What to do about a donor car?

This had crossed my mind repeatedly even before I went down to meet Graham.  During the test drive Graham’s advice was find a 98/99 STI for about £3-4.5K would make for the most straight forward build.  There are a couple of problems that you can minimise with a good donor car.  The first is the SVA test - The car builder’s nightmare.  Subaru Impreza’s are all too frequently modified such that the engine will never pass the SVA test on emissions.  Many potential donors have already had the cat removed with “drainpipe” exhausts.  To explain further on a normal MOT test the engine is allowed to come up to working temperature as is the catalytic converter.  On the SVA test they put a temperature probe in the oil dip and take the emissions from when the oil temperature reached 60 degrees C. So there is no guarantee the catalytic converter is up to normal working temperature. 

Another potential issue is if the donor car has non standard wheels. If the donor car has original 16” wheels it should pass the SVA test because the rules state that standard geometry measurements taken follow the manufacturer’s dimensions.  However if the donor car has 17+” wheels the rules state the measurements have to be taken from a different position requiring a wheel arch extension in front of rear wheel arch in order to pass the test.

Some advice I received from talking with Arden engineering was to build the car to pass the SVA test without getting it painted and without final finishing touches (stereo, final leather/fabric trim etc.). Then once it has passed the SVA strip it back, paint it and do a final assembly.  That way you don’t go through a massive amount of fiddly finishing jobs only to find you have failed the SVA test and wasted £200 pounds on a test, only to strip it all back to rectify any failure issue and put it back through a re-test.  This may sound extreme but could reap dividends.  When you finish the car you can also put any upgrades on the car such as larger wheels and it will already have passed the SVA test.

The best advice is to find the most unmodified car that you can.  So it was on to the internet and searching for a well maintained car. After working through literally hundreds of cars, so many modified to varying degrees, I found a suitable candidate In Newcastle.  It was a 98 import 65000 miles good condition a little tired on the body work and with the usual jap import 3” stainless exhaust and no cat. I took a trip up to the Tyne for a test drive.  Owner requested insurance which was a struggle for this type of car. However www.Ecar.com do a road test insurance for a day. On an STI the cost was £23. I took a trolley jack with me so I could see under the car properly.

The car looked as expected a little worn in places but the engine pulled well and it was looking quite positive. The owner lived on a hill so we took it to the local garage where I was able to jack the car up and see underneath. That’s when things went south. The tyres were different on the left side compared to the right side (I was always told the same tyres should always be on the same axle to balance the differential properly. The rear diff did not look good and the owner had mentioned that it did make a noise every once in a while).  The rear suspension anti roll bar was pink. Yes pink. An after market mod?  But the two clinchers were when I got a look at the sub frame and when I tried to jack the other side of the car up.

The sub frame looked too corroded such that I suspected simple restoration and painting might not be enough.  The first side I tried to jack up was fine but on the other side the trolley jack wouldn’t fit under the car by a quarter of an inch.  So I had to Pass.... Next! I had another car to look at in Keighley but it was already sold.  The guy had another, but it was tricked up to the nines, nicely maintained, but full of gauges and dials beyond my understanding.

Back home for a beer and some more searching. Then found another candidate, again up in Newcastle, This one looked a better looked after and after another trip up the A1, ironically less than a mile from the previous candidate. I took it for a drive there were a couple of things I didn’t like.  It had a sunroof – busted, blowing fuses (this will affect the shell resale value as shells are often used for racing), rear door window was also blowing fuses and no catalytic convertor.  But none of these would affect the car for my use. The clocks had been modified from Kmh to MPH but the dash still said KMH (again an SVA fail) and the tacho needle was on the wrong side of the zero needle rest.  I suspect the mod had been done by a previous owner.

But the current owner seemed honest, the brakes had been overhauled and were still bedding in and the rear diff had been overhauled.

This is what he put in the ad on Pistonheads:

Subaru Impreza STI v5 silver (the darker silver later models) unmolested unspoilt mint example have had car mot'd today 18/10/10 so 12 months mot car was imported new in dec 98 (99model) so has pretty much full UK service history with piles of paperwork old mots etc and can obviously tell from paperwork no expense has been spared I have had any work needed done to prepare for sale rear diff 4x new tyres knock sensor oil leak full service timing belt etc so car is faultless mileage on car is approx 90000km although clocks were changed last year so now clocking up in miles new clocks show 72000 miles
car is unmodified as it should be apart from exhaust last dyno showed 283bhp on 97 ron petrol I have started using tesco 99 as i feel it runs even smoother
bodywork is exeptional for age very small blemish above rear arch 5p piece size (not rusted) and small parking scuff on rear bumper
interior is good but bolster on drivers seat split and repaired could probably do with better repair.  Car drives as it should no knocks bangs creaks turbo pulls as it should no smoke noise etc car just serviced and motd 4 new tyres and timing belt so worry free
these are becoming increasingly hard to find in this condition i believe i have priced this realistically will consider a ery cheap pex £500 or so
any questions please phone mark 

I took the jack again and checked underneath in the pouring rain – advice: take a piece of carpet to kneel\lie on else it is a damp ride home.  No surprises this time a little surface corrosion and some flaking paint on the struts but all in all nothing that the restoration work wouldn’t clear up.

I left and later called Graham with a query regarding the clocks. I went back to the owner and with a little negotiation we agreed a price.

I prepared to get the car down from Newcastle.  Finding short term insurance was a nightmare.  Initially I only wanted a month to fully sound the car out and bed the brakes in properly, but ended up with quotes of £738 for 28 days insurance so I settled for 2 days.  I agreed to pick the car up on the Sunday.  That was the weekend Newcastle was virtually closed due to snow.  The owner rang up on Saturday and said he couldn’t get the car out of his yard and on to the street because of the snow.  It was four hours later when he rang back and said he had managed it on to the street.

When I got there I understood his issue there was ten inches of snow on the roof of the car the slush from the road splashed up by passing traffic had completely covered the wheels and filled the wheel arches.  We did the business and I drove off pulling in at the first services on the A1 to fill up with fuel and washer water.  The weather was great cold but sunny right up to 20 miles from home and I was able to evaluate my purchase properly.  Then the snow began to fall carpeting the motorway in minutes. The four wheel drive worked a treat.  Monday I took the day off and drove the car around to friends who had offered to assist with the build to show them what they would be working with.  The snow was deep but the major roads were clear. 

By the end of the day the brakes felt a lot firmer and the performance was great.

That night the snow really kicked in and buried the Subaru in my back yard.  Now I can’t strip the car down until the snow melts.  I contacted Graham Codling, who remarked that the first tool I would need was a snow shovel, sent me a purchase agreement which I signed and handed over the deposit with an anticipated delivery in January.