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Amandyke posted:GST Motorsports, LIC, EQ Tuning. All good shops. Are they more than just a "tuner" shop? I've heard much better things about GST and LIC, but they're much further away from me. No decent subaru shops in Sacto. No, not even the one that is there and seems to have some "tuner" creed on i-club/nasioc. Always been interesting to me, the Internet love of certain shops. Grimmspeed is not a particularly well respected shop locally in MN (though I've never personally had issue with them and won't speak ill because i just don't know), but the internet sure loves em. nm fucked around with this message at 05:57 on Nov 2, 2010 |
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Nov 2, 2010 05:54
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FormulaXFD posted:If any of you portland or people are interested, I have 8-10 of the oil plug crush washers left over. Anyone wants them, they're free for the taking. I would love to take them off your hands!!
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Nov 2, 2010 06:46
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Don't know a lot about eq but ed is a pretty smart guy and they seem to be a good shop. GST and LIC are definitely good shops though. Going to do some partying with them this week at sema- we call it bta.
jamal fucked around with this message at 07:24 on Nov 2, 2010 |
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Nov 2, 2010 07:21
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Seat Safety Switch posted:You might have an exhaust leak, in which case you have to disassemble and reassemble the various chunks of the exhaust system in the proper order to make a good seal. The beater '94 Impreza I drove for autocross had a pretty nasty exhaust leak and it sounds basically like you're describing. I took it to the dealer yesterday and they said there's nothing wrong with it. They couldn't explain the woosh though. As I said, I've suffered no loss of power, but now it's very obvious when I let up on the accelerator because that's when you hear the woosh. At least I have it on record that I took it in, so if it does turn out to be something I can come back at them.
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Nov 2, 2010 14:00
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nm posted:Tell me more about EQ. I've heard really mixed reviews, but it is the internet. EQ does fantastic work and are currently building my motor. My only complaint is that they are a small shop and as such can be a bit slow at times. That said, Ed is a great guy, knows his stuff and does fantastic work. Anything negative you hear is due to a rival shop, Paul at DB Tuned in Roseville, spreading lies and misinformation about Ed, his shop, and his work. Amandyke fucked around with this message at 19:35 on Apr 15, 2011 |
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Nov 2, 2010 17:11
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EQ is the best shop north of the bay area and the best choice for anyone from sac or even Reno. Fine line imports and LIC are great shops closer to Santa rosa and GST is great in the bay. EQ does have some colorful clients but their work is of the highest quality. They do anything you need mechanically. I currently live in yuba city and will be making the drive to EQ for all my work. I have direct experience with the Sacramento shops. Anyone saying anything bad about EQ most likely has no direct experience with the shop and is simply regurgitating misinformation spread by an unscrupulous competitor. Ask me how I know privately. Bob Log fucked around with this message at 20:04 on Nov 2, 2010 |
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Nov 2, 2010 18:13
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Amandyke posted:EQ does fantastic work and are currently building my motor. My only complaint is that they are a small shop and as such can be a bit slow at times. That said, Ed is a great guy, knows his stuff and does fantastic work. Anything negative you hear is due to a rival shop, Paul at DB Tuned in Roseville, spreading lies and misinformation about Ed, his shop, and his work. Good to know. Certain Sacramento shops never could get anything right.
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Nov 3, 2010 03:48
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FormulaXFD posted:If any of you portland or people are interested, I have 8-10 of the oil plug crush washers left over. Anyone wants them, they're free for the taking. Finding these at a regular auto supply store is like asking for them to have decent prices.
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Nov 3, 2010 05:11
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So, after about 700 miles on my new '11 WRX, I figure I would post some impressions. I took the more scenic route to DC on Friday. Turnpike to New Stanton, 119 down to Uniontown, RT 40 to 68 though Cumberland until I got to 70. Route 40 was by far the highlight of the trip. I had such a huge shiteating grin on my face by the time I made it to 68. Especially while it's still in PA, it has steep hills and some pretty decent turns. I went though around 10:30 at night and had no one in front of me for the most part so I just went for it. The car was rewarding to say the least. It felt a lot more planted and less twitchy than my '02 and the lower end torque was really apparent on the steep hills. 68 was no slouch either through Cumberland, nice highway twisties. On the highway stretches the car settled down and was a ton quieter than my '02 and not nearly as harsh on the road. One thing I was finding though that between the power, the smoother feel, and the lower amount of noise; my butt speedo was inaccurate by about 10mph. When I though I was cruising at 70, I was doing 80. When I thought I goosed it just a little for a pass, I looked down and was pushing 90. I had to be real careful of my speed for a few stretches. One downside, the seats. I mean, they look fine and are ok, but I could round the world 100 times in my '02 seats and not feel it but I was getting a little lower back fatigue by the 4th hour in the new car. The pedal position is a little different too which was causing my ankle to feel a bit strained. The brake pedal feels higher than the accelerator where they were virtually the same height on my '02. In all though, I'm very pleased with my purchase. I ran across an '11 Plasma Blue STI sedan on 70 when I was driving back on Sunday. I was just cruising slightly faster than him and went for the pass but he decided he was having none of that and took off. I don't like to play on public roads so I just hung back and shadowed him for awhile at a distance. About 10 minutes later, out came the blue lights and he was on the side of the road with a state trooper behind him. Oops.
