Author Topic: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi - First Update in a LONG time...  (Read 15413 times)

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Offline StickyTires

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Re: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi (2 weeks and counting, update!)
« Reply #25 on: July 15, 2012, 02:47:38 am »
Yeah sorry. I meant the ones that come with the car are 16". Not the 2004's. Definitely a pretty misleading post on my part. I'm on the fence with what I'm going to do about these rims... They seem pretty popular... For now I've decided they will stay on the car but I haven't even seen the black STi rims on it yet. Because the car is following an all white theme I doubt I'll change them until I've changed the overall theme of the car, however, I don't really see that happening until next year, but who knows... I'm very indecisive by nature...

So far as the short shifter goes... I thought the site (which is no limit motorsports) had free shipping for orders above $150; but thats only for the states. I'll see how it feels, if it doesn't feel right I'll change it and see how it feels with the short shifter, if that's not right or it doesn't fit I'll sell it. Would work great for a WRX in the club somewhere I'm sure (Tom haha).

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Offline GC8REX

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Re: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi (2 weeks and counting, update!)
« Reply #26 on: July 15, 2012, 12:11:14 pm »
Hey I've got a brand new short shifter with kb front/rear stay bushings. My shifting is awesome now

Offline blessthekellen

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Re: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi (2 weeks and counting, update!)
« Reply #27 on: July 15, 2012, 05:49:49 pm »
Honestly, your exterior of the vehicle is perfect already. I wouldn't change a thing..dont molest it too much!
the white on white with the smooth bumper, painted skirts, and RS spoiler, its so clean its perfection.

All I'd worry about is maintenance and enjoy the astardbay ;)

Offline RotaryMelon

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Re: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi (2 weeks and counting, update!)
« Reply #28 on: July 15, 2012, 06:08:47 pm »
Just curious about something...
How come you opted to buy an exhaust already?
The exhaust that comes with the car is already aftermarket  ???

Offline StickyTires

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Re: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi (2 weeks and counting, update!)
« Reply #29 on: July 15, 2012, 06:36:13 pm »
RotaryMelon: The one on the car is only axle back from what I understand so I figured I would just get a full system instead of finding the parts to fill the rest of the system.

Kellen: Time will tell what I do with the car haha. I'm sure you can tell that I'm not 100% on much with it other than what I want done right once it gets here. Thanks for the complement though!!

GC8REX: Forgot you were getting the updated linkage and must have missed your post earlier that said you got a new one because I was really drunk last night when I made that post lol! You'll have to show me at the next meet!


Offline Kazoobaru

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Re: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi (2 weeks and counting, update!)
« Reply #30 on: July 15, 2012, 09:06:34 pm »
Quote
Honestly, your exterior of the vehicle is perfect already. I wouldn't change a thing..dont molest it too much!
the white on white with the smooth bumper, painted skirts, and RS spoiler, its so clean its perfection.

...shush.. black on white is cool, and I want those white rims  >:D
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Offline thetallone

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Re: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi (2 weeks and counting, update!)
« Reply #31 on: July 16, 2012, 05:54:02 pm »
Can't wait to see this thing in person...  More white at the meets FTW!

Offline StickyTires

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Re: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi (2 weeks and counting, update!)
« Reply #32 on: July 24, 2012, 06:17:52 pm »
Its here! I'll start updating and getting new pics ASAP! Just taking a night to enjoy my new gal.

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Offline KLZCYA

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Re: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi (2 weeks and counting, update!)
« Reply #33 on: July 24, 2012, 09:35:46 pm »
Congrats man! Enjoy.  ;D
6 speed + 550 tuned GC8 = good fun.

Offline StickyTires

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Re: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi (2 weeks and counting, update!)
« Reply #34 on: August 20, 2012, 08:57:49 pm »
Allllll right then. Bit of an update for my first update since I got the car.

So the first thing I did was gauges: Went pretty well, only broke one clip on the pillar interior panel which is better than some of the posts I've read haha. Wiring is a bit of a nest but it works.




I used some electrical tape to make the gauges fit snug in the pod and to stop the sun visors from spinning around and rattling.

What I learned:
Wires poking you under your nail hurts.
Use a screwdriver to pry the interior panel off... stick it in right beside the clip and pry against the clip so they don't break.

Next thing I did was my spark plugs which was pretty run in the mill other than just how bad the stock plugs were.



While I had the intake off I replaced the air filter as well.

Next, with the help from Tom, Kevin, Bevan, and Beer, I did an oil change and my brake pads and rotors.

Before I start explaining anything I NEED to strongly acknowledge Jason at Dale's Alignment and Brake in BC. Tom referred me to him and I have to say, he is the most stand up guy to deal with for brakes, jdm and usdm. He knows his stuff and is always friendly and wanting to help.

