lovely car...

 

Thanks for the kind words Darren.
You deserve a medal for reading this lot!

With that spec of engine I am sure you will meet your target easy. It seems hard to get the torque from the 2 litre which really is the key feature to maximise.
Don't you just love White Sti's with dark wheels! Good choice

Regards, Graham.

 

Graham, has the Helix flexi join shown any sign of leaking? In the last picture post you didn't seem sure?

 

The up-pipe is perfect, I'm not too sure if the gasket sealing the pipe to the headers is good though.
There is a colour patern to one side as in the photo, but not a typical back soots 'blow bye' colour at all. It is a very light strw colour wich indicates a temperature of about 600 dec C.
I was really looking to see if a gasket leak could be the reason for the tail-off of boost above 6000 ish rpm.

Graham.

 

Graham, you'll probably find that it was just starting to overheat and head towards blowing so the fires ring wasn't doing it's job properly...have a look at the gasket as well it should tell you more. Unless there are the sooty deposits it wasn't blowing, yet...

 

Gsket is unmarked/unstained etc.
A fresh one will be used as I have one and a smear of gungum.

The flange has a curve to it, with a gap under the straight edge of 0.1 mm, no more, so not too bad.
Graham.

 

Not worth getting the flanges machined / matched?

 

Thought of that. The flex up-pipe is really awkward to hold to surface grind the flange, but not impossible. It was 'bent' when i put it on new as i checked it.
We have a full toolroom here at work so it could be done.
Thanks!
Graham.

 

Have you considered milling the face rather than surface grinding? Milling would leave a finish for the gasket to bite into rather than super smooth grinding. Could be easier to mount too on the machine (clamped vertically with side & face cutter?)
IMO

 

Yes; looks like a 'foreigner' coming on.....

Graham

 

Various parts have arrived over the last few weeks, so a bit of an up-date and a bit of a surprise...

The 20g came back from AndyF looking smart and with the 'tweek' in place.



The Lateral Performance engine/box mounts arrived also:
The one at the bottom is the Sti box mount, and the top one the 'filled-in' Prodrive unit, rather more stiffness!



The engine mounts actually look the same, but the rubber is quite harder:


The real bitch today was fitting them.
Sometimes this Sti just bites back time and again, and today it excelled itself.
The mounts really refused to come out of the car, the box was as bad, and the turbo
Who ever put the water cooling pipe there really does need shooting. Just a real pita and it took 5 hours to get the turbo back-on.
Yes, 5.

To do the job I ended up taking the headers off to get some access, and found this:



I wonder if this is where my boost was falling away to?

So the winter garage bashing carries on, I hope your efforts were not as frustrating as mine today.

Graham

 

Try being 80 miles away from your car and not able to work on it when you're so close to getting it finished a year and half after you took it off the road

 

That would make me suicidal.
just so irritating when something so simples takes so long.
Impatient is my middle name.
Graham.

 

So the Sunbeam that I moved out of the garage to get the Impreza in would have done what to you? (I bought it when I was 18, took it off the road in October to replace the sills...I'm now 32...)

 

Same boat for me.
Bought my 911 as a wreck in 1988 (it is a 1973 model) and started hillclimbing in it in 1992. It has to be moved out of the garage to work on the Impreza almost every winter, and only just back on the road after a 3 year 'rest'.
Wife and daughter won't let me sell it, but i can sell the Sti anytime..

Nice car mind:



Graham

 

Tell me about it,not seen the car for 4 weeks !! the wife and daughter insist of doing various productions and pantos.

Mark A

 

Graham

I had to put new OEM head to headders gaskets on my gruppe-s to stop this very thing, also i found that the studs on the heads were loose so the headders were not tightening down properly when done up.
A bit of liquid threadlock soon sorted that

Good luck

Dan.

 

Thanks Dan.
Will check the stud shoulder length and the flange thickness. Good point.
Graham

 

As Danny says I bought new Subaru Exhaust gaskets as the ones supplied with headers are poor.

 

!
I was about to use the Gruppe S ones this weekend to refit the headers. Best get to the Dealers to get some real gaskets then.
Thanks for the advice.
Graham.

 

Been hard at it today in the freezing cold.

Got some gaskets from Showells in Wolverhampton after my more local Subaru Dealer refused to supply me as the car is an Import. Silly.

The headers eventually went on after a bit of prising, just as i needed to when they were new. Everything bolted up tight without probs (surprise...) and the cat downpipe fitted easy ish (no surprise) as the new housing AndyF has fitted has the original studs and I had no nuts of the correct thread..but found some elsewhere.

I went back before getting the car off the axle stands round all the nuts under the car where I'd been to find the head/manifold nuts had about half the torque on them! the gaskets must have 'relaxed' in the 60 mins, but are tight now.

The rest of the refit went well untill the TMIC needed to go back on (definitely no surprise) and after a heated tussle I won and the whole engine is together..but...

Came to fill the header tank with antifreeze and i could hear drip..drip..drip....
Fluid coming from some where.
I though the water hose that caused so much grief had split, but i found i had left the return water hose off the turbo..thank god!

Charging the battery now, and hope to have a runner tomorrow lunchtime, just in time to soon get the car down to Powerstation for the next Demon AST set-up for my season next year (forward planning or what?)

Graham.

 

Jeez, wish I was so far ahead with next years plans I'm still taking it apart

 

Good going Graham. I think I may have the header/uppipe gaskest checked/replaced too and have some uprated engine and box mounts fitted.

Cant believe you working in the cold.....it hurts ten times as much when knuckles hit metal.


Bob

 

When you are my age and can boast a 5 Spanner Haynes manual rating you 'grow' a force field around all your parts. Havn't gashed a knuckle for years!

Andy: Planning is everything.
The wife tells me to plan and get the funds together through next year so i can do what i really want to the Sti!

2.5
GT turbo twisted
740's
Hybrid FMIC
Zen gearbox
AP sprung paddle clutch or Lateral one
Avon slicks
AP brakes
Type R quick rack
Remap of the Apexi by you-know-who

God, that is a lot of planning to do and a lot of funds to plan for!

Madness

Graham.

 

Jealous now! Good going

F

 

why dont you just stroke your 2ltr engine and add a garret SBR turbo which is a dedicated subaru fitment

 

Steve:
I like simple things, and I think the best options are:
Stock 2.5 short block/rods/pistons
My 20g turbo Apexi on MAF @ 1.4 bar
Gruppe S/walbro and all the stuff off my 'hot' 2 litre

That should give me a solid lagg free 400 x 400 engine with a box full of UK ratio gears.

BUT, I have to say I fancy pushing the boundry and going for 400+.
I've a year to plan and save!

Graham.

 

Fired up the engine and all ok, runs like it always does.
Forgot how long it takes for fresh wrapping to 'dry-off',steam everywhere though the smell wasn't too bad!
Bled the cooling system with the heater full on and the blower going.

Feel almost bored now.
Going to make a brake master cylinder brace even though there are kits in eb@y for £20. Not realy worth it, but better than doing the garden
(guess who has no Brownie Points in the bank)

Graham.

 

sounds like a lot of trouble to me, if all you are after is less lag why dont you try switching to a different turbo, or why dont you at least add a FMIC(morelag but more power) to your set up and see how you feel then as you will have to add a fmic anyway so why not add it 1st and see if it gives you a shock

 

Graham,

Just throwing silly ideas around...... what about anti-lag....?? or maybe thats not allowed within the rules that you're running under...