jovver

The effort put into this spotting is amazing haha! Thanks for the kind words and nice to "meet" you. I'll keep an eye out for you in the future.

As requested, here are a few pics (not the greatest quality) of the fender flare cutting and rear quarter arch rolling and pulling. There are 3 layers shown here; the plastic fender flare, the sheet metal body, and the plastic well liner. The corner by the rear bumper cover was rolled as best as possible, but luckily this wasn't the interference point. Most of my issues were towards the front of the arches. http://i.imgur.com/Uc40fQe.jpg http://i.imgur.com/j84Kw25.jpg http://i.imgur.com/vPKfdiP.jpg Here is a bonus pic of the current state of the engine bay with the Grimmspeed AOS installed. A custom aluminum aftermaf intake will be replacing the stock plastic one within the next couple of months. http://i.imgur.com/08KwQTb.jpg

I will try to get some when I rotate my wheels in a few days.

Some parts were sourced from part outs on Ebay (driveshaft & steering linkage), but most were brand new from the dealership or sites that have OEM parts. It took me a while to get everything (I was only shopping when it was convenient and wanted as low mileage parts as possible) and while I was waiting to pull the trigger on some of the higher cost items I had the suspension brackets and transmission mount powder coated. One of the things I have noticed is that the car isn't as easily pushed around on the highway anymore. Even after the coilovers I used to feel the rear end getting a little unsettled when passing a semi or if it was a moderately windy day with an inconsistent cross breeze. I was attributing that shimmy to the small rear swaybar. Now it seems that it's planted more under the same conditions. This has also translated a bit to cornering on highway ramps. I still feel like the rear end wants to follow and catch up to where the front is going (definitely a rear swaybar characteristic), but it is much more confidence inspiring when this is happening. Over some bumps the rear end was easily unsettled and there were many times were it felt loose and disconnected. The short and sweet of it is; if you have the means to make the swap happen, do it. You will not regret it one bit.

Anyone still paying attention here??? It's about time for my semiyearly status update! Unfortunately things never seem to go as planned with this project, but I am persistent enough to not let it go. I set aside time to take the car to a local performance shop for the driveline spacer & suspension geometry correction. (I was not up to tackling that job myself) The driveline and suspension parts swap went very well. I was fearing a major hangup that was going to render the car useless until different parts could be acquired. I also took the opportunity to get the exhaust sorted. Well... most of it... I was led slightly astray when it came to the fitment of an OEM UEL header. It turns out that the flange for the turbo uppipe points right at the NA engine cradle and no amount of custom fabrication was going to allow me to use it this round. I made the call to continue with the OEM EL header. http://i.imgur.com/MQtu04f.png Luckily there is a simple and obvious solution to this problem. To use a turbo manifold, you need to use a turbo engine cradle. I will have a turbo uppipe modified and routed up and around towards the existing catback exhaust. Essentially, turbo exhaust routing without a turbo. I even have an uppipe with seized and snapped studs sitting around that is a prime candidate for this reconfiguration. They say pics are worth 1000 words... Here are some mid fabrication shots: OEM EL Header and Adapter Pipe: http://i.imgur.com/Eu9rVh8.jpg http://i.imgur.com/Gh954yu.jpg V-Band Junction and Trans Mounting Bracket: http://i.imgur.com/25Pkhle.jpg Resonated Catback with Nameless 4" Muffler Axleback: http://i.imgur.com/cf3fcsB.png The change in driving characteristics with the suspension geometry correction is absolutely amazing. I did not think the difference would be as noticeable as it is. The car feels much more composed driving down the road and it definitely feels much tighter, even just casual commuting around city streets. I did have the large control arm mount bushings upgraded to Whiteline polyurethane, but those shouldn't change the feel of the whole car. What I did not expect was that the rear wheel height and fitment would change when the subframe and trailing arm mounts moved closer to the body. It only dropped by 3/8" or so, but it was enough to warrant another height adjustment. The front did not change... I guess because a MacPherson strut design acts different with the mounting? The wheel position also moved out from the center of the vehicle so I lost some tire clearance. I'm hoping with this next alignment that I can keep a reasonable amount of rear camber. As for the sound, it's... different. Definitely much louder than I was expecting. It is extremely unusual and absolutely hilarious coming from this car. When getting on it I get sounds very similar to an EL race oriented Subaru. Unfortunately, since it doesn't really have that classic Subaru rumble it's not exactly what I want and the project is not complete. As stated above, I definitely know what needs to be done for the next step so all hope is not lost. In the meantime, I will try to get a sound clip uploaded soon. The timeframe to get the exhaust system finalized is the end of this season. My goal is to be done with the major components of this car by the end of this year.

