Hey RS25, My name is Pat and this is Project RStoration!
A little about me:
I've worked in my fathers automotive repair shop ever since I was thirteen (24 now) and have always been a hands on do it yourself type of person. I was fortunate enough to be taught the trade and have unlimited usage of a full shop. I also worked on the MAP Rally team building and servicing Mark Piatkowski's (Rallycarperson) 2.5RS Open light rally car for years. (If you never saw that car I encourage you to check it out ::MAP Rally Team)
I grew up in New Jersey and I picked up this RS from a guy in Pennsylvania in 2011 where it had already seen a pretty hard life. I Finished up college in NJ and took a job offer in California working for a bicycle company. (How could I say no?) So I packed up my life into a 99 RS Coupe and drove it across the country in three and a half days to Southern California. After seeing how clean all the cars are in Socal I had the idea to bring my car back from its decaying state. So here I am with no tools a lot of drive and one rusty Impreza.
A little about the car:
99 Impreza 2-Door Black
Currently 175k miles (~140k when purchased)
Replaced shortblock from a low mileage 05 RS (Previous owner)
Transmission Rebuilt @ 170k after it magically locked itself in two gears and wouldn't move forward or backward even with the clutch disengaged (IF YOU HAVE EVER COME ACROSS THIS PLEASE PM ME)
05 STI front and rear seats + Carpet
02 WRX steering wheel
KYB AGX struts
07 Impreza rims
WRX RSB
Full JL component audio system w. 10" sub
Pretty stock otherwise
Car was in decent shape when I purchased it in 2011 but rust was showing through on both quarters which I knew would be a problem at some point in time. It had been owned by someone who really wasn't detail oriented so some things were a little hacked (the stereo mostly) but otherwise it was in great mechanical shape other than a bad clutch. I got it as a daily for my 87 Monte Carlo project car which I eventually sold (No funds through college and lost interest).
I'll be honest I DRIVE this car, it's seen snow, dirt, mud, gravel and loved every second of it. After all if I wanted something boring I would have got a Camry. So I saved the cars life by taking it to dry and sunny California where it proceeded to get hit twice by drivers not paying attention. So now the car is even more smacked up and I just couldn't take it any more. Which leads me here:
Car the day I got it
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Mud:
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Snow:
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Accident 1: Car was parked in the street, Jetta smashes parked Prius into my car, thanks to the bike rack my car survived because it pushed the Prius five feet forward
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Accident 2: No pic sorry, but guy not paying attention backs into my right front bumper and fender.
Random incident: Cracked windshield from washing my car. Car was sitting in the sun all day and the water was too cold and cracked the windshield.
Working on the Map Rally car:
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Starting my RStoration
It all started with just wanting to have the bumpers painted, but then it just got out of control. Rock chipped to hell and needed to come down to original plastic.
![]()
Bumper off reveals a bunch of rust on the front bumper beam:
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Used a wire wheel attachment on a drill to knock off the big stuff and try and clean it the best I can:
![]()
Sprayed undercoating on the top and bottom of the bumper beam:
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You may wonder where I am doing all this? My apartment carport!
![]()
Done for night 1:
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A little about me:
I've worked in my fathers automotive repair shop ever since I was thirteen (24 now) and have always been a hands on do it yourself type of person. I was fortunate enough to be taught the trade and have unlimited usage of a full shop. I also worked on the MAP Rally team building and servicing Mark Piatkowski's (Rallycarperson) 2.5RS Open light rally car for years. (If you never saw that car I encourage you to check it out ::MAP Rally Team)
I grew up in New Jersey and I picked up this RS from a guy in Pennsylvania in 2011 where it had already seen a pretty hard life. I Finished up college in NJ and took a job offer in California working for a bicycle company. (How could I say no?) So I packed up my life into a 99 RS Coupe and drove it across the country in three and a half days to Southern California. After seeing how clean all the cars are in Socal I had the idea to bring my car back from its decaying state. So here I am with no tools a lot of drive and one rusty Impreza.
A little about the car:
99 Impreza 2-Door Black
Currently 175k miles (~140k when purchased)
Replaced shortblock from a low mileage 05 RS (Previous owner)
Transmission Rebuilt @ 170k after it magically locked itself in two gears and wouldn't move forward or backward even with the clutch disengaged (IF YOU HAVE EVER COME ACROSS THIS PLEASE PM ME)
05 STI front and rear seats + Carpet
02 WRX steering wheel
KYB AGX struts
07 Impreza rims
WRX RSB
Full JL component audio system w. 10" sub
Pretty stock otherwise
Car was in decent shape when I purchased it in 2011 but rust was showing through on both quarters which I knew would be a problem at some point in time. It had been owned by someone who really wasn't detail oriented so some things were a little hacked (the stereo mostly) but otherwise it was in great mechanical shape other than a bad clutch. I got it as a daily for my 87 Monte Carlo project car which I eventually sold (No funds through college and lost interest).
I'll be honest I DRIVE this car, it's seen snow, dirt, mud, gravel and loved every second of it. After all if I wanted something boring I would have got a Camry. So I saved the cars life by taking it to dry and sunny California where it proceeded to get hit twice by drivers not paying attention. So now the car is even more smacked up and I just couldn't take it any more. Which leads me here:
Car the day I got it
Mud:
Snow:
Accident 1: Car was parked in the street, Jetta smashes parked Prius into my car, thanks to the bike rack my car survived because it pushed the Prius five feet forward
Accident 2: No pic sorry, but guy not paying attention backs into my right front bumper and fender.
Random incident: Cracked windshield from washing my car. Car was sitting in the sun all day and the water was too cold and cracked the windshield.
Working on the Map Rally car:
Starting my RStoration
It all started with just wanting to have the bumpers painted, but then it just got out of control. Rock chipped to hell and needed to come down to original plastic.
Bumper off reveals a bunch of rust on the front bumper beam:
Used a wire wheel attachment on a drill to knock off the big stuff and try and clean it the best I can:
Sprayed undercoating on the top and bottom of the bumper beam:
You may wonder where I am doing all this? My apartment carport!
Done for night 1:
