Mesoslow6969's 1994 Touring Wagon EJ257 swap

[mesoslow6969]

all sti's sold here are drive by wire. if you have the body harnesses, get out the wiring diagrams and do a harness merge so you can take full advantage of the avcs heads.
if you swap in older heads from a 2.5 n/a motor that are phase 1, you can keep your stock wiring. although at that point the ecu wont let you run the power that can be had from that block. you can do a standalone to gain the ability to tune it, but that that point you might as well just swap in the sti ecu and harness.....

Thanks Meyagi. I started to panic a little. I guess my buddy that told me didnt realize all stis are dbw. now i feel better =)

[Mattheww044]

Damn that thing is sweeeeeeet! Looking forward to this thread

[ericem]

If I had those parts and they were all legit 54k id just drop it in and drive away. Than wait till 100k for the timing belt/wp/idlers etc. ewg is probably a waste of money too on just the vf39 than again the stupid wastegates crack.

[mesoslow6969]

I'm starting to stock up on parts to get this project going. I was wondering if anyone knows about the stainless steel brake lines. I will be using the spindles/hubs from the sti and the brembos from the sti. My question is, does anyone know if i am supposed to get the ss brake linkes made for the sti or made for the legacy wagon? There are two different part numbers so I'm wondering if the length will be an issue, or if where the brake line connects to the caliper will be an issue. any info would be much appreciated.

[ericem]

They are the same length whats different is how they are mounted. Do your struts look like it has a open space the brake line runs through or a bolt with a mount?

If the coils are for a gc than get the same lines used for your legacy if its 02+ get the sti lines.

[mesoslow6969]

cool. thanks for the info. I have legacy coilovers for the '95+. I switched out the rear top hats with the gc8 ones. so im going to get the brake lines made for the 95+ legacies.

[mesoslow6969]

Decided to separate the trans from the engine the other day (friday may 6, 2011).

unbolted 2 starter bolts: 14mm (1 bolt a gazillion washers (lower starter bolt), 1 bolt with a bracket attached))


unbolted 2 bolts for slave cylinder (make sure to remove return spring or whatever its called): 14mm


unbolt hex screw 10mm: use breaker bar with hex socket


screw in battery tie down thingie into clutch fork and pull out (some guy on iwsti did this and had pics on his engine removal diy)
pull up and back on the lever (black handle looking thing that had the spring attached to it)



secured engine to hoist and had jack stands under trans (having a helping hand really helps)
unbolt all the bolts and 2 nuts holding the trans to the engine. i took a fine tip sharpie and marked the bolts to make sure i put them back in the correct order. all 14 mm
pry between engine and trans and it should shimmy out. the clutch was replaced once before so the guide pins werent too corroded and it separated very easily.




unbolted all the bolts holding the clutch to the flywheel. (??mm) <- forgot what size
i'm glad i took it apart. seems like the ACT clutch/ gruppe s flywheel was abused...




attached to the engine mount bracket thingie to the engine, lifted onto the stand locked it in place.




had to clean up and stuff everything to one side so my mom could fit her car in the garage. I need a bigger garage...



hopefully i can do more stuff this week..

[kimokalihi]

Garage looks amazing compared to mine. Fortunately for me nobody parks in it. You stole my battery tie down tool idea! I came up with that while I was at a junkyard I believe. Found one laying in the car and tried it out. Still have it actually!

[07Evolved]

i just wish i had a garage

the project looks like fun...i will stay tuned

[mesoslow6969]

lol sorry kimo. i googled "how to remove sti clutch" or something like that, and the first thing that came up that had pics was the iwsti one (mistakenly said i got it from nasioc... oops). lol

[mesoslow6969]

took off the up pipe, exhaust manifold, heat shields. getting ready to port them to match gaskets. If I'm confident enough, I'll port the heads too. We'll see..

Emptied oil and remaining coolant. (Prep for doing baffle/windage tray, oil pickup tube, and new oil pan "gasket")


Unbolted 5 nuts (2 under turbo, 3 around the corner) holding up pipe to the turbo, unbolted 2 nuts/bolts connecting up pipe to exhaust manifold: 14mm



Had to order 5 studs for the new up pipe (tried to break old studs loose, couldn't get them out.. yes i'm a weakling)


In order to remove the exhaust manifold had to remove bunch of nuts/bolts from heat shields: 12mm


Unbolted Exhaust manifold 6 bolts: 14mm



After removing exhaust manifold I wanted to make sure the cross over pipe fit.
Unbolted 4 bolts/nuts holding the Cross over pipe to each exhaust manifold: 14mm


Time to get some porting/polishing skills...


Grimmspeed crossover pipe; HKS up pipe

[kimokalihi]

You need to buy a can of PB blaster or parts blaster and spray those bolts and let them soak. Keep spraying them at least once a day if not several times a day until they break loose. Once you get them out, use a wire wheel on a bench grinder or end grinder or if you don't have either use a wire brush and clean up the threads. Then use antiseize spray on the threads to keep them from seizing up in the future. You can find this at NAPA but I haven't found it at autozone.

I personally wouldn't bother with porting and polishing anything. The gains, if any, are unnoticeable and it's a lot of work and you could mess things up. The header is looking great though. I would take it apart again and have it coated with ceramic coating. Really keeps the temps down and the more heat you keep in the pipe the more power you make. I'm sure probably more of a gain than porting your exhaust ports and header. Heat=energy=power. More heat, AKA energy going to your turbo means more power made by the turbo. Plus it keeps your engine bay temps down which is always good.

[mesoslow6969]

well, i "ported" the ends of the exhaust manifold where they meet the crossover pipe so the flow through the cross over pipe has no "steps". If you think i shouldn't port the heads, i'll just leave it the way it is. i might take a wire wheel and clean up the exhuast ports and where the exhaust port holes in the header.

As for the ceramic coating, i wonder if they sell it at parts stores, or do i actually have to pay someone to do it? If it costs too much, i'm probably gonna reuse the heat shields which was my original plan anyways. Let me know what you think. Thanks Kimo.

[Deride]

why put studs back in? I just use bolts when I put aftermarket up pipes in.

[kimokalihi]

No don't bother with ceramic coating that comes in rattle cans. The place up north of here did a really good job on my down pipe and the difference in heat coming off that and even the midpipe after the downpipe is crazy. Don't use grimmspeed's ceramic coating service either. They did my turbo and it sucks compared to performance coatings up in auburn, wa. You can clearly see the difference. The downpipe looks like it's been professionally painted by an autobody shop and it looks like it's got base and clear coating on it. The grimmspeed coating looks like they just rattle canned it. Which I'm willing to bet they did. What a waste of money. It's already rusting through too and it was on a brand new rust free exhaust housing.

So either spend the money and do it at a reputable place or skip it and just wrap it with header wrap. Don't put those shields back on, they're just going to get in the way and rattle.

[mesoslow6969]

why put studs back in? I just use bolts when I put aftermarket up pipes in.

well, the new up pipe is threaded and i can't get too long of a bolt so it doesnt get int the way of the turbo. i'd rather do it that way so i know everything is hunky dory. =)

And to kimo, thanks for the advice. I'm gonna look for local places that do the coatings.

[kimokalihi]

It's about $20 a foot so keep that in mind. It's not cheap. Cost me about $100 I think to do my downpipe. Totally worth it, wish I had done my turbo there but when I called them on the phone those idiots said I did not need to disassemble it before bringing it in and when I got there (hour and a half drive from my house) they said,"oh you have to have the taken completely apart first." That pissed me off so I sent it in to grimmspeed and I regret that now.

[mesoslow6969]

ordering 1 part a week makes this process take soooo long... i need to win the lottery. lol.

[MikeyMeyagi]

on an STi there are no real gains from replacing the up pipe. most aftermarket ones are the same diameter, like the hks. Also, the stock up pipe has a flex in it under those heat sheilds, and the hks does not. Ive seen people have gasket failure problems once the flex section is gone, since the pipes all expand and contract with heat. that hks up pipe would be an upgrade if you had a wrx stock up pipe, since there is a cat in it. the sti up pipe has no cat.

[cj91legss]

ordering 1 part a week makes this process take soooo long... i need to win the lottery. lol.

I hear you on that one man.....

[mesoslow6969]

on an STi there are no real gains from replacing the up pipe. most aftermarket ones are the same diameter, like the hks. Also, the stock up pipe has a flex in it under those heat sheilds, and the hks does not. Ive seen people have gasket failure problems once the flex section is gone, since the pipes all expand and contract with heat. that hks up pipe would be an upgrade if you had a wrx stock up pipe, since there is a cat in it. the sti up pipe has no cat.

crap. hmmm. maybe i can sell this thing and get a grimmspeed one... thanks for the heads up meyagi. lol i'm learning so much stuff from you guys. alot of the stuff you guys are saying is pretty much common sense... i better start taking notes... lol

[SubaruNation]

This is a serious endeavor, i hope you have another way to get around and have thought this through.

Subscribed im excited to see this merger,

Wagon Power FTW

[kimokalihi]

Also you should keep the stock diameter piping on the header unless you're running CRAZY HP. Reason for this is you want to keep the velocity of the exhaust gasses up and going to a wider pipe you will lose velocity and hurt your spool up speed. Don't waste money on aftermarket up pipes. If you have a catted up pipe such as the ones on WRXs and STIs then buy a header or up pipe from an older turbo subaru and use that.

[mesoslow6969]

This is a serious endeavor, i hope you have another way to get around and have thought this through.

Subscribed im excited to see this merger,

Wagon Power FTW

lol i can always borrow a friend or family member's car. I like to think that i DO think things through... but i rarely do.. i tend to gamble more often than i should. how else will i learn from my mistakes? =) lol

and to kimo, i read too many good things about the crossover pipe, so i bought a used one for a decent price. the reason i ported out the ends that meet the crossover pipe is because i didnt want a step to hurt the flow. do you think i did a bad thing? should i just get another used oem header/stock crossover pipe and leave it alone? lol i feel like im wasting money thinking im doing the "right" thing, but i might actually be hurting my set up.

basically i'm just grabbing any bolt-ons that i "believe" will help me reach the 300-350 whp goal. and i'm taking the advice of ericem and waiting to do the water pump/belt when i hit 100k. figuring i might break something and why hurt brand new wear and tear parts before i get a chance to test the waters.

and to everyone that is keeping up with this build and all those giving me your opinions and any information, IT IS GREATLY APPRECIATED. I'm a rookie still, so hopefully you guys understand if i ask dumb questions. =)

[kimokalihi]

Oh no you're fine on the crossover pipe. I was just saying don't bother getting larger diameter headers or up pipe because you'll only lose velocity which you need to spin your turbo. That and I was saying porting heads is a waste of time if you don't know exactly what you're doing. You could easily hurt your performance porting heads if you don't do it right so you need a flow test bench setup and some edumucation fluid dynamics or something so you actually improve the flow rather than guessing and causing turbulence or other problems hindering the flow and atomization of the fuel.

Keep up the good work. I'm jealous that you're going to be rocking the 2.5 but I've recently acquired a 257 block myself for $50 and I will be joining you along with a FMIC probably this year sometime...heh heh heh!