From ZHP to...Forester?

[scooby24]

Hey guys, as some of you have seen, I replaced my ZHP with something that was more versatile for my needs, having a child now and spending the majority of my time in my vehicle to and from daycare and picking up stuff for the house. The ZHP was a wonderful car, but I needed to back to my bread and butter.

As my name would suggest, I'm a subaru guy at heart. I've owned 7 now. 2 WRX's, 2 STI's, 2 legacy's and now a Forester.

This is my thread...bear with the flow of some of the posts as I'm creating this thread retroactively from the work performed.

[scooby24]

Backstory: Was riding the interwaves looking for an 04-08 Forester XT with a stick. Not easy to find for the right price and right condition. I checked cars.com one last time on a Saturday evening before dinner and saw a newly listed 2004 Forester XT 5MT, Silver, 1 owner, 120k miles in Little Rock that popped up that day and happened to be about 4500 below what every other forester of similar age/mileage/condition was listed at.

Sweet. Called them up, just got it on trade that day, needed inspection. Told them to let me know what turns up. They called back Monday morning indicating it was likely going to be wholesaled. Needed body work and there was a check engine light that concerned them. I told them to wholesale to me. They agreed, I got another 2 grand off.

Booked a flight that night, picked it up the next morning and drove back to Kansas City.

It was a great deal.

Got better. Was able to get the phone number of the past owner. At ~104k miles, the engine needed rebuilt due to turbo failure introducing metal into the oil. Owner opted to drop the car off with Cobb Tuning of Plano for a full rebuild including forged pistons.

!!!!!

let the fun begin.

http://i.imgur.com/8CjtxhL.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/77qqkOA.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/KcOTuje.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/RbQZNPk.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/LOpP6af.jpg

As it stands right now, pretty much any/everything that needed to be refreshed to look like new has been.

Mod list is as follows:

Engine:
Cobb Tuning rebuilt block with 100mm CP pistons
VF48
09 STI TMIC
10 STI Uppipe
Invidia Catless Downpipe
STI Catback
Cobb V3 AP
Perrin Inlet
ID 1000 CC injectors, Rail, Lines
DW200 fuel pump
Tune

Drivetrain:
Group N Pitch Mount
Group N Motor Mounts
Group N Transmission Mounts
Kartboy Crossmember Bushings
TiC 5MT Narrow Pivot Bushings

Interior:
13 WRX Shift Knob
05 STI Wheel
05 WRX Airbag
05 WRX Heated Seats
Weathertech Digitalfit liners

[scooby24]

Shift knob replaced with '13 WRX
http://i.imgur.com/eXHhihS.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/f88Ngzk.jpg

Missing armrest replaced with junkyard takeoff
http://i.imgur.com/J5yLXlS.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/6dfkSJL.jpg

Broken rear cupholder replaced with junkyard takeoff
http://i.imgur.com/54iqdvU.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/vqCRDJA.jpg

Failed clearcoat on exterior c-pillar trim replaced with junkyard takeoff
http://i.imgur.com/7OlPGwp.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/s6oACE6.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/vg6d65o.jpg

Cleaning up 2009 STI Intercooler
http://i.imgur.com/qvpXr2D.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/XDUDS6x.jpg

Old and busted vs. New. Went with 05 which were just slightly different in color and design
http://i.imgur.com/QkLed6J.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/TG8ZPdg.jpg

Busted Rear wiper needed replaced
http://i.imgur.com/gAAyfjZ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ov1tZo3.jpg

Front end almost done, needs a few clips that broke to continue
http://i.imgur.com/tvOVXUQ.jpg

Rear bumper completed and installed
http://i.imgur.com/X9mJBVx.jpg

STI Steering wheel
http://i.imgur.com/5gu1oaW.jpg
Stay tuned...

[scooby24]

STI vs. Stock Axleback
http://i.imgur.com/hh93v3v.jpg

STI vs. Stock Midpipe
http://i.imgur.com/bvworGe.jpg

TD04 vs. VF48
http://i.imgur.com/LF3ehWF.jpg

VF48 vs. TD04 hotside
http://i.imgur.com/j9o8lgY.jpg

Stock Catted uppipe vs. STI Catless
http://i.imgur.com/Muk62Dh.jpg

2005 WRX Heated Seats
http://i.imgur.com/IYlT7Oo.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/jYsnGyL.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/zBsjo8W.jpg

[scooby24]

Progress: She's nearly done mechanically. VF48, STI TMIC, Invidia V2 catless DP, ID1000cc injectors, DW200 fp, VERY mild tune of only 16.5 psi (stock clutch won't take much more). Made 265hp, 320 ft lbs...has probably 350/400 in it if when I get a new clutch.

VF48 I bought was a shoddy rebuild so I had to get a new CHRA for it due to oil leaking out the hot side and smoking pretty bad. The SD tune from MKC needs a few kinks worked out so it will go back to them sometime soon then it's onto making the rest of the car look presentable.

Crap CHRA:

http://i.imgur.com/hVnFLiO.jpg

New CHRA:

http://i.imgur.com/OoldHK6.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/fWgZobO.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/gb3tsZo.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/xJjWEKq.jpg

[scooby24]

Been fighting a stumble in the powerband for the last couple weeks, about to tear my hair out over it it's been pissing me off so bad.

Finally narrowed it down to a dampening problem. Ordered two dampers and adapter setup to connect to the input side of each fuel rail to get rid of the stumble.

This is the same issue that plagues most GRs. Surprised the forester got bit by the problem...but I guess that's what happens with giant *** injectors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSyut7D1A_c

[BCS_ZHP]

Congrats on the pick-up.

[scooby24]

Dampening is fixed!

Sounds different, idles different, revs different.

drives SO much better. No stumbling at all through the RPM range now. Fuel corrections are a little wonky now though as the original tune was performed on the car with erratic fuel pressure so MKC had to adjust and try and compensate for it. Now that it's got rock solid fuel it'll need to be re-tweaked. Pulls considerably stronger too. Bet it would put down an extra 10-20 whp.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJEuVPcGjT0

Here's the damper setup that resolved the issue:

http://i.imgur.com/IDbS2W7.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Fuel Pump > 06 STI inlet damper > 2 ft of Injector Dynamics braided inlet line > Amazon Damper setup right on the inlet side of the rail > Amazon Damper setup right on the inlet side of the other rail > FPR > OEM Damper on return line.

[scooby24]

Tinted the car and added OEM spoiler.

http://i.imgur.com/b3DMn20.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/xncag2e.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/6evPT9D.jpg

[scooby24]

Detail is complete. Not too shabby for a decade old car.

http://i.imgur.com/KvsTaij.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/9kVwyky.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5X890IV.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ot5oNfP.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/0WxMnFY.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/cC4bCc5.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/riCbMmU.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/kSr5ccq.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/qsXglwS.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/qwSqi7g.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/SafjbFN.jpg

[NoVAphotog]

Wow. Nice work. Excellent pictures and a great read. (Might want to change that sig pic though) :eeps

[scooby24]

Right you are!

[E_Rak]

Great pickup, thread has a special place for me since I deal with them every day!

[Avetiso]

Scoob was my other choice before I bought a ZHP. I wanted a Legacy GT.

Forester looks sweet man!

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

[ryankokesh]

Awesome job with all the work! I've had an Outback XT in the back of my head for about a year now... who knows. My wife's folks just picked up a really nice '14 forester, and now I want one even more. I think if I had a three car garage I'd have on already; can't bear to part with the zhp :)

It really does look amazing though - keep it up!

[danewilson77]

Change badge to 2.5is.

Awesome work.

The friendliest forum on the planet.

[Hornung418]

Looks like the Moogaroo from MCM!

Nice job with all the work done. Especially like how Subaru parts can be swapped between models, much like BMWs.

Sent from my GS3.

[midlandtech]

Looks like the Moogaroo from MCM!

Nice job with all the work done. Especially like how Subaru parts can be swapped between models, much like BMWs.

Sent from my GS3.

Lol I thought of mcm when I saw it too

taptalk + Note 3

[alexandre]

Beautiful car, and I love the mods! Subaru interiors are pretty nice when done right. We had a 2005 Legacy GT in the family a couple years ago - it was a lot of fun to drive.

The bumpers aren't in your mod list - were they simply replaced for cosmetics or upgraded to a different style ?

[scooby24]

Thanks guys!

I didn't list all the repairs to stock parts because frankly, I'd have never been able to keep track.

I've been to the Subaru dealership so much everyone in the parts department knows me by name now.

I've got more wrapped up in repairs and parts than I purchased the car for. Think I'm somewhere in the ballpark of 12-13k invested total, which is what the car is worth, stock and beat up...so I'm still pretty happy with where I am in this thing.

[mindspin311]

Awesome! I love turbo Surbaru's. I had an 05 LGT for a few years. 270hp/320tq at the wheels was addicting.