2004 WRX Tear-down - TX-Lou

[TX-Lou]

I thought I would go ahead and create a teardown thread for our project. I wish I would have done this already as it probably would have saved us a few dollars from mistakes that we’ve already made but….live and learn.

As mentioned in the title of this thread our donor car is a 2004 Impreza WRX 2.0L turbo (EJ205). We got the car through a Copart Auction in Houston. A little word of advice for those folks who are going to purchase through a Copart Auction. I originally registered with Copart and tried to bid on car but couldn’t since I wasn’t a broker. So, I used J &L Auto Brokers (who were great) out of Alabama. They created a Copart account for me and I used that to bid. Copart bids are fast and furious…..and can be a little confusing at times. We were winning the pre-bid. When the bidding starts the current high bid is the winner if nobody bids in about 8 to 10 seconds. It goes fast and furious since you have just a few seconds to bid or decide to pass. We were all sitting around the computer and the bids were flying. Copart pops up a banner that tells you that you are winning the bid. That goes away and your state’s flag shows.

Things are flashing around the screen quickly but I was happy to keep seeing my TX State flag. So the auction starts to wind down and I get the notice that I’m winning….but then it flashes a big red X on the screen. We were all really confused and time was running out so I bid again and the same thing happened again. Time was running out again and everyone behind me was urging me to bid again so I did. After it did the same thing again the little lightbulb in my head goes off that something is wrong. So I didn’t bid again and the auction ended……..only to find out we did win after all. What I didn’t realize was that my account didn’t get registered with my TX address. It was listed with the address of our broker in Alabama. While some folks here are probably very familiar with the Alabama state flag, none of us were. But, I sure will never forget the big red X that is the Alabama state flag ever again. Yes, we probably cost ourselves an extra $150 or $200 and felt really dumb afterward but we did get the car and we will always laugh about it.

Here is our donor car on a trailer that I rented from U-Haul and in pre-teardown in our driveway.




Here are some pics of where we are right now. Doors, Hood, Trunk, Rear Seats and Seatbelts are all out. We just started on the dash. We’ve already cut some door and headlight wiring that we didn’t think we were going to need but after reading more here realized we do. Oh well, I’ll have to buy or build those cables. But the edict is out now…. Don’t Cut Anything!



.....................Edited on 09-24-2015...................
I thought I would post some information concerning what resources we used for teardown and some other stuff that may help others.

RESOURCES
The main resources we used for information concerning what to do and how to do it were:

• The FFR 818 Subaru Parts Disassembly Manual - Printed and put into a binder
• Haynes Repair Manual - Subaru Impreza 2002 thru 2011, Impreza WRX 2002 thru 2014, Impreza WRX STI 2004 thru 2014: Includes Impreza Outback and GT Models
• The Factory Five Forums
• Youtube - Briansmobile's Videos including his video titled Take 2 Subaru Impreza WRX STI Engine Removal Part One
• 2004 Subaru Impreza Online Service Manual

TOOLS
Here are the main tools that we used for the teardown.

• 1 Standard 3/8 Socket Wrench
• 1 Adjustable Angle 3/8 Socket Wrench
• 1 Metric Deep Socket Set (10mm through 19mm)
• 1 Metric Impact Socket set (10mm through 19mm)
• 21 mm Socket - Transmission Plug
• 19 mm 1/2 Deep Socket - Suspension Bolts
• Torx t70 Socket Bit - Coolant Plug
• 17" Breaker Bar - 1/2
• 10" Socket Extension - 1/2
• 3" Socket Extension - 3/8
• 1/2 Female to 3/8 Male adapter
• 3/8 Female to 1/2 Male adapter
• 90 Degree Needle Nose Pliers
• Pry Bar
• Misc. Small Tools - Pliers, Hammers, Screwdrivers, Snips, Heavy Scissors, etc.
• 18V Battery Powered Reciprocating Saw
• Diablo 9" Heavy Metal Demolition Blades

We also used a dremmel to cut off a mangled bolt, a lighter to heat a suspension bolt to loosen it, and an 18V Power Driver with 3/8 socket adapter.