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Nov 3, 2010 05:13
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zantar posted:Finding these at a regular auto supply store is like asking for them to have decent prices. Well, my local Napa is decent on prices, so ... I figured if someone wanted a handful of them for free then it would put them to more use than throwing them out. 
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Nov 3, 2010 07:16
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So I've got a tools question for you guys. For my past cars (a series of Hondas and BMWs), I have endeavored to assemble small tool bags with all the right bits to tackle most jobs on the car: - sturdy 3/8" and 1/2" ratchet and breaker bar - a Pasti-Dip'ed impact socket for the wheel lugs - minimal set of standard-length sockets (for Honda, that's 8mm, 10mm, 12mm, and 14mm) plus 1" and 3" extensions and U-joint - job specific sockets (correct sockets for drain bolts, brake caliper pins, etc) - minimal set of wrenches (7mm for brake bleeder bolts, 18mm for the tie rods, etc) - any specific and indispensable tool (32mm headset wrench for the fan nut on a BMW) Now that I'm down to just a Subaru, I'd love to make a trip to H-F and spend $50 assembling this set of tools. That's where I need your help: What size sockets are necessary for shock tower bolts, timing belt covers, intercooler mounts, etc? How about strut mount bolts, crank pulley nut, and lug nuts? Any job specific indispensable tools or odd bit types (torx bits or star bits or bizarro bits)? Thanks gents!
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Nov 3, 2010 17:38
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bull3964 posted:So, after about 700 miles on my new '11 WRX, I figure I would post some impressions. Sounds like you'r loving your '11. I think I'll look at one when I get my next "new," Subaru. I absolutely loved the stock seats in my '02, sucks that the new ones seem less comfortable. Wish there was an option for those JDM STI seats, they look incredible.
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Nov 3, 2010 18:52
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Doesn't the added thickness of plasti-dip cause the impact socket to not be able to fit on the nut? For any axle service, you'd need a 3/16" or 7/32" drift punch to remove the roll pin.
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Nov 3, 2010 19:06
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Jared592 posted:Doesn't the added thickness of plasti-dip cause the impact socket to not be able to fit on the nut? I brush it on the outside of the socket in two very thin layers to protect the wheels, not really dipping it.
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Nov 3, 2010 19:47
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Sterndotstern posted:I brush it on the outside of the socket in two very thin layers to protect the wheels, not really dipping it. I just wrapped mine in electrical tape.
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Nov 3, 2010 20:17
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Sockington posted:I just wrapped mine in electrical tape. I did this for a while except it kept tearing, the plasti-dip lasts quite a bit longer. Saaay... since you're hip deep in your suspension project and have already yanked a motor, perhaps you could enlighten me with your "Top 10 Must-Have Sockets/Wrenches" list? I'd be super-appreciative!
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Nov 3, 2010 20:43
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Got a question from a guy in the local Subaru club - he has a '94 Impreza L wagon with a '97 2.2L engine, rear diff and transmission swapped in and it keeps making GBS threads CV axles. He's been through five axles in less than a year of driving the car, and even with rallycross use you wouldn't think they'd die that often, would they? The latest one is leaking grease from somewhere inside without having a broken boot or clip that he can see. Others have gotten boot punctures, which is sort of understandable under the load. Would the fact that the axles are "rebuilt" units from Partsource* have anything to do with it? I assume they must outsource to someone semi-reputable to rebuild the units and they're not just baling wire and Chinese model airplane glue. * It says FWD and AT, but it's wrong - according to him, the same part number apparently fits for AWD and 5MT too, and 1994+. Seat Safety Switch fucked around with this message at 02:56 on Nov 4, 2010 |
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Nov 4, 2010 02:52
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Seat Safety Switch posted:Would the fact that the axles are "rebuilt" units from Partsource* have anything to do with it? I assume they must outsource to someone semi-reputable to rebuild the units... Never assume. quote:...and they're not just baling wire and Chinese model airplane glue. This is pretty close to the truth with reman parts store axles. When I worked at Advance, they were pretty close to our #1 return / replace under warranty item. Absolute trash. I'm not necessarily saying that nothing else is wrong, but the fact that he's through 5 parts store axles in a row like that doesn't surprise me. Raxles are a bit spendy by comparison, but very high quality. Tell him to get a set of these and see if the problem returns.
