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Bast's MY99 RS - Prodrive P1 Replica

374K views 2K replies 143 participants last post by  Bast 
#1 · (Edited)
About Me:
I've been browsing this forum for a bit and finally have a reason to create a journal. My name is Jess and I purchased the RS I wanted in July 2013. I had a couple opportunities to purchase a sedan RS, but I wanted to hold out for a coupe. Being that I lived in Oregon, the prices for RS' were laughable. While waiting for the right car I went through 4 other cars. I started with a 2003 Suzuki Aerio, to a 2003 VW GTI 20th Anniversary, to a 2005 Legacy GT Limited wagon (loved that beast, but it had a busted short block) and then to a 2000 Audi A4 Quattro. This was in a span of a year and half. :lol:

About the Car:
I purchased the RS from a Subaru 'specialist' dealer in Oregon in July 2013. They had completely overhauled the engine (new parts mentioned in post #2) when I picked it up at 124,500 miles with a 5-speed manual transmission and new tires. It had some blemishes (the rust spot I somehow missed until I got home) and a broken driver's side mirror. It came with the OBX axleback and OEM subwoofer, but any other addition has been added by me. All in all, I am completely happy with my purchase.

The main plan is to keep the car N/A and focus on cosmetic and chassis/suspension/brake upgrades. There will be no 'lowlife' or flares or widebody. It'll be something of a Prodrive P1 replica. I definitely want to update and refresh all the bushings and old OE parts; it really needs it... A possible far future plan would be to purchase a wrecked 05-07 STi and do a full USDM swap, but I'm in no considerable rush to do that.




Interior
  • JDM STi MT blue pedal set
  • JDM STi V5/6 front door cards
  • JDM WRX gray HVAC trim
  • JDM WRX gray shift trim
  • JDM Subaru red hazard button
  • OEM black coupe carpet
  • OEM Subaru barometer pack
  • LHD dash cubby
  • Prodrive P1 cluster
  • Prodrive P1 front seats
  • Prodrive P1 rear seat
  • Prodrive black 5MT shift knob
  • Prodrive floor mats
  • STi V9 steering wheel
  • GD all-weather mats
  • WRX wagon intermittent wiper stalk
  • Slate alcantara rear door trim inserts from Zealous Interiors
  • Shiba dog hairs

Audio & Lighting
  • Kenwood 6x9 rear speakers
  • OEM subwoofer
  • OEM trunk light
  • Prodrive P1 Hella spotlights
  • White LED map/dome lighting
  • White LED HVAC lighting
  • Natural White LED corner lights
  • Retrofit headlights (smushed)
= E46-R shrouds
= Morimoto Mini H1 7.0 projectors
= Morimoto XB35 ballasts
= MotoControl Bixenon harness
= 4500k bulbs

Exterior
  • JDM Subaru taillights
  • JDM Subaru clear corners
  • JDM Subaru front aeroguards
  • JDM Subaru rear aeroguards
  • JDM 22B OE hood vents
  • JDM STi V5/6 grille
  • JDM STi V5/6 rear bumper
  • JDM rear spats
  • JDM flat fuel door
  • EDM frosted bumper lights
  • Prodrive P1 OEM trunk badge
  • Prodrive P1 OEM fender badges
  • Prodrive P1 OEM spotlight covers
  • Prodrive P1 OEM spoiler
  • Prodrive P1 replica front splitter
  • Prova blue mirrors
  • Depo clear side markers
  • Depo glass headlights
  • Paint-matched side skirts
  • JDM rear wiper conversion - needs install

Engine & Exhaust
  • 04/05 EJ205
  • GD STi top mount
  • VF43
  • Killer B pickup
  • Paranoid Fabrications grounding kit
  • Grimmspeed catted downpipe
  • Grimmspeed EBCS
  • Grimmspeed TMIC Y-pipe kit
  • Grimmspeed black engine bay caps
  • TurboXS midpipe
  • Prodrive oval tip axleback
  • Kartboy exhaust hangers
  • DeatschWerks DW300 fuel pump

