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Mike's 95 STI Type RA -> 95 L Coupe! We're going hybrid CDB.

38K views 181 replies 22 participants last post by  Vanna_White 
#1 · (Edited)
Sitting here in the airport so I figured I'd throw up what pictures I have and start a long build thread. This will be composed mostly of my work done while in Japan to my Ver 2 STI Type RA and eventually, hopefully, turn into my stateside build when I get orders back next year. So feel free to comment or browse as you please. This is as much for me as it is for you all.



How it sat the day I got it. 1995 Ver 2 STI Type RA. It was bone stock with the exception of a no name axle back muffler and some old sound system wiring.




Sold this roach to make the purchase of the STI.




Eventually I started to add bits to it as I sold off old GTR parts. Picked up a set of JDM OEM option wheels, RE B51's similar to RS Zero's. And some Rally Armor mud flaps.





Picked up a set of Brembo's from a buddy and started the slow process to acquire the parts I needed to slap them on.





First I picked up a set of TE37's to clear the Brembo's. 17x8 +38 with Dunlop Direzza rubber shipped from mainland.





Started getting random parts from various venders. SS lines to update the tires stock lines. Generic drilled/slotted rotors to hold me over. For the rear I had researched and decided not to go with the R180 swap and ended up ordering a dogbone bracket and oversized shoes to slap the rear onto the stock R160.





Headache after headache with getting the brackets from England led me to ditch the idea and go R180 swap. Picked up a rear crossmember with hubs, half shafts, crossmember, etc from a GDA bugeye STI. Picked up a clean R180 with a 3.9 FD and Cusco RS 1.5/2 way differential installed. Not too bad of an install, but def more work than the brackets. Worth every penny in my opinion though.





A long day with the much appreciated help of some friends and fellow enthusiasts had my brakes on and my ride sitting pretty. All that was left was the Flatouts suspension C57i V2 to arrive. Unfortunately international shipping took a while and I couldn't pass up a free day to wait any longer. Ended up installing the coil overs a few weekends later.





Quick easy swap and that's basically how I'm rolling around. Got a quick lesson in rolling fenders and knocked that out too so no more rub.





Buddies Type R we did the same day.





And basically how she sits today. Been off island so I'll have the alignment done and dialed in this week and then on to the next set of mods. Not sure where to go next, but I'm sure something will fall into my lap.





Thanks for the look.

Mike
 

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#36 ·
Fixed the broken sway bar end link with one off a legacy B4 from a junkyard. I'll upgrade to aftermarket pieces eventually, but for the time being the $8 takeoff will suffice.

Received my beatrush map box today. No real necessity here, I just really wanted it and kept seeing it pop up for sale online. Happy with it and will install it soon.





That's all for today.
 
#37 ·
Managed to finally get some "track time" today. Participated in a local HPDE and finally got to put all these upgrades through the ringer. This was my first ever Auto X type event but by far the funniest thing I've ever done. The car handled amazingly and I was happy with my performance.

I did decide that I do not like the Dunlop Direzza's that came on my wheels. While they've suited me just well on the mountains, they really fell short today. By the 4th run, they were barely holding on, I had tons of under steer, and the rear end broke loose way more then I would have liked. This goes to reinforce how important good, sticky tires really are.

Anyways, here's a couple photos and a clip from my second run. I got lost on my first run of the day haha. So we can just dismiss that one.



RCCA 20160213 - YouTube
 
#40 ·
So after the event over the weekend my car began to run like crap. Sputtering and what not. Cleaned the MAF and swapped the plugs. The plugs I pulled showed no signs of fouling, but I swapped them since I was already that deep into it. The coil packs, however, were in subpar shape. 3 of the 4 were cracked and when I removed the boots on the end they crumbled. I attributed the poor conditions to this, hopefully.

Did the new age coil conversion on my EJ20G with the exception of the last bit of removing the stock igniter and splicing those wires together. It's dark now and the weather isn't super awesome so I won't be doing electrical work without any cover. It can wait until the morning. The conversion was straightforward with the help of a buddies YouTube video showing step by step. Here's some before and after pics.





Hopefully this is the solution to my problem.
 
#41 ·
Mike's 95 STI Type RA (Pic Heavy)

Update on the conversion, installed the new packs and spliced out the existing igniter. Pretty simple job, however, wiring does make me a little stressed. Had some hiccups during the cleanup portion as my turbo timer was causing the car to do weird things (operating without the keys installed; had to stall out the car to get it to turn off so I could trouble shoot). I'm assuming at least, once I disconnected it, the car ran fine and I haven't had issues since.



Would highly recommend this mod for EJ20G owners. Simple, parts are readily available, and it feels like the car runs better then it ever has. You could attribute at to cracked coil packs bringing me down the entire time.
 
#42 ·
Mike's 95 STI Type RA (Pic Heavy)

No significant updates. Been battling some sort of sensor issue that is causing the car to run like garbage until it gets to operating temps. Some google searching has narrowed it down to basically any engine sensor as they all therm to have the same symptoms. So that's been fun to troubleshoot. Anywho, stock down pipe is going back on tomorrow to fix or rule out a bad oxygen sensor. Then I'll be off island for a bit so even more thread down time.

I'm about 4-5 months away from stripping and boxing up the car so I don't plan on doing much in that time frame aside from just driving and enjoying my last bit of time with Jane (the car, yes I named it). So until then expect only glamour shots and maybe some updates on the sensors until tear down time comes.

And on that note...



Photos credit of @boostedimporter on IG. I don't have any talent beyond my iPotato.
 
#46 ·
Swapped the HKS down pipe for the stock one to ops check the o2 sensor. Cars seems to be back to her good ol' self, so right now I'm ruling that as the problem. The DP had only been on the car since the 6 speed swap and I'm guessing the flogging at autocross finally killed it. We shall see if the problem resurfaces. I did change MAF's, TPS, and was going to swap crank sensors had the o2 sensor not been the case.

Def going to look into that coolant bypass thread though. Who knows, might be something worth doing. I did pick up a metal coolant resi from a buddy of a 205 so possibly in conjunction with that.
 
#49 ·
So I'm about two months from a teardown so I've just been enjoying the car. Did a nice drive/poker run this weekend. Talked one of my photographer buddies into tagging along so he got some good shots of a majority of the cars. My boy Josh threw this edit together of the highlights. It was a gorgeous day and some even more beautiful roads to drive.

I'm going to miss this island.


And the video edit.
https://youtu.be/uCR-D6gtsTQ


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#51 ·
Haven't started tear down on my car yet, but I helped a buddy dismantle his V8 today. Ended up taking the 207 home with me. So now I have two drive trains, the EJ20G and DCCD 5 speed from the type RA and the EJ207 and the DCCD 6 speed from the V8. Now to decide what I want to do with it all... But that's for another day. Turns out I'm Georgia bound end of September, so I'll have a whole new group of people to try and coax into helping me.

Pics from today:



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#53 ·
Probably not any updates for a while. Stripped the car yesterday for parts shipping. Bittersweet day, but it's all for a good cause. Sold the EJ20G to a buddy locally, so just the 207 and the 6MT and 5MT will be coming home with me. Here's some pics of the tear down? I guess.

Also, I'll have a real nice "going away" video a buddy of mine is throwing together for me and his portfolio. So that'll be posted here within a week or two.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#55 ·
That's what people keep telling me, but honestly I just don't care about pulling parts to make money. And I was beat at the end of the day, i just wanted to get what I needed for my stateside build and roll her outside. I tried selling a wing a while back and got 0 bites. So I wasn't going to pull this one too. Traded it for a can of beer to a buddy who needed a temp trunk lid for some body work.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#57 ·
Mike's 95 STI Type RA (Pic Heavy)

A good buddy of mine got some new video equipment and threw this together for me. He did an amazing job and it made for a great "going away present" for the car. Like I said, posts will be minimal until the parts make it to the land of the free home of the 25 year import rule.

Unless I find some sweet parts before then...

So, enjoy! Like, and see his other work for some hot JDM goodness. A rocket bunny S13 and a R34 VSpec are on the list of cars soon to be shot. Vinetti on the Facebook and Instagram!

JDM RHD STI Type RA Feature Video - YouTube


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