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10-28-2017, 08:47 PM | #1 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 53793
Join Date: Jan 2004
Chapter/Region:
MWSOC
Location: Chicago, IL
Vehicle:02 WRX Wagon PSM |
Tracknerd's bugeye wagon, SM build
Build Goal:
Reasonably competitive (locally for now), Street Modified auto-x car, while remaining reliably capable of occasional city use and hauling dogs around. Thread Purpose:
Current Mod list:
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Last edited by tracknerd; 12-29-2020 at 08:31 AM. Reason: Mod list update |
10-28-2017, 08:47 PM | #2 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 53793
Join Date: Jan 2004
Chapter/Region:
MWSOC
Location: Chicago, IL
Vehicle:02 WRX Wagon PSM |
Backstory:
I've owned several Subarus over the years and my family has owned more than a few (my brother has had and/or helped build some very nice examples, like this one). I really wanted a wrx wagon back in 02-03, but as a poor grad student racing track bikes as much as possible, I couldn't even afford to think about one at the time. Fast forward over a decade to where I had the itch to get into autocross and finally had capacity for a project and unloved examples were going for pennies. I promptly picked this one up: It needed lots of love, but I said that I wanted projects and I got what I asked for. All kinds of suspension issues, turbo needed a rebuild (which was MUCH easier and cheaper than I expected), a few easy oil leaks, missing drive shaft, transmission that didn't match the rear diff and much more... While fixing everything I ended up setting it up as a budget minded STX legal autocross car, primarily off of used goodies on nasioc. Mod highlights included: Perrin ELH and uppipe Cobb catted downpipe AVO inlet STX legal tune BC BR coilovers Swift 8k springs front and back 22mm sway bars front and back Stoptech ST-40s Braided brake and clutch lines 17x8 RPF-1s with 245 Rivals for one year and RE-71s the next As much front camber as I could get out sedan coilovers on wagon control arms and slight front toe out CG Lock It was a fun setup for learning and even with a work in progress driver it was consistently reasonably competitive in class locally. It was predictable enough at the limit with better rotation than I expected. The biggest annoyances / shortcomings were spinning the front inside wheel on some sweepers and pretty much any on power corner exit, plus I was constantly wishing that I had much more low end grunt. In addition to autocross, I had some fun at a few track days. Including one in the fall of 2016 in Joliet IL. During the first session of the day, after only a couple honest laps, she lost power and quietly went to sleep while dumping just enough oil on the header to fuel a nice little fire. The safety crew were on the scene immediately and got it put out before too much damage could be done. Which is where this re-rebuild started. Last edited by tracknerd; 04-22-2018 at 09:57 AM. Reason: More pics |
10-28-2017, 08:47 PM | #3 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 53793
Join Date: Jan 2004
Chapter/Region:
MWSOC
Location: Chicago, IL
Vehicle:02 WRX Wagon PSM |
Build as of 10/28/2017
Motor: I had initially planned on doing a reasonably stout hybrid build, but while looking into the costs of getting heads machined to avoid some of the hybrid headaches that I've heard so much about for years I stumbled upon a nice low milage long block from a 2013 wrx for about what I was going to have to pay for the head work and grabbed it instead. The trickiest bit of getting the new motor to work with my 02 usdm ecu was to bypass the avcs, which was actually much easier than most of the threads around here would lead one to believe. All that's needed is well stated in the elementtuning avcs delete walk through. I would love to have the extra low end grunt and improved spool that having functional avcs would give, so a future project will possibly be to try to get that working, while still being able to easily pass the OBDII step of emissions testing. I still have the shortblock that I was going to use for the hybrid build, I'll be very slowly building that up as a stronger spare for when I kill this one. Turbo: Little oem turbos just weren't going to cut it. After looking long and hard at Killer-B's spoolinator setup and at various EFR turbos, I opted for a GTX-3067R with a tial exhaust housing. I had always wanted to learn how to weld, so figured I'd choose my own adventure and roll my own rotated setup. This slowed my build down quite a bit more than