The STi Wagon- taking care of business

Well I havent updated in a while but tomorrow my car is getting a slight downgrade in the handling department. I'm going back to the stock springs/shocks for the short term since my alignment has been off for a while but hitting a pothole on 14th st last week knocked something way out of normal. On top of the alignment slipping, the pothole put a sidewall bubble into my kumhos so the money i was saving for Konis is going to new tires now, I've had a bubble in another tire for a while but its much smaller and didnt affect the driveability.

Clunking 04 STI struts last for a while but now they're sticking really badly going over speedbumps, even after multiple regreasings. I'm upset, I was only another month out on saving for the struts but the car will be back up to par in another few months. Right now this is the best financial move for me and I may try to get some swaybars on the car in the meantime since I'd put them off for so long.

Tomorrow the transmission will be flushed and filled with some Extra S, courtesy of Subaru of South Atlanta, who managed to match SoG and JPM Coachworks' prices. While they're not a vendor on the site, I talked to the parts while I was there a few weeks back and he came down on the price after speaking to the GM over there, so this'll help the few number of southside guys we've got on the board.

Oh well, at least my car will get one improvement in the form of some Whiteline rear-subframe lock bolts that I've had forever but never installed since they'd need a realignment. Time for a Caddy-smooth ride and rock-crawling ground clearance.hnoes:

 

I hate tire bubbles.

 

Tire titties suck.

 

Been a long time in updating this but havent done much to the car since the EJ207 swap 5 years ago. That motor is going to need a timing belt in another 10,000 miles and has been nothing but reliable. Big thanks to everyone that helped with that swap, Techlord and Liquidforce being the main builders on my swap, and a handful of other folks helping out along the way. Since the last update I think the car has just gotten regular maintenance and some new tires but I've got some upgrades planned to replace higher mileage stock parts.

Shifter bushings have been pretty thrashed for some time so those are getting replaced in 2 weeks. Kartboy front and rear shifter bushings along with a brand new OEM shifter knuckle should freshen up the factory STi short shifter. Tempted to drop in a Group N tranny mount but thinking for NVH considerations to keep the stock mount with upgraded TiC bushings. Also in terms of driveline upgrades, I'm going to be replacing the factory rear end bushings with TiC comfort bushings (still firmer than stock).

Rear struts have been clunking for a while since every weekend the car has 50-60lbs of mountain bikes hanging off the back end and pretty regularly another few hundred pounds in camping gear. New suspension setup is going to be new tophats all around, KYB Excel G struts damping Prodrive springs, and some saggy butt spacers since I tend to haul a bunch of gear on the reg (and plan to install a trailer hitch one of these days).

MVP on this setup would have to be the Exedy Organic clutch that held up to me learning to drive a 5 speed and has been a champ for the last 80,000+ miles. I cant imagine I have much more life left on it but it hasnt starting slipping yet.

Chassis still has less than 130K miles on it, transmission has about the same, motor has a little over 60K miles on it. Still decently low mileage for an 02.

 

New suspension is installed and here are some dirty cell phone pics:





Car feels almost brand new with the new shifter setup, suspension, and rear end bushings.

Mod list:
Exterior:

• 02 WRX wagon with almost 130K on the chassis
• Black mesh Ebay foglight covers, starting to rust and need a respray
• Black side mirrors off an 06 STi
• Roof rail deletes off a Saabaru
• STi hood scoop
• Painted headlights
• Prodrive P7 wheels, 17x7 wearing Continental DWS tires

Engine:

• 03 ver8 STi EJ207 w/ twin-scroll VF37
• Custom fabbed downpipe to factory STi axle-back
• APS TMIC and silicon hoses
• K&N air filter in factory airbox, snorkel removed
• Perrin EBCS
• Custom tune from Scott Siegel. 20psi boost in all gears since the JDM ECU is fancy and allows for gear dependent wastegate/boost settings.

Drivetrain:

• 99 ver5 STi 5speed
• Upgraded 06+ center differential
• Exedy organic clutch
• Exedy 12lb flywheel
• TiC transmission crossmember bushings
• TiC Klunk Killer (rear crossmember bushings, differential mount bushings)
• TiC Upper Shifter Bushing
• 06+ shifter knuckle upgrade
• Kartboy front and rear shifter stay bushings
• Factory STi short shifter w/ OEM Momo shift knob

Suspension:

• WRX sedan 20mm rear sway bar
• 04+ KYB Excel G struts
• 04+ Prodrive WRX springs
• Whiteline Com C top-hats
• TiC saggy butt spacers

Plans moving forward are to replace all the rubber with Group N bits, motor mounts, transmission mount, all suspension bushings. Then get a retune since the motor had 6K miles on it when tuned and now has around 60K.

