So i broke 60k miles on my car the other day and decided to a crap load of stuff to the car.

First I decided maintenance was key. So i did a radiator flush, oil change, tranny oil change, brake bleed. I got gm synchromesh finally. Man that stuff is great, all cars should come stock with that.

Then I decided I should change the sparkplugs and the pcv valve and clean out the throttle body and such. While I was at it I decided to get an uppipe. I bought the STi pipe on ebay for a grand ol price of like 50 buck. Thinking it would be a big undertaking, I happily set out for this job with my buddy. Luckily we have a huuuuge garage where we part out cars so I used his tools. regardless, it was a HUUUUUGE PITA. Here's a word of advice, if you're going to change the uppipe, just unbolt the entire exhaust system. Unbolt the exhaust manifold as one peice and don't bother disconnecting the three peices. And make sure you just buy ALL of the gaskets for the ENTIRE exhaust system, because like it or not, it will all come off. Don't think you can avoid it by being smart like I did. AND, don't leave your keys in the car even though the battery is disconnected, and keep a spare close at hand and not 115 miles away like mine was. AAA couldn't get my car opened. When changing spark plugs, make sure you have a pivoting ratchet joint thingy... it is impossible without it. When jacking up the enging, don't unscrew BOTH bolts, just loosen the driver side one. I managed to move the engine just enough for it to not go in for a while... that was fun. Whn replacing the PCV valve, don't bother with it. I took mine out and it was flawless, not dirty at all. the little thing inside still jiggled perfectly, but I replaced it anyway. Anyways, the uppipe made my car sound evil and the turbo spools like crazy, so basically, my gas mileage went down the hole. Ohh well... Oh yeah, I've been using redline waterweter for a while now and it's pretty nice, the car cools down pretty fast.

I'll probably get it tuned sooner or later. I think next I will flush the brake system and i will inject seafoam into the intake manifold to clean the little sucker out even more. But, if you aren't confident in your mechanical abilities, this might not be a do-it-yourself thing for you, although i think I saved A LOT of money by doing it myself. Last piece of advice, get a six pack, it helps.

Basically, uppipes are fun, so are new spark plugs and tranny oil.