.:ImprezaSport.net Forums:.: Repair or replace? - .:ImprezaSport.net Forums:.

I was all set to repair the UK turbo and I`d taken loads of photos so that I could take them to bodyshops to get a rough idea of how much it would all cost to repair. Having just taken the photo`s I sat down for lunch and shortly after I received a phone call. the head gasket had gone on a mates STi3 and would I be interested. I was a little unsure at first so I told my mate to get back to me about a price and we could go from there. At this point I decided if it was a good price then I`d go for it and sell the UK turbo on after all, it wasn`t any STi3 but the one that I used as the basis for my plans for the UK turbo About an hour later I receive a text with a figure on it that I couldn`t say no to and I agreed to buy the car there and then.The rest of that day I spent taking bits off the uk turbo. A mate bought the decat downpipe and centre section and I intended to use the carbon door mirrors and mudflaps on the new car so they came off too.

Shortly after that I spoke to Martyn Jefferies at www.enginetuner.co.uk in Plymouth as they were going to do a head rebuild for me. While in discussions with Martyn it was agreed to add a Simtec ECU to the car with switchable antilag and it was agreed that I was in no rush for the car and they could do it when they had time. In september of 2007 I received a call to say that the car was ready to be collected. Fortunately, I was going to be away that week with work and so it was arranged that I would pick the car up on the Friday and spend a weekend at another mates house in Paignton. Martyn confirmed to me that the turbo and intercooler were worn and would need replacement and so he had mapped the car with that in mind and it made 281bhp and approx 279lb/ft torque iirc. Needless to say I was well happy. Having come from a 234bhp Uk turbo to a 280bhp STi the difference was phenominal and I was more than happy with it.


Soundclip of it: http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c79/1tin...rrent=Scoob.flv

Around the start of December I purchased an Autobhan FMIC with the intention of having it fitted at the same time as the new turbo. However I had 9 days off over christmas and so I decided to tackle the job myself:




When putting it back together, I had a bit of a dilemma. did I put the Sti bumper back on or did I fit a 22b bumper that i`d bought with the intention of fitting to the Uk turbo. I decided it was easier to cut the 22b style bumper up so that got fitted



However I generally wasn`t happy with the quality of it and it wasn`t long before I`d refitted the STi bumper to the car with some black mesh protecting the FMIC



Since then the only recent addition has been the mudflaps from the UK turbo that I eventually got round to fitting so it currently looks like this:




However, A couple of weeks ago, while parking the car at work, it developed a rattle from the engine so its currently hidden away awaiting an engine rebuild