wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

ok, thought id share this with you guys, have been working on it for some time, but only just getting to the stage where she is ready for duncan ( dynamix ) to map her on simtek. it started as a project thread to fit my own front mount intercooler, i chose the hdi unit from harvey on here and set about it.

here are some photos of when i first stripped the front of the car

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

the car breathed its first breaths for 18 months earlier today, thanks to the expertise of dave aka dbay.

We finished fitting the front mount and adjusting the pipes to the intercooler and making sure that all fixings were tightened. we made a new bracket for the intercooler spray bottle so that could be relocated, and also re-routed the intercooler spray to work on the new front mount, we mounted the jets in the top of the underside of the front bumper and piped it all up so that when the button is pressed inside the car it sprays nice cold water onto the front mount!!!!!

We have cut, trimmed and mounted the front bumper, and it fits a treat, so that got bolted up and fixed back in place.

We fitted the missing clutch spring and bracket to the top of block.

the headlamps are fitted, the grill is fitted and the sidelights are fitted, the only problem i have now is i cant find the indicators or fog lamps for the front bumper so thats all that i need for the front end to be completed, they must be in my tip of a garage somewhere.

we stole a few bits off daves car to try and get the car up and running, including apexi induction kit, bailey dumpvalve and a battery, fitted those, disconnected crank sensor and turned her over for 30 seconds or so to let some oil get round the system a bit as it has stood for so long, then reconnected crank sensor, and fired her up!!!!! ohh la lah, she fired into life at first time of asking, rattled a bit on start up, but then settled down to a nice smooth burble, and if we had rats in the back of the garage, we aint got em now, cos of exhaust fumes killing em all!!!!

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

well after another sunday of tinkering, and messing about with bits and bobs, the whole car was actually taken out of the garage under it's own steam and got a sponge thrown over it, for a 16 year old car, it came up lovely as usual, had a quote from rob ( scoobwag ) for some paintwork to get it back up to scratch, including front splitter being painted, so thats the next thing once she is mapped.

fitted new rcm k+n induction kit with trumpet, was a tight fit, but managed it as car has gone mafless so not as much pipework to contend with, left the standard elbow coming off the turbo, so didnt need a catch tank, and plumbed the idle control valve into the port that is usually blanked when removing the recirc valve.

as part of the induction kit i bought on saturday i bought a large silicon elbow that we were going to use as the pipe to run from turbo to filter but it turned out it was a better way of doing it the way we did it, so the silicon pipe is going back tomorrow, swapping it for a new oil filter and silkolene pro r oil so we can do an oil change before running her properly.

also fitted new forge dump valve from the right hand take off on intercooler pipework, so could do away with the aforementioned recic valve.

dave has very kindly taken my strut brace so he can polish the bar, and induction side bonnet scoop to be fixed and sprayed, i managed to drop it on sunday and crack it across the front, so he is going to have a go at fixing it and spraying it up with some paint mixed to the correct paint code from alan ward in cannock. he's aso got a set of fog covers for my shape bumper which ive agreed to buy from him, so he's going to have a go at painting the up as well, so stickers on order for the fog covers.

dave also took away my pulley covers to have a go at stripping them back and repainting, so they should look nice when finished.

also ordered a new pink sti grill badge, as the orginal one was grey and looked a bit dull.

got some new wheels on order, but found out today they might not be the right offset, so just trying to find out if we can get them with the right one to fit properly, if not will have to choose diifferent ones.

think thats about it for now, next stage is to strip all brackets etc from the engine bay, strip back, prime and paint, and replace where neeed. keep me busy while saving for brakes and remap in time for oulton park in april all being well.

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

well, brakes fitted today, again a big thanks to dave for his help and knowledge, only one problem now, i need new wheels believe it or not, mine dont clear brembos, so desperate for wheels now, gotta get my act together and find something that i like and that fits!!!! lol

fog light covers came back as well as pulley cover repainted and finished, i have stickered the fog lamp covers up but im not 100% certain i like the look of them instead of fogs, so gonna fit em and see if they grow on me, fitted the pulley cover back on looks sweet, all thanks to daves painting skills.

also managed to source some 440 injectors off matty, cheers matey, gonna send them off to be sonically cleaned and flowmatched, then fit them before mapping.

didnt get any piccies yet again, cos im lazy and forgot, but will get some more soon

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

right, for anyone thats interested to see how she's coming along, i got a chance to take some quick piccies earlier of the car at its current point, im looking for guidance, im not 100% certain i like the look of it with fog covers rather than fogs themselves, what do you guys think?? that is no reflection on the quality of daves painting which is spot on, its just the overall look im not sure about.

