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This is my first project thread, actually my first thread on here ever, so hopefully I'm doing it right. This project has taken entirely too much time and way too much money but in the end I'll have a good story and a fun car. Alright, so lets begin. I purchased a 2003 Subaru Baja back in 2009, it is my first car that I could call my own and it's been a blast to own. The styling on the Baja I've found to be love it or hate it, for me it's quirky and I think it looks great. I've used it for anything and everything, hauling wood/appliances/sheet metal/furniture, taking it autocrossing, light offroading and mudding, and of course as my daily driver.  It seems like I caught the mod bug, I'd always upgrade something and then a few months later I'd find something else that could be improved, I've spend entirely too much on the various little projects with this car but I guess that's part of the fun. As I was autocrossing, I learned to push my car to the limit and I was surprised at how well the Baja managed to perform snaking it's way through the cones. It was definitely a sight to see. Last year I started thinking I could use some more power, so I looked at turbo-ing my car, after more research I started looking at just buying a newer Turbo Baja but they're really rare in Canada and would be pricey to import, and with this being my first car I have become attached to it somewhat. I Toyed with the idea of swapping a turbo engine into mine but ultimately I decided it would be smartest to just buy a dedicated autocross toy. Well, I didn't do the smartest thing. In January I saw an opportunity when looking at the SGI salvage auction, a blue 2010 Subaru WRX rollover and the idea of an engine swap seemed like an awesome project. So I put my bid in and purchased this hunk of metal sign unseen for $1500 and payed $500 to have it shipped to my house.  It definitely wasn't pretty when it came. What came after was a whole lot of months of tearing the wreck apart and buying replacement parts to get it back to running condition.    As you can see, everything looks broken and covered in a nice layer of battery acid from the accident. Seeing the Cam gears broken made my heart sink, I crossed my fingers and hoped that the valves and pistons were ok. From the original auction pictures you couldn't tell that the timing gear was trashed. At this point I figured I could at least get money back if I part it out if the engine is trash. So time to soldier on, had a good friend help with disassembly of the wreck, here's a picture of the interior after we got the dashboard out  Backside of the wreck  The garage at this point, looks positively clean compared to now.  Close up of the timing gear, showing just how bad it looked before:  The rest of the engine bay was covered with a mixture of battery acid and dirt/grass. It was a whole lot of fun to clean up.   Got really nervous when I looked at the turbo, I thought it moved somehow and got really dented on the bottom here. I started looking at used turbos on NASIOC and was not looking forward to paying for a new one, thankfully after looking through the listings, it looks like the legacy style VF52 that's in the new WRX is supposed to look like that. Who would have thought?  Here's some pictures to show just how much force is involved in a rollover, motor mounts split in two and lower control arms found a new exciting shape to be in.   Back to progress: Freed the motor from the wreak and put it in the garage, was fun moving the hoist around, where the wreck was it's gravel so we put down a sheet of plywood and had fun pushing it up onto the driveway and finally into the garage.   And now the fun starts. Took the motor apart, cleaning as I went. Took the heads off and checking pistons and valves to make sure it's viable. It was a good thing I did since the head aligment pins were all bent by about a cm, so instead of being a straight tube they were offset. Definitely good would have made some interesting noises if I started it up that way.   Yes, the head has a piece broken off on the exhaust. I took the head to a friend who has a machine shop in his backyard and he welded the broken piece back on.  It broke off from the force of the impact. The exhaust manifold cracked on the outer side, but on the inner side it took a piece of the head with it. Thankfully it was repairable and I didn't need to buy a whole new head. From the looks of the pistons, I'm guessing this WRX has seen a very boring life so far.  I cleaned off all the carbon on the pistons after hours and hours of cleaning using special wipes that apparently are used to clean the carbon off. looked fairly shiny after, unfortunately I didn't snap any pictures. After it was all put back together, put on timing belt and hand cranked it to make sure there weren't any clearance issues.  Look at that fine motor, so much nicer than what it looked like back in the wreck.  painted the intake manifold wrinkle black since the batter acid splash wasn't really my style.  After the timing covers put on, and mostly back together   Had fun and put the scoop onto the hood to see what it would look like  After reading on NASIOC about the oil pickup tube cracking, I took a look at mine and it showed signs of cracking, took it to a good friend who does welding for a living and he strengthened up the tube at the failure points, I'll eventually go with an aftermarket pickup, but for now this should hold. Pictures after I re-installed it.   Once that was done and all together, it's time to get this started  Right before the swap  Settled into it's new home for the next little while  Old and dirty  Taking apart the interior   Taking everything apart, getting it ready to take out  The engine hoist is waiting, patiently...  Transmission is out  And out with the old!  Car has now went from having ~170hp to 0.  Now it's time to find room for the new rats nest. Wiring has been a nightmare beyond believe, my ultimate goal is getting everything functioning and looking as though it was factory. I purchased a subscription to the Subaru technical site which has all the factory service manuals for the WRX and my Baja, so it's been a fun time splicing systems together trying to get everything to play nice and work. Had to make a few custom wiring harnesses when some systems went through connectors on the passenger side when the new wiring has them on the drivers side. Also since the fuse box is located on the side that recieved the brunt of the impact, I had to remake the entire harness that goes to the main fuse box since pretty much everything got damaged on that side.    I decided to use the new gauges from the WRX, partly because they look better and I've gotten used to looking at mine, and partly because when I looked at the wiring diagrams for the cluster it seems like it would have been nearly impossible to get the old gauges working with the new ecu and wiring. I think I had a mini aneurysm looking at that mess on paper. Made a backing plate from wood and covered it in 3M carbon fiber wrap so that it would fit into the mounting spot of the old gauge in the dash. Here's a picture of a mockup before it was all together. The wrap in this picture is pieced together from scraps I had from previous jobs, the final wrap was done in one piece so it looks much better.  Here's the test fit from before I had the car apart  Here it is all plugged in  And then finally, after months of on and off again working on this project, I had everything ready for the first start. Oil in the motor and all the electricals just put in all willy nilly so that it would just work and I could see if all that hard work would result in a start or if all I would hear would be click click click, or worst, click click BANG! My heart was pounding, everything up to this point has been an uphill battle and this was it, the moment of truth, to see if the next steps were putting it together with the new motor, or undoing all the work done and putting the old motor back in, defeated and having a failed project on my hands. So here's the moment that decided what's happening next: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I7b4SispaY | | | | | | It runs! It was such a relief to hear the motor fire on the first try. There was so much that could have been off, it was a miracle it all came together. After that point I got busy and put a whole lot of the interior together, put in the cooling system, got the heater working, the venting working, the rear lights, and headlights, and various other essential electrical systems. At this point this is how the interior looks  And here's a video of it running after I was testing to see if the radiator fans were functioning properly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_ct3LuyUJE I think it sounds really nice, I'm loving it. It'll definitely be one of a kind after all this work. I'll have to snap another picture of the engine bay sometime tomorrow since it looks much more presentable now than it did in the first video. I still have a whole lot of work to get it on the road, but I'm hoping within a week or two that I'll be driving it and enjoying the snow. Future plans involve a whole bunch of aftermarket parts and a good tune and hopefully I'll have my goal of 300whp by the end of next year. Already have a whole bunch just waiting to be installed but I want to run the motor as stock as possible for a while before I start modding again to work out any problems that might arise from it being through that kind of accident. Haven't finished putting the thing together and already I've been bitten by the mod bug. There's still a whole bunch I've left out to this point, I'll probably end up posting about the rest of the work at a later day. Bajaha fucked around with this message at 14:39 on May 7, 2013 |
