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06-28-2004, 06:33 PM | #1 |
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Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Paris, FR
Vehicle:2005 Decathalon 21sp One WheelSeanPower |
Full V7 STi drivetrain into 04 WRX wagon!
Saturday and Sunday my friends and I completed the installation of a full V7 STi driveline into my 04 WRX wagon. Well, almost a full STi driveline. Details to follow…
First off, I want to thank everyone: Kingpin Performance, who set me up with the drivetrain, Wales Garage in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Ben, Kyle, Gabe, Jose, Glenn, Orlando, Andrew and everyone else involved. Second, if you will host the pictures for this adventure, I’ll put them up AND be eternally grateful. On to our story… Two pallets (one regular, one double-sized) of goodies arrived at Wales Garage in Fort Lauderdale, FL on Thursday. On these pallets lived an STi 6-speed (with clutch-type center diff and suretrac mechanical front diff, R180 mechanical rear LSD, 4 axles, 4 hubs, 4 STi gold Brembos, 6MT shifter, STi prop shaft, and all of the other goodies. As an aside, Wales is a great facility. It’s huge, one of the largest shops I’ve been in, and has top-notch tools, Hunter DSP400 alignment rack, many chassis lifts – basically everything. Compared to working in MY garage, there is no comparison. Wales Garage doesn’t typically rent out the facility, but Ben Levy (Batscubie) runs the place, is a friend and a good man, and he cut me a pretty good deal for the rental. FedEx freight had KILLED the pallets. Remarkably, the only thing with any damage at all was the shifter – the reverse-lockout ring has a chip out of it. Everything else was fine. Seeing the pallets, you would not have believed it. I didn’t. We started off Saturday morning around 8:00. The car was on the lift, wheels off. I pulled off the exhaust behind the downpipe as one piece and set it aside (3 bolts). We pulled the brakes, and tied the calipers to the strut to save us a fluid mess (4 bolts each total (caliper to caliper body and caliper body to hub). The rotors slipped off with just a few taps of the mallet. We pulled the rear ABS sensors from the hubs and hung them out of the way (1 bolt each). We dismantled the e-brakes to release the e-brake cables. If you don’t want to do that, you can go inside the car and tear out the carpet to pull the stock e-brake cables and run the attached STi e-brake cables to the clip point, but that’s not how I chose to do it. We pulled the propshaft cover (6 bolts). We drained the fluid from the 5MT, and pulled the propshaft. (4 nuts on studs, it slides right out of the tranny. We unbolted the hubs from my Tein coilovers (2 bolts each). We put the tranny jack under the diff, then unbolted the rear subframe (4 bolts), unbolted the nuts from the rear diff support bolts (4), unbolted the trailing arm brackets (3 bolts each), disconnected the fuel tank heatshield (2 screws), and dropped the whole rear clip out of the car – hubs, axles, trailing arms, lateral links, R160 diff, subframe, everything. It comes out as a unit pretty easily. We carried the STi rear end over to the WRX rear and started trading parts. Because I have a wagon, I can’t use the longer STi lateral links. The STi links are welded from tubular steel, unlike the puny WRX links which are made from stamped sheet metal. We pulled the toe eccentric bolts from each side, and the rest of the sub-frame to suspension bolts from both rear ends. We then put the WRX Wagon links onto the STi subframe. We only hand-tightened the rear suspension, to prevent damage to the bushings – you don’t want to crank them down until you have the weight back on the car – the bushings can tear or bind, and kill your alignment. As an aside, some of the STi parts are considerably more massive than the stock WRX stuff. The axles are awesome looking, the R180 diff is beefier, the tranny is huge and tough-looking. All in all, it’s impressive gear. Once the STi rear was assembled, we loaded it on the tranny jack, and dragged it over to the car. We had from 4 to 6 people holding that thing in place while we tried to get the 4 hanging diff bolts through the holes in the diff. We finally got them in and nutted them into place. We bolted the sub-frame back on, and re-attached the hubs to the coilovers. Voila, a completed rear end, and it was only 10:25AM. I was seriously thinking we would be done by 3PM. About now, Jose started re-surfacing the brake rotors – they were covered with shipping rust, and we discovered that they had some deposits in them. They came out perfect after taking off around 