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Vicky: clsmooth's '00 BRP RS Coupe

60K views 403 replies 37 participants last post by  clsmooth 
#1 · (Edited)


Jump to the start of resto-mod here!

BIG special thanks to:
New Way Auto
Inertia Motorsports

Exterior
-Blue grill emblem w/ dual Hella Hi-Lo horns & 2.5RS trunk emblem
-DIY urethane front lip
-Clear turn signals, corner lights & side markers
-Opt7 LED headlights & foglights w/ ceramic connectors
-Autolumination LED lighting w/ "Braker" tail light bulbs & "chrome dome" turn signal bulbs
-Zola/RocketZ carbon fiber hood w/ High rise hood scoop & trunk
-PPG windshield w/ blue sun strip
-OEM sunroof deflector (pre-installed)
-OEM remote fuel door/trunk release conversion w/ JDM flat fuel door
-JDM tail lights w/ Daily Driven Garage gaskets
-JDM rear bumper spats & '07 STI lower diffuser

Interior
-Brushed aluminum dash kit w/ gauge bezel & DIY number plaque
-Blue Autolumination LED lighting
-OEM compass pack & Autometer Ultra-Lite boost, volt and oil pressure gauges
-'04 STI steering wheel w/ JDM variable wiper switch, blue STI key & Forester dual cup holder
-WRX black/aluminum pedal covers w/ Peugeot 206 deadpedal
-Kartboy short throw shifter & bushings (pre-installed) w/ STI piston titanium piston shift knob, black leather/blue stitching shift boot, handbrake boot & armrest cover
-Colour-matched ’14 BRZ front seats w/steel seat brackets & blue pin-striped OEM rear seat
-Blue denim cabin & trunk carpet w/ insulation-delete & liquid rubber-seal
-Rockville sound-deadened doors and trunk
-CompuSTAR keyless entry alarm
-Clarion NX602 head unit w/ video-handbrake bypass
-JBL GTO18T 1” w/ crossovers, JBL GTO626 6.5” 2-way & JBL GTO628 6.5” 2-way
-JBL Club-4505 5-channel amp w/ GTO1214D subwoofer in custom enclosure & relocated SVX trunk battery

Powertrain
Currently under construction ;)

Footwork
-Megan Racing Street coilovers
-JDM Legacy B4 rims w/ 215/40ZR17 BF Goodridge KDW tires & McGard blue lugs
-Whiteline 22mm sway bars & strut tower bars
-Megan Racing & Whiteline chassis bushings
-OEM 4-pot front calipers w/cross-drilled & slotted rotors, dust shield deletes, Russell braided lines & Hawk HPS pads
-Megan Racing rear trailing arms & adjustable rear control arms
-Whiteline rear subframe lock bolts
-Legacy rear calipers w/cross-drilled & slotted rotors, dust shield deletes, Russell braided lines & Hawk HPS pads
 

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#2 · (Edited)
I haven't posted in a while, I've taken the plates off my car to save some money while I get work done to it. Some of it seemed to happend all at once, and some of you might expect me to say it's cause of the previous owner again, so I won't officially say so! :D However, nothing "Subaru" about my car has failed.

Basically, what started as no boost lead to a burnt out wastegate (this is the 2nd HKS product to fail me). Followed by my revlimit becoming 5000 rpm, then 4500, then 4000, then just enough to keep speed in traffic in 5th, which the dying fuel pump is the cause.

So, I've decided to go ahead and fix all that properly. The turbo piping was of mild steel and wrapped in exhaust wrap and rusted to hell. The manual fuel riser thing under the hood killed to supposed Supra TT fuel pump (cause we should all mash Toyota parts into Subarus) Anyways, I'm in the collecting parts phase, all online and all new, and think I'm gettin stuff at a pretty good deal (except for flanges, they're not much cheaper).
My exhaust list:

- stainless T3 inlet flange and exhaust flange, and stainless deltagate flanges from Turbonetics (I got em straight from Turbonetics cause I'm not 100% sure what turbo I have, and didn't wanna get the wrong bolt pattern, especially for the inlet flange) $190 USD (couldn't find supplier locally)


- 3' of stainless 2.25" straight pipe and 2 u-bends, and 1' of 1 3/8" pipe and u-bend for cheap from Burns Stainless $170 USD (got quoted $500-$800 CAD locally)


- Tial 38mm wastegate for cheap off eBay $190 USD ($300-$350 CAD locally) came with small/green spring


- Tial small/red spring for cheap off eBay $20 CAD ($90 CAD locally)

- 4 stainless, 2.25" two bolt exhaust pipe flanges off eBay $130 USD ($250 CAD locally)

- 4 stainless O2 sensor bungs for cheap off eBay $18 USD ($80-$100 CAD locally)

- found a Magnaflow (of all things) hiflo, stainless cat off eBay for cheap $43 USD ($200-$300 CAD locally)



My fuel list:

- Sti pink injectors for cheap (at the time) off eBay $350 USD (though I've had em for a year now and never got around to putting them in :p NOT gonna ask Subaru for local price hehe)


- Walbro 255 gph fuel pump for cheap off eBay $75 USD ($300-$350 locally)

- eManage support kit (cable and software that was supposed to come with the car when I bought it but never did :rolleyes: ) for cheap off eBay $90 USD ($140 USD from Greddy)


I'm gonna be doing the work and a friend of mine is gonna be doing the welding. The car also needs a new windshield and alarm, but I'd like to have it all done for summer. Really wish the car didn't have to die, but oh well, I'm not minding now cause I can still get around on the scooter, so I'm saving a lot of money on insurance and gas hehe

As of right now, what's arrived is my injectors, eManage support kit, piping, flanges, wastegate and wastegate spring.

