2002 Subaru Impreza WRX.

[UFgatorEE]

After about 15 total work hours, I`m finally finished with the brunt of the work in making this car shine. I bought it from my uncle about a month ago, and he`s had it for at least 5 years. He`s one of those "wash with the old T-shirt and dishsoap" type people. He did give it a coat of NuFinish every so often, so at least it had some kind of protection.



This car has been in NY, NC, AL, and FL over it`s life. It currently has about 127k miles on it. I have to admit, even though my uncle wasn`t the best washer, it is in excellent condition. The interior is damn near spotless (forgot pics...sorry). Has some wear on the floor mats, but it`s to be expected. I`m sure the paint on the outside should be swirl galore, but the color is to my benefit.



The worst part of this car was the years worth of tar built up on the doors, especially the back door. Took about an hour or so to get rid of it all on the last attempt. I did this over multiple days so I didn`t wear myself out (or sunburn) too bad.



Please ignore the multiple shades of silver. This car has been hit more times than a pro boxer. Apparently the people at my uncle`s appt in NY can`t drive for **** in a parking lot. The rear bumper has only been washed. The paint is only about a month old. I got rearended a week after I bought the car. Talk about bad luck.



Method used.



Day 1:

2 Bucket with Meg`s Gold Class and ONR

Meg`s Smooth Surface clay (about 2 hours of work, saturated the clay on one use, and I dropped my other one 5 minutes into use :( )

Meg`s Quik Wax (actually some nice stuff).



Day 2: (about a week later)

2 Bucket as above

10:1 APC+ to attempt at road tar (failed)

Lifter 1 Bug and Tar Remover (IIRC on brand name) and MF towel.



Day 3: (2 days after)

2 Bucket again (neighbor`s must think I`m nuts)

Klasse Twins on paint.

KAIO on windows and wheels.

303 AP on tires. (I don`t usually use a tire shine product b/c I live on a dirt road, but I figured I`d give this a try as I`ve only used *gasp* Armor All before).



About 2 weeks ago, I also cleared my headlights using 1500, then OP on a light cut pad followed by a polish pad. Sealed with KAIO on that day, then on day 3 sealed with Klasse twins.



And for the Pièce de résistance. No sun pictures though; my camera can`t take them well.



http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o168/bkal1987/Subaru%20Impreza%20WRX/000_0073.jpg



http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o168/bkal1987/Subaru%20Impreza%20WRX/000_0076.jpg



http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o168/bkal1987/Subaru%20Impreza%20WRX/000_0078.jpg



http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o168/bkal1987/Subaru%20Impreza%20WRX/000_0079.jpg



Roof.

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o168/bkal1987/Subaru%20Impreza%20WRX/000_0074.jpg



http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o168/bkal1987/Subaru%20Impreza%20WRX/000_0075.jpg





I still have some work to do. I have a few scratches to try and minimize, and the roof needs some work. But those can be done on a panel by panel basis, so I wasn`t worried about getting those done until after I got the rest of the car sealed. And I love this silver metallic. No PC involved (save the headlights, but I used the drill). Previously, I wasn`t able to find any swirls using the sun or halogen, so no need to polish, really. Today, I did notice about an inch in diameter swirls on the leading edge of the hood when looked in the sun (before it blinded me...), but I`m not going to worry about it. This is a highway car, it`ll get them again in no time.



I think a good polishing should improve the quality of the reflections in the paint, but as stated above, it`s a highway car. I commute from Ocala to Gainesville 4 days/week.

[AGAuto]

I had the same exact car (except it was modded a little) for about a year, and my brother had it for 3 years before that. What an awesome car, so much fun to drive. And my car was silver also, and practically repainted on every body panel due to accidents. Your right, that paint color really does hide a lot, if not everything. Even though you said you couldn`t find any swirls, I`m sure they are there -- just very hard to see. Enjoy the car!

