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Passed cert with the GRB

Too excited not to share. Some of you will have seen I sold my old type R.. Only reason was because I managed to win this unicorn at Auction! The v6 type R LTD!! Only about 580 made, arguably the rarest subi you can get next to the 22b. Few things made it 'affordable' haha but I don't really care as i'll keep it forever: Its an R grade - but was just in a minor frontal (cross member, front support, guards and bonnet replaced, no apparent chassis damage). Still registered in Japan meaning its of a good standard. 78,000kms!!! It is modified (WIN WIN WIN) - GDB 6 speed, engine and GRB brembos and maybe some other drivetrain components (hence the UGLY AF wheels) Looks very very tidy if not for the R grade. So dam stoked to snag this. Been looking for one for over a year! Anyone know what wheels those are? Trying to figure out if the hubs were replace to 5x114.3 or 5x100 based on those.

Finally got around to bringing this home from DTech. Just need a few more accessory pieces and it'll be ready to go in.

My wheels are done with being Media blasted and now Powder Coated by @chulozumo! Ho boy do I think that's an improvement over the silver that they were! So. The before And AFTER!

Lowered it, new rubber and tinted the tailights.

i didn’t do anything myself but I did receive some photos of turbo installed on the mock engine in car, down pipe next. Things getting more exciting, hopefully not long to go now.

Hey guys, Just thought I would give and update as its been some time now. I managed to find all/enough evidence to satisfy NZTA for the special permit. The car is now registered and driving on the roads. If anybody is interested in having the information I would be happy to share what I have. Thanks, Josh

Serviced the donor car I bought for the race car. Old oil flushed. New filter, plug washer and oil. Radiator flushed and filled with fresh coolant. Trans was completely empty so filled with oil. Brakes bled with fresh fluid so they actually work now. Discovered the old fuel filter had been bypassed, so installed a fresh one and hooked it up. Pumped the old fuel out and put some fresh 98 in. Then checked base fuel pressure and adjusted slightly. Fixed a few other little things like the water temp gauge, the intercooler rubbing on radiator support and the exhaust rattling on towbar. Found the steering rack leaks like a sieve. Thankfully the one on the racecar doesn't. So will leave that for now. The exhaust is pretty cooked. The bottom of the downpipe is about to break off from the rest of the exhaust. Going twinscroll anyway so not needed. Also noticed its missing 3 of the 5 nuts holding the downpipe to the turbo lol. Anywho, took it for a short test drive which went well. 12-13psi on a short pull. Sounds pretty healthy and makes cool turbo noises. Next on the list: send a can of upper engine cleaner through it, change the plugs and check rear diff oil. Then I'm basically ready to pull the engine from the donor car and start getting it ready to put in the racecar.

Nearing two years later, same car, no more lip:

I put a catless bellmouth downpipe on my Impreza about 14 years ago. I guess I should get a tune before driving it =P

Unfortunately or fortunately they aren't dreamers, its just a fact. These cars are now asking this money. In Australia a car like Nirans would be worth over 100k. If anything NZ is behind the times with values. Try importing a tidy one for less than 80k landed and on the road. No one wants to own a Ford and also the focus doesn't have the JDM factor.

Took the car out for the first time since polishing and coating it during lock down.

Bought a s*** load of bushes for the race car

My Perrin fender shrouds from moonlight turned up today😂, Fitted them before the boss got home so it costs me less 😉

Think I joined 2005/2006ish... recently back into the Subaru ownership game too, trying to relive the glory days! Have added a 2004 WRX STI Spec C WR-Ltd to the fleet. First Subaru was a 2004 WRX WR-Ltd, then a 2003 Spec C that got turned into a race car and written off at the ITM400, then built a 2002 Spec C into another better race car which I sold post Covid and naturally have regretted ever since! A reunion at some point would be good value. BT

I'm not ashamed to admit that I bought one of the knockoff turbo blankets off AliExpress last year. Smoked a bit to start off with but hasn't caught fire or anything yet. The only negative is that it doesn't cover the inlet to the turbo very well. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33000085676.html I also bought some snazzy Subaru logo valve caps too

Nope, there are people who prefer a single turbo and people who are in denial.

been a while since i could contribute to this thread gave her a full detail in and out, incl engine bay etc.. claybar, spot compounds for couple scratches, ultimate polish, ultimate wax. rainx on glass and blacken plastic trim bits that had slightly faded over time. more photo spam in the garage thread

Old Wainui Beach: New - shouldn't be too hard:

https://engineswapdepot.com/?p=39306&fbclid=IwAR1UdZORXARy70ruWjEDbN_WcROUDUOM4ia5VQsxn_HOmKPAKhDaa9cnOes

That's good to hear that more of you jet guys are coming back. It does suck about the different base though. If I'm lucky I might catch the legacy around the carpark sometime. I'm just on the dash. Today was wash day ready for tomorrow. I still can't get over how the new exhaust looks, as always the pics don't do it justice.

