Good Afternoon.

.. (Waits for Burke to chime in about saving and flawed financial logic) ..

A co-worker of mine came across a JDM WRX STi for a bargain price and pointed me in its direction. I went and had a look and a drive, and a chat with the owner, and decided that it was too good an opportunity to pass up (Purchased for less than $5000).

It has spent the last year sitting in a shed as the previous owner purchased it to do up with his son, but a family illness has all but canned that plan for them. He also has another GC8 WRX Which will be for sale soon. He has rallied before, many years ago, he was telling me about his Mk 1 Escort that he used to drive.

I am picking up the car on Sunday and transporting it to a motorsport garage owned by a relative of mine out of town, where I have access to a hoist, air tools, spray painting equipment, car trailers and storage space.

Since this is a B Registered only car, I dont have the pressures of spending money on labour to get stuff repaired ASAP this time around (if I break it, well, tough shit its not a big deal if it takes 6 months for me to fix it). I am also planning to do as much work on this car as I can by myself.

Rather than dropping half a paycheck every fortnight on the car as I did previously, I plan to just get maximum seat-time until I feel that theres nothing more I can do to improve on times before buying any parts. Also, parts will not be purchased unless there is budgetted money for it.

What I know about the car so far:
- 1995 JDM WRX STi Body in Black, with 130,000kms on the chassis.
- Has a Version 4 STi Motor in it (EJ20G), STi Gearbox (Pretty sure its a 4.44) and ECU to match.
- Styling from 98+ Front including Aluminium Bonnet. (I assume whatever came on the Half Cut perhaps).
- Suspension is screwed.
- Rims are shitty and useless. Will buy original wheels second hand.
- Brakes need to be converted to MY99 4-Pots.
- Oil Return Line is leaking near the turbo causing alot of smoke. Either that or possibly a really bad Rocker Cover leak.
- Speedo and Fuel Gauge dont work. (Who needs a speedo in a race car anyway)

Car drives very well, clutch is springy and gearbox is smooth. Immediately noticed the difference over my WRX in all areas.

There is some damage to the paintwork which I will repaint myself in due time. I also have TechniQ Computer Solutions on board as my primary sponsor, they will be kitting the car up in Electric Green and White styling to match their company image.

Pretty much going to go down a similar path as Simon - just drive the thing until it dies and then work on / replace when time and money permits.


Looking forward to seeing you all back on the track! Probably wont be in out until the Feb/March Rallysprints I would think.