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Impreza Turbo Conversion

VK SL 3800

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Got the steering dummy fitted, its got the Forester column and steering wheel. The front crossmember and forester rack bolted right in but to get the column to connect to the rack i had to fit the foresters intermediate shaft uni joints to the Impreza center section, worked out perfectly so now have my steering all good to go!
Forester shaft pulled apart:



And fitted:



And best of all, my super dooper custom gauge cluster fits perfectly:
 

sleepa

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Very nice work so far. Dash cluster looks factory.
 

VK SL 3800

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Very nice work so far. Dash cluster looks factory.

Thanks, im pretty happy with how it turned out. It could use a bit more work on the facia but its gone to the bottom of the things to do list for a long time.


Made some more progress today, its pretty incredible how many parts are bolting straight in.

Engine has found its new home, the gear linkages from the forester not only bolted to the floor, but were also the correct length to bolt to the gearbox. Gearbox crossmember also bolted right up.

I fitted the hill assist valve from the forester, worked out well in the end but i had to swap all the foresters engine bay brake lines which was a little fiddly. They were mostly in the right spots with just a few minor tweaks here and there.
Also fitted the Master cyl from the forester, booster was too big but it bolted to the original booster perfectly (pushrod the same length etc).

Hydraulic clutch pedal was a direct swap, it incorporates the linkage for the hill assist cable. Had to drill a hole in the firewall for the cable to go though.
Another thing that swapped which was surprising was the fuel tank, pretty handy, saves me getting a new pump for the old tank and its is also a bigger capacity.


Ready to go in:


Hill assist valve:


And all bolted in:


Gear linkages, you can see some of the corrosion from living right next to the beach:
 
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VK SL 3800

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Fitted the rear subframe, all bolted up without modifications.

The forester tailshaft and exhaust are also fitted without mods, wouldnt have thought the exhaust would work but every mount lined up like it was made for it. Not bad for cars 10yrs apart.

 
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VK SL 3800

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Been busy on the weekend, got all the suspension and brakes sorted.

Biggest headache was getting the forester wiring loom to fit, overall it was fairly straight forward but there was a few parts that wouldn't fit were the original ran. Namely around the evaporator box under the dash but worked it out in the end.

Best news of all, turned the key, primed up the fuel and started first kick. Very happy.




EDIT:
For those who are doing this themselves, the one modification i had to do for the rear subframe to fit was weld and re drill the strut tops. Each bolt was half a hole out. SF forester strut tops are the same but with the correct stud spacing, i found out after the modifications were done.
 
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Deuce

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Very Well done!

P.s; I also still have N64 + legend of Zelda. I will never sell! coming up 20years old soon (with 007 too)
 

VK SL 3800

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Very Well done!

P.s; I also still have N64 + legend of Zelda. I will never sell! coming up 20years old soon (with 007 too)

I was looking on ebay at the 64 stuff, some games are worth heaps. Conkers bad fur day is upwards of $200!

Ill have to take some more pics but its back on the road, got most of my wiring gremlins sorted. The ABS module has failed after sitting around for whatever reason but all in all going pretty smoothly. New rear shocks and springs are on order and ive got the A/C working with the different compressor.
Pretty happy with how it drives, feels pretty much like my dads 04 forester if not a little quieter inside but with more powaaaarrr. Rear suspension has rooted struts which i knew when i put them in but i wanted to make sure the forester ones would work before lashing out on new ones, itll be much nicer once it has ones in it that actually do something.

Working on the bonnet scoop currently, no idea what im doing but you gotta learn somehow. Do your best and sika the rest.

Here she is next to a mates std one, the wider track fills the guards a lot more. Turned out pretty cool i think:
 

VK SL 3800

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Got the bonnet scoop on and painted, had a lot of problems with the paint. Seemed to just dry right out of the gun in the heat. Doesnt look too bad but i was a little disappointed with the end result. Scoop looks pretty good though.
Heres the roof before, which i also gave a quick spray in satin black:




Going to make up a bash plate and nudge bar type thing to mount some spotties on next.
Thinking something like this:
 

VK SL 3800

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Havent done any more work to this, a mate bought a little BJ cruiser so we took it out with him. It was a bit wet but had a ball.






The BJ lost its bullbar, but thats another story......


 

claydog

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Nice work mate, I owned an Aus Del RS Liberty which was modded, the Foz and Imprezza share the same wheelbase and liberty up to gen3 are 200mm longer but all imprezza gear fits.
Check out amauto.com.au on the sunny coast they do some wicked ass conversions on all models/ types now.
Al and Miles really know there stuff.
 
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