[md00150028]

At first I wasn’t going to do this, but I’ve decided I might as well archive my progress for those who might be starting their modifications post-2020 and for those who are still active on the forums. I’ve owned my car now for nearly 15 years, and I am finally in a position financially that will allow me to modify and restore my beautiful (but needs work) RS. As a general note, here are the upgrades I have completed, those that are in progress, those that I have the parts for but haven’t started, and the parts I have my eyes on in the future. At the bottom of the thread, I'll leave a list of references that help me along the way.

I am a complete noob, so I have a feeling progress will likely be very slow. Luckily, I have a friend who is fairly proficient with cars and can help me with almost every job. Plus, this forum has sooo much information on it.

Here is my general plan for the car:

• Brakes (Completed!)
• Body Work/Repaint (Winter 2020, hopefully)
• Handling: suspension, mounts (TBD)
• Engine and HP (TBD)

Because I really find it helpful to know what people are putting on their cars (especially in 2020 where the options are a little less robust), I’ll leave a list of everything I do to the car with the links from where I purchased the part.

Complete​

Brakes

After a bunch of research on the forums, I decided to stick with OE parts instead of opting for a big brake kit of some form. Below are parts that went into the brake change.

• StopTech Sport Kit (Oakos) (StopTech Site)
  • Drilled/Slotted Rotors
  • Sport Pads
  • Stainless Steel Brake Lines
• Valvoline DOT 3/4 Brake Fluid (NAPA)
• Front Brake Brackets (NAPA)
• Caliper Pins (NAPA: Front/Rear)
• Front Bushings (NAPA)
• Front Dust Shields (NAPA)
• Pneumatic Bleeder (Harbor Freight)
• Por-15 Paint (Amazon):

Body Work (in progress)

Being a Northeastern car, it has the typical rust in the typical places. Luckily, my father runs a body shop, so I intend on fixing all the body work and repainting the entire car. This is HOPEFULLY a winter 2020 project. Without going into the details above, here is what I got, all from the dealership:

• Right Quarter Panel (51403FA310)
• Side Moldings (91069FA360NN, 91069FA370NN, 91069FA340NN, 91069FA350NN)
• Window Moldings (65023FA000, 65123FA000, 65123FA010)
• Both Fenders (57110FA040, 57110FA050)
• AWD Sticker (93081FA110)
• RS Badge (93081FA030)
• Subaru Emblem (93060FA010)
• Subaru Spoiler Sticker (J1210FS062)
• Might need to get the Subie Saver Rocker Panel…we’ll see when we get there

*please note: since I have not installed any of the parts listed above, I cannot verify that the part numbers are accurate.

Handling

• Rays TE07 Wheels (Wheels: 2810055310; Center Caps: ST288114S000)
  • Rays Volk Racing 17 Lug Nuts (Rally Sport Direct)
  • Rays Valve Stem Caps (Rally Sport Direct)
  • Yokohama Advan Fleva V701 Tires (Manufacturer Website, Installed by and purchased from OK 4WD)
• JDM 20mm GC Sway Bar (20450FA040)
  • Reinforced mounting bracket from later model (20540FE200)
  • Reinforced mounting bracket from later model (20540FE210)
  • Clamps (x2) (20466FE000)
  • Bolt/washer (x6) (901250075)
  • Nut (x2) (023808000)
  • Bushings (x2) (21047GA840)

Interior:

• Radio Panel (86225AA000)
• Compass Pack
• Shift Boot (92072FC000)
• Replica Floor Mats

References

1. Brakes: Upgrading to High-Performance Brakes
2. Cold Air Intake: $30 Dollar Ganzflow style eBay intake
3. Spoiler Stickers: 2.5RS stickers on wing? - NASIOC
4. Spoiler Stickers (image): 2.5 RS Spoiler Stickers
5. Window Pads: DIY: Repair window pads
6. Tire Tests by TireRack: Tirerack Research
7. Roof Molding Removal: Roof rack removal

Pictures
She's seen better days, but this is how it cosmetically looks after being a daily driver for almost 10 years (170k miles). Now, it is garage-kept and hasn't seen rain or snow in 5ish years.

 

[md00150028]

Brakes at start of job. Not that you want to see it, but I don't have pictures of the calipers because I wasn't intending on doing this journal from the start.

 

[md00150028]

Issues arose. As you can see from the picture, we broke the caliper pin as we tried to pull it out. Now you may be asking: why didn't you just heat up it instead of yanking at it like an animal? Good question. The answer is that we did try that. But, little did we know that it would build up so much pressure and would send the pin flying out like a bullet. My father wouldn't let me post the picture, but it cut his head open (superficially). I'm pretty sure that he would be dead if it hit him square in the head at the speed that it flew out of the hole. With that being said, we tried to pull it out like animals. We failed. And we bought two new brackets since the Universe was telling use the old equipment as a bad idea.

New Bracket: unpainted

 

[md00150028]

Painted brackets and caliper. Not perfect, but much better than before.

Rear Brakes Installed (will clean wheels later):

 

[jdmdominik]

Looking forward to follow your build. Good luck with the 1/4 panels. They tent to give more fight than what you plan.

 

[jkp]

Painted brackets and caliper. Not perfect, but much better than before.

View attachment 83158

Rear Brakes Installed (will clean wheels later):

View attachment 83159

Painted brackets and caliper. Not perfect, but much better than before.

View attachment 83158

Rear Brakes Installed (will clean wheels later):

View attachment 83159

Glad to see you saving this

 

[P.Gentilli]

That rust hurts my soul. Good on you for saving the car!

 

[md00150028]

The Harbor Freight Pneumatic Bleeder was not up for the challenge, so I needed to wait for a friend to help me bleed the brakes. The job is finally complete. Next upgrade is hopefully a set of wheels. Then, maybe the body work this summer. Then, engine. It looks like Rallispec here in NJ does good work, so they might be getting a call at some point as well.

 

[md00150028]

As stated before, I am a novice at best, and really, I need projects that are low-risk just to help increase my skill at working on cars. Some post came up suggesting this Honda Accord intake as a cold-air intake solution, and I figured, why not? For about $50 by the end of it, I added a part that probably adds .003 horsepower. But it's the experience that matters. The car sounds meaner in the upper RPM, and I had fun doing it. I'll hopefully come up with a better solution for the black 3" coupler, but until then, it's working just fine.

 

[md00150028]

Unfortunately, I've become aware of the Compass Pack, and I have called every junkyard in the United States that I was sure had one based on pictures. No luck. If I ever find one with the wires for a decent price, I think I want one just because it is so ridiculous. Until then, though, I finally removed the stock CD player which I kept in there when I installed the head unit. Now that I cut that 2.8 lbs (yes, I weighed it), I'm pretty sure I'll be beating V6 Mustangs on the drag strip. Jokes aside, at least the interior of my car looks decent, even if the exterior looks like trash. I'm thinking of maybe doing the airbag delete on the passenger side, and I might do a different steering wheel (though, I think it looks good stock). We'll see.

 

[mike-tracy]

PM'd you about the compass pack

 

[md00150028]

After an eBay deal gone wrong, I finally upgraded my wheels/tires by purchasing from someone on the forums (great guy). Rays TE07 with Yokohama Advan Fleva V701. (I felt like a child when I called to order these tires because of their name....). Weight save of 3.2 lbs a tire/wheel, so I am happy with that. Slowly shaving away that weight! Since I have owned this car, I've had "passenger" tires on it, so I am excited for both the weight reduction and the stickiness of a good set of UHP Summer tires.

Hopefully, I (and by I, I mean my father while I watch/help however I can) will do the body work and repaint the whole car this winter. We'll see what my job looks like given uncertain times. In the meantime, I could probably increase performance for relatively cheap by losing the 30lbs that I have added over the last 15 years...but I bet it will be easier to just move on to suspension, which will hopefully happen next summer.

Maybe the most amazing part of all of this is the tires that were on the stock 16's (Michelin Hydroedge) have about a quarter tread life left. For being close to 12 years old with 80k miles on them, I'd say I got a pretty good deal. If they weren't starting to slightly dry rot, I'd probably be comfortable putting another 20k on them.

 

[md00150028]

Day 1: Disassembly of Front End

The treasures you find! I'll look into bumper beam options in the coming days. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to chime in. Next step is taking apart the rear (maybe Friday?).

 

[md00150028]

Snow delayed taking apart the rear, but Santa did bring me a cool gift, though it was late because of Amazon Prime's "whenever we feel like sending out your package +2 days" shipping. Anyway, I think the dolly is definitely worth the $37. And the fiancee is thrilled I am keeping them in the basement rather than in the garage. (I joke, but she is very supportive of my insanity).

 

[Ricco]

Dolly is sweet.. Might have to snag one.

 

[GTBGUY]

md00150028 - Looking good buddy! Glad you're enjoying those TE07's

 

[md00150028]

I'm going to cry by the end of this. Couple my lack of mechanic skill with my horrible organizational skills, and this whole project is going to be a mess. I can't even imagine what my life is going to look like once I need to put this all back together. I'm being a little melodramatic about the crying thing, but I have a feeling my weakness are going to make this harder than it should be. It'll be all worth it when it is done.

Today's goal was to remove all the rear pieces and the pieces from the door. As you can see, that went well. The driver-side mirror is torqued to like 100,000 lbs, and a screw driver just isn't going to cut it. The one bolt on the black thing that needs to come off in order for the rear bumper to be taken off is so rusted that it's not coming off with the tools I have. The antennae thing didn't just pop off after I took the screws out, so I gave up on that for now until I research what the story is on that. My dad and I will probably work on it midway this week. Goal one is to get that bumper off.

After some research, I will probably replace both the front and rear bumper beams with the aluminum ones. I'm probably going to buy that antennae delete panel too.

 

[SoCoNoHa]

Dude, those mirror screws can be a bitch! Why they had to use Phillips heads I can't imagine...
I usually get the biggest baddest screw driver I can fit in the screw and get some pliers or a wrench on the shaft to help twist it. Brace yourself by pushing off the B pillar with the door open, and you should be able to press hard enough to keep the driver in the threads and not strip them.
Sometimes putting the driver in the fastener and then smacking the driver into it can help shock it loose. Use something hard for a good, sharp impact. Good luck, might have to drill them out anyway...

 

[md00150028]

Mirrors removed. My father brought a tool that I didn't see, hit it with a hammer, and then took them off as though they weren't stuck in the first place. Antenna removed (what a pain in the butt). Rear Bumper removed. Canister bracket fairly shot (I will most likely order a new one). Side moldings removed (only broke half the clips! Good thing I have 3/4 new). Rust under the molding is surprisingly just on the surface.

New "JDM" lightweight bumper beams. I say "JDM" in quotes because they have a USDM part number. Anyway, now I know that if I get in an accident that the car will be totaled! At least I will be going fractionally faster before it happens!

Next immediate step is trying to get that OEM subwoofer out from under the seat. It almost seems like it is glued to the rug...maybe velcro? I'll keep toying with it. Then, some clean up.

 

[md00150028]

Progress has been slow, considering I am at the mercy of help from my father. Today's conversation:

Me: so when are we working on this again? I want to get some work done during Spring Break.
Him: I have a list of stuff for you to pick up at the paint shop. I figured you would have gotten it by now.
Me: okay. So if you give me the list, I can get the stuff tomorrow?
Him: I need to make the list first.
Me: urg

Tonight, I spent far too much time removing the bumper beam from the bumper. I broke only like five or six of the clip things. And now my hands are bloody and my driveway is covered in rust lolz. Oh well.

"JDM" bumper beam is going to end up being a weight savings of 27.6 lbs, so not bad. That just about covers all the weight I gained since I got the car .

I also removed the OEM subwoofer. I honestly can't believe it was basically taped to the carpet.

If all goes well, I should make some progress on it this week. I'm also possibly going to a junkyard to pick up a sway bar from a 2002 WRX Sedan. We'll see how that goes.

Happy Easter everyone!