Chassis & Suspension
  • KYB AGX struts
  • Eibach 'Prodrive' P11L springs
  • Group N rear tophats
  • GT Spec fender braces
  • CUSCO lower rear subframe brace
  • CUSCO front strut bar
  • CUSCO front power brace
  • CUSCO pitch stop
  • CUSCO h-brace - need to install
  • Whiteline steering rack bushings
  • PERRIN front endlinks
  • Kartboy rear subframe locking bolts
  • COBB front shifter bushing
  • COBB rear shifter bushing
  • STi rear sway bar
  • STi trailing arms and lateral links
  • 2015 STi 13:1 steering rack
  • GD column and linkage
Brakes & Wheels
  • Winter: 205/55/16 Bridgestone Blizzak tires with OEM gold RS 5 spokes 16x7 +55
  • Summer: 225/45/17 Falken Azenis RT615K with Prodrive GC010e 17x7.5 +47
  • Muteki black lugnuts
  • USDM WRX 4-pots painted Titanium Blue
  • USDM WRX 2-pots painted Titanium Blue
  • Centric premium rotors
  • Stoptech street performance brake pads
  • Stoptech SS brake lines
  • Kartboy rear 2-pot adapters

Notes
  • Cluster swap #1: Mileage of stock RS cluster: 139,758mi / Mileage of V6 cluster: 167,948km
  • Cluster swap #2: Mileage of V6 cluster: 199,259km / Mileage of P1 cluster: 191,398km / Chassis mileage: 159,214mi
  • Actual mileage: 194,425 as of January 3rd, 2019
  • Rebuilt NA motor swapped in at 203,500mi December 2019. Rebuilt motor has anywhere from 30-50k miles.
  • EJ205 motor installed at approximately 219,800mi March 2022 with 30k-ish miles.

Parts Wanted
  • V5/6/Prodrive P1 rear doorcards
  • STi 6 speed
 

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#2 · (Edited)
Here's what the dealer replaced prior to my purchase (all repairs done at ~124,000 miles):

  • New OEM Subaru head gaskets
  • New OEM intake manifold gaskets
  • New OEM Subaru cam seals
  • New OEM thermostat
  • New OEM thermostat gasket
  • New OEM oil pump o-ring
  • New valve cover gaskets
  • New spark plug tube seals
  • New washer rocker grommets
  • New drive belts
  • New timing belt (OE Gates brand)
  • New spark plugs (NGK)
  • New oil and filter
  • New anitfreeze
  • New ACL rod bearings
  • New ACL main bearings
  • New piston ring set
  • Transmission flush with Redline

When I took it for a test drive, the driver's side amber corner light flew off. They replaced those with the depo black corners (yuck!). It had fading pin stripes, slight rust, a busted driver's side mirror and awful deflectors on the hood and moonroof. That said, it was a diamond in the rough and I had to have it.

 
#3 · (Edited)
Sorry for the huge photo dump; rearranging the journal.

Within the first couple weeks I swapped out the orange bumper lights and black corner lights. Also locally purchased a v6 grille and put that on.


Purchased brand new JDM tails from flatirons and installed. Totally changes the rear end!


Bought some 02-07 all-weather mats from work and gave my front seats to a buddy. Oddly enough, don't have photos of the 02 WRX seats I put in; but they're not in the best condition and everyone knows what they look like anyhow.


Went to some local PDX meets..



I'm not a big fan of the silver wheels on black, so I plasti-dipped the wheels. It looks "better," but you really can't beat powdercoating.


My boyfriend's GF8 and my RS make a great pair.


You can find his build here .. EDIT: GF8 is no longer ours. :(

A bit later I installed some basic RA mudflaps.


--------

That was a great 2 month span with little to no issues. Now come Friday the 13th and I wake up to this:


:unamused::unamused:
And the following Sunday.. Noticed the rear tire was flat.


There's been an alarming number of cases of peoples' cars being keyed and tires punctured on the sidewall all around Portland. I'm both peeved and thankful my car was the only one damaged on our street.

I dropped it off on at the auto body shop Wednesday for 4 -5 days of repair. A good $1,600 in damage and luckily insurance is taking care of it; including 4 new tires. For now, I've got a sweet 2013 Hyundai Sonata for a rental. :_sure:
 
#1,955 ·
Sorry for the huge photo dump; rearranging the journal.

Within the first couple weeks I swapped out the orange bumper lights and black corner lights. Also locally purchased a v6 grille and put that on.


Purchased brand new JDM tails from flatirons and installed. Totally changes the rear end!


Bought some 02-07 all-weather mats from work and gave my front seats to a buddy. Oddly enough, don't have photos of the 02 WRX seats I put in; but they're not in the best condition and everyone knows what they look like anyhow.


Went to some local PDX meets..



I'm not a big fan of the silver wheels on black, so I plasti-dipped the wheels. It looks "better," but you really can't beat powdercoating.


My boyfriend's GF8 and my RS make a great pair.


You can find his build here .. EDIT: GF8 is no longer ours. :(

A bit later I installed some basic RA mudflaps.


--------

That was a great 2 month span with little to no issues. Now come Friday the 13th and I wake up to this:


😒😒
And the following Sunday.. Noticed the rear tire was flat.


