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Hawk296's Old Green L

28K views 90 replies 15 participants last post by  Hawk296 
#1 · (Edited)
I have not been on these forums since 2004 or so. I have had my 1995 AWD ej18 Impreza L since 2001. I'm the second owner. It was purchased as an economical awd car to get through college with plans of of swapping an elusive Jdm turbo engine later on (remember this was 2001 and we were just getting the bugeye Wrx). I started gathering parts and soon had an almost new EJ20k from a V4 STI RA.

As a poor college student, when my EJ18 started leaking oil from every possible seal, I decided just to swap the entire engine out. Unfortunately I didn't have the funds or time to swap in the ej20 yet, but I obtained a like new ej25. As far as I can recall I was one of the first few to swap in a SOHC EJ25 and run it off the 1.8 ECU. that swap has been absolutely bulletproof for over a decade with several track days a year.



15 years later, with a lightly modded Baja turbo as a daily driver an established career and home of my own I finally decided to finish the Impreza which was long ago banished to the depths of the garage only to see daylight 2 or 3 times a year for the occasional track flogging.

As it sits today, it's almost where I wanted it over a decade ago.


Engine:
1997 Ej20k (STI type RA)
Factory forged Pistons
Honed for new factory OEM piston rings
EJ257 rods polished for stress relief and balanced
ARP2000 rod bolts
King XPG rod bearings
Polished OEM crank (center thrust)
ACL race main bearings
OEM multilayer steel headgasketa
All new OEM seals.
ARP head studs.
Replaced two damaged intake valves
rebuilt heads and replaced all seals.
Converted to EZ30r shimless buckets.
OEM 11mm oil pump.
Late model EJ25 oil pan
Killer b oil pickup and baffle
STI timing belt.
Act lightweight flywheel
Group N engine mounts
Custom 3" turboback exhaust

JDM Legacy turbo 5mt trans (4.111)
Ver.3-4 Type RA DCCD gearbox (4.44)
Ver.5-6 type RA front LSD
R160 JDM rear LSD
Comp clutch stage 2
02' Wrx hydraulic clutch setup
Goodridge clutch line.
SPT/STI short throw shifter
04' USDM STI pedal box
RS 3 piece trans mount
Group N trans mount
Group N pitch stop
DCCD Pro Spider

Suspension:
KYB AGX
STI pink springs
Forester rear lateral links (no rear sway bar originally)
STI pink lateral links
Spo motorsports heavy duty rear swaybar mounts and adjustable swaybar.
Whiteline adjustable front sway bar
Whiteline adjustable front end links
GC8 aluminum front control arms.
Noltec camber plates (Broken)
Group N Strut tops
Cusco rear strut brace
STI front strut brace

Brakes:
2006 WRX all around
Goodridge lines
Carbotech pads
ATE type 200 fluid

Prodrive P7s with Falken Azeni RT615K (street)
RS 6 spokes with BFG Rivals (track)

Exterior.
Dents
Scratches
Body color grill
2.5RS Grill
OEM JDM aluminum hood
JDM lightweight bumper beam
JDM V1-4 front bumper
JDM Red/clear taillights
Clear corners
Clear markers
OEM JDM V1-4 turn signals
Custom LED Sidemarkers (before you could easily buy them)
JDM mudguards with cooling duct and associated S-ducts.

Interior:
Half of it removed.
Corbeau Forza drivers seat
5 point harness
STI pedal covers
Clarion auto PC (the best 1998 had to offer!)
Kenwood head unit
DIY 3d printed gauge pack with three 45mm pro sport gauges.
JDM 9k tach and DCCD indicators in stock cluster.


More to come....
 

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#2 · (Edited)
The original plan was to do a quick once over on the engine and if everything was good, install it as is. Unfortunately, a leak down test showed 13% leakage on #2 intake side, while the other three cylinders were consistently lower. I had no choice but to break it open. Around late 2005 I tore it down in a weekend. Unfortunately this is around the same time I started traveling across state every weekend to visit my future wife....it sat diasassembled for several years.

Fast forward to 2012. After settling down a bit I decide to continue work on this project. Take the heads home to work on them at my leisure in the basement. Disassemble and inspect everything. Clean up valves and touch up the seats. Fix anything out of spec. Notice while touching of the #2 inlet valve faces there appeared to be a slight wobble. Confirmed a very slight head wobble while rolling the stem on a granite surface plate. Grr 2 bent valves.

I actually had a very hard time locating the valves. Although very similar dimensionally to EJ25d valves, they are lighter because they are hollow. After narrowing down the part number I contacted my wife's cousin who grew up in Okinawa. He called in a favor to his buddy who walked into a Subaru dealer in Japan, gave them the part number and sent me two new valves!


When my wife was at work, I tossed the heads in the dishwasher and did a final clean before reassembly. Assembled them, wrapped them up and took them to the shop where they once again, sat for awhile.


Now it was time for the crank. Although I had it stored indoors and well oiled I was pretty bummed to find it has some speckles of surface rust. I was keeping on a tight budget and didn't want to buy a new one. I decided to polish it out.


With the budget in mind and the decision to salvage the stock crank and retain #3 thrust position to save some cash I wanted to explore some options to make it last and prevent the inevitable ej20k spun bearing.

The stock rods are archaic heavy beasts, same as the old ej18. Luckily for me my buddy blew his second 257 in his STI. He bought a new factory shortblock and had it built up so I took his never run before rods. Much lighter and stronger design. I polished off the casting marks, made a jig to balance them and added arp bolts.

I had less options for #3 thrust bearing locations so I went with ACL race bearings. Based on positive reviews I orders a few sets of King XPG for the rods. Ordered a few sets of standard and extra clearance so I could really nail down desired bearing clearances.

Took a week off work summer 2015 to assemble this thing. Everything was recorded and measured. ACL bearings kinda suck. Very inconsistent and and some were even twisted and warped when torqued. It was a pain and very time consuming.

Decided to go with the killer b oil pickup and baffle and combine that with the late model 2.5 oil pan. Used OEM headgaskets which the nice folks at MRT in Australia sent to me. ARP head studs as well. After everything was torqued, sat over night and torqued again, it was valve clearance time.







After replacing valves, touching up the remaining valves and seats all the clearances had to be adjusted. With the STi under bucket shims being hard and expensive to come by I decided to bite the bullet and convert to EZ30r exhaust shimless buckets.


Once that was nailed down it was time for final assembly.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Fearing I would never have the time to finish this project, I moved everything from the shop to the garage figuring I would at least be able to work on it a few minutes a day even if it made the job more difficult.

On a Sunday afternoon I jacked the car up and pulled the 2.5 out of it.


Later that week a friend came over and helped me pull the trans and cross members out.



Switched to the 3 piece trans brace and turbo cross members as well as GC8 aluminum control arms. Ended up replacing the steering rack and bushings instead of rebuilding it.



while working on the car I heard a loud crash from the passenger side. Noticed the strut laying on the ground. With the weight off the wheels so long and the strut in suspension the old Noltec camber plates finally gave out.


Asked my wife for help installing the trans and came out to this.

She did end up helping me position the trans and install it.

Still putting off the inevitable wiring, I swapped out pedal boxes with one from an 04 STI, took a little clearancing but it works! Also added 02 Wrx clutch master cylinder, hardlines and a Goodridge braided flex line.

Took the 1.8 engine harness and modified it for the ej20. Changed iac and tps connectors, extended a few wires to reach and ran wires for the knock sensor using the egr wires I would no longer be using on the existing harness. Installed all of this on the engine and then reinstalled the manifold.



Bolted the solenoid plate to the shock tower and ran the wires through the firewall and over to the Ecu.



Finished up prepping the engine with the flywheel and clutch, a/c compressor and routing as many vac lines as I could.


Install time.

 
#4 · (Edited)
Needed to support the L throttle cable. Found some scrap metal landscape edging.



Next was the Ecu wiring I had been putting off.
3 plug obd1 to 3 plug obd 1 is pretty simple actually. I made a diagram, labeled everything and simply repinned the ej18 Ecu harness.



For wires that had to be added such as boost control solenoid and pressure sensor, I had to splice the 1.8 terminals on since the JDM terminals don't plug into the usdm connector.

Fired up first try although. Had some check engine lights and a high idle.

Pulled the codes. IAC, boost solenoid and pressure source switching solenoid. Turns out I forgot to connect the bits on the shock tower to a 12v source. Also got a wire switched on the IAC, after correcting my mistakes no more codes and it actually idled.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Some progress has been made.

Front swaybar banging has been fixed with whiteline adjustable endlinks which were much shorter than the ones I was trying to use.

I had to make 2 more throttle cable brackets until settling on one I liked. The third one looks like it will be the final revision.

I was also introduced to a really cool local guy who was able to put together a real, complete exhaust system for this thing. Turned out really nice. Sounds great and isn't too loud.


Decided to postpone my plan for a custom AWIC setup in order to get this on the road and also save some weight. Gathering parts and going with a V4 front end.

