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2003 Impreza Crash Repair

2K views 19 replies 9 participants last post by  Such Much 
#1 ·
Hi all, so I'm a new member to the community, and kind of new to cars but I've been driving since I was about 11, I'm 18 now.

I like to consider myself fairly mechanically literate and teachable, but I'm not too specifically knowledgeable with every detail of a car. You could say I understand the principles of how a car works, but I can't name most of the parts.

What am I posting for?
Because I've got this 2003 Impreza automatic sitting in my backyard with some decent damage but still starts fine and can roll but haven't put it in gear to try drive it (it's auto by the way). I currently drive a '98 Corolla hatch which is my first car but I'd love to get this Impreza going. It was obtained through my dad's rental tenants ditching the place, it still has to be auctioned off by law, but it's likely I'll buy it back if I get the answer I'm hoping for by the end of this thread.

Here's the car:
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Subaru Alloy wheel
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Alloy wheel Subaru


I know there's a lot of panel damage but I'm going to ignore that for now. What needs real attention is the left front wheel. If you look closely you can see that it's been bent to turn left and is physically displaced backward towards the rear of the car, it almost touches the body but it can role freely (also the rim on that side has a dent around the seal area, which makes me think the past owner hit a curb pretty damn hard). You can see that the right front wheel is dead straight so either someone gave this car some serious toe-out or the crash as bent the control arm or something. I haven't been able to jack the car up high enough to have a good look at where the damage would actually be. So I'm here to ask everyone what they think about this car, based off of the info I've given, do you think it's worth taking it on as a bit of a project to repair and eventually use on the road or is it just a waste of time? I have a day off tomorrow, I'll see then if I can get under the car and snap some shots of the suspension and steering to help, so don't feel to hard pressed to give me an accurate answer right now. I'm just interested in people's opinions.
I'm honestly sorry if I've left out any details that I should have been able to put in already.

Thanks a lot for any help. :)
 
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#6 ·
Looking at the foglights (and headlights), I'm guessing he's in Europe somewhere. EDM WRXs started the blobeye look in 2003 as opposed to 04-05 like the US market. Bugeye's started in 2001 in Europe.

OP...its not going to be cheap to fix everything considering all those body panels have to be replaced (and repainted if you don't find same color). The control arm and associated lateral links and such are mostly likely done for and will have to be replaced. It's possible that something could be messed up on the "good" side as well considering the damage.

If you are relatively new to cars as you say, I'd heed SD's advice and have a professional go over it for an estimate of what all needs to be done. And take the body shop's cost into account here. Remove cost of labor, and that's what you're looking at paying, at least. Do you have all the necessary tools and a place to work on it?

I mean, it could be a cool project for a youngin, but you have a lot of potential to be way in over your head on it considering your youth and inexperience.
 
#9 ·
I'm in Australia, which may explain the lights and obviously the RHD. :D

Yeah, I understand it's not going to be very cheap, but I have a complete minimum of a year before I would ever start using this car on the road because I just payed for new registration on my Corolla - $600 (plus I just got the Corolla). I was expecting having to replace the control arms and possibly others, I look forward to seeing what's going on under there. The only damage that I've noticed on the 'good' side other than the obvious dents and scratches is that the driver door doesn't open from the outside.

I have my father to assist in working on this as well, he raced around the country back in the day, he knows pretty well what he's doing in most cases. I have the majority of tools that would likely be needed to repair most of it, a working area might be a little more difficult to find, but will be possible to obtain if I get started on this.

After I try get some better shots tomorrow and we still can't get a somewhat more accurate decision what damage is done I'll consider flatbeding it to a professional.
 
#11 ·
Hello again, sorry if I'm just getting annoying bugging you guys for more answers but I'm just really excited about possibly owning a WRX and I want to take this opportunity.

So I started it again today, turns out it can still drive itself okay but the front wheel are flat and the left wheel rubs to the point of locking up if you turn left to hard, but I drove it very very slowly and cautiously to a better working space (still on dirt unfortunately). I got the left front wheel off and took a look around, I compared everything I thought of with the other side of the car and the only thing that seems bent or damaged in any way relating to the alignment is the control arm.

Here's a bunch of photos:
Auto part Machine Vehicle brake
Auto part Fuel line
Auto part Pipe
Auto part
Auto part Tire Automotive tire Automotive wheel system Fuel line
Auto part Automotive exterior
I guess this last one puts the year model debate to rest. Green Rat Muridae Signage Rodent
 
#13 ·
Thanks for the encouragement, this is really naive but sometimes I just like to have fun and forget the money costs and small problems and just go for it. I've been preparing myself time wise and money wise to start working on this, but I am a little concerned about the frame. Is there a way to check if it's bent from home, or do I absolutely have to take it to a professional to do this properly?
 
#14 ·
A professional would be best. From the pictures though it looks like the car was just side swiped. It is impossible to diagnose though with just pictures. Maybe find some local WRX enthusiasts and have them take a look.

I encourage young people to take these types of projects on because it builds character. Too many young folks these days are spoiled by their parents and get brand new cars. My first car was a beat up orange 76 plymouth volare. It was so unreliable and if I shifted it wrong the shifter linkage would get locked up and I would have to jump out and untangle them. Taught me how to shift really quickly.

Good luck if you take on this rebuild. Are you planning on doing the body work yourself as well?
 
#15 ·
Too many young folks these days are spoiled by their parents and get brand new cars.
The opposite can backfire though! My first car was a 1986 Volvo 240DL that cost $1000 with 1xx,xxx miles on it. I didn't learn squat because nothing ever went wrong with it. I don't think I even got oil changes.
 
#16 ·
Okay, I've been looking up information on determining if the frame is bent and from what I can test, it seems to be all good and straight. But I still can't be sure because the control arm is throwing a wheel completely out. I'll see what I can do about recruiting other people's opinions locally.

Seems like a cleaned up Plymouth these days is a pretty nice looking car. :thumbup:

I'm not sure if I'll be doing all the body work on my own. I'd like to, but if/when I get up to that stage, I'll have to see how difficult it all is. Maybe I'll report on the adventure on this thread as I go. Thanks again for the uplifting words.
 
#20 ·
I have looked on ebay a little and found a set of left and right control arms for about $250.

Also another thing to report - something that I probably should have checked a while ago, the R/H steering rack end is majorly bent. Luckily that's under $30 to replace.
 
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