PorSTi Project Thread…, Well that was fun, time to make some upgrades! Options

[Amenson]

Continued work on the scoop today.
Was struggling to get the right curve in the flap until I found this custom bending tool laying around the shop (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Once I got the curve the way I wanted it I made a template and the side pieces.

Pulled the hood. Sort of liked this view but I really need to tidy up the wires.

Time to break out the tig (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif)

After I got the feel for the material I was making no filler micro tacks on the edge of the 1mm sheet.

I love TIG...less than 5 minutes of grinding with 100 grit to clean edges.

Looks pretty darn good if I must say so myself.

Will be fairly discrete once painted.

Venting!


Will find some reasonably close color in a can and spray bomb it so that it looks decent from 10 feet.

Almost done with the high effort tasks...time to burn through all of the little tasks on the check list.

Soctt

[CptTripps]

That's pretty cool man. I'm wondering why you felt you needed to cut the hood. Was using the wheel wells not an option? Mine are cut out for venting, and on the V8 that worked just fine. Is it because the fuel cell is in the way?

[Amenson]

That's pretty cool man. I'm wondering why you felt you needed to cut the hood. Was using the wheel wells not an option? Mine are cut out for venting, and on the V8 that worked just fine. Is it because the fuel cell is in the way?

I struggled a lot with the radiator venting method. The wheel well vents obviously work based on the number of cars that use them. I just could not rationalize dumping all that hot air onto the front brakes and tires.
Until yesterday there was no vent and during normal driving the temperature did not get high enough for the ECU to even turn on the fans!

[veekry9]

"Looks pretty darn good if I must say so myself."

Yup,looks good and works a charm.The hammer and wood method of sheetmetal-work.



Did an entire tow-truck rear-bodywork with this method,not using a brake.
Looked good in black,all the facets of the rear flares.
Labour intensive.

[Amenson]

Pulled the fuel pump to isolate the ground and replace the in tank fuel line that was leaking a bit.
I wanted to put fine fuel filter in the tank also but there was not enough room.
Still a really nice setup.


Installed for good!


Isolating the ground returned control to the fuel pump controller so it does a fixed priming run at key-up and proportional speed based on engine load. Can't even hear the pump at idle now!

Scott

[Amenson]

Installed the modified angle drive WSS tonight.
I really enjoy using modern connectors:


All wired up and it works!

Put it into gear on the lift and the spedometer moves finally. Played with the Speedpuls Tachotronic and the speed changed. Can't wait to calibrate it tomorrow morning on the way to work.

Scott

[Amenson]

The speedometer is working and perfectly calibrated. Went to use the cruise control and it would turn on indicating that the system was fault free but it would not set. Looked into it a bit and figured out that the second clutch switch (not installed because there is no room) needed to be connected and held closed. Put some tape on it and checked the signal on the Accessport...good to go. Took it for a quick drive and the cruise would still not set. Though about it for a few days and could not come up with any other ideas. Checked my daily driver STI and and compared it to the Porsti and the clutch switch was not right. The tape had stretched.

I considered replacing the switch with a jumper connector but I though that it would be fun to use a mechanical solution to an electrical problem so I welded a cap on one of the nuts.

This is the kind of stuff that I always give my ME buddies crap for doing...they will be impressed. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/bye1.gif)

So Cruise works now.

I also installed the wiper motor and wired the intermittent circuit to the stock motor...works like a charm. How many 914's have cruise and intermittent wipers! All of the work to use the suby harness is really starting to pay off. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/first.gif)

I still have some trans fluid dripping and the area around the breather is staying dry. My wife mentioned that her employer had a bore scope that could be used for government work. What better way to look for a leaking trans seal! She brought it home and the scope is worth considerably more that my car! Has a steerable head, zoom and a whole lot more features.


Worked great...now I have to pull the trans this week and replace the seal.

Scott

[Amenson]

Time for an update...
In my last post I was in the last push to get the car ready for Hot Rod Power Tour....well we made it although did not make the fist day in Charlotte due to an endless to do list. Thankfully my Father flew down from WI a day early to help.

Some little things to take care of 2 days before departing!

Time to go...just a little bit exhausted and excited/terrified to see if she holds together.

The trip from Columbus to Knoxville went perfectly, finally together with the Late Hauler crew on Power Tour again after 8 long years.


PorSTI parked at the first Hotel. Picture only shows about half of the cars in our group, most everything has LSx something and half of them boosted.


Time for the shenanigans to start....

[Amenson]

Each day of Power Tour has an organized car show at some huge venue. Somewhere between 3000-5000 cars. The Late Haulers carve out a small area of the show and set up tents and coolers, the rest of the afternoon is spent drinking beer and checking out cars.


After the event everybody heads to the hotel and relaxes before dinner.


After dinner and maybe a bar, back to the parking deck for more beer and...


It took a while to get the PorSTI dialed in for burnouts. The first night I made a load of smoke but it was a one wheel peal. The rubber pattern was pretty cool because the exhaust was pushing it out to the side...

Over the next day or so I figured out that if I started the burnout in second while rolling both wheels would spin. We were getting ready to leave on the second morning and I decided to try a second gear burnout stationary from my parking spot to inspire the group to get on the road. Gave it a little throttle, let the clutch out and kerplowee...the car lunged, made some horrible noises and stalled. Went to put it in neural and found the shifter cocked way over to the side. Got out and surveyed the damage. Turned out both of the front engine mounts pulled out the rubber and then engine was held up in the front by the shift rod. Moments after the failure jacks, and tools started showing up.

In 10 minutes the first mount was removed and the guys were trying to squeeze it back together. It took a trip to a local shop where they let me in back to press the parts back together and 1.5 hours later the car was back together with some big washers installed above the mounts to keep the failure from occurring again. Had to do a quick test burnout to make sure that it would hold together for the long trip to the next venue. It is too bad that this picture was not zoomed out a bit further because my Father was standing there with a look of disgust on his face that I was abusing the car again (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif)



Each day the trip from the hotel to the next venue was filled with rolling races on the open road, traffic jams through small towns and the inevitable breakdown. After the motor mount incident the PorSTI had zero problems and proved it to be the second fastest car of the group, only the 600+rwhp turbocharged Vette was faster. The PoSTI flat out hauls. 5th gear pulls feel as strong as 3rd, until better judgement steps in and shuts it down. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy11.gif)

Anyways, this goes on day after day and besides the seat needing some additional padding the car is great to drive. The cruise control is a real plus on the long open sections.

Finally after much practice I was able to put down a really pro burnout. The picture only shows the end after I had been slow rolling for about 50 feet and could no longer see where I was going so I did a beautifully slow doughnut. Random strangers were coming over the rest of the night and even the next morning to say how great a burnout it was and to talk about the car. Apparently there is video of it that my buddy took but I don't have it yet. Looks like a "9"


On the drive to the last venue one of the guys overextended is aftermarket clutch slave cylinder. The shop we rolled to a stop at did not have the correct type of lift to pull the trans so he took us to another local shop that just happened to be the Ring Brothers. They gave us full access to the entire shop and when they departed for the event, left two of the builders back to help us get the car fixed. They even had the exact slave cylinder we needed that they installed but never used on some other project and gave it to us. Buddies car going up on the lift with their Pantera 'ADRNLN' and this years SEMA car in the background.



While we were working on the car a few Hot Rod magazine people showed up to interview the Ring Brothers and take pictures of the shop. They noticed what we were doing and said that if we got it together and to the show in time, they would set up a photo shoot. It is amazing what can be accomplished with a dozen gear heads working together. We made it to the show and got our photo shoot.

The picture did not make the magazine but we did get invited to the Hot Rod hospitality bus for an afternoon of free booze and got to hang out with the Hot Rod magazine people. (that is David Freiburger on the left).



They even had me bring the PorSTI over and park it in the hospitality area!


What a great ending to a great trip.

Cheers,
Scott

[Amenson]

Since the trip I have been driving it daily and finishing/fixing little things. The biggest improvements have been made to the pedals. All three have been cut apart to improve the position, force ratios and travel.

I did have a CV let go on me a couple of weeks ago. Fortunately it happened as I was returning home from visiting a new friend that I met on power tour. He was nice enough to give me a tow home.


I am currently building a fresh transmission as the one that is in it now is suffering a bit. First and second syncro parts are on their last legs and I think that the internal rods were repositioned a bit when the engine was sitting on the sift linkage. Just a bunch of parts now but should be together and swapped in shortly.




Cheers,
Scott

[CptTripps]

I've got one thing to say about that...

[Amenson]

I've got one thing to say about that...

Good eye...
I have 2 Jeni's withing 5 miles of my house. Drive by one of them to/from work every day. It is a problem.

On the transmission front, I wanted to pretty up the trans a bit so I did some research into painting magnesium parts and found a whole bunch of nasty and expensive options. I ran into a couple of mentions of Prekote Surface Pretreatment. It is supposed prevent corrosion and aid paint adhesion all while being non hazardous. I gave it a try and it does seem to be non hazardous because I splashed it all over my fade and arms as I was applying it and did no have any reaction. After treatment I put on a few coats of Tempo LYC Gray Engine Enamel and it looks pretty good. Only time will tell if it holds up.


Gear stack with stock gears, new syncro bands, new or nearly new syncro hubs and new/nearly new sliders.


The tail covers on the transmissions I picked up both had some problems so I have to swap the one on the car over before I can button it up. Of course it will need to be painted so I will have a bit of downtime for the swap. The weather is supposed to be great this week and we have plans solid for the next 3 weekends so I may not get to it until the end of October. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/hissyfit.gif)

Need to get it in before the snow flies because if this trans does not meet my shifting expectations I will have to start shopping for a suby 5 speed to drop in over the winter...

Cheers,
Scott

[Amenson]

I now officially have a problem...
To make a long story even longer, I was searching craigslist for an exhaust for my '05 STI daily driver because it is developing a small leak. A guy from a bit outside my area bought some parts from me over the summer and said that he frequently parts out Subaru's so I searched his area for parts. What is the second add that shows up? 2009 WRX transmission, 19000 miles, needs new output shaft bearing.

Call the guy up and apparently his son did a stage two update with a performance clutch to his new WRX and destroyed the output shaft bearing. He says the trans was shifting fine when it started to make noises spins freely in all gears when turned by hand. Couple of texts later and he agreed to sell the trans, ACT Heavy Duty Performance Street Disc Clutch Kit, ACT StreetLite Flywheel and two front axles for $300. Drive out to get it, the trans was as he described and the clutch/flywheel is in very good condition.
Now I have a problem.



I have a really fresh 901 almost ready to go back in and the parts to build a really nice close ratio track box. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)

How do I not put the Suby trans in this in this winter?

Anybody in the market for a really nice 901 sideshifter?

Cheers,
Scott

[DBCooper]

Ha ha ha, good job. We're doing EXACTLY the same thing to my son's car right now. I've had that transmission in my car for a while now and believe me, you have no choice, you have to put it in. Seriously. And another plus is that no one's 901 is as good as they'd like it so you should have no shortage of takers for a good transmission. Means you should net out pretty well.

Well done. Again.

[Chris H.]

Nice score. $300 for a low-mileage 2009 trans? You STOLE that even if it needs a little work. And as DB said, there's always a market for a good 901. You'll be so happy with a Subaru trans. You CAN'T NOT DO IT. They paid more for the clutch/flywheel than you did for the whole setup.

Edit: LOL! Looks like the center diff is still in there! If it's still good that's worth ~$250ish on NASIOC

[Amenson]

Ha ha ha, good job. We're doing EXACTLY the same thing to my son's car right now. I've had that transmission in my car for a while now and believe me, you have no choice, you have to put it in. Seriously. And another plus is that no one's 901 is as good as they'd like it so you should have no shortage of takers for a good transmission. Means you should net out pretty well.

Well done. Again.

Ya, I know that I really do not have a choice about putting it in. Whenever I walk by it I have to play with the shift rod, just so precise and crisp feeling.

I will finish the 901 that I am building and install it in the car to get a few miles on it before the snow flies. Have enjoy the fruits of my labor and prove that it is built properly. Then I can put it up for sale to fund the parts to install the Suby trans.

Nice score. $300 for a low-mileage 2009 trans? You STOLE that even if it needs a little work. And as DB said, there's always a market for a good 901. You'll be so happy with a Subaru trans. You CAN'T NOT DO IT. They paid more for the clutch/flywheel than you did for the whole setup.

Edit: LOL! Looks like the center diff is still in there! If it's still good that's worth ~$250ish on NASIOC

The clutch/flywheel setup is probably going to seal the deal and make the swap happen this winter. Had I had to purchase it, the setup that came with the trans. would have been toward the top of the list and cost ~$1k. Now I can toss an OBX lsd in it instead!

I have all of the parts to the trans. I dropped in the center diff so that I could spin the input shaft and see the front diff turn. It looks a bit beat up from when the bearing failed so I probably won't sell it because I can't guarantee the condition.

If anybody is thinking about getting a fresh 901 sideshifter, the second one that I am building could be put together with any combination of stock gears plus M,S,X,Z. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

Cheers,
Scott

[Amenson]

Every time I look for parts for my daily driver I find Suby 5mt's for sale (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

There are two '02 WRX 5MT's for sale with bad center diff's for sale in the Columbus Ohio area. One guy is looking for offers and getting none and one is listed for $150 plus an R160 as partial trade. My guess is both can be had for next to nothing. They are listed in a closed Subaru facebook group so if you are interested I will have to send your contact information to the sellers. Just send me a PM.

Cheers,
Scott

[CptTripps]

I need to get you up here to give me some pointers on my build. I likely did a few things very wrong and having someone else that's done a subie build take a look at it, would be great. I've had a few take a look, but yours seems to be the closest to mine...and you're only a few hours away. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Amenson]

I need to get you up here to give me some pointers on my build. I likely did a few things very wrong and having someone else that's done a subie build take a look at it, would be great. I've had a few take a look, but yours seems to be the closest to mine...and you're only a few hours away. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

This is entertaining....I have started looking at your build and a few others as reference for the suby 5mt and water air intercooler details!

It would be nice to get up there to give you some pointers but while you are relatively close, all of my "free" time is booked converting the PORSTI tans. Not to mention I have a '70 C10 that will be torn down to the frame starting thanksgiving week (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sawzall-smiley.gif)

You are welcome to come down and check mine out some time. Always cold beer in the garage (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer.gif)

Cheers,
Scott

[Amenson]

The 2014 version of the Late Haulers Hot Rod Power Tour video is finally in the public domain. Enjoy....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdv4WFbOTw8


Major PorSTI Shenanigans at 2:27, 11:43 and 13:57.

Back to putting together a bullet proof drivetrain for next year. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smash.gif)

Cheers,
Scott