“It changes – as soon as you decide to change it.” That’s the moral here. The takeaway. The lesson.
For the last 4 years, this WRX was a heap in the back of Marcelo’s shop, Chitown Customs. See – Marcelo had owned the bug-eye since new. It was his baby. He had dumped copious amounts of money into various Subaru engine builds. 3 motors; 5 transmissions On the last closed deck 2.5 build, it made 15 passes… then blew up. All that time, sweat, and expense – for not. Wasted.
Marcelo was done! He was frustrated, heartbroken, and beaten. And that label/cloud of defeat loomed over the car for years.
We all have our obstacles to overcome. For some it may be the ‘unfinished project’. It may be weight loss. Or it may be grades, or career satisfaction. A broken relationship. A withering dream. The list goes on & on. We all have our crosses to bear. And sometimes that ‘cloud’ is a necessary step in the journey. But the second we decide to take the NEXT step & change it… poof… it’s changed. Yes – it’s that quick, and it’s that elemental. The ball is in motion. Then all we have to do, is swing all the way through.
Ahhh – but the follow-through can be the trickier part. Because that’s the character test. You don’t want to be a smoker any more. Poof – congratulations you’re a nonsmoker… now go prove it. Car culture often becomes a test of character, discipline, and resilience. After all, if building cool cars were easy, every geek would do it.
So one day, 4 years later, one of Marcelo’s buddies started jabbing about how Marcelo should just put an LS engine in the WRX. Marcelo couldn’t see through that cloud at first. The car was a pile of disappointments… laid to rest. Why reopen that can of worms, money, distraction, and heartache?
But Keith, was like, “Naaaah piece of cake bro.”
Marcelo looked out at the car again, a little bit of sun hit it for the first time in years, and his eyebrow raised. Sometimes all it takes, is the right words at the right moment. The feelings all started coming back around. He talked to a guy named Nigel, who was putting custom LS-ready subframes into Subarus (see modlist). And all the sudden, it started getting stupid again. In the best way possible!
Text by Wooley Photos by Chris Sullivan
2003 Subaru WRX LSX
MOTOR – Car sits at 1000hp set up on low boost
PSI ECU
HP Tuners Pro package
Fast Nigel Fabrication tubular subframe
327 LSx iron block, aluminum heads
Built Texas Speed heads
Turbo Joe Fabrications turbo kit (one of one)
Borg Warner S480-S496 T6 turbo
Dual 44 Tial wastegates
Tial Q 50mm blow off
NOS wet shot
5” Turbo Joe Fabrications custom intercooler core
Aeromotive Pro Series pump
Aeromotive Pro Series fuel regulator
C16
Tuned start up by John Drew @ R&D performance
Dyno Tuned By Matt Cater & Ted Kolantzianos at Proformance on a MD500
TRANSMISSION
Hurst pistol grip w/ trans brake & 2-step
DEAN PERFORMANCE TH400 – built
Nigel tubular trans mount
5500 precision stall
REAR END
350Z LSD
Fast Nigel Fabrication tubular cradle
3 ½ CROMOLY Drive shaft with bullet ends
Tuned start up by John Drew @ R&D performance
Dyno Tuned By Matt Cater & Ted Kolantzianos at Proformance on a MD500
ROLL CAGE
Brian Konopack aka Beast Minion Fab
THANKS TO
Bob Friedman, Branden Rick, Bobby Morales, Steve Zielinski, Danny Stevens, Joe Kalec (aka Turbo Joe), Brian Konopack (aka Beast Minion Fab), Fast Nigel Fabrication and Paul Stefanczyk for all the support and help on this project. Without you guys I personally don’t think it would’ve possible to finish this project.
