Finally up on the ramp

I’ve been very much looking forward to the car finally being able to get up on a ramp.

All the pretty looking jobs of cleaning, getting the engine running and a simple drive is all very well and good, but the one thing that absolutely terrifies me, is the absolutely uncertainty of knowing what the underneath of the car is like.

So, in preparation for the service and MOT, my local garage offered to do a visual inspection of underneath just to see what we’re dealing with, and then to take it from there.

Sadly though, this wasn’t particularly the news I had wanted to hear.

What soon became very clear was that this wasn’t going to be as clean sailing as simply putting the car through an MOT and seeing what it came out with.

The Oil Leak

This was probably the best news out of everything. The oil leak that left a lovely clean streak all over my cousin’s back yard was just a case of the oil filter needing replacing.

Ultimately, it seems when I first started the car (without changing the oil filter first), the filter itself was essentially so worn out, it just failed when it suddenly felt a huge build up of old oil trying to go through it.

So this was the first thing to be replaced, and the oil leak was no more.

The Tyres

I was fully expecting to need to replace all four tyres, considering they’d been sat in one place for years, no doubt perishing under the sun and all types of weather.

However, I was told only one tyre would need replacing, which was the one I’d noticed had a slow puncture on it. I was absolutely shocked at this, and asked them if they were sure (for safety reasons).

They advised me the other three tyres seemed and looked fine, had plenty of tread and had no visible issues.

Happy days, that’s the first little win!

The Brakes

If you remember the sound the brakes were making when I first took it for a spin around my cousin’s back yard, it should come to no ones surprise that all four corners needed completely new brakes.

So after initially being advised to install performance parts, Brembo in particular, I had to keep my sensible hat on at this time and just think, ‘This is all to get an MOT’.

So, I chose to just go with cheap brakes, whatever was cheapest possible, but substantial enough to be able to be safe and legal.

All new discs and pads were put on all four corners. The first big job now officially done.

And finally…. The Rust

And now we come to the bad news.

Just by having the car up on the ramp, the news wasn’t good. In fact, it was terrible.

There turned out to be quite a fair amount of under carriage rust, in the usual Subaru places such as sills and wheel arches. But sadly, also some front subframe rusting.

In addition, the corrosion had been so bad that even the lambda sensor had burnt a hole in the exhaust, and had physically fallen out. This was now just dangling underneath the car (this was causing the engine management light to illuminate).

The discovery of the rust had now moved this into somewhat of an uncharted territory, as the local garage informed me they wouldn’t be able to deal with any of the welding, because being so new as an outfit, they didn’t have the facilities to do so.

This left me no other option but to need to take the car elsewhere to have the welding and rust fixed, for it to then be brought back to address the other items, and have the MOT.

So with this in mind, and because I don’t have an endless supply of cash, the bill for the oil filter, brakes and tyre was settled, and after a complimentary wash, the car was brought back home.

Now I just need to have a think and re-prioritise what’s likely going to be best for me and my pocket.

So what’s next on the list?

• Timing Belt
• Water Pump
• Rust / Welding
• Full Service
• MOT

This wasn’t where I’d hoped to be at this stage, but no one has told me this would be a simple ‘fix and go’!