I expected, after several iterations with ugly not air tight welds, especially in places where the MIG nozzle didn't fit well, I ended up tacking the tights spots together and having a shop TIG them. The main take away lesson was that I should have bought a kit and learned to weld on something easier than thin stainless steel tubing with a MIG. That said, I'm hooked on welding and really wish that I'd gone straight to the steeper learning curve of TIG instead of messing around with this MIG. Going rotated required doing a few unplanned changes, such as AN power steering lines, Killer-B overflow tank and some other small bits here and there. E85: To kick up low end grunt, I wanted the ability to run E85, so added a walbro 255, ID1000s, flat4motorsport fuel lines, ID fuel filter, aeromotive FPR and an ethanol sensor. Once I get everything more or less sorted I plan on getting both a pump and E85 dyno tune and then possibly venturing into something like carberry based flex fuel. Simplify and add lightness: Nothing helps everything like less weight. In the process of this build I am trying to remove weight everywhere I can and simplify as many things that used to annoy me about working on this car, while staying SM legal. Turbo oil drain: I never want to 2nd guess if my turbo oil drain is on right again, so I converted to -10 AN oil drain with a TigWerks block adapter. TMIC: I've never liked the Y-Pipe setup but didn't want to go FMIC so I switched to a side entry TMIC with a little custom tubing from the turbo. (so far I'm a big fan of that choice) Last edited by tracknerd; 04-22-2018 at 11:08 AM. |
10-28-2017, 08:48 PM | #4 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 53793
Join Date: Jan 2004
Chapter/Region:
MWSOC
Location: Chicago, IL
Vehicle:02 WRX Wagon PSM |
Current winter plans:
Transmission: One of my core must haves for this build is a front LSD. I've been looking at 07 sti 6MTs, but don't really want the short gearing and can't really afford the cool bits from subydude to make the 6MT gearing more auto-x friendly. An added annoyance / hesitation to this option is that I picked up a DSS carbon drive shaft for my 5MT and would need to sell / trade that for one that would work with the 6MT. I've also been looking at just adding a front LSD to my current transmission (or a cheap spare if I can find one) and possibly drop in some slightly stronger gears while I'm in there. The drawback to that thought is that even with a couple of RA, the 5MT would probably always been the weak link in this build. Suspension: I'm currently on very used BC BRs with 8k swift springs, which was fair enough for STX, but seriously sucked on our crappy Chicago war zone streets. I'll be stepping that up to something stiffer and looking at getting some more tolerable dampening. Looking at Feal coilovers or at rebuilding the BCs with Bilstein guts and better valving: I also have some of the caster adding sti aluminum front control arms and some adjustable whiteline adjustable rear arms sitting in the garage just waiting for some free time to throw them on. While I'm at it, I'll probably try dumping the front sway bar, just to aid in keeping the front inner wheel down and drop a little weight. Also looking at roll center kits. Exhaust: Currently my header, up-pipe and turbine housing are ceramic coated and wrapped / blanketed. The downpipe, EWG bypass piping still need to be wrapped. The catback is currently a cheap SRS Type-RE system from ebay. It's held up well and sounds nice / mellow, better quality than I expected for the price, but it weighs a ton. I've been looking at used ti systems, but am not a fan of the cockeyed JDM pipe exit that most of them have and I don't really want something ridiculously loud, I'm just too old for that. Not sure where I'll go with that yet. Wheels tires: I definitely need something much wider, but I'm not a huge fan of the flared look. I might just get some sti front fenders and roll/pull the hell out of everything, but I want at least 275s, so that probably means flares, we'll see. Last edited by tracknerd; 10-29-2017 at 12:11 AM. |
10-29-2017, 12:00 AM | #5 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 53793
Join Date: Jan 2004
Chapter/Region:
MWSOC
Location: Chicago, IL
Vehicle:02 WRX Wagon PSM |
Reserved
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11-03-2017, 08:19 PM | #6 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 53793
Join Date: Jan 2004
Chapter/Region:
MWSOC
Location: Chicago, IL
Vehicle:02 WRX Wagon PSM |
Plx
Added 2 PLX DM-6 gauges with a fist full of sensor modules today.
