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Ok, guys and gals. I have made my introduction and I wanted to make a general repairs/upgrade thread of my own to kind of keep track of my progress with this car. Mods, if this is in the wrong spot, feel free to move at your discretion. I apologize if it is.
My ultimate goal with this thread is to help keep me motivated with any repairs/regular maintenance/any upgrades over stock that I feel are warranted and or necessary, and who doesn't like upgrades? Sorry if that sounds a bit rhetorical.
Anyway, a little background first, shall we? For the last five years I have owned a 2004 Subaru WRX/STi. It has been one of my absolute favorite cars out of all the vehicles I have owned over the years. It was a blast to drive, never left me stranded, and was probably the most reliable car I have ever owned. I had spent a lot of money on it, lavished it with nice parts, a full doll up every year, things of that nature. I babied the car. My son loved going for rides in it. It had been on two different vacations with us and was considered a member of the family. I had sworn to never get rid of the car, but things change....I think you see where this is going.
Useless thread is useless w/o pics...
Now to bring you current. Things have changed at my house. We had found ourselves in a bit of a pickle. Money was getting tighter, we need to get some things done to our house, and we have a second child on the way. We need more room, have to spend more money, I think you see why it made sense to sell my toy. It was becoming a bit impractical, was going to need a few more expensive maintenance items, and I felt a little bad for using it as no more than a daily driver. I decided that my time as it's caretaker had come and gone. It needed to go to someone that appreciated it as much as I did. I found the right buyer and made quite a bit of cash on the sale of the car.
I had been searching for months for an '03-'04 Mercury Marauder before I sold my car, but everything I found that was for sale had the piss pounded out of it, or these guys wanted pie in the sky money for a nice example. On to the next idea, which was to maybe try and find a fun '80s turbocharged something or other. I contacted my buddy that has owned numerous Starquests over the years and lo and behold, his Palermo '87 Starion ESi was for sale. Talked with the wife about it, and we came to the conclusion that owning and insuring two cars (because I would need a beater for winter) just wasn't in the cards. At that point I was stuck. I had one week left before the guy that bought my car was going to be up from PA to pick it up. Then I thought "Swedish".
My dad had owned a couple of Volvos when I was growing up, and he always had good luck with them. So, the search was on. I decided to focus on any 850 T5-R that I could find. No luck with anything local to me. I got online again and started to do some research, then jumped on Craigslist. Up popped a '98 S70 T5. The only one anywhere close to me. It was listed at a small, low volume, independent Volvo dealer who only showed cars by appointment. I got on the horn and went out to take a look. I drove it, checked a few things over with the help form a couple of guys on Volvoforums and decided it was a good enough buy.
That brings me to now. I miss my STi dearly, and probably always will, but it was time. I probably get way more attached to cars than I should. I am an enthusiast after all. I can appreciate just about anything. I am learning to appreciate the S70. It's a super comfy car, and it's decently quick. It also makes a neat noise. The exhaust note kind of reminds me of the "blub blub blub" that the STi made, just not as pronounced and smoother sounding.
The S70...
Those are the only pictures worth using I have of it right now. I'll be taking more as time goes on, I'm sure, and they'll be better. I am surprised at how good of condition this car is in. Someone must have done their very best at keeping up with it. It's been undercoated at some point. There aren't very may dings or dents and what's there isn't anything to be concerned about with a 17 year old car. It could use some paint correction though, there's a couple of clear coat issues. I need to replace a LF door speaker and both front door clearance lights and the interior could use a good scrub. It's just dingy though and I do detailing on the side. I've replaced the rear pads, rotors, shoes, and hardware. I replaced both CV shafts as well as the axle seals. Also repalced an A/C accumulator, and a heater core, thrown a set of tires on it, and am in the process of ordering up a timing belt kit. I have diagnosed a power steering leak as needing a rack & pinion, sadly, but the part isn't all that expensive. I got in touch with the gentleman I bought the car from to see if he would be willing to help me with either the cost of the part, or paying the labor to install it and he agreed that my request was reasonable. He has issued me a check and I'm just waiting for that to hit my mailbox. I am super happy with the car though and am looking forward to throwing some nice, well thought out mods at it when I have the money and time to do so.
