He finally found an '05 donor STI in Oklahoma City, nearly 8.5 hours away from his Iowa home. They made the roundtrip run in one breath with his buddy and trailer in tow, and 20 hours later the STI was back in Iowa ready to be stripped the next morning. Both cars were mechanically and electrically gutted and the RS and STI harnesses sent out to Zephyr Belski (aka Zephyr250) in New Jersey to be merged. Merging the two harnesses would allow Justin to fit the STI harness into the GC while retaining all the STI's ABS, ECU and transmission controls.
In the process of four months, the harness was merged, and the entire STI driveline, all the way down the hubs and brakes transferred into the GC. For the STI DCCD transmission controls to also work in full auto mode, Justin also had to swap over much of the STI's brake and clutch hydraulic systems. Justin now had a fully functional STI within the super-light GC shell. To save time, much of the tuning bits were thrown in during the swap including heavy-duty boost and exhaust plumbing, TGV deletes and a LaChute twin-scroll exhaust manifold. The car now spends much of its time at local track events and according to Justin, "[it] easily holds off the big boy Porsches and BMWs, even with its stock turbo." He's upgraded the fuel system and the interior with JDM Version 6 STI parts, but is contemplating sticking with the stock turbo for response and changing the car to run on E85 fuel for slightly more power.
As for the fresh 50K-mile drivetrain originally out of the RS, Justin and Kristi already have it swapped into another '00 Impreza L wagon that will soon carry on the family heritage.
Specifications & Details
'00 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS
Engine
'05 USDM STI EJ25 boxer 4-cylinder
Engine Modifications
Ported heads, balanced bottom end, Perrin inlet hose, APS 3" turbo back exhaust w/ single 4" tip, turbo inlet hose and coolant catch can, Buschur racing up-pipe, OEM STI radiator, Grimmspeed TGV deletes, boost control solenoid and phenolic spacers, Lachute Performance twin-scroll exhaust manifold
Engine Management
P&L tune by Jorge Carrillo, OEM STI fuel tank, emissions equipment, fuel feed lines, APS Fuel Rails, Deatschwerks 850cc injectors, Walbrol 255-lph pump, OEM STI ECU w/ Cobb Accessport V2
Drivetrain
ACT extreme clutch, Gruppe-s lightweight forged flywheel, '05 USDM STI transmission, R180 rear differential and axles
Suspension
Bilstein PSS9 coilover suspension, Cusco front camber plates, strut tower braces and rear strut tower V-Brace, 24mm adjustable front and rear antiroll bars, Perrin sway bar end links (f/r), STI pillow ball rear trailing arms, JDM GC8 front control arms and '05 USDM STI power steering racknter text here.
Wheels, Tires and Brakes
STI Brembo calipers, TWR Racing front 2-piece slotted rotors w/ titanium hats, Goodrich SS brake lines, 17x8" '06 STI gold BBS wheels, 225/45R17 Bridgestone RE070 tires
Exterior
Prodrive P1 lip spoiler, Wings West 22b replica rear spoiler, JDM GC8 Aero guards, rear bumper spats, V6 rear bumper, STI aluminum hood, V6 grille, taillights, 22b Replica hood vents, lightweight bumper beams
Interior
JDM V6 STI front and rear seats, Defi link meter gauges, V6 Type R DCCD gauge cluster converted to U.S. units, USDM STI DCCD controls, steering wheel/column, parking brake handle and clutch, brake and gas pedals, ECS performance electronic pedal adapter