Next Round Of Modding Has Begun

[badbaz]

Getting fed up of having a Subaru ornament in my garage.

Would rather be able to drive it!!!

Got a little further now. Cured the starting issue, thanks to sigma sam, so it starts off the key again. Got the airbag warning light despite the ecu being up the stairs in a box!! Sorted that out and also removed the bulb from the outside temp display since it doesn't work with the aircon controls removed. Would like to get this back on, may need to research that one. That got basic dash back in, still got to decide on final tuning of the dash and surrounding areas. Will need to focus on control of heater soon.

Next up was to fit the steering wheel. Debated about how to operate the horn but decided I wanted it in the centre of the wheel so the only option was to use the air bag sensor ring, which includes the horn wiring too. Slight issues here, the sensor ring connectors are too big to mate to the Momo boss so out came the junior hack saw and the alterations began.

A few cuts later and it was good to go. Mounted the boss on the car and checked it worked the horn etc. then on with the extra switches and the wheel itself. It feels a good size and I am happy with the look. It even turns the wheels outside. And peeps the horn. Turns and peeps. Toot toot! Sorry. . .

Next up is removal of more sound deadening stuff to allow the seat mounts to be installed. Where's my hammer. . . .

[badbaz]

Had to move the car from the ramp it was hogging yesterday due to 'real' work!

Stuck it onto the four poster out of the way and while waiting for parts decided it would be a good idea to tighten up the remainder of the suspension bits. The ALK needs to be tightened with the car sitting on it's wheels.

I hadn't fitted the rear ARB drop links yet, so, again while sitting in the normal road position I cut these to length and fitted them too. Graeme at Whiteline recommended these, he has them on his car.

That done and some other bits nipped/checked I decided to put a basic set up on the car, it'll need to be driven a fair distance to get the set up done properly by those in the know . First of all I set the camber at the rear, was able to get 2 degrees negative which should be plenty range available. I then turned to the front.

According to Whiteline and others it's max castor and then as much as 2.25 negative camber on the front, 0 toe or very close. Stuck the gauges on and was able to get 0.1 negative camber on the n/s/f. Clearly an issue! I was using the original top castor adjustment bolts and had a look about to see what could be causing the problem. The adjustable top mounts from Whiteline are able to be fitted for maximum castor like in the photo here, imagine you are looking from the front of the car

or maximum camber like this photo, this being the n/s one as fitted initially to my car

As per advice, mine are set fore/aft to allow maximum castor as in the picture of the mounts still in the box. Looking at them on the vehicle this adjustment runs slightly from middle to outside, imagine turning the LHS one above anti clockwise a bit and the RHS slightly clockwise. They were fitted to the car as they are in the box pic(i.e towards the rear more castor but I reckon more positive camber too?)

I decided that if I swapped the top mounts to the other sides of the car this would correct this and allow more negative camber with more castor. Waste of time that was. They still sit in the same orientation. I then decided to fit additional camber bolts to the lower strut holes to give more negative camber. This allowed me to get the o/s/f up to 1.6 negative camber, although I'm sure Graeme said two or more for the front. Anyway I'm not in possession of all the facts and waiting for some answers, hopefully today! Can't see where I'm going wrong but lower castor adjustment bolts are supposed to be for race use only.

I set the toe to zero while I was at it so the car could at least be driven. It was all over the shop with all the mucking about!

Will now get back to the interior and get ready for seat fitting. This is all taking too long for me at the moment, desperate for a drive again!

[dipsy]

Had to move the car from the ramp it was hogging yesterday due to 'real' work!

Stuck it onto the four poster out of the way and while waiting for parts decided it would be a good idea to tighten up the remainder of the suspension bits. The ALK needs to be tightened with the car sitting on it's wheels.

I hadn't fitted the rear ARB drop links yet, so, again while sitting in the normal road position I cut these to length and fitted them too. Graeme at Whiteline recommended these, he has them on his car.

That done and some other bits nipped/checked I decided to put a basic set up on the car, it'll need to be driven a fair distance to get the set up done properly by those in the know . First of all I set the camber at the rear, was able to get 2 degrees negative which should be plenty range available. I then turned to the front.