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Nov 14, 2012 18:46
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Thanks! I've heard of the garbage stock tune on these motors, haven't figured out where to get it tuned yet, asking around on the local forum it seems like my best options are either Calgary like you mentioned or going south to Minneapolis. Haven't decided yet, if you're recommending Airboy Tuning then I'm inclined to go there. From what I've seen it seems Cobb's Accessport is the most popular tuning solution, haven't purchased one since I'd like to find a tuner first incase they prefer a different tuning method. I purchased the AEM wideband when it was on sale from Boston Motorsports for $160, so I have that, haven't installed it yet though. Winter vacations are coming up so I'll definitively have time then to drive out to get it tuned, If I get an Accessport, I'm guessing an OTS map would be good enough until next summer since I'm planning on installing headers, uppipe, downpipe, an FMS Tmic, and I'll find more shinny stuff by then. Would rather not spend too much on a tune if it's going to need to be retuned once all those parts go on. Was going to put on the stock intake, but surprisingly there isn't enough clearance on for the box to fit above the frame rail so the Cobb SF intake it is. As for the compression/leakdown, I haven't yet and I'm definitely a shade tree mechanic with no formal training, so I have never done either one before. Any good guides I could look at or this something that a show would be able to do quickly and cheaply?
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Nov 14, 2012 19:15
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Haha, that's a great description of it. The rear diff's are both R160's, the WRX one is indeed open, while my old Baja one was had an LSD. Couldn't mix and match since the WRX trans has a final drive of 3.9 while my old Baja one has a FD of 4.111 I'm not sure if the old transmission would take the power, if it would then I could always swap the transmission and rear again and just change the axles, I used the new hubs in the front since the ABS sensors function a little differently, I will need to change the rear hubs somehow to accommodate the new sensor style since my old one used a toothed ring around the axle while the newer one is a small metal disk with the sensor reading it from the side. I can't swap the entire rear hub since the mounting is quite different, it looks like I'd be able to just change the bearing since the new axles have more teeth on the rear than the old ones. For now it's the new diff but old axles and hubs. So for now the VDC and ABS systems wont be functioning until after winter when I have time to play with the rear, so I'll be missing the LSD  I have to keep an eye out for a used 3.9 lsd since I think there were a few models that came equipped with it so hopefully I'll get lucky. The car/truck is staying as a daily for me, I plan on enjoying it as much as possible. For now I've been driving around in a 98 Altima since I got it from my good for giving him a civic motor and helping out with the swap. Was actually a good story, the previous owner said all it needed was a headgasket. We pushed it home and wouldn't you know, the block had a window through it so you can check the broken rod from either side if you liked. Ha.
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Nov 14, 2012 21:20
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I guess I'll splice some wires and see if the VDC freaks out with the old sensors. That'll have to wait until after winter since it's getting really cold around here and my garage isn't heated, first priority now is getting the rest of the essentials working and putting it back together and then taking it apart in spring once it warms up again. This swap was definitely a dream of mine after I got the car. It was always a fun thing to think about and imagine, and when I bought the car you can imagine how excited I was to do the crazy thing I've always dreamed about. In the process of doing it, it turns out dreams are easier when they're just in your head, but I'm certain that after I'll look back and be happy and forgot about how many problems I've run into, even now I'm certain I'm blocking out some of the earlier trouble I had. For how much time and effort this is has been, it's definitely something I'd like to only do once. And for the record, electrical systems are a pain in the rear end to work with. The rear taillight wiring is still confusing me. The Baja rear lights are combination lights, and the brake light blinks when the turn signal is on, the WRX lights are discrete and there's separate bulbs for the rear lights. After some tinkering I decided that using the old turn signal module from the Baja was the best bet. Dug it out from the old dash wiring harness and looking through the wiring diagrams for both, hooked it up in a logical manner. When it was hooked up this way, it would keep the rear left brake light on no matter what. When I unhooked the input for left turn signal on the module, and put the left turn output from the new harness to the hazard switch input on the module, it works exactly how it should. This makes no sense, but if it's functioning I have stopped questioning it.
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Nov 15, 2012 01:03
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I haven't really parted out the WRX yet, I was keeping everything for the time since I wasn't sure when I would need some random piece from the WRX. Have a few FS threads on NASIOC of some of the parts, but I really need to take some time and take pictures and put a proper FS thread with all the parts I have laying around. As for the neighborhood thing, I'm in a bay and we're all really close to each other, have an awesome relationship with all the neighbors and I've kept it beside the tree and always covered by a tarp when it wasn't being worked on, so it wasn't too much of an eyesore. None of the neighbors complained and quite a few were interested in the project when they came over. The Altima is indeed the 5 speed, it's actually not that bad, and now with the winter weather it warms up really nice and fast. The only problem is that the clutch is worn but it works for the most part and still manages to break the tires loose if you hammer on the throttle. I unfortunately don't have the AI usual picture, I do have a picture of me standing proudly with one foot on the transmission ala captain morgan style. And finally, for exterior mods, there isn't much I can do, I put the top sport lamps as they're called, and I've managed to get 3 sets of wheels for the thing. Otherwise I purchased a set of fully adjustable tokico shocks when they had their 70% off sale and I found a set of Whiteline lowering springs that should fit my Baja, must be really old stock since I can't find any mention of it on Whiteline's website but the box and everything about them would seem they're genuine. I'll install shocks and springs in the summer and I'll see how I like the drop, I'm only looking for an inch or so, if it's too much I'll have to find something. Finding aftermarket parts specifically made for the Baja is like trying to catch a leprechaun.
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Nov 15, 2012 06:50
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Quick update: Been busy running around town so I only managed to build a pressure bleeder and then use it to bleed the brakes. Surprising had quite a bit of trouble getting the cap to seal properly with the master cylinder, in theory it seemed easy. Took a really crappy cell picture of the engine, probably should have used some more effort but  There will be more nicer pictures once it's actually driving around. Also found this picture which really makes me miss driving a snow tire equipped AWD Subaru, made winter seem like summer.  
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Nov 16, 2012 04:42
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Bulk Vanderhuge posted:Nice work! Hopefully I can get a ride along at a WSCC autox? Of course! I'll try my best to go out to all the events next season. It'll be a hoot to drive for sure, not promising any quicker times though 
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Nov 16, 2012 18:15
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Hey, I happen to like the 2-tone  So, something interesting happened. Changed the oil and filter the other day and wired up the rad fans permanently. I was bringing the engine up to temp and a thing happened. Water temp was 60*c and the engine was idling, just touched the gas pedal and it stumbled and died, refusing to start after. Checked wires thinking maybe a ground came loose somewhere, checked fuses to make sure nothing blew, and it was still refusing to start. Eventually it started for a split second but it made a weird noise so I shut if off immediately, not sure if it actually started or the unburnt fuel just decided to ignite in the exhaust. Well, I didn't have time until tonight to do some work on it so I bought 20l of premium, a set of nkg plugs, and a compression tester to see if the motor is sound. EDIT: You guys weren't kidding about getting to the plugs on a turbo subie. Had to come up with a weird system where I loosen the plug and then lightly tighten it again so I had enough clearance to take the wrench off the extension and then use my fingers to loosen it rest of the way while hoping I didn't tighten it too much to do it by hand. Makes changing the plugs in the NA motor look like a cakewalk old plugs ended up looking kinda dirty and cyl 3 had a decent amount of oil on it.  Did a compression test and it looks like the motor is sound, this is what I found: Cyl 1 - 146 Cyl 2 - 143 Cyl 3 - 145 Cyl 4 - 140 So next step is to figure out if fuel is fine and to make sure I'm getting spark. Probably wouldn't hurt to double check the grounds either. Hopefully it's nothing too Bajaha fucked around with this message at 18:18 on Nov 19, 2012 |
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Nov 19, 2012 06:12
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Another quick update. After changing the plugs it went from no start to running on 3 cylinders. Cyl 2 is the one that's misfiring, unplugged the coil pack from it and the engine runs the same. Thought it might be the coil pack but moving them around had no effect, unplugged the injector on Cyl 2 and nothing changed so I removed injectors 2 and 4 and cleaned them both and swapped them. Cyl 2 still misfires. I can't seem to figure this one out. From the compression test it seems like it shouldn't be a problem with the piston or valves. Anyone have any ideas why Cyl 2 would still misfire after moving both the injector and coilpack? I figured I'd check the timing just incase something went wrong, was running out of ideas so I figured I'd check anyway. When I took the timing cover off there was oil all over the rear timing cover on the passengers side. I'm guessing the intake cam seal is leaking, so it looks like I've got lots more work to do. 
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Nov 21, 2012 06:04
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I haven't tried swapping plugs around yet, for some reason that didn't occur to me, I think I just figured shiny and new = working. If it turns out to be just that simple I'll be relieved and angry. The oil fouled plug came from Cyl 3, but I swapped coil packs around after swapping the plugs so I thought maybe it was the coil pack, but after moving them around and even hooking up the coil pack from cyl 2 and grounding the plug I saw there was spark (used one of the old plugs, haven't actually tested the new plugs to see if they're working) From looking around at the shop manual and from online, it looks like I might get away with changing the cam seal (if it is indeed the cam seal, not sure what else would leak oil into the timing cover area) without pulling the engine out. Taking out the rad and removing the timing gear should give me enough room to just pull the seal out and replace it. I have all the cam gaskets and every other gasket I could possibly need so at least I don't have to look for more parts. So I guess it was a good thing I accidentally ordered two timing belts  Another plus is that after talking to my fiances father, he's letting me use a very strong heater (apparently it's good to heat houses when building them during winter) so that I can keep warm while getting the Baja back to running condition. It's still warm this week but next week is supposed to be freeze-your-nuts-off cold.Another thing I forgot to mention, is that it's throwing 2 codes, my scangauge only read one of them as P0000, it's not mentioned in the shop manual, or at least I couldn't find it, but looking around online it seems like it's just a general misfire code, and the other is blank so I'm guessing it's some specific code that my scangauge can't read properly. As for the Altima, it's been a nice temporary replacement vehicle, only problem is chronic rust but that's getting fixed slowly. Bought a 2000 Altima from the local auction for parts only for $650, it was almost completely rust free but it's an auto. Stole pretty much every body panel I could from it, so now my "red" Altima is all white with red quarter panels and roof. Also it has this little exhaust leak that's silent when driving around normally that sounds like a turbo whistle when you gun it at higher rpms  Plans for the Altima include fixing it up and selling it, it will be missed once it's gone.
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Nov 21, 2012 19:10
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Haven't taken apart the avcs cams yet, was looking for cheap used replacements but haven't found anything particularly enticing. Are the cam gears from other years with avcs compatible or am I looking at 08+ WRX cam gears only? I'll take them apart when I'm in there to replace the camshaft seal, I'll take a look at the service manual to figure out how to get them apart without breaking them. If it was the avcs system causing the issue wouldn't it affect the entire bank not just the one cylinder? If it is the avcs system I'll have to figure out how to get it all fixed up. The head is stock, haven't replace any internals. I was worried they would be damaged from the accident but all the valves sat tight and there were no marks on the valves or pistons so it looks like they survived the accident without having an intimate meeting. With the compression test showing good numbers I'm assuming that points to things being ok with respect to bent valves. Between the project, fiance, and only working weekends because of school I've been cautious with replacing parts if the old ones survived the accident. Onto altima chat, I do have the rear tails if you're interested some texas redneck, I don't have PM so maybe I could email you? I swapped over the entire front end including the head lights. It does look much better and the wiring for the lights wasn't too hard to redo, when I put them in they were pointed at the moon but that was easily fixed. Only issue is that it looks like they throw less light than the old headlights  , It could be that the bulbs are original so I'll pick up a new set sooner or later. And finally, and update: I haven't done anything with the motor. I did go to the Fargo over the weekend and picked up a bunch of presents for the motor. From my schedule now it looks like I'll be working on the car every other day and maybe weekends when I find time, so updates might be slow. Pictures coming tomorrow when I have time to unpack everything and snap some photos.
