Blue Suede Outback

[rasterman]

This is nothing short of badass! I wonder if it will be much quieter when you're done?

20ish years ago I worked nights as the oil-change guy in a chain garage to put myself through school. I got to drive a lot of different cars in that job. I remember one car interior standing out from all the others as I drove it into the bay to put it on the lift. It had this beige nu-buck soft textured dashboard and door panel finish.

It was a Subaru SVX.

[EnderDragoon]

I promised to share final shots of the repaired door panel, also some general pictures of the overall interior.

[vr4Legacy]

You have made the car look 100% better. Definitely doing a great job of application. Personally I wouldn't want it, but I have to applaud the effort and application.

Can't wait to see the finished product.

[EnderDragoon]

Small progress update. She's driving great, about to hit 220,000 miles. I love the blue hood, but she's due for a wash. I recently installed LED interior dome lights from www.v-leds.com and they work GREAT. For only 18$ for all 3 overhead lights this may be the best bang for buck I've spent so far on this project. Some small things to be installed over the next few days:





It's hard to see but there are Rally Armor yellow decals to add and the classic RA keychain. The next big piece fell into my lap a little earlier than I was expecting. As I plan to do a EJ257 swap and repaint the whole car professionally I will need an in-between daily driver while she is in pieces. So I picked this up for $500 last week. 97 Impreza 2.2 that drives great. More pictures of the newest member to our family soon.





I also need some feedback on the design concept I'm working towards. I'm planning on 1 or 2 light bars as rally/fog lights, one on roof rack and one on front bumper (http://www.v-leds.com/Universal-LED/...82501-3-1.html). Along with 4x area lights for the perimeter (http://www.v-leds.com/Universal-LED/...76647-3-1.html). You can see a concept of the lighting and a custom hood I intend to build down the road (functional, not just show):

[EnderDragoon]

Trying to decide which way to go with her so I need a little feedback. Soon she will be torn down to nothing for a complete repainting/restoration and during this process I would like to swap in a new powerplant. She's going to be heavier and I don't believe the ej25, with 230k miles, is up to the task. Problem is I love NA. I have an 04 WRX and don't get me wrong I love the power, but I hate the lag. All in I would appreciate what the expected cost and practicality of a few different ideas is:

Rebuild the ej25 with higher compression heads, racing flywheel/crank/pistons/connecting rods/cam and get the most out of the 2.5 while keeping her NA.
OR
Find a totaled STI and swap in the powerplant/wiring harness/drivetrain/transmission/suspension
OR
EZ30/EZ36/EG33 swap.

The last option is likely the most labor intensive, which I don't mind, so long as it's doable. I've read around and found some have the EG33 swap completed with great results but it is heavier and more difficult to fit into the engine bay. The EZ36 would be a dream swap for me. Power, torque, NA. I have read that some have attempted this swap and have had issues working around the immobilizer and limp home functions as well as no ecu capable of running the AVCS. Have any aftermarket ECUs finally been able to capture this function? Would swapping in the harness from a 3.6r outback be possible to retain the AVCS? I also don't know how I feel about drive by wire throttle as I prefer the direct response and control of a cable. I would love to build a chopped down and simplified EZ36 that retains the AVCS, perhaps with a manual control of its cam position.

Ideas?