hahaha yeh my side markers i also have a wingless L trunk hahahah

 

Almost.

Dave and I drove the car over to a buddy's shop to throw it up on the lift and check it out. There are a few small things we have to fix. It's throwing a P1507 CEL which was the idle control valve (I think that was the thing). Took it off, cleaned it out, plopped it back on and we still get the idle hunting and limp home mode. Gotta fix that and check out the passenger side rear shock, but hopefully once that's sorted out we'll be good to go.

Oh yeah - and there's the small bit about the friggin up-pipe I bought. Nothing against the guy I bought it from - he's a nice guy, but the pipe is rubbish. Sensor location was really screwy, and when we tried to bolt it up to the headers and turbo - ugh...what a nightmare, and that was with the engine *out* of the car. The flex pipe is partially crushed against the cylinder head and the up-pipe itself is melting the power steering lines. Dammit. Going to have to change that out for an STi up-pipe. Boy that's going to be fun.

Almost done though.

 

An update - jeez this thing has taken a while.

We got a stock STi up-pipe (isn't it just an exhaust collector in reality?) and put it on. Holy crap that was a pain in the butt. Dsbaruuuuu and a friend helped out at the friend's shop. Once again had the car up on the lift. It only took that, a transmission jack, loosening the motor mounts, then removing the exhaust manifolds and a buncha other crap to get the stupid pipe in. I managed to get a nice sized chunk of rusty exhaust manifold in my eye in the process. I wear glasses and thought I was good - man from now on I'm going to be Mr Safety Goggles™ that's for damn sure. Even though I got the piece out within a minute or so my eye hurt like hell for a day. I was lucky that it didn't cause more damage than it did.

We swapped out the neutral position switch. Easy-peasey since it was up on the lift. Still got the fast idle and limp-home mode. Ugh. Ended up having to order the Idle Air Control Valve online through www.subaruparts.com since our local Subaru parts place didn't have it. Rick (the dude I've talked to at Servco) is really nice, but man they don't have crap for parts.

Got the IACV in the mail and popped it on the car. CEL was cleared up and the car idled at 750rpm. I think it still sounds like a Vanagon, but my buddies assure me that's a normal thing. I took 'er for a test drive and it pulled all the way to the redline in (deleted), (deleted), and (deleted). Man that car is quiet! A moderately hard launch in 1st with a quick shift into 2nd is fun. It's pretty quick, that's for sure. A LOT faster than the 100k mile 2.2L NA motor that was in there.

So - the other night we decided to take the car over to Ala Moana. Unfortunately the steering wheel was cocked to the right about 110º while driving straight...and it didn't have an alignment or the rear swaybar yet so I tried to take it easy. Backing out of our spot at Ala Moana though I heard a "tink!" noise from behind the wheel and the airbag light came on. (dammit) Later found out that it was Mr. Clock Spring giving up the ghost... probably 'cause it wasn't centered or something like that. We had so much stuff out and in and out of the car that it's very possible that it got spun out of center without us knowing. Hopefully here today or tomorrow I can pick one up from a local i-clubber and get 'er fixed.

Oh - picked up another CEL during my test drive (P1443) so we've got to double-check that all our emissions stuff is hooked up properly.

It's pretty much done! All I gotta do now is take the small "L" wing off the trunk, get the dents fixed and get 'er resprayed in the factory red. Oh...and put my "blue sucks" sticker on the rear window. I'm hoping in the next couple of months I can afford to get a set of sticky rubber for the 2nd set of wheels and start autocrossing it. Should be fun!

A big thanks to Dave C (Dsbaruuuuu) again for all his help with this. He was the wiring guru and definitely had an idea of what went where. Without his help there's no way I could have gotten it done.

 

months?!? WTF??? race it with the tires that'r on there now!!!

 

No no... I didn't say that correctly. I have a set of the RS wheels that have the RE92s on there. I'm going to use those until I wear 'em out. The WRX split 5 spoke wheels are for the street, so those will keep the "regular" RE92s. Once the RS tires are dead I'll put somethin better on.

 

Nice write up. Now need more pics.

 

nice...

speaking of which... i need to get rid of some old "Larry special" v700s on stock wrx rims

 

Back from the dead and pullin' posts out of the trash. This car will be for sale very soon. I'm in school and I'm a poor student. Too many cars and not enough income currently!

I've got about 5,000 miles on the car since the swap (back and forth to school here on the Windward side and to work over in town) and the car has been runnin' great. The more I have driven this car the more I've grown to really, really like it. I wish I didn't have to sell it, 'cause I really do like it. When I can afford to I might just have to get another one.

No mechanical issues, no check engine light. The suspension is soft / old though. It works fine for daily drivin', but if you were going to be Mr. Autocross Ninja™ or anything you'd want to swap that out. It's quiet, which is nice. Stock airbox and STi exhaust means you don't sound like a VW Vanagon with an exhaust leak goin down the road. Erm... wait. Some people like that, I guess.

The Subie is going to be listed at $6,000 or very near offer. Very near offer means no, I won't accept $3,000 for the car. It means *very near* to $6,000. The wiring, engine, seats, and assorted parts on the car could be stripped off and sold for close to that amount. I'm not tryin to be a jerk here, just being honest.

The hard work is done. This car needs a paintjob and a decent suspension and you're set.

I need to wash the car, change the oil, and vacuum / clean the interior. That's probably not going to happen until sometime next week (7/22 - 7/25 probably). Once that's done I'll take more pictures and post it up on craigslist and here on i-club.

I'm also going to have my 1980 Japanese spec Mini for sale soon. Ultra rare JDM, yo! Hahahahaha... Factory A/C (very rare), 1275cc engine. Über cool. I've gotta sell the Subaru first before I can tear into that one though.

 

ummm PART OUT the seats for me bradda andy hahahahah nah GL on your sale man!! but seriously lmk if you'll part the seats

 

Sorry Shaggy, not going to part out the seats. They're goin with the car. You can bug the new owner.

 

Damn! You go through all of that hard work and frustrations to get the project done and you end up having to sell it. Too bad you didn't have more time to enjoy it. Props to you and Big D.

 

It definitely took some work, but now Dave is on his.. (4th?) swap, so he's an old pro at it! When he did his wagoon he did it at a friend's shop. SOOOO much easier with both cars up on lifts instead of trying to do it flat on your back - those subframes are a pain in the butt!

It's not that I don't have time to enjoy the car, it's a money deal right now. My current income level is pretty much non-existant, and with school it's strained even more. Hopefully only 2 more years and I can get a "play" car again.

 

I would be the 4th swap he is currently helping with. oh yes and i can confirm it is a pain in the but with out a lift. when we stripped the 03 WRX yes it was easy but going from your back under the car to getting out cause you grabbed the wrong size tool gets old. when we used the lift to pull the 2.2 motor out of the wagon that was cake. also it helps a ton to be in the shade of a bay then to out in the open or even to have a canopy up. we had a canopy when we pulled the WRX motor and by the end of the day Dave, Xavier, and I were burnt out. well GL with your sale I know of one person seriously interested in your car and I am sure he has already made contact with you.

 

start selling yourself again, and you'll make up the money in no time...

 

request from the mainland:

ANyone calle ddibs on the fogs yet. My buddy dropped his while trying to paint his bumper. He is poor and new ones are to much for him. Let me know.