Day 27 - 26th Sep 2010, Welding Part 2

Well over the weekend I got a few hours to do some more welding and a bit of clean up grinding.
I’ve been contemplating whether to full seam weld or stitch weld the car, to full seam weld the car I would weld between the welds that I had already been done to form a seam weld. Weighing up the benefits of doing this as far as I can tell from reading forums and talking to other people, the main benefit of welding up the seams is to make the car stronger not so much stiffen the car, although I’m sure it has some affect on stiffening the car up. To stiffen up the car a well constructed roll cage, and adding stiffening plates in the correct area's of the car would be the best option. The end result of this is that I will be stitch welding up as much of the car as I can and work towards stiffening the car at key points.
Over the weekend I moved from the boot area into the cabin which I got about 75% done. While most of the seams where tight some of the seams had large gaps between the panels, from 3 to 5mm in some cases filled with filler and spot welded, with these seams it was easy to remove the filler and a few taps from the hammer to bring the panels together followed by a tack weld worked the best before stitch welding the seam.

Update for the past 2 months

It's been 2 months since the last update to the blog, and it has been a slow 2 months for the car, but that is all about to change over the next few months.
The past 2 months has been finishing a project I started some 18 months ago, painting the outside of house. The walls had been painted back when I had 5 weeks off last year due to lack of work, it was the dry season and so I got most of it done, with just the windows where left to do. Then work picked up and I didn't want to spend the weekends doing windows, so I left them for a few months. 12 months later it was time to finish them off before moving on to the car.
The past months have not been all about painting windows, over the past 9 months I've completed night classes in welding at the local TAFE, completing basic courses in MMAW and GMAW. With the purchase of a MIG welded with intentions of welding and stiffening the car body myself, I've been practise welding light gauge sheeting while the windows where drying, preparing and getting the confidence to start on the car.

Yesterday the welding started on the car, though the best place to start would be the boot area, that way by the time I get this area done, the welds might be visually acceptable to the hard core welders when I do the engine and cabin area.
After 3 hours of crawling around getting the right angle to weld, spacing out the HAZ's to minimise any distortion, the boot was half done. Most of the welds where just acceptable, bit of grinding will be required on most, by the end of the day I had the correct settings on the MIG and the welds where flowing with good penetration.

I will be aiming to get at lest half a day a weekend to weld up the car and get it ready for the roll cage.

The cost so far

The major costs so far have been the initial car cost and the tools.

CAR

Omega 1200kg trolley Jack
Omega car stands
Force 1/2" Torque wrench
Pin punch set
Engine crane 1t
Wire strippers
Heat gun
Cordless Torque wrench
Force metric Torque sockets
Car trolley
Force imperial torque sockets
Lincoln 180C Mig welder
Force 1/2" socket set
Force 1/2" breaker bar
Misc including tarps, welding bits and bobs, small tools

Plus a few early items for the car,
Lico seats x 2 (special)
Laser 3 rally computer

So total cost including a few items not mentioned above a little over $9000

Once the car has been welded up, then the real cost will start to come in with a roll cage, painting and then fitting it out. The time line is to get the car finished by around this time next year, so I'm in no rush. But saying that there is a lot to do and a year isn't that much time.

Day 24 – 27th June, Let the grinding begin

With a 100mm wire wheel on the drill I started removing the seam sealer, and don’t Subaru use a lot when they put a car together, probably why I haven’t found any rust around the joints, yet. After 18 years, its no longer soft, more like putty that has hardened. Still its easy to remove so I'm not complaining.
Yesterday was the front window, I thought the tar removal was the worst job, but taking out a broken front window, what a job glass everywhere. I like to think we both had wins, it got blood out of me and I got it out of the car. Next time I will get someone else to do it, seems way to dangerous for the cost of getting someone else to remove it.

Day 22 - 20th June, No much left to take out.

The main work over the weekend was under the car, removed the front cross member, rear cross member and diff. The moved onto the fuel tank, filler pipe and fuel lines. Next was the doors leaving not to much to remove.




After 22 days in weekends the car is a shell, with a bonnet (to large for one person to remove) and a cracked front window, (that will be coming out next weekend).
A few weeks back I was deciding how far to strip the car back, and with most things I do, I don’t seem to know when to stop. So where to next? Let the welding begin!

Day 20 – 27th May, Gearbox, drive shaft and diff

After a bit of a struggle, mainly with bolts that have not been removed in 18 years, the gearbox and drive shaft have been removed from the car. It was a bit of fun removing the gearbox by myself, awkward position and a little heavy, but the engine crane helped. It will be interesting getting it back in, I may have to phone a friend and offer a few beers.

Day 18 – 16th May, Pedals and firewall

Spent a few hours to remove what was left inside around the firewall, with the wiring loom out of the way the cabin is nice and clean ready for welding, well apart from a bit of tar mat to remove.

Day 17 – 15th May, The wiring loom

Looking at the wiring loom it looks daunting to remove to a person that has never taken one out before, but I'm up for a challenge. Started in the engine bay and worked around from the fuse box to the drivers side, through to the back of the dash then down to the boot. Before I knew it it was out. After it was out, it didn’t seem to hard at all, mind you I have to get it back in.

Day 16 – 14th May, Decision time

How far do I strip the car?
Option 1 – Just enough to fit it out as a rally car.
Option 2 -, Totally leave nothing on the car and do a proper job of it, stitch welding and painting, etc.
I guess only time will tell.
Did some more removal of parts around the front of the car, bumper, side panels, probably should of done this before the engine came out, note of next time.

Day 15 – 9th May, The engine is out

After a bit of reading on the forum, it confirmed what I head read in the manual and proceeded to remove the shaft that the ‘Y” yoke pivots about, everything was ready. Lined the engine crane up, got the car up on stands a little to place the trolley jack under the gearbox and started to lift the engine. Took a while to get the engine to lift in the correct angle, but after a few minuets the engine started to move away from the gearbox. With a bit of persuasion from a crow bar the two finally separated.

Day 14 – 8th May, Everything ready to go

Well got to spent some more money on tools I didn't have, I got a cordless torque wrench, set of torque sockets and couple of 14mm sidcrome spanners. First was to get the stuck nuts all undone, I took to the CV nut with the torque wrench made and it was off in seconds. Next the turbo nuts, bit of CRC and good spanners and the turbo was free.
So onto the list of jobs to get the engine out, fuel lines 3 in total, drained 100ml of fuel from the filter, took lots of photos for the rebuild, never a good idea to get these lines wrong.
With the turbo disconnected from the exhaust the centre exhaust was removed.
The gearbox was the only thing stopping the motor from being removed, a few bolts later and everything was almost ready to remove the engine, just had to understand how to remove the ‘Y’ yoke in the clutch and I was away.

Day 13 – 3rd May, problems with stuck nuts

Well an interesting afternoon of learning and discovery, disconnect the starter motor, clutch and power steering, then undid the middle of the exhaust. Next job was the removing the bolts that hold the turbo to the exhaust, started well got two of the 5 off, but then two are not moving and to get to the last bolt I need a tool that can reach the last bolt. Sounds like a trip to Trade Tools for some new spanners. All things going well I hope to remove the motor.

Day 12 - 1st May CV front drive shafts

Got some new tools to play with, engine hoist, trolley jack and 4 car stands. Got the car up on the car stands, made it easy to get under the car, where before I couldn’t. The job today was to remove the CV’s so the engine could be removed. The first issue was a stuck nut on the right of the car, so I started on the left, followed the manuals instructions and 1 hour latter had the CV shaft out and ready to start on the other side. The right side nut will not move, so I called it a day.

Day 11 - 26th Apr More engine prep work

Well today was a good day, got the cruse control system removed, battery wires removed, disconnected the turbo radiator, the engine is almost ready to remove.




Trim was also removed from the windows to see what the rust issues where. Turned out to be a little worse that first thought with rust around the rear window, so the rear window will need to be removed to fix the issue.

Day 10 - 24th Apr The last of the Tar removed

What a job, heat gun and a paint scraper, while most of the tar peeled off without mush resistance, there was a lot of it. It's one of those jobs that your glade its over. Total weight taken out 27kg, total to date 160kg.

Day 9 - 23rd Apr More air conditioner

The day was spent removing air conditioner parts, hoses, brackets, inside the cabin area and any other items that worked with the AC. The air system was also removed, freeing up the left side of the engine.

