Black 98 GT wagon update, I got the car with the swap almost done, It always had a CEL and was a bit sluggish down low in the RPM. I consulted the wiring diagrams to find the pins to add the check connectors to check the CEL because they were never wired up ( the engine is phase 1, but the car is phase 2, so its an obd1 engine in an 0bd2 car.) I needed the check connectors to count the CEL blinks to find the code. I did that, CEL was still on solid with no blinks, started looking at what was never connected and found a ground wire for the ECU that was never wired up, wired that up to its correct home and BOOM no CEL! Super happy about that! It cleared up the strange idle the car had when warm and totally made the car wake up from 1000-5500 (I guess that is not low RPM). I also had an old rally car header laying around so I figured I would see how it fit, It did not fit great and it made the car sound like a Honda. So I went for old reliable, the V1-2 STI type RA header.
Yes I had to hammer my oil pan to make the rally car header fit. Too many white claws I suppose, I have a new one on deck, also might try this twin scroll setup I have later on which requires a newer style oil pan, but for now I am happy.
I just thought that the pan was off of a rally car too. Hahaha. Glad that you found that ground wire!
@tangledupinblu I do have Richard Burns' old WRC oil pan, I am debating on using it, however I have no idea on its value.
Sweet! How the hell does someone acquire something like that!? lol. “Hey Richard...are you done with that oil pan? I’ll take it if you are! Kthankzbai”
I'm guessing it came to MN with Whiskers. I helped him "clean his shop" once, which was mostly him emptying out a crate of parts he brought over from Prodrive (GC STi takeoff parts from cars that were turned into rally cars, and WRC parts), and Martin and I taking most of them home.
LOL, he's quite a character! Here's what he looked like in 2001 He worked for SWRT/Prodrive for many years, including being co-crew chief when Richard Burns won his championship. Doug Havir and Scott Putnum brought him to MN to chief CPD Racing shortly after, and he's been doing it ever since.
Yep! It was Whiskers! I am so blessed to be able to go crew at the rallys with him, its always a great time. Always learn alot. I had the chance to clean his barn this summer haha
Yep, time with Whiskers is always educational! I'm a little out of the loop these days, is he mostly working with Putnam these days?
Yes, Putnam and Mark Williams. He is busy with Mark lately so I am stuck with Putnam and his car usually so I help with both. Putnam's car is at my house, needs some work done before spring. I need to go up to "far away" to help fix Mark's car after his misfortune down in Missouri this fall. I have helped crew 6 or 7 rallys now. Its always a blast, lots of "hurry up and wait" but it is always a good time.
I have so many questions about those ecus. I was considering this over going the cobb route after project green speed nerfed a bunch of things
I will just keep this one going while the car that the thread is about is sitting in the back yard. I sold my ej207 swapped RS to buy this v1 1993 wrx, all torn apart before I got it, basically needing an engine. I do not have too many pics but its still cool. This would be right after I dropped a v3/4 engine in. good to go! Bunch of goodies but alot of problems still.
Everyone always says "you get used to it". No, not this guy. Haha. I've never tried but I'm self aware enough to know that it would not go well.
Oh boy, almost a year ago I promised an update. Busy life, moved, new cars. I threw my shoulder out so I am off of work today, I think I can make that update. Stand by.
I gotta figure out a new way to transfer photos from my phone to my computer than I used to use, nerfed the quality. Stand by.
Lets start with the orignal purpose of the thread, basically where I left off with the 92 was pulling the engine I had in it (22t/20h heads) to put in the 22t/v2 STI RA head, rotated setup. I built the new engine factory and dropped it in last summer to get it moving again because it had been so long, I daily drove it for half the summer and it was perfect. Where I am at now, I parked it over the winter, went to move it and it only runs on 2 cylinders, HOWEVER, it runs on 4 cylinders with an APEXi Power FC ecu connected, but it will not run with the stock EJ20g chipped ecu that it was on before. Im not sure, im kinda stumped. Later problem. Here are some images of that. I had to steal and borrow parts from the WRX to make this work as I only had one intercooler at the time. That all said, that car is next on the chopping block to get fixed, if anyone has an idea why a stock ecu runs on 2 cylinders, and a power FC runs on 4, I am open to things to try. Alot has happened, so next up I will cover the black 98 LGT.
Ok so onto the 98 LGT. I was driving to sell someone some parts, and the engine let go, it hiccupped twice and locked up. I had a spare ----- Tangent, The first engine I put into my 93 wrx was a v3-4 wrx engine, engine in the 98 was a v3-4 engine. so thats my spare, ( it will make sense here in a bit).--- So I put a new engine in, swapping over everything needed. This car ALSO only ran on 2 cylinders, nothing has changed, With this car I am almost positive it is an injector issue, as these P1 yellow injectors are hard to find and as it turns out, kinda fragile. Regardless, this car sits now with a running on 3 cylinders engine. (later problem, been busy) when I put the engine in, my parents driveway was so thick with ice, it did not want to move... or stop. This is where it blew up, It REALLY blew up. Thats an image i gotta find.... sorry for poor quality on these Still not sure what blew it up, It started hiccupping after it sat for 2 years while i was replacing the gas tank and brake lines due to rusting out, at that same time I converted it to a GD WRX pull style trans from the factory one. I think im at the point where im gonna make sure this engine runs good, then part it out. I have too many projects. Alright after that, I have alot to show. But first, a sidequest.
