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Old 05-03-2005, 02:11 AM   #1
TheKryptKeeper
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Default 94 STI L wagon

For a long time I have been asking strange questions here and been getting frustrated with the feedback. So now I am going to write this complete write-up of my plans and want to hear what you have to say.

I have a 94 1.8 litre FWD automatic L wagon with 130K on the engine. My friend used to have a 2001 2.5RS 5-spd that he put a ver8 STI block in it and a front mount turbo and intercooler on. He put some money in the heads to get a new cam and a port job. He has 450 fuel injectors and a brullen exhaust. He also has a LINK ECU. This car was wrecked. The motor and all was still good so he bought the car back and took it all out. I then bought the car to take all of the stuff I could out of it. At this point the car is a shell and I took out things like window regulators, and speakers, all of the stuff that I could use. He bought a new 2.5 RS and was going to put all of the stuff back in it. He decided against that and just bought an STI.

So he has all of these parts and told me that I could buy them from him. He has given me a very discounted price of $4500 for all of it. The whole drivetrain. This presented a few problems. 1. I really wanted to do this. 2. I didn't have $4500. I am slowly saving up for this but I want to do things progresivly. I still had the old wrecked car and I have put in the gas tank, rear crossmember, rear struts, rear brakes and rotors, pedels, and clutch cable with the slave cylinder. I have also stripped off the parts that I figure I will/might need. I.E. the front crossmember, the front struts, brakes, shifter, gauges, front spoiler (for the intercooler). I also have all of the wiring from front to back.

Now, I was going to hold off on the whole drivtrain and just put it in at once. However, my stock torque converter went out and I figure that it would be just as hard to replace that as it is to do the whole tranny (famous last words). Or at least worth my time to do it now. There are a few problems that I am running into. 1. I have heard the the ECU dicerns between auto and manual, if this is true then I might need a new ECU. 2. I would need to install the front rotors to house the new CV axles. This is a problem because my 14in rims won't fit over them. I can probobly solve this by replacing the spindles rather than the whole rotor. 3. I have heard that I need a new starter. Can anyone confirm? 4. My 1.8 is a wussy peice of **** that probobly will have a hard time pulling the 5-spd. I'll live untill I can get the 2.5.

Now for the worst of it. Both my father and my mother carry the sex-linked ressesive alleal for red/green colorblindness and have both passed on the undominent trait for it to me, which means... I'M COMPLETLY COLORBLIND! Black and white is apparently all that I see. I can't do electical to save my life. I have a friend who is a whiz at it but do to an unfortunate motorcycle accident he is bed-ridden for weeks to come. Can I pay someone to do it?

Now for the best of it. I am willing to pay someone to help coach me through this. Anyone that might be interested PM me.

Well thats it for now, more later. What do you guys think? Am I nuts? (I've gotten a lot of that)

Thanks guys.

Last edited by TheKryptKeeper; 05-03-2005 at 03:21 AM.
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Old 05-03-2005, 02:24 AM   #2
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ur boned. welcome to NASIOC. don't let the Suby Guru bites get infected.
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Old 05-03-2005, 02:27 AM   #3
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You will be nuts if you dont buy those parts for $4500



But ya, all of those issues with the starter, awd conversion, and ECU are true. The part that isnt true is that the 5-speed WONT help the 1.8. A manual 1.8 is as fast as an auto 2.2, so thats at least worth it... Finding a manual ECU for a 1.8 shouldnt be TOO hard with all the swaps people are doing into older imprezas now, and find a used starter too and it should make it more worth while.

The wiring part... Ill let someone else answer Im not big on wiring too
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Old 05-05-2005, 01:36 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kostamojen
You will be nuts if you dont buy those parts for $4500



But ya, all of those issues with the starter, awd conversion, and ECU are true. The part that isnt true is that the 5-speed WONT help the 1.8. A manual 1.8 is as fast as an auto 2.2, so thats at least worth it... Finding a manual ECU for a 1.8 shouldnt be TOO hard with all the swaps people are doing into older imprezas now, and find a used starter too and it should make it more worth while.

The wiring part... Ill let someone else answer Im not big on wiring too
He absolutly right
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Old 05-05-2005, 07:34 PM   #5
TheKryptKeeper
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4500, and the packege makes 340hp.
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Old 05-03-2005, 01:50 PM   #6
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Tell your friend I'll buy his car...
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Old 05-03-2005, 02:11 PM   #7
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Why dont you have a wifey or grilfriend, or other friend read and label the wires for you. With R/G, B,L, ect? Wouldnt that work? I mean, isnt most of the wiring completed already if he had his car running?

And just how far from $4500 are you? I'd just bus it and save up. << What I am doing until WRX swap is completed.

Randy
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Old 05-03-2005, 02:47 PM   #8
TheKryptKeeper
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Ben, I don't know if you were joking but he does have a 2000 2.5 RS for sale that he was going to put the engine in. I have that listed in the car for sale forum.

As far as having the wires labeled by a friend, I'm converting a 94 to a 2001, thats OBDI to OBDII. There is like, 150 wires that I would need labeled. I would prefer to just pay someone to do it for me.

