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.

New England Auto Show Part 2: Subaru

I've been hinting at it. Subaru was showing off a very special piece this year.

Pastrana's rally car made a very special appearance.

The vinyl job on the redbull car was fantastic.

Also they had a very exciting tribeca powertrain on display.

More coming soon...

Non-Domestic Racing

I picked up some kick-ass vinyls from the discount store. They absolutely complete the ride. Here is a sunset photo shoot for you. Kind of silly, it was really cold but I had fun and I didn't care how the pictures came out. It is sort of my way of deconstructing the process. I am shooting for shooting's sake, being out in the fresh air, enjoying the light as it bounces off our filthy rides. Some times I am pointing the camera in the right dirrection, most of the time I am just shooting at the sun. Its a fun mash up so enjoy it.

 more pictures of light after the break

Subaru Head Gasket Failure

I was researching a couple engine for some power builds and I came across a very, very interesting article written by a shop on the culprits of Subaru head gasket failure, and even prevention. Also it shows why the head gasket usually only goes out one time.

The best part is how your battery may be causing the problems. Read up here for exciting info on this damaging yet preventable problem. You will be surprised at how much this will even effect vehicles outside of the classic rotten batch.

MoarLow Is an Addiction

 

Yint won't go Moar until we do something about his exhaust.

 

NEED MOARLOW CAPTAIN... I can still see a gap :-P

I could have done a better shot but I did a single shot exposure because I sure was feeling lazy... Turned out not to bad over all.

 

Maybe he just needs some inspiration.

 

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.

Additions

This week I stared putting money into beefing up sound in my car.

I have two major (for me) components on the way. This will be my first adventure is performance sound. I am already addicted to buying one more part--thinking, "Hey is there room for one more speaker?"

I've created a monster now, I am totally hooked on all this after-market car junk. It used to be just about making a tad more power or grip, now it is a bit of dress up, a little bit of flash. I like it so far but I think I am going to be broke really really fast.

Anyway, Polk PA 330 2channel Amp

Polk db series 6.5" component system

Now I am up to my neck is wires trying to figure out how I am going to do this all. All in all it is going to be fun, hopefully rewarding, and I'll take a bunch of pictures.

Coming Soon:

We are getting a new domain and host.
Look for us soon @ www.serioussubaru.com, a division of YNS Production.

Also roof rack got some new paint... New door cards to replace worn arm rests. Added some Subaru wood trim. I'm also researching some new sound for my wagon... Some one please either convince me I need a sub or talk me out of it. I am totally on the fence right now. I don't want to lose wagon functionality buuuut subs do sound fantastic.

Later, yous guys.

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!

New...

Purple Wheels  well, hub caps at least.

Yint's Weekly Update 11/02/2010

Okay, since last I posted I replaced the exhaust headers on my cousin's Phase II 2.5L N/A Subaru.

The sound these headers make is quite nice.

I also did a large job on a 2004 Legacy. Timming belt, clutch, and head gaskets. The owner of the car was quoted $3800 at the shop for this service, I managed to do it for him for $700.

Then I picked up my next job. A Hyundai Accent that has a blown engine. Rented a trailer from U-Haul for $55; I would have used a two-wheel tow dolly, but the U-Haul in town didn't have any. Got the car home, and tore the engine down this morning. Tomorrow, I will be pulling the blown engine the rest of the way out, and if I have time, I will be going to get the donor engine from a junkyard about 60 miles away.

Slammed - Excerpt.1

Wishing to believe I have some influence over Squarebush's mod path, I insisted on installing the steering rack bushings first.  I had done these in my own Subaru (an identical year/make/model), and although the perceivable difference is small, the amount of confidence the increase in feedback grants the driver is phenomenal.

I installed the steering rack bushings three nights ago.  It was a pain and took forever, but at least I didn't break anything this time (the bolts rust badly; I broke the captive nut inside the crossmember free on my car).  Best mod for the money, but just go slow getting the bolts out.  I had to go back and forth a few times with each one, using a lot of penetrating lubricant.  Because It's so easy to break these bolts I left the impact gun in its drawer.

Two nights ago, we installed the Ground Control height adjustable spring kit and put in the camber bolts.  It went well, the car handles, and it's dropped hysterically low.  It's 45° out and I'm sitting on the ground outside laughing, looking at Squarebush's car next to mine.  At least that's what I thought after three cocktails, which I'm getting better at making.

Bushwacker:
1/2 oz. coffee liqueur (Kahlua)
1/2 oz. amaretto
1/2 oz. light rum
1/2 oz. Irish cream liqueur
2 oz. light cream
Pour in that order into an iced filled glass. I prefer to stir. I made mine a double the other night.

I was next going to make a gin and tonic, but poured the gin and couldn't find any tonic (one of the many hazards of not living alone).  I found some 'birch beer' in the fridge and tried that instead.  It was amazing!  Tasted like wintergreen.

DRINK RESPONSIBLY.  DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE.  SHUT UP, I WASN'T DRIVING, SQUAREBUSH WAS.  OH, AND DON'T LIKE, DRINK A BIT TOO MUCH, THEN LOOSE A FINGER TO AN ANGLE GRINDER.

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

Parts!

My Ground Control kit showed up this afternoon. We have a few other parts on the way (camber bolts and steering rack bushings). I'll probably cave in and want to put them on Sunday before the temps start diving further.

The big trick/task will be establishing a good base alignment without equipment. The plan is to go as negative as possible since my last alignment bottomed out at 0° with the stock bolts. The camber bolts will move me in the right direction and we will see how far we can go before doing camber plates.

We're Still Doing It Wrong.

I was just flipping through the Drift union Flikr set. Its totally time for some seriour RWD action.

 

Couple more pictures after the break. But please be sure to check out all their cool stuff on their blog:

http://driftunion.com/blog/

Yint's Weekly Update 10/23/2010

Okay, so--Squarebush asked me to do a log of what I am up to, so here is my first installment detailing what I have done (of interest) over the course of the last week. 

So, I started of the week by cleaning my garage. Seeing as it is now primarily my work space, I went about re-organizing everything, and in general making it a much nicer place to work. I couple of key features of my renovated work space are a newly installed car radio(on my work bench) that is powered by an ATX power supply, and a new tool box made using an old dresser, some plywood, and drawer sliders bought at Home Depot for about $7 each set.

My first car work of the week was replacing the brake pads and rotors on a 2002 Ford Expedition. Brakes are generally pretty easy, but I have to say Ford really must have given these brakes about 5 minutes of total design time. The brake is entirely put together in a grooved track design, and in order to put it back together a mechanic need about twelve hands. Mostly my complaint about them is that you can't simply put the pads in. You have to assemble the brake in a specific order. Starting with the caliper, you add the outside brake pad, slide on the brake bracket PART of the way, insert the inner brake pad and then finish sliding the bracket into place. Not a terribly great design.

Just now, I went to AutoZone to meet up with my next client who owns a 2004 Legacy. He came to me expressing that he needs new head gaskets. After Some discussion, leading to me finding out his car is about to hit 100k, I recommended replacing the trimming belt while we were at it, and then also the clutch. We bought the necessary parts and set a date for next weekend. In the process of ordering parts we talked quite a bit about his car history and I was shocked. He has near literately been raped on ever minor difficulty he has had with his cars. The best example of this was when he told my about the CV boot that was torn on his car. He took it to a local dealership and ended up paying over $500 to have all 4 CV joints on his front axles replaced. I just spent 2 minutes on Google and found NEW whole axles for less than $60 each. Factor in 1.5 hours of labor, and I am still not coming up with $500; and all they did was rebuild the existing axles. Why do people pay so much for such un-necessary work?

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

Climb to the Clouds

Yeah... we missed it. However in our defense the event hasn't been run since 2001. You don't even want to know how old we were in 2001. Not old enough to appriecate real hillclimb, that is for sure.
Anyways missing this historic auto race up Mt Washington has caught my attention. Next year expect some great coverage and other goodies.
If the event shapes up for a few more good years you should expect to us try our hand in the next couple seasons. read all about it after the break