Topic: Mason's 2003 STI swapped forester

[Mason]

Welcome to my Build thread

Although I cant take credit for the hours that went into the V7 Sti swap, I plan on tying all the loose ends, and fixing the quirks that came with this.

Current In the car

V7 EJ207
JDM 6 speed
Brembos
APS SR40 turbo
Link G4+ ECU
Cobb EBCS
Grimmspeed MAF Delete
ID 1000cc Injectors
Perrin Turbo inlet
Perrin MAF Tube
Apexi Air intake with box
Treadstone FMIC
Greddy FMIC Piping
Greddy FV recirculating valve
Invidia Cattless down pipe
Oem 2007 STI exhaust
Cobb uppipe
NRK one step colder spark plugs
Braided steel Power steering lines
assortment of silicone hose
GNP Pitch stop
GNP Front and rear shifter bushings
GNP Transmission bushings
GNP Diff Carrier Bushing
GNP Drive Shaft Bushing


JDM Sti front clip
V8 STI Suspension
v8 STI Cluster
V8 STI Steering Wheel
Defi boost and oil pressure gauges
AEM Wideband Gauge
STI pedal covers
Morimoto HID headlights
Tint all around
Winter wheels - Rota Grids 18X8
Summer wheels - Enkie Rajin 18x8
Roof rack with 2 Bike carriers

Maintenance log
Replace all PCV/ Boost hoses and clean PCV - 206xxx on odometer
Replace power steering pump/ Fluid - 206xxx on odometer
Oil pump o-ring/reseal - 206xxx on odometer
Cams and front crank seal - 206xxx on Odometer
Valve adjustment - 206xxx on odometer
Valve cover gaskets - 206xxx on odometer
Gates timing belt with OEM tensioner - 204xxx on odometer
OEM Subaru Coolant change - 204xxx on odometer
Oil Pan Reseal, Inspect Pick up tube -  204xxx on odometer
Exhaust gaskets -  204xxx on odometer
Compression test (121-123) around 204xxx on odometer
Leak down test (1-3 percent) - 204xxx on odometer
One step colder spark plugs - 204xxx on odometer

Dyno tuned at AFR autowork. At 1.2  bars of boost and it ran 310whp with 280tq


IMG_20180704_160516_255 by mason rice, on Flickr

[Mason]

So if anyone was following my old thread, this is where is all started.

IMG_20180708_225114 by mason rice, on Flickr
MVIMG_20180708_230335 by mason rice, on Flickr

A leaky 14mm Bolt under the throttle body. I am not sure what happened to it, but the gasket was trashed. This lead me to the next leak. The power steering pressure line looks to be at the end of its life.

IMG_20180708_223013 by mason rice, on Flickr

Next thing that I found was the upper rad hose wear. So close to blowing out.

MVIMG_20180712_105924 by mason rice, on Flickr


with the coolant drained, and the power steering hoses disconnected, i was already 80 percent away from pulling the engine.

Snapchat-1294270877 by mason rice, on Flickr

Not very long later

Snapchat-177284822 by mason rice, on Flickr

The exhaust had some issues. the 3inch down pipe was mated straight to the OEM exhaust and there was no donut gasket. Meh not a big deal... Until I discovered this


MVIMG_20180712_174854 by mason rice, on Flickr

Cracked divorce pipe. uckfay that is going to be expensive. I thought about sending to to get repaired, but all the welds are pretty tired and it doesn't fit quite right being JDM length. Hopefully this was the boost issue.

Parts are ordered and I am going to take a week or 2 to clean up the engine bay and try to get everything where it should be

[Mason]

After a brief search for a new down pipe the SCC page advised that i should just weld the crack on my old DP. Took it into the top rated exhaust shop in Red Deer and he was fairly certain that it would be an easy fix. Got a call a few hours later to pick up this...

Snapchat-993616951 by mason rice, on Flickr

One of my tasks at work involves black lighting welds. I nearly cried when I looked at this. Buddy at the exhaust shop claims that it will hold, my work experience says other wise. I thought for sure the proper procedure for repairing this would be to 1) clean the weld, and 2) use a Tig welder to avoid blasting holes in the pipe. What ever I guess, It was JDM length and I didn't want to struggle to get it back on anyways.

Waiting on a parts order, so I started to clean up the engine bay.

Before
MVIMG_20180715_153245 by mason rice, on Flickr

After
MVIMG_20180715_164302 by mason rice, on Flickr

Before
MVIMG_20180715_123647 by mason rice, on Flickr

After
MVIMG_20180715_185204 by mason rice, on Flickr

The coolant hose I ordered off amazon to run the larger rad will not be in until July 31st, so ill be plugging away slowly until that arrives

[Canuckrz]

Jfc name and shame that shop. I can't believe anyone would allow that trash out of their business. I wouldn't be paying a cent for that sort of work.

[RockThePylon]

Hahahaha holy itshay. That weld job is hysterical. WTF did they use, coat hanger and a car battery???

[DaDuke99]

I showed my red seal welder buddy that picture when you sent it to me, and he just shook his head. "oh well, at least he's starting somewhere, it shouldn't be long before he improves" he says to me, thinking that you did it yourself. When I told him I thought you brought it somewhere to be done, he got pretty sad.

[Mason]

He did claim it to be 'very thin'. I might toss a UT gauge on it and see.

[jellynuts]

Wow.  So the shop is backing their work?  I'd name and shame too. 

