Harry Maneuvers 2004 WRX... The Braggin Wagon. TPS help!!!

[harrymaneuvers]

Hello SL-i!


You all mainly know me from my 1999 Subaru legacy sedan with JDM front end. It was my love of this car that ultimately led my now Fiance to want something more than something to get her from point A to point B... she wanted something she could be proud of and be a part of.

About 8 months ago my girlfriend of 2 years had slowly been hinting towards wanting to get a new car. She was driving a 2005 Chevy Aveo hatch. Once she sat in a wrx wagon on some local used lot... she was hooked.

Next came the arduous task of finding a STOCK wrx wagon in an automatic for a great deal. It is not like she cant drive a stick... but thinking years ahead in our lives, it just made the most sense. I also knew that by getting an AT, I would subconsciously drive the car softer than if it was a manual.

After months of searching and not finding what we wanted... we finally found one on craigslist in southern california. The seller had owned the car for 6 months and used it to drive from socal to arizona twice a month for work. He was a regional rep for a large outdoors backpack company so he would demo all the products at REI and other locations. After 6 months and 10k miles, he and his wife decided that they wanted something bigger (he ended up getting a 04 outback H6).

This is what it looked like the day we bought it:


220096_217087654975827_100000237835945_837567_6566038_o by Harry Maneuvers, on Flickr


243572_217087638309162_100000237835945_837566_761751_o by Harry Maneuvers, on Flickr


219076_217087631642496_100000237835945_837565_4584063_o by Harry Maneuvers, on Flickr


242050_217087618309164_100000237835945_837564_1714908_o (1) by Harry Maneuvers, on Flickr


241210_217087724975820_100000237835945_837571_2063805_o by Harry Maneuvers, on Flickr


219123_217087571642502_100000237835945_837560_1021860_o by Harry Maneuvers, on Flickr


218418_217087601642499_100000237835945_837562_3552620_o by Harry Maneuvers, on Flickr


220742_217087534975839_100000237835945_837559_2819464_o by Harry Maneuvers, on Flickr

Once we got it home... I completely tuned it up the first weekend.

- New Iridium XI plugs
- New fuel filter
- K and N drop in (yes I know there are no performance gains)
- Cabin air filter


Then slowly but surely, I started modding...

Exterior:
- Sedan Bumper
- Sedan Fenders
- Sti Splitters
- JDM Side Markers
- JDM Foglights
- STi Foglight Covers
- Sti Scoop
- Cleared headlights
- Lamin-x yellow foglight tint
- DDM 35w 5k HID low beams
- Impreza "I" badge grill
- Rally Armor mudflaps
- Hella Supertones

Engine:
- Cobb AP V2 with custom stage 2 tune from Paul at DB Tuned
- Invidea V3 catless downpipe
- STi catless uppipe
- Perrin radiator shroud
- Perrin light weight crank pulley
- Perrin Afta-MAS intake tube
- Perrin intercooler tubing
- Mishimoto ancillary hoses

Electical:
- 110 Amp alternator from a 2008 Forester
- X2 Power AGM battery
- Flex Innovations grounding kit

Drivetrain:
- Rallitek 4EAT insert
- Whitline rear differential bushings

Suspension:
- STOCK

Brakes:
- Blue goodridge stainless steal coated lines
- Perrin master brake cylinder stiffener
- 4/2 pots (to be installed)
- EBC Ultimax rotors (to be installed)
- Hawk HPS pads (to be installed)

Wheels/Tires:
- 2011 WRX gunmetal take-offs
- OEM Dunlop SP Summer tires


Plans for the future:
- DVD/Navi headunit
- 16G turbo
- STi pinks
- Walbro


I already bought a WRB sedan bumper... I just need the fenders, liners, control arms and front sway with links to be complete!

This is what it looks like currently with the 2011 WRX wheels and tires..




Crater Lake this summer (2011)



Random:

[harrymaneuvers]

Just finished the widebody swap last night. Turned out really well IMHO. The paint is slightly deeper/darker on the newer parts compared to the front doors back. But I was expecting that and it didnt turn out as bad as I thought it would. There are a few sizable dents on the doors so they are going to be the next things to be replaced...oh no here comes the audio itch!

Here you go!


On stands with both fenders/fender liners and bumper removed. Note the overspray on the snorkus. I had suspected that the car had a repaint when I bought it because the end of the muffler can on the back had slight amount of blue paint on it as well as one of the fender liner corners.








Here is the inside of one of the fenders... BINGO! Did a pretty good job considering I still cant tell when I turn it over.



Fender Brace installed:





Came across this capped plug right next to the snorkus/ opening for wiring harness to come through the fender into behind the headlight. Anybody know what it is for?









Here are the final results... Sorry but I didnt take too many pictures of cutting the bumper beam for the JDM fogs as it is the same as all the other posts. I will get pics without foglight covers later today.

[chrish8r]

I love WRX wagons!!! two questions; what are your opinion on the DDM HIDs and is there any meaning behind that "5say455" license plate??

[harrymaneuvers]

DDM tuning has been good so far... and I am almost at 1 year. License plate is completely random

[Tylerhartman]

This is hawt! That's great having a GF that loves subarus too hahaha.

[harrymaneuvers]

Hell yea it is!!!!

Thanks for the compliments guys.


Next up is the 4/2 pots... I put a feeler out there for sale and over 2 months I got one person who gave me an offer and it was ridiculously low. So I am just going to put them on for now.

After that I will either start on the audio or more engine mods

[Dead91silvia]

Nice! Auto is not a bad thing, more user friendly in later years. I'm still thinking of a auto turbo swap in my BD for that reason. They are nice in traffic...

