A_A_ron

Thank you! How tough were the the torque bolts to remove for you? I put a bit in a screw driver to try to loosen mine up and I couldn't get them to budge. Thinking about putting my impact driver on a low setting and trying that.

Nevermind then

Someone please buy this and find out if it's a good resource.

That why I suggested porting the exhaust outlets on the heads.

The exhaust holes are centered on the 2 outer bolt holes on the flanges. It would seem to be on the inner studs were offset in a north south directions. The FA block is a little wider, most likely to accommodate the extra 7mm of stroke. Give the larger exhaust flange holes it should line up to cover and potentially seal. We just have to have someone brave enough to bolt things up and pressure test.

I bet it would even easier with the steering wheel off the car. How easy is it to get the edge under the button trim. Would it be worth it to remove the button trim?

It buys you about 1000 options for different turbos instead of just one. It potentially buys you WRX J pipes, aftermarket headers and twin scroll turbo options, external waste gates, WRX charge pipes, WRX turbo intakes, and pretty much anything else we would want to try to cram in there. If the engine shapes and sizes are about the same in theory you could fabricated brackets where needed and get a whole host of other stuff to fit for aftermarket upgrades without going full custom.

Exactly and until we get a set of headers bolted on we won't know for sure how close it is. Something we haven't looked into yet is where the exhaust ports are in relation to the front of the engine on FA heads vs EJ heads.

How much fun is that to sew onto the wheel?

I added picture comments after I saw your post. There are comments on the imgur album but I posted the pictures individually so they would show in the thread.

I started sketching up and fitting a 4 port EBCS after fabricating the Kinugawa waste gate actuator to be a dual port actuator and fit in the stock location.

FA headers have the larger diameter holes and less restrictive sections in the pipe. Just based on looks it'll have better flow. It'll be a significant amount of fab work to make them fit and there will be significant benefit to porting the exhaust ports on the heads to match where the new headers end up lining up. ETS doesn't make the EJ low center mount turbo headers any more and destroyed the jig. I emailed them. They aren't even interested in a group buy. I have only found one set of ETS headers not installed and the owner was still planning on using them so he didn't want to sell. If moral hazard can get these to work with a good write up guide and minimal modification it'll mean the FA header and turbo kits should work for this platform. Charge pipes would potentially line up as well as J pipes. We already know the intercoolers and most cat-back exhaust components fit.

I bought a set of FA headers off a 2015+ WRX to test on my car when I had the turbo out for reasons. What I have found is the exhaust outlets appear to be a little bigger. The general shape of the gasket is the same other than the center bolt being offset slightly. I don't know if that was for an engineering reason or to force a new part number for the gaskets. The big reason this won't work out though is because the FA headers are wider. I don't recall en exact number but it was more than a quarter inch. I'm not saying no one could bend them to force them to work but I wouldn't trust anything built like that. Looks like we are stuck with custom headers for the foreseeable future. https://imgur.com/gallery/adjVSBv/comment/1718423063 EDIT: Added labels for clarity EJ25 vf54 head side exhaust flange diameter 1.48 inches FA20 head side exhaust flange diameter 1.636 inches EJ25 vf54 head side exhaust flange hole spacing 2.4 inches FA20 head side exhaust flange hole spacing 2.4 inches EJ25 vf54 top FA20 bottom EJ25 vf54 top FA20 bottom Note: I lined up the left side with a stud that came out of the engine with the nut. The right side holes were over half way covered about 1/4 inch overlap. EJ25 vf54 head side exhaust flange with EJ25 vf54 gasket FA20 head side exhaust flange with EJ25 vf54 gasket

Instead of using the OTS tune ask your tuner providing the pro tune for a base tune. Running his base tune ahead of time will be better for engine protection and if he's a good tuner he'll probably do a little e tuning ahead of the official protune to get some of the easy stuff hammered out.

Also since it's from ebay, is it third party STI fitment or is it OEM STI?

Even on an engine with port injection where the fuel acts as a solvent to dissolve the oil build up on the intake you can still have issues. Oil has the effect of lowering the octane rating of the fuel than ends up in the cylinder.

Boldly going where no man has gone before.

I think the 17 or 18 STI got an even sharper turning ratio. No idea what would be close to fitting.

Thanks for all the photos. I want to compare yours to mine I picked up cheap. The seller said the LCAs didn't have a particular bushing in them. Mind if I send you some photos tonight?

The Turbosmart Kompact plumb back 34mm is the correct one for our cars as a direct OEM replacement

I installed the whiteline 22mm rear sway bar and their rear sway bar braces. During the install I noticed the metal in the area wasn't outstandingly beefy so I thought the braces were a good idea. Might not need them but the extra frame stiffness is nice to have.

Has anyone done a steering rack from an STI to get a faster steering ratio?

Car is old enough that they don't want to spend any money on it. Probably gave them nothing on the trade in. Will have it on the lot for maybe a month or two then it goes straight to auction. Check IAAI.com over the next quarter and you might see it pop up for real cheap.

Out of sight, out of mind

Yes any tuner should be able to work this kit. It works best when paired with an accessport v3 but Cobb only confirms fitment with USDM. If your tuner can read through cobb's documentation he can set up your car to go into limp mode when the cobb flex fuel brain spits out 0 or 5 volts indicating an error with the sensor or water in the fuel.