Neiliux's STi

Finally stepped into the world of stage 2

2009-05-08T13:31:00.000-07:00

When I first bought my STi the exhaust note left something to be desired, so around 8K miles I upgraded to the SPT cat-back exhaust. I did this to not void my warranty since this is a Subaru exhaust. Now at almost 35K miles and my warranty being up it was time to upgrade my exhaust yet again, but this time it would be the last exhaust upgrade on this specific car. I ended up going with the Agency Power TBE (Turbo back exhaust). This system replaces the entire exhaust system from the turbo all the way to the exhaust tip. This exhaust is by far the loudest system I've ever owned, and no, it does not sound like a honda or ricer what-so-ever. This exhaust provides a deep rumble. I will say that I did loose a little bit of the Subaru 'boxer' sound due to the downpipe being replaced but the deep rumble makes up for it and then some. At times the exhaust note is too loud for comfort but this is just something I have to deal with if I want to keep increasing the cars power.

I started off by getting the car up on jacks and letting it cool down for an hour or so.

The SPT cat-back that has been on the car for almost 30K miles:

The new TBE straight out of the packaging. Sexy ain't it?

...Fun with my new toys

The first step I did for the install was to remove the rear diffuser. There are 5 12MM bolts that need to be removed. You will need a 12MM deep socket to get at the bolts. I removed the diffuser to gain access to one of the bushings that was holding the muffler in place.

I don't have pictures of the next few steps but I removed the bolts from the downpipe and mid-pipe (two 14MM bolts/nuts). I applied PB blaster to the bolts/nuts prior to touching them. Once the bolts were removed I went to the muffle and remove the two rubber bushings from the mounting points on the car, I left the bushings connected to the exhaust. I had to use a couple flat head screwdrivers to get the bushing loose. The bushing on the driver side is unique in that you have to remove a bolt to get the bushing free however the nut is welded to the mounting bracket. Once the end of the exhaust and the mid-pipe to downpipe were free all that was left as another bushing in the center of the mid-pipe. Again, I used a flat head screw driver to pry it free and the entire exhaust then fell on top of me (what a surprise!)

The cat-back (Axel-back/muffler and mid-pipe) have been removed. Notice my sweet 22MM adjustable sway-bay and end-links.

The entire SPT cat-back exhaust:

Now it's time to remove the heat shield housing that sits above the turbo/Downpipe. This was one of the most difficult parts of the install for me. I decided to not remove my intercooler and work around this. This made removing the 5 bolts that mount the shield very difficult to get too. On top of that once the bolts have been removed the housing has to be pushed apart to fit over the turbo, with the intercooler in the I had to rotate and tug like no tomorrow before it finally came loose.

Here is the turbo and downpipe exposed after the heat shield has been removed. There is still a mounting bracket for the heat shield present, this must be removed but required the top two bolts that connect the downpipe to the turbo to be removed.

At this point I've got the downpipe broken apart from the turbo. To do this I loosened all 5 bolts that connect the turbo to the downpipe then I had to crawl under the car and loosen the two bolts that mount the downpipe to the car. At that point I could move it around freely.

The downpipe removed from the car. The stock downpipe is actually two pieces but I didn't want to break the bolts connected the two pieces together. I also had to remove the O2 sensor before I could get out. I picked up a specific tool for just that at the auto parts store down the road from my house.

View from up top after the downpipe has been removed.

...And the view from the bottom

New downpipe is in place. I've placed a few bolts to keep it from falling but I won't be torquing anything until the entire system has been installed.

The agency power downpipe includes this little welded on pipe for the O2 senser. I used a small packet of Anti-Seize on the sensor itsefl before the install. Again, I had to use a special tool to install the sensor, however I think a 22MM wrench could also be used to install this sensor.

Mid-pipe has been put in place. There is a bushing that sits in the middle of the pipe. I attached that first and let it hang while I stuck the gasket in place and placed the bolts. Again, I did not torque anything down as of yet.

And finally we attached the Axel-back, I used the same type of gasket between the mid-pipe and Axel-back followed by two 14MM bolts/nuts. This section mounts to the car with a supporting piece that wraps the muffler.

What the people behind me see, hear, and feel. :)

Pictures here is the stock and SPT cat-backs with the stock downpipe in the middle:

... And I end with this myself feeling good after the install is complete. The job took me a little over 4 hours from getting the car on jacks to taking it for a test drive.

Victim of the infamous ring-land issue

2009-04-24T16:25:00.000-07:00

I pop in the clutch, turn the key, hear that sweet boxer exhaust note then out of nowhere my garage fills up with a thick light bluish smoke. Could it be? Yes, I am another victim of the well known issue of bad ring-lands on pistons 2 and 4. I have been dealing with smoke on startup for months (Yes, months). I was certain my ring-lands were shot but the idiots at the Auburn, WA Subaru dealership (where I bought the car) said everything was fine. It got so bad that I was literally burning a quart every 200 miles (of course I'd have to drive fairly hard to achieve this). Finally around 30K miles my clutch started slipping so I decided to stop by the Subaru dealership in Tacoma, WA which is a few miles from my house. This is where the journey began. Initially I was expecting to make an appointment for a new clutch/flywheel which I would pay out of pocket for since it's a wear-n-tear piece of equipment, but to my surprise they hooked me up under the warranty. While there I decided to ask about my smoke on startup issue, they scheduled me for a second visit to look into it. I dropped the car off and a few hours later I get the call. They say the bearings on my turbo are shot and it's shooting oil directly into the downpipe. Once again they amaze me by replacing the turbo and downpipe all under warranty. I leave a happy camper. After a few days I notice I am still getting the smoke on startup and the car is still eating oil so I bring it back yet again. This time they start this crazy process of making me drive the car for 500 miles then I need to bring it back so they can measure how much oil it's eating. Well after 150 miles I was down a little over a quart so I took it back, they couldn't believe it however they filled the oil and made me do this 3 more times! After about a month of what seemed to be bi-weekly visits to the dealership they finally did the compression/leak-down test which confirmed that piston 4 was low by ~45PSI! It was time to pull the engine to peek at the bottom end of the engine. They got the engine pulled and sure enough the ring-lands on piston 4 were destroyed, the ring-lands on piston 2 also had a slight crack which clearly was growing. Finally they found the root cause of all the problems. After about a week and 1/2 of waiting for my baby (while driving a base Cobalt rental, eck!) I had her back. When I started her up the first time the exhaust note was more pronounced, it had never sounded so good before. It became clear at that moment that the ring-lands were at minimum cracked when I installed the cat-back exhaust at 8K miles. All in all I am a satisfied customer with the dealership in Tacoma, WA. They went out of they're way to make sure my car was fixed up. They even made a follow up call after to make sure everything was okay. I had taken the car to the Auburn, WA dealership on several occasions and each time they claimed the car was fine. Even when the clutch was slipping and I asked them to verify that it in fact was! I stopped at the dealership when the engine was pulled and took a few pictures. The engine itself is much small than I anticipated. I am surprised on how much power is generated from such a small piece of engineering.

My weekend is ruined...

2009-04-17T19:57:00.000-07:00

While parallel parking I ended up scrapping my front passenger side rim. 30 minutes after it occured I had placed an order at Tirerack for a new rim w/ tire. I will use this damaged rim as a spare. My weekend is officially ruined. :(

Hood heat shield replacement

2009-02-22T14:28:00.000-08:00

After driving with no oil cap I ended up with oil all over the heat shield which destroyed it. 100 bucks and a week later (Thanks Subaru) I had a new shield.

Bottom is the new one, top is the bad one.

Front license plate mounting bracket

2009-02-22T14:13:00.000-08:00

I decided to try out a front license plate mounting bracket that allows you to angle the plate. I picked it up at a AutoZone just down the street from my house. It comes in chrome but I am thinking about painting it black or possibly a red. Overall I am not sure if I like it. Having the front plate on makes me feel a little better since every time a cop passes me I get a little nervous for having a 20% tint (legal is 35% and higher) and having no front plate. So less reasons I give them to pull me over the better.

Here it is still in the packaging:

Installed on the car:

Front Agency Power end-links and sway bar install

2009-02-21T19:09:00.001-08:00

In a previous post I installed rear end-links and a rear sway bar so in this post we will do the front. I found the front end to be easier to install, however it requires you to pull more parts off the car to get at the sway bar mounts. Once I figured this out the install was a piece of cake though.

First get the annoying plastic protector removed.

2nd, remove the jacking plate. There are four bolts in the center and two on each side. Note that the sizes of these differ. The front most bolts have nuts on top which you need to grab onto.

Next, remove the big 'u' or 'c' shaped piece. There is a total of 11 bolts (two different sizes), 2 plastic covers with two plastic clips each. Sorry, I don't have pictures of me taking it off. First remove 3 exposed bolts from each side then move back and remove the plastic cover by removing the two clips. Once the plastic cover is removed this will expose another bolt, remove it. Keep going back and you will see another bolt that is deeper into the frame. Loosen this bolt but don't remove it. Now remove the bolt from the front center of the piece. To get it out pull it forward. The ends of each side slide into an area on the frame (remember those bolts that were loosened but not removed?)

Here is everything removed. This is a little further in the process since I've got the sway bar and end-links off but it shows everything including the new sway bar and links.

This is what the driver side looks like with the 'U' shaped piece and jack mount removed.

Passenger side:

Next, locate the mounting brackets and bushings for the sway bar. Loosen the bolts on both sides, but don't remove them.

Locate the end-links on each side and remove the nuts to get the end-links off the sway bar and control arm. When doing this you might end up with the nut and bolt spinning together (this happened on the passenger side but not the driver side for me). I got a pair of pliers and used that to hold the bolts from rotating.

Once the end-links have been removed go ahead and remove the bolts for the mounting brackets. The sway bar should be free and you can pull it out. Seen below is the stock sway bar, end-links, new sway bar, new end-links, mounting brackets, and finally, bushings.

I've put the 'lub' grease stuff on the rubber bushing and stuck both bushing on the sway bar. I then placed the mounting brackets over the bushings, and bolted the brackets back to the frame, I have not torqued the bolts yet, this way I can move the sway bar around easily. Next I attached each of the end-links. I had to rotate the sway bar up to get the end-links to line up. Sorry, I don't have pictures of each of these steps, but it's really easy.

Attach the 'U' piece back to the frame. As you can see trying to get to the mounting brackets is almost impossible without removing this piece. I am sure you could get at the mounting brackets with the right tools though.

That's it... The last thing to note is to make sure the sway bar it centered. My end-links have a good amount of travel so it's possible to not have it centered.

(Intake) Silencer Delete

2009-02-21T14:24:00.000-08:00

After looking at a graphical representation of my entire intake/exhaust system I discovered this silencer that sits between the intake and turbo. After searching into what this is for it became clear that it had to go. Since I am no longer running the stock intake I really had no need for this silencer. Removing the silencer allows the turbo to spool up slightly faster as well as making the turbo itself more audible (all though in my case my SPT intake kills any noise the turbo might generate). The removal is a very easy process and took me less then 30 minutes.

First remove the front passenger side wheel.

Next, locate all the clips that hold the fender lining in place.I was able to remove six clips to get the lining to pull back enough to get at the silencer.

Here is the liner pulled back. The white plastic thing is the bottom part of the silencer.

Remove the top nut from the engine bay. I am pointing to it in the below picture.

Next, get under the car directly under the silencer and look up, you will see another bolt, Remove the nut. Now the silencer is free. You will need to move it around to get it out.

...And finally the silencer after it's been removed.

Rear Agency Power end-links and sway bar install

2009-02-02T09:15:00.000-08:00

This install was a win-win for me. Not only is the rear end rock solid with the new Agency Power end-links and a 22MM Sway bar to connect everything up, this also fixed my suspension geometry problem. The problem was that the passenger side of the car was sitting about 1"-1.5" higher then the driver side. This was entirely due to a bent (and I mean bent) passenger side rear end-link. It was bent so far that both rear end-links and eventually the OEM sway bar itself were digging into the control arms. This install proved to be difficult at first however I was determined to get the install done and I managed to figure out how to work around all the problems I came across. I tried doing the install on jacks with the wheels on, this failed. I tried the install with the car on ramps, this failed. Finally, I put the car on jacks and removed the wheels, this worked! I have no idea about all these how-to's out there talking about the car must be on the ground or the sway bar must be under tension. This is a bunch of BS!

The install began with first removing the OEM sway bar, bushings, and all mounting hardware. On my '07 STi this is very easy to do on the driver side however the passenger side is a different story.

Here is the driver side OEM end-links, sway bar, bushings, and mounting brackets. The picture on the left is the end-link with the sway bar attached to the end of it (the other end of the end-link is attached to the control arm). Notice how the control arm is damaged, this was caused by the end-link and sway bar digging into the control arm while cornering.

Here is the OEM hardware from the passenger side. Notice how bent the end-link is. The bottom picture is the bushing with mounting bracket. Notice all the cables that surround the mounting bracket, this made it a major pain to pull that puppy out. You can clearly see where the sway bar itself has dug into the control arm.

Pictured here on the top is me holding the sway bar on the passenger side. I've got it removed from the end-link and as of now the sway bar is connected to nothing, it's hanging freely. The bottom picture is the driver side. The sway bar is free from the end-link and the bushing is hanging free.

Here is the the entire OEM sway bar 'kit' removed from the car. The sway bar, bushings, end-links, mounting brackets, and all bolts, nuts and washers are shown.

Of course I had to show the new kit with the OEM kit. Notice how the Agency Power items are by far 'beffier' then the OEM counter parts. The OEM sway bar is 19MM while the Agency Power is 22MM.

Here are the OEM and Agency Power end-links. Notice how bent one of the OEM end-links is! The other one is slightly bent. I still am not sure as to the exact cause of why these bent but I have a strong feeling it was due to my Cobb springs. The new Agency Power end-links are ball bearing and way stronger then the OEM ones.

Here I've got the mounting brackets and the sway bar hanging in place. The top picture is the driver side. The bottom picture is the passenger side. Getting the passenger side mounting bracket on was a major pain in the ass. The bolt is shared amongst two other items on top of piping and wiring running right on top of the bolt head.

Sway bar has now been introduced to the bushings which are used to attach the bar to the mounting brackets. Top is driver side, bottom is passenger side.

... And finally we attach the sway bar to the control arms via the end-links.

Some random pictures with the completed install...

Now that the rear is done I still have to tackle the front sway bar and end-links. I did the rear on a Saturday with intention of installing the front on Sunday but I had a nasty hang over, plus it was the Superbowl! The front will have to wait for another weekend.

New Sway bar kit and Cobb Accessport!

2009-01-30T09:32:00.000-08:00

Last night I picked myself up a Agency-Power sway bar kit. The kit includes front and rear 22MM sway bars, bushings, rear mounts, front and rear end links, and all the bolts, nuts, and washers your heart could desire. The stock sway bars are 19MM and the stock end links are weak and I've managed to bend one of them so these new beefy ones will do the job! When I ran over to Ill-Tech Auto in Tacoma, WA to pick up the kit they just happened to have a Cobb AccessPort for a '07 STi sitting right in front of me so like a kid in a candy story my eyes lite up and I started drooling. I ended up walking away with the Cobb Accessport and the Sway bar kit.

After I got home I dug everything out of the boxes and looked at it then I ran to the car to get a stage 1 tune on it. I flashed the car and on start up it didn't want to kick over but this is typical whenever your ECU is reset. After a few seconds it fired up and you could hear a more pronounced boxer sound. The car is much more responsive and it does exactly what I tell it to do. I am fairly certain my turbo is shot so I was running little to no boost however running with no boost the car definitely felt faster. I can't wait to get my turbo replaced and see what she is capable of!

The saga of the clutch and flywheel...

2009-01-29T15:28:00.001-08:00

Have you ever been cruising down the highway and needed to downshift for a quick burst of acceleration say to change lanes or pass somebody, then out of nowhere you hear the engine rev up, yet the car does not seem to go anywhere, on top of that you start to smell something that appears to be burning. Well my friend you have just experienced clutch slip. My STi had a stock clutch and flywheel for the first 30K miles of its life. Around 29K I noticed the clutch slipping slightly, over the next few months it got worse and worse until I could not push the throttle passed 10-20% in 4th, 5th, and 6th gears. It was time for a new clutch. You ask yourself why is the clutch gone on only 30K miles? Well first I am a fairly aggressive driver and I engine brake excessively. 2nd, there was a recall on the stock clutch. I asked Subaru about the details of the recall but they would not tell me anything.

Around a month ago I dropped the car off at the Auburn, WA. Subaru dealership where I bought the car. I told them my clutch was slipping and I wanted them to verify that was in fact the case (I was also having oil burning issues, more on that in a later post). They claimed my clutch was fine. Since this was a dealership I believed them and went on my way. Over the next few weeks it became apparent that something was in fact wrong. I researched into the problem but all symptoms pointed to a failing clutch. I decided to try another dealership in Tacoma, again, I dropped the car off and told them exactly what I had told the dealership in Auburn. They said it sounded like the clutch and they would look at it. I dropped the car off the following week for a full two day visit (try being without your car for two full days, it's brutal). After the mechanic drove it for one minute he informed me that the clutch was in fact bad and because there was a recall I’d be getting a new clutch and flywheel free of charge. After waiting two days I finally received the call saying she was done and ready for pick up. Not two hours later I was down there picking her up. The new clutch grabs much more than the previous one. I am one happy camper (for now).

STUPID, STUPID, STUPID...

2009-01-18T18:16:00.000-08:00

Stupid sums it all up. There is no need for a description of what I did, the pictures say it all. S.T.U.P.I.D!

....For those who still are having trouble seeing the problem. Notice how everything on the right side is discolored yet everything on the left seems normal. Anybody ever hear of a oil filler cap?

Fun with exhaust note...

2009-01-12T22:22:00.000-08:00

After I fixed my exhaust leak I decided to take some video of the car on jacks. I ended up with this cut. Another sample of what she sounds like. Make sure you listen to this on speakers with a good low end so you get the sweeeeeet boxer sound. Enjoy.

Exhaust Leak Repair

2009-01-12T21:31:00.000-08:00

While looking into a completely separate issue with my rear suspension over the weekend I discovered that my exhaust was leaking where my SPT cat-back meets up with the downpipe. We can't have this so the following day I picked up the parts needed for the repair, got the car on jacks and started pounding on bolts. The picture on the left is the downpipe connecting to the cat-back via the bolts with the springs.

Here is a video of the exhaust while the car is running. You can see the leak as well as the moisture complete with a puddle on the ground.

This was the first time that I have put the car up on 4 jacks. Usually I lift either the rear or the front but with this repair I needed to get under the center of the car with enough room to break loose the 15MM bolts so the entire car had to come up.

The old bolts, springs, and nuts. I replaced all three pieces. You can also see the rear passenger side tire and one of the jacks.

Here is what the inner of the downpipe looks like. The piece I am holding is the cat-back. Notice that there is no gasket???

I've placed a new non-factory gasket on the downpipe and we are ready to bolt it back together.

Bolts are on, notice the springs. 26 feet-pounds on the bolts.

New wheels and tires

2008-10-29T12:42:00.001-07:00

I finally got around to ordering a new set of wheels and tires. I ended up with a set of MSW Type 16 18" wheels. I wrapped these puppies around a set of Kohma Escta ASX all season tires in preparation for the coming winter. These wheels are five spoke verses the ten spoke BBS wheels I had prior. My Brembo breaks really show through now with the five spoke wheels.

Rebuild of the front passenger side strut...

2008-08-27T15:36:00.000-07:00

It turns out that when I installed my Cobb springs I did not align the top hat with the flange on the bottom of the front passenger strut, this 2" gap did not allow the strut to move around when taking corners. This resulted in the strut 'popping' under load and just a overall bad feel while driving the car. Saturday morning I removed the strut, tore it apart, fixed the alignment issue, then stuck it back on the car. The end result was a leveled front-end, no more popping and the handling of the car feels as it should now. Now that the car sits lower I can no longer simply stick my lift under the car to place jacks under it. Instead I have to drive it up a few inches on ramps to get enough clearance to get the lift under the car. I can only go up a few inches though, anything more and the front-end will scrap the ramps themselves. I will need to invest in some ramps with less of a angle. urgh!

This shows how far I could drive the car onto the ramps before the front end would hit. Note that the car is resting on the jack in the picture.

Car is resting on jacks....

This is the strut directly after being taken off the car. Can you spot whats wrong with it? I noticed before I had it out of the car. If you look at the section closest to the camera you will see a indent on the metal top hat (the piece below the hard plastic piece with the three bolts sticking out). That indent needs to be aligned with the two metal pieces sticking upwards at the bottom of the strut. If you look at the metal piece alone you will see that it is not a solid circle but it's got a strange angle to it.

Before you start to remove the top hat make sure you stick spring compressors on the spring otherwise you will get injured!

Here is the strut completely taken apart. To put it all back together you will need to put the spring compressors back on the spring. The spring itself will need to be compressed more then when you took it out so you can actually thread the 17MM bolt at the top. Make sure you compress the spring evenly, as I learned if you don't do this you will be trying to do the impossible.

The strut property assembled, notice the indent is now aligned and the top plastic hat is able to rotate freely.

The strut installed in the car (Yes, I know, dirty Brembo's)

The final product...

Photo Shoot

2008-08-15T11:07:00.001-07:00

My new cobb springs have settled so I figured I'd take a few pictures while the car was cleaned up. These are the first pictures to include the new springs, 20% tint all around, and the rally armor flaps.

Subiefest '08

2008-08-12T13:58:00.000-07:00

It's back! The largest all-Subaru motorsport event in North America: Subiefest 2008 presented by Subaru and EDO Performance/Zero Sports!

I wish I could make it this year but unfortunately due to my pain in the ass job I can't make it.

http://www.subiefest.com/2008/

Cobb spring install day (well days)

2008-08-06T11:33:00.000-07:00

Every morning I go through the daily routine. Wake up, usually drive into work, check email, check out my daily visited websites, and if I am expecting any packages, track em'. Well UPS claimed that my Cobb springs will be arriving today, that means its time to prep the car so the springs can be installed within a few hours of hitting my hands. I had a few days before the arrival date so I had some planning to do. I ended up breaking the install over two days. The first day I got the front end complete but ran out of day light, so I waited until morning then started on the rear with a rested sun. I took pictures along the way however as I get further into the install the pictures become more sparse. This was the first spring install I've ever done, I did it solo and basically followed a how-to that another subie owner created for people just like me.

The night before...
Verified that I have all tools needed to get the job done.

Night before prep work, making sure my socketed wrench w/ 6MM hex T will work to get the strut apart. It worked perfectly.

The individual pieces from the above picture...

The last picture of the car in one piece with the OEM springs.

I started by breaking loose the center 17MM strut bolt and the surrounding 12MM bolts. I did this while the car was still on the ground. I left the 12MM nuts on a few threads in case the strut decided to come down it would not rip off the car.
Next I broke loose the 5 lug nuts on each front tire. I used my special 3 foot pipe with the crappy tool Subaru gave me to get them loose. Note that I did this while the car was on the ground. I just broke them loose so I would have no trouble removing the wheels once the car was on jacks.

I put down a few shop rags and placed some of the tools I'll be using in a central location.

Get the front of the car in the air.

Put the jack stands in place and slowly lower the lift...

Next, take some PB Blaster and soak the two 12MM bolts for the bake and ABS lines then the two 19MM bolts (strut and camber bolt)

I've removed the 12MM bolts for the brake and ABS lines. Note that I stuck the bolts back in the holes in the strut itself so I wouldn't loose them. When the strut comes out you need to make sure to avoid damaging any of the brake lines.

Start to crank on those 19MM bolts....

I ended up putting my 3 foot pipe over the breaker bar from the picture above to get enough leverage to break the bolts loose. I also put painters tape on in case I struck the body with a tool.

After breaking the bolts loose I ended up using two wrench's to get the bolts/nuts out. Remember where your camber bolts are placed (the ones on top, they should have 10 etched in them).

Once the bolts are out I stuck a punch and screw driver in the holes to keep the strut from falling when I remove the top three 12MM nuts.

This is what the strut still mounted in the car looks like...

The front passenger side strut removed.

This is the driver side with the strut out and taken apart. The spring has been removed (use spring compressors!)

Got to get a shot of me working....

You have to remove the rear seat to get at the rear struts...

The new springs....

Front strut assembled, spring still has the compressors. This was the most difficult step of the install for me. The first front strut took over an hour to assemble correctly. My problem was I was not compressing the spring evenly, this would eventually turn the spring in the strut and I'd have to loosen the the compressors and start over (the spring lines up to the grooves on the strut). I also ran into an issue with not compressing the springs enough to get the top hat back on.

Front strut installed.

Now I start on the rears. The car is back on all fours. It's a relief to see the front end sitting on it's own weight. I was able to access the struts by removing the rear seat. I again busted loose the 17MM nut and the surrounding three 12MM nuts.

Get the rear in the air...

Rear bay after wheel has been removed.

First step is to get the brake line out of the way. Unlike the front, the rear uses a single clip. I ended up using a flat head screw driver and hammer to nudge it loose. I am holding the clip in the picture below, to the right of the clip is the housing for the clip, this is part of the strut.

Rear strut removed.

Rear strut with new spring.

Strut assembled. The rear springs do not require compressors. This made the strut disassembly/assembly very easy.

Strut installed in the car. This was the second hardest part of the install. Lining up the three 12MM bolts and trying to thread the nuts on so the strut would stay in place was very difficult task when doing this solo. You have to hold the strut from the wheel bay yet reach into the back of the cabin and thread the nuts on. What I did to get around this was I lined up the strut and stuck a screw driver into one of the bottom 19MM holes to keep it fixed on something. I then grabbed my lift and slowly pushed the entire unit up. As I slowly brought it up I constantly made sure to keep the top of the strut aligned with the three 12MM holes. I then put the nuts back on then put both the 19MM bolts back in (what a pain to get both lined up). Make sure you put the brake line back in the clip! I removed the lift and bam, your strut is installed (don't forget to torque everything up). Also make sure you remember which direction the bolts came out.

Quick picture of the car sitting on its new springs. Directly after putting the car on it's own weight it looked like the rear ended was higher but after a few hours it kept getting lower. From what I've read the springs need time to break in.

The old springs. Closest to the camera are the fronts.

The two pieces that never made it back onto the car. These are only covers for the hole to the strut in the rear of the car. The three 12MM bolts hold these in place. I had already torqued the bolts before I noticed I forgot to put them back on. Maybe one day they will make it back onto the car?

And Finally....

While the car definitly sits lower I honestly was expecting there to be sligtly less gap between the body and top of the tire however these are the new Cobb springs that have the reduced drop. Wel'll see how they settle in over the next couple weeks.

Cobb sport springs are on the way....

2008-08-01T15:55:00.000-07:00

I finally placed the order for my Cobb Sport Springs. They are shipping UPS ground from UT. so I am expecting to see them next week. Now it's time to plan out the install, get all the tools lined up, etc.

Here is a link to Cobb's site for those interested.

I present you with the outcome of...

2008-08-01T08:39:00.001-07:00

Tint Thursday. I ended up with 20% all around and I must say that it came out better then expected. So far the tint is awesome! Inside the car is much darker, it gives you the sense of privacy while cruising down the road. After getting the tint you are not to roll the windows down for a minimum of 48-hours to allow the tint to dry (directly after the tint is applied there is air and moisture in-between the window and tint). This effected me in a major way. Instead of rolling through my local star bucks drive thru this morning I had to park, get out of the car, walk in and place my order for my Grande mocha. What a pain! LOL. I am lovin' the tint! My buddy also got his G8 done same day, again 20% all around. I managed to capture a couple pictures but the weather was crappy (thank you Washington) so on the next sunny day if I find the time I will attempt a photo shoot.

Before the tint:

After the tint:

Clip of my SPT Cat-back exhaust

2008-07-31T11:08:00.001-07:00

One of the perks of upgrading your exhaust system is getting that mean deep growl that says 'Hey buddy, you better watch it!'. While my SPT Cat-back system is by no means the loudest Subie specific exhaust out there it does the job nicely. Below is a short clip of what she sounds like with the SPT Cat-back and SPT intake installed.

