Project STI

[Kraziken]

I finally got my car back. I couldn't be happier. It's been totally transformed.

I was thinking for awhile, should I post this under the "bling bling" thread. The "motor swap" thread. Or perhaps the "I love gold" rims thread.

Ah screw it I think I get a new post.

I couldn't get the best lighting under the parking garage but here are first pics of my car.

Custom grill, JDM fog install, lower skirts and front + rear air dam painted to match the car.




'04 USDM STI motor, looks like it came that way from the showroom.







Notice the Intercooler spray.


I nice angle showing off the Volks.


The finishing touch



I didn't sleep well the night before, and now that I'm at work, I'm so distracted. I want to go downstairs and keep peeking at my car.

I stopped for food before heading in, and some Legacy owner noticed my ride right away. He mentioned the STI logo on the grill. He was sure surprised when I popped the hood and showed him the real thing was there.

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[UTCiv]

Very nice, do you have a list of all that has been done?

I see engine and possibly some fancy brakes, but did you get the 6 speed?

What kind of suspension are you rocking?

I'm joining the club not soon enough.

[MitchGT]

Damnit man! My keyboard is a mess now!

Seriously though, that is f'ing rediculous. Sooooo many questions:

What trans are you running?

Where'd you get the motor?

who did the work?

[Kraziken]

Well I had an '02 WRX motor, and I was in a waiting line before I could drop my car off for the work at Pacific Import Auto. I wasn't happy with the low end grunt after driving my bro's 92-x so I asked if they could get me a US STI motor.

Part of it was I wanted the low end grunt, the other was aesthetics, I wanted to replace the 2.5 with another 2.5 so my GT badge in the rear would still apply.

I couldn't afford the coin for the STI transmission. It was another $3k I think, so Pac Import auto, used my legacy gears, and rebuilt it with a WRX tranny case.


As far as suspension, I already had whiteline control springs. I swapped out the GR-2's I had for AGX's.

I think I waited almost 3 months for it, but they did all my work including the gauge work and dropping in the Defi WRX gauge pod.



The intercooler spray doesn’t quite work like the WRX STI. I think the STI you press the button and it sprays the intercooler. On my car, it’s like the fog lights. Pressing the button arms the system. When turbo boost hits over 8psi, the intercooler spray turns on.

[xcntrk75]

Holy cow, that’s fantastic!!!!

So they used your 4.111 front ring and pinion with a WRX 5MT tranny? That should make for a really nice overall gear ratio. The stock wrx’s are at 3.9 final drive and a bit long legged. So are you running an sti ECU then too, what about AVCS? That sucker must be a torque beast! What clutch did you go with?

Details man…

you get the super banana

[UTCiv]

Very neat. I'm thinking I'll be in the same boat. Keeping my GT tranny for a while to save some dough.

How stiff is the ride on the suspension? Looks like it sits nice, how much of a drop with these?

[Kraziken]

Originally Posted by xcntrk75

Holy cow, that’s fantastic!!!!

So they used your 4.111 front ring and pinion with a WRX 5MT tranny? That should make for a really nice overall gear ratio. The stock wrx’s are at 3.9 final drive and a bit long legged. So are you running an sti ECU then too, what about AVCS? That sucker must be a torque beast! What clutch did you go with?

Details man…

you get the super banana

Yes, I wanted to keep the 4.11 after hearing WRX owners complain about the 3.9 final drive. I almost bought the even shorter gearing of the JDM WRX 4.44 tranny, but some folks complained highway cruising and gas mileage. The 4.11 Legacy final drive just seems like the best compromise.

For the electricals, it's all factory STI setup.

I just snowed around here yesterday, so it's been wet out all day, I haven't had a chance to really mash it, but it definately has lots of low end grunt.

Here's a quick list of all my mods.

