Rowdy burnouts and loud noises: The LSX/Subaru swap project
04-01-2018, 01:07 PM
#501
Manifolds are looking good. Don't let yourself be defeated by lack of trying. You nailed the drivers side. Might as well spend a hair more time on the #8 primary tube and come out with a super clean set of manifolds.
04-01-2018, 02:22 PM
#502
Thanks man! I'm going to see what I can do about that #8 primary at work this week. If not, it won't be seen anyways.
04-01-2018, 02:38 PM
#503
I've wanted an Esprit since I was a kid, and even more so after the '88 styling updates. I'd love to find one with blown up engine and LS or Ecotec swap it. But it's not a priority, since it's not the kind of car you drive daily in nice weather.
Jay
Jay
04-01-2018, 02:43 PM
#504
I hear you there. There's a shop in Texas with a TT LSX esprit with a Lambo trans. The engine bay is super friendly for swaps, there's a ton of room.
04-08-2018, 07:33 AM
#505
I wrapped up the last two runners yesterday, and as it turned out I left the most challenging for last.
#3 cylinder had to go up and over #2 but the collector sits at a weird angle in relation to the head so I had elongate the cuts along the bend of the two middle 90s. Thankfully they both had to be chopped equally and matched up without significant fighting.
That left the lone front cylinder. As I said in a prior post going up and over the valve cover like a ram horn manifold was not an option because primaries coming through the hood is not what I consider a clean look. Going to far forward would reduce my radiator options so it was paramount that I made this runner add close to the others. I still have about 8-10 inches of room for radiator width so there's no issues there.
For my first set of manifolds I'm quite happy. I can run 90° spark plug boots on all the plugs and can access 11/12 header bolts with a ratchet and the one remaining has plenty of room for a ratcheting wrench so all is good there. I'm going on 2 week hiatus to Tennessee to suck up some of my vacation days that don't roll over so the car will sit until then. I'll have the cold side mocked up in CAD at some point during that time for you guys and I purchased a rather large portion of my drivetrain the other day. Pictures upon pick up.
#3 cylinder had to go up and over #2 but the collector sits at a weird angle in relation to the head so I had elongate the cuts along the bend of the two middle 90s. Thankfully they both had to be chopped equally and matched up without significant fighting.
That left the lone front cylinder. As I said in a prior post going up and over the valve cover like a ram horn manifold was not an option because primaries coming through the hood is not what I consider a clean look. Going to far forward would reduce my radiator options so it was paramount that I made this runner add close to the others. I still have about 8-10 inches of room for radiator width so there's no issues there.
For my first set of manifolds I'm quite happy. I can run 90° spark plug boots on all the plugs and can access 11/12 header bolts with a ratchet and the one remaining has plenty of room for a ratcheting wrench so all is good there. I'm going on 2 week hiatus to Tennessee to suck up some of my vacation days that don't roll over so the car will sit until then. I'll have the cold side mocked up in CAD at some point during that time for you guys and I purchased a rather large portion of my drivetrain the other day. Pictures upon pick up.
04-08-2018, 12:06 PM
#506
Jay
04-08-2018, 12:12 PM
#507
04-08-2018, 02:58 PM
#511
04-30-2018, 10:48 AM
#513
A rather disappointing weekend update this week. So as the law of averages go I was due for some bad luck after having two weekends in a row of stellar progress. I got four welds deep into the crossover, stood up to sharpen my tungsten and knocked my torch off it's holder onto the concrete. Ceramic and concrete don't play nice and I killed my second fupa cup. I tried to band aid the issue and run a standard gas lense but the weld came out close to grey and discolored so I had to call it quits on the welding. I ordered two more and they'll hopefully be in this week. Thankfully it wasn't a total loss of a weekend, I was able to start an excel spreadsheet of all the parts I need to drive the car. That's slowly growing much larger than I thought, but surprisingly cheaper so that's a good thing. I also copped a 50k mile 15+ STI rack for it at a stellar price of free.50.
