Nick's 05 WRB STi - ETS/GTX/EFI/Flare build
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Wow haven't updated this in awhile 
The day after my birthday (7/30) the DD left me stranded, busted a passenger side CV joint. Open diff's FTL
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Luckily I still haven't sold the green TL yet, cuz this is how the driveway looked for about a month.
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Is this the lip your talking about? Because I am looking for help to get my LF flare fitting better.
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It's not until I get the last bottom bolt (by the side skirt) into place that the top of the flare starts pulling away from the fender like so, leaving this gap.
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I was thinking of things like bonding a small bolt to the top of the flare, drilling another hole in the fender and putting a nut on the inside to pull it in. But if trimming the inside lip will help, I'll try that first.
I'm also completely indecisive about which hardware to use. The heads of the dome titanium bolts from Pro-bolt are too big, needing a lot more trimming around all the bolt recesses. But they look baller :tup:
Or some standard black oxide SHCS
Not too shabby, I don't think This is probably the ride height I'll stay at.
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And on a personal note, my back injury flared up again a month ago. I relapsed completely back to my snowboarding injury 4 years ago on NYE. This past Thanksgiving I needed to crawl on my hands and knees from the bathroom to the couch, the pain was that excruciating.
Already got 1 neurosurgeon's opinion, suggesting fusing L4/L5/S1 vertebra together, but he was out of my network. Seeing an in-network doc in a week, and I'm heavily leaning towards the fusion, to permanently fix me once and for all :tup:
The day after my birthday (7/30) the DD left me stranded, busted a passenger side CV joint. Open diff's FTL
Luckily I still haven't sold the green TL yet, cuz this is how the driveway looked for about a month.
Is this the lip your talking about? Because I am looking for help to get my LF flare fitting better.
It's not until I get the last bottom bolt (by the side skirt) into place that the top of the flare starts pulling away from the fender like so, leaving this gap.
I was thinking of things like bonding a small bolt to the top of the flare, drilling another hole in the fender and putting a nut on the inside to pull it in. But if trimming the inside lip will help, I'll try that first.
I'm also completely indecisive about which hardware to use. The heads of the dome titanium bolts from Pro-bolt are too big, needing a lot more trimming around all the bolt recesses. But they look baller :tup:
Or some standard black oxide SHCS
Not too shabby, I don't think
This is probably the ride height I'll stay at.
And on a personal note, my back injury flared up again a month ago. I relapsed completely back to my snowboarding injury 4 years ago on NYE. This past Thanksgiving I needed to crawl on my hands and knees from the bathroom to the couch, the pain was that excruciating.
Already got 1 neurosurgeon's opinion, suggesting fusing L4/L5/S1 vertebra together, but he was out of my network. Seeing an in-network doc in a week, and I'm heavily leaning towards the fusion, to permanently fix me once and for all :tup:
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After trimming the fender to fit the flare properly does the fender liner still fit or does it hang loose? Completely removed? Aftermarket replacement?
Anyone have any insight please let me know. Thanks.
Anyone have any insight please let me know. Thanks.
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339 Posts
Fuck bro!!! Fuse it!!! Im telling you. I can offer up any advice I went though. Shoot me a DM on IG, @SkiesPho and ill tell you what i did.Wow haven't updated this in awhile
The day after my birthday (7/30) the DD left me stranded, busted a passenger side CV joint. Open diff's FTL
Image Link
Luckily I still haven't sold the green TL yet, cuz this is how the driveway looked for about a month.
Image Link
Is this the lip your talking about? Because I am looking for help to get my LF flare fitting better.
Image Link
It's not until I get the last bottom bolt (by the side skirt) into place that the top of the flare starts pulling away from the fender like so, leaving this gap.
Image Link
I was thinking of things like bonding a small bolt to the top of the flare, drilling another hole in the fender and putting a nut on the inside to pull it in. But if trimming the inside lip will help, I'll try that first.
I'm also completely indecisive about which hardware to use. The heads of the dome titanium bolts from Pro-bolt are too big, needing a lot more trimming around all the bolt recesses. But they look baller :tup:
Or some standard black oxide SHCS
Not too shabby, I don't think
Image Link
And on a personal note, my back injury flared up again a month ago. I relapsed completely back to my snowboarding injury 4 years ago on NYE. This past Thanksgiving I needed to crawl on my hands and knees from the bathroom to the couch, the pain was that excruciating.