Bringing this dead thread back to life! I only need a couple of parts to complete my spacer removal list, one of them being the driveshaft. Does anyone have any experience with the Dorman aftermarket replacements? Does DSS make a one piece aluminum driveshaft for a 4EAT Legacy?

I'm getting very excited about it as well! It sucks having parts sit around as back burner projects, but I'm a bit used to it by now. These are the 4" mufflers. I know that NA cars are a little louder than the turbo ones with the same size muffler (turbo itself acts as a muffler) and I wanted something that was a little on the aggressive side, but not too loud. I don't think anyone has done this combination before on a 2.5i and hopefully I can pull it off well and relatively soon.

Got a small update on my build progression! The spring swap job was unfortunately a complete failure. Physically swapping the springs wasn't a big deal at all, but the setup did not allow me to get what I wanted. Because of the increase in spring rate you have to lower the coilovers that much more to be at the same height as a softer set. The rear knuckle mount bodies are the limiting factor on ride height for these cars. The threaded strut body bottomed out in the mount before I even got to the height that I was at before... and I wanted to go 1/2" lower. After I got the 8k springs back on I then lowered both the front and the rear a touch to fit the 225 40R tires and went in for a realignment. I'm now at -2F and -2.3R and have ample clearance all around. There is still some slight rubbing in the front over large bumps, but the rear clears with quite a bit less camber. The car looks fantastic (IMO) as it is noticeably lower than before. I am going to get a pic in the same spot by the storage units that will show the height difference. I am also making some significant progress towards the exhaust reconfiguration project. Ordered the Nameless axlebacks and they arrived pretty quickly. Bought myself some new O2 sensors and an OEM rear O2 extension. I took the car up to the shop that tuned the STi and had the ECU scanned and good news is the car can actually be tuned! This gives me high hopes that I can have an optimized map for the UEL header and maybe even get a decent power bump with an intake. http://i.imgur.com/1kYWl7i.jpg

Still on the path to the perfect fit. I'm going to have to reconfigure the setup a little to be where I want (less tire, stiffer springs, & moar low), but here's the #pickle as it sits now: http://i.imgur.com/1mh9Jdn.jpg The 235 40r Coopers were quite the challenge to fit. Many sessions of cutting plastic flare, rolling and pulling a bit, and adjusting camber. Right now the alignment is maxed and -2.1 degrees in the front (might prove to be a spacer geometry or some other issue), and -3 in the rear with all of the adjustability in the world. I am going to be stepping down to 225 40R 18s and will dial out some camber in the rear. (probably to -2.5) The car will then be lowered to a gapless tire/ fender fit with new 10k FA springs in the rear and moving the current 8ks from the rear to the front.

As promised, here are some pics of the new pickle project that I was hinting at before. Lo and behold, the start of the 2.5i exhaust extravaganza. The quest for the infamous subie rumble. http://i.imgur.com/SxNBQoH.jpg http://i.imgur.com/JXk1a96.jpg This is an OEM UEL header from a GD chassis WRX STi (07 specifically) that I picked up from a good friend and had coated in Cerakote titanium. I had always intended to replace the stock exhaust at some point down the line to refresh the setup (my OEM axleback is starting to get a bit rusty) and since I just installed an EL header on the STi, I figure the Outback can scratch the UEL rumble itch. It makes perfect sense in my mind, but I may be crazy. The inefficient, rumbling exhaust should be on the low and slow car instead of the "racecar" where the power advantage and efficiency is wanted. I put a ton of consideration into this idea that ultimately led to the specific route I'm taking. First off, there doesn't seem to be an abundance of aftermarket exhaust options for the 2.5i. In fact, I haven't found a single one. There were a couple of header options including the Rallisport Racing variants, but lately the Google search nets no hits on the company. I had also read about long lead times and the price was a bit more than I was interested in spending for a header on my daily driver. Secondly, the OEM turbo UEL headers are a dime a dozen and often produces the best sounding results. Thin walled tubular headers are often tinny and can produce a bit of rasp. As for catbacks, I have found one viable option; the Nameless catback for the OBXT. With it I am able to select a few different options to tailor it to my liking. The last (and trickiest) piece of the puzzle is joining these two exhaust components. This will be accomplished via a custom fabricated 2 piece catted adapter pipe. The front O2 will drop straight down to the turbo UEL header O2 spot, and I will have to cannibalize the rear OEM catalyst in my stock setup and add a rear O2 bung after that in the new pipe. The rear O2 harness will get an extension (partly with the OEM harness extension from the GD STi) and the idea is to keep the off the shelf rear O2 intact for potential replacement in the future. This adapter pipe will also have to make the sizing transition from 2" to 3". In theory, this should all work out flawlessly. I have spoken to a few people with similar setups that have been fabricated and have been running without a tune that have not had any O2 related CEL codes pop up in 10s of thousands of miles. Before I pull the trigger on the Nameless catback, I may take the car up to the tuning shop that worked on my STi and see if they can play with the ECU a bit. If it is able to be recalibrated, then the potential rear O2 sensor issues will be nonexistent. If not, I will have to be very careful about keeping the setup in check.

