club.liberty.asn.au

Hi Guys

First off awesome forum, seems like a lot of knowledge floating around on a relatively rare car. Must say I do love these cars. Mine is a 2005 with about 100k, had it since it had 10k's on it. Had quite a few little issues with it along the way (sunroof replacement most notably at $6600, fortunately under warranty), can't say I've been super impressed with the build quality, but the way they drive certainly makes up for it.

Fast forward to now...the car is currently in for it's 100,000 service at Subaru (which is painful enough dollar wise, especially when I just replaced the tires last week)...anyway few problems which have been addressed, CV Boot split, lower control arm bushes replaced...so all up $1700...but the last item I was not prepared to get fixed by Subaru, is the sloppy shifter bushings. They quoted $528 to replace the bushings! They also told me that there is no STI short shift kit available for the 2005 model? He also told me that, any after market kit won't last and he has seen many? Hmmm not sure if this was sales pitch..

I have been looking at fitting either the COBB or Kartboy kit. My questions are, is it true that there is no STI short shift kit for the 05 6SP? Has anyone fitted the COBB or Kartboy kits? Are they of a reasonable quality? Can you recommend any other kits? Last question, I'm fairly mechanically minded, so it would seem that it should be project I can complete myself, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again for any assistance

Cheers

Stu

(hmmm been sniffing around the supercharge thread, very very interested...

Would this be compatiable with my box?

http://www.velocityfactor.net/scripts/p ... oduct=4075

Split cv boot 50 bucks and an hour with 2 spanners.
Lca bush 200 for all, an hour a side with 2 sockets and a spanner. 20 bucks at local suspension joint to press old ones out and new in.

Short shift kit is a wank like the one listed. The bushes are 62 dollars from Subaru for all of them. Bout 30mins of dicking around to get em in. Sti bushes and shift mechanism is 350 from avojdm.com which has them all new in a higher durometer rubber. This is a proper kit not just a shorter stick.

100k service is nothing special. It's a timing chain engine.

Thanks very for the reply. Yeah I know Subaru aren't shy about charging, I'm aware of that but unfortunately, I have limited workspace at present (aka living in a unit) but I would be happy to find some space to save some of the labour costs...but it's all done now...$1100+ for service seems out of hand, they were saying the plugs are really hard to get at blah blah..

Re the short shift kit, thanks for the advice on the Kartboy kit. The guy at Subaru was telling me there were about 6 bushings required and they were $85 each WTF ($510 in total)?

I would be very happy to order the Sti kit from avojdm, but I was told by the Subaru guys, they fit 06-09 models and mine is an April 05 model...just want get some solid info, to ensure it'll fit if I do order it.

Again thank you for your reply.

Stu I can tell you that the STI short shifter will fit your year model car. I have a 2005 build Spec.B and went through exactly what you are going through now, the parts catalogue say 06-07 but it will fit the 05 without a problem.

If you want one see Phat GT (Forum vendor) and he will get it for you at a good price. Installation can be DIY but you do need to drop the front part of the exhaust and also lower the gearbox at the rear to bolt it all in.

Overall improvement in shift is about 15% shorter throw than OEM, not much more.

Rob.

i fitted the cobb short shifter on the weekend. its just a new stick basically, not the whole unit like the sti one. made for the 6sp box.
it allows for both height and throw adjustment, been playing around with it a bit. easy install, no dramas
only thing to note is that it effectively moves the gearstick about 1" or so to the right, im not having any problems with that. its a lot closer to the handbrake lever when shifting into reverse, but not touching or interfering so not really a problem for me

bushing-wise i didnt change anything yet, may do some later on

i think subaru would be including transmission and possibly engine mounts if theyre talking about 6 bushings and $500+...definitely not that much to just do the shifter ones

whereabouts you located mate? if sydney and you want to have a drive of mine with the shifter to see what its like, send me a PM

Wow thank you guys really appreciate it.

I just got back from picking my car up from Subaru..actually go an extra 50km out of my way to avoid the Gold Coast dealer, but that is another story...just terrible service...Anyway.

So I was talking to the Subaru service guy their about the shifter bushes...he was like yeah you need all the bushes and the actual leaver and rod mechanism because you can't change the bush at the end of the lever...so yeah he then confirmed it was $528 fitted with...choke..no thanks...so what would the Sti verison be worth, he insisted it won't fit, then one of the guys from out back came in asked if it's a Spec B? I was like, um you have just been working on it...yes it's a Spec B...then they said there might be chance of it fitting, the cost oh probably about $1700! Now I used to race sports sedans many years ago and have installed rotary gear boxes for half the price...anyway can land the Sti complete shifter for $450 AUD from avojdm.com (as advised by Kiks-thank you)...

So armed with your very very helpful knowledge, I will go ahead and order it now avojdm...then see if this old bloke still make a mod without making a mess of it

Interestingly, they did not perform the lower control arm bushing replacement, as they said whilst the bushings are slightly cracked they are still with tolerance of Subaru recommendations...WTF...didn't you just say they were cracked? Then continued to tell me that they always crack when the cars are lifted off the ground...sounds very strange to me...the car has a slight rattle over patchy road surfaces, I was told by another Subaru dealer that it is the control arm bushes...maybe I'm being a little fussy but I hate any rattles, so I'm trying to isolate it. I know it's virtually impossible to isolate over the internet, but again I'd appreciate any input.

The car has about 100,000 on it and I can't see me selling it for a fair while, so I'm just trying to maintain it as best as possible....

Again thank you for your help

At 100,000klms your LCA bushes are most certainly shot. Go to a good steering place and get them to fit some stiffer bushes (Fulcrum or other) the steering will improve but expect an increase in NVH.

As to the short shifter AVO or Phat both will get you the same product, fitting should only take around 1 hour no more.

Rob.

Thanks very much, Rob. Your experience certainly assisted me, great thing about the internet and good people such as yourselves that are willing to share the knowledge.

Will come back with an update when I have installed it.

Can see this site will probably encourage me to do a few mods to my car which I still really enjoy after 6 years!

Mate speak to PHAT about the Jspeed bushes for the lower control arms. They are fantastic and I highly recommend them. As do about probably 20 other people on this forum.

Thanks for the tip on the control arm bushes..I'll look into it..

My 2006 3.0R-B has just done 100,000 and the LCA bushes needed replacing. It wasn't noisy but the dealer said they were starting to split, so I got Whiteline bushes.

Thanks BJ..can you feel any difference in the ride? Can I ask what it cost to replace them?

Im on my 3rd set of whiteline bushes. Tried them all from different suppliers. Whiteline lasts the longest. But mine cops a shiteload more abuse than most would from the alignment/control arm length/slicks. I'd suggest OEM bushes filled with polyurethane if you dont want to mess about too much.

stuwr250f wrote:Thanks BJ..can you feel any difference in the ride? Can I ask what it cost to replace them?

I can't really say that I can feel a big difference. They cost about $150 for the pair and I was quoted $200 to fit them, but I took them to the Subaru dealer when I had the car serviced and they did it for about $130.