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My build thread.. Lots of pics that work (Not Photobucket!)

68K views 449 replies 36 participants last post by  Ricco 
#1 · (Edited)
I've had my 2.5 RS a couple of months now and I've decided to start a build thread, hoping it's going to help me get this thing over the finish line.

This RS is my 4th Subaru


My first was a Catalunya special edition, the car I wish I still had, hence the mid-life crisis build :D


2nd was an 09 STI Hatch


3rd is my current DD, a 2016 BRZ


Picked up the RS for $2600 which I don't think was too bad, it's a sedan which I wanted as I prefer it over the coupe and the body is completely rust free. It has been in Houston for 99% of its life and is as solid as they come.

Car did have a few problems from when I picked it up.. It has a ton of dings in the body and has some parking lot fender bender damage to the hood and core support. The sunroof leaked and I also found water in the rear fender wells.

I've done a few things up to now and ordered a bunch of parts. First thing was to replace the sunroof frame as it was rusted out.. I assume the drain tubes were blocked at some point and allowed water to sit in the frame and rust it out.

I also had to have the boxer rumble so ordered some cheap ass DNA headers from Amazon - $100 and there are worth the price.


The problem however was the stock exhaust was too quiet so I still couldn't hear it.


I had a Blitz NUR Spec R on my Catalunya so I wanted one of those again but I was struggling to find one in GC fitment so I ordered a brand new GD one and adapted it to fit the GC



Then they made an adapter to mate directly to the stock NA cat pipe

It looks pretty ghetto but it is welded on the inside so it works fine.
End result


I'm still not entirely happy with it as the GD fitment makes it come straight out the back, perpendicular to the bumper whereas the GC ones come out at an angle which I prefer.. So if anyone has a GC fitment Blitz for sale, let me know.
 

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#423 ·
I decided I wanted to replace any plastic clips that I could, obviously I needed to get replacements from Subaru but so much stuff is NLA, I waited until I had new clips in hand, before I removed the old ones. As you can see, even the clips that looked to be fine, were super brittle from age and destroyed themselves on removal.


I got all of these ones out though, even though I think there are still some bits of plastic inside the sills now lol..


After that, it was just a case of starting to get everything taped off and sanded down in preparation for the coating. I rubbed everything with a red scotchbrite pad, and spent hours upon hours scraping away old factory coating where it had failed, particularly around the front frame rails as they tend to take the brunt of the impacts over the years.



I decided I wanted to coat up and around the edges, so picked a nice line to tape off to and sanded down the WRB.


Masking off everything else








 
#425 ·
.... Started spraying this blue shit everywhere. I started out with 2 bottles and quickly realised that wasn't anywhere near enough, so I got the front arches, the engine bay and transmission tunnel done. Thats also why you can see a few dry spots in some of the pictures. I ordered 4 more bottles which should have been enough to do a decent job covering everything.




















 
#426 ·
So, as per usual, nothing can go off without a hitch.. So when I finally peeled off the masking tape, I found a couple small areas where the engine bay paint had peeled as well as a couple big areas where it just hadn't been sanded sufficiently..







Anyway, it would be easy to just flat out blame the bodyshop who painted the bay, but in hindsight I kind of knew I was pushing it a bit with how low I masked off at.. So I started picking away at stuff to see just how bad it was.



Found a tiny bit of rust starting to form in a couple of spot welds.







Until finally, I'd picked all this off.. A lot of it peeled really easily as it was stuck to fresh paint that wasn't adhered properly.


So then I started sanding..


And sanding..


And more sanding..





Until I was back down to the factory primer. Then I taped off again and got ready to spray the 7th bottle that I'd had to order.

 
#427 ·
With the 7th bottle I was able to redo the whole front, as well as go back over a bunch of areas that I'd missed or were still a bit dry.. Its very hard to tell when you are laying under there with a spray gun and poor lighting.

I decided to peel the tape while the coating was still wet, as I was afraid that peeling the tape would result in peeling more paint, and I wasn't about to order another freaking bottle. Peeling it early did compromise the edge slightly, as the Raptor liner was partially dry and had already become a bit elastic..






Nonetheless, peeling the tape early was worth it when I found this :cry:


So I touched it up with a brush and some leftover liner


I think it doesn't look too bad or noticeable.



Frame rails came out nice though.



 
#428 ·
So at the end of the day, I am super happy with how the Raptor Liner turned out.. Despite it turning me into a freaking Smurf - Partly my fault 😂

This is after about a week.. It took a LONG time for it to fade off.



But in other news..

I added a Foz to my fleet.



