Pre-filter update: Yesterday I washed the car again so I could wax it. I went into the carwash excited to see if the Injen intake pre-filter would work and it worked like a charm! The SPT filter wasn't wet at all. So that's the update... it works. Drivetrain update: Today I got the 4.44 kaaz 1.5 way rear R160. Now I just need to crack the transmission open I bought on Ebay and see what's up with it while throwing a helical LSD in the front. Interior update: I also installed my 2009 WRX steering wheel and wired it into the stereo/car. I can do a writeup for a 2002 WRX, but most of it's relevant from this post. The main thing that's different is the "roll connector" is much different on the 2002 (I would assume up to the 06) so there was a bit different route I needed to take. This is actually a very temporary solution, my 2011 STi steering wheel comes this week, but I wanted to get the template down and everything wired up so it would be an easy swap. Also here's a shot of my car during the day and another after I waxed it.
Do you have the pre filter on all the time, or just when you predict it getting wet? Interested in one of those too, because my maf is hard to come by, and expensive.
Eric, I literally just laughed out loud in a meeting I was in. Thanks man, I think I'm just going to crack it open and dive in, in the next week. Kyle, I just keep it on. The next time I get a dyno tune, I'm going to throw it on and see if it reduces the power, my hunch is that it isn't restrictive enough to cause any power loss, especially taking the additional venting into consideration.
Thanks for the kind words! GiMp I'll be selling the steering wheel in approximately 2 days so let me know if you're interested I got some of the little bugs out of the car that were driving me crazy. My front strut was knocking and I thought it was blown, but the 19mm nut was coming off... I had this happen on my rear struts on my last GC8... very annoying! I also got some of the other rattles/knocks worked out so the car feels and drives much better. I also got my new shifter boot and e-brake boots installed, I have some new suede trim for the doors and I'm sort of thinking about reupholstering the leather on the doors. Ugh there has to be a stopping point eventually. Maybe. More updates soon!
And it looks like there's dirt between the letters on the seatbelt release button, I can't believe you missed that mr. OCD - time to get the toothbrush out
Damn you... you know I'm going to clean the **** out of that tonight now right? Also about the fuel, I've just been easy on it after right hand turns and trying to keep > 50% fuel in the tank.
New steering wheel showed up today! It's from a 2011 STi. I'll probably have it installed before tomorrow
Hahaha, this is very true. Car came with the Nardi, put in the 04 STi, swapped out for the 09 WRX and now I present you with the 2011! Also this is the last interior shot for a while I would imagine, until I get the Prova D steering wheel.
Haven't really done much with the car other than drive it and enjoy it. Saturday I finally decided to do a small mod that would help bring the quality of the car into the 21st century. I went with the MY08+ washer nozzle and decided to figure out how to make them fit. The difference is staggering and it was clear it would have to be modified to fit into the hole in the hood. I dremeled it down with the reality that I would need to figure out how to make it stay in the hood. To be honest my stock one didn't stay in very well either, but it was original and the clips were probably old. I simply cut a clip and reversed it, once the tube is on it keeps pressure on it so it can't move and keeps the nozzle in place. I think I found the first thing I'm making with my 3D printer once I get it though. Here's the size difference between the stock and the new one while on the hood. The difference is somewhat subtle, but in my never ending quest to see what can be mishmash'd into this old Subaru I figured I would try it. With the OEM wiper blades and this, it kind of has that new car feel when you use the wipers, which is nice in MN Winter.
I realized I haven't updated in a while. The last mod I did was a small one but made the interior seem a bit better. All my panels were rattling so I bought 10 feet of velcro and used about 2 feet of the soft side (TWSS) to put around all of the clip holes for the interior panels. Basically the car doesn't rattle AT ALL anymore. This made me very happy. I ended up installing a 2014 (I think?) Forester rear view mirror with homelink. I plan on figuring out stuff to do with the homelink buttons later but for now the auto dimmer is pretty awesome. At the same time I installed a dash cam that's hidden behind the mirror out of the driver's site. I'll take some pics of the installation later today and update, but for now here's the difference in size between the GC8 mirror and the newer one, it's pretty awesome!
Depressing I know I have honestly just been enjoying the car. I will be ripping apart the 5 speed I bought this weekend in prep to do a refresh and add a front LSD. Once that's done I'll get it installed with the new rear diff and a bunch of other stuff, but I need to get my stupid Evo X out of storage incase I muck things up. I think in another month or so I'll be making some good progress on it again and hopefully "completing" the project. Cars man...
Those prefilters work great, someone here linked to a snowmobile equipment site that had cheaper versions for all kinds of filters. Stupid Evos.
Oh nice, good to know! I've been pretty happy with mine. Here's an internal shot of the new rearview mirror. No other updates, trying to figure out if I should roll my fenders currently pretty boring in the Subaru build world.
Well got a little done on the car this weekend, nothing ground breaking but... I started pulling the transmission apart and ran into a block because I didn't have the right socket and I need to decide WTF I'm going to do. Before I got the case apart a gear tooth fell out, not something you want to see when you're hoping for just a bearing failure D: So I'm going to think about what I'm going to do and get the socket and move forward... With some good news, I decided to do the plugs with a step colder plug for the EJ207 and do a compression test. I went for cyl #4 first for obvious reasons and the plug was barely tight, when I pulled it out you could see that exhaust gases were escaping past the plug! The compression on every cylinder was pretty much 145 PSI exactly! When I got everything put back together the intermediate bad start, usually due to bad compression or apparently spark plugs not being screwed in all the way, went away and the car builds boost much quicker and seems to pull a little harder. Which would make sense since Cyl #4 wasn't compressing properly LOL. So with any car build, this weekend was a roller coaster. I'll figure it out and move on. Just may have to spend a lot on a new gear set or something for this transmission. I did the math and for what I want to do to this car this Summer it's going to be another $8000... I hate cars.
Tell me about it. Rust fix: probably 4 grand Engine build: 5 grand Suspension: 3 grand ****s given: zero.
The worst is when you think about all the money you're sinking into a 20 year old car with 140,000 miles and then you see a post in the UK for the same exact car in better shape with all the fun "bits" with half the miles for $4000 USD.
For sure, to each their own. I'm not sure why I've gravitated to the GC8's in my adulthood. I owned my Evo IX for 7 years and that car was pretty incredible, the fact that I'm going through so much to make my Subaru as good as my IX was is pretty much undeniable evidence that it is indeed inferior, but with some work it is obtainable. With that said though I would enjoy setting my X on fire and watching it burn. I cannot wait to sell that and get the Focus RS.
Looking sweet so far! I take it for the Prova wheel you want the alcantara? Otherwise the GT Spec ones are around 2 bills cheaper. Can just see the alcantara getting dirty as hell from oil.
Mmmmn no rattles...that is an amazing feat on a Subaru! Even my 08 had the rattles...then I took out the rear seats and I just don't care anymore. It's just plain loud. Anyway, the car is looking good, and I'm sure you will really appreciate the limited slip front diff. And just out of curiosity...what do you hate your Evo X so much?
I saw my old car down the street from my house yesterday! You must have been visiting Miata dude. It looked incredible. I stopped and drooled for a while (even knocked on the door to the house but you guys must have been out and about). Thanks for giving this car the life it deserves
Yup you're right about the wheel I want, and that's a really damn good point... hmm I might have to think this through a little more. I won't be on that (or was, I realize this is an old message ) BUT I will be at the meet for once tomorrow if you're there! Yeah I still have a few more to fix, but overall it's pretty quit... for an 18 year old car with no insulation I'm excited to get that drivetrain installed, but I've hit a few snags. As far as the Evo X hate, here's the long story short. It makes me a worse driver through all the fancy bits of the AWD system figuring out what to do. It feels slow because it weighs so much. To be honest though I drove it a little bit the other day for the first time this year and I was like "damn son... this is actually a nice DD" then literally within 8 minutes I got pulled over for no front plate. Hey man! Sorry I missed you, I actually left it out so you could see it and figured you might stop by. We were out in the back tearing apart my friends Mazda 6 head that died. Next time I'm around feel free to come around and say "hi" I'll give you a ride in it! Also thanks for the kind words, it was a lot of blood, sweat and tears but it turned out in the end. I'm still sourcing a few more parts. Hell I'm throwing around the idea of doing a full 22b body kit but who knows.
Not too much to talk about as of yet. I'm still hoarding parts and figuring out my drive-line issue. In the meantime I randomly met another Subaru enthusiast through acquiring a vehicle from them. We ended up trading my caged chassis for the car he was selling, I lost interest after spending way too much money on this build. I wont' go into details too much, but it is apparent I need Subaru rehab I was hoping to buy it as a daily. The car has 63,000 miles and an old lady owned it then it sat for 7 years. The car is MINT, it has some dings on it and it needs a new bumper but there's zero rust and the rare leather interior looks brand new. Long story short I changed out the fuel pump, started it up and it has a spun bearing. So the car has now gone on the back-burner until I finish this build. But if anyone has a EJ205 WRX motor and the chassis wiring harness laying around let me know! I plan on doing an iwire conversion and throwing that engine in to make it a bit more fun while keeping it drivable. Plan B is to throw a JDM EJ201 in which is a direct replacement for the EJ251 but with about 40 less HP Here's a picture. Meet Old Betsy.
