2005 Subaru Impreza WRX STI PPP Track/Hillclimb car
Discussion
Hi all, I've not finished the M3 yet but here I am building another car, this time a 2005 Impreza STI. You may know this car from such classics as "Bought a bent car, what next?" etc. etc. but here goes.
So I did something incredibly stupid and bought a car that a lad who runs a garage bought in as a breaker but then decided it was too good to break. Citing a lack of history for the price but having a fully forged engine, I decided it was worth a punt. It probably wasn't, given the amount of hassle I've had with it in all honesty, but we are where we are. I've certainly taken my fair share of abuse on here for being annoyed at some of the things wrong with the car and feeling that despite the price etc. it was described as a good car and certain issues just shouldn't have been present. But that's a whole other thread and I think this is the car to finally break my cycle of trying to get more for my money looking for diamonds in the rough etc. Time to stop being a bloody idiot!
The car was bought because the wife and I want to do trackdays and tuition, leading upto some proper racing. We have also decided we would like to get involved in hillclimbing next season. To that end, I started trying to get the car straight (literally!). This will take a while to get upto present as I've spent lots of time doing things, tearing my hair out, spending too much etc.
But here it is the day we bought it:
And with our MY12 STI:
Home:
We were told that the engine was rebuilt with Wossner forged pistons and an RCM oil pump. I saw the car being advertised as a 2.1 stroker but again, that's an unknown. So I'll look after it as best I can and hope for the best, basically
It certainly has the characteristics of a forged engine, i.e. a bit of piston slap from cold which clears up when warm etc. so I'm happy enough that it is what it's supposed to be. Long term I guess we'll see.
More to follow....
So I did something incredibly stupid and bought a car that a lad who runs a garage bought in as a breaker but then decided it was too good to break. Citing a lack of history for the price but having a fully forged engine, I decided it was worth a punt. It probably wasn't, given the amount of hassle I've had with it in all honesty, but we are where we are. I've certainly taken my fair share of abuse on here for being annoyed at some of the things wrong with the car and feeling that despite the price etc. it was described as a good car and certain issues just shouldn't have been present. But that's a whole other thread and I think this is the car to finally break my cycle of trying to get more for my money looking for diamonds in the rough etc. Time to stop being a bloody idiot!
The car was bought because the wife and I want to do trackdays and tuition, leading upto some proper racing. We have also decided we would like to get involved in hillclimbing next season. To that end, I started trying to get the car straight (literally!). This will take a while to get upto present as I've spent lots of time doing things, tearing my hair out, spending too much etc.
But here it is the day we bought it:
And with our MY12 STI:
Home:
We were told that the engine was rebuilt with Wossner forged pistons and an RCM oil pump. I saw the car being advertised as a 2.1 stroker but again, that's an unknown. So I'll look after it as best I can and hope for the best, basically
It certainly has the characteristics of a forged engine, i.e. a bit of piston slap from cold which clears up when warm etc. so I'm happy enough that it is what it's supposed to be. Long term I guess we'll see.
More to follow....
Edited by TroubledSoul on Wednesday 20th September 20:29
For some reason the previous owner had sprayed the wheels, badly, and the car had 225 section tyres on the front and 235 on the rear, all budget. The wheels were in dire need of refurbishment, but I wasn't sure it was worth it.
I still had a K&N panel filter knocking about from the last Blobeye Impreza I'd owned, so I dug it out and serviced it with the K&N recharge kit. I then swapped it out for the green one that was in there:
The green ones are good but this one was way past its best. I've since found a few things that just don't make any real sense. When the engine was put back together and put into the car they obviously didn't replace all the little bits most people would. That will be a recurring theme here....
I stuck the "new" filter in, put the airbox back into the engine bay and replaced the MAF which I had taken out to clean.
You can see in the above picture that the car had a no name dump valve on it. I couldn't have that, so I went out and bought a top spec GFB blow off valve to replace it. I also had to source a stock recirc for the pipe that connects to the side of the BOV because it can be set to full recirc, full vent to atmosphere or anything in between. Why not do away with the BOV you ask? Well, the main reason is that I had no idea what sort of map the car was running. I daren't do anything that might cause it any issues so I just stuck with the configuration it already had, essentially. I just wanted the reassurance of it now having a quality part where a crappy one had existed previously.
I took the car to my local owners' club meet where the regulars gave it a once over and the member who runs his own bodyshop informed me it had been in an accident at some point. Great. Oh and the crankshaft pulley had a bit of a wobble to it. Great again.
That left me already starting to think "what have I done?!" but there was more to come, oh yes....
I noticed there was a groove in the back of the top radiator hose where it had obviously contacted the alternator pulley when the car had been hit at some point. I bought a set of hoses and immediately replaced this one (and forgot to bleed out the coolant air lock at first
) and I also replaced the pulleys with a nice lightweight set from CDF Racing. You can see them a little here:
I then decided to tackle the bonnet scoop. I had noticed that it was pretty much flapping about on the motorway so I needed to check all the fixings and secure it properly. I took it apart and replaced the bolts where needed. The part numbers for the nuts and bolts are shown below:
Removing and checking the scoop:
Not many fixings!:
Replaced them:
Bare bonnet:
Back together:
To be continued......
I still had a K&N panel filter knocking about from the last Blobeye Impreza I'd owned, so I dug it out and serviced it with the K&N recharge kit. I then swapped it out for the green one that was in there:
The green ones are good but this one was way past its best. I've since found a few things that just don't make any real sense. When the engine was put back together and put into the car they obviously didn't replace all the little bits most people would. That will be a recurring theme here....
I stuck the "new" filter in, put the airbox back into the engine bay and replaced the MAF which I had taken out to clean.
You can see in the above picture that the car had a no name dump valve on it. I couldn't have that, so I went out and bought a top spec GFB blow off valve to replace it. I also had to source a stock recirc for the pipe that connects to the side of the BOV because it can be set to full recirc, full vent to atmosphere or anything in between. Why not do away with the BOV you ask? Well, the main reason is that I had no idea what sort of map the car was running. I daren't do anything that might cause it any issues so I just stuck with the configuration it already had, essentially. I just wanted the reassurance of it now having a quality part where a crappy one had existed previously.
I took the car to my local owners' club meet where the regulars gave it a once over and the member who runs his own bodyshop informed me it had been in an accident at some point. Great. Oh and the crankshaft pulley had a bit of a wobble to it. Great again.
That left me already starting to think "what have I done?!" but there was more to come, oh yes....
I noticed there was a groove in the back of the top radiator hose where it had obviously contacted the alternator pulley when the car had been hit at some point. I bought a set of hoses and immediately replaced this one (and forgot to bleed out the coolant air lock at first
) and I also replaced the pulleys with a nice lightweight set from CDF Racing. You can see them a little here:I then decided to tackle the bonnet scoop. I had noticed that it was pretty much flapping about on the motorway so I needed to check all the fixings and secure it properly. I took it apart and replaced the bolts where needed. The part numbers for the nuts and bolts are shown below:
Removing and checking the scoop:
Not many fixings!:
Replaced them:
Bare bonnet:
Back together:
To be continued......
Edited by TroubledSoul on Wednesday 20th September 21:04
Bit late updating this with the next installment, forgive me. I'm very tired and will probably end up either forgetting the odd detail or putting some stuff in the wrong order, but you'll get the gist of it.
So the map was an unknown quantity at this point and it needed sorting, so that was the next job. Really pleased with the results but don't have a printout as yet as I need to go back and get it on the rolling road again as the bloody thing wasn't giving them proper readings on the day for whatever reason. It sure feels quicker but it was mapped more to make sure everything was running right than for big power. Estimate is around 320-330bhp at present.
With the map sorted, we went to the PH SS at Donington Park and did a bit of time on track. This revealed more weird issues, such as a strange vibration on left full lock.... Was still quite a fun day though!
The rear shocks on the car were the next thing to address. They were knocking like crazy, and while it's a common problem on Imprezas due to the design of them, it was clear they were way past their best anyway. So that's when these were ordered.....
A nice set of HSD MonoPro coilovers
Unfortunately, this is where some of the car's more serious problems became apparent.....
I took the car up to Richard Henry Motorsport for the first time and have now become a regular customer there. Great guys. When the coilovers were setup, the camber on both fronts had to be set differently on the shock itself to achieve the same result at the wheels. This is because something, somewhere was bent.
I wish I had known about this sooner, but until the shocks went on, how could I? I'd invested plenty of time and money into the car already, so had to persevere with it. It turned out, a bit later down the line, that the main problem was this:
That's a bent wishbone alright! I suspect there may be some very slight damage to the upright on the driver's side too as unfortunately, replacement wishbones has almost but not totally cured the problem. It's so so close to being right now, which is a big relief but until it's absolutely 100% bob on, it's going to bother me.
At the same time as the coilovers were fitted, a SuperPro Roll Centre Adjustment kit was also added:
Yet another problem had started to show itself. The driver's door started becoming difficult to open. It was catching the sideskirt. I was puzzled. I took it off to investigate and almost wished I hadn't....
A dented sill and a whole load of silicone to glue the sideskirt down over it...... Awesome. I've still to sort this. My feeling is that I want it all checked on a jig before carrying out a repair, so still waiting to get that done. I need to know that when it's repaired it's right.
More to come...
So the map was an unknown quantity at this point and it needed sorting, so that was the next job. Really pleased with the results but don't have a printout as yet as I need to go back and get it on the rolling road again as the bloody thing wasn't giving them proper readings on the day for whatever reason. It sure feels quicker but it was mapped more to make sure everything was running right than for big power. Estimate is around 320-330bhp at present.
With the map sorted, we went to the PH SS at Donington Park and did a bit of time on track. This revealed more weird issues, such as a strange vibration on left full lock.... Was still quite a fun day though!
The rear shocks on the car were the next thing to address. They were knocking like crazy, and while it's a common problem on Imprezas due to the design of them, it was clear they were way past their best anyway. So that's when these were ordered.....
A nice set of HSD MonoPro coilovers
Unfortunately, this is where some of the car's more serious problems became apparent.....
I took the car up to Richard Henry Motorsport for the first time and have now become a regular customer there. Great guys. When the coilovers were setup, the camber on both fronts had to be set differently on the shock itself to achieve the same result at the wheels. This is because something, somewhere was bent.
I wish I had known about this sooner, but until the shocks went on, how could I? I'd invested plenty of time and money into the car already, so had to persevere with it. It turned out, a bit later down the line, that the main problem was this:
That's a bent wishbone alright! I suspect there may be some very slight damage to the upright on the driver's side too as unfortunately, replacement wishbones has almost but not totally cured the problem. It's so so close to being right now, which is a big relief but until it's absolutely 100% bob on, it's going to bother me.