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Nov 26, 2012 23:24
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^Sent you an email, they are indeed red/red. As for the Baja, I've put it on storage insurance for now since I doubt I'll have it good to go any time soon, exams are coming up so I'm short on time. It looks like I'll be taking the motor apart again to figure out what the problem is. When I'm in there what can I do to guarantee that the heads are fine? If I had the motor running smoothly before and it just suddenly stopped running when warming up after an oil change, what could have gone wrong? It only started after switching out the plugs but still misfires even after playing around with the plugs, coilpacks, injectors, and ground wires. I'm just a little stumped as to what it could be. Cyl 2 is on the passenger side while the brunt of the damage occurred on the drivers side, but it's possible the passenger side suffered some damage. If it has something to do with the valves or damage from the accident and it's not something I would have visually picked up during disassembly/assembly what should I be looking for? Seeing how it ran seeming perfect for a while before it suddenly stopped while idling I'm not sure what to point at here. Anybody have any ideas? If I'm doing the tear down again I guess I'm looking at getting some more parts. Question is which parts would I be ok re-using and what should I buy replacements? Head bolts aren't torqued to yield on Subaru motors so I was right with reusing mine, correct? If the motor was running fine before and with those compression numbers, should I still be suspecting valves? If I need new ones, any recommendations for what/where to get them? Any recommendations for things to replace and beef up if It's going to be apart again? As of now I've been really short on time and haven't been able to get anything done with the car so all I've been able to do is think of what could go wrong and what I need to do to fix it. With some luck I'll have plenty of time to tinker with it after finals. EDIT: forgot to mention, when I unplug the coilpack or injector on cyl 2, even after swapping everything around, it sounds nicer/smoother running on a consistent 3 cylinders, when I have everything plugged in it has run fine for about 30 seconds one or two times but not consistently and starts misfiring again the moment I give it some gas. Most times it misfired even at idle, with the rpms surging between ~900rpm and ~1500rpm, sounded kinda like a cammed V8 when it runs like that. Bajaha fucked around with this message at 00:07 on Nov 29, 2012 |
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Nov 28, 2012 23:58
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Yesterday I decided I needed a study break so I managed to get something done. The goal was to get the engine out so that I could figure out what's happening with the misfire and fix that mystery oil leak. Figured I might as well find a killer B oil pickup somewhere and install that while I have the engine, maybe find a turbo inlet since the one I tried getting of a NASIOC member never came So onto the update: Started out by taking the fuel lines off and actually remembered to take a picture. Got the nice 210,000 BTU heater sitting beside the Baja, it's definitely the next best thing to a heated garage.   Heater in action  I've been running the heater for about 30min - 1hr (depending on how long of a break I've decided to take) with the garage partly open then closing the garage and turning off the heater. This has given me about 2hrs or so before I need to turn it on again to keep working. It didn't have much fuel in it when I got it so it worked to heat up the garage once but didn't have enough to start it up again so I needed fuel. It runs on either Kerosene or Diesel, probably some other fuels too. Went to the local home depot and Kerosene is at over $3/L after tax and the heater has a 50L tank. Screw that, Diesel it is at $1.20/L. Went to gas station after and realized I left my wallet at home. gently caress Once I eventually actually got fuel for the heater I'm back in business This is the first time I've pulled a Subaru engine without taking out the transmission first, every other time I've taken out the transmission for one reason or another so I was hoping I wouldn't hit any snags. Unbuttoned everything and it's time to pull that engine. again.   Thought I might get lucky and not have to pull the radiator out but there wasn't enough clearance to pull the engine off the transmission so after another two bolts, and a lot of wiggling, it's free and out.   And I've got to buy a proper engine stand, would make working on this so much easier. Now it's time to spend more on parts to keep replacing things and disassembling pieces to make sure they're (still) good. On the plus side it ran nice for a little while so it shouldn't be too hard to get in almost new condition. Anyone have any good tips for cleaning a garage floor after all various automotive fluids have had their way with it?
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Dec 5, 2012 18:31
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I'll pack the lights with snow instead of bubble wrap, that'll work, right? The heater says it'll run for 8 hrs on a full tank, haven't been keeping track of it so I can't confirm that, I've been careful with regards to various fumes, when it's heating I'm not in the garage, and the only time when it's on and I'm there is when the door is completely open so plenty of fresh air, otherwise there's enough of a draft that's there's always some fresh air coming in. So far so good. I'll finish the project and keep you guys updated and hopefully I can do it without carbon monoxide ruining the fun I'll be playing around with cleaning the garage floor when it's warmer out, I'll be sure to stop by Canadian tire and check out that absorball, also heard from a poster in the local subi forum that tide could work. I'll have to see when it's warmer. I'd love to seal the garage floor, but last time I checked it out I remember being pretty sticker shocked, if the prices have changed since then I might have to reconsider it. I don't know why I didn't think of just jacking up the engine a touch for the spark plugs, that seems like such an obvious thing in hindsight oh well, my method involving wobbly extensions and a u joint worked. So onto something actually project related, I'm thinking an air oil separator would be a good idea to have on the motor, and I've been lead to believe the Crawford one is the best design, but drat are they ever pricey new, maybe someone will be selling a used one cheap on Nasioc. Good idea or snake oil?
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Dec 8, 2012 16:05
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Yeah, the front brakes are exactly the same between the two, I swapped the calipers since 2 years vs 9 years for the Baja. Swapped the hubs too since I don't want to mess adding with fitting the sensor in the old sensors hole. it all bolted right in so it wasn't that bad. I left the rears as is since like jamal said they're not going to fit. The wrx dash isn't completely toast I think, if it has a replaceable airbag it can be fixed. all the plastic trim and ac controls are good and the glove box is ok too from what I remember. I haven't actually touched the dash since I took it out so I'm not 100% on that. I've got the suspension covered, the wrx suspension won't fit because the top hats are different. I might be able to cobble something together but I've got something better in store. Tokico had that 70% off sale a while ago so I picked up a set of adjustable htr struts for a steal and I have a set of white line lowering springs. I'm worried the springs might put the car too low, they're discontinued and I can't find much info on them, if there too low any suggestions for springs that would fit a Baja? I haven't been able to find much at all. For the aos I can try to make one but I'm fairly confident it'll end up looking like boiled dog poo poo, so once I get a failed attempt out of the way I think I'll take jamal up on his offer for the Crawford. How much is a slight discount? And I'll try the sealant on the garage floor after I've tried to clean it. glad to hear it's not as pricey as I remember.
