The "What did you do to your car today" Thread!
installed these headers today - better fitment than the perrin headers I had in the past (which also leaked!). and HKS included a set of oem subaru gaskets!
JDM instructions... good thing I didn't need them
JDM instructions... good thing I didn't need them
Awesome! I just got the HKS header on my car last month. Looks like people are starting to catch on that they're available in the US still
The Caster-adding arms position the ball-joint forward about 3/4" compared to the others. The GM/GC arms are shorter and work well on WRX wagons. They can be identified by an angled sway-bar mount when compared to all the others.
On WRXs, you can also add caster by doing a couple modifications to the standard arms - you can first flip the rear mounting rod which is relieved on one side for the mount to the aluminum arm; this effectively pushes the rear mount outward and the ball-joint forward. You can increase this by installing spacers under the two bolts that hold the rear mounting rod to the arm, but this should only be done by someone who knows what they are doing as it can weaken the arm.
I let my collection of STi lower control arms go with my swap abortion but I did purchase another set recently - I got them from Flatirons Tuning - they are still available for $343 a set. These are on my car now.
STI Aluminum Control Arms for the WRX Sedan
NOTE: if you bent an arm and may do that again, stick with the steel arms. They bend where the aluminum arms do not. You can bang a curb and bend a steel arm and get that fixed but the stiffer aluminum control arm will transfer all that shock to the body and bend the car/body in the same collision. Just something to think about.
After some gremlin trouble shooting with Mike @ GST, I replaced my fuel pump. The car has been sitting for many years and there was a bunch of silt clogging the pump. Rev's much better now. I also upgraded my fog lights to be a hybrid of the Hella 500 Black Magic with the fog lenses from another set of Hella 500. Bulbs are PIAA Plasma Yellow. So with it off, they look as dark as I could get them, and with them on, nice wide yellow.
Last edited by odyss3y; Feb 20, 2015 at 12:30 AM.
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 4,074
From: BAIC Wagon Clique
Car Info: '02 WRB WRX Wagon
After some gremlin trouble shooting with Mike @ GST, I replaced my fuel pump. The car has been sitting for many years and there was a bunch of silt clogging the pump. Rev's much better now. I also upgraded my fog lights to be a hybrid of the Hella 500 Black Magic with the fog lenses from another set of Hella 500. Bulbs are PIAA Plasma Yellow. So with it off, they look as dark as I could get them, and with them on, nice wide yellow.
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iTrader: (6)
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 692
From: San Jose, CA
Car Info: http://goo.gl/XpkO0b & '99 SF 'S'
We should do a header day at my pad. I still need to install my EL/UP (and /turbo/oil and avcs lines/inlet/injectors/ebcs/pickup tube/windagetray/brake lines) hahahahaha
In the past month:
It's been a damn expensive month especially with Valentine's Day and a vacation.. But I'm in love with the car again. Next up: coilovers!
- Michelin PSS
- Replaced all 4 TPMS
- Stoptech pads
- DBA T3 4000s
- Replaced steering rack
- Alignment
- Oil change
- Southbend Clutch (Stage 2 endurance)
It's been a damn expensive month especially with Valentine's Day and a vacation.. But I'm in love with the car again. Next up: coilovers!
I did a BUNCH of research on this when I was building my '04 powered '95 coupe. There are indeed some good threads on this - my fav was one where they actually had the 3 basic different arms (GC/GM or GD wagon, JDM STi and USDM STi/dealer add-on USDM WRX) all laid out for comparison where you could see the difference.
The Caster-adding arms position the ball-joint forward about 3/4" compared to the others. The GM/GC arms are shorter and work well on WRX wagons. They can be identified by an angled sway-bar mount when compared to all the others.
On WRXs, you can also add caster by doing a couple modifications to the standard arms - you can first flip the rear mounting rod which is relieved on one side for the mount to the aluminum arm; this effectively pushes the rear mount outward and the ball-joint forward. You can increase this by installing spacers under the two bolts that hold the rear mounting rod to the arm, but this should only be done by someone who knows what they are doing as it can weaken the arm.
I let my collection of STi lower control arms go with my swap abortion but I did purchase another set recently - I got them from Flatirons Tuning - they are still available for $343 a set. These are on my car now.
STI Aluminum Control Arms for the WRX Sedan
NOTE: if you bent an arm and may do that again, stick with the steel arms. They bend where the aluminum arms do not. You can bang a curb and bend a steel arm and get that fixed but the stiffer aluminum control arm will transfer all that shock to the body and bend the car/body in the same collision. Just something to think about.
The Caster-adding arms position the ball-joint forward about 3/4" compared to the others. The GM/GC arms are shorter and work well on WRX wagons. They can be identified by an angled sway-bar mount when compared to all the others.
On WRXs, you can also add caster by doing a couple modifications to the standard arms - you can first flip the rear mounting rod which is relieved on one side for the mount to the aluminum arm; this effectively pushes the rear mount outward and the ball-joint forward. You can increase this by installing spacers under the two bolts that hold the rear mounting rod to the arm, but this should only be done by someone who knows what they are doing as it can weaken the arm.
I let my collection of STi lower control arms go with my swap abortion but I did purchase another set recently - I got them from Flatirons Tuning - they are still available for $343 a set. These are on my car now.
STI Aluminum Control Arms for the WRX Sedan
NOTE: if you bent an arm and may do that again, stick with the steel arms. They bend where the aluminum arms do not. You can bang a curb and bend a steel arm and get that fixed but the stiffer aluminum control arm will transfer all that shock to the body and bend the car/body in the same collision. Just something to think about.