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Last week I ordered everything required to plumb the car, water/oil/fuel. Thanks to the hurricane a lot of the packages that were supposed to arrive got postponed to this week, although a few brave souls made it.
My radiator fittings and the braided line showed up. Man do I hate braided line. It sucks to cut, manipulate, and even though I ordered nylon braid it still beat the heck out of my fingers. After battling the assembly of the fittings for a solid few hours, my dad and I prevailed. Makes me very glad I went push-lock for the rest of the lines.
Holy crap. What is that, like -20AN? Reminds me of a joke about why I like Asian women...lol
The next few updates will likely more pictured filled and not so much work as plumbing the car is not exactly exciting from an update stand point.
So first off, my fuel rails and fuel pump brackets showed up. I removed the stock rails and crossovers and installed what was supposed to be a fitting kit specifically to a LM7. Wrongo the rail crossover was notlong enough to cross underneath the throttle. I disassembled the fittings and remade the line and all is well with the rails. They even came with brackets for the long style injectors.
Next up was filter to rail feed. Easy enough thanks to the aeroquip push-locks. They are no joke, once there on, its on for good. I used a petroleum based grease to install the fittings.
Next was the catch can lines. I routed them under the cowl for a tucked away look.
Since my radiator did not come with spare ports I drilled and tapped the waterpump for the steam vent line as well as the oil cooler block off plate for the turbo feed.
The scavenge pump fittings were much to large to fit so I had to grind the pump case down to fit them. No biggie it is nota structural or sealing part.
That is all for the RS as of now because I did not work on it this weekend. Instead I went and scooped a more reliable daily. A 2011 Impreza Hatch, 5 speed with 98k miles. I did the first thing every n/a subaru owner has to do and cut the heat shields off.
Love the build. Very DIY.! Just the way I like it.
One comment and I'm not sure it's applicable to Subaru front spindles. I'm assuming you're not going AWD on this build
Back when I was doing turbo dodge FWD cars, whenever we would remove the front axles and load the front spindle, there was a possibility that the bearing would spit apart because there is no axle and nut holding the bearing together. So we just used part of one of the many CVs we sheared off to keep the hub and bearing assembly from falling apart until we put the compete axle back in. You may have done this, but I may have missed it also.
. Next week is a plethora of welding and installing the blow off valves, which poses a question. Pre-cooler or post-cooler for the BOVs? Consensus seems to be closer to the throttle body the better. What say you?
My guess is based on the purpose of the blow off valve.... to keep the turbocharger from stalling during shifting... by reducing pressure at the compressor wheel. So keep it close to the compressor wheel where it will do it's job sooner.
Love the build. Very DIY.! Just the way I like it.
One comment and I'm not sure it's applicable to Subaru front spindles. I'm assuming you're not going AWD on this build
Back when I was doing turbo dodge FWD cars, whenever we would remove the front axles and load the front spindle, there was a possibility that the bearing would spit apart because there is no axle and nut holding the bearing together. So we just used part of one of the many CVs we sheared off to keep the hub and bearing assembly from falling apart until we put the compete axle back in. You may have done this, but I may have missed it also.
Thank you! I have not as of now but yes you are right, I have to run a stub axle on the fronts in order to keep the hub and bearing sandwiched. I have STI hubs so axles are pricey and that is why I have not bought a brand new set just to chop up. I keep an eye on the marketplace in hopes for a spanked, used set comes up.
That is an interesting perspective on the blow-off valves. They are mounted close to the throttle body as they fit better there haha.
Small but significant update. All the fluids are plumbed and ready to rock.
As you saw a few posts ago i mounted the FPR on the firewall and ran the return. For whatever reason I have seen people run the fuel rail crossover behind the intake and put the FPR up front. I found that to be cluttered so I did it "Backwards". I don't see the fuel caring which side gets fed first as its all under a constant pressure anyhow.
I finally recieved my china-bay fuel pump brackets. I'm using two AEM 380s (they might be 385s), one for cruising and then the other will kick in under boost. I'm not sure if the Ms3/gold box can do this and if it can't Ill just put the second pump on a hobbs switch.
I retained all the lines to the new floor amd frame rails using "low voltage clamps" from home depot. They were 75 cents for four and have a little rubber liner type thing to keep from chaffing the lines, not pictured as I did not want to melt them when I welded in the hardware.
I still need to retain the oil feed and the return is done. The tape will get replaced with something a little more kosher on the first phase of final assembly.
The next logical step is purchasing an ECU and or harness. I am going with EFI source's Goldbox and their PnP LSX harness. It's the same gig as the MS3, on the inside at least, the harness wrap and cases are different but semantics. This is all fine and dandy except it is $1500 and change and I'm a cheapskate. Thankfully black Friday is a month away and its going on sale so I will scoop it up as soon as I get the notification for the sale.
In the meantime I figured it would be a good idea to knock out the small annoying tasks that are going to pop up when it comes time to drive this thing.
First on the list, I fudged up making my crank case vents. I welded the bungs right where the two rearmost coils make there home. Buy two more 10$ fittings and weld them out of the way of the coil bracket, I think not. I welded some 5mm bolts to a few lengths of fuel line and stacked the rear two coils on top of eachother. I don't foresee any interference issues as I seen aftermarket coil brackets stack them similarly without issue.
Next up, the BOVs needed attention. I plumbed them and the FPR to the provision for the PCV on the Intake manifold.
So my pedal box uses 3 wilwood high capacity masters. My boss informed these were very hard to bleed without external reservoirs. Simple enough, a few bits of leftover header tubing, some cheapo 18mm bungs and some 1/8" npt fittings to screw into the covers.
I enjoy wiring, I do not enjoy taking harnesses and altering them or even working with OEM harnesses in general. Thankfully the only things I needed from the cars body harness was the light pig tails and the power window and locks pig tails. There's easily 50 or so pounds in the factory body harness that is going to the grave. I do need to find tail light pig tails, and all the locks and window plugs as that portion of the body harness was misplaced during my move home from college.
I test fit the coil brackets and they should work swimmingly. I'm thinking I should be able to utilize factory plug wires as well and just swap the #4/8 plug wires and use two #3/7 wires. I left plenty of room between the runners to make this possible.
I welded 3/8-24 bungs into my master covers and installed those as well. Fits just under the dash bar so no line of sight obstructions.
While we are on topic of brakes. I'm cheap and I am not willing to spend almost $500 on a single rotor to make 2 pots work with a STI spindle so my modified spindles and my Spec C LCAs w/AMS solid aluminum endlinks are getting sold and replaced with factory RS components. It sucks I either have to run an adapter or different wheel on the front but I am not spending 1200$ on pads and rotors for one half of the car. So if you are looking for some trick STI goodies I am looking to make a trade or deal of sorts.
So black Friday came and went and I made some purchases. Ordered up a MS3 box and 24x harness, injectors, and a 3 bar MAP sensor.
I got Deka 80s for injectors. For those who don't know they flow 875cc at 43psi so they will be pretty close to 1000cc at LS base pressure of 58psi.
There are a few inputs and outputs I intend to add to the harness. A 2step/launch control activation, secondary fuel pump ground, EBCS PWM output, and a fuel pressure sensor input.
Once I have the ECU mounted and the harness length determined, the engine will be coming out. While it is out I'll do the clutch/flywheel and all gaskets as well as any engine bay/tunnel work that could not be done with the engine in the car. The next few weeks of updates likely won't be exciting but it's the rest of the small bits required before this **** box fires up.
the reason people put the FPR regulator up front is it's a common motorsport organization saftey rule nhra scca etc, FPR has to be minimum 12" off the firewall.
however I have never seen anyone booted for it during tech
the reason people put the FPR regulator up front is it's a common motorsport organization saftey rule nhra scca etc, FPR has to be minimum 12" off the firewall.
however I have never seen anyone booted for it during tech
Interesting. I wonder what exactly the thinking is behind that rule. That's good to know I likely won't be booted for it though.
So got the ECU and its little fuse block thing mounted to the tunnel. I used some 1/4" studs welded in. No I did not weld with box grounded like that, I hadn't removed the clamp prior to the picture. I hole-sawwed a two inch hole in my firewall recess and used the supplied grommet.
I checked to be sure my injectors were the correct height with my rails, Bingo the ebay brackets fit perfect with Deka 80s. Now that I had checked to make sure the harness was long enough and fit well it was time to remove the engine for its reseal. I was able to remove all the bell housing bolts with the transmission in the car which was a first. I've always just dropped the subframe but this is alot easier method. While it is out I'll have a chance to seam seal the tunnel and probably the floors and everything else that needs it while I am at it.
I only have the one ton crane so it wasn't quite long enough to mount it on the stand. Shenanigans ensued.
With a bit of Brute force and ignorance applied (Asian persuasion for those not easily offended) It's out and on the stand. I'm bringing a few pieces of the engine to work each week to clean/sandblast/paint that way when all my gaskets arrive I'll have everything ready to go.
Placing this here incase It gets lost in throughout the chicken scratch of my notebook.
Knocking out more of the small things I can tackle that will slow the process. I started with a bit of bead blasting.
Before in the coil brackets
I cranked the blaster up to 120psi and it really started to destroy paint.
Next up the nasty 100k mile junkyard covers
And squeaky clean. I did the inside as well, although there really wasn't a ton of sludge.
Next up, what I had been dreading doing since I bought it, adding the inputs/outputs to the harness in order to activate my two pumps, fan, fuel/oil pressure sensors, EBCS, and the launch control/2 step.
First I found the 5V "VREF" feed for the TPS that I need to tap into to provide my oil/fuel pressure senders a feed.
Then TIG welded in some 12AWG feed wires for said transducers.
I figured one beautiful solder job was enough for pictures so wrapped up the ground side of things and taped it off.
Which left me with a few loose strands hanging
And all taped up and ready to go. Went so much nicer than I thought it would, even pinning and depinning the amp seal plugs. They are hands down much easier to deal with than deutch (spelling) or even GM style connectors.
Then TIG welded in some 12AWG feed wires for said transducers.
I figured one beautiful solder job was enough for pictures so wrapped up the ground side of things and taped it off.
I love all the rest of the work on your car. Not a fan of your soldering. That solder joint looks cold. Did you really TIG weld that? Personally, I solder and heat shrink instead of tape.
12 gauge is overkill for the sensor wires. 18-20 is all you need.
Ditto the concern with that solder joint. Cut out the solder, and get some non-insulated barrel crimps and heat shrink. Solder is for computer boards and chips, not for stranded wire.
I love all the rest of the work on your car. Not a fan of your soldering. That solder joint looks cold. Did you really TIG weld that? Personally, I solder and heat shrink instead of tape.
12 gauge is overkill for the sensor wires. 18-20 is all you need.
No the weld part was a joke although none of the three forums I post this build on found it remotely funny.
Originally Posted by brawls43
Ditto the concern with that solder joint. Cut out the solder, and get some non-insulated barrel crimps and heat shrink. Solder is for computer boards and chips, not for stranded wire.
I'll look into the barrel crimps over the solder. I have read a lot of contradictory information regarding solder in automotive applications.
09-17-2018, 07:22 PM
