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Just made my reservation (a bit late, I know!) with Fontana Village. Our plan A was to camp, but they are all out of sites. So, we're got a dogwood cabin booked. Our caravan will be leaving from Gainesville Friday morning, Austin in his XT6 and me in my 240SX. Can't wait to see you guys there! We've got at least 6, maybe 8 people coming.

For a while I ran a stock WRX downpipe with the TWE header/VF11 on a XT Turbo. The downpipe was touching something down there in the chassis, so there was some vibration at times, but nothing worse than that. I later had the the stock downpipe cut off at the flange and a custom downpipe (actually, exhaust) welded on.

TWE headers! Here's a pic: The dealership that bought 10 of em' back about 2 years ago might still have one or two in a back room somewhere. Ask WJM. They were $399 If I recall, and worth every single penny!

So you're saying a water temp gauge cannot be relied upon? I have an EGT gauge 3 inches from the passenger side head and a mechanical water temp gauge. I never see the coolent higher than about 195 F, and that's on a hot day in Miami. The highest EGT I've ever seen is about 820 C (1510 F) in 4th gear, 4500 RPM's, WOT. Both of these numbers seemed safe, to me - but then again, I've never had the chance to pull my heads and look

They are fine when they are new, but the leather shrinks in the heat (I live in Miami) and the stitching has come loose. It just doesn't take very long before it starts to look quite worn Oh well, what do you expect for $30 right?

UPDATE: So after a few weeks I decided that the replacement steering wheel sucks. It feels cheap and was too small... but mostly, it feels really REALLY cheap. That, and the leather was starting to come off! Lucky for me I scored a real honest to goodness MOMO wheel on eBay - used, but in great shape. Plus, my car is 17 years old, so a brand new wheel might look slightly out of place. Anyway, It's a MOMO monte carlo. Way better. Larger than the crappy wheel I had on before, but still smaller than stock, and it feels awesome. Pics:

Yeah, I think I stripped the threads from the head. How do I prevent doing this in the future? For now, I am just gonna put in on there in the other orientation with the correct hardware. (I have the TWE header with the four mounting holes)

Well, 300 miles later, I lost a nut on the driver's side now! (before it was passenger side) So, I got the real deal fasteners to get that header on there. Question, though - the stock fastener is like a stud, yet putting another nut on there, after putting some torque on it, the stud just fell out like if the threads were too small. I tried to put it back on and... the threads ARE too small! What gives?

My car had the power steering pump removed and has been driven about 25K miles in that state. Lately, it feels rather crappy. Feels like there's slop in it, and maybe a 3-5 degree deadzone. It just feels dead... no precision. Now, it's not a manual steering rack. I read that power steering racks need the fluid for lubrication. In any case, I'm considering installing a power steering pump. Anyone got a pump and lines to sell me, or know where I can get one cheap? (I'm going to hit the JY, but they are pretty devoid of Subaru in South Fl.)

I definately will, thanks for the tip! I guess it's the vibrations that twist everything, huh?

Update: Thanks for all the help! Turns out, the problem was ridiculously simple. One of the nuts securing the header to the head fell out, and the gasket at the head was broken. Huge exhaust leak. It's fixed now, and it is much, MUCH quieter. SICK amounts of power, too. Feels like a different car. Of course, it feels like that since I've been driving it with the 900 of my cc's venting exhaust to the atmosphere for who knows how long. I'm just so pissed at myself I didn't see the missing nut...amazing how it's the little details that get you!

Skip- by stuck open, what way would the wastegate lever point? It looks like this: That's the closed position, right?

Update - So, I took the intercooler and all the intake piping completely apart. No holes/leaks anywhere in the intake, as far as I could tell. Turbo compressor shaft spun freely, and I couldn't detect any play at all. So, that's a relief. The only maybe strange thing I noted with the turbo is that it took a fair bit of force to move the wastegate. Is that normal? I could still move it by hand, but it seemed like there was a decently powerful spring holding it in place. Near 6000 RPM, it builds close to full boost, around 10 psi. Now, I definately think something is up with the exhaust. At high RPM, it sounds almost like something is rattling. Looking at the header visually, though, I can't for the life of me tell where it might be leaking. Also, and I don't know if this has anything to do with it, the engine seems to be idling a little higher than normal. Usually it idles around 1400-1500 rpm, and I noticed that it was idling at 1600-1700 RPM. It also sounds a bit different at idle. Hard to describe. Will a muffler/exhaust shop be able to determine the source of the leak? Or, what techniques can I use to try to find an exhaust leak?

I don't have any cats. Completely open exhaust. I'm taking apart all of my plumbing. Got to be a leak there, somewhere.