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Nov 4, 2010 03:11
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So, I'm thinking older Legacy GT wheels painted to match the 2011 wheels actually look pretty sweet (image stolen from NASIOC.) They're like mini 2011 wheels. The style is nearly the same, only in 16" form. I've been thinking that I want to pick up yet another set of subaru wheels for a set of all-seasons just for my 2011 and a local place is selling these style wheels for $60 a pop.
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Nov 4, 2010 05:21
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bull3964 posted:So, I'm thinking older Legacy GT wheels painted to match the 2011 wheels actually look pretty sweet (image stolen from NASIOC.) Just get a set of spacers to make things "fill-out" the fenders a bit more! If you find a good source of spacers, let me know -- hard as hell to find a set of 5x114.3 from a reputable company.
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Nov 4, 2010 19:20
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thealphabetsez posted:Just get a set of spacers to make things "fill-out" the fenders a bit more! If you find a good source of spacers, let me know -- hard as hell to find a set of 5x114.3 from a reputable company. I'm not really sure I would want to fill out the fenders more. Since they would be run during bad weather, i would rather they were tucked in more to prevent junk from being sprayed down the car. It's not something I'm going to act on right away anyways. I'm going to wait and evaluate my options. I'm just going to get my winters on my spare '02 rims in 215/55/16 to better match the new car rather than the 205/55/16 stock size of my '02 and run them on the new car until it gets really bad this year and switch them out to the 2002. I'm finding that the new wider tire size on the 2011s is actually kind of an annoyance when it comes to wheel/tire choices. Quite a bit of the wheel choices out there (including past WRX wheels) are 17x7. However, 235 rubber won't fit comfortably on a 7" wide wheel and there's really no good alternative size to keep the speedo/odo accurate. 215/50/17 is probably close enough to not matter, but there's just no exact match in a narrower tire in the 17" size.
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Nov 4, 2010 20:03
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So my 2006 WRX TR has finally hit 100,000 km(its actually 60,000 since its american) but shes starting to feel not so precise and rather loose up front and im wondering what things I should start looking at for suspension part replacements to remove the floaty front end. What parts seem to see the most wear with this many kilometers?
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Nov 4, 2010 20:36
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I know new front endlinks made a huge difference for me when I got up there in mileage. Cheap and easy too.
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Nov 4, 2010 20:38
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scradley posted:So my 2006 WRX TR has finally hit 100,000 km(its actually 60,000 since its american) but shes starting to feel not so precise and rather loose up front and im wondering what things I should start looking at for suspension part replacements to remove the floaty front end. What parts seem to see the most wear with this many kilometers? You talking just in steering response? Or more so about the car handling bumps, etc? Like bull said endlinks are good, and there's any number of new bushings you could replace. New sway bars, struts, etc...
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Nov 4, 2010 20:48
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Amandyke posted:You talking just in steering response? Or more so about the car handling bumps, etc? Im talking more on bump steer. It seems low speed tracking feels like it wants to veer off in one direction. Usually to the right on un-even roads. Ive been told that bump steer is fairly common but havent heard so much on how to remedy it. Suspension upgrades seem cheap and good preperation for power upgrades which im starting to get the bug for lately but want to reduce the general slop of the wrx front end.
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Nov 5, 2010 05:10
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My car does that too; it also has an annoying front end 'lift' feeling when I start feeding in power too early through a corner. It's not quite understeer, it feels more like the car is rearing back onto its haunches and not giving me front end grip. I have a severe pull to the right (and resulting 'numb' feeling when trying to track straight) on crowned roads, but I think that's due to a bent lower control arm. There are a huge pile of replacement bushings out there - I just hit 64k km and if my shift bushings were any indication I suspect all the suspension stuff is pretty worn down by now. I'm not sure what would be the biggest bang for the buck in terms of steering feel. The endlink bushings looked pretty flimsy when I was under it last; I'm guessing that they have a big influence on the car and are probably cheaper than an ALK or other major suspension components to get started with. edit: A performance alignment did clear up the car's tendency to 'hunt' along cracks in the road. Seat Safety Switch fucked around with this message at 05:31 on Nov 5, 2010 |
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Nov 5, 2010 05:17
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Also, you can start simple with an alignment too. I found excessive amounts of toe tends to drag the car around a lot on uneven roads.
