A faster grocery getter - 04 WRX Wagon

[Recoil889]

Got a little bit done over the past two days. The first thing that I did was label the brake lines coming off the ABS module, and then disconnect them. I didn't even think of using a flare wrench to do it, so unfortunately, I stripped out one of the fittings on the proportioning valve.


After I had the lines disconnected, I removed the module off the harness the same way I did with the fuse box.



I also was able to delete the cruise control, and start moving the part of the wiring harness that was on the firewall. It sits on the outside of the wiper cowl. What I think I'm going to do is drill one hole in the wiper cowl, feed the harness in, and run it in the cowl. Should clean it up a bit. Because I'm not doing a full shave/tuck, I'm really not too worried about making one small hole. I think the benefit of moving the harness out of sight should make up for it.



I did some rough mocking up of a fender tub to help me make my decision on whether or not to tub it. I looked at some other Subarus with tubs and got a point of reference, and did some guestimation on the best size for them. I came up with something like this:









I think I'm really leaning towards just tubbing it. I'm already starting to rub in my fender wells at 18x9.5+39 with 0 camber in the front. I could heat up the fender well and massage them out, but I think that's taking the easy way out. I can justify not fully tucking the harness or shaving the bay because I know it's only a matter of time before I do a built EJ257 with a rotated set up and 6 speed.

Lot's of people I've talked to have said that it's just tons of work/money to tub it. I guess I just don't see it; Make a few cuts, pop out the arches, weld in new sheet metal, smooth out and paint. Maybe I'm missing something?

Here is the state of the interior of the passenger fender as it sits.



I start school again next week, so updates are probably going to slow down a little.

[FunfGang]

Looking good! Keep the updates coming.

[Recoil889]

I've got a little bit of an update here for you guys.

I picked up some new parts over the past few days:

- A spare set of timing belt covers that I'll paint match to the color of the car. Should create the illusion that my engine bay itself is bigger and that the motor is smaller. Hopefully.
- Weapon-R power steering tank. I'm not deleting power steering because fuck that. This should look nicer in the engine bay than the dirty "clear" bottle that's in there now.
- Defi 52mm red racer boost and EGT gauges. I still need to track down an oil pressure gauge and that'll do it.

Otherwise, not much. I decided against powder coating the alternator shroud I have and decided to powdercoat the alternator cage itself. I also hacked up the alternator support bracket, flipped the alternator upside-down and over to the driver's side. I think this'll create some more visual balance from a left to right perspective. Here is is mocked up.



I still need to file down the areas I cut off and smooth it out nicely before it goes off to powdercoat. There is a mess of vacuum line that sits on top of the block (under the intake manifold) that I need to sort out. They're necessary, so I can't just delete them. I've started to bunch some together nicely with black zip ties so they're not just piled all over the place.

Started school again today. Homework is lame, I'd rather be working on my car. Oh well.

[Johnsea]

Nice build and write up. I love seeing Subaru guys doing different stuff, especially tucking and shaving the bay. Keep up the good work and if you have any questions i've been down that road in the subie bay lol.

[dubs&boost]

loving the progress. what are you doing in school?

[Dome]

Love that STI wagon, good work so far, keep it up man

[Recoil889]

Nice build and write up. I love seeing Subaru guys doing different stuff, especially tucking and shaving the bay. Keep up the good work and if you have any questions i've been down that road in the subie bay lol.

Thanks. I very well might get in touch. I'm starting to run out of ideas already!

loving the progress. what are you doing in school?

Thanks, man. I'm studying Urban Planning/Development.

Love that STI wagon, good work so far, keep it up man

Thanks! I'm sure you know it's not really an STI. Just STI front end swapped over. She still has the 2.0L and 5sp.

[Recoil889]

The gauges, power steering tank and new dipstick all showed up today. Joy.

In reading about mounting options for the gauges (I can't stand when I see the interior of someones car and it looks like a goddamned space ship) I stumbled across this:

http://www.rexnet.com.au/forum/index.php?%2Ftopic%2F116415-diy-01-07-wrx-custom-clock-gauge-pod%2F

Looks pretty clean, and not too hard to do. As much as I **** to blatantly copy someone else's cool shit, I think it's the cleanest option I've seen. That said, I went down to home depot and picked up some PVC pipe. I've got a spare clock pod already, so I'll probably get into cutting that up this weekend.

[Recoil889]

Just checking in for those of you who have been following.

I've spent the last couple weeks messing around with stuff here and there. I focused on cleaning up my work space and re-organizing my tools again. I find that I work a lot better in a clean and organized environment.

I sat down with a buddy of mine and came up with a game plan for moving the harness and extending out the fusebox and ABS module wiring. I've got to run down to harborfreight at some point this week and pick up some wire loom, shrink wrap, and another cheap soldering iron. The plan is to extend out the fusebox wiring on the main harness side, and run it through a pass through hole in the firebox which is below the brake booster. Because the dash is out, we should be able to route it through and secure it to the support beam that the dash bolts up to.

The pistons are out of my brakes, too. I need to commit some time with a red scotch bright and knock off the rust and gunk that's on them. Rebuild kits for the brakes are on the way, too. The pads are still good, so those will stay. Stoptech stainless lines will be ordered some point after they get back from powdercoat.

I'm getting to the point where stuff is starting to slow down. I'm going to make myself get into the garage sometime this week and get a rag with some brake-clean and get rid of some of the nastiness that's sitting on my block/tranny. I'm also going to try and remove the rest ABS hardline that's in the bay and start coming up with some rough measurements for what I'll need to replace it. Does anyone know where I can get Japanese ABS hardline (i forget the code for it) in sections greater than ~6 ft? Local parts places don't have any length longer than that, and I'd rather not have to join short sections together.

Photos to follow later this week/weekend.

[zedsdead]

I love what you're doing man and I'll be watching closely. I have been wanting to tidy the bay up a little in mine but there really isn't too many doing it with these cars. Well, if there is I'm not finding them.

Good luck brother!

[councilc]

keep up the great work, nothing but love for your wagon!

[Johnsea]

There's a few wires you can make longer and run your fuse box over to the passenger side glove box and it'll fit in there mint. While your at it your should just tube the front end with the tubs it''ll look awesome. And honestly just ditch the abs module, its useless imo. I took mine out all the lines and wires and ran a wilwood proportioning valve and call it a day.

[Recoil889]

I love what you're doing man and I'll be watching closely. I have been wanting to tidy the bay up a little in mine but there really isn't too many doing it with these cars. Well, if there is I'm not finding them.

Good luck brother!

Thanks man. There is some stuff on NASIOC, I'm trying to do it nicely without going too overboard or cut any corners. It's a fine line to walk.

keep up the great work, nothing but love for your wagon!

Thanks!

There's a few wires you can make longer and run your fuse box over to the passenger side glove box and it'll fit in there mint. While your at it your should just tube the front end with the tubs it''ll look awesome. And honestly just ditch the abs module, its useless imo. I took mine out all the lines and wires and ran a wilwood proportioning valve and call it a day.

Yeah, I've got all the fuse box wires cut and separated. Everything is ready to be extended through the firewall and into the glovebox. I'm going to cut out the fender arches here shortly and figure out the tubbing situation. ABS is staying. I don't mind rerouting the lines and moving the module out of sight. Having functionality and form at the same time is ideal for me.


Finally worked up the ambition to get out and get some work done this evening. The first thing I did was take some masking tape and tape over this port that the AC lines used to run into.


I then traced the outside of the port and made an indent where the threaded hole is. I've got a friend who's a machinist, so I'll have him cut me a plate that'll sit flush and cap this off. Less welding is better for me. I don't mind just capping stuff off where I can get away with it.



I gathered up some cleaning supplies (brake clean/toothbrushes/qtips/rags) and got to cleaning off some of the grease and junk that's on the motor and tranny.







And last, but not least..the brake lines that are in the engine bay are gone.





That about does it for stuff that needs to be deleted out of the bay. I still need to reroute and shorten up some of the vacuum line, and generally just move some other shit out of the way.

Here's a hint at what's coming next. SO not looking forward to this.



Thanks to all of you checking out this thread on the regular.

[Johnsea]

Good choice in turbos too i see.

[Recoil889]

Long time no update -

Quite a bit finished up/worked on since the last time I posted. I've also had a couple changes made to the direction some things are going. Mainly, I decided that I'm not going to be ordering anymore Alcantara. At $110.00/yd, and the difficulty of working with it, I just don't think the end result is really worth it. The ~3 yards I have now will be used for the headliner, and any scraps will be used for a shift boot and other miscellaneous things. After doing a considerable amount of research, I realized that flock is a reasonable alternative. I ordered a couple pounds of black nylon flock and 3 ounces of charcoal gray to do some accents with. http://www.flockit.com/

In preparation to do the flocking, I sanded down all the interior trim pieces, then further wiped them down with a red scotchbrite and acetone to remove any of the stuff left over. I went over to home depot and got some shellac to cover the dash and the other pieces with "texture" to them. This should create a nice uniform surface for the adhesive


In order for everything to match up nicely, I disassembled my gauge cluster, sanded down the silver rings you see, cleaned them with acetone and sprayed them black.



With the help of a friend, I ran about 500ft of wire to extend out the fusebox harness. Each of the 23 wires was cut to length, then separated into two braids with electrical tape. The two braids were then paired and sleeved in water resistant shrink wrap. I labeled each wire on each end with numbered labels that correspond to the ones on the main harness and fusebox. The wire was run through a hole in the firewall below the brake booster which exits in front of the clutch pedal. I ran it the width of the dash, and secured it to the dash crash beam. I drilled a hole in the glove box for it to run through and be connected to the fusebox again.


It will exit the engine bay right here and run along the inside of the fender arch and be soldered back to the main harness behind the fender out of the way of the tire.


I also scored a set of Kaminari side skirts BNIB on craigslist really cheap. I'll need to get those painted to match soon, They're a little more aggressive than the stock ones, and should help with the giant clearance I have on the side of the car.


Got my JDM multi color foglights and bezels installed onto my bumper today. Very excited about this.




I sold the stock front seats today. I need to buy a sealed battery to go into the spare tire well, so I'll be looking at those this weekend. Up next should be some more wiring action on Saturday, flocking the interior and powdercoat shortly thereafter.