ggbox69's 94 Turbo Wagon

[ggbox69]

After about a year of driving my basically stock EJ22T swapped 94 wagon, I'm ready to take it a step further. I've been pulling parts together to do what seems like a pretty standard build:

Stock long block
VF 39
06 WRX TMIC
Yellow tops
JECS MAF
Robtune EJ20G ECU
AEM wideband
MBC
3'' Turbo back
Apexi Intake

Here's the link to my intro thread for the car, it shows the car when I started, the donor car, the swap and how it sits now.

http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=46263

I played around with mounting my wideband recently. I wanted to mount the gauge on the steering column concentric with the tach, so I experimented with some materials I had at work to make a pod. There was some pvc caps, black delrin bar and a plastic gum container that worked surprisingly well.




I think the gum container was one of those 60 packs of Eclipse gum. I trimmed it down, painted it black and cut a slot on the back for the wires and bracket. The mounting bracket was from a VDO pod kit.



When I test fit it in the car I realized it was a little high for my taste, it sat right in the middle of the tach. I decided to try and mount the gauge flush on the column using a delrin cup. I made a simple cup from the delrin bar in a lathe, and turned the ID so the gauge was a snug fit. I through bolted the cup to the column cover using two socket head cap screws with a rubber biscuit underneath for damping (the biscuit is a trimmed down piece of my old IAC valve hose). Here is how it looked.





On my test drive the gauge shook like a bastard at highway speed. I had broken both the plastic feet that sinch the column cover down to the column. I trimmed them completely off and used some more of the IAC valve hose to make two little pads to let the cover sit right on the column. I drilled two holes where the feet were and wrapped a tie wrap around the top and through the holes that bolted the feet to the column. It wound up working great, the gauge was rock solid.





Here's the final product from the driver's perspective:



I should have plenty of updates coming soon, I just picked these up locally:

[Legacy777]

Looks good.

[kimokalihi]

Turned out great. I hate those two "feet" that come off the bottom of that trim piece. They make it extremely difficult to remove and install that piece. And maybe even impossible without first removing the gauge cluster trim panel.

[ggbox69]

I decided to do a comprehensive brake job this past weekend. Ever since I've had the car it has demonstrated some shaking in the wheel during braking that I just haven't been able to get rid of. The car has turbo front brakes with the stock rear setup. I had done pads and rotors when I installed the brakes, and then a year later new calipers and new rotors again. Each time I threw new parts on it was better at first, but then went back to the annoying shake. I also noticed that one front wheel had a much higher tendency to lock up under heavy braking.

I decided to upgrade to high quality parts instead of whatever advanced auto had in stock. My friend had mentioned to me the original rubber lines may have swelled inward, possibly causing both sticking and low pressure. I decided to go with stainless steel lines. I had also killed my parking brake hardware replacing the rear rotors once, so I bought new shoes and a hardware kit for a 99 legacy.

I also blew out one of my new tires on a giant Yonkers pothole, so I'm back on crappy tires and stock wheels for a little while.



Parts purchased from Tirerack: Centric premium rotors, Goodridge SS line kit







Parts purchased from Rockauto: Akebono ultra premium ceramic front pads, Centric parking brake shoes, Dorman drum brake all-in-one kit.







My passenger side Caliper was in pretty good shape (about a year old), but the driver side was extremely loose on the pins and the piston part would rock a great deal relative to the bracket. Luckily my auto parts store let me exchange them for a new set.

The old rubber lines were in much worse shape than I remembered, I guess not very surprising for 197,000 miles.









The parking brake was a pain as expected, those stiff upper springs and horizontal pin/spring/retainer setups drove me nuts, but I eventually figured it out. Every part in the 99 legacy kit was a direct fit except for the adjustment spur, which was much larger than stock. I just cleaned the originals and greased them up.





One shoe for each wheel has a pin on it for attaching the pivot arm that the cable pulls on. Make sure after attaching the wave spring and clip you pinch the tips of the clip closed, I forgot to do this on one side after putting it all together and had to pull half the parts back off.

I figured out this little trick to relieve some tension in the yellow springs.



I found the pin/spring/retainer that holds the shoes on is much easier to install when the pad is sitting on the outside of the perches they ride on when in use.



Once everything was installed I bled the whole system in order with Castrol synthetic fluid. The brakes felt fantastic, I bedded them in with a few aggressive stops from 30, 40 and 50. The pedal was much stiffer than before and there wasn't a hint of shaking in the wheel. The parking brake also worked well. We'll see how it holds up in the miles ahead.

