The Impreza TS-x

Here is a random collection of pictures for Yint's TS-x Impreza.

Non-Domestic Racing

I picked up some kick-ass vinyls from the discount store. They absolutely complete the ride. Here is a sunset photo shoot for you. Kind of silly, it was really cold but I had fun and I didn't care how the pictures came out. It is sort of my way of deconstructing the process. I am shooting for shooting's sake, being out in the fresh air, enjoying the light as it bounces off our filthy rides. Some times I am pointing the camera in the right dirrection, most of the time I am just shooting at the sun. Its a fun mash up so enjoy it.

 more pictures of light after the break

MoarLow Is an Addiction

 

Yint won't go Moar until we do something about his exhaust.

 

NEED MOARLOW CAPTAIN... I can still see a gap :-P

I could have done a better shot but I did a single shot exposure because I sure was feeling lazy... Turned out not to bad over all.

 

Maybe he just needs some inspiration.

 

Getting low

Yint joined the lowered club yesterday, November 16th, 2010. He was inducted in by none other then me, Squarebush who joined the club the end of last month. Its now all about cornering, scraping, and of course morelow. 

Yint's bumper tilts up a bit in a rally inspired positive ground clearance way, please expect a fix for this "problem" among other creative finishing touches. Right now both cars are sitting in a higher more compliant stance... Something you shouldn't expect to last long. Low is an addiction.

Click to the break for more pictures from last night

What Friends Are For

(11:17:15 AM) Nii: Still thinking of locking down the subframe, but I'm thinking of doing it right.
(11:17:23 AM) Squarebush: good
(11:17:54 AM) Nii: oh, did Yint torque those bushings on ramps here?
(11:18:32 AM) Squarebush: um... no.
(11:18:51 AM) Squarebush: they may have torqued them on the ground...?
(11:19:04 AM) Nii: so all you did here is drink my alcohol?
(11:19:12 AM) Squarebush: yes
(11:19:16 AM) Squarebush: exactly.

Today

Tons of excitement today. I raised my car a tad for snow and extra complince. Driving on the bump stops starts to hurt your back.

Here are some kick ass heavy night air pictures.

 Check out more pictures after the break

Broken and Shit

Yint won't get around to posting this up so, I will!

Bit dented up here...

Large bend here...

This is a very, very bent control arm.

So that was the problem, and of course, this is the solution...

Ideas Flowing

So I know that no one here knows my car yet, but you all will soon. I drive a '97 Impreza RSL, which is a '97 Impreza L with a Phase II 2.5L Impreza engine in it. It has a Forester "anti-lift kit" and a Whiteline 19mm front sway bar. And a few other small things. Its not done yet, and I have some ideas kicking it around to get it "done" for now.

 

Follow the break for more!

Parts Are on the Way

Yint messed up his car, he'll post pictures, I promise.

Anyway, we need some serious equipment. Control arms first, coming our way.

Second up, we got ourselves some BC racing coilovers in the mail. Oh yes this is a pretty serious job.

Keep your eyes peeled... we got some cool stuff coming.

Yint's Weekly Update 11/02/2010

Okay, since last I posted I replaced the exhaust headers on my cousin's Phase II 2.5L N/A Subaru.

The sound these headers make is quite nice.

I also did a large job on a 2004 Legacy. Timming belt, clutch, and head gaskets. The owner of the car was quoted $3800 at the shop for this service, I managed to do it for him for $700.

Then I picked up my next job. A Hyundai Accent that has a blown engine. Rented a trailer from U-Haul for $55; I would have used a two-wheel tow dolly, but the U-Haul in town didn't have any. Got the car home, and tore the engine down this morning. Tomorrow, I will be pulling the blown engine the rest of the way out, and if I have time, I will be going to get the donor engine from a junkyard about 60 miles away.

Pictures... Pictures, Pictures.

Lets get some before and afters going...

Yint's before...

After. We will get some serious actions shots, right after a good solid tune.

Two more after the break...

Yint's Weekly Update 10/23/2010

Okay, so--Squarebush asked me to do a log of what I am up to, so here is my first installment detailing what I have done (of interest) over the course of the last week. 

So, I started of the week by cleaning my garage. Seeing as it is now primarily my work space, I went about re-organizing everything, and in general making it a much nicer place to work. I couple of key features of my renovated work space are a newly installed car radio(on my work bench) that is powered by an ATX power supply, and a new tool box made using an old dresser, some plywood, and drawer sliders bought at Home Depot for about $7 each set.

My first car work of the week was replacing the brake pads and rotors on a 2002 Ford Expedition. Brakes are generally pretty easy, but I have to say Ford really must have given these brakes about 5 minutes of total design time. The brake is entirely put together in a grooved track design, and in order to put it back together a mechanic need about twelve hands. Mostly my complaint about them is that you can't simply put the pads in. You have to assemble the brake in a specific order. Starting with the caliper, you add the outside brake pad, slide on the brake bracket PART of the way, insert the inner brake pad and then finish sliding the bracket into place. Not a terribly great design.

Just now, I went to AutoZone to meet up with my next client who owns a 2004 Legacy. He came to me expressing that he needs new head gaskets. After Some discussion, leading to me finding out his car is about to hit 100k, I recommended replacing the trimming belt while we were at it, and then also the clutch. We bought the necessary parts and set a date for next weekend. In the process of ordering parts we talked quite a bit about his car history and I was shocked. He has near literately been raped on ever minor difficulty he has had with his cars. The best example of this was when he told my about the CV boot that was torn on his car. He took it to a local dealership and ended up paying over $500 to have all 4 CV joints on his front axles replaced. I just spent 2 minutes on Google and found NEW whole axles for less than $60 each. Factor in 1.5 hours of labor, and I am still not coming up with $500; and all they did was rebuild the existing axles. Why do people pay so much for such un-necessary work?

Yint - Part.1

I too will be contributing to this Blog. I'm Mike Carlstrom, also know as: Yint. I got my start in driving with a 1995 Dodge Neon. Not my first choice of cars, but it was the "kids car" for my family. It took me about 2 years to blow that up, and I was rewarded with my second car, a... 2000 Dodge Neon, but at least this one had power steering. I drove that for another 2 years, before finally I entered the world of proper cars and got my 2002 Subaru Impreza TS. (only slightly photoshoped)

Having reached a point in my life where I could actually make enough money to do anything considerable to the car, I decided the best place to start modifying it would be to put a WRX engine in it. So I did. I will likely do a full right up on the swap, but that is a job for another day. In short, I bought a 1997 impreza base model that had already been swapped to a WRX engine and a Legacy GT drive train, all the guts from that car and put it into my TS, and took the TS engine and drive train and put it into the 97.

 
Now I am working as a backyard mechanic while finishing up my BS in mechanical engineering. I have done quite a few jobs now, ranging from a brake light switch on a 1988 Volvo 244, to a top end rebuild on a Ford Windstar. My next big job I already have lined up will be buying a junkyard engine, rebuilding it, and swapping it into a 1997 Hyundai Accent. I will be starting that job in the next week (I hope.) The customer hasn't responded to my last email where I detailed out all of what I would be doing, and how much it would cost.