awesome - ordered one

 

Let me know how you get on with it, I might be tempted to completely stealth mine

 

Thanks for the info on changing bulbs and whatnot! I’m yet to attack these as I’ve been tinkering with other stuff. Such as ripping my bathroom out which has taken all of my spare cash! But not to worry I’ve managed to sneak a couple bits onto the car without the wife kicking off. I might try and give this a go next week if I can get a day or 2 spare!

I literally just sat and read through the whole thread again! It’s re-inspired me. You’re not too far down the road to me either!

 

Sorry mate I missed this when you posted it.

I am not sure how inspiring it is? I just read it again & it's mainly painting stuff black, fitting stainless bolts, cleaning/polishing & thinking about what to paint black next

Oh yeah Havent, about 22 miles or £25 in fuel depending on which tariff you use

I have a proper update coming this weekend. It's been an emotional & expensive week

 

I look forward to the update. The inspiration comes from the little mods that I’m almost capable of doing myself. You seem like the type that will try something before you decide if you 100% like it or not. And tbh thats me. Haha. This is the first car I’ve actually taken to slightly modding, let alone doing it myself. So you can take some pride from that if you like. Good work as always!

 

At the risk of changing the theme of this thread I've actually got something interesting to report

Remember this:




Well my power steering pump shat itself a few weeks back & while "feel" was improved, changing direction (in a left - right "S-bend) was terrifying. Seeing as the system would need bleeding it seemed like the perfect time to throw the 2015 rack in. Being lazy & not looking forward to laying under a car in the cold I gave the privilege to "someone else".

"Someone else" called me after an hour or so to tell me the racks didn't match up, I genuinely thought this was a straight swap as a few people have done it & never mentioned anything otherwise but it turns out the mounting points are different. A 30 second Google search revealed a guide on NASIOC for the entire procedure which confirmed this:
https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/sho....php?t=2787255





So a later subframe would have made life easier (hindsight n' all), but with a car in bits the options were:

A) Chop about & re-weld the subframe so the mounting holes line up with the later rack.
B) Get some eccentric poly bushes made up to align the mounting points offset to align the point in the rack with my existing subframe.

Option B sounded good until I heard the price & then said "**** that, option A" . When I dropped by later to take a look I was pleasantly surprised to see option B.5 had been implemented. Machine some ally spacers, press them in, drill accordingly to align the holes & shim the rack to the subframe so it's solid mounted .


Rear Mount:




Front Mount:




Both Mounts :




The later car has a wider track (the NASIOC guide suggests cutting the tie rods down to length), "someone else" replaced the 2015 tie rods with the standard blob ones & job done

 

An alignment later (yeah, that's a penguin glove thing with an ice scraper on the back of his head ) & back in business...




... But much, much better. It's so sharp now

Before (even after a fluid change) the steering felt like it was was belt driven & you had to put a bit of rotation into the wheel take up the slack in it before you got some feedback. Also the 13:1 ratio makes it turn in so much faster (probably that & no "slack") that it seems to upset the suspension with weight transfer (seems like that anyway but I am still getting used to it).

It certainly solved the vague / loose feeling the car used to have.

 

Now to get this thread back on track, here's some **** to paint black




Turbo heatshied treated to some Hammerite & cured in the oven...




I am also going to line it with this DEI stuff (making a paper template of the inside failed miserably)...









There, the heat shied has been heat shielded & painted & the recirc valve has been done in the same heat dispersant paint I used on the intercooler. Now to come up with excuses to put off fitting these as well as redoing my catch can lines etc

 

Update after living with the 2015 steering rack for a few weeks:

Some modifications make a tiny improvement which is noticeable at first but are soon forgotten about as the change was so small. This rack upgrade has completely enhanced every aspect of driving the car & is still noticeable on every drive from b-road thrashes, to the work commute or stuffing it in a parking space. For the duration of this update I will be referring to the vague, disconnected feel from the old rack as "steering lag."

By far the biggest difference is the response. Tiny inputs to the wheel now result in direct movement & every aspect of driving is less effort as of the shorter through and no lag. When thrashing it down a bumpy road with the old rack you could feel the car tram-lining on grooves in the tarmac, but as of the lag in the steering trying to make small corrections was awkward as the wheel did nothing for the first couple of inches of rotation which lead to a loose & "twitchy" feel.

That has completely gone now, the steering is tight you just turn & the car stays planted regardless of the road surface Previously it was common practice to start turning the car in, assess what it's actually doing & then make corrections to get it where you want it. Now if you need to make small corrections you can, without swinging the wheel round like you're at the helm of a pirate ship.


In summary I am extremely happy with the results, the cars much livelier to drive & I feel much more "connected" to it. It has also fixed the biggest (& only real) complaint I had with the car (however it wasn't cheap).

 

It's really good that you post pics of the modifications that you/garage have to do! I'm sure others (myself included) are looking at newer racks

I upgraded to an sti rack , and it's an improvement over the wrx rack, but tbh it could be even better.

How much was the rack out of interest?

 

I went down there after hours as I didn’t get a call to say it was done & was curious as to what was going on. They were just finishing up so I got some pics while it was still in the lift.

Doesn’t the universal joint (knuckle?) in the WRX have that crappy rubber bit in it? Did you swap that out for an STI one too?

https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/sho....php?t=2894324

The rack itself was £250 off eBay which I’d class as cheap as 13:1 Spec C Blobeye racks seem to go for £300-£350 & while quicker, they don’t have whatever upgrade makes the steering “feel” better that you get from the 2015+ rack.

I also bought new whiteline mounts, tie rod ends & genuine o-rings etc, again not massively expensive but the labor bill from the garage was (I knew what I was getting into after they assed it so it wasn’t a surprise).

Obviously if I’d done a bit more homework I’d have known it wasn’t a straight swap & I’d have got a later subframe which would have made the rack a direct fitment & I wouldn’t have had to pay for the fabrication of the eccentric spacers.

 

Just when my credit card thought it was safe after the steering rack fitting, this came up on eBay




I made an offer, he counter-offered & I accepted. So I emptied out my car & off I went...














So after a 200 odd mile round trip now they're in my lounge (my original blue seats are in my bedroom / hallway)




I already have a black carpet coming from MB Developments so with that, these seats & the door cards from this WRX interior set (I just won for a tenner ) the Something & Nothing stealth Blobeye will be even more stealth .

 

STEALTH!

 

How you getting on with the quick rack now you have used it for a bit longer?I always intended upgrading my STI one but never got around to doing it.SJ.

 

YEAH!!!!!


The 13:1 ratio is noticeably quicker & driving is less effort as you don’t have to turn the wheel as far, this rack was from a 2015 STI so also has had “feeling” engineered into it to remove the vagueness.

Full report in post #189

 

Blue carpet (which is very very blue )...




Removed as it has a date with eBay...




Because, black JDM STI carpet...




See, it's as black as my (broken & on the floor) TV




I also had a mate pick up the (£9.99) WRX interior & I gave him the front seats to put in his track car build as payment
So now I also have the black door cards for my interior & now a mint black WRX rear seat in the pile too ).




I doubt I'll be able to find the same colour alcantara to match the seats but maybe I'll get the infill panels retrimmed in black alcantara at some point (it's currently a weird textured cloth ).




First thing's first though, I should probably get it fitted & start listing the other bits

 

Looking good!

Can't wait to see it all put together

 

Some advice don’t clean the carpet until it’s fitted in the car as it will lose its shape.SJ.

 

Who said I was going to clean it?

 

You better!,It could have Corvid-19 on it....SJ.

 

Speaking of which I can't get hold of baby wipes to clean up the alcantara or kitchen degreasing wipes to clean up the floor pan? What's the world coming to?

 

Let there be black




And what I am now calling "midnight purple" ...






None of that ***** weight adding arm rest **** here




Fronts need a clean...






I think these are Hawkeye door cards as the handle / tweeter & window control holes are different




I'll just use the stock ones for now




On the list is pull this off, sand the silver paint & buff the black to bring out a gloss finish. Another time though.

 

Good stuff!

 

The interior looks good, suits your colour scheme well.SJ.

 

Washed the car, it's black




The seats are also black, although I hardly notice & they even feel the same




Also after 3 months my catch can was nearly 1/2 full, water mainly but there was some oily residue in there.



After draining it I pulled the sh1tty clear pipe off & redid them with black silicone (notice the classic milky / oily water)




Also measured up this pipe & have ordered a black one (interestingly the turbo side ID is 48mm, yet the intercooler is 50mm




While the intercooler was off I also fitted the turbo heatshield I painted & insulated




Black catch can lines (very pretty even if you can't see them)





Finally while the bonnet was up I pulled this, whatever this is off & binned it (well I tried, it basically disinterested )




Looks much better without it




I couldn't get enough access to get the bung out of the inlet pipe to fit the recirc valve, so that's on the back burner.

 

Times are tough, Halfords is shut, supplies are low, but I am going to make **** black with what I have. Starting with the windscreen washer bottle...




As well as the clip & mount for the fuel filter & the bracket for the bonnet switch. The A/C hose support that mounts in the same place as the fuel filter bracket as seen Hammerite previously...




Etch primered & hit with a couple of coats of sating black...




Hammerite slow baked (I should probably get another oven tray for food)




Washer bottle good to go




As are this lot

 

Is that some special hammerite that you bake or just the normal one? My Hammerite always comes out a bit rubbish, but maybe it's because I haven't tried the oven

 

13:1 racks are a sweet thing. However, I replaced the original rack bushing with Whiteline ones, and they had failed 9 months later at MOT. I went with black series Powerflex, which have been fine.
PS your oven chips must taste funny.

 

No nothing special, it's just the standard "direct to metal / rust aerosol. I find the black just runs if you go to thick with it so the 1st coat needs to be thin, the parts look like they've been sprayed with a clear / brown lacquer & then build up from there. Once covered you can go thicker.

I only put them in the oven as it takes ages to dry & you'd basically have to leave them overnight otherwise.


13:1 but the 2015+ STI rack also has a lot more feel (like the old rack has lag in it where as now it's direct). I'll see how it goes & go with Powerflex down the line if that's the case. Did any oil or anything leak on your whiteline ones?

I've not noticed anything tasting funny, but am going to get a different oven tray now as a precaution (whatever doesn't kill you & all that)

 

There




Just need to get my hands on some Hammerite now to do the catch can & coolant header tank cap (it looks lost since the sticker came off).




And a non-blurry under bonnet shot, minus the insulation (which is now mainly in the engine bay)




Oh yeah, I've still got a blue interior in my bedroom too