ZMAN24250

Work continues... a lot of sanding and body work still to do. Also, I now have an air diverter for the hood scoop. I had to modify it pretty heavily. It came off the wrx and didn't exactly bolt up. I cut the perimeter off the block off plate that was there and chiseled down the wrx one until it fit in that perimeter. Also had to shrink the diverter scoop size. I still have to make a few patches and finish weld everything but I'm pretty happy how everything turned out.

Have them hit me up! I'm undecided but I can be convinced easily! Haha

A nice little JDM package showed up in the mail today! Shout out again to @PingPong for the JDM goodies! I dont think I'm going to end up using everything I got in this deal, but there are a few things I've been searching for and some were happy surprises. I like the door grab handles, but being from a RHD car, the switches for the front are on the wrong side and there isn't any way to easily move them around. However, I do like the switches way more than the USDM ones. Only thing I can think to do is modify the USDM switch housing to make the door grab bars work. Idk, were going to wait till rust repair and paint is done first. Side marker lights Ive been looking out for, the center console with the little tray in front of the shifter is a happy find! I love that little tray! I'm not sure if i'm going to keep the spats... it seems they need side skirts to work and i don't have those. But first is to fix rust and to get everything painted. Still cutting steel back to find a solid foundation. First time I've really attempted rust repair.

Jusy started looking through your thread. Looks like were on this rust train together with the rear strut towers... I keep digging into my and have yet to have a foundation to build from... Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Sorry guys, I forgot to upload my cheat sheet! Got wrapped up in the rest of the build. This is what I have at this time and have updated it with notes I made during the splicing. This splicing was for a 1999 legacy L 30th anniversary California model and a 2003 USDM WRX. It may be different for different years and if yours was not a california model. If anyone finds something wrong, let me know! PIN cheet sheet.pdf

You'll be sure to see it! Thanks pingpong! Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

New JDM ecu arrived today. Plugged it in and seems to be running well. Error codes came up for tumble generator equipment of which there is none on this engine. I guess I'll have to live with the code till I get it tuned. But I should have functional AVCS now!

Into the rust repair wormhole we go! Big OOF.... I hate living in the salt belt.... The keen will also note that there is a whole on the inside of the strut tower too... This is drivers side. have to do it all on the passenger side too. Time to order up some welding supplies and get my Miller actually behaving.

Thats my '74 Duster! (And my buddy's '70 valiant behind mine)

So for any of the fairly deformed spots im going to get the heat gun and see if I cant persuade them back closer to where theyre supposed to be. There are some dings and gouges that will need filled. Thanks rhino for the suggestion on the filler! I was just going to use regular filler but Ill investigate what I have vs the suggestion. Else, I think we are going to use some high fill primer and see if we can get the rest of the imperfections out. Also since having to move the car around without the muffler (vband clamp FTW) it sounds majestic. Im toying the idea of putting an exhaust cutout after the resonator so I can be loud if I want and fairly tame for normal commuting.

SO. MUCH. SANDING.

Thanks, Poosh! It really wasnt too bad looking back on it and I definitely know what to change for next time. But Im not out of the woods yet... Were starting to get into the thick of it now boys... She was getting real tired on the front and rear bumper paint. Plus the rust is getting out of hand. Time for some rust repair and bodywork

Thanks guys! It does feel pretty great knowing I did it myself. Just ordered new fenders and in the process of stripping paint off the bumper cover and scoop. They looked very tired and fenders were rusted out so the car wont be fully put back together for awhile. Boost is there now! I think it was just because I was looking at boost in 1st/2nd gear. You get it on the road and middle of 3rd gear I got .09ish MPa (13ish psi) so everything seems good in that region. Also need to put new output shaft seals on the gearbox in; found giant puddles of gear oil. Another thing I need to investigate is why when I plug my obdII reader in and go to look at the live data, all I see is DTC_CNT (how many error codes there are). I dont see any readouts for any of the sensors... Im not sure if the ecu may have been tuned before and thats why... or maybe something wasnt wired right to the data link connector.... Any thoughts/experience is appreciated!

It runs!!! It turns out Im not great at documenting as Im working... I kinda get in a wrenching gear and dont think to take progress pictures until after Ive done things. To sum it up: Harness has been merged Fog lights have been added to the harness AVCS wires were installed Wire harness has been installed Fuel pump controller has been installed Car runs!! Bulkhead harness installed: Some of the harness was a little short so I ended up having to tug and manipulate stuff to get it to work. I also installed the fuel pump controller in a factory(ish) location, back behind the right rear strut tower. I figure the factory put it back there for a reason. I probably could have tucked it under the dash but six one way, half a dozen the other... The exhaust sounds exactly what I was going for, nice and mellow. There does seem to be a small exhaust leak I think too.. It also seems down on boost, Im only getting like 5 psi.. but I also dont trust this gauge so Ill have to hunt that problem down. Another problem is my code reader wont communicate with the ecu. I believe this to be the fact that I have to move some pins around in the data link connector, but this need research. But it runs! Gauges work, fans work, just about everything seems to work.

Walbro 255 lpm fuel pump in. Finalizing wiring cheat sheet for what wires need spliced, removed, or cut and kept. I will be sure to link that sheet in this thread when it is finished. I also reviewed my splicing sheet and plan of attack with a second set of eyes and caught a few things I didn't see the first time. New soldering iron (hakko fx-888D, would recommend) has been ordered and should be here for the merging weekend.

Weekend Update Major fabrication weekend. Finally got the exhaust done! Also made and modified a hand full of brackets so the vacuum pump fits, the ballast resistor has somewhere to go, power steering reservoir is located, and coolant overflow pipe exists. Also, I want to document that in the wiring process, no where can I specifically find what Pin 23 does on connector B137 for the ECU (red wire with blue stripe). However, I found one thread about clearing code P1446 (https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1183535) that mentions this wire so I'm 99% sure it's for the fuel tank vacuum switching valve. Apparently '03s+ have this. My options are to A) cut it out an hope the tuner can disable this, B) place an appropriate resistor in its place, or C) extract the valve out of the donor wire it up and tuck it under the dash. With any luck, wiring will be next weekends project...

Stumbled across this video the other day from TurboYoda (mighty car mods) and thought I'd share to any turbo swappers. He goes through the generic process of stripping a wrx harness and splicing it into the project harness. It finally gave me motivation to try and decipher the wrx harness I stripped. I really dont think it will be as bad as I thought it would. Spent a few hours with a wire diagram crossing off all the pins on the ecu and I only have one pin/wire not accounted for. I'll still have to get a AVCS wire kit from iWire and splice that in too but they will give you instructions how to do that. New Walbro 255 lph fuel pump has been ordered. I think that will about do it for parts then... just fabrication and wiring will be left. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Wagon Update! Motor/trans is in the car! Everything bolted right up. Got a cobb 3" catted downpipe that bolts on. Unfortunately were going to have to fabricate new mounts for the vacuum pump for the cruise control but other than that it fits right in there. I'm using the stock radiator with the jdm motor. Reason is the water neck comes out at an angle and needs a outlet of the radiator on the top corner (USDM comes out strait and has an inlet at the center of the rad). My other option was to get a USDM coolant passage but I didn't want to take off the intake and all that jazz. maybe once everything is working but not at the moment. Going to have to fabricate the power steering reservoir bracket too. Shouldn't be too hard, ill show results when finished. And last I have to finish fabricating the exhaust. Oh ya.. and theres wiring...

Like I said earlier, this is the thread Im using: https://www.rs25.com/threads/brydon-teaches-you-to-merge-a-harness.141937/ It basically will end up leaving the legacy harness and replacing anything engine related with the wrx (donor) harness. I had to do some google-fu to find the harnesses but I think I got them.

F*ck that Flea-bay exhaust. Its JUNK. I found a video of someone cutting it apart ( ) and its just hollow... and sounds trash. So I returned it. I ended up picking up a use Invidia Q300 for a steal... This one is for a civic SI. The thing I like about this one is that the tailpipe sticks out longer than one for a wrx so when you install it it sticks out about the perfect amount. I had to cut the pipe right before the muffler inlet and will have to fab the rest but I think it will work perfect and end up sounding mint! Also, in my quest to keep the hill assist with the hydraulic clutch, I cut up my cable clutch fork and grafted the portion that deals with the hill hold on to the top of the hydraulic clutch fork. Id say, if you didn't know any better, that's how the clutch fork is supposed to look... AHh.. just like one of my favorite mottos go.. "Grinder and paint, make me the welder I 'aint" The rest of my plan is to make a new pulley on the lathe that is the right effective diameter for the cable. This is because this new distance of the cable to the fulcrum of the clutch fork will make the "hill assist actuator" not rotate enough so Ill have to make a smaller one. Additionally, Ill have to get stand-offs for where the clutch cable mounts on the transmission. This is because where the clutch cable mounts and where the slave cylinder mounts are in the same location. So Ill just have one live above the other. If people are interested, I can do a post that has a write up on this.

Im really looking for something that is kind of subtle. Did some looking around last night and I think I would love to get a invidia Q300. Also from the measurements, one for a civic SI will stick out just the right about from under the car. Of course I'll have to hack the piping to get it to work but that's just the cost of doing all this. Unfortunately a cat back kit is like $500.

Things are trickling in the mail. Just got my Flea-bay exhaust... not sure how I feel about it yet.. I dont think there is any fiberglass matting in it so it may be louder than I want it to be... plus I feel like it should stick out another inch or two... Either way it was stupid cheap ($160 for a wrx cat-back) so I wont feel too bad about having to cut it up to make it fit. And if it's too loud I can always open it up and put some fiberglass in it Let me know your thoughts on how it looks!

Well, this weekend I gutted the Legacy. Also took the chance to power wash the engine bay well. It'll be nice working on something and not getting covered in grease! Also got the interior gutted and wire harness extracted. Legacy Harness Also swapped in they hydraulic Clutch pedal set and master cylinder from the donor car. Almost ready for JDM ej205 power! Also, has anyone heard of making the hill hold work with a hydraulic clutch? I would like to keep it if I can. It looks like I am going to have to make some custom clutch fork if I do... still thinking about this one...

Big oof on not having a SMJ plug. Having that seems to keep everything straight in my head. And that annoying about the auto. Im happy everything I have is manual.

I think I found a diagram to work, its not very easy to work with but its getting the job done. If you have something that is more user friendly I would love to get a copy! so i have the wiring from the fuel pump control wiring all the way till about where the B pillar was on the doner. If you follow the 2.5rs guide, he'll show you how to strip the donor for what you actually need. That might give you an idea what all you need to take out of the donor... everything haha