t3hWIT's Impreza L Buildup

[TheReason]

Originally Posted by SleepySubie

^ thats some sexy rice then

is there a write up anyplace for that DIY 16 buck front lip?

Check the sticky in the DIY section.

[t3hWIT]

I began sourcing parts immediately after purchase. Many parts came off of my previous Impreza, but I was able to sell some things to afford an Apexi SAFC as I planned to turbo the 1.8L. Simply referred to as "Mods Weekend," the goal was a 48 hour makeover of sorts. This weekend included:

-ebay intake
-APEX'i S-AFC II
-2 1/4" custom catback
-rear lateral link conversion
-'97 rear antisway
-5zigen springs
-KYB GR-2 struts
-Megan Racing strut tower braces
-foglights w/ Sylvania Silverstars
-Sylvania Silverstars for headlights
-leather shift boot

This was also the weekend that I realized that my car had rear disc brakes.












We ended the weekend with a mountain run, taking this "Initial D" shot:



Next up... preparing for the 2005 Fall Foliage Run

[t3hWIT]

With the 2nd Annual Tri State Fall Foliage Run quickly approaching, I made a wild eyed attempt to modify the car to keep up with the RS' and WRX', at the same time keeping within a strict budget. The day before the Run, we took over a lift in the Collision Repair center to install a few parts I was able to scrape together.

-Eibach ProKit
-'05 STi rear antisway, w/ brackets and bushings
-borrowed 17's w/ Falken tires
-DIY clear corners (Rice!)







Yes, you read right. 2005 STi rear antisway. It just barely fits.


Notice the angled endlink.



When we went out on that Sunday morning for the Foliage Run, I noticed that the car had quite a bit more "pep" in it. I couldn't figure out if it was the cool air, or the extremely light wheels. I didn't know that this "problem" would continue indefinately, with the car driving 100% on some days, and anemic on others. The run was a success, with many of Central PA's finest Subaru's taking over 100 miles of twisties.

[t3hWIT]

I'm not proud of the way the car looked during late 2005, early 2006. Since I am telling the complete story of my car, I don't feel I should leave this part out.

The next few months were slow as far as modifications went. I was repairing the fiberglass hood from my previous Impreza (that I rolled) and installed that for a couple months. I also picked up some Hella Supertones, and some WRX wheels w/ RE92s. I also began the process of swapping a WRX engine into irishhockeypimp's RS, leaving me little time for sleep, let alone working on my car.

[t3hWIT]

As winter went on, I was able to scrape together a few odds and ends. I sold my fiberglass hood and went back to the stock one. I traded grille's with Morgan1 of Nasioc, picked up some Hella 500 Series driving lights, as well as some aluminum rear endlinks. I also received an OBX catback as part of the payment for the WRX swap. I also painted my wheels graphite.

[012.5RS]

looks hot man. very clean, love the spoilerless look.

[t3hWIT]

I was working on the WRX swap in irishhockeypimp's RS until May of 2006. I was still limited with time to work on my own vehicle, but I was able to squeeze in a few important things, including 2pot front brakes from a Legacy GT (big thanks to Jeremy of Crucial Racing), Hawk HPS pads, and Royal Purple fluids. I noticed that one of my axles puked, so I had to borrow a used one off of irishhockeypimp.





It's alive! We finally got the RS up and running, I said my goodbyes to Chad, and as far as I know... it's still kicking?



I ran my first autocross that spring. The word of the day was "understeer."









This is where it starts to pick up. I sold the SOHC heads I had sitting here, and noticed that my cam seals were leaking pretty good... Next up, Summer of 2006.

[AWDALBERT]

car is looking nice , sweet initial D pic and,front bumper

[t3hWIT]

After two months of haggling, I ended up getting screwed over on a V2 bumper by a well known vendor. I won't mention names because it ended up working out in the end. After getting an email back saying that the bumper I was waiting for was sold to someone else, I attacked ebay with anger-ridden fingers. I scored a V2 front bumper, complete with turn signals and foglights. I went after my bumper beam with a Milwaukee Sawzall, and... well you can guess the results.





Rockblocker had a sale on their tailight film, which I happily participated in.



My RE92's were bald, so I went in search of a nice "happy medium" tire, and ended up with Fuzion HRi's. If you need a picture of those, hit up the tire rack.

Remember the leaking cam seals? After reading some horror stories, I realized that maybe I should take this time to look into a new engine. Looking around, I remembered that I had this 2.2L that wasn't going anywhere...



Next up, TLC on the engine bay.

[t3hWIT]

Thanks for all the comments so far. I'm not done yet though, I still have another year to document!