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Dec 8, 2012 22:43
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Hmm... that would be interesting to see, I'll dig the wrx subframe out of the snow after my exams and I'll see if it looks like it'll fit, if it looks close enough then I'll try to put it and see what happens. First things first I'll focus on the engine and get it running again. I haven't touched the suspension yet on the Baja, and I don't remember seeing spacers between the body and subframe but I haven't actually looked for it so I might have missed it. My Baja is an 03 and as far as I'm aware it's the lowest Baja they made, the 04+ have a 1" lift or something along those lines. Not sure how Subaru raised it but subframe spacers seem possible, so maybe mine doesn't have them? I'll have to double check next time I have some free time. My postal code is R2P2T8, but I also use a parcel service that's by the border, it's really useful for some vendors that offer free shipping to the US but rapetastic prices the moment it has to cross the border.
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Dec 9, 2012 03:20
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That's not a problem, I'm short on funds at the moment, there's always something that comes up and with the holidays approaching gifts add up. I really really need to organize my junk pile and actually start selling all those parts I have stashed up. The only difference between the applications for the aos are the hose lengths, right?
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Dec 9, 2012 14:32
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Leak down is the next thing on my list before I start dissembling everything, I'll follow the guide that Seat Safety Switch posted, I'm hoping I get good results, I guess we'll see.
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Dec 9, 2012 22:00
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Wood stove would be nice but the chimney piping would be really expensive, no? Or an I thinking of the wrong style? I'll definitely look into it after winter, having a heated garage would be so nice. Finding a leak down tester has proven difficult. most of the parts stores like parts source and Napa didn't have a clue what it was, tried piston ring and they were clueless but found one, for $200  eventually remembered this hole in the wall place that has served me well in the past. from the outside it looks run down but inside it's a good shop. It's got the most generic name ever, the auto parts center. Gave them a call and they actually knew what I was talking about, after a good conversation on the utility of a leak down tester he told me they go for anywhere between $50 to $300 depending how fancy they are and that a $50 one would work well for what I needed and that he'll track one down or let me know where to buy one and if not I can borrow his. Always nice to get good service so I'll be picking one up later in the week since I'm working the next 4 days on 12hr days
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Dec 13, 2012 14:16
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There's been a lack of updates on my part since there's always something more important happening around the holidays. Nothing has really changed with the project, The engine is sitting on a proper engine stand and that's where progress stopped. And unfortunately for anyone who wanted to see this project move forward, it's going to be until after mid January since this week is busy busy and after that I get to go to lounge on a nice tropical beach in a place that probably has never even heard of snow  One very small update though, I managed to get these from my fiance for Christmas   It's going to be baby's first time using fiberglass since nobody makes a dash mount for the Baja/Legacy dashboard, wish me luck.
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Jan 1, 2013 04:25
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So I'm still alive and back in the frozen wasteland, already missing the warm beaches and tropical sun. Doesn't look like there's going to be anything done with the car anytime soon since there's been days where it's -29*C with windchill feeling like -36*C, that's -32.8*F for those that don't want to convert. Too cold to do anything productive, and school has started up for the spring term so progress will be slow anyway. And thanks for the compliment on the gauges, I've been wanting nice gauges for quite a while but they would be mostly useless on a stock car, especially without a turbo so I never looked too far into them, really love how they look and I'm hoping I can finish this project sooner rather than later so I can start enjoying all the work done to the car. But I might as well give you guys something to read about. First a little taste of the Dominican from an AI perspective. I got to drive a Daihatsu!  Kinda, it was a dune buggy with a Daihatsu steering wheel and a small 3 cyl engine in the back with a fake carbon fiber intake that looks kinda like an HKS blow off valve. Still, for just being the most basic thing you need to drive around on 4 wheels, it was really fun to beat on and surprisingly quick. The "dashboard" consisted of the start button and I think it was supposed to be a light but I'm not sure what it's purpose was, maybe a temperature dummy light?   Driving around the Dominican has an interesting feel to it. In Cuba the streets are littered with old classic american cars that are kept alive and cars from the soviet union, it would be rare to see anything new and shiny, Dominican was much different. It was really interesting to see brand new Hyundai's and high end Audi's driving on the same roads as 30+ year old beaters held together by shoestring and bubblegum, with everything in between too. I'm also now convinced that there isn't a single non-riced civic in the Dominican, got excited when I saw a new model civic that looked stock from the back but when we passed it, it had HID bulbs in the headlights Managed to catch these two examples of the safety on the roads:   And I'm pretty sure I've promised to show off the parts that I've amassed. I think I'm a bit of a sucker for getting a good deal, and I keep forgetting how much of a money pit this project is, but oh well, Shiny things! So as I've mentioned before, Tokico HTS Dampers with Whiteline springs.   Cobb XLE BOV, got it for more than 50% off retail.  FMS TMIC, got it for around 60% off retail.  AEM UEGO  Invidia Catted DP  Tomei UEL headers, due to a shipping error I have to make a parcel run again to pickup the uppipe, gave me another  Brand new airbag cover  A touch of  and Swag   Can't wait for summer to start using the helmet again. Jamal, I know you've offered a discount on the Crawford AOS, but I managed to find one off NASIOC that's NIB for just over $200 shipped so I snagged that while I could. I know for sure I'll be getting more stuff so I come beg for good deals through you sometime in the future. And now I just have to get off my rear end and sell all the extra parts I have laying around to pay for this addiction.
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Jan 17, 2013 22:34
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I'll be sure not to, any tips for how to set them up? I've never had anything like adjustable dampers.
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Jan 18, 2013 22:15
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Thanks, once I get back to working on the project I guess I'll have to play around. I think I'm going to need to spend a day or so playing with the stiffness then just leave it since I know I'll be tempted to keep playing with it. It's going to be one of those "no matter what I do I make it worst" kind of situations no doubt.