At the same time as the coilovers were fitted, a SuperPro Roll Centre Adjustment kit was also added:
Yet another problem had started to show itself. The driver's door started becoming difficult to open. It was catching the sideskirt. I was puzzled. I took it off to investigate and almost wished I hadn't....
A dented sill and a whole load of silicone to glue the sideskirt down over it...... Awesome. I've still to sort this. My feeling is that I want it all checked on a jig before carrying out a repair, so still waiting to get that done. I need to know that when it's repaired it's right.
More to come...
Edited by TroubledSoul on Monday 28th November 00:34
xjay1337 said:
Bugger me, looks like a bit of a lemon!
Maybe an Ex-rally car lol.
Unfortunately that's a risk sometimes buying cars... seems like you're having a good crack.... looking forward for more updates...
Oh absolutely. It was a huge mistake, but I'm doing my best to make lemonade and we will get there in the end.Maybe an Ex-rally car lol.
Unfortunately that's a risk sometimes buying cars... seems like you're having a good crack.... looking forward for more updates...
Kept meaning to update this and somehow haven't....
The sill still isn't fixed. It's just been one thing after another, with more things needing to be done. Since doing the PH SS at Donington, the car has been to a Harewood Hillclimb Academy Day, the PH SS at Silverstone, the PH track day at Goodwood (where I span it in the wet) and a track day at Cadwell Park (which was fantastic).
Going back to after the PH SS at Donny, my wife did the academy day up at Harewood and found that the gearbox was awful once it got hot and was being used at high revs. A bit of investigation revealed that the fluid was low, thanks to an oil seal leak, and I replaced it with some Motul Gear 300. This did the trick, mostly. It still has a very slight crunch from 4th to 5th at high revs when it's hot, and that's frustating, but compared to where it was it's a huge improvement. In addition, a braided HEL clutch hose was fitted.
While the intercooler was out to do this, I noticed that the clutch fork spring was also missing, as was a bolt somewhere around here. I can't remember which now, but was obviously overjoyed to find something else!:
The spring was quickly replaced. The intercooler being out was also a perfect time to fit my long awaited Samco hoses. These had a hell of a lead time on them:
Big improvement over the standard bits. The one under the IC looked like it was starting to fall to bits! While I was in there I also fitted a Hardrace dog bone:
This came in a set with engine mounts and a transmission mount.
Yet another thing I had noticed was that the air deflector flaps underneath were damaged or missing:
New items purchased!
And then fitted:
Strapped for time just now so I will add some more later
The sill still isn't fixed. It's just been one thing after another, with more things needing to be done. Since doing the PH SS at Donington, the car has been to a Harewood Hillclimb Academy Day, the PH SS at Silverstone, the PH track day at Goodwood (where I span it in the wet
) and a track day at Cadwell Park (which was fantastic).Going back to after the PH SS at Donny, my wife did the academy day up at Harewood and found that the gearbox was awful once it got hot and was being used at high revs. A bit of investigation revealed that the fluid was low, thanks to an oil seal leak, and I replaced it with some Motul Gear 300. This did the trick, mostly. It still has a very slight crunch from 4th to 5th at high revs when it's hot, and that's frustating, but compared to where it was it's a huge improvement. In addition, a braided HEL clutch hose was fitted.
While the intercooler was out to do this, I noticed that the clutch fork spring was also missing, as was a bolt somewhere around here. I can't remember which now, but was obviously overjoyed to find something else!:
The spring was quickly replaced. The intercooler being out was also a perfect time to fit my long awaited Samco hoses. These had a hell of a lead time on them:
Big improvement over the standard bits. The one under the IC looked like it was starting to fall to bits! While I was in there I also fitted a Hardrace dog bone:
This came in a set with engine mounts and a transmission mount.
Yet another thing I had noticed was that the air deflector flaps underneath were damaged or missing:
New items purchased!
And then fitted:
Strapped for time just now so I will add some more later
Yeah I'd say so. I'd have reshelled it to be honest, if I hadn't lost all my garage space to parts and junk and my driveway to the M3 project!
At some point I bought a spare set of OEM wheels in mint condition and threw on a set of Nankang NS-2Rs that I had in the garage, unused. These have turned out to be excellent track tyres and don't seem to have suffered much wear at all, despite a few outings now.
The next thing I did was to upgrade the anti roll bar bushes front and rear, using SuperPro items:
Had to trip to KT Green over at Otley, probably for the clutch fork spring, and encountered some friends:
From there it was then onto the car's next engagement; the PH SS at Silverstone!:
Silverstone was a bit of an eye opener. There was some real bad driving there from some participants, who felt it right to harass my wife and overtake in braking zones etc. then come on here and complain about HER driving afterwards That made me quite angry to be honest and has pretty much put her off PH meets 
The two track sessions really showed up some of the car's deficiencies. I have no idea the brand of discs, pads and brake fluid the car had on it, but the brakes were awful. After my Mrs had the first session, I took the car out an hour later and the pedal was STILL spongy. It worked, but not brilliantly. It left me feeling quite down to be honest. I thought the car might not be the right one for what we wanted to do afterwards. I decided that for once, I needed to see a project through and not be hasty. So I started doing my research regarding brakes.
I had decided that the Brembos weren't good enough and was all set to find something else. Unfortunately no APs were coming up in the right price bracket and I was advised that the cheaper BBKs like K-Sport weren't really any better than the Brembos once equipped with decent parts. And then fate intervened.....