[ggbox69]

I love it when a plan comes together. ECU is with Rob. Going to take her off the road this weekend and start putting parts on.

[speedmaxx]

Sweeeeeetttt coming along well

Question for ya, how's that y pipe mount up to the intercooler? Is it all aligned well? I bought a similar one off eBay for my 07 wrx ic and it's about a half inch off, a hump hose won't work to well so I'ma custom fab something up.

[ggbox69]

Same problem with this Y pipe, where the driver side inlet pipe meets the Y, they are about 3/4 of an inch off center, but are parallel. I saw a couple pictures of people using the hump hose, I am hoping it will get me by for now, definitely not ideal. Did yours not fit at all? I did some searching for a jog hose that will accommodate the misalignment, but didn't find much.

Pretty crappy part all in all, the casting is rough, will need to hit the flanges and bolt holes quick with a file to take away some sharp edges and burrs.

[CFK]

Ha, ya. I think that kit is better suited for the 02-05 or maybe nothing at all.

I ended up changing mine cause I thought it was causing a large supercharger like noise. Think it still makes that sound but won't know till I actually get it on the road. Either way I ended up ordering a Perrin Y-pipe kit which I assume fits both since it didn't specify the year.

Nice line up of parts otherwise though :)

[ggbox69]

Been able to put in a little time on the build lately. I was getting pretty frustrated with the 06 intercooler, between needing a hacked up Y-pipe and the plastic construction, I wound up picking up a V2 STI intercooler on Nasioc for cheap, complete with the charge pipe, scoop, and ducting (with squirters).

I layed all my parts out one last time, I had my injectors serviced at Marren in Oxford, CT.











I pulled the VF11, it seemed to be in pretty nice shape, very little shaft play. Here it is next to the VF39.





I placed the VF39 on the up pipe for mock up of the intercooler. The lower coolant pipe that comes over towards the passenger side touches the flange slightly and keeps the turbo right above sitting flush on the flange. I'm going to try swapping over the VF11 pipes, or just separating them and bending the lower tube up and reversing the upper tube.

Here's the void left by the turbo. I cracked the crusty F-pipe for the PCV system, I'll have to rig something up. I'm also going to replace the rubber oil return line, it's a little crispy.



The intercooler fits great, the back edge has a nice gap between the firewall. The stock charge pipe puts it in just the right place. I will have to tuck the wiring along the firewall under the pitch mount (seems like plenty of slack) and obviously relocate the ignitor(s).











I installed a walbro pump as well, pretty straight forward.

The original turbo inlet (with the BPV port) is pretty kicked. I JB welded the BPV boss to re-enforce it, and I think I will also JB weld the exhaust tubing into the bottom of it, which will be clamped in to the silicone 90 clamped to the turbo.

Also coming up:
New PCV setup
Turbo coolant lines
Coolant tank relocation (to where the AC compressor used to be)
Ignitor harness
Injector install
BPV routing
Hood scoop

[ggbox69]

Got the car running this weekend, this setup is awesome! Couldn't stop smiling driving it around and getting a feel for it. It is a totally different animal. More power across the board, like the stock setup it spools pretty early but the mid-range is stronger and actually keeps pulling hard to redline, it was the first time I bothered to hit the rev limiter. The A/F ratios look good just observing the gauge, cruising they are around 14-15 just like the stock setup, under boost it sticks around 11. I've only put about 20 miles on it so I'll gather more feedback this week but am super satisfied.

Some pictures from the final steps of the install. Here is how I modified the F-pipe for the PCV system. I cut the bottom off the original piece and sanded down a 1/2'' to 3/4'' barb to slide into the bottom. I used JB Weld to hold it together. Installed the part fits right under the compressor outlet, it is a bit tight with the 3/4'' ID hose, down the road I might try to reduce the pipe size at the 90 degree part.







The silicone turbo inlet was a tight fit. To attach it to the turbo inlet I used a thin worm drive clamp that has a smooth ID so it doesn't tear up the silicone. I trimmed the 90 so there was just enough room for the clamp before the small radius starts. It still left enough room on the inside for a nice transition into the turbo mouth.





I left the vertical end long enough so I could put a clamp where the inlet touches the intake runner so there wouldn't be any rubbing. The factory intake elbow that goes on next was beat up, I reinforced the bypass valve port with JB weld and used silicone gasket sealant to make sure the joiner pipe sealed into the bottom.















