My built, widened and bagged 06 WRX Wagon

[John@BagRiders]

Actually. I take back what I said. That looks awesome.

Thank ya! I'm diggin it. Just picked up a black delrin oil filler cap, damn expensive for what it is but I know it will look good with the rest of the engine bay. Had to bite the bullet on that one!

In other news, parts have started arriving and I'm getting realllllly excited to start putting this thing back together!



Pictured we've got:

• HKS Equal Length Headers
• GrimmSpeed Up Pipe w/Thermal Coating
• Blouch Dominator 1.5XTR w/optional 3" Inlet
• STI Oil Cooler Assembly

The last, and least exciting piece on that list is an unfortunate requirement for us 06/07 WRX folk (and I think some Foresters?) that want to run an equal length manifold. Subaru, for whatever reason, put an angled plate in the oil cooler assembly which puts the oil filter in the path of equal length runners. This will solve that problem.

I'm just waiting on my Chase Bays goodies (power steering and brake line kits) to arrive before I bolt these bad boys up as the first step of putting the car back together. Having the up pipe/turbo out really makes it easy to access the fittings on on the power steering rack, hence why I'm waiting to bolt this stuff up.

I'll also be wrapping the headers, up pipe and down pipe with DEI titanium thermal wrap and slapping a blanket on the turbine housing. I know I'm going to loose a bit of spool with the larger turbo, so I'm taking whatever steps I can to marginalize that loss and pick up some power to the left and under the curve! Every little bit helps, not to mention hopefully lowering under hood temps!

[John@BagRiders]

Made some headway last night, nothing really exciting just finished up painting the last bits of the block and replaced my oil cooler with the STI one. Oh, and installed a slick new oil filler neck cap, woo woo!

Engine is lookin good I think. I wire brushed the passenger side AVCS hard line, gotta do the driver side tonight.


Old and new, the old one wasn't 100% off at this point


I splurged on this piece a little bit, but I think it will help tie everything together


I've got some DEI Titanium Exhaust Wrap coming in today so I'll be wrapping my headers/up pipe/down pipe tonight. As soon as my power steering line kit comes in I'm ready to get the exhaust/turbo remounted and move forward with the project!

[saturnstance]

Maybe I missed it, did you use just regular engine enamel paint ?

[John@BagRiders]

Maybe I missed it, did you use just regular engine enamel paint ?

Yep, some like 1500 degree stuff or something nutty like that.

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I wrapped my headers/up pipe/down pipe stuff in DEI titanium exhaust wrap and masked off the flanges and various bungs in prep of painting them.


Then I painted them with DEI exhaust wrap paint, I think this will make for a smokey first start


I also brushed both of my AVCS hard lines, I need to go pick up a high temp clearcoat for them. I also sprayed down the driver/passenger side heads a little more as I had stuff removed. I'm going to wait to do the valve covers until I have the motor out, but they'll be black too.


The interior is a bit of a mess right now haha


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Next up...
My Chase Bays power steering and brake line kits arrive this week which is exciting! Once I get the power steering lines situated I can bolt up everything up to the turbo since that will all come out with the engine anyhow. I've got a 3" pipe coming in this week that I'm hoping will work for a custom turbo inlet.

I'm about to take a week vacation in Florida with my fiancee but when I'm back I should have everything I need to begin putting the car back together so I can yank the motor out and get the bay done. I feel like spring is right around the corner so I'm really excited to get it back on the road with a new tune!

[saturnstance]

Looking forward to see how everything looks painted black..i've been debating forever about painting some stuff in the bay, but have gone undecided ( I saw you painted the alternator too lol).

[fackinsteve]

All black engines are my favorite by far, really gives it that OEM modded look.

[John@BagRiders]

Looking forward to see how everything looks painted black..i've been debating forever about painting some stuff in the bay, but have gone undecided ( I saw you painted the alternator too lol).

All black engines are my favorite by far, really gives it that OEM modded look.

