So had a great long weekend!
Went up north with 10 mates and we all had a blast,
However.......
On the drive home I managed to crack the head on my beloved 97 WRX!

So now i'm up for serious $$$
I waiting on the quote to come back. But i'm expecting around $4-$5K right?
So the problem is, I dont want to chuck good money after bad.
In your opinion would you get the work done or cut you loses sell off the car with the cracked head cheap and upgrade?

*The car is a 1997 Blue Hatch with 165,000km's (just below average)
*I brought the car 2 years ago for $13.5K (i dont owe any money on her)
*Spent just under $1k doing the exhaust and a dry performance filter (no other mods done)
*I just spent $1800 doing all the seals, timing belt kit, rocker cover gaskets, timing belt tensioner and one CV joint.
*I had to get the plastic side tank on my radiator replaced last year because it cracked. Then had to take it back to get it fixed again under warranty because it cracked again right away
*Last year I had a bit of a prang and my insurance company put in a new low km gear box (but its not quite right as it still chips into 4th) i'm worried that i still have a potential 1-2K if i need to fix the syncro in 4th

Option 1) I sink another 4-5K into fixing the head, Short term, this will be much cheaper than buying a new car right away. But I'm still back to square one and still have an aging car with more potential problems right? Plus i would have now spent 20K. And it wont even go any faster

Option 2) Sell the car off cheap. What would she be worth as is? Would I get $5-7K for it do you think? Sell my newest toy (2007 Honda VTR 250cc) i just brought it for 7K with only 1000km's on it (i do still owe the bank 7K, but a new car loan will force me to be rid of this one) This gives me a half decent deposit for a new car. If i'm buying a new car more likely than not i'd upgrade to a Liberty GT. I would spend around $25-$35k and get a good one. low km's, no problems, more professional for my work (sales consultant), lots of nice air bags, side intrusion bars etc etc, sunroof!

Option 3) Sell the car cheap. Buy a bigger bike. and stay indoors all winter when it rains. - also more likely than not, eventually, one day, come off the bike (it might even be no fault of my own) and seriously hurt myself.

Sell it off cheap and get a newer car.

check the forsale section for heads/motors, anything 94-98 will be OK.

i wouldnt sell the car cheap, you will only practically give it away, even if its only a head, look at 1jnrwrx's wrx, an my99/00 and is still struggling to sell.

take your time, dont be irrational

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Long live the WRC

personally i recon you'd be better off spending 4k on a low km jdm engine swap from a similar year model rather than just doing the cracked head

i think this might be something I will look into.
should be a bit on the forums hey. i'll do a bit of a search around today,

i guess i'm in no hurry to rush into this. At least I have a mode of transport for now. So you think I should be able to get an engine swap around the 4k mark hey?

STI maybe?

enquire with JWS for a long motor, or a half cut. then sell the spares.

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Long live the WRC

you should be able to get a 97 sti long motor for that coin from JWS or an importer, paying someone to do the swap will cost a bit more, great diy if you like getting your hands dirty, keeping it the same year as your car makes life alot easier and prettymuch plug & play

I'd recommend buying a complete V3/4 STI motor including the turbo and intake manifold with yellow top injectors. And also the ECU.

The V3/4 STi ECU should be PNP and run the V3/4 440cc injectors too.

That and combined with the mods you already have will make for an excellent upgrade with some pretty decent power.

If you can't get a V3/4 STI motor. Have a look at a Liberty Gen2 GTB long motor. Its essentially the same engine except with shim over bucket instead of under in the heads. Even though they are pretty much the same, the Liberty GTB alternative tends to be a fair bit cheaper.
If you do opt for the GTB motor though, you can only use the long motor. The twin turbo parts and ECU isnt PNP and generally should be thrown in the bin anyway.


Also. Find out why the head got cracked in the first place. If it was caused by overheating from a leak or faulty/blocked radiator or whatever, make sure you get it rectified when the engine gets replaced so the same doesn't happen to the replacement motor.

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RS Liberty - Because WRX's are only good for parts...

So I just got off the phone with Tracey from Parts west, He sounds good over the phone, one man band kinda deal.
He has a 97 WRX STI Halfcut (156,000km's)
I get the STI computer, Gearbox, VF23 turbo, and some other goodies.
I've got more research to do as i'm fairly new to swapping engines and the tech side of everything. I've never done anyhting like this before and definitly want to make sure I get the most for my dollars.
Were talking around $5500 fitted.

Mister Two,
So when you say look at a V3/4 engine, does this change with the year of the car? Is the 97 STI a good one to look at? Am i better going for a newer one?

97 sti is a v3, $5500 fitted is good, make sure you get back all your old pieces, take a trailer.

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Long live the WRC