[Hindsight]

Congrats on the donor car. That's a funny story. I did the same thing. For me the worst part of the whole online bidding part was waiting for the car I wanted to bid on to show up. A number of times, the car was scheduled to go to auction and I sat there on the computer only to find out it was re-scheduled for a later date (after watching an hour of cars I wasn't interested in float by... of course you can't take your eyes of the screen for even a second or you'll miss your car.) I ended up getting lucky on mine... the broker put in a pre-bid for me and when the auction time came, the entire system went down. So I won based on the pre-bid alone.

The car looks like it is in great shape so you should be able to recoup quite a bit by selling stuff you don't need on eBay.

[TX-Lou]

Thanks Hindsight. Yes, the auction system was pretty fun to watch. I stayed by the computer to make sure I didn't miss it as I didn't trust the times it was telling us for when the auction for the car would actually start. After outbidding ourselves a few times we ended up getting the car for $3,850 plus auction and Broker fees. I was hoping to get it for less but was wiling to pay more because I could pick up the car myself out of the Houston lot. I also got a chance to go check out the car and make sure that it had keys and could be started before the auction. That put my mind at ease a little more. I wish I could have gotten it on our pre-bid like you did. That would have saved us a lot.

As for the car it looks better from a distance. I saved the spoiler and probably could salvage a few other things that we don't need. Someone had already taken out the speakers and the stereo look like it was after market but old. I was planning to sell most of the metal that I pull off as scap. Is there a demand on ebay for some of these parts?

[Hindsight]

The metal isn't worth much as scrap. $100 for the whole thing maybe.... depends on the recycler near you. Also, some demand you give them the title. The doors, hood and trunk are all worth money if in good shape. The hood especially since it's aluminum. Sunroof and it's assembly is worth money too. All the interior... even stuff you wouldn't think like the sub-frame, the u-shaped frame brace, the rear differential carrier etc. Salt-belt areas rust these parts out first so there is a good market for them.

[TX-Lou]

Great to know, thanks! I started digging through the stuff that we pulled out to see what is in good enough shape to save/sell.

[Tamra]

We sold over $7k in parts from our donor. You would be surprised what people will buy - even stuff in not so great shape. Heck, we sold the interior trim rings, various plastic panels, latches, even the dash support bar (who the heck breaks one of those??). Of course the aftermarket goodies sell the fastest/easiest, but all of the $5-$20 items add up quickly. We still have over $1,000 worth of items listed for sale (but we haven't bumped the for sale threads in awhile, since we've been busy building).

We posted everything on Ebay, Nasioc, and Craiglist. Craigslist sold the most ($3600 of the total) but was also a pain dealing with flaky people.

[TX-Lou]

Wow! Over $7K in parts! Even if I can get back a fraction of that amount it would be worth it and would pay for the lift, engine leveler, engine stand, jack and jack stands that I just bought. Not to mention the upgrades and add-ons that we have in mind.

Thanks!

[TX-Lou]

Had a chance to do some more work this past weekend. Here are some shots of where we are at in the teardown.



I think the next thing we are supposed to do is put the car up on jack stands and take the tires, etc. off. My concern with doing that is we roll the car in and out of the garage to work on it. If I have to leave it up on jack stands in the back of the garage we will have a tough time working on it as we have little room to maneuver back there. I was planning to build a dolly for the new frame. Anyone have a solution that worked well for you?

- TX-Lou

[TX-Lou]

Just catching up a little. Here are some pictures of where we were on Saturday, August 15th.



The car is in the garage now. It is up on jack stands. We've pretty much cleaned out the entire interior of the car including the seats, sunroof, belts and all of the plastic trim and metal supports. We left a few structural pieces in place for now. We also took out the windshield and back window. I'd like to say we did a beautiful job of getting both out in once piece. I'd like to say that but it would be far from the truth. We didn't have the proper tools on hand but we thought we would give it a try. We were trying to get under the corner of the back window when it cracked a little. My son suggested using my dremel to cut a small hole in the corner so we could get a wire in to pull along the seal. I thought it was worth a shot. I was just about through the window when it POPPED and the entire sheet of tempered glass crinkled like popcorn for the next few minutes. It was a long cleanup job with a shop vac but we got the window out! The front didn't similarly explode but we got it out only slightly more elegantly.

