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Old 05-10-2022, 02:36 PM   #1
z3bruh
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Member#: 381200
Join Date: Feb 2014
Chapter/Region: RMIC
Location: CO
Vehicle:
2002 WRX

Subaru Stars Trying to Keep it Simple Bugeye Project

Now that I've had the car for a year, and made a little bit of progress, Might not be a bad time to start a thread and keep track of it.
A year ago, while living in WA i bought what was then the cheapest running wrx on craigslist, Here's how it looked day 1




The previous owner didn't have too much info on it, other than that it was swapped with a jdm ej20 with ~60k miles /~80k kms on it, no receipts or anything so it was a big gamble.
Had this autozone cone filter, and a catless downpipe (helix) with a super loud exhaust, and needed some work.


First things I did was relacing an axle because it had a torn cv boot for an unknown amount of time,

Next i replaced the brake pads, rotors, and two front calipers, as well as adding braided brake lines and new fluid. The brakes feel amazing now

The struts were blown as well and there's a good chance they were the 220k mile old originals, so i put on feal coilovers, I am very happy with them and while stiffer than i expected, they ride really well



The ball joints had a good amount of play in them, and so did one side of the tie rods, so i replaced them with Whitelines kit and moog tie rods


originally one of the ball joints i received from whiteline didn't fit, the hole that the pin goes through was drilled too high (or low depending on direction youre looking at lol) but they were quick to send a replacement with no hassle at all, customer service 10/10 and we'll see how long they last. overall it felt like a solid piece and i am happy with it so far.
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Old 05-10-2022, 02:49 PM   #2
z3bruh
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Member#: 381200
Join Date: Feb 2014
Chapter/Region: RMIC
Location: CO
Vehicle:
2002 WRX

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Next i got a code that the car was running too lean, and it was a combination of two things, the turbo inlet was torn right where they all tear where it meets the turbo and air must have been getting in, and the intercooler to throttle body hose was all mangled as well,

I replaced it with the perrin silicone one, and found that's easiest to do with the intake manifold off. while all of that was off it was a good time to replace all the gaskets in between and any hoses that by now have basically turned from rubber to plastic, as well as tighten the fuel line clamps that run underneath.




I think the turbo's been replaced at some point because all of the other pictures ive seen of them there's some sort of stamping on that flat plate on the bottom left, if anyone knows what this is i'd love to know.

This was the largest project of it's kind ive ever done, and i was extatic when the car started up first try after putting it together



To celebrate I washed, clayed, and polished it with a light pad and 3d speed all in one polish

I think it came out pretty good for a 20 year old car with mismatched paint up front!


Lastly as i recently moved to CO where emissions are strict, i removed the helix dp, and put an OEM one back on,
[/url]




Next step is to avoid more emissions related headaches, is to swap to the cobb SF intake, and catback, and run their OTS stage 1 tune, until i can get a protune, as switching back and forth when it's time to pass again, this is probably the easiest way.

After that comes the fun part of trying to find a sedan front end, and other things to make it look nice! although with parts availability progress might slow down a little bit in the coming weeks
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Old 05-10-2022, 02:57 PM   #3
DrTrae
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Member#: 454659
Join Date: Sep 2016
Chapter/Region: MWSOC
Location: Loves Park, IL
Vehicle:
2004 WRX Wagon
Java Black Pearl

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Heck yeah, she looks great. Nice choices in parts.
Have you checked the rear strut towers for rot/rust? If not, definitely make it a point to do so.
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Old 05-10-2022, 03:02 PM   #4
z3bruh
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DrTrae View Post
Heck yeah, she looks great. Nice choices in parts.
Have you checked the rear strut towers for rot/rust? If not, definitely make it a point to do so.
Not yet, but the rest of the car is very clean compared to what i am used to, so i am hopeful. Do i just pull the carpet back or poke at the rear wheelwells with a screwdriver and see if anything comes loose or is visible?
The actual rear fenders where it meets the bumper look great and i think that's usually a good sign. But hopefully i got lucky and it's clean underneath too
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Old 05-10-2022, 03:19 PM   #5
DrTrae
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Join Date: Sep 2016
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2004 WRX Wagon
Java Black Pearl

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I thought the same thing with my 04 Wagon, but the driver's side definitely had some rot.
Pulling the rear interior out to get at the bare strut towers is quite a job..
You could always just poke around the fenderwell and see if anything feels or sounds bad.
Admittedly, your fenders do look great, and I wouldn't be surprised if your strut towers are fine.

If you look at this post on my thread, you can see where I found the rust/rot and what I cut out.
It seems like these are the most common areas, and it's also most common on the driver's side.
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Old 05-10-2022, 03:26 PM   #6
z3bruh
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DrTrae View Post
I thought the same thing with my 04 Wagon, but the driver's side definitely had some rot.
Pulling the rear interior out to get at the bare strut towers is quite a job..
You could always just poke around the fenderwell and see if anything feels or sounds bad.
Admittedly, your fenders do look great, and I wouldn't be surprised if your strut towers are fine.

If you look at this post on my thread, you can see where I found the rust/rot and what I cut out.
It seems like these are the most common areas, and it's also most common on the driver's side.

that's good to know i'll definitley be checking! do you plan to just weld sheet metal there and it should be strong enough?
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Old 05-10-2022, 04:02 PM   #7
DrTrae
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2004 WRX Wagon
Java Black Pearl

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Yep! Just gonna weld in some 16ga, paint it all up and hopefully never look at it again. Lol
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Old 06-16-2022, 03:38 PM   #8
z3bruh
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2002 WRX

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Installed the Cobb Catback, Intake, and Stage 1 tune, and the car passed emissions!






watching that bar move across the screen was a bit nerve wracking but the car runs well since!