According to Whiteline and others it's max castor and then as much as 2.25 negative camber on the front, 0 toe or very close. Stuck the gauges on and was able to get 0.1 negative camber on the n/s/f. Clearly an issue! I was using the original top castor adjustment bolts and had a look about to see what could be causing the problem. The adjustable top mounts from Whiteline are able to be fitted for maximum castor like in the photo here, imagine you are looking from the front of the car

or maximum camber like this photo, this being the n/s one as fitted initially to my car

As per advice, mine are set fore/aft to allow maximum castor as in the picture of the mounts still in the box. Looking at them on the vehicle this adjustment runs slightly from middle to outside, imagine turning the LHS one above anti clockwise a bit and the RHS slightly clockwise. They were fitted to the car as they are in the box pic(i.e towards the rear more castor but I reckon more positive camber too?)

I decided that if I swapped the top mounts to the other sides of the car this would correct this and allow more negative camber with more castor. Waste of time that was. They still sit in the same orientation. I then decided to fit additional camber bolts to the lower strut holes to give more negative camber. This allowed me to get the o/s/f up to 1.6 negative camber, although I'm sure Graeme said two or more for the front. Anyway I'm not in possession of all the facts and waiting for some answers, hopefully today! Can't see where I'm going wrong but lower castor adjustment bolts are supposed to be for race use only.

I set the toe to zero while I was at it so the car could at least be driven. It was all over the shop with all the mucking about!

Will now get back to the interior and get ready for seat fitting. This is all taking too long for me at the moment, desperate for a drive again!

Is that a uprated droplink to replace the kcl39 .What sort of price are they just curious

[badbaz]

Is that a uprated droplink to replace the kcl39 .What sort of price are they just curious

Not sure, he offered me these and the other you mention. I was looking at his blob and he had what I went for. Same price. I believe.

[MarkJHarris]

Found out that it's the fuel pump controller. Pretty important and excluded from the weight loss program!

Excellent post....almost makes a Haynes manual redundent as well. Keep up the pictures, I'm learning loads....

Thanks.

[badbaz]

Thanks! We can but try . . .

Scraped the remaining sound deadening the other day from the main footwell areas so nothing to stop me getting the mounts for the seats sorted. While I was chipping away I hummed and hawed about exactly how to do it. I'm too tight to buy mounts to suit the car and in all honesty I haven't found ones I was happy with anyway. I'm very keen to sit low in the car, as low as I can without looking into the back of the scoop, so I ordered another set of seat mount mounts, mounts to mount the mounts on before I mount the seat to the seat mounts

I know what I'm going to do with them now and it'll be full steam ahead tomorrow night, I'll get some pics up to show the mount fest as it happens!

Have also had an answer on the orientation of the adjustable top mounts so they'll need to be rotated for the third time and maybe, baby, the car may see the road in the not too distant future!

Stay tuned!

[tomwrx08]

fantastic write up so far,keep up the good job

[badbaz]

Got back to it last night. I headed towards the car with a mini air grinder and welder and got stuck in. I had already trialled the seat on wood etc with the seat's proper side mounts in place. This allowed me to get a good left to right position and an approximate front to back also. The seat will still be able to go forwards plenty, backwards slightly. So, still with apprehension I laid out the mounts, made a few marks and thought it's now or never.

I cut two slits into the x-member for the mounting part to sit into, I then cut between the slits to open up a sort of square as the mount has a channel on the rear with a captive nut which can move left to right in a channel, see? Have a look:

You can see in the pic above the slits cut into the x-member, the mount sitting in the furthest away cut for a trial and one lying on the floor to the left upside down which lets you see the captive nut section.

Here's the left one sitting in the x-member.

Having established that these would both fit I had to then start on positioning the bar which would support the rear of the seat. I chose to mount this to the floor on the same reinforced section of the car where the original seat mounts were so there is no question over the strength of the area. The front mounts in the x-member are also where the original seat was mounted. The difficulty here was getting the bar in the right position fore and aft to ensure once all welded up that the bolt holes fitted the side mount holes. I hope you're still with me. I cut the bar to suit and using a spirit level I positioned the bar until I was happy. I tacked it into place for further checks and measurement.

Happy it was in the right place I bolted the remaining kit mount pieces to the side mounts attached to the seats in my pre measured and selected holes, then sat the seat into the car and bolted the two front, still not welded, mounting pieces to the side mounts. So the seat is sitting in position bolted to the mounts but the mounts are still not fixed to the car. Happy that it was where it was to be(within the side mount adjustment range) I now had to tack the mounts as best I could to the car and the bar. Wasn't too happy at doing this with the seat in but had no real alternative so a few tacks and no burns to the seat later and I unbolted the seat and removed it from the car along with the side mounts, leaving my new mounts in the car and ready for welding.

My welding isn't the prettiest in the world, I'll not get a job welding bike frames at Honda but when the weld is 'to my hand' I can get it looking good! The main thing is they are strong.

The mount at the front nearest the outside of the car comes in where the x-member takes a dip. I welded it into place and then plated up the gaps to ensure good strength.

And all welded up ready for the seat!

At this point I ran out of time and had to go home without fitting the seat. Boo Hoo!

Edited November 26, 2009 by badbaz

[dipsy]

Are running a 8mm tap through the captive nut just incase there is any spatter in the thread .

Edited November 26, 2009 by Dipsy

[badbaz]

Put the bolts in before welding!

They are only 8mm threads on these.

[dipsy]

Put the bolts in before welding! Baz you like lots of weld don't you trust your mig welding

They are only 8mm threads on these.

Edited November 26, 2009 by Dipsy

[badbaz]

Yeah I trust it alright, I'd stake my life on it and do every day.

The mig I used is too big for car stuff really, it's for thicker stuff but my ex cow of a wife stole my small mig!

[dipsy]

Yeah I trust it alright, I'd stake my life on it and do every day.

The mig I used is too big for car stuff really, it's for thicker stuff but my ex cow of a wife stole my small mig!

Don't you like using the heavier mig torch with the size of earth cable the plant must be in the 350amp or more.Never had a problem myself with using a welding plant that size on a car's with using 1mm wire

Edited November 26, 2009 by Dipsy

[badbaz]

It's 1.2 wire. Better too much weld than too little pal!

[dipsy]

It's 1.2 wire. Better too much weld than too little pal!

Some welder's know how much weld to put on different materials ie me

[badbaz]

Finally shoved the seat in tonight before I left work. Well chuffed with how it's come together, had the harness in too for the full effect. When you see a task like that complete and it's a success it spurs you on to get on with the rest of it!

I didn't have a pic of the seat's side mounts last update, so here is one, you can see the adjustment is in good increments by moving slightly from side to side. A big range from lowest to highest setting, especially the front of the seat. I've already got the driver's seat set where I want it.

Side mount bracket

And here are some photos of the seat and harness in place and ready to rumble!

Harness shoulder straps are well within the maximum angle recommended, I think due to the seat being set so low.

[badbaz]

Had a couple of hours spare today so I went to have a look at the heater controls, rear demist button and such like.

I've decided that when I get a carbon panel for the middle of the dash I'm going to get the controls from a pre 05 new age which are black and recessed and they would be the easiest way to maintain control of the vents and temperature.

I was able to locate the wiring for the rear demist and so, as I won't be using the buttons from the control panel when I finally get one, wired one of the switches on the steering wheel to control this. I used a £6 halfrauds motorola car charger for the curly cable part going from behind the dash to the switch. I need to find a tapered sheath to cover the switch to the cable, not sure what their proper name is though. All on and working but just need the finishing touches!

More tomorrow.

[paul555sti]

Barry what are you doing for a firewall ?

[badbaz]

Nothing just now Paul as nowt in car to go on fire. Except fuel pipes

Edited November 29, 2009 by badbaz

[badbaz]

Tomorrow I said!

Oops, but got back to do some last night. I need the car for the Santa Cruise this weekend.

Pretty straight forward to fit the passenger seat in as I knew what I was going to do having already fitted the drivers! Cut holes, cut bars, welded in and fitted. Sorted. Fitted the harness and adjusted to suit.

Next was to tidy the dash a bit, shoved the clock section back in to fill the hole for now, fitted the glove box and drivers under dash trim back in. Not sure if this is gonna be how it finishes up but for now it looks a bit better and the trim weighs next to nothing anyways!

I also put the sill trim back on the passenger side and I had bought plain edging trim for around the door opening which I also fitted. Got some finishing to do to the drivers side.

I managed to source the heater controls from a pre 05 and I have them now. Will have to work at the centre section of the dash. I'm going to need to fabricate something to suit what I want as nobody makes what I need that I can find. I thought rally cars may have had a carbon panel to suit but so far I can't find one!

Left to do to the interior now is the centre dash, gauges, Knock Link, still want hawkeye clocks, electric window switch for drivers side, remove the remainder of the sound deadening, wire up my other steering wheel button, finish my curly cable properly and then next year when I'm happy it'll be painted inside so it looks all pretty!

I've also decided to do some engine mods too. This is where the fun begins. I bought a 3" Kakumei system from STI Steve on here, I've received my 70mm APS cold air induction kit today as well. Playsatan2 has been kind enough to give me some pointers and as a result I've got some stuff getting sorted out with Mark at Lateral. Just trying to confirm it all this week and then over Christmas I'll get it all on and then it'll be off to Andy for the final fettle. Hoping all will be done by the M sport visit!

I also got my Knock Link delivered today so I'll copy others here and install it in the binnacle for the clocks to keep it in line of sight. Not before the weekend though!!!!

Tonight I'm going to sort out my suspension. I need to rotate my top mounts as I couldn't get enough negative camber the way I had set them. Once that's done I'll do a basic geo set up to allow me to use it this weekend.

On top of that I also got myself a set of HIDs via a group buy on SN so would like to get them in too before the weekend.

We'll see how it goes. More soon.....

[badbaz]

Did get some more done last night.

I had to sort the front struts and adjustable top mounts out. Originally when I fitted the top mounts I followed the Whiteline instructions and fitted them that way. While I was speaking to Graeme at Whiteline we discussed but didn't look at how I should fit them. I then changed them to what I thought he meant but after that couldn't get any negative camber! D'oh! I posted about this earlier in the thread. A couple of weeks ago I spoke with Graeme/Kevin again and sorted out how they should be so, off with the struts again( I had swapped sides to get them how I thought they should be) to swap the top mounts and in my frustration whipped off the spring top seats too. This wouldn't be a problem if the holes weren't offset! D'oh again! Anyhow, after about four trial attempts I got them back where I reckon they should be and got them refitted to the car. I set the front camber at -1.5degrees and reset the toe to zero. That'll do it for the Cruise. I hate the suspension now!!!!

Tonight it's tidy the interior wiring as an interim solution, finish the drivers door area and then it'll be fitting of HIDs just in case Santa gets lost .

I'll take some piccies of before/during and after.

Also washed the car as it had about an inch of dust on it. Colin, I hope for your sake I don't win that raffle prize of yours!

[badbaz]

Another stint last night in preparation for the weekend.

Stuck the trim around the driver's door/sill, had a wee tidy up of the wiring where the dash centre used to be, secured the heating controls and hazard switch temporarily for now and that makes it usable for Sunday. Also removed all the junk from the boot!

I bought HID bulbs about two weeks ago, thought I'd fit them as it's dark all the time it seems. It's not a big task really. I only went for the dipped beam set up, cost being one reason, the other being fitting two sets of ballast, I just couldn't be bothered - maybe later!

Remove the air intake from the O/S and everything else could be done with the lamp in place. Just remove the rear cover (original wiring passes through this) and unplug from the loom, the plug is mounted to the headlight but with a little wiggle it comes off, you can then unplug the bulb and remove the cover from the car. The new wiring for the HID bulb passes through this cover and comes all ready just requiring an additional hole in the cover. 22mm would be ideal but I only had a 25mm hole saw so that had to do. It's still a nice fit, just could have been that little bit tighter.

Fit the bulb into the light, it's a bit thicker base than an ordinary bulb and so pliers are needed to get the bulb clip back into the catch, then join the original wiring from the car to the new wiring from the HID set up. Be aware, on mine the wiring polarity is reversed so it was red to black and black to red( I think this isn't always the case for every year). The connectors on the HID loom weren't the correct size so I sorted that, joined the wires, taped it all up nicely and refitted the cover to the back of the light. Then it's just a case of making the connections from the new HID bulb loom to the ballast. These look nice quality, all good sealed connectors and the ballast or ignitors or whatever they are are called are slim. I just cable tied all the bits and wires nicely to the back of the headlamp and bob's your uncle. Literally, because they were supplied through Bob at Aztec Performance through a SN group buy.

Here's a wee photy of one side done

Here's the ballast etc. all tied up if you can see it!

As can be seen in the pic, I also bought LED side light bulbs from him too. They are a bit more of a pain to fit as you need to partially remove the headlamp to change these on a blob. Unfortunately, one of them doesn't work and so I'm left with one odd one until it gets sorted out. Hopefully soon!

Here's the side lights on their ownsome

After that, I torqued the wheel nuts, topped up the coolant from the heater being out and had to strap myself in for a wee test run! It would have been rude not too!

I didn't try any heroics, not sure what handling is gonna be like! First impression, the worst noise in the car is tyre noise. This is detracting from the engine/gearbox/exhaust a wee bit. You don't half feel connected to the machine though!

I just gave it a wee run to check all was well, lights are mega and no flashes from oncoming traffic. I didn't have time to check the alignment of the headlamps last night but I did this morning and they were bang on the money. Hi lo boost button worked ok and the car drove ok. Steering wheel is a bit off but I'll straighten that today.

As I said I just took my time, it was wet and I'm not sure how car will handle but I did notice that the steering feels as though it takes effort to turn from the straight ahead. Not sure if this is due to the extra castor or if things need sorted further. Can anyone with ALK and top mounts comment on this?

Anyway, it was great to have a wee shot again after so long. Exhaust bangs are monster loud in the car now! Looking forward to getting out on Sunday for the Santa Cruise and then Monday it's straight back in for the engine work to begin.

[badbaz]

Got my LED side light working! Never thought about the polarity! After a tip from the supplier tried it in the other way and bingo, all sorted!

Shoved the car up on the ramp and checked everything was tight that's been off in the past couple of months. Gave the wheel nuts another wee check and moved the steering wheel to the straight ahead position. Had a bit of a better run in it tonight, feeling good but it's 2.5degrees and foggy as feck here so pretty tame. That's it ready for Sunday for one shot before it's back in to begin the next phase.

One thing I keep forgetting to mention is the floor of the car. It seems the newage has a double floor, not sure if this is a Scoob thing or what, but having removed the sound deadening from the footwells it defo has a double floor with about an inch gap for much of this area. Must be crash stuff I think. Anyone know?

[badbaz]

Got the use of the car at the weekend for the Santa Cruise and well worth the effort it was! And the car was good too!

To drive? Well first of all, seats are great, comfy enough and of course, mega supportive, although I want to tweak my position (needs tilted just a touch more). Harnesses are easier each time I use, note to self: don't strap in when door wide open

Stripped outiness? Biggest surprise to me is that the road noise from the front wheels is absolutely incredible. It's far louder than any other aspect which I'm shocked about! Overall, you can still chat to a passenger at 80mph so all is well. It's defo made the car more nippy. I wasn't giving it large though as still unfamiliar with the new suspension, but you can feel the reduction in weight.

Suspension? Ride is similar to STi springs, stiff as hell! It doesn't roll at all I felt and for the limited level it felt safe, secure and no strange behaviour. Dry roads will reveal more. The biggest feeling change is the positive action of the steering. It feels much more connected/responsive and turning from straight ahead does feel, how can I put it, strange. I'll stick with strange till I get more chance to try it. The extra castor and camber clearly have made a big difference. As I said, much more playing to do until I get a better feel and maybe make some changes.

HID lamps? Improvement over standard and look good to. You'd never get tired of switching them on and as they flash on and then brighten up I always think of light sabres. Now I have two! Up yours Darth Maul! (How childish can I get?)

That's all the changes I think - heater worked well, so once I fabricate a centre console and mount the controls properly, I'll be happy with that!

And there's more. . . .

I brought the car back into the workshop on Monday just past to begin the engine mods! I removed the exhaust as it was sold that day and the silencer too which is still up for grabs. That was all I had time to do on Monday.

Tuesday wasn't much better, I managed to get the two n/s injectors removed from the car and that was awkward enough!

It was yesterday I finally got back into it and removed the o/s injectors. What a pain in the butt. Anyone contemplating this at the side of their house - good luck to you. The arrangement of components around the inlet manifold, on my model at least, is shocking. The biggest PITA is the fuel rails, which are protected by sturdy metal plates. I can only presume this is some sort of crash protection as I can see they serve no other purpose. The driver's side is used to steady the bottom of the header tank but that could be done in several other ways. They have 5 bolts holding them on and none of them are easy to get at, fuel pipes, breather hoses and wiring looms all adding to the problem. Enough moaning. It's just not a ten minute job. Once the plates are off though it's just lift them out and away. Waste of V Power though with what leaks out!

Had to get them off the car to send away for modification. I've got Colin(Playsatan2) to thank for pointing me in the right direction and introducing me to Mark at Lateral Performance Ltd. I've sent Mark the injectors and ordered a turbo, manifold, uprated pump and pipe work. I also have a cold air induction kit too. I acquired an AVCR boost controller and as far as safety goes, so far I've got a Knock Link to install. Looking into other gauges too.

Lots more stripping to do, old turbo, headers, fuel pump and intake pipes and anything or everything else! Over Christmas I hope to fit the bits and get everything sorted for a day at AndyF on the 20th January.

I also intend to renew my timing belt, auxiliary belt(s), oil and filter and a new set of the PFR7B plugs will be popped in too!

I'll take some pics next time as it always makes it a bit better read if you can see what's being described!

[micra_wrc]

.... Harnesses are easier each time I use, note to self: don't strap in when door wide open

great to see this in the flesh, the pictures don't show how epic this has become.

had to lol at this bit about the harnesses., I can relate