- TX-Lou

[TX-Lou]

And, here is where we are after this weekend (August 23rd).

Coolant has been drained from the Radiator and engine. Had to go pick up a T70 socket for the Engine Coolant Drain Plug. It was frozen on pretty tight. I had to spray it with liquid wrench and it came off pretty easily with a breaker bar the next day.

The radiator and fans have been pulled. The power steering system has been drained and the pump, tank and hoses have been pulled along with the belts for the PS/Alternator and the AC Compressor Pump. The alternator has been pulled. We also got the Intercooler out and have been working on all of the plugs to the engine for the wiring harness.



Next step is to remove the AC Compressor Pump but we are unsure on discharging the AC system. I've read conflicting things about releasing R134a. Some folks seem to say it is perfectly fine, harmless and legal. Others say the opposite. I'm not sure what the laws in Texas are so I'm going to look into that. I'm also going to look into what we need to do to discharge it ourselves or have someone come in and do it. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

- Lou

[TX-Lou]

I forgot to mention that we pulled the air intake, airbox and filter out as well. I should also mention that we pulled the front bumper off and removed the suspension brace. Our plan is to do what many here have done in removing the engine, transmission and front suspension all at once. We will need to cut the sheet metal that is left in the front of the car to be able to drop all of that out the front with our lift. I'll take some pictures before we do that.

- Lou

[Tamra]

Great progress! When will your 818 be ready for shipment/pickup?

[TX-Lou]

Thanks Tamra.

We haven't even ordered it yet. We are going to order the 818C but wanted to do that after we take build school class. The September 818 class doesn't work for us so we are looking hopefully at December or January for the next one. That is what they told me when I called them. I was thinking we will have everything stripped, cleaned and rebuilt (engine/transmission) by then (hopefully). After taking the class and having poured through all of the build threads here I thought we would have a better idea of what options we wanted to order from Factory Five and elsewhere.

If that thinking doesn't make sense based on your experience please do let me know.

- Lou

[TX-Lou]

We got a lot done this past weekend (8/29 and 8/30). We were hoping to have the engine, transmission and front suspension pulled by the end of Sunday. We got so close to that goal but ran out of time.

So, this weekend we:

• drained the transmission
• drained and pulled the wiper washer fluid and tank
• got the donor up on all four jack stands
• removed the brackets under the drive shaft and exhaust
• pulled the rear wheels off
• disconnected the exhaust downpipe from the turbo and from the back half of the exhaust system. Pulled out the downpipe.
• cut away the remaining metal frame components in the front of the car that would prevent us from dropping the engine and pulling it out of the front
• disconnected the steering linkage and pulled the steering column out
• removed and dropped the shift linkage through the bottom of the car
• disconnected the brake lines to the front calipers, along with the sensor lines
• pulled and labeled every electrical connection and hose we could find

As far as we can tell the engine and transmission are free and clear to be pulled. The engine hoist has been bolted onto the engine in four places. We were just about to loosen all of the bolts holding the suspension and everything in when we decided to call it a day late Sunday. We tried that first big 19mm bolt and it was frozen on there solid. We sprayed all of those remaining bolts with Liquid Wrench and cleaned up. Either this Friday evening, or first thing Saturday morning, we will loosen the remaining bolts and pull everything out. Here are some pictures from last weekend.

[TX-Lou]

Oh, I forgot to mention that we placed our pre-order Sunday night. After talking it over we decided it was probably best to get into the production queue/schedule as soon as possible after we saw that there were already about 50 folks in the queue with Factory Five saying they will manufacture about 3 a week. That would put is right about where we want to be in terms of the production schedule. We can always change the order details just prior to production if we decide to do some things differently.

