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Trevor's 2000 RS Coupe Project

15K views 104 replies 16 participants last post by  FXTrev 
#1 · (Edited)
I've been a long time lurker on here, but finally picked up a 2000 STM RS coupe a couple weeks ago from @onefasazn. I also own a 2005 Forester XT with a lot of STI goodies, but bought this RS with aspirations of an STI swap. I've wanted an early Impreza for a long time now, even before I bought my FXT.

The end goal for the RS is a full STI swap minus GD dash, but for now it's pretty rough around the edges. Headgaskets need replacing, both corner lights are cracked, dent in the RH fender where it meets corner light, clear coat peeling on roof and spoiler, large dent behind the passenger door. passenger seat looks like someone threw up in it, and a few other things.. The good thing is that there's absolutely no rust as this car has been in CA all its life. That was my number one concern when searching for a car.

My plans for now are to pull the motor (which will proabably be this weekend), fix the headgaskets and assess anything else that absolutely needs replacing. I'd like to drive the car as is for awhile, and see if I want to dive into the STi swap.

Some pictures after I got her home:





















Car was pretty dirty from sitting, so washed it off, and cleaned up the engine bay a bit:

Before:





After(not worlds better, but better none the less)





Washed off:











A little rough around the edges, but will be perfect for a daily until I gather the funds for a full fledged swap.

My Forester for anyone interested:





 

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#5 ·
Hey friend! Good to see you on here. The boss will never be convinced, but that's okay. Just have to divide my time between car things and her.

Can't wait to see how this goes. Since I've done a 6spd swap everything else seems rather easy in a sense. I really miss my old GC8s and want another, but the foz is the best daily for me right now.

btw... since you're going to swap I do have some brembos for sale ;) (shameless plug lol )
Thanks. The Foresters really are a great daily. I actually have a full set of Brembos that I put new seals in with new rotors ready to go on the FXT, but I've been holding off, just in case I get rid of it. I might end up selling the Forester to buy a wrecked STI, and then buy a small pickup truck (Ranger) to use as a daily while I work on this. I think having a full car will be the best way to do the swap. Having all the extra pieces should really help things move along.

Looks like a coupe worth saving. Nice buy honestly...Looks like no rust...I'd bet that quarter can be repaired. Whats your time frame for the swap?
Yeah, I think so. It's a little rough, but I think I can bring some luster back to it. The quarter panel is at least not rusty, but it does have a crease that goes along the top, and the dent is really close to the door jam, so I'll probably see about getting it fixed once I get it running again. No timeline yet. I'll need to get rid of the Forester before I swap this, so I can buy a full car for the swap. I'll probably end up taking a lot of parts off the FXT to save for this. For now I'm going to get it driveable, and fix some of the small details/exterior, etc. and go from there.

Update:
I got the motor out over the weekend, and pulled the heads. No milkshake when I drained the oil, and the coolant was green. Headgaskets were just leaking really bad exteranlly. Going to clean up the mess the leak has left all over the block and heads, and see if I need to get the heads resurfaced. I might just wet sand them on a surface plate prior to installing new gaskets if they look flat. I'll try and post some pictures tonight.


On a side note I haven't been getting email updates to my subscribed threads :( Didn't even know I had replies on here
 
#3 ·
Can't wait to see how this goes. Since I've done a 6spd swap everything else seems rather easy in a sense. I really miss my old GC8s and want another, but the foz is the best daily for me right now.

btw... since you're going to swap I do have some brembos for sale ;) (shameless plug lol )
 
#11 ·
I have updates! Good and bad, but not of the turbo variety. I finally got the RS running, and have been using it as my daily for the past week. Bad news is that I hit a deer a couple weeks ago in the Forester.



I originally thought that insurance would total it out, and I would have my donor car for the RS, but looks like it's fixable. I'll take this opportunity to put a JDM FSTI front end on it, and continue to daily the RS for now. At least that's what I'm planning on doing as of now. Feel free to convince me otherwise.

My preliminary goal with the impreza was to get it running first and decide whether I wanted to swap it in the future. My only experience with this car, or any other early model impreza is driving it in the trailer, and backing it out into the garage. So until now, I'd never really driven it. In it's current state its nothing special, but there's no question that this thing needs to be swapped.

I ended up doing the following before putting the motor back in:

-Headgaskets
-Valve cover gaskets
-Spark Plug Gaskets
-Valves and seats machined
-Valve steam seals
-Cam Seals
-New Spark plugs
-Re-sealed oil pan
-Inner CV Boots x2
-Inner Tie Rod boots
-Cleaned engine bay
-Cleaned motor
-New Tensioner
-New Upper Rad hose
-New Thermostat
-New passenger side airbox bracket
-New radiator support bracket
-New battery
-Cleaned interior
-Driver's side Headlight bulb
-Both Fog Light bulbs
-HVAC bulbs
-License Plate Bulbs
-Clear Corners w/ new amber bulbs
-Missing screws and clips for dash replaced
-Replaced passenger side switch controls plate
-Side view mirror interior trim replaced
-New 12v adapter (was missing)

This is what I started with..pretty damn filthy. Headgaskets had been leaking for awhile, as you can see.























I cleaned up the shortblock as best I could, and then moved onto the heads. I checked the heads for flatness, and they seemed good, so I decided to not have them decked. I ended up just using a surface plate and wet sanding them until any high spots were gone. Time will tell if this was a good idea or not.







I thought I was going to be able to get away without doing any valve work, but that wasn't the case. Pretty much all 16 valves had some sort of leakage, so I had the valves and seats machined and heads were cleaned at the same time. Cylinder 4 was the worst. It must have been misfiring for awhile, and the electrode ground had broken off the sparkplug and bounced around like a fuckin pinball machine until i presume it was dispensed out the exhaust port. There were some marks on the piston as well as the head. I didn't touch the piston, but I did sand down the nicks on the head side. All cylinder walls look good though.































I bought this Lisle spring keeper tool, and it's hands down some of the best money I've been spent. Made putting the heads back together(and taking them apart) a breeze.







































Before


After Don't mind the missing upper rad hose. You get the idea..


Car started right up with no codes, and so far has been running well. I think it's still burning off oil/coolant from the headers since there was so much leakage before, but that's lessened quite bit over the last couple of days.

Cleaned up the interior too after i got the motor in. Guess I never took any pictures of it all put back together, but it was pretty filthy. Previous owner(s) definitely liked their Coca-Cola and chips while driving. Crumbs and shit were everywhere. Pulled both seats out, cleaned the stain out of the passenger side, and vacuumed everything. Then pulled the center console out and cleaned the gunk out of that. Couldn't comfortably drive this thing without at least getting it somewhat clean.

Before








After















Sorry for the shit ton of photos, and that there isn't an EJ207 in place of the 251, but gotta start somewhere, and at least it's running. Next on the list is two new rear tires and needs to be smogged.
 
#13 ·
Looking good matey. That RS has cleaned up really nice. I don't get it how some people don't care for their cars - oh well guess we are more passionate about our Subies lol.

One lucky RS to have found a great home :). Keep up the good work.

6 speed swap is definitely the way to go for this beast - sometime in the near future ha.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Thanks guys, I appreciate it!



Thanks man. Glad I could take it off your hands. Just happy to have it running as of now, and timing was perfect with me hitting the deer in the FXT. Once I get that thing fixed I'll be able to spend some more time on this. I plan to dial in all the interior and exterior short comings, then move onto a swap. Still need to decided if I'm going to go with EJ205 swap, or EJ257. Need to be able to BAR it, and might be a little tougher if I went with an EJ207.

I wish the garage was mine, but it's not. I don't even have a garage at my house, but luckily my parents live close by, and my dad let's me take it over with my ongoing Subaru projects :). He's been talking about possibly putting a lift in. :banana:
 
#25 ·
I think I need a new master cylinder. Pedal hasn't fully stuck to the floor and not come up yet, but I'm afraid that's going to happen at a less than ideal time. Looks like this thing has been in the car for the life of it, and I kwow these tend to go out. Normally I'd buy an OEM one, but do you think I will regret buying an aftermarket unit from Rock Auto or similar?
 
#33 · (Edited)
Thank you. I'll check it out.

fucking deers.
My thoughts exactly. Large brown tailed rats..

That FXT was clean pre-deer, I can definitely say a FSTI front end will fit nicely on it :)

By the way, Koyo makes a radiator for the FXT? I looked and looked last year and didn't see a part number available on their web site.
Sure will. I actually ordered a a full JDM STi kit (Front bumper, fenders, hood, sideskirts, rear bumper, spats and smooth lower door panels), and it showed up at the body shop Thursday. They started tearing things apart last week, so things are moving along. Had my girlfriend take these pictures when she stopped by, but forgot to tell her to make sure and get a shot of the new front end...oh well. I'll be down there later in the week and will take some more.










About the Koyo:

You will need part#VH13026. It's listed as fitting 06-08 FXT's, since the SG9 has a cap on the radiator, and the SG5 doesn't. All you need to do is T into the radiator cap with the hose that goes to the expansion tank. This is for a 5MT though, so if you have an automatic it might be different. Here's the post from my FXT build thread:
Subaru Forester Owners Forum - View Single Post - ('03-'05) Trevor's Aspen White Forester XT
 
#32 ·
That FXT was clean pre-deer, I can definitely say a FSTI front end will fit nicely on it :)

By the way, Koyo makes a radiator for the FXT? I looked and looked last year and didn't see a part number available on their web site.
 
#34 ·
Makes sense, I ended up throwing a Mishimoto in mine last year because I couldn't find a corresponding Koyo. Thanks for the info though! The Mishimoto came with a cap on the radiator as well, so they just knew how to market it.
 
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