Sydney lockdown has me bored again and I haven't posted in a while... so here's an update on the car.
Headlights and new front lipI've had the Crystal Eye headlights installed for a while now and I can thankfully report that I haven't run into anymore issues. Indicators are working as intended and the DRLs are still as bright as day one.
To compliment the look of these headlights (and also because the old lip was beginning to crack), I've recently installed a more aggressive front lip from SOTN'A Aeroparts in Russia. Very pleased with the quality and fitment is absolutely spot on. I also love the way this things looks! Still very subtle, but somewhat aggressive looking.
Been thinking about changing the side skirt extensions to the genuine Subaru STI ones, but I'm still on the fence as they're very pricey!
New clutch and flywheelFew months ago began to have some issues with the clutch. The clutch pedal developed some extra play when fully depressed and the pedal became increasingly harder to press. Not too long after this, I noticed that the clutch throw-out bearing developed a very distinct rattle/squeak when the car was idling. I decided to replace the clutch with the exact same Exedy HD one that I had only upgraded to around ~25,000 kms ago back in October 2019.
Dropped the car off to my mechanic for the clutch replacement and they had discovered a pin in the clutch master cylinder was installed incorrectly which was most likely the cause for the strange clutch pedal issues. Moreover, the plot thickens when they removed the old throw-out bearing from the gearbox. It appears that the old throw-out bearing was not the usual Exedy one that should've been installed with the heavy duty clutch that was currently on the vehicle. My guess is that the mechanic who previously performed the clutch upgrade had broken the bearing supplied in the clutch kit and decided to reuse the old OEM one, or installed one they found lying around the shop.
Attached some pics below - new correct bearing on the left, faulty bearing on the right. Old bearing was missing the inner sleeve, which probably caused the rattle and squeaking.
Also decided to upgrade the stock flywheel with an Exedy Lightened one (p/n FF502A) while the gearbox was out. With everything fixed up (new master cylinder pin, clutch and flywheel) the car feels great to drive again. The chromoly flywheel takes some getting used to as the revs drop quicker between gear shifts and taking off is ever so slightly trickier. However, it didn't take long to adapt and the car feels amazing when on boost and higher in the rev range. Definitely very happy with the upgrade.
COBB short shifter, bushing and STI transmission mount /w Whiteline gearbox inserts Previously had the Perrin short shifter and brass bushing installed in the car. Shifts were very short but I felt like it required too much effort to get into each gear, especially 2nd and 3rd. Temporarily switched to the Kartboy short shifter, but it still felt very similar to the Perrin one. Ended up going with the COBB short shifter/bushing combo and I am pretty happy with it. It isn't as short as the perrin/kartboy one, but the extra weight of the COBB plate makes much easier to get into gear.
Also installed the STI transmission mount and whiteline KDT901 gearbox inserts at the same time. This made the trans very solid and shifting feels very direct. However, any sort of gearbox movement is now amplified and I can definitely notice some gearbox whine during low RPMs.
Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 12:00 am
Looking forward to seeing them installed!
