BlackHole

For my wagon the sub-frame fitment had very little slop or misalignment tolerance - it only fit one way. When installing it took an incremental approach to get all the mounts aligned: lift the subframe to just touching the chassis Thread any mounting bolts possible Manually shift the subframe to align the other bolts OR tighten / loosen the threaded bolts to align the unthreaded mounts [*]repeat until all bolts are threaded [*]then tighten and final torque If the bolts were tightened first thing there was always some mount that didn't align. My first failed attempt took 30 min, success took <10 min.

(edited quote) You have all the big pieces. I'd inspect and do some preventative maintenance on the new drivetrain before installation: replace the rear diff-to-axle and trans-to-driveshaft seals inspect rear hub bearing assemblies & replace if questionable change the rear diff fluid, much easier off the car lube the parking brake cables while they are disconnected inspect the rear subframe diff mounts for worn/cracked bushings disassemble, clean and lube anything that is supposed to move but could rust (e.g. threads on adjustable control arms, camber bolts, etc.) YMMV - I found it easiest to drop the whole rear subframe then bolt-in the new parts since all of the bolts / nuts are then easy to access. Enjoy! The install is not too bad since you have it as a unit.

Just on random chance did you check the brake calipers? I've had a bolt back out of one and the caliper loose on the hub. It sounded a lot like a ball joint going or suspension issues but it was intermittent since sometimes it rubbed the inside of the wheel and/or clunked, sometimes it didn't. Drove me nearly insane trying to find it, but once I did, it was fixed in about 30 seconds and was never heard from again. Oh, and I'll post my full 6MT swap parts list here in a few weeks once I get the car running. This full wagon rebuild has turned into quite the odyssey.

Interesting. I'll still take a "weaker" 6MT over a "strong" 5MT any day.

Correct. All Spec Bs use the 3.545 pinion & crown gear set, part #38104AA230. Surprisingly this is a different part# (38104AA270) than the 06-07 STi 3.545. Not sure about the 08+ STi, I couldn't find that part#. Yes, the 08+ STis all use the same transmission, part #32000AJ650, trans code TY856UW1MA.

I'm looking at the same x8500 - I just did a Google shopping search and came up with $473 for a low here: http://www.12voltsavings.com/pioneer-avh-x8500bhs-multimedia-dvd-receiver-with-bluetooth-hd-radio/ but I don't know about shipping cost to you.

I pieced it together - all separate purchases. The 6 speed swap kits on eBay have a lot of the key parts, but you'll still need LGT specific parts.

All the parts have been ordered. I got a good deal on the R180 rear end parts needed, so I'm not using the R160 (would have saved me ~$770). Recipe B - 3.54:1 rear diff ($5000 total) Transmission options: 08 STi ($2535) Rear diff options: 06 STi R180 ($410) Rear axles: Spec B ($450) Front axles: Regular LGT ($free) Driveshaft: 4EAT ($100) STi flywheel: stock, resurfaced ($165) misc parts ($300) DCCD controller ($455) clutch: DXD Stg 2 Endurance ($575)

08+ STi shifter info: Measurements of the arms / control rods - how do these compare to Spec B? 10 3/8" Upper arm, eye-to center of trans mount bolt 10 15/16" Lower arm, shifter socket center to trans mount center Understand that this is a household tape measure, so measurements may be off by a 16th either way. I also measured a brand new 2012 STi shifter and got the same measurements. And yes, this shifter was in a fire. The explanatory pic:

Yes! They are the same part# 41310AG040.

Not all forged piston motors slap. It depends on the piston pin offset, piston material and piston-to-wall clearance used by the builder. Then stick to the lower expansion 4032 pistons (Mahle, Wossner, Cosworth) and pick a builder who is used to setting the clearances appropriate to your use. For reliability, blueprint the bearing clearances. Subaru doesn't do a great job in making them consistent from the factory which will affect the oiling, especially on the #2 & 3 rods which are fed by the same main bearing. I have 5 blocks sitting here, all of whom failed on either the #2 or 3 rod.

Here, only 1 page, post #1 is all you need. http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/nsfws-6mt-swap-thread-143520.html?t=143520 I'm post #336, Recipe B - my current cost estimate is ~$4300 when finished including a new clutch and DCCD controller.

What can I say - every $ saved helps the budget. I wasn't originally going to do the 6spd, but I couldn't resist.

Yup. Resurfaced flywheel = good as new. Used clutch, well you can't resurface the pressure plate.

As of this morning, I will be joining the 6spd swap club from an 08 STi. For budgetary reasons I'm sticking with a WRX R160 3.54 rear end until I can afford the $1k for the R180 swap ($400 diff + $600 Spec B axles). Following Recipe B since I wanted the helical center diff: Recipe B - 3.54:1 rear diff (est $4000 total) Transmission options: 08 STi ($2535) Rear diff options: 02-05 WRX R160 ($175) Rear axles: Regular LGT with R160 ($free) Front axles: Regular LGT ($free) Driveshaft: 4EAT ($100) STi flywheel: stock, resurfaced ($150) clutch: DXD Stg 2 Daily ($495) misc parts: $TBD DCCD controller: $TBD

Here's where the adhesive was on the back of the mirrors:

10" diameter. 4.25" from firewall mounting surface to base of master cylinder. All measurements are approximate since I didn't have a caliper but only a tape measure and eyeballs.

Couple of comments: The adhesive is not at the edges, but two thick vertical strips at about 1/4 and 3/4 across the mirror (wish I had a pic). I used a heat gun on low setting to warm up the whole area for about 2 minutes, then pried using a non-metal trim removal tool. Be careful with screwdrivers - the inside of the mirror flakes off pretty easily (learned the hard way). When reinstalling, I re-heated the adhesive for maximum stick - you may want to re-install using a towel to press on the mirror surface to prevent singed fingers. Easier way, less cutting - use the sharp tip of a safety pin to release the folding wire connectors from the plug. Push from the front to release the plastic catch towards the middle of the connector and then the whole wire will release. Insert the heated mirror wires and plug back into the stock wiring harness. FWIW, removing the US mirrors from the car and fully swapping over the US heated mirrors to the JDM folding and reinstalling took me a good two hours the first time, being careful and figuring it all out. The second one took 30 minutes. I still have to run the folding switch wiring, but in the meantime I have fully functional US mirrors.

FYI - per subarupartsforyou.com all of these share the same master cylinder, part# 26401AC191 which should be the 17/16" version: 04-07 STi 03-05 Impreza ALL exc WRX AT 06-07 Impreza non-turbo 02 Impreza w/ ABS Just some more options to search. On eBay Impreza parts generally seem cheaper than STi (surprise!). I've not been able to find the same cross-reference info for brake boosters (04-07 STi = F01G061023?). I just ordered my parts and the MC brace so I'll get to see the relative merits of each on an already-Brembo'ed LGT wagon.

NO and YES - the charging does not work, but the audio playback does. When I use my iPhone 3G with the jazzy the phone shows an error "charging is not supported with this accessory."

Yup.

My next brake setup: STi Brembo F / Rotora 2-pot rear (uses stock LGT rotors) 72.0/28.0% F/R, 2014 ft-lbs brake caliper torque The nice thing about this & the 06-07 WRX rear caliper setups are that the stock rear rotor can be retained (reducing cost) and actually exerts more torque than the STi Brembo rears due to the larger pistons. Stock LGT: 78.1/21.9% F/R, 1760 ft-lbs total brake caliper torque STi brakes: 73.5/26.5% F/R, 1973 ft-lbs STi F + 06-07 WRX 2-pot rear: 72.7/27.3% F/R, 1994 ft-lbs Note that these numbers are slightly different than how praedet calculated, so I've included reference setups for comparison. Any way you slice it you're still better than stock.

After it is all said and done ~$8k. While it is a good chunk of change, my total outlay is only $24k ($16k for the LGT), still cheaper than a new car and with a lot more performance.

Just making sure we're all on the same page. Now just for fun, on paper I tried to maximize clamping force using the stock rotors and known calipers while retaining roughly a 70/30% F/R spilt. Completely academic since I'm not about to build brackets to try this out and I don't have enough traction to use it all... F = SRT-8 calipers (44/44mm pistons) / R = Porsche 944 rear (28/30mm) 69.8/30.2% F/R, 1989 lb-ft caliper torque, about 13% more than stock.

I think you are getting two things slightly confused: yes the piston applies the torque but the pad height does affect the force applied exactly for the reason you stated: Radial pad height is needed for torque calcs since effective rotor diameter = nominal diameter - radial pad height. It's a reasonable assumption that the piston is radially centered on the pad. This can be confirmed by looking at the brakemath.xls file referenced earlier - all of the effective rotor diameters are calculated this way. Following that logic: Stock LGT: 78.1/21.9% F/R, 1760 ft-lbs brake caliper torque STi brakes: 73.5/26.5% F/R, 1973 ft-lbs brake caliper torque LGT F/RB 316 R: 76.9/23.1% F/R, 1887 ft-lbs brake caliper torque LGT F/WRX 2-pot R: 71.8/28.2% F/R, 1912 ft-lbs brake caliper torque I would agree if the LGT had 38mm rear pistons, but mine doesn't. Assuming a 31.8 mm piston (my piston size), the STi setup is a bit less front-biased than LGT stock which jibes with experiential data.