P15UL T

Hi folks, well here's my build thread.

A little history first.
I owned a 350z before this which I built into a show car over the 5 years it had it. It went through 3 difference guises of colour and bodykits over the years and it was a great car and never gave me any trouble.
I had decided that I was going to buy a R35 GTR next and even purchased a number plate for it but next thing I knew I was getting divorced and there went the GTR fund along with my big garage / workshop.
So the money I got for selling the Zed funded the sti.
I bought the car from Hartwells in Grimsby about a year and a half ago. It had a few nice modifications on it and when I took it out a test drive I was smitten by its power. The salesman took me to an industrial estate to which he immediately regretted as I flung the car through its paces. After signing all the paperwork I went outside to collect the car and it had a river running down the road from under it. ( this is when I should have walked away knowing what I know now). They took the car into the Workshop and "sorted" it. Explaining the mechanic had filled the coolant up to much when servicing it, I took there word for it. After about a mile up the road an engine management light came on so I pulled over and called them. There response was the workshop was shut ( It was after 5 buy his point) but I had the extra years warranty so I could call them up after getting it home. I decided that the car was driving ok and not making any noises or overheating so I took it easy up the road and took it to my closest Subaru specialist ( my second mistake).

They told me it was head gasket failure and that the warranty company would cover it to be sorted. Great :-). I paid the guy an extra £5k to supply and fit a bigger turbo, injectors, clutch, forged pistons and rods as by this point I had read up about the ring land failure that the hatches suffer from.
This guy also does mapping so he mapped it and I got it back and it just wasn't right. It kept stuttering at 3k revs. It also ended up being rebuilt 3 times after a long long process of overheating and not being able to find the problem. It turned out to be that the original radiator had been filled with Radweld no doubt to try and cover up the head gasket problem the car had when I bought it, this was seriously hindering the cooling so kept lifting the head. I ended up getting brand new heads and bottom end because they didn't diagnose the faulty rad sooner and thought that the heads or bottom end had hairline fractures in them.

I can't really talk to bad about this first garage as they didn't charge me any extra due to all the **** ups but I still didn't have my car sorted. It still stuttered at 3k revs and I eventually got sick of dropping the car off and getting it back with no solution so I gave up and didn't take the car back.

After a fluke encounter with my parents neighbour I found my next mechanic who seemed to really know his stuff and knew other people who did too so I gave him the job to take the Subaru to the next stage. He had some good ideas that he wanted to try like rotating the inlet chamber and rotating the turbo. It came along with a lot of custom fabrication and was what I was looking for. Something that would stand out. After sending another £10k into it - it now has the looks and power I am after :-).
We found the reason why it stuttered at 3k when it was taken to Andy Forrest to be mapped. One of the variable valve components was broke and the previous guy clearly knew this and had tried to lock it out the map. :-/

So now it's all sorted it runs 455bhp and 450 torque according to Andy Forrest.
The Si drive still works, runs 0.8 bar of boost in sports and 1.6 in sports sharp

Subaru mod list

2008 impreza Sti hatchback
Forged engine - rotated inlet - rotated turbo set up !

Engine:
Manley forged pistons with rings
Manley forged H Beam rods
ARP rod bolts
ARP head stud kit
Cosworth head gaskets
ACT race bearing set
RallySpec Front mount intercooler kit
Custom intercooler pipe work to suit rotated inlet plenum
Roger Clark oil pump
Subaru oil filter
Cosworth Larger baffled oil pan
K&N intake with custom pipe work
Injectors deschwerks 800cc
Turbo Gtx3071r Billet flywheel ( rotated position)
Parallel fuel rails and regulator
Top mounted oil cooler
Purple SFS hoses
Stainless oil + fuel lines
3way catch can
Forge polished tank
Upgrade Radiator
Polished expansion tank
3 anodised light weight pulley set
Polished battery cover
Pro R radiator cover