I have about $1000 of the $4500 saved up. This is enough to buy an engine and heads, or a tranny and ECU, or a turbo and intercooler with the tranny. The tranny is kinda top priority though.
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Old 05-03-2005, 02:54 PM   #9
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No I want the engine and drivetrain...
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Old 05-03-2005, 02:58 PM   #10
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i say hold out till you can buy everything, and strip your hwole car, then put all, and i mean ALL of the 2.5 rs swap stuff in. if you have the whole harness from the car, you should be able to just put everything in your car. youd be going from your old stuff to new stuff. if that rs harness isnt hacked or anything, you should just be abel to run it and plug it all in if you have the rest of the rs stuff.
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Old 05-03-2005, 03:03 PM   #11
TheKryptKeeper
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The RS harness is hacked for the operation of an STI motor. But I know what you are saying.

In this case do you guys think that I should just go buy a torque converter now and hold off on all of the conversions?
Note: I am really basing my decision on you guys. I was intending on starting work tomorrow.
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Old 05-03-2005, 03:27 PM   #12
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do you by chance have the rs front bumper in tact and for sale? hehe.....i've been needing one forever.
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Old 05-03-2005, 03:36 PM   #13
TheKryptKeeper
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I have it and it might be for sale. But this isn't the place or the time for that. PM me. What do you think about me replacing my torque converter or the whole tranny?
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Old 05-03-2005, 03:48 PM   #14
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torque converter could work, go to a junk yard, bet you could pick one up for 20 bucks
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Old 05-03-2005, 03:57 PM   #15
TheKryptKeeper
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Would the used tourque converter work? I need it for about 1 year.
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Old 05-03-2005, 04:06 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheKryptKeeper
Would the used tourque converter work? I need it for about 1 year.
Why not ask the guy at the junkyard if it's gonna last a year?

$20+ a weekend of wrenching
vs
$4500+ months of wiring, tuning, rewiring, retuning, and always having to shell out money to do things you either don't want to do or just cannot do.


Seems rather simple to me. Don't build a beast if you're not prepared to dig into it when things go wrong.


Jay Storm
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Old 05-03-2005, 04:08 PM   #17
TheKryptKeeper
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I understand your reasoning and agree with you. However, what do you think the junk yard is going to tell me? "Yea it should last you about 5 years and give you 20 extra HP as long as you buy it for $80."
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Old 05-04-2005, 02:54 AM   #18
TheKryptKeeper
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I called up my mechanic and he told me that when one tranny part goes out then all of them go out. He says that if I only replaced the torque converter then it would last maybe a month. He found a tranny and quoted me 1500 to do it.

I think that that is a load of crap what about you guys?
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Old 05-04-2005, 10:44 AM   #19
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I'm pretty sure you have to use the STI pedal assemblies.
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Old 05-04-2005, 11:26 AM   #20
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If it were my car, I would personally do the manual conversion at this point. It is a big job, but not too terribly hard, and a minimum of wiring is required at this point. The auto ECU can be fooled to work with a 5spd...

A used torque converter is the next best option. Used parts are used parts. You take your chances, but if you wander the junkyard and check the mileage on the wrecks, you can at least know the mileage of what you are getting. Or call Super Rupair here in Boulder (303-442-6508) and talk to Dave in used parts. You will pay a bit more for it, but he usually has parts available with less than 100k mi.

Lastly, if you need a starter, shoot me a pm. I have a manual starter in the Ghetto Garage.
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Old 05-04-2005, 11:51 AM   #21
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Dude,

You are nuts to take on that job all at once - espcecially when you can't see the wires! This is what you should do:

1) Finish the AWD conversion and install the 5MT. Presumably this is the RS tranny (why you have a clutch slave cylinder installed I have no idea). You are more than half way there already. It's like a weekend of work

2) Get 16" wheels and put in RS brakes on the front. They are always selling OEM wheels here for a few hundred.

3) Giver. This will be a fun setup for cheap.

4) Make a decision later about the conversion once you have exerience. It's a BIG BIG job that will cost $$$ or will never work properly.

You don't need a new ECU. I have done this and in fact have a 2.5 DOHC running an STI tranny on a 1.8 auto ECU... and I just rallied it at Oregon Trail!

PS I'd buy that motor and link if the price was right.... let me know.
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Old 01-26-2006, 01:06 AM   #22
TheKryptKeeper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by andys
Dude,
1) Finish the AWD conversion and install the 5MT. Presumably this is the RS tranny (why you have a clutch slave cylinder installed I have no idea). You are more than half way there already. It's like a weekend of work

3) Giver. This will be a fun setup for cheap.
I started this thread on 5/03/05. It took longer than a weekend.
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Old 01-26-2006, 01:06 AM   #23
TheKryptKeeper
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What the hell is "giver"!
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Old 03-15-2006, 01:08 AM   #24
TheKryptKeeper
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Seriously, I don't know what giver is. I'm also going to start "Krypt's Ginormous Write-up".

Does anyone have any studs/bolts for where the rear diff attatches to the crossmember? Not even Subaru can get them.
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Old 05-04-2005, 11:55 AM   #25
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Default starter?

Starter? Why do you need a starter? IT'll be with the new tranny/
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