Here's a list of the exhaust swaps I've done: Stock SPT Q300 Stock Tsudo Stock SPT Stock Greddy Ti-C Stock ARK Greddy SP Elite I went through and tried to find photos of each. I didn't get all of them, but I found most: Stock: SPT: Q300: Stock: Tsudo: Stock: NO IMAGE SPT: Stock: GReddy Ti-C: Stock: NO IMAGE ARK GRiP: GReddy SP Elite:
So far the Greddy quad tip. I think it looks the best and the sound is great for me. Not for everyone though because it is very quiet.
Looking good Papa Ben! Chris is the man and it looks like he did another stellar job on project 11-B!
Thanks! I like it a lot. I had an interesting issue today. I'm not sure if it's common or not, but I did a search and didn't come up with anything, so I assume it's fairly rare. My clutch linkage broke! Here's the story, and a couple questions at the end for the experts out there... I was driving to a family get together and I pushed the clutch in and it went straight to the floor and stayed there! I ended up in neutral at the time so I coasted along until I could get it into 1st gear and then I managed to pull into a gas station. I really had no idea what had gone wrong so I checked the slave cylinder (no movement) and then started to follow the clutch pedal along it's path and eventually noticed that it was not connected to the master cylinder at all any more. The linkage is usually connected with a rod that is held in with a cotter pin and then a plastic cap on the end. Here are the best photos I could find online: I looked around my floor mat and luckily found the rod that had fallen out. I also found the broken plastic cap, but I could not find the cotter pin. Looking at the rod, it appears the cotter pin broke off inside the hole. Unfortunately this meant I couldn't just shove a new cotter pin in there. Here's a photo of my broken linkage piece: I ended up sticking the rod back in, without the cotter pin at all, and friction seemed to hold it in well enough to drive the last few miles to where I was headed (and drop of my wife and baby). Then I borrowed a car and went out to the hardware store to see what I could find to repair it. From what I could tell the OEM part is 8mm in diameter. The only shoulder bolts they had were SAE so I got a 5/16" shoulder bolt that had a shoulder that was the same length as the OEM part. I also got a locking nut and the necessary tools (wrench and allen key) to install it. Here's a stock photo of what I bought (not the same dimensions): When I got to putting it all back together I found that there was very little space to work in there (and it was dark, I was out in the street, and I was using my cell phone as light), but I did determine that the linkage (the U shaped portion, not the rod itself) was bent about 45 degrees off from where it should have been. I think this has probably been broken for a long time and finally worked itself free. The lack of space and the bent linkage made it very hard to work, but I eventually got the bolt in and tightened down. The 5/16" diameter is just a hair small, but it's a pretty good fit. The shoulder section is much, much longer than it needs to be. Overall I think this connection method is better than the cotter pin, but I need to get the right length bolt so there isn't so much side to side play. Once I got home I bent the U linkage back to being straight, but it's still much wider than it originally was. It is all aligned so it is pushing straight on the MC rod, so I'm pretty happy with it, but I'll have to squeeze in the width once I get the shorter shoulder bolt. Here are some photos of how it currently sits: So now I just have a few questions/concerns: Any possibly issues using a should bolt and nut instead of the cotter pin? I will use a locking nut and not over torque it so it impedes rotation. Is it possible that my MC was damaged due to this issue, or over time? Is there anything I need to check? It appears that the locking nut on the MC rod is not tightened to the U bracket. I will have to go tighten it, but how do I know if it is adjusted properly? I don't know if the rod has moved over time, or just the nut backed off. I do know the my clutch engagement point seems fairly low compared to most others. That last thing I wanted to note was that I had my MC replaced by the dealer about 2 years ago (when the car was brand new). It was making a clicking noise (an issue some other newer cars have had). The new MC fixed the clicking, but I'm starting to think that their install may have been the cause of this failure (2 years later). No real way to prove that or get them to do anything about it I fear...
How bent is the U shaped part? It looks from the pictures that there should be some spacers/bushing in place. Is the diameter of the clutch rod the same as the U shaped part? Might be on optical illusion, but it looks like the clutch rod is narrower than the u shaped part, leaving me to believe there is a bushing missing. I would guess there should be some free play where the parts are joined. You shouldn't be able to pinch the U shaped part tight, something needs to be in place to prevent that. If you get a bolt with a shorter shoulder, you should be able to tighten the nut tight without pinching the MC rod. I'm going to have to investigate mine now.
The U joint is actually pretty straight right now. It's just a bit wider than it should be. Originally it was bent way off to one side and very wide. Probably 45 degrees to the side and 1/4"-3/8" wider than it is now. I've gotten it mostly straightened out, but it's still a little too wide. From what I can tell there is no bushing missing. It just needs to be bent slightly tighter. I believe that normally there is still quite a bit of slop, but not as much as I have. It doesn't really look like a part with tight tolerances. The cotter pin system doesn't pinch in the U joint at all, so there is no need for a bearing as long as it's a sloppy fit. I think that if I buy a bolt with the proper length shoulder I can fully tighten the nut and leave very, very little slop side to side (without causing binding). It should be better than OEM in every way (except it costs more than I'm sure a cotter pin costs Subaru). My only concern now is getting the rod adjusted to the right length because it looks like it could have moved...
Here are some ideas / opinions, I work in a engineering department for other applications. I usually ask why may have it been broken, maybe your clutch has something to stiff of some sort for it to give out in the cotter pin? Just a lot of variables I guess.
Yikes, that's a new one I haven't seen on a Subaru yet. The only issue I've seen in that area has been the spot welds breaking on some cars. Might be worth giving Subaru a call over. That's a big safety issue. I had an almost identical failure on an Audi 4000 a few years ago, except it was the gas pedal instead of the clutch and I was in the Lowry Tunnel at the time. Thankfully, I was able to coast through the tunnel and get it to the left side shoulder. I ended up fixing it completely by feel in the dark, that's 45 minutes of my life I'll never get back. If you had been double clutching like you should you wouldn't be having this issue.
1. That's an interesting thought, but I highly doubt they designed this to fail. It still causes the clutch to be completely inoperable so it's not really a fail-safe. 2. My concern is that the rod length got off and overstroked the MC, or that it pushed on it at an angle and the o-rings on the internal shaft could be damaged. It seems to work fine, so I think I'm probably OK. 3. To adjust the length you spin the U joint on the rod, and then lock it in place with a nut on the back. Here is a photo of how that works: On my car you can see that the nut is backed way off so it's not locking it in place: But it still seems unlikely that the shaft is spinning around. There isn't any forces that would do that, or than just pushing the rod in and out. Plus the engagement still seems OK, so it probably hasn't moved much, if any. I think I'll just keep it where it's at unless I see a problem. I'm also an engineer I do have a stiffer than stock clutch, but nothing excessive (ACT HD pressure plate), and I do shift hard, so there may have been added wear from that, but I think something must have been loose and sloping around for the forces to get out of alignment and cause the bending/breaking of parts. Normally if everything is lined up it shouldn't have any side to side forces at all. When it happened I was really afraid that a weld had broken and I was going to be getting my car towed home. I was glad it ended up being what it was. I honestly think is pretty likely that the (Subaru dealership) master cylinder replacement probably was not done correctly (not tightened properly?) and eventually lead to this failure. I'm really glad mine didn't fail on the highway! I was lucky enough to get it to a gas station, and then worked on it on the side of the road in a cul-de-sac, so it wasn't too bad. BroCo said that I was doing too much double clutching and wore it out! The engineers at work concur that a shoulder bolt and locking nut are the correct items for this application and that manufacturer's use pins and clips to save cost on parts and assembly time. I'm going to take it all apart tonight and get the right size shoulder bolt and then put it back together. I think it will be better than new
i thought that too, I just figured I put a different perspective at it a lil . Shoulder bolt seems best for the nice surface finish on it to keep it perpendicular with the fork dealeo. How much does it move when you put the clutch in or does it? I'm trying to understand the actually whats happening if I'm seeing it incorrectly in my head. i'm assuming it moves towards the nut that's loose? maybe tighten it to see what happens?
The U bracket can't move in and out at all. It is threaded onto the rod. The locking nut just stops the rod from being able to spin and unscrew it from the bracket. The slop that the bracket has now is side to side which only matters if things get out of alignment. I did buy a shorter shoulder bolt today so in going to put that in and see how it goes.
Tonight I fixed up the clutch linkage for good (I hope). First, I went out and bought a new shoulder bolt that was the correct length (and a new nylon locking nut). It is a 1/2" long shoulder with a 5/16" shoulder diameter and the size is perfect for this application. It actually works better than the OEM rod. The OEM rod is 3/4" long and about 5/16" OD (actually seems a hair smaller). The cotter pin reduces the working length of the rod to 5/8". This results in about 1/8" of side-to-side slop in the linkage. And after looking at the OEM design a little more, I have determined that the cotter pin holds the rod in place, and the plastic piece (shown in the photo above) acts as a secondary attachment method in case the cotter pin fails. I have a feeling that my cotter pin broke long ago, and this little piece of plastic has been holding it together since then. ^(I just realized I put the wrench and allen key on the wrong sides in this photo. Oops) I found that the width of the linkage in the car (non removable) is basically identical to the open end of the 7/16" wrench I was using. I used a table vice and this wrench to bend the U bracket back into the correct shape/width and straighten it out. As seen in the pictures from yesterday it used to be much, much wider than it needed to be, and it was also quite crooked (even after straightening it a bit). Before I straightened it at all (when it failed) it had a severe bend (close to 45 degrees) and was spread apart even wider than yesterday's photos. The 1/2" length of the new shoulder bolt is basically perfect. The nut tightens down onto the shoulder of the bolt without actually putting any tension on the linkage, so there is zero binding. But there is very minimal free space (much less than OEM), so much less side-to-side movement is possible. Once I had it all straightened out the way I wanted I put it back in the car. I threaded the U joint on until the holes in the U joint and the hole in the linkage lined up if the clutch was fully released, and the MC rod was fully extended. This puts the clutch engagement point near the middle of the pedal travel. Much better than near the floor like it had been. Getting the locking nut tightened down onto the back of the U bracket was quite a task. With very little room to work with I ended up using a 13mm crow's foot, 2" extension, universal swivel joint, 8" extension, and 3/8" drive ratchet all connected together. This did work and it should be locked in place now. Locking this down would be much easier to do with the MC removed from the car. You can see that it is all very straight and there is barely any room for side to side motion. In the photos the nut is tightened down on to the shoulder of the bolt, but there is still a tiny bit of room on either side of the linkages, so that they don't bind at all. This is how this linkage should have been connected from the factory. It has much less side-to-side movement possible and won't fail like the OEM cotter pin and plastic nub did. Subaru just wanted to save a few dollars and went with the cheaper, and easier to assemble method of connecting the linkage. I happened to look over and see that the brake uses the same connection... The rod and cotter pin setup is identical to the clutch linkage. You can see the side-to-side slop that is possible here. I may want to preemptively replace this at some point. Right now it still looks fine. I honestly don't think it's likely to fail unless it is assembled incorrectly (as the clutch could have been since the dealer replaced the MC). I did notice that the U bracket on the brake appears to be hardened vs. the softer clutch U bracket, so it should be a lot less likely to bend. Parts Used: 5/16" OD Shoulder Bolt with 1/2" Shoulder Length and Accompanying Nylon Locking Nut
Last week I swapped in a 6 speed. Thanks to NF (Nuke, Fuji, Pheng, Lor, Angelee, Derek, Gordy, and others!) for all the help!
How is that huge chunk of metal you are using for a shift knob treating you in the cold temps? I am looking to swap mine out for something else, just don't know about the all metal shift knobs. Where did the 5 speed end up? More used parts...
Thanks! The knob I have is really heavy. The 5 speed version I had was almost 1.5lbs. I haven't weighed the 6 speed knob, but it should be about the same. The powdercoat he uses is pretty thick and does fairly well with temperature extremes, but obviously it's not nearly as good as a leather knob. I used it all through the cold (sub-zero) week. Here's some more info on the 5 speed version: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2437296 5 speed was sold locally. I have a bunch of other used 5 speed parts I'll be selling. Here's a list off the top of my head: Kartboy Short Shifter 5MT SPT Short Shifter 5MT (2x) Kartboy Front Shifter Bushings 5MT Kartboy Rear Shifter Bushings 5MT Stock Shift Linkages 5MT 08+ WRX Starter 08+ 5MT Driveshaft (2x) 06+ WRX ACT HD Pressure Plate 06+ WRX ACT 4 Puck Sprung Disc 06+ WRX ACT Streelight Flywheel STI ACT 6 Puck Sprung Disc
I can only imagine, must be one very fancy ECO complex futuristic system for saving gas. One Push of the paddle and you've arrived at your destination lol
Better at what? Gas mileage? That was just a joke, that's not the real reason I got them. I just wanted more even spacing through the gears. But 6th gear @ 60mph is about 2,200rpm's with the Spec B gears. With the 5 speed in 5th it is closer to 2,400-2,500rpm's. All over the STI 6 speeds will be even a little higher still. It's not a big difference but it's enough to notice.
can you give a little bit more background on the 6speed swap? 1) what year is the donor tranny? 2) is it a straight swap or do other bits and pieces have to be found/custom made? 3) how many hours of labor is the job?
I think you might need to take a step back with your jokes. I don't get about 90% of them. Right over my head apparently. I'm working on a full write up, but it's taking some time. But for your specific questions: 2011 STI 6 Speed w/Spec B high speed gears Quite a few other things need to be swapped, but it's all OEM parts, no custom work required. It'll take you a solid day to do it. Or an all-nighter if you start at 8PM, lol. Thanks Fuji K! I'd probably give it at least a weekend if you haven't done every part of the swap before. For everything else, I would just wait for my write up. It should answer any questions you may have.
