Mr B

Just go with KYB springs then if want keep price decent, review tophats too as current maybe serviceable especially rears. Expect springs tophats & protection kits can be had on likes of eBay but struts are hit & miss pending on stock levels & looks like most eBay suppliers cleared them as very little struts for SF. I get them for a little under £70 & they throw in the protection kits free for full sets, just find what can and prices on eBay etc then call a few autofactors & have all details on hand & see what prices you get. Should be quite reasonable & if you do the work yourself I expect a whole set of struts/springs would be cheaper than just 1 complete strut/spring from Subaru so not bad really.

Part# Struts *excel-G* Front L 334190 R 334189 Rear L 334192 R 334191 Tophats Front SM53611 Rear L SM8101 R SM8102 Protection boot/bump kit *1kit for 2 struts* Front 910105 Rear 910072 Springs *kyb k-flex* Front RC2315 Rear RA5763 No idea on your current condition/suspension problems & what your goal is. for best price you would best use KYB springs or originals if good enough order, also expect rear original tophats re-usable but up to you to evaluate. If handling big on agenda then springcoil springs would be good but more hassle & more £. Monroe do struts too & they decent struts so don't overlook them should you see a nice price.

I'll post part numbers for KYB later as busy at mo. Won't find them in masses on internet or eBay, SG range found easily mainly as huge stock hence cheap prices of around £55 for SG. Top hat kit (front) from KYB is same for sf & sg & that number is SM5361 You can use kyb spring too and they cheaper than springcoil but obviously no custom ratings. If yours is JDM import then standard springs are stiffer than EU vehicles. You would be best pricing from local factors and you should be able get some level of trade price if handle it right. 4/3 or 4.25/3.5 is better real world ratings for BC, 6/5 ok on good dry surface but !Removed! on wet or bumpy roads, BC strut travel is also very short in travel range & not great on 4wd road cars.

I don't rate the pedders very highly mainly in terms of durability as replaced a few that not been that old but dampers had failed. You get 2 year warranty on kyb's , kyb do top hats too as they are the OEM for subaru. Mix that with some custom springs from springcoil & you would have decent ride & grip in all weather & road types. kyb struts are probably about £70 a corner & springcoil would be about £55, throw in top hats & strut boot kits & you should do complete at £700ish

8/6 on a daily road car will be awful & a downgrade in handling/grip. 6/5 will be bad enough with pillow balls & stiffer rear rubber mounts.

On B-roads 8kg is awful, ok for track but for good handling & grip on real average roads & wet roads coilovers like BC & high spring rates are awful. Best road handling would be new struts from kyb or monroe & some custom springs from springcoil ...

Mmm does look interesting for the price but absolutely hate the colour :-S

If door perfectly good then certainly overkill & finding decent same colour is always tricky. Could be bit awkward but not that bad for someone with decent tools & some experience or natural ability in these things. Best bet is looking at mechanism first as may be repairable, if you can't handle it take it to a decent garage. Could be a bit time consuming to get all aligned & working smooth depending on exactly what been bent/stretched from the accident !

No need break the window, with your particular scenario you may need chop the regulator arms up to allow removal if badly bent & not workable as is. A decent replacement regulator assembly & sensible effort fitting it should have you sorted.

Most important thing with headgaskets is using quality gaskets & surface finishing on head & block, certainly things such as bore condition, rings, valves etc will be reviewed during the process but if engine otherwise healthy it now way a rebuild. The specific issue on Subarus & head gaskets is mainly due lo more permanent contact of oil, petroleum & water on the gasket due to boxer design mixed with less than perfect head gasket design/material. Your boost is 1.2Bar which indeed is high & do need be sure the fuelling & ignition is supporting this. I would like see fueling figures from a power run & also ignition timing/knock, retarded ignition will cause overheating, would expect some CEL activity though. Hard call with the results you posted to date. Compression test readings are not low but difference is out of tolerance spec but all over 150 is very good. Would really expect pick up combustion gas with sniff test (gas analyser rather than chemical after running car till shows overheating ) or at least have some water loss if head gasket.

Its not a full engine rebuild & from your remarks from tests likely not head gasket thus far. Best get it checked thoroughly by decent subaru knowledgeable independent & take it from there. Cooling system needs a good check with basics such as thermostat looked at/replaced & rad cap too, I would get it on rolling road to simulate issues & log all data & do sniff test on cooling too while on rollers to try pinpoint issue. Your pressure test readings are not the best but certainly would want do more tests & inspect other areas prior to even thinking about head gaskets seriously. A lot of misfire/hesitation issues when on boost comes down to ignition faults, fuelling, leaking inlet piping & crappy dump valves.

Probably a split cv boot on drive shaft throwing grease out. Kind of impossible for pump not to pump for short time but a pump leak could be involved & be intermittent. You certainly want to keep an eye on it & that grease issue needs looking at/fixing (not big job that) Ideally the car wants looking at on the ramp with plastic tray removed & take it from there, this could be done when boot/grease issue resolved.

