I was under the assumption that it was Clark Tuning. But man, it's been forever since I've heard anything about him and i think there were like 4-5 guys that paid for his flight and board to come to MN and tune them. Have you tried p&l motorsports yet?
Jeez I'm behind the times, I didn't realize that Matt wasn't at RS anymore! The interweb car forums think highly of AA driveline in Anoka, you could try getting a quote from them.
Thanks Eric! I'll check out AA Driveline too. I may just figure it out at this point too, I don't know. Ugh. Tonight I got my external temp sensor fully wired in so my cluster is 95% hooked up, once I get my diff situation sorted I'll get my rear diff temp wired in. I also got the Group N top hats installed. Below is a picture, it's embarrassing I was driving on those. The Group N is a bit beefier and maybe 10mm taller, so I had to re-adjust my coilovers to compensate for the new height. Then I did something that never happens... I got into the car. AND I DROVE IT. It was glorious, I just did a big loop and enjoyed the car. A year ago I was just getting into this project, actually a year ago this week I thought I was missing an eye ball. It's nice to start enjoying it. Here's a question, should I buy a V6 spoiler or just go with a V5? I have two V5s in my garage, I think I should just do that. Ugh, anyway I'm tired and rambling here's the pic.
So today, I drove my car up to the cabin and something terrible happened. My slave cylinder started acting funny again, the pedal wouldn't come all the way back up from the floor and wouldn't fully engage. So I decided it would be a great idea to pull over and see if I could figure out the issue (slave cylinder's cylinder stuck perhaps?). What happened next is a coincidence, I let it sit for 5 minutes then started looking around, I went down and pushed the clutch pedal in with my HAND and something snapped and the pedal went to the floor. 99 miles from home this all happened. With no tools and in an act of desperation I thought of the idea of using my phone to take a pic of the issue so I could see what's going on, since my TMIC was in the way. Attached is the video. I'm pretty sure my throwout bearing is effed in the butt. Anyone have any thoughts? My hunch all along was the throwout bearing wasn't seated all the way and had too much play. I've limped it to the cabin (which was about 40 miles away from that point) by rev matching and praying I didn't have to stop. Sunday is going to be fun
I'm buffering this with 2 bars of 3G, will this work with my competition clutch you think?! It looks promising. Comp wants $70 for a replacement bearing, this seems to be $80.
Since you say that you have two v5 wing in your garage what if you were to sell one how much you want for it ? Sorry I know it's not a for sale tread but I was curious thanks in advance
@choukhang PM me and we can discuss! Honestly I would have to get $600 out of it without losing my ass. It's a lot of money but that's how much I paid for it and as you know they're hard to find and how much they go for. The V6 I'm buying is $700 shipped to my door, but that's what you pay for an OEM wing. As far as my throw out bearing, below the carnage that occurred. Yes it popped out of the retainer but I think it's because it wasn't seating right due to the obvious problem in the pic. Anyone seen this before? Seems like it could have been my fault but I'm not sure. I limped it back home almost 150 miles after limping it up north 50 miles without a clutch. Lots of strategy and luck involved. I bought a transmission jack today too so I could just pull the transmission out a few inches and replace the old bearing. Fun times.
Jesus I went through and rebuilt all the images in the earlier pages, that was fun. They keep breaking because I referenced FB... rookie mistake. I would love to say I'm going home now to finish fixing my car but I'm having to do a major launch for subaru.com right now and stay at work late. I'm currently just waiting for release processes to complete. My buddy at MAP said the common failure if this is input shaft ramming against the plastic piece, another reason to get proper tools and use a transmission jack. Last night was like butter getting it in there. On another note: Anyone going to Ojibwe Forest Rally this weekend? I'll be heading up Friday in the GC8, hopefully with a clutch.
Ok another update. My car stranded me tonight again. This time it's a stuck cylinder in the slave cylinder. I'm gonna pull my hair out. I had to push the car fast enough to get it into 1st.
Jeebus Shawn, didn't you just replace that? Hopefully it was just caused by your mangled TOB, and now that's sorted your cylinder will stay alive!
Well it was a "new" cylinder, as in the spring felt much stronger and it came with my JDM transmission. I've bought one and I'm also going to buy an OEM today.
So those of you who are friends with me on the facebooks already know the situation. But here's a rundown of basically page 6/7 of this thread. My clutch was a Competition 2600 Stage 3 clutch upgrade with the Comp lightweight flywheel. This created some issues with my stock WRX Master/Slave cylinders. They didn't seem to have the force to engage the clutch fully. I took the entire assembly apart last weekend and replaced the entire MC/SC setup multiple times. Bleed the system, cussed a lot, got confused by many different failure parts (including a throwout bearing) and almost set the car on fire out of rage. I really wanted to drive the car to the Ojibwe Forest Rally this last weekend and of course down to the wire I figured out a solution. I just happened to have an STi slave cylinder in my garage, because I'm a crazy Subaru part hoarder. I forgot I had this, but before looking I thought more about the problem. The clutch pedal was super light still. I started thinking with many variables at play. Running a GD pedal box on a GC8, it didn't line up exactly right, things could be off, etc. So to solve this why not throw in an STi MC and use it's larger cylinder to drive the WRX's slave? This would solve my engagement issues by allowing less pedal movement to move the slave's cylinder more, which would result in a heavier pedal, but I needed a working clutch. This, of course, solved the problem and I made it to Ojibwe and back without any issues at all. The final thing I'll say, that kept throwing me off, was I had to adjust the pedal all the way out, to solve the engagement issue. When you do this, it seems to effect a valve inside the MC. Meaning I couldn't push the slave's cylinder back in and it wouldn't push itself out with it's spring. So if you ever experience this, it's a master cylinder issue or you have the pedal adjusted too far out. It should allow fluid to flow when the pedal is disengaged. Ugh anyway, the car is back on the road and now it's just having fun with it. Here's some pics of the weekend.
I haven't updated in a while, but I guess I have some good reasons to finally. A lot of little things have happened to the car. I rolled the fenders, and cracked the paint a little where it's already rusting... I got a GTSpec red stitching steering wheel. I am finally tuned on E85. The car as of Sunday is running on Carberry's latest MAF ROM that also added Flex Fuel. I've wired in a GM flex fuel sensor to the rear O2 sensor signal input and had it street tuned Sunday by Graham in Des Moines. He had it running smoothly before I got there but dialed it in for WOT shenans Sunday. The car is much quicker now and for daily driving I don't have to worry about the blend. I plan on putting E85 in it and then doing 93 every 5 tanks or so, but it's still a great peace of mind. The options enabled right now are launch control and CEL flashing on knock. I also guess I haven’t been too clear on everything I’ve been OCD about on this car. It wasn’t until I found someone that actually wanted to listen to everything that I started to realize this build is out of hand. For now I’ll just focus on interior attention to detail: The GD dash isn’t just swapped, it has velcro lining all of the edges to reduce rattling, this thing rattles about as much as a modern new WRX. A few modifications to the dash to make it lighter, removed knee crash panel, passenger airbag, etc. Other modifications were made to the heater core to make the GC core work with the GD dash, this took some modifications but allowed me to not have to drill more holes into the firewall. The dash was kept with the faux carbon fiber ring vents, these will be vinyl wrapped soon and replaced with silver rings. The center console is kind of the center piece of the interior obviously. I replaced the lower section with the 05+ console and vinyl wrapped the pieces that worked for that. I sourced a manual HVAC control cover that was on some SAABarus and some WRXs. This was then mat black painted to match the vinyl in other places. I replaced the hazard switch with the JDM S203 switch which matches the matt black from the S203 better. The ash tray was removed and the area was dremeled and modified to allow the wideband gauge while still allowing the door to be closed to hide it. All lights for the HVAC and other areas were replaced with matching dark red LEDs. The DCCD controller switch was modified to have a brighter LED that reacts to DCCD settings, the setting is also custom wired via CAT5 into the gauge cluster to save wire weight. All leather was replaced with Zealous Interior’s custom red stitching leather boots. I opted in on a Duracon plastic JDM 5 speed knob for cold/hot weather driving. The 2012 STi wheel components are now mated to a GTSpec wheel. This means functioning radio controls through the steering wheel. This is all and well, but try finding a *cheap* 2008+ STi steering wheel then step it up a notch and try finding on of the newer ones that’s black instead of silver. 2002 Wagon WRX wiper stock wired into the JDM rear wiper assembly. It has a 2014 Forester rear view mirror, fully wired in with auto dimming and homelink fully functioning, deleted the stock GC8 rear view mirror and modified the cover to stay in place. It has a 64GB dash cam behind the rear view mirror out of site from the driver with GPS logging as well, so it’s good for track days! The STi gauge cluster is fully functioning with rear diff wired in, as well as outside temp custom wired in. The Subaru seats really aren’t good IMO, so I opted in for Evo IX seats, they’re the perfect DD seat, plus much lighter than even the RS seats and are mated to a low sitting simple wedge adapter plate. The rear seats are mostly for show or emergencies, but it has somewhat matching 04 WRX seats with pass through for snow boarding, etc. These have also been rattle proofed and painted black on the rear to make the trunk area look better so I don’t have to use a 1lb cover (like I said I’ve been anal about weight). Front seat belts were replaced with RS 2.5 belts (darker grey) and the rears have been removed (to save weight). The carpet was replaced with brand new non-insulated (to save weight) dark black carpet. The mats were replaced with brand new GD STi floor mats. The visors have been replaced with low mileage visors that are basically brand new. I also added a small touch of sticker bombs of some stickers I picked up in Tokyo as well as getting it autographed by the entire Subaru Rally Team USA this Summer… some JDM styling but hidden so it’s not obnoxious. Overhead lights have been replaced with LEDs to help reduce the strain on the light weight Odyssey battery. ATI gauge pod with a custom flat black overlay, utilizing opening ceremony prosport amber gauges. The rear deck lid/cover was replaced with a lower mileage grey RS deck lid and then rattle proofed. The trunk has the optional “Impreza” floor cover that’s in new condition with a custom light weight floor board to help with the spare tire delete. As well as low mileage wall liners. The LC2 wide band computer and all other wiring has been zip tied and wrapped under the stereo area with a serial -> USB cable adapter always in place for quick logging. Again, these are just the interior items currently done, here’s the future items for the interior this Winter: Hydra dipping some misc items including: The 05+ brushed metal plate around the shifter. The Duracon shifter knob The belt receiver buttons. Stock rear view mirror cover I’m buying an extremely high fidelity 3D Scanner/Printer this Fall this will allow me to make custom 3D printed items including: Custom cover plate for the ash tray/gauge Custom covers for the typical gaps between the door and the GD dash. I’m hiding/wiring in a Spark Core with it’s own battery system to allow me to do the following, the goal is to make it 15 minutes to find: Actions Turn the car on Disable the car Fire the airbags (incase I want to break the person’s nose that stole my car) Fire the horns non stop Locate vehicle Unlock doors Lock doors Notifications: Car started Car door open 8000NEX deck with rear view camera, car play, etc. Applying the Zealous interior suede to the door cards and/or finding some good JDM coupe cards (in my dreams) Custom sub enclosure that’s easily removable with the new narrow Alpine Type R. I plan on getting these items done before the Spring and just enjoying the car after. The power is in a great spot, the handling is ridiculous and overall it's the most awesome car I've ever owned. I'll keep up the build thread and once I start blowing out the 3D printed items maybe I can help others as well in regards to that. It's always been my goal to take the knowledge I learn and help others, that's what car enthusiasts do for each other.
@MinnesotaFTW where do you live? I'm on the NW side of Plymouth. @tangledupinblu thanks man, I wish I had a better way to explain everything done on this car, rather than a boring bulleted list. One thing I forgot to mention is when I was at BIR I confirmed the weight at 2660 lbs which IMO is pretty good for everything I've added. I'm going to see what I can do to get the weight down to 2600. This was with the full interior and 3/4 a tank of gas. Something tells me that last 60 pounds is gonna be pretty tough though.
I found the answer to the weight problem! I talked to the founder for Aeroism Research last night for a while and things are about to get somewhat rowdy. They're back to doing 22b kits and are about to startup prepreg production of the kit. The weight of the entire kit is around 20lbs, this includes the roof skin, quarter panels, fenders, front/rear bumper and side skirts. To give an idea of the possible weight savings the roof skin alone is 40lbs. Most of the skins of my car are going to weigh half what the roof weighed. I'm going to see if I can setup a group buy to help them out on RS25, so if anyone knows someone that's in the market for something that will literally transform their car let me know! Also here's some pics of the custom carbon fiber rear strut bar I received last night and the latest pics of the engine bay. I've added insulating tape to combat the heat soak issue a black TMIC would have as well as a new BOV to hold boost a little bit recently. I'm holding 24PSI peak now pretty consistently, very happy with the car.
How does the boost taper with rpm? At 24psi you're really pushing the turbo to lower efficiency levels Shawn, that may be why you're getting heat soak - the charge air is probably pretty dang hot at 24psi...
LOL, I'm not necessarily getting heat soak, I'm just being a perfectionist. You should know that by now My intake temps are actually pretty good I believe, I don't have an IAT sensor yet on the manifold to be 100% certain so I'm just being proactive. The car was pro tuned, doesn't get any knock and my EGT temps are much lower than they were with 93 octane (haven't seen higher than 1500F). One of the basic advantages of E85 bring your intake charge down (a lot like meth/water injection), which allows you to run higher than typical efficiency ranges for the turbo. It's obviously not the best for the turbo, but it is what it is and quite common. The price to pay to be balla balla.
Truth. But yes the turbo will likely not live long and prosper, but then again that will just give you the chance to install a bigger better one
I had to look twice to realize that was your engine bay!! Looks amazing dude, come a long way since I first saw it!!!!
So guys.... I finally gave in and ordered an Aerosim Research skin the other day. Luis is a great guy and him and I have talked it through quite a bit. Here's a pic of the kit in it's finished/untrimmed/uninstalled state. My skin won't be ready until February. I'm going to Texas in a few to check out a place in my hometown to see about shipping it down there to have them install it. I want it done properly and perfectly. I also may just give in and buy a genuine 22b spoiler, Bakemono won't respond to my gentle threats The skin's specs are this: 2" wider in the front 2.75" wider in the rear Skin weighs 22lbs. (the stock roof alone is 40lbs) Requires 05+ front LCA's for wider stance Can fit 305s within the fenders, I'm going to see if I can get by with 285s. Of course this means I have to redo the fog lights, wheels, some of the suspension, transmission... what have I done.
Just looked at some pictures of cars with that skin and looks great! Aggressive but subtle compared to those stupid bolt on fender flare/wide body kits everyone does now.
Thanks Nhibbs! It's based on the actual WRC body that Subaru did for the Colin McRae era of Subaru. I think Aerosim Research moulded it off of those panels (which is why it's a bit wider than the 22b). Derp, I saw one of these driving the last night I was in Tokyo and it was incredible. http://www.libertywalk-usa.com/archives/product-item/lamborghini-murcielago-body-kit I found this the other day about the WRC build, it's an awesome video. I didn't realize the Mclaren F1 engineer designed/developed it. Pretty cool video regardless. Lastly this is the thing that finally sold me on buying it. Someone on my FB feed posted this and it made it an easy choice. 22b kit on the left and a normal Impreza on the right.
Some updates. So some of you may know (from the Kara Facebook page) That I blew 2nd gear on the 4.44 transmission. Was I surprised? Yes/No. I don't drive it hard but it is a 5 speed, albeit a Ver 4 JDM STi 5 speed. The reality is they still have weak casings compared to the 6MT and since it wasn't a RA gearset the 2nd gear was weak. We were trying to agitate the rear diff and my buddy said the most dangerous thing "Oh yeah I haven't been in this thing since you got it retuned". The rest is history. What's in store? Am I getting a 6 speed? Will I learn my lesson and move on? Long story short I'm stubborn. I bought a mildly used RA 5MT last night and we will be cryo treating the gears among some other things. I'm debating on installing the mildly amusing "blast shield" as no one can really prove they do anything but at a 10lb "penalty" of added weight it may be nice to keep the casing from flexing. Either that or I'll fab up my own. I'm extremely adamant about not going with a 6 speed until I run out of options. My car's goal weight this Summer is to be in the 2400's and a 6MT will definitely hurt that goal. Summer 2016 Plans: Well obviously I wasn't planning on a new transmission but the Type RA mentioned An RA R180 rear diff with some hybrid GD knuckles and GD rear axels for the bigger bearings 2015 STi steering rack. Quaife front LSD Diff Holley Hydramat (to fix my fuel starvation) TSSFab Front/Rear crossmembers. (There's a preorder at 20% off right now, I'm on the preorder) XT Dom 1.5XT-R turbo and a retune for 400AWHP (goal) Carbonfiber driveshaft And of course the Aerosim carbon fiber widy body kit at the end of the season. More updates as they progress.
I'm very interested in what you will do to make the 2015 STI rack bolt on. Last I checked, their wasn't a "clean" adapter available.
Doesn't look like you learned your lesson! But at least you realize you are taking a risk by not going 6 speed. I honestly hope the blast plates help but I am 99% confident they are just snake oil. The split case MT in all of the 5 speeds, new wrx 6 speed, and 5th gen lgt 6 speed are all much weaker than the STI 6 speed. It may be the case flexing or it may be that the input shaft is long and too thin and not supported well enough by the bearings, who knows. Even PPG/PAR gears break without crazy power in the 5 speed and they are stronger/bigger than the RA STi gearset...
Dammit I need to find a better image hosting solution. Anyway @belalegosi Here's the article I'll refer to when I'm making the modifications. Long story short I have a 2 1/2D CNC mill I'll be milling my own custom spacers to the specs in the article, on a stock crossmember you have to cut a larger hole and then the other main thing you need to do is cut the tie rods a bit shorter for the smaller track length on the GD/GC's. My install will be a bit different though since I'll be running tubular subframes. @Nhibbs You're right, I'm stubborn, I blame it on being a Texan. You're right the reality is the casing super flawed, I may just fab up my own 1/4" steel plates and save the money. I'm just trying to do everything I can to make this last. I will say this, if I do everything in my power to make the RA set better and I still break the 5 speed then I'll make the call and go to the 6 speed or go with PPG gears. With that said to be honest the only thing that was fascinating to me when I was researching it was that there's a claim that 8.8 bolts were used on the casing and the kit comes with some 10.9 tensile strength bolts. We'll see I guess. Here's a an older but very interesting read on 5 speeds: http://www.wrxtuners.com/forums/f69/transmission-faq-read-if-you-thinking-upgrading-13846/
Read a majority of this build, amazing job. I haven't been on MNsubaru in a while but people are definitely stepping up their game! Any chance you aren't using one of those transfer cases you had lying around? I may be interested in taking one off your hands if so. Look forward to seeing more progress! Ben