Side quest, "What does the girlfriend have to drive this winter" (last winter) Picked up this 04 WRX hatch needing and engine (obviously). I had an engine, so I dropped it in and we drove it for a long while, I did not trust the "oh my 16 year old son just did the headgaskets on it" engine we put in, but it worked for a little while, The stock td04 had a few snapped exhaust studs, so the exhaust leaked into the cabin really bad, so to fix that I put a vf48 and STI intercooler on, because thats the obvious fix for that issue, It had all its studs intact. Fast forward to if you put your foot down, it would crack a radiator, now i knew this was an issue and we limped it through the winter with me putting 4 used radiators I had laying around in it. Now, I am aware this car needed an engine, so I bought a parts car with a "one day it just didnt start" engine (TLDR, its got a cracked sleeve and he didnt tell me). So im trying to hop this thing up with this 2.5 block, vf39, ewg, sti injectors, got the heads checked, got everything looked over. installed engine twice, still immediately mixed the coolant and oil. that car is still sitting at my work, not running. I do have a good block with forged internals waiting, but thats not a priority at the moment. I put a steering rack in this, I bought the cheapest lowering springs i could find, sat pretty good, OG whiteline swaybars and links front and rear came on it. pretty cool car. Tossed on perrin catless exhaust. If it didnt smell so bad of mouse inside, it would be a keeper. later issue though. Girlfriend traded her crosstrek that was being loaned to her mom because I was working on finding her mon a new car, on a 16 STI, The guy paid for a clutch install at my work, then traded it in, so I scooped it up before it ever hit the lot, I am not made of money, so a 150k mile 10 year old car with issues is perfect for me. I am the warranty. So with the winter car issue solved. Lets move to the wrx, because I have not done much to it.
Alright so this has now been a while. I got this 93 WRX, blown up, needing an engine. I had a v3-4 WRX EJ20G laying around so I used that. ( this is now the engine that is in the black 98 LGT). Dropped it in and didn't do much other than remove the bodykit for a more factory look. That v3-4 engine never ran super well, car would overheat sometimes, but the needle wouldnt move, but it would blow radiator caps and coolant expansion tanks, (like the one on the intake manifold because its made of plastic). Turns out the hard coolant line on the radiator to the overflow was rusted shut. Because of that, i put 2 expansion tanks, 2 rad caps. and it blew the heatercore on the WRX, which I am still in need of. It doesn't leak, it just smells like coolant when you turn the heat on. I would like to buy a RHD heater core for a 93 WRX if anyone knows where to get one lol. So! I took that engine out and installed my 22t/20h setup that was pulled from my red 91 turbo legacy. There is a thread here on that car. Pictures incoming,
These are images after I took the bodykit off, and while the v3-4 engine was in. We did the local TSD rally (Which we did horrible, GF got the timing wrong, and she didnt like being on dirt roads, in the winter, with my summer tires). Regardless, good time and good pictures. Since that, I have lost a few pictures, but then moved to a rent-a-house with a garage. This is what it looks like now, with the 22t/20h setup straight out of my red 91 turbo Legacy, https://mnsubaru.com/threads/budget-1991-turbo-legacy-build.52833/
Now a keen eye might have noticed a blue 2nd gen legacy in the garage. ( another 3 year cliff hanger? ) hopefully not.
Before I get to that, I put an external wastegate on the 93 WRX, I bought someones custom made RHD EWG setup. Its goofy because it needs to clear the steering shaft. Quality, i do not really care about, whos looking under there? Currently I think I have a boost leak, 15 psi springs, it hits about a bar, with a boost controller. later problem, but it rips compared to before. It could be in the tune, but ill find out.
So 2 years ago I was living in an apartment off of West 7th. No garage obviously, which is why the lack of progress on most things, and the random pictures of me doing work in my friends driveway, and the picture/video of inside my apartments parking garage. Regardless, a little over a year ago, a 1996 Legacy GT-B Rev B Twin Turbo popped up super cheap on Facebook Marketplace in Iowa. It had issues as everything does, but it was a dang good deal. Scooped it up for my girlfriend (she paid for it). Got it home, fixed a few things, she daily drove it for a while, then we parked it in the winter to do a manual swap. Seems pretty simple right? Well, let me just say. I would never buy a car that was used on a rural mail route for any amount of time.
