It was 2010 and Edwin was deployed in Iraq. He decided to buy a 2010 Subaru WRX STi Special Edition and handled the purchase sight unseen through a power of attorney while he was overseas. From that moment on, he spent his free time researching all the ways to make the car go faster. He has a bit of the Ricky Bobby syndrome, if you know what I mean.
Once he returned to the states, he ordered a bunch of parts to modify his new toy and found a local shop to tune it to his liking. At this point, he had never even changed the oil of a car and his experience under a hood was basically just looking under them. Well, a week after the tune, he blew up the engine. After that, he spent a lot of time and money trying to get it back up and running. During this time he made friends with a few fellas from that shop and others in the Subaru community. One of those fellas ended up helping him drop an upgraded engine back in the car and this moment was when he began his wrenching and engine building obsession.
These friendships led to him moonlighting in a shop and acquiring immense amounts of experience: from basic bolt-on parts to engine assembly to tuning on a laptop. It was also during this time that his parachute did not fully deploy on a routine jump and he was discharged from the Army due to injuries sustained from the fall. He now had unlimited time and energy to go towards his new found obsession. This obsession has opened up an array of doors for him and led him on the path I believe he was meant to be on. Some results are: being hired at GM as the Mass Engineer for Corvettes, and an opportunity in automotive data analytics. Funny how life works out like that. His physics background enables him to think up ideas and theories that lead him to try experimental/crazy modifications on the car and engine. It was this Subaru that was the classroom for him to learn and try, fail and succeed. It has been a long, expensive, painful yet rewarding road.
I entered his life about 5 years into their love hate relationship. When Edwin and I began dating, the car was burning oil and not in the best shape. He decided to get a more reliable vehicle and give the Subaru some rest. He removed the blown engine and it has been sitting in the garage waiting for him to make a new plan for the future of the car. In the past, he’s been rather impulsive with his decisions about which direction to go with the car. This has led to a lot of part and engine purchases that then end up getting sold before actually going in the car.
I think the addition of a level headed woman plus, frankly, the wisdom and maturity that only comes with age, has created a much more methodical approach of what he decides to do with his prized possession. After much deliberation, he has decided that his number one priority is to get it on the road again. Perhaps not as the next formula one, fastest car in the world, but as a reliable, well put together car with some nice touches to what is going under the hood.
I am documenting this process of bringing this car back to life because I think it will be wonderful to look back and see the process. This car means alot to him and these memories will be priceless to us, especially if we end up selling it. I am not a gearhead or car person of any kind, so please forgive me if my terminology and understanding of it all is more, on the surface. Edwin has said, if he has time and feels the urge, he will be creating posts of his more in depth scientific explanation of the process on his SteemIt account @TheMadScientist so if you are a gearhead I suggest you follow that blog for the juicy details.
He purchased an EJ20X engine for the heads and a V7 EJ207 for the bottom end. He was in Germany when the EJ207 freight shipment arrived. As a result, I was tasked with a first time attempt of receiving an engine with no prior experience. The path to our garage traverses through giant potholes down a dirt road and a gravel driveway that turns to grass before the garage. We were certain there was no way the delivery was going to be conveniently placed inside the garage so a plan had to be made. Luckily, we have a truck which made the entire delivery possible. I met the freight driver at the end of our driveway and he loaded the pallet into the bed of our truck. I then drove the truck to the garage and followed the detailed instructions I was given by my lover, to safely unload the cargo. Watch the video below to see how it all turned out.
Thanks for checking out the first installment of our series about bringing the Abomination back to life. The next installment will be about ceramic coating parts for the engine.
