A couple weekend project updates. I've already posted this picture before, but it pertains to the update, so I'll post it again. After I had finished pulling the powertrain out of both cars, I had two different R180 rear differentials. The one on the left is from the 04 sti and has 3.90 gears, and the one on the right is from the 2012 and has 3.54 gears. I wanted to retain the original 3.54 gears in my car, but the transmission I will be using has a 3.90 front gear set. From what they tell me, mixing front and rear gear ratios is bad. So, I found a donor transmission that had 3.54 front gears that would work in my transmission, which I received this week. To remove the front gear set, the first thing I did was split the front differential case from the rest of the transmission. To remove the differential from the case, I just unscrewed the bearing retainers on both sides, where the front axles go, and the differential was free to pull out. To remove the pinion gear, I took off the rear section of transmission and removed the large nut on the pinion shaft, and the 4 bolts holding it in front. After I did this, I was able to tap it out pretty easily with a mallet. Since I was going to have the ring and pinion gears cryo treated before they went into my transmission, I decided to remove the gears in the rear differential too, and have them all done at the same time. First I removed the large nut on the pinion shaft and used a puller to remove the yoke. After that, I took off the rear cover and the bearing retainers on the sides, pulled the differential out, and tapped out the pinion shaft. Front and rear 3.54 ring and pinion sets.
I also installed a Sparco 345 steering wheel with a quick release today to make it easier to get in and out of the car, and it also saved around 3lbs from the stock steering wheel w/ airbag. Installation was pretty easy. First, I loosened the two torx bolts on the right and left side of the steering wheel to remove the airbag. Once the airbag was removed, there's just one 17mm nut holding the wheel to the steering column. Once the nut was removed the steering wheel could be pulled off the steering column. I recommend leaving the nut threaded on slightly when you pull the steering wheel loose, or you might hit yourself in the face with it. I won't bore you with details on how I know that... Underneath the steering wheel, there's a round plastic wire housing that also needs to be removed. To remove that, I first removed the top and bottom steering wheel trim pieces, and then I was able to remove the 4 screws holding the wire housing in place. Once the wire housing was off, I traced the wires back to where they plugged in right behind the ignition and unplugged them. Once that was done, the rest of the installation was pretty straight forward. I attached the new hub to the steering column using the same 17mm nut, screwed the quick release to the hub, and screwed the steering wheel to the quick release.
Yup. The cage is a pre bent S&W Race Cars chromoly cage installed by Fobia. They didn't have an 08+ kit, so a couple of the pipes had to be custom bent though.
That explains the forward laterals/a-pillars. The ea they meet up with b-pillar hoop makes me wanna cry. Especially when you look at where the rear stays/c-pillars hit the top of the hoop...
I wasn't gonna say anything since i have no clue who Fobia is and it's already welded up so it's not like it'll be changed now... Where the a pillars run along the top of the door opening and back to connect to the main hoop at the bottom of the bend. And then the bars going back from the main hoop to (I presume) the rear strut towers connect to the b main hoop at the top of the bend... in a bad wreck those are gonna be pivot points to bend the main hoop. Not to mention the a pillars taking away head room because of how low they are. It's one of the things that sets apart a custom built cage from a kit...
Not sure how well the lighting is on this... you can see how I put a bend in it to bring it back to the top of the main hoop and kept it out of the way...
I'm not too worried about Fobia's welding skills, but I can see how a custom bent kit might fit better than a pre bent kit. I can post an update when I get it certified if you're concerned?
I'm not concerned about cert. I've got no faith in that guaranteeing a safe car until you're certing for 7's or better anyway and I'm quite sure your cage will cert fine and be plenty safe. I have just bbuilt enugh cages now that i notice that stuff and it bugs me. . Again, I have NO clue who Fobia is, so I can't/ won't comment on his welding skills. I wouldn't have commented on the cage design if you hadn't told us it was a kit...
On that Subject, this STi doesn't have enough cage for 7's. Cage when certified would be good for 8.49+, unless he his still planning on adding a bunch of stuff.
You're exactly right, good eye! This cage should cert for 8.5, and I dont plan on adding any more cage unless I ever exceed that.
I agree with russelmn the roof bar fits like crap. I still am a firm believer of having the bar from the floor up through the A puller going all the way to the main hoop is the best design. Just what you get with a pre bent cage I guess.
Dang man, you got up before 5am to insult someone on the aesthetics of his roll cage... If that didnt get you trophy points, I'm filing an official complaint to this site lol. To be fair, this kit was pre bent for a different chassis. All things considered, I think it turned out really well. I called the certification guy this morning and he'll be looking at it after the holiday. I havent tested the new brakes yet, I make no such claims.
Didn't realize it was a kit for a different chassis as well! That's not too bad a fitment then! I don't give a damn about the asthetics of the cage, just function
Agreed! Nobody made a pre bent kit for the 08+ sti's so we used a GD chassis kit. The dimensions were fine, but the mounting locations are different on the GR. The rear strut towers are much lower, etc. I was really happy with how it turned out. Not looking forward to painting it though...
I thought about trying that, I think I'll find out what the other guys are using for paint though. That'll be a good Spring project when it warms up!
I like the brushed on idea, sounds much better than trying to spray. I'll definitely be looking into that!
Nothing really new to update over the last few months. I've been going through the process of selling my house and moving in a couple weeks, so I've just been gathering parts and waiting until I get to the new house. Got the mains pinned and block tapped for the larger head studs, so the motor is all ready to go back together. I picked up a set of 750hp front axles and 1200hp pro level rear axles from drive shaft shop. The pro level rear axles come with new hubs because they have more splines, so my next project will be getting the rear diff, axles, hubs and rear brakes installed. I'm eliminating the ABS and brake booster, so I'll be installing a new master cylinder and brake lines. And I'm eliminating the power steering, so I bought a new steering rack from S&W race cars and had it shipped to TSSfab to make me a lightweight front subframe to mount it to. Still waiting on the carbon fiber sunroof plug. Hopefully I'll be able to start posting some new updates within the next few weeks once I get settled in!
Yeah I've seen some of his stuff, looks pretty sweet! I wish he made rear subframes and longer trailing arms for 08+
Thanks! I finally received the rear brakes from P&L last week. Apparently there are 2 different configurations with the 08+ STIs for mounting locations in the rear, and they wanted to make a bracket that would work with either one. So there was a little bit of a hold-up with that.
Okay I was asking because I've been fedup with them. I ordered the same brakes almost 5 months ago and they keep changing their story about the brakes. Finally mine show up today but with no rear pads. What are your plans about removing your abs. Your going to lose your speedometer.
Sound familiar! Let me guess, you heard the phrase "they'll ship in a couple weeks" once or twice? Is your car an 08+? I think that was the main hold-up. I haven't figured everything out with the abs yet. I bought a wilwood master cylinder that bolts directly to the firewall and eliminates the brake booster, and then I'll have to run new brake lines to bypass the abs pump. The transmission I'm using has an exciter ring for a speed sensor, so I'll probably just run the sensor there.
Yeah I have an 08 sti. Was going to see if you knew how to eliminate abs properly lol. Did finally get my rear brakes in today. They are really nice I can't wait to put them on. Can't wait to see yours up and running.
I haven't even opened the box for my rear brakes yet, I'm pretty excited to get them on too! I'll try to post updates about how I do everything with the abs as I figure it all out. I was hoping to tear into all of that after I move, but there's been a setback with the sale of my house, so I'm not quite sure how soon I'll get around to it
Ziptie Rally #171 v1.0 had the stock DCCD controller (which uses wheel speed sensors) for awhile with an ABS delete. All electronic components were still in place and plugged in, but the hydraulics were all re-plumbed to bypass the pump. Worked fine, for awhile. We had issues with the wheel speed sensors getting beat up while rallying, and opted for the considerable improvement of a GEMS controller....
That sounds pretty much like what I was planning to do. If you just bypassed the pump and left the electronic stuff hooked up, I'm assuming the VSS would still work? Anything else needed to bypass the pump? I think I just need a proportioning valve for the rear lines?
I can't say for anything this new, but on the stuff I've worked on, the prop valve is separate from the pump (usually mounted to the passenger strut tower). Other than that, just a couple tee fittings (I've seen them put in place of the pump, with the lines running all the way up there, or cut them back, and reflare them for a cleaner look). I am sort of assuming. #171 was an '04 STi, and still took the VSS from the sensor in the transmission, the only thing that shared the ABS was the DCCD programming. But I bet it would work. It might not like it if the pump isn't having an effect on the braking.....but even so, I'd guess the worst case would be an ABS light.
Hell yeah man! I've been getting lots of practice pulling the rip cord on my reclining sofa this winter too lol Good stuff, thanks for the input Chux! Hopefully I can get going on some of this stuff soon, I'll be curious to see how it all works out. I'm not really sure if eliminating the brake booster is a good idea or not, especially for holding the auto at launch, but I figured I'd test it out and see how it goes
I'm not really sure what the benefits for a drag car would be. The reason to do it is for left foot braking, as modulating the brakes with the throttle open means you'll use up the vacuum in the booster, and suddenly loose power brakes....yikes... BUT. Here's another rally trick. Take out the brake pedal, and drill another hole to relocate the pivot where the master cyl linkage attaches just a little bit lower. Even a half inch won't put any strain on the master cylinder, but will improve your mechanical advantage. Or.....line locks
Interesting, I'll have to look into that trick about lowering the master cylinder linkage pivot a little more. There's no mechanical advantage to eliminating the brake booster on a drag car, I'm just doing it for weight loss and to simplify the engine bay as much as possible. I'm not sure what the brake booster even weighs, but it's gotta be 5-10 lbs I would think?
Just a quick update on the build. For those who don't know me on a personal level, I was supposed to sell my house last month and the buyer got denied financing right before we were supposed to close. I've been putting off buying more parts until I get moved, so the car is kind of on hold right now. I was able to get my rear brakes and axles installed though, so I thought I'd post an update. First thing I had to do is get the rear diff back together. I didn't take any pictures of that process, it was pretty straight forward. The main thing is to keep the bearing retainer shims on the correct sides, and torque the pinion nut to 134 lb-ft to preserve the pinion bearing pre-load. Otherwise I just replaced the rear cover gasket with a new one, and put everything back together the same way it came apart. Once I got the differential installed back in the car, I removed the rear brakes/rotors. The rear P&L/Wilwood lightweight brakes require the removal of the e-brake and backing plate, so I removed that next. In order to remove the backing plate, the wheel bearing hubs also have to be removed. Now that the backing plate was removed, I was able to reinstall everything. The backing plate acts as a "spacer" for the wheel bearing hub, so spacers are included with the brake kit. The pro-level axles from Drive Shaft Shop also come with new hubs because of the higher spline count, so I replaced the stock hubs with the new ones. Next I installed the new axles. Once that was done, I just had to put the new rotors and calipers on.