Marino's WRB 2005 WRX!

[Marino]

little update!

Had a few days off this weekend so I put my front lip back on as well as my gold wheels. Clay barred and a fresh coat of wax and polished up the exhaust tip/canister.

Getting very close to FINALLY pulling the trigger on coilovers. Going to go with ISC N1's to be different and there also a tiny bit cheaper than BC's.

How bad is it installing coilovers? I'll be having a neighbor help me but I have all the tools and access to a garage.

Also I think I forgot to mention but over the winter I vinyl wrapped my center console gloss black. Came out ok, I'll most likely be re-doing it later on. Also got a Carbign Craft carbon fiber license plate backing and a red tow hook because race car

:lol: i like it!

 

[Marino]

plasti dipped my trunk badges today for the fun of it

 

[brycetron]

Coilovers are a piece of cake. Don't have to compress springs generally so they literally slap on in minutes. Adjusting the height to get everything the way you want and even is where it takes time and patience.

Car looks awesome

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Matt]

Simple install and then just a lot of fine tuning.

 

[Pottle]

Looks good. I had a set of ISCs lined up but took the owner around 2 months to get the stock parts situated now my funds for those are no longer available. Bummed. I need a low car back in my life.

 

[Marino]

Coilovers are a piece of cake. Don't have to compress springs generally so they literally slap on in minutes. Adjusting the height to get everything the way you want and even is where it takes time and patience. Car looks awesome Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Simple install and then just a lot of fine tuning.

yeah that's what i was thinking. probably take the most time getting the perfect height. thanks!

now I just need to commit and buy them

 

[Matt]

Don't forget you can adjust the preload and all the other goodies for the springs. With enough time they'll ride very nicely. That's what I'm in the middle of doing now. Little tweaks

 

[Marino]

update!

alright, so here's a little back story. I initially ordered springs, to get me by until I was comfortable enough to drop the cash on coilovers.

(Tein S. tech

)

Springs came in last week, so last weekend I started taking everything apart. everything was going fairly smooth (once I found the breaker bar) until I took the struts out. I could not, for the life of me, get the top mount/hat off the strut in order to put the new springs in. Should have broken it loose while it was on the car. That top bolt was so messed up, almost rounded, and everything was so rusty (original struts) I spent a good few hours on it but no luck. I finally gave up, hopped on the computer, and ordered coilovers. should have just done that in the beginning. car has since been stuck on jack stands until these came in

anyway... coils came in today. and they are gorgeous.

I installed the rears when I got home from work today. man, they are tedious to set up but so worth it. I guessed on the height, there's about a 1 and a half finger gap and it looks pretty good. Not sure if I'm going to change that. I've never driven a 'lowered' car so I am actually nervous if I set it too low. We'll see..

here's a little preview ........

 

[jojo69]

Looks good. I would take your time and try different setups, even if it's a pain in the ass. I have had coilovers before, but lived in Florida where flat asphalt is king... Here, it's more dirt roads/pot holes bonanza!

Do the coils have camber adjustment? I'd seems that you'd have to compensate somewhere since you are changing the suspension geometry

 

[IBratmanI]

I just did a lot of measuring with mine. Got them set up pretty good. The fronts should have camber adjustment on the top plate, but you can probably set those dead center and the stock camber bolt will be plenty of adjustment. That's what I did, and I lowered a forester, so I went down a lot further than you will. The rears I bought an aftermarket camber bolt and that was plenty of adjustment as well. I highly recommend going to Don Foshays in Brunswick for the alignment. The alignment tech is SUBARUGURU on here and does a great job.

Oh and with coilovers you don't have a lot of suspension travel, so you can adjust them so the tire is pretty close to the fender without it ever hitting. Take a look at my journal to see what I mean. It's titled Katis 98 forester.

 

[Marino]

Looks good. I would take your time and try different setups, even if it's a pain in the ass. I have had coilovers before, but lived in Florida where flat asphalt is king... Here, it's more dirt roads/pot holes bonanza!

Do the coils have camber adjustment? I'd seems that you'd have to compensate somewhere since you are changing the suspension geometry

thanks! yeah the pot holes are killer here for sure, I hate them! and like Bratman said the fronts have adjustable camber so I should be all set for an alignment when its done

I just did a lot of measuring with mine. Got them set up pretty good. The fronts should have camber adjustment on the top plate, but you can probably set those dead center and the stock camber bolt will be plenty of adjustment. That's what I did, and I lowered a forester, so I went down a lot further than you will. The rears I bought an aftermarket camber bolt and that was plenty of adjustment as well. I highly recommend going to Don Foshays in Brunswick for the alignment. The alignment tech is SUBARUGURU on here and does a great job.

Oh and with coilovers you don't have a lot of suspension travel, so you can adjust them so the tire is pretty close to the fender without it ever hitting. Take a look at my journal to see what I mean. It's titled Katis 98 forester.

sweet thanks I will take a look at it! I'll have the fronts done this weekend when I have some more time and will post the final product

so much measuring

 

[Pottle]

Looks good. Bring that fender right to tire! Lol

 

[Marino]

finished up the fronts today. I still have to measure everything again and make sure its as even as possible on both sides

here is just a cell pic for now.

it's low................

 

[IBratmanI]

When I did mine, I mainly measured between the collars on the coil over itself to make sure both fronts were the same, and both rears. Then between the fender and the wheel.

 

[Marino]

For some reason they don't end up totally even when I measure between the 2 collars, even though they'll be the exact same length apart. I'll get it eventually, its just time consuming

 

[Marino]

well I think I finally got everything the way I want it.

here's the final product. I actually raised the front a bit from the last pic. but I think its good for now, I'll most likely go lower in the future

Next thing I want to get is the 06/07 STi roof vane, cobb sf intake, and gfb bov. my wallet has to recover first though

 

[IBratmanI]

Looks good! How's the ride?

 

[Marino]

Looks good! How's the ride?

Thanks! It's great so far, no complaints. I have it set at full soft and its very comfortable. I'll experiment with the settings as time goes

 

[Marino]

Not to de-rail my WRX thread, but I figured I would mention this.

I picked up another Subaru. A classic, 2000 2.5RS coupe.

I've been looking awhile now for another fun car (Subaru) that I can run during the winter and save on gas/mileage. I just have too much invested into the WRX, and now with coilovers I really don't want it all rusting and exposed to salt.

Anyway, can't wait to register this and start driving it. extremely fun car and I still can't believe I found it.

Things done to it:

250k on the body (a lot I know but it still looks great)

110k on motor

Head gasket done 30k ago

Stage 3 racing clutch

Catless, 3 inch catback (sounds amazing)

K&N cold air intake (looking to replace with a stock intake system)

Tinted tail lights

Lots of stupid stickers that will be coming off asap

Will definitely need rocker work, front rotors, and a new windshield. Rear quarter rust was done but I'm afraid it will come back again quickly.

but yeah, very happy overall. Can't wait to start working on this

 

[Marino]

Picked up a used Perrin license plate delete for cheap, and another fog light cover to mount my license plate to. Looks much more aggressive to the side imo (even if I don't have a fmic

)