A set of Performance Friction two piece front discs came up on Scoobynet with a full set of PFZ pads for a bargain price. The discs were lightly used and a real bargain. I decided to go for it and fitted them along with some Motul RBF 600 Super Dot 4 fluid, braided hoses and a brake master cylinder brace. The result was a night and day difference! I'm now really pleased with the brakes, and these pads aren't even anything like the best track pads. A great compromise for a car that's still being used on the road sometimes though.
With this now sorted, it was on to a track day at Cadwell:
It took some convincing to get the wife to come to this. She'd completely lost her confidence after the Silverstone debacle. I booked us both in for a bit of tuition as we'd never been to Cadwell before, and it's my belief that a bit of guidance at the start of the day means you'll have a much better day afterwards. Instead of trying to find the lines, you're trying to perfect them instead, with all the satisfaction that brings when you get it right
After her tuition laps my wife came back with a big grin on her face and was overjoyed! She really enjoyed it and was back in the groove. She enjoyed the tuition so much that she actually went and booked herself another session later in the day, the cheeky bugger
I got right into it at Cadwell and was really giving the car some stick. It took it really well and really impressed me. Going from almost useless brakes to super effective brakes made all the difference in the world, and the way it allowed me to drive the car made it feel like a completely different machine.
I even took off a couple of times going up The Mountain!
It was a brilliant day though. Some interesting cars on display and a lot of fun. The instructor also complimented us both on our car control and advised us to take our ARDS tests That was really awesome to hear.
Unfortunately, Cadwell being Cadwell, I didn't get my planned last run as a s
tload of fog suddenly appeared and ended the day for everyone. Bah!
At some point I bought a spare set of OEM wheels in mint condition and threw on a set of Nankang NS-2Rs that I had in the garage, unused. These have turned out to be excellent track tyres and don't seem to have suffered much wear at all, despite a few outings now.
The next thing I did was to upgrade the anti roll bar bushes front and rear, using SuperPro items:
Had to trip to KT Green over at Otley, probably for the clutch fork spring, and encountered some friends
:From there it was then onto the car's next engagement; the PH SS at Silverstone!:
Silverstone was a bit of an eye opener. There was some real bad driving there from some participants, who felt it right to harass my wife and overtake in braking zones etc. then come on here and complain about HER driving afterwards
That made me quite angry to be honest and has pretty much put her off PH meets The two track sessions really showed up some of the car's deficiencies. I have no idea the brand of discs, pads and brake fluid the car had on it, but the brakes were awful. After my Mrs had the first session, I took the car out an hour later and the pedal was STILL spongy. It worked, but not brilliantly. It left me feeling quite down to be honest. I thought the car might not be the right one for what we wanted to do afterwards. I decided that for once, I needed to see a project through and not be hasty. So I started doing my research regarding brakes.
I had decided that the Brembos weren't good enough and was all set to find something else. Unfortunately no APs were coming up in the right price bracket and I was advised that the cheaper BBKs like K-Sport weren't really any better than the Brembos once equipped with decent parts. And then fate intervened.....
A set of Performance Friction two piece front discs came up on Scoobynet with a full set of PFZ pads for a bargain price. The discs were lightly used and a real bargain. I decided to go for it and fitted them along with some Motul RBF 600 Super Dot 4 fluid, braided hoses and a brake master cylinder brace. The result was a night and day difference! I'm now really pleased with the brakes, and these pads aren't even anything like the best track pads. A great compromise for a car that's still being used on the road sometimes though.
With this now sorted, it was on to a track day at Cadwell:
It took some convincing to get the wife to come to this. She'd completely lost her confidence after the Silverstone debacle. I booked us both in for a bit of tuition as we'd never been to Cadwell before, and it's my belief that a bit of guidance at the start of the day means you'll have a much better day afterwards. Instead of trying to find the lines, you're trying to perfect them instead, with all the satisfaction that brings when you get it right
After her tuition laps my wife came back with a big grin on her face and was overjoyed! She really enjoyed it and was back in the groove. She enjoyed the tuition so much that she actually went and booked herself another session later in the day, the cheeky bugger
I got right into it at Cadwell and was really giving the car some stick. It took it really well and really impressed me. Going from almost useless brakes to super effective brakes made all the difference in the world, and the way it allowed me to drive the car made it feel like a completely different machine.
I even took off a couple of times going up The Mountain!
It was a brilliant day though. Some interesting cars on display and a lot of fun. The instructor also complimented us both on our car control and advised us to take our ARDS tests
That was really awesome to hear. Unfortunately, Cadwell being Cadwell, I didn't get my planned last run as a s
tload of fog suddenly appeared and ended the day for everyone. Bah!Edited by TroubledSoul on Wednesday 29th March 23:24
Jackeria said:
Looks like you both are really getting your teeth into this car. Whilst I agree that finding problems such as you have on this car aren't the best at least the car is still able to be used for what you purchased it for! I'm sure some of the things you are doing on this are things I'll be doing to my forester.
Yeah, one thing I'm always worried about is damaging the bodywork, scratching a car etc. etc. I'm not as worried with this. It's more able to be viewed as a tool to be used for a purpose and there's definitely a benefit in that. I'm certainly not precious with it on track!SuperVM said:
Well done for seeing the car through the issues you've found. I've just been bitten badly by a Monaro, so I appreciate seeing someone sort out a car rather than getting rid of it. In my case, I took the coward's way out and got rid of the car, it made no sense to keep it.
On another note, have you confirmed the engine is forged? Hopefully, I won't sound too negative, but it seems unlikely someone would go to that expense but not spend elsewhere.
