Aaron's big goal Apex Silver 9 SE
 

Alright guys, time for a build thread.

First a little history! I'm an avid turbo enthusiast, my first car being an 06 STi.
After owning the Suby for a little over a year I saw the light and started out on my search for a nicely modded relatively low mileage Evo 9. I drove 8hrs to test drive a RR 9 SE with red Brides and 20k miles, beautiful car, but the dealership sold it out from under me to a guy that destroyed the clutch and made them fix it. So I turned around empty handed and drove my STi 8hrs back home.

5 Evo test drives later I found the least beat, cleanest of the 6 that I drove.

A 2006 Evo 9 SE in Apex Silver.

Some pics of her when I took delivery:

http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/1756/0521001627.jpg

http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/5266/0518001829.jpg

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So I drove it around for a couple weeks, figuring out quirks and stuff the previous owner had neglected to maintain. Needless to say, I was on a first name basis with my local dealership for plenty of warranty work from the beginning. http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/sr...es/biggrin.gif

Front calipers and front axels were replaced under warranty, as well as the wing due to a broken bolt. It wobbled on the interstate, I deemed it unsafe and apparently the dealer thought the same. One of the rear lower suspension arm bushings was warn so they replaced the whole arm and gave the car a free alignment. I was happy. http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/sr...lies/smile.gif
Little stuff, like a throttle body service they performed for free.

Time for mods, I needed a boost gauge to see what the car was tuned for and what the MBC was set for. Dual A pillar pod and an oil pressure gauge went in along with the boost gauge.

To my surprise, I was maxing out the 30psi gauge. When I found this out I turned the boost down to a safe 20lbs until I could get my fuel map read. I found a local guy that had some tuning equipment, got my tune read.
As it turns out the car is tuned very well for 30lbs, 0 counts of knock as well as very good AFR's. So back up the boost went.

Next on the list was an EBC, because I don't trust the pin valve type boost controllers. Call me picky, but I trust an electronic solenoid over a spring and a plastic BB any day. So the Apexi AVC-R EBC went in.


The car already had a decent exhaust(Megan TBE) and intake(HKS Suction) so I didn't feel a need to mess with this yet. However I didn't like the stock shifter feel.

So I went with a Buschur Racing Short Shifter, AMS hard bushings and Agency Power under hood bushings. This helped immensely. No more play in neutral or in gears. I love them. At this time I was patiently waiting for my ARC counter weighted TI shift knob to ship from Japan. After I had all of this in place, I was happy with my shift feel.

Here is a picture of a before and after profile of the short throw. I couldn't find one online when I was looking at shifters so this should help some people out.

Before:

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._7084219_n.jpg

After:

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._6901177_n.jpg



After that, I played with a bunch of little details that I felt needed messed with. Just neat DIY stuff. I painted the rear "Evolution" badge Flat Red, as well as the shifter bezel. Ran it wingless a while when I was waiting for my new wing to come in and get painted. I polished my UICP myself, as well as cleaned up the engine bay a tad. I made myself a well needed Exhaust Shield and polished that up. Rubberized my grilles and hood vent as well as stelthing out the pesky AC reservoir that can be seen from the front grille. In no particular order, here are my progress pics:


http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._1586428_n.jpg

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As it sits, my mod list is as follows:


Power:

Megan TI turbo back
HKS Suction intake with AEM filter
Ecu reflash to 30psi
Apexi AVC-R Electronic Boost Controller
AMS Oil Pressure Sender relocation line
ETS UICP, TiAL flanged
ETS LICP V2
ETS 3.5in Wide Tank IC
TiAL 50mm QR Recirc BOV



Driveline:

Exedy Hyper Twin HD clutch
STM clutch fork stop
Shep Stage 1 Transfer Case rebuild
Shep Street/Strip trans rebuild with Evo8 3rd and 4th Ultimate Ratios, REM ISF processed gearset, and a new Evo9 1st gear and input shaft.

Very grateful to Trevor at Shep for walking me through everything. A+++ customer service here!