just a quick thankyou to dj for popping up yesterday and allowing me to try one of his new wheels on the car to see if they clear the brakes, shame they dont, but it was good of you to spare the time to pop up anyway.

trails

iTrader: (41)

shiny, but more pics required...great to see another wagon project

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

to be honest it started out 18 months ago as "fit my own dfront mount project" , then spirralled from there, i decided to try and save the 150 quid it would have cost to have it fitted, got myself most of the way through then got stuck with a complete lack of knowledge and had to ask a friend to rescue me, this is the stage the car is at now.

it currently awaits a set of 440 injectors to be fitted, new battery, oil and filter change and general service, then mapping by duncan ( dynamix ).

it will be on simtek when it is mapped and how it stands currently i should see the figures i started out for with some luck, the car is totally stripped from the front seats back, so lots of weight saved there to compensate for my rather large frame!!! lol im to old to diet now!!!

future plans are to swap the drivers seat for something a little more figure hugging with a harness, tidy her up inside, possibly a cage, but thats a big step and not 100% certain i want to go there quite yet. tidy up of the engine bay, lose the aircon and associated weight and swap the turbo, and see where that gets me.

i will take some more piccies for you, but it will have to be when ive found a set of wheels that fit the car with the brembos on so i can move it out the garage and take some.

dynamix

iTrader: (3)

Looking good - wont be long now mate

trails

iTrader: (41)

scope creep...just keep an eye on what you want to achieve or you will spend more time fiddling than driving.

cheap solution to your Brembo issue would be a set up newage sti rims...look forward to seeing the pics

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

cheers duncan, hopefully wont be long now

trails, yep, i get you on that, and thats pretty much whats happened so far, my aim is to get it to the point where it is a good useable car on the road, but then tinker as i go along, keeping the car useable for as much of that as possible, ive been without it for long enough now and am seriously missing the buzz of driving the car.

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

ok, so my wheels turned up yesterday, finished putting them on late last night, and had a chance earlier today to take some piccies of her outside the garage, im not 100% certain that i like them, but at least they fit over the brakes and will keep me going until i decide for sure.

trails

iTrader: (41)

i like them...gold and red works too

beef-on-the-bone

iTrader: (5)

really like those wheels!! look good against the red

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

well, ive had a relatively quiet week this week work wise, so been tinkering with the car again.

i dont like the front end of the car, it seems to narrow if that makes sense, so was looking into options for making the front of the car look wider, and bringing the front end down a bit. looked at various splitters, but nothing really appealed, then got to thinking about canards and a carbon splitter, so over the week, ive been playing with some templates from the internet and some cardboard, just to give me an idea of what it will look like and if it is going to achieve what im after.

please do not laugh at the piccies, and try and imagine the items as carbon with a much higher degree of finish than cardboard and obviously a better fit, i think from what ive done it will give me what im looking for once the actual parts are fitted.








Ive also bought an upgraded polyurethane pitch stopper from the oulton park show last week, made by super pro as part of the change over of all bushes and engine mounts

here are a couple of piccies of it









also had a chat with duncan, aka race dynamix, the other day, and all being well and date and commitments permitting, the simtek will be fitted and base mapped around the 15-16th may in readiness for mot, tax and insurance, then duncan will be popping back to finish her off on the road. so hopefully will be fully sorted and on the road by end of the month!!!!! yippppeeeeeeeeeeeeee

trails

iTrader: (41)

like the pitch stopper...be careful with the canards, I believe it's three points per protruding object if the cops pull you

scoobwrx94import

nice m8 whats thats pitch topper for?

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

it attaches to the block and the bulkhead and stops the engine from moving about so much under hard braking and acceleration, supposed to make quite a difference apparantly, so will look forward to seeing what its like once mapped at the end of the month.

someone else mentioned about points for protruding elements of the car, so will give it some thought before i commit, i think id be very unlucky to get pulled as it is literally 1000 mile a year car so very rarely comes out, but thanks for the heads up anyway.

M444GY

iTrader: (72)

looks good same wheels as me . im getting mine done black though . i sell them at my shop so if they look pants i will change em back lol where did you get them from chap ??

53

iTrader: (41)

Awesome

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

cheers guys, wheels came from a local supplier to me, shod in toyo proxes t1r tyres

53 wrx, just been looking at your wagon in members gallery, looks very nice and a credit to you, very clean looking car.

wrx-kurt

iTrader: (1)

I am loving your wheels mate, really love the design. They look good in gold on red. I ve seen them in gold, white and silver, i take it they don't do black or gunmetal, anyone ???????????