Day 8 - 16th Apr Start on the engine

After working in the inside it was time to turn to the engine and think about removing the engine. First thing was to remove the items that would not be going back into the engine bay, air conditioner and cruse control. To make some room the radiator was removed first, then the air conditioner pump and condenser.

Day 7 - Apr 4th Tar sheets

The sound proofing while good in a street car to cut down the road noise, is of no use in the rally car. So out it comes, easier said then done, its not so easy to remove. The tar is in sheets, but over time its become brittle, and will not move without some force. After a few experiments, heat seem to work the best, first the wife’s hair drier, and then a heat gun from the local car shop. A little heat, then let the sheet cool a little and the sheets would peal off without to much fuss. After the sheets where removed, there was some residue but nothing bug and tag remover would’t fix.






After a few hours I got sick of pulling up tar, so it was time to pull out the dash. A few screws and electrical plugs, and the dash was out.

Day 6 - Mar 29th Weight Reduction

Well 6 days into the start of the project and a lot has happened. The car has been gutted from the inside, seat, carpet, trim, sunroof and head liner have all been removed. The boot areas, including some interesting items have been removed, giving the car a very open feel.

One of the larger items removed was the stereo system. The system was big, 1800W of Amps and 3000W of speakers. All up weighed 35kg and if thing go well I hope to get about $500 for this system, $1850 new.



The next step is the dash board and air conditioning that will be interesting, as up to this point none of the items that have been removed are going back into the car, the dash needs to.
Another win on the weekend was the removal of the immobiliser, after a quick look on the internet, I found the install instruction and then when to work removing it. After about 2 hours of fixing cut wires, it was done. The moment of truth was when I turned on the ignition, and the car started first time…. Great feeling.

Mar 16th Got it

Well after many hours searching for sales and forums, I finally found a car, not in the best condition, but a straight body and what seems to be a good engine/drive train. Its a 1992 Subaru RS Liberty, stock engine with a few mods, as the ad below said, it has a few issues, still for $3200 its a good car for the price.

Rs liberty sleeper, 200 kilowatt 4wd safely modified, is running stock turbo and top mount intercooler but has a larger fuel system, chipped, boost control up to 18psi. Interior is in good nik. Just done 90 000 km major service, also recently had new brakes/suspension, water pump seals, new radiator and hoses, engine hoses, also has new heavy duty clutch to cope with running higher boost. Has $2500 worth of stereo, head unit, 12 inch Kenwood sub, to amps 1 pair of 6x9 Kenwood 5 way and a pair of pioneer titanium cone 4 inch splits in the front. Car is being sold unregistered and unroadworthy. BAD POINTS Car has some panel damage to rear corner and front bumper looks like it came from a 1992 model car but apart from that the outside is in fair condition. Car needs four new tires and a head gasket to be completely roadworthy again, head gasket quoted at 1500 to 1800.

Feb 27 The CAR

So what car to run, I guess I had already made up my mind some time back as to what car to run, and what class. My daily drive is a Subaru RS liberty Wagon, great car to drive, so I’ve decided on an RS sedan to find and prepare. The class is P6, this has the production cars from around 1989 to 1990 all great cars and your not to limited to the modifications you can do to these cars. The Subaru Legacy/Liberty Gen 1 is in the list first built-in 1989 and covering series 1 and 2 till 1994. So for now I’m watching the online car sales for a Gen 1 series 2 1992-1994 RS sedan around the Au$5k mark

Feb 16-17 Scrutineers Course

Well just did a Scrutineers bronze course with CAMS, was very educational. The main thing I wanted to get out of it was an understanding of the CAMS manual and how scrutineering worked, I hoping this year while I build my car that I get a chance to do some scrutineering, we will see.

2010Feb 1 The Idea

Well finally worked out what to put on this site, I will try to keep a log of my adventures into the world of Rally, well within Queensland.
So how have I come to this point? Well not sure really, I’ve always followed rally on TV, gone to the WRC in Perth and NSW the past 8 to 9 years, even worked as an official at WRC, and of late as a pit monkey for one of the cars running in the QRC. So I guess the next logical step is to enter a car myself, so that is where I started.