2006 Subie STI rebuild

Various things done today after the cabin filter.

Got my Weathertech floor liners in, those were actually before the cabin filter. Love these things, have them in my 4Runner too.



Received most of what I need to rebuild the shifter linkage and swap to a Kartboy short shifter.



Dropped the trans crossmember to help with getting to the shift linkage and clean it up and replace the bushings for it.



Good thing I planned on replacing the trans mount any way. The OEM one was completely broken.



Got the whole shifter linkage removed and discovered that there were some small OEM parts that get reused but that were kinda destroyed. So, waiting on parts again to be able to finish the shifter.



Probably done working on anything until after Christmas since I'm heading out of town for a few days at the end of the week.

 

More small details are done or waiting an parts to arrive to finish up.

Replaced the neutral position switch on the transmission. DCCD has not worked since I got the car and one of the codes was for this switch. Fingers crossed it was the issue because the other code is for the clock spring, which I'd rather not replace if I can avoid it.



Cleaned up the transmission crossmember and replaced the rubber bushings with Superpro ones. Just waiting for the Torque Solutions trans mount to arrive to get it all reinstalled.





Waiting on new o-rings for the white shifter base bushing and spring seat for the reverse lock-out to arrive to finish the shifter rebuild. Got the Superpro main bushing installed and cleaned everything up. Painted the metal retainer ring thing while I was at it. Also received the new fuel pump gasket but still waiting for the Radium fuel pump hanger to get here. That's still a couple weeks out.



Dropped the rest of the exhaust system and cleaned that up since I have lots of time for it. New 3" gaskets ordered along with new poly exhaust hanger things. Painted the system with VHT high temp flat black. Might do a satin clear over it as well for extra protection.



Back to waiting on parts and the bank account to grow a little again!

 

Sprayed the VHT high temp satin clear. Looks much better on the pipes. Hopefully holds up well too.



Also received the motor and trans mounts.

 

Hope it's a big bag, this is gunna take a while.

 

I really enjoy projects like these. You'll always have extra expenses that pop up and they always take longer than planned, but the satisfaction in knowing that it was done right and the way you want is worth it in the end. Also, I've got time and lots of popcorn too.

 

Yeah, the nickel and dime shit is what kills things sometimes. Especially on older vehicles that have sat in the desert their whole life. A huge amount of engine parts that I have replaced are rubber hoses and such. The 4Runner was the same way when I got it. Along with electrical connectors under the hood. The subie hasn't been so bad with that but the 4Runner has a few that broke when I was trying to remove them.

 

I've been stalled waiting on parts to arrive. I have received some stuff but nothing to help me move forward at this point.

Removed and painted the Cusco front strut tower bar. Yes, painted. I don't want to spend the money or time on powder coating right now.



Received and installed the Radium fuel pump hanger with a single AEM 340LPH fuel pump. Easy enough to add another one at a later time if I need it. Still working on the feed and return lines for that and waiting on the i-wire wiring kit for it.





Picked up the Killer B Holy Header from the tuner.



And just received the Cobb 3" GESI catted downpipe. Yes, I want a cat in this going forward. This is going to be daily driven still and I don't like the stinky exhaust. Hopefully kills a little bit of sound too.

 

Trans crossmember back in with the new Torque Solutions trans mount. Still waiting on small parts to finish the shifter but that can all be done from inside the car.





Decided I need to drop the gas tank to properly do the fuel lines from the Radium hanger. So, that means the diff came out today. This also gives me a chance to clean it up, replace the breather which came out while I was dropping it, replace the cover gasket and install fresh axle seals.

 

Progress. New fuel lines are run on the tank now. Also gives me the chance for some excessive cleaning of parts. Now I have to reinstall the tank and start fitting back up the rest of the stuff I removed to get the tank out.

Rear suspension crossbar thingy.



Easy way to stabilize the tank when dropping it. 3/4" ply cut to the same width as the tank, couple 2x4s screwed to the plywood to fit snugly in the saddle and that is all bolted to the floor jack. Worked great.



Old fuel lines, the bottom 2 are feed and return. Those are the ones that got replaced.



New -6AN lines with 45 degree fittings at the fuel hanger. Had to trim the bottom half of the 2 plastic line routing clamps for the new lines and then zip-tied them in place.

 

I like the plywood/ floor jack method for the gas tank.

 

Yeah, it works awesome and is super simple. The big washer in the middle are from the body mounts from the 4Runner

 

Got the tank reinstalled and connected the fuel lines.





Cleaned up the rear subframe and installed the Perrin diff support bushings. Then got the subframe reinstalled with the lockout bolts that were part of the Perrin kit.









Just waiting on the axle seals, diff breather and cover gasket so I can finish up the rear diff. Also ordered Superpro rear diff outrigger bushings last night.

My i-wire harness showed up today for the Radium fuel pump hangar, along with the hybrid MAF/speed density wiring harness. I'll start working on the fuel pump wiring tomorrow.

 

Installed the i-wire Radium single pump fuel hanger hard wire kit today. Extremely nice kit, not difficult to install, just time consuming. I was also finally able to put the trunk back together after and get the rear seat reinstalled. Huge amount of progress made this weekend, very satisfying.



Fuel hanger all wired up and ready to go now.



The trunk part of the wiring kit. It retains the OEM fuel controller, which is a bonus.



Also installed the new foam seals for the fuel tank access panels.





Trunk all back together with the new Weathertech trunk mat in place.



Next weekend I'll start cleaning up the differential. Hopefully have the axle seals, cover gasket, breather and outrigger bushings soon so I can get that reinstalled.

 

Fuck that looks sexy.

Do you even play COD anymore

You're getting a shit load done.

 

Lol, no, haven't played COD in months now. Gave up with all the cheaters running rampant.

You get your computer set back up yet???

This was the most productive weekend I've had in a while with this rebuild project. Super stoked I got so much done.

 

Sir, you will be the first to know when my PC is back up; miss talking to your ass daily

Not until the house is up, then I'll bug you with ideas

Those lines, fuel pump, etc everything look pro as fuck.

 

Radium makes some super nice fuel stuff and i-wire is the mecca for all things Subaru wiring related. I wish there was a company that did wiring stuff for Toyota stuff like i-wire does. I didn't have to make a single wire with their hardwire kit for the fuel pump, completely plug and play install, including factory connectors for everything. It just took time to route it nicely.

 

Really digging this build thus far, nice work!

It makes me want an earlier STi, but it wouldn't make sense to have one along with my '19 WRX.

 

Unbolted the rear diff front the outrigger support and cleaned it up tonight. I have the bolts for the cover soaking and will finish assembly tomorrow and swap out the axle seals. Hope to reinstall the whole thing sometime this weekend.

Here is the before pic.



And cleaned up.









Gears look good too.