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pete25r's bugeye progress

48K views 211 replies 21 participants last post by  pete25r 
#1 · (Edited)
pete25r's bugeye progress

Short story:
2002 WRX Sedan
Mods:
3in TBE exhaust – cat welded in downpipe, Borla muffler
silicone inlet
silicone afta MAF
VF-39 with billet compressor and lightly PNPed
Grimmspeed up pipe, wrapped
AEM UEGO Wideband
Deatchswerks fuel pump - DW200 / 255LPH
Kartboy Short Shifter
Perrin? shifter bushings
tint
kenwood headunit with pioneer speakers
12" sub with amp
aluminum radiator
Kartboy Front and Rear Endlinks
Whiteline Adjustable Swaybars - 24 front on softer and 22 Rear on middle
Konis and RCE Black(7-23-13)
Group N tophats
Grimmspeed splitter
Grimmspeed TMIC
Grimmspeed IC Hose
OEM JDM Bugeye hood scoop
JDM Pinks
STI transmission mount
Group N motor mounts
Kartboy Rear Diff bushings
opensource tuned by your's truly

Stock:
everything esle

Long Story:

I'm a Subaru fanboy. I've had 3 80's models, loved each one. I wanted to get a turboed car so heck, I'll go find myself a WRX. Here's what I found (Feb 2011) License plate is photoshopped, dealer tag was there and ugly.




Underhood - TurboXS atmos. BOV, COBB SF with beatup, dirty filter, exhaust leakS



yeh, filter was supposed to be blue...


So you wanna see some wierdness? Someone welded a largish cat on the 3" downpipe. You might not be able to see in these pics but man-o-man them welds ain't pretty. The welds are structurally sound looking but more of the "bigger the blob, better the job" category.



From the downpipe back its 3" and looks like Borla, resonator in midpipe and dual tipped Borla embossed muffler. Sounds good, not to loud but sounds like it has a pair.

Paint looked good, somewhat fresh. Interior was ok, carpet was beat up, wholes under floormats. It was missing the clock, had a stock 6disc/tape radio, stock speakers, no guages, stock fog lights, wholes drilled in most of the "blanks" by the cruise switch. There was also an off brand remote start unit in it, still wired up just no fuse in the 12v+ line. There were also some other various rat's nests wired in under the dash. When I took it on a test drive I noticed there was a Cobb AP USB dongle-thing on the OBD-II port, no AP though.

I didn't know this until I went to a meet but it's got a short throw shifter with a kartboy sticker on it under the boot. And the boot trim has an STI on it and doesn't quite fit right, it's always falling down off the part that's supposed to hold it up.
 
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#2 · (Edited)
done?

Here's what I've done so far...(not in order)

replaced the radiator with an aluminum CX racing one (ebay special)

DSC_7154__ebay rad by pete, on Flickr

replaced TurboXS BOV with stock BPV - wasn't for me hated the backfire on shifting

cusco turbo heatshield, don't think it helps all that much but I got a deal on it and bling!

lost pic


silicone between Cobb SF and TD04

CD/MP3 headunit (Kenwood?) and some pioneer speakers - they sound a good bit better than stock but not awesome enough to go into detail

installed sound deaden-ing material in front doors (doing back soon), used fatmat. its ok, it did cut down a good bit of noise

Logged, logged, and read some, logged, read more.. and tuned my ecu a little. It had a map that wasn't stock on it when I bought it. Didn't know anything about the tune that was on it, who did it what were they trying to do.... I'm OS tuning it now. Got it running ok, got some knock that I think is bogus but need to do a little more logging and looking, then I'll push it a little.

tinted the windows 35% front and rear - that sure did help in the SC heat

I made two things out of a sheet of aluminum for under the hood. A radiator shroud cover, that was easy, and an airbox, not so easy. The airbox didn't turn out exactly like I wanted it too but I'm sure it helps a little as it blocks some of the heat coming off the engine. When I go to remake one I'll make it a little taller so it can have a lid or something put on it and also find a way to move cool air into it, fan or route the under hood air diverter thing.






I also made a switch to make reading/flashing my ECU easier. When I get un-lazy I'm going to install it in one of the pre-drilled blanks near the cruize button...



