What should I do to an 03 WRX prior to swapping it into my RS?

guess you didnt really look at his avatar huh

 

lol. No worries.


I'd really like to see a 00 or 01 RS with an 02 or 03 wrx dash in it. Not sure if there's anyone around with that exact combo, though.

I don't know that I could commit to a dash swap without having a very good idea of how the end result will look.

If I were to do dash swap, I'd definitely need some help - I have 0 fab skills. I can maybe cut, but definitely not weld, and I would be PISSED if I did it and the dash came out crooked or something.


I plan to go see the taxi in person for the first time since the crash on Thursday.

I'll get the VIN then, and then I'll download FSM's from the subaru techinfo site or whatever.

I'll comb through some diagrams and see, but splicing in whatever is in the dash doesn't seem to daunting.

Trying not to be brash, though - obviously lots of people find that task very time consuming. BUT, lots of people report starting their car on the first try, too. I am capable of organizing and planning. It wouldn't be the first time I've had wiring harnesses strung from end to end across my apartment.

It would be really nice to source some spare 01 RS wiring - I could see doing the full merge myself ahead of time so that I only have to plug it in come swap time.

 

Well, my enthusiasm and quick acting has burned me a bit.

Worst case scenario.

Timing cover broke and belt snapped, sounds like maybe a cam gear busted too.


How fuxored might it be?

What is likely to be fubar'd? How far could the damage extend?

What are my options (doesn't seem like many people are selling good 2.0 heads)?

What kind of $$ am I looking at (I have a guesstimate, and I don't like it)?

 

Initial searching tells me that I'll be learning how to rebuild heads.

Sounds like my valves are likely bent (any possibility they might not be? seems slim), but it also sounds like there's a pretty good chance the pistons will be okay.

If the cam gear's busted, could there be more damage in the head?


What really sucks about it is that it could make accomplishing the swap in 2009 close to impossible.


Anyone got a spare timing cover thingy or some valves laying around. lol


Also, anyone here do good porting & polishing work - as long as the heads are coming off .........

 

Well, you wont know untill you get the cam gears on and try to fire it up. Tearing apart the engine before knowing if the valves are bent would suck.

 

So fix the belt & gear & whatever else on the outside is fubar'd and try to start it sans cover?

Cause if the valves are f'd then they're f'd and it won't matter, and if they're not it would start and I'd save myself from pulling the heads for no reason?

 

yea, that's an option. as long as you set it correctly, you can't do any MORE damage....

BUT, I wouldn't bother. if you got lucky, you might have slightly bent valves, and it would probably run pretty well. but it would burn a little oil. and possibly melt a valve before long anyway. I don't think there's any position that the cams could stop rotating and not interfere with the piston. so unless the crank stopped immediately (which I doubt), there was some contact.

I'd pull at least the one head off and have it tested/rebuilt. valves are something that you could do yourself, but the tolerances are so small when it comes to head work, and a good machine shop would have the equipment to do it right in their sleep (read: fairly inexpensive).

I'll let the locals recommend good machine shops down there. as I don't know of any. as for porting/polishing, Chimera seems to be the place to go. they've got the flow bench and stuff, so they'll get it done right.


any chance of pulling the motor before storing the hulk for the winter? the winter months would be the perfect time for a top end rebuild. head gaskets, main and cam seals, water pump, seal up the oil pump, obviously new timing belt. now is also the time to think about some mods that will be worlds easier to do now than with the engine in the car, headers, up-pipe, TGV deletes, ect.

Don't be too put down. it's not the end of the world. getting it back to tip-top stock shape isn't going to add more than $5-700 to your build (depending on where you go). and I'm betting you got a steal on the car (thus is the nature of the buyback....), so you'll still be coming out ahead.

and even if you can't pull the engine and work on it now. it's something you can do while you're sorting other things out. no matter how prepared you are, there's a pretty good chance your car is going to be out of commission for a week or so. the engine work needed could be done in that time, while you're getting other things sorted out (transmission, suspension, interior, wiring, etc.). then when the engine is ready to go, you'll be all set to drop it in, plug it in, and turn the key.




and no, obviously I didn't look at his avatar. just had this picture of an insanely clean silver RS coupe in my head. thought it was his.....maybe I was thinking of Kelly's.....

 

^^^ yeah not to mention once it is done that extra $$$ you wont even think about again when you are driving that beast

 

Hoping I can get the engine pulled and brought up here - I do have space for an engine on a stand. Then, at least, I can get to work.

I don't have an engine stand or any kind of hoist, though - and never used one :ugh: um, yeah, so ..... nothing like diving in over my head, right.

Also, if I'm lucky, one of the other 2 tenants in the building will rent me their garage stall for 3-9 months. That would be SWEEEET.


As for being put down about it - yeah, kinda sucks. Won't be able to just pull and drop. But, yeah, I did get a a whole working drivetrain and a mostly working engine (at the least), all the accessories, VF34, injectors, walbro, full interior, and on and on and on and on....

So, yeah - still a decent deal and the reason I went for it without knowing for sure about the timing.


I'm not sure about your $5-700 figure, though. Isn't a new cover for the timing belt alone a couple hundred? Then there's belt, tensioner, at least one cam gear it sounds like, maybe some other pulleys. That's gotta be around $700 right there, if not more. Then water pump, seals, gaskets - heck, gaskets alone added up REAL quick on HG job for my 2.5.

lol - that's the whole point of the thread. What would be world's easier to do while the engine's out.


Seems TGV's are maybe not worth it - word is they flow plenty for the rest of my setup without deleting them.