- Wide band (with passthrough to left TGV sensor for easier logging) - Boost - Oil Temp (from pan) - Oil Pressure (reading from oem port, with pass through to oem oil pressure) - IAT (currently just a probe in the front of the IM) Finding a decent spot for all of the sensor modules together ended up being more annoying than I expected. I ended up stuffing them under the dash tied to the steering column. A bit more of a rats nest than I wanted, but it'll do for now: I'll probably end up relocating the sensor modules somewhere cleaner / easier to get to eventually. I'm more than a little tempted to eventually ditch the pretty little aluminum housings and fab up something to hold all of them together in a smaller space. Probably not any time soon though, more pressing / interesting projects to work on currently. Side note, in the process of trying to figure out logging options and trying (and failing) to get some of the fancier DM-100 gauges, I had a couple of interactions with PLX support. They were very responsive and friendly enough, but they didn't have any useful answers and didn't really seem overly interested in their automotive products, definitely more focused on their other areas of business. |
11-30-2017, 08:29 PM | #7 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 53793
Join Date: Jan 2004
Chapter/Region:
MWSOC
Location: Chicago, IL
Vehicle:02 WRX Wagon PSM |
Two steps forward, one step back
Out data logging in stop and go traffic today and the clutch decided to sink to the floor and make some awful noises.
Once again thankful for AAA. Initial probing looks like the clutch fork is cockeyed somehow, fearing a cracked bell housing. |
11-30-2017, 09:55 PM | #8 |
Scooby Guru
Member#: 80649
Join Date: Jan 2005
Chapter/Region:
South East
Location: Columbia, SC
Vehicle:2000 2.5 Auto-X RSTi Sparkly |
I know you said you wanted to avoid it, but I have a nice 6-speed and matching OSGiken front diff sitting in my shop just waiting for someone to buy it and go autoxing (although I did totally just swap the stock front diff in).
You won't need the good gearing stuff for at least a few more years anyway as this trans will get you to 65-68 mph depending on your rev limit. I won't pimp out the shocks I have since they're for 5x114 cars, but when you're ready... :P |
12-01-2017, 10:26 AM | #9 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 53793
Join Date: Jan 2004
Chapter/Region:
MWSOC
Location: Chicago, IL
Vehicle:02 WRX Wagon PSM |
The bell housing indeed somehow cracked where the clutch fork rod goes.
I can't see spending money on another wimpy 5mt... so am indeed tempted to go the 6MT path. I was looking at 07s, to get the slightly better gearing but not need to worry about the speed sensor junk. What have you been doing for a speed sensor on the newer ones? Do you use the DCCDPro VSS thing? |
12-01-2017, 11:57 AM | #10 | |
Scooby Guru
Member#: 80649
Join Date: Jan 2005
Chapter/Region:
South East
Location: Columbia, SC
Vehicle:2000 2.5 Auto-X RSTi Sparkly |
Quote:
If you're serious though let me know |
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12-12-2017, 10:57 PM | #11 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 53793
Join Date: Jan 2004
Chapter/Region:
MWSOC
Location: Chicago, IL
Vehicle:02 WRX Wagon PSM |
I (finally) received a TY856UW1MA from a 2011 sti and a VSS today.
The current plan is more or less the poor man style 6MT swap, for now. Keeping the R160 and using a cheap very used drive shaft from an automatic wrx and male front axles (giving some 500hp insane shafts a try) and ignoring DCCD (for now). |
12-13-2017, 10:13 AM | #12 |
Scooby Guru
Member#: 80649
Join Date: Jan 2005
Chapter/Region:
South East
Location: Columbia, SC
Vehicle:2000 2.5 Auto-X RSTi Sparkly |
Just curious, how much did you pick it up for?