A couple of weeks back I installed a Deatschwerks DW200 (255lph). --One tip, for noobs like me, on the install process is after everything is plugged in and dropped into the tank, bolt and cable everything up BUT the fuel delivery line running to the engine. Get a piece of vacuum tubing or whatnot and attach one end to the fuel delivery coming out of the take and run the other end into an empty container that can hold fuel. Secure the tube to the container, you don't want fuel spraying all in your backseat do ya? Turn the car to the "ON" position, no need to start it, just want to turn the pump on. Turn to "ON" once or twice just to make sure its pumping. You should hear the pump whir and spray in the container. That's called priming I believe.
--another side note, I put the DW sticker that came with the pump on top of the access cover for the fuel tank pump assembly, the piece in the trunk. I wrote the date I installed it on, on top of the sticker so if I ever loose my mind and sell/trade it dude won't have to dig in the tank to know what's in there.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Goals
What I want to do with the car is have a fun, reliable DD.
I haven't really set a horsepower goal.

Plans
injectors 650-720 depending on turbo I choose

VF39 or similar - I want a quick spooler, haven't done all that much research. It'll be a little while before I drop a bigger turbo in.

I have some TD04s that need some TLC, well one is need of a new turbine shaft and other parts so it's just a compressor and turbine housing donor. The other is in good shape except it needs a rebuild. I've gasket matched and cleaned/polished up the broke one and working on the rebuild one's housings. I'm going to pick the better of the two and rebuild then swap with my stock TD04. I know I won't be making mad HP but I needed a fun project.

Pics of the first TD04
DSC_7027 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
DSC_7019 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
DSC_6994 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
DSC_6993 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
 
#4 ·
One of the bearings on the for the timing belt has gotten rather noisy.

I've got a Gate's belt kit w/pump on order. When I was dropping my headers(stock) to replace the gaskets I noticed a couple of spots where there was some oil seeping out of the camshaft areas. I've got some new camseals on order too figured, hey while I'm there....

I'm also contemplating swapping out my stock TD04 for a DIY rebuilt, DIY PNP TD04.
 
#5 ·
fix one, find two...

Today I changed my timing belt and pullies. Took me a while, cleaned parts as I went. It wasn't that hard though. Search on youtube and NASIOC for Meaty/Meatball's howto. It rocks.

Got the belt changed no probs. I found out that I have a tear in my front pass. CV boot. Grease on my cat/downpipe too. Sux.
Either my A/C tensioner pulley or A/C's clutch has gotten quite noisy. Hopefully it's the pulley. Sounds kinda like plastic scraping/rubbing on metal.
 
#6 ·
Fixed the A/C tensioner, horrible noises stopped. Also got the C/V boot fixed. The boot was quite easy after I found a little clip-wire was holding the shaft in the part that mates up to the tranny.

Been trying to find a good time to put this PNP(mildly) and rebuilt TD04 on. My current TD04 is no where near eating itself yet but I want more spool and needed a DIY project.
The gaskets on my ride look horrible. The only set I haven't replaced yet is the turbo up and down pipes. And I"m missing a stud on my installed turbo.
 
#8 ·
It was pic heavy to start. I'll get more pics up. Not much has changed though. Didn't want to bore anyone to death with nothing fun to look at.

Maybe a shot of how clean my timing belt cover is? hmmm....

not really a pic but here's a video of me playing with the PNP TD04.... took a shop vac and blew in the up-pipe flange...

TD04 (off of a Subaru, 13T) - YouTube
 
#11 ·
thanks gentleman, I was wondering when someone was going to comment on my thread here...

making the airbox was one of those I need a DIY project things. I get that itch every couple months. Same with the radiator shroud thing. The radiator shroud was way easy. I found a piece of cardboard to pre-fab/measure and then transfered it to the leftover sheet aluminum from the airbox.

Next up I'm swapping my TD04 for the rebuilt PNP one. I'll post up some pics too just for making it heavy's sake.
 
#15 ·
Nice Pete! Figured I gotta get in here and say something. How much was the Cobb intake pipe? I have the intake too (thanks Zachy-poo).

I've also wanted to make myself an airbox.
 
#16 · (Edited)
COBB intake? well the part that has the MAF in it was on the car when I bought it, it's called an SF intake or somecrap. It's like $130-something on COBB's site I think? The MAF to inlet tube was like $75. Stock one had some cracks.