Interior:

Megan Oil pressure and boost gauges
Dual A pillar pod
AVC-R mounted in the console cubby
Buschur Racing Short Shifter
AMS shift cage solid bushings
Agency Power Under Hood solid bushings
ARC Titanium gradient counter weighted shift knob
Red shift bezel


Exterior/Wheel/Tire:

Rexpeed MR SE carbon front lip
Brembo Slotted CRYO race rotors
Hawk brake pads
25% tint on all 5 windows
Smoked tail lights
Repainted grilles
Red painted "Evolution" rear badge
Polished Exhaust heat shield
Perrin 4in Short antennae
ARP front(so far) extended wheel studs

Advan RGII 18x9 +45 Ultra Lightweight rims in gold
Sumitomo HTR ZIII 245/45r18 Z rated tires with slight stretch



Audio/Electronics:

Kinetic KHC 2400 Battery relocated to the trunk for audio/running system.
False floor raised for the Kinetic.
Pioneer Bluetooth headunit
Custom self built sub box with 1000w RMS Memphis 10in DVC subs
Big three wired with 0g/4g
Various wiring fixes form the previous owner..
Memphis component speakers up front with custom tweeter location
Pyle 75w x4 amp for the fronts
Hidden 65gb Ipod Touch


I'll be constantly updating the thread as progress happens. But this is a good start.
Goals, dreams, and updates will follow.


Thanks for looking!
Aaron





http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/899/imag0282c.jpg







Update! I finally got her back from the terrible transmission shop it was in for the trans job. Fixed a couple little things I've been wanting to do.
I ended up going catless, and I can tell you guys that don't know, I'll never be back. Its a world of difference. I love the sound!

And I received my MR SE lip from Rexpeed and after I played around with the fitment a little bit, I'm pleased with the finish. Here are some pics!


Day I picked it up from the shop:
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._2157519_n.jpg

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._1396855_n.jpg

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._2159913_n.jpg

its looking good man love the silver.

Nice car, what year Subaru you have? I have a Subaru and looking for Evo myself, hard to find a clean Evo not trashed! How the car compare to the Subaru?

IloveAWD, thanks. I think gold and silver is a rather unique combination for evos. {thumbup}


I had a WRB 2006 hawkeye STi. I agree, clean unmolested Evos are getting harder and harder to come across.

My STi was stage 2, intake and exhaust with a Kartboy short shifter, Tein coilovers and 18x8.5 Gramlights. And even though the STi was a fun car, they don't compare to Evo 9's. My Evo spools so much harder than the VF-39 could even dream of. Inline 4's are so much easier to work on.

With that said, my STi handled like a dream with the coils. And I do honestly miss the sound. But cams and a catless TBE will make up for that in the Evo. :D

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._7957563_n.jpg

good stuff man

Haha, thanks.

Shes currently in the shop getting the trans swapped in as well as a clutch job. I should have it back this week if all goes well.

what does the future hold for the evo ?

ETS twinscroll HTA GT3076r kit, supporting mods for this, Cosi M3 cams, ETS 3.5in IC and a Bushur tune. Or those are my hopes at least.

30psi and on stock intercooler, injectors, and fuel pump? I could only imagine the heat soak on that. Is the car running on e85 by any chance?

Had a STI for awhile too....turned to an EVO just a few weeks back... Love it 10x more

Evo8426, It concerned me also. I'd have E85 if the closest pump wasn't a 45min drive from my house. That would definitely be the safest option. I'm sure the heat soak is immense. I haven't pulled the injectors to see if they are stock. But I'd think 30psi with adequate AFR's would be pushing the stockers a lot no?

Ja,
Definitely, I'm glad I saw the light!

Well a little update. I received the rebuilt T-case and requested gear oil from Shep. The Trans is scheduled to be here tomorrow. Strange how you can ship something the same day and it arrives differently eh? Fedex for the loss...

Either way, here are the pics of the carnage the local shop inflicted on my 1500mile old ACT extreme pressure plate as well as the new T-case pics.

I'd like to thank Trevor at Shep again for helping me through the process. Nothing but class from these guys. {thumbup}



http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/231/imag0880.jpg

http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/1831/imag0881.jpg

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http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/2708/imag0885.jpg

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/5662/imag0886.jpg

hopefully soon i get to drop my tranny and ship it to sheap as well

I'm very surprised at how much warranty work the dealership did to your car considering it was already modified and you were not the original owner.

Very nice progress. We have the same car! hah