New Beast Arrives. Legacy S401.

This car has been very well looked after. Engine is strong and healthy, with no modifications and hasn’t been messed with.

So imagine my surprise when the car arrives, and is misfiring at idle and under load. Hmmm…..

Here it is on the comically large truck.

Needless to say, im a bit peeved that once again someone on Trademe misrepresented a car (lol, like that’s never happened before).

Anyway, moving along, the seller was also the special kind of person that sells a car with LESS THAN Empty on the gas tank. Yes, there is a special place in hell for people who do that.

I parked the car at work, and left it. Went home after work, had some dinner and then decided since it was now after rush hour, that I would try to limp the car home.

First stop was the gas station, for some sweet sweet 98 octane Dinosaurs. From a can, because I don’t think it would have made it to the gas station.

And from there I limped it home, with my lovely better half in the other car (trying) to tail me to make sure I got home OK. Somehow, I managed to pull a fairly significant lead on her, not sure how….. 🙃

Another quick stop at BP to fill the tank with more 98, hopefully that makes some difference. Dont think you can get 98 down in the middle of nowhere Otago.

So it misfires pretty badly at idle, the whole car shakes and it’s quite lumpy. Accelerating isn’t great either, it bogs down and shakes like mad. Cruise is OK though, so hooning down the motorway was bliss. The suspension setup is crazy good, corners flat but absorbs all the road bumps.

Gearbox is a little notchy, so it’ll get a fluid change at some point, but does everything it should without issue. The 6 speed Subaru boxes are always a pleasure to use.

So i got home OK, it was actually a really great drive considering. I only boosted a little, trying to keep load off the engine, and the primary turbo seems to be makes good pressure. Cheap shitty supercheap boost gauge whistles a little, so will bin that. Haven’t hit secondary turbo yet, need to fix the misfire first.

Had a quick look over it at home, but it was dark by the time we got back. I’m pleased over all. its got most of its good bits, like the original STI floor mats, all the badges, the leather interior is in good shape, and the body is straight. The paint, under all the dirt, looks in good shape and still has plenty of shine. It’s even beading, so someone at some point has looked after it.

Its number 143/400(or more like 290) btw.

There are some things missing, like the ash tray, and sadly the original Snap-On tool kit 😢

The center cup holder is broken, of course. Apparently you can fix them, so i’ll give it a shot.

Someone has also scraped all the horrible “soft touch” crap off the center console, which is great. No doubt it wouldn’t have lasted the distance anyway, now its just gloss black.

STI cluster is lush.

So yeah, here we are. I have purchased some oil, and oil filter, some new spark plugs and a can of upper engine cleaner. Hopefully i can get it running right by the weekend.

To be continued.