Hi guys, brand new here so hang with me!

Not far off buying a blobeye WRX and have a few questions regarding the above. I’m looking at doing a full service regardless first of all, when filling the coolant/burping do we fill from Rad or the metal looking expansion?

In regards to first mods I’m looking at upgrading the Y pipes on the intercooler, diff mount bushings & lockdown bolts, sway bars etc and maybe a CAI just before I’m ready to get it tuned in correctly. Is there anything else anybody would recommend upgrading on this as a priority? I’m not looking for anything substantial at the moment - it’s my only way of satisfying my Subaru needs and have a weekend family car😂 the STi fun is to come in the future.

thanks in advance👍

 

Welcome. Look up the thread on coolant changes; it's very easy to airlock, potentially causing engine damage. You need to put heater to hot, and fill slowly without glugging via the rear rubber pipe of the metal top reservoir. Also remove rad cap until it overflows. This allows the system to fill from the bottom, purging air. Run engine until fans start once full, topping up top reservoir. Recheck the next day.
Don't run boost on any engine input/ output mods until mapped in

 

Welcome. Also research the oil change as it's a bit more complicated than a 'normal' one, for example pre-filling the oil filter and dry cranking the engine.

 

Thanks for the info, I’ve already done plenty of Subaru oil changes! Never attempted to coolant however (never came up to require me to do it). What’s the deal with dry cranking the engine? I thought that was a huge Nono on any engine??

 

Thanks for that. Everywhere I look and the numerous videos on YouTube everybody seems to do it a different way! Seems the that the emphasis is on burping these engines, is there any way to confirm the coolant has all the air out? - apart from heaters running hot and no more air bubbles?

 

The jury's out on this one. There is a belief that dry cranking the engine (removing the crank sensor for example when you've done the oil/filter change) distributes the new oil.
I've always done this, but there are some that haven't and not experienced any problems. Here's a more detailed explanation by Bob Rawle:

"the oil pump has to lift oil from the sump, push it up to the top of the block into the oil gallery's before the oil gets to the bearings or anywhere else, so if the car is stood then all that oil also stays put, when you do a change the oil in the gallery's and above the pump thats normally trapped there drains out, so now you change the oil and fill the filter, thats great but you still have a big empty sppace to fill before the bearings see any, so cranking with the sensor disconnected fills that void with oil and channels it to the bearings albeit at low pressure before you fire it up, otherwise there is a short period of almost dry running (just some residual film)."

I hope I haven't opened a can of worms.

 

You just may well have done! Nothing wrong with that, we’re all here to learn. I’m open to new/alternative ideas.

I’ll have a look into this before attempting it - obviously. I was under the impression that things like this were only done after a rebuild and after filling with more oil (I believe there’s an extra notch on the dipstick for this). When we put some extra oil in the filter after replacing is this not to help “quicken”’the process of that oil distribution?

Appreciate the responses!

 

I bought a standard blobeye WRX 1.5 years ago. In that time I have done A LOT to it to keep it nice, while slowly gathering parts for a power increase. Far more than is on my project thread which I really should update!

Unfortunately, newage cars are starting to rust, and they mainly rust where water and dirt gets trapped along the sills and rear arches. Mine is very clean on the underside and a lot of the floor looks great, but it still needed 35 hours of welding work on the rear ends of the sills done by a friend, which admittedly was so high because it was done to a classic car restoration standard (you cannot find the welding, new metal fabricated and welded flush etc. with factory shaping and drain holes etc). The damage was barely visible at first, but upon removal of the sill covers it was obvious and a lot of reconstruction work was needed behind it.

I have recently also taken all the underseal off the pinch-welds, and ground down all surface rust, treated and repainted them in factory colour before reapplying the covers. The underseal was working loose and water gets trapped behind it. It was only light surface rust but another winter would have been bad.

I would advise removing sill covers, and properly sorting out any mild rust or flaking underseal before it becomes an issue. I would also advise going over all the brakes and every bush. My blobeye is 17years old, and essentially every compliant part has needed replacing which is neither cheap nor a small job.

I'm not saying this to put you off, I love the car, and every refreshed component has made it better and better. What I am saying is that power hikes are all well and good, but it's no fun if it drives all over the place, and these cars are getting pretty old now and most replaceable parts have come to the end of their useful life, so I'd strongly suggest focusing on that first.

Having said that, a decent exhaust alone increases power and responsiveness, and does not have to cost you the earth. The standard one on mine was rotten and was also something that needed replacement. There are also plenty of aftermarket options when refreshing things that need refreshing with modified spec. components so that can be fun in itself.

 

Will be sure to properly check for rust, thanks for the reminder! As mentioned on my OP I was planning to do sway bars and diff mount bushings etc - will make it a priority to go around the majority around the car and replace as needed.

I agree that this should be firstly done in the aftermarket category, these quite often make the biggest differences for “bang for buck” and in respect of care for the car. I’ve done a lot of research on suspension mods and the like and upgrading simple mounts and bushings can be night & day difference in the “feel” of the power delivery! Engine mods will come after these are done for me👍

 

100% what RetroPug says - there are so many traps for mud, dirt and subsequently rust on these. I've got a running thread over on DW with some of the work I've been doing to mine. Even cars that look great on the surface hide a multitude of issues if you're unlucky/not careful.