BlackHole

Question - for those who have dropped the sub-frame, were there any lessons-learned, take-aways from a realignment standpoint? I imagine these things are jigged-up on the assembly line to make sure everything is spot-on aligned, fore and aft, but not sure if the sub-frame R&R has the same alignment tolerances (or concerns).

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.

...Thinking I'll pull the entire drivetrain out of the 05 and just bolt this in. Should have everything I need...Am I inadvertently missing anything?

(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.

This info is wrong. 07-09 SpecB trannies are 3.54:1 as well.

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#.

06-09 (STi) are 3.54:1 as well (not sure about 10-12, but I'd bet they are 3.54:1 as well).

Yes, the 08+ STis all use the same transmission, part #32000AJ650, trans code TY856UW1MA.

Where did you order all of those parts from? Or were they all separate purchases?

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:

Since the newer STI/WRX is based on the Legacy, I was wondering if I could get a used one instead of a new spec b one....Both are aluminum and both are supporting an R180.

Yes! They are the same part# 41310AG040.

Does all forged pistons slap on start up, or is it just a few that do?

Not all forged piston motors slap. It depends on the piston pin offset, piston material and piston-to-wall clearance used by the builder.

That's what I thought. Just wanting a reliable motor that will last me another 100k without major oil consumption, and make the step up to Stage 2 in the near future.

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.

Okay so i read up till page 10. i understand that in my 05 LGt 5mt i can run a 2007+ sti 6mt with my stock drive shaft and rear diff r-160. has anyone done this an added up the cost yet cause i cant read through 36 pages of info

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.

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

Couple of comments:

2)Disassemble JDM mirrors

a.Heat the black trim around mirrors (about 2 minutes) and very carefully remove the mirrors by prying the mirrors up with a couple of small flat head screwdrivers. Mirrors are held on with black adhesive. If the JDM mirrors have the heated option, disconnect the two wires and skip to #3.

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.

4)Put the side mirrors back on the car. I wanted to keep the car’s wiring intact, so I cut the side mirror harness #2 and #5 wires and tapped in the two wires for the heated mirrors onto the stubs left on the plug. The #2 and #5 wires to the mirror are the brown (fold) and gray (unfold). I connected these wires to some 22 gauge wires (red and green).

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.

> 1) Can someone confirm the charging and audio works with iPhone 3G?

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."

Let me get this clear ... the $950 mod is the one you offer NOW, the "JDM mod" is

the one still under development (and intended to be substantially cheaper) ?

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.

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.

The pad height does not affect the actual force the brakes exert because only the piston has fluid behind it. ...In actually, the higher radial height can hurt the total torque of the set-up because that meas the pistons might be closer to the hub, so the moment arm is smaller.

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

The rear STi set-up actually moves the bias more forward because of the MUCH smaller pistons. What you might be feeling is the more rear bias due to stiffer suspension that doesn't allow for as much dive...

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.