It looks like I am getting back into Subarus, but not quite how I expected.
A year or so ago a buddy of mine got his mitts on the infamous XT turbo "Monster Wedge." This was a dealer-prepped track and autocross demonstration car since new at an east coast Subaru dealer and it has some significant history. The pic above (the actual car) is old; it now sports a (pretty ugly but hyper rare) Kaminari body kit and is rolling on steelies, I think. It is currently up on jack stands with the transmission out and in need of some other assembly, but nothing totally impossible. My buddy just lost interest and will give it to me for $300.
It has a lot of rare and interesting performance parts for the EA82 turbo engine, but the EA82 is a pretty lame platform due to the total crap head design. Everything on the car probably makes it good for a whopping 160HP (guesstimate) and dismal gas mileage to boot. But, it's a rare car with rare parts and some interesting history.
I will likely sell the body kit because it's berking hideous but also bizarrely worth a lot of money, so it will put some cash in my pocket to keep the project going. But my question is, what do I do with the thing?
It won't be too hard to sort the handling, but doing anything power wise is going to be an interesting struggle. I'm wondering if I should try to double down and develop the EA82 more with Megasquirt (will still probably hit a ceiling pretty quickly, or just crack the heads), part out the rare bits and swap in an EJ-series engine, or just drive it like it is and appreciate it for its sheer ridiculousness.
Even then, I'm not even really sure what to do with it. Rallycross? Challenge it? I could use a new beater, I guess.
What would you guys do if this project fell into your lap?
Sell it to someone who cares about the rarity and the history? Otherwise, don't let the legacy hobble you.
Sell it and get what you really want
I will probably keep the car to run it in JThw8's beater rally, I have been looking for a suitable candidate anyways. Mostly just not sure how to develop the car; anybody who would remember it or care about the history would likely be a total cheapass (vintage Subaru people are the worst). I could probably get $1500 out of it all fixed up and running but considering the effort it will take to get going again I may hold onto it for a while.
Plus, the novelty factor of these old XTs is just through the roof, and I still have a bunch of spares in my workshop from my days of messing around with the EJ22 Brat, Trashwagon etc.
What would i personally do? Turn it into a stage rally hoonmobile.
Blow up the E82. EJ swap. Make eleventy billion horsepower and blow it up a few times.
Someone on NASIOC would probably want this car to preserve its history. I'd sell it to someone who would do that, especially if it's not what you really want. It would be a shame for it to get beat on in a rally if it's a historic car. There are plenty of cheap Imprezas out there for that.
I think it's cool!!!
SilverFleet wrote:
Someone on NASIOC would probably want this car to preserve its history.
You think so? I've never gotten anything but a lukewarm reception from those Ken Block wannabes. I took the EJ22 Brat to a bunch of local Subaru shows when I had it and the comments ranged from "nice Datsun" to "is that an El Camino?" We had an ugly but running XT6 in tow and nobody would take it away for $200. There is not a lot of respect for the older Subaru hardware, in my experience.
I'll buy it for $400 just to experience the sweet 80s interior!
Full STi drivetrain swap from a salvage '09+?
Post on untilmatesubaru.org and triple your money easy.
pics of body kit? keep it slow, weird, and cheap.
Fueled by Caffeine wrote:
Post on untilmatesubaru.org and triple your money easy.
I have been on that board since the early 2000's and if there's one thing I know about that crowd, it's that everybody is like "OMG that old Subaru is sooo rare if you ever sell it let me know I will totally take it" etc but when you get down to brass tacks nobody has any money and the interest just vaporizes.
This is the body kit:
I know it's super 80's goofy fugly and I will catch tons of hell for selling itbut I think the XT just looks so much better without it....and it will basically leave me with a free XT turbo.
That's a tough one, while every part of me says drive the E36 M3 out of it then do the EJ swap 4-23 more times then pass it on. But there is always this small part of me that says we all should try to persevere historic metal.........
Keep us up to date.
There will definitely be a build thread and no matter what I do the car will be built with Challenge rule compliance in mind...you know, just in case.
It might have some history but I don't know if that history will add a huge amount of value to it. Being an off brand I suspect not ... ever. So I'd sell the nasty kit and enjoy for whatever you want. You could offer it on a Subaru or racing board and if no one buys it off you for a modest profit then no guilt in modifying.
Ok I must be the odd duck here. I like the body kit!!! I would put It back together as a piece of history and drive it for a while and sell it on as a restored "classic". If it is as rare as you say it is.
I'd leave the kit. It's awesome!
The way I look at it, is this: Its an old car that was fixed up by the dealer. If they did it again today with the same chassis, they'd swap it, etc.
It's not as easy as you guys think to just plop in a STI motor in one of these. From other builds I've seen with similar vintage Subarus, to do it right, you are talking a full drivetrain swap and some custom parts mixed in, not to mention a custom wiring harness. Would it be cool? YES. Yes it would be. But you are talking a lot of time and money here. Remember, these older Subarus have part-time 4WD and not the later full time AWD the later cars have. It's hard enough to put a later EJ motor into a GC-chassis car! That said...If anyone could do it and do it right, it's a GRMer.
Also, you might be better off on UltimateSubaru. I forget sometimes that the NASIOC crowd is all stance people these days. 
It might be worth a shot anyway.
And that body kit is ridiculous. It makes the rest of it look even more like a space ship. 
Luckily enough one of the "mods" on this car (well, outside of it at the moment) is an XT6 AWD transmission...which is also good to have because it's even stronger than the STi 6-speed, if I ever do decide to go nuts. 
That body kit is only slightly unattractive. I was braced up for way worse.
+1 for selling it to someone who's interested in the history.
And another +1 for selling to someone who'd like to keep it as is/restore it to its former glory.
Why not offer it for sale to the preservationists, then if no one is seriously interested in coughing up the cash for it you can feel pretty guilt-free to do whatever pleases you?
Could also inquire with some of the more notable subaru tuner shops (Andrewtech, IAG, others) to see if they want it for its history. They may appreciate the old stuff better than the typical 20-something on the boards.
Or hell, even a local subaru dealer, just for the coolness/marketing value?
+1 on the "keep it original and don't kill it." There are plenty of non-interesting, cheap beater cars that are faster anyhow, for regular hooning or rallycross.
I will probably still take the body kit off since when it was in the magazines back in the day it didn't have one...the kit was added in the last ~5 years.
Tuning this thing is going to be a bitch and a half.