PnP heads I don't know about yet - maybe, but only if I'm already pulling the heads. Also, if I'm pulling the heads - I'm going to consider cams - but I'll need to be careful about getting ones appropriate for DD. Don't want to make peak torque way up by readline, but it seems a guy can extend the top end, keep the torque curve flatter, and keep peak torque from moving too far right with the proper cams.

There's some coolant flowing through part of the IM, I think I read once, too - and I'm guessing I should do that delete.

Also, looking into the exhaust side - seems like thermal coating (like dipped, or potentially wrapped & painted) on some pieces would really help keep IC temp down and quicken spool.

 

Words Of Advise In This Situation Do It Right The First Time. Don't Half Ass It, Or Your Just Gonna Be Mad Later On.

 

Understood & agreed.

I would rather wait - even if it means next year - and spend the extra time & $$ to do it right.

I've spent $15k or so on this car up to this point - along with a little bit of blood, sweat, and tears (more to come) - not the kind of investment I take lightly.

 

Would a leak-down or even compression test give me a good idea of valve damage?

I mean, could the valves be bent but still seal @ TDC?

Obviously, I would assume the valves are shot if I'm shooting air into the cylinder and its gushing out the intake and exhaust.

But what if I do a leak-down or compression test and it checks out? Could I still have damage?

 

:eek3::eek3::eek3::eek3::eek3:

 

Wow - KBB's dropped a couple of G's since I bought it, but it was a 66k miles RS in truly excellent condition.

I've got a few grand into audio, just dropped $1500 or so into suspension & wheels, nearly a grand on a HG repair, and a couple more for a swap car - so yeah, $15k.

 

makes more sense

 

yea, $15k including the cost of both cars is still an awesome deal!!

I could put together a quality timing belt setup (belt, seals, tensioner, water pump) for $300. plus a bit for HGs, intake mani gaskets, valve cover, etc. stuff to replace while doing the heads.

I don't know how much new covers are for a 205, but I bought one new from the dealer last summer for an EJ22e, and it was less than $30. besides, I'd hop on any of the national forums and/or car-part.com for that, used is fine.

cam gear.....I dunno what that'd cost. but again, I'd hop on the national forums for it.

I'd forgotten about the cover and gear, but still, less than $1k including head work isn't really out of the question.




as for mods. I can't speak much as to the benefits of these mods. but you'll have the intake manifold off while doing the heads anyway, so phenolic spacers, and TGV deletes would be zero extra work.

the bit of coolant through the throttle body, meh, not too bad to do in the car, but you'll have it apart, so you could bypass it.

exhaust header and up-pipe (mostly up-pipe) are an ENORMOUS bitch to do in the car (I've killed entire days, with help, doing this crap). and really not bad with the engine out. only took a few minutes to bolt that stuff onto Max's 22t:




as for leak-down/compression testing. seems to me with the valves closed, they might still seal. it's the seal around the stem of the valve while it's open that you're concerned about. But I'm no expert there. like I said, I'd get them checked out regardless. I've seen good heads with fairly low mileage and good maintenence that still could benefit from a rebuild. it's not going to get any easier.

 

I'll keep that in mind about the exhaust - I'll definitely give things like that a higher priority (those easier with the engine out).

I'm not sure if Jeff had a catless uppipe on it or not. If so, I'll look at gutting one or getting one.

Much gains to be seen from switching headers?

 

it has a catless uppipe already Q

 

shweet! 1 down.

 

lol all the work is complete besides the rear suspension so BOOYA lol

 

Cool. I'll still be out there Thurs morning-ish to check er out and remove the driveshaft and make sure its all ready to haul away.

 

Donor picture whoring

Got it back and into my tiny little garage stall - its small and cost me a little bit of $$, but at least its in my back yard.

20* and up I'll be working on it every chance I get. First task is to get that motor out and assess the heads. Sounds like fixing those is best left to the pros, so I'm sacking away some cash.

 

What is the turbo?

 

vf34, pe650's, walbro 255, not entirely sure what tbe was but I don't have it anymore - tuned by Ronnie @ RS - 264whp

If I have my facts right.

 

Doing some more research today.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showpost.php?p=23390249&postcount=15


Gaps in dash are NOT cool. Have seen 2 threads in the last 15 minutes with this problem when doing dash swaps.



And that was done by ECS. :ugh:

 

Mine looks exactly the same you can't see it with the door closed.

 

I don't think I could live with that, myself. If it was an older L or something i was swapping into, sure - but I want to keep the RS looking very fit and finished.

There apparently is a fix - but I think it involves cutting out portions of the GD firewall and welding them into the GC.

There's supposedly a thread on RS25 about how to eliminate the dash gaps, but I haven't found it yet.

 

well have a gap for free, or pay to merge your harness so all your electronics work the choice is yours.

 

Yah - I know. Not dogging on anyone who went dash swap and left a gap - just saying that I don't think its for me & this car.

Still considering self-merge. I can use a meter and a scope and a soldering iron all pretty well. And I'm the sort of OCD type that will measure wire run lengths to place solder joints along a straight run of wire, staggering the lengths slightly to avoid bunching with all the solder & heatshrink.

I'm just a little afraid I could bork something serious - or that I'll be troubleshooting ghosts for the rest of the car's life.

Also - the more I research, the more bad stories I read about all of the known swap shops. I'd rather trouble shoot my own fubar'd harness than one someone else fubar'd for me (not to mention that I don't have to drop a G to fubar my own harness thank you very much).

 

I didn't ever harness merge and I still had wire gremlins for 2 months!!!

 

Quentin, once you're ready (and my truck is functional again) I can loan you an engine lift. I could loan you a stand too, but not long-term (since I should be pulling an engine yet this winter myself).

 

^ PM'd you bout that.