Posted on March 23rd, 2009 in Automotive.
The wheels came in last Tuesday and are on the car!
Along with the wheels I got my RallyArmor mudflaps in and bolted onto the car.
All of the parts (hoses, belts, water pump, spark plugs) from the previous post were put into the car on Sunday by Squidz from the NASIOC forums. Dropped the car at his house just before noon and ran around Dallas until five when I went back over to pick up the car. So what is different over the stock components? Upgraded components are only the spark plugs, timing belt, and radiator hoses. The radiator hoses don’t give me anything but piece of mind. The rubber stock hoses were starting to bubble near the clips so I went ahead and did a replacement with the Samco silicon hoses; so far so good, but it has only been one day.
Pre-maintenance the car would jerk in first and second gear if I took my foot completely off the gas completely. Now its smooth all around. The car picks up and puts out power noticeably quicker than it did before and it revs at high RPMs smoother. The kevlar belt is a racing spec belt and is a little more noisy than the stock belt, but I don’t see why it would bother anyone. The obvious increase in stability is hard to overlook in comparison to the small amount of extra noise.
Power steering and AC belts are both the Subaru OEM belts, so there isn’t much to say about those two except that you can tell they were changed. I’m definitely a lot more excited about the car after all of this work, the car drives better than the day I bought it. Shifting is starting to get a little stiff so I’m going to be changing the gear oil and rear differential oil next weekend if weather allows.
Too bad I’m not made of money or I’d continue the spree of upgrades and work on the car, but its time to take a break from car spending and attempt to be satisfied at this point for the time being.
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Posted on March 16th, 2009 in Automotive.
What’s going in?
Power Enterprises Kevlar Timing Belt
Subaru OEM AC Belt
Subaru OEM Power Steering Belt
Subaru OEM Water Pump and Gasket
Samco Sport Silicon Radiator Hoses
NGK Iridium Spark Plugs
Also pictured are two inner CV boots and the associated axle grease as well as lug nuts. I took care of the boots this past Saturday and it turns out I didn’t need the boots or the grease. The clamp was loose and I was losing grease through the lose ends of the boots. Good new is I get to take the boots and grease back to Subaru and get a refund.
Tuesday of this week I get a new (to me anyway) set of wheels and tires in which will go onto the car as quickly as I can get them on. I can’t wait to ditch the stock wheels! Don’t want to spoil the fun ahead of time, so I am not telling what is on the way.
The rest of the maintenance will be taken care of one way or another before school starts up again next week. Viva spring break! I’ll check in again soon with the new wheels!
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Posted on March 9th, 2009 in Automotive, Reviews.
Shift Knob: Changed from stock to Subaru Momo shift knob. Why? Basically I wanted to ditch the bat-top type shifter in favor of a ball-top shifter. After a few days of using the Momo shifter I have to say I definitely prefer it over stock – for more than the look and shape (I’m a video game nerd and ball top beats bat top). Shifting feels more solid and, for under $100, makes the car feel completely new every time I reach down to shift gears.
Fog Lights: Changed to covered fog lights. What was the reason behind this? I live in Dallas and there is never a need to turn on the fog lights here. Since they are sitting there unused, I decided to clean up the front end look of the WRX by adding these fog light covers. I think the front looks better with the fog lights covered, but if you live somewhere where fog is the norm then practicality outweighs looks – stick with the fog lights.
I picked up both of these from SubaruGenuineParts.com and after dealing with them I highly recommend them. Initially, a different part was sent in place of my shift knob. I sent them an email and two days later I had the shift knob I ordered and UPS picked up the wrong item and sent it back to SubaruGenuineParts.
As I make posts like this I’ll be sure to detail my dealings with online stores I buy from and let you know what I thought of them. Who knows, maybe it will help someone somewhere along the way?
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