Do you miss the rumble from good old American Muscle?

2008-07-30T11:12:00.000-07:00

Then look no further and check out my buddies blog for one hell of a story about Pontiac's latest offering and of course the icing on the cake, a ton of sweeeet mods!

My Wish List/Todo Items

2008-07-29T13:11:00.000-07:00

I needed a spot to document all the items I want to pickup for my car from small accessories to bolt on performance parts all the way to the hardcore tuner stuff. Some of these items I can only dream about right now but why not come up with a list? I'll try to place them in categories w/ links to online retailers. As I get each piece I will remove it from the list then probably add two more items to the list as this is usually how it goes.

Expect this list to be updated almost daily!

Interior:
- 3 gauge dash pod
- AutoMeter "Z series" boost gauge (max 30 PSI)
- Autometer "Z Series" Oil Temp Gauge
- Prodrive Carpet Mat Set :
(I am not sure yet on the exact mats I'll be getting but they will be black)
- S203/S204 Hazard Switch
- Custom: Will be painting my side pillars metallic black
(Same color as my aux-in panel on my center console)
- Custom: Will be painting my side vent trim pieces metallic blue
(same color as my center console)

Exterior:
- STi Door Sill Set

Under The Hood Accessories:
- COBB Light Weight Aluminum Radiator Shroud (blue)
- COBB Anodized Aluminum Battery Tie Down
- STi Radiator Cap
- Carbon Fiber Hood Dampers

Performance:
- Cobb AccessPort
- Cobb SS 3" Downpipe
- High Energy Turbine Inlet (Up) Pipe

Cooling:
- JDM "Auto" Intercooler Spray Switch
- Cusco Nozzle Kit for I/C Sprayer
- Cusco Intercooler Spray Controller
- Perrin Radiator Hose Kit
- Greddy Oil Cooler Kit

Suspension/Handling:
- Cobb Sport Springs
- Cusco Front Strut Bar Type OS
- Eibach Anti-Roll Kit

Wheels/Tires:
- Falkon Ziex ZE-912
- MSW Type 16 18"

The Yearly Good Guys Car Show...

2008-07-28T17:37:00.000-07:00

This is not really specific to my car but I managed to end up at the good guys vintage car show this year. It was fun to see all the '71 and older cars but after I got around a quarter of the way around I realized that most of the cars were identical to the ones next to them, sure some stood out but most were siblings of the surrounding cars. It cost 17 bucks a person to get in and I must say that I thought this charge was ridiculous! Come on, charge 7 or 10 bucks a person. As I drove around looking for parking the old timers where watching my car (or listening for that matter) so it was nice to not be knocked because I am not running American muscle, instead I am running a confident four banger which holds its own with a good chunk of these cars! Ahhh, technology.

I leave you with a few pictures of the cars/trucks that I liked. The green/white ford pickup brings up memories of what could of been (only a couple people on the planet know what I am talking about).... Enjoy.

Audio System 101

2008-07-28T08:40:00.001-07:00

One of the first things I did after getting the car was rip out the crappy OEM head unit and door speakers to all be replaced by custom gear. My system is composed of a 4 gauge amp install kit, a JL Audio 2-channel amp, JBL Grand Touring 2-channel amp, two 10" JBL subs in a sealed box, Focal 165CA speakers, Dynamte on the trunk lid and front doors, a Zune, and to control it all a Pioneer head unit.

Notice the 4 gauge wire being fed into a distribution unit where each amp gets power from its own 8 gauge wire. Sweet!

Overall the audio system is solid but I will be upgrading the JL Audio amp with a higher output 4 channel amp, this will drive my current Focal components along with some additional rear door speakers.

My subs installed in the trunk. Yup, that is literally a bungie coord that I strapped around the box to keep it in place. If I used any of the cars power that speaker box would end up all directions in the trunk. Notice the two amps mounted in the back behind the speaker cabinet.

My dynamte'd rear trunk. Notice all the holes I created when I removed the rear wing.

Most people are probably wondering that the hell they are looking at here but this is how easy Subaru made it to run wires through your firewall, directly behind the pedals is a pre-drilled hole to run all your cables, this is where that 4-guage puppy lives. Also shown is the connection to the battery, I’ve got it nicely wrapped w/ the fuse close to the battery (in case you were like me when I was younger and thought fuses were worthless, lol)

Finally, I end this will a nasty (and I mean nasty) picture of the head unit. I want to replace this will a double DIN unit which will replace the pocket nicely. Also shown is my custom blue and black metallic custom interior.

Rally Armor Flap Install

2008-07-25T22:58:00.000-07:00

So I get an email from U.S._Postal_Service_@usps.com informing me that my flaps have been delivered. The day just got better. After getting home I rip open the box and check out the goods. Four flaps, a stuffed bag of hardware and finally one page of instructions but who needs those?

