Project: 2002 WRX Wagon -- The Gravel Express

[Goodspeed]

There are chinese made turbochargers? wtf...

[ScottyB]

beware the chinacharger

[CaptainHenreh]

goddammitsomuch

Why does china ruin everything?

[V1GiLaNtE]

^ Because they practically own us because we owe them so much god damn money.. We're their bitch..

[CaptainHenreh]

Bought some neeeeeeeeeeeeew rotors. Got that AAP 25 dollar off 60 dollar order and used it twice.

Purchase Price: $6000.00
Taxes: $202.75
"H6" Rear Brake Brackets: $64.04
CX Racing all aluminum Radiator: $133.99
Front Rotors: $42.98
H6 Rear Rotors: $36.35
TOTAL: $6480.11


Still need to buy lines, pads, and I think I'm going to go ahead and rebuild the calipers.

So, talk to me about steel brake lines. I did a little search, and oem hoses are more expensive than Stoptech or MachV stainless lines. I was just gonna get OEM hoses, but damn son. I'm not paying more money for a lower performance product...but what downsides to stainless lines bring? RJ says "they may need to be replaced every year" but I can't imagine that "DOT certified" = "Replace every year". On the other hand, I"m not interested in having a line fail on me on the street. What do you guys think?

Also, I'm looking for a catless uppipe. Not interested in a possibly disintegrating cat sandblasting my exhaust turbine. If anyone's got a line on a cheap one, lemme know.

Furthermore, I need to know what you guys think about brake pads. I was thinking about just getting some inexpensive ceramics, just need a decent street pad for now.

:-D

[Goodspeed]

steel brake lines

I went for them on my car. They get a lot of flak as "race car stuff unnecessary for the street", but I do feel that my pedal became more firm, and its nice to know that they won't expand over time like stock ones. Get ones that are rubber sheathed and you should be fine; also, they'd probably be under less stress if you "orient" them horizontally-ish from the fitting/block to the caliper, particularly the fronts.

brake pads

I'm liking my Porterfield R4S's....very street friendly "performance" pad, no noise, good bite, dusty though.

[Mike]

never replaced the steel lines on the hatch. they're probably 5 years old now (and i think i got them used? yeah, pretty sure of that)... never leaked.

[ScottyB]

i'm happy with my Hawk HPS's, but if I do it again it'll be Ferodo DS2500's, i liked them a ton.

[WRXtranceformed]

Bought some neeeeeeeeeeeeew rotors. Got that AAP 25 dollar off 60 dollar order and used it twice.

Purchase Price: $6000.00
Taxes: $202.75
"H6" Rear Brake Brackets: $64.04
CX Racing all aluminum Radiator: $133.99
Front Rotors: $42.98
H6 Rear Rotors: $36.35
TOTAL: $6480.11


Still need to buy lines, pads, and I think I'm going to go ahead and rebuild the calipers.

So, talk to me about steel brake lines. I did a little search, and oem hoses are more expensive than Stoptech or MachV stainless lines. I was just gonna get OEM hoses, but damn son. I'm not paying more money for a lower performance product...but what downsides to stainless lines bring? RJ says "they may need to be replaced every year" but I can't imagine that "DOT certified" = "Replace every year". On the other hand, I"m not interested in having a line fail on me on the street. What do you guys think?

Also, I'm looking for a catless uppipe. Not interested in a possibly disintegrating cat sandblasting my exhaust turbine. If anyone's got a line on a cheap one, lemme know.

Furthermore, I need to know what you guys think about brake pads. I was thinking about just getting some inexpensive ceramics, just need a decent street pad for now.

:-D

Glad you were able to use the deal I found Rex :thumbup:

I swapped to stainless steel lines on my old STi (Travis's car) and I honestly didn't like the feel as much as I liked the rubber stockers. The "firmness" was definitely not what I wanted for a street car, it just made me have to push a lot harder on the pedal to get the reliable gripping point I was looking for. It's hard to explain until you experience it, but I am just not convinced that firmer is better...at least in the Subaru brake pedals that I have experienced (which have been numerous).

As far as pads go, I'm going to give a shout out to Duralast Gold CMAX pads. I did a ton of research on pads when I first replaced mine for my car and I was a little skeptical about them until they got rave reviews from the EVO crowd. They are really cheap, don't dust as much as my stock Brembo pads, and have pretty much equal perceived grip as the stock Brembos on my car. Oh, they also come with a lifetime warranty. Have been a really good street pad, but I don't autox or race so if that's your goal you may want to lean toward Hawk stuff or some of the other suggestions.

