But the little jobs make all the difference - I've added more to my list which is a pain, but they're worth doing:norty:

loving the progress
have to keep popping on to see what jobs you've tackled

Know what you mean, I'm spending the weekdays thinking I will leave things as they are then get to the car on a weekend and think no its got to be cleaned or painted, inlet manifold being an example...

think you should get yours on the road for the summer before you get involved with more jobs :thumb:

Cheers, the Car is in wolves now so you may see it soon !!!!

I took it for a spin at the weekend albeit only briefly. I need to raise the ride height a touch and get the wheel alignment sorted. Next job will be the brakes as I still have an intermittent fault were the pedal goes hard and then after a short drive returns back to normal. I've got new brake lines, braided hoses for the bias valve and a new (second hand) master cylinder/servo to fit to see if that makes a difference; if it doesn't I'm back to the drawing board because that will be everything changed on the systems except a short length of pipe that runs through the bulkhead:(

sounds more likely the non-return valve for the servo is missing/damaged............

should be in the pipework that leads to the inlet manifold

Checked that, it's there and appears to be working fine:wonder:

Maybe get another and see what difference that makes as it will be a lot cheaper - can you get them Alyn:norty:

Made some progress on the brakes, decided to go cable handbrake for now may add a hydraulic one at some point in the future if I feel I need too, So I built the rear up haven’t used new discs on the back as I really want to go to 2 pot rears which will need bigger discs so the old ones were given a quick clean and paint for now just to build up, If I’m sticking with the single pots for a while I will get a set of discs before it’s in use, http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/Car373.jpg Handbrake lever and cables added http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/Car376.jpg Then maybe one of the most important set of bolts on the car, the front calipers so I got some genuine Subaru ones not cheap but wanted the proper ones, http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/Car377.jpg A mate got my cooling back plates cut out for me so I started to look at them, I originally wanted the pipe to be on more of an angle but on full lock the wheel caught the flexi pipe so I settled for 90 degrees, and used some 75mm PVC pipe from the front bumper which I had to put a light bend in, the front bit is just resting there but it will give you an idea of how it runs, http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/Car366.jpg http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/Car367.jpg http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/Car368.jpg http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/Car369.jpg http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/Car370.jpg The intake will either run through the fog light hole or I have ordered some intake trumpets so may use them… It is very close on full lock but hopefully will be ok, I will give them a tidy up rounding the corners ect and then will get them powder coated, Brakes are ready for bleeding but it was getting late today and didn’t want to start messing with brake fluid so I had a play with my mudflaps, I’m trying to make them easy to remove as on a trackday I probably wouldn’t have them on, also tucked them up a bit as it’s not a gravel car… http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/Car371.jpg Then I got the scales out only did a rough weigh and I know the shocks are not setup correctly with two of the helper springs compressed and the floor not completely level but it gave me an idea, if it’s correct it comes in at 1084kg which is ok considering the cage, I was hoping for a bit less or around that with fluid in and the rest of the exhaust on, but other than that not much else to go in, http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/Car372.jpg Also got some 6 point harnesses this week so I fitted the driver’s side as I’m a big kid and wanted to pretend I was racing!!! http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/Car378.jpg http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/Car379.jpg Then as it was off the stands I left it on its wheels and took the opportunity to get a few pics… http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/Car374.jpg http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/Car375.jpg http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/Car365.jpg Feel like some progress made... but then seem to have thought of even more that needs doing,

Starting to look more like a car again now:thumb:

I love this thing!

Mainly just for the amount of graft you've put in :thumb:

Nearly there now

Mick

Spent most of the day Saturday making adjustable rear lateral links, started by chopping the ends off the original bars leaving a couple of inches, these fitted inside the new tube so I cross drilled the new tube so I could weld through and then around edge, I did the same for the insert I had for the adjuster,

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car380.jpg

Then welded up but at this point I didn’t fully weld the ends as I didn’t want to take the bushes out yet in case I need to move the car and I was going to get them powder coated,

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car381.jpg

After making all 4 I changed my mind and removed the bushes, welded them up and gave them a couple of coats of wickes black,

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car383.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car384.jpg

Pic of them in place, this makes the rear adjustable in almost every direction as I already have rose jointed trailing arms

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car382.jpg

Then today had a play with the front bumper and the brake air intakes, as the bumper is fibreglass the fog surrounds don’t clip in so I tiger bonded them in and had to leave that to set,

Also on the driver’s side I added a smaller 50mm intake to run up to the air filter area, they didn't both fit in the fog surround so I got the dremmel out cut a section out the bigger one to bring them together, hard to see in the picture

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car385.jpg

As this is going to go on the road too do you think I should mesh the intercooler?? I wasn’t going to…

Then I had another go at creating a switch panel for the center console as I can’t reach when harnessed in I needed to build it out,
I’ve tried this before in aluminium, plastic and they looked crap, so tried some ABS and it was ok but just looked odd and not very neat,
So I started looking on Saturday evening at enclosures on Maplin and Farnell ect for some ideas and USB harddrive cases were the most common result which gave me an idea I had an old one which was quite a nice shape and well here it is…

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car386.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car387.jpg

I used the ABS from the earlier attempt and made a support for it, once tidied up and sprayed black or dark grey it should look pretty good, I’m thinking of using the top curved part for some warning lights, still looks a bit odd but at least it has some shape to it and not just a box...

Cheers Jon, back in the air again now!!!

Cheers Mick, I keep thinking I'm getting close then my list gets longer, really want it painting now, but I'm away end of march so its going to be after that now,

Fitted the bushes to the new adjustable rear links, turned out pretty good, I was surprised how much movement was in the rear cradle when tightening up the front upper bolts, I think a tubular diff cradle is going to be a must for phase 2 or 3,

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car388.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car389.jpg

Made up some dashboard support brackets as the original fouled the cage, nothing fancy but will do the job…

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car390.jpg

Then some more work on the center switch panel I started to test fit the switches before finishing and painting to make sure I’m keeping it,

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car391.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car392.jpg

Also got some fluid in the brakes still spongy as I was on my own and had to bleed front and rear per side at the same time but no leaks and do have kind of pedal…

Nice, I'd prefer those rear arms to my current rose jointed ones - reminds me, I need to grease them up:D

I was going to do these with rose joints before I found the adjusters, still not sure which is better !!

I've had to do some work after my rose joints seized but for a dedicated race/trackday car I suspect the maintenance regime would be stricter so less of an issue - they are more solid too so not for an everyday road car:wonder:

Nice work on the arms it's really coming on now!
Loving the brake ducts too! Great work!

James

Right a couple of weekends away from the car so back into it today although progress was slow,

Since putting the adjustable rear arms on I started to check some alignments and as I know the rear is a couple of millimetres out I had a look around and found the drivers side suspension top mount was 2 – 3 mm inbound after dropping the strut down I spotted that when I added a strengthening plate to the top of the turret the hole I drilled covered some of the original body hole by a couple of millimetres so I ground that out and it now sits about 1mm different to the N/S

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car394.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car395.jpg

Then moved onto some battery cables, I used a harness point for the earth point as the harnesses wrap around the seat frame, then decided to run an earth cable direct from there to the engine maybe over kill but will ensure a good earth,

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car396.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car397.jpg

Also mounted a rear power socket, not sure what it will be used for at the moment but may be handy for powering a camera ect later on…

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car393.jpg

And added a few more switches into the center panel…

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car398.jpg

Now need to get some motivation back to crack on with it!!!

This thing is nuts, fookin fantastic can't wait to see the completed car :D

Cheers... me to, i'm enjoying it but really want to take it for a blast now...

Well had a nightmare last month… holiday, work, wife writing car off, a few other jobs I had to do and man flu!! So not much progress on the car...

Anyway this weekend I fitted my downpipe I got off eBay which allowed me to finish the back/side boxes and join them up… I could of done with a pipe bender but I managed to get it looking pretty good…

So downpipe in place,

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car406.jpg

I then added the middle section it still has the resonator box in which I may remove later… then to join the back boxes I started by merging the two 2inch pipes which then measured 3 ½ x 2

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car407.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car403.jpg

Then heated up some 3 inch pipe and squashed it into an oval shape which matches the 3 ½ x 2 inch piece, and welded up and joined to a flange off the donor exhaust it looked like this

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car402.jpg

And in place

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car405.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car404.jpg

Then I welded the two back boxes together and made a retaining bracket to hold the removable inners in which will be chopped down to be flush with the side of the car, the bracket will also be used to mount the back box inside the tunnel...