[TortoiseAWD]

Yet another silver `02 bug-eye here. Other than the inevitable rock chips, my paint has held up really well. 90k miles, and I still enjoy driving the hell out it every day. They`re great little cars to mod, too . . . I currently have a VF-34 turbo, STi injectors, aftermarket turbo-back exhaust and up-pipe, Prodrive springs, and an AccessPort for engine management. She made 240 hp at the wheels with a less-than-ideal tune (ballparks to around 300 hp at the crank when you figure in drivetrain losses). Decent power, confidence in corners, and quite the little snowplow in the wintertime with a decent set of snow tires mounted - what`s not to like?



Future plans are to sell the AccessPort and go with OpenECU, then use the $$$ from selling the AP to defray the costs of a water injection system.



If you ever get the urge for some cosmetic mods, Subaru sells (or at least they used to) pre-painted sideskirts in our shade of silver for a reasonable price. Also, if you never use your foglights, you can get pre-painted fog light covers that were originally made for the Impreza TS of the same body type, the only catch being that you have to completely remove the fog lights on the WRX for them to fit correctly. I caught a rock that completely shattered one fog light, and since I pretty much never used the fogs (and the cost of a replacement was ridiculous), I just picked up a set of covers. It really changes the look of the front of the car . . . I`ve had people ask me if it`s an aftermarket bumper kit. Pic below of the painted skirts, but I can`t find one at the moment of the front with the fog covers.



http://members.cox.net/sborders/Posted/NewWheelsAndSkirts.jpg



Welcome to the Subaru family. Enjoy your new ride!



Tort

[UFgatorEE]

I appreciate the advice. I too love the Subaru. I find it to be the best well rounded sport daily driver. I can have fun with it, I can tow with it, and still store a reasonable amount of stuff it in.



I`ve thought about getting a turbo back for it, but kinda taking my time. My YZF600R is my current money pit and it needs a few hundred dollars worth of items to bring it back to good condition.



I`ve a set of BF Goodrich g-force SS tires on it right now that I love. I towed a 1300 lbs. trailor in absolute pouring rain and never slipped once. Granted, the tires came with the car, and other than being a bit noisey, I`d have no problems buying them again.



Right now it has the AP stage 1 tune on it. I`ve been contemplating getting a tatrix cable and trying some open source tunes, and maybe trying my hand at customizing them a bit to my car. Need a lambda gauge first, but all in good time. I doubt I will mod the car too much as I`m still a college student and I need reliability more than power.



And I like my fogs, I`m not giving them up...lol. My first cosmetic change will probably be powdercoating the rims to a dark gray, and painting the calipers. Not sure on color yet, but I`m leaning towards yellow. I saw a Lamborgini with that color scheme and liked it.



The story of my life. So much I want to do, but held back by time, commitments, and money. But then again, who doesn`t have that problem...

[DeanMachine]

Another Suby guy here! Looks good! Yeah gotta love the AWD!



Not to turn this into a WRX forum, but going with a Downpipe , uppipe and 255lph fuel pump will net MAJOR gains over what you have. And they won`t break the bank. Plus you still sound pretty stock/sleeper. Catback on a stage 2 is not as noticable power wise and costs as much as all of the above. REMEMBER YOUR E.M. , please!



Post some more pics once you get some sunlight and or more time behind the polish. Good turn around.

[flat4]

Another bugeye owner here. Mine`s only a 2.5rs though, but mine`s PSM too. Are you on NASIOC.com?



Sorry for the two crappy phone pics, i`ll get good ones soon.

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x156/AxBenvenuto/100_3785-1.jpg

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x156/AxBenvenuto/100_3651.jpg



I`ve got 125,000 miles on mine, i love my car. Very loyal to Subaru :woot2:. My last car was a 2001 SUbaru Outback but it got totalled :bawling:



http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x156/AxBenvenuto/100_3442-1.jpg

[DeanMachine]

BithellWagon here! 2006 wrx wagon- VF39, TBE, pump, CAI, GM MBC, suspension , blah blah blah....

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z51/BithellWagon/WRX/Dated2809531.jpg



I think this thread is been jacked! :chuckle:

[UFgatorEE]

lol, I don`t mind. It`s nice to see other Subaru owners. I love what you`ve done with the wagon, Dean. I`ve been considering a similar look. Graphite colored wheels with yellow or red calipers.