The 4 stainless, 2.25" two bolt exhaust pipe flanges showed up!
 
#6 ·
hey dude. seriosuely dont want to burst your bubble but be careful buying "authentic" parts like that tial thing off of ebay. i've read a few articles concerning fakes and even though they do work sometimes, their are a lot of documented failures of those babies.
 
#7 ·
bigwig711 said:
hey dude. seriosuely dont want to burst your bubble but be careful buying "authentic" parts like that tial thing off of ebay. i've read a few articles concerning fakes and even though they do work sometimes, their are a lot of documented failures of those babies.
Appreciate the heads up! This one looks really good, really good built and workmanship to it IMO. I guess we'll see once I get it back on the road hehe
 
#8 ·
Fuel pump is installed, and was gonna start the rest of the fuel parts under the hood, when I noticed I don't have an FPR, just some block-off/adapter thing.

Was informed to get an Aeromotive FPR which is now on it's way.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Passenger side injectors installed :p

Ran outta time before work to put the other side in. Wasn't that hard, just movin a bunch of stuff outta the way first. Other side looks like more stuff in the way...
Hardest part was figuring out how the "special seals" I ordered from subaruwrxparts.com to adapt these injectors into my engine. Turns out they're nothing more then 8 RS top injector seals *shakes head* that you just mash on each end of em.
 
#13 ·
Special seals my a$$. They're so stiff, that the act of getting them over the lip and into the groove on the injector breaks them. I get to take everything apart all over again to change them with factory ones...
 
#16 ·
Charged up the battery Friday night and got the car idling in the driveway! It was at a perfect 14.7 AFR, but at 20 psi of fuel pressure, cause I hadn't adjusted the regulator yet.

Let the car warmup, and started to increase fuel pressue, but I had to stop at 30 psi, cause AFR dropped down to 10. Even after playing with the eManage and cutting down the fuel by 70%, the best we were able to get was 10.4.

I reached the limit of the eManage and picked up a Link+ system that should do the trick.
 
#17 ·
I did a few things to the car the car's still off the road. I'm waiting for my Link+ system from speed_freak27 off NASIOC which is in Mississauga as of today.

Picked up the digital compass/air temp gauge from veightkiller off NASIOC a while back, and made an order from subaruwrxparts.com for its housing and a few other things while I was at it.


Also ordered new floor mats and shift boot as mine were starting to fall apart.


Also took advantage of the nice weather and recleared the hood in the backyard.
Before


After


Not bad for a backyard job. It's good enough for now although a few bugs stuck to the clear while it was drying... oh well, adds to the 'rally effect' I suppose.
 
#19 ·
Got the car running and idling very nicely on the Link+. Everything works as promised!

Got it idling at a nice 700 rpm or so at 14.7 afr... then ran outta gas LOL Compass/gauge pack also works as promised! Just needs to be calibrated.
 
#21 ·
Skully said:
you neeeed to clock that compressor housing so you get rid of that kink in your 90 degree elbow going to your intercooler. That is REALLY bad on air flow.

-Thomas
Oh, probably. I bought the car like that. Next on the list for the car is redoing the up and down pipe for the turbo underneath the car, get it running on that, and then redo the intake and charge piping on the top side. All in due time ;)
 
#23 · (Edited)
To get the car through the new AirCare test of 98+ vehicles, I had to convert back to the stock injectors and ECU. With the car not boosting right now, now's the perfect time.

(AirCare is my local emissions testing. All car's used to have to do a driving test on a dyno. Now, 98+ car's go through a scan using the OBD2 port under the dash. No codes, you pass, and are good for the next 2 years. The Link+ system appears to be OBD1 based and my scan tool could not connect. This will appear to be my bi-annual ritual.)

So I woke today and started workin on my car...

Did the injectors first cause they take more time. Manage to swap the originals back in, but not without dropping one between the engine and cross member and fishing it back out. With the exception of piping, the car was brought back to stock. In theory it should run, and sure enough it started right away and idled great!

Decided to get 2 days of insurance put on it and went down to Superstore down the hill from my house. Came back, stuck up the papers and pulled the car outta the garage for the first time in 8 months. Decided to take it easy at first to make sure everything was working. Putted down the alley, down the hill, all the way to Superstore. Couldn't go even if I wanted to cause of traffic. Get to the bottom of Rupert to turn right on Granville, give it gas and it just bogs and nearly stalls. I'm like, WTH?