Some details on the airbox I made.
I picked up a sheet of aluminium from an ACE hardware, it was something like 28x28. I fabbed up an airbox out of cardboard (pizza boxes work well). Made adjustments to the cardboard until I was reasonably happy with it. Measured cardboard and the cut and bent alum. sheet to fit. For bending it I made a metal brake out of 2 large C clamps and 2 pieces of 1x3 wood, using a rubber mallet to get some decent 90* bends. I cut out another piece of alum to double up on the side that was next to the engine, doubled up for better heat deflection. I took the smaller piece of alum and C clamped it to the main peice and drilled some holes in both pieces. I put some washers inbetween the two pieces as I was pop-riveting them together. A good side effect is that it made it a good bit sturdier. I also cut some pieces to attach to the bottom so I could bolt it down to the frame.

Anyone attempting this will probably want to have these tools on hand...
2 largish C clamps - for brake
2 1x3 boards - for brake
rubber mallet - for using brake
sharp box cutting knife - to cut large/long portions of aluminium
metal snips
drill with metal bits
pop rivet tool with rivets
washers that will fit over rivets
sheet aluminium - steel could be used but would be heavier and harder to work with
dremel with some grinding bits
cardboard and tape for pre-fab
*SAFETY EQUIPMENT* eye protection and gloves are what I'd recommend, don't poke your eye out!

I took me an afternoon and a few hours after dinner to complete. A lot of time is used getting it to fit well. I wish I would have made mine a little taller, the intake/filter is on the high side and is probably still sucking in hot air that accumulates just under the hood. I was planning to make a lid for it but couldn't find a clean way to pull it off. Also didn't want it rubbing the underside of the hood.
 
#17 ·
one of my buddies that did an engine swap on his Toyota Tercel, yeh he dropped a turbo engine in it - dude is crazy, anyway he suggested I add this video...

I had some exhaust leaks. I seafoamed my bugeye to find them. The smoke doesn't show up so good on camera but this really helped me track down the bad gaskets.

Seafoam - YouTube
 
#18 · (Edited)
hands smell of grease and coolant.. and lava soap...

Got my PNP/rebuilt turbo installed tonight. Wrapped most of my up-pipe too, it has one of those flex joints on it.
Installing the new-ish turbo resolved some exhaust leakage too. Her rumble sounds even sweeter now.

98 more miles of break in on the turbo then its GAME ON!

here's some pics of the practice PNP I did on a questionable TD04, I did a slightly better PNP job on the one I installed. Practice makes perfect.


photo's note- I was using an LED flashlight to shine down in the cavities of the hotside and broke out the flash and all that for the compressor, that's why the lighting looks all weird.
Next time I'll set up the flash(es?) from the start.









These pics are the newds of the TD04 I took to the first DFH meat. I'm bringing the second one I did for show and tell, just will be a little harder to see...
 
#24 ·
halfway there...

I think jestr meant 1st gen stateside. Congrats on finding a WRX with nobody else's funky mods.


Here's an update...

Went for a Sunday drive today. Kept it under 3k, wasn't easy, that VW rEALLy wanted me to pass it. Swapping the turbo gave me a chance to fix some exhausts leaks, new gaskets, new stud to bolt downpipe on with. When I first let it idle I thought I stalled, its so quiet now, I can hear my transmission or CV joints when I use the engine to brake.

50 miles till Boost-city...

 
#25 ·
completed break in miles Tues. Need to get some logging done did. Apparently I went back a revision on my OS map. I fixed my timing scaling but stupid me didn't save it or flashed to wrong map. I'm good as long as I don't do any pulls.
I've got a fixed map, saved it twice. Just need to do a couple of logs, bounce off of new map for a sanity check and rock n roll with the new map.

No logs with PNP turbo yet but the butt dyno approves.
 
#27 ·
clicky-clicky

sways and endlinks ordered...:cool:

Next on the agenda is suspension. Nothing crazy just tightening it up a little.
Ordered - Whiteline adjustable 24mm front and 22mm rear and some Kartboy endlinks.

this will be done over time so don't hold your breath...

Planned - bushings (TiC bush refresh), Tokico D-Spec, tophats group N flavor

the main purpose of my car is a DD but I want it to handle a little better. any suggestions or advice is welcome.
 
#29 ·
Turn In Concepts rocks.
werd.

Do you have a torque wrench? I wanted to be sure the subframe bolts were torqued to spec on the front install. Don't let it drop on you when you're removing it.
 
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