I also have a Perrin pitch-stop and MKS Motorsports turbo blanket to install soon.

 

I love your setup. I'd be interested in the leakdown/compression test numbers on your motor.....wait a min isn't the version 8 hypereutectic pistons and it was the version 7 that had the forged pistons from the factory?

 

Yep. Ver8 has the lighterweight cast pistons so the motor can rev faster/higher, I think it also has a little more compression than the ver7 so spool would be increased (in addition to moving to the twin-scroll turbo platform). Turbo lag really isnt a thing in this car if you're above 2500rpms. With the power levels and boost I'm running I'm not worried about the loss in potential strength of the piston, plus it's on a conservative tune.

I really should have run a compression test on the motor the last time I did plugs but I'll wait to do one when I do the timing belt and water pump at 90K miles.

 

Do you go to the gym at Market Village?

 

Had to google that and I've been to Market Village once in my life, not me if you've seen a similar car.

 

Had fun on Saturday putting this Perrin Pitch Stop mount in (thanks to Dana and Tougefighter for hooking it up with the recent pallet sale). The top bolt to the factory dogbone snapped years ago and was replaced with a grade10 bolt from Lowes IIRC. It ended up being a bit too short and pulled out some of the threads from the captive nut when reaching close to the final torque spec. Ended up having to go to the hardware store to grab the next longest M10x1.25 bolt which was a full inch longer and needed to be spaced out in order to keep from bottoming out in the captive nut (if you notice the stack of washers under the top bolt). There's an extra nut behind the factory captive nut for safety now.

The motor is so much smoother when getting off the throttle than before and the factory dogbone had so much play between the metal sleeve and rubber bushing. Cant really tell any increase in NVH either, just tons better throttle response.

I also installed an MKS Motorsports turbo blanket over the VF37. Install was a PITA and it stunk like hell for the first hour or two of driving but now that it's on it isnt going anywhere.

Next up is replacing the AC compressor so the car can be more comfortable in Summer with the windows up. It died a few years back and I just pulled the belt off since I never use AC anyways (windows down 24/7, three seasons a year). Then group N motor mounts and transmission mount (should have purchased this for Six Star to install with the rest of the shifter/transmission bushings when replacing the center diff).

 

rear diff bushings and center carrier bushings on the drive shaft should be done next. If you tighten up one end might as well do the rest.

 

Someone's building an SM car...
Next time you're in Lil' 5 and you have time to kill, shoot me a message on FB and I'll meet you out for a beer.

 

HA! ok, cool. I see another white wagon there often when I drive by.

 

Rear diff and subframe bushings were just replaced with the TiC/Kartboy comfort versions.

Never heard of the driveshaft carrier bushings but I'll look into them. There are so many little mods like this that werent around when I got out of modding the car. If it's replacing rubber or plastic on my car chances are the stock ones are already cracked or crumbling. Been running around without a heat shield for years since the OEM wouldnt clear the VF37, nice to see affordable turbo blankets on the market these days.

 

actually the better option would be a one piece driveshaft instead of the center carrier bushings. Surprising how much of a difference that makes on our cars. DSS has a Al one for about $425.00 shipped, while the carbon is nice I find it hard to justify the expense for a daily.

 

Quick update. About to go full adventure mobile on the wagon.

Planning on a King spring lift, 15-16" wheels with big tires, and a cargo basket up top. Time to get rad, so sick of bottoming out my Prodrive springs when loaded down with camping gear and mountain bikes.

 

Kuat Vagabond basket installed. Best part about this basket is the two integrated bike carriers so I can haul 4 bikes if I want to ride with friends, 2 bikes without using the hitch-rack, or a basket full of camping gear and 2 bikes on the hitch rack.

King lifting springs go on tonight!

 

Why did you get the Vagabond over the Vagabond X? I guess I could just go downstairs and ask you

 

1. Dont need the possibility to extend the rack longer.

2. Gray color doesnt match anything but my wheels and they're the next thing to go. Same with the copper logos.

3. Planning to use a party-cable and U-lock instead of the integrated cable lock on the VX

The only thing I would prefer is the locking mounts that come with the VX but I'm going to replace the hardware with some tamperproof nuts when I shift it back a notch on the rails.

You should head down to the parking lot and check the car out. Installed the King lift springs Friday night.

 

Wheres the pics?

 

On now defunct photohosting websites. I'll try to dig around soon and reup some of the old pics that I have backed up on old external HDs.

For now, here's a teaser at where I'm heading as far as wheels and tires on the new build


Method MR501 VT-Spec wheels, tire choice isnt finalized but definitely upsizing a bit from the stock tire size. Likely going to end up with a 205/65r15 or 215/65r15 depending on whether I want a 1/2" or 1" taller tire.

 

I actually like the beefy functional look!