The Rot Wagon: Lifted 99 Subaru Impreza

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Tinker

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Off-Road Ranger I

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West Michigan
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Uhhh.... well I guess it's finally lived up to it's "Rot Wagon" name hahaha! Been driving it hard & having fun with it since I have other vehicles/bikes for daily drivers now, but didn't expect it to be THAT bad under all the interior I just pulled out, yikes! This driver-rear strut has nearly cut loose from what's left of the tower/wheel-well, & even though the passenger-rear is much better it still needs attention before any more hard trail or sand dune trips.





Time for some major steel surgery or a re-shell. Already wondering how I can make it even weirder as I move forward on this issue... truck bed? baja style tire mounts? exo cage?
 
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CR-Venturer

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Holy smokes! That's some pretty brutal rust. I would think that's the death knell for a unibody, but hey, if you can weld back pieces to fix that, then I salute you!
 
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Tinker

Rank V
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Off-Road Ranger I

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West Michigan
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Mike
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Klemish
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5606

Exo cage gets my vote.
I've always wanted to build one!

Holy smokes! That's some pretty brutal rust. I would think that's the death knell for a unibody, but hey, if you can weld back pieces to fix that, then I salute you!
Worst I've seen in a while for sure. It may be it's last days, so I'm not getting my hopes up, but after I finish stripping the rear interior & poking around I'll have a better idea if there's any point welding anything to it.

what about a baja body?
That would be cool, & they're one of the more rare Subaru's to see lifted. But sadly the Baja's & 98+ Legacy's have a goofy suspension that's a spin-off from all the other Subaru's that are basically the same from 92-07.
 

Seanm26

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Cut it out and cage it. You should set up a go-fund-me so you can buy another daily-driver.

Your builds are so entertaining!
 
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Tinker

Rank V
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Off-Road Ranger I

2,357
West Michigan
First Name
Mike
Last Name
Klemish
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5606

Cut it out and cage it. You should set up a go-fund-me so you can buy another daily-driver.

Your builds are so entertaining!
That's my hope! I can't bring myself to drive anything boring anymore, even if it's less convenient. I think my 2013 BMW motorcycle will be the newest thing I'll ever own, if anything going forward I plan to get my hands on older & older things... I would love a pre-70's daily, soon!

Thanks :)
 
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Tinker

Rank V
Launch Member

Off-Road Ranger I

2,357
West Michigan
First Name
Mike
Last Name
Klemish
Member #

5606

The Rot Wagon project is not dead! I've been on the hunt for a new body-shell + working on a cranked up STI powertrain build here 'n there between all my other projects: