Lots of mods

[doubleurx]

I used to have a modified '05 STI w/ bigger turbo, FMIC, injectors etc. The car was no where near as fun as a D/D when all I had was a simple TBE, intake and tune. I am getting another one this fall, and this time I will only make modest changes for power. The fun in this car is greatly reduced when your power band is only 1500 rpm! Really the best bet for increasing speed is track time. I still remember MikeK chasing down the ferrari at RFR when his STI was stock and Eric passing the Ferrari with mild mods and a ton of sweat! I still remember hearing the words "I just baked a loaf"...........some reference to Gold Bond I believe.

[MikeK]

Originally Posted by doubleurx

I still remember hearing the words "I just baked a loaf"...........some reference to Gold Bond I believe.

I remember hearing "I ate a burrito as big as my arm!"

[doubleurx]

Originally Posted by MikeK

I remember hearing "I ate a burrito as big as my arm!"

Which then lead to an entirely different sort of loaf!

[MikeK]

I still remember the horrified look on that woman's face when you yelled out "I am going to destroy that port-a-potty"

[MattR]

OMG! What an incredible track day that was... hahaha

[knucklesplitter]

I sell semi-custom intakes to people almost everyday who are making 400-500+whp on street cars. Some of them drive these cars daily. It is doable, but the before-mentioned points about the cost and reliability are valid. *If* your goal is 450whp, here is what I would do to shave some cost off your build.
-The stock-mount GT35R and the supporting mods will make close to 450whp on 91octane at sea level. It will be laggy up here near 5k', so plan on keep your revs >4krpm for any boost.
-Do the stock shortblock with forged pistons. The improved bearings and studs are a good idea too. I think you could get by with the stock rods (on a street car), but that is a judgment call.
- Instead of the very-expensive Cozzy heads just do stock heads with maybe cams, and maybe 1mm-over valves. My buddy Ray has pro-ported STI heads with oversized valves if you are interested though.
- Get a good conservative tune by somebody with lots of experience tuning street cars in the 450+whp range.
- You will need a new clutch with this build or your dyno-tune session will be cut short.


That shortblock will not last forever obviously, but it is enough to get you into the game for a year or two... maybe. I don't think you need head porting, but it would maybe help you make the power at a lower boost.

Also please check with me on any parts you may need. I have good wholesale connections on shortblocks, pistons, rods, cams, gaskets, oil pumps, etc. (click for list)

[05widesti]

Thank u very much Matt. That was the kind of info I was looking for and although I have thought about everyones input on this long and hard (that's what she said lol) I am going to continue with the 450 hp build. Now if anyone else would like to put there 2 cents in, I would prefer if it were on how to get to 450 less costly, efficient and reliable.

Don't get me wrong all of ur inputs were very helpfull and I do appreciate it. And I might be stupid but If my block lasts me a year or so I will be happy.

I am interested in rays heads maybe u can pm me about them and price he's asking for.

If I don't get rays or cosworths head I will take in consideration about the head work. That would save me a bit money.

I'm getting my car tinned by mike at gst.

Thanks again

[knucklesplitter]

Originally Posted by 05widesti

I'm getting my car tinned by mike at gst.

Thanks again

Make sure he uses lead-free tin!

Seriously though, GSTMike would be a fine choice for tuning.

[05widesti]

My bad stupid iPhone. Hahaha

[Dean]

OK, we tried.

What Matt said mostly.

Get more details about what happened/is really dead on you block. Very few failures will destroy the block all internals and both heads. Some head damage can be repaired, and some other parts might be reusable/rebuildable to save some $s.

You might also consider picking up a used/salvage long block while you save to build your dream block so you can enjo the car i nthe meantime. You can always sell it.

Assuming you are not going to do the work yourself...

If you are going to split a block to do bearings, may as well do rods, so just buy a built short block with both.

Heads, the slippery slope. Right where I am on my 100K mile '04 heads. They probably need springs and seals. +1mm valves only make sense at that point. To take full advantage of those, cams would be nice, and then to take advantage of all of that, a nice P&P would be good and may as well ceramic coat the combustion chambers while we are at it.

Kevin recommended Delta Cams in WA, and after talking to Ken, you are talking about $2200 or so if you provide stock heads to do all that and you have something damn near the Cosworth heads/cams, maybe better.

I also talked to Robert at AIMS about the same job, and he felt comfortable right up until the P&P. They just do not have the experience doing it for these heads. I like that honesty, and their price was much less for the other work.

So far from my research, I would pick Manley valves/springs with the Extreme Duty Iconel exhaust ones. Too many stories about Brian Crower and SuperTech so I would avoid those.

No opinion yet on cams.

Pistons: You do not want to go to 100mm!!! I trust GST Mike on this one. I would suggest quality forged pistons and stock or .25mm (.010") [99.75mm] overbore max size pistons. Make sure you builder is matching bores to pistons, not just slapping generic std. "B" pistons in "A" cylinders.

Since it may be a while before your build, I'll advertise a little... I will be prototyping the new Subaru line of KB-Silvolite-Icon (not sure which brand they will fall under) forged pistons. I saw the final drawings yesterday and the aluminum blanks, now they just have to be machined, coated, etc... probably 3 or 4 more weeks.

The design looks great. They should be lighter and as strong or stronger than most of the other major manufacturers. Lots of attention to the second land known to fail on Subarus and meticulous weight reduction while maintaining dome thickness.

The other cool thing is the sizes they will be producing. In addition to std. sizes, they will be making tuner sizes for people (re)building OE blocks that basically allow them to Hone match bores on AB blocks and drop in properly sized A pistons or "A"+.001" pistons without boring to 0.010" over!

OK, I'll stop now.

[05widesti]

1

[Dean]

What block did you buy with what parts? If nothing else, idlers and such from old block should be usable depending on what you got with the new one, and any spares or usable take offs can be sold...

[05widesti]

well first of all thanks for your advice that was really helpfull to me.



ok well first thing monday i will see if there is anything i can save off of my old engine, but i did already purchase a complete block and all the componets were good just a bearing was bad. so i have most oem parts for the short block. (but would this matter most parts in the sb are getting replaced anyways??)

as for the heads i guess i will have to take it to a machine shop to get them checked out to see if they are rebuildable cause my mechanic said they were not but ill make sure.

now about just buying a built block... this is where i think i can save a bit of money. the block that i bought is already split. so there is no labor on that and for the amount of parts i want to drop in is about 22 hundred for all these parts. (below) and a built block cost maybe around 4k or so. and thats for a stage 1 with stock sti forged rods,no gaskets and no head studs. although i am not sure how much the machine shop is charging me to port and polish and such, i still think i am coming out ahead by using my block. correct me if im wrong please.

pistons= 600
manley A beam rods=780
acl rod and main bearings=100
arp head and case bolts=530
cosworth head gasket=200

i do want to go a bit bigger cause my piston walls were a bit scratched up but nothing to bad so maybe .25mm (.010") [99.75mm] will work good for me.
ill make sure to call mike about the piston size and get his input on what size i should go with.

i will make sure to keep an eye out on your updates on those pistons.....

[05widesti]

Ok so l took my heads to the machine shop and they are not repairable so looks like I'm still at square one.