Adam

Bip is one of the moderators on here. He has a small garage in Coventry that he runs with his Dad, Tlag. They build and fit Subaru engines, among other things.

Could be worth asking Tlag or Bip. They've usually got something lying around their garage.

He hasn't posted on here for a while, but when I saw him at Prodrive a few weeks ago he said he was having Internet problems so assuming he can't post himself I'll do it for him! Found his silver GL on eBay... http://bit.ly/1hbnqKr

Standard badge for UK cars is the blue Subaru oval with the stars in. On Japanese imports the older cars had badges to depict the model, so Imprezas had badges with an "i", Legacy got a badge with "L" and the Forester got... yes, an "F". In addition to this there are loads of other badges you can buy from eBay, for example P1 owners can buy a P1 badge. These are not official Subaru badges, they are just from badge makers trying to earn a bit of cash. The pink one is probably some sort of STi copy. I have a H&S backbox on my Legacy. It's well made and sounds good, but it's not so big you risk loosing small children up there. I like it, but not to everyone's taste. Coolant comes in all sorts of colours but blue is the most common. There is no difference, it's just the dye they put in it so you can see it. Try not to mix to different colours together as it will look a mess and you wont be able to tell if there is a contaminant getting in there. A lot of Subaru owners like pink as it's the STi colour! Cambelt is no harder than any other car, but you need to remove the radiator to gain access so say goodbye to your pink coolant :)

I'm wondering if the centre section would fit my GT-B...? If this is still unsold after Christmas I may take a gamble on it.

Just tried to book the ferry and hit a problem... When we went over last month it cost us £39 per car return. I have just tried to book the same times for this event and the outbound journey is marked as "Sold Out". Moving to Plan B we see the cost is £174 per car return. Clearly they are busy at Christmas and piracy is rife on the high seas. I've spoken to Fruity and we both agree this has turned a fun weekend into a rip-off, so we have decided to knock it on the head. Good luck Sabine, sorry we can't be there to show our support.

Yes, JDM Legacys have higher spec than you would expect to find on UK cars of the same age.

Fruity found it, maybe he can point you in the right direction.

You have all seen Sabine Schmitz on Top Gear? Well a few hours ago she posted on Facebook about a demonstration at the Nurburgring before Christmas. The circuit has a very special place in my heart so I am posting here to spread the word! Fruity and I are looking to head over for the event, so if anyone else is interested we'll meet you at the ferry port on Friday! Sabine's text is as follows...

As said above, try Halfords Pro. Make sure it's their Pro range though as they also sell some cheap rubbish. They come with a life-time gaurentee so if you break something you can just take it back for a replacement. Cost can be a bit on the steep side so wait for items to come on sale as you can get huge amounts off. You shouldn't need to wait too long as they seem to have tools on sale all the time, you will just need to wait for the ones you want to come around.

Ah OK. Your first post was a bit misleading as the Impreza GT was the name only used in mainland Europe and the USA so were only available as left-hand drive. For right-hand drive, in the UK the turbo cars were called "Impreza Turbo 2000".

Ah bugger, I didn't notice the bit about a deposit :( Subaru only ever put "GT" badges on both the GT and GT-B which causes great confusion for cars built between 1996 and 1998 as both cars were built at the same time and look almost identical. When the Gen3 came out in 1998 the GT version was dropped so it has to be a GT-B. As they were never sold in the UK many people, including dealers, have no idea what they are so simply look at the misleading badge on the boot. A lot of people say that an additional "Bilstien" logo/badge on the boot is there to show the "B" in GT-B, and the photos show one is fitted to this car. However, when the GT was built from 1993-1998 it was was always available with Bilstien suspension as a factory option and cars fitted with this also had the Bilstien badge, yet these cars didn't have the more powerful GT-B engine so were still just a GT. The only real way to tell is to check the Applied Model Code on the VIN plate, but that is only an issue with Gen2 cars because as I said above, they didn't make a Gen3 GT.

Slightly over your budget, but have a look at eBay item 380748072756 Low mileage and fitted with rare (and expensive) RFRB styling kit.

So you know what you are looking for/at... Two Gen 3 cars. The blue car is a facelift estate (2003 GT-B S-edition) and the silver car is a pre-facelift saloon (1999 B4 RS-K). If you look closely you can see the facelift car has a redesigned bumper, and the grille is taller with a different profile at the bottom. The old double-L Legacy badge has also been dropped in favour of the standard Subaru stars. The B4 badge on the pre-facelift car is only fitted to saloons so don't expect to see one on a GT-B. The profile of the headlights has also changed but that is harder to spot, and this means the bonnet shape is different. If you swap them over you will have a large gap. What is easier to see is the "projector" indicators on the facelift car, where the older cars had frosted glass. Normally on a RevD car you will see the headlight surround in black, but this one is a rare S-edition so they are silver, the same as a S401 STi. Ignore the fact that the older car sits lower... It has aftermarket coilovers where the newer car is on standard springs and shocks.

Just to quickly add to that before I head out to work... The semi-auto box came in on RevB versions of the third generation cars. With it you got the EJ206 engine with 260ps power output. Manual cars got the EJ208 with 280ps.

You say it has to be a facelift... That would rule out a Rev C as the facelift was in June 2001 with the change from Rev C to Rev D. Changes were a new design front end, so different bumper, grille and bonnet, plus new head lights. Under the hood you got smaller turbos for quicker spooling and smoother power delivery, plus revised gear ratios. There was also a new design to the ECU and some minor interior changes. On the whole, the Rev D cars are more of a relaxed cruising machine than the Rev A-C car. However, if you want a more involved driving tool I would ignore the third generation (chassis code BH5A-BH5D) car altogether and go for a second generation (chassis code BG5A-BG5C), like mine, which were build from 1993-1998 (facelift in 1996, BG5B or BG5C).

I'm so glad I don't live in Lincolnshire!

I remember the first time I did sparks on a GT-B... A friend and I both needed them doing so we parked side by side and spent what seems like all day trying things on one car and then copying on the other. Got a huge sense of achievement at the end of the day and a free dinner from my friend. Since then I have bought the correct tools and done the job loads of times. It's so much easier the second, third fourth time around and now I find myself wondering what all the fuss was about. You'll be fine once you break your cherry!

If you have an Impreza GT I'm guessing you are not in the UK it's left-hand drive? As only the driver's seat has height adjustment you could have problems as the height adjustment will be on the wrong side.

Only just seen this post... Yes it's a pain in the !Removed! job and you need to make sure you have the right tools for the job otherwise you won't get access. Remember the cylinder heads are aluminium so be careful not to over tighten anything as stripping a thread will cause a world of pain. Also, if it's a Rev D then it will be a GT-B E-tune 2 and you should have smaller turbos for quicker spooling.

I believe that is the all-time record, but it was a race car. The P1 is looking for the record for a road legal production car.

Now why did you have to go and post that? I'm getting Nürburgring withdrawal symptoms now, and I can't go back until next year :(

It is simply a measurement of the air pressure in the inlet manifold. Nothing more, nothing less.

In a N/A engine the air going into the engine is under atmospheric pressure, ie it's not compressed. Engines with a turbo or supercharger will compress the air before it goes into the engine. This gives more fuel/air mix in the combustion chamber, and thus a bigger bang when it sparks and more power. The amount of boost is just how much the air in the inlet manifold has been compressed, and air pressure is measured in either PSI (imperial) or BAR (metric).

Just seen this as a headline news story on the BBC so they must be serious. Could be as early as 2015 but only if you live within 10 miles of the depot. I think I'll start by ordering a new fridge/freezer and see how their drone copes with that! :)