TriniGT's Forester Cross Sport Daily Driver Resurrection

[TriniGT]

Lots have been asking what I'm doing these days as I don't post much, just decided to give a little update on how far the new daily has come. It has been a real joy to drive with no issues whatsoever. I have total confidence in the car and with the new upgrades coming it will be even more fun, next on the list will be some Brembos along with the list of upgrades above. That may be between first and second quarter this year and an ECUTek reflash from Jason as I have gotten very good reviews on him, not gonna skimp on the car at all, not looking for high HP with the auto but reliable power and what the auto can handle. Look out for the legacy late ron down the road.

[snowman]

Love it. Well documented build. Always loved these grocery getters. Good work.

[crash dummy]

Shaped up nicely Jason. Lookin good.
Question: In terms of cost to repair, purchase cost of vehicle etc did you come out above or under what it would have cost you to buy an unmolested one and start from there?
I know a major factor influencing saving was the fact that you did a wholeeeeeeee lot of the work for yourself.
I wish i could find the time to work on a project like this. Hopefully in the future.
Many times i have been tempted to buy a project but when i am real with myself i wont hv the time to work on them as weekends are for fleet maintenance
So i am living vicariously through you

One thing i find when you put body kits on the Forester it makes the stock rims look slighty undersized for the vehicle. The STi shocks/springs sits way higher than my partners Forester when he had them on.

[Yeo]

Wow!!!

[MISHI]

Good work man.

[crazybalhead]

Wow is joke!

Hear nah, the leak on the rad, where exactly was it? Just installed a Mishimoto, and the first day the cap leaked. I'm a little concerned about the drain plug. Is that where you put the silicone?

[TriniGT]

Shaped up nicely Jason. Lookin good.
Question: In terms of cost to repair, purchase cost of vehicle etc did you come out above or under what it would have cost you to buy an unmolested one and start from there?
I know a major factor influencing saving was the fact that you did a wholeeeeeeee lot of the work for yourself.
I wish i could find the time to work on a project like this. Hopefully in the future.
Many times i have been tempted to buy a project but when i am real with myself i wont hv the time to work on them as weekends are for fleet maintenance
So i am living vicariously through you

One thing i find when you put body kits on the Forester it makes the stock rims look slighty undersized for the vehicle. The STi shocks/springs sits way higher than my partners Forester when he had them on.

Actually the cost was exactly where I planned it to be and definitely under the cost of one of these. My brother bought it way back from Crism and at the time costed $275,000 through his work, the price has dropped considerably and I still managed to keep it under the current cost of one of these vehicles. The car is really a dream for a daily driver, can go most places as it's not too low and has beefy sidewall tyres to take the country potholes, comfortable, and everything works properly, airbags, seatbelts, everything.

As for the height it is exactly what I was looking for not too low and not too high. My stock cross sport suspension was thrashed in the accident but was not as low as how it is now, the sidewall has made up for the drop in height. I have seen many foresters that are much higher than mine and as of now they sit much lower as the suspension has settled. Will try and get some more pics once I install my new replacement grill .

I bought the car early 2010 and have had it on the road for about three to four months now, it has taken a lot of time getting the right parts to restore it, everything on my model is different from other forester models, the instrument panel, the fusebox, the transmission, headlights, bumper, grill etc so lots were brought in from Japan and no expense was spared, I just tried to get the best prices possible and took my time. Most nights from 6-1 in the morning I am outside working on it, even throughtout the SOE. It was really nice to see all the progress being made and lots of the issues falling off the list. Now the only things pending are upgrades and zero issues. If I am ever to think about selling I will not have to worry about the safety as I am confident in the car, doh worry I ain't selling this one though it is purposeful and for me the best daily driver I have ever had, be it comfort, power and lookswise it still has some heads turning even though it ain't the S14.5 .

[TriniGT]

The leak on the rad was by the hose coming from the overflow, I did not have a squeeze clip on it and at higher temps it would leak, I tie strapped it and all is well. The leak I had where silicone was used was at the lower aluminum water neck, it has a rubber sela that over time does not seal properly and I just used the seal along with silcone to seal it off. Also be sure to tighten the drain-off bolt to the driver side of the Mishimoto rad as standard it is just handtightened and will definitely leak. I still get a slight water level drop on the overflow but not bothered as I check it every other week and top it up if needed, I am talking about an inch drop if so much.

As for the STi springs and shock combo, this is the regular STi red shocks with STi black springs, apparently the redshocks with pink springs or pink shock and springs yield an even lower drop which is not what I am after as my carpark at work and a little at home does not favour a lowered car. I currently manouvre my way out with the Silvia not to scrape which is what I am wanting to avoid with the Forester.

I am currently looking for the 18" STi Spec RA or C version of my wheels for the forester as I want to go 18's but these 17's are fine for now, tyres are needed though so was thinking 18's with some beefy tyres and I tihnk they will clear the brembos in the future better than the current 17's.

[wagonrunner]

excellent job.
be way though. there's a certain powerseller here who'd say it should have cut up, and sold as scrap. blah blah blah

[crazybalhead]

A real good choice for a daily driver tyre is the Hankook V12's. Had them about 16 months now, several solodexes and they still have about 40% life. The tyres are quiet, have very good dry and wet traction and wear evenly. Just thought I would share.

Thanks for the rad answer. It looks ok so far, and yes the drain bolt was tightened before install.

[Morpheus]

Great work AND documentation as always TriniGT.

