[FryphaX]

Well here it is, my Bucket List Build. Ever since my brother (ChicksDigWagons) put together an OBS-T back in 2002 I've been telling myself I would build a 'GC' before I kicked the bucket.

I live near Marquette, MI which is home to some of the best backwoods roads and trails in the country. The Lake Superior Pro Rally is run about an hour north of me and the purpose of this build is pure rally. I'm not looking to tear up the streets, just get to the trail.

Basic run down of the build:

Engine:

EJ257 703 Casting Block
Big Power SOHC Heads ( See Post #3) - 8.96:1 Compression ratio
P&L Motorsports Race Application Oil Pump
VF28 Turbo - Now Forced Performance 71HTA!
JDM Spec C TGV-less Intake manifold
8mm Phenolic Spacers
2013 Sti TMIC
AVO One Piece inlet
Walbro 255
Perrin Top Feed Fuel Rail Kit.
Modded OEM Injectors 820cc

Exhaust:

Ported Version 6 STi manifold
Grimmspeed Ceramic Coated crosspipe
Homemade Flanged EWG up-pipe
Tial 38mm EWG
Invidia Downpipe
Invidia N1 Exhaust
All components Heat Wrapped/Sprayed


Misc. Performance:

Megasquirt MS3-Pro with DIYBOB connector
Innovate LC2 Wideband 02
Zerosports Intercooler Splitter
All Group N mounts/bushings -outrigger bushings
CX Racing Radiator with fans and shroud.
Home Brew Grounding Kit
110 Amp Alternator Swap
Whiteline Transmission crossmember bushings
Beatrush rear differential support
Cusco Rear Subframe Brace

Drivetrain:

MY00 WRX R/A Limited Transmission (4.44, Close Ratio) with DCCD and Helical front LSD (TY754VB1EA)
Whiteline Front shifter bushing
Group-N rear shifter bushing
New OEM late model shifter joint
R180 Plated 4.44 Rear Diff
Factory JDM V6 DCCD Controller (for now)

Brakes:

Subaru 4/2 Pots from MY00 WRX R/A Limited
ABS Delete
Grimmspeed master cylinder brace
03 WRX Master cylinder + proportioning valve

Suspension/Handling:

KYB AGXs
Group N Tophats
MY00 R/A Limited Springs
Aluminum Control Arms
Custom Aluminum front Sway bar endlinks
Audi a4 front endlinks in rear.
Whiteline Outrigger Bushings
Whiteline ALK
Subframe Lockdown Bolts
Solid Subframe Bushings
'dd Tuning' Fender Bracing
Whiteline Steering Rack Bushings
GC8 Carbon fiber Strut bar
Ebay Special rear Strut tower bar
19mm JDM Front Sway bar w/ Whiteline bushings
20mm JDM Rear Sway bar w/ Whiteline bushings




Tires/Wheels:

Tarmac/Travel - 17x8 +35 Speedline Twin 6 Spoke wearing TBD
Dirt Race/Rally - 15x6.5 Braid Winrace II wearing 195/60/15 Michelin Hard Compound Rally Tires
Winter/Ice Racing - 17x7 +35 Speedline ST2 6 Spokes wearing studded 235/45/17 Hankook i*Pike


Interior/Electronics:

V1/2 JDM STI Front and Rear Seats
Blue Type R limited shifter/stereo surround
JDM Version 6 Limited gauge cluster converted to MPH by G-ROM Cluster Flashing
Momo Prestige Mahogany/Leather Steering wheel
Nexus 7 Tablet for Audio/GPS/Shadowdash gauge display
Clarion EQS746 EQ/Line driver
Rockford Fosgate R300x4 Amplifier (75w x 4 RMS @ 2 ohm)
MTX Thunder 7500 10"
Optima Red top 35 series.