I'm on my third attempt to clean my alloys, they were really dirty from the last owner, finally getting through layer of brake dust/etching now starting to look silver. First attempt at cleaning the carpet, lots of coffee stains down the side of the seats, but need some more products to clean properly. Also Clay barred the exterior, but it will need the stone chips treating and then a good polish.

Perhaps not today but in the last week. Did my first timing belt change after about a year plus of doing the research online. Used a genuine kit from Armstrongs. Setting the belt guide spacing was interesting as well as nearly stripping out the small pulley bolt due to bad info on the internet. All in all it runs great. There was that little niggly thing where the right side pulleys didnt line up perfectly after pulling the tensioner pin. Also did the sparkplugs. I loosened the engine mounts and lifted the sides of the engine both individually putting a tilt on the engine. Got the plugs in well but it took me a week to figure out that the rattling that ensued after was because of a heat shield bolt that came loose. Took quite a few extensions through the downpipe tube to snug it up.

I don't know why on earth you guys are suggesting 98? He's clearly said 100 octane is available and it's cheaper..... Do you guys read? So yes, 100 octane man. I can also attest that in a twin turbo legacy, just going from 98 to 100 octane got rid of a slight detonation problem I was having. Definitely not 95.

Me having my RA go through wof on 235 semi slicks, swapped subframes, engine, bigger turbo, brembos, and 114.3 swap and passing.

same, amayama now have an auckland import warehouse. So no import duty to pay and NZ shipping is only $5

Today so far I have attempted to fit my engine back in the car twice.... first time not enough tilt on the engine... second time it lined up and went on the gearbox perfectly... except I hadn't put the clutch fork on !!!!!

Just bought a v3 sti . Yea the white one that was on fb in chch Had a v3 ra a few years ago . Was 197kw on 11 psi . Electric windows and central locking seem handy now im over 30 ha ha This thing runs ok . Vf 22 . Only on 10 psi so must have retard controller plumbing or its in linp mode . Will figure it out eventually. Desperately needs a new 02 sensor Will panel and paint it at some point and generally just make it as good as it can be . Ive still got an adjustment afm and a wide band so ill turn this thing up till it runs out of injectors . Like to think id build a forged 2.2 but yea have 0 of those bits lying around . Thought i had acess to some v6 heads but apparently not . If someone has some shim under bucket heads they want to sell id be interested Where are you all hosting photos that you share on here these days ?

Congrats! I sold my Starlet for a MK6 GTi a few months ago.. still getting used to the DSG quirks, otherwise pretty fun car.

Installed a bunch of bushes and started putting s*** back on the car The car now has three wheels on it! The fourth hub will be put on tomorrow afternoon in anticipation for its move to a new home (pictured below) Also ordered a bunch of random s*** to help things along Tomorrow:

Tidied the wagon up a bit. Gave it a front lip and some new paint on calipers. Sent from my SM-G988B using Tapatalk

Done my first wheel bearing/hub today. Rear passenger side wheel bearing on my 2016 STi gave up at 98,000km. Must have worn out prematurely from all the AWD burnouts on the Taupo skidpad! Sorry for the poor quality pictures, they were taken on Snapchat and then saved…

Installed carbon fibre/alcantara wheel

All waxed and ready for summer

$1500 is for a long motor that the seller thought was toast. Which is about the value of the things that bolt onto a dead long motor. Used low-ish Kms EJ205 long motor, let's say $2k. Gaskets, seals, odds and ends that you would want to refresh, coolant, oil, probably $1k, 1.5k if you want to do the cambelt. Can you do all the labour yourself? If not, engine out, refresh replacement motor, engine back in, probably $2k+. So you're looking at $5k to revive it. If you went to a 207... shortblock or long motor? If I remember right the shortblocks are a couple of grand, then all the misc you would have to do, at least a couple more grand, then labour, a few more, then you would presumably need a retune as your compression is probably different, I'd say $10k all done and you would have probably the same performance as you do currently. EJ207 long motor, let's say $4-5k for the motor and bits hanging off it, $1k refreshing it, $2k labour, $1k tune (or maybe you could swap in an STI ECU?) - $8-10k and you would get EJ207 performance. But you would be better off selling yours before it blows up and buying an STI.

