I was around here for a while, went on hiatus and now have been coming back and fourth finding some time to wiggle my way back in. Now that i'm waiting for parts and browsing the webs for stuff I thought I'd reintroduce myself

It's been an interesting few years for me. Some good but a decent chunk of it was... bizarre, to say the least... but without going into too detail, one of the good things is I'm able to properly reconnect with cars again.

I had my bug on the market a few months ago secretly hoping it wasn't going to sell, because it was the one thing I still enjoyed - hopping in the car and just driving! I somewhat did need it gone though as a recent work trip to Melbourne didn't work out for me.

Here's the car from back it it's "prime".



About 4 months ago my radiator popped and my K-Sports caved in. I was a little bummed out about it, more so about the coilovers going. I did my head in for a while wondering what to do with it and after some deliberation I figured this would be the best thing to take my mind off a few things. So a blessing in disguise perhaps?

I had the radiator but thought I'd check out what I needed and get those, along with some other goodies.

First to arrive was the Mishimoto front mount kit. This thing is pretty fantastic. It came with literally everything, new intake and a new crash bar which is awesome. I also had new headlights so the whole car looks a bit cleaner too. They're basically identical to the stock ones but are black inside



To compliment this I got a new VF34, GrimmSpeed up pipe, STi injectors, Tomei Turbo inlet pipe (as the stock one shat itself - still waiting for that though).

Up pipe comparison




Everything has been pretty good to instal, aside from the injectors and spark plugs (which was to be expected).

I got my new coilovers the other day. I opted for Tein FlexZ's which sounded like they'd be pretty good. While waiting for some stuff to arrive I looked around and got a set of Falken Azenis RT615k's @ 225/40/18. Wasn't the size I was after but there's not much difference in width compared to the RE002's I have now and I got them at a pretty decent price so thought I'd grab them.



not my photo but these are pretty much it


The car is up on jacks at the moment just chillin's so thought I'd show the progress of it. I'm itching to get back out on the road! It's been ages since i've been to a Colin McRae cruise - or any p-wrx gig for that fact!

__________________
MY02 bugeye WRX - 280whp @ 19psi

Looks like you've got quite the nice package coming together, nice. I assume you'll be getting a tune when it's all back together?

__________________
MY08 WRX 325hp/456nm/18psi E85

yeah i'll probably head down to tokyo motorsport for the tune. it's coming together slowly lol

__________________
MY02 bugeye WRX - 280whp @ 19psi

Going to be a great bug once it is all sorted. Not usually a fan of front mount intercooler but that kit seems decent. Was there much cutting and chopping to fit?

__________________
MY01 JDM EVO VII - 230KW / 430NM @ 1.6BAR

Nah it t went on surprisingly well. All I needed to do was trim out one of the holes where the air box was because the pipe was rubbing a little, and down by the hot side there was a bit of rubbing near the front so I ground that down a bit. I put rubber seals where I cut so it doesn't look like a total hack job. Will get pics of it. The bumper was the worst of it because i pretty much cut everything (inside) out if it. Looks good with the test fit. The black core is a much cleaner look than the standard silver imo

__________________
MY02 bugeye WRX - 280whp @ 19psi

Welcome back! New shiny things are always exciting and a perfect excuse to get enthused again

__________________
[I]trolololol[/I]

Yeah. I like the look of the Mishi FMICs. They are long and not as tall, so you use all of the available opening in the front bar. And dont get ugly piping etc visible through the opening.

__________________
Doing it for all the wagons out there

Thanks TROLLEY. Shiny things are usually expensive things haha but it's gonna be so much fun

Yeah Bram it looks nice and neat all closed in and it doesn't draw a lot of attention like having a massive VL spec one. The somewhat hardest thing to find are fog light covers to hide the piping. Seen a few things on eBay but people want drug money for them. Would like to stay away from fibreglass as my scoop is made out of that and it looks like turd...

In the spirit of spending money, I picked up one of these yesterday. I'm sure there was no need for it but I got bored waiting for things lol

__________________
MY02 bugeye WRX - 280whp @ 19psi

While I remember, This is really the only spot that needed cutting. I picked up some of this from Clark Rubber for about 8 bucks a meter. Made it look so much neater. I used the left over bits for the other hole to finish it off.

__________________
MY02 bugeye WRX - 280whp @ 19psi

Had the inlet pipe come in yesterday so I put that in last night along with the turbo. Was a wiggle to get in but overall it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.





Can anyone help me on the torque specs for the turbo up pipe bolts and exhaust housing? I had a look yesterday but all I saw were torque specs for 14mm nuts / bolts. Will that do?

__________________
MY02 bugeye WRX - 280whp @ 19psi