Thanks guys! You'll enjoy this next update

I pulled my brake booster in prep of installing some bulkheads for my brake line kit, and also to make it easier to properly loom the engine harness, starter and alternator wires I've routed through here


I had my power steering pump media blasted, and cleaned off my basically brand new alternator with a wire brush...


Then I painted them black!


I also had all sorts of random brackets e.g., PS pump bracket, alternator bracket and various other brackets all powder coated black. No pic of those, but not very exciting.

Headed to Florida for a week of vacation, but I've got everything I need to reassemble the car arriving while I'm there! I'm excited to take a week of from work and come back re-energized and ready to put the car back together, woo woo!

[saturnstance]

Did you just spray the alternator or take it apart?

[John@BagRiders]

Did you just spray the alternator or take it apart?

Just sprayed it. I masked off a lot, especially some important stuff in the back that you wont ever see when it's installed on the car.

Here's a shot of the power steering pump more or less all reassembled in its bracket. I am really excited to start seeing all the pieces come together!



I'm off to FL for a week but when I'm back there should be a lot of updates

[John@BagRiders]

Alright back from FL with some updates!

While I have everything apart I decided to replace a couple small parts like this coolant pipe near the oil cooler, which was showing some rust despite never seeing winter roads...


I also installed the clutch fork dust boot as well as the spring (not pictured) that were both missing with the 6spd I bought. I know, its fascinating.


I wanted to inspire myself and see what things would look like once back together, and I'm liking what I'm seeing! I really love seeing all the blacked out stuff together.


I decided to get to work on the passenger side wiring, and to prepare to install the in cabin brake line kit from Chase Bays. First things first, I pulled the glove box and the HVAC blower/filter assembly. I had never taken this thing out before and was pleased to find that it comes out with great ease, I'm talkin like three nuts total once the glove box and a couple of brackets for electrical plugs are removed, so really like 5 nuts total.


With that big chunker out of the way, I have easy access to the firewall, namely the cabin-side of the rear brake lines which I will be cutting and flaring to accept AN fittings. I'm planning on reusing the brake line grommet for air line and e-Level sensor wires since well... it's nice and OEM and hidden behind the strut tower.


I'll end this post with a summary of my feelings


Updates will be coming faster as I'm starting to feel stressed about finishing this up. So much to do before Wicked Big Meet in early June!!

[saturnstance]

Some progress is better than none. The all black looks killer.

Thought about going to WBM, but we'll see how the next few months go with my wagon, that picture sums it up lol.

[John@BagRiders]

I spent the weekend doing boring wiring stuff, in the engine bay and in the car, mostly for the remote battery. Found out that I screwed myself on 2awg wire, so I think I'm gonna end up using a very short run of 4AWG from the starter to the "tee" just behind the firewall that splits off to the fuse box (4awg) and one long run of 2awg back to the battery. I'm using welding wire for all this, it's damn heavy and lots of quality copper, none of that copper plated tin stuff.

I only took one picture because IMO wiring is about as exciting as watching tortoises mate. I would know because for some reason that I will never understand, my mother once sent me a video of tortoises mating with a description "kind of amazing." No mom, that's not amazing, that's just weird, please stop watching those tortoises bang.

I digress. At least this black loom is sexy.

[nishy]

No mom, that's not amazing, that's just weird, please stop watching those tortoises bang.

That braided loom is super sexy too. So much cleaner than the typical ribbed plastic

[John@BagRiders]

That braided loom is super sexy too. So much cleaner than the typical ribbed plastic

ty ty, i've decided to re-loom all the visible wiring with it, I think it will look real nice!

[SebastienPeek]

I would know because for some reason that I will never understand, my mother once sent me a video of tortoises mating with a description "kind of amazing." No mom, that's not amazing, that's just weird, please stop watching those tortoises bang.

Made me laugh. Very happy to see this entire build being documented on here. Have subscribed and keen for more updates.

Making me miss my Subaru more and more John!