6/1000”. I re-connected the ABS sensors and e-brake cables (dismantling the STi e-brakes to remove the old cables and connect the new). I pulled the downpipe now (3 nuts, 2 bolts and nuts – my heatshield has 3 bolts as well), disconnecting my WbO2. We moved slowly for a little while, and ate the pizzas I’d ordered. The rotors finished up. I moved to the front hubs, and got ready to pull them and the axles so we could yank the 5MT (and put in the STi front axles and hubs). I pulled the cotter pin off the steering tie-rod ball-joint castle nut on each side, and removed the castle nut. Damn, that bolt is ON THERE. Around this time, one of the many, many participants was pulling the STi axles off of the 6MT on the pallet. One of the spring pins popped out immediately. The other? Not so immediately. Nope, not at all. I guess it had frozen in there in transit and Kingpin had removed the tranny and axles as a unit, because that thing just mushroomed right up. First little issue, and I’m sure I caused it with that flip comment about being finished at 3:00. Anyway, it took us FOUR HOURS to get the pin out. During this time, we broke 6 tool-steel hammer punches and made some futile efforts with drills. I took my turns with the hammer and the drill, and hammer and drill we did. Eventually, that damn thing popped out, but at a huge time-cost. Time waster #1. Around this time, Gabe and his brother finished working on his Evolution RS. One member of our party took it for a test drive and managed to spend some time in the company of drunks and druggies in a metal room. The Evo got impounded. This, obviously took a little more time. During this, I also bought the right puller for the tie-rod bolt – a shop that big and we just didn’t have the right puller for that thing. We pulled the strut from the knuckle (2 bolts), and pulled the strut off of the ball joint (pull the clamp bolt on each hub). I then popped the axle pins from the transmission and pulled out the front axles, still attached to the hubs. We brought the car down and removed the starter and disconnected the sensors. We pulled the shift-fork retainer cap with a 10mm allen key, inserted a 6mm bolt into the hole, screwed it into the shift-fork retainer, and worked that out. Wiggling the shift-fork helped. We removed the bolts from the top of the 5MT. We pulled rest of the 5MT bolts, disconnected the ground, and pulled the clutch-slave cylinder from the 5MT, and lowered out the transmission. This isn’t quite as easy as it sounds, but by throwing (literally) Gabe up into the engine compartment with a prybar, we got it moving with style. We got the 6MT onto the transmission jack. A word about 6MTs: they don’t fit onto tranny jacks very well! If you are not careful, the jack will hook the mount, and you will not have a chance in hell of getting the damn thing into the car. They are also BIG, compared to the 5MT. There is not much clearance around the case in the tunnel. It took us almost 2 hours to get that 6MT into the compartment, onto the lower studs, onto the dowel pins and onto the input shaft. Gabe (I think he might still be in my engine compartment…) was up there again, working his prybar to get the shaft lined up and getting everything set while I pushed and used three different jacks to lift the front of the motor and the back and front of the transmission. We secured the bolts, stuck the starter and clutch back on, put in the shifter, and called it a transmission. Oops, we forgot the shift fork retainer. Ah, well, out with the starter and I had that thing back on in 15 minutes. Gabe had to take off after dinner (thoughtfully picked up by Kyle’s girlfriend and Ben). Ben, Drew and I kept working. I popped in the STi front axles and hubs, and secured them with pins, the tie-rod castle bolt and the strut bolts. I left it off of the control arm ball-joint for now. We attached the prop shaft, and tried to turn it to attach the other two bolts. But we could not. Not at all. We thought that we might have e-brake issues, and I tried to pull the back rotors. Nope – not going to happen. They had gone on with finger pressure and now could not be removed. As I began to “tap” them with a hammer, Ben wisely suggested that we call it a night and start again the next morning, as we were just too tired. Reluctantly, I agreed. End of day one, at 12:30AM. Start of day two, 7:30AM. Ben and I started to work. I wisely jumped up on the car and released the F$%&ing e-brake, freeing the rotor like nothing. We mounted the other two prop-shaft studs and nuts. I bolted on the downpipe. Orlando, who works at Wales, came by for the alignment. He’s a wrenching wizard. We