The before picture:

The basic tools i'll need and the flaps w/ hardware:

Get under the side skirt and plastic liner so the adapters can be installed:

Front: Requires three adapters and one plug

Rear: Requires three adapters (Note, some of these are different then the front adapters)

You should end up with 6 plastic things. The two larger ones are from the side skirt, these need to be put back on the car. The smaller four are no longer needed. I kept mine in case I pull the flaps off.

First one is on....

Half Done...

The finished product:

We'll see how they work out over the next week or so...

Tint Thursday

2008-07-25T15:47:00.000-07:00

Mark your pocket books, outlook calenders or write it on your hand for this momentous occasion! A friend (G8 GT baby!) and I will both be getting our cars tinted this coming Thursday (31st). Expect to see before and after pictures the day of.

Here is a pic of another Subie with a similar tint. Hopefully our tints will come out just as nice.

I can't wait!

The wheels have been found!

2008-07-23T16:11:00.000-07:00

As I was browsing through the September '08 issue of Turbo magazine I ran across an Ad for TireRack.com, no surprise, everybody knows about TireTrack, then around the middle of the page I came across a 'New Style for 2008' and there it was. The black wheel with the red stripe I've been looking for! These wheels will fit perfect with my Rally Armor flaps (which also include a red logo) and my aspen white body w/ red STi logos. I must admit that when I get these wheels I will be popping off the center logo piece as I want straight black. I will be going with the 18" wheel with a +45mm offset.

For those interested the tirerack link is:
http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/WheelCloseUpServlet?target=runWheelSearch&initialPartNumber=W19147502B&wheelMake=MSW&wheelModel=Type+16&wheelFinish=Black+w%2FRed+Stripe&showRear=no&autoMake=Subaru&autoModel=Impreza+WRX+STI&autoYear=2007&autoModClar=&filterSize=All&filterFinish=All&filterSpecial=false&filterBrand=MSW&filterNew=All&sort=Brand

Now it's time to find tires to wrap these puppies in.

The beginning...

2008-07-18T16:53:00.000-07:00

You probably think I am out of my mind for creating a blog about a car, sure it sounds a little crazy, perhaps I am a little (or a lot for that matter) insane, but all of us have something we are passionate about in our lifes and one of my passions is my car. This blog will be here to document the journey me and my car will take, as I make modifications, do maintance, learn and grow, who knows where this will end up....

I start this first entry with a brief description, current and furture planned modifications, and of course a few pictures.

----------------

I've always been interested in cars however I always put it in the back of my mind until 08/2007 when enough was enough and I brought home my baby, a new '07 Aspen White Subaru Impreza WRX STi w/ 22 miles on it. Ever since I've had the car I’ve been researching the technology behind the STi and performance cars in general. A few months after purchase I had the dealer install a SPT cat-back and intake (now I regret paying the dealer for the install, what a joke to have them do the work, right?). I am at the point now where I am working on the car in my garage (well if you can call it a garage, those who have seen it know what I am talking about). I've got mod fever now and I am constantly thinking about things I can do to the car.

Current Modifications (Performance, Interior, Custom, just everything I’ve done to it):
- SPT Cat-back Exhaust
- SPT Cold-Air Intake
- SPT Short-Throw Shifter (Subaru Performance Group 2A Package)
- SPT Turbo-gauge (Subaru Performance Group 2A Package)
- SPT Titanium Shift knob package (Subaru Performance Group 2A Package)
- Rear wing removed (Stuck white vinyl tape on the holes, ugly!)
- Painted the center console metallic blue. The lip for the cigarette lighter/aux input is metallic black. I left the brushed aluminum STi trim around the shift boot alone.
- Removed the OEM radio/door speakers (what crap), Installed Focal components in the front doors, two amps are mounted on the back seat. Two 10" JBL subs reside in the trunk.
- Stuck SPT vinyl logos on the rear windows for the hell of it.

Soon to be mods:
- RallyArmor flaps all around (currently in the mail, can't wait until they get here)
- Cobb Springs
- HKS DP (Downpipe)
(Not sure if going cat-less is what I really need or want but I want to get a true turbo-back setup so I can get the most out of an AccessPort tune)
- Black 18" wheels w/ red stripe
(Not sure on the exact brand of wheel yet, if you have suggestions please let me know).
- Cobb AccessPort
- Spark Plugs? From what I've read you can get a small increase in power but I am not convinced yet and think this might be BS.
- Rear door speakers need to go, will replace with a set of Focals
- Replacing current amp that drivers the door speakers with a larger 4-channel since the amp that drives the subs overpowers.
- Some aftermarket uppipe. Have not decided on a brand yet.
- Several small things, like SPT battery tie down, high pressure radiator cap, etc.

Tires:
- Stock Potenza's (of course...)
- For winter I wrapped the car around Fuzion ZRIs and I must say they SUCK!

Pictures: