What's up guys? Another long while without updates. Let's see how short I can make this..
I parked the STi for the winter a week or so after my last update. I was losing coolant externally without knowing it, I later discovered a few small leaks that all added up.
Since it was parked, I decided It was as good a time as any to pull the engine out and get going on the cam swap. Since the heads were already going to the machine shop for the stuff associated with the cam swap (resetting the spring installed height, etc) I decided to have the heads pressure tested to make sure I wasn't losing any coolant internally. There weren't any signs of burning it, but I wanted to be sure. They came back with a clean bill of health and with my original OE cams installed. Moore Performance reinstalled them to the shortblock and swapped out the buckets that needed to be changed to correct the valve lash, which changes once the heads are torqued to the block. They also installed a higher volume oil pump as pressures were a little low last year, even with 15w-50 Motul 300V.
I started talking with Moore Performance about what I really wanted to do with the car, and we decided to make some changes while the motor was out. I switched out the stock location turbo and the single scroll equal length header for a rotated/twinscroll Borg Warner S200SX-E 7076 turbo and a Moore Performance twinscroll kit. They made the header, uppipe, downpipe, intake/inlet, hot side IC piping, and a few other parts. I made some changes to the fuel system and a few other things.
I finally got it all back together and on the road last week, and I have a full day of tuning scheduled for this Friday (6/24). I am working with a different tuner now, the tuner in Buffalo got hired on by Cobb Tuning part-time last year, and went full-time/relocated to TX this spring.
So far, the stumble/hesitation issue I was having last year seems to be gone. We won't know for sure until it's tuned because it's running on a Speed Density base map right now, which is inherently rough. I've done about 100 miles in the car on the new setup so far and it seems like the changes are definitely going to be worth it.
I also sold the 17x8.5" +40 RPF1's and picked up a set of WedsSport TC105N's in 17x9 +35. They're lighter than the RPF1's even though they're half an inch wider. I'm pretty happy with how they look on the car.
I made it to a our local Subaru club's meet yesterday so I grabbed some pictures. Direct sunlight is terrible to shoot in, but here's what I could salvage.
The guy walking on the passenger side of the car in the hat is my dad. He has a SAtin White Pearl 2014 WRX hatch, and had a Saabaru before that:
The Java Black Pearl STi next to mine belongs to my buddy who won Best 04/05 at Wicked Big Meet last year and this year. I told him I'm going for the title next year:
My friends "tagged" my car. They've been hiding dickbutt stickers on all of our cars and seeing how long it takes the owner to notice. I got tagged and noticed the same day, but a few people have gone weeks without noticing.
I'm pretty happy with the wheels, seeing them on the car out in the sun:
The car could be lower and I'd have plenty of clearance since I shaved the lips of the rear quarter panels flush. I'll revisit the ride height when I swap the coilovers next year (Thinking something more performance oriented, mine are great for a DD but that's not what this car is).
And the engine bay shots:
And some phone pictures of everything coming together (I had to replace the blue intake coupler, it was driving me crazy):
Turbo mounted with engine out, before I clocked the compressor housing.
I picked up a 2010 Honda Fit Sport 5MT as a DD in December 2015, and it's proven to be quite the capable parts hauler:
So far all I've done to it is had the windows tinted and picked up steelies and snow tires. It's a great little car, and with the manual trans it's pretty fun to toss around.