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Nov 5, 2010 05:28
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Struts
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Nov 5, 2010 05:58
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So I thought I'd mention it here, but on the Saturday December 11th, i-club is going to have a big meet on Treasure Island in that big parking lot right on the main road. see: http://tinyurl.com/timeet There's going to be a little BBQin and general tomfoolery. I'm going to try to Organize a caravan out of Sacramento to meet up with more people in Vallejo and run together out to TI. Bob Log fucked around with this message at 07:33 on Nov 5, 2010 |
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Nov 5, 2010 06:59
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scradley posted:Im talking more on bump steer. It seems low speed tracking feels like it wants to veer off in one direction. Usually to the right on un-even roads. Ive been told that bump steer is fairly common but havent heard so much on how to remedy it. Suspension upgrades seem cheap and good preperation for power upgrades which im starting to get the bug for lately but want to reduce the general slop of the wrx front end. Alignment. Subarus are very sensitive to it and a few mm out can make the chassis move around uncomfortably. zero toe is a good place to start.
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Nov 5, 2010 13:01
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Speaking of alignments - I'm in pretty desperate need of an alignment. What's a good neutral/rear bias combination for alignment on a daily driver with whiteline sway bars (22front -soft and 20 firm out back)? Keeping in mind that snow is on the way.
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Nov 5, 2010 13:10
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If I need to replace pads/rotors on my JDM 4pots/2pots, what do I use as the North American equivalent? 06 WRX w/ 4pots?
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Nov 5, 2010 14:28
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So I'm right about to pull the trigger on winter tires for my '09 WRX. I'm thinking about using the TireRack package of 16" 205/55R16 wheels w/ Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3Ds. Any suggestions/modifications? Can't wait to be an utter bastard in the snow.
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Nov 8, 2010 23:54
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Heh, I myself just pulled the trigger on a set of Continental ExtremeWinterContacts in 215/55/16. They'll float between my '11 WRX and my '02 WRX depending on time of year. Right now I'll put them on the '11, but when the weather starts getting bad around Jan or Feb I'll swap them on to my '02 and put it's all-seasons on the '11 and drive the '02 when the roads are crappy.
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Nov 9, 2010 00:02
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Sockington posted:If I need to replace pads/rotors on my JDM 4pots/2pots, what do I use as the North American equivalent? 06 WRX w/ 4pots? yep. we're a pretty big stoptech dealer if you want a quote for that stuff. I like their new street performance pads and the premium blank rotors are pretty reasonably priced.
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Nov 9, 2010 02:21
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ssjonizuka posted:Speaking of alignments - I'm in pretty desperate need of an alignment. What's a good neutral/rear bias combination for alignment on a daily driver with whiteline sway bars (22front -soft and 20 firm out back)? Keeping in mind that snow is on the way. I drive around with -2.5 degrees camber in the front, -1.1 in the rear, 0 toe all around. I also have sti struts, RCE springs, and 22mm f/r bars with the front on soft and the rear on stiff. Wasn't an issue driving in montana but I think a little less from camber would have helped with front grip.
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Nov 9, 2010 02:23
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^^^^^^ God I wish i could get more than -1.5 degrees. (Without plates or bolts) Ok, 05 Legacy GT. The hoses on the drat t-junction under the intercooler keep blowing off. (I have upped to boost a bit) This is a massive pain in the rear end. How to I fix this so it doesn't happen again. Cost is an object, but it is worth $100 or so to not have to remove the drat intercooler every few months. Also, after I fix this, what will cause issues next with higher than normal boost. I've already replaced the intercooler (now an Avo TMIC).
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Nov 9, 2010 17:14
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My girlfriend needs a new old car and recently moved to Colorado. She has her eyes on a particular Subaru - a '95 Legacy wagon with 205k on the odometer. It's got the 2.2L engine and an automatic. The timing belt was changed 40k ago. Does $1000 seem like a dynamite price? On the plus side, it has new tires and shocks. On the minus side, It's cosmetically ugly (though apparently there's no major rust), the key needs to be pulled out a few mm from the ignition for it to turn, it leaks oil from the rocker covers, and it's got the Subaru tick. Based on my reading I'm thinking we could knock out those last two issues at once if we took the rocker covers off to thoroughly clean the rockers and make sure the hydraulic lash adjusters aren't collapsed. Anybody done that job before who can comment on the degree of difficulty and time required? The FSM makes it seem really simple. Replacing valve cover gaskets on a Ford 289 is about the most complex repair I've done, though.
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Nov 9, 2010 22:24
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MrBlandAverage posted:Subaru tick. http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=784314
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Nov 9, 2010 23:58
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nm posted:^^^^^^ I just slotted the poo poo out of my front struts. Can get over 3 degrees on both sides. need to replace all the hardware one of these days though. as for the boost line, get a piece of silicone tube and zip-tie it. Won't go anywhere.
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Nov 10, 2010 02:33
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