I made some progress this past week. After countless hours of searching and many powder coat samples ordered, I finally landed on Sterling Copper Metallic for the color of my 18x9.5 +30 Avid.1 AV-52 wheels. They were promptly sprayed and baked and after I picked them up I had some 235 40R 18 Cooper Zeon RS3-S tires mounted and balanced a couple days later. I then took the opportunity to test fit them this weekend after the first hand wash of the season! http://i.imgur.com/SoDnU91.jpg http://i.imgur.com/QU0MzbE.jpg http://i.imgur.com/H11UmkG.jpg I'm super pumped about them so far, but the car definitely needs more low! I am making moves on the aforementioned project for the car and will post up when I get some worthwhile pics in the next couple of weeks.

Not much has changed in the last couple of months as I have been focusing my attention on the fun car. (Acquired some pretty serious hardware and have a retune scheduled for the beginning of the season) The wheels did arrive beginning of January and unfortunately my expectation became a reality. The antique bronze finish that the wheels came in is not quite to my liking. I just dropped them off at the local powder coating shop (same shop that did the control arms and other parts) and we ordered a sample of what I'm hoping will be the final color. I also dropped off a few parts for another Pickle project a few weeks ago and will clue everyone in when I get said parts back.

Well I made it a point to take a few pics of the car in its current state. You can see the unevenness of the plastidip copper top coats, but it works as a temporary solution. The tires will be removed early summer and the wheels powder coated. At least they are not silver right now so I feel that is a win. Shady Side: http://i.imgur.com/Rsnq8Ta.jpg Wheel Closeup (In the Shade): http://i.imgur.com/f99dK4I.jpg Sunny Side Up: http://i.imgur.com/18YslmF.jpg I absolutely love the effects of these colors in the sun.

Yes, at the height I am at the alignment would have been in spec on the factory adjustment. I do recommend some camber adjustment in the rear to even it out side to side (otherwise you are at the mercy of the geometry at the set height) and you should be fine with adjustable lateral links. Going any lower and it would have been dicey without adjustment. Stock sized tires should get you by til spring, but I highly recommend smaller tires for the height.

Not a problem, I try to help where I can. As I mentioned above, ride quality (especially on the highway) is highly dependent on the equipped tires. Is your car also a 2.5i or is it an H6? Are you planning on running smaller OD tires or sticking with the stock size? Currently with Michelin Primacy MXV4s in 225 55R 17, the car rides like it is a WRX/ STi on lowering springs. Not harsh at all and it tightened up cornering ability quite a bit, but immediately made the tires the weak link in the suspension setup. I can now feel the tires squirming around as the sidewall is flexing during sweeping turns (highway on/ offramps). It is a very discouraging feeling because it feels like it wants to let loose during the flex/ shimmy. The coilovers are Legacy spec, so you would be able to run them at stock Legacy height (a little bit higher than I am now), but I'm not sure if you could go taller than the stock height. They will go low enough to tuck tire in the wheel wells. I may end up bumping up to a 7k spring in the front because it is much softer for coilovers than I was expecting, though the damping is set soft to midrange on my setup and I will have to get a feel for it with the smaller tires. I am used to 8k on the front of my STi and 6k in the rear, but a turbo model has more weight over the front axles and it's a different chassis and coilover brand altogether.