Zach's I wanna be Hella.... by Terminal Kuz

10 minute(s) of a 35 minute read

NEW WHEELS!!!! Got some Varrstoen ES1 in 18x9.5 34 wrapped with Achilles ATR sport in 245/40. I have some slight rubbing in the rear so i will need to roll and pull the rear fenders. 

5-4-2013

Is it bad I'm in the airport about to fly to Kuwait and I'm thinking of all the mods I can buy when I get back? I think im pretty normal don't you? In super bored, gonna miss being able to jump on clubdub and talk **** in the chat.

6-15-2013

lol well i couldnt wait until i got back to the states. Probably would have changed my mind like 12 times till then. Thanks to Mattypants for suggesting the Suspension Technique Coilover package from TIC. Unfortunately i missed out on the package but ended up getting about $100 off downgrading(?) the front camber plates. They were supposed to come with Moore sport front plates but i substituted them for the Whiteline Com-C. AAHHHHH I WANNA GET HOME AND INSTALL THESE!!!!!

1-1-2014

Well its about time i updated this thing. I have some new goals i want to achieve. Start cone chasing by the summer. I have a lot of friends that auto x their stock wrx/sti's. Figured i might give it a shot. Still on the hunt for a turbo, looking for a reasonably priced but used Blouche 16g-xt which i think with the 2.0L it would be perfect for Auto X. On to the updates

I was deployed to Afghanistan which is the only reason i can afford anything.

Left-Me being dumb and not wearing all my PPE

Right-This was my small section i worked with. Only 5 of us really went outside the wire a lot for missions, we would do a lot of back to back missions.

When i got back i would do stupid **** like this and offroad a car not set up for it. Broke my cat-back and blew a strut. No worries though because COILOVERS!!!!!

So the Coilover install kinda sucked. We were working with a little tool case from costco, tools were bad quality and we had no breaker bar or torque wrench. Besides the lack of correct tools the install was pretty straight forward. Only took about half a day and two 6 packs.

How it looked with the saggy incorrectly spaced rear coilovers.

Went on a few cruises to Angeles Crest Highway (30+ miles of driving heaven). The Coilovers handled amazing for the most part. I still couldnt really test out the max performance of them because i was still rubbing with the Varrstoens. They were good enough (but mostly the driver mod) to be able to pass modded Evos through turns. Although they smoked me on the straights (not racing, just friendly cruising). Here are some pictures i took from those drives.

The rubbing finally got to me and i decided to buy some new wheels and tires

Enter the Rays Gramlight 57DR in 17x9 34 (maybe 38) offset, i wrapped them in some Bridgestone Potenza RE-11A tires in 245/40/17. Still havent gotten the first heat cycle through them yet as im in Boston currently. This fitment is way more functional for DD use and im sure once i go cruising through the mountains i wont have any problems with rubbing. I did rub once on the highway but im convinced i was air born for a second or two.

That beautiful new rubber

I honestly like the look of the Varrstoens more on my car, its just the fitment was terrible. Now i need to sell or trade them....... anyone interested? lol

So yea not much has been done since i got back from the deployment. I still have these parts awaiting a turbo for install.

Grimmspeed TMIC

ETS (or something like that) Y-pipe and couplers

STI Pink injectors modded to 830cc (from Mainframe)

Walbro 255lph fuel pump (from Mainframe)

Fuel pump install kit

New injector Rings

Yup thats it for now

1-14-2014

My car is looking more complete. i got rid of the ugly ass faded purply tint. Suntek film 5% on the rear three, 20% on the front two windows. All done at Shield-X in Oceanside, CA. I never realized how much better the car would look after i got it done, it really completes the image of a decent looking car. As always a picture for you few that actually read this.

I think im going to take all the stickers off my car, especially the rally pig sticker on my bumper.

AAAAANNNNDDDD....... BIG NEWS!!!!

NEW (used)TURBO

(sorry for my ugly ass mug)

Finally got the perfect turbo for my block/setup/goals<--- not too sure what it actually is. The Blouch 16g-XT. I did a lot of thinking, youtube watching, tune researching, thread reading, asking EJ, Zax, and Mainframe because I'm new to this. Many thanks to those guys dealing with my questions on "what do you think of this turbo?" and "do you think this is too big for my 2.0L?" and guided this project to something better. I was about to just give up and buy an STI turbo, i was talking to a few different people at the same time all with different turbos when i just said **** it and got the turbo i really wanted. Stay tuned for the next update in 5-6 months roughly...

2-4-2014

I hate this S***

The intake manifold and TGV's are the hardest project I've taken on with this car. There are literally brackets of death on top, next to, and underneath the damn thing. I'm also the kind of guy that says "**** directions", I've just been disconnecting everything i see that will hinder the removal of the intake manifold and TGV's. This is what my engine bay currently looks like.

So theres this bracket on the right side of the intake manifold that i cant for the life of me get off, it connected down to the back of the tgv motor. If anyone has any recomendation on how to remove it that would be greatly appreciated. Its covering the last bolt i need to disconnect on that side. 

The stupid bracket that is kicking my ass.

All pictures are taken with snapchat for personal notes and are to be criticized if you really care enough.

I'll update this when i can get better pictures and think of more to write

EDIT: I guess i can write about some of my adventures this weekend. I had finally gotten the first heat cycle through my RE-11s, figured i would go out and go around corners as stupidly fast as i could to see how much grip i had. These tires are the grippiest damn tires i have ever had, they outperformed (in my opinion) the Dunlop star specs. I could not get these tires to slip, i thought i was going to go out the window from the seat not being able to hold me in place because the car was so planted. On a day to day basis they are better than some of the other tires I've had. They are quieter than my Nexen N5000 and ride softer than the Nexen and my Achilles ATR sports. I would seriously recommend them for the driver that autocrosses/tracks and daily drives the car. If you can justify the price of the tires go for it. If you are the type of the person that buys the cheapest tires just remember that the tires are what makes contact with the ground allowing you to stop or avoid a nasty situation. just my 2 cents.

A personal update as well, i got Lasik eye surgery. That is also totally worth it, i was wearing glasses since i was probably 6 or 7 years old. I was able to see as well as when i was wearing glasses (20/20) in a week.

2-22-2014

HAHAHA SUCCESS!!!!!! The easiest way to take the manifold out is with the fuel rails, turbo inlet, GBOD (green brackets of death), tgvs and part of the wiring harness all together and then take it all apart once its out. In all seriousness, I am never doing this again unless im getting paid to do it with lots of beer.

For someone attempting this, make sure you unplug the wires from the coil packs and the two big engine harness connectors by the battery. As well as a small sensor right by the AC compressor and you cant forget the crank sensor and oil pressure sensor connections underneath the alternator. Easy to miss.

My engine bay now