[elislider]

stock, the car was:
- $500, FWD 5mt, 1pot front brakes, rear drums, 4door, power windows/locks, PURPLE

elements done:
- JDM v3 STi (jhot), 4.44 FD 5mt, ecu, wiring, tmic, driveshaft
- AWD conversion (rear VLSD, xmember, axles, hubs)
- JDM black 4pot front brakes
- JDM v5/6 STi front seats
- JDM door cards and rear seats
- wrx front rotors
- AWD gas tank, usdm legacy turbo fuel pump
- tein flex coilovers
- ss brake lines
- notched NA front xmember
- wrx pedal box and wrx hydraulic clutch setup
- invidia catless downpipe, no-name axle back, custom midpipe
- engine running on stock JDM ecu and 92 octane V-Power, but I have a Apexi PowerFC Pro w/base map that needs a tune
- custom stuff here and there

needs:
- to be sold

original story: from day 1 i originally planned on a shop (NWSS) doing the work for me, but after realizing what it was gonna cost and after reading everything on the forusm, I figured i could probably just do it myself. I'm a full time student and during the main part of this swap I was working 3 part time jobs as well, so i was pretty busy and didnt have a lot of time, but i'm getting it done, one step at a time


Progress as of 10/01/08
- found a 93 impreza with power windows/locks (my 95 coupe has neither) for $600 so im changing cars for the swap.
- 93 impreza is gutted inside partly
- swapped gas tank over
- huge fiasco figuring out correct axles to use... *sigh*. rear end assembled now, just need agx suspension to get it bolted up and rolling again

Progress as of 10/09/08
- $400 kyb agx adjustables w/eibach springs
- $20 rear diff tbrace
- awd conversion done, rear agxs on

Progress as of 10/18/08
- old engine is OUT. silly 1.8L
- got the sti engine back at the house
- began looking at wiring. *headache*

Progress as of 10/22/08
- wiring going smoothly. gotta get tools to start soldering
- ss brake lines on
- group n engine mounts in the mail

Progress as of 11/8/08
- fixed the broken cam pulley and timing cover, timing belt back on
- got the clutch master cylinder and a catless bellmouth downpipe too

Progress as of 01/13/09
- front xmember notched
- uppipe shield and insulation removed. catless yo!
- engine in! after much headaching
- need custom power steering lines or something. thats 1 more headache
- need custom throttle cable or something. that the 2nd extra headache
- some stuff reconnected, like radiator and wiring

Progress as of 01/25/09
- uppipe on, turbo/up/downpipe gaskets replaced
- reconnected lines (except power steering)
- replaced all fluids. valvoline 10w40 (to help ej20k bearing spinning...?), redline trans 75w90, brake, hydro clutch, coolant
- using existing spark plugs and new coil wires
- threw dash back in (not secured) and gauge cluster
- started right up! even with old gas. will get premium 92 soon
- still need custom power steering lines and a special throttle cable like 02 wrx

Progress as of 01/31/09
- changed rear diff fluid
- did stainless brake lines in the rear and *tried* to bleed it myself
- forced the power steering lines on and then unknowingly overfilled it. it comes foaming out...
- put a couple gallons of VPower in the car
- jammed the throttle cable into the mount. still need a wrx one
- drove it! (barely)

Progress as of 02/03/09
- bumper, fenders, rs hood, rs headlights, rs grill -- all back on
- wrx throttle cable not any different! need to custom fab a bracket

Progress as of 02/13/09
- engine broke, siezed, timing belt ripped apart
- negotiated a replacement block from jhot

Progress as of 03/18/09
- got replacement block. its a v3 r/ra
- both engines apart (broken one and replacement)
- replaced some stuff on the new block (gaskets, pumps etc)

Progress as of 04/11/09
- got the replacement engine back together, back in, and fired up!
- no exhaust, barely runs

Progress as of 04/14/09
- got the replacement engine back together, back in, and fired up!
- at first didnt have an exhaust (loud) but got that fixed, and misc other things

Progress as of 04/17/09
- fixed the coolant gauge wiring
- did rear brake pads and bled the lines. have brakes that work now!

Progress as of 07/20/09
- hooked up PowerFC. Commander doesnt work (for a ej20g PFC)
- borrowed a datalogit and did a bit of monitoring and logging. got a long road ahead of me on this tuning business...
- washed the car for the first time ever!

