 7 months i just dont want to buy something if its gonna be an endless money pit with endless problems.

Tidgy

if hes been runnign it for 7 months unmapped i'd walk away, no tell if its done damage or not. its should have been mapped as soon as it ws built

just123

iTrader: (1)

Something stinks about this car, spends 4k on engine rebuild and skips a remap, just doesnt make sense

53

iTrader: (41)

Has it got a 5 speed

Car is only worth 4k and there are loads of good scoobs for sale to even consider a billy bs rebuild

Chris 9-5

iTrader: (3)

So far we only know (unless I've missed a list of mods) its got a rebuilt engine and a FMIC - why would it have to be "re-mapped" for that?

Tidgy

a specialist rebuilt engine will prob be built to tighter tollearnces than a production line, also a front mount could affect the afr. for those reasons i wouldn;t want to risk 4grnad for the sake of 500 worth of mapping

dynamix

iTrader: (3)

Me neither. (or less than £500 )

Chris 9-5

iTrader: (3)

Ok cool, that makes sense

wrx fifer

iTrader: (34)

as above if this has been running 7 months from build and a fmic with no remap even i know theres something not right? and i would not consider it as an option no matter what the seller told me, if it was mapped there would be proof as its not ecactly an invoice you throw away

jonah84

found out that the reason for the re-build was due to the previous owner using ****ty engine oil which was only an emergency option but ended up causing damage to the bottom end bearing bearing so instead of getting the bearing replaced he had it all upgraded???!

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

+1

jonah84

So you reckon i would be better off to stay well clear?

jonah84

Here is the right up in the ad
Hi here we have my pride and joy its a subaru impreza wrx SL 2003 and only covered 48000miles. This is a great car and has had thousands spent on it by the previous owner and also by myself so here goes. To start with it has had a complete engine upgrade by one of the best impreza engine builders in the country API, The previous owner spent £4000 pounds having it done and I have all the reciepts to prove it, In the build the completely reworked the engine using all forged and upgraded parts including forged alloy Omega pistons, New weight balanced sti9 conrods and a ACL race spec crankshaft and big end bearings, complete STI gasket kit, ported exhaust headers, API uprated oil pump ETC the list goes on all in all its a solid engine now. Also fitted at that time was a 7kg lightened flywheel and exedy performance clutch. He also had 3G grooved permormance front discs and red stuff pads fitted along with 18inch inevite alloys and a fully set of lowering springs. The exhaust is a 3-4 inch CAT back afterburner vortex very nice sound!! It has a apexi inductions kit which gives one of the best waste gate noise's possible very nice! He also fitted type 25 seats in it. This car came with a factory fitted STI rear spoiler and standard black side skirts. Since I have owned it i have spent bout £2000 getting it to how i want it. Ive spent wisely and fitted a brand new large front mounted intercooler, HKS super Q limited edition matt black BOV very loud such a nice sound real head turner and a 2nd decat pipe. I have also had fitted a complete set of 3 gauges in a scooby world dash pod, The gauges are very expensive by prosport and are very nice they start off lite up in white with the ignition then turn the side lights on and the go orange, The gauges are volts,boost in BAR and oil temp, all in a pod on top of the dash. There is also a pillar gauge which is boost in PSI. Ive also had fitted a LG LAN single DIN DVD/CD/NAV system with flip out screen it has an inbuilt hands free kit and touch screen great bit of kit. Ive also fitted STI front fog light covers and a STI crome gear gator surround plus WRX rally style mudflaps black with white WRX logo and STI front bumper spats. The list goes on. BHP is an estimated 300+ have print out for before work carried out which shows 268BHP.

Car has good service history with just one stamp missing which im asured by previous owner was done but dealer forgot to stamp. Since owning ive had the oil and filter changed every 3000 miles and any work that needed doing done. Recently had new rear pads and fan belts and 2 brand new tyres. It has MOT till end of september and tax to the end of january. Ive always run it on tesco 99 octane momentum fuel. Lots of receipts for work done and old MOT's ETC!

Tidgy

walk mate, simples

jonah84

cheers guys
might find one one day lol

Steve Whitehorn

iTrader: (13)

+1

If it hasnt seen a map
Runing in map. Run in properly and then Full fat map.
there is no metion of any ECU upgrade, or what ECU it has or map in that ad.

API build good engines. However

Walk away

jtonkins

iTrader: (1)

like i said mate make sure that its defo not had a remap before walking away as if it has thats one hell of a car for that price, just need to do some more digging to find out

Martin 2010

iTrader: (9)

then dont get a scooby for good sake lol. maybe not endless problems but there will always be something you either want to do or the car wants doing etc,

things that are worth having are worth the expenses tho

jtonkins

iTrader: (1)

very true that buddy!! lol

jonah84

I was waiting for somebody to say that lol