And this is where we are up to - February 2006

And so this is the result of all the work and skullduggery that we have endured thus far. Our Vortex is beginning to look really sweet. With Sam's expertise and knowledge we believe that this will be one of the nicer of its type running around the place. It still needs the engine and gearbox to be fitted. They are in the throes of being rebuilt as I write. It has XT6 hubs which allow the fitment of all the late model Subaru wheels rather than the early stuff with the large PCD. The XT6 stuff means discs all round and there is a plan to fit up the 4WD stuff as well. We still need to get the dash trim right, the scoop from the bonnet is not with us yet (but it is coming soon!). We need a cool tint job on the windows and a bit of custom trimming inside. There are a few custom brackets to be built to fit a few bits so there are probably a few more months before we are able to convince the blue slip man to give us the ticket we need for rego and then we will be able to drive it. There are at least 3 people who almost can't wait!

Keep watching for more updates

And of course, once the car comes back from the painters you need to put it all back together again. We chose the popular Metallic Rally Blue colour from a current WRX for our project. Firstly there are not a lot of Vortexes around and there are probably none done in this colour. I was abit dubious at first but having seen the result I know the choice was a good one.

The start of something BIG!!

This is the car that we acquired to begin the transformation. It came with no interior fittings, a spare turbo bonnet, some spare late model bumper bars and a minimal amount of cancer in places that could readily be dealt with considering the budget we had allocated to the project. Most of the bits we needed currently resided in the white car which had got to the point where it needed a good deal of TLC to ensure its continued viability. The first job was to strip the panels off it and prep it to be painted.