It looks great though and it must be rewarding to have taken something in such a state and make a useful track car out of it.
Cheers On another note, have you confirmed the engine is forged? Hopefully, I won't sound too negative, but it seems unlikely someone would go to that expense but not spend elsewhere.
It looks great though and it must be rewarding to have taken something in such a state and make a useful track car out of it.
It can feel truly insurmountable when you find out a car has a multitude of problems. I definitely know that feeling. As far as the engine goes, I've had no confirmation but it *sounds* forged, if that makes sense? It has clearly identifiable piston slap from cold, which completely goes away as it warms up. You may or may not be familiar with forged engines (I wasn't!) but that's usually a trait of forged pistons as they expand with heat every so slightly. The story behind the engine was that it was rebuilt by an engine specialist in Mansfield (not Subaru specific) and was done as a "cash job" so no VAT but also no receipts etc. The guy was obviously trying to get it thrown back together on the cheap to sell it and felt it was a better option than a replacement engine. Can't see me getting past 450bhp long term, so hopefully it won't be a factor anyway, but we'll see!
I've missed a couple of bits from my write up, as I've got a terrible memory... I fitted a JDM quick rack from a Spec C along with some Whiteline steering rack bushes and I threw in some NGK 7s too:
Have to say, the quick rack is fantastic and takes it from 15:1 2.7 turns lock to lock to 13:1 2.25 turns. Best pound for pound handling mod you can do to an Impreza. Not cheap now though at around £300 used. I seem to have stopped taking photos at some point so will have to address that.
Edited by TroubledSoul on Thursday 30th March 11:57
Thanks all. She's much happier after Cadwell and having a pro reassure her that she has a good level of skill. I don't worry about such things as I'm a man and already know that I'm the greatest driver on earth
There have been a couple of issues recently which I will cover next week when I have some dyno graphs to hand..... Plans are now being made to up the power a bit more too. Stay tuned!
TartanPaint said:
Nobody warned me about forged piston slap... I thought it was broken! Then I thought the engine builder was fobbing me off. Confirmed by others TADTS (They All Do That, Sir).
Well done on the stubbornness so far.
Yeah, it is definitely quite a disconcerting sound if you don't know to expect it. It's the first time I've had a car with forged pistons too. Well done on the stubbornness so far.
There have been a couple of issues recently which I will cover next week when I have some dyno graphs to hand..... Plans are now being made to up the power a bit more too. Stay tuned!
Well I haven't updated this in a while so thought I should crack on!
I don't have the graphs to hand but yeah..... as things turned out a lot of st started to come out about a garage a few of us had been using recently. Shoddy workmanship, parts fitted not being the parts paid for, bad maps destroying engines etc.
I was nervous as all these things started to come out, so I took the car to Scoobyclinic just to get it on their rollers and have the map checked.
The result? "It's detting its tits off" was the phrase used. Graph said 313bhp but the ecu had backed things right off apparently and had probably saved my engine. Knowing I'd given it hell around Cadwell and was using the boost "keenly" on the road, I decided to have a leakdown test done while I was there. To my utter amazement, all four cylinders came back in the green. Whatever was going on, I'd somehow managed not to do any damage.
To say I was relieved would be an understatement.
Clearly the car needs to be mapped properly, so like any good Impreza owner, I decided that a round of mods needs to be fitted before the map is done. To that end, I have purchased:
RCM induction kit
Zero sports induction to intake hard pipe
Perrin reinforced silicone inlet hose
Perrin 3 port boost solenoid
AS Performance 6mm Phenolic manifold spacers
Front mount intercooler
Alloy radiator
3" track friendly Jetex exhaust
Fuelab FPR
Fog light cover air duct to induction kit
RCM 340lph fuel pump
Once this little lot is on I'll be expecting 350bhp and that will be it for performance mods for quite some time. After that it will be all about getting the bits that need it repaired and then sorting handling further
I don't have the graphs to hand but yeah..... as things turned out a lot of s
t started to come out about a garage a few of us had been using recently. Shoddy workmanship, parts fitted not being the parts paid for, bad maps destroying engines etc. I was nervous as all these things started to come out, so I took the car to Scoobyclinic just to get it on their rollers and have the map checked.
The result? "It's detting its tits off" was the phrase used. Graph said 313bhp but the ecu had backed things right off apparently and had probably saved my engine. Knowing I'd given it hell around Cadwell and was using the boost "keenly" on the road, I decided to have a leakdown test done while I was there. To my utter amazement, all four cylinders came back in the green. Whatever was going on, I'd somehow managed not to do any damage.
To say I was relieved would be an understatement.
Clearly the car needs to be mapped properly, so like any good Impreza owner, I decided that a round of mods needs to be fitted before the map is done. To that end, I have purchased:
RCM induction kit
Zero sports induction to intake hard pipe
Perrin reinforced silicone inlet hose
Perrin 3 port boost solenoid
AS Performance 6mm Phenolic manifold spacers
Front mount intercooler
Alloy radiator
3" track friendly Jetex exhaust
Fuelab FPR
Fog light cover air duct to induction kit
RCM 340lph fuel pump
Once this little lot is on I'll be expecting 350bhp and that will be it for performance mods for quite some time. After that it will be all about getting the bits that need it repaired and then sorting handling further
mazdajason said:
Early on in your OP you mentio nthe nut and bolt numbers along with a picture of them for replacing the ones on the scoop. Is it just the 2 numbers that can be seen on the picture? How many of each did you need? I'm looking at replacing mine too. TIA
I think it was ten of each IIRC. There's also a plastic clip on both the left and the right I think. Mine was OK at one side but not the other, but as I hadn't known about them in advance, they weren't actually replaced.Well I've been busy buying parts but not got much actually done to the car itself! I have, however, added some gas struts to the bonnet and fitted a set of mudflaps all round :
The current list of parts to go on now includes:
Alloy radiator
Front mount intercooler
11mm oil pump
Kartboy short shifter
RCM timing belt guide
Fuelab FPR
Reverse bonnet scoop
Harness bar
Cobra seats and rails
Forge alloy header tank
Phenolic manifold spacers
Perrin intake hose
Perrin 3 port boost solenoid
RCM induction kit
Zero Sports induction hard pipe
Lots to do.
The current list of parts to go on now includes:
Alloy radiator
Front mount intercooler
11mm oil pump
Kartboy short shifter
RCM timing belt guide
Fuelab FPR
Reverse bonnet scoop
Harness bar
Cobra seats and rails
Forge alloy header tank
Phenolic manifold spacers
Perrin intake hose
Perrin 3 port boost solenoid
RCM induction kit
Zero Sports induction hard pipe
Lots to do.
Wow where does the time go? There's been so much happened since the last update.
The parts in the list above are all now on the car, but honestly, if I thought things were bad before, I was made to really regret modifying/meddling this time....
Starting simple, I replaced the battery with something more suitable. Although I'd prefer something smaller/lighter, many people run these and the one on it already was simply not up to the task anymore.
I then removed the cambelt and took off the old oil pump, which I suspected wasn't up to the job. Since fitting the gauges, I'd noticed the oil pressure was just too low. I guessed that the pump might be a 10mm pump, more suited to the none AVCS equipped cars, so went for an 11mm OEM replacement. What I actually found was a pattern part!:
New one:
I also fitted an uprated pressure relief valve to the new pump which makes it very similar to a massively more expensive Roger Clark oil pump. Unfortunately there was a small hiccup during this procedure:
I now own various sizes of helicoil kits.....
Next up, the Mrs put her foot down and made me remove the aircon
From this:
To this:
The next part of the build was a bit more hassle. This photo is out of sync with the timeline but it's one of the few with the manifold off:
At this point, manifold spacers were fitted, along with the alloy radiator, Fuel Pressure Regulator and the front mount intercooler. The RCM induction kit was also fitted. It was at this point things started to go wrong......
A few progress pics:
Manifold spacers:
I'll continue in the next post....
The parts in the list above are all now on the car, but honestly, if I thought things were bad before, I was made to really regret modifying/meddling this time....
Starting simple, I replaced the battery with something more suitable. Although I'd prefer something smaller/lighter, many people run these and the one on it already was simply not up to the task anymore.
I then removed the cambelt and took off the old oil pump, which I suspected wasn't up to the job. Since fitting the gauges, I'd noticed the oil pressure was just too low. I guessed that the pump might be a 10mm pump, more suited to the none AVCS equipped cars, so went for an 11mm OEM replacement. What I actually found was a pattern part!:
New one:
I also fitted an uprated pressure relief valve to the new pump which makes it very similar to a massively more expensive Roger Clark oil pump. Unfortunately there was a small hiccup during this procedure:
I now own various sizes of helicoil kits.....
Next up, the Mrs put her foot down and made me remove the aircon
From this:
To this:
The next part of the build was a bit more hassle. This photo is out of sync with the timeline but it's one of the few with the manifold off:
At this point, manifold spacers were fitted, along with the alloy radiator, Fuel Pressure Regulator and the front mount intercooler. The RCM induction kit was also fitted. It was at this point things started to go wrong......
A few progress pics:
Manifold spacers:
I'll continue in the next post....
Everything went back together but suddenly the car didn't want to run anymore. To get it to do so was a real struggle. I initially thought that the issue was purely down to the maf scaling as the induction kit was now on, but when it didn't improve with the maf unplugged, it became clear there were bigger issues.
Fault codes revealed new issues with the map sensor, the boost solenoid and something else. I also addressed a very weird wiring loom issue that had been pointed out a while ago when having the car checked over; the wiring loom plug for the front cam position sensor on the passenger side of the engine was plugged into the rear sensor and vice versa.
I swapped in a Perrin 3 port boost solenoid:
But the boost solenoid code persisted. I knew straight away at this point that there was an issue with the wiring loom. With the help of a pro who lives locally, a bit of fault finding took us through the loom, unwrapping it and tracing wires. What we found was....
This was actually encased in Tiger Seal or silicone of some sort! To be honest, at that point I'd seen enough. I made a call and the next day I was off down to Walsall to collect an untampered wiring loom from a breaker I use. Unfortunately for me, that meant I was going to be taking the inlet manifold off again!
But needs must, so I cracked on and took the intercooler pipes back off, then went through the process of removing the manifold and the old loom. I painstakingly put everything back together and.... it didn't want to start. The codes were cleared and the good news was that the map sensor and boost solenoid codes were gone, but the bad news was that the cam sensors were throwing codes now. Remember I mentioned the wiring loom being connected to them back to front earlier?
Yeah, well that led us to the ECU:
You'll see there's a label on there with writing on it. It says "PIN SWAP" and has some pin out numbers along with it! Bingo! Someone has put the engine back together on this car and they have obviously connected the wiring loom back to front on the passenger side of the engine with those cam sensor plugs being mixed up. Rather than go back and take the manifold off and put it right, thus doing the job correctly, they decided "no no, forget that. Let's just swap pins around at the ECU instead!"
The way the loom is orientated, there is an injector plug beside each cam sensor plug and the label on the ECU made no mention of any further pin swaps. As you can't have a cam sensor plugged in and then reach the opposite injector with that part of the loom, I checked the plugs for evidence of tampering. I found a damaged pin hole on one of the plugs and the pinout diagram confirmed it was one of the injectors in question. That was enough for me to go ahead and swap them. And guess what, with the MAF unplugged (still needed scaling or a mafless map) it ran perfectly! Yes!
We had booked in to do the academy day at the local hillclimb, but as the clock ran out on us, we had to use our daily instead of this car, which wasn't the end of the world but it was disappointing.
Once the hillclimb tuition day was out of the way, we got on with the mapping. But as is the story with this car, it wasn't completely straightforward! The engine was very noisy and the knock sensor was picking up noise as knock and retarding timing. My mapper listened through the cans and couldn't hear any det but we decided to leave it with a conservative amount of timing in rather than add more and have it being pulled back constantly.
I was a bit disappointed but understood the reasons for doing this. I thought the worst at the time and wondered how I would resolve it, but things started to become clearer. Firstly, the alternator was noisy. That was replaced. I also had a strange clattering noise that I was pretty baffled by. I eventually found that one of the intercooler hard pipes was touching the bolt that comes out of the end of the brake stopper. I ended up wrapping the bolt in a bit of old fuel hose and a cable tie - job done! Thirdly, the dump valve was lightly touching the top of the inlet manifold. I adjusted its position and resolved this.
Taking it out for mapping again after all this, and the engine was much better. There's something odd going on where it picks up some knock on one of the gear changes very weirdly, but other than that it's absolutely perfect. A bit more timing was added, although I think there's a tiny bit left in the locker and it goes very well indeed.
Fault codes revealed new issues with the map sensor, the boost solenoid and something else. I also addressed a very weird wiring loom issue that had been pointed out a while ago when having the car checked over; the wiring loom plug for the front cam position sensor on the passenger side of the engine was plugged into the rear sensor and vice versa.
I swapped in a Perrin 3 port boost solenoid:
But the boost solenoid code persisted. I knew straight away at this point that there was an issue with the wiring loom. With the help of a pro who lives locally, a bit of fault finding took us through the loom, unwrapping it and tracing wires. What we found was....
This was actually encased in Tiger Seal or silicone of some sort! To be honest, at that point I'd seen enough. I made a call and the next day I was off down to Walsall to collect an untampered wiring loom from a breaker I use. Unfortunately for me, that meant I was going to be taking the inlet manifold off again!
But needs must, so I cracked on and took the intercooler pipes back off, then went through the process of removing the manifold and the old loom. I painstakingly put everything back together and.... it didn't want to start. The codes were cleared and the good news was that the map sensor and boost solenoid codes were gone, but the bad news was that the cam sensors were throwing codes now. Remember I mentioned the wiring loom being connected to them back to front earlier?
Yeah, well that led us to the ECU:
You'll see there's a label on there with writing on it. It says "PIN SWAP" and has some pin out numbers along with it! Bingo! Someone has put the engine back together on this car and they have obviously connected the wiring loom back to front on the passenger side of the engine with those cam sensor plugs being mixed up. Rather than go back and take the manifold off and put it right, thus doing the job correctly, they decided "no no, forget that. Let's just swap pins around at the ECU instead!"
The way the loom is orientated, there is an injector plug beside each cam sensor plug and the label on the ECU made no mention of any further pin swaps. As you can't have a cam sensor plugged in and then reach the opposite injector with that part of the loom, I checked the plugs for evidence of tampering. I found a damaged pin hole on one of the plugs and the pinout diagram confirmed it was one of the injectors in question. That was enough for me to go ahead and swap them. And guess what, with the MAF unplugged (still needed scaling or a mafless map) it ran perfectly! Yes!
We had booked in to do the academy day at the local hillclimb, but as the clock ran out on us, we had to use our daily instead of this car, which wasn't the end of the world but it was disappointing.
Once the hillclimb tuition day was out of the way, we got on with the mapping. But as is the story with this car, it wasn't completely straightforward! The engine was very noisy and the knock sensor was picking up noise as knock and retarding timing. My mapper listened through the cans and couldn't hear any det but we decided to leave it with a conservative amount of timing in rather than add more and have it being pulled back constantly.
I was a bit disappointed but understood the reasons for doing this. I thought the worst at the time and wondered how I would resolve it, but things started to become clearer. Firstly, the alternator was noisy. That was replaced. I also had a strange clattering noise that I was pretty baffled by. I eventually found that one of the intercooler hard pipes was touching the bolt that comes out of the end of the brake stopper. I ended up wrapping the bolt in a bit of old fuel hose and a cable tie - job done! Thirdly, the dump valve was lightly touching the top of the inlet manifold. I adjusted its position and resolved this.
Taking it out for mapping again after all this, and the engine was much better. There's something odd going on where it picks up some knock on one of the gear changes very weirdly, but other than that it's absolutely perfect. A bit more timing was added, although I think there's a tiny bit left in the locker and it goes very well indeed.
Edited by TroubledSoul on Thursday 21st September 00:04
In between the two mapping sessions, I managed to fit some of the handling parts.
