2005 Impreza STI

[Jay762]

agreed that gel is something I will be investing in - the springs have come up well to - will be interesting to see how long they do last but powder coating springs is quite common particularly on bikes so I think they should last quite well

[Jay762]

yay they stock it at Opie Oils as well :)

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bilt-Hamber-Deox-Gel-Rust-Remover-Gelled-Corrosion-Remover-1000ml-bottle-/181229105982?pt=UK_Car_Accessories_Car_Care_Cleaning&hash=item2a3218b33e

[Fonzey]

Got my uppipe today, perfect partner for my turbo :)

[Jay762]

match made in heaven - would you consider a ceramic finish instead of heat wrap??

[Fonzey]

Yep certainly considered it for the downpipe, turbo hot side and headers/up. It adds up to a fair amount of money though - so might have to stay wrapped :P

[Jay762]

thats true - its certainly one if there is a bit more money in the pot

[cusco scooby wagon]

am going ceramic finish on my headers there's a place in macclesfield that am going to take mine to,

[Fonzey]

A few weeks/months ago I bought an RCM baffle plate - well I sold that on, and decided to go for a baffled sump instead!

 

Got the baffled sump home today, and a load of oil to stick in it!



Thought I'd try Fuchs, as they had a "Buy 5l and get 1l free" offer on.

The seller of the sump recommended I take the baffle out, and make sure no packing material got inside - and give it all a rinse out. So I did!



It all looks so simple :| Don't believe these things can go for 6-700quid new, when an OEM sump is £90

Inside there seems to be a "false floor" type arrangement, possibly part of the OEM sump design(?) which is subtly funneled down to point oil into the base.



This particular sump has got a bung welded in for a return to sump catch-can setup. I've bought a cap which will be screwed onto here with PTFE tape until I've got a catch can sorted out.



Decided to NOT fit this myself, my back still hurts from a month ago when I was scrabbling around under the car sorting my gear linkage - so will have Richard Henry's do this and flush my green gunky brake fluid over the weekend.

[Gambit]

Very nice :) And I think a good choice with going for a baffled sump. And nothing worse than back pain touch wood I don't suffer to bad with mine. But my mate got laid off from work and seen how much pain he is in with his :( worst of it is he can't sit still for 5 minutes :) 

[Fonzey]

I need to invest in a decent trolley jack so I can get my car up on the axle stands at their highest setting, that way I can fit myself under the car on a skateboard. Currently I can only manage enough clearance for the depth of my head + 5mm, so it's really claustrophobic and hard work on the back when wrenching anything.

 

It's so close infact, I've still got scratches on my nose from the lockwire used to hold my heatwrap onto my downpipe!

 

Car dropped off  at Richard Henry's tonight, so should be all done with their usual quality service by tuesday.

 

Don't think I mentioned it yet, but Blyton Park booked for the 1st of April, my first and last track day of 2014 as work are shipping me to the USA for six months soon :(

[Jay762]

had a clarke trolley jack for years now not let me down, good value for money £100 quid well spent - I dare say you could get second hand ones as well to save a bit

 

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/ctj3000g-3-tonne-professional-garage-j

[Fonzey]

Blyton was an ace day, and without any real drama. Gutted it's over to be honest, might have to rush another day in before I depart if I can :D

Arrived at the track in thick fog, wasn't looking good but I was confident it would clear - as we had a nice day forecast.

Got there about an hour before the brief, made friends with our paddock neighbour in an Octavia then went to perv at some cars - mainly a 996 GT3 and some kitcars.

Fog!


They explained during the brief that we'd do the sighting laps in the fog ( ) and then wait for it to clear before green lighting the day. The fog ended up lifting about 10:30, so were delayed by about 45mins.

I was about 6th or 7th in the queue to get out first, but it got red flagged before I got to go because the GT3 broke down on his outlap :(

Once towed away, it was party time. Track still very damp in the opening session but got a good feel for the car and other than a few scary moments under braking (need to fit the pads earlier next time, and do more bedding in) it went without drama. Got back to the paddock for Santa to tell me I was VERY close to the noise limit and I need to start short shifting :(

There was no static noise test at Blyton, just drivebys.

Next session I went out and miserably short shifted around. The car sounded epic, but was a tad loud - mainly the pops and bangs when I blipped the throttle on downshift and quite an intense roar at the upper end of the range I think.

Got about 5 laps in, and could hear a rotational scuff scuff scuff coming from the rear. I'd experienced that before on the road with my "normal" pads - I think it might be the dust shield but it doesn't seem to affect braking and so kept driving.

On lap 6, I got black flagged :(

I was almost sure that was my day over, too noisy - but after a quick chat with Santa, my sound was actually OK - it was the rotational scuffing that they could hear.

That basically restricted me to 5lap sessions for the rest of the day, as that prevented heat from getting too high and causing the scuff to be too loud.

Turned into a beautiful day:


After an epic 40mile trip at lunch to find fuel :o it was party time again, really picked up the pace in the afternoon and played with my centre differential adjustments to try and assist me with a bit of understeer.