did the four Brembos and the front hubs in no time flat, bled the brakes, and bolted the back wheels on. I then tried to bolt on one of the front wheels. Nope. Not by a mile. My OZ Superleggeras don’t come CLOSE to clearing the calipers. It’s really not even spacer-able. And it’s a Sunday. Orlando was there to do the alignment, so he took off since the car wasn’t rolling. Ben and I wasted 3 hours looking for wheel places that would have anything worthwhile to fit an STi on a Sunday, but such creature simply is not to be found. He and I drove back to my house and picked up my stock rotors (I sold my front Carbotech Bobcat pads and front and rear Carbotech Panther slotted rotors on Saturday, to w0rXer). We drove to TWO places to find brake pads, and got the wrong ones anyway. Not to be denied, I used the grinder to MAKE them fit. I bolted them on, and the baby was back on wheels! Well, she would be soon. First, I had to put the exhaust back on, the turbo heatshield, the fuel tank heatshield and a few other parts. We filled the transmission and the diff with Redline, and brought her down. Ben cranked her up and pulled her off the lift and onto the Hunter rack. We took a little break for me to fire up the laptop to tune Ben’s car (an APS DR500 somehow found itself onto Ben’s car, who knew?), and aside from some compressor surge, it runs pretty well. Orlando showed up again and around 10, and set to work. He aligned it, and tightened all the rear suspension bushings. The alignment came out ALMOST perfect, though I could use a little more adjustment range on a couple of things. At 11, I took the car for a drive around the block, getting the prop-shaft seated, and more importantly, the car warm. We lifted it back up, tightened the prop-shaft nuts and bolted the prop-shaft protector back on. WooHoo! Finished! Now that my 374hp at the wheel monster has a drivetrain that won’t break, I decided that I wanted to see just what an STi style 4 wheel burnout would feel like with an extra 140whp. I let it run and warm a little more, and when I left, I backed away a little bit to give Ben and Orlando a show. I revved to 6K and feathered the throttle. On the upswing, I popped the clutch and flattened the gas. SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH! 40 feet of four-tire stripe. Let me just say, I know exactly how STi’s lay down such amazing 60-foot times. Driving Impressions: Well, I’ve got around 50 miles on the setup so far. The shifter action is flawless. It’s as short as anything I’ve ever felt, always positive, and you can select the gear you want when you want without bothering to double-clutch. Try that with an 5MT! Revs are definitely higher with this setup. In 6th, my car does 75mph at 3500rpm. With the 5MT, it did 75 at around 3100 in 5th. But the benefits make it worth it! When 6th is at 3500, 5th is at 4500, and 4th is at 5500. That’s just indescribably beautiful, especially with a big turbo (like my GT30R-11). You ALWAYS have a gear in the powerband, but with plenty of revs to go. I love it. Stay tuned for the story of the engine swap (the RA Spec-C is on the way!!!!!). Again, if someone has the space and the time to host the pictures, I’ll gladly post them! Thanks for staying with me, -Sean
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06-28-2004, 06:50 PM | #2 |
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Daym. Can't wait to take a ride!
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06-28-2004, 09:06 PM | #3 |
Scooby Guru
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i would give you 10 bucks or a pizza for a ride....
Drew Nice Write up by the way, very accurate about Gabe jumpin around. |
06-28-2004, 09:53 PM | #4 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 14688
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: florida
Vehicle:04 EVO!!!! white i think! |
me i was jumping!! nahh i didn`t even get a ride YET!
i see how things are... use me abuse me and "NO RIDE" and .....AND!!!! i only got one slice of pizza.... lol guys my car sounds like a jet bike..... on drugs.! |
06-28-2004, 10:05 PM | #5 | |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 14688
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: florida
Vehicle:04 EVO!!!! white i think! |
Quote:
do you see that... i did that.. i made it happend!!! i got it out! Last edited by gabewrx; 06-28-2004 at 10:11 PM. |
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06-28-2004, 10:08 PM | #6 |
Scooby Guru
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Vehicle:MY05 Impreza WRX STi Pastelito Racing & SFSOC |
you also managed to break two punches....but we wont mention that.
