A faster grocery getter - 04 WRX Wagon

[Recoil889]

Subscribed! Already been reading through your 8 pages at work and this looks so good man. Keep up the good work! Also, how's your dog?

Thanks, man!

The dog is good, just turned three last month.

[TrymMidthus]

Subscribed! Already been reading through your 8 pages at work and this looks so good man. Keep up the good work! Also, how's your dog?

[Recoil889]

More parts for the shelves.
I went down to California and hung out with the guys who run the @wagonsteez page on Instagram. One of my friends offered me a solid deal on his Voltex diffuser, so I bought it and sent it back to myself via Greyhound.



A local buddy alerted me to another set of SAA mirrors so I arranged a buy on those too. I don't really need them, but it's good to have a spare set. It's even better to keep them off someone else's car.



And because I'm a ricer, I couldn't pass up this Blitz angled shift knob.



I've got some other stuff in the works, but nothing worth mentioning at the moment. Hoping to find some motivation to buckle down and knock out the interior prep over the fall. No guarantees.

[Recoil889]

Big post - here's a current modification list. Anything with a[*] next to it still needs to be sourced/purchased.

Exterior
JDM rain guards
JDM fog light bezels
JDM multi-color fog lights
JDM GD roof vent[*]
USDM 04/05 STI front bumper cover
USDM Saab 9-2x roof rail deletes
USDM Saab 9-2x rear bumper cover
USDM Saab 9-2x hatch
USDM Saab 9-2x tail lights
Morette 04/05 STI headlights[*]
APR Front under-tray[*]
Chargespeed front lip
Chargespeed vented 20mm front fenders
Kaminari reverse cowl hood
Singular Motorsports hood louvers
Aerocatch locking hood latches
L’aunsport 25mm GG rear wide body
Shine Auto Project side skirts
Liberal grille[*]
SAA turn signal mirrors
ABW passenger headlight dummy with NACA duct
Voltex Type H2S II hatchback GT wing
Voltex GD diffuser

Interior
02-07 WRX/STI dash – trimmed and electrostatically flocked
05-07 WRX/STI center console – trimmed and electrostatically flocked
02-07 JDM red hazard button
Sparco Pro2000 seat
Flossy super heavy griptape knob
Aerosim Research Carbon fiber front door panels

Electronics
Link G4 ECU[*]
RacePak digital cluster[*]
Mojave box windshield defroster[*]
Iwire milspec harness[*]

Motor
Benson Machine sleeved and o-ringed EJ257 short block
Headgames motorworks pocket ported EJ257 heads[*]
ARP case bolts
Outfront Motorsports 1/2 inch head studs
Killer B Oil pan
Killer B baffle
Killer B pick up
JDM STI 11mm Oil Pump[*]
GSC S2 cams[*]
GSC beehive springs/retainers[*]
Supertech valves[*]
Pauter X-beam connecting rods
CP pistons
OEM STI nitrated crank[*]
ACL bearings[*]
LIC motorsports adjustable idler[*]
Tomei timing belt guide[*]
Fluidampr harmonic balancing crank pulley[*]
Accusump[*]

Fuel
Radium FCST 15 gallon fuel cell with internal surge tank
Radium FCST external fill neck
ATL Dry break female fill receptacle[*]
Injector Dynamics 2000cc top feed injectors[*]
Radium Fuel Pressure Regulator[*]
Radium top feed fuel rails[*]
-6AN PFTE E85 safe soft fuel line[*]
-8AN PFTE E85 safe soft fuel line[*]
Radium y block[*]
Radium inline fuel filter[*]
Radium fuel filter cooling block[*]

Turbo/Cold/Hot Side
Garrett 3582r (106ar) (T4/V-band)
Tial 38mm EWG (V-band)
Tial 38mm EWG (V-band)
Speedfactory custom rotated downpipe (V-band)
Speedfactory custom rotated up-pipe (T4-V-band)
Speedfactory custom equal length header (V-band)
Speedfactory dump tubes (V-band)
Blitz Nur-Spec (V-band converted)

Engine/Power Misc.
Cosworth reverse manifold
IAG billet TGVs[*]
AEM Map sensor
Grimmspeed 3 port EBCS
Tial Q BOV[*]

Drivetrain
JDM Version 7 STI 6 speed transmission (non-DCCD)
Cusco tarmac front differential
OEM Subaru Legacy Spec B 5th gear
OEM Subaru Legacy Spec B 6th gear
OEM Subaru Legacy Spec B Carbon Synchros
Cobb double adjustable short throw shifter
JDM Version 7 STI R180 rear differential
Cusco 1.5 way rear LSD
Driveshaft shop front axles[*]
Driveshaft shop rear axles[*]
OEM STI 5x114.3 hubs[*]
OEM STI 5x114.3 knuckles[*]

Safety
Godspeed Fabrication custom (welded) roll cage
Godspeed Fabrication (welded) harness bar
Godspeed Fabrication (welded) rear tubular bumper beam
Lexan rear door windows
Lexan rear quarter windows
Harnesses[*]
Fire suppression[*]

Misc. Fabrication
Front fender tubs
Rear fender tubs
Rear wheel arches
Smoothed firewall
Rear quarters trimmed
Rear doors gutted and trimmed
Spare tire well deleted
Trunk panel
Fuel cell mount
Quick-release core support[*]
Semi-tubular front end[*]
Rear tow hook[*]
Front tow hook[*]
Battery box/mounts/brackets[*]

Brakes
Rooducts brake ducts
Chargespeed brake duct fog light covers[*]
Wilwood proportioning valve[*]
Chasebays Brake Booster Eliminator[*]
Stoptech stainless brake lines
Custom routed brake lines[*]

Suspension/Handling/Bracing
2016 STI 13:1 steering rack
TSS front subframe
TSS rear subframe
TSS T bar
TSS adjustable control arms[*]
Cusco steering rack brace[*]
Custom aluminum fender braces
Custom integrated front strut tower bar
Whiteline bump-steer kit
Whiteline rear differential outrigger bushing set
Whiteline front swaybar
Whiteline rear swaybar
Kartboy Endlinks
Kartboy rear subframe lockdown bolts
Tigwerks solid transmission mounts
Fortune Auto air piston lift coilovers
Swift springs
Viair compressor
Viair 3 gallon air tank

Undecided
Brake Calipers/Rotors
Surgetank fuel pumps
Turbo cold-side (VMIC vs Shrouded/stacked FMIC/Radiator)
Air box
Throttle body (3”)
Peddle box
E-Brake
Gauges
Switches/Kill-switch
Driveshaft
AOS/Catch-can
Roll cage padding
Interior lighting
Battery
Power steering pump
Wheels
Rear-view mirror

[Recoil889]

Look what finally showed up! Really excited about these.

[Recoil889]

I received my sideskirts from Shine Auto while the car was away for fabrication. One of the biggest challenges with not buying an out of the box widebody kit was finding parts that would all fit and flow well together. Between the two bumpers, both sets of fenders, sideskirts and front lip, I'm working with five different manufacturers.

I half-assed bolted up the doors on the passenger side and mocked up the widebody to see of everything would fit and flow together. I was really pleased to see how good it all fit and looked. I still have to add aero to the car, but for now, I'm happy to see it doesn't look awful.




I decided to take some measurements of the clearance in the fender wells now that everything was finished. 16" in the front and 15.5" in the rear. I'd love to see 315s in my future on this car.

[Recoil889]

Back home!


I'm really pleased with how well the bumper cover fits with the new light-weight crash beam. Just as well as stock.



I'll spend some time this weekend half-assed mocking up a housing for the female dry-break port. Ultimately, I'd like to have something that passes through the gas pocket (in red) and fits where the stock gas door was and follows the same lines as the wideboy.


Otherwise on to scraping out the rear wheel wells and waiting for something cool in the mail.

[Recoil889]

The progress on this build is awesome. Keep up the great work!

Thanks! Will do!

[TruTaing]

The progress on this build is awesome. Keep up the great work!

[Recoil889]

This is awesome! Hope to see this at some of the shows around here once its complete!

Thanks man! You definitely will..one of these days..


I made a quick trip up to Godspeed fabrication to drop off some bumper brackets and take a look at the car. Everything is progressing very nicely.

The rear quarters have been trimmed out so that the widebody will be in place of that area once everything is molded in.


The fuel cell mount is finished. The bottom of the cell rests onto two horizontal supports and is bolted into the "trunk" floor with two bolts at each corner.



At this point, I think I'll route the filler neck in a similar area as the stock one and mount the dry-break port where the stock gas cap goes. This may very well change down the road.

The rear wheel arches were finished to match the interior radius of the rear tubs. Tons of room in there for big tires.
The last thing left is finishing up the rear bumper beam so I can mount my bumper cover to it like the OEM beam.

Once I get the car back home, I'll tackle the awful job of removing all the remaining coating from the rear wheel arches and priming them to be ready for textured epoxy like the front ones.
All this should knock quite a bit of weight out of the back of the car.

Thanks for looking.

[REVOofRustler]

This is awesome! Hope to see this at some of the shows around here once its complete!

[Recoil889]

[Recoil889]

I had a chance to get the car back into the fabrication shop to finish up a few things, so I had it trailered up last week.
]

While its there, the spare tire well will be cut out to install the Radium fuel cell that I ordered a while ago.


I'm planning to run a remote fill neck connected to a dry-break fuel port either in the passenger side rear quarter lexan, or below where the stock fuel door would normally be located. Still a ways off from making that choice.

Next up is cutting out the portions of the rear quarters that are replaced by the widebody, finishing the rear wheel arches to match the inside radius of the tubs, and having a rear bumper beam made and welded in.

In other news, I was offered a trade of a Louis Vuitton wallet and an Art In Motion wheel by a 21 year old kid on Facebook, so I might just go ahead and take that deal. Things are looking up!

[Recoil889]

Got my hands on a new OEM Saabaru rear bumper cover. I may order another one to keep around, it seems harder than it should be to get ahold of them.



Seems to fit ok. The bumper cover will need to be stretched ever so slightly to fix about a 1mm gap. Not sure the best way to go about doing it.





Sideskirts are ordered and on the way. I'm slowly sending bolt on parts to body work. Otherwise, things are slowing down slightly while I'm trying to figure out what to tackle next.

[Recoil889]

Small update:

I was lucky to stumble across a fantastic deal on a Facebook classified page for this brand new Cusco front differential. I've been doing a little digging around to figure out what I want to do with the center differential before I crack the six speed open to re-gear it.


I wasn't feeling entirely satisfied with how domestic the front end of the car was looking with the Kaminari hood. Luckily, a friend of mine was selling a set of his singular motorsports hood louvers, so I took those off of his hands. I haven't quite decided where exactly I'm going to mount them, but they look good laid out. I'll need to cut these in, so I'll probably do it towards the end when I install the aerocatch latches.


I received my fenders back from the body shop last week, too. I dropped them off as a test to see if I wanted to proceed with this shop for the remainder of the car. They came out pretty good, but there will need to be a correction or two done before the car is sprayed. After getting those back, I decided to halfassed put the front end of the car together.



I'll probably spend a good portion of this weekend continuing to mess around with getting the interior prepped and organizing parts for assembly.