2004 STI mild build

This is my thinking… well, hoping… lol. But I don’t want to buy the covers until I know for sure.

Needs a rifle rack

If I ever got the balls to do the forester suspension swap then you damn well better believe it would have a rifle rack. But I doubt that’s going to happen. It is setup so nicely right now I would hate to kill it. I would rather get some cash, pick up another WRX and do the forester suspension in that.

Decided to add a 2nd radiator today… lol. It was just a fit up / core mount to see if the piping kit that had been modified to fit a rotated turbo could be “unmodified” to fit up again… but thats not going to happen… lol. So now I just have to wait for the piping kit to come in and a BOV. Going to go with the HKS SQV so that I have the option of going atmosphere or recirculating.
Pics:

Bumpers…who needs them:
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f367/offroadzj/2004%20Subaru%20STI/2012-04-24_16-32-42_480.jpg

Good-bye old, slightly rusty, heavy as hell bumper support:
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f367/offroadzj/2004%20Subaru%20STI/2012-04-24_16-41-49_648.jpg

Hello new aluminum bumper support with attached radiator…:
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f367/offroadzj/2004%20Subaru%20STI/2012-04-24_17-16-32_388.jpg

Bumper fitting. Had to trim a bit here and there, but overall it fit pretty well:
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f367/offroadzj/2004%20Subaru%20STI/2012-04-24_20-06-42_200.jpg

Instead of ditching the JDM fogs, I decided to do whatever I could to keep them. So far so good (don’t have any piping for the pass. side yet so not sure what will be required there). I had to do a bit of trimming and notching to keep pressure off the bumper but still allow the fog light brackets and bezels to still fit tightly:
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f367/offroadzj/2004%20Subaru%20STI/2012-04-24_20-27-04_860.jpg

Front end back together:
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f367/offroadzj/2004%20Subaru%20STI/2012-04-24_20-59-11_827.jpg

Once the piping gets here I need to mount that up, change some vacuum lines, and relocate the coolant overflow tank. I already have a pretty good idea of where to put it, but I’ll update when I actually get to that point.

Did a whole bunch of mods this weekend. To include the FMIC with HKS SSQV Recirc, battery “relocate”, washer fluid reservoir “reassignment”, custom gauge cluster, and a few others. More details can be found here: http://shift518.com/showthread.php?t=30546
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f367/offroadzj/2004%20Subaru%20STI/STi042.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f367/offroadzj/2004%20Subaru%20STI/STi040.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f367/offroadzj/2004%20Subaru%20STI/STi029.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f367/offroadzj/2004%20Subaru%20STI/STi028.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f367/offroadzj/2004%20Subaru%20STI/STi027.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f367/offroadzj/2004%20Subaru%20STI/STi020.jpg

stop ruining this car!

Please enlighten me as to what has the “ruined” this car?Nothing has been done that cannot be undone so why am I not allowed to modify it to my personal preference. In my eyes, it is still retaining a clean look… just with a little personalization. So what exactly has you so worked up???

I don’t know about him…the gauge pod caterpillar you made is not clean. And I do not like at all.

Everything else I have no opinion on…I’m not a Subaru guy. A+ for doing what you like though. Solid work ethic and all that.

[ATTACH]30516[/ATTACH]

:rofl

I like that… lol. The pod is nowhere near finished. Once finished it will hopefully match the dash perfectly and flow with the natural lines of the dash. This is just temporary as a test before I spend the time and money to finish it. And who knows, maybe by then I’ll come up with a different solution… but I can’t stand the A-pillar pods, and the clock pods only hold 3 gauges and I have at least 5 engine parameters that I want to keep tabs on (oil pressure, oil temp, Aquamist injection, boost, AFR). And I’m not really a big fan of the clock pods. I like how everything is right there easy to see and not have to go looking for it. In addition, the built-in alarms on the gauges will never be un-noticed since they are right there.

So far the car looks great but like others said…i don’t know how I feel about those pod.
I just can’t see how they WON’T obstruct your view but then again i’m not sure how its going to look as a finished product. good luck!

I almost fell out of my chair laughing at that caterpillar shit, lolololol.

Its hard to really get a decent picture, but even from the one posted, you can see that they just barely sit high than the factory hood scoop. So the only visibility lost is equal to what you lose with the hood scoop being there… only instead of just being in the middle of the hood, it extends the entire way.

I guess it would also depend on how you sit. If you have the super ghetto lean then yes, it will obstruct a lot of the view. However if you sit just slightly off of straight up (like I do) then its no obstructive at all. I would take bets that I have more visibility than half the kids driving around with the ghetto lean going… lol.

My concerns were not based on functionality. I think if this car saw Limerock (substitute any track) on the regular and those gauges were necessary for second by second diagnostics…functionality would rule over aesthetics.

They are right in your face and you, LITERALLY, have to look over them to find the road…if this car is driven on the ragged edge daily, I can see your thought process.

BUT IM SURE IT’S NOT.

Heater vent/storage pockets/column mounted gauges would look 12x’s better IMHO.

The aesthetic appearance far out weighs functionality. Especially if the only functional purpose is to save you from glancing to the right at your gauges.

Just my thoughts.

I’m definitely interested in seeing the final product either way.

If you went with mini gauges instead of the 52mm…you might be able to pull this off better.
I think Omori makes 42mm? Gauges.

something about 2004 sti’s man…

I was hoping to find smaller gauges, but as far as I know the Aquamist, AEM AFR, and Tru-boost do not come smaller. I guess its something you would have to see in person, but it really does not obstruct the view much at all. While daily driving, I honestly don’t even notice it being there. But I’m sure that also has a lot to do with my seating position. And if I wanted to, I could always adjust the seat to sit a little higher since I’m pretty damn short and have plenty of head room.

http://i.qkme.me/3pe9i1.jpg

Lolololol ^^^