You bought MY car to be a daily. Now you're buying a daily to take the strain off your daily. yodawg.meme
We're going on two months since my last update almost. Sad fact is I haven't done too much except fix a few bugs that came up while perfecting small things. I also have been traveling a lot, I went to Japan for two weeks and I'll post pics on a separate thread. Before everyone gets excited for GC8 pics, they're rare over there. Here's one pic from Japan... I touched a 22b, NBD Drive Performance: I can say it now, but the next issue of Drive Performance will have my build in it and a dorky picture of me that I took while being in a hurry between traveling. But I'm still excited for it. Project Update: Other than that I've just been doing some research and perfecting the build by choosing the right parts and hoarding them. I'm due for another body shop trip and a tune soon. Here's some part pics and a list of stuff. Recently Purchased: BBS 17x7 WRX Optional Rims, will be coating these in Gun Metal, need powder coating if anyone has any recommendations. Prodrive replica side vent for the hood. I got a V6 OEM wing at the legendary Up Garage when I was in Japan. Another 4.44 transmission, will be swapping my DCCD center diff to this. Chasebay's power steering kit. http://www.chasebays.com/chase-bays...x-sti/?page_context=category&faceted_search=0 Installing in the next month: Transmission and LSD rear diff. BBS Wheels, Summer tires (still on my marshmellows) Holley Hydramat (anyone with fuel starvation on their GC8 on righthand turns... BUY THIS) https://www.holley.com/products/fuel_systems/hydramat/parts/16-105 Aluminum GC8 Lower control arms/lateral links GD Rear subframe with lockdown bolts Power Steering kit. Tomei EL Headers 1000cc Injectors Innovative Wideband
Talk to my buddy Alex for wheels. He has a powder guy, and can have them stripped and recoated. He did my Works and they came out perfect. Let me know if you want his contact information.
This this this!! Love them! Another great place for powdercoating is New Image Coatings in Circle Pines. Talk to Mark Urban. Should be around $60-70/wheel. I wish that we could kidnap you and the car for the LaXCruise! Which issue of Drive, July?
Thanks guys! I put a lot of thought into the wheels I was going to use and this is what I landed on. Thanks for the recommendations on places, time is obviously important so I'll reach out and get it taken care of. Derp if you want to message me your info too that would be awesome! As far as the Cruise, hopefully I'll start attending events soon, just need this last round of upgrades and I'll be 100% happy with the car. It'll be in the Summer issue, I'll keep everyone apprised!
That's pretty neat that you'll be in Drive Performance. I think I'm only getting the other drive "lifestyle" (or whatever it's call) issues right now, but I'm pretty sure there is a free iPad app for any of the Drive magazines.
I still feel a little guilty about the trans, but I hope it wasn't too pricy to get the new donor Got your brakes sorted after that little excitement? Nice choice on the wheels
No problem on the transmission man, it was a gamble and to be honest (in theory) I got a good 5 speed DCCD diff out of it that should bolt right up to this 4.44 with really low miles. As far as the brakes, I haven't touched them at all. Still waiting to tear the entire system down when I do the suspension. My contact at MAP said he can get me a good deal on a stoptech big brake kit. But I feel pretty strongly that, that will be too much for this light of a car. I would really just like to find a 4 pot/2 pot setup but it's hard to find at a reasonable price. Regardless in the next month or so it's getting a new brake setup.
Thanks Tangledupinblu, I saw those and knew Kyle was selling them. I ended up going another route anyway. I just bought these supporting items: Competition clutch 2600 (Stage 3) Competition lightweight flywheel Stoptech big brake kit with two piece rotors Bilstein PSS9 coilovers Grimmspeed master cylinder brace I am getting my Evo X this weekend out of storage and then the car will go under the knife to transform into a proper car. I also am getting my Tomei headers ceramic coated now and the bung added for my EGT on cyl #4 (even though the cylinder matters less with EL headers). As well as my BBS powder coated gun metal which will be wrapped with 225/45R 17 Dunlop Direzza ZII Star Specs. I wanted to run 235s but don't feel like rolling my fenders right now. One thing at a time, well I guess in this case 15 things at a time.