[harrymaneuvers]

Very nice in traffic. And can hold more HP than the 5MT.

[harrymaneuvers]

A bit of an update thanks mainly to SL-i members

Most likely going to go with Ground Control coilover conversion kit with some koni inserts with slightly taller springs.

I want to have the ability to go from 1 inch above stock height to .5 inches below stock height... or something similar.

Just got the rear fenders rolled today too.

Big props to Alex (408-807-9812) who I read rave reviews about over on Bimmerforums... no cracking, chipping, stressing ect...

No complaints at all!


I am going to have to take it back in to FW Motorsports either tomorrow or tuesday. It has an overboosting issue that we just cant get to go away.

Here is a good video that I took today from a stand still. Note that I am pressing on the gas at about 70-75%. I let up from the throttle slightly as the car starts to overboost... I am afraid to just hold the gas down and see how bad it gets.

[chrish8r]

Just the rear fenders?? Are you planning on putting soem nice wide rubber on there or just prep for the drop from the coilovers???

[harrymaneuvers]

Correct...

I got a DEAL ($350 brand new) for a set of Bridgestone Potenza RE970 Pole Position tires... the only problem was that they were 245/45/17 instead of the 235/45/17 that came stock on the 2011 WRX wheels that I currently have.

There was almost NO clearance between the inside of the wheel/tire and the rear strut when running the 235/45's... so 5mm rear spacers were needed... Once I put the larger tires on with the spacer... the rear fenders required rolling to avoid scraps on hard bumps or turns.

[harrymaneuvers]

Went camping out at Collins lake this weekend for a Friends B-Day party.

We loaded the wagon down more than we ever have since the larger tires/wheels. It didnt rub for about 97% of the 75 mile trip. I learned really quick to watch for the dips in the road.



This prompted me to call Ground Control today to figure out exactly what I am going to get.

Jay was great to talk to but handed me over to Mark who is the subi guy there.

Mark suggested I go with 9" springs with 315 spring rate on all four corners. He said that should give me the ability to go from +1 to -1 all the way around.

I think I am going to get the new shocks over the next week or two.

[Dead91silvia]

Came across this capped plug right next to the snorkus/ opening for wiring harness to come through the fender into behind the headlight. Anybody know what it is for?

Thats for the flux capacitor!

[harrymaneuvers]

I would seriously love to know what it goes to or is for.

[harrymaneuvers]

Bump... anybody know what the hell that plug is for?

Also, a brief update. Car is now at 163k miles and going strong. About a month ago I started noticing smoke/steam when I would come to a stop for a long period of time. It would start to come up through the scroop and passanger side of the hood. Not bad... but enought that I noticed.

Because the legacy has been in the garage and I live in an apt complex, I havent really had the time to diagnose although I was pretty sure it was power steering fluid because it was running a little low and oil level hasnt changed at all.

I was able to put some Tracer UV dye in it over the weekend and tracked the leak down to the high pressure line right where it transitions from the hard line (coming from the pump) to the soft line that eventually connects to the rack.

Subaru wants $320 for the hose assembly so I am having the local hydraulic hose/fitting company make me one for about $85. I am having them convert the banjo bolt end to -6an fittings and same with the steering rack side.

[Odycee]

I had similar smoke/steam issue came out of my 02 WRX when stop for a long time. It's the valve cover gasket oil leak onto the turbo exhaust on the passenger side. When moving the oil is burned off so you don't see the smoke or smell. If you haven't change your VC gasket, 163K miles is about time to do it. Check your oil, your car probably consumes more oil too. The HOT turbo exhaust manifold ruins your VC passenger side much faster than your driver side. I changed mine last week so no more smoke, smell, and oil consumption.

When you change your VC gasket, before extra careful sealing the "half moon" section with extra sealant Permatex "The Right Stuff" otherwise it will leak.

[harrymaneuvers]

Yea I know for sure that it is not engine oil. I check my oil level every fill up and am not burning or loosing any oil over 5k mile change interval.

I know for certain that it is power steering fluid. The Tracer UV dye worked great. Put barely any in the PS pump resevoir, turn the wheel from stop to stop twice with the motor running.

Looked at suspect area with UV light and yellow glasses which IMMEDIATELY showed me exactly where the leak was coming from. The PS fluid that leaked out was BRIGHT orange due to the dye.

The new hydraulic 6AN line should be ready tomorrow.

[harrymaneuvers]

So a little update. The hydraulic PS hose is just now ready because they couldnt find the adapter fittings.

So it had been slowly leaking for almost two months now.

About 1 month ago, the hose from the upper coolant tank to the block ruptured and had to be replaced.

Then yesterday while driving home for lunch, the coolant line running from the bottom of the turbo to the block ruptured with a nice 3 inch long split.

I will be fixing that today as well as picking up the hydraulic PS line.

Finally, my passanger side CV boot ripped a few months back and has been flinging grease EVERYWHERE so I will replace that and clean everything up prior to installing the PS line.

Oh yea, and I should be installing a VF39, injectors and an STI TMIC this weekend along with getting an open source tune and selling the cobb accessport.

[harrymaneuvers]

Well crap. I just replaced the split lower turbo hose, filled it up and let it idle until the fans kicked on to burp the system and it still started to overheat while idling.

I am thinking that my waterpump went because even with the cap on the radiator... I cannot get my top hose to go rock hard anymore.

Does the waterpump sound right to anyone else?


*****EDIT*****

Victim of the infamous WRX air bubble in coolant.

Reburped system and all is well.