Unique Motorsports

What started out as a long day which would include a new clutch, finishing up a gutted stock up pipe and installing a turbo back exhaust turned into a long day, but no clutch install.

Gutting a stock Up Pipe:

Gutting a stock WRX Up Pipe is not easy, but should not be this hard. I have done a couple now and this was more difficult than the first. I no longer have a long air hammer attachment which is able to go all the way through the Catted part so I cut one that’s close and lengthened it by adding some 1/2” angle arm. Well, the cat is stronger than the steel so it took a few different “versions” of the extension, some beating on it with some large screwdrivers and a few hours of work to get this done. Luckily Darin was there to help tag team this as it took a fair amount of time. The end result is a clear path in the up pipe which fits as good as stock and retains the heat properties of the stock piece. As such, it’s unlikely to leak or have any other issues. One other thing to note is I like to weld the egt port shut as it would just through a CEL anyway. A 2.2K OHM resister goes into the plug to resolve the CEL.

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After making this picture video collage, it makes me wish I took more pictures. I’ll be replacing this post with a small write up and images later. For now though, here are the install pictures set to Linkin Park.

Tempting fate and with full disregard to the space time continuum, we swap an older JDM WRX transmission and rear differential into a 97 Impreza L. The transmission that we removed? A newer WRX transmission. The day was long, allergies did their best to discourage us, however we pulled through.

The swap itself was pretty straight forward, as with most Subaru stuff, mechanically everything pretty much fit. So as not to upset the ECU, we simply swapped in the original 2.2L sensors. At the end of the day the car is much quicker with the much better matched lower gears. I may add more to this later depending on the comments, for now though enjoy the  pictures.

Some more information from Darin and this post on Flat4:

car ran great on the way home, other than the broken speedo cable not allowing me to revv over 4k…
even with 4.44 final drive, im only about 250 rpm higher at around 70 in 5th and i can feel the car accelerate in 5th gear…

Its still an r160 diff. not sure what you mean by diff covers.
the lsds’ are different, on the usdm wrx diff(on left) the lsd assembly is open, ie you can see the spider gears, while on the jdm suretrac the lsd assembly is sealed. the biggest difference between the two is on the us is a 3.90 w/3.54 viscous lsd rear compared to a 4.44 w/4.44 apsuretrac torsen style diff. the gear ratios in the jdm trans are exactly the same as what i have in my wrx, except to final drive is 4.44.