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Jan 18, 2013 22:36
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So yesterday was a nice and hot -8*c, almost beach weather here in Winnipeg, so I finally managed to get a leakdown test done on the motor. I found some interesting results and I could use help figuring it out. Leakdown results where as follows, all done at TDC: Keep in mind the motor hasn't been started in a few months and it's still pretty cold here. Cyl 1 - 25% @ 100psi / 90% @ 100psi through intake or exhaust Cyl 2 - 25% @ 100psi Cyl 3 - 25% @ 100psi Cyl 4 - 25% @ 100psi So Cylinder 1 is the odd one, I've previously messed up my piston numbering, so Cyl 1 is passenger side front. It's the same cylinder that was having the misfire. I thought that my intake valves were hosed on that side since the first time I did the leakdown, it was showing 90% leakage at 100psi coming through the intake. I tested the rest of the cylinders and then came back to #1, the second time around it was showing 25% @ 100psi, like the rest of the cylinders, I thought maybe I screwed up somehow. After some more playing around it turns out that when it's TDC after the compression stroke it has 25% @ 100psi, while if it's at TDC after the exhaust stroke, it leaks through the intake, or exhaust depending on how close I actually get it to TDC, a tiny movement of the crank will change which way it's leaking out. The other cylinders seem to have both valves closed at TDC after the exhaust stroke for longer, while cyl 1 seems like there's almost a crossover where both valves are open. Am I right in thinking my valves are OK and that I need to re-do the valve lash on that bank, or do these numbers point to something else? And can anyone confirm the valve lash should be set as .008" intake and .010" exhaust?
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Jan 28, 2013 16:12
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jamal posted:So are you holding the crank in place during the leakdown? Yeah, I've been using a friend and a socket on the end of breaker bar to hold the crank pulley in place. It's getting cold again so I can still do more testing, just in shorter bursts. For the other cylinders between the exhaust stroke and the intake stroke there was a definite area where both sets of valves were closed, with the cyl 1 it seems like there isn't spot where both sets of valves are completely closed between the ex and in strokes (we moved the crank pulley around TDC and it always leaked with it dropping very briefly to about 50% crossing TDC but it was difficult to keep it in a spot where it only had 50% leakage as appose to 90%), but on the compression stroke it has the same results as the other cylinders so I'm thinking the valves aren't bent or seating improperly since they wouldn't seat at all (like they seem to on the compression stroke) if that were case, correct?
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Jan 28, 2013 22:29
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Nothing has changed with the Baja project, still too cold and finding too many excuses to put off the work, giving this thread a bump so it doesn't fall off into archives. But recently my Altima has decided it doesn't like life as a boring daily driver and has turned into a race car! The cat-back section of the exhaust cracked and is hanging a few inches below where the cat section ends. Almost sounds good at times but the drone is way too much, the exhaust does have a nice pop when revving down from anything over 4k rpms though  . Going to try to do a half assed patch job on it and grab the exhaust from the parts car once the snow melts off of it. I might post pictures if I remember to take them. Just a few more weeks and I'm back at chasing the missfire and getting this swap on the road  Edit: Just to show how much snow the parts car is under, here's a picture:  There's an altima under there, somewhere. Bajaha fucked around with this message at 14:00 on Mar 6, 2013 |
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Mar 5, 2013 21:06
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Yesterday got around to "fixing" my exhaust, it sounded whisper quiet after so no more race car for me Turns out it cracked on the flex section and the only thing holding the pipe up was an O2 sensor, whoops.  After great effort and much thought I cobbled together this masterpiece to keep it together until spring when I can actually replace it. For now aluminum tape and wire to hold the exhaust roughly in the right place.  Classy, isn't it 
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Mar 8, 2013 18:00
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DJ Commie posted:Muffler tape, sheet metal (soup cans are formed and leak) and some stainless screw hose clamps and you'll actually have a repair that will last as long as the sheet metal will. That or instead of wasting $20 a month on repairing that fix, take it to an exhaust shop if you can't weld it yourself. I think I'll have to do that in the near future, for a quick 5 minute fix this worked with what I had laying around, at least it quieted down the exhaust so that it's tolerable. I'll have to look around because I swear I had some thin sheet metal somewhere, all I could find recently was thicker stuff that doesn't exactly wrap around pipes easily. e: and last I checked at Canadian tire it was close to $15 for what amounted to a square foot of paper thin sheet metal and two screw clamps. Bajaha fucked around with this message at 19:59 on Mar 8, 2013 |
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Mar 8, 2013 19:48
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It was warm enough that I found some time to do this: Should be strong enough to last quite a while.
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Mar 9, 2013 01:39
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It's been a while since the last update, but with spring finally coming to Winnipeg and I'm finished writing all my exams, it's time to get back to work and get something actually done. Surprisingly the Altima has been very reliable and has a confirmed leaking rear main seal thus causing the clutch slippage. Next oil change it's getting that high mileage oil that supposedly swells gaskets as a In the spirit of doing the little things first, I managed to focus on the following while it was still too cold to do any work on the motor: Figured I should get some practice with fiberglass so I played around with making a gauge pod since the aftermarket for the Baja and 00-04 Outback is pretty much non-existent, and the universal fit stuff pretty much always looks like rear end from what I've seen. The first time around I made one that didn't have a hood and was so-so for fitment. It did teach me a lot of how to work with fiberglass. The weather was very cold still so I had to be creative with using a heat gun and various hot lamps to get it to cure. First was making a fiberglass pad to build the pod off of, used the classic trick of aluminum foil to prevent marking the dash and for easier removal. Used a hot glue gun to attach the gauge cups once the fiberglass cured and put in the gauges to see how it would look sitting in the drivers seat.  Next step was to put the fiberglass onto the top so that it would have a nice back, that was kinda tricky as the gauges extended about 1/2" back behind the cups so I had to make sure they would still slide in after the back was made. Then used liberal amounts of bondo to smooth out the rough shape of the fiberglass.  After more sanding and a coat of black wrinkle paint I ended up with this result. Bad colour match, bad texture match, needs much more sanding, and fitment issues. But I got lots of experience so time to try it again and do a much better job.  This time around I had an easier time using the fiberglass since I knew how it acts and how I could mold it so that it's easier to fix later on.  With the ingenuity that comes from using what you have lying around around at the time, I used some painters tape to support a bondo made hood to this pod, after building the original one I found that I would prefer the look of a hooded pod.  Fitment on this one is much nicer thanks to using a heat gun to make the fiberglass flexible and bending it to shape before applying the bondo.  After some more rough sanding.  And finally more sanding and some glazing putty to get the small imperfections out. Still have some work to do to get it perfect. After this step I gave it a coat of primer to help spot the imperfections and that's where it sits today. Will eventually get it done but for now that's as far as I got. Went to the local rondex paint supply store and paid $stupid for proper paint that supposed to match the dash perfectly, paint that's supposed to match the light gray a pillars perfectly, an automotive dash texture spray, and a proper primer for the pod. Hopefully it was worth it for it to look like it might have came from the factory in the car.  At this point I found something else to spend time on that wasn't mechanical work. Got a perfect condition shift knob from a WRX to replace my worn one since I can't find an aftermarket shiftknob that I like, and used some red thread to make it look prettier. Scientifically proven that a little red stitching adds 5-10 hp.  When I was a friends garage, after a few hours of helping out with his car I found this exhaust tip in his garage that he says came off of a pontiac vibe. With a torch nearby I remembered that race/rally cars get that bluish tint to the exhaust because of how hot their exhaust gets, so I added the two together and tested my theory that if I could recreate the heat I could get that finish on the tip.  and wouldn't you know it, it worked!  