Do the sniff test with exhaust gas analyser probe, far cheaper & just as accurate. Do check for obvious simple leaks first ...

GC4/GF4 should be 24 spline. GC3/GF3 should be 21 spline Look at your vin plate for details.

Good job, 2hrs is not too bad & bolts at rear can be more troublesome & doesn't get touched very often. With price on the KYB struts with 2yr warranty you got to be mad to buy Peddars kit. When SLS full collapsed it is aprox 50mm of droop so sounds rebuilt height about right, would expect it to settle few mm perhaps in a few days to a month. Really isn't a hard job & at least now you got experience in dealing with your suspension so any future work won't be an issue plus you save about £100 in parts cost & actually got better quality :-) If you marked camber bolts & refitted to very close positions your camber should be close & generally within tolerance. Enjoy the ride at the weekend ...

Don't really want use grease on seals of the piston. should be lubricated for assembly with quality brake fluid & small amount of brake lube around seal & dust boot area to help prevent corrosion . Slides can be greased but needs rubber safe veg oil/synthetic based lube ( normally red in colour, some specialist brake lubes are green). Standard petroleum, lithium based greases damage the rubber, copper slip is also a bad one to use on slide pins.

didn't pay import on my forester bumper cover from US but is a bit hit & miss pending on shipping they use & package declaration. £122 seems a lot but OEM quality & fit is hard to beat & being a rare vehicle not many if any decent alternatives. Only real problem with Subaru is dealer pricing on everything, no idea why they can't quote realistic labour prices :-/ Worth doing guards though & something I love to see on a used car if I'm buying it as really makes huge difference to lower & under body condition.

OEM guards fit easily, certainly diy job. £80 is theft, half that would be realistic. You may need take wheel off for better access but besides that no major hassle & OEM flaps come with fittings & little fitting guide. Example of fitting guide below but for forester > http://techinfo.subaru.com/proxy/69732/pdf/069732-J1010SG250MC14ForesterSplashGuardFrontandRear.pdf You going for black guards ? do come in body colours but easily scuffed & then looks awful. Black is more durable long term & still fits in well as lower bumper & sills are finished in black. How much are the guards for full set !

Really want carefully measure up hub assembly & suspension etc from bad side to one seems good. Obviously with MOT you expect common faults to be seen but best it given a good looking right from the basics at as only takes 30 minutes. Good alignment needs a good operator & I think you got unlucky this time :-/ Hopefully better luck next attempt. I have had hubs on vehicles with bent arms by about 8mm & hard to spot till really pay attention, same goes for lower wishbones.

Have a read of my post #13 again. really need check all suspension parts & mounting points to body on front thoroughly as something could be bent from curbing & not easily spotted. I would suspect hub track arm bent but few other options ... laser alignment is only as good as people using it & a good percentage of them make settings worse rather than better so choose your shop wisely. With noise & rapid tyre wear your fault is quite major so decent shop would of found something wrong during alignment checks & visual checks. Seen loads of Subarus with camber all over the shot as many garages not use to the concentric camber bolts on the struts & don't mark a base position when dissembling & don't check it after assembly.

Keep looking & perhaps try messaging some of the breakers on ebay, UK or Europe shipping to spain would be acceptable. sourcing good used parts even when in the UK is never that easy unless you lucky enough find required model at a local breakers. Start a thread in parts wanted section as if any members have the parts or easy access to them it would be easy item to post to spain. Money you saving on fuel is a big bonus, Forester is a superb usable wagon, just not many people know about them but in some ways that a good thing :-)

eBay will probably be your best bet, should have breakers in the uk who will ship to spain, east europe has a few foresters so parts from them may turn up. Is a few specialist subaru breakers but prices are a premium so best exhausting other options first, Good useful wagon you got, SF models are built well & stand up to quite some abuse.

Serpi Star Gemel. come across them. Quite basic alarm so should be easy to remove. Have a google for wiring diagram, even review slightly different models as sometimes the wiring for likes of immobiliser circuit will run off same pins of alarm plug so easy figure out. Removed a Serpi Star some years ago on a Mazda 323 Rally Lux, was reasonably easy even without wiring sheet as they wanted 100% removal all wiring was traced to joins & fully dissected. Bit time consuming but you could probably handle this yourself.

C-Clamps that go around exhaust pipe (these c-clamps hold heat shields on) are padded inside with mesh, with age this becomes a little loose thus rattles. Other issues are things like it getting knocked or a sloppy mechanic damaging it or leaving bolts missing when mucking round with jobs like a Lambada sensor replacement.

Mud guards are pricey, later version outback moulded ones can be found for around £30 full front/rear set. UK Subaru price is £130 ish :-O You may find some universal that fit well with some good twiddling/fitting. Thing is good mud guard save hundreds in terms of vehicle lower body condition, also be a lot less chipped front ends & windscreens if we all had them ...