the_msp

Engine:

• Remove aircon and all other unnecessary parts
• Buy an Sti V3 manifold and fit it in the rotated position (Bought, not yet installed)
• Fit a Lateral Performance FMIC & alloy radiator
• Port and heat wrap exhaust manifold
• Stainless steel openmouth decat downpipe (Bought, not yet installed)
• Larger injectors, 550CC
• Fuel kit (Parallel kit, fuel pressure regulator, high flow filter, braided lines and fittings)
• Turbo TD05-16G
• CDF lightened pulley’s full set
• SIMTEK ECU w/ALS & Launch control. 2 Maps, might go for SUL on one and 10% meth on another…. Or possibly E85

Transmission:

• STi V5 TY754 gearbox. If I break this I’ll then go PPG in the ‘754 housing.
• Already have fitted Exedy uprated clutch from Api and one of their lightened flywheels.

Handling/brakes:

• Already has full coilover’s all round with adjustable dampers and front adjustable camber. Will fit camber bolts to rear.
• Havn’t decided on which ARB and other uprated suspension parts yet
• K-Sport 8 pot front 6 pot rear 330mm discs braided lines etc
• 17” Wheels for track use

Interior:

• Full strip (In progress)
• Multipoint Full Weld in (Safety Devices likely)
• Paint inside etc
• Flock dash and doorcards
• Sparco Prodrive WRC buckets and 4 point harness’s (With option for 5 point)
• Oil temp, Oil pressure, Boost, Air/fuel ratio, water temp, exhaust temp gauges

Am aiming for a fast response/low spool/lag setup, for weekends and trackdays. Car will not be a daily driver.


Inside: (Have 90% of sound deadening out since pic taken)




Have 2 weeks booked off work at the end of July to get the cage in so have until then to get the shell ready for it.

Should be fun

Moley

iTrader: (9)

Looks like a good setup.

Will keep a close eye on this thread, as i am going for a similar spec for my WRX

the_msp

Removed alternator and power steering to make a start on new brackets for the alternator, and to remote mount the power steering reservoir, to allow for the reverse inlet manifold. Had a bit of oil leaking from power steering...





Brakes to be ordered next week, K Sport 330mm 8 pot front, 330mm 6 pot rear.



Hmm wonder whats under there

the_msp

So, take one stripped out impreza, one Custom Cages multipoint weld in CDS cage:




... and let the fun begin

My cage arrived wednesday the 30th july. Note that all the cage tubes are marked with acronym's... e.g. "RSL RHS", "RDM", "DBU"... custom do not supply a sheet detailing what these mean (or at least did not supply one to me...). So, apart from the obvious ones like the main hoop, A-pillar tube, dash bar etc, with around 30 tubes, most of which are of similar length and with similar notch profiles, sorting them out is great fun Also note that the pictures they do supply you, and the CAD drawing, show all of the "additional options"... so you don't know when you start what you actually have. (i.e. whether you have a single roof diagonal or a complete X, lower rear stays etc)

Day 1 (wednesday) was spent trying to sort out the majority of the tubes, and cleaning the paint and sealant off the areas where the strengthening plates welded to the sills and turret tops. Got the main hoop installed, and the two A-pillar bars, went to install the dash bar... and found that the notch profiles had been cut "vertically" when they should have been horizontal. Sent an email with pics to cutoms, who confirmed it was 90 degrees wrong, and are sending me another one. As they only replied late on thursday afternoon, it will be monday at the earliest that its with me here (Northern Ireland)...

You can see the bar held in the car as the demo CD photos and CAD drawing show... with the bar bending away from the bulkhead. But the end profile will not fit the bar that runs up the A pillar that ties into the main hoop. According to the photographs supplied on the CD, and the CAD drawing, the Dash bar should bend away from the engine bulkhead, with the acute bend holding the steering column bracket and the longer bend being on the passenger side.





Day 2 (Thursday), tacked in the main hoop 'V' (that attaches to the tunnel), front door bars, and rear mid stays are offered into place.

Front passenger side A-pillar / Sill:


The rear doors shut with the door cards on, the front do not...

Side shot:







I'm using a TIG welder... a MIG would be much handier for the tacking, especially in the awkward places...

Roof is coming off on friday evening, after my windscreens are removed (by a local glazier...) can crack on with the roof diagonal, rear stays, rear X bar, rear harness bar, top windscreen bar etc. Also have to cut holes in the engine bulkhead for the tube that goes to the turret top, and remove the door bars and a-pillar tube from the main hoop so I can weld round the side I can't get at when they're installed... then reinstall them and weld full round where they connect to the main hoop...


Although this is my 1st cage install... it might be twice I'm doing it... the first one... AND the last one!

Brakes have arrived, harnesses have arrived (Blue Sparco 3" shoulder and lap straps, aero quick-release, 4 points with additional 5th 'crutch strap' which is bolted in two places.. so effectively 6 point..), seats (Sparco Prodrive Pro WRC, fixed bucket, black) are ordered and should be here in a week or two...

Tim W

iTrader: (1)

You don't have to remove the roof to fit it you know, if you hole saw the floor where the hoop sits you can lower it down through to access the top sections of cage

beef-on-the-bone

iTrader: (5)

watchin this with interest........

the_msp

Yes Tim W I know, but my roof is a sunroof skin, and for track/motorsport use a non-sun roof skin is much preferred. (And the cage would not sit tight to the roof with the sunroof in as when its retracted in the car it sits about 2inches down).