Exterior/Lighting:

Lots of Rust

FX-45 Projector retrofit
Smoked Tails
Hella 500 with DDM 55w HID retrofit
EYourLife 288w Quad Row 26" Light bar (24,000 Lumens!)
Rinolined Rear Quarters
1 1/4" Curt Trailer Hitch
JDM V6 Grill
Tree Fiddy bronze bumper stays
p1 Style Vent Scoops
Supertits Blobeye style hoodscoop
Legit RB5 Spoiler


Skid Plates/Protection
Rally Armor 3/8" Aluminum front skid
Custom 3/8" Aluminum transmission skid
1/4" High Density Polyethylene belly pan.
"PASS WITH CARE" road sign rear diff skid.

This is how she looked pretty much the day I got her.

And how she sits as of today (11/11/2016)

 

[FryphaX]

I picked up the car in November 2012 in Chicago while I was working in Indiana. Car had 142,000 miles, some pretty bad rocker rust and a stack of maintenance records 5" high.

Drove it back to Indiana and promptly changed the timing belt components in the parking lot of my hotel.

Took it home to Michigan and did Headgaskets and other seals/maintenance. I also added the mad tyte Pink six star badge as well.

On my next trip home I swapped out the stock struts for a set of KYB AGX's with Eibach springs and promptly loaded up my dog and headed for the Tail of the Dragon.

This is the how she rode with the AGXs, Eibach Sport Kit and new Winters. I didn't much like the performance or 'stance' the Eibachs gave me so they had to go.

I also swapped out my stock seats for something with some bolstering at some point in time.

The car pretty much stayed that way for a while, while I collected parts and planned out my build. Of course I did some minor stereo upgrades, rear strut bar, a 110amp alternator swap and general maintenance. Nothing all that exciting, but much, much more was soon to come!

 

[FryphaX]

The Drivetrain

After spending close to a year hunting for a driveline/motor swap I finally pulled the trigger on a MY00 JDM Type R/A package. Complete with Engine, Trans, Brakes, Suspension, ECU - Everything.

I mainly bought this for the drivetrain, I have other plans for my motor but this transmission had everything I was looking for. Plated rear diff, Helical front Diff, DCCD and 5 speeds.

Not two days later my buddy calls me up and says "I'm tired of my STI, I can't afford it anymore!" So I end up buying this guy. It's a 93L with a full 04 STI drivetrain and an 06 motor and dash swap.

And a week later

So now I have two complete powertrains. One from the 04/06 and one from the 2000 R/A. I sold the 6 speed swap with Brembos to my brother for most of what I paid for the whole swapped car. Sold him the EJ207 for half the cost of the R/A package and traded the 06 motor for a four wheeler.

This left me with the R/A 5 speed drivetrain and no motor. However I did end up with a lot of very nice parts from the swapped car for essentially free, Including a full Invidia exhaust, Intercooler, BOV, AOS, Aluminum radiator and other bits and pieces.

Why did I sell both of my motors you ask? I told you I had plans!

I bought some heads.

Full assymetrical port job
Staggered size Ferrea Valves with Super Alloy Exhaust
Delta Custom 1500HL Cams 212 duration at .050".496" Lift intake .425" exhaust
ASF Single Spring Kit good to 8300 rpm
Ti Retainers

FWIW Heads went [email protected] on 26 psi at 4800 ft.

 

[FryphaX]

Where it sits right now is in the garage awaiting final assembly. The entire drivetrain is in. Brakes are rebuilt, fresh fluid in the trans and everything. I had planned to drive it with the factory N/A motor before I did the turbo swap, however I ended up trading my motor for a Beautiful rust free 1995 Outback.

In the mean time I had a friend of mine make me some trick aluminum end links for a school project...

and a super cool RSTi badge.

So now she sits, motorless and awaiting assembly. I got hosed on a used shortblock so now I'm waiting on a new OEM shortblock to arrive so I can begin final assembly. I have to figure out the rest of the wiring for the MS3-Pro and then she should be on road!

Here is how she sits awaiting her motor.

And the parts hoarding continued....

 

[George.of.the.Jungle]

sub'd for potential awesomeness!

 

[FryphaX]

Since I started this build thread late in the game I'm just gonna use this as a photo dump of sorts.

