Pommy

That is a bargain, the parts alone cost me £80 each side (not genuine Subaru) and the labour does end up taking a while with bleeding, especially doing yourself. I would be happy with that price.

Yeah got a few pictures. Was a bit windy and cold which I imagine put some people off. But good to meet some people. And now I have a better idea of what people want the next one can be organised better and hopefully with some nicer weather.

That's probably a better way to do it. Much easier. Will probably do that next time.

I take it the engine didn't blow the bottom end without the dry cranking then!! ;)

Always make sure the filler plug comes off before draining anything. Read some good storied about people not being able to get the fill plug off after draining. And nearly done it myself, thankfully I stopped and checked. The front brakes do clunk a little in reverse. Although the 4-pots are prone to sticking (both of mine went within a week of each other.) Have a look at them while still on car and check general condition. I could tell which pistons were stuck within seconds. And understand what you mean about the rain, horrible to work in it.

I filled up with v-power for the first time yesterday and is running much nicer than before. And am getting a loyalty card so make a little back, and will probably start checking MPG. Although my MPG goes down with every car, 50 with the Panda, then 31 with the MX5 and I feel this will be slightly less...

I like the above photo made me chuckle, as did the whole post so far. Although I find the mirror distracting when you are in the car, but that's just my opinion and the photo's are extremely good, wish I could get some photo's that nice. And I find them deceptively fast, felt like I was hardly moving looked down and then decided brakes would be the best thing to touch.... And as for twats of drivers try living where I live, although I do enjoy the corsa's and astras trying to overtake and thinking they have a chance.... I do just let them go most of the time, unless duel carridgeway and safe. and the beemers which say M5 but sound a bit diesely to me. :) Never fails to put a smile on my face when they try to race and get angry when I am sat there just laughing away.

The owner is Staying till 7 so we should be there still be there. Will pm you my phone number so you can call or text if unsure

Remember peeps the meet is tomorrow, or today if you read this on Thursday. Looking forward to meeting everyone and seeing some cars:)

I guess it could be good for a new engine or a sat one but surely that would be the same for every car?

Much easier once you have the correct tools. Only little hitch was after finished the plugs, looked around to check everything was back together, shut the bonnet, got changed out of dirty clothes for the test drive, came down started engine and it was misfiring. Cue mild panic, changing back to dirty clothes, thinking about which plug I messed up. Opened bonnet, and woops forgot to re connect the maf!!! Clipped it back in and acted like nothing had happened!!

I have read nothing about doing it hurting the engine or doing anything bad in anyway. If you want something just let me know and I can get it, although be quick as my membership runs out soon and im not sure I will re-new!!

Well that's a lot better than the mileage that I get. But today I have filled up with £35 of Shell's finest, changed the oil (yesterday), and changed the spark plugs today, seems to have fixed all my problems for a lot less that I thought it might.

I was reading the exact same thing as I did my first Scooby oil change yesterday and decided not to bother with that, it seems to be a source of 'debate' on other forums with most people saying it is pointless. Haven't seen a convincing argument as to why this needs to be done. And my car is running nicely now. And I used castoral, cheap in Costco, and all seems fine at the moment.

Well I have finally got to the bottom of this, finally got the plugs out today (some hassle involved) and two of them were gone, the pointy bit opposite the ground electrode was completely flat on two of them, so not good. All is working on the test drive which was a nice change. Also the first time I have driven without music or a passenger and a working car and the subtle sound of the turbo is lovely. Thanks for all the help as ever:)

Went and got a more conventional tool and got them all out, the first one was a pain but the rest were ok. Tighter that I wanted but got em all changed.

Tried using an extension and 17mm deep socket which fitted on the new spark plug but seemed to be too big to get into the hole for the new one. Would it make much different in taking out the plug though?

Went to change the spark plugs on my UK Turbo 2000, bought one of these to get in the tight space http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_232463_langId_-1_categoryId_255216#tab3 Took off the washer bottle, feel as if I have got the spark plug sitting nicely in the socket but couldn't unscrew it for the life of me, decided to stop before I damaged anything. Should I just keep applying force until lose? and are NGK PFR6B the right sized plugs to replace with? May seem silly but didn't want to do any damage to the car...

Don't worry everyone here is friendly. And I look like a geek as well so you're not alone

Well we all have that urge from time to time, and it puts a smile on your face for sure

Glad you are settling in, took me a while too. Still catches me sometimes. And always better to be the nice guy with th Subaru, get rid of the image of that some people have of them. As for meets go to http://uk.subaruownersclub.com/forums/forum/41-regional-meets/ and look up your area. I am organizing one for West Yorkshire, never been to one before but like you wanted to meet some people with similar interests really. If nothing is happening in your area try and find some members near you by making a post of interest in the region's forum and see what happens. Takes time and the first meets are always quiet because people want to make sure its good before they go.

Warming up and down are the most important in day to day driving, keep the turbo healthy. Obviously regular servicing keeps the engine healthy, twice a year I do mine. Takes some time getting used to turbo'd cars, coming from lightweight NA cars myself it is a big difference, the revs came much quicker in the NA cars for me. But getting off the line quickly is the same technique, rev it higher before releasing clutch and more power and acceleration, depends how much stress you want to put through the clutch though. And keeping it in the rev range with boost available takes some time but worth it when you learn it. Just keep driving it and you will naturally learn. Very enjoyable down a back road on boost the whole way.... Nothing frowned on really, just be sensible, no need to speed through towns or near schools, just general common sense. Oh and be sure to bait some Beemers

I would be wary of what he is saying, knocking of any type is bad and is probably causing unseen damage. I would personally stay away from that unless you know exactly what it is. But if you are willing to take the risk it is your choice. There are plenty of cheap cars around with well looked after engines.

Pretty happy with my first attempt at it, will be doing more in the future.

As above I bought my Impreza Turbo 2000 about 6 months ago. Haven't done all that much with it yet, just been finding out about the car and what I like and don't like. The first issue was the leaking fuel filler pipe, not a good feeling when you fill the tank and half gone without any driving!! After that was fixed I replaced the Nardi steering wheel with a standard Momo and fitted a clock spring so that I could use the horn and self cancelling indicators. The next thing I did was remove the 4.5" exhaust as I found it too loud for Daily Driving especially leaving for work at 0545 from time to time, replaced it with a twin exit as below. I have had the leaky rocker covers replaced, again by Richard Henry due to the lack of time. Then I had a stuck caliper so changed that for a new one, then the next week another piston stuck on the other side so replaced that (did discs and pads too), I like the silver think it looks nice. Then the next week it developed a power delivery problem, will therefore be doing a oil and plugs service tomorrow in the hope that a plug is the cause. Then today I did my first carbon wrap on the centre armrest/storage container. I like it so will be doing more with time assuming this stiff hold up. Will only be doing it to small parts of trim, so it is more of a accent that an overwhelming theme. and fitted The plan for the car is to get it cleaned underneath and then undersealed (once the weather is better) and figure out anything else I want to change about the time. Also planning on getting some coilovers on over the summer, when I'm not so busy with university and work on weekends. And then get the power up to 320hp and 320ft lb. And continue driving it and let it keep me smiling, oh and going to meets I'm sure there will be more surprises down the road, will try and take more photo's from now on and keep this updated for anyone interested.