Subie Mods


Performance

WRX front brake swap
2000+ Legacy (H6) rear disk upgrade
Hawk HPS semi-metallic brake pads front and rear
SS brake lines w/ super blue brake fluid
TurboXS 3” Turbo back exhaust with Stealth axel-back.
2004 USDM WRX EJ257 STI motor swap
w/ intercooler spray and drive by wire throttle
Walboro 255 fuel pump

Suspension/tranny

Whiteline Heavy Duty rear sway bar brackets
Redline tranny fluid
Hardened shift bushings
Cobb Upgraded tranny mount
Cobb adjustable short shifter
Perrin 20-22mm adjustible front swaybar
Whiteline adjustible rear (18-22) swaybar
Whiteline control springs
KYB-GRX adjustable struts
SYMS rear strut bar
Exedy heavy duty clutch
Whiteline Rear Endlinks
Perrin Front Endlinks
Perrin positive steering response (anti-lift) links
Whiteline Steering rack bushings.


ICE

Alpine alarm
Alpine 7897 MP3 deck
Boston Acoustic Z6 component speakers
Boston Acoustic nx67 rear deck speakers
2x Xtant 2200ix amps
Diamond Audio 12" sub in custom trunk enclosure with bling neon lights (replacing the spare tire)
Optima Red Top battery
Monster audio CAPS
Monster Cable wires

Bling

JDM Legacy B4 momo wheel
Momo shift knob
20% tint
Razo sport pedals
Volk Racing CE28N 18” with Pirelli Pzero Nero M+S tires
JDM Legacy Fogs
Custom Legacy Grill w/ STI logo
Defi WRX gauge pod w/ white face Defi Exhaust temp, boost and oil temp gauges
White gauge overlays for main cluster

[Kraziken]

Originally Posted by UTCiv

Very neat. I'm thinking I'll be in the same boat. Keeping my GT tranny for a while to save some dough.

How stiff is the ride on the suspension? Looks like it sits nice, how much of a drop with these?

I have whiteline control springs, so it's not that bad of a drop. The stiffness is not too bad, comfortable ride, but tight handling.

This is a pic of my car with the stock tires,same whiteline control springs on the left. I just changed to AGX struts versus GR-2. I think the drop looks more dramatic because of the new Volk racing wheels.

On the right is a legacy with all stock spring/strut setup.

[wrx_driver_2002]

The only WRX part we used on the transmission was the case. We used the stock legacy gears and differentials. The reason we went to the WRX case is so that we could use the stronger clutch. If you want more information, feel free to PM me.


Also, on the water spray... When the boost hits 8 psi, the switch closes and turns on a pump in the washer bottle, which sprays on the intercooler. We used a boost switch from www.coolingmist.com, Dual pump washer bottle from a 1995-2004 Legacy, fog light switch, and a relay.

Stock 2004 STI Ecu, AVCS, DBW... All wired in. Turned out great

Originally Posted by xcntrk75

Holy cow, that’s fantastic!!!!

So they used your 4.111 front ring and pinion with a WRX 5MT tranny? That should make for a really nice overall gear ratio. The stock wrx’s are at 3.9 final drive and a bit long legged. So are you running an sti ECU then too, what about AVCS? That sucker must be a torque beast! What clutch did you go with?

Details man…

you get the super banana

[xcntrk75]

Man you're gonna blow those Leggy gears in no time with that torque monster...

Well worth it though....

Great job wrx_driver_2002, and sweet ride Kraziken..!!!!1

[PHATsuby]

Awesome Car! Looks sweet. Now you just have to save for the brembos and six speed

Congrats, that will be fun in the snow, snow=no tranny breakage till spring

Ben

[masube]

Awesome ride man.

[pilfflip]

yes i must say...sick



~Mike

[Tizzle]

Welcome to the club

[subysouth]

Dayammmmmm, that is just insane. I have to know how you got such a clean install on the fogs too. Thats worthy of a whole thread in itself.

ss

[AWDxBOOST]

looks awesome!

[xcntrk75]

No joke man, Pacific Import Auto did an outstanding job with an incredibly difficult swap. Now you just need to save up for some EM and a tune. Throw a UTEC/Cobb in there combined with a quality dyno/street tune by somebody who knows and tunes the AVCS well and you’re in the running for one of the quickest BD’s around

I have all these questions but I’ll keep an eye out for when you get around to posting more details. For example with the drive-by wire, I assume you had to use an sti pedal box with the throttle pick-up sensors and stuff? And what about your hood, rubbing the underside from the sti tmic? And the water spray, are you using your windshield washer bottle, or is this “dual pump” unit mounted in the truck, got any pics of that?

