FS: Swapped Subaru GC8 (1997 Impreza with 2.5RS kit and EJ20G) - $4500 (Minneapolis)

This is also on craigslist under the same title (pictures can be found there)

Sorry for the interior mess - I'm still moving things into my new place!

Please read the whole ad. I will be as honest and up front as possible about this car because I've been burned before and it sucks. If you contact me I will answer your questions truthfully and walk you through anything you want to know about. Main reason for sale: I don't want a project of this magnitude right now (bought a house).

This is my swapped Impreza (clean title, registered until November). The car has a Japanese EJ20G. The car was tuned by Ron at RS Motors. It made 240AWHP/220AWTQ on a Mustang dyno. This was on 93 octane gas at 12 PSI of boost. To make more power, replace the boost controller (Ron couldn't connect to the electronic one) and have it retuned. It currently drives smoothly and is pretty quick.

Engine/Under hood:
1995 closed deck 2 liter JDM block (Around ~100K miles)
1994 JDM WRX heads (more recent than block, newer head gaskets), intake manifold, and wiring
Deadbolt TD05H-16g Monster port, compressor inlet and outlet port, grey ceramic compressor coating
Apexi Power FC with commander
Five-Oh Motorsports 750cc injectors
WRX coil pack conversion
Perrin EBCS
Crucial thermostat
Apexi power intake
Spearco FMIC painted black with black custom piping
Greddy Type S BOV
Port matched and polished exhaust manifold
Perrin uppipe
RS*R GT2 turbo back exhaust
Mr Josh lightweight crank pulley
Odyssey Battery with trickle charger
Supra TT fuel pump
02 WRX coolant tank retrofit
Fumoto Oil valve
Zerosports radiator shroud
STI raditor cap
STI engine mounts
Endura-tech CF hood dampers

Suspension:
KYB AGX shocks (3000 miles)
STI Version 6 tarmac/gymkhana springs (286/274)
21mm STI rear swaybar
Helix rear endlinks
Whiteline steering rack bushings
Whiteline anti lift kit

Brakes:
2003 WRX front brakes
1999 RS rear brakes
Goodridge SS lines
Hawk HP+ pads (50000 miles)
Motul 600 fluid
Slotted rear rotors

Wheels/Tires:
Gold 16" 5 spoke RS wheels (rattle can painted)
Firestone Firehawk GT 205/50 tires (4000 miles)
Kyokugen black lug nuts

Drivetrain:
JDM transmission with USDM WRX 3rd/4th (built by Gearboxtech)
Scotty's Cocktail fluids
WRX rear differential with Redline Fluid
Exedy 12.5lb flywheel
ACT performance street sprung disc (brand new)
SS clutch line
MRT short shifter
Kartboy shifter bushings
Kartboy rear shifter bushing
STI transmission and pitch mount

Interior:
RS interior and gauge cluster
Version 7 red stitched ebrake handle
Black leather shift boot with red stitching
STI Ver 2 Type RA Nardi steering wheel (no signal cancelling)
RS floormats
Autometer CF cup with 52mm Greddy boost gauge
JW Racing triple gauge pod
AEM wideband gauge
52mm Greddy EGT gauge
52mm Greddy fuel pressure gauge

Exterior:
Steel Blue Mica paint (Painted May 2006)
RS headlights
Clear corners
Clear signals
JDM taillights
Flat fuel door
JDM power folding mirrors
Version 6 STI lip
Version 6 grille
JDM pink i badge
Fog covers
JDM rear bumper with spats
JDM V5 replica wing
CF hood

When I bought the car, I didn't do my research. Therefore I ended up with a car with more issues than I was immediately ready to deal with. From a mechanical standpoint, the swap was done very well with high quality parts. From an electrical standpoint, the harness merge was done well (professionally) but the dash wiring was absolutely hacked by the idiot swapper. Wiring was literally twisted together (cold soldered in some lucky situations, just left twisted in others) with heat shrink tubing that wasn't even shrunk.

I cut the crappy wiring and properly soldered everything and heat shrunk the connections. This included the cluster wiring, ignition coil wiring, and MAF wiring. I also recirculated the BOV as it was atmospheric. This causes rich conditions on MAF cars since the MAF expects the expelled air to still be there. Recirculated BOVs run much better.

Issues:
-Front tires have positive camber (get a front alignment)
-Interior is a bit apart (auxiliary gauges removed)
-Poorly fitted bumper, intercooler piping, etc.
-Peeling clear coat
-Ignition switch is wired to cut only fuel so the car doesn't always shut off immediately (I will probably fix this soon)
-It's LOUD (3" turbo back)
-Low voltage at low RPMs when turn signals or headlights are on
-Heater controls not hooked up (I have the cables, but removed the controls to fix some hacked wiring)
-Drips oil and power steering fluid (oil pan gasket and power steering crush washers)

 

I've been corresponding with someone and he has asked some very good questions. Brace yourselves for a book:

Why are you selling the car?
- I bought a house and don't want to work on this project right now. I already have a fun project car (an older VW) and a daily driver.

With the heating issue, the heat does work the controls are just not hooked up?
- The heater and the blower works very well. The controls are not hooked up. The heater controls are controlled via cables that attach to the blower motor and heater box. These operate blend doors. The car's dash was swapped from the Impreza L dash to the 2.5RS dash (no idea why...stupid). The Impreza and 2.5RS use different heater controls (knobs versus sliders). You just need to figure out how to connect the cables to the controls.

Did you do the installation of the mods yourself or professionally?
- I installed the injectors. The car was tuned professionally. All other modifications were installed prior to my ownership.

Is the front bumper not mounted right or is the intercooler in the way of it being mounted
- The front bumper is not mounted correctly because it is a 2.5RS bumper without a support bar (due to the intercooler).

If you would like a car that is a daily driver, this is definitely not for you simply because the wiring isn't 100%. From a driveability standpoint, everything works:
-Lights
-Signals
-Brake lights
-Reverse lights
-Engine runs well with no scary noises
-Brakes well, turns well

I would recommend using this as a fast, fun car. It could be very good on the track, autocross, or back roads but it isn't something you would ever take a date out in or drive to work frequently (unless you addressed all the nagging issues).

As stated in the ad, the ignition switch is wired to only cut fuel which means that if you start the car it will not always shut down immediately. This is the major issue that needs to be addressed. There was a secondary relay hacked into the harness after the ignition switch but I removed that because the wires were literally twisted and taped together and I was not comfortable with that. The low voltage problem with the front lights and turn signals is most likely a bad ground. This means that the car will fluctuate between 13.5 - 14 volts at low RPMs. While this doesn't cause any problems, the ECU flags this as outside standard range (voltage shouldn't drop much lower than 14 volts) and throws a check engine light. Soooo the CEL blinks when the signals blink. That's annoying.

One more thing - the gauge cluster was swapped to a Forester gauge cluster (no idea why, the previous owner just liked to cut wires and do ****ty things I guess). This means:

- The speedometer reads about 10 mph too high. This is due to the fact that the front and rear differentials use 4.11 gears in this car (very short) compared to taller gearing in a Forester (that or a difference in speed sensors). On the bright side, the 4.11 gearing makes this car VERY quick off the line if you're into that.

- The coolant gauge uses an older style sensor and reads fully hot when the car is up to temp (I monitor coolant temp on the Apexi computer)


I purchased the car from the previous owner after finding it on craigslist last year. He bought it from the original builder on NASIOC:
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2469432
If you search, you can find a lot of posts from the original builder. The car was not advertised well (all of the positives and none of the negatives) so I feel like the kid got swindled a little bit and wanted to get rid of it. That being said, I can't confirm which owner did the ****ty electrical things. For example, I know the kid I bought it from replaced the battery cables but he literally taped the battery cable into new terminals. Thus the car did not run well and had massive starting/running issues due to bad grounds. I replaced ALL of these with pre-made cables.

The sad thing is that the car has thousands of dollars of really high quality parts on it. The brakes, suspension, turbo, intercooler, battery, shifter, swaybars, and STI parts cost a LOT of money. Mechanically most things were done well but it feels like the builder spent $10,000 on parts and then threw it all together electrically because he wanted to drive it. The engine wiring is really good (professional merge by a reputable shop) but the auxiliary wiring is just embarrassing.

 

Here are some pictures. You can contact me via this thread (I'll send you my number) or via the email on craigslist.

 

Willing to part out?

 

I don't plan on parting the car out. I know I could make more money doing so but for the work required, I could also get the electrical issues 100% sorted and have a great car. I think it's just time pass it along to someone who can make it into something that is at least as good as the sum of its parts.

I don't want my original posts to scare people too much but I do want to be an honest and up front seller. In my mind, the biggest issues are:
-Ignition switch only cuts fuel pump (there was a relay hacked in there in series with the original ignition relay. I removed it and caused the problems). This should be a relatively easy fix.
-Headlight/signal low voltage: Either a grounding issue or due to the super lightweight DEKA battery being overwhelmed at low RPMs when the alternator is not putting out maximum juice (alternator was tested three times and is perfectly healthy)
-Auxiliary gauges/center stack wiring: Tap into the ACC signal from the ignition switch to get switched power. I removed everything because the stereo and auxiliary gauges were tapped into auxiliary power from a host of different sources.

For someone who is willing to put in the time (I have to spend the time on my house), I believe you can have it done in a weekend.

 

Fuji stopped out to take a peak at the car today. He can vouch for the block - it is indeed closed deck. The rear bumper, side mirrors, and tail lights are authentic JDM.

 

JDM parts yo! The chassis isn't bad at all for its year as far as rust goes. If the wiring is clean up or say redone, it would work fine. Drag car anyone?

 

Holy Crap this is a good read. Also, very good car for price, I guess. GLWS non the less!

 

I'm in love with this car but I know it's a bad idea.
Like that 5th burrito.

 

is this Tom?

 

No sir.

 

Hmmm, if my tranny goes (like it is feeling) this may be a good source for both the tranny and an engine swap... You may be hearing from me (but don't hold your breath... )

 

Dooooooo it.

 

We'll see how BIR goes this weekend...

 

Bump! I'll take $4000 cash today, but no lower. Otherwise I am going to keep it and fix it

 

I suppose this isn't still for sale, but if it is... hit me up.

 

WOW 4K FOR THIS.. AWESOME DEAL!

 

I know, I wish I would have seen this a little sooner

 

I wish this would wait a few months, when I get my bonus... :-/

 

If he's still selling, I'm buying it.

 

Hey everyone,

The car is still for sale. If you are seriously interested, send me a direct message and I'll give you my phone number. I have a couple of people who are supposed to be giving me cash for it this weekend...but you know how that goes. I'm mostly just tired of people driving the crap out of the car and then not buying it. Normally I wouldn't let people drive it without cash but I'm very confident in the car mechanically and confident in the tune. This is a great car with the exception of the dash harness.

Thanks,
Zach

 

DoughtCom is serious.

 

^

 

Sold to what seems to be a very good home!

 

How this car didn't sell instantly is beyond me! I'm just happy it didn't, this car will be pretty awesome all said and done.