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Baron's '05 STi journal - **Car is gone, now have R34 GT-R :)**

152K views 1K replies 41 participants last post by  BaronOBeefdip 
#1 · (Edited)
Greetings IWSTI! I am finally creating my journal after reading through so many awesome ones and being on here since early 2012. Long time coming...

I've been obsessed with cars as far back as I can remember, so I can't really get enough of 'em actually. I've also been a longtime follower of motorsports, including WRC, which is where the love for Subaru began. Watching the GCs dominate in the late 90's and GCs/GDs in the early 00's was so memorable. Then when I saw that the STi was coming to U.S. shores for the '04 model year, it was desire right there. Maybe that's why I'm so fond of the GDB chassis. I just knew I had to have one some day. I never gave up that dream and finally, in May of 2012, I was able to get one after an extensive search. I knew what I wanted, so I was on a two year hunt for an untouched, low mileage, one owner car with a clear history/title, and it had to be a fair price to boot!

I found the car the same day that Subaru of Gainesville had listed it on the internet and somehow, I was the first one to call about it. It had just over 28k on the odo, one owner, and was bone-stock. It wasn't listed more than 24hrs and after talking it over with the salesman, my mind was made up: I had to jump on this one because the price was remarkably fair compared to what the rest of the market was doing at the time. After working out a fair deal, it was shipped to me up in Nebraska, and it's been a joy to own ever since.....

Only problems were one wheel had some minor curbage and there were many bug marks permanently in the paint all over the front clip, because the owner did not like to clean I guess. After the flurry of getting things done right after the first month of ownership(it really needed a deep clean, since the previous owner did not care much, and the dealer's "detail" department was less than optimal in their work on it), I decided to fix the major cosmetic issues rather than put money into performance mods. I had the front bumper, hood, hood scoop, and trunk lid repainted. Also had some surfaces buffed and small dents removed. The rest of the car could use a good buff and there are a few small rock chips here and there that I will be touching up myself, but other than that, the paint and clear coat is in good shape and it's a damn perfect car. I am very particular and detail-oriented, so this translates to my car.

As for my plans with it, it's a nice weather toy only. My goals are pretty modest and not attention-grabbing, so to some of you my journal may be somewhat boring and the upgrades may be rather slow since I won't be dumping all my money into it(read: not abusing it and racing irresponsibly).

I have a pretty well-thought out mod path and I know most of the parts that I want to put into it(but suggestions are welcome), so whatever the best power gains from the best possible tuning, I will be happy with. When I'm done upgrading, I'm shooting for somewhere between 330-380whp, but it won't be the easiest to obtain 320 on the 39. I will NOT be going rotated or FMIC probably ever. I want to retain responsiveness and drivability, so I will be staying with the stock turbo as long as I can, as well as the TMIC orientation. I know there's really not that much lag involved, but everyone goes rotated and FMIC around here and I'm not really looking for huge power. I want to be a bit different. Who knows, I may eventually consider an 18 or 20G though; would love to have a ball-bearing turbo. Too bad VF34's don't pop up very often! Most everything else is fair game. I do plan on replacing or upgrading much of the chassis and suspension components relatively soon.

Whew! As I said my journal may be boring to some and it will take some time for parts to go on it, but I welcome discussions on anything and like to talk technical, so have at it! I'm over on that OTHER Subaru forum(NASIOC) with the same name.



More to come!!
 

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#190 ·
Re: Baron's '05 STi journal!! - **back on the road!**

Got my headlights back and put on, they look pretty good. I will take some pics and post them showing the bulbs as well once they are adjusted properly.

Spent the past couple days pulling out some scratches in my hood because my friend's frickin' indoor/outdoor cat walked all over it while we were hanging out a few nights ago, out of all the cars there. Walked outside to casually look at the car and noticed a dark strip from the front of the hood to the flat top of the bumper just above the license plate mounts. Cat was sitting under his truck next to the car just watching me like nothing happened. It was getting dark out and I realized it wasn't coming off with detail spray/microfiber. I was thoroughly annoyed, but what am I gonna do? Can't yell at my friends over it. Got home under different lighting later on to see the paw prints up the passenger side of the windshield.

My shitty luck.....at least it's been corrected.
 
#191 ·
Re: Baron's '05 STi journal!! - **back on the road!**

Woops, kinda forgot about my journal for a few days. I will post some pics soon of the new bulbs.

New small anomaly I can't figure out:
For some reason as of yesterday, while the car is on, the parking lights won't shut off. Before you ask....yes, I have checked the switch on top of the steering column. It's weird, because when I flick the switch, I can see the lights quickly flicker. They do turn off with the car though. I have checked the associated fuses and I got nothing. Anyone have any thoughts?
 
#199 ·
Re: Baron's '05 STi journal!! - **back on the road!**

Woops, kinda forgot about my journal for a few days. I will post some pics soon of the new bulbs.

New small anomaly I can't figure out:
For some reason as of yesterday, while the car is on, the parking lights won't shut off. Before you ask....yes, I have checked the switch on top of the steering column. It's weird, because when I flick the switch, I can see the lights quickly flicker. They do turn off with the car though. I have checked the associated fuses and I got nothing. Anyone have any thoughts?
The parking lights switch on top of the steering column gets it's power from a constant on battery source. If your lights do at least shut off with the ignition when the problem is occurring, then the switch on top of the steering column is not the power source, or the problem.

The headlight/parking light switch at the end of the turn signal gets it's power from an ignition switched circuit. This is likely your culprit. If it's not reliably disconnecting the parking lights from it's power source, it may need to be replaced, unless there's some other short circuit in your wiring somewhere. You don't have any trailer lights, do you?
 
#192 ·
Re: Baron's '05 STi journal!! - **back on the road!**

Ground?
 
#194 ·
Re: Baron's '05 STi journal!! - **back on the road!**

That sucks about the cat... I have a BB gun you can borrow.

As far as the lights, have you check the switch itself? Maybe pop it out and test it to see if it has continuity in the open and closed position.
 
#195 ·
Re: Baron's '05 STi journal!! - **back on the road!**

Yeah, I suppose I will need to do that....pulling the shroud off the column. The switch itself definitely has a positive feel to it since it actually "clicks".

How'd you do last Sunday? I wasn't able to make it away from work. I think there were some large storms along I29 later that day?
 
#196 ·
Re: Baron's '05 STi journal!! - **back on the road!**

I got two sessions in on Sunday and then we looked at the weather radar showing that lots of rain was coming. We packed up and went home and then I went out to Lincoln to visit some friends at the AutoX Spring Nationals.

This picture was taken shortly before we left... It was getting darker.

 
#197 · (Edited)
Re: Baron's '05 STi journal!! - **back on the road!**

Small update: I finally got around to ordering my Fortune Auto's. They are the newest V5s, with 8k/7k springs, camber plates on all corners, adjustment extenders on the rear, and the Koyo sealed radial bearings. Also got the SuperPro RCA kit with the order.

Should be a couple weeks' build time if they're busy, but I'm looking forward to it. They won't be going on the car for a month or two since I plan to do most stuff all at once. No point on getting under the car several times.
 
#198 · (Edited)
Re: Baron's '05 STi journal!! - **back on the road!**

Ordered a Tomei downpipe today, gasp! I will get a bung welded into it slightly after the bend for an AFR. I know it's real simple to do, but I don't have welding gear, so I need to look for a shop that can do a clean job for a fair price.

Also popped out the switch for the parking lights recently and all looked fine there, put it back in, same issue...annoying. But before I went for a small drive yesterday, noticed the lights can now be turned off again....weird.

EDIT: Not going with a Tomei DP since RSD is not going to see any delivered until Aug 30th; way past the date I wanna start building the car up. So I am now back on the market and looking around at DPs, yay.
 
#201 · (Edited)
Re: Baron's '05 STi journal!! - **back on the road!**

Received the SuperPro RCA kit yesterday. Initial impressions are that these are really well-made and of good quality. The boots covering the "DuroBall" are on there quite firmly and the retainer rings are quite snug. The metals are zinc coated as well to resist the elements(not that I have to worry about that though :)).





 
#202 · (Edited)
Re: Baron's '05 STi journal!! - **back on the road!.....sort of, but with pics!**

So hello there people, this past weekend I was able to embark on one of my motorsports life goals: I went to the Pikes Peak Rally! Well what can I say? It was pretty damn awesome and I'm not sure why I waited so long to go. I guess I never really had any friends who were excited about motorsport like I am. We taped up his '11 STi the night before:



It would've completely held up great if we hadn't run into a downpour along the way. :(
Even then, it still caught a lot of bugs and sandy bits.

While I was too busy and exhausted to really take any pics of the rally, I did get a few of the FanFest(which I was also too distracted to get more of). Those are below. I can say that I was fortunate enough to talk to Kenji Sumino, president of GReddy USA and Tony Kwan of Evasive Motorsports about Ken Gushi's(yes I got to say hello to Ken, he was busy!!!!!) Pike's Peak/Formula D FR-S/GT-86 and got up close and personal with the car!! It was a very interesting and informative conversation to say the least. Again, I was too distracted to get any pics of his car as well.

But here are some I got:

Hawk Performance GT-R (had issues later on it's raceday run)



Dat wing doe.



SCR Performance Radical RXC - it's an N/A Ford Duratec 3.7L putting out about 390hp in a car that weighs ~1900lbs. Nuts!





D-Zug Produkte Porsche 935





Dem turbos...(crew wasn't around to talk about the car, dangit)



Rising Sun's sidecar entry



And of course Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima's record-setting E-Runner!
Seriously, like nine Go-Pros on this thing. Helps when you're sponsored by them! :D





And on to my car....well, I went to my friend's house yesterday to pick up my cooler aaaand I threw a CEL code, just out of nowhere. Cruise light blinking this time too, but not limp mode. I stayed off boost of course and went straight home after, not wanting to risk it. I'm going to wait til I work with Jason to really drive it. That or get an AP or talk to some mechanic friends who can get OBDII readers.

Got a KSTech 73mm CAI as well.

I know you guys know what cleared headlights look like, but I'm gonna post a pic anyway:



Not the best quality, but I'll get another up in a future update.

Kicked my ass for the few days before going to Colorado cleaning up the car for the year and doing some minor correction(though I didn't completely need to) between juggling my life stuff and recently found out I will be getting the promotion at my job that I've worked so hard for, Systems Administrator! It will be challenging and rewarding for sure!



Ahhhh, like glass. Stay tuned!
 
#203 ·
Re: Baron's '05 STi journal!! - **back on the road!**

Hello again people. Recently took delivery of my Fortune Auto setup and all is well and good, everything looks to be in order. Can't wait to get 'em on the car!









Also got a Koyorad aluminum radiator on sale from RSD's 4th of July sale with a Koyorad 1.3bar cap. Received it today!

 
#205 ·
Re: Baron's '05 STi journal!! - **back on the road!**

Just saw the CEL comment. I took Monday off if you want to bring the car by.
Hey man! I actually got the code cleared by a buddy who had a reader a couple days ago, it was that evap code again, I think 4057 or something. I'll still drive down if you wanna chat, just let me know.
 
#206 · (Edited)
Re: Baron's '05 STi journal!! - **back on the road!**

So finally decided to stop holding out on the AFR I wanted, so now all gauges done(for now). I'm well aware of the adage in this hobby that is "pay to play", but gatdamn it was a chunk of change for just one gauge.

It's the AutoMeter ES series digital AFR. Very basic looking I know, but I like the simple and understated thing. Matches the other two I have waiting to go in anyway.

 
#207 ·
Re: Baron's '05 STi journal!! - **back on the road!**

Let's see.....

Re-ordered a Tomei downpipe, even though RSD won't be shipping 'til the end of the month. It's been too long as it is but Tomei is terrible at supplying stock from what I'm told by industry guys.