Already got 1 neurosurgeon's opinion, suggesting fusing L4/L5/S1 vertebra together, but he was out of my network. Seeing an in-network doc in a week, and I'm heavily leaning towards the fusion, to permanently fix me once and for all :tup:
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339 Posts
Its pretty much trash. Now I havent completed mine, but you could lay some fiberglass or something to make a custom shell for up there. Some people use a poly board, and cut to fit.
I have to figure it out later too.
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126 Posts
As far as myself and any other person I know that's flared we all just run without liners. You can't use the stock ones in any way since the width of our wheels and their offset rub them even if we got them to work. I had to hammer flat the liner mounting flange by the firewall/A-Pillar to keep it from cutting the tires at full lock. I'm sure you could make a custom Kevlar liner that would work but most just don't bother from my experience.
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Get opinions from at least one doctor who is NOT a surgeon. Back surgery is not for the faint of heart, and outcomes are not always ideal. Ask around. Become as well informed as possible.And on a personal note, my back injury flared up again a month ago. I relapsed completely back to my snowboarding injury 4 years ago on NYE. This past Thanksgiving I needed to crawl on my hands and knees from the bathroom to the couch, the pain was that excruciating.
Already got 1 neurosurgeon's opinion, suggesting fusing L4/L5/S1 vertebra together, but he was out of my network. Seeing an in-network doc in a week, and I'm heavily leaning towards the fusion, to permanently fix me once and for all :tup:
Oh and HNY, blah blah blah.
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1,494 Posts
Get opinions from at least one doctor who is NOT a surgeon. Back surgery is not for the faint of heart, and outcomes are not always ideal. Ask around. Become as well informed as possible.
Oh and HNY, blah blah blah.
So it was only the 1st neurosurgeon (out of network) who was willing to do the fusion.
The 2nd neurosurgeon and 3rd orthopedic surgeon both said I wasn't a candidate for surgery/fusion. They couldn't guarantee it would fix the chronic lower back pain, they could only guarantee it would fix sciatica, which is the least of my pain. They recommended just stay on course doing PT, yayy
This really bummed me out cuz I personally know about 5 people who've had similar surgeries/fusions who all say it's the best decision of their life so I really got my hopes up thinking I could get it done. Personally I only know 1 person who had a bad (horrible) experience with back surgery, so I was willing to take the risk, IF I could find a doc willing to do it.
In the meantime I can try less invasive techniques such as chiropractor, accupuncture, physiatry, etc.
So my drivers-side door piece was by far the worst fitting piece, and being that it's a SOLID piece of fiberglass I really wasn't looking forward to sanding it for better fitment.
Look how it's touching the flare on top and bottom, and gap in the middle I could almost fit my pinky into
Spent around 3hrs today sanding the door piece with the Dremel, fits muchhhhh better now! :tup:
Turned my blue car white!
Turned me into a 70yr old man
Also epoxied some bolts to the inside of some of the flares, drilled corresponding holes thru the car to close the gaps, sometimes up to 1/2". Will post before/after pics once it's dried
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nice work
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Nicholas is back!
TL-S update: I accidentally hydro-locked the engine exactly 3 months ago. CAI + a giant puddle that I didn't see = a non-rotating, rotating assembly. I got ridiculously lucky that Geico covered my lucky ass, so for my $100 deductible I got a new engine (plus additional upgrades like a new clutch, flywheel, pressure plate, master and slave cylinder, new rear motor mount, AC compressor, starter and battery)
Dropped her off @ Honda
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Old engine out, new one attached to tranny
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Picking her up
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Flat-bedded home
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Got her home JUST in time for ol' reliable, green machine to finally get quite a serious injury; a massive leak in the brake hardline underneath the car.
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I'm probably going to splice in new hardline with compression fittings for both rear brakes which will be a thousand times easier than running an entirely new hard line on a car that has spent it's entire 184K miles in NJ, driven thru almost every winter.
Now onto the subie; a couple people have told me they see puffs of blue smoke outta my exhaust when I get on it and they're behind me, but hardly enough for me to even notice in the mirrors. But the bigger underlying issue is how much oil I'm loosing; 3/4qt over 500miles!! For the past 1,000 miles. On Rotella T4, with 4,400 total miles on the built motor.
So today I decided to pull the headers to determine if the oil was coming from the engine, or turbo.
#1 cylinder- this could be problematic A leaking guide/seal?
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#2 a bit better
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#3; another bad guide/seal, but not enough to leak.
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#4 looks good
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Hardly anything in the up-pipe.
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These were brand new seals/guides when the heads were refreshed and decked 4,400miles ago, but the stock valves with 117K on them.
Is it possible for the valves to have worn down (do they even wear down? I thought it was mostly the guides that do) enough for oil to seep past?
Or why would brand new seals and guides prematurely go bad?
TL-S update: I accidentally hydro-locked the engine exactly 3 months ago. CAI + a giant puddle that I didn't see = a non-rotating, rotating assembly.
I got ridiculously lucky that Geico covered my lucky ass, so for my $100 deductible I got a new engine (plus additional upgrades like a new clutch, flywheel, pressure plate, master and slave cylinder, new rear motor mount, AC compressor, starter and battery)Dropped her off @ Honda
Old engine out, new one attached to tranny
Picking her up
Flat-bedded home
Got her home JUST in time for ol' reliable, green machine to finally get quite a serious injury; a massive leak in the brake hardline underneath the car.
I'm probably going to splice in new hardline with compression fittings for both rear brakes which will be a thousand times easier than running an entirely new hard line on a car that has spent it's entire 184K miles in NJ, driven thru almost every winter.
Now onto the subie; a couple people have told me they see puffs of blue smoke outta my exhaust when I get on it and they're behind me, but hardly enough for me to even notice in the mirrors. But the bigger underlying issue is how much oil I'm loosing; 3/4qt over 500miles!! For the past 1,000 miles. On Rotella T4, with 4,400 total miles on the built motor.
So today I decided to pull the headers to determine if the oil was coming from the engine, or turbo.
#1 cylinder- this could be problematic
A leaking guide/seal?
#2 a bit better
#3; another bad guide/seal, but not enough to leak.
#4 looks good
Hardly anything in the up-pipe.
These were brand new seals/guides when the heads were refreshed and decked 4,400miles ago, but the stock valves with 117K on them.
Is it possible for the valves to have worn down (do they even wear down? I thought it was mostly the guides that do) enough for oil to seep past?
Or why would brand new seals and guides prematurely go bad?
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Hydrolock! Man you have the luck. I once saw a Saab 99 do that -- they had the air intake snorkel down near the road and a big splash would do them in. I once saw a Subaru do it too, but that was self inflicted; head gaskets leaking coolant into the combustion chamber.
I won't be any help on the Subie motor but I'm sure someone here will.
Be careful with compression fittings in brake lines, they see substantial PSI; make sure the job is high quality.
I won't be any help on the Subie motor but I'm sure someone here will.
Be careful with compression fittings in brake lines, they see substantial PSI; make sure the job is high quality.
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1,494 Posts
Anyone got insight if it does/doesn't look like the valve guides/seals are leaking?
Those are the only components I can think of that could leak oil from the upper portion of the heads onto the valves, out into the exhaust.
Those are the only components I can think of that could leak oil from the upper portion of the heads onto the valves, out into the exhaust.
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1,494 Posts
Alright boys here's an interesting wrench in the mix; the entire reason I expedited the built short-block was because my OEM long-block with 113K miles was pushing coolant out the overflow. Insert your typical "bad HG/stretching head studs" response here.
Built short-block (different case halves) with forged internals, new HG's, ARP studs, rotated 30R, tuned by EFI logics with 4,400miles on it. Heads on the other hand are my original stockers, refreshed/rebuilt with seals and guides, pretty sure they were shaved too (invoice doesn't state it). She's STILL pushing coolant
Koyo rad, samco hoses and t-stat all have around 25K on them.
With a coolant pressure tester I did find 3 small leaks, since fixed, and now I'm 99.9% positive there's no more leaks; the system can hold 20psi for about 30-45 minutes.
Pressure tested the brand new filler tank cap, she tests perfectly fine off the car.
Pressure tested the new rad cap, sometime's it can't hold any pressure, sometimes it can hold 18-20psi off the car. Once installed in the car tho, the system can hold 20psi
I also did the engine running cooling pressure test to look for pressure spikes (leaking thru the HG) and it passed with flying colors.
Lastly, just today I made a crazy simple leakdown tester (air compressor @ 130psi + compression tester hose with the shrader valve removed) simply to pressurize each cylinder to see/hear leaks, and confirm/deny bad HG.
Good news; on all 4 cylinders, there wasn't a single air bubble in the filler tank. 100% convinced HG's are fine. No hissing in either the intake nor crankcase.
Bad news; all 4 cylinders, there was a leak in the exhaust big enough to spin the turbo It would have to be valves/seats right?
Is there anyway the two problems (compression leaking into the exhaust and pushing coolant) could be related??
Oh yea, when burping the air out of the system with a Lisle funnel, there's NO bubbles until the coolant hits 204*. Only when the coolant is @ 204-205* do I get BIG bubbles in the funnel, fans kick on and temps drop down. As soon as they're under 204, no more bubbles. Consistently for 5-6 fan cycles.
Any idears??
Built short-block (different case halves) with forged internals, new HG's, ARP studs, rotated 30R, tuned by EFI logics with 4,400miles on it. Heads on the other hand are my original stockers, refreshed/rebuilt with seals and guides, pretty sure they were shaved too (invoice doesn't state it). She's STILL pushing coolant
Koyo rad, samco hoses and t-stat all have around 25K on them.
With a coolant pressure tester I did find 3 small leaks, since fixed, and now I'm 99.9% positive there's no more leaks; the system can hold 20psi for about 30-45 minutes.
Pressure tested the brand new filler tank cap, she tests perfectly fine off the car.
Pressure tested the new rad cap, sometime's it can't hold any pressure, sometimes it can hold 18-20psi off the car.
Once installed in the car tho, the system can hold 20psi I also did the engine running cooling pressure test to look for pressure spikes (leaking thru the HG) and it passed with flying colors.
Lastly, just today I made a crazy simple leakdown tester (air compressor @ 130psi + compression tester hose with the shrader valve removed) simply to pressurize each cylinder to see/hear leaks, and confirm/deny bad HG.
Good news; on all 4 cylinders, there wasn't a single air bubble in the filler tank. 100% convinced HG's are fine. No hissing in either the intake nor crankcase.
Bad news; all 4 cylinders, there was a leak in the exhaust big enough to spin the turbo
It would have to be valves/seats right?Is there anyway the two problems (compression leaking into the exhaust and pushing coolant) could be related??
Oh yea, when burping the air out of the system with a Lisle funnel, there's NO bubbles until the coolant hits 204*. Only when the coolant is @ 204-205* do I get BIG bubbles in the funnel, fans kick on and temps drop down. As soon as they're under 204, no more bubbles. Consistently for 5-6 fan cycles.
Any idears??
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GOOD NEWS!!!!
Crisis averted, and blonde moment was had.
Turns out I was testing @ TDC.... of the exhaust stroke, not the compression stroke :lol::lol:
I was only able to test #2 tonight due to the jankiness of my compression tester. Note the duct tape
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I'll bring it to our maintenance shop tmw to see if I can use any hydraulic/crimp-style clamps. Also note the anti-foulers; I found that trick on Nasioc. Literally makes it a thousand times easier to screw in the tester (got it on the first shot tonight, vs at least 30mins last night)
Verdict on #2: sounds like 0% leakage (intake, exhaust, coolant, and crankcase) :tup:
Only leakage was at the compression tester itself. *fingers crossed*
Crisis averted, and blonde moment was had.
Turns out I was testing @ TDC.... of the exhaust stroke, not the compression stroke :lol::lol:
I was only able to test #2 tonight due to the jankiness of my compression tester. Note the duct tape
I'll bring it to our maintenance shop tmw to see if I can use any hydraulic/crimp-style clamps. Also note the anti-foulers; I found that trick on Nasioc. Literally makes it a thousand times easier to screw in the tester (got it on the first shot tonight, vs at least 30mins last night)
Verdict on #2: sounds like 0% leakage (intake, exhaust, coolant, and crankcase) :tup:
Only leakage was at the compression tester itself. *fingers crossed*
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If 2 isn’t leaking, means the bridge between 2/4 is okay as well. Good news to start.
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Update: I finally bit the bullet and convinced myself that, regardless if it's a bad HG, cracked head, or what-ever cause of pressurizing my coolant, pressure testing each cylinder to ~120psi of air isn't anywhere even REMOTELY close to combustion pressures, which is what, 2-3000psi??
AKA pressure testing wasn't going to tell me diddly-squat.
So I bought the chemical hydrocarbon coolant combustion tester, results follow;
Nick Pastorello on Instagram: “Personally, this color-changing test is even scarier than a pregnancy test ? A positive color change indicates combustion gases in the…”
Confirmed combustion gases in the coolant, cool = Engine's coming out regardless
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Same heads (refreshed), new head gaskets with ARP's, and a different short-block, and still having the pushing coolant problem as the old engine... common denominator = the heads, so I'm thinking I have a cracked head. To me it's more statistically probable to have a cracked head, then a new OEM HG leaking.
