Wreckingball Man - From Rags to Race

Day One: The Pickup

...Well, actually, that lasted several days, and 3 visits over the course of a month.

The day I picked up this little gem of pain and despair, it was mid summer and I was done with high school. I had sold my long-despised RSX, that's a story for another time. No one else saw what I saw in the car underneath the roof rack and dirt. It needed a wash. Well, it needed many things since we're being honest right now. I had some cash saved up and had made some money off my RSX. After making 3 visits to the seller, it was time to swoop in for the kill and pick this bad muther up.

The car came with some decent mods. And it drove and ran phenomenal with a completely rebuilt and machined engine. It had been completely gone through. I even called up the mechanic who did the work to confirm it. It had new oil, shocks and the works. Only catch was that it needed a transmission and the engine mysteriously bogged down when the car was in neutral. Nothing that cant be fixed I thought. I would be in for some headaches, or so they say, "Impreza: welcome to the world of funny noises and boost leaks." I picked it up for a little over $3k. I joined this Forum shortly after.

First Post
http://www.clubwrx.net/forums/builds/134360350-wreckingball-mans-2002-wrx.html

Links
Subaru WRX - First Day of Ownership

Pictures

Calvinball said:

Welcome and looking forward to future updates! Marching band, eh? What instrument??

Click to expand...

Drumline Univ. of Tenn. I was a Freshman so naturally I played Cymbals. Here's a photo from last fall. I also play French Horn and marched DCI in 2011.

Day 31: Transmission Woes

Problems
First thing's first. Tackle the transmission problem. Second gear was shot, but unfortunately the fragments had damaged almost every other gear in the transmission. Not bad, I had planned for the worse case and we ordered a new transmission from an indoor yard in Indiana. Second, "Why is it bogging down during idle?" the engine is completely rebuilt and no CELs. So we figured it was the clutch grabbing the engine. Bad clutch, bad TOB?...We assumed it was in the clutch assembly and ordered a new OEM replacement clutch kit, which we would need anyway. And here's why.

The transmission is from a 05 "Non-Sports" package RS. To justify my transmission decision: it was significantly cheaper with very few actual miles and had the same final drive ratio as the 02 WRX. Hp levels were not going to be very high. Also, I only needed something to get me through the next few years until I could go full race car and save enough money comfortably. I decided this to be the best choice based on actual needs and the best choice financially. STi six speed in the distant future.

Sending it Off
I sent the car to the mechanic who did all the work for the previous owner since I was starting school and would have no time to work on it. He did the whole swap.

Unforeseen Issue
Here's where the headaches came in. We kept losing clutch pedal pressure after about 50mi of driving. Of course, becoming stranded several times irritated the girlfriend and to this day I cant play it down. Every time we go somewhere she says, "Hope we don't break down." I just look at her and say, "265,000 miles and still going strong, how's that mustang treating you?" Oddly enough, pressure would return to the clutch pedal the day after losing it. It would work for another 50mi and then proceed to lose pressure again. We then swapped to an 05 RS slave cylinder, however problem persisted. We swapped to an 05 RS master cylinder, problem persisted. We even thought of changing out pedal assemblies...c'mon, we were desperate. Finally we checked the clutch hose (something we should have done first).

Swap Complete
Come to find out it was rotted out. Problem solved; air in hydraulic systems don't end well. We ordered a new clutch hose. About 30 days after I picked the car up I was driving it confidently. It was beautiful. A big swap to start out our time together.

Swap List

• 05 5MT transmission
• 05 RS flywheel and clutch assembly
• 05 RS master and Slave Cylinder
• Clutch Hose
• 05 Front Axles

Links
http://www.clubwrx.net/forums/transmission-awd/134360096-02-5mt-07-5mt-clutch-system-woes.html
Driving Around - After Transmission Swap

Pictures

Its the end of the semester and im on vacation and you're not. What's up. Anyway, hope you all had a good week. Subscribe for updates if you're interested in the build. Or comment if you have a question.
Seagull Couple

Beach Chairs

Beach Chairs
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That looks real nice,it's 43 degrees here right now.

Day 102 Getting Started: First Mods and De-Mods

“Time to see what’s on this thing.” I thought. So I wrote down everything that did not appear stock and I did my research. I came up with a mod list.

Mods That Came With Car
Suspension

• 17x9 +30 Rota Torque
• Lightweight Lug Nuts
• KYB GR-2 Struts
• STi Pink Springs

Power

• Borla UEL Headers
• Perrin Catless Up-Pipe
• HKS Catless Downpipe
• Samco Sport Ancillary Hoses
• Samco Sport Radiator Hoses
• Injen Intercooler and Throttle Body Hoses

Interior

• Air Freshener

My First Mods
My first goals were to replace all the worn and broken parts in the interior and clean up the exterior. Then I read a few “first mod stickies” and decided it would be wise to buy a boost gauge. And who doesn’t want a cool gauge? I bought the boost gauge for the whole “safety” blah blah opinion…made sense to me. I wasn’t happy with the exhaust note either so I bought a new to me muffler. I knew these would do nothing for performance, but it wouldn’t make a difference anyway. “I was driving an un-tuned Subaru!!” the thought came to me. After reading and researching further I concluded I would survive until I could get a tune, seeing as the 02-03 ECU’s were fairly adaptable.

• Wash, Clay, Compound, Polish and Wax
• Blue STi Carpet
• Black STi Floor Mats
• Kartboy Black Aluminum Shift Knob
• 04 STi Headunit
• Prosport Mechanical Boost
• TurboXS 2.5" Axleback

Problems Already
After Installing the boost gauge, I realized I had a problem. “7psi?” I thought to myself. Good thing I installed it. Henceforth I became one of those, “I installed a boost gauge on a stock engine and realized I wasn’t hitting target boost” people they speak of on the FAQ stickies. Ok, I can handle this. About this time I also started to get connected with local Subaru owners. I would get help in solving this problem. What an interesting night I would soon have with a few guys from KSOC.

Links
Subaru WRX Open Downpipe

Pictures

Day 123: Gauge Setups and OEM Center Pod Modification

On an un-interesting side note: My gauge setup saw regular changes, and continues to change even to this day. I’ve had three different setups so far, number 2 being the most recent. In all cases I’ve had to perform some modification to make it all work. Very simple work and could be done by almost anyone.

First Setup
I bought my first boost gauge, unfortunately it was an amber backlight and not a green backlight like my stock instruments, but I would not realize how much I would prefer the amber backlight until it was gone. Prosport 52mm mechanical. It’s a very solid gauge and performs very well and reads accurately with a moderate build quality. Looks similar to Defi and has a tinted face. I rate it 7.5/10

Second Setup
I finally installed my AEM UEGO Wideband kit when I went stage 2. This kit came with a sensor, wiring, gauge, built in controller, weld-in bung, and wiring accessories. The quality is excellent and it looks very sharp. It has auto-dimming LED’s and is accurate to within .1 AFR value. It performs very well. Wiring and setup was a breeze. I rate it 9.5/10

Third Setup
I added an oil pressure gauge. However, the intensity of the light and glare from the two gauges in my center pod became too much for night driving. It hurt my eyes. The amber backlight was not near as intense as the green backlight. The Wideband being in front of the cluster also made it hard to focus, them being at two different distances. In the end it all hurt my eyes and I ditched the oil pressure gauge, and went back to setup number 2. Included: AEM UEGO Digital Wideband, Prosport Mechanical Boost, Prosport Electric Oil Press. – Green Backlight


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