Placed an order for GrimmSpeed PnP'd OEM manifolds with an EGT tap, since I may decide to go with an EGT gauge in the future. I figured I'll just plug it 'til then. The package I ordered includes a Hi-Flow crosspipe as well. Will have the necessary gaskets coming along with it. Once I take delivery of those as well as a GrimmSpeed EWG uppipe in a few weeks' time, they will be sent to SwainTech.

Also am buying a new Cusco 22mm rear sway from a member over on NASIOC for a real good price.

Got my JPM shift boot installed after finally finding a retainer ring for a fair price.

Exciting times.....
 
#208 ·
Re: Baron's '05 STi journal!! - **back on the road!**

Recently sent all the exhaust components on-hand and had Cygnus Performance send my EWG UP directly to get coated at SwainTech. Will be keeping in touch with them regularly since I've heard they like to take their time with work.

Would've liked to get a DP and turbo components to them, but the ETA on that DP is preventing that. Need to now think about an AOS solution and plan for a possible oil cooling loop. I was thinking of Crawford or AMW for the oil catching and a Setrab core with a sandwich plate/necessary hoses for the loop.

Any ideas from anyone?
 
#209 ·
Re: Baron's '05 STi journal!! - **back on the road!**

So, this time a pretty important update at this point....I finally got around to ordering the last round of mods for my car! If you check the mod list, you'll see a looooot of that red finally changed to orange! So many parts inbound, its like goddamned Christmas morning! Ooooof, what an expensive day it's been though.... :/

I was also told that Tomei is no longer making downpipes for the GD, so the last batch coming in next week to RSD are the last new ones I guess; glad I held out!

I'm really excited to start work on real upgrades on the car and learn the process as much as I can from someone whom I respect and trust. Any guesses who that might be?!?! I hope to document the process with pictures and descriptions as much as possible, drive the car before the end of the season(coming up fast, don't remind me, ugggghhh) and see how it feels. Then, provide parts reviews up the wahzoo...

I will take some before/after videos of the necessary components between stock and aftermarket in order for that information to be out there, even though most of the world has moved on to the newer chassis. Can't hurt, right? Kinda sick of the lack of info on certain things. Or maybe I'm not looking hard enough? Eh, I don't know, but I hope to change that with my contributions.
 
#212 ·
Re: Baron's '05 STi journal!! - **back on the road!**

Haha, nice gif Jay!

Thanks for driving by! Saw your posts on the journal recently, sucks that you're feeling old again....:\ I dread that for myself.....alas, it's inevitable though.

Finally got my downpipe last week, I know I keep saying it, but I will try to get some pics up tonight.
 
#213 · (Edited)
Re: Baron's '05 STi journal!! - **back on the road!**

Alrighty, here are some pics. The first is the pile of parts that are going on the car. Yes, all those boxes. Whew, that's a lot at once! Okay okay, more than I'm used to at least....some of you with fatter wallets have seen more I'm sure! :D

"Okay doctor, what exactly are we dealing with here?!"


GASP! What could that be?? Why, a downpipe of course!(Finally.) It's Tomei's Version 2 for the GD, since they no longer make a one-piece pipe. It will still function the same though.


It really is a beautiful piece, the welds are spot-on and clean.






 
#216 ·
Re: Baron's '05 STi journal!! - **back on the road!**

Isn't it? Shame though, that over time that finish will tarnish, however it'll be cool to see the effects of heat on it. Maybe I'll get it coated eventually, who knows. It would probably make sense to do so since a lot of heat bleeds off that area. Although sense is also telling me it'd be easier before putting it on the car.... :|
 
#218 ·
Re: Baron's '05 STi journal!! - **back on the road!**

Isn't it? Shame though, that over time that finish will tarnish, however it'll be cool to see the effects of heat on it. Maybe I'll get it coated eventually, who knows. It would probably make sense to do so since a lot of heat bleeds off that area. Although sense is also telling me it'd be easier before putting it on the car.... :|
It'll yellow. If you want to keep it looking nice, spray ceramic paint over it in several coats.
 
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