Tim W

iTrader: (1)

Ah, didn't realise that you had a sunroof, make much more sense now

the_msp

Can't really make much progress on the cage without the dash bar, so have removed the rest of the sound deadening, test fitted brakes etc...

Brakes; my old brakes were 2 pot fronts, single pot rears... new brakes are 330mm discs 8 pot fronts, 330mm discs 6 pot rears, with DS2500 pads all round.







Front:
Wheels are O.Z Prodrive PWRC1's, 18 x 7.5" ET53



Rear:



Harnesses:



Seats when they arrive will look like this:

wrx287

iTrader: (8)

Looking good mate Love the Prodrive seats

averyp2

iTrader: (25)

wow, them seats are very nice!

beef-on-the-bone

iTrader: (5)

awesome seats!!!!

the_msp

Haven't had much time lately but have made some progress.

Have been told from Rallynuts that they can no longer supply Sparco Prodrive seats. Will try and get some 2nd hand, or get something else... the Pro ADV might be a wise choice due to the bar that runs from the "tube junction" behind the B pillar up to the A pillar tube, parallel and close to your head.

Have got holes drilled through the bulkhead for the bar that runs out to the front suspension turrets. Dash bar (new, correctly profiled) was a very tight fit but is in. Have to get the roof X sorted. Still haven't removed my roof as of yet, should get it done in the next week which will let me weld round the bits I can't get at otherwise, and then get it off to get painted. Have removed rear doors to let me my head in closer when welding.

Doorbars (Standard seats shown):



Holes through bulkhead:



Rear X:



Front view:

Matt578

Looking good mate

Herbsta1

wow looking spot on

the_msp

Been working on the roof X tonight. I didn't actually buy the optional extra complete X (just a single bar was supplied) but I'm using the dash bar they sent wrong to make my own X.



Where multiple tubes intersect together, like the roof X into the A pillar bar/top lateral window bar, I weld "behind" where the 3rd tube intersects... like so:

Put the bar in place and draw round it with a marker:



Remove the bar and weld behind where it sits:



And then reinstall the bar and weld it.


Custom do not profile one of the ends of the roof bar they supply (they state that "it may need some profiling"). A combination of a 115mm angle grinder and an air die grinder are very useful for this...




Still not sure on what seats to get.

Sparco Pro ADV seats:




Dogs keepin my dust sheets warm....




Thats it for tonight...

- PG

the_msp

Roof X finished:








Just got the 3 bars (per side) that tie in the front turrets to finish, then weld round anything I haven't done yet.

Hope to get seats of some sort next week, get seat mounts/rails welded in, then off to get painted come early September...

the_msp

Seats:













Car is off to get painted, should have it back in about 3-4 weeks....

the_msp

Has anyone successfully installed aerocatches on a classic boot?

The 98 impreza used boot springs:



and the 2000 used pins:



Would prefer lockable aerocatches, but not sure if they will work due to the angle the boot lid comes down at...

Peter 300

Cage looks the nuts

Got mine on order from custom cages after see yours cant wait for it ti come

M444GY

iTrader: (72)

looking good mate . cage looks really serious lol

old bob

i think your find that one of the Zen cars has/had them on the bootlid

Arch

iTrader: (59)

These are the aerocatches you will need

CRonson7

iTrader: (4)

there are 3 versions of the aerocatch the ones above look like 3's, heres the link anyway:

AeroCatch® - new design of bonnet pin, available in locking or non-locking versions – see how it works.........

heres instructions on how to fit standard aerocatches to a hinged panel
http://www.aerocatch.com/updoc/Hinged_mounting.pdf

the_msp

So... £200 of paint, £800 of labour, 1 new roof skin, and a new facelift bumper later...

trails

iTrader: (41)

really clean...looking forward to the next update

btw, take care with the aero catches, they are a great bit of kit but being a bit ham-fisted I've broken both my locking bonnet versions...in just over a year

the_msp

Thanks trails, will go easy on the aerocatches. Anyone notice my rear door handles? Magicked them away...

Next on the to do list is:

• Fully install the brakes
• Get dash flocked and get carbon fibre door cards
• Install braided fuel and brake lines
• Strip down the inlet manifold and rebuild it with new fuel rails and injectors etc
• Install seats harnesses etc
• Get a heated front windscreen and install it and the rear one again
• Fit s/s downpipe
• Remove exhaust manifold and exhange for a HS ported one
• Get new intercooler and make new pipework
• Get car mapped with new Simtek ECU

Think I might get some Powerflex suspension upgrades from the current group buy.

When it comes to gearbox upgrade time I'm thinking of going for a TY754 5 speed PPG straight cut 1-2, helical 3-4, standard 5th, with DCCD, neetronics controller and a fly off handbrake... can feel my wallet getting lighter already...

Going to be a cold winter in the shed!

- PG

trails

iTrader: (41)

the handles removal is purely weight saving measure too

the_msp

Heated windscreen bought from Ricky Evans Motorsport, £160 + vat + delivery.

Dash Flocked by Ronald Montgomery of Montgomery Motorsport, Augher... £75



Rewiring:






Re-plumbing:









Question: Does the Simtek ECU fit in the same bracket as the standard ECU?

the_msp

Bracket made for hydraulic handbrake, I wanted to use the two existing M8 bolt holes in the top centre of the tunnel, although this meant the bracket had to accomodate the tunnel sloping in 3 different locations:













One of the problems with the front triangulation to the front suspension turrets, is that the heater doesnt fit in without modification. My solution; remove the aircon evaporator from its casing, cut the casing in half with an angle grinder, remove ~30mm of the casing, bolt it back together with some brackets, and seal it with silicone...







(Mileage in KM)