1294 replies to this topic

[Matt]

Package came in the mail today...bit of sti goodness..will be painted or powdercoated so dont mind the scratches atm

Now to decide on silver or satin black coat?? Whats the general concencus?

Just gotta get the dremel out and enlarge the hole to fit it...than get a redline black with red stitching boot to replace the rubber accordian boot...gonna get a handbrake boot aswell to go with a v7 sti red stitching handbrake lever that ill put in soonish...and tlk to them about a cover for the centre console...and the interior will be much like the gen3 was....and that was sooo nice

[Richo]

Haha that sounds like how ill get my v7 sti cut into it...probably not for another 12 months though

I personally like the 207 anyways ....they looooovvveee to rev and are incredibly strong

but but, free Tq

[Matt]

Yep the torque is a....ma....zing...I most certainly agree with this

Buuuutttt....I want to get a halfcut and have a trackable setup out of the box.....the 257 needs work (my opinion) before you can lean on it, so id be running an unopened 207 with a rotated vf34, silicone intake, cai, fmic, e85 and a killerb sump setup

And possibly whilst its out of the car itll get new head gaskets and high tensile studs as a precautionary measure
This is all in my dreams atm though lol....wouldnt even think about it till the end of the year

[Richo]

Just don't be thinking the 207 is god tier. Don't try for hectic numbers otherwise, like 257/255/205's, it'll rattle

PS, I'd love a 2.35ltr

[Matt]

yeah I had 230atw in my gen3 and it was solid

 

ill be happy with 200atw for a track toy atm....I doubt itll give me any issues at all with a solid tune

[Matt]

So the quest for strength and lightness begins

 

As most know I've so far just removed

-Lots of the old FMIC pipes, and gone down a step in size

-Remove all the AC, including the core under the dash and its associated wiring

-Cruise control is gone from the engine bay

-And just any general unused bracket in the engine bay removed

-no jack or spare wheel in the boot

-Alloy front control arms

 

Next obvious steps are

-Install a GD style alloy alternator bracket (RS one is solid steel and super heavy!!) got given one of these

-Dry ice ALL the sound deadening out of the car

-remove the sound insulation underlay off the carpet (still want to run carpet....for the moment

-remove the thick mat that sits behind the dash up against the firewall (dash out job)

-Lightweight (lithium) battery installed under the passenger seat (these weigh 1.4kg!!!!!)

-Relocate washer bottle to boot.....possibly use a smaller one I have

-remove all the unused cruise, AC, old boost control wiring and plugs from the loom (at least in the bay)

-remove the current stereo...possibly completely...or just put the lightest stuff I can find back in (remove wiring from rear)

**If I was to remove the stereo id take all the wiring out of the doors

-Remove all the window motor gear from the rear doors and fix the rear windows permanently closed

-Possibly (don't want to) go to manual window winders

-change my steering boss for a non cruise control one (losing the cruise switch and associated wiring)

-remove the rear middle seat belt (I'm sure it'd never be noticed lol)

-tear out all the boot trim and carpet

-Manual side mirrors (remove all the wiring and switch etc.)

-Remove the current nest of an alarm under the dash

-replace a lot of the steel brackets with custom alloy pieces

-move any weight that's moveable towards the rear (catch can on firewall etc.)

**though I do like my catch can where it is atm lol

 

Anyone else have any weight saving tips??? I'm all ears

 

 

Along with all this stuff i will do when I'm not busy...I have my new GDB STi (solid bush) rear sub frame and diff outrigger to go in, I'm replacing my STi rear arms with some whiteline adjustable arms, summit racing trailing arms and completely re-bushing the lot...should be much better in the rear end

 

And there's still a tonne of stuff sitting on the shelf to be installed...all in good time though

[allpaw4]

Something to think about. Moving the battery to under the seat and replacing with ultra light version - what size cable will you be running so the starter motor won't drop out on low voltage when cranking? Any weight you save in battery size will be lost in the cabling required as part of the relocation. Would advise keeping stock location and just changing the battery for the ultra light version. Less cable = less weight. Copper weighs lots, esp. battery cable. The other thing you need to worry about is where the weight is. No good going on a removal spree if you completely fork the balance of the car. See if you can borrow some corner scales and check it as you remove things.

[Matt]

as much weight removed forward of the axles will make a massive difference to turn in though.....id use what 2m most of welding cable (plenty big enough)..only one run for the positive...just primarily to get it away from the front axle....hence why im not putting it in the boot

 

I removed the A/C (11kg or so), cruise (2kg), wiring, moved the charcoal canister back to the firewall and I can feel a huge difference in the front end when pushing it.....move the battery (13+ kg) and the washer bottle (4+ kg) and it could only help the matter...that's almost 30kg off the very front end of my car

 

A 1.4kg lithium battery with 2m of cabling wont be anywhere near the weight of the stock battery....and id free up a spot to eventually put some twin aos's or something in the bay...even the overkill 70mm2 cable is around 78kg/100m....so 2m would a touch more than 1.5kg... plus connectors etc itd be max 2.5kg....round it up and its 4kg vs the 10 to 15 kg....and its in a much better position in the car

 

all the other little mods should be pretty even L to R as what gets done to one side generally gets done to the other, I fully agree with corner weighting and would try for a 50/50 left to right...but they are nowhere near that stock anyways so until its gutted and caged I wouldn't stress about it...I just want a much lighter front end and generally as light as possible within reason

[Matt]

at most it will help to cancel out things like the killer b sump and its greater volume of oil, larger radiator with its greater volume of water, better aos setup, brembos etc

 

And all the other stuff would help matters when it eventually gets a cage....at least offset it a touch lol

[Matt]

So the option for a well priced 6 speed conversion has reared its ugly head...and if there's one thing I miss about my gen3...it was the 6 speed and knowing I could abuse the box and not stress about it blowing

 

now to see if I have the funds available lol, but I am very, very tempted to go this path for the time being seeing as what I intend to do with the car

 

And I need to get off my arse, buy a new lithium battery as mines cactus from sitting around for 7 months, get all my stuff off to the powder coater, get the bitsa exhaust sytem fitted and get the new panels painted and fitted

 

then and only then it will be due for a much needed polish and extensive detail before I figure out what other things I can knock off the list hahaha

[Scuba-Roo]

You could drive it

[Matt]

I have been

 

havnt been driving it long distances yet or everyday as the iacv needs some tlc and the battery is mostly mcDead...which will hopefully happen this weekend

[Matt]

So...small update...with the big move just sorta finished I had a chance to spend ten mins on the car

The rs came with jdm tail lights though they had been a tiny bit night shaded and had tiny cracks all over them

I wasnt too happy with the look of them so when I was at the wreckers last I pocketed a set of tidy tail lights of an audm liberty, though when I got home I noticed the indicator parts had orange plastic in them ...and each side has a completely different setup which seems stupid...it made the passenger side one really orange and I was not impressed!!

I remembered the gen2 guys were able to mod the front indicator by cracking up and pulling out the orange insert so I thought I must be able to be done?

I had a wrecked light and accidently cracked that trying so I wasnt confident...but I rethought it and dremeled the plastic into pieces, bent and twisted...than hit the area witha heat gun..and after a bit of swearing they were de-oranged

They will have a wash tomorrow as they are full of plastic bits..but they look tonnes better now

[Matt]

Weight savings?? Hahahaha

[Matt]

Oh and in other news...I am now the happy owner (when I pick it up) of a 02 sti 6 speed
Comes witha jim berry clutch, v2 sti ra plated lsd, auto tail shaft, all drive shafts, group n bushings, all frames and a few shift knobs

Everything needed to bolt it into an RS!!

Can not wait to get it in after a quick clutch rebuild and a tidy up

Will go in with my new gdb sti solid rear subframe and t bar, custom whiteline adjustable lateral arms, aftermarket trailing arms, tranny x-member bushes, fresh bushes in the subframe and t bar and hubs and some whiteline rear swaybar HD mounts

Should be not bad at all

[Robert]

Sounds awesome!

Let me know if you don't want the cross member lock bolts, I'll buy you a 6 pack or something

[Matt]

Already thought about that...was gonna ditch them..but reading into it..since the rs doesn't have the extra support the sti has in the chassis nuts...its better to just have the lock bolts in to give 6 bolts instead of 4....and since I already have them I may aswell use them

[Robert]

No 6 pack for you then

They are cheap as chips anyway, ill order them one day just to see what it's like.

[Matt]

They're worth it...bit more noise...bit who cares lol

[LPM_B4]

207 while the 6 speeds going in