1993 JDM WRX 'Fix' thread

[Martian]

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Imo Maintenance is never that much fun but it is a necessity and can sometimes lead to a cheeky upgrade

I cant agree more lol, maintenance sucks, the oil filter refused to come off, broke a (admittedly weak plastic) oil filter grip tool, had to use a screwdriver to stab it and wrench it off, only the biggest screwdriver i had worked as the others where ripping it.  The spark plugs were a pain, no room to maneuver at all. But once everything was done and the Ecu was reset im sure there is a noticeable difference. But as a disclaimer i havent reset the Ecu since fitting the 2.5" exhaust cat back, replacing the disgusting airfilter etc. So it feels like a new car. 

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Although i dont know much about wagon spec , Being a v1 it should have individual coil packs on top of each spark plug ?

If so they don't run ht leads and either a newage coilpack conversion or new classic coilpacks are the only way to refresh the sparks

Yup, you are correct. There are individual coil packs on top of each spark plug, I gave them a look when changing the plugs. They seem in good nick! But I have some newage coilpacks on top of my wardrobe for a day that I feel confident doing the conversion.  The video I found on youtube is better than the guide I found, but still im not too confident with stuff like that, Im planning on organising a few days that I dont need the car, so if i mess it up its no big deal. But I only need to worry about this when im in a position to do the turbo conversion and remap it.

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Good news is most v1 & v2 jdm imprezas have the top entry tdo5 16g as standard . As it was only the uk versions that had a top entry tdo4 (well on the saloons anyways ) .

From what I have read this will be an easy fit aswell! Which I am pleased about.  From eBay searches the top entry turbos are only about £120.  But I remember reading that front entry turbos have less air restriction, due to not having a 90 degree bend.  I may be wrong about that, and it prob wont matter with my build due to me not chasing mass amounts of power. I will be happy with 280-300.

[Phillip1993]

21 hours ago, Martian said:

From what I have read this will be an easy fit aswell! Which I am pleased about.  From ebay searches the top entry turbos are only about £120.  But I remember reading that front entry turbos have less air restriction, due to not having a 90 degree bend.  I may be wrong about that, and it prob wont matter with my build due to me not chasing mass amounts of power. I will be happy with 280-300.

I'm getting 322bhp out of my td05 so you will have no problems with that

[Martian]

Ive also heard that the TD05 feels more like a kick than the TD04, which should be interesting.

On another note, since doing the ecu reset, my mpg has gone up considerably! I reckon im getting about 30mpg which is great

Even though i was warned wrx's were fuel guzzlers i had an expectation and mine did not meet it, i was even reluctant to work out an mpg it was that bad, i would guess low to mid 20's, it just dropped out the tank as soon as it went in.  Well pleased now!  You dont get an impreza for the fuel economy but for 220bhp there is a limit to what is acceptable.

[Phillip1993]

I get about 32 on a run but that with the remap and running lower boost as I have  2 maps 1 for day to day(32mph) and 1 for fun (23mpg)

[Martian]

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I get about 32 on a run but that with the remap and running lower boost as I have  2 maps 1 for day to day(32mph) and 1 for fun (23mpg)

Ive been looking into dual maps, thats the kind of thing i want, General cruiser and battle wagon maps ;)

Just had my diff and gearbox oil changed, reckon by the state of it that it the rear diff had never been changed but the gearbox had a change about 10 years ago. It has made a big difference, but im still getting a little bit of reluctance to go into first and then second.  There was no significant metal shavings and no lumps in the oil.

On monday im having my new downpipe fitted

Can anyone explain why Subaru blank the wastegate on the oem downpipe?

[Martian]

Its time for a little update as I have been very busy for the last month or two, both work wise and car wise. 

I had my downpipe fitted and I absolutely love it! It has improved the sound no end and im not sure if its just because i was expecting to feel a difference or not but it feels a little bit different, slightly sharper.

I bought a toyospeed manifold and up pipe and then read the reviews so cancelled the orders. I am now looking for a harvey manifold and up pipe.

My rear brakes had a seized caliper so i put on some slightly larger single pot calipers and vented discs that i won for a tenner on fleabay, they were really minging but i didnt have time to clean them up before fitting them.

Then my front brakes seized so i bought some 4 pots with discs and pads second hand off fleabay again. I fitted them and found my original wheels didnt fit on top

So i ordered some cheap wheels with tyres off of impboy a seller on eBay and a week later had still not received them, mean while my car is up on stands for nearly a week and half, not happy! Ended up cancelling the order.

I splashed out on a set of wheels i really liked with nearly new toyo proxes on and they arrived the next day of another guy on eBay. Well happy now!

