oh boy my first member journal!! 2005 STi: short block swap started

rodder · 04-24-2008, 04:59 PM

Hey everyone. So, I finally decided to create one of these things of my own. I just purchased a 2005 black on gold STi and am in the process of going back to stock/parting out my 2002 silver bugeye and selling it. It's been such an amazing car that I knew my only option for a replacement daily driver would be to upgrade to an STi.

My original plan was to find a black on gold (always wanted my bugeye to be black) bone stock STi and build it up myself, but after having a hard time finding a good example I found a car somewhat locally that seemed to be a great candidate. Already installed was an fp green, tial/element tuning ewg set up, aem meth kit, perrin fmic, tgv deletes, etc etc. Also installed were RCE yellows and the unabomber sexy rearend. The car had all the wrenching done by Ryan over at Area 1320 in Nazareth PA and was tuned by Andy at Verocious in DE. It put down 383 whp on pump and 432 on meth.

So anyway, I plunk down a check, get handed the keys and bring the car home about 2 weeks ago. Here she is the day I brought her home:

I notice the car doesn't seem to be running very smoothly on the drive home. After driving it around for a few days I decide something is definitely not right and pull the plugs for a look see. They look OK but I decide to run a compression test while I have them out. Cylinder #4 is about 80 psi lower than the other 3... so now I have a brand new car with a blown engine. I take the car to Area 1320 the next night where they run a leak down and find it's leaking past the rings... looks like the good ole broken ring land in #4.

Now this is the part where I request that you try to keep your opinions to yourselves, as I am not pointing any fingers. IMHO, it won't really do me any good at this point anyway. All I know is the car was OK on the test drive and that somewhere in between the time I test drove it and finally got it home it broke. Yeah, pretty much sucks giant ****ing ****s.

Fast forward 2 weeks and I have a brand spanking new short block waiting to go in, some custom exhaust ideas, and some other nifty stuff like whiteline steering rack bushings and...
these:

Future plans include a lot of things, but the car will definitely eventually be going wingless and scoopless, hopefully replaced with carbon fiber stuff that will be painted to match the car. Also hopefully sometime in the not so distant future it'll be getting a set of hotchkis or whiteline sways/end links, stop tech ss brake lines, a short shifter with all the bushings, a set of defi gauges and some 17x9s with 255 width azenis.

The car will be used as my daily transportation. It'll be driven in blizzards for snowboarding trips all winter and rallied around the back roads of PA, NYC and the jersey shore all summer. It will see some HPDEs and track days, and possibly even some drag racing. Hopefully this new short block lasts a little longer than the first one.

PS, anyone looking for a clean, high mileage bugeye let me know!

rodder · 04-24-2008, 05:21 PM

oh, ummm... reserved!

rodder · 04-25-2008, 10:18 AM

aww, no one wants to pop my cherry?

Just ordered a bunch of tic and kartboy shifter bushings. Coilovers should be on next week. Custom exhaust work and short block install begin in about 2 weeks. After that it's going back on the dyno and getting a custom alignment.

texas05sti · 04-25-2008, 10:28 AM

Did you go with a factory shortblock or something else?

rodder · 04-25-2008, 10:34 AM

ooow take it easy it's my first time.

OEM short block.

After much debating, talking with engine builders and my tuner I decided that I didn't want to deal with the blow by, warm up procedures, accelerated ring wear etc, associated with forged pistons. The stock sb should be able to handle my power levels, especially since I'd like an even more conservative tune this time and don't plan on really even using the meth, aside from maybe at the drag strip, in which case I'd top it off with some 110 octane. I could care less about numbers, I just want smooth, reliable power and I need to be able to hop in the car and go at any time.

I also got a killer deal on the brand new STi short block - $1100. Couldn't pass it up.

wrxridah · 05-01-2008, 02:09 PM

Are you running a cold air intake with that front mount? I have the same intercooler but can't find a CAI to fit it. Also, are you selling the RCE's?

rodder · 05-05-2008, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wrxridah

Are you running a cold air intake with that front mount? I have the same intercooler but can't find a CAI to fit it. Also, are you selling the RCE's?

yes and yes...

the 3" big MAF CAI is a one off piece built by Ryan at Area 1320. Here's another pic:

the RCE springs will be up for sale as soon as I find time to swap them out for the ohlins.