So here we go. Rears first:

Rotors went on great but I received the wrong pads, Jason sent me the correct pads on his dollar and paid the shipping on the wrong pad return trip. The new pads fit great but I haven't driven with them yet.



Now the nightmare that is my front rotors:

I ordered the GD WRX rotors that seems to be common for jdm 4pot brakes. DBA 4000 series. I installed them along with my new HAWK HPS pads and all seemed to be fine until I began to drive away. There was a terrible squeak coming from both front wheels but I figured it was just because of the brand new pads and rotors and they needed to be bedded and such. So I did the bedding process while driving home on 127 street at 1:45AM when it was pitch black and the sound didn't go away... so I just started going home normally and when I get to about 80kph, a glowing chunk of metal shot out of my front left wheel well. I didnt stop because I was in the middle of a pitch black field with zillions of mosquitoes and absolutely no hope of finding the broken piece without taking the wheels apart. The rest of the ride is uneventful but the front right is still squeaking. I took the front right wheel apart,  rotor and all, and found that my tone ring was sheared of.... great!





So I ground it off because it could only do damage by staying there...




So my front left is still in there ... or maybe not... I'll check when I have time but obviously I wont be driving it for a bit.

So I called up Jason and asked him what the heck the problem was, I wasn't angry, just frustrated, and when I told him what was going on he seemed to realize what the problem was. The abs system in 97 was designed differently than the year the new rotor came off of. Here are a couple diagram illustrating this:

My cars design
http://opposedforces.com/parts/impreza/en_g10/type_13/suspension_and_axle/front_axle/illustration_1/
The design of the car the rotor is for
http://opposedforces.com/parts/impreza/us_g11/type_12/suspension_and_axle/front_axle/illustration_3/

This is a huge red light, red flag, warning, tip, whatever you want to call it to anyone with a version 3 STi:

According to Jason, there is only one rotor that is made in North America that will fit my Version 3 STi, otherwise I have to order direct from Japan.
That rotor is a DBA 5000 2 piece rotor that costs an arm and a leg... the only note worthy difference between the two rotors in terms of dimensions is a slightly tapered hat to clear the tone ring.
This part is not exactly common either... It's very hard to come by from the sounds of things because Jason actually had to go to his third choice guy to order them in for me because no one else had them.
Needless to say I have them on the way. The only other option is to buy the ones for the GD wrx and get them machined (which I just don't feel like dealing with).

Jason is being super cool with it all and is willing to take back the rotors he sent me and eat the shipping both ways once again. Seriously, huge props to this guy! The only reason that we are having so much trouble is that this is the first Version 3 that he has dealt with.

So now the plan is to bring the car in and have the front axles, cv's, boots and such replaced because of broken boots ( have to do it to pass inspection anyway) and while they do that they can replace the tone rings and abs sensors if needed. then she should be good to go for OOP. Happy hunting other version 3's, she's a cold world out there for us right now haha hope this helps someone save $500 or so bucks.

Offline RotaryMelon

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Re: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi - Who need ABS... OOP that's who :'(
« Reply #35 on: August 20, 2012, 09:03:42 pm »
$$$$$$$ $ $ $$$ $$ $$$ $$$$ $$

All I can say.... lol
Hope it all works out, and soon!

Offline StickyTires

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Re: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi - Who need ABS... OOP that's who :'(
« Reply #36 on: August 20, 2012, 09:09:50 pm »
$$$$$$$ $ $ $$$ $$ $$$ $$$$ $$

All I can say.... lol
Hope it all works out, and soon!

Version 3 Guinea Pig man lol

Offline GC8REX

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Re: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi - Who need ABS... OOP that's who :'(
« Reply #37 on: August 20, 2012, 09:36:02 pm »
at least ya got it sorted... wallet must be crying haha.

Don't worry, few weeks and you'll be stopping on a dime penny

Offline RotaryMelon

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Re: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi - Who need ABS... OOP that's who :'(
« Reply #38 on: August 20, 2012, 09:47:04 pm »
at least ya got it sorted... wallet must be crying haha.

Don't worry, few weeks and you'll be stopping on a dime penny
a penny is larger than a dime...... .... ... .. ... .

Offline StickyTires

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Re: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi - Who need ABS... OOP that's who :'(
« Reply #39 on: August 20, 2012, 09:55:06 pm »
a penny is larger than a dime...... .... ... .. ... .

lol yup xD maybe he meant I wont be able to afford the dime???? lol

Offline StickyTires

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Re: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi - Who need ABS... OOP that's who :'(
« Reply #40 on: September 30, 2012, 09:39:51 pm »
V3 owner's will want to read this.