[TriniGT]

excellent job.
be way though. there's a certain powerseller here who'd say it should have cut up, and sold as scrap. blah blah blah

Haha, for me I cannot afford new vehicles so this is my route . I will buy thrashed ones and fix them to my liking, I think in its current state it is to specs or maybe a little better off now. Stay tuned for some more updates on the turbo upgrade with the TGV deletes. I am still learning on the car and I am tihnking of throwing in a 2.5 block and do a frankenstein build but we'll see if I do get the build going.

[wagonrunner]

excellent job.
be way though. there's a certain powerseller here who'd say it should have cut up, and sold as scrap. blah blah blah

Haha, for me I cannot afford new vehicles so this is my route . I will buy thrashed ones and fix them to my liking, I think in its current state it is to specs or maybe a little better off now. Stay tuned for some more updates on the turbo upgrade with the TGV deletes. I am still learning on the car and I am tihnking of throwing in a 2.5 block and do a frankenstein build but we'll see if I do get the build going.

wait . you is regular folk? shenanigans. :lol;
nice man. enjoy it.

[crash dummy]

Shaped up nicely Jason. Lookin good.
Question: In terms of cost to repair, purchase cost of vehicle etc did you come out above or under what it would have cost you to buy an unmolested one and start from there?
I know a major factor influencing saving was the fact that you did a wholeeeeeeee lot of the work for yourself.
I wish i could find the time to work on a project like this. Hopefully in the future.
Many times i have been tempted to buy a project but when i am real with myself i wont hv the time to work on them as weekends are for fleet maintenance
So i am living vicariously through you

One thing i find when you put body kits on the Forester it makes the stock rims look slighty undersized for the vehicle. The STi shocks/springs sits way higher than my partners Forester when he had them on.

Actually the cost was exactly where I planned it to be and definitely under the cost of one of these. My brother bought it way back from Crism and at the time costed $275,000 through his work, the price has dropped considerably and I still managed to keep it under the current cost of one of these vehicles. The car is really a dream for a daily driver, can go most places as it's not too low and has beefy sidewall tyres to take the country potholes, comfortable, and everything works properly, airbags, seatbelts, everything.

As for the height it is exactly what I was looking for not too low and not too high. My stock cross sport suspension was thrashed in the accident but was not as low as how it is now, the sidewall has made up for the drop in height. I have seen many foresters that are much higher than mine and as of now they sit much lower as the suspension has settled. Will try and get some more pics once I install my new replacement grill .

I bought the car early 2010 and have had it on the road for about three to four months now, it has taken a lot of time getting the right parts to restore it, everything on my model is different from other forester models, the instrument panel, the fusebox, the transmission, headlights, bumper, grill etc so lots were brought in from Japan and no expense was spared, I just tried to get the best prices possible and took my time. Most nights from 6-1 in the morning I am outside working on it, even throughtout the SOE. It was really nice to see all the progress being made and lots of the issues falling off the list. Now the only things pending are upgrades and zero issues. If I am ever to think about selling I will not have to worry about the safety as I am confident in the car, doh worry I ain't selling this one though it is purposeful and for me the best daily driver I have ever had, be it comfort, power and lookswise it still has some heads turning even though it ain't the S14.5 .

Feel you on the height as a daily driver. Kinda sucky to have to be ducking and weaving in a vehicle when considering the original height on a daily basis.
The cost to repair+ cost of wreck being under current market value is excellent and you know your vehicle to a T more or less which makes future maintenance a breeze.

Great build/restore. Subscribed for upgrades.

[TriniGT]

Hoping for upgrades to be done between first and second quarter this year, but till then it's collection time. I have another restore that I am doing to a thrashed Legacy Spec B, body is decent but engine needs a rebuild, no corners being cut on this either. May be for sale after though as I have my eyes on a future project for this year and that will be a keeper. The Spec B is a manual as well, it just needs some love and love it is gonna get. Engine is currently being yanked to see what is the status and from there I will decide what the immediate plan is gonna be. Same time car will be sent to get some touching-up and then detailed and then engine swapped back in and put on the road and broken in. Once satisfied I will more than likely put her up for sale. Everything is going OEM or upgraded and factory looking not dropped and definitely no blong on this just functional and working properly.

[Aaron 2NR]

dude u really got patience lol....

[TriniGT]

Patience is a virtue

[cinco]

great thorough job as always

[MG Man]

...............WOW>>>>>>>>>>>

[jeevdude199]

wheyy.........actually..WOW

[droppa]

awesome rebuild man, u cant match a price to the hard work u put out here....

[A172]

very nice, gjdm.

[MichaelR]

This pleases me. If the greenhouse of the car was damaged severely, would it still make sense to repair the car or should it be scrapped?

[TriniGT]

Hmmm that decision is yours, if you have the proper tools to stretch to factory specifics and reinforce with proper welds it should be very strong. Subarus are made differently and are very strong at the frame, all a- pillars are layered. Remember most cars are machine tacked together, yes the tack welds penetrate straight through but if you are to run proper stitching this will even further strengthen the original structure.

[sliderz1]

speechless........good going meng

[turbosingh]

Wow nice comeback.How much overall was spent to bring it back??

[cinco]

Wow nice comeback.How much overall was spent to bring it back??

silly turbosingh
like a ladies weight
you never ask
at the end of the day the monetary value was worth the experience and the outcome to him

[TriniGT]

Hmmm will have to check back my bills and factor in my labour charge .

[Conrad]

Bloody hell!

Sweet DIY.

[TriniGT]

Yeah boy Conrad that was the daily I was working on .