Okay now that the TA entry is in I can progress at full speed to get this up and running before the first event at Donnington. 87 days to go !!

I have decided to bite the bullet and up the ante for this year :D

The base car is a 2006 Hawkeye STi UK. << view my scooby

The to do list is pretty huge but to summarise:

Power:
- Engine (being built)
- Turbo FP Green (ordered)
- APS FMIC (ordered)
- GT Spec Gen II Headers (ordered)
- Baffled Sump (to be decided on)
- Mapping
- Clutch (to be decided on)

Handling:
- EXE-TC (already fitted)
- Whiteline ARB's (already fitted)
- Whiteline camber bolts (ordered)
- Track Focused Alignment
- change wheel bearings

Brakes:
- Fluid change
- Fit cold air ducting
- General checkover

Interior:
- Seats (ordered)
- Rails (ordered)
- Firewall & fittings (ordered)
- cage ?

Tyres:
- Toyo R888 to be ordered

Exterior:
- Aero work

I am being supported by Area52AutoSport ( http://www.area52autosport.com ) for the series this year and getting a lot of help from them in the engine, turbo, parts, tuning and fitment side of things to help me be as competitive as possible over the season.

Area 52 are currently ScoobyMania and are in the process of rebranding as part of a widening out of their market beyond just subaru tuning where they are the longest established tuner in the UK and possibly europe, to cover Evo's, Nobles and other marques.

Some of you already know Scoobymania and Mike Tuckwood well. I spent a day up there recently to discuss plans for the coming year and how they could help - I am thankful of their support in this high profile series. They have a great facility at present and we see very much eye to eye on a BS free approach to getting the maximum from the car (and me). Their new premises look to be superb and will help them expand even further.

I look forward to a great season ahead and as usual I will be documenting as much of it as possible to get the real information about products and methods. (good and bad)

A quick snap of the engine in bits:

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g281/dynam06/sti_2008/area52sample_stage3_engine.jpg

Spec of the engine is:

- New STi EJ257 block
- Heavy Duty Top hat Cylinder Sleeves
- STi Forged 79mm Stroke Crankshaft With Custom Oilways
- Pauter 4340 Chrome-moly Forged Connecting Rods
- Wiseco Forged Pistons/Pins/Rings
- Tri-Metal Race Main & Connecting Rod Bearings
- Fully Balanced And Blueprinted Assembly

Ancilliaries:
- APS DR725 FMIC arriving in the country on the 20th jan
- APS turbo inlet pipe arriving on the 20th jan (this will enable a choice of inlet sizes for the turbo)
- GT Spec Gen II headers
- 4.5 kg lightened billet flywheel
- uprated clutch (not 100% sure which one yet though)
- some more lightened pulleys

Heads are being machined to accept o-rings to reduce the chance of the head gasket problems some have suffered.

We will also be losing some of the emissions systems such as the electric blower system that leans it out - saving about 5-10kgs in weight.

The engine on mine comes out on the 29th January and will probably be off the road for 3 weeks for build/head work/reinstall so I should be able to commence running in towards the end of feb ready for me to map it and fine tune during March.

In all the engine should be capable of over 600bhp but I will run it downspecced to start with due to the turbo choice although the turbo may be changed during the year to suit the faster circuits :)

The std ecu will be used to start with until such time as Drive by Wire standalone ecu's are available at a reasonable price (hopefully May) to give options such as:
- Anti Lag
- Launch Control
- Flat foot shifting
- Live Mapping

Like the other TA competitors I am currently wading through the regulations for TA which seem to be changing day by day to see what needs to be done to get it suitable. So far:

- Corbeau Sprint seat for driver should arrive next week
- Bride Seat rail should arrive this week
- Carbon Firewall should arrive this week
- Firewall fixings are here
- Harnesses, I am looking at Sabelt 4 point but may be able to use my existing 4 point harnesses so will check with the scrutineer.

Not much to do then :freak3:

Good luck!! Look forward to reading the updates as you progress.

Cheers Hoff - it should be fun.

There are some massively powerful cars entered with some great drivers too so will have to try hard to get anywhere in the results.

Dates for the series:
R1 April 5/6th Donington Park Circuit – International Styling and Tuning Show
R2 May 17/18th Knockhill Circuit, Scotland
R3 June 1st Silverstone Circuit – Japanese Tuning Show
R4 July 5th Oulton Park Circuit
R5 August 10th Brands Hatch Circuit – AUTOTUNER Show
R6 October 12th Snetterton Circuit

Best of luck Dunc :thumb:

Good luck Duncan

Have checked the latest regs, in particular the bonnet catch!