If you've ever been on the Calgary Peace Bridge, the welds on that thing look quite similar.  $25 million.  Hope you didn't pay too much.

[thedude]

I'm just not sure how any shop would feel comfortable calling that a finished product.

[Mason]

IMG_20180717_031657 by mason rice, on Flickr

MVIMG_20180717_031839 by mason rice, on Flickr

Min and Max of the tubing. I am unable to get a gauge in the middle close to the weld due to bending on multiple plains, but up higher it was about the same. Whats your thoughts?

[diamondedge]

Take a file and knock down a flat spot near where the seam would be. Then measure... In theory maybe he gooped enough filler metal and you'll see 10mm lol.

This test won't really prove anything but you can see how much goop was thrown on.

[greenturbo]

some one half blind tried to use a stick welder on it .. that s what it looks like

I would take a die grinder to it and clean it up.. then go to any one else and have them mig or tig over that mess

[Mason]

Well, I took it back in with my UT measurements to see what happened. The manager (one responsible for this so called 'god weld')  claimed there isn't an issue with it. He then told me to go try to weld 2 pop cans together, because that is how thin this metal is. Even after giving him the UT proof up, he still claimed that it was too thin.

I asked for settings and he said that they used setting 1 with wire speed of 40. When I asked for how many amps he claimed 120 

Anyways long story short, he told me that if I wanted a better weld I should have taken it to a welding shop. I purchased a used Invidia Catted DP for 200 off Kijiji. Josh (previous owner) did me a huge solid by brining it to red deer for me.

Custom Muffler and brakes in Red Deer.

[Dr Beans]

Why wouldn't you name the shop and post it on their review page (google/FB/whatever)? They aren't giving your money back and they are standing behind that work.

I took a 1 HR welding class at my old construction company and my welds looked better than that..... 

[Mason]

Custom muffler and brakes Red Deer is Responsible. I wrote a google and Facebook review. I didn't want to slander until I went back in.

Not my proudest moment, but one that I hope to look back on and laugh: He had 3 customers in the store while this was happening. I took the pipe over to them (they were all trying to figure out what is going on) and showed it to them. They were all disgusted and agreed that the weld was garbage. One person who was waiting to drop his car off actually left after seeing it.

[Jessica]

Your review didn't show up on Google?

[seat safety switch]

I could probably do that better myself, and all I've ever done is a few tacks.

[SpdDmn]

lol was that his first time??

My first (and only) weld, looks smoother...

[Jukka]

Too thin?? Try 1/8th in sheet metal on 1/8th 35+ year old J-Tin.

These welds were maybe an 1/8th of an inch tall at most and are solid as hell.

As long as they know how to use their machines, they should be able to lay a decent bead on exhaust piping

Those guys have no clue how to weld.

[Scooby Brew]

He then told me to go try to weld 2 pop cans together, because that is how thin this metal is. Even after giving him the UT proof up, he still claimed that it was too thin.

I asked for settings and he said that they used setting 1 with wire speed of 40. When I asked for how many amps he claimed 120 

I would flip out at this guy so much, he can't weld for ishtay!
Obviously did not clean the weld,
Obviously just blobbed it on there.

And yeah pop cans can be weld together if you know what you are doing
Might be worth taking to small claims court, just to prove a point.

[RockThePylon]

They lost money on that job, based on the amount of metal they threw on it. 

[Mason]

MVIMG_20180719_174523 by mason rice, on Flickr

The downpipe from Edmonton Didnt work with the set up on the SR40. luckily I was in Calgary yesterday for work and an  Invidia bellmouth cattless came up for sale. I traded  The Greddy front mount and some cash for this thing.

Today was power steering lines. I picked everything I needed from Greggs for $200. The guy was super helpful while trying to figure out this set up. This is that I ended up using for fittings/hose.

MVIMG_20180720_135740 by mason rice, on Flickr

The 45 degree fitting wasn't long enough so I had to loop it around. It was super difficult to get everything tightened with limited space. I really hope that it is all sealed, because uckfay doing this again

IMG_20180720_152900 by mason rice, on Flickr

Everything fitting nicely

IMG_20180720_152937 by mason rice, on Flickr

MVIMG_20180720_183544 by mason rice, on Flickr


 Done for now. I cant recall where it runs on the subframe, could someone help me out?

[jellynuts]

Was going with braided lines the easiest way to replace them?  I thought they were only necessary for rotated setups.  I think you have them running along the same area in the last pic. 

[Mason]

Was going with braided lines the easiest way to replace them?  I thought they were only necessary for rotated setups.  I think you have them running along the same area in the last pic.

OEM replacement is like 400 per hose
IAG replacement was 240 for just pressure hose

This was by far the cheapest and easiest option to replace both. Lines are easy to put in and pull out (with the exception of the fittings). The 6k braided lines are the same price as power steering lines at Gregg's and I would rather not run the risk of melting/puncturing a rubber hose.

The only down fall is that the return line fitting to the rack has to be reused and the last section of the pressure line. I just replaced the seal on the fittings

Biggest upside is that there is 10 less places to leak from with running one long hose. Plus it looks more racecar

I could write up a how to if people are interested

[DaDuke99]

I did this today, but mine was a domestic and the mirror opposite of yours.
Your run looks good, your connections are just under your steering assembly I'm guessing?
Did you not run the 45 at all? I don't see it in the pics