Well.. I can't get the '98 to stop barfing up coolant - from everything I have read it sounds like BHG though I don't get how it was driving around fine (I put almost 200 miles on it without a problem before swapping out the coolant).

This has led me to the decision to ask my friend if he wouldn't mind basically undoing everything I have done over the past 10 months and swapping the '98. I like the '98 better, and ultimately would rather have just one car.

Funny thing is, with as many miscellaneous things I had not figured out and the fact that the original car was a '98, I think this might be easier in the long run.

If I go through with this madness, my '95 coupe shell might just be the answer for you. You could make it look like a '99-'01 easy enough, and I have I believe the entire interior, as well as the '95 interior still (minus seats). If you wanted the car, you would get it on junk '04 WRX wheels, JDM springs/struts, minus obviously the drivetrain, the front bumper and driver's fender (got it, but it looks like ***). Could be with JDM STi front control arms. Again, it's clean title and in fairly good shape. Would that be worth $700? I mean, that's a crapload less than a running coupe. You would need to find a way to come get it is all.

As far as wiring, you could use the '98 harness from the black car, and all the '98 parts I was going to use anyway and basically treat the '95 as a '98 - send in the harnesses to iWire.

 

Well, there's no turning back now... We're swapping the '98. The '95 just went to the shop, and will be torn down over the next week or so. Then the '98 will go in the shop to get the EJ25 and 4EAT yanked out, and the madness begins all over again.

So I will have a '95 L coupe body sitting on JDM V5 or V6 springs/struts with a '98 dash, HVAC, and '01 coupe black checkered interior among other bits and pieces ready to go. The shop said they want me to keep the coupe body around until the '98 is done just in case we forgot anything.

Phew. Ch-ch-ch-changes!!!!!!

At the end of the day, I am really excited about this turn of events, and I will like the outcome of these choices a lot more.

 

AWESOME!! It sounds like this will work out way easier for you in the long run. I may be interested in the 98 auto tranny as well. The one in my L is slipping.

Definately interested. Have to catch up on some stuff (long night) but I will return your PMs in a little bit.

 

PS: clean out your inbox

 

So you're just in need of a shell?

 

DOH! Cleaner now.

The opposite. I will have a clean title '95 L coupe roller available soon since I am swapping my '98 coupe instead.

 

Did you say you might have extra front control arms? Are they the aluminum JDM ones? Want to swap those for my OEM ones before you get rid of that car?

Sounds like you're on the right track now. Can't wait to see the finished project!

-Brian

 

lol dont even get jacob stared about what he had to go through to find and then install his GC aluminum LCAs, and to answer that question for him, NO hes isnt going to get rid of them

 

when did you get a 98 impreza??? must have missed it all.

u got my email of su's info?

 

he picked up mine last month

https://www.i-club.com/forums/showth...highlight=1998

 

Yowzers! I didn't know it was such a touchy subject I just figured that if they were going to be headed off with a rolling chassis that I might be able to put them to better use...and score some nice control arms for a decent price Oh well, on to bigger and better things!

-Brian

 

This car has stock steel control arms on it. I do have a spare pair of JDM GC8 STi front control arms that I spent a long time searching for and paid around $350 for though. They look like brand new and have good ball-joints on them.

 

Haha yeah probably end up hanging these ones on a wall before making anyone a killer deal on them. Sorry about how that sounds. They were expensive, and it was a pain in the *** to get them. I believe this is pretty much par for the course for these.

Yep - thanks! I talked to him a bit and went and checked out the all-trac but it was waaaay tired, and insurance for the all-trac is about 2x what the Impreza is for me for the year. Plus, it's really a bad choice for a daily driver... Just had thought I found a gem there.

Looks like a member may be picking up my green car. Would be so awesome to see it get swapped after all!!

If you want to get a set of these arms, your best bet is to just keep your eyes peeled for a set you can get cheap and recondition yourself. Then, you end up with a "brand new" part and you know it's in good shape since you did it yourself. Keep in mind there are at least 3 different versions of these arms!

 

What's the difference between the three different versions? I assume they cannot be used interchangeably by your difficulty in sourcing the correct versions. I'm just a cheap bastard and can't justify spending the money on control arms when there's tons of other items that could be addressed with that $350 or so.

-Brian

 

Physical differences, length, placement of the ball-joint and angle of front mount point which affects caster, but there is loads of info out there. In addition, the bushings are different between early and later bodies due to the 6mm difference in the subframe mount. No, interchanging them will do wild things with the placement of the wheel - you would end up with waaay too much negative camber, or too much caster, or who knows what depending on what flavor of wrong.

Honestly the prices you see advertised for these arms are usually fair. There are probably a few sets on eBay right now in the $350-$400 range. If you tried to do this with new parts from the dealer you would be in them well over $600. "Cheap bastard" doesn't work with these arms to be fair because in almost every case, someone had to work hard or pay $$ or both to get them. Your post seemed to read sort of like this: "Hey I see you are doing a bunch of work on your car, wanna do a little bit more so that you can give me $350?" I know you didn't mean it like that, but you know what I'm sayin.