The Next Steps

Alright, so everyone knows my plans for the lights on the roof rack...

Well I finally got bored enough to start working on it. I have 1 of the 2 sets of light mounted to the load bars.














So tomorrow will be the 2nd set of lights and mounting to the car.

After that comes wiring...

Stay posted for more.

Nii's Maintenance Update

There are those weeks, the ones where you know you have a few little things you need to do to the car, or maybe a big one, but you convince yourself you're not in the mood (maybe next week, right?).  The things accumulate until the inevitable Productive Days arise, seemingly at random, and with surprising energy.

Productive Day 1:

• Changed my oil (full synthetic)
• Modified my custom undertray (added a lip at the trailing edge so airflow breaks cleanly)
• Cut the heat-shields off my exhaust (stock crap rattling around with the insulation inside disintegrated)

Productive Day 2:

• Bought and replaced my steering u-joint
• Siphoned out some oil (a little overfull)
• Welded a newly broken exhaust bracket
• Replaced a hose clamp to the heater core
• Painted the notched ends of my Cusco lower control arm brace (needed modification to fit a Legacy)
• Drove to work with a crooked steering wheel 
• Got home from work and readjusted the steering u-joint so my wheel was centered
• Changed the rear differential fluid (getting those damn plugs out, what a pain! Fluid was black. O_O)
• Tapped the holes for the Cusco brace and installed it

Not Productive Day 3:

• Overpaid for 6 year old snow tires, because I am a certifiable moron/nice guy

New steering u-joint. After I installed it my steering wheel was cocked to the right, haha. It took several attempts to fix that because I turned it the wrong way one of the times.

Cusco rear lower control arm brace. I had to be notched to fit the Legacy subframe, so I painted the cut parts to prevent rust. Yes, a genuine Cusco part that's merely steel...

Installed. I changed the rear differential fluid before I installed it since the fill plug can't be accessed with it installed.

You can see the edges of the original holes on the right. The subframe is so rusty that I think this brace will actually help. The holes for it are threaded from the factory, but I had to run a tap through them for the bolts to fit.

As for what's next, I'm leaning toward engine response. I recently realized that a lightweight pulley frees up almost half as much as a lightweight flywheel, which is pretty significant. I'm still considering a MSD coil pack, and might install a gutted muffler, which we did on Squarebush's car. It's not very loud and works well; modest power gains about 4,000 RPM.

Lights Up The Wazoo

Alright, since the bars are going up, I decided that I am going to mount a few sets of fog lights to the roof of my car.

Since I am going to school for Automotive Technology, I decided to make myself a wiring diagram for the lights.

Its not quite done yet, it has some cleaning up to be done, but it's a start for 5 minutes of doodling.

Bill Caswell Update

A little late but still a good closer to the story.

I posted about Bill's plans for Baja success spring-boarding off his rally conquering performance last year.
Well he made the start which is a lot considering all the adversity's he put before himself before the start, with the strict-as-usual low budget, built not bought attitude, and an even stricter timetable.

After making the start and several check points he was eventually plagued by mechanical failure that unfortunately cost him the race. Some thing I hardly think he will find much of set back, I am sure we will see him lining up again for next years start with another $500 craigslist BMW.

Much more here, and here.

Keep up the good work, and of course Built not Bought!

Jojo's Update: 11/27/10

Okay, so here's the deal:

1. My alloys are all sanded down and prepped for paint. I'm not sure exactly what color they are going to see in the hopefully near future... At first, I was thinking black, but then I decided not to. So most likely, they are going to get a flat black to the back of the rim, and a nice Gold to the front of the rim.
2. Interior is done, dash board is in, along with the glove box, carpet, and front seats.
3. Trunk and spoiler are wet-sanded and ready for a second coat of paint. After that it is straight to the clear coat and some more wet-sanding.
4. I'm not going to do the rear disc conversion any time soon, along with the rear sway bar. They are probably going to wait until next spring, seeing as how I won't be driving fast.
5. Roof rack will hopefully be going on sometime in the next 2 weeks... But I'm not sure yet. It depends on when it gets here.

Will have some pics tomorrow, it's too dark out now to take them.

Roof Is Next?

So here's the deal:

I'm done with the interior, carpet is in, dash is in, glove box and seats are in. Next on the list was going to be the roof rack. I had one from of a '95 Legacy LS wagon. Come to find out that its WAY too long for the roof of my car. So Squarebush and I are talking about getting a Thule rack. We're going with the:

Direct Mount TK Base for Sheet Metal Roof
430 Tracker II Foot Pack
50 Load Bar Pair

Getting low

Yint joined the lowered club yesterday, November 16th, 2010. He was inducted in by none other then me, Squarebush who joined the club the end of last month. Its now all about cornering, scraping, and of course morelow. 

Yint's bumper tilts up a bit in a rally inspired positive ground clearance way, please expect a fix for this "problem" among other creative finishing touches. Right now both cars are sitting in a higher more compliant stance... Something you shouldn't expect to last long. Low is an addiction.

Click to the break for more pictures from last night

Chassis Rigidity is God

Tired of a soft, uncommunicative, and unresponsive rear end, I finally caved and bought the rear strut brace I wanted for my '98 Legacy wagon.  I could have gone with a sedan brace from eBay intended for the rear of a second generation Impreza since the bolt pattern is the same and the price is right, but opted for the pricier Whiteline unit for its rigid bracket design and quick-release option (also intended for the Impreza since it was easier to find cheaper than the Legacy version; can't imagine what's different).

Clean install, took about an hour.

I had forgotten the reduction and body roll and improvement in steering precision I felt when I installed my front strut brace a while ago.  The difference the rear brace made was astonishing--to think chassis flex alone was causing all my problems blew my mind.  The rear no longer lurches to the outside of the corner slowly telling me nothing about traction; I now have an idea where the rear wheels are to a few inches, rather than guessing in terms of feet.  For must-have mods, Chassis Rigidity is God.

Discrete, and all my junk still fits.

Today

Tons of excitement today. I raised my car a tad for snow and extra complince. Driving on the bump stops starts to hurt your back.

Here are some kick ass heavy night air pictures.

 Check out more pictures after the break

Caswell at SEMA

I noticed that none of my trusty blogs caught any of the Bill Caswell saga. Anyway, I wish I had been there to witness the glory that is ultra cheap motor sport, and super rushed construction.

More on the build and some kick ass fabrication pictures found here.

I am dying to see how this all turns out. From a build stand point I think he has done something truly amazing, but knowing Caswell he is totally gonna finish this epic race. A race he started the super hard way.

Ideas Flowing

So I know that no one here knows my car yet, but you all will soon. I drive a '97 Impreza RSL, which is a '97 Impreza L with a Phase II 2.5L Impreza engine in it. It has a Forester "anti-lift kit" and a Whiteline 19mm front sway bar. And a few other small things. Its not done yet, and I have some ideas kicking it around to get it "done" for now.

 

Follow the break for more!

Cool Stuff from Today.

Started some accent work. Can't wait to get my hands on a matching steering wheel... You know, the WRX Momo unit.




So I went to the store for this...




And like a total sucker ended up with this...




Oh yeah, Craftsman 302 piece set. Box fell off a pallet so I got 25% off!

I guess I should do some wrenching to make back some money. Let me know if you got some jobs you want done!

Slammed - Pt.2

Here you go... The moment you may not even know you were waiting for.

Nii trimming the strut for new collars, the rest after... the... break... :-P

Bill Caswell Is Still My Hero

Well still haven't finished talking about his first project because it was so cool but now he has raised the bar. For those who can't remember Bill, think low budget Craigslist BMW Rally car. Where is he going now? You might wonder. BAJA, thats where he is going. Right after he stops off a SEMA.

Be sure to read more! craigslist rally car becomes Baja beast

Squarebush Legacy

I'm starting a ever growing suspension project on my 98 wagon. The couple major things done to it this year and I setting up some thing big right now. However I still have no idea what I am doing or why.

So its time to come up with a plan.

Right now I have my car sitting on a fresh set of KYB GR2's. These provide about 25% stiffer damping over stock plus however much I lost from high mileage. I'm running the uprated rear sway bar I mentioned before which did a bit to help stiffen up the rear.

Now I am in search of some added anti roll effect. I looked into and purchased an impreza ground control spring set up. I crunched a bunch of number, read countless forum posts and did everything I could to end up more confused about what is going to happen to my vehicle when I put them on. Basically it is all going to be a fairly useful experiment in struts and springs. Also on the way are extra camber bolts for front and rear along with TIC steering rack bushings.

More suspension nonsense after the break

If You Put Your Mind to It...

Found this floating around the blog roll:
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=8834
ex-a-busa

What we are looking at is a exoframe a-la Ariel Atom with a totally new power plant...a Hayabusa heart.

There isn't a reason it the world that you can't see a EJ powered one of these coming out of our work shop, well I mean other than funding.

Check out this blog for more exciting works of art: