I picked up a trashcan WRX. The seller was asking $1850 with a new battery, Micky Thompson wheels and new All-Terrain tires. It was... not worth that. It's got a title, and it runs and drives but the transmission is a bit slow shifting into gear when cold, it's got minor body damage on most every panel, and it's a bit rusty underneath. Since I was there with cash and a trailer, we negotiated way less. I had him put the stock wheels on with the old tires, and he kept the new battery and gave me an old one he had sitting around. I'll post the actual price once I message him later today so I can use that message as my receipt.
As I bought it:
The camber with the stock tires is way out of whack. The Farm Use plate isn't a joke. It seems to have been used for hooning around a farm.
Out yonder in rural Virginia.
It came with strut bars, Primitive skid plates, under body chassis bracing and some miscellaneous spares. No pics of the chassis bracing, yet.
OH, I almost forgot the best part:
It's full of fire ants.
I plan on setting a bug bomb off inside of it.
Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) said:
OH, I almost forgot the best part:
It's full of fire ants.
I plan on setting a bug bomb off inside of it.
Yay.
And cool to see a factory yellow WRX wagon.
It's going to need an STI hood scoop with anteater done in the old Road Runner six pack sticker font that they used on the liftoff hoods on the 69 and a half six pack road runners. Do the hood in matte black like they did with those on your black wheels with chrome lug nuts for your challenge delivery
Price reveal: $750
Not as inexpensive as Duster got the Baja for, but I think I did alright.
I like that one a lot better than the wagon on here for something like 8-10 grand!
This is gonna be fun to follow.
Please keep the FARM USE plate.
David S. Wallens said:
Please keep the FARM USE plate.
If it runs at the Challenge, it'll be wearing that plate.
Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) said:
David S. Wallens said:
Please keep the FARM USE plate.
If it runs at the Challenge, it'll be wearing that plate.
The FARM USE plate is amazing, with that being said this car is in great shape for being farm use. You go this, keep up the work.
I think "Farm Use" is the obvious project name!
I'm not going to lie - I like the absurdity of those big wheels and tires.
In reply to Motojunky :
So I wasn’t the only one, huh?
MODS: Can we please change the thread title to: 2003 Subaru WRX: The Farm Use Challenge Car
that is Michigan Showroom Clean. GTFO with your "a bit rusty"
AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:
that is Michigan Showroom Clean. GTFO with your "a bit rusty"
I haven't photographed the rust, yet.
My wife was peering at it and asked why it was covered in ANTS! I had to use a leaf blower to get most of them off. Some were still waiting when I opened the door.
It turns out that the intercooler isn't stock. It's much thicker. I didn't think it looked stock yesterday, but it's been a while since I looked at a Bug Eye. I wonder what other surprises I'm going to find.
docwyte
UltimaDork
10/10/24 8:41 a.m.
Forester suspension, I was wondering why the ride height was so high...
"What is this? A car for ants???"
Oh cool, you got it! That's a RARE one, too. The one-year Sonic Yellow Wagons are really tough to come by. Makes me want to get another Bugeye Wagon myself! I'll be following this one closely.
I've had to bug bomb a car. If these are fire ants, there's a much better option. They love this stuff
In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :
I'll give the fire ant bait a shot, thanks!
To be transparent, I've had this one for a couple of months, and was just planning to fix it and flip it. I'm not sure if I'm going to use this as a donor car, or if I'm going to swap the drive train for the Challenge, or continue with my plan to flip it. Maybe I'll swap it, use it at the Challenge and then flip it. We shall see!
In any case, I spent a few hours before it got really dark getting it in the "working area" of the driveway, soaking it in PB Blaster and then removing the radiator, exhaust, trans bolts, AC and power steering pump. I was expecting an inspection hatch to remove the torque converter bolts, but it doesn't have one, so I'll probably have to go through the starter hole.
I wasn't thinking, and realized I had a Subaru transmission sitting in my garage and checked that for the inspection port location. Apparently I was thinking of a different auto maker's transmission access location, because it's on the passenger side top, under the intake, not on the passenger side bottom.
I'm happy my brain decided to work.
The 2.5 NA engine is out of the Outback Sport for some rehabilitation. Now that there is a big hole where it used to be, I am seriously considering putting the WRX drive-train into it and taking it to the Challenge. I really don't think it would be that hard, but it would be a fair bit of work/time, and that's really my biggest obstacle.
No matter what happens, I'm going to do some Dusterbd13 levels of cleaning in the engine compartment, since it is covered in a sludge of oil and dirt. Touching any surface under there means you're getting filthy. There's absolutely no reason to leave it that way.
Today I also learned that the windshield wipers in the WRX don't work at all. I'll check fuses and such and get some photos of everything as it currently sits when the sun is shining again.
