It's been quite a while coming, but back in 2008 I finally bought a 2000 2.5rs with the intention of swapping it once the engine gave up. I have 170k mi on it now and it is still running strong (knock on wood). I ended up finding a 95L that was a rolling shell (also has a 5 spd in it) that was in good condition cosmetically. The shell also came with an aerosim widebody kit, so that was a bonus.
Work was pretty slow, plus I don't really like my job, so I decided (with the ok from my wife) to take a month off to do the swap. We will see if it is enough time.
The Plan
The first order of business is to completely strip the rest of the interior and the engine bay to get ready for paint. I want to paint everything before I bother doing any of the mechanical work, especially the engine bay. I will be going with either steel blue mica or sonic blue. I am kind of torn on sonic blue, because I am not trying to make a 22B replica per se. The color is really nice though, so I am not completely ruling it out. So, right now, I am leaning toward steel blue mica as it is going to be a bit more rare (but definitely less iconic).
After the interior and engine bay have been painted I have a MY03 STi engine/transmission/drivetrain that will be put in. That was a definite bonus for picking up the 95L, that I could basically swap anything in since it was OBDII and pretty much be assured that I would pass inspection in any state I may end up moving to.
The plans for the interior are to keep it mostly stock aside from the seats and cluster. My plan is to use a V5/6 cluster to get the DCCD readout. If it already had a cluster I don't think I would worry about it, but the fact that the interior is pretty bare, I figure I might as well just put in a cluster with the DCCD readout. I don't think that the kph to mph conversion will bother me much as it really only requires remembering a few common numbers and then interpolating between them at intermediate speeds.
I am planning on mounting the kit and doing the bodywork myself, but I am still undecided on paint. I figured I would paint the interior and engine bay and see how I did on those. If they don't look that great, I will probably take it somewhere to have it done. If they are decent then I will do it myself. I am not looking for show car quality since I think I would just be super bummed out if/when the first scratch/ding shows up. Being a daily driver, that is inevitable.
Engine/Transmission
MY03 EJ207 - stock for now
MY03 6 spd w/ matching rear differential
Brakes/Suspension
STi Brembos (5x114.3)
RCE Tarmac 2
Wheels/Tires
Undecided
Exterior
Aerosim wide body kit
V6 spoiler (supposedly genuine, but haven't really looked too closely at it yet)
Steel Blue Mica (?)
*Picture is just a place holder...planning on taking pictures of the starting point this afternoon
Work was pretty slow, plus I don't really like my job, so I decided (with the ok from my wife) to take a month off to do the swap. We will see if it is enough time.
The Plan
The first order of business is to completely strip the rest of the interior and the engine bay to get ready for paint. I want to paint everything before I bother doing any of the mechanical work, especially the engine bay. I will be going with either steel blue mica or sonic blue. I am kind of torn on sonic blue, because I am not trying to make a 22B replica per se. The color is really nice though, so I am not completely ruling it out. So, right now, I am leaning toward steel blue mica as it is going to be a bit more rare (but definitely less iconic).
After the interior and engine bay have been painted I have a MY03 STi engine/transmission/drivetrain that will be put in. That was a definite bonus for picking up the 95L, that I could basically swap anything in since it was OBDII and pretty much be assured that I would pass inspection in any state I may end up moving to.
The plans for the interior are to keep it mostly stock aside from the seats and cluster. My plan is to use a V5/6 cluster to get the DCCD readout. If it already had a cluster I don't think I would worry about it, but the fact that the interior is pretty bare, I figure I might as well just put in a cluster with the DCCD readout. I don't think that the kph to mph conversion will bother me much as it really only requires remembering a few common numbers and then interpolating between them at intermediate speeds.
I am planning on mounting the kit and doing the bodywork myself, but I am still undecided on paint. I figured I would paint the interior and engine bay and see how I did on those. If they don't look that great, I will probably take it somewhere to have it done. If they are decent then I will do it myself. I am not looking for show car quality since I think I would just be super bummed out if/when the first scratch/ding shows up. Being a daily driver, that is inevitable.
Engine/Transmission
MY03 EJ207 - stock for now
MY03 6 spd w/ matching rear differential
Brakes/Suspension
STi Brembos (5x114.3)
RCE Tarmac 2
Wheels/Tires
Undecided
Exterior
Aerosim wide body kit
V6 spoiler (supposedly genuine, but haven't really looked too closely at it yet)
Steel Blue Mica (?)
*Picture is just a place holder...planning on taking pictures of the starting point this afternoon