WideSam

I’d be half tempted to say you might still have air in the system. Stop me if I’m teaching you to suck eggs but they can be a real pain to bleed! Make sure you get the front end higher than the rear, park on a hill or jack the front end up, then try bleeding it some more. Again, the water pump is worth checking too. I just think it’s worth just ruling out absolutely everything else before headgasket failure.

Just putting this up to gauge a bit of interest... As per the title, this is JDM Combe; held at Castle Combe racetrack. I believe it started to fill the gap after Japfest moved to Silverstone. It offers an opportunity for some track time for all abilities, as well as a slow parade lap if you don’t fancy thrashing your pride and joy. It’s £15 per car (up to three passengers) and extra for the track time. We only need 4 cars to make a stand but more would be great! I know we’ve got a good number of members in the South West, Wales and Midlands who are all a reasonable distance from Combe! Your car doesn’t have to be “show car” standard either so don’t be put off, it’s just a great way to get some members together and put faces to names. Need to have a stand booked by the beginning of May so the sooner we can get some idea of numbers the better! Some more info about the day and track times/prices can all be found here. http://jdmcombe.com/what-s-on/

Was the heater blowing hot while you were bleeding the system?

Nicely done. Thanks, hopefully catch up at one of the shows again!

If you can fit it yourself, the water pump has got to be worth a shot. I did have very similar symptoms a few years ago. Was really starting to believe it was the head gasket but checked the pump to find it in 2 pieces, the fanblade part (sure there’s a technical term 😂) had a press fitting which had removed itself from the spindle going through the pump.

When did the stickers go? 😮

I know exactly how you feel, I’ve tried several things to try and scratch the itch, so to speak, but there’s just nothing out there like them.

Just bring your puma mate, we can just hide it at the back like the Ka 😂

Welcome to the club! Looks like that’ll be a great car once it’s done.

Congratulations and welcome to the club. It’s going to be an agonising wait for you now!

Love this thread. If I could have my car at even half the standard of yours I’d be very happy. Top work 👍

Decided it was too cold to mess about with the coolant today, so topped it up and replaced the radiator caps. All seems well, got her up to temp and took her for a spin, temp gauge sits bang on. Love this thing

I’m on my third now, they’re addictive! Agreed, I just came back from an e39 523, good car, but as you say, parts are ridiculous prices... particularly wheels! And I’ve been driving it the last couple of days and just feels far too sedate for my liking. I think that’s just part of the security system, in my Impreza you have to press the unlock button while it’s in the ignition to start it.

This was really bugging me (don’t ask me why 😂). So ended up finding this video... The section with the boot is around 3 mins from the end... turns out you can only open it from the key fob or the lever inside!

No such thing as a stupid question. Should be something under the chrome trim under the Subaru badge. There’s usually a key hole around there too, in case of emergencies or flat battery. Hope this helps

Yeah things like Rota, bola and OZ seem to be the most popular, but as you say have little dish. Some of the rota and bola wheels have a slight concave, more than pictures give the appearance of. 5x100 does open the search up a bit as it brings some of the VAG stuff into play (although best to check as I’m not sure on centre bore). That should give you a bit more scope for the more “euro” style of wheels.

Welcome to the club. Plenty of friendly and knowledgable people on here. Pics of the new car are always welcome!

Welcome Paul. Nice to see someone going to the effort of saving one. Fingers crossed for you!

Welcome! I believe @savage bulldogs put me in the right direction for some ej20 workshop manuals, I think that site had some other options available. Import car parts is always go to for parts, genuine and at a reasonable price.

Sorry, didn’t see this just now! Yeah I left around three years ago, intended to get back sooner. Saw the start of your project thread earlier looking forward to seeing that unfold! My old GTB cost me an awful lot of time and money so I’ve definitely learnt there’s no such thing as too much preventative maintenance 😂

Thanks Steve. I’ll bare that in mind, will get a chance to have a really good poke around when this weather warms up a bit. It all looks fairly solid, but I got it for a very good price so don’t mind spending a bit as and when

Hi Sophie, I’m sure there are some members around that area. It’s always nice to hear some info on your car... model, spec, any mods etc. Pictures are always welcome too!

Well, I broke it. 2 days in 😂. Had a slight issue with the temperature fluctuating, rising slightly under boost. Assumed the previous owner just hadn’t bled the system properly and the dive home had shown it up better than his 15 minute drive to work... Anyway, took the cap off the header tank to check the level, to find I had the top half of the cap in my hand and the rest sat in the top of the tank. At least it explains the issue... Coolant change with new caps and thermostat and oil change is now my job for the weekend!

I used to run 7.5j (I think) 18s on my gen 2 legacy with 225/40/18s with no issues, so should be fine on the outback. Any bigger or wider probably would’ve required some narrower, lower profile tyres if not some spacers and arch work. IMO though the 18s fill the arch well enough.

Thanks guys, nice to be back. Needs a good service first of all, purely for my peace of mind, along with a new o2 sensor. Then the paintwork needs some tlc. I’d also like some jap style plates on it. After that we shall wait and see, I’m perfectly happy with the power at the moment but you know as well as anybody that things don’t stay like that for long 😂.