There were 6 bumpers left in the US after this one.

Also, out of the 4 ECUs I have collected, this one runs really really strong! It's definitely been hacked. It came out of a V4 STI RA.

Anyone see something like this before?
 
#11 · (Edited)
Last month while trying to reboot the left rear axle, everything went wrong. The Long bolt that goes through the lateral links and knuckle was seized to the bushings. Trying to remove it with a breaker bar cause the aged urethane in the Noltec camber plates to fail and it all came crashing down. It also broke the parking brake shoe when it fell so those had to be replaced as well.







Took all day and some luck getting parts but I got it back together. And now I am on group N strut tops front and rear (rears are getting hard to get).




I mocked up the Grill and headlights and realized how cloudy the sidemarkers were, so I replaced those with some cheap aftermarket ones for now.



Replaced the hood latch and wiper arms as well since the original ones were pretty nasty.

And now it's at the paint shop to make it all one color!
 
#14 ·
If I do, I'll add it later. I really like the way the v4 3 pieces front lip, side skirts and spats look but I'm not sure if I want to give up my factory splash guards. They work and I kinda dig the look. Don't know how the front lip would look without the other pieces either.

Last part should be at the shop next week for the body repair (new door skin) hopefully I'll have it back in a week and a half to assemble and then start the tuning process.
 
#15 · (Edited)
For the past year the car has been rolling around the garage on my track tires, RS 6 spokes with BFG Rivals. The street wheels had 10 year old dry rotted and badly cracking Goodyear F1s. I decided while I was waiting I should order new wheels and tires for normal street use but I just couldn't let the old P7s go despite being an older style and really heavy since I just really like how they look. So I ordered some new Falken Azenis for them and they arrived yesterday. I figured while I was still waiting for the body shop to finish I would take them to get mounted today so they would be ready to go when the car was ready. They still need to be washed.



Then while waiting for the tires to be mounted, it happened. I got the call. The car was ready.





It's finally back home. I still have to swap bumpers, add the grill badge, swap wheels and add the washer nozzles and intercooler ducting as well as recharge the A/C but that's going to have to wait a week or so until I get some more time to work on it. I absolutely love how it turned out and I'm glad to have it back in the garage. Today was a good day.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Got some work done before I leave town. Hood seal is on. Hood scoop plate and intercooler shroud are on. New grill emblem is on. V4 Bumper is almost on. I need new hardware to attach it to the fenders as those stupid clips with the captured nuts fell apart on disassembly. I also have to rewire the lights because the existing L fog lights and turn signals have the connectors reversed from the JDM ones. So the turn signal harness plugs into the fogs and the fog harness plugs into the turn signals. Then the new mud guards with provisions for the brake ducts will get installed and everything buttoned up.

 
#18 ·
Hawk, the lateral link disaster is definitely heartbreaking. I had the same issue back in 2008 with my 2004 STI.... likewise a Michigan car!! a 45 dollar fix quickly turned into a $350+ new hub assembly.
The car is gorgeous, I just picked up a 98L auto and a motor-less 06WRX and will be swapping the entire wrx drivetrain and suspension into the gutless L. Ill definitely be following your thread.
BTW I used to live in Waterford, raced BMX at Waterford Oaks.
 
#19 · (Edited)
I just picked up a 98L auto and a motor-less 06WRX and will be swapping the entire wrx drivetrain and suspension into the gutless L. Ill definitely be following your thread.
BTW I used to live in Waterford, raced BMX at Waterford Oaks.
Nice!

I got some things done over the weekend. Re-wired the turn signals and fogs so those are working now.




Got the new mudguards installed with the functional brake cooling ducts. Re-charged the Air Conditioning.


Also put the P7s back on with the new Azenis to roll around on the street with.
 
#21 ·
Pictures have been transferred over, so they should be working.

I have been making a few shakedown runs. Had some hose clamps on the fuel lines loosen up. So far so good with most everything else. I have an occasional intermittent CEL for the IACV so I have to investigate that.

I do however have a problem with the gearbox. I bought it used and it was sitting on a pallet since about 2005 until I installed it last year. It does not spring back to center from the far right (5th and Reverse) position. It just lays there as if there is no spring. Also very, very difficult to get it into 3rd and 4th gear and the others just don't feel right. Once in gear it is fine and does not pop out or anything. Any ideas? I have a bad feeling I'll be pulling the gearbox again and I am not looking forward to it.
 
