I decided it was time to go through my car and replace all of the suspension bushes with either Group N items,or Whiteline ones. The car has 164,000 Km's on it and it was time. I'll do the front this summer. I started buying parts six months ago. So far I've bought: STI lateral pillowball links STI box style sway bar mounts STI pillowball trailing arms Group N rear trailing arm bushes Whiteline outrigger bushes Whiteline rear diff mount bushes GAB adjustable rear struts I've also decided to replace every single fastener with new ones from Subaru. I'm using Eastwood products pretty much exclusively. These include Aluma Blast,Detail Gray,Extreme Chassis Black insatin,along with the primer for it,self etching primer and Diamond Clear Gloss. Duplicolor satin black is also being used. I dropped the entire rear out about four weeks ago. Got under the car and cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. Came up really nice. So far I have the outrigger fitted with Whiteline bushes,and painted it with the chassis black (it's drying right now),painted the trailing arm mounts,outrigger covers,outrigger mount plates,diff side plates,diff cover and sway bar mounts. Just finished rebuilding,rebooting and repainting the rear driveshafts. The diff side plates have had new seals pressed in. The new fasteners for the diff have arrived from Japan (only $1 each!),so I'll be assembling the diff on Wednesday. Here's some photos...
Thanks! I just picked up new oil fill and drain plugs for the diff,those used ones didn't look right...just waiting on some 'O' rings to arrive to build the diff out. The painted,rebushed outrigger is being installed tomorrow. Here's the cover with the new plugs,I've bought every bolt for the diff new,so it should look the part...
I used Eastwood Aluma Blast. I've been waiting for someone to import and distribute Eastwood coatings here in New Zealand for,oh,20 years or so! Not cheap,but well worth it. I'm using their products pretty much exclusivly on this project. Extreme Chassis Black in satin Extreme Chassis Black Primer Aluma Blast Detail Gray Self Etching Primer Diamond Clear I'm going to use the Diamond Clear on all of the pink STI parts-the pink paint is super fragile and the Diamond Clear is totally bulletproof. Got the outrigger and forward heat shield installed,today. The Whiteline bushes are supurb! Nice and tight,a huge improvement. Time to install the Group N bushes in the subframe and refinish it with Eastwood Extreme Chassis Black,then I can install the diff and start hanging all the STI parts.
Couldn't resist giving the rear tow hook a lick of black with some red accents...New fasteners have been ordered and will replace the used ones.
The 'O' rings I needed to build the diff finally arrived. The diff went together super easy. I was worried about the carrier bearings-they felt a little sloppy,when I had the head out of the case,but once I installed it and torqued up the side plates,there's hardly any play at all,just right. Very happy with it and really glad I used new bolts everywhere.
Got around to removing the fuel filler pipe and plastic guard (which was so full of dirt it wasn't funny),refinished them,cleaned the wheel well and reinstalled it. Decided to bolt the diff to the outrigger,with a jackstand supporting the rear of it. Pretty sure I can get the rebushed and repainted subframe around it and into place and if not,no biggie. The subframe should be repainted and have the Group N bushes installed in a week,or so. Starting to look good under there,getting excitited,now! A before and after shot,never realised the diff was weeping so badly.
Allrighty! Got the Group N bushes installed in the subframe and took it to Abrasive Solutions to get media blasted. They managed to blast all of the paint and surface rust off and leave the factory galvanizing intact! It's in primer, right now...Hoping it's fine today, I'd really love to topcoat it and install it this Saturday...
