kellie

iTrader: (2)

Thanks so much for chiming in, I am guessing Mike directed you toward this thread..? I am definitely enjoying the car, it's a really, really fun project and a BLAST to drive. I still haven't had a chance to take a look at the car, but I'll have it in my friend's shop to take the cats out next week, so when it's up on the lift, I'll check the vacuum lines.

Speaking of which, my friend and I were talking about making a custom coolant reservoir to replace the rusty reservoir that's in it right now. The placement of my stock reservoir isn't ideal and the lines get kinked easily. We were wondering if there was any market for that sort of thing amongst folks with front mounts. If so he'll probably make a few of them. If anyone reading this would be interested, please chime in. I'll be sure to post pics of it once it's finished.

kellie

iTrader: (2)

I'm tackling this stuff all out of order, but Harvey AKA The Boost Creep said he suspects my boost/rich problem was due to the cats that I had in the car, so I took it back to my friend (Andrew at AR Design) to put a 3.5" resonator in. Now I have a catted section and a section with a resonator so the car won't wake all my neighbors. Yay.

While they were at it, they also fabricated a custom coolant reservoir. If you don't remember what I had before, here's a pic:



And here's what they put together for me:




He's going to make up several of them, so if anyone is interested, lemme know.

Aaaaand while we were at it...





With the AEM, I was able to eliminate the MAF and put in an AEM air temp sensor. Made the charge air pipe two pieces and I'm going to have it powdercoated wrinkle black. All of these pics are just mock-ups, nothing is really finished. I'll take better pictures when it's finished. First I need to replace more of the coolant, oil and fuel lines with braided hose and AN fittings.

kellie

iTrader: (2)

Looks better, but still runs like crap. The AFRs are all over the place at idle. I have about 100 intake leaks, namely the intake manifold. It's leaking at every intake port, and it leaks REALLY badly at the throttle body. I have no idea what I'm going to do about it. Gotta pull the manifold off and see what the gasket situation is. Nobody reads this. I am talking to myself. Lalalala...

joewagon

iTrader: (1)

I know grimmspeed makes some pretty good gaskets. Maybe giving them a call would help out. Just my .02.

YuudaiSTI

iTrader: (11)

I've read it. Beast of a car. Looks like its in much better condition then when you first picked it up. Have fun pulling the intake manifold, that's one of my least favorite things to do. And that coolant reservoir looks awesome!

kellie

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll keep it in mind. I'm going to pull off this manifold and see what the gaskets look like and measure for warpage. If it isn't too warped, I may give those a shot.

Thank you! Glad to know you guys are reading this. This intake will actually be REALLY easy to remove, luckily. I'll probably do it this weekend. I'm hoping it's just a case of crappy gaskets and I'm not opening a can of worms because I really miss driving it. The drag strip is only open for one more month, and I don't want to miss out.

Mikaust

Kellie,

I was going to move the 02 sensor if I kept the car because I kept blowing them out. I was going to move it to about 4 to 6 inches back of the turbo on the down pipe. When the 02 sensor goes bad the fuel trims are crazy rich. I don't know how it could be air related if you are MAP tuned. I could be wrong but I bet its the 02 sensor, I am sure the flanges on the intake may have warped some, but I don't really know if that is the problem. You just had the car tuned and I think that would have shown itself beforehand.

By the way the engine bay looks incredible, you have done wonders with it. The car is very quick The last time we were at the track it ran 11.7@ 134 with a 2.8 60 ft.on Q16 and the clutch gave out the second run, on pump it ran 11.5 @124 with 2.0 60 ft all on street tires. I really would go catless and get a Q 16 tune. You have no idea how quick that car is. Keep up the good work!

Michael

kellie

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for your input and for the compliments!

I'm hesitant to condemn the O2 sensor since it's BRAND NEW (1000 miles on it?) and I have so many vacuum leaks. You're right though, it's strange that they would crop up now and not earlier, but when it was idling and carb cleaner was sprayed on the intake manifold, the car would die. To confirm, we pressurized everything through the turbo, put about 2-3 PSI of shop air through it and sprayed everything down with Simple Green. It was bubbling badly at the intake ports and the throttle body. I called my tuner and he said that he smoke tested the car before he tuned it, so who knows?

I think I'll pull off the manifold and check everything with a straight edge. If it isn't too warped, I'll just get some new gaskets and see what that does. Hopefully I can get it to work. If I can't, it might be time to look into stock Subaru manifolds (sooo many options). Since I'm going to have to get the car retuned anyway, it might be time for some ID2000s.

My poor wallet.

Edit: Q16 tune will come after I learn how to drive the damn thing. Right now, I spend more time wrenching on it than anything else. BTW, I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one with 2.8 60' times. LOL.

Mikaust

Driving it at the track can be a challenge, I have broken several axles and I guess became somewhat "gun shy" on hard launches. The 11.7 was a soft slip of the clutch and no launch control. Did you replace the 02 sensor when you bought it? I had the previous owner replace it before he drove it back to the west coast. I replaced in less than 3,000 miles when I owned it. I really think the present location on it is just too hot. The car runs like hell when it goes. I am sure you will get it figued out and get back to the track before it closes.

kellie

iTrader: (2)

Yes, I replaced the O2 sensor when I went to the AEM. You sure it was the heat killing the sensors and not the race gas? I guess I'll find out soon enough.

Pulled off the intake today. It's REALLY warped. My friend is going to try to deck it for me, and I'm going to replace the gaskets and use some gasket sealer. Hopefully that'll be enough to get the job done, but the flanges are pretty thin, so we'll see.

While the intake is off, I'm going to relocate the fuel pressure regulator and make a cleaner looking bracket (or rather have my friend make the bracket - I don't make things) and install a Weldon fuel filter and some new fuel lines since some of the existing braided lines are frayed. Also going to order a vacuum manifold and organize the vacuum lines. Thinking I'm going to upgrade injectors before I retune it since it's something I want to do soon anyway and it makes more sense to do it that way. The car is probably going to be down all winter long though.

Hopefully I'll have some new pics late next week or early the following week.

1JavaBlk_in_Sac

iTrader: (86)

haha, that's what I was about to say!

kellie

iTrader: (2)

That's the idea.

kellie

iTrader: (2)

The current state of my car:



And check out my new exhaust tip! I'm still waiting on a new Vibrant flat black oval muffler to come in next Monday, but it should be a bit quieter and slightly more subtle than the gigantic Magnaflow can that's currently on the car. I am excite!



Just need injectors, redo fuel lines, put my intake back on and hopefully it'll be ready for more tuning. Maybe more power? Hope so.

Bimmerman

'Sup.

I like the more modest exhaust, that 4" can was soooooo loud!

kellie

iTrader: (2)

Fancy seein' you here. Stalker. :shifty

Have you found the Bay Area classifieds? You're gonna be in trouuuuble.