#22 ·
Haven't driven it too much. I am concerned about underhood temps with the wiring so close to the 3" downpipe so I am trying a little bit of header wrap to see if it does anything.


Just because I was curious, I drained the trans oil. A little over 100 miles on it and quite a bit of junk on the plug. No big hard parts though.


I fear I will still have to pull the gearbox, but I will probably push that back for another month or so. Just no time or room right now to have a disabled car taking up the garage.
 
#24 · (Edited)
I have been way too busy to work on the car, but I have put a few more miles on it. The trans is driving me nuts. I am going to replace it.

Although I dont have one yet I have decided to alter the original plan for the car since its no longer a daily driver. I'm making the jump to 4.44.

Since the L was a VA style open 4.11 rear differential I need to upgrade when the trans goes in. I have had a JDM R160 LSD in storage for a long time with matching axles so I decided to build up a diff with that.


I purchased a used 4.44 rear diff as the donor.


Took the guts out, swapped over the 4.44 ring onto the LSD, put new bearings and seals in and reassembled.



Just need to double check backlash and get some new studs and breather for the rear cover.

Then when I swap the trans I can just swap out the entire rear end at the same time.
 
#25 ·
Replacement transmission should be here Monday. I hope it's not a dud. I plan to have this one refreshed before I install it.

Waiting on a few more little parts to finish up the 4.44 rear diff and blended the JDM bits into the USDM gauge cluster in prep for the enhanced functionality the new trans has (hopefully).

 
#26 · (Edited)
An update from the past few weeks:

The trans arrived a couple of weeks ago! I had to drive to the Flint airport to pick it up from FedEx.




It’s a 5 speed DCCD box from a Version 3-4 type RA.
It’s pretty nasty and missing a few pieces which I’ve already ordered. It sat in the garage for a few weeks until I was able to get it to the rebuild guy. Hopefully it’s rebuildable.

While I was waiting for the rebuild guy to become available so I could drop it off I got the car ready to accept the DCCD Pro Spider.


I had to run a wire through the firewall but all my holes are already full. So I decided to make a new one. Here is were I REALLY messed up. While adding a hole next to the one I used to run all the wires inside from the pressure sensor, boost control solenoid etc, I was in a hurry and measure incorrectly and drilled right through the harness I ran for all that stuff on the passenger side shock tower!

I took a break for a few days, ordered some parts and made a new harness to replace the damaged one. I added some watherproof 6 pin Deutsch connectors this time so i can disconnect and reconnect from underhood and from interior wiring as needed this time. I also sealed the new hole, added a grommet and ran DCCD wires as well as wiring for the IAT sensor for the Link ECU. I added the IAT sensor into the BPV hose, we will see how that works out.


I took a break from the Impreza because the Baja needed a new passenger side ball joint and a driver’s side control arm bushing. Of course the pinch bolt broke...



With the Baja back on the road it was back to the Impreza. The plan all along has been to replace the non-functioning tape deck with a single DIN gauge pod. i was quickly realizing that was going to be difficult with ALL of the wiring from the old Clarion Auto PC. As cool as it was back in 2001 when I installed it, it was time to go. I yanked out the head unit, the GPS unit, boxes under the seat and lots and lots of wiring. It made for so much more room behind the dash for new stuff and removed several pounds of weight.
 
#27 · (Edited)
Still wanting a basic radio for the times I do drive on the street, and having some unused Amazon gift cards, I ordered a basic Kenwood head unit with Bluetooth. It arrived the next business day. I wired it up and installed it. It sounds pretty good through 22 year old cardboard speakers! With the Bluetooth, aux in and USB ports it is really quite nice. It weighs a lot less and frees up a LOT of space for new accessories.


Now for the gauge pack. Wanting three gauges in a small space meant small gauges. Not really much out there in 45mm, and I couldn’t find any old school Omori so I settled on some affordable pro sport gauges. I got Boost, oil pressure and oil temperature. They will hopefully be good enough to use as a reference.

I drew up a gauge pack in google scetchup and printed it out in two pieces on my 3D printer. I then glued them together and attached the gauges.






It’s not perfect but its close enough to what I had in mind that I’ll probably stick with it. They still need to be wired up but that won’t happen until I install the sensors at the next oil change.
 
#28 ·
damnit. i need a 3d printer. would make life so much easy.

also, the gauge pack looks awesome. from an aesthetic stand point, i would have swapped the gauges and radio. the gauges sit out a little from their mount and would look good under the lipfor what i assume is the cupholder pull out...although..sitting over the kenwood might overlap too much and be in the way. so..nvm. lol
 
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