Thanks for letting me get this out in type. I welcome any questions or comments, as I enjoy talking cars.
My ultimate goal with this thread is to help keep me motivated with any repairs/regular maintenance/any upgrades over stock that I feel are warranted and or necessary, and who doesn't like upgrades? Sorry if that sounds a bit rhetorical.
Anyway, a little background first, shall we? For the last five years I have owned a 2004 Subaru WRX/STi. It has been one of my absolute favorite cars out of all the vehicles I have owned over the years. It was a blast to drive, never left me stranded, and was probably the most reliable car I have ever owned. I had spent a lot of money on it, lavished it with nice parts, a full doll up every year, things of that nature. I babied the car. My son loved going for rides in it. It had been on two different vacations with us and was considered a member of the family. I had sworn to never get rid of the car, but things change....I think you see where this is going.
Useless thread is useless w/o pics...
Now to bring you current. Things have changed at my house. We had found ourselves in a bit of a pickle. Money was getting tighter, we need to get some things done to our house, and we have a second child on the way. We need more room, have to spend more money, I think you see why it made sense to sell my toy. It was becoming a bit impractical, was going to need a few more expensive maintenance items, and I felt a little bad for using it as no more than a daily driver. I decided that my time as it's caretaker had come and gone. It needed to go to someone that appreciated it as much as I did. I found the right buyer and made quite a bit of cash on the sale of the car.
I had been searching for months for an '03-'04 Mercury Marauder before I sold my car, but everything I found that was for sale had the piss pounded out of it, or these guys wanted pie in the sky money for a nice example. On to the next idea, which was to maybe try and find a fun '80s turbocharged something or other. I contacted my buddy that has owned numerous Starquests over the years and lo and behold, his Palermo '87 Starion ESi was for sale. Talked with the wife about it, and we came to the conclusion that owning and insuring two cars (because I would need a beater for winter) just wasn't in the cards. At that point I was stuck. I had one week left before the guy that bought my car was going to be up from PA to pick it up. Then I thought "Swedish".
My dad had owned a couple of Volvos when I was growing up, and he always had good luck with them. So, the search was on. I decided to focus on any 850 T5-R that I could find. No luck with anything local to me. I got online again and started to do some research, then jumped on Craigslist. Up popped a '98 S70 T5. The only one anywhere close to me. It was listed at a small, low volume, independent Volvo dealer who only showed cars by appointment. I got on the horn and went out to take a look. I drove it, checked a few things over with the help form a couple of guys on Volvoforums and decided it was a good enough buy.
That brings me to now. I miss my STi dearly, and probably always will, but it was time. I probably get way more attached to cars than I should. I am an enthusiast after all. I can appreciate just about anything. I am learning to appreciate the S70. It's a super comfy car, and it's decently quick. It also makes a neat noise. The exhaust note kind of reminds me of the "blub blub blub" that the STi made, just not as pronounced and smoother sounding.
The S70...
Those are the only pictures worth using I have of it right now. I'll be taking more as time goes on, I'm sure, and they'll be better. I am surprised at how good of condition this car is in. Someone must have done their very best at keeping up with it. It's been undercoated at some point. There aren't very may dings or dents and what's there isn't anything to be concerned about with a 17 year old car. It could use some paint correction though, there's a couple of clear coat issues. I need to replace a LF door speaker and both front door clearance lights and the interior could use a good scrub. It's just dingy though and I do detailing on the side. I've replaced the rear pads, rotors, shoes, and hardware. I replaced both CV shafts as well as the axle seals. Also repalced an A/C accumulator, and a heater core, thrown a set of tires on it, and am in the process of ordering up a timing belt kit. I have diagnosed a power steering leak as needing a rack & pinion, sadly, but the part isn't all that expensive. I got in touch with the gentleman I bought the car from to see if he would be willing to help me with either the cost of the part, or paying the labor to install it and he agreed that my request was reasonable. He has issued me a check and I'm just waiting for that to hit my mailbox. I am super happy with the car though and am looking forward to throwing some nice, well thought out mods at it when I have the money and time to do so.
Thanks for letting me get this out in type. I welcome any questions or comments, as I enjoy talking cars.