My car would understeer a touch on entry to the higher speed turns, but I was then able to get on the power and almost rotate the car through the turn, I could feel the rear of the car grip up and push me round - it was an excellent feeling and the car felt so balanced, encouraged me to push harder and harder. Had a few flicks of the tail on exit a couple of times but nothing that required panic or "catching". It felt flamboyant at the time, but it's not really noticeable from any in-car footage

As usual, the in-car footage just looks slow and undramatic, but I felt I was pushing the car a million times harder than at Cadwell, and I only had to let one car past all day... which in hindsight I shouldn't have done, as he held me up afterwards! (S1 Elise).

Had an app running on my phone all day which was supposedly recording lap times, but GPS signal seemed to be non-existent all day. It says my fastest lap was 1.16 though, can't really find any YouTube reference points but I think low 1.teens is possible if I went back tomorrow.

I ran out of ****** on "Port Froid" which should be a flat-out chicane, car is probably capable of 100mph through there but I was lifting. "Bunga Bunga" is my favourite corner by far, take it wide with a touch of understeer then get on the power early to hit the second apex right at the end - feels and looks like you're going to run out of track but the car just rotates through at about 70mph - pretty awesome.

With about half an hour to go, I fell asleep on the grass and was woken by someguy shouting "15mins, last chance!" so I went back out for a few more laps. All went fine until the penultimate lap, came out of a slower chicane in 3rd, shifted up to 4th at 6200rpm then got to about 6k rpm in fourth and power cut really quickly, then immediately came back in. Coasted round for a lap, then did exactly the same in the same place.

After tidying up and setting off home, I tried to replicate on a slip road and the car just boosted right through the range fine... so must have got something too hot. Need to speak with some people in the know to see if I can find out what that was. Talked to a few people since and it looks likely to be fuel surge/slosh in the tank.

Blyton is an excellent track, if only because there is nothing to hit and encourages a bit more exploration of the car.

 

Some vids.
Onboard:

 

External:

Brakes:

 

[Fonzey]

Got to work yesterday returning the car back to "road mode", and also trying to figure out what's scuffing on the rear when it gets hot.



Bit of surface rust bubbling up, but also a polished streak at the 2-3o'clock position in a groove right next to the handbrake shoes.



Seems like a lip on the disc is supposed to sit in that groove, and is catching when getting warm. You can see the lip is slightly polished vs the totally crusty "other side".



vs



I dremelled the lip down a mm or so, so hopefully that gives me enough clearance next time I'm on track. I at least know it's nothing "dangerous" so hopefully I can sweet talk the marshals if/when it happens again.

Dremelled down:


Ground down the backing plates and covered in my anti-rust gunk:


...and the other side:

[Fonzey]

Good old Hammerite to tidy up:






Road pads back in, staggered yo'


I guess the aftermarket discs I got just don't quite have the same
tolerances as factory, as the "groove" on the hub doesn't seem deformed
or anything.

[Gambit]

Very nice loved the videos I can't believe the moaned about the noise seemed fine to me :D 

[Fonzey]

I know man, it sounds epic - so gutted I'll have to change it!

[Jay762]

great post - I didnt think the sound was that ott - now you have sorted the scuffing try it with the same box but take a replacement in the boot just in case next time - easy enough to change over in the pits  ;) 

[Fonzey]

I'm either going to keep the Prodrive box as you say for trackday swapouts (if I get flagged) or pickup a resonated centre.

 

I don't really have space for a backbox in storage, but can always store it at a friends/family I guess.

[Jay762]

the centre is not a bad option as you get to keep the backbox you like for style reasons

[Fonzey]

Got my pictures through...





Foggy!

[Jay762]

thats what I like to see - passengers hanging on :D  great shots!!

[Gambit]

Lovely pictures and I agree with Jay a passenger hanging on is always a good thing to see :) 

I would say your car was any louder than mine and I went to Cadwell with it twice now and never got moaned at might have just been a jobs worth that day :( Or has Subaru envy ;) 

[Fonzey]

I reckon it's hard to judge on the video, it was pretty loud compared to others - particularly the popping and banging as I blipped the throttle on downshifts (which the video doesn't pickout very well). I did Cadwell with the same exhaust system but a Prodrive backbox instead of the TSL one and I made something like 96db on the static and never once got asked to shortshift etc by the drivebys.

[Fonzey]

Started getting some bits trickling through (at last!) for my suspension change:



Went for the Whiteline Max-C adjustable front mounts, and Group N rubber rears.
Compared the GroupN mounts with some OEM ones I have knocking around - the rubber is MUCH stiffer,  so hopefully a good compromise.

Washed the car today (nothing new there...), but as I was wiping down the inside of the boot lid - I noticed a perpetual dribble of mucky water coming out from the back. I started peeling back the boot seal, and before I knew it I'd pulled it all off - and was horrified to find:


Needless to say, got a nice stiff APC mix and got to work on that lot all the way around, then took the seal inside to clean that out too. LOVE jobs like this :o



Hoping to get the KW's next week, would love to have them to give me the easter weekend to fit and test etc... but based on their pace so far, I'll probably see the rebirth of Christ with my own eyes before getting the coilovers.

[Gambit]

Might have to look at mine  :o