we started on underbody protection today nuts welded to the underbody and painted 24"x48"x1/4" HDPE mounted up new rear diff guard next to the old primitive plate (will require some creativity on the forward mounts but I have a plan) Also went to discount steel to get some aluminum sheet for the gas tank plates and to extend the front skid to cover the transmission pan
under body stuff looks good. I am tempted to do that to my car. although large sheets of HDPE sound expensive. I have already scrapped 80% of the undercoating off the bottom of my car... could be a sound alternative. They must have changed the mounting points for the diff protector from the GCs to the GDs. You dont have any forward mounting points? What does your diff mount look like? I know for mine I needed to use some spacers to reach but that was it.
The front of the plate is about 3/4" wider than the widest part of the front of the diff carrier. I don't know what carl's plan is.
the rear diff plate on the left looks just like the one i have on my forester. I am sure the mounting could be copied. come to chipotle today and check it out. lol
It looks like the standard Subaru one, except I think it's missing the spacers that center it in the front.
there is no way the bolt holes on the side of the diff plate can be used. they line up with the bolts on the diff carrier but it is too wide and physically impossible to get longer bolts in on the righthand side (due to the gas tank). I will be making a bracket to bolt through the bottom of the plate instead
This is what I though the first time I put mine in. I had to be very creative to get the OEM bolts out. However when I put in the diff protector it came with new hardware featuring bolts that actually worked. The biggest thing is that lip on the bottom of the diff carrier, it makes it so you need to use a ratchet or very goofy wrench to get the bolts out which is why you end up hitting the gas tank. The new protector uses spacers (one side larger than the other) to go over the lip and allows the protector to have that flat side edge. which means you can use a normal hex head bolt and it can be put in or taken out using a box end wrench which will easily clear the gas tank. I will take some pictures to show you what I mean, a little later. it actually makes it 100000x easier to drop the diff the way it is setup. Edit: here is a picture of what I mean. Its not the greatest but you can see that the bolts sit flush on the plate and that it eliminates the lower edge on the diff carrier so you do not need to use a ratchet/socket to get the bolt out. Now with the plate installed you can just use a normal box end wrench to get the new bolts in/out so there is not a clearance issue with the gas tank. The bolts that hold the diff plate on also hold the diff to the diff carrier, so all you need to do to drop the diff is pop off the 4 front bolts (easier w/o that lip) and the 2 back bolts and done. hope this info helps
Martin, thanks for the pic - the plate would not line up that way for some reason and even if it did, it would run into the exhaust on my car. so we just attached it from the bottom. we do need to grind off all the extra bolt that sticking out but you get the idea. I will revist it though because I do not like having the bolts coming out the bottom - I know we will catch them on rocks and round the heads off. Due to the design of the home-made bracket and it's location, I'm not worried about hitting the heads dead on, I don't think anything would happen other than our bracket would bend but I bet we'd be removing them via vice-grip after a lot of events Also had most of the crew over today - bielke's suby isn't pictured and dan (dmoo) couldn't make it
cool, cool. diff protector looks good. I think you are right that those bolts will get rounded off pretty fast. It should work for awhile though. You shouldnt need to take it off unless you mess up the rear diff or rear subframe. Looks like a mini subie meet in the driveway.
only 5 in the pic. although bielke's RS and carl's STi were both there, just not pictured. I got to take a peek, up close and personal-like today. absolutely badass! can't wait to see it out on the course!!
it's technically not a dsm lol plus sheenis drove the exploder instead of his STI and dan wasn't there with his STI. My dad's FXT is also off to the left out of picture. All in all, a subaru based rally team apparently has a lot of subarus :laugh:
next time you have a little work on the car get together, let me know i would love to swing by and lend a hand or just hang out!
i am glad you like them dave!:biggrin: you are just jealous you arent as pretty as me.... would you like a pair for your next birthday... i could tell the wifey for you:laugh:
I was thinking of inverting the top mount and stuffing it in the grill. Top of the truck would cause too much aero drag. I wanna keep the exploder in top shape if I'm gonna beat the SlowTi.
Had the crew over today (minus bielke) - thanks for coming dmoo, boomer, sniper1rfa, scuba_steve, idget, and chux. We got a lot accomplished! skidplate was extended to cover the transmission pan (big thanks to fobia and speedemon for welding it together at midnight lol) triangles mounted to cage firesystem mounted and plumbed remounted the terratrip. one of the 3 interior fire-nozzles can be seen on the top corner of the cage intercom mounted and wired no turbo! fire nozzles mounted on each strut tower (3rd nozzle mounted at front of engine)
Looks great Carl! Quick question on the suppression system. What kind of system is that? I'm not too familiar with in car systems. One thought: Would it be better to run that nozzle on the drivers side of the cage to the center of the car (around where the dome light was) and have it facing forward? My only thought is if you ever have to use it (or if it should trigger by accident) I wouldn't want that in a position where it could be spraying into my eyes while I'm trying to unass the car in a hurry, especially while it's moving.
That's fun stuff. Effective too, it's the same thing they use in Aircraft firefighting. I figured you guys had a reason for putting it there, it was just something I wondered about.
our heads sit quite a ways back from the front where the nozzles are - they are aimed mainly toward the torso/lap area. it is recommended to practice getting out of the car with the helmet and HANS on while blindfolded on a regular basis so if we do get it in our eyes we should be ok if the car isn't upside down or the doors are jammed
Will there be a party to watch you and Dave practice this? I'll bring the popcorn. I always thought a round of applause was inorder anytime i get out of rally car and don't end up on my butt on the ground.
we moved dave's seat forward but also relocated the computer so it's a toss-up whether it's easier now. i've tried it a few times with a helmet and my eyes closed (but no HANS) and it wasn't bad - I did wack my head pretty good on the top bar the first time.
I know! I know!!!!! god, I wasn't even all the way in the driver's seat, and I still almost got stuck :laugh:. I can't imagine doing it with all the safety gear on!