Called IAG since I see they pressure test the heads themselves, they told me they've "never" seen STi heads crack before, it's mainly the WRX 2.0's.
They think it's "most likely" just a HG leak, despite the correct 30-60-90 torquing sequence on the ARP's. Fine by me, I'd rather spend $200 on new HG's (JE ProSeal this time, what IAG suggests) rather than what they woulda charged for full disassembly and pressure test the heads.
New JE ProSeals, Gates timing belt, and TGV gaskets have all arrived and while I was playing around the heads I figured I'd inspect them for this previously seen leak, coming outta #1 exhaust valve. It was resulting in loosing 3/4qt in only 500miles!
Ordered the Company23 valve spring compressor and GSC Viton valve seals (also what IAG suggests) from IAG themselves and they just arrived today during the snow storm. Good guy UPS:tup:
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Took about 2hours to check all valve seals and I didn't even wind up swapping to the GSC's since one of the #1 exhaust seals pretty much fell off with minimal effort (seen above), same with 3 intake seals on #2 and 4cyl's. That's what I'm attributing my oil loss to, so I knocked them back on.
All parts are either here, or will be in the next day or 2, like another OEM cam gear bolt that I needed to drill out (cuz I didn't feel like spending an additional $60 on TiC FU bolts) and other ancillary items needing replacing.
AKA pressure testing wasn't going to tell me diddly-squat.
So I bought the chemical hydrocarbon coolant combustion tester, results follow;
Nick Pastorello on Instagram: “Personally, this color-changing test is even scarier than a pregnancy test ? A positive color change indicates combustion gases in the…”
Confirmed combustion gases in the coolant, cool = Engine's coming out regardless
Same heads (refreshed), new head gaskets with ARP's, and a different short-block, and still having the pushing coolant problem as the old engine... common denominator = the heads, so I'm thinking I have a cracked head. To me it's more statistically probable to have a cracked head, then a new OEM HG leaking.
Called IAG since I see they pressure test the heads themselves, they told me they've "never" seen STi heads crack before, it's mainly the WRX 2.0's.
They think it's "most likely" just a HG leak, despite the correct 30-60-90 torquing sequence on the ARP's. Fine by me, I'd rather spend $200 on new HG's (JE ProSeal this time, what IAG suggests) rather than what they woulda charged for full disassembly and pressure test the heads.
New JE ProSeals, Gates timing belt, and TGV gaskets have all arrived and while I was playing around the heads I figured I'd inspect them for this previously seen leak, coming outta #1 exhaust valve. It was resulting in loosing 3/4qt in only 500miles!
Ordered the Company23 valve spring compressor and GSC Viton valve seals (also what IAG suggests) from IAG themselves and they just arrived today during the snow storm. Good guy UPS
:tup:
Took about 2hours to check all valve seals and I didn't even wind up swapping to the GSC's since one of the #1 exhaust seals pretty much fell off with minimal effort (seen above), same with 3 intake seals on #2 and 4cyl's. That's what I'm attributing my oil loss to, so I knocked them back on.
All parts are either here, or will be in the next day or 2, like another OEM cam gear bolt that I needed to drill out
(cuz I didn't feel like spending an additional $60 on TiC FU bolts) and other ancillary items needing replacing.
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1,494 Posts
Pretty sure I found the root cause of all my problems.
On just 1 of my ARP's the nut appears to be bottomed out on the shoulder of the stud, whoopsie daisiesss.
I asked on the local FB group if anyone has a single stud and nut available, maybe someone else made the same mistake as me and bought a 2nd pair of studs, only needing 1 of them. Wishful thinking.
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3,035 Posts
Ordered the Company23 valve spring compressor and GSC Viton valve seals (also what IAG suggests) from IAG themselves and they just arrived today during the snow storm. Good guy UPS
Image Link
Took about 2hours to check all valve seals and I didn't even wind up swapping to the GSC's since one of the #1 exhaust seals pretty much fell off with minimal effort (seen above), same with 3 intake seals on #2 and 4cyl's. That's what I'm attributing my oil loss to, so I knocked them back on.
Good work so far! But im a little confused, you were at the point of doing valve seals with the heads all apart and you only replaced 1 valve seal?? Why not just do them all at that point? I wouldnt want to even think about having to do the job twice later on because of not taking an opportunity while i was there.
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