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12-17-2017, 04:32 PM | #13 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 53793
Join Date: Jan 2004
Chapter/Region:
MWSOC
Location: Chicago, IL
Vehicle:02 WRX Wagon PSM |
More fun
Looks like the old pressure plate took a bit of a beating during the 5MT housing failure.
Last edited by tracknerd; 04-21-2018 at 09:59 PM. |
01-29-2018, 06:38 PM | #14 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 53793
Join Date: Jan 2004
Chapter/Region:
MWSOC
Location: Chicago, IL
Vehicle:02 WRX Wagon PSM |
Quick update, 6MT In
The 6MT is finally in, complete with a fresh sti clutch and another Fidanza flywheel, a pair of insane shafts 500hp shafts up front, VSSPro and sti shift linkage / kart boy short throw.
Most everything went smoothly with some help wrestling the transmission in from my friend Kevin. The VSSPro works well, easier to wire in that I expected. The Insane Shafts are beefy, look like they'll out last the car. The sti shift linkage that I got was the oem short throw variety, combined with the kartboy shifter / bushings, the throw is even shorter and solid than the wrx kartboy setup was. I'm still working through some issues with the beat up automatic WRX drive shaft that I grabbed to keep the r160, thinking of just giving up and going r180. Last edited by tracknerd; 04-21-2018 at 10:00 PM. |
02-04-2018, 02:42 PM | #15 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 53793
Join Date: Jan 2004
Chapter/Region:
MWSOC
Location: Chicago, IL
Vehicle:02 WRX Wagon PSM |
I finally installed the caster adding sti control arms and and whiteline roll center kit, as well as a Hotchkis 25mm hollow sway bar. I have some control arm spacers that I was going to put in to add a bit more caster, but I didn't like how it slightly bound up the inner control arm bushing, so skipped it, for now. Once I eventually get wider wheels/tires I'll see how much caster I have and how much space I have left then reassess the spacers.
Available camber range is substantially increased from the sedan control arms, with the top camber plates at zero I still get 2 degrees of camber, which used to be the max I could squeeze out with the wagon arms with sedan coilovers. Combined with much wider tires and added power, this should be fun. Last edited by tracknerd; 03-06-2020 at 08:37 PM. |
03-05-2018, 06:45 PM | #16 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 53793
Join Date: Jan 2004
Chapter/Region:
MWSOC
Location: Chicago, IL
Vehicle:02 WRX Wagon PSM |
I've been too busy to do too much on any of the bigger planned projects, just a little clutch break in, data logging and road tuning.
I did throw in some whiteline rear lockout bolts last week. I already had a decent assortment of whiteline and kartboy bushings back there but still had a very inconsistent, very annoying mid turn in vagueness / slop. Even with a little rust clean up, install was only 5 to 10 minutes and they completely killed the vagueness and slop. I didn't really notice any additional NVH. A great bang for the buck mod, highly recommend. |
03-09-2018, 11:03 AM | #17 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 482687
Join Date: Feb 2018
Chapter/Region:
RMIC
Location: Platteville Colorado
Vehicle:2002 Wrx Wrb |
Hell yea dude... do you have any big events in mind?
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03-09-2018, 11:13 AM | #18 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 53793
Join Date: Jan 2004
Chapter/Region:
MWSOC
Location: Chicago, IL
Vehicle:02 WRX Wagon PSM |
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03-22-2018, 08:07 PM | #19 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 53793
Join Date: Jan 2004
Chapter/Region:
MWSOC
Location: Chicago, IL
Vehicle:02 WRX Wagon PSM |
Sedan Fenders
Spring is supposedly here, time to make room for bigger tires! I'm only going 275 this year, so no need for aftermarket flares and found a local sedan part out with good psm bumper / fenders.
