subarubrat Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Finally some progress to report. I had been sitting on the lift and suspension waiting till closer to the predicted time that the 255/55/18 KO2 tires would be available and started in on the lift last week. Much to my surprise the tires showed up as in stock at tirerack about 2 days ago and they showed up today! As it sits now the 5in lift is installed and coil overs are set to the same height as stock, I can adjust about 1.5 in up or 1.5 in down from how it sits now. The big metal bits of the lift are in and if all goes well I should have the various hoses and linkages etc all done this week. Then I have to sort out the intercooler and an air plenum for it, so maybe drive it next next week after the exhaust is done too? Then it is STi brakes, tube bumper, and then a dip job. The engine was finished about 2 months ago. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subarubrat Posted September 23, 2015 Author Share Posted September 23, 2015 (edited) On to the brakes, an interesting project for sure. The fronts are STI 2004 rotors with STi Brembo calipers and Hawk brake pads. The rears shot the cost up a bit, caliper adapter brackets and special DBA rotors that have the STi outer diameter and the WRX(Baja) parking brake with adapters upped the total swap from $1600 t0 about $2200 but stopping this thing as fast as it goes is important. Edited September 23, 2015 by subarubrat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowmastered87GL Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 Looks good.... any rubbing up front when you turn?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subarubrat Posted September 24, 2015 Author Share Posted September 24, 2015 (edited) Haven't driven it to test full lock under travel yet, but it looks good. I can dial in more height on the coilovers and can do the same re-profile of that inner rear corner that I did on the other lifted Baja so I have plenty of wiggle room. Funny thing though, of all the work done the one question asked by anyone is do they rub. the only thing holding up progress now is waiting on the stupid caliper paint, I overhauled these 04 calipers and no point in assembling the brakes until they are painted since it is easier to paint off the truck. Speaking of paint, I decided to do a matte black dip job, if you scratch it you can peel it off and respray, should be perfect for slinging gravel. The dip kit arrived and I will be prepping the truck and painting it as soon as I get the brakes finished up. If you haven't seen this system it is a really neat process. You can do some interesting finishes, a bunch if videos can be found here: http://www.dipyourcar.com/Videos-and-Guides.html Edited September 24, 2015 by subarubrat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonas Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 Sexy Baja! That plasti-Dip stuff is great. Holds up really well. I used it on my Brat front bumper/grill 2 years ago and still looking good. hasn't faded, peeled, or chipped and I put a couple hundred highway miles a week on it. Will be curious to see it on a whole car as I've been thinking/needing to paint the Brat. I'll be watching....... (< creepy?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 nice work, again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOONGA Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 So very disappointing that these were never built for the Australian market that looks great TOONGA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subarubrat Posted September 28, 2015 Author Share Posted September 28, 2015 Just sprayed the truck in flat black, wow it looks great! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sapper 157 Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 Jeeps beware! Man that is an awesome ride! Looks like a great off roader! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonas Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 Just sprayed the truck in flat black, wow it looks great! BAJAFLAT.jpg Could you explain the process a bit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subarubrat Posted October 3, 2015 Author Share Posted October 3, 2015 Sure, but there are tons of videos that go into detail and give you the visuals, it might be more help than my description: http://www.dipyourcar.com/Videos-and-Guides.html The short version is that you clean the car and remove wax, then mask windows, lights etc. and spray about 5 layers of thinned plasti-dip like material onto the car. Lasts about 4 years and you can peel and respray when you like. $200~$300 to do a car if you have a spray gun. It started off as just ordinary plastidip like you use for tool grips but now it is a huge range of specialized products. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subabro Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 cool rims. looks good, it's almost done. great work, pal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subarubrat Posted October 8, 2015 Author Share Posted October 8, 2015 I finished up some details last night; pitch rod mount, rear wheel well trimming, refilled the coolant, re-installed the intercooler and took it for a spin around the cauldesac and it feels very solid. The STi front brakes are on but I ran into a glitch on the rears so they are stock for now. The issue is the hub carrier is present exactly where the adapter bracket for the Brembo needs to go, that part is not present on a WRX which is what the adapter is intended for. So Brembo rears are not a bolt on. I am going to have to pull the hubs and fabricate a caliper mount so that will likely get bumped to the end of the project. Next up is front wheel well mods and then drop it at the exhaust shop to get a 3in to the tail bent up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subarubrat Posted October 25, 2015 Author Share Posted October 25, 2015 Two pics of it in the parking lot at work today. The performance is amazing, as fast as my STi was with some of the first mods like a turbo back 3in, tune, and such, so a bit more punch than a stock STi even with the larger tires! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvdrt Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 (edited) I finished up some details last night; pitch rod mount, rear wheel well trimming, refilled the coolant, re-installed the intercooler and took it for a spin around the cauldesac and it feels very solid. The STi front brakes are on but I ran into a glitch on the rears so they are stock for now. The issue is the hub carrier is present exactly where the adapter bracket for the Brembo needs to go, that part is not present on a WRX which is what the adapter is intended for. So Brembo rears are not a bolt on. I am going to have to pull the hubs and fabricate a caliper mount so that will likely get bumped to the end of the project. Next up is front wheel well mods and then drop it at the exhaust shop to get a 3in to the tail bent up. Look on other Subaru car forums for a part out of 2006-2007 WRX's. Buy the rear hub assemblies with the backing plates. Its a direct bolt on even for the e brake and allows for 2004 STi rotors (only because theyre 5x100) and any STi brembos. I did that conversion on a 98 Legacy wagon several years back. Cost about $200 from a wrecked car. Edited November 3, 2015 by iluvdrt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subarubrat Posted November 3, 2015 Author Share Posted November 3, 2015 (edited) The problem isn't so much the parking brake size, but the actual suspension layout, the WRX uses struts in the rear so the rear hub looks allot like the front hub. The Baja uses a multilink suspension that places a large steel vertical hub carrier right where the bracket needs to be. I have a set of STi rear hubs with backing plates and it may be more trouble than it is worth to cut those off and then see if they align before welding them on, might just be easier to fab one up. But since I need the truck for the winter it will be a spring project, right now it stops WAY better than stock with STi fronts and EBC reds in the rear. Edited November 4, 2015 by subarubrat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subarubrat Posted November 4, 2015 Author Share Posted November 4, 2015 Just want to give a review of the BF Goodrich AT KO2 in 255-55-R18 nowthat I have about a thousand miles on the clock. I read allot about thistire and decided on it after the rave reviews and that it was in theperfect size. You will need 5 inches of lift, 20mm spacers, and frontand rear fender well modifications to run this tire.On-Road:Since this tire is in the new category of low profile off-road tires Iexpected decent on-road performance but nothing as good as it turned outto be. Compared to stock these tires are not a sacrifice of on-roadhandling for off-road traction, they are a major upgrade in handling.While they certainly would not equal a dedicated summer performance tirethey are closer to that outcome than they are to the stock tire size.Grip under hard acceleration is excellent and while I can break themfree under power they behave like a good performance tire and regaintraction without any drama. Cornering is also far better than myexpectations, entry speeds into corners has improved with this tire overstock and while some of that is due to the suspension the tires areproviding a feel more consistent with a summer performance tire than anoff-road tires.-Off-road: I have not had a chance to run thesein mud or snow yet, but so far on gravel and dirt they are consistentwith the high ratings others have given them and I expect mud and snowperformance will be just as good. The one weak spot that I would expectfrom them is rock crawling due to the lack of a large sidewall toconform over the rocks. That said it is on a truck that lacks thearticulation of a solid axle truck and has no low range and is not evergoing to be a great rock crawler.All things considered I don'tthink there is a tire better suited to maximizing the excellent on andoff road performance that the Baja provides. If these appear in smallersizes that could fit on a stock Baja it would be a perfect match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvdrt Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 The problem isn't so much the parking brake size, but the actual suspension layout, the WRX uses struts in the rear so the rear hub looks allot like the front hub. The Baja uses a multilink suspension that places a large steel vertical hub carrier right where the bracket needs to be. I have a set of STi rear hubs with backing plates and it may be more trouble than it is worth to cut those off and then see if they align before welding them on, might just be easier to fab one up. But since I need the truck for the winter it will be a spring project, right now it stops WAY better than stock with STi fronts and EBC reds in the rear. Yeah I thought about that later, how they changed the rear suspension geometry. My bad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subarubrat Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share Posted November 9, 2015 STi V7 seats in the Baja now, they bolt right in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvdrt Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 Saw this on Facebook, looks excellent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezapar Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 New project looks awesome! I like it better than the old brat even. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subarubrat Posted January 15, 2016 Author Share Posted January 15, 2016 Went back to the dyno with a few more mods and an update of the tune, it may not show in the pic but it squats and screams on full boost now like it never did before, and it was stupid fast then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monstaru Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 SICK. Just sick....? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subarubrat Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 I drove back and forth from work to the hotel during the height of the storm in about 3ft of snow and it was great! Throwing snow, blow off valve popping and hissing, exhaust growling and not a hint of getting stuck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmoss5723 Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) Please repost the pictures so we can see them. This is sounds awesome. I drove back and forth from work to the hotel during the height of the storm in about 3ft of snow and it was great! Throwing snow, blow off valve popping and hissing, exhaust growling and not a hint of getting stuck! Edited January 26, 2016 by jmoss5723 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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