I got curious about how the ABS pump works


I reassembled the Transmission crossmember with Kartboy bushings



I reassembled the GC Turbo radiator fans and shrouds



My inlet manifold and turbo compressor housing came back from the powder coaters



My Coolant overflow tank came back from the Fab shop - This is also how I intend to mount my flex fuel sensor, as you can see.



The Radium MCB fits now, fuckers!


I pulled these grub screws from my Brembos before I took them to the Powder Coaters.. Something actually went my way for once when they all came out on the first attempt!




I also finally got around to starting the gas tank... This is a nasty, tedious job that I don't recommend to anyone.


 
#429 ·
Congrats on the epic update! I would have been beyond frustrated with the peeling paint after all that. I would have probably taken a month off or so.

I like your fabbed up coolant tank too. I bought an off the shelf one but it doesn't fit GC's. It was for a GD. Someday I plan to go air to water intercooler and I'd use a tank in that spot for the reservoir.
 
#430 ·
Congrats on the epic update! I would have been beyond frustrated with the peeling paint after all that. I would have probably taken a month off or so.

I like your fabbed up coolant tank too. I bought an off the shelf one but it doesn't fit GC's. It was for a GD. Someday I plan to go air to water intercooler and I'd use a tank in that spot for the reservoir.
Appreciate it.. This coolant tank is actually off the shelf also, it is a Killer B tank for GD.. I just had it modified to fit my GC better and to accomodate the Flex Fuel sensor.
 
#431 ·
Cleaned up this little fella and gave him a quick coat of fresh paint



Pushing these clips in was super satisfying!


I test fit the gas tank and heat shield..




Then I test fit the TSS Fab rear subframe to make sure I had adequately 'clearanced' the gas tank before I went ahead and refinished it.

 
#438 ·
Thanks!

Fantastic build - thank you for sharing it in such detail! Do you have a pic of what you needed to do to the tank to accommodate the TSS rear subframe? I have one on order from their black Friday sale, and am looking forward to the install...
Thanks,
Jason
You can see in this pic where I have clearanced the tank with a BFH.

The Subframe still interferes with the tank straps but it clears the tank fully.


This is my type of build. Glad to see there's someone out there that will put this amount of detail into it as me!
Appreciate it! I sometimes wish I could leave some things well alone but my OCD just won't let me 😂
 
#441 ·
Your build looks meticulous and beautiful. But there is one thing I don't understand. Please forgive me, I am learning as I go, but won't placing the jack stands like you have them on the pinch welds potentially cause the pinch welds to fold? My car has this damage, although I didn't do it myself. I am always super careful to find solid lifting points and places to put the jack stands.
 
#442 ·
Hey, its been a while since I posted here.. Need to get back an post an update..

Anyway, to answer your question, yes it did fold over the end ever so slightly but nothing to worry about. I actually did quite a bit of repairs to these pinch welds before I sprayed the bed liner too. There will be a small section on the pinch weld that is missing liner but I'll probably touch it up with blue paint if I feel like it needs it.
 
#443 ·
I prepped all the flange surfaces on the gas tank



And painted them with Gas tank sealer paint that is impervious to gasoline, since I had no way to re-zinc plate them.



Cleaned up and painted this sucker with the same stuff


Freshened up these retaining rings with some new gloss black
 
#447 ·
Added the gas tank heat shield and installed the TSSFab subframe


Finished converting the hardlines to AN fittings and pressure tested them..


Before hooking up the lines coming from the tank itself.


Installed the fuel filler neck




Installed the Hard Race Lateral Links


TSSFab T Bar


Handbrake cables (White is Right)


And also the Ohlins coils and TSSFab trailing arms.
 
#448 ·
Drilling a hole in my freshly powder coated trailing arms was a bit of a butt puckering moment





But it was necessary to be able to install the ABS sensors without resorting to something ghetto like zip ties.



I made these little brackets to hold the rear part of the sensor up, such that it didnt touch the arm itself.




Then I started making more brackets to be able to hold up the handbrake cables - None of this is accounted for, the way the subframes come.

 
#449 ·
First off, beautiful work! Keep it up. Can I ask where you obtained new hardlines for the rear and the junction in the pic quote? I thought I confirmed these were discontinued... but perhaps some other aftermarket sources are available? I'm about to rip them all (most) out and replace.

On that note, I saw a year old (Jun21) request for an ABS module. Full disclosure the "What this fits" function on Subaru parts identifier does not include '01 RS (it's a 98 OBS wagon module).
I also have on my list to source a fuel hanger - if you have the stock as a spare you don't need, let me know. I have an 06 WRX tank and debating on Radium hanger or trying the stock first.
 
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