- Lou

[TX-Lou]

There is nothing like a three day weekend for making progress on a project!

Starting Saturday morning our first task was to drop the engine, transmission and front suspension. The big 19mm suspension bolts under the car had been sprayed the previous week so I was expecting them to come out with no real issues. The first one I tried to take off was really tight. The jack we bought has a two part handle so we pulled off the top part (about 2 feet or so) and used it as a extension pipe on the breaker bar to give us even more leverage. When it gave way I thought the bolt had loosened. Nope. It sheered off the adapter I had on the breaker bar. The breaker bar is 1/2" and our socket sets are 3/8". It sheered off the male side of the adapter. I had to go to O'reilly and pick up a new adapter. I also picked up a 19mm 1/2" socket so I wouldn't have to use the adapter. We tried again and it got to the point where if we put any more into it the breaker bar was going to bend. So, after some research we ended up heating the bolt with a Bic flexible arm lighter. I didn't think it would work but sure enough the bolt came right off. As luck would have it none of the other bolts were on nearly as tight. After pulling the 4 bolts and 4 nuts on the bottom, and the 6 nuts on the top we were able to drop everything out and forward.



After that we got on a roll for the rest of the weekend. We were able to:

• Pull out the clutch master cylinder
• Pull out the brake master cyllinder
• Disconnect the ebrake and drop the lines down through the car
• Remove the rear bumper
• Drop and pull the exhaust pipe
• Drop and pull the rear suspension plus the drive shaft
• Disconnect and remove the pedal assembly and pedals
• Remove the brake boost
• Drain the gas tank and remove it.
• Remove the charcoal box
• Pull a lot of the wiring harness

I'm sure I am forgetting a few things. It was a busy weekend. At this point there isn't much left of the donor. We need to pull a few more things (AC Condenser, fuel filter, etc.) and complete the removal of the wiring harness. After that I think we are ready to cut the car up. Here are some pictures of where we stand.



- Lou

[TouchStone]

Where in Texas are you?

[TX-Lou]

Josh,

We are in The Woodlands (just north of Houston). We have lived in both Highland Village and Flower Mound over the last 15 years and I am in Dallas usually 3 out of 4 weeks a month on business (usually just day trips once a week).

Your Build Thread was the first one that I bookmarked. You are doing an outstanding job on your 818S.

I know of a few other builds in Texas but I was surprised that there weren't more. Hopefully we will take delivery of our 818C in January with a goal of having the build mostly done by the end of the summer next year.

- Lou

[TX-Lou]

Another weekend and another milestone for us in our tear-down.

Today we finished completely stripping the car down to the bare sheet metal shell. Getting the wiring harness completely out of the car was probably the worst part of the tear-down IMHO. It took the most time of any task when you add all of the time spent working on the plugs and plastic fasteners (used to secure it to the car) every week as we slowly made progress on it while working on other tasks. It really is a ton of wiring.



Tomorrow we will cut up the bare donor shell and sell it, the doors, trunk and hood as scrap metal.

- Lou

[Hindsight]

Nice work. Looking at that is like deja vu; my donor was the same color.

You might consider labeling the harness connectors with masking tape and a sharpie if you didn't do that already. Time tends to make one forget what connected to where. If you don't, it's not a huge deal because MOST of the plugs will only fit into one place, but there were a few on mine where the same plug would fit into two different places. I think it was the keyless entry unit and the immobilizer unit.

[RM1SepEx]

Don't use masking tape and a sharpie... they get damaged. Use tags with strings or something else more durable

Ask me how I know...

[Hindsight]

Haha, I think you made that comment almost a year ago in another thread, after I had already done mine with masking tape. I read that and got nervous, but when I pulled mine out of the box a year later, everything stayed in place. I used the good blue 3m masking tape and wrapped each label all the way around the wires, so the tape was sticky-side to sticky-side. Then I cut off any sticky part still exposed so it wouldn't snag on anything. I didn't have a single label tear or fall off. But my donor was also very clean and had no grease on the harness. If there is grease on the harness, I doubt it would have worked so well.

[TX-Lou]

Thanks guys.

Man, it felt really good yesterday standing there looking at that empty shell. When we first started this thing it was as intimidating as hell. I remember popping the hood and thinking "Holy xxxx, what have I gotten myself into". But slowly, piece by piece we got it done. We learned so much along the way and I'm really glad we opted to go the donor route rather then the pallet. Before we started this we couldn't have told you where the turbo, starter motor, pumps or pretty much anything else was on the car. It is one thing to know that those things exist, but it is another thing altogether to know where they are and how they work. Now, we know what everything is, where it goes and how it connects in. If anyone is thinking about jumping in and doing an 818 build but they are worried they don't know much about cars this is the way to go. It took us 8 weeks of working on it on the weekends. There were frustrations and we did a lot of research in between. I'm sure a mechanic could have done it in a fraction of the time but I'm proud of what we have accomplished so far.

After we cut up the and dispose of the car we start on the cleanup of parts, rebuild of the engine and transmission and selling off what we don't need. Tackling the engine and transmission rebuild will be tough tasks but I'd rather do that now considering the donor had 141,000 miles on it. Thankfully there are a ton of resources here and on the Internet. We have a lot to learn before we start but I'm looking forward to it.

Haha, I think you made that comment almost a year ago in another thread, after I had already done mine with masking tape. I read that and got nervous, but when I pulled mine out of the box a year later, everything stayed in place. I used the good blue 3m masking tape and wrapped each label all the way around the wires, so the tape was sticky-side to sticky-side. Then I cut off any sticky part still exposed so it wouldn't snag on anything. I didn't have a single label tear or fall off. But my donor was also very clean and had no grease on the harness. If there is grease on the harness, I doubt it would have worked so well.

We used the same tape and once the sticky sides touch they aren't coming apart. I tried to label tightly behind the plugs so that it couldn't slide off the plug. I also wrote on a lot of the connectors just in case. If I had it to do all over again I would have gotten zip ties with the little labels on them. I'm pretty sure we are going to do an IWIRE harness or something similar, but I wanted to have the original harness just in case.

- Lou

[RM1SepEx]

That harness is so big, heavy and it get's tangled. Too easy to tear one off then you spend hrs figuring out what is what. Best to do it right the first time. A bundle of tags is cheap insurance. A ton of approaches have been used, my tape sucked...

iWire or stand alone like Wayne's is the way to go... It's so much cleaner. I have to have stock ECU so iWire fit my needs, it is so clean and uncluttered. I worried about long term reliability.

Feels go to go at the shell with the saws all, doesn't it!

[STiPWRD]

Tomorrow we will cut up the bare donor shell and sell it, the doors, trunk and hood as scrap metal.

I'd suggest not selling the doors as scrap, I sold my on craigslist for $150 to $200 a piece.

I also used 3m blue painters tape and a sharpie to label my wiring, it worked out just fine for me.

[TX-Lou]

I'd suggest not selling the doors as scrap, I sold my on craigslist for $150 to $200 a piece.

Thanks, but they are already gone now. I thought about selling them if I could but in the end it wasn't worth the trouble. There are other things that I kept that were smaller and easier to store until sold. They are also much easier to ship out.

[TX-Lou]

Ok. Cutting up the donor ended up being much more trouble then it initially seemed. And really, the problem was with our tools. We have a few Dewalt 18V batteries and chargers, and the saw that I had was a Dewalt cordless. The problem was that our batteries/chargers aren't what they were when they were new. We got about 5 minutes at a time out of them and then hours of charging. Things bogged down quickly.

We were going to wait until Christmas to pick up a Compressor but we decided to go ahead and grab one now and use a pneumatic saw. We picked up a Husky 33 gallon compressor. The only reciprocating saw available was a harbor freight model but I had to order the blades. We lost a week in the process and when the blades came in we had immediate doubts. They were more like a small hacksaw blade and really not up to the job. I loved having the compressor for limitless power but the combo of the cheap saw and underwhelming blades were painful. After digging out another battery saw (long story) we were slowly able to get it all done.

