you say its been well looked after and never boosted by more than 9psi and you trust him because he's been your mech for 5 years... so why has it had the gearbox replaced? Why has he even swapped engines?

You even said he's pumped close to 30k in it... I would be expecting a full fledged beast for that amount of money, not a fairly standard wrx. The whole thing sounds dodge to me.

Walk away, for starters its too much for a gc8, just because he's a long time mechanic doesnt mean he's going to do you any favours... especially asking for 15.

If you're looking at dropping v6 sti gear in further down the track, go buy a v6 sti now.

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Bye bye betty blue. Hello F6.

Is it school holidays yet ?

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97 WRX V3 STi with goodies.

Orrrr go and buy something like this instead...
http://m.gumtree.com.au/v?adId=1024431610
Better brakes, gearbox, engine etc etc.
Plus it's actually an STI so will have better resale and you can actually insure it for what it is worth.
Only thing I would do is get an aftermarket ECU and get it tuned properly (and possibly switch back to a good quality TMIC, like a process west or GD STI top mount)

Way better way to drop 15k than the OP's suggestion

Edit: just realized it isn't a real STI. However would still buy this over what the OP is talking about.

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Jesus ... anyone want a Forri

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I am only an asshole on the internet :)

[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

seriously, this car sounds like a rip off mate, there are plenty of good rexy's/sti's around with good upgrades where you can actually see where the money has gone into, like brembos etc. Honestly, if 30 odd grand has been put into it over time, he must be including the purchase price in that from 15 years ago... The only person who would put an old Legacy motor into a GC8 is someone who is doing it on the cheap.

If you find a nice STI with a rebuilt motor with no receipts like you say, just take it to a reputable workshop and get it checked over.