I make no secrets about my love for Subaru's boxy boxer - the Forester, I simply have a strong connection to the first car I researched, saved for and then bought when I was a teen.
I even snuck a photo of my first Subaru, a 1997 Forester T/TB called the DeForester into the print edition of Driven Magazine recently thinking I'd never own another 'Foz' again.
That changed over the weekend when I saw this car, a 1997 Forester T/TB in completely unmolested form. After paying a reasonable amount of the weakening Kiwi dollar for it it is now mine, and I have a plan on what I'm going to do this time around.
My first Foz, The DeForester, was filled with go faster bits to improve performance on the road in every way imaginable. With the help of many friends over a period of time it went from an asthmatic automatic with sloppy handling, to a STi infected sleeper with 184kW at the wheels.
This time however going faster isn't going to be enough. This time I want to go anywhere - FAST.
At the time of purchase the new Foz, which I've come to calling the Mark II Deforester, wasn't really in the best of nick.
The EJ20 under the hood has a bad case of piston slap - while not fatal in of itself it is a worry. The state of the cooling system was a serious cause for concern, with rusty water sitting within instead of good old 'Predator Blood' green coolant.
So first thing on the agenda was to perform a good service and work out what I was dealing with.
Out came the old oil, oil filter, air filter, fuel filter and anything else I could readily get my hands on. In went new parts and Castrol Magnatec 10w 40 oil.
Next I swung by the local tyre shot Drury Tires (that's tires with an I as they on the radio ads) and picked up a set of MAXXIS Bravo all terrains.
After its maiden voyage to the Coromandel the cooling system decided it had had enough, with pipes bursting at a scary frequency. So now I've just finished replacing the coolant hoses and all seems well.
The car has survived its first road trip, this time up north for a surf casting mission with some friends and even drove on the beach without getting stuck (see top pic).
Next plans include sorting out the steering rack with new bushes and a fluid flush, and kitting it out with a roof basket and some lighting for camping missions, as well as make a heavy duty bash plate to protect the the sump.
I'll also hopefully get some heavy duty lift springs for the front to match the springs in the rear to level her out and gain a bit more clearance up front.
I even snuck a photo of my first Subaru, a 1997 Forester T/TB called the DeForester into the print edition of Driven Magazine recently thinking I'd never own another 'Foz' again.
That changed over the weekend when I saw this car, a 1997 Forester T/TB in completely unmolested form. After paying a reasonable amount of the weakening Kiwi dollar for it it is now mine, and I have a plan on what I'm going to do this time around.
My first Foz, The DeForester, was filled with go faster bits to improve performance on the road in every way imaginable. With the help of many friends over a period of time it went from an asthmatic automatic with sloppy handling, to a STi infected sleeper with 184kW at the wheels.
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| My original Forester was chassis 7411 and made 184kW at the wheels. |
At the time of purchase the new Foz, which I've come to calling the Mark II Deforester, wasn't really in the best of nick.
The EJ20 under the hood has a bad case of piston slap - while not fatal in of itself it is a worry. The state of the cooling system was a serious cause for concern, with rusty water sitting within instead of good old 'Predator Blood' green coolant.
So first thing on the agenda was to perform a good service and work out what I was dealing with.
Out came the old oil, oil filter, air filter, fuel filter and anything else I could readily get my hands on. In went new parts and Castrol Magnatec 10w 40 oil.
Next I swung by the local tyre shot Drury Tires (that's tires with an I as they on the radio ads) and picked up a set of MAXXIS Bravo all terrains.
After its maiden voyage to the Coromandel the cooling system decided it had had enough, with pipes bursting at a scary frequency. So now I've just finished replacing the coolant hoses and all seems well.
The car has survived its first road trip, this time up north for a surf casting mission with some friends and even drove on the beach without getting stuck (see top pic).
Next plans include sorting out the steering rack with new bushes and a fluid flush, and kitting it out with a roof basket and some lighting for camping missions, as well as make a heavy duty bash plate to protect the the sump.
I'll also hopefully get some heavy duty lift springs for the front to match the springs in the rear to level her out and gain a bit more clearance up front.
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