Hi All,
Little backstory... Bought my dream car (2005 Impreza WRX blob) a few years ago soon after uni when i got a big payrise as i wouldnt miss the money if i spent it before it came in! But its now been off the road for almost 2 years while i did some traveling. I want to give it some love it deserves and have planned/saved for a full rear end 'restoration' as ill soon be living with my mate that has a garage so i finally have space for a long term project and no more journeys home to my parents driveway.
However im at a crossroads. I plan on removing pretty much all the rear end so i can take back to bare metal chassis and re-paint/seal. Generally i am looking to replace:
-Rear subframe
-Control arms (pillow bush)
-Lateral link arms
-Sway bar (probably whiteline)
-Drop links
-Full bolt replacements for all these things
-Brake lines (inc braids)
-Fuel filler neck and maybe tank/straps
-New knuckles, Hubs, ABS rings, Back splashes and Bearings
-Coilovers
-BBK (front and hopefully rear)
(I'm actually going to Japan this winter for a ski season and hoping to buy almost all of this out there and post it back to myself saving some $$$)
Basically everything bar the diff and driveshafts. However this is where my dilemma starts, I want to eventually put a 6 speed STI transmission in, which obviously requires replacing the diff, drive shafts and most importantly... Hubs??
So i really need some advice on how best to proceed, are the knuckles the same so i would just need to press fit new hubs? Or would i need new knuckles? is it a waste of money and false economy to replace my knuckles when i need STI ones? and finally if so, can i put STI R180 diff, drive shafts, knuckles etc and bolt up to my 5 speed drive shaft? essentially running just and STI rear end and weird 2 types of stud patterns.
Any help on this would be greatly appreciated, ive been doing lots of forum searching but i think im just confused at this point. cheers all.