What have you done to your car today?

 kwi_fozze said:

part of the problem with the "donor" idea is f**k all of the suspension stuff will fit, like, control arms etc all totally redesigned

Ya Would take what you can use and give the rest back to Toyota?

 Rosssub said:

Very nice! Looks much better

 scooby-wrx said:

Very nice! Looks much better

+1

Thanks guys. The main reason was because I broke an upper control arm mount, first failed attempt at getting the seized axle out using a 20 ton press:

Which I bent straight then welded and threw back in:

This time round I soaked the hub/axle in inox/break away over night, but it still took everything the press had to get it out. Finally all four wheel bearings changed and no more humming/whining at low speed.

Well bugger... Buy the time I got to the bottom of my drive I knew something was off. Got home this evening and eyed through the left rear wheel to the front and it was aiming about 75mm outside the front wheel. Bent trailing arm...Should have noticed putting it in, especially with how hard it was to line up the front lower control arm:

So out came the new arm:

Both wheel hub faces sitting flat:

Hubs parallel:

Original arm back in:

Oh well, at least I got the new hub bearings in. Plus it all comes apart pretty easy now.

Bought the start of a new downpipe- and took it off to start measuring things out; so I had to see what she sounded like without one.

Enjoy.

Before:

Then:

After:

I can't tell what you did... oh wait.. the bumper lights have been replaced with little grills?

 loner said:

I can't tell what you did... what are the new subaru parts?

Replaced rear bumper fog light/reflector with black plastic covers, new parts are inner/outer covers.

Finally got some 4 pots on.

 sobanoodle said:

Bye-bye Amber

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Are these chromed T20 bulbs? If so, where'd you get 'em? I tried to get some when I replaced my brake light bulbs with LEDs, but couldn't find anyone selling them in NZ.

 KiwiJoe said:

Are these chromed T20 bulbs? If so, where'd you get 'em? I tried to get some when I replaced my brake light bulbs with LEDs, but couldn't find anyone selling them in NZ.

Chromed T20s, $20 for four shipped from Taiwan (ebay). I could not find any locally and even if I could they would probably cost heaps. Looks like Philips stopped making their Silver Vision bulbs, in T20 at least. What LEDs did you put in yours? I got some cheap red ones just to see what they're like - nowhere near as bright = unsafe.

Yeah, I remembered Philips selling them a few years ago, but couldn't track any down in NZ. I've found a few chromed T20s from Australia for about ~$15 a pair, which isn't ideal, but Singapore sounds like it might be cheaper.

I use red 30W CREE projector bulbs (7443 with dual brightness) from Trademe (http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-accessories/performance/bulbs/auction-796174102.htm) for the main stop lights. I've tried a few of the cheap SMDs over the years, and they've always been pretty rubbish and ended up in the bin, but these CREE bulbs are amazing (also expensive). They're really well made units with aluminium heat sink surrounds, and a lot brighter than the stock bulbs.

I replaced the high stop light with a generic red SMD T20 which isn't as bright (~$16), but may upgrade it to a CREE (the JDM housing is different to the USDM housing: the bulb faces back rather than to the side, which is why I assumed a projector wouldn't work, but it would). I also replaced the interior cabin bulb and the two puddle lights with LEDs (super cheap and well worth it).

These are pictures of the LEDs on the car. Bear in mind that the sun is directly behind me shining squarely onto the car's brake lights and reflecting back a bit (unlike most pictures and videos of LEDs taken at night), so this is an absolute worst-case scenario, but the bulbs are still very visible:

Car with brake lights off:

Brake lights on:

Off centre view:

I shall do some research (i.e. ebay/aliexpress search) on those CREE bulbulbs - imho all those leds sold on TM come from Asia, ridiculously overpriced. I've got all the cabin leds for like $10 all up.

Gave it a bit of a clean today, since its finally a nice day. Also thought I'd throw up a pic of my new front mount that I got installed last week.

Got some new wheels 17x7 rays with 225/45s.

Also just noticed some **** has stolen my sti valve caps

Stuck my Clubsub sticker on the back window..

First drive with 257.

 evowrx said:

First drive with 257.

How's it go? Any teething problems? Started tuning yet?

Few small things nothing major got to swap out some leaky exhaust gaskets. Its on 7psi slightly rich with no timing and its still more responsive than the old setup with the vf36p20. Should be nutty once tuned.

Did the hose 10 mod and had a fiddle with the zerosports controller. Completely different car!

Installed an apexi boost gauge.

This

Anyone have 'zaust silencers to fit 4" tip?

95.8 dB

Need below 92 for the quicktests