[WRXtranceformed]

By the way I just confirmed this with some of the guys on the Acura forums...that lifetime warranty on the CMAX pads extends not just to defects but also normal wear....you can bring them back to the store whenever they wear out and you basically have free break pads for life. Can't beat that!!

[flintster55]

I have axxis ultimate pads and love them. They dust quite a bit but I have gunmetal wheels so it doesnt look nearly as bad but they don't squeak at all. I have 20k miles on them so far with slotted rotors and I'd say there's about half a pad left. And I got all 4 corners for around $100 I think so that's hard to beat.

Edit- sent you a pm about that sti up pipe. You def want to get rid of the stocker like you said so you dont kill your turbo from the cat breaking up.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Stock lines, SS lines improving feel is a sugar pill affect of people that needed real bleeding of their lines. Have you ever cute apart a stock line? That bitch is very unlikely to expand. SS braided teflon-coated lines are used in the automative industry to help prevent shit from falling and hitting the lines and cutting them up. I am not 100% convinced of SS lines and in fact have always seen more frays/crimps/ill-fitting shit with SS lines (and im talking the good lines such as goodridge, wilwood, UUC) than I have seen with any oem lines.

That said, I run teflon coated SS lines cause they were cheaper, but may go back to stock lines next time I swap em out cause I know for a fact they fit OEM, and OEMs have run countless cycles and are a bajillion times more accountable (even though aftermarkets should too) than some aftermarket company for a failure.

[CaptainHenreh]

That said, I run teflon coated SS lines cause they were cheaper, but may go back to stock lines next time I swap em out cause I know for a fact they fit OEM, and OEMs have run countless cycles and are a bajillion times more accountable (even though aftermarkets should too) than some aftermarket company for a failure.

See, I don't necessarily care about the "extra performance" of SS lines, but I do care about my wallet.

Good quality SS lines are 100 bucks all day long. OEM rubber is 130+. It just pains me to pay more for a "inferior" (from an engineering standpoint) product.

[Jeff]

Stock lines, SS lines improving feel is a sugar pill affect of people that needed real bleeding of their lines. Have you ever cute apart a stock line? That bitch is very unlikely to expand. SS braided teflon-coated lines are used in the automative industry to help prevent shit from falling and hitting the lines and cutting them up. I am not 100% convinced of SS lines and in fact have always seen more frays/crimps/ill-fitting shit with SS lines (and im talking the good lines such as goodridge, wilwood, UUC) than I have seen with any oem lines.

That said, I run teflon coated SS lines cause they were cheaper, but may go back to stock lines next time I swap em out cause I know for a fact they fit OEM, and OEMs have run countless cycles and are a bajillion times more accountable (even though aftermarkets should too) than some aftermarket company for a failure.

You may have noticed a + Juan on the end of DJ's post for an hour or so. I hit edit instead of reply.

So, + Juan

[Evan]

I put ss lines on my WRsuX and my SM. wasnt a big difference in feel comparing before and after.

I would actually recommend buying not DOT certified SS lines. DOT certification specifies that a crimp must be used to attach the hose to the ends. Thats fucking retarded. If you can find a set of SS lines with high quality aircraft ends (forget the name) then go for that. otherwise get stock rubber.

[JustinG]

I put em on the GSX cause they look pretty.

I have never had my brakes feel squishy even in spirited driving/AutoX, with them on, but never did on the GSX with factory lines on either. Im running Teflon coated SS lines. I cant tell any diff between them and the stock lines, and they screwed on like factory lines would. So if they are cheaper and made out of technically better material, why the hell not?

Plus they come in pretty colors!!!!

[NTIman]

Update!

New CX Racing radiator. Very nice. Some of the welds aren't the prettiest I've seen (like on the fluidyne in the mustang, but for the price...), but everything fit really great so far.


The aluminum one is slightly thicker.


Here it is with the fans installed. I'd tell you all how well it fit in the car, but I can't because I still have to do this:



The wonderful Subaru timing belt. I haven't gotten any further than this because I've been fixing to dirt track race cars, and taking some classes. But its not a bad start for having less than an hour in the job so far. It won't take long once I get into it.

[CaptainHenreh]

Awesome.

[V1GiLaNtE]

Nice!!

[ScottyB]

thats a pretty radiator. how'd the old t-belt look?