KZJonny

Well, colour me surprised. I certainly would've thought that the bolt buster would have been perfect in that situation. That said, even armed with my knockoff one, and having soaked down all the nuts and bolts that had to come off the car to do the rear subframe/tank, I still ended up spinning one of the captive nuts inside the body. So, now both of my BP's have holes cut into the bodies under the rear seats to access a nut holding the subframe place. Sometimes you just can't win, no matter how prepared you think you are.

I've had JDM import Bilstien "HD"s on both Sti pinks and the stock springs. Both were good, tho I prefer the stock Spec B springs as a package. Been told my car is "not low enough", but it's a tiny drop from stock, and given the roads around where I live, and the off-pavement driving I sometimes do, they work really well. I'd go back to the pinks if I lived somewhere with endless smooth ashphalt, and never went mountain biking or hiking and had to get to trailheads. Worlds better than the stock LGT stuff anyhow. EDIT: I also did FSB, JDM trailing arms, Movetech FCAs, trans mount, diff mount new bushings everywhere etc.... when I put in a fresh set of JDM Bilstiens and swapped to the Spec B springs, so it wasn't quite a fair comparison. However, it IS fair to say that the extra .75" lower the pinks were is not going to make you a track superstar, but it does make your 'fun daily' a little less comfortable on the drive to work. IMO

I was going to suggest looking at your thread with the similar(ish) problems, and this also sounds like maybe a throttle control/pedal issue.

This is as good a place as any to plug one an inductive bolt heater. I picked this one up before dropping my rear subframe and replacing the tank... (Everything was rusty and fought me.) https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07XNZV1RP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 If I'd had the patience at the time, or didn't have to get the work done I could have camelcamelcamel'd the legit made in US Bolt Buster BB2X, but honestly there has been nothing wrong with the Chinese made one I got. I'm DIY hobbyist at cars and whatever, but live in a high salt use area, so decent was good enough for my purposes. I'll never know how many bolts I didn't break becuase I had this, but my guess is a couple. Each of which then leads to (usually) busted knuckles, a replacment fastener time spent drilling and retapping (or heli-coiling), replacing parts that have bolts permanently broken off in them etc..... And time spent doing all of the above. Might not be for everyone if you live somewhere corrosion free enough, but I bet that heating up that bolt would've broken the corrosion up enough you'd be surprised at how easily it may have come free. The bonus to the inductive heater is that is fairly specifically targets the fastener (since rust is a crap conductor of heat vs. steel, and so is really good a breaking up exactly that kind of binding between rusty bits, or dissimilar metals. Just thinking if you've got a whole engine to pull down, it could be worth the spend..

All the air bags I have are the same... Even the 2.5i is the same unit as what came in my GT. The GT wheel I have in the 2.5i is also the exact same except for having the shift buttons on it. Which, weirdly, or not work juuust perfectly with the 4EAT, just as well as they did the with the 5EAT... Anyway, I think it's either get something like that one, collect a couple from a scrapyard and hope they're good, or have a go at drilling out the rivet in the cover and swapping the skins. From what I can see, the cover is meant to stay on the unit, while the 'centre circle' opens/hinges, whatever. So as long as the fasteners you use are up to the tast of retaining the plastic from jump off the airbag itself if/when it's triggered, all should be good. That's almost certainly some kind of official safetly violation, but I really don't imagine even small steel bolts threaded in where the rivets used to be would shear for any reason a rivet wouldn't..... I suppose it's your face that at risk EOD....

No problem, it was a bit of a hail mary idea anyway. I got stuck at homE instead of visiting family this year, with the massive wind and snow storm that came through over Christmas. Might not have been on here otherways… And yes. My other, other car is a bunch of motorcycles that don’t run. I’ve got a ‘78 KZ650C. First reasonably powerful bike I owned, and the only one I have that is in one piece and runs reliably. Bought it back in around 2010, and could never quite find anything I liked a whole lot better….I think it’s with me permanently now…

Ah. I don't know a lot about '07-09 models. I think if you can flash with the AP, the either there is no plug to connect, or yours is already mated up, so my hunch becomes a dead end. I was under the impression that later year models still had a diagnostic mode, but could be wrong. Of course there is the possibility there are still plugs that need to be connected that aren't related to an AP flash. Someone that knows more about the post-facelift specifics might chime in. Or, there could be some info on it that is searchable on here?

Total shot in the dark on this one, since I do not know the answer, but any chance that plugging the "diagnostic connectors" together might unlock the correct mode to read codes like those? (Eg: the same ones you connect to allow the AP to flash the map....) Just going on the basis that the scanner is supposed to work, and I've read that those plugs are used by the dealer when doing more advanced type scanning/diagnosis. ?

No photos available right now, but I think we all know what a trans looks like. I'm helping out another member here who is parting out their car, since it went ynansb and it was too far gone/expensive to fix. I'll be giving the car a spot to live in my driveway while we both pull some parts that might be useful before it get sent off to the scrap metal yard. It's a 5EAT, which neither of us have any use for now, but it's not terribly high mile (23X XXX?kms) and functioned fine before the engine ate a bearing. Just one of those things that are too big to store for any time, and I really can't be asked to list on Ebay or whatever since I'm not well set up to ship it. Putting this up since the car will be here next week, most likely, and the faster it gets stripped and gone again, the sooner I get my spare driveway spave back. Car is in St. Catharines ON, and if anyone wants it for a spare or to use as a rebuildable shell, it's yours for the taking, and help dropping it out of the car. A couple of craft beer go a long way for motivation to drop it in the crap cold weather.... Car can probably live here as long as until the first decent Spring weather, at which point it all has to go, since the driveway is my access to the back yard and garage. Cheers!

If you’re really strapped for cash, that looks like it wouldn’t be more than a foot or so of hose between the two of them. I would guess it’ll be under $10 for a foot of high pressure/temp hose and some clamps, if you think it’s possible to make a route for them that doesn’t create a kink…. Not always possible, but if it works you stand to save a pile. Maybe depends on the condition mileage of the car for hacks like that.

Looks good dude. First time in a long time I’ve seen a sedan (of any make or model) and thought: “Yeah… I’d drive that.” need to get myself some crap tires on rims so I can do the same and not damage my summers.

Sometimes getting snow in your wheel wells is the least of your concern… I wouldn’t have it any other way tho. I’m probably going to move further North again when I’m looking to retire. It never gets cold enough in the South to feel like Winter. Just doesn’t feel like home living in a place that doesn’t hit a solid -20C for a few weeks each winter and get 3 months of snow.

Yeah, that sounds pretty normal to me for extreme snow days and driving through them. (Originally from snowy Sudbury, in Central Ontario.) Pressure washing (if it is a rare warm winter day), or scraping out your wheel wells is a pretty normal winter event, and if you don’t get all the snow and ice out, if feels like a very badly balanced wheel, as you discovered. Most people with sports cars, or whatever you classify our modified and often lowered cars as, have a beater for that reason. I’d say it’s more common to just go around kicking the snow off than finding a car wash usually. You don’t end up with ice on your wheels that way. Hopefully there isn’t any long term damage to the power steering, but I sort of doubt it? The last car I had up North during a full winter didn’t have power steering so at least that wasn’t an issue!

1/2 of a roof, and another wall clad. Moving along alright. Thankfully we haven’t had a lot of snow this December yet. Christmas will but a pause in the work, but hopefully not too much.

Started getting the trusses up a little while ago with a couple of friends and some borrowed scaffolding. Probably took almost 2 hours to get 3 in place. Next free day, we got the rest up (11 more) in maybe an hour and change. Amazing how much faster everything goes when you get a system in place that works. Hah. Now I’m slowly squaring and securing the trusses as well as squaring the walls a little. Getting done between days when it’s pouring rain or snowing or all this gear is covered in ice… So as bad as it is building in these conditions, it’s exactly why I need a garage!

Not spending your dollars for you, but I'd trust the Exedy kit wherever you choose to get it. I would have immediate reservations about any product that is critical to your car's function that forces people to write a review about it to "validate the warranty". For what it will cost in labor to do the clutch/flywheel job, I'd probably feel a whole lot better knowing I wouldn't have to pay twice. (This is assuming you're paying a shop to do the work.)

Another vote for sell as is, and hang on for a while. This is also with some hindsight colouring the equation. I picked up my GT for $2500 CAD in around 2016, thinking it would just need some new rubber, a touch of bodywork and an overall service to iron out the wrinkles. I do not want to tally the invoices I have, but I am guessing I'm close to $10K into the car now, and that is paying myself $0/hr to do all the work. Thinking back on the cars that were selling for $6-8K at the time, I wonder how big of a hole I dug for myself, that I could have avoided. (That said, I learned a tonne, and there is something to be said for doing the work yourself....) Someone that knows even half of what I know now and really wants one of these things will know enough to pay a fair price for a well built and clearly carefully maintained specimen. I would if I weren't already starting the parts hoard for the next project car....

If your flywheel is burned or damaged, you'd probably be better off swapping to a single mass flywheel. (SMFW) Our cars came with a Dual Mass Flywheel (DMFW). It's either tricky or impossible to machine a DMFW, depending on the equipment the shop has and the level of expertise. And you can probably get a single for not a whole lot more than the price of machining your stock one. The Spec clutched discussed will require a SMFW. (08+-? WRX will fit.) There will a slightly difference in how they drive, but most people seems to prefer the SM anyway. It can eliminate some of the "juddering" you get while engaging the clutch, particularly at low speeds. In contrast, it may may shift more sharp, since there isn't a layer of softer material sandwiched between the two main plates, like in a DMFW. This is all subjective, and a matter of personal taste. You'll find out what's going on inside when they open it, but be prepared for it to be the clutch fork, or pivot, which are known to fail in our cars. Hopefully it is not the throwout bearing failing, which can cause damage to the transmission snout. (This is fixable with a specific kit, research as needed if it comes to that....) If you're all stock, then an Exedy OE style clutch (OE clutch is made by Exedy, so I am told, and buying from aftermarket will likely be cheaper that from the Subaru dealer.) will be fine, or the equivalent WRX type if you choose to go to the SMFW. Spec Stage 1 would be a tasty upgrade, but more money than an OE type part.

To give the guys at Spec even more credit, the fellow I talked to specifically told me not to get a Stage 2. Something about the friction material not lasting long in a daily driver, since it is better suited to track use? I honestly forget the coversation details, but it had to do with the material specfically. He recommended the Stage 1 or Stage 2+. (So this agress with you Max). Just saying for stock hp/torque, or even a fair little bit more, either will do the job well, according to Spec. I went with Stage 1 mainly because I'd like as light a pedal feel as possible, (I know the clutch isn't the ONLY factor there...) and I were to do something stupid at some point, I prefer the idea of a fairly inexpensive, easily replaceble part being the weak link in my drivetrain. Since everything else is stock right now, I'd rather toast my clutch than say.... the trans.

Makes sense then. I've got plenty more to do on my car, but do at least have new tires on Spec B Bilsteins and Springs. The pinks were too low for the roads in my area, but I may try them again, we'll see. I'll stop the mini-threadjack now tho!! On with Bessie getting a rebuild!!

So….. is that the ‘Custom’ VF52? I can say from experience that the VF40 and the JMP ‘Custom’ VF40 are not the same. Sure, the little turbo doesn’t make your face scrunch at high at higher rpm, but it does keep pulling all the way… And it spools, like, fast. All that on OTS Stage 2 and 91 Octane. I suspect a little more pucker factor with a proper pro tune when I have time to get that done. All that to say that comparing a VF52 and a ‘custom’ JMP VF52 is probably a meaningfully different driving experience.

That's my kind of driving as well, look at those windy bits!! Also my reason for sticking with a 'small' turbo, in the Custom JMP VF40 with improved internals. Add that to the vigilant, thorough law enforcement w/strict penalties in my neck of the woods and all of a sudden doing 50-80 km/h on super windy roads that hardly see a cruiser sounds like a better idea all the time. Plenty of cops on the highways happy to slap you with a big ticket for going at speeds that a 20G will get you to in a hurry. VF52 is about as big as I would ever go, I think, if I *really* need more. That said I'd love to take a ride with anyone who did a 380XT or Custom VF52 for example, and see what I am missing out on.

Well, my '05 went in for airbag recall last year.... but that was for the passenger side dash airbag. I'd assumed the drivers side has already been done, but I could certainly be wrong about that.... might not have ever been recalled. I'll have a quick look, but I am pretty sure that the only difference between the Momo airbag and the base level one is that the GT/Momo (maybe some other high trim level cars?) has the hard plastic Subaru logo, while the base model has an all black plastic coverplate. I suppose it depends on how badly you want the badging, coz there are certainly plenty of base level wheel airbags in scrap yards. I'll do a quick double check when I have a minute, but I am nearly certain that my 2.5i wheel is essentially the same as the one in my GT except for the skin....

Huh. Definitely strange. Hopefully it becomes obvious when you take a look around where that body work was done? I wondered if something grounding out on the other side could be creating interference, but clearly not if that harness is still good…

Any chance you may have missed a bad wire in the hatch pass through? I had a problem with my rear wiper intermittently where it wouldn't park in the right spot. This was after I had spliced in a bunch of replacement wires in the hatch passthrough to correct the brake lights shorting out, and taking out their fuse, which prevented the car from starting. It wasn't until I took the area apart a second time and ripped all the plastic trim in the area off as well that I found more breaking/broken wires... Replacement of wires x 2 did the trick. All good now, tho the reception in the trunk antenna is a mediocre as it has been as long as I owned the thing... (This is the Outback, somehow the GT still has all function OKAY in the hatch, even tho I have looked at the passthrough bundle, and can see cracks all over the insulation.... I'm not touching that until it causes a problem....)