Alright! Car is registered as of September 28 :D

Quick recap, Rotors I originally bought for the car (DBA 4000 2006 WRX rotors) snapped my tone rings off when the wheels were torqued on. Talked with Jason at Dale's and he explained that there were only one set of rotors that would fit my car that were manufactured in North America, DBA 5000's for the 2006 WRX. The reason why these should fit is they are two piece rotors and the inside of the hat has different dimensions and is generally designed differently. I ordered the rotors.







So when I got the rotors in I brought the car into the shop to take care of the CV joints, axles, tone rings, and rotors. When they tried to take off the axle nut from the front left side, the shaft snapped and was stuck inside the hub. This meant I needed a new hub.... The tone rings are bolted to the back side of the hub so both hubs needed to be removed which also meant both wheel bearings had to be replaced (at least one side had a small amount of play to make it a little more worth the extra money...). The tone rings them selves are $300 each from subaru (1lb ring of metal O.o) so I shipped them from a dealer in the states for $100 a piece and $110 over night shipping. This is the real ityshay part for version 3's with ABS... not even the DBA 5000's fit meaning that there are no rotors manufactured for our front brake in North America. Luckily, the outside diameter of the tone rings is only a couple thousands of an inch bigger than the inside diameter of the rotor friction ring mounting bracket and my mechanic has a lathe. With my OK he machined 12/1000's of an inch off of the outside diameter of the tone rings and they now fit, albeit, barely. Everything was reassembled and  everything is now in working order. Next I got the car registered and now I'm a happy camper :D although with an unhappy wallet :(.

Moral of the story:

V3's with ABS, you have 1 of 3 options for new front rotors:

1) Order OEM rotors from Japan because a dealer will not supply that part as it was never put on a car sold in Canada.
2) Order the rotors from a 2006 WRX and get the inside of the hat machined. I personally would not recommend this option as there is a lot more than a couple 1000th's of and inch to be shaved off and I dont know how much I would be comfortable with taking off of such a crucial part of the car.
3) Order DBA 5000 rotors for the 2006 WRX and do one of 2 things:
A) Machine the inside of the rotor friction ring mounting bracket by about 10-12 1000th's of an inch (personally don't recommend this but it SHOULD work); or
B) remove the hub on both sides which requires lots of labor and wheel bearings and then machine the tone rings by 10-12 1000th's of an inch.

I personally recommend ordering OEM rotors from Japan now that I've been through all of this. It is the safest way but may not be the cheapest and definitely not the most convenient. If you want performance rotors then I would recommend Investing in the DBA 5000's and machining the tone rings rather than the rotor. This is by far the safest way to do it but will definitely cost a lot. Not only is it safer, but , in the future when you want to replace the friction ring, you wont have to machine it again (and possibly forget about machining them and snapping the tone rings off and having to remove everything anyway).

Hope this helps someone!!!

Also... Updated Look :D




Offline GC8REX

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Re: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi - Now with more Legal and Urethane
« Reply #41 on: September 30, 2012, 10:55:23 pm »
Looks great man! Can't wait for more rumble I bet ;)

Offline Kazoobaru

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Re: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi - Now with more Legal and Urethane
« Reply #42 on: September 30, 2012, 10:56:30 pm »
Oh gawd looks sooo good! Just had a crisis! Careful with those flaps and the lowness! Such a beaut with the red on white.
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Offline booSTIn

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Re: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi - Now with more Legal and Urethane
« Reply #43 on: September 30, 2012, 11:03:22 pm »
Fuuuuuhh.   So clean. Looks good man, red flaps set it off

Offline RotaryMelon

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Re: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi - Now with more Legal and Urethane
« Reply #44 on: September 30, 2012, 11:18:51 pm »
Yes!  O0

Offline My Dad

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Re: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi - Now with more Legal and Urethane
« Reply #45 on: October 01, 2012, 10:47:12 am »
Glad your legal and up and running!
Car looks great dude  8)
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Offline goodveet

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Re: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi - Now with more Legal and Urethane
« Reply #46 on: October 01, 2012, 11:46:46 am »
Looks awesome

Offline blessthekellen

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Re: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi - Now with more Legal and Urethane
« Reply #47 on: October 01, 2012, 03:28:19 pm »
Literally the only thing this car needs is a V6 Grille.
Looks unreal.


Offline My Dad

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Re: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi - Now with more Legal and Urethane
« Reply #48 on: October 01, 2012, 05:35:10 pm »
Literally the only thing this car needs is a V6 Grille.
Looks unreal.
Agreed! + more Orphan Catcher  ;D
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Offline StickyTires

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Re: Stickytires' 1997 Ver. 3 WRX STi - Now with more Legal and Urethane
« Reply #49 on: October 01, 2012, 06:19:18 pm »
Orphan catcher is in the budget for next year haha. V6 grill, have to see if i can find one in my color, don't really want to paint one :/ haha but also in the budget as my current one is held on with zip ties