Other than one rusty bolt and some very weathered push pins, stripping the old stuff off was easier than I expected. Naked in public: Gotta say, I'm a fan of the flared fenders on a wagon look, I wish I'd done it sooner and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little tempted to weld in some rear flares some day. I haven't measured yet, but it looks like I've gained a touch over an inch of clearance, which is about all I need for 275s. |
04-21-2018, 06:06 PM | #20 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 53793
Join Date: Jan 2004
Chapter/Region:
MWSOC
Location: Chicago, IL
Vehicle:02 WRX Wagon PSM |
Wider tires / lateral links install
Finally install the whiteline lateral links that I bought a couple years ago. Both of the long hub side bolts were very rust stuck, I tried all of the tricks I could find online (several days of soaking in PB blaster, torch, etc). The nuts came off pretty easily but all of the metal bits inside of the bushings were very bonded to the bolts and non of the above did much. I ended up cutting the crap out of the rusted old lateral links, bushings and bolts. The rest of the install went nice and smooth after all of that fun was over, I went a bit nuts with the anti-seize in the process.
This summer's shoes: 275/35-18 RE71s on 18x10 rpf1s. I had my calculations slightly off and the new wheel / tire setup was a touch too ambitious on inboard clearance, so I ended up needing to add camber bolts in the rear to add positive camber just to clear the coilovers, which landed me at a flat 0 degrees of camber and roughly 1mm of clearance. I've got rear camber plates on the way to get some camber back and get closer to clearing the rear fenders. I'm signed up for a fun low key (non SCCA) local autox next week, I still have a little more alignment tweaking to do before then. It should be fun having quite a bit more power and grip than I've ever chased cones with before. Last edited by tracknerd; 04-22-2018 at 09:45 AM. |
04-22-2018, 08:13 AM | #21 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 153715
Join Date: Jul 2007
Chapter/Region:
Tri-State
Location: NY
Vehicle:06 fozXT, 09Tribec ,11 OutbackWag |
I really like this build! Not run of the mill but made to run strong!
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04-22-2018, 11:30 AM | #22 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 184183
Join Date: Jul 2008
Chapter/Region:
SCIC
Location: The OC
Vehicle:1996 Impreza RSTi V8 EJ207 Aerosim Carbon |
Looking good! Why not just add a small spacer in the rear for strut clearance? then you don't have to mess up your rear alignment? Would a 3mm spacer do the trick?
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04-22-2018, 06:14 PM | #23 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 53793
Join Date: Jan 2004
Chapter/Region:
MWSOC
Location: Chicago, IL
Vehicle:02 WRX Wagon PSM |
Good point, I thought about that, and even tried a 3mm spacer first and it indeed netted roughly the same clearance as I have now.
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04-24-2018, 02:55 PM | #24 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 53793
Join Date: Jan 2004
Chapter/Region:
MWSOC
Location: Chicago, IL
Vehicle:02 WRX Wagon PSM |
First "event" alignment
Alignment adjusted and ready for the first play outing.
Front: -2.75 degrees camber with roughly zero toe and a healthy bit of caster (diagonal top hats maxed out, caster adding sti control arms with flipped i-beams). Close enough to zero toe to probably be within the margin of error for my use of a trackace, but slightly biased towards fun: Rear: -0.3 degrees camber and about 10 minutes of toe out. The front should clear the fenders well enough. I heated and stretch the fender liners some, which worked better than I expected but I'll probably still rub the liners a bit (I do just enough city driving that I'm resisting running without liners). The rear camber plates won't get here in time for this weekend and the rear still sticks out a little over an inch. Zero rubbing around town, but fingers crossed that I've got enough rear height / spring to keep the tires from hitting the fenders too much. Ready for fun. Last edited by tracknerd; 04-28-2018 at 10:05 PM. |
04-24-2018, 03:33 PM | #25 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 301554
Join Date: Nov 2011
Chapter/Region:
BAIC
Location: California
Vehicle:2002 WRX Wagon PSM 2002 WRX Sedan JBP |
Lookin’ good
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