Ryan's 05 STI

[Ray]

I love all the maitinence your doing!

 

[RyanR]

I love all the maitinence your doing!

Thanks! Proper maintenance > mods!

 

[RyanR]

Got the timing belt, tensioner, and rollers done today.  Glad I did it, because the cog idler was smokkkeeeddd.  Also, PSA, please don't overtighten the A/C tensioner pulley bracket if you ever remove one... I had to drill one out and tap a new hole since one of the bolts broke off from being wayyyy overtight and stressed @ the head joint.

  I put everything back together except for the bracket, then jaKe stopped by after work and let me borrow his right angle drill, and helped turn some bolts and drink some beer.  

   Next time the A/C compressor or alternator comes out, I'm just replacing the whole bracket.

Old jenk:



I didn't trust two other idlers for 80k+ longer, so I just replaced them all:



All torqued to spec and happy:



All timed up w/ the new belt.



Good to go for another 80-100k!

 

[2point5RS_Dan]

I am so happy to see this car done right. A+ car A+ owner

 

[RyanR]

I am so happy to see this car done right. A+ car A+ owner

Thanks! Trying to keep it OEM+.

 

[RyanR]

Got the rear swaybar, new bushings, and shiny new rear kartboy links in as well.  Was waiting on a new left hand sway mount to toss them in:



Trying them out on the inside and outside of the sway to see if it makes a diff.  Probably won't.  They seem to sit more upright on the inside.

Look what wandered into my shop

:



I may consider a "bring your own gallon jug" deal if anyone up this way wants some, since I'll have about 3 gallons extra.

Not now chief, it's effin' tune time:



Stage 1.  Started with an XPT base map I had sitting around on a hard drive, and tuned it up for the Cobb intake.  Runs fantastic.

Anyone know where I can get my exhaust dB level tested in the Bangor area, or wherever if it's not by Bangor?

 

[drvsdwz]

Got the rear swaybar, new bushings, and shiny new rear kartboy links in as well.  Was waiting on a new left hand sway mount to toss them in:

20130919_110308.jpg

Trying them out on the inside and outside of the sway to see if it makes a diff.  Probably won't.  They seem to sit more upright on the inside.

Look what wandered into my shop

:

20130919_094717.jpg

I may consider a "bring your own gallon jug" deal if anyone up this way wants some, since I'll have about 3 gallons extra.

Not now chief, it's effin' tune time:

20130919_111053.jpg

Stage 1.  Started with an XPT base map I had sitting around on a hard drive, and tuned it up for the Cobb intake.  Runs fantastic.

Anyone know where I can get my exhaust dB level tested in the Bangor area, or wherever if it's not by Bangor?

I don't know of any shops...I haven't been hassled, knock on wood

 

[RyanR]

I don't know of any shops...I haven't been hassled, knock on wood

It's barely louder than stock, but it doesn't say STI on the tail pipe.  Cobb claims it meets the Cali 95dB limit, so I'd rather have a piece of paper in the glove box that gets me out of a ticket in the case of an officer having a bad day.

 

[WRB96IMPREZA]

My exhaust is illegal... opps.

 

[2point5RS_Dan]

Ryan I definitely want to get extra S in the new wagon. Need that smurf blood.

 

[RyanR]

So Emily and I (and Daisy) went for a trip to Saint John, New Brunswick this past weekend.  After doing a ton of work to fix up the car for big trips, and wanting to get away, we decided to go for it.  If you haven't been up that way, grab your passport and get to it!  We didn't really have any plans on the way up, just to get away.  Emily found a cool road called the "The Fundy Trail Parkway", which is an absolutely amazing drive, and the scenery cannot be beat!  It costs $6 CAD per person for the entire day.  If we had known about it before heading up, we would have planned to do some hiking or brought bikes and hit the extensive trails.  If you go up that way, do yourself a favor and drive the coast as much as possible to get there and back.  ~625mi round trip from the Bangor area.

Gettin' out in the Maine sticks:

More twisties (lots of these on this trip):

Daisy says, "Car rides are my favorite, but where the hell are we going?":

Cruising, taking in the Maine scenery:

Arrived in St. John, view from the hotel:

Views from the Fundy Trail Parkway:

Car:

Gorgeous day.  Even though it was overcast, which made the lighting shiatty for photos:

Car:

Views:

Car:

Views:

Steep!:

More Steep!:

Dog:

Stopped at the sea caves on the way out of St. Martins:

Panoramic (clicky click):



Covered bridge action on the way back to St. John:

The Fundy Trail Parkway is definitely not meant for bombing around like the Kanc, but the scenery is amazing.  This would be a great group drive for 5-7 cars, and is pretty much the exact same distance the fall group drive (NH) is for us northern folk (just sayin').

 

[RyanR]

In case you have never been over the border, I should mention how friendly the people are up that way. They make us 'muricans look like grumps. They also know a thing or two about beer and delicious food.

 

[jaKe]

Looks like fun. Nice pics.

 

[RyanR]

It was! Thanks budday

 

[RyanR]

So the car has had an occasional click in the rear since I purchased it back, which I figured was a CV joint from the sounds of things.  Got to poking around and found the axle nut had backed off a few degrees, just enough to be at about 110 ft. lbs. of torque.  You can see where it was previously staked had moved counter-clockwise a bit, just enough to loosen up and cause the clicking.

Tossed on a new nut, and torqued it to spec, then staked it down, and the clicking is gone!  Yay for a $4 repair, instead of $400 for a new axle, or $200 for one CV joint.

Next up is the gearbox and diff fluid change.  I'll also check the valve clearances, and hope I don't have to swap out any buckets, since I'll have to kick myself in the ass for not just doing it when I did the tbelt

  The belt needed to be done ASAP though because of the junk cog idler, so whatevs.

 

[Ray]

400$ for a cv shaft??

 

[RyanR]

400$ for a cv shaft??

That's the fred beans price for new oem, yes. Could probably get a better deal from a local dealer, but I wouldn't expect it to be much cheaper. They don't sell many of those.

 

[GClark]

Nice pics from St. John.  I've done the same on my bike (RIP), great roads.  Try to get up to Cape Brenton on a long weekend.  The best roads you'll ever drive on.  

 

[RyanR]

Upgraded the lights in my shop last week, so I can actually SEE.

 

[RyanR]

Also received some JDM as f*ck rear LSD oil.  Japanese characters and isht all over it.  +60hp. 

You can't buy a liter of 90LS any longer, as it comes in 4L containers now.  This is only needed for 04-06 STIs.  Anyone that wants to split this up with me is welcome to shoot me a PM.