Progress as of 02/22/10 (yeah, big gap in me updating this)
- replaced all the wheel hubs [new bearings] and it drives like a new car!
- got the PowerFC with a base map so i can log data
- hood has rusted over

Progress as of 03/20/10
- finally got the entire dash back in. a few rattles left that need to be sorted
- installed jdm sti pink rear pillowball lateral links
- got a wrx rear sway on the car finally! (fwd chassis didnt have one at all)
- replaced the shifter linkage bushing joint. what a PITA
- fixed the boost problem (from day 1)!! now running 15psi+

Progress as of 07/01/10
- threw on a 07 wrx shift knob since my leather one was really ratty and worn out
- fixed all the engine issues with something simple: new plugs. old ones were crap. car runs pretty damn good now
- start the clock until the engine blows! now that im running 16-17psi

progress as of 7/15/10
- spun a bearing at the drag strip! first time ever doing drags...
- car up on stands in my garage at my new place
- starting a build on a replacement shortblock

progress as of 8/23/10
- new shortblock, all forged internals
- jdm front bumper + beam
- new hood (no more rust, yay!)
- cusco underchassis h-brace
- depo blacked out headlights + corner lights
- zerosports maf exit pipe
- silicone turbo inlet pipe

progress as of 9/25/10
- broke a selector rod in the transission, tore it out to fix it
- jdm wrx split folding rear seats (kinda match my jdm sti fronts)
- will be lowering the coilovers a bit, putting on aluminum control arms, jdm rear bumper, and more

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A CURRENT PICTURE

 

[DvSkD4]

lets see your V4 championship seats!

 

[elislider]

updated first post

ill get some pics up soonishly

 

[Scobaru5]

you should update what you need I might have some spare parts laying around

 

[Jake]

good luck!

 

[elislider]

you should update what you need I might have some spare parts laying around

i just did. not much has changed in the last couple weeks because i havent had time to do much work on it. i have a week off from school coming up in 10 days so im gonna crank some stuff out at that time. i have wiring diagrams but could always use more, and i have a suspension lined up to get this weekend, but other than that i still need the other stuff listed

 

[elislider]

update: got suspension, awd conversion done!

and i know i need pics otherwise BORING thread i know i know sorry

 

[Jake]

how much of a pain was the conversion?

 

[elislider]

it was a pain in the ass for me, because i started with all the wrong parts, wrong crossmember, wrong axles, no tbrace, etc... it would be easiest if you had the whole rear end from a donor car. at least the chassis is the same so you just have to pop plugs out of the body and there the other bolt holes are!

 

[elislider]

update time

got the engine out. that was surprisingly fun.

then i started looking at the wiring. ugh what a headache. i was thinking i could swap most of the harness in and only have a splice a couple things. turns out so much of it is different and idk what the f*ck im doing hahaha. let the games begin

 

[96Imprezadent]

the wiring is not difficult if you know how to read wiring diagrams, just takes a bit to sort all out.

 

[elislider]

i was hoping to just swap in the wiring and not have to splice much but then i realized to what extent the harnesses are different because its RHD... so now i have to reassess

 

[elislider]

wiring is not quite as much of a headache as i thought. like ive been told many times, i just had to sit down and focus for at least a few hours in a row and just crank it out. i'm half done (i hope) with the harness after another 6 hours or so of just poking around and cutting and labeling. after im done i just have to solder it all together and drop the engine in... maybe done by this weekend?

 

[GShinji]

good luck elliot! looks like sean beat you to the punch and got his turbo'd first! (but yours is going to be fastar and it prolly won't blow up

John

 

[elislider]

ha ya ive ridden with him a bunch since he swapped, its fast! im only looking forward to him eating my dust haha. and hopefully i dont spin a bearing or whatever happens to the 20K's....

 

[GShinji]

you need to ride in mine if you think his is fast... haha

 

[Brydon]

Wish I was swapped! But come next month there should be a gang of swapped GC's in the PDX area.

I believe I met you at Dale's shop? Glad to see you are making good progress.

 

[elislider]

ive met you a couple times. first at Perrin a little while back, then at some other meets and carfreeks stuff. not sure if ive seen you at Dales shop but ive definitely been there plenty of times. im doing the swap out near dale, in the bethany area if u ever wanna come check it out

 

[elislider]

started mocking up the new harness locations, and ran out of electrical tape. gotta go get some of that plus heat shrink tubing and heat gun, and a quick wire stripper

 

[DvSkD4]

+14358789 if you keep the paint purple :lol: