My bugeyes (demise and reincarnation)

[devo]

Okay so this was the one I had when I introduced myself here...



Stage 2. Loved her dearly.
Then this happened just recently...



A friend did that. But insurance took care of everything and the buy-back was only $1450 so I went ahead with that. The car had 80k on it and the engine, interior and lots of other stuff is good. So I'm using what I need to and am gonna part out the rest.

Soooo, I got my check and have purchased this, the most RIDICULOUS LOOKING WRX I HAVE EVER SEEN:

[devo]

The paint job and body kit will be gone ASAP. Though I should be thankful because I think that's why it sat on Craigslist for so long and kept coming down in price. It has lower miles than my old one and more upgrades (though some things were not done right and will be/have already been changed... but I'll get to all that).

In the mean time, metal flake madness...






I like this pic because the old girl's in the background:

[devo]

THE REASONS I BOUGHT THIS CAR:
The mileage is great, the interior is MINT as mint can be, it was obviously garage kept and well-maintained, the body (while ugly) is straight, it has some upgrades I'd like to keep, the price was good given that I know someone who's a professional painter (and he owes me because he's the one who crashed the other Subie).

DRAWBACKS:
Aesthetics, the fact that the previous owner didn't go about things how I think he maybe should have... which is fine because I wanted to do it myself as opposed to buying something already done. However some of what was done (or I should say, what was NOT done) could have been devastating if we hadn't caught it. I'll explain as I post.




Anyway, first order of bidness was to swap out the exhaust. I didn't care for this one. It seemed to be home-made out of a mishmash of different sized piping...






With the help of a friend I replaced it with the 3" Invidia I had on the other Subie...






As soon as I started it up, I felt immediately "at home"... I was like, NOW it sounds right.
Plus it's really great to be using parts of the old car.

[devo]

It's at this point that we started discussing the exterior: how I should just rattle-can it for now, so it's not quite so much. Then my friend suggested I let my coworkers have at it with spray cans, since I don't like it and we're repainting it asap anyway. (I'm an artist, as are my coworkers and they all have backgrounds in graffiti). I assumed they'd do something dumb/embarrassing but also thought it'd be artsy/creative...

WELL I mentioned it to them as I was just getting started on a piece. The words had barely left my lips when they literally RAN out the front door with spray cans.

So now, I'm driving this:







:facepalm:

I make good... no- GREAT decisions.

[itwillboost]

If you want to trade some body parts let me know lol. I definitely know the feeling of wanting your subbie to sound like one. I am sure without that exhaust the car doesn't look to bad. Is that actual paint, or spray paint ?

[devo]

Originally Posted by itwillboost

If you want to trade some body parts let me know lol. I definitely know the feeling of wanting your subbie to sound like one. I am sure without that exhaust the car doesn't look to bad. Is that actual paint, or spray paint ?

It's paint. House Of Kolor. And lots of it. I bet the amount of flake on this thing puts me at a literal weight disadvantage.

I actually ran into a girl at a gas station with a bugeye who commented on it. She liked the body kit and said she'd be down to trade her stock stuff for it, so I got her number. If that doesn't pan out for some reason I'll let you know. I'm looking to swap out the bumpers, side skirts and tail lights for stock ones.
The headlights I DID hate but now they're growing on me... not sure what I'll do there.

I'll also be selling the driver's side doors. I'm going to use the ones from old Subie since they'll be less prep work for the new paint. Same thing with the (wingless) trunk deck. And none of those are spoken for as of yet.

[JERRYM1997]

What color are you gonna go with?

[devo]

Originally Posted by JERRYM1997

What color are you gonna go with?

It's gonna be white, with a very fine flake in blues... so it looks kinda iridescent. That was my plan for this Spring with the old one, so that's what I'm sticking with. I'd also wanted a carbon fiber hood and trunk. If I can afford those before the paint job I'd like to get em, just to save on prep work and paint.

