Notorious

Front STI calipers bolt up directly with no adapter, you will need 2004 STI Rotors. The rear will need an adapter and special made DBA rotors that accommodates the LGT EBrake with the STI size rotor. The whole rear kit is about $400 for the rotors and adapter together, brakes not included.

I’m in Modesto which is about an hour away. I just need to use the TMIC this weekend for smog and you can use it after that. Most people recommend replacing the turbo inlet with OEM, it’s a pain to fit anything larger in there but if the shop is doing it for you already then it’s not your problem. OEM and aftermarket will be about the same price anyways. Replacing it yourself is doable, it’s just a pain dealing with cracked rubber hoses that you’ll have to replace either way. With patience it can be done in 2 hours.

Installed a new Optima Yellowtop Battery today and drove it to work to get the emissions readiness monitors set. $250 on Amazon is still better than whatever any of the parts stores were offering even with the old battery in as a core. Only option cheaper was AdvancedAuto with a 15% off coupon but it would’ve taken too long to get here.

Car failed smog today. Really bummed about it because it delays a lot of plans (new wheels, lots of parts to replace/install). The reason it failed was because my battery died and readiness monitors weren’t set (purchased a Yellowtop Optima Battery today on amazon for $250), I left the front mount intercooler on and they picked on me for it not being in the stock location even though that affects nothing related to smog, and they mentioned the red wire I used for my wideband O2 sensor (which was not wired in by the way) and said I can’t be tapping into those wires. Between now and Saturday I have to find some time in the late night to replace that wire with some black wire instead and remove the front mount intercooler piping, or at least some of it.

Dude, you’re getting ripped off. Any vacuum hose is like $3 a foot max and you can get a used intercooler for $50. Get a second opinion. Doesn’t matter where that hose is, it’s not going to take hours. Go to another shop and have them show you exactly where the smoke is coming from. Take a pic, post it up, and we can probably help you out.

Tried getting my car California smog ready tonight but ultimately failed because it took me so damn long to get a simple bolt from the heat shield off. I was too stubborn to remove the FMIC piping because it was a pain to route it next to the stock airbox. Tomorrow morning I need some nuts and bolts that I wasn’t able to find from two years ago which was the last time it was smogged. Also waiting on new gaskets all around and a new turbo blanket for when I put it all back together. Hopefully will be able to smog it tomorrow afternoon and pass the first time. Fingers crossed.

FYI, Walmart sells it for $19 and some change for a gallon and the rebate still qualifies at Walmart I believe. Autozone also stocks it and you can price match Walmart.

So you’re saying the stake held but you can turn it without the stake moving? That would mean the axle itself is rotating or it may be the wrong size. Is there any play when you tug on the CV axle on the outer side?

You’d need flares to achieve any clearance with 10 wide wheels on an Outback. Unless you’re going full negative camber.

Test fit the NT03+M’s in the front tonight. Good news is they clear the Wilwood BBK!! It’s a known fact that they do NOT clear Brembos without a 10mm spacer, but thanks to the compact Wilwoods, I don’t need to spend another $100 on extended studs and spacers. For those wondering why there are two tire valve stems, it’s so you can fill/release air on one while monitoring pressure using the other to get faster and more accurate readings. Definitely will need to run a tad bit more camber along with a front fender pull though to fit them on with tires. The Federal RSRRs in 245/35R18 are on their way and I got an appointment setup for the fender pull. Next after this is a proper performance alignment with the new tires. Also need to smog the car this week so the next 7 days should be fun. Tuesday I’ll probably get the stock downpipe and uppipe back on and cross my fingers the stock tune will pass. I’m just worried that the Vf52 will overboost and run too lean while they do the smog test... I guess whenever people ask me why I have two different wheels, I’ll say I took a page out of the old Ferrari handbook.

Through the back and forth emails with the vendor discussing discounts, etc. I mentioned I cannot decide between the gold and silver. I sent them pictures of the car currently (on gold wheels) and mentioned that silver would flow well with the silver headlight and exhaust garnishes. He said, why not both? I thought about it for a while and decided on getting a mismatched set. Going to run two silver on the passenger side, two gold on the driver side. May be a bit weird and unique but that’s what my build has been about since the beginning. He mentioned I can always send back two of them if I decide I like one wheel over the other. He said we would just split shipping costs.

As mentioned before I bought myself a set of Enkei NT03’s for my birthday yesterday. They’re out for delivery already this morning. Quite impressive the turnaround time with the vendor I got them from. Now I gotta find some 245/35r18 Federal RSRR tires...

Those banjo bolts are only going to get clogged during the flush. Metal shavings in oil 9/10 times mean you need a new short block. If you want to see if you can reuse the motor, take it apart. Just because you flush out contaminants doesn’t mean you’ll get all of them out and it doesn’t mean the damage isn’t already done.

If the electronic parts cleaner and dielectric grease didn’t work, I’d grease it up one more time. You can’t really put too much. If it still comes back, new sensor or pedal assembly. Easier to just get new assembly.

#1 - Yes #2 - Yes, top feed fuel rails will work with top feed TGVS.

Given the nature of the job, I wouldn’t be as eager to install a new turbo inlet. But I assume you still have the block out of the car, so it should be much easier to wrestle with those hardened rubber lines. I think I need to turn my rotors after installing the Wilwoods. I have a groove in the DBAs that is looking like it’s causing uneven temperatures. My birthday is coming up next week and I think I’m going to treat myself to some new wheels instead of coils. (Shout out to boxkita and white tiger for the advice) Really like the NT03s... but gold or silver? I truly cannot decide yet. I have the silver eyelids and the JDM exhaust finishers so I feel like silver would look better. Although gold on white has really grown on me. It’s less noticeable when it’s covered in brake dust. It just turns into more of a bronze than a gold. Going to likely pair them with some cheap Federal RSRRs. 255 wide sounds real good to me...

They’re just Rota Tarmac 3’s 18x8 +48. Finally washed the car today, but it is raining tomorrow so unfortunately not going to drive it again for a bit. I forgot that I have big black brake calipers now and unfortunately got my wheel and tire cleaner on them, leaving a white residue on the passenger side. Gonna have to take the wheel off and clean it off by hand.

Was I really ripped off if they surprisingly work just as well?

Same inlet diameter between the VF40/46/52, I’m actually running a VF52 on the stock inlet.

Installed and bled my front Wilwood BBK calipers. I desperately need to clean the car on Monday after all this midsummer rain passes (midsummer in California). What’s not pictured here is all the dirt on side doors, trunk, and front bumper from one highway trip. Good thing I didn’t pull the trigger on installing summer tires yet.

You’re going to want a 2.5 or 2.75 inch clamp. Stock size is 2.4 I believe but the Avo is a tad thicker. Either one should work, you’d just have to tighten the 2.75 more in the little space you have down there.

This only happens with automatic transmissions because the transmission is constantly sending a force to the axles and it is stopped by your foot on the brake. I believe this small force is what causes vibration in cheaper CV axles because they allow for just a little bit of rotational play in comparison with others which don’t have this. Manual transmissions only send force when in gear so it would not have this issue. It confused me as well until I thought about it.

Yup, same thing happened to me. Replaced with Whiteline bits and no clicks since!

You can usually invert any signal with a 4 pin relay. Not sure if that work given the situation though with different voltages, good luck!

Not sure if I have the same symptoms but my front drivers side wheel bearing is shot. Check for play on the wheel when it’s off the ground.