Having pneumatic tools would have really made the entire donor strip down much easier and if I had to go back and change anything I would have bought that first. We definitely wanted to have it for the 818 build so now we have it.

Here are some pictures from the demolition and haul away.



- Lou

[flynntuna]

To late for you, but others may find a metal cutting saw from horrible fright might be useful.

http://t.harborfreight.com/power-too...saw-69702.html

[TX-Lou]

I thought I would post some information concerning what resources we used for teardown and some other stuff that may help others. I'll also edit the first post of this thread to add this to the bottom of that post so it is easier to find.

RESOURCES
The main resources we used for information concerning what to do and how to do it were:

• The FFR 818 Subaru Parts Disassembly Manual - Printed and put into a binder
• Haynes Repair Manual - Subaru Impreza 2002 thru 2011, Impreza WRX 2002 thru 2014, Impreza WRX STI 2004 thru 2014: Includes Impreza Outback and GT Models
• The Factory Five Forums
• Youtube - Briansmobile's Videos including his video titled Take 2 Subaru Impreza WRX STI Engine Removal Part One
• 2004 Subaru Impreza Online Service Manual

TOOLS
Here are the main tools that we used for the teardown.

• 1 Standard 3/8 Socket Wrench
• 1 Adjustable Angle 3/8 Socket Wrench
• 1 Metric Deep Socket Set (10mm through 19mm)
• 1 Metric Impact Socket set (10mm through 19mm)
• 21 mm Socket - Transmission Plug
• 19 mm 1/2 Deep Socket - Suspension Bolts
• Torx t70 Socket Bit - Coolant Plug
• 17" Breaker Bar - 1/2
• 10" Socket Extension - 1/2
• 3" Socket Extension - 3/8
• 1/2 Female to 3/8 Male adapter
• 3/8 Female to 1/2 Male adapter
• 90 Degree Needle Nose Pliers
• Pry Bar
• Misc. Small Tools - Pliers, Hammers, Screwdrivers, Snips, Heavy Scissors, etc.
• 18V Battery Powered Reciprocating Saw
• Diablo 9" Heavy Metal Demolition Blades

We also used a dremmel to cut off a mangled bolt, a lighter to heat a suspension bolt to loosen it, and an 18V Power Driver with 3/8 socket adapter.

[TX-Lou]

Just an update on where things stand. Things have slowed considerably while we are waiting for our kit delivery. We have been cleaning and painting parts, going through the build manual and starting to get some things ready. We are also having our engine rebuilt by Auto Science in Carrollton, TX (recommended by Nolan). We are targeting 300whp. The rebuilt engine will include:

• 2.5l Block Upgrade with 2.5l head gasket and 2.5l crankcase
• Wiseco Forged Pistons
• Manley Rods
• Gates Racing Timing Belt Kit with Pump
• Oil Pump
• Crossdrilled Hardened Forged Crank
• Supertech dual valve springs, retainers, intake valves, seals and Inconel Exhaust valve
• Radius valve job, head machine work, cleaning and rebuild

We also plan to upgrade the turbo to a 20g and upgrade the injectors and fuel pump along with it.

We should be able to tune conservatively for about 300whp and have at least 50,000 miles of reliability for street use.

As for the donor parts that we weren't going to use we opted to donate them to our local school district's high school auto shop. We probably could have recouped some money off of the seats, wheels and some of the other parts that we donated but it came down to few things that we had to consider. Our garage was crowded with parts and we didn't have a lot of room to work on cleaning, painting and prepping for the kit. We wanted to clean things out quickly and I just didn't have the time and energy to list, sell and ship the parts. Plus, we also knew that the high school auto shop needed anything they could get. In the end I'm glad we did donate the parts.

[nkw8181]

Nice job! Just saw this thread.

[TX-Lou]

Just wanted to close out our tear-down thread by posting a link to our build thread now that our 818C kit has arrived.

818C Build - John and Lou - The Woodlands, TX

- Lou