Yep - on the case on that one. Got some aerocatches coming for bonnet and boot and am planning to fit wedges into the release mechanisms inside the car to stop them locking.

These can be removed after the event to keep them secure.

Or at least that is my thoughts at present :D

going to be stunning when complete.

good luck

Yep - on the case on that one. Got some aerocatches coming for bonnet and boot and am planning to fit wedges into the release mechanisms inside the car to stop them locking.

These can be removed after the event to keep them secure.

Or at least that is my thoughts at present :D

An easier solution has just been presented to me by Alyn at ASp - just going to remove the catch pillar under the bonnet :D Just seems too easy :lol1:

If you're not putting any fuel system components in the boot you wont need the carbon firewall.

How is the suspension so far?

There 'may' be a swirl pot going in there later in the year if I cant cure the fuel surge issue fully. The hyperflow kit helps but hasnt got rid of it entirely unfortunately. I have some large carbon sheeting anyway so am going to make it up at the time that I do a full undertray for the front.

The suspension is truly spectacular !!

How the heck they can make suspension that is more driveable and compliant on the bumpy rubbish fen roads we have here but control the car so much better than std - they have though :D

On track, wound up a few clicks the turn in is crisp but always well controlled and gives the ability to ride kerbs where necessary at apexes.

I love it.

I have the exe-tc top mounts as well - what kind of maintenance do these need?

Prob a very silly question, but why are you changing the wheel bearings?

Just a precautionary measure.

The older style 100pcd bearings are weaker and prone to going, mine are 114 sized but I think the bearings are similar even though the casing is larger.

:thumb:

Well worth doing if you're putting a lot of heat into the front brakes regularly. We did a little more than just replace on our car. The new bearings are considerably larger at the front.

Good luck Duncan, alot of work going into your car and will be quite some beast when complete. The Ta is growing and something that with the likes of and Paul (Zen) promoting is only going to get bigger and better. so well done and once aging good luck. P

Shortblock will probably look something like this when assembled
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l187/sscjay/DSCN2231.jpg

Thanks to Mike @ Scoobymania.

This is currently being run in, in my brothers car, he can't wait to unleash 2 bar of boost from a GT30R on it:lol1:

Looks superb ! What kind of performance are his targets with that boost?

Great stuff, love the enthusiasm and focus.

Lots of pics needed of course.

Thanks mate. I am having a burst of energy on it now whilst things are still fresh in my mind and to try and get it ready on as small a budget as possible for the first event in 86 days time and hopefully for some real testing a few weeks before that.

Pics will be coming a plenty once I have pictures of actual things rather than pics from brochures/websites.

Trying to plan some aero work at the moment to bring some front downforce to balance out what appears to be quite a good amount of std downforce from the top wing/rear wing/rear diffuser. Huge amount of learning (and probably testing) to be done before I fully understand what the ideal is.

Looks superb ! What kind of performance are his targets with that boost?

He is looking for 500 - 520 with the 0.82 ex housing, he was thinking of going to bigger turbo etc but as he is planning some track use just wanted it to be as reliable as possible.

Nice :D

Going down a similar route with a friends car, will be running a closed deck relinered 2.5 with an MD321T+, ppg gearbox with straight cut 1st and 2nd with helical 3rd and 4th.
Hoping for about 500 bhp and close to 600 lbs/ft of torque as it will be mapped for vpower/methanol.
The car is classic though giving a slight advantage in weight but will mainly be a road car.

shame not to use that on track because you wont be able to use it on the road :D

I can test it (either of your cars) on a competative hillclimb if you like.
Will do so for free too!
:D

I can test it (either of your cars) on a competative hillclimb if you like.
Will do so for free too!
:D
That is very generous of you :lol1:

Good Luck Duncan.

I'll be along to support You and Gary.

BTW. Get that cage sorted :)

Good Luck Duncan.

I'll be along to support You and Gary.

BTW. Get that cage sorted :)

OMG you pop up everywhere :lol: :D

Next year it will be full on multipoint weld in cage like yours mate - I need to break it to the boss gradually that it is becoming purely a track car :D

OMG you pop up everywhere :lol: :D

Next year it will be full on multipoint weld in cage like yours mate - I need to break it to the boss gradually that it is becoming purely a track car :D


I dont know what you mean Duncan? I havnt posted on SN for over a year ;)

I like your thinking. Safety first.

Ring me when you have the sheet.

Boss = Wife?
Cage: Do you not need one this year in TA?

Yes - boss =wife :D

No cage 'needed' in club challenge but I am going to fit a bolt in (on order now) to make some progress towards protecting myself if it did go flat side up.