how much is enough

S

sealymonster

Sunday Drivers
ok so i bought my 00 impreza in august of 09 minutes before the arse fell out of the market, as such i dont really mind cos i have no real intentions of selling it any time in the next few years and probably even less then as it will be worth near nothing to what i put into it, kinda like sayin ya have no real intentions of dumpin the missus, even though she costs ya an arm and a leg ya get so much more back, that smile every time ya see it/her :shocked:
so where am i going with this. since i made the leap into the deep end of motoring at the ripe age of 20 ive pumped everything i own into this car, every waking hour and every cent i lay my hands on. i left college and started trainee management (not to say i wouldnt have gone this route anyway as i love my job and this career) just to pay my way in the world of motoring. i am only going on my first holiday in three years as i was told to by practically everyone i know, i literally stay off the drink and hibernate if i need to save for a part. recently ive stepped back a bit because my dad had problems with his heart (thank god all sorted now) and i made it my point to spend more time with him, could be gone tomorrow! thats why nothing has really been done to the car in so long as ive saved for this trip to Vegas with him. really looking forward to it though and gonna see what cars we can drive over there together!! Moving on from this, thanks to a little investment in a car i made and sold i was able to pay off my holiday and credit card so i decided to treat myself, a nice new manafold!!!
found one pretty quick from ger sti, really nice chap and thanks a mill for meetin up on such short notice, we were both runnin on very tight schedules that day ha! after a week or two i got a few days off and started into fitting it on wednesday. i am writing this in work at 4.38am after putting over 14 hours of labour into changing that little piece of piping!!! :icon_hang:
From this you can imagine my disappointment and fury when i eventually got the car down off the ramp and started it to have it spitting and coughing all over the place!
i put it fully on my own shoulder that i didnt research it properly and look into the extent of engine disembowelment involved in putting on a manifold that it took me so long but my god i was so angry that this thing wasnt working when i got it on! i took it for a drive and brought it back to the garage (i work out of a neighbour and friend of the familys garage at no cost as long as i clean up and do it myself) it was blowing all over the place so i got it back up and re tightened everything and it got a little better but its still way down on boost.
when i was there i changed filters and oil so engine is running like a dream now so not all bad.

my question to you is how much is enough, when do you step back and say, this just isnt worth it, or ive done everything i want/can :new_gmorning:
why did i have to be bitten by the bug of Subaru? im off for two weeks and ALL i can think of is, do i go further, where can i get the money for a simtec ecu, do i sell my other cars to fuel this one? where can i get a turbo big enough, what internals will i need and when the hell can i start on the cosmetics???
how long have you guys been working on your cars? everyone says why not sell it and buy one with lots done to it already? where is the fun in that??? you know nothing about the car!

might be lack of sleep but i cant seem to escape this bug :icon_twisted: :zzzz:
have a read and tell me where your line is!
 
i was in the same boat as you last year, i am in subaru ownership for over 7 years and it was on my third subaru, it was a tyre r, im into the odd track day and was trying to get a happy medium between everyday road car that my misses used for work and on the other days a track car. i was chasing the impossible dream. anything that could go wrong, went wrong.
a freind of mine alan, kept telling me i was an idiot,"go and buy a cheap track car" he would say, did i listen, yes but far to late, two blown engines, thousands of pounds and alot of ear aches off the misses later, i made the big discussion.

i sold my beloved lancia delta integrale to fund a track car and sold my type r to buy a 2006 wrx for the daily grind, unfortunatly the modding bug never stops as 7 weeks into the owning of the wrx, i have made over 10 changes to it, all cosmetic as im affraid to touch the engine incase of divorce papers, i only got married 3 months ago so its abit early for that yet. the track car should be fun doh if i ever get it finished, time and money will tell.
 
"want " is what keeps you sain ,

"having" is good but can get boring

"waiting " to get what what you want , but not having it , is a pain in the ass !


utter jibberish depending what way you look at "it"
 
I never tackle jobs i'm not 100% sure on.Or if i do i make sure they are not safety critical jobs for the engine/electrics etc. :hand: I may not know everything about my car but i am more interested in the driving than maintainance. It works out cheaper than a blown engine to pay a competent person.Each to their own. Oh and too much is never enough! Enjoy Vegas. I hope you win big. :icon_pidu:
 
It varies from person to person I think. I set myself a list of things that I wanted to do to the car and I've got there now (except for an anti lift kit and alloy drop links - but not the end of the world). It took 3 years and I'm only done since end of August but for the last 2 months I haven't thought about adding a single thing. I know other people get to the end of their list and start again the next day so it's an individual thing!

When it gets hold of you............there's no getting away! :hammerhead:
 
Personally I'd never pump a load of money into a road car again, I buy one already set up but I wouldn't modify myself, probably just a sign that I'm an old fart now.
 
My God after reading the OPs post it immediately jumped out at me....YOUR ONLY 20!

Plenty of time to be wasting money on cars. Im 30 and still dont have my Impreza they way I want it. Thats just life.
In my early 20s I put 15 grand into a 1995 GT Starlet. I regret it now as I could have had a much better car with all that money or gone on some great holidays. But you see thats the problem, once the modding bug bites there is no getting away from it.

Take a step back and come back to the car again with fresh eyes.
 
i bought my legacy with the intent of doing some mods to it
traded in a 95 gt legacy auto that i only had 6 months that cost 5k
thing was i was only 25 had not realy classed the gt as a performance car
when i seen my gtb i have now i had to have it they were very rare at the time and it just stuck in my head
3.5k plus my 95 leggy and it was mine happy days
drove it home and loved it then after a few weeks it started to go wrong
suspension,rad,cam seals,speedo,loads of little wreck the head things and then the car went into safe mode
thought thats it its dead brought it to c&r they rang me a few hours later and said the timing belt was about a week
away from snapping i was so lucky and so glad it had safe mode had never heard of it b4 that
thing is the first year and a half was a nightmare and cost me everything i had but i still have it and still put money into it clutch and brakes in last few months
and still love it i only changed the alloys the rest is standard and im happy with that although now i want a jap style box for it.
all i can say is stick with it.

Billy
 
As Duffman sais... one for the road... and one for the track!

If you can afford it... buy a a road car...that's a standard road car. Completely unmodded... and reliable... and leave well alone

And then a weekend toy... the lairy, over the top and tempermental play thing! I've spent years modding every decent car I've owned and old age and some well developed common sense has taught me to leave my day-to-day run around well alone.

It also helps to relieve a huge amount of stress and worry when your daily runner isn't always off the road... having a weekend toy means you never have to rush to get it modded... which means not cutting corners or sacrificing safety/reliability due to budget or time.

Wagon for the weekdays... :icon_biggrin: and a project Type R for the weekend! :icon_headbang:
 
Subaru ownership is not about how much is enough but more like hmmm,whats next?

I've my Legacy over 2 years now and still haven't got it the way I want but its slowly getting there. Your only 20, you have plenty of time to get the car the way you want, take it one thing at a time :thumbsup: It can be stressful, god knows I've been there many a time, but when you build it and have it running perfect you'll be smiling like a cheshire cat and you'll realise then that it was all worth it
 
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