June Update - The Car v The Shed

Hi everyone progress on the car has slowed a little since the last time I posted.  The big push over the past few months is to get the shed extensions completed before it starts to rain here in Queensland.  The good news is the shed is now at lockup stage just as the rain has started here, with just some internal cladding
to complete the project.  I now have a dry clean work area for the car and I can work on the car at nights, which I have not been able to do in the past.

Although my priority has been to get the shed build, (I'm building it all myself), the car is still being progressed by others, its made its way back to NA Autosport and Engineering to have some bits a pieces installed, mostly items that where to heavy or I was not confident in tackling myself.  So far Nick and the guys have installed the flywheel, clutch and 6 speed gearbox into the car, and will be running the
brake and fuel lines in the car as well as installing a new set of 50mm DMS (Drummond Motor Sports) suspension.  We where going to replace all the rubber bushes in the rear suspension, but due to the floods in Japan we have not been able to get any new bushes from Subaru in time, so the rear suspension has been
upgrades to newer STI items with trailing arms, rear links, strut tops and sway bars all replaced.  Now when you look under the car its all just about STI gear, the only items that are not STI are the front and rear cross members and the RS auto drive shaft, (not including the engine which is stock RS).

The car has also had the paper work completed to get a CAM's log book, thanks to Dave the scrutineer who kindly came out and gave the car the tick of approval.  For the car to be approved based on the 2011 roll cage specs I have to have the paper work done by August this year.

Once the car is done at NA Autosport and Engineering and in the new shed, I will be looking at getting the rest of the car together, turbo, intercooler, engine electrics and push the big red button and see what happens.....to be continued...

April 22th 2012 - Day 63 - The light at the end of the tunnel

I keep meaning put more into this Blog, but I just never find the time.  It's been 3 months since the last update and yes a lot has been done to the car.  Most of the work has been centred on the inside of the car.  Most of the electrical work has been done, with only a few items left to wire in, including the DCCD controller, Nav Light and the Nav switch well that's all I can think of right now.
The dash mods got a working over as did the wiring diagram, basically I rewired the dash and replaced the switches I started with, with a set of 6 switches I purchased from a boating supplier, this both looks neater and works better.  I'm finding out that the third time I do things it's the right way.  I've also run the battery power leads, these are made up of welding earth cables with large terminals, purchased from a welding supplier.

Updated Wiring diagram




After a few tests with the multimeter I turned on the new switches and tested everything, and so far everything worked, rally computer sprung to life, gauges, new window heaters, Stilo headsets, and all of the normal car electrics.  When I say everything worked, the horn didn't, well not at first, it took me about 3hrs to finally work out that I had forgotten to plug a connector together under the dash.  Anyone doing one of these cars in the future, the wiring diagram is wrong, the horn signal is part of the cruise control plug that comes from the instruments.

One of the items on the to do list was the Aero Catches or bonnet latches, it's something you need on the car, but you need to cut into your bonnet and there is no going back once you start.  So last weekend I took to the car with a die grinder and drill, in the end the results were good, no mistakes and the job looks clean.  I also wrote a quick how to for anyone looking at doing the same thing, you can find it here, Aero Catches Install




Next item was to install the bigger brakes, these are from the 2003 STi and just clear the 15in rims I have, nice and shiny.



Today I had a bit of time and so started installing some roll cage padding, installed and high density padding around the head area, and the cheaper padding around the legs.  I'm not to happy with the cheaper padding as it's so thick, so I'm thinking of going the high density padding here as well.




So what's next for the car?  Well I need to get the gearbox in and the car started, also have the hydraulic handbrake mounted next to the gear stick and then I can run the brake and fuel lines in the car.  Once that is done I'm on the home straight, that will only leave a few smaller items and the new shocks left to do.

Jan 27th 2012 - Day 57 - The rebuild is well underway

Hi all, well the car is at home and I've been working on it over the Christmas and New Year's break, that is when I get time. It's been interesting, remembering what order to put things in, where things are and what bolt to use where.  There has been a lot of looking at photo's I took when I pulled everything apart and looking at the Subaru service manuals, so far I've been able to fit things together.

Well the first job was to prep and paint the inside, roll cage, boot and engine bay. It took a while, about 1 solid week scrubbing ever part to be painted by hand, its a long and boring job, but if you do it right it should last. Then 3 coats of KBS anti-rust paint, brush and rolled it on, the paint was great it spread so well and ended up looking very smooth with no imperfections, it's silver so it sort of matches the cars colour.

