08 WRX Weekend warrior

So this is my thread for my 08 WRX sedan. Ive been tracking my cars for roughly 3 years started with my FRS(DD),then a ep3(Sold) and finally a EF Civic(Scrapyard).

I recently split ways with my EF and was looking for another project car went to go check a e30 but found the rust to be too much until recently a buddy told me his friend blew the headgasket on his wrx so i jumped on the opportunity and got it for 2000$ Canadian(1.5Kus) shell is pretty clean for a 220km car with a few rusts spots it came with a set of summers as well.

So the initial diagnostic that the guy made was the headgasket due to the smoking, but it didn't overheat after a 20 min drive to my garage.

So my next guess was the rings since it would explain that the car was struggling to start but shortly after I realized it doesn't make boost. which a blown turbo could explain the leaking/burning oil and smoke in the bay(on start up) and smoke out of the tail pipe.

In short within 1 hour of getting it ive complied two possible reasons why it might have those symptoms.

plans for now: compression and leakdown test before removing the turbo.

basic maintaince: i can hear the front left bearing that's gonna have to be done and brakes but i will be doing a more indepth inspection after figuring out the smoking issue.

Wow, nice score.  My son recently became a subaru guy.  There are two project cars for sale locally...I am resisting the urge to buy them both.  I am mostly able to resist because I don't like working in my garage in the winter---so far!

In reply to thedoc :

you should subarus are great cars they can be reliable but dont be surprised if you have to pull the engine

So i got a great two for one a blown turbo and head gasket. Started to tear into the intake etc to verify the condition of the turbo and found this 

So im gonna slowly start tearing the accesories apart to pull the engine hopefully before christmas, luckily i already have a engine rebuilt gasket set and a few spares parts from a 05 sti so im gonna see what i can get done before next season begins

In reply to r4ymond :

My son is having a great time with his car, I keep seeing other projects with great prices.  A few had engines that were good, others not so.  I am asking him to pick one up and have it built.  I would love to have one ready to go.  That would almost protect us against murphys law...almost.

Sadly, those two cars are still staring at me.  Who knows what spring will bring.  I'm not doing the build in my garage.  It is heated with kerosene, poorly and the fumes get to me.

Can't wait to see what you will do.

These cars are fun, seeing this makes me miss my old '06 LGT. 

Whats your plan for build / mods?

In reply to birdmayne :

right now pretty simple.

Since I have to remove the engine might as well build it so ill be putting some forged components but ill only be going for 250/300whp(max) for my first season gonna refresh the suspension maybe upgrade if i find some used parts and upgrade the brakes, picked up some powerstop 04-07 calipes(gold brembos) that fit both the narrow body and my frs so i figured a win win.

Ive been very slowly started to tear the top side of the block but wanted to pull the engine probably before christmas or early january at most

So when I had my EF civic I regret not properly documenting the build except for the last 2 months so I figured id give a shot to vlogging so most likely today or early this week ill make a quick intro video of the wrx.

So unfortunately the time line of getting the engine out was thrown out the window with work and all .

Slight shift in plans but nothing crazy i am always undecided when it comes to my builds, after talking to my buddies we figured out that its probably best to fix the headgasket and throw the engine back in and figure out the brakes and suspension, but I will still add a bit of power.

So for power currently considering a VF40 from a Legacy GT from my research its a bolt on for my wrx and a in between of the smaller TD04 and the VF52, aswell a local shop does custom downpipes and up pipes for reasonable prices and of course with this ill need a COBB or open flash tuning.

With the engine out ill be doing a few maintenance bits that are best changing pretty much all gaskets,spark plugs etc

Here is a beautiful picture of the blown TD04

VF40 will get you your target power easily enough. I was getting 17 psi from mine. Used Romraider to flash / log my ECU. 

I do miss my narrow-body 09 sedan. The one everyone else hates and says isn't a "real" WRX. With the VF52 and a stage 1 tune, it put 280tq *to the wheels*

irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:

I do miss my narrow-body 09 sedan. The one everyone else hates and says isn't a "real" WRX. With the VF52 and a stage 1 tune, it put 280tq *to the wheels*

ngl this generation wide or narrow is my least favorite however with the narrow body i had plans of building a nice sleeper and this might be the best one.

r4ymond said:

irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:

I do miss my narrow-body 09 sedan. The one everyone else hates and says isn't a "real" WRX. With the VF52 and a stage 1 tune, it put 280tq *to the wheels*

ngl this generation wide or narrow is my least favorite however with the narrow body i had plans of building a nice sleeper and this might be the best one.

It also had the RaceComp Bilstein Cup prototype suspension on it, 4_pots, and literally everything else underneath upgraded. Was only stage one but it put down 280 to the wheels. That year was a sleeper, and everyone thought that car was an Acura or something lol.