Congratulations again with a sweet ride. Those Seattle WRX’s better watch out for your Legacy Sleeper!

[sybir]

Looks great, man.

I don't mean to pry, but how much did it end up costing for the motor swap itself, minus the tranny changes?

My plans with my car changed recently; I'm getting rid of all the EJ20 stuff I had ready to go as I really want to get a 2.5, either in a new car or in doing a full STi motor swap down the line a bit, but my local resource for the swap is no longer available. PM is fine.....

[LetItSnow]

The only way to boost my envy would be to have that setup in a BH. That's just a matter of personal preference, though.

This is the way a BD Legacy STi would have been made!

[Kraziken]

Heh,

I thought about EM, but I figure I will enjoy the car as is. So far it's been more than enough power for me.

They did use the STI pedal box. I forgot to take pictures of that and the hood this afternoon. Not the greatest daylight around here lately for pictures

Here's more pics.

Washer bottle with the pump for IC spray.



Another shot of the water bottle.



Hood spray


Brighter shots of the engine.

Originally Posted by xcntrk75

No joke man, Pacific Import Auto did an outstanding job with an incredibly difficult swap. Now you just need to save up for some EM and a tune. Throw a UTEC/Cobb in there combined with a quality dyno/street tune by somebody who knows and tunes the AVCS well and you’re in the running for one of the quickest BD’s around

I have all these questions but I’ll keep an eye out for when you get around to posting more details. For example with the drive-by wire, I assume you had to use an sti pedal box with the throttle pick-up sensors and stuff? And what about your hood, rubbing the underside from the sti tmic? And the water spray, are you using your windshield washer bottle, or is this “dual pump” unit mounted in the truck, got any pics of that?

Congratulations again with a sweet ride. Those Seattle WRX’s better watch out for your Legacy Sleeper!

[Kraziken]

Subysouth.

I'd like to be able to claim I did the fog work. I had the bumper cut, the JDM fogs fitted, front bumper painted, lower skirts and rear valance at a third party shop. The guys at Pac Import auto took off the parts and sent them over while they were working on the car. I'm not too afraid of mechanical stuff, but I was afraid I'd ruin the new bumper I bought.

A daylight shot of the dash


A few more exterior shots




A nice pic of the Turbo XS (stealth) axelback

[gtwagon941]

Very jealous.

2 suggestions/comments:

Get some JDM projector Headlights

+

Ditch the black strips on the door edges. It ruins the "flow".

Also, if you are worried about paint chips just "screen" your passengers for car-respect level.

Awesome car.

Jared

[Kraziken]

I was considering some morette headlights. Although I kind of like the round look, so I'm undecided.

The black door guard strips came with the car originally. I think I can buy rock blocker material that's clear and put them on the door edges. They didn't stick out as much when the lower portion of the car was black. I think that will be the next thing I do.

Originally Posted by gtwagon941

Very jealous.

2 suggestions/comments:

Get some JDM projector Headlights

+

Ditch the black strips on the door edges. It ruins the "flow".

Also, if you are worried about paint chips just "screen" your passengers for car-respect level.

Awesome car.

Jared

[subysouth]

Ken that shop did a fine job mounting up those fogs. They so fill that opening I am guessing its impossible to see how they are mounted?

You have easily one of the most potent BD/BGs in North America. Just awesome.

ss

[wrx_driver_2002]

Originally Posted by subysouth

Ken that shop did a fine job mounting up those fogs. They so fill that opening I am guessing its impossible to see how they are mounted?

You have easily one of the most potent BD/BGs in North America. Just awesome.

ss

It's impossible to see how they are mounted, and it's also impossible to remove them without taking the bumper off (without breaking them at least). We used the brackets that came with the foglights, and modified the bumper beam to mount them. It actually turned out alot better than I had expected it to. The shop we had paint everything trimmed the new bumper skin to fit the fog lights, but we ended up doing all of the mounting.