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Rowdy burnouts and loud noises: The Big Turbo LSX/RS swap project

330K views 2K replies 91 participants last post by  Ted 
#1 · (Edited)
I bought my first car on July 18, 2011 after looking for an RS for about a year. My mom actually found it and as soon as i found it and saw that it was blue i had to have it. It was 2 hours away from where I lived and i didn't have my license so my Dad and I had to trailer it home. Here is what it looked like when i got it:


(sorry for the bad pic it was raining out) For right now it's staying the way i got it but eventually it will change.



Current pictures of it:























Plans:
Want
Have

Engine / Performance:
5.3 Iron block LM7
Callies Crank
6.125" Diamond Rods
Wiesco Pistons
Ported 243/ls6 heads or afr 225s
Hi Ram style intake
Custom turbo manifolds
Borgwarner s496
Custom A/W cooler


Fuel:

Custom 20 gallon split tank fuel cell
Custom aluminum surge tank
Walbro 255 surge feed
Dual Bosch 044's for main feed
-10/12 AN feed
-8/10 AN return

Management:

Megasquirt V3
Custom Mil spec twisted harness with bulkhead connectors

Exterior / Aesthetics

Fiberglass front fenders
Rear overs
Custom sideskirts
M3 Evo adjustable carbon wing

V2 STI bugeye lip
Custom diffuser
Door molding/antenna delete

Scoop delete/hood vent

Interior Comfort/ Engine Monitoring
Gutted interior
Tube floor
Custom Tunnel
Fiberglass dash
Bride Vios III's
Dash mounted tablet for gauge monitoring
Bluetooth accessories
Floor mounted pedal box



Suspension / Driveline
ISC N1 coils
ISC coil covers
06 STI Spec C hubs/knuckles
Brembos or big brake equivalent
2015 STI "quick" rack

IRS 8.8 rear diff
BW t56

DSS Axles
DSS driveshaft
DSS STI 05+ rear hubs
Custom trailing arms and lateral links

Front subframe
Motor mounts
Transmission mount

Rear Subframe
Bumpsteer corrected front knuckles
Heim converted outer tie rods



Miscellaneous
Full cage
Tube front
Shaved bay
Smokey burnouts

Pissed off Purists

Table of contents:

  • OBD2 Repin:http://www.rs25.com/forums/f145/312...www.rs25.com/forums/f145/3172335-post692.html











 

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#7 ·
Update

Started fixing the rear quarter panels which were bubbling through. Also in the process of taking off the rear bumper I found that the bumper beam is pretty much gone. So i have to get a new one of those. If anyone has a completely rust free one that is local PM me. Also when i took out the rear lights there was what seemed like industrial strength, black sticky glue holding the lights in. Does anyone know what this is and if they do, do you need to put it back on the lights when i put them back in?
 
#8 ·
Update

So yesterday my Dad and I finished off sanding the quarter panels and there almost ready for paint. The process took forever but I think they came out pretty good considering it's my first time ever doing bodywork. Here's a couple before and after pictures.

Before: Left Side




After: Left Side




Before: Right Side







After: Right Side




I hope to get it painted either this weekend or the next one depending on if my Dad is getting a new motor for his car. (If anyone is wondering, his is the one under the white cover in post #1. Anyone want to take a guess what it is??)
 
#9 · (Edited)
Update

So last week my Dad and I finally finished sanding and we taped the car off then painted it. Here's what it came out on one side. The other side came out really good too i just didn't take a picture of it.




Once we finished wet-sanding and buffing to blend the paint We moved on to tackle the bumper beam. It started out fine i got three out of four bolts then ran into a slight problem with the exhaust hanger which was blocking the fourth bolt. I took the impact wrench to the exhaust hanger, got that off, and got the fourth bolt out. Later on that night i looked up how to get the beam off and read on the "o so wonderful RS25 forums" that there were more bolts. So that brings me to today. My dad and I were going right along and got to the last bolt. When he was unbolting the bolt, the nut on the inside of the frame rail decided to break and just spin when you tried to unbolt it. So we tried to a bunch of different thing and finally decided to just cut it off with the torches. Here is my Dad cutting it off.




Once we cut the beam off the nut that was broken off was still stuck inside so we torched the nut and pulled the last piece out.






And one last random picture for those of you that just look at the pictures!!

 
#10 · (Edited)
Back on the Road!

So last Wednesday my rear bumper beam finally showed up in the mail. To my surprise it was a genuine Subaru part not an aftermarket one that i thought i had ordered.



Here is what is my car looked like with no bumper beam.



This is what the beam looked like when i took it out of the box.



The beam and bumper went on really easy after that. The only trouble was trying to find the little plastic clips that hold the bumper skin onto the beam. Napa ran out the ones I needed so i had to wait an extra day for them to order more. My Dad and i got the whole rear bumper exhaust and trunk all put back together in a little over to hours just in time to take it for a cruise to dinner.:cool:


This past weekend i put my Cobb short throw shifter and knob in which was a pretty easy install except for when i had to pull the stock shifter out. Once i got the shifter in I took it out for a test drive. When i shifted it had a more race car like feel and the throw was a lot shorter. I noticed that 2nd and 4th gear were a little too short but didn't really think anything of it. Later that night when i took it to dinner i would shift into 2nd then it would just slide back into neutral. So i drove it to dinner with no 2nd gear which is always fun.
I tore it all apart again and decided that the rubber gasket was getting squished between the body and shifter. After burning out my Dad's dremal tool trying to trim the body i figured out that all i need to do was raise the shifter a bit and it was perfect. Lesson learned there!:blol:
 
#15 ·
Thanks it took my Dad and i forever to do it but now you can't even tell that it's been painted. Not to bad considering that's the first time I've ever touch bondo!
 
#21 · (Edited)
Shift boot

When if first got the car the shifter and shift boot were really worn out. I fixed the shifter with a Cobb short throw one and left the stock shift boot.



As you can see it wasn't the prettiest thing in the world. So i looked around on the internet for a while and couldn't find one that i really liked so decided to make one. This is how it started -



The fabric is some heavy duty stuff that was pretty cheap. I got two square yards for $4.92. This is what it came out like -



My mom did all the sewing because if i had done it it wouldn't have come out nearly as good. Making it was pretty easy and the hardest part was making it the right height.
 
#22 ·
Haven't really done much lately just driving around and such. I did manage to leave three nice burn marks on my grandparents driveway while i was experimenting with AWD starts.:projectsti.com: I had never done a "drag race" start so I thought would be a better idea to try it on dirt before road.
 
#23 ·
Update!! I was at my grandparent's motocross track on Sunday and decided to park on in the field on a hill. Not my best idea because when I backed up I ran over my dragging mudflap and tore it off.:facepalm: Luckily the bumper was damaged. I can't say the same about the mudflap though. Anyways since i haven't been cleared by the doctors to ride i took some pictures instead.







 
#24 ·
Haven't updated in a while but i made some progress. I bought a V5 wing from gc great right before summer break. I finally finished sanding it yesterday and i just barely mounted it a few minutes ago. Mounting it was a pain because the previous owner screwed up the holes. They had an L trunk on it with self-tapping wood screws holding on the sedan wing :facepalm:. Now it's on straight and ready for paint. I will post pictures tommorow because it's too dark to get a good picture.
 
#25 ·
Not really a big update but my alternator decided to quit so have to shell out $140 that I don't have to get a new one.:mad:
Now for the exciting news! My dad gave me a Ford 302 long block from his old 88 Saleen. So now I want to swap it into my RS.. Anyone have suggestions??
 
#30 ·
let me try that again lol


I recommended him going with a turbo swap since the HP would be similar to a milidy build 302.

I mean if he could do a ford 302 swap into a gc I am sure he has the funds and ability to do a turbo swap.
 
#33 ·
The reason i was thinking the 302 for a swap is for torque. I recently got to drive a 2011 WRX and it was a blast to drive, once you hit boost. It felt very sluggish until boost and the suspension was terrible compared to my RS. My dad is currently building a 302 (well now a 306) for his 85 Saleen which is on the first page. He's going to be making well over 500 to the wheels for around 3 grand. I can't even get a full STI swap for that kind of money.
 
#34 · (Edited)
Well now that the summers over i have some updates for you guys. First off I blew a tire so i just had to shell out $600 for 4 new tires.:curse:

Second i finally painted my V5 wing so now i don't look mismatched anymore. :banana:



Since this is my junior year in HS i finally get to take auto. So last week I had my car up on the lift inspecting it and come to find out I have KYB GR2s in the back and Pink gc8 sti struts in the front. Both have the sti springs. I always wondered why it handled so well!
 
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