Fitted everything and still had problems, steering shake at 60mph and the car shaking whenever i brake. Ended up needing new discs as the others were warped and the wheels had the correct weights on in the wrong places lol. I then painted the rear calipers red to match the fronts but the front wheels were a darker red, i still need to paint them to match the rears.

Now I am happy again! The car feels really good, handles a lot better and grips like a dream with the tyres and wider wheels.

I phoned around about 6 garages around shrewsbury trying to get a decent quote to fix my leaking crank oil seal and fit a new clutch. They all said a minimum of £400 despite me already having the clutch and oil seal sitting in the corner of my room. They said they would follow the guide book which says all day, even if it only takes 3 hours they wont have booked any other work in so will loose money. So I went with my local mechanic who is still fairly new at the game but fairly priced. He said he would only charge what it took him to do the job. Paid £320 which wasnt too bad considering I messed up and bought a front crank seal and the car had to sit on his ramps till 2pm the next day when the rear crank seal turned up

I bought a boost gauge and fitted it myself despite my doubts about messing with the wiring, I am not very good with that type of thing, ended up doing a good job despite a bucket load of stress! There are no definitive guides on line that i could find. Plain simple picture guides would of been a bonus, never mind job done!

I won some WRX front seats for £26 and they are in good nick, fitted them and pound for pound they are the best mod so far! I am no longer flung around the car when cornering, I remain still and can feel what the car is doing so much better.

On my to do list is Harvey manifold and up pipe, ESL, yellow injectors, fuel pump and TD05. Koni adjustables all round with possibly tein springs, not sure what spring to go for. 

Im guessing i may need to replace a wishbone for my next mot, judging by the rust.  I will definitely need new door cards and rear seats at some point in the future to go with my new front seats. And i still need to repair, paint and fit my sti rear spoilers, repair my rear arches.

And I just bought some sti rear lights

I love this car!!!

Below are some pics taken before work was done.

 

And now some pics of the bits ive added on.

This picture was taken straight after i fitted the front 4 pots and wheels, but before i painted the rear calipers.

 

[savage bulldogs]

Some good looking value for money mods that will give real improvements, with comfort ,handling and breaking [emoji41]

 

Glad you read the reviews on the toyo headers before buying them [emoji6]

 

 

Assume you know The up pipe ,tdo5 and yellow injectors will have to be esl mapped in before you drive it to far .

 

Think it's the first v1 jdm import I've heard of with steel wishbones tbh

 

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

 

[Martian]

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Some good looking value for money mods that will give real improvements, with comfort ,handling and breaking

Cheers bud, Im loving modding this car. It is taking all my cash though Its a good job i'm single as i wouldn't even want to take a girl to maccies on a date, I would begrudge the price of a happy meal

 

 

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Glad you read the reviews on the toyo headers before buying them

Yeah so am I, a friend tipped me off and said they were not liked by people, so i read a review and im glad I didnt get them.

Im looking at japspeed, but would also like to read up a bit more on the harvey manifold and up pipe. I have heard that the ported manifold is basically something you can do at home yourself with your own if you have a bit of confidence. But i think that a lighter stainless manifold might be better acoustically? The decat up pipe i would have to buy.

5 hours ago, savage bulldogs said:

Assume you know The up pipe ,tdo5 and yellow injectors will have to be esl mapped in before you drive it to far .

Yeah cheers, I am planning on buying the bits and having it all done in one go.

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Think it's the first v1 jdm import I've heard of with steel wishbones tbh

I was suprised aswell! One of the things i had read was jdm imports have alloy wishbones. But i have also read that early subarus are a real mix and match bag. Especially imports.

[Martian]

I have been really busy with everyday crap for the last few months so havent had the mindset to post anything. I have been messing around with the car still, mainly wasting time trying to make my own mdf speaker rings. But I have also given the engine bay a good old degrease using a product called virusol. Its citrus based but boy does it clean!! Its mental!

I have fitted my sub woofer, something I didnt want to do but glad I did. I will remove it when I have completed some more expensive work on the car and can upgrade the system Im fitting. I have given her an oil flush and some awesome Millers oil and a new filter. This has made a big difference in engine sound, its quieter and has a different tone.

But the big news which I am really happy about is my ESL board which I have just ordered!

I have just ordered it direct from ESL, it was more than i thought, as i read but didnt mentally register the 'VAT not included' sign. I decided to buy it as I have only seen two second hand v.2.0 chips for my car for sale in the last year, and ESL are always out of stock when i check, I have messaged Duncan at race dynamics asking if he keeps them in stock but he hasnt replied. He offers the board fitted, remap and rolling road for £650 but I cant guarantee him having one in stock when im ready. So, its a bit more expensive for me this way, but at least i will have a brand new board ready to go in when I have the cash for the mappng and rolling road, hopefully in a month or two.

Pics to follow soon

[Martian]

I have been really busy with the wagon over the last few weeks, I have been stockpiling bits and pieces to all go on at the same time.

TD05 turbo that has done aprox the same mileage as my car, 70 odd thousand miles.

2.8 bar map sensor

Newage coil packs and pfr7 spark plugs gapped to 6mm as per request from bob rawle

Walbro fuel pump

Greddy up pipe

ESL board with a 6k map on it that will work with my mods until I can get it mapped soon.

Yellow injectors

First though I had some maintenance and cleaning to do whilst I had space in the engine bay, my intercooler was proper messed up, so I bought a second and fixed the fins on that and just swapped them over.

My old one

Cleaning all done.

 

[Martian]

Then my turbo turned up and a corner had broken off

 

So I created a steel washer, found the broken piece in the box and super glued the broken piece to the main bit just so that it would be in place when I tightened the bolts.

Then I cleaned off my resonator delete and painted it with high temp gloss black.

My air intake pipe was absolutely filthy, I think a 3 port catch can will be soon.

Cleaned it all out with brake cleaner before fitting.

 

 

[Martian]

I had work at 4pm last friday and didn't finish it until 3pm lol, I started it and it was really rough, turns out i forgot to tighten up the bottom of the up pipe

Fixed that and it ran a lot better. But I messed up the rear exhaust, it was not aligned properly and the gasket needed replacing.

Sorted that today and it sounds  a lot better and doesn't gas me out when i stop at traffic lights which is always a bonus!

This has completely changed the car! It is insane! Pulls all the way through the rev range when the turbo kicks in, the old map pulled to 4000rpm and then dropped off and by 6000 it was gone. This sounds evil and is now a proper scooby!

[Martian]

I had to cancel my appointment with Bob Rawle last week which i was gutted about. I am looking to head down to see him at the end of the month, 1st map will be an eco map, hoping to see about 35mpg, and the second map will be what I can safely see, 300ish, I dont want to be breaking gearboxes tho lol.

[Martian]

I got a new job about 5 months ago (time has flown!) and its working in the community for a local hospital. So I had to get the car mapped quickly.

I couldn't go with Bob at the time as he was not coming up this way anytime soon and was a bit pricey compared to someone else, the maps i have are not too bad, 1st is 0.5 bar and the other 1.2. Im a bit concerned that when i asked him to do this he said it was just turning down the boost. I was LED to believe that an eco map included a bit more than turning the boost down. But I am a bit heavy footed and this is helping me out a lot with the miles i do.

Also when im accelerating everything seems fine but when in traffic going slow approaching traffic lights or in a queue it is embarrassing, kangaroos everywhere, i have to stick it in neutral and coast. So i am going to get a remap by Bob in the next few months. Next month i have loads on including santa pod festival of power which im really looking forward to so cant afford it.

Currently I have a few projects on the go with the wagon.

Today I took the wind deflectors off as they were all cracked and manky. Left a hell of a mess im not looking forward to cleaning up.

Took off both OE WRX spoilers, found a load of bubbling rust, attempted a temporary fix to last until summer or a good weekend in spring. Fitted STI replica spoilers using the bolts and some double sided foam. This is just temporary until the summer. I will remove them again fix the rust and respray the spoilers as they are a bit rough and then use a more permanent seal that will be more effective at keeping water out.

I have successfully changed the passenger rocker cover which was badly leaking oil. It looked like someone had previously attempted to repair it and not done it properly including a really loose bolt on the cover and at the top of the cover a loose bolt on the breather pipe, both of which were leaking. Next i will change the drivers side as thats also leaking but not so bad.

The steering rack and power steering reservoir are leaking. I have an STI rack I am buying bushes for and am trying to find out if the reservoir has a gasket i can just change or not.

My sump is leaking from the gasket aswell which is a pig as I have just changed the oil to Gulf competition. That can wait until the next oil change i guess.

I have some Koni adjustables I won on eBay, so I am looking for some early classic WRX shocks to refurb that I can put them in so its an easy change over and the car wont be on jacks all weekend. At the same time I may aswell replace bushes and top mounts, I have also purchased a set of the P11L springs and bumpstops from 2pot on SN.

Also which is weird, my exhaust wont fit properly now since I fitted the TD05, the downpipe wont line up with the bracket to hold it in place and I have had to butcher some hard plastic exhaust mounts to support it and stop it from rattling on metal.

Well that's a very quick update, pics to follow when Im not so tired