Front Whiteline adjustable 22mm anti roll bar:
Rear drilled brake discs and PFZ pads:
Rear Whiteline 22mm adjustable anti roll bar:
Rear tow eye, MSA spec:
Cold air intake for the induction kit:
Uprated gearbox mount and bushes:
Kartboy short shifter:
Full 3" exhaust system:
Harness bar:
I've also fitted some sliding rails and side mount Cobra Pro Series seats, but don't seem to have a photo at the moment. The best part of the whole tale though is this:
We finally made it to an actual hillclimb!! Our first ever motorsport event! I am still over the moon that we got there. We didn't pull up any trees, but it's a start. I really did enjoy it. What a day.
Time to plan ahead for next season now and in the meantime try and do some track days the rest of this year to get a bit more seat time in a track environment. There are some parts left to fit but after that it will be a bit of a switch to maintenance for a while, rather than building/modifying.
If you're still reading, thank you and well done
NB: I have been through the thread and switched the photos to imgur from Photobucket. It does seem to pull them through a lot bigger, however.
Front Whiteline adjustable 22mm anti roll bar:
Rear drilled brake discs and PFZ pads:
Rear Whiteline 22mm adjustable anti roll bar:
Rear tow eye, MSA spec:
Cold air intake for the induction kit:
Uprated gearbox mount and bushes:
Kartboy short shifter:
Full 3" exhaust system:
Harness bar:
I've also fitted some sliding rails and side mount Cobra Pro Series seats, but don't seem to have a photo at the moment. The best part of the whole tale though is this:
We finally made it to an actual hillclimb!! Our first ever motorsport event! I am still over the moon that we got there. We didn't pull up any trees, but it's a start. I really did enjoy it. What a day.
Time to plan ahead for next season now and in the meantime try and do some track days the rest of this year to get a bit more seat time in a track environment. There are some parts left to fit but after that it will be a bit of a switch to maintenance for a while, rather than building/modifying.
If you're still reading, thank you and well done
NB: I have been through the thread and switched the photos to imgur from Photobucket. It does seem to pull them through a lot bigger, however.
Edited by TroubledSoul on Thursday 21st September 00:12
Thanks folks, it's nice to know people are reading
As for buying a Subaru and not modding it, many people say that! It rarely lasts...
Just don't buy one like this and you'll be fine!
The hillclimb was absolutely brilliant, but it is clear we won't be competitive in our class with less than 500bhp. There's no budget for that just now, but as it will be some time before we are getting the most we can out of what we've got, it isn't too important as things stand. The main thing will be getting new tyres as the NS2-Rs are good but there are better available... There's also anti lift bushes to fit that I've already got. Little things but every little helps as they say.
As for buying a Subaru and not modding it, many people say that! It rarely lasts...
Just don't buy one like this and you'll be fine!
The hillclimb was absolutely brilliant, but it is clear we won't be competitive in our class with less than 500bhp. There's no budget for that just now, but as it will be some time before we are getting the most we can out of what we've got, it isn't too important as things stand. The main thing will be getting new tyres as the NS2-Rs are good but there are better available... There's also anti lift bushes to fit that I've already got. Little things but every little helps as they say.
Fonzey said:
Great read so far, and impressive persistence.
What a bodge-job that car has been in the past, you're doing it a real service now!
I'm certainly trying buddy. It's certainly been an eye opener. Need to do the final few jobs with it now and then just do a few autumn/winter trackdays while switching the main work focus to my E36. If you think this has been a challenge..... What a bodge-job that car has been in the past, you're doing it a real service now!
I actually find them very simple now that I know my way around them. On the other hand, I swapped out an alternator on a friend's Focus TDCI and it was a nightmare to get the thing out!
Everything is pretty easy to get to on the boxer apart from the spark plugs, and even they aren't that hard once you've done it once. It's more the moving other things out of the way to get to them part that's irritating. This is our 5th now so I've become quite adept, albeit still didn't spot this was a lemon on the day of purchase
Everything is pretty easy to get to on the boxer apart from the spark plugs, and even they aren't that hard once you've done it once. It's more the moving other things out of the way to get to them part that's irritating. This is our 5th now so I've become quite adept, albeit still didn't spot this was a lemon on the day of purchase
C70R said:
Indeed. Persistence far beyond my own patience levels. I remember the SP&L thread after you bought it, where you (rightly) faced a fair degree of criticism for running headlong into the purchase without doing any due diligence. Even though you've probably forked out more than the price difference of buying a decent one in the first place, your effort is commendable.
There's only one thing that I'd say as a word of warning. Based on what you've learned about the quality of finish and components so far, I'd suggest that the idea that the engine is "forged" is far-fetched at best.
Yeah I remember that thread very well. I'm well over all that now though. There's only one thing that I'd say as a word of warning. Based on what you've learned about the quality of finish and components so far, I'd suggest that the idea that the engine is "forged" is far-fetched at best.
The engine is definitely forged as far as pistons go, but whether it had forged rods etc. as claimed is certainly open to dispute. The noise a forged engine makes from cold is unmistakable and that gives some comfort. I am going forward with the expectation that it will let go at some point and hope to get as much use as possible out of it until such time should come.
Well it's certainly not common on the newage cars unless they're running forged pistons, but it's by the by. I'm well beyond worrying about any of that nowadays. It's a track/hillclimb car now and in my mind you can't use a car like that indefinitely and not accept it might throw a big bill your way at some point.
I'll use it and enjoy it until such time comes
I'll use it and enjoy it until such time comes
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