hey you get any rpm specific vibes when you mounted that tubular rear cross member?
No, I didn't notice any increase in vibration from the driveline. When I installed it I had a wheel bearing die due to the toe out situation and lack of adjustment so those issues took more of my attention
Absolutely, I don't actually drive my cars I just like to dress them up in different outfits like a little girl playing barbies
The reason for the lack of update is complicated and personal but can be blamed mostly on a lack of interest. Now my desire to finish this project has never been stronger and I'm going to push hard/spend money to get it going again. I've had to add some things to the list that I wanted to do at a later time and go backwards a little bit, It basically feels like every time I get close to the finish line it moves further away but it's all about the journey right
First step was to remove the FXT harness, I gave up on retaining the body computer and adapting all the electronics and I'm just going to do the normal merge. I need to find a complete body harness now and I'm looking for a 99-01 5MT to pull from, makes the cluster swap plug-n-play and I can keep the FXT alternator. The 98 doors need to be adapted and I'll need to add a rear wiper harness if it's not from a wagon but that's it, much easier just some of the amenities I wanted won't be there
Going straight to VF48 turbo and skipping stage 2, I don't want to replace a turbocharger ever again. The downpipe had some thread issues on the rear O2 bung so I got a M18x1.5 tap to straighten them out, cleaned all the ceramic paint off of it too to show off that shine. I threw away the OEM heat shield when I moved and had to get a replacement mount from Subaru to use the cobb shield, exhaust can be checked off the list now
The top radiator hose I just couldn't get to fit without kinking it or it rubbing on the timing cover so I'm swapping the crossover pipe with one from an Impreza. I've seen crossover pipes with two sensor bungs and I would like to use one of those if it fits so I can put my temp gauge sender in there, I'll be going to the junkyard later today to source a bunch of stuff and check them against each other and probably get both if I can find them
Before I took the manifold off I was going to put the oil pressure sender in the front location under the alternator and just pull the light for the factory switch from the cluster. With the manifold off I have better access to the rear port and I'm going to use that one since it will see a drop in pressure sooner
I got a new oil galley plug that has NPT threads for my sender, the OEM pressure switch uses BSPT which is almost right. The PCV hose that comes from the block right next to the new sender was all cracked and broke in half when I removed the PCV hard lines so added that to the list
There was a lot of corrosion on the manifold bolts when I removed them the first time and rather than replace them I just brushed them clean and reused them, decisions that come back to haunt you later. I've been soaking this guy in pb blaster for days and haven't even tried to remove it yet, probably won't touch it until I need to reinstall everything and just keep soaking it until then
With the heat shield on I can finally figure out placement of the crawford AOS and hose routing. I've tried to find pictures of a GC with this AOS but turn up nothing on google, there's such limited space with the hood right above, the strut bar to the rear, the turbo below and the prop valve in front. I'm not going to be able to use the mounting holes for sure, just going to have to live with whatever these tight tolerances will give me
I was going to save the brakes for a later time but the braided lines I've had forever are so tired and won't work with the GD struts and it's just time to replace them. Since I'm opening up the hydraulic system I took the liberty of swapping the proportioning valve with one from an older Legacy that had 4 wheel disc and no ABS, they look identical and I'm not sure if there's any difference but I did it anyway just in case
One of the rear lines was rubbing on something and is all frayed, the rubber is bulged and I'm pretty lucky it didn't bust on me. The front lines look fine and could probably be used again on the older style struts but the rears look like they really didn't like the angles they were at with my lifted setup, They have been good to me for over a decade but it's time to say goodbye and new StopTech lines are ordered
It may not make a difference like the prop valve but I'm going to get the 1" non ABS master cylinder also from the older Legacy, the non ABS SVX master would be ideal but I can't find one for the life of me so sacrifices are being made. I filled the clutch reservoir and bled that system so at least one of the three pedals works and that's progress in my book