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car400.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car399.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car401.jpg

It is a tight fit so I’m going to wrap the box with some heat resistant aluminium/fibreglass sheet…

Some progress at last….

Nice work Ian. Like you I've not made much progress but mine is due to going through a period of apathy:wonder:

I couldn't even be bothered jacking the car up and replacing a snapped CV boot clip:eek:

A bit more done on the exhaust, made a bracket to hang the silencers/back box in the tunnel, the bracket also clamps the silencer inserts in place.

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car411.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car412.jpg

Then wrapped the silencers in heat resistant matting

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car410.jpg

Next started the cut out on the heat guard that covers the tunnel, tried to cut out two circles but turned into an oval… still wants some small fettling but looks good…

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car408.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car409.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car414.jpg

Then a pic of it fitted from underneath, nicely tucked away…

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car413.jpg

jesus thats nuts :D cant wait to see vid

Come on Ian, get a move on as the suspense is now killng me:D

Tidy work:thumb:

Lol... I've had it planned in my head for about a year but now it's done I agree it's nuts,


Me too Jon, hopefully it will make some noise in a week or two...

Been awhile since I last updated but have made some progress,

Firstly a job I really should have done ages ago!! The Rear ARB, I was trying to find a straighter ARB that would do the job as I don’t need the shape of the Subaru one as my exhaust doesn’t some to the back, anyway decided just to use the Subaru bar so had to make up some brackets,

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car428.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car429.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car430.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car431.jpg

Now just need to paint it or get it powder coated…

Next the front bumper was doing my head in with it duct taped in place, it a fiberglass copy and the fixing are broken which I knew about when I picked it up and it was cheap… so I decided to make up a bracket and fix the bumper from the side I will use a nice anodized bolt when sprayed…

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car424.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car425.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car426.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car427.jpg

Then onto some work on the radiator and fuel system,

The Radiator is from a Nissan Pulsar it’s a slightly smaller core area than a Subaru Rad but is 50mm thick so should be plenty good enough and the in/outlet are in the correct place, I used this so I can run the intercooler pipes up the sides of the rad rather than through the inner flitch,

I found a couple of radiator bushes from a Corsa and welded some tube uprights on my front lower cross member which all worked out quite nice, just need to design something to hold the top in place but used a couple of p clips for now…

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car417.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car418.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car419.jpg


Then the parallel fuel rails mod and fuel system so I got a box of goodies and I stripped and painted the inlet manifold with wrinkle finish paint,

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car415.jpg

I used some 8mm hard-line to an6 fittings and a blank plate to an6 for the std pressure regulator,

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car416.jpg

Then piped it up back to the new regulator

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car420.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car421.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car422.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car423.jpg

Then laid the fuel lines in the car, there will be a raised alloy plate in the foot well to protect the hoses…

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car432.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car433.jpg

I have started the swirl pot and pump ect but forgot to take pics of that,

Getting there but everything is taking much longer that I plan as I’m have to modify or fabricate things as nothing either Astra or Subaru fits first time…

A bit more done I started on a tray for the fuel pumps, filters and swirl pot to sit in,

I used some alloy angle and some 2mm sheet, I was going to have a go welding it up but only done a bit of alloy welding many years ago so took the safe option pop rivets…

I now need to think of the best way to fix it to the car, I’m currently thinking of rubber mounting the whole thing on exhaust bobbins,

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car435.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car434.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car436.jpg

Really starting to come together now mate, well done!
Swirl pot/pump/fuel lines look great!

Cheers Tim, getting there just taking way longer than expected...

a couple of pics from today, As I need to get a few bits to finish the fuel pump tray... I tidied up the inlet manifold wiring, using new conduit and re-taping it...

I cleaned and painted some of the brackets and injector tops last week so built it up and used some of the Subaru engine dress up kit I had from Rally Tech...

don't worry header tank will be cleaned up or replaced...

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car437.jpg

http://www.vxr-wrx.co.uk/images/blog/car438.jpg