After played around and it turns out you can sand it off. So I grabbed my exhaust and after a quick clean up and polish, I tried it out. The first time it was uneven at the top as I overdid it a little, but the colour was really nice and strong. I took it off and tried again, this time I was too far from the edge when heating and got a bronze ring around the edge with the bluish colour a few cm's inwards. Took it off again and tried one more time: Clean exhaust before last attempt:  After:  Turned out ok, but the colour is much less intense than the first time I tried. Not sure if that's because of how much I was heating it, or if by doing it multiple times I changed something with how the metal reacts to this type of treatment. I'll probably try it one more time before I put the exhaust on. Oh, and I finally caved and purchased this beauty:  Got tired of spending 40 mins on a 10 min job because I can't find the tool I need. Canadian tire had it at 40something% off so for a total of $650 plus tax for the entire cabinet I now have a place to put all my tools, the previous organizational technique was akin to a squirrel hiding nuts for the winter. It's not some crazy professional model, but it's nice and large and the sliders actually feel pretty nice, much nicer that most of the other consumer tool boxes I was looking at. And finally onto some actual work on the motor. Still not sure why it was misfiring but hopefully after taking it apart and putting everything back together while checking clearances I'll have inadvertently fixed the issue, also throwing new shiny parts at it so fingers crossed that everything goes well. First had to take the motor apart, got most of the intake and assorted off the top fairly easily.  After more time and effort I pulled the head off and tried to see if there's anything that could point at the cause of the misfire. Couldn't see much but the head gasket had a little coolant between the layers so maybe it was a contributing cause? I've got a new set of headgaskets ready to be installed so no worries there anyway.  New headgasket on the block:  You can see with this picture how the cylinders look after the cleaning and running for the short time I had it running well.  Pile of parts and the new and old heads:  And since AI seems to be more and more interested in the pets and there is an overabundance of cats it seems, here's Delta looking oh so interested in my work.  During the long break, I picked up a set of heads from another 2009 WRX and had them checked over and they seem like they're perfect. They also look much nicer cosmetically than mine so that's always nice.  So currently there is one new right side head, ie the passenger head, which I torqued down following the service manual to the letter. Next step is to replace the other side and then start putting it all back together, cross my fingers, and see what happens. Hopefully this thread will be updated more regularly, especially since the weather's being cooperative and I want to get the Baja onto the road. Definitely don't want to turn this into an ultimateforce thread.
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Apr 26, 2013 23:50
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I can't wait to get this on the road and enjoy the turbo goodness. And for Vigo, Subaru's are usually pretty nice to work on if you know the trick for whatever you're doing. There's only a few times where I would curse the engineers who designed it but for the most part it's well designed and easy to work on. And thanks for the compliments on the pod, it's turned out fairly nice for my first time playing with fiberglass and bondo. I've got some clear header paint, picked it up since it seemed like I could find a use for it, maybe painting the exhaust tip with that will help with durability. So onto progress. Yesterday I put on the head, set the valve clearances, put everything together, and changed the oil pickup and windage tray.  Out with the old  New and shiny   Everything buttoned up:  Oh, and I found my cam seal oil leak  So hopefully today I'll find the time to change the other head and put everything back together again.
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Apr 28, 2013 19:02
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The beast has woken https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tevvHTlmc9c&feature=youtube_gdata_player More detail tomorrow night.
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May 7, 2013 05:03
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So, I'm terrible at updating my thread it seems. Oh well, better late than never. ^ and yeah, the old oil pickup got that coloration from when it was patched up. Since the last update there's been some progress. Motor got put back together, all the accessories and whatnot, put on an aftermarket turbo inlet and drat the fitment on aftermarket parts is terrible. Also triple checked the cam seals since I don't want to have to pull the timing belt and cam gears to get to the seals again, here's to hoping I did it right.  Was definitely an exercise in frustration to try to pull through the inlet so that it would go far enough back to the turbo. On top of that the section that the intake connects to is a few inches farther forward and to the side than the stock inlet so the silicon after maf hose is now the wrong shape and too long for the intake to fit in my engine bay so I've been doing a snorkel looking mounting while I wait for a shorter straight section of silicon hose to arrive. Also, very jealous of my friends S2000 with how much space he has to work on it  Finally got everything back in one piece ready to drop back in  Get in ya Bastard!  And it is back in its rightful place!  In my haste to get it back up and running I managed to forget to tighten the turbo oil line and the drivers side AVCS line which proceeded to fling oil around like it was going out of style when I was cranking it over for the first time. First thought that the puddles growing under the car were the cam seals but thankfully it was just my own idiocy. Mopped it all up and fixed the issues and it was time to start it. As the earlier video showed, it worked! So, since I was planning on using the upgraded TMIC and I'm getting really excited to get it on the road, I put it on. Using the new Cobb blow off valve since my stock one was a little damaged and I didn't want to wait to replace it while possibly having a small vacuum leak where the line from the intake attaches to the bov. New TMIC is much bigger and looks much better.   So with the new intercooler on, and my intake acting like a tiny snorkel, I threw the wheels on got giddy with excitement  As an aside, I do the little things before I get to the big important things (as always). Took the exhaust and figured it would be a good idea to paint it with some ceramic header paint and heatwrap it for Started with masking of the mating surfaces since the paint probably wouldn't help with getting a good seal.  All these pipes cost entirely way too much, but at least I wasn't paying full retail.  Scuffed up the exhaust with a combination of 220 grit and a red scotchbright pad and got to painting. Once everything was all fine and dandy I started wrapping it. I had the new 2" titanium DEI wrap and a bunch of wrap that the headers and uppipe came with. The new titanium stuff is so much nicer to work with the white fiberglass wrap, painting the parts also helped since it seemed like it make the wrap had more traction on the painted surfaces and was easier to wrap around without it slipping too much. The older white stuff is easy to tear and makes your hands and arms all itchy after working with it for a few minutes. I like a fool also bought the $texas DEI stainless steel zip ties and a package of 50 longer and wider zip ties off amazon that were on clearance for around $16 I think.  Currently ordered some 1" titanium wrap that I have to go pickup, read online that the 1" wrap is easier for small bends like I have on the headers. Those tight bends are going to be *fun* to wrap. Now, back to the Baja Took it for a quick test and holy crap it pulls like a freight train. I only got it up to 4k rpm and from my obd2 scantool it looks like it hit a max of 12psi of boost. I'm getting a tgv stuck code so I'm guessing it's in limp mode because of that. I've got grimmspeed tgv deletes waiting to be installed and I'm picking up an Access port tomorrow most likely so those will be going on today. Also purchased the aps tgv servo plates since I found them for dirt cheap and figured why not, there's a lot of black in the engine bay and might as well add colour, or resell them. Here's the video of the test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBtj3e9H40c Yes the rear brakes are squeaky, using the ebrake as well since there appears one of the hardlines at the abs unit didn't seal right and is leaking slightly which let in air and resulted in a brake pedal that feels like stepping on a marshmallow If you listen closely you'll notice it stall right after the pull. Right after that it started to stall after a second or two of running, really rough/lumpy idle, would occasionally stall on idle and was loosing vacuum. I though I managed to mess something up already and was panicking for a little bit. I started taking off the intercooler to find the suspected vacuum leak and as I was pulling it to separate it from the throttle body hose, the hose just slid off the throttle body. Looks like I didn't tighten the clamp enough and popped off when the engine actually made some boost. Crisis averted  With that issue out of the way, It's back to running perfect... ish. After another quick drive or two I noticed something smelled like raw fuel, quickly checked on the motor and it looks like I have a leaky injector. So todays tasks are to fix the leak, fix the brakes, and change out the TGV assemblies for the deletes. As it stood yesterday before I started taking it apart again.  This has gotten me really excited and I'm hoping that I can get the drive to get everything finished on this project nice and quick.
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May 14, 2013 18:45
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TGV deletes are on, and the leaky injector has received a new o-ring and is no longer leaky, on the other hand one of the injectors on the drivers side didn't seat properly and is now leaking  not my lucky day today apparently. The brakes are left for another day as well. Oh and I put shiny poo poo on my intercooler, aka gold heat reflective tape. Not entirely sure how good it actually is but it looks pretty and reflects some light behind the intake manifold making it slightly easier to see back there.
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May 15, 2013 05:05
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For the hood I'm going to have to hack up my stock hood, partly why I put on the new intercooler since I'll have to adapt the hood to where it sits. I could have gone with a turbo Baja hood but the opening looks tiny and the exit of the scoop would probably end up in the wrong place as well. I've got a 2004 WRX hood scoop, and I've changed my mind and got the bigger STI scoop, just have to go pick it up, not sure of the year at the moment. I'm shooting for having it mostly finished in the sense that the cabin electricals and everything on the body is all done sometime in June, I got invited to a local car show that's happening in July so I definitely want to have it done before then.
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May 15, 2013 18:01
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Fixed the other leaky injector, wasn't too bad of a job. As for the wearing gloves with the exhaust wrap, I started with wearing gloves when doing the titanium wrap but took them off since they were making it more difficult and the new stuff was nice to work with, I forgot/ was too lazy to put them on with the fiberglass wrap which was a mistake. And thanks for the compliments, I'm loving everything about the noise it makes, as my first turbo car I love to hear the intake as the turbo spools and the blow off valve is plenty loud enough for me set as 100% recirc. At this point I wouldn't even care if it was slower than before because the noises it makes just give me a permanent grin  Today I managed to relocate my PS reservoir behind the abs unit, gives me some more room in the engine bay to throw in the crawford AOS, and I fixed the brake leak. Also found out why my brakes felt like marshmallow, I managed to put the front calipers on the wrong side Not sure how I managed to mix that up but because of that the bleeder screws were at the bottom of the calipers which prevented them from being bled properly. That's all fixed now and the Baja has actual brakes again. I've got some glamour shots of the engine bay that will be posted within a few days or so... ish.
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May 16, 2013 05:01
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Yeah, my work ethic when it comes to this project isn't exactly crazy, I'm kinda all over the map doing the little things. Didn't help I just worked 12hr shifts this last week so didn't have much time. Anyway, now that its been a *couple* days, Glamour shots incoming! First off, the turbo looked kinda chilly so I put on this perrin heat blanket to keep all warmth inside, also have to install the matching heatshield but that'll come after I get the Crawford AOS in so that I don't have to keep taking it off and putting it on.  Here's a full on shot of the engine bay, before I got some silicone couplers to put the intake in the right place. If I was a crazier man, I would keep it this way and just make some holes in the hood.  And once more from the side  And finally with flash with the intake put in place properly.  Now, onto some actual progress. The center gauge pod is completed (ish) I will probably take it off and smooth off the rest of the imperfections but for now it looks presentable and there are more pressing matters to attend to, ie getting it back together to drive around.     Started with doing the hood scoop. Marked it out first and put the splitter that came with the intercooler on to see where would be a good place to cut.  It's a really weird feeling drawing on a perfectly good hood let alone cutting into it. But it must be done.  Using some blocks of wood and tinfoil so that the fiberglass doesn't stick, I put on the first layer of fiberglass that will blend in the hoodscoop for a nice OEM look.  Gap is set at 3.25" so it should be plenty for the intercooler. I'm off to the states for the weekend so probably won't be another update until mid next week.
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Jun 7, 2013 01:42
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Oh, and I forgot to mention, I started making an a pillar pod to house the other two gauges I have. Was thinking of the steering column but I don't want it to get too busy in that small area.  The bottom is a little twisted away from the driver while the top is a more towards. It's easy to see in pictures but when you're sitting in the car it looks perfect. Don't know if I want to redo it again to get a straight angle or if I should leave it this way, It's not noticeable when you're in the car, but I will always know it's a little off...
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Jun 7, 2013 15:15
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Are they really that prone to failure? I remember searching when I was buying it and it seemed to get good reviews. And I remember there a bunch of very vocal people arguing against the Innovative, Surprisingly haven't heard much of Zeitronix. How long should I expect the AEM to work before I have to start shopping for a different wideband?
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Jun 7, 2013 15:49
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Yup, it's the aem uego, Boston motorsports had a Christmas sale or something and it was cheaper than buying a used one and no risk so I was happy. And yeah Jamal, I got both the gaskets and the sandwich plate had to wait until 4 for the ups truck to show up there so I got to explore Neche for an hour, exciting.
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Jun 8, 2013 00:07
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