Few random parts I've picked up:

FX-35 Projectors:

Zerosports Splitter:

Sti 'Genome' Strut bar:

SF5 Wheel:

Random Bits, EWG, Killer B pickup, Sensors, Pumps, Wideband, MS3-Pro:

Every fricken bolt for the engine, all OEM:

This explains why my bumper was floppy!

Just a few intake manifolds!

I also did the bugeye console swap with this 8 dollar shift boot,

And to give you an idea of how large these ports are on the heads:

Also my full Invidia Turbo back exhaust

And what is supposed to be a factory gauge housing, I can't much get it to fit very well though.

 

[FryphaX]

Updated post 1 with the basic rundown of the build.

 

[ChicksDigWagons]

This looks familiar!

 

[FryphaX]

This looks familiar!

Boy, when's the last time you posted on this forum!

 

[ChicksDigWagons]

Boy, when's the last time you posted on this forum!

Well that was my second post ever and I joined in November of 2002. So I'm guessing it's been a while.

 

[FryphaX]

1.8l of Fury!

 

[FryphaX]

Been getting a lot done the past couple days. Over the weekend I have:

Installed my rear subframe lockdown bolts.
Installed the Whiteline Outrigger Bushings.
Retrofitted my Hella 500's with HIDs from DDM tuning
Started to properly mount my Hellas in my bumper.
Install 'dd Tuning' fender braces.


I also did a lot of poking around and, problem solving and game plan formulating over the weekend. Hoping tomorrow will grant me the time to assemble my block and start thinking about getting the motor in the machine.

Had to Clearance the existing bracing a touch.

Access hole for the forward most portion of the fender braces.

Installed!

 

[FryphaX]

Pink stitches and implement paint rust stopper.

 

[George.of.the.Jungle]

never seen anyone leave the stock cowl bracing in place. most of us just remove it.

 

[FryphaX]

I figured it wasn't harming a thing and only took a couple minutes with a grinding disc to make them fit. No sense paying for stiffness just to remove a stiffener that is already in place!

Also if you look at the Ebay auctions for the stupid expensive Ultra Racing units they retain the factory bracing as well so I figured why the hell not.

 

[FryphaX]

A lot of continued progress, lot of wire wheel and implement paint but knocking out other things as well.

Here's my To-Do list as of right now.

Raw material for Hella 500 spacers. I got a ton of this at a great price as drops from a waterjet operation. This is 3/8" 6061 Aluminum.

One spacer in the process of cutting. Used a pretty ragged out hole saw for this so it wasn't the cleanest cut.

Started painting my core support.

Installed my Speedometer converter to switch my KpH cluster to MPH.

Hella 500 w/ DDM tuning HID installed.

It's the little things. Couldn't get this O2 sensor spacer out with hand tools a few months back. My Milwaukee M18 Impact did it in no time flat!

The rust never ends! This is my Sunroof channel.

 

[George.of.the.Jungle]

i need to see close ups of the HID's in the 500's.


also, do you have a more detailed pic/explanation of the kph to mph...mine is kph, and kinda annoying.

 

[FryphaX]

Just headed back out of town for work. What angle were you looking to see on the 500's?


I really don't have any pictures of the kph/mph conversion. I used an Ebay speedo converter that is as far as I can tell the same as the ones sold my IAP.

This is the converter I ended up buying: Subaru Impreza Legacy Speedo Convertor Delimiter Chip | eBay

Installation is super simple. I pulled the harness for the VSS right out of the car and just soldered everything up on the bench and wrapped it up. You just have to put the converter inline with the signal wire then provide power and ground by tapping into the existing positive and negative leads for the VSS.

Edit: This is the image I used as a guide for the wiring of the VSS signal converter.

Elite E0021 Subaru Impreza Km/h to MPH Speedo Converter

 

[George.of.the.Jungle]

straight on. up close.

and thanks for the link.

 

[FryphaX]

I'll have to take a shot for you when I get home next week. Doesn't look like I took anything like what you're looking for. I can say the bulb is quite close to the glass though!