500_19B's Bugeye resurrection

[500_19B]

A big part of Saturday was a new timing belt and water pump for the VW.

In between that, I was able to push ahead on a few things. (Unfortunately, all my photos have streaks showing, which I guess is some grease or something on the lens, which I did not clean. Sorry!)

The turbo is finished now, with the exception of still having to add one stud:
It looks good, but I feel better about the mechanical result. I am happy I took the time to get it professionally balanced.







I coated the tank in Cosmoline and started attaching all the various hoses and wiring. I am about two thirds done.







Most of the EVAP hoses are in good shape, so on those I am just replacing the spring clamps (which I pre-coated in Cosmoline).

And in keeping with the Cosmoline theme, I finished coating the part of the underbody where the fuel tank goes, as well as the prop shaft tunnel and floor pan.

Finally feels like the entropy on this project is starting to decrease, but I am still ridiculously slow!

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[DrTrae]

Originally Posted by 500_19B

Finally feels like the entropy on this project is starting to decrease, but I am still ridiculously slow!

Have you checked MY thread lately? Probably not, because there have been no updates in it forever.
I'M slow. You, are kicking ass consistently.

Everything you're doing looks incredible. Can't wait to see this thing come together!

[500_19B]

Originally Posted by DrTrae

Have you checked MY thread lately? Probably not, because there have been no updates in it forever.

Actually, I am very interested in your thread, as we are on somewhat similar treks.

I think for you, the combination of finding the extra job lurking in the rear strut tower, and the arrival of a nice new DD (as well as the endless wait for the motor) have all conspired to make for a natural break in the action.
Me on the other hand, I am just slow! But it is all a hobby for us, so we do what we can when we can.

I just hope I finish most of it before I get hit by a bus!

Anyway, I was disappointed with the crappy quality pictures so I re-took some last night, with a bit more of the fuel piping in place:







In other news, on the endless “parts collecting” journey, I found a second hand Grimmspeed up pipe at a decent price:



Also, the front condenser was very ratty, so I have a new one of those:

[500_19B]

So, I am looking forward to getting that fuel tank back in the car this weekend, as it will feel like the first significant item to go back in (and make room in the basement!)

First though, I still had to route the new hard brake lines. I got home early yesterday so I had an hour. This is one of those jobs that should be super quick and easy, but it took a little longer than expected to get all four nuts threaded into the union with everything aligned and happy, while the brake fluid did a slow drip, drip, drip onto my face!









Anyway, took slightly longer than expected, but the new lines (with fresh clips) are in place and the area is coated in Cosmoline, so it is now ready for the fuel tank, which itself is close to done.

A very small thing, but it is nice to see some contrast in the underbody!

[DrTrae]

Wow, really nice! Are those brand new factory brake lines? I've been anxious to see what mine look like once my fuel tank comes down.

[500_19B]

Originally Posted by DrTrae

Wow, really nice! Are those brand new factory brake lines? I've been anxious to see what mine look like once my fuel tank comes down.

Yes, you are right, they are new OEM lines. The originals were actually OK, but I wanted to have the the flare nuts in totally good condition. I am really OCD about brakes I guess...

The lines are surrounded by a very think plastic coating, which was completely intact. It is only the very ends of the lines that are really exposed. You can see the coating a bit in this picture from before I put the lines in. I expect you will find the lines are in good shape. Subaru did a good job on these ones IMO...

[500_19B]

A bit of frustration and a setback this weekend:

The fuel tank is all finished and ready to go in (good), but I have a small-ish issue which is going to add to the delay, and it is 100% down to my own ham-fistedness, so I am once again frustrated but have no one to blame but me!

The issue is the M8 bolt that secures that bracket that supports the brass connection union for the rear brake lines. Earlier in the week, while installing it, the bolt was very stiff. Brake fluid was dripping on to my wrenches and face, so I was in a rush and just figured the threads were gummed up with a bit of the coating I applied in that area.

Thinking about it after, I thought I really should take that bolt back out and properly clean the threads. But I discovered instead that I had done the embarrassingly rookie mistake of cross threading it.

Although it was holding tight, after backing it out once and threading it back in, I could feel it weakening. I tried a helicoil, which sort of is working, but not well because the weld in nut is shallow. So, this coming weekend I am going to go back to square one and weld in a proper insert (the same type that I used where I had two broken sway bar bracket bolts).

Now that I am doing this, I will also be welding in some reinforcement to those sway bar bracket locations... The new inserts I welded in are good, but it has been bothering me that the original weld in nuts were actually behind a double layer of sheet metal, but the new inserts are obviously just welded on the outside. I have thought about this a lot, and convinced myself after some comparative calculations that it was OK. But now that I will have to be repainting the brake line support bracket mounting location, I figured I may as well as do some extra bullet-proofing on the sway bar mount locations...

So, one step forward and two steps back... I am in Vancouver on work this week, but am getting myself calmed down and re-focused to doing it right...