There's been an alarming number of cases of peoples' cars being keyed and tires punctured on the sidewall all around Portland. I'm both peeved and thankful my car was the only one damaged on our street.

I dropped it off on at the auto body shop Wednesday for 4 -5 days of repair. A good $1,600 in damage and luckily insurance is taking care of it; including 4 new tires. For now, I've got a sweet 2013 Hyundai Sonata for a rental. :_sure:
That’s a badass car!
 
#8 · (Edited)
Picked her up yesterday after class. I have rather mixed feelings about it -- They didn't do a great job on painting the hood. There's little pock marks where they repainted. In any case, the hood has hail damage so I've considered replacing it anyway.. I also asked them not to redo the pin striping, but they decided to do it despite my request. What really got me, was the overall mess made in my engine bay. I'm not very knowledgeable on body shop etiquette, but I would imagine you clean up after the work is finished? In any case, I was disappointed by all the white dust in what was once a clean bay. There's also caked white material in my hood vents. :facepalm:

They also called me retarded for requesting all new tires when only one was punctured. Great customer service?



The good news is, along with fixing the key marks, they repaired the dent on the front of the hood and realigned my driver door so it actually sits flush.

Also, a buddy sent me these:

Trying to decide between the KYB AGX or Excel-G struts. This car is mainly DD, no autoX or heavily spirited driving. The cost savings in the Excels is nice. Either way, I've got time to decide while I recoup some money.
 
#10 ·
Taillights are finally sealed with no leaks into my trunk (yay!). But, I think my starter finally took a dump.

I've been having intermittent starting issues where it'll crank but not start right away. It's every time I start the car and worse when it's short trips. Came home from work today and shut it off to run inside for some keys; go back outside and she won't start. Cranks once and silence. I'm hoping it's just the starter. I should have a replacement soon.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Thank you! Definitely have plans to paint the grille, but I'll probably wait til I have more parts (rear bumper, wing, etc) so they can all go in at once. As to tires, insurance replaced what was already on it; 205-55R Kumho Solus'.

This rs is so clean! i would love to see it in person someday. Nice mods too, its so fun at the beginning when you get your car and you do small mods, it makes the biggest difference.

Sorry about your car getting keyed, id be really pissed.
Thanks! I'd be down to get a meet together. The first few mods are certainly the fun ones. I'm antsy to get the springs on and a new interior.

Car looks amazing. Love the clears. Keep us updated!!
Thank you; I'm a big fan of the clears too! Although, wish I had waited for the JDM ones. Oh well :)
 
#19 · (Edited)
KYB Excel-G struts are on the way and I'll probably order some Group N top hats from work.

I've reduced my hours at work to part time so that I can actually focus on school. I'm both happy and bummed about this; I'll do better in school, but won't have money to buy parts, haha.
 
#25 · (Edited)
Finally got the suspension put on after waiting for more parts. I ordered all new nuts, bolts and washers and it took awhile for them all the come in. I wish I could take credit for the install, but my boyfriend put it all on while I was at work (KYB Excel-Gs, v5 STi springs & Group N tophats):


I'm very satisfied with the ride now! Although, I definitely need some upgraded sway bars. I got the driver side pin striping off the car too. It was fairly easy, as it was just reinstalled by the body shop (looks so much better without it!) Haven't done the other side.. as it's been on there since 99. :facepalm:

I also took my spare badge off the stock grille to paint. Can't really decide on a color though. The Grimmspeed Cherry Blossom Red doesn't look like the right pink to me..


Oh, small difference.. but replaced the DEPOs with JDM. :) (note the still remaining pin stripe :bonk: )
 
#26 ·
Is that pin stripe under a clear coat or something? Back when we bought our 08 it had that gawd awful pin-striping. Took a razor to get the tip off and took it off myself. A little buff to get rid of the residual lines and she was good to go! Beautiful car by the way. :clap:
 
#28 · (Edited)
Crappy photos, but I got a detail and removed all the pin striping; just in time for the rain to start. Even so, it looks much better! Now I just need to get my scoop repainted, and the grille and side skirts.. Maybe my work can give me a discounted service. I will have to ask..

Better photos will be taken as soon as I'm not at work.


 
#30 ·
:lol:

Driving to work this morning my CEL started flashing. The music was rather loud so I didn't hear anything, but nothing felt abnormal either. I coasted off the highway and stopped a red light. Once stopped (idle felt perfect too) the CEL magically stopped??

I work at a Subaru dealer so I took it to service and they couldn't find any codes. I know the spark plugs were changed roughly 5k ago, but the coilpack is unknown. I'll just keep an eye on things.
 
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