I used the old ignitor bracket to mount both ignitors on the driver side strut tower.



I mounted the coolant reservoir where the A/C compressor used to sit using a couple aluminum brackets.



I also used a piece of aluminum to extend the stock ecu mounting location so the EJ20G ecu would sit in the same general area.



Here's some detail of how everything was routed and how everything looked put together.

[kimokalihi]

Awesome. Great job documenting it with all the pictures. A fast wagon would be cool to have.

[Legacy777]

Yeah nice documenting and pictures.

[Florin1]

+3 very nice job. This will come in handy for future guys. Wish i had this when i did mine years ago.

[ggbox69]

Thanks guys, I like to help out with the pictures and details. Taking the pictures helps me in the end too, right after I got it running it wasn't making any boost until like 4500 rpm, and then full boost. Since it eventually made full boost I figured nothing mechanical was wrong and I started to double think my choices. It was late at night and I went in, and looking at the pictures I took I realized the wastegate actuator arm had popped off, the wastegate hung wide open and I didn't realize looking under the hood. Replaced the missing clip and the car ran awesome. Weird how the wastegate can be open and it can still make 15 psi. The VF11 would spike too, but I figured my cheap downpipe was keeping the wastegate from opening all the way up, maybe it still happens, although when it was loose, the wastegate lever had a good 70 degree swing.

[ggbox69]

Got some new parts today, finally going to replace all the old 200,000 mile bushings and isolators that are causing my drivetrain to slap around and feel sloppy.

Group N Engine/Trans/Pitch Mount, Turn In Concepts Klunk Killer (diff and outrigger bushings) and trans crossmember bushings.



While I'm at it I'll finally install my WRX shifter, new joint, bushings, spring and Kartboy mounts and knob.



I've probably put about 1500 miles on the Robtune setup, still running great. When the car is cold it seems to behave way better than it ever did stock. A lot of new parts went on so I'm not sure what to attribute it to, but def a happy camper. Gas mileage is about the same for my commute, I average about 22 mpg, prob half highway half city.

[kimokalihi]

I also get 22mpg on robs tune. Everyone tells me those diff bushings will not fit our cars so let me know if theyre wrong.

[ggbox69]

Braved the cold to install some new parts:

- WRX Shifter w/new bushings and joint along with Kartboy mounts and Knob
- Turn In Concepts trans cross-member bushings
- Group N trans mount and pitch stop
- Samco turbo hose kit (TCS22) to replace my leaking charge pipe

The car had felt a little down on power and smelled rich under boost. The turbo also sounded a bit louder, I suspected a boost leak even though I was still making full boost. I knew the charge pipe was beat up so I decided to replace it. I couldn't find a direct replacement for the STI slanty silicone pipe so I got one for the WRX slanty to trim down.

The night before I started working on the car the boost leak got severe, I opened the hood to find the silicone pipe had completely slid off the turbo outlet.



Looks like a worm drive clamp did some damage in the past.





A little oil in there, air-oil separator coming soon



Removing the trans cross member was a headache, the bolts were all rusted and even with lots of PB, I stripped one of the nuts holding the old trans mount on. Luckily I had a Forester cross member from a broken trans my friend gave me and it was an exact match. Thankfully the bolts snapped instead of stripped on the Forester part, so that old mount actually came off.







The Turn In Concepts cross-member bushings were a little too fat to sit nicely inside the cross-member, so I took them down a little with a grinder and they fit really nice.







The cold started getting to me and I didn't take pictures of the pitch stop and modified charge pipe, but it all went together pretty easy. The car returned to full power and lost the rich smell. I was surprised how much more trans noise came into the cabin with the new mounts/bushings. It might have been especially bad because of the loose 206,000 mile n/a trans, but after a few weeks it either quieted down, or I got used to it.

[ggbox69]

Had to go into survival mode and light a fire



My old shifter was a mess, the bushings were almost completely gone











The Kartboy rear shifter mount did not want to bolt in to the legacy, although it was close. Comparing it side by side with a brand new subaru part shows the mounting surface is a little curved on the legacy where the WRX part is flat.







The new parts are a huge improvement. Unfortunately my friends will want to drive the car now that they won't have to guess where 3rd gear is.

[kimokalihi]

3rd to 4th is my problem with this trans. There's been a couple times where I've been doing a full pull on someone and shifted from 3rd at like 7K into 2nd and went right in and instantly made me sick with the sound and feeling of extreme revs and what sounded like my engine and transmission exploding. Amazingly they both still work fine. Quite embaressing going from leaving someone behind to watching them dust you because you mis-shifted like a total noob.

Did you ever put those TIC rear diff bushings in?

[ggbox69]

I know the missed shift feeling all too well, I got pretty adjusted to the old feel. With the WRX linkage 5th to 4th took getting used to, had to stab around for it at first. Probably my favorite downshift though, I run into an 04 Mystichrome Cobra on my way home from work once in a while and we mess around, downshifting to 4th gear at 80 he would get a jump on me but couldn't get very far, those things are beasts though. Went from 2nd to 1st once by mistake driving a 2000 Camaro SS with 3 friends in the car, definite noob status but no damage.

Never got the TIC diff bushings in, the trans mount fixed a lot of the shake and clunk I was getting, still plan on doing it though. I'll take some measurements of the diff mount and TIC bushings to clear up how everything fits.

[Legacy777]

The rear kartboy stay bushing should bolt up without any issues. If it's not oriented properly that might be the issue. It went in without any issues on my Legacy. Are you sure you had it oriented properly (top vs. bottom)

[ggbox69]

I'll have to try the stay bushing again next time I'm under there.

Got the car emissions tested this week and it passed on the Robtune with no cats. A feat I had previously thought impossible, but a couple of my friends advised me to give it a shot as CT allows you a free re-test within a couple weeks anyway. I also got a tip on a shop where a few other car guys had success with their rides.

I overheard the guys in the garage say "he's got tons of work done" as they set up the test. It also sounded like they ran it through the test a few times, I heard them hold the revs above idle (which I know is part of the test) more than once. Not sure if that is standard procedure or if they were helping me get good results, but all they said was it passed and I was all good.

I had picked up a stock bugeye catted downpipe for cheap and was planning on running that, and at the same time having my STI catback extended to fit nice. I think I'm going to go through with this anyway now, but would like to use a new catless downpipe that has stock WRX fitment so I could mix and match WRX exhaust parts in the future if needed. My current exhaust looks like one of the cheap ebay setups and doesn't really tuck under the tranny tunnel, but instead runs diagonal under the car. It scrapes quite a bit and is loud, really loud.

[ggbox69]

Haven't updated in a while, but got my exhaust straightened out a few weeks ago.

Here's the old setup, I think it's an ebay bugeye exhaust. I used a clamp and strap hanger on the mid pipe and a long hook hanger on the muffler.



The rear hanger broke and I had to use a ratchet tie strap to get home, that was the last straw.















Here's the new system next to the old. The downpipe is a Tsudo, don't remember the details, I think it was for a bugeye, it was one of the few DP's on the cheaper end that I could find that had two O2 bungs. The cat-back is stock STI, shown with the mid pipe at original length.











I bolted in the DP and the rear mount that attaches to the tranny was a little off, but nothing a hacksaw and bench grinder couldn't fix.









Hacksaw pro













Before having the midpipe lengthened, I hung the system under the car just to get an idea of how much would have to be added. The STI muffler required longer hangers, so I ran some zip ties through the old ones to make an adjustable gauge for new ones.













I used a Grimmspeed 3'' DP to donut gasket adapter to bridge the above gap.

I had a shop near my house weld up the mid pipe, I haven't got a chance to get under there to take a few pictures of the finished product, but want to paint it so I'll pull it out soon. I also grabbed some new hangers too but haven't got them on yet.

[ggbox69]

I have also been having problems with my Nexen tires, when I switched to the 17'' legacy wheels I went with a super thin sidewall to gain some clearance. I don't know if it's because they are lower price tires or because of the sidewall, but they don't react well to bumps and potholes. One split on a pothole last year. Another developed a giant blister at one point that grew so big, it would rub my fender during cornering. Finally another one cracked along the sidewall and started leaking air, so I decided to step it back down to 16's or 15's.













I came across what look to me like 15'' 94 SS/TW wheels, the guy I bought them from said they also came on some early Impreza's and Ver 1 STI's. Either way, I like these much better. Having some sidewall under there and a bright rim for reference makes it look like the H&R's are doing their job.

[Legacy777]

I think the tire issues are probably due to the tire brand. That size/ratio of tire is relatively common.