In between coats, and days where I didn't want to paint, I started putting other bits and pieces of the car back together. The fuel tank and filler system was first back into the car, followed by the rear end panels. The doors also went on, I wanted to see how the trims where going to fit now there where roll cage bars everywhere, the good news is the electric door switches miss the roll cage, bad news is that about all that misses the roll cage, I'm sure I can build my own door trims, but we will see, to be continued.

The next job was the wiring loom, I had a good idea how this went back into the car but with the roll cage covering some of the major enters into the car it was going to be tight, and it was, but it all seemed to fit which was a great relief.
One job I did back 6 months ago was to label the whole loom, every plug has a green dyno label with the description and the page in the manual where it is on the wiring diagram. Now I'm connecting plugs, this has helped greatly, I know what plugs into what and what plugs I don't need any more.

Day 56 of the build, and a milestone, the engine is in. It would of been nice if the shed had been complete, at least the concrete, so I didn't have to move a crane over rocks and dirt, but it's done now, and no more heavy lifting as the gearbox is being put in by NA Autosport & Engineering.

Now with the engine in, I thought it would be a good idea to get the front end together, make some room in the shed and around the house. Just need to get the radiators pressure tested and they and the rest of the front end will be back on.

Today the windows went back in, new front one, after I put both my feet though the old one, and the old rear window, so now the car is locked and sealed, which is good with all of this rain about.

Next I can start to fit out the interior of the car, dash will be first off, I need to get it in and then seat and belts, and you start thinking what's left.  But there is a lot still to do, for a start there is nothing from the engine back....

This is the dash mods so far, I've removed the ignition switch and steering lock, and gone for a push button and switch, a few new gauges and accessory buttons and big FIA safety switch.  The wiring diagram of the mods is below if you're interested.

Nov 25th - Roll Cage is In

The roll cage is in, and it looks great..





Nick and the guys at NA Autosport & Engineering have done a great roll cage, next week they will be putting in the seat mounts, spare wheel support, jack support, putting in supports for jacking points and strenghting up the strut towers. Once this is done the car will be heading back home so I can start the rebuild and get the engine in.

I'm getting the guys at NA Autosport & Engineering to do a few more mechanical upgrades including the rear diff (platted), front diff in the 6 speed (LSD) and new bushes for all suspension items, all to group N specs.

I'm looking forward to gettng the car back, as I've run out of things to do without the car being here...

Nov 23rd - Quick update

Just a quick update, I've been cleaning and painting more bits to go onto the car, not much left to clean actually, I'm down to the nuts and bolts...
The car is almost done at the shop, I hope to have it back in the next week or two, and get stuck into the assembly over the xmass break, I'll try my had at videoing the build, less words...

A few pitures to keep things going, here are some pick of a new carbon fiber footrest, and you can see part of the cage, which is being built to 2012 CAMS rules.



I will get more picture of the cage on Friday...

Day 50 - 30th October 2011, Time for a bit of painting

The past few weeks I've been making sure everything is cleaned and ready to go back on the car.  The front bumper was always an issue, scratched, paint missing and it had a few dints in it.  The rear bumper was in good condition as is the rest of the cars body.  One thing that was missing was the rear wing, when I got the car it was missing, just a few holes in the boot where it used to be.  Well last week one came up on the RSLC forums and I got it, red in colour and the paint flaking off, but it was in one piece and the bonus was it came with the boot, so a spare boot.





The first job was to sand down both part, as well as get ride of the dints in the bumper.  After watching a few video's online (might car mods being one), I got out the heat gun I used to remove the tar and slowly heated up the bumper.  A few pushes with the blunt end of the hammer and massaging the plastic and it actually looked good, and after a bit of sanding you would never know there were any dints.  Tapped up the  bumper and a coat of primer, followed by more sanding and more tapping then a top coat the bummer looks great, as does the now silver rear wing.



Next item was the front brakes, these where 4 pot 99 STI brakes, bigger brakes then the RS original 2 pot but not as large as Brembo's or big WRX brakes as the rims are still only 15".  Still the callipers needed a bit of modification to make them fit, the rims I've got have a 35mm off set, where the RS rims are 45mm.  All that means the callipers foul the rim, the fix is to grind a bit of the calliper body away until they are clear.  The other option was to fit spacers on the rim, well at the moment I have about 2mm clearance, so I might still go 5-10mm spacers for the extra clearance, will see how things go.  Now the callipers fit a quick clean with the grinding wire wheel, tape it up and paint them black ready to be installed.



Other things that are in progress as part of the build, new Jim Berry racing clutch, flywheel has been machined, rear diff is being rebuilt with new plates so it will be a locked diff, wheel hubs are being pulled down to have new wheel bearings and seal along with new wheel studs 1" longer, new rear trailing link, new bushes to replace all suspension bushes, new STI top strut mounts and new DMS 50mm coil overs.

So is the build out of control yet??

First Taste of the Rally Adventure

At the start of September I applied and got my CAMS Clubman Rally License, isn't that hard to get really, 25 question online test, have held a license for 5 years and your older than 25. A week later I had my license, this will allow me to enter any state based rally event.

So on the 24th September BSCC was holding a Khanacross and Come and Try Event at Bli Bli in a sugar cane field. This was for first timers to get use to how a rally was run as well as drive on a track at speed, and you can use your road car, perfect.

Monday 19th
Downloaded the forms and read the Sup regs a few times, as I was going to use the road going RS Liberty so I had to install a fire extinguisher into the car to meet the regs.

Wednesday 21st
Paperwork night at the BSCC club rooms, the main item checked where, extended CPI for a day ($10), rego, licenses, entry form and $60 fee. We also got a set of pace notes for each of the 3 tracks, this was so we could get use to tulip directions.

Thursday 22nd
Spent a few days chasing up a set of used rally tires for the rims I got a month back for the rally car, Ross dropped them off today for two bottles of Bundy. Worked out a list of tools and part to take, just in case.

Friday 23rd
Half day at work today so the afternoon was spent getting ready for tomorrow. Drove down to Revolution Race gear to pick up a balaclava and a fire extinguisher for the car. Also got the tires fitted to the rims, $60 for 4 tires, not cheap. Then packed the car, with the tools and fluids I might need, just fitted with 4 tires also in the back. About 7am I realised I had forgotten to install the fire extinguisher, so ripped out and drilled holes in the floor and installed it.

Saturday 24th (Bli Bli is about 130km away and the event started at 7.30am)
Kevin arrived at about 5am, he was the co-driver for the day, and we headed off for Bli Bli. On arriving at the location we were the first to arrive apart from the coffee van which was setting up, we picked a spot and got setup. Tires went on as more competitors arrived; by 7am 25 odd cars had turned up, most of the cars where rally cars with a few road cars and the odd off road rally 4x4.
At 7am we signed in, got a number for the car, No.9 in our case and the car was looked over by the scrutineers. We then had a driver’s briefing, then a slow drive around the track following each other around to get an idea what the track looked like and to have a read over the pace notes.

Then it was time to go.

We were the 5th car ready to start, track 1 was 1.45km long, rectangular course with a few chicanes every now and then to slow you down as well as a muddy patch and a few dips.

Countdown 30sec to go, then 10sec, at this point the Xbox gamer clicked in 5,4,3, cars revving to about 5000/6000 rmp at this point ,2,1 drop the clutch and were gone, I was going to take it easy the first time around, but it’s hard to take it easy I found out. The first track was great, Kevin was yelling out instructions, but a little late, crest, oopps too late, dip, corners mud, dip, finish. Our first run was a 1.48 great fun, and the car was i one piece.
Track 2 was a little longer, and a lot rougher, but once I heard 5,4,3, it was on.. I'm not sure what we got for that track, but it was two laps, the second lap was lots faster.
Then it was back to Track 1, track 3 was going to be in the afternoon.
Did track 1 again, this time I got a better start, and finished with a 1.42. After going to the pits and looking the car over for damage, we decided that we would just do track 1 as track 2 was way too rough for a road car.
So back to the start of Track 1, this time a little more aggressive in the corners and braking, a 1.40 followed by a 1.42. Our 4th time around would be our last, we started well, but the smell of the clutch was a sign that we were pushing way to hard, and the brakes where getting a little soft as well, but we did do a 1.38 and hit 100km/hr on the back straight.
We stopped for the BBQ lunch, all part of the entry fee, free burger and drink.
Then after lunch we both agreed that we should call it a day, we still had 130km to drive home, so we watch some of the others, packed up and headed home.

This was a great day, had loads of fun and meet lots of new people. Next time I will have the rally car for the event and should be able to push a little more with worrying too much.


Photos of the day
Look for the white RS Liberty Wagon