Racking Our Brains Jul 25, 2005
This weekend's garage antics on the Subaru centered around replacing the power steering rack. It required the removal of the manifolds, cats, front anti-rollbar and a portion of the front subframe. Once all of that stuff was out of the way, it was pretty simple to unbolt the rack, unhook the U-joint in the steering column and disconnect the power steering lines.
Going back in was a little more frustrating for several reasons. 1) It's very easy to cross-thread the fluid lines, so it's easiest to connect them while the rack is "loose" 2) If the lines are connected, it's pretty cumbersome to get the mounting bushings and clamps to line up correctly. After some struggle, we got everything bolted up and working. No leaks!
We then turned our attention to the used hood. It had a few small dents on the leading edge. We sanded it down and applied some Half Time polyester filler to the dents...sanded...more filller..sanded..etc. When we had it pretty darn close, we sprayed it with some high-build primer and sanded....primer....sanded. Now it's pretty close. At least close enough that it'll look good covered in paint, covered in stickers, covered in dirt, going 40 miles per hour.
Actually, we're joking, it looks pretty good. Now the rest of the car.......
Plans for our Subaru Impreza Jul 27, 2005
We've started the planning phase of our rallycross project. The goal is to build a fun, cheap car that is legal for SCCA's RP4 class, while also being potentially legal for actual stage rally use. We don't know if our car will ever make it to a real rally (the closest one is three states away from us!) but it would be nice to have that potential in the future.
The rallycross class that would allow for both is the Rally Prepared category and since we're using an all-wheel-drive car, that means RP4 is the class for us. An RP4 car is allowed to have quite a number of changes, including wheels, tires and suspension, while not requiring the builder to write a blank check for engine modifications. Rally Prepared cars can also be prepared for stage rally use, and Production GT seems like the best fit for an Impreza. We won't have the power of a WRX, but we're new to this whole rally thing anyway, so the horsepower would most likely just get us into trouble.
From here, we intend to finish up the body work, paint the nose of the car and start the transmission swap. We'll need to source a clutch before that happens, but both RP4 and PGT allow aftermarket clutches, so we'll probably upgrade that area. We're also looking at a viscous lsd or a Phantom Grip conversion on our extra rear differential, either of which would be adequate for loose surfaces.
It looks like there is a rallycross event here in Florida in August. We might make that one, even if we're still using the automatic transmission and stock street tires.
Here are some links from our most recent websurfing:
- NASIOC, the best Subaru site we've found.
- SCCA, our source for rallycross rules (you can download the pdf)
- Rally Rebels, our local rallycross nutjobs. We can't wait to join them!
While we're at it, we'll admit that since we're new to the dirt, we've been asking a bunch of stupid questions. Paul Eklund of Primitive Enterprises has been answering them patiently. We'll be sourcing our skidplates and underbody protection from his company. Paul is also our rally editor and supplies us with most, if not all, of our professional rally coverage in the magazine.
New Fenders for the Subaru. Aug 1, 2005
We've finished up sourcing parts for the accident repair. The 1993 Impreza in the junkyard gave up some more parts, including the fender liner and a fender bracket.
The new fenders arrived today. They were $30 a piece, with $30 shipping a piece as well (Gotta love Ebay price shenanigans). They appear to fit correctly and we'll be bolting them on this evening.
Cyrano De Subaru Aug 3, 2005
Last night the GRM garages were lit-up well into the evening as we worked on our rallycross Subaru. The first task of the evening was to put some 1/4" hardware cloth (steel mesh) over the radiator to protect it from rocks and other stuff that could get flung up into the air. We bought the smallest roll that Lowes had for about $15. It's probably enough to do 15 cars.
After the mesh was installed, we bolted on the front fenders. They lined up reasonably well, although the hood gap is a little funky on the driver's side. From there, we could put our salvage yard sourced bumper and lights back on. Now we get to prep everything for paint, which should happen over the weekend.
Primed and ready to go…sort of. Aug 5, 2005
We primed the nose of the Impreza last night, taking our car from multi-colored to simply bi-colored. With primer on, you can see some of the fitting issues we've had, since the nose of the car was pretty tweaked. The end result will look ok at speed and will be well-covered with vinyl, so we're not overly worried about the gaps.
We've also sourced a set of used 2003 WRX springs for our Impreza. We'll be using at least the fronts to get a little more rate and ride height in to our Impreza. The set was $40 from a local autocrosser.