After much calling around and waiting, followed by more waiting, Ming's patience paid off. He was able to track down a complete front clip stuffed with a fresh motor with only 6,000 kilometers of Wangan abuse. With the complete changeover shipped to the Chinatown part of his Chicago address, Ming called on his buddy Ron from RS Motors in Minneapolis to perform the transplant. While the physical act of pulling the old motor and replacing it with the STi setup was relatively easy, the tricky part was figuring out the wiring. Translation? Don't try this at home, kiddies.
The newly swapped motor up and spooling, Ming had Dylan at DSI Motorsports mod the car with a Shedd Aquarium-like wide-range of goodies acquired through Fizz Autosports and Top Speed. A Zerosports intake with HKS filter, HKS manifold, Invidia downpipe, Helix up pipe, SARD blow-off valve, Denso spark plugs, ARC top-mount intercooler and pulley cover, Blitz SBC i-Color, Syms oil cap, Exedy clutch, and C-West carbon map sensor cover all found their way into the car; after which Dylan fit an Autopower six-point rollcage and mounted a set of Defi gauges and gauge pod.
Once DSI Motorsports was done installing the bolt-on modifications; Ming asked Joey from Top Speed, Ming's old workplace, for a favor of the firm-yet totally non-phallic-kind. Needing suspension components, Ming asked Joey for (cheap) pricing on a slew of them from Tein Super Street coilovers to Cusco antiroll bars, strut braces and bushings. To complete the suspension component, Ming looked to Mackin Industries and their 17-inch light-in-weight but heavy-in-style limited edition TE37 wheels. Ming then had the black-faced rims shod in BFGoodrich tires and purchased a rubber screeching four-piston Endless big brake kit.