At risk of throwing fuel on the fire here, but from someone who has actually done the conversion themselves- my 2c:

DO IT IF YOU WANT TO- like everyone is saying, all the negatives have been pointed out, and if you aren't deterred yet, there's not much anyone can say that will change your mind. Just don't whinge and whine later down the track when what you were warned of happens...

DO IT PROPERLY- don't try and cut corners, get professionals to do work you aren't confident with. But be prepared to pay for their services- I can't stress enough that you WILL run into costs you didn't expect.

You need to realize it will never be a legit STi or WRX or whatever you plan on turning it in to- and be prepared for people to remind you of that ALOT, whether they do it to infer offense or not is beside the point, it will happen.

I don't regret doing it- and I wasn't a part of these forums before I had made my mind up and spoken to PROFESSIONALS(not just forum peeps) about all the pro's and con's of such a project. It was my first project car, and in hindsight there are things I would have done differently. But I knew this would be the case and I did it as much for the learning experience as I did it to end up with the car I have now.

If i could keep the experience i gained, but go back to having X amount of $'s in my account I would buy an 03-05 WRX and do the usual mods - VF38, PW IC, tune, body work, LOW & rims etc... but hey that's just me.

Listen, don't listen- it doesn't matter- you will learn either way.