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

thanks for that mate, they dont do them in any other colours than gold, silver and white, i nearly went for white but decided on gold for some reason, i was a bit gutted cos i bought them cos i had never seen another scoob with them on, went out the day after fitting them and saw another scoob with them on in gold not 5 minutes from where i live!!!!!!

M444GY

iTrader: (72)

i never thought id see another scoob with them on and i have had them on a year , untill i saw yours lol

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

well, i had another hour to spare yesterday afternoon on the way home from work, so popped into a company in stone called tegiwa imports, they are an authorised retailer on scoobynet and are doing some tarty bits for scoobs running alongside their main honda stuff.

i bought a brake master cylinder stopper, a rear tow hook, and some bonnet lifters. the quality of the tow hook and the bonnet lifters is very good, not so hot on the quality of the brake master cylinder stopper, but for the money it is good value and an exact copy of the cusco version.

the tow hook and the bonnet lifters are made from anodised spun aluminium and come in several colours. well, in readiness for tomorrows mapping session, i set about having a crack at fitting them tonight amongst other things. the only thing i didnt get round to fitting was the master cylinder brace, as im thick and havnt worked out how it fits yet, but will have a crack at it tomorrow and put a piccy up of it fitted.

here are a few pictures.

bonnet lifters first, still not sure on these yet, but will live with them for a bit and see how they grow on me









rear tow hook







master cylinder stopper

eggy790

iTrader: (20)

hi mate is that the 25mm bonnet spacer or 37mm?

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

cheers guys, i think these are the 25mm ones, there were some which were much smaller which im guessing were 10 or 12mm and then a bigger one that i guess was the 37mm, i went for inbetween!!!

the car had simtek ecu fitted and base mapped yesterday by duncan, race dynamix, and even on base map with no antilag it popped and banged its bag off, sounded lovely and i was like a big kid in a sweet shop with a grin the size of the mersey tunnel.

dynamix

iTrader: (3)

who needs anti-lag when you have ghetto lag

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

well just a small update, she was insured on monday, passed her mot on tuesday, and taxed yesterday, due to a delay in insurance documnets getting to me.

ive borrowed a blitz nurspec exhaust off a freind, and it sounds awesome, always wanted to try one before shelling out for one myself, but even the very short journey back home with it on was enough to convince me that i should have one.

Had a run over to demon tweeks yesterday and bought some new hose clips and a set of PIAA sport horns, fitted them with the help of a freind yesterday, so if they dont hear the exhaust from a mile away, they will defo hear the horns!!!!

duncan is coming tuesday to final map it and hopefully will be able to wind her up a bit and enjoy her over the summer before the next round of mods over the winter.

wrxsti280

iTrader: (6)

well, what can i say, the man is a genius!!!!!, duncan has been back today to finish the full map off, and the car is simply awesome, noise, speed, drivability etc is all spot on, the car did experience a small problem with misfire during high boost in 3rd and 4th gear, so trimmed her back to 1.2 bar, which she holds from 2.5k all the way to the redline, once ive sorted the plugs/coilpacks out, it should handle 1.4-1.5 bar with some luck.

The car drives completely differently to the way it did before, it is a little laggy when you first put your foot on the gas, but then all ell breaks loose and it just takes off with me hanging on for grim death make inputs to the steering along the way to keep it shiney side up!!!! lol

The day didnt start to well though, i had a lousy ights kip, got up with the ***** and sickness, and at 8am very nearly rang duncan to cancel, thats how bad i felt, plus on top of that, it was p1ssin down, and ive lost all my confidence in a car in the wet, i dont know why, i just have, so was very nervous about mapping in those conditions and feeling like crap, anyhow sausageand bacon baps and coffee and **** later, we went for it, and apart from a couple of little moments where i was out of my comfort zone, it all went very well, think i pee'd a few lorry drivers off on the a500 though, slowing to 2.5 revs, so they were just about to indicate and overtake then flooring it right up to the redline and taking off, happened a few times, but we couldnt get clear road all the time so had to make the best of it.


So now to sort out the misfire problem and get duncan back to wind her up properly and then she is done, but for now, some miles to done and get used to the way she drives again, but i am one very happy bunny!!!!!!!!!

needless to say, a massive thankyou to duncan and all his hard work, and apologies for being possibly the most nervous, twitchy person you have ever had to map for, and my offer earlier on still stands, look forward to seeing more of you in the very near future.