Transmission:
Twin plate clutchand flywheel exedy

Wheels:
19" prodrive gt2 custom painted
18" 330s 5 spoke custom painted

Exterior:
WRC spoiler
FRP full lip kit and diffuser
Carbon fibre B pillar covers
Carbon fibre front grill
Black STI mudflaps

Exhaust:
Rodger Clark headers
custom stainless exhaust to suit rotated turbo. Double 4" exit


Braking:
God Speed grooved front and rear discs and pads
Stainless steel braided lines

Suspension:
Tein lowering springs
White line sway bars

Interior:
Custom painted parts
Leather with pink stiching gear gator, handbrake and arm rest
Pro sport gauges. Wideband air fuel, boost, water temp, oil pressure.
Custom made 4 gauge pod on A piller
Titanium gear ****

Future modifications:
Engine dress up bolts
Larger turbo + injectors
Possible moving of alternator to allow straighter intake pipe
Re routing some pipe work in engine for a tidier look

P15UL T

Finally got a day off to myself and got a chance to fit my Sparco bucket seats :-). Double win as they are now in the car and not my spare bedroom !

Went straight forward enough. Only a few swear words which is always nice. Just waiting on a couple of 3.3ohm resistors so I can get the airbag light off on the dash
Used sparco seat mounts and Omp sliding rails. Pretty sturdy stuff. Much better feel when driving as they hold you in better than oem and arnt as soft foam.

I also had the front intercooler pipe that goes into the throttle body re made to be a bit straighter and allow slightly better airflow

Next on the list is the facelift front bumper. ( didn't realise how costly this is !! ) so many different parts to it. Just waiting on the tow hook cover then it'll be off to the paint shop :-)

P15UL T

Fitted the facelift bumper this evening along with HT autos sports grill. Also got the HT autos bottom lip but I'll fit that after everything's painted. Just to go and collect the tow hook cover from Subaru then it'll be off to get painted.

P15UL T

Finally got around to putting the car in to get the new bumper sprayed along with the bonnet and front arches. Got the rear wing removed and sprayed too.
It's nice and shiney :-)

P15UL T

The next stage is about to begin :-)

P15UL T

Hi guys , Finally got around to getting all my progress put together :-)

My next round of modifications are about to start
I'm on the look out for GT35R turbo and coilovers if anyone is looking to sell theirs :-)

Cheers
Paul

Dibbles00

Wow! That looks serious! Think I would have cried if I'd had the problems you faced... Fair play for being so patient and sticking with it.
Car looks great

P15UL T

Cheers man. Yeah what dosnt kill you makes you stronger and all that lol.

paulT25

Hi Mate,

Who made the pipe work , to make it possible to retain the alternator in the stock position?

I would like to rotate my turbo and have the reversed inlet manifold , like yours.

you certainly have been through the mill , with your car, pretty much like myself with my T25.

have a look at the matching green post, which shows my T25, thanks to Mark for the image.

paul.

P15UL T

Hi Paul. The pipe work was made buy Elite Customs in Ayr ( they also did my exhaust System), Robert at RJ Motorsports in Irvine arranged it. It's made from stainless steel. If you look at the first and last engine bay picture you will see the route of it it has been changed. The pipe work will be getting changed again shortly as I'm redoing the engine etc.

Cheers Paul

STI Glenn

Awsome car

Shaid

Very nice.

I'm interested. Why are you going for the gt35? Are you bored of the current power level?

P15UL T

Not so much board but I'm owed a few favours so the block getting strenthened isn't costing me much so it's seems like a good time to upgrade the engine a little further :-). Lucky if the current turbo has done 5000 miles since new.

matt-c

iTrader: (5)

What model are the seats? Look great, def on my list for the hatch.

P15UL T

Off the top of my head I can't remember. I'm pretty sure they no longer produce them as I had a bit of a time getting adjustable rails for them

Tony Harrington

iTrader: (8)

Fantastic looking car, a real head turner & true credit to you.