Santiago’s 818R Build: The “Voodoo Chile”

[Santiago]

Time to start my build thread! Wow, it really is time. My completion date was September 27th so I’m waiting for Stewart to ship the new “chile” home. Delivery is set for this Saturday…

As I look at the build threads that I’ve followed, I feel a bit sheepish starting my own. So much helpful information has come through those early threads, so I don’t want to repeat a bunch of stuff. I’d much rather add info/tips that are not out there already.

Mine is not a single-donor build. Since I’m doing an R-car and this is a pure race car, I didn’t want to rely on too many used parts. I’ll be doing some novel things in terms of suspension and safety, but the real emphasis is going to be on an extensive aero development program. I’ll be using SolidWorks to do my CFD analysis first and then follow that up with instrumented field testing. So if you’re interested in that sort of thing, hang with me. Hope along the way I can give back to this community which has already been so great to me. I’ll share lots of information, but some of the more “voodoo” elements will remain proprietary.

A word on format. I’m using the first seven reply spots for specific categories that will be edited along the way with up-to-date info. The rest of the thread will be business as usual with week-by-week work, how-to’s, replies, etc. But these first few spots are reserved so that any interested party can just check out the first page of the thread and see the current set up and actual parts being used.

Last, this will be a long build, so I anticipate a lot of downtime in the thread. The early aero development is being done in stages, and my pockets are not so deep that I can source everything I want at once. Such is life.

Best,
-j

[Santiago]

Brakes

These are the first parts to arrive! I’ll be using STi gear, so that comes standard with Brembo brakes on all four corners. I’d like lighter equipment, but for now it’ll work.

Suspension Gear

My main interest using the STi spindles & hubs was to get stronger bearings in front. Some folks think they’re overkill in the 818R application, but the way I figure it motorsports is overkill. So I’m playing it conservative with overbuilt parts. I am also very happy not to have to press in the front bearings.

In front:
• SPT Lower Control Arms (part # B2010FE251DS). Thanks to Chad Plavan for the heads up on this one.
• STi Steering Linkage U-joint (2005 coupler shaft)

Sway Bar: nada – even the mounts are getting cut off just as Rasmus did.

Out back: There’s no concession for NVH; it’s rod-ends everywhere. So:
• VCP Wide Wheel Trailing Arms (Wayne’s the man)
• VCP Track Pack Lateral Links (Wayne’s the man)
• Prothane spindle bushings (ok, not a rod-end, but good enough)

[Santiago]

Wheels

The STi running gear pretty much solidified a 5x114.3 bolt pattern. I’ll be using low offset wheels as part of the effort to increase track width, and preferably 17” diameter all around. The fenders are getting flared, so some of the common constraints many builders have previously noted won’t apply. I have a pretty good idea what wheel I’ll go with but I’m still looking.

Tires

Tires will be slicks and only a tad wider than what FFR runs on their mules since I’m a bit rule-constrained here. The car will be run in NASA’s TT2 (time trial) & ST2 (wheel-to-wheel) classes. I like the ST group for its liberal rule set; very close to a straight power-to-weight classing system. However, there are a few modifications factors that influence classing, and tire type/size is one of them. So I have to look more closely at what I’ll be allowed to run legally for a given amount of power.

[Santiago]

(tentative)

• JDM ej207 (V7 or V8)
• JDM 6-speed transmission

I ordered the upgraded shifter from FFR, so we’ll see how that fares.

[Santiago]

Electrical

ISIS Express Track Car Kit with Switch Panel: ordered and on the way. I have a track-buddy who will handle the rest of the wiring on the car. I don’t do wiring.

Fuel

(tentative)
Harmon 12-gallon fuel cell (FIA-FT3 certified)

[Santiago]

(Nothing yet…but this will be worth the wait…as any good aerodynamicist will tell you, this is part of the total package…)

[Santiago]

What to Expect: Lots of cutting & body work. Not a single panel will go unaltered.

Perspective: I’m building an aero-car, what I’d call a medium-downforce car. Think: “GT3-DTM love child.” To me the current FFR mules are low-downforce cars, but they’re most definitely aero cars. Compare that to most track cars I’ve seen; these are just standard sedan types with aero enhancements. They see usable downforce levels of only 10%-15% of their competition weight. The high-df cars are famous for generating upwards of (and over) 100% of their weight in downforce. Crazy. That’s not my plan. I’ve got more pedestrian goals…somewhere in the middle.

From what I’ve gleaned, the front of the car needs serious treatment. It’s easy to slap a mondo-wing out back and generate way more downforce than what can be balanced by the front currently. So we’ll start in front (in theory). Actually, I’m starting with basic studies on a full underbody tray, but results are not in yet. Voodoo takes time.

[Rasmus]

Santiago, Good to see your build thread started.

[68GT500MAN]

This will become a very interesting read.

[STiPWRD]

Very cool Santiago, I think your CFD work will help many of us get a better handle on the air flow around the car and help with intercooler placement. I've done some CFD work in the past using fluent and floEFD and I know some of those solutions can take quite a while to run. Does solid works use their own CFD package or are you just using that to generate the CAD geometry?

[Santiago]

Solid Works has its own fully integrated CFD package. It's pretty damn impressive. I think there's a lot for us to learn from it.

As good as it is though, I'm not using it to predict absolute values. Rather I find it more useful to check the feasibility of applying known aero-solutions to our platform as well as identifying trends in the aero effects of new part designs & integration. The real-world values will be taken from the real-world testing (props to my airplane pilot buddy whose sourcing abandoned airstrips for me). Sadly, we're a long way from that stage.

Best,
-j

[Santiago]

Well, I suppose no build thread would be proper without some recognition of delivery. Pretty standard stuff, but I have to say my experience with Stewart's driver was excellent. Jim was very helpful and mighty funny.

The dolly (another AZPete clone) doubled as a cool kart...
https://scontent-b-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/10665164_10100543776815644_8988906383505484649_n.j pg?oh=9e4e0d12a3ea9106aeec20b88924bc6d&oe=54B265F9

My son supervised much of the work:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10440091_10100543776820634_8164537345514762380_n.j pg?oh=95d4fcabe8dc09a4128f21762f16f5a1&oe=54BCDF78&__gda__=1424913262_273f43c4d1cecc18fc781cde351041a a

Team Santiago:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/10609558_10100543776860554_8563700720497108838_n.j pg?oh=630fb4318c3a2a520927f8cb852170bc&oe=54EC456E&__gda__=1421807747_6485902aba3ffc3bc75b6c1b872c0ab 7

The kid is the first to drive it...
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/10731072_10100543776890494_7500123332442579695_n.j pg?oh=e5560577df483798526ca67e086f3c3a&oe=54B6EE55&__gda__=1421440256_e5618a7430040e97deeadd1a9ed98c0 c

Took inventory and there's very little on back-order (an auspicious start). Seems like I got a bit of stuff included I won't use (like a shifter and shift-boot, even though I got the upgraded shifter, bunch of aluminum panels which likely won't make it on the car, etc.). Looks like I'll have stuff to sell. =)

Best,
-j

[chedda]

Congrats! Happy building

[Scargo]

Congrats. I expect lots of good ideas to come out of this build thread!

[Santiago]

We're just going to pretend that the last post wasn't over 5 years ago... :(

Since we last left our hero, some progress was actually made. Like this:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=120187&d=1578343862

I know, not a very stunning amount of progress, but the rum was really-really good.

Then I got to work cutting stuff up. Since I'm using STi knuckles, the FFR supplied adapters needed to get drilled out and then reinforced. I sent out for two sets of laser cut plates which are:
a.) shockingly affordable
b.) far more accurate than I can do with a drill press
c.) far more consistent than I can do with my aging eyes
d.) cooler to say "laser cut" than "drilled 1/8 steel"

So here's the drilled out FFR adapters:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=120177&d=1578343377

Here's the mock up:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=120178&d=1578343399

And welded up:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=120179&d=1578343406

Nothing fancy, pretty much following what others have done with the STi gear. More to follow shortly, `cause I have the day off.

[Santiago]

Confession time...I'm a bit of a bolt nerd. Some would say I'm a "bolt snob" but that's rude...and really I am far more "nerdy" than anything else.

Having lovingly read Carroll Smith's Prepare to Win: The Nuts and Bolts Guide to Professional Race Car Preparation, these are some of my favorite quotes:

P.9 "I make no pretense of objectivity. There are satisfactory alternate ways to do anything. The hardware, methods and approaches that follow are those that I have found most effective and practical."

p.10 "Don't be deceived - use no SAE grade bolts, of whatever specification, in a stressed application. They were never designed for our applicaions. Their quality control is minimal or non-existent...The F.A.A. doesn't allow the use of SAE graded bolts on aircraft and that should be some sort of a clue."

Strong words (from a guy who's built many more cars than I have). I try to avoid SAE bolts where I can particularly in any kind of shear application, mostly because I've experienced some of Smith's concerns. The one that troubled me most is the way threads can nibble their way into parent material even when fully torqued, esp. under high vibration conditions. So I go from this typical grade 8 bolt:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=120183&d=1578343715

To a properly sized AN bolt like this:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=120184&d=1578343748

You'll note how the full shank takes up the double shear load. That's what Smith himself called, "over Carroll" thinking. To each his own. At the end of the day I'm simpatico with his ultimate rationale: I sleep better at night like this.

I also got lucky and found a suitable 5/8" bolt for the lower control arm. I drilled it out because there's a ton of metal there and it's easier to use the 5/8" rod ends on the control arms without reducer bushings (the ones I had were not good anyway).

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=120185&d=1578343760

If you're interested in using AN bolts, you may notice in the last image the use of large washers to space things out correctly. Not uncommon. This size AN bolt is very expensive if you order it on-demand (i.e. need it right now), but I got a smoking deal on a slightly too-long one that fits well with the washers. So I'm kind of perpetually on the hunt for good military surplus and I tend to buy in bulk when I can; saves a ton of money down the road.

[lance corsi]

Do you trim off the extra length of thread after you’re happy with the fit? I agree with your logic, just wondering what the cost for hardware would be following your method. My opinion regarding bolts, etc used on these cars is this; some metric, some U S, some sheet metal screws, and the like. It would drive me back to drinking to try and use only metric. Lots of things I’ve bought have been compatible with American bolts. Changing would entail work that, quite frankly, wouldn’t enhance the quality of the car, IMO. Many places, only grade 2 bolts will suffice. If you consider the stress involved only a few bolts will be critical. Also, I don’t ever use fine threaded fasteners in aluminum. It’s good advice, tho to do it your way unless you have some engineering background to assess the forces subjected to the part.

[Newkitguy]

i know where you are coming from with a 3-4 or more year break. Honetly i'm guilty too. I have got a ton of work done with mine since my actual start. I can't wait to see the things you come up with once you really get back to it

[Santiago]

Do you trim off the extra length of thread after you’re happy with the fit?

Hey Lance, when you use AN/MS hardware you need to measure the grip length. Pick the bolt that is sized for that, and you don't have to cut any thread - you really couldn't cut much thread off anyway. They're designed to have only enough thread to match the grip length + a standard AN washer (which are 1/16" thick) with about three threads protruding. Since actual grip length on whatever you're working on rarely cooperates precisely with that, you can use thin AN washers (1/32" thick) or extra thick ones (typically 1/8") to dial in your grip length.

In a pinch you could use a standard grade 8 bolt with long shoulder and cut the unwanted threads off of that. More work, but feasible. I've found the lengths of those shoulders rarely match the grip length of whatever I'm working on (did it once, but it wasn't this project). Easier to take time to measure and then source the right AN bolt.

I hear you on the mix-and-match challenge. I would prefer all bolts to be of one unit, but good lord that would take a lot more work. The bolts I put thought into are really only the primary suspension ones - anything that's going to be repeatedly loaded in shear (or has the potential to nibble into softer material) catches my attention. All AN/MS hardware are in English units, but they're all fine-thread (which is stronger in shear and less prone to loosen in heavy vibration environments).

Cost can rise rapidly if you order what you need when you need it. I mean - rapidly; like when you have to replace that control arm bolt on your wife's Camry and the dealer charges $15 for just one flippin' bolt, argh!, (incidentally, not surprising that those bolts the OEM's use are designed the same way - grip length dictates proper bolts when loaded in shear). But I'm an avid yard-sale shopper for hardware, always poking around for who's got what in common lengths I've encountered. Buying in bulk is the way to go, most of what I've picked up hasn't cost much more than what the local big-box stores charge for grade 8 hardware. I just picked up a collection of camloc hardware that would have run over $150 off an ebay seller who clearly didn't know what he had - got it for $27 shipped. Only fussing over the suspension bolts is another way to keep costs down.

Agreed on fine-thread in aluminum, big no-no. Then again, there's not much aluminum on the car that you would use as a parent material - I hate sheet metal screws with a passion. The aircraft guys have this nailed down though, plenty of hardware options for properly fastening aluminum sheet, the real decision is how fast/easy do you want to be able to remove it: structural adhesive, rivet, pem, rivnut, nut plates, Dzus/camloc. The tools/time you have on hand for installation make a big difference too.

Obviously...5 years later, I've got some time. :p

[Santiago]

i know where you are coming from with a 3-4 or more year break. Honestly i'm guilty too. I have got a ton of work done with mine since my actual start.

We should form a support group... =)

"Hi, my name is John, and I'm a slow builder..."

[STiPWRD]

You may find this helpful regarding which fasteners to get although it sounds like you've already got a handle on it:
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?19421-Hardcore-Proper-Suspension-Location-Slop-Removal&p=221711&viewfull=1#post221711

[DanielsDM]

I completely agree with you on using AN bolts for suspension pivots and such. Basically any critical bolt that is not in just tension. I've read most of Carrol Smiths books and agree with him on that.

I'm also part of the 4+ year build club ��
Haven't done much on mine in the last year, but making a push to get it on the track by summer. Thanks for updating your thread, gives me motivation.

[Santiago]

The years (*cringe*) between initial purchase and now haven’t been entirely unproductive. Since my whole build has always been to serve as a platform for my aero interests (a laboratory test-bed of sorts), I knew I would be substantially redesigning the body.

Since the body needs to fit on the chassis, I made this in SolidWorks:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=120268&d=1578498324

This little sucker has proven very useful in working out different ideas – it’s a heck of a lot easier to position, rotate, and play with clearances on something like my intercooler in its digital guise than to wrestle with the real one. I’ve also been working through different bumper designs, wing stanchion supports, and other modifications in this digital environment.

If you look real close, you can already see small changes in this digital model over the standard chassis as it is supplied by FFR…kind of like playing a game of Where’s Waldo? Who can find all the modifications? (HINT: There are at least four you can see in this image)

Being able to run FEA and CFD tests is also none-too-small of an advantage. =)

[Hobby Racer]

OMG that would be so helpful... I have modeled up a few section when I did my headers but never had the time to do the entire chassis.

If it would be possible could I get that file! PM me and I'll give you my email.

[Hobby Racer]

If you look real close, you can already see small changes in this digital model over the standard chassis as it is supplied by FFR…kind of like playing a game of Where’s Waldo? Who can find all the modifications? (HINT: There are at least four you can see in this image)

Being able to run FEA and CFD tests is also none-too-small of an advantage. =)

I see the following four:

The rear X section were the trans sits has been shortened
The ears for the front sway bar removed
The windshield / door mounts removed
The front lower control arm mount closest to the firewall removed



Is the at it?

[Scargo]

I see the following four:

The rear X section were the trans sits has been shortened
The ears for the front sway bar removed
The windshield / door mounts removed
The front lower control arm mount closest to the firewall removed


Is the at it?
I've done all but one.
John, we should collaborate. I've done an S2K front spindle setup with fully adjustable double wishbone suspension. Stoptech brake system was spec'd by their engineers. Floor mount Tilton pedal system mostly done.
I'm thinking undermount turbo and DS. Just got the DS.
I have GTR twin intercooler system radiators to adapt for turbo intercooler.

[Santiago]

Son-of-a-gun! I totally forgot about the firewall control arm mount. I never added that because it was one of those things I was going to get around to but never did. Argh...makes me want to go in and edit...

So there's still two more...one is related to the front control arm... I'm not going whole-hog like Scargo, but there's a teaser up front of a little sumptin'-sumptin' I'm doing.

Hobby, I'm happy to share. There are some very minor discrepancies in the model (mostly with strange tube orientations on some of the smaller 1" diagonal bars - their location is pretty close, it's just the profile orientation that was odd). And I have some reservations on the precision of the angle that the steering rack mount is set here. These didn't have anything to do with my plans, so I haven't bothered to touch them up. I'll PM you with some more details.

[Ajzride]

If you are willing to share, I would love to get on it as well. I'm actually taking an udemy.com course on fusion 360 now so that I could model custom body parts, hopefully to be cut in foam on a CNC. My Primary goals are a new front bumper and and a truly removable hardtop for the S (not a conversion like the 818 offering). Having the frame would certainly save a ton of hours, although I'm sure I'll have to make a fair amounts of updates for the S versus the R. I'll be happy to share with anyone else the cad files I come up with.

[Santiago]

PM's replied to.

Ajzride, shoot me an email address.

Best,
-j

[Santiago]

I followed suit with others who have modified their power steering quills to take out that little slop from the internal tension bar. I welded mine solid rather than try to fill the fluid passages with epoxy. Just a quick heads up for anyone looking to do the same.

This turned out to be pretty easy. The trick is freeing up the ball bearings before welding. The internal cage is plastic, so there was some concern that the heat of welding would damage it if left in place. Fortunately, a little fiddling with a pick makes quick work of it, as it pops right out.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=120601&d=1579033066

Then everything comes out easily:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=120604&d=1579033322

Now welding is cake work, and reassembly is the reverse – well, you do have to be pretty patient getting everything back together without the ball bearings falling out before you line up the race. You have to stack all the balls at the bottom, hope they stay in place long enough for you to rock the outer ring back in place. Took me about a half dozen tries or so. Once you get it, the cage pops back into place.

[Santiago]

I am using a Woodward QRA-1 quick release. Very nice unit, very tight/no slop, easy to use. The basic idea is to simply weld-on the Woodward splined stub to the OEM steering shaft. I struggled a bit with figuring out how to get everything lined up, and I didn’t want to overheat the bearing on the end of the column. Then I realized that Subaru figured it out a long time ago.

The stock steering wheel has aluminum spokes, but the internal hub is steel. That little hub is both splined to match the stock column and tapered to match it as well – a perfect fit. Getting it out requires persistence…and a 20-ton press. Mmmm…the steering wheel does not survive surgery.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=120609&d=1579034766

After a little mutilation of the stock wheel, I got a nice hub to use.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=120610&d=1579034777

Slid the splined end on and snugged it up with the steering wheel nut. Now you don't have to weld close to the bearing, you just weld the nut to the OEM spline to the Woodward spline. Once everything is welded together, nothing moves and I have an adapted OEM column to match my quick release. Here’s the layout:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=120172&d=1578342935

And here’s wheel option #1 mocked up.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=120173&d=1578342935

I wanted a clear view of the data logger, so I’m going with an open top steering wheel. I’ll see how that goes. Right now it feels fantastic, but I’ve got a larger Sparco D-rim in the wings if this one turns out to be too small in action. For now, I’m totally digging it.

[Blu]

I see the following four:

The windshield / door mounts removed




Item 3. How much of this can you remove for the "r" version?
121193

[Hobby Racer]

Item 3. How much of this can you remove for the "r" version?
121193

I removed the entire bottom section. You need the two top upside down "L" shaped parts to support the front fender and the hood pins.

I can post a pic later if you need one.

[Santiago]

I removed the entire bottom section. You need the two top upside down "L" shaped parts to support the front fender and the hood pins.

I can post a pic later if you need one.

Ah yes...if you were using those fenders I suppose you would need them... :rolleyes:
Hood pins are getting relocated - hood is getting hacked up and the current pin location is too far outboard.

I removed most of the bottom section - I have a suspicion that the hole and slot on the top half of that bracket will come in handy later. If not, it'll get cut too.

[Santiago]

I managed to get my seats mounted low – like really low – without cutting the X-bars. The formula for me was:


Use a layback seat (18 deg in my case) – the popular composite ones are typically very upright (like 10 deg if you’re lucky), making them quite tall
Make your own mounting base – angled at 10 deg
Be short – I’m 5’ 7” and not disproportionately long in either torso nor legs, so I can afford a bit more loss of leg room than some


The net result of all this is that the top of my head sits under the line where the forward down bars meet the main roll hoop. Even with helmet on, I easily pass the broomstick test. Top of my head is a bit below the level that’s clamped in place here.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=121568&d=1580268627

My seat base:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=121569&d=1580268643

The downside to this is that my shoulders are so low I had to make a custom harness bar. Like many others, I realized that the little bar between the main hoop and diagonal bar that FFR supplied is not suitable for anything but a very tall OEM seat. So my original plan was to follow Rasmus’ lead and use the top bar of the rear bulkhead. But even with my head-and-neck restraint on, the webbing was still at a positive angle.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=120164&d=1578342523

I wanted my shoulder belts to fall at an angle below 0 (i.e. dropping down as they come off the shoulders). An angle of 0 to -20 deg is the industry standard (and what will pass my chief tech inspector’s watchful eye), so that’s the range I wanted.

For the record, I just can’t understand why FFR bothered to put in that silly sub-belt mount. I can’t find a single authority on belts that accepts that as a sub-belt mounting location (well, there’s a rally organization in South Africa that looks like they may accept it...so I guess if you live in South Africa…yeah). At any rate, stuff like that would never pass tech with my organization (NASA), and I don’t know of any other competition organizations who would pass it either. This is pretty old-hat and FFR has been around long enough to know better. :mad:

*deep breath*

My belts are not perfect, but I did make some effort to get my harness bar at the right height so the shoulder belts were close to the ideal ranges/angles. I welded in some mounting tabs and used the top of the bulkhead triangle to bolt it in the center. Four bolts in total hold it in – two 5/8” bolts on the ends (through the rod-ends), and two 3/8” bolts in the center.

I had this old panhard bar lying around that proved ideal for the job. I welded on a couple of tabs to it to secure the back of the seats; now it plays double duty of being the top seat mount as well as the harness bar. Wallah! – harness bar fits well.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=119236&d=1576857577

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=120165&d=1578342537

I love a seat that feels like an extension of the chassis – it does not move, super solid, super communicative. “Talk to me sweetheart, I need to know what you need so daddy can deliver…”

[Santiago]

Since we’re on our own with developing our wing mounts for the 818, I thought I’d share some of my development work. The first iteration of my design showed how BAD my thinking was on this… =) Fortunately, I have ya’ll to blaze trails and offer insight.

From early on, knew I wanted a few things out of my wing mount sub-frame: (a) a swan-neck stanchions (b) in double-shear, (c) setting the wing back past the deck. I also knew this meant placing quite a moment through the wing stanchions and into the mounting sub-frame. So I committed to a rectangular 4-bolt pattern to secure the stanchions rather than the typical pair of bolts in a single line. That set the stage. Five iterations later, along with a couple humorous FEA failures, and I was pretty happy.

Then HobbyRacer came along. I LOVE his wing mount sub-frame. My 5th major iteration had some similarities with it, but his was so much more elegant. So I copied it. Ok-ok, I changed it a little by adapting it to my 4-bolt hole pattern, made some tweaks here and there, and added two more legs. Thus v.6.0 was born.

At the same time, I was refining a generic swan-neck wing stanchion design. By the 2nd major iteration, I was close to what I wanted, so I set up the new assembly for tests:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=122203&d=1581262988

Early FEA results were pretty promising – the Hobby-inspired stanchion was doing better than my 5th iteration, and by v.6.4 I thought I was close to finalizing the design.

All the tests were done using the maximum downforce generated by the wing (1,600 lbs. according to the CFD data supplied by the manufacturer) at a theoretical top speed of 200 mph. Of course, my car isn’t really ever going to go that fast, so it wouldn’t see that level of downforce. And frankly I think the CFD data is…shall we say, on the “optimistic” side. Still, I figured I might as well go for it (throwing in a modest 50 lbs. of drag for good measure). For this sort of an overloaded scenario, a Factor of Safety (FOS) above 2.0 would’ve made me happy. Here’s what I got in the v.6.4 test:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=122204&d=1581263046

As you can see, the tops of the rear legs and the horizontal bars holding the mounting plates were pretty marginal and/or below my goals…and these were the improved versions. So I knew I needed to give this area more attention.

At the same time, the throat of my swan-neck stanchion was showing a small area of concern.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=122205&d=1581263056

Some design changes were needed.

[Santiago]

For the swan-neck, I figured I could take the chamfer out of the marginal area along the throat of the stanchion. I also increased the radius of it. Last, I shortened the stanchion 2” and thinned out the neck overall. So the iterations of v.3.0 were developed, lighter but stronger yet.

I was going to add a simple gusset to the troubled horizontal bars when I realized that a redesign might be worth looking into. So v.7.0 was born by taking out the forward legs and using them to tie the wing mount plates directly to the rest of the top perimeter bars. Like this:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=122206&d=1581263072

FEA results on that set up were a huge surprise! First, taking the two legs out did make it a bit lighter than before, but also stronger overall by completely transforming how the sub-frame works.

This design spreads the load over a much wider range of the bars. Now the entire top perimeter is able to heave upward as the stanchions place the force of their moment on the sub-frame. This is easy to see in the displacement graphic here (note: SolidWorks exaggerates the displacement so it’s easy to visualize, but the actual displacement is quite small, approx. 1.5mm maximum):

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=122207&d=1581263084

It's clear that the forward legs in the previous design were acting in tension to keep the mid-section of the upper perimeter tied down (i.e. reduce the heave). However, this made the stress on the vertical arms quite concentrated in that old 4-legged design. You can see this most readily in the displacement graphic to v.6.3:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=121539&d=1580225446

Surprisingly, taking away those two legs made the entire assembly work in greater unison. More bars are working, but everyone is still happy:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=122208&d=1581263110

Of course, what immediately pops is an entirely new area of concern. I never had a worry that the forward mounting point might get overworked. With the top perimeter heaving more than ever before, the joint at the front was under large stress (see the red spots indicating a FOS below 1).

Everywhere else the FOS was improved and exceeded my target. The stanchion throats were also looking better.

Last tweaks to the design (v.7.1 of the sub-frame and v.3.3 of the stanchion) resolved the remaining concerns. I added a couple of small gussets to the forward joint, and then increased the radius of the stanchion throat even more.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=122211&d=1581263159

The current result has a FOS around 2.0 or more for everything. Very small tweaks from here, but I’m satisfied with that.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=122209&d=1581263129

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=122210&d=1581263148

All told (23 hrs later), I feel good-and-ready to start cutting. =)

[Hobby Racer]

Then HobbyRacer came along. I LOVE his wing mount sub-frame.

Hey, thanks for the shout out. Glad I could inspire you. Your design is excellent. Many more hours of thought and actual engineering than I put into my design. :o

[aquillen]

Thanks for showing the process. I have a wing in mind but it is a showboat piece, not a functional item. Still very interested and enjoying your design/analysis work.

[Mechie3]

Nice work! I do all my design in SW as well. For the adjustable wing angle mounting pattern, do all the holes line up or does the wing have one hole and then a slot?

[Santiago]

Nice work! I do all my design in SW as well. For the adjustable wing angle mounting pattern, do all the holes line up or does the wing have one hole and then a slot?

Thanks! The bolt hole pattern is the one supplied by the manufacturer - holes line up, but the wing has more than this, so the main element is much more adjustable. Additionally, it's a dual-element wing, so after the initial baseline is set most of the tuning is through the second element.

[Santiago]

Well here’s a little glitch I just realized I need to resolve. My engine crossbar has sat loosely on the chassis for years – sitting on two bolts, not even with a nut threaded on. A long time ago I noticed that it was a little bowed down in the middle. No worries, I was able to bend it straight with the help of a 7,800 lb truck and a jack.

Then I realized that only three of the four mounting holes line up with the chassis. The upper driver side looks like this:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=123314&d=1582869161

That sucks. I mean it’s WAY off. I thought I was done with basic chassis mods, but it looks like there’s some more cutting and welding to do. At least it isn’t huge drama: cut the tab off, line up the new tab, weld. Just one of the little “why Lord, why?” sort of things.

[flynntuna]

Off the subject... How do you like the tool box in the background of the pick? Harbor freight right?
I've been concidering that one.

[Santiago]

Off the subject... How do you like the tool box in the background of the pick? Harbor freight right?
I've been concidering that one.

It's actually a Husky box. I do like it - price on sale was very good, tiny bit lower than the HF Yukon ones. I'm pretty sure Husky and Yukon are made by the same manufacturer, they just slap a different plastic tag on the right side. The US General ones seem to be better built, but you pay for it and for my little home garage it hardly matters. The Husky/Yukon are perfectly adequate and I did want the deeper lower drawers. The lower price sealed the decision.

I also like the wood top. I found that made it easy to mount a vise to it as well as four tee-nuts from the bottom side of the wood top. I use those to secure my table saw. So I can set it up, cut with stability, and put it away pretty quickly. Makes for a flexible all-around work cabinet.

[Santiago]

Happy Leap Year ya'll!!

I need to back up and recap some progress.

My wing mount sub-frame and bumper designs call for making heavy use of the existing trans platform. That area seems to have shown some signs of weakness – at least two folks have experienced either deformation here or outright cracked welds. So I’m reinforcing the area.

I need this general area to serve as both a mounting base for the wing sub-frame as well as a landing spot for two (or four?) of the bars in my current rear bumper design (more on that later). Each makes different demands of the trans mount, so my reinforcements are aimed at those.

First up is a plate to triangulate the outer corner. My diffuser plans won’t abide by the extended ears that FFR supplied to hold up their near-useless bump-bar (much more on that later). So I cut it off.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=123316&d=1582869401

With a nice platform to work with, I made a narrow plinth box. This is serving double duty as (a) joint reinforcement to assist in providing a strong base for the wing sub-frame, and (b) landing platform for the side legs of the bumper bar.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=123317&d=1582869444

Hard to see from this angle that I also added another gusset on the forward part of the joint (you can see their dark silhouettes). This was originally meant to aid in mounting the forward legs of the wing’s sub-frame, but after v. 7.1 it was no longer needed for that. I did carve out a relief area after noting that I wanted to be able to get a torque wrench in there to tighten the suspension arm bolts.

Part (b) here probably wont’ make sense now, since I haven’t finalized the bumper design. It'll look something like this:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=121544&d=1580225609

Speaking of suspension, I also added some gussets to some of the suspension mounts in the front and the rear, similar to what Six Star did. This is all I did in the rear (no pics yet of the front):

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=119239&d=1576857675

I also had a vague recollection of some folks worrying over the way the main hoop of the rollover bar lands on an open tube. [Forget the author of that; apologies.] Anyway, the concern stuck, but the fix is simple. I found that a 1-1/4” square bar fits inside the upper bulkhead tube pretty well.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=119238&d=1576857654

So I welded 2” long pieces of those in place.

Also, I am following Plavan’s lead in using 1/8” thick 7075-T6 aluminum sheet for anti-intrusion protection along the doors. However, I wanted to use the full 24” height (for better shoulder coverage), but there was no support for the plate along that top edge. So I added a length of 1” square tube between the bars to give a solid upper mount – added tabs with nuts welded in place as well (see below).

Aero plans call for modifying the hood. So I cut off as much of the original hood mount bracket as I could. I won’t need hood pins this far out, and the bulky bracket just blocks airflow. Cleans up the front nicely. I’ll re-weld the original hood pin mounting tab further inboard later on.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=123315&d=1582869362

You can see the side-intrusion support bar and mount tabs in that image as well.

Last, aero plans also call for heavy modifications to the rear deck – as with the hood, most of the existing bracketry just gets in the way. So it gets the proverbial axe.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=123384&d=1583024372

That’s about all I needed to do for the basic chassis mods (I hope). I added more tabs to the chassis, but those are all for mounting stuff I’ll get into later. I also cut out more stuff I don’t need (e.g. FFR supplied sub-belt tabs, shifter mount bars, etc.). I think once I redo that 4th mounting tab for the engine crossbar, I should be close to done welding on the chassis. *cross your fingers kids*

Well…there is the final welding to do…but that’ll involve flipping the chassis (I’m just not that proficient at upside down welding, by which I mean I’m pretty terrible at it).

[Ajzride]

Nice work.

[Santiago]

As Rocket would say: ”Oh…yeah…”

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=126097&d=1586564259


I think it’s safe to say I’ve finally gotten better at surfacing in SolidWorks. =)

I’m still not really good with surfaces, but I’ve gotten this far. This has been years in the coming. Literally years. The early work was just terrible…I mean those kids in the DR and India used to make me so mad; they make it look so easy.

I’m now working faster and more accurately. The hood was my first effort – a god awful ordeal. The rear fenders were next…eight hours of ugh. The engine humps only took two hours. Progress.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=126098&d=1586564284


Next up: model my body and aero devices, then CFD testing, then refine. Wash – rinse – repeat.

[lance corsi]

Very nice work. Your cfd numbers will be of interest to many people. Thank you for spending the time on this. Most people could not imagine the hours it takes to generate such a data base. I have only modeled the sections involved in my changes.

[Ajzride]

I’m still hoping to 3D scan the body panels, just running about a month behind schedule.

[Santiago]

Ajzride, I hope you have better luck than I did 3D scanning. I picked up a small scanner a couple years ago, but was never able to make it work the way I needed. The point clouds it generated were a bear to import into SW and even when they did they were heavily distorted.

If you do get good scans I would be interested in them. I'm not planning on modeling the rest of the FFR supplied body. This is all I intend to keep on my car, so I needed them for my designs.

I would be interested in doing CFD on the FFR body (with both old and new noses). The comparisons would be good to see and I bet many folks would take an interest in the results. But generating the models from scratch is a lot of work, work probably better spent on other things. If FFR ever feels like sharing the body panel files with me, I'd be happily all over it.

Best,
-j

[Ajzride]

I doubt FFR has body panel files, if they do, they sure didn't use them to produce the body panels, because there is no symmetry side to side on this car. My plan it to take each panel one at a time, use plasti-dip to paint zig-zag patterns on it, and then use photogrammetry to convert into a 3D model. I've seen some really good test done on a smaller scale with this method, and they capture incredible amounts of detail, so it should work really well on the car panels as long as I de-gloss them and put patterns on them. Photogammetry does not work well on large flat or reflective surfaces.

[Santiago]

Quick catch up with the build thread: Over a month ago I got around to fixing the misaligned mounting hole for the engine support bar. Good thing I can weld. I can only imagine how troubling this level of misalignment would’ve been if it happened to someone without a welder on hand.

Fortunately, I was able to quickly cut off the offending tab and weld in a new one (I used one of the sub-belt tabs I cut out of the cabin - waste not, want not).

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129279&d=1590935886

Now everything fits great. =)

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129280&d=1590935897

[Santiago]

I’ve spent some COVID time starting to evaluate my rear bumper designs.

Doing FEA simulations requires that a few assumptions are made about what sort of impact you’re trying to model. For those interested, here’s the background info on my process.

After you define the constants (2,200 lb mass and X-speed before impact), you have to define the time of impact to figure out the impact force. I looked at a bunch of high speed video of OEM crash tests and got a range of time (from full velocity to zero) anywhere from 0.070 seconds to 0.150 seconds. It might not look like it, but this range is large, meaning that the forces are very different across these time frames. The impact times also vary depending on the initial speed as well as crash object. So there’s a bunch to take in before setting up the FEA test.

Generally, concrete barriers provide the most abrupt impacts (and thus shortest time) while car-to-car contact (as you might see getting rear ended) are the least abrupt. So that set the stage for my testing using the following times to simulate different scenarios that interest me:

a. impact spinning around and backing into a concrete barrier (.070 sec)
b. impact from a driver who doesn't hit his brakes (0.100 sec)
c. impact from a driver who is making an attempt to slow his own vehicle before impact (0.115 sec)

If you assume those times, you get the following forces that are in the general range for the following speeds:
8,700 lbs: 5mph @ .070 sec, 8mph @ .100 sec, 10mph @ .115 sec
15,000 lbs: 10mph @ .070 sec, 15mph @ .100 sec, 18mph @ .115 sec
20,900 lbs: 15mph @ .070 sec, 20mph @ .100 sec, 25mph @ .115 sec

I ran tests at all these forces (bumped to 10K lbs for the lowest test). The bumper is not intended to survive any of these impacts – it’s a sacrificial piece whose job is to take a modest impact and save the transmission. Put differently, I expected the bumper to get permanently bent up at any of these speeds and under all of the impact scenarios. The v3.0 bumper at 10,000 lbs came out well and looks like this:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129567&d=1591414613

At 15,000 lbs the stress propagates along the elbow extensions and into the rearmost horizontal bars. The stress exceeds the ultimate strength, but not by an extreme amount. I think the bumper would be badly buckled but not fractured.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129566&d=1591414580

What I like about this is the propagation of stress from 10,000 lbs to 15,000 lbs. The bumper leans in at the top and bows out on the sides as those areas take the most stress. The lower sections continue to safeguard the transmission, which is what I wanted.

The 20,900 lb test showed less promising results. The stress at this force pretty much exceeded the ultimate strength almost everywhere (except at the mountings). What concerns me is not just how extensive the stress is, but how very far it is past the ultimate strength of the material. I don’t think you can really rely on the FEA results at that point, since the computer isn’t taking into account the complete separation of a portion of the tubing from the rest.

I also tried taking out the short secondary horizontal bar and ran tests for this v3.1 design.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129565&d=1591414566

In retrospect I guess I should have expected that the upper main-hoop reacts similar here as it does in the v3.0 design. Without the short joiner tube to hold the lower legs together, they deflect more and show greater stress. In turn, there's an uptick in the stress at the main hoop mounts. None of that is exceptionally bad, so this is the design I went with – it’s lighter and a bit easier to fabricate.

All told, I'm calling this a "10mph bumper" which is as much as most OEM cars offer when run into a concrete barrier. Under track-incident conditions (little “racing-is-rubbing” action) it should fare better.

More importantly, my trans won’t get taken out by a simple overzealous bump draft. I’ll be honest, I’m a huge FFR fan boy, and I really do like the 818. But the bumper structures are the single most infuriating thing on this car. The only thing they give you to protect your trans input shaft is a panel of chop-strand fiberglass – which is to say, it’s completely helpless in the event of a typical on-track racing incident.

Up next, the front gets a proper bumper. =)

[Santiago]

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129602&d=1591497243

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129600&d=1591497221

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129597&d=1591497166

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129601&d=1591497233

The goals for my bumper were centered around providing proper protection for the transmission. This meant:
a. Steel structure at the proper height (18” – 22” off the ground)
b. Clearance for impact distortion (i.e. a crumple zone)
The supplied “bumper” bar from FFR fails on both counts, being both far too close to the road surface to be of much good and far too close to the transmission to stop whatever force it may absorb before it says hello to the transmission.

I was able to get the main hoop 19” (o.c.) off the ground. This version extends rearward about 5” further than the FFR supplied one (which I cut off).

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129598&d=1591497182

That should give me a good deal more buffer and be a good deal tougher than fiberglass snuggled up against the tranny input shaft… Can you tell that really burns me up?

Anyway, this rear reach also means there’s no way you could use this design with the supplied rear body panel. That’s fine, since it was my intention from very early on to ditch it all. BTW, if anyone wants spare body panels, I know a guy.

To mount the bumper bar, I had to make mounting points (six in total). FFR doesn’t exactly make this super easy.

Fortunately, the diagonal braces I put in to reinforce the trans platform made at least the mid-mounts easy. The main hoop was another story. That mates to small struts welded to the main engine bay’s 1.5” sq. tube. Those are gusseted in and tied to the rear diagonal bar with taco gussets (mmm…taco…). There’s clearance for the shock and upper lateral link.

Finally, the rear J-bar landings are on the corners of the trans plate. These are small plinths supporting the mounting flange. All of the mounts use the same tube flange as the bumper bars themselves. So everything mates up well. All of the chassis flanges also have bolts welded to them to ease assembly.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129599&d=1591497196

All told, it’s basically a dune buggy bumper made for the 818 chassis. In fact, I considered just ordering a buggy bumper out of Cali but figured I needed the tube bending practice (and most of them are too short anyway). Besides, as a sacrificial piece, it’s nice to be able to fab up my own if/when I need to replace it.

This came in at 19 lbs. For my own peace of mind, I’ll take it.

Up next: Nestling the stanchion sub-frame inside the bumper.

[Flamshackle]

ah very cool! so you are selling your ffr rear bumper? would you ship to New Zealand? My one got slept in by a goat and is toast sooooo...

[Santiago]

Ummm...call me silly, but how do I ship something that large to NZ from the US?

As your goats have discovered, it's not exactly the most robust piece of furniture. I'm trying to get my mind around packaging safely. I fear you'll end up with an expensively shipped broken bumper. Might be cheaper to pay a local boat-repair shop to fix what you've got.

On the subject of unused body panels, I'd prefer to offload what I've got locally within an hour of the Chicago-land area (or to any track I regularly visit: Mid-O, Pitt Race, NCM, Road America). This is what I'm not using:
- Rear bumper
- Rear trunk lid
- Door panels
- Front fenders
- Front bumper (original style)

Price for one or all: get it out of my garage

[longislandwrx]

Looks good! how far past the body does the bumper sit?

[Santiago]

Looks good! how far past the body does the bumper sit?

Not sure, my bumper is up in the rafters in storage. However, if you've got your bumper mounted you could measure. My main hoop is about the height of the FFR bumper body line. This hoop extends out 5" further back than the FFR supplied bar at the back of the trans platform. From the pics I've seen, it seems the bumper bows out (rearward) an inch or two from that trans bar. So that would make my main hoop stick out 3" or 4" from the body.

If you were up for some fiberglass work, you could slice the bumper off at the body line and just lay up a short extension. The FFR bumper ledge is not that wide, so it wouldn't look odd.

OR...

With a little work, that Kia grill mod would likely cover most if not all of the main hoop...oooh...that would be nice. =)

[Santiago]

“My” stanchion sub-frame is done!

Okay, let’s be honest, I totally ripped off HobbyRacer’s design. =)

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129743&d=1591760349


I had all this FEA work done on the 6th or 7th iteration of my stanchion sub-frame, then saw Hobby’s sub-frame and fell in love with it. So I adapted it to my goals, revised it, FEA tested it, revised it some more… And yeah, I pretty much circled back to what Hobby came up with in the first place. Hah!

Right about now sounds like a good time to give the full version of that famous Oscar Wilde quote:


“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.”

Well done sir.

My version of Hobby’s stanchion sub-frame is a bit shorter. That’s to accommodate a lower rear deck that will sit right on top of it.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129742&d=1591760336

I also have fixed legs. I used bolt bosses to support the legs where they attach to the frame in double-shear brackets. Small edits to an otherwise fine original design. Snuggles nicely inside the rear bumper.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129741&d=1591760321

Weight came in at 12.5 lbs. That’s the cost of meeting an important design goal: separate the impact structure from the wing support structure. I wanted to be able to absorb a degree of rear-end impact without such an incident jacking up my wing angle and making it hard to finish a race. Tacking on 12.5 lbs for that is acceptable.

Now we need to start fabbing up the front bumper…

[lsfourwheeler]

Your CAD work is impressive! Having done a fair bit in solidworks, I cannot imagine how much effort that was to create all that stuff.

[Hobby Racer]

Okay, let’s be honest, I totally ripped off HobbyRacer’s design. =)

I'm totally flattered :D

Looks great BTW!

[Santiago]

Well, it’s been a long time since I updated my build thread. Despite that, I have made slow progress over the summer on my chassis mods.

Then August hit. Ugh! Work got super busy and I didn’t touch the car. September was another wash out. I’ll post another update, but for now a bit of back-tracking on summer work.

Here’s my bumper:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=136396&d=1602800009

The basic idea was to address an annoying bug-bear of mine: proper impact bar height. Neither the front nor the rear of the FFR supplied “bumpers” are anywhere near the proper height. Virtually every car on the road today has their bumper impact bars around 18” to 22” from the ground. Even a Ferrari 488 has its front bumper beam 19” off the ground. The general OEM trend is to place the height of the steel bumper beam (front and rear) somewhere in range of the upper half of the wheels.

So when that soft chopped strand fiberglass of the hood easily bends upon impact, you have to ask yourself what’s offering real impact resistance. The FFR supplied bumper beams are so low, so low, something like my daily-driven Accord literally has nothing at that ground clearance. So that’s not cool.

I won’t be using the FFR nose, so I don’t need the body pick-up points. I tried to recycle some of the FFR supplied radiator support/bumper frame, but in the end not much remained. However, I did reuse the scalloped crush bars. Weight came in almost the same as the FFR supplied bumper/radiator support. So that’s a bonus (earlier designs were as much as 5 lbs heavier).

While I was at it, I put in hood mounts to the front bar.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=136397&d=1602800030

At the rear I just cut off the supplied FFR hood pin mounts and re-welded them closer the center (waste-not, want-not). The hood will get chopped, so having them inboard will make more sense then. At the front I put in tabs for the hood pins. I’m using Aerocatch latches at the front and rear of the hood.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=136398&d=1602800066

That’s it. Bumpers done & hood mounts in.

While I was in the front of the chassis, I also added in a few pick-up points to mount my dash.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=136399&d=1602800086


Next up: I got an engine! Installed it, and realized those engine-bay V-bars just had to go…

[Sgt.Gator]

Have you considered lowering the tranny mount to closer to oem angle?

[Hobby Racer]

Have you considered lowering the tranny mount to closer to oem angle?

You definitely want to do this! It will help your trans temps, engine oil temps and pressures as well.

If you need pointers Gator or I can direct you to posts with the necessary information.

[Santiago]

Have you considered lowering the tranny mount to closer to oem angle?

Yep, that's the current project. I've cut the tranny X-bars out and re-welded in support bars to rebuild strength there. I got sidelined by...well, work mostly...but also following suit with others who converted those V-bars into removable ones. That's done too (pics later), so I'm now figuring out the final trans mount set up.

So close to sending this thing out for powder coat...so close! I was lucky enough to see Mitch this weekend at NCM, and I was telling him that I need to make that my birthday present to myself. By Nov. 14th, the chassis needs to go to powder coat. Hold me to it fellas! And please stop with all the awesome "must do that too" stuff! #LoveThisForum

[Mechie3]

You definitely want to do this! It will help your trans temps, engine oil temps and pressures as well.

If you need pointers Gator or I can direct you to posts with the necessary information.

I'd be interested in the necessary information. lol.

[Hobby Racer]

I'd be interested in the necessary information. lol.

Sgt.Gator has some great info here in his build thread.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?26054-Gator-s-818R&p=417204&viewfull=1#post417204

[Santiago]

Short update.

I always assumed I would install and uninstall the engine/trans several times during the course of this build. But with new plans to change the transmission angle, I suspected even more cycles of testing and fitting the engine.

Those engine-bay V-bars didn’t initially look like they would pose a problem, but what a pain in the rump they were the first time I put the engine in. So I cut them out. Like others before me, I made removable bars – opting for the fancy rod end approach over my plan to reuse the cut bars. The bars are secured by ½” bolts.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=137886&d=1605653118

I forgot where I saw it done this way; it wasn’t my original idea. Apologies to who did this first, you have my thanks for the method. [Edit: Oh, found it! I first saw this done by DanielsDM on his build. Good to keep lots of notes.] I could’ve gone with my idea to reuse the cut bars, but I have to admit the rod-ended bars look pretty darn trick. =)

Result: Holy cow! Taking out those bars makes the engine bay a giant cavern. Removing and installing the engine is so-so much easier now. Taking the engine out is a one-person job I can do in under 5 minutes (though an extra set of eyes is always welcome).

JACKING POCKETS

While I was in a welding mood, I put in some receiving pockets for a jacking bar. Other R-car builders have done the same, mostly because our cars have such low ground clearance it’s hard to get a standard low-profile jack under it. Some European cars also have jacking pockets and it’s a common rally-car practice.

I put mine in a little towards the middle of the car, close(ish) to where I anticipate the center of gravity. I used a 3” long piece of 1-1/2” x 3/16” wall square tube for each. That allows me to get in a 1-1/8” square bar as my jacking bar. I added some gussets and short brace on the backside to tie the pocket in to more of the main chassis bar. Should be plenty strong and make lifting one side at a time easy.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=137887&d=1605653135

Up next: Re-setting the transmission angle.

I had hoped to finish all of this and do final welding of the chassis by my birthday. Didn’t make it. =(

Got close though. "There was more work involved than expected." [famous last words]

The good news is that I’ve done most of the work (pics to come) and have the trans at a happy angle. I still need to fabricate a trans mount and a new lateral support member.

[Hobby Racer]

Those engine-bay V-bars didn’t initially look like they would pose a problem, but what a pain in the rump they were the first time I put the engine in.

Try it with a large H6 and a 6 speed attached ;)

Nice job, looks great!

[Santiago]

Enormous thanks go out to Sgt. Gator for sharing his transmission overheating saga (and to Zach at ZF Design for the insight). I think addressing the transmission angle should be a mandatory mod for anyone seriously tracking their car with a 5-speed, and FFR should take note and make sure this makes its way into the next edition of car (if there ever is one).

So, like any good convert, it was time to get to work! This meant getting that engine out and cutting some clearance for the tail of the transmission to drop a bit lower than the FFR-supplied trans mount plate allows. A little cutting, a little welding, no problem.

Yeah, about that engine removal… Remember when I said, "There was more work involved than expected."


https://youtu.be/qUMBzsxTtOY

The way I figure it, if that engine is going to last a 12-hour endurance race, it ought to be able to survive dropping 2-3 feet and slamming into the chassis, right? [Note: that was a joke…do not try this at home kids…seriously, the only thing that sinks faster than an engine cut free from a hoist is your stomach.]

Now I know what you’re thinking: What broke? Was it the winch? The cable? Chain? Block?
A: None of the above. Nothing actually broke.

Here’s the cast of the new Three Stooges movie (pulley block, clevis pin, & cotter pin):

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=137981&d=1605840797

All the pieces are fine. They just seemed to have disassembled themselves. Dumbfounded to say the least.

Best I can figure, the loop on the cotter pin got caught on something during the hook up to the chain. Cotter gets pulled, yanking clevis 99% out along the way, just enough to get her airborne before it lets go. That’s the theory – and yes, let’s be real, it’s mostly user error.

Anyway, I replaced the clevis pin with an AN bolt and made sure the nut was tight. If it drops again, it’s because something really did fail. She’s been in and out twice since then, so weird is as weird does.

Fortunately, I had already started slicing up the chassis engine mounts, so they had no chance in a hot-afterlife to put up much of a fight. [Again, that was a joke…the sarcasm, it’s just dripping off the screen isn’t it.] More on why the engine mounts were pie cut later. For now, here’s a bit of the carnage:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=137982&d=1605840815

Surprisingly, the engine and trans itself didn’t seem to take much damage that I can tell so far. There was some light galling on the AC compressor and power steering pulleys (darn, I was so looking forward to installing AC in this thing). The trans took a few light scratches too, as did the heat shielding on the headers.

What seemed to save most of it was the chassis dolly. I made a wood dolly much like others have made – it’s been great over the years. In this case, it was exceptionally good at absorbing the force and sacrificing itself for the cause.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=137983&d=1605840824

The whole back beam of the dolly was split and mangled something nasty. But a wood plank is a lot easier to replace than an engine. We’ll just have to wait and see if some hairline crack makes itself known at 8K rpm (ugh). For now, I’m hoping the engine is as good as the visual inspection makes it look.

Up next: Fix everything and get back at it!

[fletch]

If it were me, the reason I'd have cut the end of the video so close to the engine drop was due to the "adult words" that would have been caught on video immediately after. I almost said a few just watching the video.
I'm glad it didn't turn out any worse.

[Sgt.Gator]

Yikes! :eek:

[lance corsi]

Santiago, I’ve been reading and wanted to add my 2cents worth. Raising the engine mounts vs lowering the trans mount would help to alleviate the problem of having your headers protrude below your frame. Also, should you decide to go with shifter rods like I did, it allows a nice passageway for the rods that extend from the rear firewall to the trans. That is all for now. Keep working.

[Santiago]

Raising the engine mounts vs lowering the trans mount would help to alleviate the problem of having your headers protrude below your frame.

Hey Lance,

Yes, that's one way to address the trans angle, that'll definitely work - but raising the engine is the last thing I want to do. I think it fair to say I'd be heartbroken if I was forced to raise the engine. I'll go to great lengths to avoid that. I've already accepted custom headers as the price to pay for lowering the engine, because the price to pay for raising the engine is too high. That's just too much mass going in the wrong direction - weight transfer really is the enemy. But to truly destroy your enemy, you must turn it into a friend. Handing over more leverage to weight transfer isn't making it your friend...it's making you it's female dog. =)

Best,
-j

[Santiago]

Repairs to the dolly were swift (thanks to the swivel casters and their hardware being undamaged). I already cut the X-bars out of the trans platform to give plenty of room for dropping the trans tail. Now on to repairing the chassis engine mounts.

I relieved the top plates of the engine mounts from the chassis. The original plan was to pie cut the sides and angle them down, then weld back up. So removing them altogether to complete repairs wasn’t much drama.

Why pie cut the mounts? Well, I was already committed to using solid engine mounts. That meant that in tilting the trans back some 5° or more I wouldn’t have the flex of rubber bushings to make it all work. I didn’t want the solid mounts (and the nut securing them) to be sitting at an odd angle to the chassis motor mount plate. Thus, for everything to sit flush the chassis mounts needed to be angled back to match the new angle required by the trans.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=138135&d=1606060220

When you do this, given that only one of the upright plates is straight and the other is angled, you get a mismatch when you tilt the top-plate down.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=138136&d=1606060238

So what’s a brother to do?
Hammer time!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=138137&d=1606060264

Now carefully check the angles of the top-plates (like: measure a dozen times each side, then measure a few more times), then cut the excess off, weld it all shut, eh’ wallah!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=138138&d=1606060292

So now the engine mounts mate up quite nicely with the chassis mount top-plates. Bit of work, but I’m very pleased with the result. When I do the final chassis weld-up, I’ll have the chassis flipped upside down and I’ll add a few gussets on the underside as an added measure of strength.

Interesting Tidbit: the Mooresport engine mounts I used were selected because they’re supposed to lower the engine 10mm. Raising the engine was never an option for me. As I mentioned to Lance, I’m kind of obsessed with lowering the center of gravity where I can. The pie-cuts I put in ended up lowering the engine another 6mm. So that should get the engine down 16mm (approx.. 5/8”). Sure, this means I had to clearance cut the support bar I had previously welded in place between the suspension mounts…oh, and I’ll need to change my diffuser design a bit…and I’ll need custom headers. But call me very happy! Because: “weight transfer is the enemy.” Every little bit helps.

Fun Fact: angling the trans tail down means the engine goes nose up – and that pulls the headers up into the chassis more. Because I lowered the engine in the process, my headers are still hanging a bit below the main chassis bars, so I’ll need to address that later. But it’s nowhere near as bad as before. For other folks, angling the trans back may kill two birds with one stone – supporting proper trans lubrication/cooling as well as completely tucking the headers up within the chassis.

Up next: Fabricating a solid trans mount and bolt-in lateral support bar

[Santiago]

With the trans laid back at a suitable angle, it was time to make the transmission mount. Getting the trans tilted back where I wanted meant cutting out the center of the FFR supplied trans mount plate. So the original plan of just bolting up the trans to that plate changed to fabricating a crossmember.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=138577&d=1606756428

CONTEXT: I’m using solid engine mounts, so I wanted to match that with solid transmission mounts. Seems to me that having one solid and one bushed places extra stress on the solid end, as it is forced to deal with the movement the bushed end allows.

The upshot to this is that it meant I could make it much thinner and save on lost headroom. This is important, because the more the trans mount falls below the plane already baked into FFR’s trans platform the less room you have for the roof of a diffuser. This is not an uncommon situation – if you look at many diffusers you will see a dip in the middle – everywhere feasible aero designers try to expand their diffuser volume, but sometimes packaging constraints call for concessions.

THE PRODUCT: With all that in mind, I wanted my trans crossmember to hug tight to the trans body and bolt to what was left of the FFR trans platform. Turns out, Subaru already figured out the hug-tight part as well as matching holes so the trans will bolt right in. So I removed the top part of the OEM mount.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=138571&d=1606754177

With this as a base, I cut extension ears out of 1x2” rectangular tube. Getting the angle of these right was a bit of a pain. These are supposed to bolt up to the trans plate, and that is not parallel to the transmission mounting holes. In retrospect, I probably should have just completely removed the FFR plate remnants, welded the tube tube extensions flush with the Subie trans cradle, and re-welded the remnants onto the X-bars to match. That’s what a smarter bear would’ve done…way easier and quicker than figuring out the cuts for some miserable 4-5 deg tilt.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=138572&d=1606754198

Since this piece was doubling as my trans mount and crossmember, I wanted to make sure it wasn’t prone to flexing – not that it would once bolted to the trans, but I didn’t want the trans to be doing the bulk of the work resisting flex. So I added some reinforcing ribs. I also added a couple of tabs to the ears so the crossmember would tie in with four bolts.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=138573&d=1606754217

The ribs are still shallow enough that the entire mount sits below the flange at the back of the trans.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=138576&d=1606756415

More work than I thought it would be, but it’s strong, modestly sexy, and everything lines up well.

Up next: Finishing the mounts for the bolt-in lateral support bar and final welding of all chassis mods!

[Santiago]

So I can’t weld upside down. I can weld vertically under ideal conditions, but I’m clearly just a hobby welder. Gets me where I gotta go most times. But not this time. This time, there was a slew of welding on the bottom of the chassis that I needed to do and a fair amount on the sides that were not perfectly vertical.

So…

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=138957&d=1607538605

Life is good when you can weld in-position. Still took me hours; lots of little prep I had forgotten about. =)

Not exactly “rotisserie” welding, but plenty better than fighting gravity. After forgiving my carelessness during one of the engine lifts, my overhead hoist and I are back on good relations.

Last up, the bar I put in to support lateral loads on the lower suspension interfered with getting the trans angle I wanted. Read: I had to cut it. So I made up a simple bolt-in lateral strut out of the same size stock. To secure it to the chassis I welded in two threaded bungs on each side.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=138958&d=1607538635

Should’ve used proper length top-hat bungs, but I made these inserts work. Most importantly these prevent the tube stock from crushing under the torque from the bolts.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=138959&d=1607538647

Final version of my trans platform looks like this:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=138960&d=1607538685

Up next: Off to powder coat! What color should it be? =)

[Hobby Racer]

Up next: Off to powder coat! What color should it be? =)

White! It makes it easy to spot any cracks in the chassis welds during pre/post race inspections. Mine was powder coated at FFR when everything was black so not an option for me. I think all the R chassis now come in white if you opt for the FFR powder coating, some one tell me if I'm wrong here.

[Ajzride]

I think yellow would show cracks easily and look great.

[Scargo]

What color will the body be? It might depend on how much frame will be exposed, but a bright, light, glossy paint might reflect more than you would really want on a sunny day.
I've thought about a flat, medium gray for mine. I think it would still show cracks.

Frame work sure looks good and seems you have all the tabs added on for body retention.
You got me to thinking about weight. At a ST2 level you could pile on lots and still easily make the power to weight ratio.
I know it will be a blast, being so low, open and gocartish. My 6.4:1 STI is all the car I want at this point in my life.
BTW, with my TIG and finger trigger I can supposedly weld upside down. Haven't had to use the hand trigger yet and haven't welded fully upside-down yet. ;)

[Brd.Prey]

138984

[Sgt.Gator]

White makes it easier to spot leaks.

[Santiago]

Current plans are for a copper body with CF accents and fairing the roll-over hoop. So little of it will show on the outside; the cabin door bars will probably be the most visible tubes apart from my rear bumper. I was thinking of something that (a) compliments copper and (b) contrasts with the aluminum paneling.

I totally get the drive towards lighter colors...functional...but this may be one of those concessions I make to aesthetics (some seriously sexy charcoal greys out there ;)). We'll see. This Tuesday is drop-off day; I'll make the final call then.

[Hobby Racer]

Current plans are for a copper body with CF accents and fairing the roll-over hoop.

You just described my car! :p

You have excellent taste.

[Santiago]

You just described my car! :p

This is true. And your car is stunning! But this time I'm not just playing the toady and copying you (as I am often want to do). =)

These are the same/similar colors that I did my last race car. At one point I thought of keeping the RX-8 and finishing this build so I could bring cars with "team colors" on them. Sold the RX-8, but still love this color scheme. Seeing it on your car validated my thoughts on how it would look - just fantastic.

[Hobby Racer]

Some day I would love to get a bunch of us with 818's together at a track. It would be a lot of fun, and make for some great pictures!

[Santiago]

Time again to catch up with the build.

While the chassis was out for powder coating, I’ve kept busy with some minor engine prep, getting it ready for the dry-sump install. Mostly I’ve been researching that install, watched (over and over again) half-a-dozen "how to" videos on pressing in rear bearings, and back-reading what can be deleted from the OEM engine systems (evap system, coolant bypasses, etc.). New spark plugs went in too (BKR7EIX).

First up, clean some ugly looking aluminum brackets (alternator and AC pump brackets).

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=141960&d=1612375712

I decided to try out Sharkhide metal protectant. So far, I’m liking this stuff. It’s very easy to apply, and if it protects anywhere near as well as it’s supposed to it should be great. I’m putting it on just about everything I come across.

I removed the OEM oil cooler, because…well it’s pretty ugly and I'll have an oil cooler plumbed into the dry sump lines. That makes it unnecessary, only adding extra points to leak. So I took it out and ordered the non-turbo oil filter fitting (part# 15018AA090). I didn’t order the right plug to replace the coolant return fitting that no longer has a function. So I cut the nipple off the existing fitting, inserted a 3/8” dia steel slug and welded it shut.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=142006&d=1612468338

Without this cooling circuit, I ditched the hose from the water pump. I ordered a new pump (part# 21111AA026), but I should have ordered a different one (the one without the fitting pressed in the side). Fortunately, I had notes from Scargo on how to press this fitting out. Tapped ¼-NPT threads into the existing hole w/o even needing to drill it out, per Scargo's notes. Plugged it, done. Easy.

I got around to doing Wayne’s coolant mod as well – must have been in a tapping mood. I’ll run a 5/16” line to the coolant overflow tank.

Speaking of cooling mods, figured I’d try out the cylinder #4 cooling mod. I ordered a Getadomtune kit and a 90deg silicone elbow. You don’t really need the elbow (black silicone), but without the lines to and from the heat exchanger in place to tap into, the elbow made the install a bit cleaner.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=141962&d=1612375829

There’s more engine prep to do before it goes back in the chassis:


Install new timing chain & water pump
Gut the oil pump


The chassis is back though, so I’ve been getting the suspension bits ready to install so I can finally have a roller.
Up next: New wheel bearings.

[Scargo]

Nice! I think that plug is the same as what goes where you access the piston pins.
Be sure and use a high temp wheel bearing grease. What a pain to remove grease in wheel bearings and replace. You may know all this but this is what was easiest for me. Plugged the bearing's hole, fill glove, clamp, squeeze.
141996
Looking forward to it coming together!

[Santiago]

Getting ready to make a roller! How many years has it been? =O

I did the basics: new wheel bearings front and rear, new Prothane bushing to receive the rear lower trailing arm, new ARP wheel studs (long), and cleaned what little OEM hardware I will reuse. While I was at it, I wire-wheeled everything down and put a coat of paint on the rear stuff.

I also cut off the rear dust shield (noticed they did this in the manual as well). Hideous awful looking things anyway. They are held on by about 8 spot welds:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=142579&d=1613249154

Overall, I’m quite happy with how everything came out. Looks better than brand new:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=142573&d=1613248561

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=142574&d=1613248587

Since I’m using STi gear the front wheel hubs just bolt in with bearings included – as God intended! Why we’re still using press-in bearings at the rear…argh! This was my first time I ever pressed in wheel bearings. It went fine, but what a waste of time compared to the fronts. The fronts were like, boom, bang, bing; you’re in, you’re out, you’re done.

The front uprights went to powder. Not entirely happy with the color choice – I thought it would be lighter/more silvery, a closer match to the lower aluminum arms, but it’s fine. I decided to Sharkhide the hubs, so we’ll see how they do. Pretty (for now):

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=142575&d=1613248652

One curiosity: I was on the fence with whether or not to trim down the front CV stub. Others have done it, you see it in some of the pics in the manual, but I wasn’t sure if I should take the time. I went with it:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=142576&d=1613248685

WOW! I’m so glad I did this. First, I shaved almost 2 lbs of rotating unsprung weight on each side. Second, they look so much better this way.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=142577&d=1613248701

On the front LCAs, I took a page out of our 818R grand-daddy’s playbook, Chad Plavan, and went with new SPT front control arms. Stiffer bushings and a new ball joint – sold. After a couple years on the shelf (…*ahem*…), they still looked pretty good. 15min later with a stainless wool pad, quick coat of Sharkhide, and wallah:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=142578&d=1613248822

Lately I’ve been working through the small spacers for shocks, etc., and fabricating the bump-steer set up. Almost done there.

Next Up: A Rolling Chassis

[Scargo]

You might consider going further.
142641

Looking good!
Mine sits.
BTW, I have a tranny that you or someone might be interested in. A 5MT, newly built hardened STI RA Gearset, 2004 Subaru WRX Transmission. Built by Rallispec, it contains STI RA Gearset 1-4, heat treated stock 5th Gear, new, OEM synchronizers and bearings and a Cusco 1.5 LSD. There was approximately $5000 invested in it and it has the rear plate installed for the 818 kit.

[Santiago]

You might consider going further.
142641


I did consider that...should have hit you up before putting everything back together. So my concern was strength. Have you (or folks you know) cut down the rear caliper mounts that much and used them on track?

Honestly, I would have loved to do it but just wasn't sure about the structural situation I'd be getting into. Any thoughts/considerations welcome.

I may be in the market for another trans (low probability), but shoot me a pm all the same. Open options are good. :)

[Santiago]

Little bit of catchup on the forum build. February was cold as heck, so I struggled to get into the garage. March has thus far been insanely busy at work…cramping my style something fierce!

The car came back from powder quite a while ago.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=142582&d=1613250593

The color is a dark grey – almost a gun metal with some minor metal flake.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=142583&d=1613250634

In the sun it lightens up.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=142584&d=1613250659

Since then I’ve done a bunch of small cleanup work on parts, and I’ve been practicing my aluminum welding. Let’s just say I’ve come a long way (*yikes*)…and I still have a very long way to go.

But now I have a rolling chassis – not at proper ride-height yet, but the first time seeing the car sit on the ground was pretty darn cool.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=143986&d=1615241952

The perspective of the car really comes through once it stands on its own legs. The rack is also on now and the bump steer set up is mocked up, but no pics yet.

Next Up: Aluminum panels go on. (it's becoming a car)

[Santiago]

I’ve been working on the car’s aluminum panels. That’s been a bit more work than I anticipated. It doesn’t help that I keep modifying the heck out of these or scratch fabricating them. Time consuming. In the meantime I’ve been playing with a newer toy/tool.

A few months back I got a 3D printer. This is the first part for the car – a bushing!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146489&d=1618754366

I picked up a ball-style pivot for the lower steering wheel mount on the firewall. However, the smallest column it accepts is 1-3/4” and the Subaru column is 1-1/2” dia. What to do? Print a reducer bushing!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146490&d=1618754385

I know it’s not such a big deal, but I’m unusually excited. In the past I would have spent a stupid amount of time hand fabricating this sort of thing. Now, I spend a couple minutes in SolidWorks, $0.52, and a ½ hour later, bam!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146491&d=1618754398

I. Am. Excited! :o

There are all kinds of little brackets and such that will be printed. My machine is set up to do carbon fiber reinforced nylon, so it can make some tough stuff. Opens up a whole new level of fabrication possibilities… =)

Next Up: Aluminum panels actually make it on the car!

[aquillen]

You should be excited, if not, then you are not in the right line of fun with this project. I know the feeling and sometimes it is the simplest of things that get you there. Cool solution for that bushing.

[AZPete]

You deserve to feel excited about that accomplishment. I feel so sorry for guys who just sign a check, or worse, a loan agreement for a car and have no idea that they are missing the hundreds of satisfying accomplishments in building their own ride.

[Santiago]

Aluminum is done…and I’m exhausted. For the love of Pete, that was waaaay more work than I thought it would be.
I don’t know about ya’ll, but if I don’t have to touch my drill for another month or two…

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147376&d=1620182989

Contributing to the workload was a bit of fabricating for the following:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147377&d=1620183029
Engine Bay Bulkhead (3 pieces)

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147378&d=1620183048
Door Anti-intrusion Panels (2 pieces)

There were also a slew of other modified or scratch-fabricated cabin panels (like the upper cabin block-off panels). I think only two panels were installed as shipped from FFR. The rest were massaged and adapted to my build.

Some info-tidbits:

ALUMINUM DOOR PANELS: These are pretty close to what Plavan put on his car. They are cut from 1/8” thick 7075-T6 sheets (Chad used T7 temper, which is a bit nicer insofar as its elongation % at break is a bit higher…but I got a screaming deal on the T6 sheets, so there’s that). This 7075 stuff is unreal. Whatever FFR used for the cabin bulkhead in front of the fuel tank is like butter by comparison. That stuff is soft and easy to drill; you know, almost like it’s made of aluminum. The 7075 is not as tough to drill as steel, but it’s way harder than most aluminum I’ve used before. 14 lbs ea., for those keeping track.

ENGINE BAY BULKHEAD: These are made of the same 7075-T6 sheet (I told you I got a good deal on these). I managed to get the whole rear covered with just three panels (one across the top, two along the bottom). Then I covered it in heat reflective sheet. Before the sheet went on, you could see the access door opening to run the fuel filler and other hoses. I’ll drill out access holes for electrical when the time comes.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147379&d=1620183086

CABIN SEALING: The supplied panels don’t really seal the upper portion of the forward bulkhead in the 818R chassis, at least not in a way I was going to be happy with it. So I used the 0.040” aluminum panels that were originally meant for the doors and cut three pieces: a middle and two sides. The sides are cool. =)

I wanted the cabin sealed off from the “frunk” area where I’m mounting my oil tank for the dry-sump. Mostly I’m trying to be rules compliant. NASA regs state that any oil lines that go inside the cabin must be shielded or of stainless braid. Mine are not stainless, they’re aramid. So I made some block-off panels that will allow me to run the return line along the outside of the door panel and then into the frunk – all without having to go around the front of the cabin chassis bars (driver side will be used for master cut-off switch cables). The top of these panels will be covered with bulb-seal and then flush to the bottom of the dash I’m making. Now I’m rules compliant. Double-bonus round: with these as well as the mods made to the lower corner panels, I’ve preserved the clean lines of the forward chassis bars…because…[shhh…it’s in the voodoo-aero…].

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147380&d=1620183101

To RIVET or NOT to RIVET: The front cabin panel that houses the steering wheel column is not riveted yet – waiting until after I position the column and drill the hole. The fuel cell will be serviced by removing the cabin-side bulkhead. So I didn’t use rivets there. I used nutserts for M6 bolts. The two halves are also not yet riveted (they’re Cleco’d), because I’m not sure how much of a pain the wiring will be with a full panel in and out of the car. Love me some Cleco clamps.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147381&d=1620183125

"Here’s looking at you kid!"
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147382&d=1620183140

Next Up: Trans R&R! (I’m in over my head – and loving it.)

[Sgt.Gator]

I have 5 x 114 wheel hub envy. That opens up the wheel options a lot. What size tires are those on the front?

[Santiago]

I have 5 x 114 wheel hub envy. That opens up the wheel options a lot. What size tires are those on the front?

Yeah, the 5 x 114 pattern was a major factor in my decision to go with the STi running gear.

Front tires are currently 245/620-17 Pirelli slicks on a 9" rim.
To me, Pirelli slicks always seem to run on the small size, but that may just be because Hoosier always seems to cheat... =)

[Santiago]

Aluminum. What to say? We’re not on good terms, but our therapist says we’re making progress.

My JDM trans arrived months ago – damaged. *grrrrr* Dealing with the importer was a joke, so I won’t go into it. At some point I figured either I was going to fix this thing or get a new trans. The damage wasn’t particularly bad, but it was frustrating.

The bolt that holds the lowest shift detent ball & spring was missing (along with the ball and detent spring). This was probably because the boss that the bolt screws into was missing… Ok, it wasn’t all gone, but it was half gone and the remaining threads were partially stripped. Like this:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147818&d=1620937640

What to do?
Option A involved a credit card.
Option B involved a smaller credit card (new case halves)
Option C involved old age and treachery…

I must be getting old, so I decided to fix this thing. I had a basic idea of how I was going to go about it, but no real experience. The plan was to “rebuild” the boss to support new threads.

Option C-1 involved JB Weld (`cause…well it’s JB Weld, so it’s easy)
Option C-2 involved that aluma-weld brazing rod stuff
Option C-3 involved welding around a stainless bolt – saw this on You-B-Tubie, so it’s gotta work!

Someone on the Tube did a test of the torque range of JB Welded threads. I wasn’t liking what I was seeing despite the fact that this bolt isn’t heavily stressed nor heavily torqued.

Many moons ago I picked up a smoking deal on a pack of aluminum brazing rods – a great deal from a popular social media site. And that should be all I need to say, but you gotta’ check out the results.

To my mind, the concept of any form of “brazing” (and yes I know about brass/copper and how this is aluminum, blah-blah-blah; so stuff it, we’re talking about aluminum brazing anyway), the core concept is that you are using a rod material with a lower melting temp than the parent materials you are sticking together. That’s the concept.

This is what happened:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147819&d=1620937652

I was literally able to melt a 3/16” thick cast aluminum casing with a MAPP torch…before this stupid 1/16” thick rod came close to melting!! As soft and flexible as this rod is, it just pushed in a deep groove in the melted cast aluminum. How’s that for quality parts purchased off your favorite social media site…

Would you believe I actually did multiple tests with this stuff, trying different techniques, scraping away its surface layers, etc. I’m sure the name-brand stuff purchased from a reputable supplier is great. But that is not what I had on hand.

Time to try that other genius idea of using stainless bolt as a form around which you can lay down molten aluminum. I still had this transmission tail case lying around that would make a perfect practice piece to refine my awe-inspiring skills. I like it!

Total. Fail.

Here’s the thing: welding aluminum like this is all about heat management. That makes a TIG machine invaluable – it’s like a rheostat for heat input. But I have a MIG welder. Granted, I do have a spool gun, but it’s still akin to using a hammer-and-tong to scratch behind your cat’s ears.

With very little heat management on hand I found out some interesting things. Like for example, you CAN melt stainless steel with a spool gun set up for aluminum. Mmm-hmm. And here I thought stainless had such a higher melting temp. Turns out, it does melt at a higher temp, but temp build-up is also a function of mass. So when those tiny little ends of the threads are exposed to a sudden and brutal onset of heat – they melt right into the aluminum. Who would have thought?

Physics…

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147821&d=1620937713

I tried a bunch of pre-heating with a torch and finally got a stainless bolt to work…sort of (it was pretty ugly, I don’t wanna’ talk about it). Moving along.

Option C-3b involved more trickery (because we’re older by this point in the story, and rapidly getting more crafty)

Remember that JB Weld? Relax, I didn’t use it. However, I did think of it as a benchmark. Anything better than that would be success. So I had this idea to use a Helicoil as a sort of sacrificial heat barrier. [Side Note: the interim Option C-3a idea was to use a Helicoil and pack in the backside with a bunch of JB Weld to rebuild the mass of the boss, because we were getting desperate at this point.]

The idea was simple: if the MIG is apt to melt the tips of the threads, let them! Melt the outside threads of the Helicoil right into the built-up aluminum being fused to the boss. The inside threads would still be intact and ready to take up the bolt. Working with my trusty practice trans tail end, I was floored at how well it worked. I even tried replicating the damaged side and rebuilding the mass of the boss. Little bit of pre-heat with the torch on the base metal and pausing once I saw the Helicoil getting red hot. The key is to keep your passes on the aluminum and just let it flow towards the insert.

Transferring that technique to the trans case wasn’t hard. The only tricky part was that the damage on the trans was larger than my practice piece. So this made it harder to keep the drill and tap straight. Once the coil was in, I put in a sacrificial stainless bolt as an additional back-up and heat sink. “A weld away we go.”

Once enough mass built up, I cut off the excess Helicoil insert, filed down the bolt mounting face so it was pretty flush, and formed the boss into something presentable.

The finished repair.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147820&d=1620937686

Quick tip for anyone considering similar repairs, make sure when you do the drilling/tap work that you pack the hole with something solid and use some heavy grease on top of that to catch metal filings. Clean out often and repeat. I used a high-temp silicone plug and packed the bottom of the hole with bearing grease.

After that, I was only too happy to tackle welding in the return bung for the trans cooler.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147822&d=1620937732

The spool gun is now packed away…ready to collect lots and lots of dust. As soon as we get 220 wired in the garage I’m getting a TIG machine. May the spool gun rest in peace.

Next Up: Differential Install! (Still in over my head – and still loving it.)

[fletch]

So much fail, followed by so much win. Thank you for the whole story. It's inspiring.

[Santiago]

I’ve been waiting on one silly part to arrive in order to finish the diff install (more on that later). In the meantime, I’ve been catching up on other items and playing with my toys.

Previously I made my first 3D printed part for the car: an adapter bushing for a lower steering column support bracket. Despite its simplicity, that was a great project to practice some 3D printing techniques.

As it turns out, the fancy aluminum bracket I was trying to make work with the Subie steering column won’t work. Darn thing is too big (hits one of the forward bulkhead bars).

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148209&d=1621529994

What to do?

A: 3D print your own fancy bracket!

The appeal of the original bracket was the ball-mount pivot - lots of support at any angle you please. So I stole the idea and designed a version that would fit the tight confines I wanted. After an hour I had this:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148210&d=1621529994

Side note: I love Solidworks…love – love – love it.

A printing we will go…a printing we will go…and another hour later this pops out:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148208&d=1621529994

And of course, fail.

Actually, the bracket works great, but I mucked up the dimensions. I needed it longer to cover up a hole I drilled too low. I’ve been having a few days of “I can’t measure 1” if my life depended on it. Something is in the air, allergies, I dunno…

No worries, this only costs me 1/40th the price of the fancy aluminum one. So I fix it in SW and print another. Second side note: I’m starting to love my printer. The amount of time saved had I tried to fabricate this by hand (and likely ending up with an inferior part) is just huge.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148207&d=1621529994

Finished piece works great (and is super light compared to the aluminum one):

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148206&d=1621529994

Next Up: Parts have arrived, so Differential Install!

[Hobby Racer]

Man I really have to get one of the new hobby type 3D printers!

[fletch]

Would love the design files for that steering column bracket. Also the ball mount part info.

[Ajzride]

My 2 cents... if you buy a 3D printer spend a little extra and get an IDEX, this way you can print supports in a different material that the part. Makes clean up and finishing way easier.

[J R Jones]

A couple of years ago I sat in on a presentation for a "new" rapid prototyping method, suitable for small batch manufacturing. Unfortunately the (plastic) material was not compatible with petroleum fuel/lube.
This is stereolith, sintering or stratisis?

[Santiago]

Would love the design files for that steering column bracket. Also the ball mount part info.

Fletch, send me a PM with your email address. We can discuss the details - this is a three part assembly: front, rear, and ball. The rear on mine required a clearance cut to make room for a small tab on my chassis. If your car doesn't have that tab, I can modify the piece to be solid (an identical mirror of the front piece). Takes 5 min (mostly to start the computer and load the file - super easy).

Aj, I try to design my parts to avoid needing supports. So far I've been crafty enough - a history of trying to simplify composite part manufacture bends the mind in that direction (one major flat face with a draft = easy). The harder part is designing to avoid having the layer adhesion carry the primary loads. I spent a little extra to upgrade the hotend to run abrasive materials (carbon fiber reinforced nylon), run a faster processor, and use an enclosure to control temps. Nothing fancy, just functional.

JR, this is FDM process (fused depositing modeling), which is the standard "desktop" 3D printer method these days.

[J R Jones]

Santiago, In a previous life I knew that process as stratasys. I assume materials with various physical properties are available.
Can you do an FEA of the FDM part prior to application?
jim

[Santiago]

Santiago, In a previous life I knew that process as stratasys. I assume materials with various physical properties are available.
Can you do an FEA of the FDM part prior to application?
jim

Hey Jim,

There are several types of common filament available (ABS is the most common). The stronger ones, like glass reinforced nylon and carbon reinforced nylon, require upgrades to the extruder because they are highly abrasive and will chew up the common ones on low-end desktop units. You would also do well to add a filament dryer to your set up (not necessary but helpful) because the nylon is hygroscopic.

In theory I can do an FEA analysis on it, but the set up is very tricky. Assessing the material properties and part geometry are easy in SW, but it's going to be pretty misleading. If it were an injection molded part, I'd have some confidence in the results due to the more uniform nature of the finished part. Not so with FDM. The solid part that comes out is built up in thin layers. Each layer can be treated like an injection molded solid, but their layer-to-layer "fusion" is always incomplete. So using the full geometry of the part to run an FEA analysis will give over-optimistic results. You would need to model the inter-layer adhesion properties as well, and I don't really have adequate data to input for that (I've seen some folks start to do it, but it's dissertation-research level work).

To me, I think of this in broadly similar terms to designing for composites. You worry about delamination in the finished part more than whether or not the glass or carbon fibers have the moxy to withstand a given load. Taken in the abstract, the fibers are way stronger than deviations in the manufacturing process and errors in design (i.e. material strength is not the weakest link, it's user error). Then you think about the orientation of the load - like a composite part, you need to think about how to "lay up" the fibers in the proper orientation. Only now you think about how the extruder is laying down the lines. You don't want to take up loads in a way that would lead to delamination/layer-separation. So the challenge is less about material strength and more about proper design.

One thing about entry-level 3D printing, there are ways to post-process a part for improved inter-layer adhesion. Some do a really good job of coming close to injection molded consistency. It's another range of techniques to learn, and I'm not there yet. 3D printing is as much craft as it is technical process. I'm still learning the core craft. Much like composite manufacturing, there are a host of ways to muck it up, and avoiding them comes down to refining the basics.

[J R Jones]

Santiago,
My engineering groups got started in RP with Pro Eng and Stereo Lith. The samples looked great but with age, heat and UV they could fracture with no load.
Materials got better and confidence got high. We bought Stereo Lith and LOM machines but never used the parts structurally. We did use them for investment casting cores with limited success.
The machines were so expensive that we contracted to companies that specialized in rapid prototyping, but business was so spotie I saw companies some fail. The latest pitch I mentioned also required heat tempering, but again no chemical resistance. I suspect many have plastic paradigms based on FRP, thermo form, injection mold or rotomold, but RP is not that. My comment on FEA was kind of a potential disclaimer, for as you note, the part is a matrix not homogeneous. One recent project used FDM parts for a pump concept, bearings and con rod, but again it's value was demonstration not function. I have pondered the idea of combining LOM and stereo lith to create a glass cloth laminate reinforced prototype.
A local electric tool company was running SLS for everything, even common hardware. Made me nuts, I needed bulkhead electrical fittings for a test fixture, that they made rather than buy?! Problem was the machine ran 24 hours and when the material hopper ran low the parts were crap and getting back in line for 30 cent parts took a week.

[Santiago]

Originally, I had no intention of putting a limited slip differential in the car. The plan was to just build, drive, and then assess.
The more I thought about it, the more I thought I’d be pretty ticked at myself for not doing the work now. Anyway…I went with a Cusco 1.5 way LSD.

Settling on an LSD, I also had no intention of doing the work myself. I’ve always had a hands-off approach when it comes to opening any “box.” Install a shock, a trans, or a seat? I’m in. But give me a contained item like an engine block, transmission, or rear pumpkin to open up? Nope. That’s somebody else’s job.

Until now. :D

TWO KEY RESOURCES:

Shout out to Hindsight who put together one terrific thread: Limited slip installation instructions with pics (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?16706-Limited-slip-installation-instructions-with-pics)

Like others here, without that thread I wouldn’t have considered doing this work myself. Even with that thread, when I first read it I thought, “Oh heeeeeck no! Not me, uh-uh, not doing that!” Thankfully, it’s a sticky, so I kept coming back to it.

There’s very little I did different (except as noted below), so I won’t rehash what he covered so well. Many-many thanks Hindsight! Your money is no good at any bar we’re in together.

Also, shout out to our friends in Australia: Subarugears. They make rear-mounted conversions for Subie transmissions. While that’s not our concern, they also make some of the most helpful DIY videos on the Tube. I highly recommend watching Todd’s videos – maybe it’s just me, but he has that casual Australian way about him that chilled my nerves about tackling the job. That and the fact that in one video he literally did the job one-handed while holding the camera in the other hand… #I’mnotworthlessbutstandingnexttoyou…

QUIRKY INFO

Some things I learned that were not in the above resources:


Forums are horrible places for terminology. Language matters people! I read a ton of posts and threads throughout the Subaru world, and hardly anybody uses consistent language.

For those experienced with a given Subaru system, I’m sure they get by quite fine with loose language use, but the rest of us are trying to learn : so it takes us forever to realize you were talking about “stub axles” when you said “axles” (as opposed to half-shafts or CV axles, or some other term that sounds totally different and would have been really-really helpful!). ARGH! Okay…deep breath…returning to my happy place now…


Not all axle seals can be removed from the outside – some sundials (“differential side retainer” in the service manual) have a small ridge that holds the seals in. I don’t know the MY range of this style of sundial; just know those are the ones I had. These sundials need to be removed to remove/replace the seals. Check yours before you go all ape-man on them with a seal puller and risk damaging your sundials.



https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148288&d=1621696606

Speaking of the sundials, you risk breaking those teeth if you try to chisel them loose. My solution to the Subaru ST-18630AA010 was a $15 adjustable spanner wrench and 10 min. of grinder time (file down the two pins so they fit the sundials):

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148285&d=1621694304



Not all Subie stub-axles can be popped out of the differential – mine were the circlip (C-clip) type which require that the differential be outside of the transmission so you can get snap-ring pliers in there.

Some folks say you can just put a large screwdriver through the stub axle’s spring pin hole and jerk them out, because “they’re just held in with a snap ring…” Great. But a “snap ring” can mean any of a half dozen different things. So don’t tell me there’s a snap ring in there when you meant a round wire snap ring, because you don’t need snap ring pliers to remove what you were talking about but you do for what’s in my trans – ARGGGHH!! [... ooo-sahhh, ooo-sahhh]


https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148284&d=1621694304

FWIW, the only reason I removed one of the stub axles is to temporarily insert it into the new diff to make it easier to check/set backlash. This circlip style stub axle requires access inside the diff, which is easy to do on an open differential. However, in my limited slip, you can’t get inside with ring pliers unless you completely disassemble the diff itself.

Maybe you can just use round wire snap rings in the same place as the flat circlips, but my gut tells me no – the groove profile of round wire rings is radiused whereas the profile for circlips is squared off. Anyway, I decided to not use the stub axles; opting to convert the trans to a female set up.


Male half-shafts (CV axles) have round wire snap rings, allowing them to be popped in/out…did you catch that…ROUND WIRE snap rings… [ooo-sahhh]


Subie 5MT axle seals come in two varieties: 30 mm bore and 35 mm bore (all other dimensions are the same). The smaller ones are for axle stubs that stick out of a “male” trans. The larger ones are for the male half-shaft axles that stick into a “female” trans (note: the spline size/count are the same, but the male ends on the half-shafts have a raised boss where the seal mates to it). I won’t get into why Subaru engineers (manly men that they are) decided to make the male CV axles thicker and larger…you know, the ones that you have to ram in, pushing and pushing until they pop…but I bet there’s some psychology going on there…


Switching over to male half-shaft CV axles is no biggie for me; I wasn’t planning on using the FFR supplied axles anyway. I need custom ones made up to go from the 5MT trans splines to the STi hub splines.

And of course, that means the seals I first ordered were the wrong ones – because they were the right ones for the trans I had…you can’t win for losing here. Thus, I was twiddling my thumbs waiting on the new/wrong seals to arrive, so I could do the job right. Follow that?

DIFFERENTIAL CARRIER BEARINGS

Get a set.

In Hindsight’s post, he suggests that some folks have had success with popping off the old diff carrier bearings and reusing them. FWIW, my bearings were in great shape, but there was no way they were coming off without a fight. So I was glad I had sprung for a new set and had them ready to go.

To get them on I used the heat/freeze trick to tap them back on without much trouble. One thing: the inner bore is 40mm across, and I didn’t have a 41mm socket on hand when the first bearing came out of the oven. I tried sizing up a 1-5/8” socket, but its OD was too large (made contact with the bearing cage). Don’t be like me. Verify that you have a suitable cup to press/tap the bearing in place before you begin.

Apart from the usual Subaru-year-variants noted above, the install went pretty much as in Hindsight’s thread. That was right up until the time I found this tiny little thing rattling around one of the case halves…

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148283&d=1621694304
[Q-tip shown for size comparison]

Hmmm…I’m pretty sure that wasn’t rolling around there before…


Next Up: Fork Rod Rehab!

[Santiago]

While I had the trans apart, I thought it would be a good idea to paint it.

That’s not troublesome. However, remember that shift detent boss I repaired? I probably should have put the ball and spring in there right away and locked it down; it would have saved me 2-1/2 hours of panic.

The shift detent ball does a great job of holding the shift rod in place even while you turn the casing around to paint that little spot you missed…

Without the detent ball in the 1-2 shift rod, it was free to slide around. So naturally it slid right out of its forward journal. Nice.

Not nice. When it does this it allows the lower interlock plunger to slide out of its hole. This little sucker slides out when it gets to juuuust the right angle – because everything in there is magnificently lubed up with trans oil (it’s really quite sexy). When it does this you’ll know, because you cannot slide the 1-2 shift rod back into its journal.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148308&d=1621734608

INTERLOCKS

What the heck is an interlock?!?

I spent weeks reading up on the differential install – watching and re-watching videos – and I felt great! But I had not prepared for this. I found a single mention of interlocks in one video (“they’re awesome, you need them” – I’m paraphrasing). No explanation of how they work, no account of how they are assembled, nada. They might as well be voodoo to me. What to do?

A: pull out the service manual.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148307&d=1621734608

Fortunately, ya’ll weren’t there to see a grown man cry.

Plan B: Google
Which took me back to those “other” forums…

Thank you other-forums for a wonderful discussion…and broken picture links…
The one thing they did help with is realizing that the interlock plunger preventing the 1-2 rod from going back in was NOT the tiny little pin I had fumbling about in my case half. What the heck was this thing?

After assorted prayers, promises, and curses, it was time to make a decision: Bob Marley, Ray Charles, or Marvin Gaye? I needed to relax and get intimate with this trans.

With Ray Charles setting the mood, I realized what happened. An amazingly uncommon combination led to the predicament:
(a) no detent ball & spring
(b) rotating the trans casing around to paint it
(c) the 1-2 shift rod sliding entirely out of its journal
(d) interlock plunger sliding out of position
The interlock plunger that slid out allowed this tiny pin to slide out of place and drop out of the exposed 1-2 journal bore. Crazy.

This “pin” has no name. The service manual shows three interlock plungers but literally has no name for this pin. But it does show it…

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148306&d=1621734608

So at least this told me what I was dealing with. The lower interlock is in red – that’s the little bugger that moved out of position and allowed our no-name pin to drop out. Now in orange it reveals its true nature as the Eye of Sauron. One pin to rule them all.

To get it back into place you can’t really just try to drop it back up into the hole in the journal it slide out of because it’s 3x larger than the pin diameter – remember, that hole is made for the interlock plunger, not our little evil nemesis here. The Eye appeared as though it was supposed to live somewhere inside the body of the trans casing. It seemed hopeless…until Georgia came to mind (thank you Ray).

Those other-forums did mention that the 3-4 shift rod is unique insofar as the others only have dimples for the plunger to sit in, while the 3-4 rod has dimples and is also cross-drilled straight through. Reviewing the service manual again I realized that this is where they Eye of Sauron goes – and you have to get to it.

If you pull the 3-4 rod back all the way until the fork hits the case, you’ll see the little hole.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148305&d=1621734608

In my case, I could see it – but I couldn’t fully reveal it enough to put the pin back in. I was shy about 1/32” (likely less).

I imagine if you’re lucky, your case, rod, and shift fork combo will allow you to pull it back far enough to drop it in and be done. That would be awesome. In my case, the shift fork was jammed against the back of the case and the Eye was not going in.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148312&d=1621734813

So close! But I had to remove the shift fork. Joy.

Fortunately, these are only held in place with the double spring pins we’re familiar with from the input shifter shaft. Tap out the inner pin to give the outer pin room to compress. Tap out the outer pin, and the shift fork is free. You can now slide it back and access the tiny home for the Eye.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148311&d=1621734813

One thing about this, when you tap out the spring pins you have to have the fork lined up with the recess in the case housing (it’s like a little pocket in the side of the case). Those goofy “nubs” you can see on the outside of the trans are the recesses that provide clearance for the pins to come out. If you don’t line it up, the pins will stop once they make contact with the case wall. Hopefully you realize this before continuing to wail away on the pin with your hammer trying to get it to come out – it is steel, your case housing is aluminum: the pin will win this war.

Here’s one of the pin pockets – this is a forward one, but they’re all the same.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148310&d=1621734813

Now tap the pins back in. Do them in reverse order (outer then inner). You’re done.

Hopefully nobody has to go through this – it really was a weird confluence of factors, not something normally encountered with a diff install. But if you’ve a hankering for removing shift rods and forks, this may help.

Going from having absolutely no idea what I was initially looking at to getting this back together, I admit I felt pretty good. I even did my best Tom Hanks Cast Away impression: pounding my chest, “I – Grog – fix trans!”

Told you I was in over my head. =)

Next Up: Engine Prep!

[Santiago]

Finished most of my engine prep, just getting the engine ready for the dry-sump install. Nothing terribly special here, standard fare:


Timing Belt
Cam Seals
Water Pump: oil-filter cooler delete
Oil Pump: gutted


Since I’m using a 3-stage external oil pump with a pressure side, the native pump really serves no other purpose than to house the pulley. So the 10mm internals were removed:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=149321&d=1623346196

I’m plumbing the pressure side in through the OEM oil filter boss, so I think that should bypass the OEM oil pump circuit entirely.

Water pump comparison (new on left, JDM on right):

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=149322&d=1623346196

Most of this was uneventful – except that the cam sprocket tool I got from Company 23 didn’t fit. This may be another one of those quirky JDM vs USDM variance, so I’m not knocking them. I had to grind down the three lobes on the tool to fit the intake cam sprockets – they were spaced properly, but ever so slightly too large.

I also removed the headers and cut off the OEM heat shielding.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=149320&d=1623346196

Remarkably, this cut 9.5 lbs off the thing! Who knew.
Now I have to work on modifying them for more ground clearance – they sit way below the frame. =(

Peering down the hatch were the tell-tale signs of cylinder #4 running hotter than the others:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=149319&d=1623346196

Hopefully the cylinder 4 cooling mod works.

Next Up: Dry Sump Pump Install!

[blomb11]

First I have to commend you on your storytelling it's always fun to read. Second, I will be revisiting your page as I sit down to install an LSD into my 6sp in the next few weeks. I may have to reach out if or when I get lost/stuck :)

[Santiago]

First I have to commend you on your storytelling it's always fun to read. Second, I will be revisiting your page as I sit down to install an LSD into my 6sp in the next few weeks. I may have to reach out if or when I get lost/stuck :)

Many thanks. I hope it's evident that through the ups and downs I am having a total blast with the build, it's just been a ton of fun.

And the whole community is here to help with your own build challenges - Fletch recently did his own LSD about the same time I did mine, and I believe someone just covered a 6sp LSD install...can't recall who, but it's fairly recent. Best internet community on the net. =)

Best,
-john

[Santiago]

Life. When you don’t do this professionally, life has a way of putting a project on hold. The last several months from late-Summer to early-Fall saw a full-stop on any 818 work…

I did manage to make it to Italy and visit the Ferrari Museums…

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=154880&d=1635366725

So there’s that. =)

Finally got back in the garage! How in the heck I ever thought I would jump right into the dry sump install when I knew I needed header mods, well that’s just a mystery. The “header mods” have been super time consuming. However they were necessary, as the super-sweet equal length OEM twin-scroll headers that came with my JDM ej207 hang ridiculously low (approx. ¾” below the main cabin frame tubes – yikes).

I did start the dry sump install, so that pan offered a point of reference to measure how far the headers protruded below the engine. With the OEM heat shielding removed, the lowest tubes measured 6-13/16" from the bottom of the dry sump pan (7-1/4" with shields). While the heat shielding added a ½” or so, simply removing them didn’t solve my clearance trouble. More vexing, that depth spans a disgusting 24” across. This interferes with my diffuser plans…which is critical to my aero design…so this was unacceptable.

The initial plan was to make just a few cuts to rotate the lowest hanging tubes forward and gain some ground clearance.

HAH!

I tried (I really did), but there was no way that was going to work. So the “simple mods” turned into more significant mods. Long-story short: the “significant mods” turned into “as close to custom as I ever want to do again.”

Since this is my first stab at custom headers, I went with fabrication assists I’d highly recommend to anyone who (like me) hasn’t done this before:

Tube clamps:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=154878&d=1635366616

Pie-cuts: pack of 9 deg and a pack of 15 deg:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=154879&d=1635366676

This new plan involved using as much of the existing headers as I could. This way I didn’t have to mess with fabricating flanges, flex joints, Y-pipes, etc. All I needed to do is play with tube routing to get the clearance I wanted. That’s all. Just cut, route, tack-up, and verify fitment. How hard could that be?

I’m not doing the final welding. All of this is 16ga stainless, and I don’t TIG weld. So I just got everything set up for professional TIG welding. After that I’ll have them coated with Swaintech’s White Lightning exhaust coating (awesome stuff, so much better than “those other guys”).

PERSONAL RANT:
Trying to modify the OEM headers led to a deep hatred of the OEM design envelope. Apparently Subaru has (a) no need to tuck up the headers, and (b) no room to put a single turbo somewhere more convenient. The advantage of a boxer’s low center of gravity is pretty well thrown away when you still have to place it high in the chassis just to make the headers fit… Grrrrrrrr! No wonder why Porsche uses twin-turbos; so much easier to tuck up the headers when you don’t need to cross the front & rear pair of tubes over one another.

So here’s what I came up with:

• Step 1: Cut the OEM tubes off in pairs (front & rear) leaving stubs on the flanges

• Step 2: Move the front set (which is tighter to the engine) to the rear pair of cylinders

• Step 3: Cut the rear pair in thirds (dr. side, Y-pipe, pass. side) and move them to the front so they are (mostly) in-line with the other pair of tubes (ditch pass. side, as it becomes useless)

• Step 4: Re-route the forward Y-pipe section around the rear tubes

• Step 5: Cut & flip the header-side up-pipe flange (this flange hangs very low in the OEM config.)

• Step 6: Tie in header tubes to up-pipe flange

• Step 7: Scratch build a new up-pipe using OEM flanges

All told, this was a pain in the rumpus! Fitment on the tubes has to be so much tighter than the typical MIG welding I do. Much more precise cut/grind work than I’ve done before. But after 60+ hours, I’m happy with the results:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=154875&d=1635366616

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=154876&d=1635366616

My son helped here and there while provided emotional support during some of the darker hours…

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=154877&d=1635366616

Measured Results:
Lowest Point at Cross-over Tubes: 6” across a narrow 4” span just right of center
Lowest Point Everywhere Else: 4-5/16” from oil pan

Future Thoughts: At first blush I was pretty disappointed in the clearance gained at that cross-over tube (esp. when you consider how frustrating it was to do). However, I’m already committed to a central dip in the diffuser roof just to clear the lowered transmission tail. That’s almost 8” across, so this will just get incorporated into clearing the header cross-over tube. My diffuser plans live on!

Next Up: Connecting with my TIG guy!

[Hobby Racer]

Nice fit-up work. It will pay off when you have it TIG welded. Be sure to post pics when its done!

I forgot how long it took to build my headers but I do remember it being exhausting. :rolleyes:

[Sgt.Gator]

I hope you have planned for some major heat shielding across the front. Even with the space from oem headers to the timing covers racers often melt the plastic timing covers.

Consider 20 seconds of WOT on a long straight:

154933 154932

[Santiago]

Yup. The spacing to the front is generally the same as OEM or greater (pic makes it look closer). That was a design requirement going into it.

Still, the headers will be coated, wrapped, and shielded in key places. Lots of heat management in the works.

[Santiago]

We’re back in the garage after a very busy Fall 2021. Wish I could say I was just too busy building the 818 to post, but no… I have been busy with some other very cool stuff though (…and work, there’s always pay-the-bills work). HAPPY NEW YEAR Everyone!

Since my last post, I have fabricated a bit:

I have upgraded my sim-rig. My old pc’s graphics card was dying and rather than patch up the ole’ girl once again, I just went whole hog on a new tower. The new card is a BEAST and runs iRacing with every setting turned to 11 without breaking a sweat. The drive is on a completely different level now. I also built a raised platform for the rig, made a proper pedal box, stable mouse pad table, and put the seat on sliders with new brackets. Even found out that I can now run iRacing in VR without getting sick to my stomach in two laps (isn’t that pleasant).

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159782&d=1641494833

The real big news is that I finally made good on a long-time dream of starting a non-profit. It’s an afterschool mentoring program for kids using motorsports as a focal point. The cars are just cool magnets to draw them in and teach life-skills while introducing them to career opportunities. We’re called The Community Garage. The website is almost ready to go live, but for now you can catch us on Facebook. This has been a total blast! So much more to come this year.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159781&d=1641494743

To support some of our activities at The Community Garage, we bought another car! This one is a 2008 Nissan 350Z being set up as a work horse for non-competitive track days. The kids are helping with the pre-season prep-work, and those that qualify will be driving it in HPDE events this summer with NASA Great Lakes.

Meet Zsa Zsa:
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159783&d=1641494833

And yes, I have worked on the 818!

The headers are back from the TIG welder! Actually, they came back quite a while ago, then they (and the turbo) went out to get SwainTech’s White Lightning ceramic coat. Since the modifications to the header brought the tubes closer to the engine block, I added two more heat control measures. The headers themselves were wrapped, and I made a heat shield for the underside of the block (dimpled alum. with 1/8 fiberglass roving mat).

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159786&d=1641494975

The heat shield covers the dry-sump pan in a triple-layer and then wraps around the front of the timing belt cover. I recall Wayne had trouble with heat in this area, so I pretty much stole his ideas on how to address it. As ever, thanks Wayne!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159785&d=1641494975

I also got more of the dry-sump set up sorted. The scavenge lines were fitted and the lower 18” of them wrapped in fire sleeve. The tank just came back from the TIG welder. I added a bunch of bungs to it so I could accommodate a temp sender, an in-tank oil heater element, tank breather, and a vent line from the heads.

The vent line comes from tying the forward ports on the heads together with a T-joint. The rear ports are left in the OEM configuration as a simple balance tube. The lines I made were my first foray into working with aluminum tube. I LOVE IT! Picked up a ½” tube bender for cheap, a 37deg flare tool (not so cheap), and a bunch of AN tube nuts. Way easier than I thought it would be…kind of looking for reasons to make more now…probably take another awesome idea from Hobby and do up my trans cooler with this. Anyway, the oil tank is in the front of the car, so the long run to the front will be of this aluminum line.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159784&d=1641494910

The lines join the heads via short 6” sections of ½” ID silicone hose. Since the hose clamps to the bare tube, I made a shade-tree bead former out of a spare crimper (simple YouTube hack you may have seen). The beads came out fine after a couple practice pieces, but in the future I may invest in a better one.

Next Up: Engine and Trans Install! (once again…but who’s counting at this point)

[aquillen]

Fabricating your own stuff is the TOPS! Keep it up.

[Santiago]

Fabricating your own stuff is the TOPS! Keep it up.

Coming from "El Maestro" of fabrication, that's some encouragement for sure! Your work is amazing.

And my work? Since I didn't fabricate the up-pipe with the engine installed (rookie mistake)...and I now have the engine back in the car...I now know I need to modify it. :mad:

So yeah, I need the encouragement (or another bottle of rum, 'cause I just ran out).

[Santiago]

Holy smokes am I physically beat up. You would think I picked up the engine and trans by hand and put them in place. I should have had a helper, but he started school again and that left me solo for most of this. My overhead hoist came to the rescue again. And nothing fell this time, so that’s a bonus…

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160284&d=1642348066

THE ENGINE

With my set up, this should have been a breeze. My engine-bay V-bars are removable, so the engine just plops into place with no drama. Well almost. To get the engine lifted I had to remove the oil pump – its mounting bracket gets in the way of using my forward lift point (the AC pump bracket’s loop). Not happy about that, so we’re going to have to figure out something down the road for pulling this thing without having to remove the pump and the oil lines.

So in she goes – then *CLUNK* Yep, that slick custom up-pipe I made…took a few too many liberties with it and it hit the passenger side’s small diagonal brace. I was just about to start modifying the up-pipe when I realized it would be easier and faster to just cut out the offending chassis bar and reposition it rather than deal with all the finicky angles of the up-pipe.

So I spent a day cutting up, grinding, and welding (again) my wonderfully powder coated chassis. Turns out, I didn’t need to remove the bar completely. I just cut the bottom, pulled it out a bit for clearance and rewelded it back in. It was a gorilla move for this hairless chimp.

THE TRANSMISSION

Ahhh, the trans… I love mine, but it does not love the turbo. I haven’t heard of anyone else having trouble with their trans-to-turbo clearance, but mine is a nightmare once you get to installing the trans. And. I. Think. I. Know. Why. (*more on that later*)

Everything starts out hunky-dory:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160283&d=1642348066

The load leveler lets you slide right onto the guide studs. Awesome easy! Then *CLUNK!* The trans bellhousing reinforcement rib smacks right into the turbo.

What makes this so utterly infuriating is that the clearance required is so small (maybe 3/8”) but it’s just enough to block the approach. There are two ribs here (circled in red) – the forward rib can be fenagled because the trans is still barely on the driver-side guide stud. But that rearward rib! ARGH! By that time you have slid the trans forward on both studs, and there’s no fenagling room left. You’re just stuck there.

Why…just why did they have to put the turbo so close? And why didn’t I, having known this for a long time (having had this engine and trans in the car so many times already) – why on God’s green earth didn’t I address this when I was making my custom up-pipe? I could’ve corrected this… Sure it would have been more work at that time and I wasn’t clear on exactly what would’ve been impacted, but I could’ve done it back then. I’m as angry at myself for taking a short-term gain when I knew there was a long-term issue at hand.

The only way to get the trans in was to loosen the turbo enough to pull it out of the way. That’s just ridiculous – and on this day, not easy. With the trans finally in, I just needed to lock it down to my trans mount. Yeah, that didn’t fit either. :mad: I was just having a day!

Seems I forgot (it was so very long ago) that between my initial mock-up/fabrication of the mount and my final welding of the chassis that things moved around on me. So I knew I was supposed to take care of this at some point, I just lost track of it. Out come the drills, the grinder, the files, etc. Time to go full-Sith on this thing and make it fit!

Now everything goes in pretty readily, as it should.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160282&d=1642348066

Happy to report that everything is pretty much where it was planned to be:


The engine is 5/8” lower than the standard FFR set up with OEM mounts. Super happy about that
The trans is at a 2.2deg tail down angle (the trans is very happy about that)
The headers tuck under the frame and do not impede with the planned diffuser ceiling (center will still requires a small dip, but that was already in the cards)


This was all a tremendous amount of work to get things exactly where I wanted them with no compromises. Feel like I’ve been in a bar fight the last couple of days.

Next Up: Taking it All Apart Many More Times!

[jforand]

Ah, that is a pain in the behind. I too fully assembled the turbo prior to the transmission and had the same interference. I assume you are running the more traditional turbo (VF39) which I do not have. My hodge doge of parts had a twin scroll VF38 in the box. Its discharge is straight up vertical versus horizonal toward the center of the engine bay and intercooler. It also has a bolted flange fitting versus a large barb style and hose clamp. I bring this up simply to say that after clocking the compressor housing and some custom plumbing and fitting with bolts that are accessible for only about one click of a ratchet (if you could get a ratchet in there!) it is TOTALLY NOT FUN to take in and out. I am currently awaiting and engine build which will hopefully be ready sometime in Feb/March. Here's to forgetting about this issue all again for that install.

[blomb11]

You are not alone! I just did the same dance with my trans and turbo, but I did not have your slick hoist and leveler. The VF37 twin scroll turbo did not allow for my 6spd to mate while it was installed so I had to remove it and then reinstall it again. Very frustrating and will be even more of a pain once the car is operational and is full of fluids. Your end result looks good! I definitely like how you redid the engine bay to allow for everything to drop in and this is something I may consider doing down the road.

[Santiago]

Glad to hear I'm not the only one.

I've run into a compatibility problem that jforand and others with the proverbial hodgepodge of parts might need to know about. I've got a 2005 JDM STi engine (ej207) which typically takes a 6MT. However, I'm using a 2000 5MT transmission native to the JDM WRX turbo engine. I'm confident eventually it will work (it does not right now), but I'm also pretty sure that this is because I ordered the wrong parts. Working with the clutch manufacturer right now to sort through it and try to verify what parts will work.

So the trans will come out once again! My mods have made this much easier now, so I'll post a little later on all that.

For those of you in the market for a sweet ACT Prolite flywheel, HD pressure plate, and 6-puck race clutch for a 2005 STi engine...hang tight for a bit, I'll probably have one for sale soon...:(

[aquillen]

When Ya'll get tired of turbo wars, drop in an H6....

(sorry, couldn't help being a wisea##)...:)

[Mechie3]

I've pulled the engine or trans in my donor (before it was a donor) so many times (like....7?) and the turbo almost always rubbed on the trans when putting them back together.

[Santiago]

In the (very long) while since I’ve updated this build thread, I got the dry sump system in! That might not sound like much, but this is my first dry-sump rodeo so there was a bit of a learning curve. Can’t say I’m over the hump. I’ve been on a steep curve for some time, and that’s part of what I like about this build.

Here’s the basic schematic of my system (adopted from ARE’s basic schematic):

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=163800&d=1647022853

I opted for putting the oil tank in the front, partly for weight distribution and partly for ease of packaging (the rear is getting busy with the bumper and rear wing stanchion I made).

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=163799&d=1647022688

That’s a bit longer run than most systems, so my guy (Gary Armstrong of ARE) recommended bumping up from 12AN to 16AN lines to and from the tank. Thus began the first of many, “Wait, this won’t work” moments…

YOUR ON YOUR OWN KID

Here’s the thing: with few exceptions, there isn’t really a comprehensive “kit” for dry sumps. You kind of have to figure it out as you go along. Sure, I got the pump/pulleys/pan all matched to my engine requirements, but the rest of the plumbing and install is boutique. So I did what I thought best to work through a slew of things.

Just a taste of the many fitting-challenges faced:

The ARE pump spec’d for Subies is a 3-stage pump (2 scavenge / 1 pressure) made with -10 ORB threaded ports. It comes set up with 12AN adapter fittings for the scavenge stages and a 10AN fitting for the pressure stage. The pressure OUT was fine. The pressure IN was not fine – it’s on the bottom of the pump, and there’s no way to get a 16AN fitting in the space available. In fact, have you ever tried to source a 10 ORB-to-16AN (male) fitting in the first place? I couldn’t find one anywhere, so I went with 12AN-to-16AN adapters. Yeah, those won’t work either – even on the scavenge OUT line (which is on the top of the pump) it was a no-go because the adapter spaced the 16AN hose end so high it smacked the engine V-bar.

Solution-A (bottom of pump): Use a short 12AN “jumper hose” (in blue) to get out from under the pump and into the engine bay. You can package 12AN lines on the bottom with 120deg fittings.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=163798&d=1647022688

That allowed me to hook up the long 16AN line to the tank with a 12AN-to-16AN adapter.

Solution-B (topside): Remember that unobtanium 10 ORB-to-16AN adapter? What do you do when you get no love from North America and Europe? Call in the Aussies! The only company I found (Aeroflow) that makes this oddball fitting is in the land down under. Thank you gents: double the price for shipping and three weeks later I was raising a drink (or two) to the boys.

3D PRINTING ROCKS

My scavenge lines are twin 12AN hoses. So that’s easy enough to find hose separators to keep them tidy. But try tying two 16AN hoses in parallel with a ½” breather hardline. Not so easy to find. No worries. I just printed up a few custom hose mounts. I also printed up clips to hold the ½” alum. hardline.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=163796&d=1647022688

I also printed up a spacer block for my remote mount oil filter. When it mounted to the firewall the oil filter was almost flush to the wall. You couldn’t even get a finger around the backside. So this makes it easy to spin on and off.

MAKING HOSES HURTS

I have made AN hoses before. Forgot how much I hate doing it. I have Koul tools to help, but it was still a bear. At least now I have a better idea of why.

I confess, I’m a bit of an Aeroquip fan-boy. Correction, I WAS a fan-boy. Not anymore. On their larger fittings (i.e. everything I was using on the oil system), the way they design the nipple of the hose end makes assembly much harder. The trouble is they don’t thread the fitting very far – that means you have to physically push like mad into the hose/nut assembly until it gets far enough to engage the threads on the nut. Then you have to twist whilst keeping pressure on. It’s murder! So there I was, working out harder in the garage than I have in the gym for a long time…until I picked up an Earl’s fitting. WOW! They thread their fittings much further down the stem of the nipple and that means you get some thread engagement with much less effort. Small design difference, huge improvement.

Push-Lock Fitting Tips:

Most of the breather lines are ½” aluminum tube. However, there’s a couple jumper hoses in play for stress relief. Braided blah-blah-blah seemed like overkill for this, so I went with push-lock fittings. These are just as much a bear to assemble as braided lines, unless [*drumroll please*] you use the ole’ boiling water trick! Seriously, it works.

First, get some proper aluminum vise jaws specifically for AN fittings. Why I waited so long… Dumb move, just get the jaws.

Now get yourself set up with the fitting in the vise. Take the hose inside the kitchen [when the wife’s not looking] and dunk the end of it in [one of her pots of] boiling water for 10-20 seconds (doesn’t take much to soften the rubber a bit). Run back into the garage and push it on. Way easy. I’d almost say it’s fun. I’ll probably use these for the Trans Cooler install.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=163795&d=1647022688

OIL COOLER / TRANS COOLER

I’ve had the location of these in mind for a long time, but I haven’t built the ducting for it yet. So some of this might look odd right now. I put both coolers on the passenger side. Each will get their own dedicated ducting in and out.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=163802&d=1647022853

To mount the heat exchangers here I made a vertical surface from the same 1/8” thick 7075 aluminum sheet left over from the firewall/side anti-intrusion panels. I covered the engine side with heat shield. Eventually all of it will be covered with ducting which will enclose the heat exchangers completely. For now, they’ll “hang out” for a bit.

Hah! Get it…hang out…`cause they’re hanging in the wind…

Oh, and keep in mind I’m not using the FFR body panels, so I’m free from those packaging constraints.

SEAL IT

I’d like to say I have one last tip, but this one’s not really mine. I found this one reading one of Carrol Smith’s books: use SECO seals. These are the coolest little ultra-soft aluminum cones that fit over your AN fittings. They’re basically conical crush washers.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=163801&d=1647022853

You’re not supposed to need these…AN fittings are supposed to seal tight along perfectly mated 37deg faces. That’s the theory, and to be honest I’ve mostly had great success with AN lines. Every now and then you hear a horror story about a hose that won’t seal. Smith says anyone who knows about these seals and doesn’t have a stash of them on hand in his trailer or tool box is an idiot. So I got plenty of spares. Most of my lines have them installed for preventative measure.

Next Up: Taking It All Apart - Again!

[Sgt.Gator]

What did you use to blank off the OEM oil pump?

[Santiago]

What did you use to blank off the OEM oil pump?

I just gutted the pump and put it back to run the pulley.

[Santiago]

Let’s start by stop saying Subarus are like Legos…they are not. Not by a long shot. Turns out, thinking “they’re just like Legos” got me into a heap-o-trouble. My 2000 WRX 5MT trans was never meant to go together with a 2005 STi engine. Both are JDM, and neither one of them likes the other.

Hence, my first encounter with a turbo flange that bullied my trans bellhousing. Not nice. So I took a die grinder to that one stupid rib on the trans and cut myself a clearance notch. There’s another “why didn’t you do this in the first place?” sort of things…

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=164412&d=1648051220

Now the trans glides in like butta. Really, I have had this thing in and out three or four times since, and it’s really nice.

The reason why it’s been in and out is not so nice, but mostly due to Subarus NOT being at all like Legos. All of this might be really obvious to some folks, but it sure wasn’t (still isn’t?) to me.

THE GOOD

My 2000 trans bolts up to the engine. No surprise there. The trans is also set up with the same pull-type clutch native to the 2005 engine. And let’s not forget, it has very useable 0.825 gearing in 5th. So far so good.

THE BAD

What I didn’t know is that turbo 5-speeds use a 9” clutch set up, whereas the STi uses a 9.4” set up… You might thing this is trivial, but it turns out there’s WAY more difference in these two than you might think. HINT: The “you” here is really “me” but I talk to myself so much I can hardly tell that idiot from your run of the mill idiot.

THE CHOICE

When using Engine-A along with Trans-B, which clutch set up should you go with? We’re talking about three components (flywheel, clutch disk, and pressure plate), and at least I figured they should all be of the same vintage, i.e. no mix-and-matching. I reasoned that since it starts with the flywheel and the flywheel bolts to the engine, you should get everything suited for the engine.

Wrong.

The STi flywheel has standoffs cast into it which at first makes it look like it puts the pressure plate much further rearward. However, the pressure plate mount design is very different from the WRX set up. At the end of the day, the STi set does extend further into the bellhousing, but only by 2mm. What’s really different is the overall shape of the pressure plate and the diameter that gets smaller (relative to the STi unit) the further it goes into the trans.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=164411&d=1648051220

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=164410&d=1648051220

When you assemble the STi flywheel set up to the 5MT trans, it binds up when you bolt everything together. You can actually get the trans to sit flush, then torqued down, but at that point it’s just enough to bind together. I only found out by sheer luck (a pressure plate bolt was sitting at the 6 o’clock position and I could see it at the bottom). The pressure plate itself also binds when clocked at the same position.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=164409&d=1648051220

Let’s just say I had a couple of interesting days trying to figure all this out and make it work. I thought I was doing something wrong (i.e. user installation error). The sneaking suspicion that I had the wrong parts started to get me thinking….maybe I ordered the wrong parts. The original user error.

With the WRX set up, the whole set up has plenty of clearance.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=164408&d=1648051220


So yeah. Brand new (only mounted once, never run) ACT flywheel, clutch, and pressure plate for an STi…about a grand in parts…useless to me. And now for sale! Time for someone to save a couple hundred bucks. PM me for details. I’ll have it up in the for-sale forums and social media sites shortly.

Contacted ACT tech support, figured they needed a good laugh. They confirmed: “[I]that’s weird, they’re supposed to be like Legos…” *GRRRRR* Of course, then they offered, “well, if you get the right combination of parts, you can make it work.” Thanks for that. That’s true of all makes (even cross-make swaps work this way). Not very “Lego-like” after all.

Next Up: If it Walks Like a Duct…!