The wheels on my old one were deep blue with a fine flake also. One of them got destroyed in the accident, so if I want to keep them I'll have to buy a replacement and have it painted to match. I'd like to do this eventually because they were my friend's vision and I think they'll look great with the white, but for now I really DO like the black STI wheels that are on it, and I think they'll look good with the white as well.

Old wheels:

[JERRYM1997]

Originally Posted by devo

It's gonna be white, with a very fine flake in blues... so it looks kinda iridescent. That was my plan for this Spring with the old one, so that's what I'm sticking with. I'd also wanted a carbon fiber hood and trunk. If I can afford those before the paint job I'd like to get em, just to save on prep work and paint.

The wheels on my old one were deep blue with a fine flake also. One of them got destroyed in the accident, so if I want to keep them I'll have to buy a replacement and have it painted to match. I'd like to do this eventually because they were my friend's vision and I think they'll look great with the white, but for now I really DO like the black STI wheels that are on it, and I think they'll look good with the white as well.

Thats gonna look really dope man.

[devo]

Anyway back to some changes I've made/will make...

The car has a Defi adjuster/monitor with a dual-setting switch. The guy I bought it from called it a "tuner" and said it was tuned. My friends and I were questioning this, since none of us were familiar with a Defi tuner. So my one friend did some research the second day I had the car. We then realized that the Defi system is strictly monitoring and boost adjustment. The thing was NOT tuned.

The boost was set at 10psi for stage one. Flip the switch and it was set for 16... with NO TUNING.

I have a Cobb access port from the old car, but didn't have it with me. So in the mean time, my friend recommended that I take the (stage 2 tuned) ecu out of old Subie and put it in the new one. So that's what I did. I plan on taking it to a shop to have it fine-tuned asap, because that's the element I know the least about and I don't want it effed up. But for now I guess I'll be safe with the swapped out computers.

OH, and it also still has stock injectors. The thing had a cold air intake, exhaust, headers, 10-16 boost, etc without upgraded injectors... so that's another thing I'll change before I do anything else.

As a precaution I used the Defi adjuster to lower the max boost, in case the switch gets flipped by accident or something.
I also got rid of the intake for now, for a few reasons which I'll get to next...

[wwwwwwwwwwwwww]

....what was the previous owner thinking with that color?

[devo]

Originally Posted by JERRYM1997

Thats gonna look really dope man.

Thanks! I think so too. I was worried that flake on the body AND the wheels (once I replace the one and swap em out) would be too much... but it's a fine, subtle flake so I dunno. Guess I'll just have to see.

[devo]

Originally Posted by wwwwwwwwwwwwww

....what was the previous owner thinking with that color?

Maybe it was going to be used as a prop in a low-budget sci fi movie.

[wwwwwwwwwwwwww]

Originally Posted by devo

Maybe it was going to be used as a prop in a low-budget sci fi movie.

haha, going to look sick in white.

[devo]

A'ight so about the intake... it had no shield of any kind under it. Which, for a "show car" as they claimed this to be, is ok. But for me it's not, what with the rain and such.



SO, I took the stock intake off Subie 1 and put that on for now. I do intend to replace the intake, but with one that's more practical. Probably a top-mount.

I also plan on swapping over my brakes. I had larger, slotted rotors on old Subie and beefier pads. This is another area (along with the lack of tuning or upgraded injectors) where I think the previous owner overlooked some important/practical details to go with the performance and exterior changes.

[devo]

A couple other things I really like about the new car are the suspension, which is better than my old one was; and the fact that he ran it well with Royal Purple oil/filter. I'd been using Rotella Diesel in the old one. But since he's been running the purple maybe I should stick with that? Any thoughts on this??

[devo]

OH, and old Subie is living on in more ways that the exhaust/air box...

I gave my friend the front seats for one of his project cars.



In case you can't tell, that's a slammed/bagged Geo Tracker. :jj:

[itwillboost]

Originally Posted by devo

Anyway back to some changes I've made/will make...

The car has a Defi adjuster/monitor with a dual-setting switch. The guy I bought it from called it a "tuner" and said it was tuned. My friends and I were questioning this, since none of us were familiar with a Defi tuner. So my one friend did some research the second day I had the car. We then realized that the Defi system is strictly monitoring and boost adjustment. The thing was NOT tuned.

The boost was set at 10psi for stage one. Flip the switch and it was set for 16... with NO TUNING.

I have a Cobb access port from the old car, but didn't have it with me. So in the mean time, my friend recommended that I take the (stage 2 tuned) ecu out of old Subie and put it in the new one. So that's what I did. I plan on taking it to a shop to have it fine-tuned asap, because that's the element I know the least about and I don't want it effed up. But for now I guess I'll be safe with the swapped out computers.

OH, and it also still has stock injectors. The thing had a cold air intake, exhaust, headers, 10-16 boost, etc without upgraded injectors... so that's another thing I'll change before I do anything else.

As a precaution I used the Defi adjuster to lower the max boost, in case the switch gets flipped by accident or something.
I also got rid of the intake for now, for a few reasons which I'll get to next...

With both cars being ej251 you should be fine swapping them over. The defi "tuner" your talking about is actually pretty cool. If they made one for my other car I wouldn't even hesitate to buy it. Good idea making it so you don't accidently flip the switch.

Originally Posted by devo

It's paint. House Of Kolor. And lots of it. I bet the amount of flake on this thing puts me at a literal weight disadvantage.

I actually ran into a girl at a gas station with a bugeye who commented on it. She liked the body kit and said she'd be down to trade her stock stuff for it, so I got her number. If that doesn't pan out for some reason I'll let you know. I'm looking to swap out the bumpers, side skirts and tail lights for stock ones.
The headlights I DID hate but now they're growing on me... not sure what I'll do there.

I'll also be selling the driver's side doors. I'm going to use the ones from old Subie since they'll be less prep work for the new paint. Same thing with the (wingless) trunk deck. And none of those are spoken for as of yet.

Lol of course I just got those doors repainted. As far as tail lights I know someone selling 02-03 ones in really good shape cheap. If you want them let me know. Your probably right about the weight, I know a s14 that my friend took off almost 40lbs in paint and a bit of bondo. House of Kolor is actually really good paint, shame he wasted it.

[schaffer]

Idk what the Previous owner was thinking,but I take it you got a really good deal.

How's that Invidia sound? I've never heard one before.

[devo]

Originally Posted by itwillboost

With both cars being ej251 you should be fine swapping them over. The defi "tuner" your talking about is actually pretty cool. If they made one for my other car I wouldn't even hesitate to buy it. Good idea making it so you don't accidently flip the switch.



Lol of course I just got those doors repainted. As far as tail lights I know someone selling 02-03 ones in really good shape cheap. If you want them let me know. Your probably right about the weight, I know a s14 that my friend took off almost 40lbs in paint and a bit of bondo. House of Kolor is actually really good paint, shame he wasted it.

Haha- I was joking about all the paint adding weight. But if it literally does I wouldn't doubt it! And thanks for the heads-up. If it falls through with this girl that wants the kit i'll hit you up about the tail lights.

And yes, the Defi system is sweet. Cool to be able to view playback or adjust the boost so easily. I just feel like it's kinda dangerous to be used without tuning or injectors.

Originally Posted by schaffer

Idk what the Previous owner was thinking,but I take it you got a really good deal.

How's that Invidia sound? I've never heard one before.

It sounds... awesome. <3

I felt weird in the new car, as you do in any new car. You need time to "settle in" before it really feels like YOURS. For me, as soon as I switched over my exhaust for that gay one, it felt right. Because it sounded right. Loud as hell, but deep and throaty; a little "off-beat" or "burpy" as characteristic of catless flat-fours... seems like people either love it or hate it. I love it.