SHE BANGS, SHE BANGS Drew |
06-28-2004, 10:12 PM | #7 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 14688
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: florida
Vehicle:04 EVO!!!! white i think! |
....and she moves she moves...
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06-28-2004, 10:15 PM | #8 | |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 40501
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Paris, FR
Vehicle:2005 Decathalon 21sp One WheelSeanPower |
Quote:
Gabe, you get a ride anytime. We're thinking of taking a little trip up to Moroso Wednesday for a TnT. Should be fun. -Sean |
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06-29-2004, 12:54 PM | #9 |
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Glad you got it done Sean. Sounds like you had some good help and a nice garage.
Clark |
06-29-2004, 01:43 PM | #10 |
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Hey Sean,
Gald to hear it is going well. Happy to host the pics if you like. Shoot them over to me. Thanks agian. M |
06-29-2004, 01:49 PM | #11 |
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Join Date: Jul 2003
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Thanks man, it was fun but hard work. Lots of distractions and a few problems, but she's worked out now.
Now I just need my new engine! -S |
06-29-2004, 01:50 PM | #12 |
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Thanks Mike, I'll get on that tonight (after I pull them off my camera...).
-Sean |
06-30-2004, 09:39 AM | #13 |
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Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Paris, FR
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Pics...
Pallet shots - killed courtesy of Fedex Freight! #1 Helper: The Destroyer... Just pulling in... Coming apart... Last edited by big_adventure; 06-30-2004 at 10:03 AM. |
06-30-2004, 10:04 AM | #14 |
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No more e-brake, brakes or ABS...
How will I ever get these back together? About to pull this trailing link... WRX rear versus STi rear... She looks naked to me... |
06-30-2004, 10:04 AM | #15 |
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Pre-resurfacing...
Resurfacing! STi rear bolts right in... The 10-second pin and the 4-hour pin... Shift-fork rod: Gabe likes to be on top... |
06-30-2004, 10:05 AM | #16 |
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6MT and STi axles are IN!
6MT shifter... Rear brakes good... ...Front brakes BAD! Creative exhaust bolting: Lonely Front Brembos... On the Hunter DSP400 - we be finished! Thanks, Sean Last edited by big_adventure; 06-30-2004 at 10:17 AM. |
06-30-2004, 11:05 AM | #17 |
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those rear brakes look awesome, can't wait for the matching fronts to be installed on the new wheels. Keep us posted
Drew |
06-30-2004, 11:22 AM | #18 |
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Drew - PM'd you...
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06-30-2004, 02:07 PM | #19 |
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I would avoid driving the car as much as possible with the current brake setup. The bias is so off that if you have to do any sort of agressive braking you will lock up the rears and crash the car. Please DO NOT drive your car like this unless it's an emergency.
Other than that the swap looks awsome Z |
06-30-2004, 02:32 PM | #20 |
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It's not really as bad as that. I've actually bedded the pads a little with a few HARD 60-5 brakings, just before ABS pickup. Hard enough to send a bottle of Motul sitting in the wagon bed into the front seat, in fact, with no negative effects. The proprotioning valve will keep TOO much power from hitting the rears, it will just put that much more heat stress on the fronts. Also, I'm still on my 04 ECU, and it has EBD which may well help with the bias problem.
Anyway, I'm driving it, because not going to work would be an emergency. I'm staying off the speed though, and avoiding high-liability situations more than I perhaps usually would. Thanks, Sean |
06-30-2004, 03:05 PM | #21 |
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is moroso a high-liability situation?
Drew |
06-30-2004, 03:19 PM | #22 |
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Not unless someone is coming down the strip the wrong way. Who uses brakes on a dragstrip?
-Sean |
07-01-2004, 11:00 AM | #23 |
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I USE BRAKES ON THE DRAGSTRIP
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07-01-2004, 11:55 AM | #24 |
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I no longer have much clutch FROM the dragstrip
-Sean |
07-04-2004, 03:08 PM | #25 |
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One little wheel-swap later and we have:
Front BREMBOS!!!!! (the wheels are 17x8 Rota Torque in Steel Grey) |
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