Now for the juicy bits. I talked to driveshaft shop about axles as mine didn't balance well on the lathe. They quoted me an asinine amount of money for a set of two axles. So much that it convinced me to go solid axle. I purchased a 8.8 out of a 95 GT from the four link back, it even has disc brakes that fit under 15 inch wheels! So the modified IRS 8.8 subframe is coming and being sold as well as my rear STI hubs so the forum homies can have first dibs as this is the only place I'll be updating the car progress. I've signed off most social media in regards to posting personal progress. I will be retaining the factory four link as I can do so without back halfing the car. The 8.8 is going to remain stock until it's running and driving, no need to complicate it further. I will using the stock trailing arm area as the lower link mounts and then running a cross bar for the shorter uppers. Even better news, although yet unconfirmed is I should be able to use my current drive shaft. When mustang guys go from SA to IRS they keep the same drive shaft so I domt see why I won't be able to. Hopefully next week I'll provide some mouthwatering stainless welds for you guys.
Now for the juicy bits. I talked to driveshaft shop about axles as mine didn't balance well on the lathe. They quoted me an asinine amount of money for a set of two axles. So much that it convinced me to go solid axle. I purchased a 8.8 out of a 95 GT from the four link back, it even has disc brakes that fit under 15 inch wheels! So the modified IRS 8.8 subframe is coming and being sold as well as my rear STI hubs so the forum homies can have first dibs as this is the only place I'll be updating the car progress. I've signed off most social media in regards to posting personal progress. I will be retaining the factory four link as I can do so without back halfing the car. The 8.8 is going to remain stock until it's running and driving, no need to complicate it further. I will using the stock trailing arm area as the lower link mounts and then running a cross bar for the shorter uppers. Even better news, although yet unconfirmed is I should be able to use my current drive shaft. When mustang guys go from SA to IRS they keep the same drive shaft so I domt see why I won't be able to. Hopefully next week I'll provide some mouthwatering stainless welds for you guys.
05-01-2018, 06:31 AM
#515
05-03-2018, 08:29 PM
#517
05-06-2018, 11:09 AM
#518
The law of averages did not prevail this week! I received my brandy new fupa cups Thursday so I was pumped for Saturday. I spent the majority of the day welding. If you have ever done any production style welding you know what it's like to get into the groove so to speak. Well I was, and it didn't matter what awkward position I had to hold the torch I was making it work.
Most of the fabricators I've seen dismantle each primary from the flange, weld them on the bench and then reattach in the easiest order. Well I found that to be a waste of time and only removed a middle primary from each. This cut down on time tremendously. Now I would be lying to you if I said I didn't have any doubts about it all fitting together after I welded it. My gaps were very good, less than a 1/16th on the biggest but times that by 8 primaries and you still add up to a 1/2" worth of shrinkage.
My doubts were thankfully not confirmed and everything fit rather well. You can tell it's a bit tighter but the headgaskest and exhaust gaskets will expand the kit back to where it was prior to welding. Almost like I planned it that way right?
Waste gates are next, and in order to put the downpipe where I'd like this is where they're going to sit. I'm going to recurculate them as I don't want the car to sound like a tractorwhen they open.
The downpipe is going to a bull horn style, I have not decided between aluminum or SS though. The front fender has just enough room it.
I should be able to knock out a lot of the Wastegate prep at work this week so stay tuned!
Most of the fabricators I've seen dismantle each primary from the flange, weld them on the bench and then reattach in the easiest order. Well I found that to be a waste of time and only removed a middle primary from each. This cut down on time tremendously. Now I would be lying to you if I said I didn't have any doubts about it all fitting together after I welded it. My gaps were very good, less than a 1/16th on the biggest but times that by 8 primaries and you still add up to a 1/2" worth of shrinkage.
My doubts were thankfully not confirmed and everything fit rather well. You can tell it's a bit tighter but the headgaskest and exhaust gaskets will expand the kit back to where it was prior to welding. Almost like I planned it that way right?
Waste gates are next, and in order to put the downpipe where I'd like this is where they're going to sit. I'm going to recurculate them as I don't want the car to sound like a tractorwhen they open.
The downpipe is going to a bull horn style, I have not decided between aluminum or SS though. The front fender has just enough room it.
I should be able to knock out a lot of the Wastegate prep at work this week so stay tuned!
05-08-2018, 08:16 PM
#520