288 replies to this topic

[allpaw4]

Yea, I edited the post about the press at work actually being 100t, but never ended up needing it... The hub nut socket has a few bruises from being "massaged" by the hammer, but otherwise got them both free with the Yield. Pretty happy.

Got some appropriate cap head GR12.9 bolts sitting at the local supplier waiting for me to pick them up...

Cheers,
Ben

[allpaw4]

Ok, bolts acquired. Ended up getting cap heads, as that's what the supplier had in stock, and he was going to have to order in a special box of 50 if I wanted the normal 10.9 hex heads, at around 70 or 80 bucks. This way cost me 13 bucks. They're set screw unfortunately, but once they're done up nice and tight, they'll be fine! Would have been good for get a shank on them, but not worth the money or the fact I'd have to have 40 odd spare bolts I'd likely never use...



Will get these fitted over the next week or so and fit the rest of the rear end.

Cheers,
Ben

[allpaw4]

Got out into the shed tonight, all the hubs are done up nice and tight, so they're not going anywhere. Also pulled the rear bar off and started installing the Cusco rear diffuser and brace bar. Turns out the brace bar also braces the sway bar mounts, so the gen4 ones are not required. Shame I've cut one a bit, otherwise I'd sell them on. Ah well. Either way. Love the look of the dual bars (Cusco one follows the same lines as the sway bar).


Also tried to put the Whiteline rear sway on. No go. Doesn't fit the 3" exhaust. Shit design, as it has a kick down where the stock one does not. So there was a half hour wasted...

Stock one has now been reinstalled, and all bolts tightened up. Will hopefully finish up the diffuser install later today, but we'll see how that goes.

Have to do some "adjusting" to the alloy arms to allow me to get the bolts into the Brembo calipers, as the alloy is a lot thicker, whereas the steel arms fit no issues. Going to be putting cap heads in again, just to reduce the amount of adjusting required. Can't wait to get this all finished up. Still lots more to do yet. But I'm slowly getting there.

It's hard to see, but you can see the alloy arm through the top hole, so I have to take off a little bit of material to allow the bolt to slide in and sit square on the bracket. Last thing I want to do is cross thread the calipers, which are known to strip threads as they are...

Cheers,
Ben

[allpaw4]

While Seb was down, finished off the diffuser install, which required some trimming of the diffuser to suit the chassis. Instructions (with photos, a godsend, cos I can't read japanese) laid out which parts to trim and how much, which was good. Initial test fit identified that I hadn't taken enough off, which was a simple task, but a bit more time.


Made a start on adapting the passenger side alloy arm so I can get the brembos installed as well, after finding out my dremel actually came with a die grinder bit with it. Slow going, as it doesn't take much material off, but its working a treat. Plus I'm test fitting the bolt every so often as well.

Photos once everything is back together on this front.

[El_Freddo]

Looking really good Ben! Die grinding is best done slow - those things can really get away from you if they get a good bite and you’re not on your game!

That rear air diffuser looks like a good bit of kit, I don’t think I’ve seen one before.

Keep up the good effort, you’re doing well to get this done while your little man sleeps!

Cheers

Bennie

[allpaw4]

Thanks Bennie! It's a challenge having to leave the shed as soon as I hear him stirring on the monitor. It's quite often I think "nah, I can just finish this last part off..." But I have to stop, because I know if I don't, it'll be another hour without blinking.
The diffuser is a nice bit of kit. Wanted one since I first got my B4 and started looking at aftermarket parts. It fits wonderfully, which being Cusco, isn't surprising, but it's still a relief.
I think I need to buy a proper die grinder, cos the dremel is so slow! Despite spinning at 30k rpm, because the bit is so tiny, it doesn't take much off, and cant get a good grip on anything. A proper grinder would certainly need to be watched!

Went back in last night at about 9ish, spent another 3 hours tinkering. After a few hours I got sick of the dremel, and grabbed the drill with a standard drill bit and used it as poor mans die grinder... things went much faster then!


Also needed to take the rear dust shield off, as its smaller than the actual rotor...
Drilled out the spot welds, then took to it with a chisel followed by the dremel with a sanding tool on it to smooth out the spot welds left on the backing plate.


Passenger side all fitted off nicely! Brake lines are going to wait until everything is mounted and ready to go.


Also got the drivers side close enough to done as well, but I don't think I took enough material off the arm, as the lower caliper bolt feels like it's trying cross thread once the upper one is close to being done up. Once I figured that out, I decided to call it a night, go have a shower to wash out all the aluminium dust and shavings out of my hair and go to bed. Will get the drivers side apart again and sorted once Seb goes down for his nap later today. There's a remarkable amount of material that needs to come off even for cap heads, let alone the proper hex head bolts.

Anyways, until the next post, will chat laters!

Cheers,
Ben

[allpaw4]

Well, not much has happened on the car over the past few days, Seb decided he didn't want to sleep much in his sunday afternoon nap, so by the time I was done being an adult, there was no time left for tinkering in the shed. Then he's also decided that 8 to 830 is his new bed time, which is not cool, but we've tried a couple of times using various methods without success to bring him back to 730. Probably just a sleep regression, but net result is I haven't managed to get into the shed to do anything meaningful for the last couple of days.

What I have managed to do is get a few bits and bobs prepared for when I do finally get in there.
Ordered and received a properly sized set of bushes for the Impreza alloy arms that I initially bought for GX30 (they were supposed to be B4 arms), but they sent the wrong ones. These give extra track on the lib/leg chassis, but the bushes are also slightly wider where they slide into the subframe...
So the new correct sized bushes will be fitted, the freshened up Impreza arms will go on this car, and GX30 will get the arms out of this that I re-bushed back in 2015ish. The bushes on the steel arms on GX30 are knackered, and I'm chewing tyres as a result... but no point replacing tyres until I fix the issue.


Had a few cans of Jaycar freeze spray arrive, to remove all the bitumen sound deadening from the interior. Cheap weight loss. After seeing Tim use it incredibly effectively in his car, thought it would be good for me to do the same.

Also decided to lash out and impulse bought a set of *cheapish* genuine ganador mirrors with the blue mirror glass. Still very much undecided on whether to put them on the car, as the risk of damage is high when tracking it. And given what they're worth these days, thats probably not a great idea.
Buyers remorse definitely kicked in after getting them, but I figure with my house sale going through in a couple of weeks, I can get myself a present to celebrate! They may yet end up on GX30, see what happens there.

Also picked up some new cap head bolts for the calipers, as the old ones that came with the brackets were a little rusty and looked a little ordinary. You can see one of the old ones in the post above. Fresh zinc coated ones will look much nicer.

Anyways. Next update coming soon!

Cheers,
Ben

[allpaw4]

Got the liberty/legacy bushes pressed into the impreza arms this arvo. Plan of attack tonight is to fit them to the car and remove the arms for GX30. Then finish off the rear arms, brakes bled, and get it all back together so I can pull this off the hoist and put GX30 up there. Photos incoming with the next post once all this is done.


Got a 1 man bleed kit to enable me to bleed the brakes on my own. Not sure how effective they are, and will redo it properly with two people before it sees track work, but this should enable me to at least move it around without just using the handbrake...

Cheers,
Ben

[allpaw4]

Ok, so after 2 nights plus an afternoon in the shed working on this jalopy, she's finally getting close to being ready to come off the hoist...

The front Impretzal LCA's are on, and everything is nice and tight.



Rear arms are now completely together, and after quite a few pull it off, put it back on sorta deals, its all looking good. Had to run some taps through a few threads as they had started galling up.



Bit of a better photo showing how much material has to come off the arms


Made the appropriate "tool" to be used as an abusive C spanner out of 5mm thick 316L bar.


Worked a treat after a few heavy smacks to the rusted solid height collar...


Anyways, time for a shower and bed I reckon. Took a lot longer than anticipated as I needed to clean out and also re-thread quite a few holes, including one of my rear calipers...

Cheers,
Ben

[El_Freddo]

Top effort Ben - and to complete a post about it all straight after all the work it seems!

It’ll be a good feeling when it all rolls off the hoist in one piece.

Cheers

Bennie

[allpaw4]

Cheers Bennie, I was pretty stuffed, but I knew I had to put it up while it was semi fresh, otherwise it was gonna end up like the draft post I had half done on friday night. Deleted and re-written to suit the next day, cos I wanted sleep and never got back to actually posting it lol. It started out as I'll just upload the photos, but turned into writing the post as well lol...

Looking forward to getting it off. Really needs to have the suspension lifted as well, but I think I'm going to just do up the collars and leave it as is for the minute. The arms are already off ready to be installed on GX30 at least, but I'll be leaving this until next weekend I reckon, not a smart idea to pull my daily to bits on a sunday afternoon when I need it monday morning...

Got to get a few more little things before I start to tackle the larger, more expensive bits...

[RX25SE]

Wow, you have got heaps done on this Ben. Nice one!

[allpaw4]

Cheers Jase, its been a mission, but I'm slowly kicking some goals! Next attempt on this will be trying unlock the height adjustment thread from that rusted up coil.
I haven't tried it yet, but I'm thinking that the rust will have probably penetrated into the threads and locked them up as well, not just the collar... but we'll see in due time.

Cheers,
Ben

[Beckers]

Start soaking those threads in WD40 etc now, you have probs done this already.

Race cars don't have towbars ???

Nice progress, things are moving along quickly. 

[El_Freddo]

Race cars don't have towbars ???

Unless you plan on being towed out of sand traps??

Ben, hats off to you achieving this amount of work with a little tacker on the go! I get nothing done until they’re near walking age!!

Cheers

Bennie

[allpaw4]

Yeah, all over that side of it Simon! Hopefully a week or so of soaking will be enough... Hahaha, this one will! Just no tongue in it. Using it as the tow point, as the plans I have for the arse end will render the stock ones either side inaccessible. Still a work in progress there though.
Cheers lads, it feels like its slow going, but I know its going along pretty well... I just need to pull my finger out more during the week, but getting adult things done like cleaning, dishes and washing is taking priority... plus Seb is being a little whirlwind in the evenings. Getting into everything he could hahaha. Tries to help with the washing by pulling all the freshly folded clothes off the couch onto the floor
Theres a good reason he's got the nickname 'little monster' lol

[RX25SE]

 

Race cars don't have towbars ???

 

 

 

Rear wing mount?

[allpaw4]

I'm hoping not to need a dirty GT wing Jase, but that would be a good excuse lol.
I've got a genuine Syms wing on its way from Tim, and a spoiler-less boot on its way from Japan at the moment, so I'm hoping to avoid the GT... see how we go.

Cheers,
Ben

[JDP]

Mad amount of progress, Ben.
Keep it up.

[allpaw4]

Thanks Kong! Unfortunately it hasn't progressed any further this week, been feeling a bit shit and under the weather a bit, so didn't want to push myself and end up with a cold, the flu, or some other bullshit virus...

Been busy doing adult stuff today while Seb was down, clean the house a bit, do some washing etc...

Might get in there tonight, see how things go...

Giving the strut a healthy dose of time to allow the penetrant to go to work but. With any luck it works well and I can just undo the lower bolts and spin the lower mount down a bit! But we'll see how that goes, I'm not holding my breath there!

Cheers,
Ben