[500_19B]

Duplicate post

[500_19B]

Got back from Vancouver tonight... getting away on work did a good job clearing my head of the latest dose of Subie frustration I brought upon myself.

I have everything on hand to go through the repair process this weekend, and hopefully I get through that with time to spare to make some actual progress.

The tank is totally ready to go in. Actually I am pretty happy with how it all looks.:









As for the repair to the cross threaded weld-in nut, I am going to use one of these weld-in nuts, which are quite a bit deeper, which does not hurt:



I've changed my approach for the sway bar mounting points. Instead of welding reinforcing plates over top, I am going to mostly drill through the three layers of sheet metal (weld in nut flange, outer frame layer and inner frame layer, just leaving a small thickness of the inner frame layer not drilled through). I will do this in three spots on the periphery of the nut flange, and then plug weld it up securely. Then some sanding to flatten the dome of the plug, and then all the finish layers (etch primer, 2K epoxy primer, 3M stoneguard, black base and then 2K satin clear.

Probably 100% unnecessary, but I will feel better having these little details done.

[500_19B]

Got the new threaded insert welded in for the brake line support bracket that I screwed up, and the associated paint work all done. Very happy with the result, as it looks clean and is very solid. Of course, if I had not been such an idiot in the first place, none of it would have been necessary.

So, finally I was ready to put the tank in. Here it is just about to go back in (you can more clearly see the amber hue that the Cosmoline has):





Here was the tank when if came out, so it does at least look better.



Sticking back in was very easy, just a matter of making sure the various tubes and wires at the back of the tank nest together neatly while jacking it into position.

Nice to see something significant bolted back into the car.





Since I had to mix and spray the 2K epoxy primer and clear coat for the underbody work, I also painted yet another batch of parts (mostly miscellaneous bits and pieces from the engine compartment, so the progress this weekend was actually not bad.

[DrTrae]

So awesome! Looks amazing.

[KeithS05RS2.5]

Looking Mint!

[500_19B]

Thanks!

Should be able to get a few more things back on the car this weekend. I am getting the fuel filler and all that EVAP paraphernalia ready to go back on. Here is the fuel filler assembly pretty much ready to go, also coated in the ubiquitous slathering of Cosmoline:







Also have the rear subframe coated and ready to go:



Little bits of progress. Hopefully I can keep things moving forward and not get bogged down with another screw up of my own doing!

[Scooby South]

It's Amazing how thorough you are. Congrats. Very nice Restoration... hopefully you can enjoy the fruits of your labor soon

Bill

[Scooby South]

How far do you expect to take this thing.. With the level of restoration you are doing.. this thing should be pretty close to new condition Good Luck with it..

Bill

[500_19B]

Originally Posted by Scooby South

How far do you expect to take this thing.. With the level of restoration you are doing.. this thing should be pretty close to new condition Good Luck with it..

Bill

Thank you! Actually, it is bit of a mixed bag... all of the things that I am doing (body, suspension, fuel system and brakes primarily) I am trying to be very thorough with. However, I am not really doing much to the engine (just some peripheral stuff like rebuilding the turbo and putting an upgraded oil pickup in). and the transmission is not being touched at all. Also, the interior will just go back "as was", although it was in pretty decent shape. So, it would be fair to say parts of the car will be like new, but other parts for sure won't.

Along with the fuel filler, I will be putting all that EVAP "crap" back in. Everything is cleaned, painted and doused with Cosmoline. I am going to an airshow with my son and brothers this weekend, and it is my wife's birthday, so I won't get loads done, but hopefully I can put the filler, EVAP, cannister back in, and if I am really lucky, maybe the rear subframe.





How it looked before...

[500_19B]

With just part of one day on the weekend, it was always going to be a challenge to get a lot done. As it was, I ended up making even less progress than I had hoped. Not because of any actual problems, just did not realize all the small niggly items I had to do.

I started putting back the EVAP stuff along with the rear bumper beam and tow eyes. However, I realized I was short one spring clamp and on specific body plug (that goes above the vapor cannister), so I stopped short of putting the filler and cannister in, as that would interfere with access.





For all the internal voids on the body, I like to use something that sprays "wetter" than Cosmoline, as it is hard to be accurate when spraying way down into a frame rail, so a product that will creep more before setting up (or staying wet) is preferable. I have some cans of 3M cavity wax, which I am using for that purpose. 3M makes a kit of three different length wands that are used directly with the spray cans, so it is very easy to access far inside the voids. Here I am applying the wax prior to putting the rear bumper beam in.





There are also pneumatic spray equipment kits with wand options, but for now I have two cans of the 3M stuff I will use up first.

EDIT: Sorry... the black tape on the can of cavity wax was just for me to keep track which of my two cans I had started using. The 3M product numbers are 08852 for the cavity wax and 08851 for the applicator wand kit.

[500_19B]

The filler and most of the remaining EVAP connections are done. The only thing is one body plug that goes above the carbon cannister is on back order, so I am leaving the carbon cannister out for now, until I get that plug, as the cannister blocks access to where it goes.



New surround trim and hardware looking nice:



I moved on to some of the larger structural items. First was the transmission support cradle. Along with the freshly plated hardware, I used some new SuperPro bushings to replace the stock rubber bits. These should be a good match with the Group N transmission and motor mounts.





I assembled everything slightly loose, so it would be easy to line up the mounting locations, and it was. Although encapsulated in Cosmoline, it looks pretty good.





Next was the rear suspension subframe. The one new item here was the addition of Kartboy subframe lockdown bolts:



I like the concept of these. The installation was very simple. I did have to run a tap through the threaded boss on the frame rail to clean out the threads first. Then, it was just a matter of torquing down the lockdown bolts first (while the four main bolts remained slightly loose, to allow the subframe to move into position with the lockdown bolts.

[500_19B]

Final thing for the day was connecting the main fuel lines to the tank on the driver's side. Although the original hoses look fine, I went with new OEM replacements as well as new quick connect clips for the main supply line, which you always should replace anyway.

[500_19B]

Double post

[xtremewlr]

Love seeing all the clean, fresh parts going back on. Nice job!

[ajchxc]

wow seeing that subframe like that makes me both insanely jealous and motivated. I need to do... well basically everything that you've done to this bugeye to my sti. Everytime I need to take apart anything it's agony. I'm just across the lake and I feel the pain of the crust.

[500_19B]

Things starting to roll a little faster now, as the main types of jobs have morphed from mostly taking stuff apart & cleaning etc. to mostly putting stuff together.

With the rear subframe in the next step was the rear differential. After first giving everything a thorough soaking in, you guessed it, Cosmoline, I laid out all the parts and started.



I did a lot of back and forth with deciding what to do with the various differential bushings. First, I had bought a set of Torque Solutions rear bushings. These are HARD… the opposite of the stock very soft originals. Separately, after re-finishing the outrigger support, I pressed in a new set of OEMs, which I had purchased some time earlier. After spending some time thinking, it seemed retrospectively obvious that super-hard rear bushings and soft fronts did not make intuitive sense. What I really wanted was something between those two extremes. The stock front bushings are very hard to replace (back on page 2 I have some pictures of how I cut out the originals). So, I decided to keep the stock bushings and combine them with the Kartboy kit that is designed to work in conjunction with the OEM bushing and provide an insert for the top and bottom that nest with the stock bushing. I went with the grey (softer) version. For the rear bushings I got a set of the Turn-in-concepts “comfort” bushings, which are also grey. The are identical in shape and size to the Torque Solutions bushings, but noticeably softer, but still orders of magnitude stiffer than the old OEMs were. Overall, I am happy with the strategy now, as it should be a more balanced combination.



After bolting the differential to the outrigger frame, I rolled the assembly under the car, sitting on a sheet of plywood on top of a floor jack. I had the rear bushing carrier just sitting loose on the differential’s studs. Then it was just a matter of slowly jacking the assembly up, with the nose slightly down. I guided the bushings into the subframe and pushed the differential back once the studs were high enough to pass through the clearance holes. Go the rear loosely bolted on, and then finished jacking up the front and bolted those in, with the Kartboy inserts. It all went together perfect, which was a relief because earlier I had to cut out the section where one of the weld-in nuts were, and weld in a repair part (which I made extra strong). I checked measurements about 60 million times when I was welding it in, but a little doubt remained that maybe the alignment was a little off!









A separate small job was finished the last few items on the turbo. When I disassembled the turbo, the hoses for the wastegate actuator, turbo outlet/boost controller were a little hard, and in fact, one broke.



I got OEM replacements along with a new orifice (that goes in the hose to the turbo outlet). I think the original orifice was fine, but it was relatively inexpensive.



Finished that, as well as adding in the missing stud on the back of the turbine housing and now the turbo is finished and ready to go.

[500_19B]

Another day where I was able to put some stuff back on.

First step was the usual Cosmoline. Coil overs before (looking nice and shiny):



And after the Cosmoline (yeah, not so great, but it’s all about protection):



Laid everything out for the rear coil overs, axles and lateral links:



It was all straightforward bolt-together. Sure is much easier putting it back than taking it apart was.





Tried to fashion some temporary plastic sleeves to protect the differential seals when re-installing the axles. Maybe worked a bit. That said, it seems if you are careful, nothing is needed.



The infamous outer link bolt. I used new ones coated with Cosmoline and with antiseize in the areas where the bolt passes through the bores of the bushing and hub carrier (photo was taken before it was applied).



This is how it ended up at the end of the day. Everything is still to be torqued and checked, but it is starting to look like something.

[xtremewlr]

Looks awesome, nice work. I remember the fun of reinstalling the differential and outrigger thingy, trying to get it all lined up and in it's home. Fun times!