Retro Racing R build

[RetroRacing]

having trouble posting lately, but FYI, we have the engine mounted!! Now onto firewall replacement and plumbing mock up, then engine back out of the car for some new valve springs (to safely rev to 8000+) and timing upgrade.
Will post picks when I get a chance

[dwgcooks]

Hey Retro, great thread with lots of info and unfortunate events. Glad you are still pursuing with a new engine.
What are your thoughts with going with 15" wheels on the front? Was there a noticable difference with turn in and overall handling?
What were the offsets for your wheels?
Thanks

[RetroRacing]

The 15" front wheel package is MUCH better, can now get the car low enough while maintaining clearance to the fenders, and, much better turn in. I believe ours are 40mm offset, 7", with some hubcentric spacers which I believe are 10mm, but I will check again and post. Personally, I think this is the way to go for an R, better all around.
We have the engine in the car and the firewall almost done. Need to remove the engine this weekend so we can weld in the new bracing and complete the engine upgrades. The turbo was fun, using the cast manifold, our turbo is maybe 10" from the valves, so should have wicked response. Plumbing is pretty much figured out, as is the exhaust.

Hope to have it fired up in the car in the next 30 days, on track in April for testing. Will post pics when we have better ones.

[Hobby Racer]

The 15" front wheel package is MUCH better, can now get the car low enough while maintaining clearance to the fenders, and, much better turn in. I believe ours are 40mm offset, 7", with some hubcentric spacers which I believe are 10mm, but I will check again and post. Personally, I think this is the way to go for an R, better all around.

What brake and rotor combination are you running up front that allows you to use 15" rims? I have 15's on my Lotus Elise and they are great for getting the nose down. Lots of tires to chose from as well since that's a favorite size for MX-5's.

[dwgcooks]

What brake and rotor combination are you running up front that allows you to use 15" rims? I have 15's on my Lotus Elise and they are great for getting the nose down. Lots of tires to chose from as well since that's a favorite size for MX-5's.

I'm interested in this too.

I'm interested in a lot of things...like
More info on your tires (40 or 50 series) ?
Where you purchased your tires?
You know...the usual

[EODTech87]

We went with Voxx Milena on the front, 7x15 with Hoosier 245 slicks and XXR 527, 9.75x17 on the rear with Hoosier 265 slicks

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They are both in flat black, and are similar enough that you can't tell they are different styles. We are running a Willwood kit front and rear, and clearance is REALLY close up front, so not sure what you have for clearance with what you are using. I can measure if you like.

Wilwood 4-Pots. Exactly what I plan on running to allow 15" wheels front and rear.

[RetroRacing]

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Engine going in tonight!
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[Kurk818]

It looks so small in there. :)

Keep up the good work.

[RetroRacing]

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Half way through plumbing the oil, fuel is done, exhaust is to the muffler, intake from turbo to manifold is done, intercooler done, need to finish water and install the ecu and wire harness (which is made). The trans is in exactly the same spot as the ej, so that was easy.....
Off to seattle for a few days of vaca, back at it on Monday, should have it ready to fire by end of next week.
Spent all weekend on the KMiata, installed new cams and valve springs. Time for it to go to the dyno, expecting around 260hp at the wheels N/A! You can get 300hp at the wheels N/A with these things!!

[AZPete]

Nice work! Much too beautiful to race.

[RetroRacing]

Almost ready for final wiring and a start! Will post pics next week, keep getting distracted by the Kmiata, but that should be completed and in the trailer this weekend.

[Cosmo1stgen]

Awesome. Can’t wait to se how it goes. My K series is going in my 818 right now! A friend of mine is doing the work. Won’t be doing many firewall mods the transmission is getting shifted back and the rear most lower suspension mounting points modded. Can’t wait to see how yours performs.

[RetroRacing]

We thought about doing that but would have had to incorporate the trans adapter into the frame to stiffen the suspension pickup points. If we could have dropped the trans to take out the lean, we wouldn't have had to mod the firewall, it would have cleared by 1/4". Would have been even better with the integral dry sump for the K series engine, but they are not making them again until later this year.

Can't wait to see them both done!

[subysouth]

Intercooler is almost in, scoop.....[/ATTACH]

Yea so sick.

ss

[subysouth]

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Love the color and really enjoying everything about this build thread circa page 5. Waiting for where Ecoboost hits the discussion cause that's how i got here.

ss

[subysouth]

Quite an odyssey Retro, thank you for your generosity in sharing all this with the forums. Unless I missed it you thoroughly answered every question you were hit with and you didn't gloss over the setbacks either. I have said elsewhere I previously fell hard for the Subies but my last Outback XT finally broke me. As I sit here 2019, I think the last well built engine Subaru brought to the US was the EJ22T sad to say. I can't wait to see how your new H motor turns out, it will sound a lot different and I hope proves to be more dependable. If I break down and get this 818 kit I will be using another option for the engine as well not just because of my EJ history but for some other reasons too.

Thanks again,
ss

[Frank818]

Will post pics next week

Next week was...? Missed? :)

[Brd.Prey]

[QUOTE= metric (drives one's mechanic crazy when at the track and you have both metric and standard on the car)[/QUOTE]

LOL I went the other way, it worked out better than planned . I bought a 1/2 spiral machine reamer for $20 and reamed all the bushings and frame holes (great for powdercoat cleanup). The best part was how tight and nice the bolt fit to bushing was, no play. I have become a real fan of reamers now.

[Hobby Racer]

Any updates?

[biknman]

Any updates?
bumping

[biknman]

Retro just needs a better builder, like the guys who run in the BTCC!
http://images.pistonheads.com/nimg/34611/team_bmr_017.jpg

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=23&t=1608962

However they did order up 12 engines.....

http://images.pistonheads.com/nimg/34611/BMR_Subaru_031-L.jpg

They use a wet sump + Accusump, or atleast they did in 2016. I don't know what they have for the 2018 season:

Specs Here: http://www.teambmr.co.uk/btcc-subaru-levorg-gt-team-bmr

But keep in mind the BTCC cars don't pull the Gs our 818Rs can. They weigh 2800lbs and run on 10" wide wheels. Also the downforce is a lot less than Retro has going.

I saw somewhere on the interwebs they also come up with s clever pickup in the pan the swivels:

https://www.hpacademy.com/technical-articles/what-do-you-do-when-youre-not-allowed-a-dry-sump-tech-byte/
This is the situation Mountune faced when developing the Subaru FA20 engine for use in the British Touring Car Championship where the rules required retaining the factory wet sump.
Goodwood 3814
To give the best chance of being able to provide a high pressure supply of oil, a clever moving pickup is used. This swings inside the sump in response to the lateral and longitudinal g forces the car is being subjected to, meaning that it essentially follows the oil around the sump
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[RetroRacing]

Sorry everyone, been a busy few months. We had to complete the KMiata, had a few stupid things happen with it at the enduro (oil filter gasket and trans input shaft bearing failure) that cost us the race, but the engine was perfect. Now, we need to get it back in, pull the trans, fix the clutch......in Feb....maybe.
That said, we decided to replace ALL the wiring in the 818, install a wireless steering wheel button setup (https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/document.asp?DocID=TECH00124) along with a ton of other bits, while waiting to finish the engine wiring. We hoped to complete it by mid December, before pulling in our two RX7's for SCCA E Production prep, but failed miserably so won't get back on it until mid Jan.
It's really hard to start and stop, just want to get it on the dyno and tuned!!!! Will try to stay on updates, sorry again for the delay, building and repairing 5 cars after work and on weekends is draining.....

did just get a new stacker trailer though!

[longislandwrx]

when is the dyno session? :D

[RetroRacing]

So, finally an update!
Based upon Gator's transmission post, we decided to rip it all apart, modify the frame and transmission mount, raise the front of the engine and lower the transmission to level. It turns out, this was the BEST option that we should have done from the beginning! The engine would have ended up fitting with a baffled oil pan had we not decided already to go down the drysump route, but there you go...
This engine would fit even with the gas tank in the stock location, with an oil pan btw. 4P racing is building these engines to 400hp N/A! We, however, decided to make the VF23 turbo fit, setting it to 8-10psi to get there on a stock engine.
Start up in the next week or so, then over to the dyno. Going to scale it soon after, but we think we will be about the same weight. No body mods so far, just some frame work and extra stiffeners. Thank you again Gator for catching our mistake prior to us burning up a trans!

[RetroRacing]

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[RetroRacing]

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[RetroRacing]

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[Sgt.Gator]

Look who's back! Hopefully this summer we'll have your 818, Dragonfly's, maybe Tony's former 818, and mine racing in Conference at the same time!
Fuel Safe is designing a 16-18 gallon fuel cell for me that will fit in the stock location and fill on the passenger side. That should be enough to get thru our 1 hour mini enduros without a fill, and when we do fill I feel a LOT safer having the re-fuel happening on the other side of the car.

Keep your updates coming!

[RetroRacing]

Starting a new thread K24 818R build.