Death and Rebirth

[bigstrusk]

**Go**
-Brullen catback
-Borla header
-Ugly scoop-fed intake
-Agency Power LW crank pulley
-KYB AGX dampers
-Prodrive P1 springs
-FHI 20mm rear sway bar
-Alignment
...Camber: F -1.3, R -0.3
...Toe: 0 all around
-Kartboy short shifter
-Kartboy shifter pivot bushings
-Kartboy front and rear stay bushings
-Kartboy rear subframe bushings
-[1/2] TiC tranny crossmember bushings*
-5Zigen FN01R-C 17x8" ET48 wheels
-Bridgestone Potenza RE070 225/45/17 tires

**Show**
-Yellow Rockblocker fog lights w/ Tungsram Gold selective yellow bulbs
-Yellow Rockblocker on clear bumper signals
-Black Rockblocker on orange of tail lights
-OEM-style clear corner lenses
-Clear fender lenses
-Custom neoprene mudflaps
-Debadged rear
-Rolled & pulled fenders
-5 oclock shadow front bumper
-Removed lower trim piece from front bumper for brake venting; edged w. tubing
-Ugly radiator shroud

**Misc**
-ABS on/off switch
-Custom rear camera mount
-Stebel Nautilus Compact 139dB Airhorn
-Infinity Reference 6.5" rear speakers

**Future Plans**
-Body/paint work
-*Other [1/2] of TiC tranny crossmember bushings
-Exedy OEM replacement clutch (have)
-Reincorporate front strut bar through airbox
-Anonomous lip (have)
-Modified front grill
-Front camera mount
-Grounding kit
-Redline MT fluid

[bigstrusk]

It's a start:
http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v199/112/95/9000256/n9000256_36189378_8789.jpg

Lovely rust. Is this the bumper beam? My stepdad suggested gettin some of that crap that bonds with rust and solidifies it... comments on that?
http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v199/112/95/9000256/n9000256_36189379_9157.jpg

Oopsies #1: Connect(ed) the bumper and fender, the bolt wasn't turnin and this sheet metal is paper thin... I'm just gonna drill another hole next to it when reinstalling.
http://photos-e.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v199/112/95/9000256/n9000256_36189380_9460.jpg

[ScrapinSTi]

The big thing is the bumper beam.. The little thing with the rust on it is just a support to hold up the skin... And yes you can put POR-15 on it if you want...

That fender though... yikes...

[bigstrusk]

The big thing is the bumper beam.. The little thing with the rust on it is just a support to hold up the skin... And yes you can put POR-15 on it if you want...

That fender though... yikes...
POR-15 it is then. As far as the fender, the bumper has a longer slot where it can attach to the fender, so I'll just drill a hole a little to the left of where it tore.

[bigstrusk]

Current garage spread:
http://photos-g.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v238/112/95/9000256/n9000256_36196206_6423.jpg

Fender off:
http://photos-f.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v238/112/95/9000256/n9000256_36196205_6112.jpg

Piece-by-piece swapping door crap over:
http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v238/112/95/9000256/n9000256_36196208_7001.jpg

[NYRfanGuy39]

hey bigstrusk. Hey im Julian from Uconn. I dont know who you are but I gotta see your car. I have an RS too with some rust, and I dont much about the car. Just got it like last month. But maybe you can show me how to dismantle the car for the troublesome spots, cus I wanna redo everything and fix things up. Im Jubert39 on uc3 btw

[Judau]

You should replace the fender braces while it's off... I've heard that helps a lot.

Otherwise, good luck... at least it should be better after it's finished then it was before. :)

[bigstrusk]

hey bigstrusk. Hey im Julian from Uconn. I dont know who you are but I gotta see your car. I have an RS too with some rust, and I dont much about the car. Just got it like last month. But maybe you can show me how to dismantle the car for the troublesome spots, cus I wanna redo everything and fix things up. Im Jubert39 on uc3 btw
Wats up man, yea I'll try to help out with anything I can, but just to forewarn you I'm doin all this stuff (and most stuff i do) for the first time and just learn as i go. Biggest tip I can give you involving rust, if you wanna avoid headaches and snapped bolts, invest stock in PB Blaster.

You should replace the fender braces while it's off... I've heard that helps a lot.

Otherwise, good luck... at least it should be better after it's finished then it was before. :)
yeaa i was thinkin about makin my own to be honest, but i believe that bumps me up a class in AutoX, so i'm shying away. thanks for the well-wishing tho man :rocker:

[iwanbo]

Hey that's a nice quilt. The floral pattern really brings out the best the car!

[bigstrusk]

haha, thanks Bob. Unfortunately it smells like my cat..

[iwanbo]

lol :)

Well glad to see you have everything and just need to piece it back together.

[subygirl8330]

glad to see your starting to fix her up! gimme a call if you need any help, although i know you have james whos a walking suby parts store :p

[bigstrusk]

old door stripped down:
http://photos-h.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v195/112/95/9000256/n9000256_36202959_4084.jpg

new door that got the goodies:
http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v195/112/95/9000256/n9000256_36202960_9943.jpg

PITA:
http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v195/112/95/9000256/n9000256_36202961_1782.jpg

new door installed:
http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v195/112/95/9000256/n9000256_36202962_5078.jpg

[bigstrusk]

so much mo betta:
http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v195/112/95/9000256/n9000256_36202963_7691.jpg

new fender:
http://photos-e.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v195/112/95/9000256/n9000256_36202964_9082.jpg

lookin better..:
http://photos-f.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v195/112/95/9000256/n9000256_36202965_436.jpg

new fender, sans dents:
http://photos-g.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v195/112/95/9000256/n9000256_36202966_1491.jpg

[bigstrusk]

glad to see your starting to fix her up! gimme a call if you need any help, although i know you have james whos a walking suby parts store :p
thank you my dear. yea James is gonna hook me up with the lat links + end links i need, it's just becoming difficult with our schedules conflicting a lot. I might break down and buy solid endlinks today... arrggg, i already spent 64 yesterday on crap i dont really need for this haha...

[subygirl8330]

haha good job..

[bigstrusk]

No pics in this update (maybe some later...)

But I finally got all the parts I needed and started the teardown of the suspension. Put a few hours in it last nite; catback off, (headers off and being fixed), rear diff cover off, driveshaft off, ebrake crap off, axle shaft things pooped out of diff, pass side lat links off..

the driver side freakin lat link bolt was being a stubborn betch last nite, even tho i jus worked on that crap recently with the wheel bearing, so i sprayed it some mo and called it a nite.

turns out the passenger side lat link bolt got BENT along with the lat links as well, but thats out and hell i might still have another laying around, but its all good either way.

today after work ill take the driver side lat links off (i hope), then drop the diff finally. i got some new side oil seals for the rear diff so thatll stop the pesky slow leak ive had from the d-side shaft. i'm hopin to at least have the crossmember out by the end of 2nite.

we shall see. cant wait to get this thing back up and running.

PS here's what the car sounds liek while the header is out being mended:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3965594070311328099

[Judau]

turns out the passenger side lat link bolt got BENT along with the lat links as well, but thats out and hell i might still have another laying around, but its all good either way.

Yup, my lateral links, the bolt, hub, and we thing the trailing arm were all bent on my car, and I think mine had less damage then your's (I was able to drive it like that for a year with limited problems).

[bigstrusk]

With your damage, once the most obvious of it was fixed, you still showed signs of crap via a borked alignment, correct? How was the wheel bearing damage? Was it making tons of noise like they usually do when bad?

[Judau]

Well, I did that bolt and lateral links first because they were the most obvious and it really didn't help as much as I had expected... even with rear camber bolts (adusted all the way negative) and adjustable lateral links...

However, since I got a new hub and trailing arm, it's fine... I do still need to go get it actually aligned, but it's close now, and with the adjustability I have, I don't know if it's still not perfect. We think my subframe did get tweaked a bit, but with the lateral links, that doesn't seem to be an issue.

As for the bearing, at first it wasn't too bad. I'd hear it every once in a while very softly, so I knew it was going. Gerald mentioned that when a hub gets bent, which happens easily with the R160s, the bearing will always follow.

But since I replaced both hubs, the bearings in those were bad, so I ended up changing the bearings out anyway. ;)

[alyssa]

matt, we have too much in commen, first i have a drunken accident, then you do. and now this!?!? i thought only my car was supposed to hit objects that dont move!! :p

[bigstrusk]

Well, I did that bolt and lateral links first because they were the most obvious and it really didn't help as much as I had expected... even with rear camber bolts (adusted all the way negative) and adjustable lateral links...

However, since I got a new hub and trailing arm, it's fine... I do still need to go get it actually aligned, but it's close now, and with the adjustability I have, I don't know if it's still not perfect. We think my subframe did get tweaked a bit, but with the lateral links, that doesn't seem to be an issue.

As for the bearing, at first it wasn't too bad. I'd hear it every once in a while very softly, so I knew it was going. Gerald mentioned that when a hub gets bent, which happens easily with the R160s, the bearing will always follow.

But since I replaced both hubs, the bearings in those were bad, so I ended up changing the bearings out anyway. ;)

I'm gonna need a real alignment pronto cuz of autoX, which will also prolly exacerbate any hub/bearing damage. I dont know, but i really dont think my subframe got tweaked. The parts that broke could have gotten mo' broka', so I thnk they absorbed the bulk of the impact energy. I reallllly dont wanna have to do a bearing again though, cuz ive done both rears already, and since im a paranoid mother, i replaced the hubs along with em! bah. we'll see.

matt, we have too much in commen, first i have a drunken accident, then you do. and now this!?!? i thought only my car was supposed to hit objects that dont move!! :p

youre too cute. not. "barfbarfbarf" :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: i thnk i scared my coworkers when i snarfed my lunch as i first read that.

[alyssa]

barfbarfbarf. thats what boys out here do when they look at me.

[whitewagon8619]

all i know is you need some 05 wheels on that puppy. ooooooyeaaaaaaa :-)

[bigstrusk]

barfbarfbarf. thats what boys out here do when they look at me.
Well in defense of the boys out there: one of the last times I saw you, I believe Noah wasnt keepin it in too well to be honest. So its def gotta be you. His was more like BAAAAAAAAARFbarfBAAAAAAAAAAARF though. :D I bet both of you love me right now.

all i know is you need some 05 wheels on that puppy. ooooooyeaaaaaaa :-)
haha yes perhaps you are right. gotta see those bad boys in person first :p

[bigstrusk]

Now for some serious business...

Driver lat link bolt out, all lat links out, axles pulled out, diff dropped, Xmember dropped. Thank the lord. Put the new Xmember in.

Now the bad: I go to replace the side oil seals for the rear diff, and it turns out Dan Perkins Subaru gave me the wrong seals. HOW is beyond me, they had my VIN. The ones they gave me are a different design and about 1/8" too small of an OD. That kinda stopped me in my tracks last nite. Back to the parts dpt I go after work today...

I DID get a chance to install my new KB Subframe Outrigger Bushings (Hard/Race version) :) I cant wait to feel those bad boys in place. I hear they kinda give off a straight cut gear noise when driving too, which I'm anxious to hear. I have absolutely nothing against NVH, thats what stereo upgrades are for :cool:

If all goes well, ill have everything back in and up by the end of today. The header isnt back from being fixed though, so I cant go too far :( [unless someone chimes in and tells me its OK to run the car without headers lol]

[bigstrusk]

WHAT THE SHIT IS SO HARD ABOUT GIVING ME THE CORRECT OIL SEALS FOR MY DAMNED DIFFERENTIAL. No work on it today, or this weekend. Cuz of the DAMNED parts departments. wtf.

[Not All There]

go to brett go to brett! lol jk, thats sucks


real good to see that thing coming along!

[bigstrusk]

Well I'm gonna have to. I dont mean to badmouth these dealers cuz I know Dan Perkins has always treated me well with the parts department in the past. Quality in Wallingford, ... meh he kinda gave me some attitude and scuffed me off when I asked if he had any lat link bolts.. "Psh, we dont got no bolts here.."

So who the hell knows when I'm gonna get these damn seals. I'ma post up on the big forums askin ppl for the correct part number, cuz the dealers cant figure it out.

[bigstrusk]

Hok, so... Good and bad news.

Thanks to a kind NASIOC member in WA, I finally got the part#s for oil seals I needed. Dan Perkins had one and Quality had the others, so I snagged em. Popped em in last nite with a BF socket and some white lithium grease. I couldnt go ahead with the rest of anything cuz i didnt have an extra had to help put the rear end back in, but thats OK.

Bad news: this was one of the suprises I was gonna wait til everything was over to display, but I bought some Whiteline Subframe Locking Bolts. One side wasnt threading in for the life of me due to so much crap being in there (dirt, rust, what have you,..) so I PB-ed it and cleaned it out til finally last nite it started threading. I get em both in a decent amt then break out the torque wrench to seal the deal.. things were going good til it seemed they were gettin snug w/o really going in all the way... then SNAP, one of em .. er... snapped. The shaft of one is stuck in the frame and is gonna be staying there forever now. I go to take out the other side, and somehow the tapered portion of that is mysteriously stuck in my new rear crossmember, so I cant get that one out either. Lovely.

I'm just goin to go ahead with the rest of the repairs at this point and forget about that bolt I think. I tried for about an hour and a half last nite to get that stuck bolt out, which it didnt, so I dont think it's going anywhere anytime soon.

[bigstrusk]

Diff oil seals in, diff & covers up and in, heat shields and cables bolted back up, driveshaft back on, axles back in...

new innermost wheel bearing seal on pass side, new hardware for endlink, new lat link bolt (yea that bent too...) on pass side as well.

all suspension components re-connected and torqued

last thing to go on (later today) is the exhaust, thennn the wheels :cool: making some calls today to see when the earliest i can get an alignment is... anyone know of those places that have like warranties on alignments? ive read on nabisco about places that you pay a larger up front fee but can go back throughout the year to get it re-aligned or changed for free...

[subygirl8330]

ooooo thatd be sweet but i havent heard of a place that does that around here.. let us know if you find one! if not tire city in east hartford does them for wicked cheap and to ur specifications

[ScrapinSTi]

So when you put the diff back in, did you put oil in it? :D

And most Firestones, and Town Fair Tires do lifetime alignments

[bigstrusk]

ooooo thatd be sweet but i havent heard of a place that does that around here.. let us know if you find one! if not tire city in east hartford does them for wicked cheap and to ur specifications
Yea tell me about it, id be back to their place every week after an autoX to tweak :p Thanks for the tip on Tire City megs! i'm obviously trying to keep to a reasonable budget considering i still need body and paint work.

So when you put the diff back in, did you put oil in it? :D

And most Firestones, and Town Fair Tires do lifetime alignments
Yes Noah, I didnt forget. Overfilled her with generic 10W30 thank you very much. Do those other places do the alignments to my specs?

[ScrapinSTi]

10w30!?? i hope you are joking. its supposed to be 75w90 in a differential.

And some places WILL align to your specs... just need to go talk to them and be cool with them...

[bigstrusk]

You must really think I'm a stupid asshat lol. Royal Purple 75W90, thank you. You're supposed to see right through sarcastic comments like that, especially on internet forums! Come on now.

I think I might just go to the place Megs said cuz it's in between where the car is now and my apt.

[ScrapinSTi]

well with you little people... I never know if you are joking or not... :D

[bigstrusk]

List of things to shit on @ post-dyno party:
1) Roomba
2) Noah's pillow
3) ...

[ScrapinSTi]

ROFL!

[bigstrusk]

Tire City didnt want to do it. He said if it needed custom specs go to some place down the road callled Strong's Alignment. I've got a feeling theyre going to charge me an arm and a leg... if so I might end up just goin to Bishop if I cant save any money.. It'll be a better alignment there anyways.

edit: cant go there, dude wont take the car in after 3pm.. cant get to E. Hartford from Stratford on a workday by then... garr..

editedit: got an appointment tomorrow 4pm @ Bishop :D That means I damn better well have this car up and running tonight lol

[JHawley]

man noah, how how hard is it to get a shit stain out of a pillow case...

[subygirl8330]

lol


ya well ur better off, tire city wont let me back since i bitched them out for putting a scratch in my 6 month old paint job, but the owner says "we dont make mistakes" ...and then i said f u.

[bigstrusk]

In to work late... but guess what I drove in todayy :):):)

[Judau]

In to work late... but guess what I drove in todayy :):):)

Congrats!! :D

[bigstrusk]

Thanks buddy. I'm not gonna lie though, all your talk of wheel bearing failure after that kind of accident has got me super spooked :p I'm gonna ask the Bishop guys what they think... There is a bit of noise coming from the rear end, but there are way too many things factoring in that to say with any kind of rationality that "It's the bearing":

Going from the Eclipse to the Subaru, having the 17's & Potenza's on, rear toe waaay off, Race-version Rear Subframe Outrigger Bushings :cool:, Not having driven the thing in more than a month... stuff like that.

On a sad note, looks like this weekend's autoX-ing will be wet :( great way to start the season.

[Judau]

Well you only crashed on the passenger side, right? Are you reusing that hub, or did you get a new one? Because that's the only bearing you'd have to worry about, and that's only if the hub bent... but as I said, the damage from the last owner of my car was WAAAAAY better than your's, and my hub was definitely bent.

[bigstrusk]

Yea just pass side. As far as I can tell though, the hub wasnt bent at all. The whole knuckle assembly was ok, the things that got fubar-ed were one of the lat links, the endlink, the crossmember (tore out of the thin sheet metal), and the lat link bolt got slightly tweaked as well.

I wasnt going through the whole process of replacing the hub or bearing unless it was quite noticeable they were borked.. But we'll see I guess.

[Rob T]

As you will remember from Pete's experience, they will have a hard time getting the alignment right if the hub is bent like his was.

[Not All There]

congrats man!

[bigstrusk]

As you will remember from Pete's experience, they will have a hard time getting the alignment right if the hub is bent like his was.
I'll find out in about 2.5 hours I suppose huh, haha.

congrats man!
Thanks dude. AUTOX TIME. Maybe even a hillclimb in the future? :devil:

[Judau]

As you will remember from Pete's experience, they will have a hard time getting the alignment right if the hub is bent like his was.

Yeah, let us know how that turns out! Good luck!!

[00imprezars]

Yea just pass side. As far as I can tell though, the hub wasnt bent at all. The whole knuckle assembly was ok, the things that got fubar-ed were one of the lat links, the endlink, the crossmember (tore out of the thin sheet metal), and the lat link bolt got slightly tweaked as well.

I wasnt going through the whole process of replacing the hub or bearing unless it was quite noticeable they were borked.. But we'll see I guess.

my first rs got hit in the passanger side, and my hub wasnt bad at all, my lat. link bent a little and sure enough, 2000 miles later the bearing blew apart. i would get it changed

[alyssa]

yay for matt to have his car back!! <3

[bigstrusk]

http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v249/112/95/9000256/n9000256_36585216_9663.jpg

heheh. Thanks again to Kyle for the awesome alignment; best of luck with that tune!!

00: well im sure an autoX or 2 will expedite the bearing if it is indeed gonna go, we shall see. its not my daily driver anymore on account of freakin gas mileage and prices.

alys: thank youuuu, this baby feels planted as hell now. i missed this thang.

[Not All There]

sounds good, real good!

[bigstrusk]

So it's about time I got another update on hurr. Last time was the wonderful alignment done by Kyle Bishop. Since then has been mostly more purchasing because I'm a dumbass and waste money, but I did add a mechanical CEL fix for the exhaust system. Unfortunately, a CEL has been pretty intermittant lately and I haven't been able to check it. If Todd is @ autoX this Sunday I might snag his ScanGuage and take a gander, but I think soon I will buy some sort of USB-OBDII interface item. Other than that, took it to Hartford to autoX June 8th and the car felt amazing. Once dialed in perfectly, it tore around that track with some quite competitive times (even though all you heavy hitters were at Devens :o ).

The "To-Do" list is enormous at this point, considering I'm also in the middle of a waterpump/timing belt on my Eclipse. The list currently is:

- Get the remaining bodywork done on the car. The rear quarter needs mending, along with the area where the sideskirt attaches there. Next is painting the repaired areas, front bumper, sideskirts, and new gas cap.

- Replace clutch with OEM Exedy unit. **anyone particularly good with these??**

- Install Kartboy SS, TiC pivot bushings, Kartboy front and rear stay bushings, TiC Tranny Crossmember Bushings

- Modify my ugly intake box to accomodate the front strut bar again.

- Tune up items: new plugs/wires, fuel filter, PCV valve, tranny fluid

- Find some large terminals to mate to the large guage wire left over from my old subwoofer **know of a good source??** --> make grounding kit.

- Make second camera mount attaching to passenger-side headrest. Simultaneous front and rear video views FTW :cool:

- Fix my damn driver-side mirror, needs glass.

- Modify the front grill (you'll see).

BLEHHH. So yea, I've got my hands full. The body/paint work and clutch are paramount above all and need doing asap. Who needs a project car when I've got this thing.

[Judau]

- Fix my damn driver-side mirror, needs glass.

Not sure if it's doable, but I have a spare driver side mirror that is broken at the base and the glass itself is fine...

[bigstrusk]

I dont think it's worth it. The goop strips that hold the glass on dont come off so easily. I just have to call Brett up @ Suburban and get a new glass piece, because paying the 20-30 other dealers want is BS. It's a damn mirror.

Thanks though man.

[Judau]

I dont think it's worth it. The goop strips that hold the glass on dont come off so easily. I just have to call Brett up @ Suburban and get a new glass piece, because paying the 20-30 other dealers want is BS. It's a damn mirror.

Thanks though man.

Yeah, that's what I figured, no problem. :)

[bigstrusk]

UPDATED FIRST POST PER BOB'S RULES.

[bigstrusk]

Updates of sorts:
Procured some snow tires for my stock 16" wheels for next year. The only pickle is that one of em was damaged in my accident from a while back. Took pix of it as follows:
http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs036.snc1/2665_627022894021_9000256_39649137_5263824_n.jpg
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs036.snc1/2665_627022884041_9000256_39649135_7042066_n.jpg
http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs036.snc1/2665_627022889031_9000256_39649136_3261263_n.jpg
http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs036.snc1/2665_627022879051_9000256_39649134_1425466_n.jpg

I know the true test will be to put it on a balance machine and whatnot, just seeing what you guys think. Also, the header cracked again, so I had my buddy weld it back up. Unfortunately, it was so out of whack that when it was fixed it lost its form (ie. the holes dont line up to the car now). Gotta go to my friend's shop soon to see if something can be worked out. It's black now too, looks as such:
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs036.snc1/2665_627022899011_9000256_39649138_3974646_n.jpg

New clutch has been in since fall, summer wheels back on (need new rubber soon), new Hawk HPS pads and blanks all around, SS has been in for a while, all bushings (except for ONE stubborn X-member bushing) in, mirror fixed lol, did tune up (almost time for new one; tranny fluid at least soon).

Thats about it. Slow at work now so I figured I'd update this.

[bigstrusk]

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs146.snc3/17337_719845601571_9000256_43063645_4172957_n.jpg
http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs126.snc3/17337_719845616541_9000256_43063648_37740_n.jpg
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs146.snc3/17337_719845631511_9000256_43063650_1309739_n.jpg
http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs126.snc3/17337_719845621531_9000256_43063649_2699099_n.jpg

:rocker:

sadly i had to take these after putting the snows on. the stock rims turned out to be fine to use (see above). this is the reason why i had to put the snows on:

http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs126.snc3/17337_719851993761_9000256_43063895_4742786_n.jpg

i still intend to get some touch up paint and do some lil fix ups.

[iwanbo]

Wow, she came a long way! :D

[topend]

Sweet update :rocker: and woa tire blowout

[jut60]

looks good with the painted skirts/spats/front lip

[BrysImpreza]

the header cracked again, so I had my buddy weld it back up. Unfortunately, it was so out of whack that when it was fixed it lost its form (ie. the holes dont line up to the car now). Gotta go to my friend's shop soon to see if something can be worked out. It's black now too, looks as such:
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs036.snc1/2665_627022899011_9000256_39649138_3974646_n.jpg



HA! Mine snapped on Saturday night on RT 74 while driving by a parked state trooper, he followed me all the way home. I was able to put the stock on back on fairly quickly, but didn't have a new gasket to put between the manifold and cat, so I have a loud leak.

Hoping it warms up a little this weekend so I can reweld my aftermarket headers, the stock set up is noticeably poor flowing, I miss the mid-range power of being able to peg it getting on at 68 and hitting 75 by the time I get on, now I'm lucky if I hit 65.

[bigstrusk]

^ Yea dude that sux. It's been like a never-ending mini series with these things... It's at a decent point now, still takes struggling and strategic stud insertion to get it to go on. I havent checked torqueing in a while, so i think i may have another small leak or some gasket is going on me. We shall see. I wouldnt mind a replacement at one point in time... these are Air's (NotAllThere) rally spares he sold me a while back.

PS: Do you have means to weld this yourself?

[bigstrusk]

And thanks for all the praise guys :D

Warms my heart.

[Jim511]

Car looks good man! This may sound dumb but do the aftermarket headers really add some performance? What about gas mileage?

[jut60]

any recent shots not in the dark :)

[bigstrusk]

Car looks good man! This may sound dumb but do the aftermarket headers really add some performance? What about gas mileage?
On the N/A, ... meh yea a little for power. Due to my luck though, most of the time something along the exhaust stream is broke so I rarely am at full power. Mileage-wise, I can safely say that right now is the only time I've ever been able to reach 29-30 mpg with the RS, but who knows wat else might be influencing that.

any recent shots not in the dark :)
:( unfortunately no. The UConn Car Show will prolly be the next time the darn thing will even be clean, I'll get some shots there.