Next I found a sedan front end which imo looks great, however it was silver






you can pretty clearly see where there was crash damage from a past life, and getting the panel to line up wasn't the easiest





tried to get a little bit creative to hide the mismatched colors with a few cans of plastidip before hopefully one day painting or wrapping the whole car one color, but i think it came out good, and the car survived its first track day



The brakes and brake fluid could be better, however I really like the wheels and tires on here
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Old 06-16-2022, 05:18 PM   #9
DrTrae
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Join Date: Sep 2016
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Location: Loves Park, IL
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2004 WRX Wagon
Java Black Pearl

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Awesome update! Your paintjob pulled that front end together nicely.
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Old 06-17-2022, 04:41 PM   #10
z3bruh
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DrTrae View Post
Awesome update! Your paintjob pulled that front end together nicely.
Thanks!
Plastidip is cheap and not permanent, eventually there'll be something nicer but this'll do for now
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Old 09-28-2022, 11:45 AM   #11
z3bruh
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2002 WRX

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Soon i realized there was a slight exhaust leak coming from the up pipe, good excuse to upgrade...





I noticed the valve cover gaskets were leaking too so it was a good time to replace them, flatirons tuning in boulder had the jdm ones in stock which was nice








With the right extensions everything is pretty easy to get to!




Next since hopefully this is the end of mechanical work for a bit I picked up these replica jdm headlights to replace the original reflector ones, will be nice to do visual upgrades instead of repairs!


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Old 09-28-2022, 12:48 PM   #12
500_19B
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2002 WRX, 2023 Crosstrek

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Looks like a very solid car, and you are making great progress and seem to be following an organized and sensible plan.

The Plasti-dip job you did looks to be a fantastic intermediate solution. You did a really nice job in concept and execution.

Those lights will likely have a big impact on appearance too. May I ask which supplier they are from?
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Old 09-28-2022, 12:49 PM   #13
500_19B
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2002 WRX, 2023 Crosstrek

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Sorry, usual double post that this forum makes every time I use "quick reply"! (Grrr...)
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Old 09-28-2022, 12:56 PM   #14
z3bruh
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Join Date: Feb 2014
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Location: CO
Vehicle:
2002 WRX

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Quote:
Originally Posted by 500_19B View Post
Looks like a very solid car, and you are making great progress and seem to be following an organized and sensible plan.

The Plasti-dip job you did looks to be a fantastic intermediate solution. You did a really nice job in concept and execution.

Those lights will likely have a big impact on appearance too. May I ask which supplier they are from?

Thanks!
The plasti-dip job is going away soon and i have a roll of vinyl that will be going on the whole car instead!
The lights are Depo lights from eBay, the seller was neondials but there are a ton and I'm sure they all come from the same place.
they all say they only accept PayPal but i think those warnings are outdated, and with Ebay's new payment system i was able to use a credit card without any problems
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Old 09-28-2022, 09:19 PM   #15
1VIPWRX
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Chapter/Region: Tri-State
Location: some where in NY
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03 03/07
yellow

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cool project man
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Old 10-04-2022, 04:35 PM   #16
cartwheels4amile
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Location: Lake Forest, CA
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1991 Legacy Turbo
Pearl White

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Looks great! Makes me miss my bugeye.
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Old 10-04-2022, 06:15 PM   #17
Gixhost
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Aspen White

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This is an awesome thread!
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Old 10-05-2022, 04:48 PM   #18
z3bruh
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Join Date: Feb 2014
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2002 WRX

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Thanks everyone! I'm glad y'all like the car


This past week I've started the next big task, getting the car back to being all one color
The paint is far from perfect and peeling in some parts, but i'm cleaning it up and vinyl wrapping it, I used a avery gloss red, since I'm told thats high quality film and the most beginer friendly.
Got one fender done so far and it's far from perfect, If i have enough material left over at the end i will probably re-do it but overall I am satisfied, even with the imperfections it looks better than old mis-matched paint











I am amazed at how close film can look to paint now
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Old 10-06-2022, 10:17 AM   #19
500_19B
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Join Date: Apr 2021
Chapter/Region: E. Canada
Location: Toronto, Canada
Vehicle:
2021 STI
2002 WRX, 2023 Crosstrek

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Avery film is really good. Wrapping is one of those things were the initial learning curve is steep. I bet by the time you finish the car you will have developed a lot of technique. Looking forward to seeing more as you go!
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Old 10-07-2022, 10:42 AM   #20
z3bruh
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Member#: 381200
Join Date: Feb 2014
Chapter/Region: RMIC
Location: CO
Vehicle:
2002 WRX

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Quote:
Originally Posted by 500_19B View Post
Avery film is really good. Wrapping is one of those things were the initial learning curve is steep. I bet by the time you finish the car you will have developed a lot of technique. Looking forward to seeing more as you go!
thanks!
yeah my plan is to start with the easier panels first and do the bumpers and hood scoop last so by then i understand how the film works a bit better
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Old 10-29-2023, 12:22 PM   #21
cmiovino
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Location: Pittsburgh, PA
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2004 WRX Premium
PSM

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oh hey, I know this human.
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Old 11-07-2023, 10:36 PM   #22
alanspawn
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Looks great! Keep it up.
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Old 11-17-2023, 11:06 AM   #23
WRXMass23
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This is such a cool idea and thread. Awesome stuff!
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