Se7enrex Full Build Thread "LOLCar" reincarnation

Hello-

Pending mod list...

Chassis:
- 2000 Subaru 2 Door GM6 2.5rs Impreza 5 speed aWD
- stitch welded parts of interior
- fully stripped
- trunk floor cut out
- cusco trunk cage
- modified Autopower Super Race Full roll cage welded in with additional supports and gussets.
- extra brackets cut out
- Snow White painted interior
- 3M clear bra on all cage high traffic areas
- grip tape floor
- cut and welded fenders ( approximately 2" removed)
- generic 240z fender flares
- STI V5 JDM Wing
-rubber pull strap trunk latches
- seibon carbon hood
- sparco hood pins
-modified oem grill
- custom -4an hard brake lines all aeroquip

Interior:
-Sparco Circuit 2 seat
- modified planted seat bracket
- Sparco 6 point harness
- Isis hydraulic e brake with wilwood master and earls fittings
- 2004 STI gauge cluster
-2015 STI shift knob


FIRST Time I get to see her outside the previous owner's home....

 

Cleanup on isle 3, I sucked out over a gallon of dirty dirty water on cleanup, very disgusting. Lot's of animal droppings, leaves, spiders, and straight up dirt

 

Here we are starting to prep the interior. Basic tear down and prep work. Some minor surface rust from the water had formed but I quickly started to tackle that. Ripped all the carpet and interior out until it was bare metal and sound deadening. No pics of the removal process but I bought 20lbs of dry ice pellets from Ace Ice in Uptown off the greenway and tackled the inside. Also been using some chemicals remove remaining tar bits and of course every flavor of wire wheel to clean it all up.

I also started to test fit the roll cage. This was a very big issue for me because I NEED something that will be extremely safe, well fit to the car (obviously), and not cost 4+ grand. But the BIGGEST factor was I wanted to do it myself, and struggle through it the hard way. I want to do 90%+ of this build with my own hands. I had to take a hole saw to the floor so I can drop the cage through at a later date too, that was not fun!

So cage details. I called around to quite a few individuals in hopes that someone could convince me to spend the money and pay to have the cage built. I am OK at fabrication and I can weld decently enough that I REALLY needed convincing. Unfortunately while everyone had their opinion and ways they claimed were the "best" or only way.... I must say every single person/shop/professional gave me different ways they build it. I had a lot of specific questions about how they build it to insure full and correct welding, fitment, etc.. They ALL claimed to know how to do it best, and everyone had a different answer, which means that there is no ONE WAY to build it "correct," but there are a million ways to build it incorrectly. SO, I am doing it. I did a ton of research and and I am going to BASE IT off of the Autopower Super Race Roll Cage Kit : http://www.safedrives.com/proddetail.asp?prod=APSRRC
I did a TON of research so I feel comfortable going forward -

 

Deal of the century, $1,000 even. The PO is a great friend!

 

Alright - a bit more progress here. I have been determined to KEEP the sunroof (again, nonsensical car build) but really love having it and wanted to retain some of my own desires in this too. So, as modifying the cage to fit correctly I know have to keep that in mind. Since I want the whole interior white, I figured I would pull the sunroof, clean, sand, and paint to inside of the roof, and re-install the sunroof...



ohh wait what are those mirrors??????? I sourced some very rare L'aunsport WRC mirrors! They are very dirty and yellowed, so I will need to do a lot of clean up and re-clear to restore but so happy to score these...not cheap though



I also ended up getting some Brembos, how original right? I won a heck of a deal on some V8 STI Hubs/knuckles/brakes/trailing arms (5x100, essentially 04 STI Brakes) that I will be getting on soon. I had asked a question a while ago on which subframes and suspension components to use as well and after a bunch of research I have some ideas I will throw around later tonight too, I think I am well on my way though!

I am getting married in 2 months and currently doing many home remodeling projects so I am a bit tight on time but hopefully should keep pushing on.


and I scored a Sparco Circuit seat off Import Image - should be fun!! I needed this for proper cage fitting..... Sure!

 

Dude this is AWESOME! You definitely found a hidden gem, and I'm impressed that you are tackling this project. Takes a ton of time, but it should definitely be worth it in the long run.

What are you places for racing? HPDE's, autox, SCCA....?

In any case, I'm looking forward to seeing this car develop, and hope to battle head to head sometime

 

This is a great start on the project! What are your plans for the powerplant on this?

 

This is awesome! I cant wait to see the progress!

DO IT!

 

Definitely HPDE's, some Autox - but to be honest I never have before, possible some more sanctioned racing as well but I am still relatively new to the racing world. I have done a number of DCTC events and love those - but I have always built street cars that are a bit odd - so it will be a dual purpose street and just fun toy. Who knows maybe rallyx it a bit too! I don't want to be afraid to have fun and destroy it a bit. It will by no means a driver for the streets daily, just a toy It would be fun to start getting a bit competitive too but the way I am building it will probably get me into a class where I have no business being in due to lack of experience, oh well!!

I was actually just chatting with Matt about this (fobia), no idea yet to be honest. I want the chassis to be perfect and tied up first. Nuke has mentioned a built 2.1, I like the accessibility of that. I certainly wil lbe putting in a 6speed if I gather the funds, but depending on when the chassis is wrapped up a lot of things could change. I also don't want to over do it. I have had cars between oem HP levels and almost 450 (evo) I think I will aim for mid 300 WHP and keep it balanced as best I can. I am COMPLETELY open in this area though, no solid goals set yet. JUST NO NA. I want a turbo back in my life so no H6 swap, sorry flat 6 fanboys!

You know, I did some around the seat base supports, and around some seams, but not completely. Right now I am trying to determine if I want to remove the whole rear deck and cage all that in the the towers and seam weld basically the whole rear.

in a perfect world I would take the bare chassis to get blasted, seam weld, and powder coat the whole thing with the cage in it. BUT I do not have an extra 6 months to tack onto the project and extra couple grand to throw at that. -Read wedding and house remodel

I will stitch where reasonable and where makes sense. I will not do entire chassis however. I still want to retain a bit of the soul of the car too so I am not sure if I will actually remove the rear interior deck....hmmm

 

License Plates in:

 

noice.

 

Yep, I understand the toy/race car.

Here's what I would do for powerplant if it was me and I wanted to stick with a subaru motor...built 2.5 with a smaller twin scroll turbo on E85 (like JDM STI turbo...I forgot the VF##) or even just a VF48 with E85. And a proper oiling setup...like an accusump or something of the sort. You can hit mid 300 WHP easily and it will spool quick. That is the setup that I'm running on my car (no accumsump, but killer b pan and baffle) and it spools very quickly and holds power fairly well. I don't want a bigger turbo at the moment for what I do. You could also look into Ben's (xluben's) old 20G setup...that turbo spooled pretty quick iirc and had much better top end than a vf48.

 

Here are a few more fun ones... and I think I finally got picture sizing down too

V5 Wing finally came!


and here is a little clean garage shot - behold my madness



I also got in my 04 STI front crossmember, my 07 STI rear crossmember.

.... and what came with the car, SOME UNKNOWN aluminum lower control arms........and the puzzler...... I need HELP BADLY - can anyone identify WHICH models of lower control arms these are or tell me how I can determine which ones? I need to know which ones these are (i.e. if they are the wider track like US STI or just never used JDM GC8 STI upgraded ones, or forester STI ones, or WHAT?!?!?!)




HALP!

 

Is there a part number stamped/cast into it?

 

negative

I wonder if there is some measurement I can take or something.... I have no idea - this area is like the twilight zone to me

 

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=832436&highlight=lca+differences

Yeah!

 

Thanks man, I read through that word for word and I THINK I have the SPT arms then, non caster adding. But, they look to be the wider track from what I can tell, I will have to measure when I get home.

 

Thank you Jordan for the tires - these will be EXCELLENT for mocking up when I get them on the wheels. I just set it in there for visual - gonna look great, should handle even better. I want to for sure stick with 265 or larger, but probably 265's. The wheel is a 18x10.







Ohh and those pretty, rust free fenders.... SEE YA! BTW that wheel is MOUNTED and touching the strut ever so slightly, I will have to get the STI fuel tank I picked up in, coilovers, and probably a 10-20mm spacer.

 

Looks good man, glad I could help! That is gonna be so sick. 18x10 is definitely a good width for a 265, esp with wide race tires like Federals, RS3's, etc. What kind of wheels are those?

It's almost a sin to cut up those perfect fenders...but...racecar!

 

OK - so I have been battling the main hoop angle. At first I had it placed BEHIND the sunroof motor which was giving it a pretty gnarly lean. A little too much for what I was comfortable with, so I wanted to tip it up and align it as best I could with the B pillar. Everything I have read says you want that bar to be as straight vertical as reasonably possible without restricting entry and/or compromising seating position too greatly. After much back and forth, shifting, cutting, fitting, I think I have found an almost dead vertical that does NOT sacrifice seating position. Thoughts? And it is so tight that in the corners, on the sides touching the b pillars, and just touching the roof there is contact between the bar and the car, so level and tight right now

 

Yup. Tack that in, you're good to go.

 

that looks on point. Awesome job

 

I need some help guys. I am trying to fit the 04 STI gas tank in the car. Now - I am not worried about the physical fit, more with the connections and how I need to run everything. Should the charcoal canister go back in the car? If so, should I be using an STI charcoal canister or the stock RS one? If so, anything I need to do special to get it to work? Also, as far as the wiring is concerned anything I should be doing BEFORE I bolt the tank in place? Any heads up help with thsi before it gets bolted back in place would be a huge help, thanks guys!

 

Would it perhaps be more worth while and easier to just run a fuel cell?

 

Get rid of the charcoal canister.

 

If it wasn't clear on my level of excitement for this thread....

 

Thought about it...A lot in fact. But, I like the idea of remaining somewhat OEM so that if in time/just in case I move to a state that sucks in the following handful of years I have less to worry about. Also, I am lazy and an STI tank was cheaper. Maybe.

Trashy Trash? Ill have to read up on the delete to make sure I know what I am doing.

And Curry, Your excitement boosts my excitement 10X, peepee dance time. GETITON!

 

You made a build thread... NICE!

 

Nice!

 

I NEED an 04 STI steering rack, coilovers, whiteline lateral links, and some spacers and then I can actually get it set down and start to get the car's wide stance sorted. Fobia said he may have a rack - ill have to hit him up again about that.

 

I remember when you called us all idiots and bought an evo and left. (I dont remember exactly, and Im probably just making things up)

 

What's his name ragged on him pretty hard as I recall.

Nice build. Hope to see it in person.

 

Yeah that might have been the case, sounds familiar, but to be honest I can't remember. A lot has changed in a lot of years, happy to be back and working on cars in a proper fashion. Teen angst/early 20's bitching is a silly thing - sorry if I offended anyone (I mean that seriously). I am happy to have met a ton of people who I have been able to help with what I consider some pretty fair deals and have built some great relationships along the way. Trying to give back to a community I might have been too quick to bash before due to my past inexperience. I did work for a certain local shop for a long time and found some unfair and poisoned views of the community that I have worked to correct.

I really do appreciate everyone's help with this!

 

I hold no grudges twards you. Carry on!

 

Ok - curiousity here.... When installing the subframes back into the car, should I use loctite, anti-seize, or nothing on the bolts/nuts that connect it to the chassis. Also - in that same vein, should I use anything on the bolts that collect the control arms/trailing arms front and back? I have read a lot of back and forth, and people with different theories... I have traditionally done dry installs with some anti-seize but want some guidance. Thanks!

Thanks!!

 

Anti-seize and torque specs!

 

But are the FSM torque specs designed for use with anti-seize, or dry? Honest question

 

They generally provide dry torque specs. Torquing wet (lubed) to dry specs will 'over tighten' the fastener however there are a couple of factors that make it a moot point. 1. Fastener necking from previous torquing and 2. Accuracy of torque wrench.

Generally anti-seize is not necessary on bolts that wont be removed ever again or bolts that will be removed frequently but on my daily drivers in this climate, I anti-seize almost everything.

 

Occasionally you can cross thread a bolt if you torque to the OEM specs and have anti seize applied.

I personally do like to use anti seize because it makes getting it apart later a lot easier.

 

True. That being said, I have stripped out bolts tightening to a spec lower than what is specified. Many variables can cause cross threading.

 

Quick note, the general rule of thumb is to lower the torque spec by about 20% when using anti-seize.

I used to anti-seize the **** out of everything, but after learning how lug nuts can loosen (yes, even when torqued properly), suspension parts move, etc, I've stopped using anti-seize so liberally. I use anti-seize with more discretion. For example, I definitely do not anti-seize lug nuts, camber bolts for the struts (I would probably use anti-seize on the others), and I didn't even anti-seize the control arm bolts (I probably would on the ball joint though). Things that I definitely use anti-seize on are bolts for the brakes, specifically the mounting bolts for Brembos, as they strip and seize very frequently. The bronze anti-seize (I forgot the brand...can be found at O'Reilly's) has a higher temp rating than the silver stuff.

For the sub frame... I have no idea...anti-seize seems like a smart idea for removal at some point, but I also wouldn't want it moving. So assuming your sub frame is going to stay put...perhaps not? Or only a small amount?

If you're taking things apart frequently and/or are not going to drive the car in the winter, I would generally use even less anti-seize.

The use of locktite on the other hand, is a bit more "ballsy", but actually not a terrible idea for suspension parts. However, suspension bolts normally move because they slide (ie camber bolts), not because they loosen.

My propensity to strip bolts happens inevitably, regardless of use of anti-seize