Pull into the Superstore parking lot and try and rev the engine and it won't go past 2 000 rpm. Call a friend who says it sounds like it's really rich, and I might not have my FPR adjusted properly. I didn't have anything on me to adjust it, so... back up the hill I tried to go. Shook my way up Rupert at a speed slower then walking and the zig-zagged my way back up to my house. No engine light to whole time, just shook and moaned as if it were possesed.

Got it in the garage and started playing with the FPR. Any extreme didn't make a difference. Call back my friend who suggests to check a few things while he makes his way over.

Check one plug, black as midnight. Check all plugs, all black. My brother suggested to check the MAP. Found a few vague posts that suggested unplugging the first O2. Only thing I got from doing all that was an engine light. Thought the injectors might be sticky, but bros said I wouldn't be idling smoothly.

Friend comes by and I show him what the car does while he happens to be walking around it. He noticed there's next to no exhaust coming out the muffler; my cats might be clogged. (Yes, plural, previous owner couldn't pass AirCare, so installed 2 in-line cats.) Good thing he walked around though cause it's not something I would've been able to diagnose by myself.

Held a temp probe and by touch notice the front cat was quite hotter. The first cat was connected to the downpipe using a U-clamp. The 1st and 2nd cat were connected using another U-clamp, and the 2nd cat was bolted normally to the cat-back using spring bolts.

We agree to take out both cats as one. Ended up braking the front U-clamp off and the disconnected the back cat. Looked back up into the 2nd cat and the honeycomb looked fine. Couldn't get the 1st cat off the downpipe due to the crimp left by the U-clamp. Using a drill and a grinding disk, made a slit on one side of the pipe to relieve pressure off the crimp. After some pounding on the flange, both cats came out. Fired it up quickly with them out and it revved up to 5 000. I think we found the problem...

Looked down into the first cat to reveal hand-sized chunks of honey comb all over in the cat! Turned it down and these rocks of honey comb rolled out. Some of the element of the first cat melted to the element of the 2nd, so... both cats got hollowed out using a foot long masonary drill bit!

Put everything back together and fired up the car, and for the first time, sounded like a Subaru with an exhaust, ready to rally! Friend said I owed him a Big Mac so we went for a drive.

Wondered if the wastegate was burnt out as much as the cat, so under controlled conditions, gave it some gas to see if it'd boost and it snapped up to 3 psi before I could react and let go. Wastegate doesn't appear burnt but will be replaced as it's rusted to hell. But thankfully my worst fear in this whole project wasn't the case... THE TURBO'S NOT BLOWN! THE TURBO'S NOT BLOWN!!!!!!! hahaha

Going to have it put up on a hoist at my bros. work to fill a few pin holes found in the exhaust before attempting AirCare.
 
#24 · (Edited)
So Friday morning I wake up to head over to my bros shop in Abby the patch up the cats I couldn't get to fit back quite right. The slit I made left a 4 or 5 mm by 2 or 3 mm rectangular hole. I still can't go through AirCare with leaks and a drive out to Abby would certainly test that everything's working and build up enough data for AirCare.

It was the first "long" trip for the car in 8 months, so I took the Fraser Hwy on the way there, just in case. Ran great, though could smell some exhaust when at a red light. My throat was a lil dry by the time I got there. Put it up on the hoist and my bros was kinda enough to weld up the hole and double checked the whole exhaust for any leaks.

I asked if I'm ready for AirCare, but he wasn't sure (every car's different with its data collection), so he connected to his scan tool and all systems looked good. He said to go ahead and try AirCare cause I'm reading everything's fine.

I get to the AirCare in Abby (cause it's the only where I know where it is hehe) I got in and I'm asked to keep driving just past the dyno rollers. They unrolled a long cable with an OBD connector on it and I didn't have to hide in the booth cause they weren't driving it.

The turn on your ignition to see that your engine light comes on and works. They then turn it back off, connect, and actually start the car and have it idle while they're checking for codes. And probably to also make sure your engine light goes out when the car's running. No gas cap pressure test, but they still stick the mirror underneath to see you have a cat and any leaks.

I look up at the monitor to see 'Linking to vehicle', look away at another car, look back, and the test is done and I passed! Passed AirCare without a cat! LOL (and a fooled secondary O2).



Oh ya... here's what's left of the insides of both my cats...

 
#26 · (Edited)
Last night my friend came over and we reverted back to the STi injectors and Link+ ECU. Ran outta time to get insurance, so today I called in 'sick' and we went for a tunning run, but only after figuring out a good combination of injector seals on the third try.

At first the Link was very finicky and frustrating. After a day of driving around, figuring it out, and charging the laptop back up 3 or 4 times, we have it tuned across the power band, up to 5 psi.

On an interesting side note, a factory, cat-less 2.5 RS cruises at an EGT of 1300*F. We have the Link tuned slightly on the rich side so it'd idle, and now it cruises at 1150 - 1200*F, even under boost. Almost can't get it past 1200* anymore.

It's a bit older, but for the price it's a nice setup for the time being, but we've agreed that when I build up my $1 engine down the road, that I'll get something more refined.
 
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