The gravel express ticked over 250,000kms today. Well, the base chassis did, mostly everything was refreshed, so not much is actually that old. Although I realised that also means the engine has ticked over 400Kms since being built now, and it's been absolutely flawless in that time. I've been enjoying driving it every now and then, and it's been super practical. The lease on my workshop is up at the end of the month, so using this to move everything to my lock up, it fits a surprising amount in it, that's for sure. Just wish It had roof racks for some of the larger stuff!

Made a spur of the moment decision to outdo last year's lockdown attempt and do a dodgy driveway engine and turbo swap this time round.

I had a big job adding a piece of plastic from a Legacy in the STI’s engine bay. As expected it fits just the same on the GR/GV chassis, unfortunately the Legacy battery cover doesn't quite fit the same as the support behind the lights is about 5-10mm further forward so none of the front points line up. I might still cut it slightly to fit but it’ll probably bug me not being a perfect fit.

I changed teams...

Hey team, it's that time again for another meet. We'll try the same deal as last time, meet at the riverbank in Lower Hutt at 1030 then cruise up to Paraparaumu and grab a feed for those who want to join. Hopefully we get better weather then last time, but probably not as it's still Wellington Sorry Sunday was the only day my schedule allowed. Also here's the link for those on FB https://fb.me/e/H6T2ISeP Hope to see some of you there

I've finally committed to EL for mine. I'd been tossing up using Niran’s old headers but grabbed a set of EL headers with the same uppipe location to replace the old UEL ones he was running. It's just a more mature sound that doesn't attract the same attention as usual boxer sound.

Hi team, it's time for another meet in Wellington. At this stage it's on the 20th of June, the plan is to meet at the riverbank in Lower Hutt then cruise up to Paraparaumu for food. There is an event on fb for it https://fb.me/e/Eg39zHT0 also join the Wellington club sub page if you haven't already https://www.facebook.com/groups/158978157909659/

Q1. No, no gains, if anything you will slightly _lose_ as the aftermarket rods and pistons are potentially heavier, less well balanced, and not quite as good a fit as OEM. Assuming identical geometry, i.e. not gaining/losing compression. Stock turb and intercooler are never going to push the limits of even the stock internals if everything else is happy. Q2. I wouldn't bother just doing one. Either it's a forged build or it isn't. As to whether you would replace the pistons.... if you buy used pistons, you have no idea of their history. If you buy new pistons they're going to cost you about $500 for a set for stockies, is it worth it? I'd say probably not. Q4. The only factory internals I'd consider an "upgrade" are V7 STI EJ207 pistons and rods, and they're >$2000 for the pistons and around $800 for a set of rods, at which point you may as well just go aftermarket. Q5. Head gaskets, OEM. Rebuild kit in terms of bearings? YMMV. OEM are probably going to be the most reliable at stock power levels but might cost a metric assload. Q6. Yes, it's fine. Honestly unless #racecar where you have specific oil pressure needs, dicking about with the oil pump seems to lead to more problems than it's worth. Q7. As long as you weren't way out I'd probably nana it to the tuner, especially if you had slightly dropped compression rather than adding it. As long as you were comfortable it was driving well enough to make that trip safely. Anything turbo is kinda fundamentally variable compression anyway because the actual resultant cylinder pressure could be just about anything. With that out of the way.... I wouldn't bother with a rebuild to factory spec. A better option, IMO, is to just keep driving it on the assumption it will blow up at some stage, and in the meantime get another block and start building that one up properly (forged etc). Then when yours finally gives up the ghost, you have the option of throwing in a bigger turbo or something and making a bunch of power.

Got my genuine Recaro seat rails assembled and the passenger seat in for a test fit. Seats are from a 2004 Accord euro R Sent from my SM-G991B using Tapatalk

My quest continues and I did find a unit in a wrecker's yard which is under warranty. However it's a small change in part number so I've asked Subaru NZ and Fujitsu if there are compatible. I'll be pleasantly surprised to get any response ! Part number of original unit: 86271AL270 - replacement cost 11,500 (WTF) Found via wrecker: 86271AL240 - cost $300 🙂

Passed the cert with flying colours but driving it for the first time after doing the hoops I’ve noticed one of the speakers now hums along with the engine speed so may need to piss around with the wiring to get that back to how it used to be

Finished engine bay tidy up/restore.

Hi guys, thanks to everyone that turned up today. It was good to meet even more people from the club. Sorry time got away from me a little bit. This was the first time in years that I've been to Wendy's. Hopefully next time a few more people can join the cruise too. Next time thinking same sort of deal but maybe on Saturday . Meet up then cruise to Wendy's then either eat there or at Raumati beach. Then for those going back to Wellington go back via the Paekakariki hill.