***1_STi_2_NV*** · 05-05-2008, 08:26 AM

dude that car is sweet... how much hp?? what else you got ???

rodder · 05-05-2008, 08:50 AM

thanks bro, hp numbers are mentioned in the first thread. It made 383 whp on pump and 432 on meth. Will probably make slightly less after the exhaust mods I have planned are finished. It'll be going back on the dyno once the new short block is in and the exhaust work is completed.

Just picked up a bunch of kartboy and TiC shifter bushings last week.

rodder · 05-13-2008, 10:26 AM

yay progress!!

ATTI2D · 05-30-2008, 04:05 PM

Congrats Andy! That really ****ing sucks tho about the motor. Hope to see you at the Applebees meets soon. You going to the Mt. Olive Subaru meet this Tuesday? LMK when you wanna go to the track. Ive gotta post up some better times now that I got the uppipe fixed.

04-24-2008, 04:59 PM	#1
rodder Amateur STI Driver Car: OBP 05 STi Fav Mod: broken ring lands Location: Lehigh Valley, PA Posts: 27 Join Date: Mar 2008 Trader Rating: (0)	oh boy my first member journal!! 2005 STi: short block swap started Hey everyone. So, I finally decided to create one of these things of my own. I just purchased a 2005 black on gold STi and am in the process of going back to stock/parting out my 2002 silver bugeye and selling it. It's been such an amazing car that I knew my only option for a replacement daily driver would be to upgrade to an STi. My original plan was to find a black on gold (always wanted my bugeye to be black) bone stock STi and build it up myself, but after having a hard time finding a good example I found a car somewhat locally that seemed to be a great candidate. Already installed was an fp green, tial/element tuning ewg set up, aem meth kit, perrin fmic, tgv deletes, etc etc. Also installed were RCE yellows and the unabomber sexy rearend. The car had all the wrenching done by Ryan over at Area 1320 in Nazareth PA and was tuned by Andy at Verocious in DE. It put down 383 whp on pump and 432 on meth. So anyway, I plunk down a check, get handed the keys and bring the car home about 2 weeks ago. Here she is the day I brought her home: I notice the car doesn't seem to be running very smoothly on the drive home. After driving it around for a few days I decide something is definitely not right and pull the plugs for a look see. They look OK but I decide to run a compression test while I have them out. Cylinder #4 is about 80 psi lower than the other 3... so now I have a brand new car with a blown engine. I take the car to Area 1320 the next night where they run a leak down and find it's leaking past the rings... looks like the good ole broken ring land in #4. Now this is the part where I request that you try to keep your opinions to yourselves, as I am not pointing any fingers. IMHO, it won't really do me any good at this point anyway. All I know is the car was OK on the test drive and that somewhere in between the time I test drove it and finally got it home it broke. Yeah, pretty much sucks giant **ing *s. Fast forward 2 weeks and I have a brand spanking new short block waiting to go in, some custom exhaust ideas, and some other nifty stuff like whiteline steering rack bushings and... these: Future plans include a lot of things, but the car will definitely eventually be going wingless and scoopless, hopefully replaced with carbon fiber stuff that will be painted to match the car. Also hopefully sometime in the not so distant future it'll be getting a set of hotchkis or whiteline sways/end links, stop tech ss brake lines, a short shifter with all the bushings, a set of defi gauges and some 17x9s with 255 width azenis. The car will be used as my daily transportation. It'll be driven in blizzards for snowboarding trips all winter and rallied around the back roads of PA, NYC and the jersey shore all summer. It will see some HPDEs and track days, and possibly even some drag racing. Hopefully this new short block lasts a little longer than the first one. PS, anyone looking for a clean, high mileage bugeye let me know! This ad is not endorsed by this member. Please register or login to hide this ad. Attached Thumbnails Last edited by rodder : 05-13-2008 at 11:43 AM.*

04-24-2008, 05:21 PM	#2
rodder Amateur STI Driver Car: OBP 05 STi Fav Mod: broken ring lands Location: Lehigh Valley, PA Posts: 27 Join Date: Mar 2008 Trader Rating: (0)	Re: oh boy my first member journal!! 2005 STi oh, ummm... reserved!

04-25-2008, 10:18 AM	#3
rodder Amateur STI Driver Car: OBP 05 STi Fav Mod: broken ring lands Location: Lehigh Valley, PA Posts: 27 Join Date: Mar 2008 Trader Rating: (0)	Re: oh boy my first member journal!! 2005 STi aww, no one wants to pop my cherry? Just ordered a bunch of tic and kartboy shifter bushings. Coilovers should be on next week. Custom exhaust work and short block install begin in about 2 weeks. After that it's going back on the dyno and getting a custom alignment.

04-25-2008, 10:34 AM	#5
rodder Amateur STI Driver Car: OBP 05 STi Fav Mod: broken ring lands Location: Lehigh Valley, PA Posts: 27 Join Date: Mar 2008 Trader Rating: (0)	Re: oh boy my first member journal!! 2005 STi ooow take it easy it's my first time. OEM short block. After much debating, talking with engine builders and my tuner I decided that I didn't want to deal with the blow by, warm up procedures, accelerated ring wear etc, associated with forged pistons. The stock sb should be able to handle my power levels, especially since I'd like an even more conservative tune this time and don't plan on really even using the meth, aside from maybe at the drag strip, in which case I'd top it off with some 110 octane. I could care less about numbers, I just want smooth, reliable power and I need to be able to hop in the car and go at any time. I also got a killer deal on the brand new STi short block - $1100. Couldn't pass it up.

05-01-2008, 02:09 PM	#6
wrxridah Junior STI Driver Car: 05 OBP STi Fav Mod: AP Location: Portland, OR Posts: 77 Join Date: Sep 2006 Trader Rating: (0)	Re: oh boy my first member journal!! 2005 STi Are you running a cold air intake with that front mount? I have the same intercooler but can't find a CAI to fit it. Also, are you selling the RCE's?

04-25-2008, 10:28 AM	#4
texas05sti Junior STI Driver Car: 05 STi Location: DFW, Texas Posts: 138 Join Date: Oct 2006 Trader Rating: (2)	Re: oh boy my first member journal!! 2005 STi Did you go with a factory shortblock or something else?

05-05-2008, 08:26 AM	#8
*1_STi_2_NV* Platinum Member Car: 05 WRB STi Fav Mod: volk's TE 37 Location: lake orion Posts: 49 Join Date: May 2008 Trader Rating: (0)	Re: oh boy my first member journal!! 2005 STi dude that car is sweet... how much hp?? what else you got ???

05-05-2008, 08:50 AM	#9
rodder Amateur STI Driver Car: OBP 05 STi Fav Mod: broken ring lands Location: Lehigh Valley, PA Posts: 27 Join Date: Mar 2008 Trader Rating: (0)	Re: oh boy my first member journal!! 2005 STi thanks bro, hp numbers are mentioned in the first thread. It made 383 whp on pump and 432 on meth. Will probably make slightly less after the exhaust mods I have planned are finished. It'll be going back on the dyno once the new short block is in and the exhaust work is completed. Just picked up a bunch of kartboy and TiC shifter bushings last week.

05-13-2008, 10:26 AM	#10
rodder Amateur STI Driver Car: OBP 05 STi Fav Mod: broken ring lands Location: Lehigh Valley, PA Posts: 27 Join Date: Mar 2008 Trader Rating: (0)	Re: oh boy my first member journal!! 2005 STi yay progress!!

05-30-2008, 04:05 PM	#11
ATTI2D Senior STI Driver Car: JBP 04 STi Fav Mod: 17x9" on 245's ;) Location: Easton PA Posts: 336 Join Date: Feb 2007 Trader Rating: (1)	Re: oh boy my first member journal!! 2005 STi: short block swap started Congrats Andy! That really ****ing sucks tho about the motor. Hope to see you at the Applebees meets soon. You going to the Mt. Olive Subaru meet this Tuesday? LMK when you wanna go to the track. Ive gotta post up some better times now that I got the uppipe fixed. This ad is not endorsed by this member. Please register or login to hide this ad.