An Assortment

Saturday, July 31, 2010:

It's been a busy day!

The gold wheels look great, but the RE070s on them do not. The sidewalls are plenty cracked, and they're down to the wear bars. I swapped on the silver STi wheels with RE01Rs that you've all seen before.


I found these plugs under the driver's seat. The seatbelt light stays on all the time, so I figured plugging them in might stop that. Turns out, no. Alas.


The dirt on the hood finally got to me. I washed it, clay bar'd it, waxed it, and waxed it again. The result? Awesome. The cloud pic is a reflection off the hood.


I replaced that taillight that I'd mentioned before. If you get a good look at the fender side of these things, they've got several openings. Your condensation is more based on the gasket, it seems. Here's what the fender looks like without the lamp; you can see the six stud holes, which have 8mm nuts holding the lamp on.


I only got around to the back half of the harness today. I figured I could use a break. Shown: The rear half of the harness installed (15mm bolt to come out, 17mm bolt supplied with the harness), B-Quiet sound deadener on the back deck, and today's work completed.


I did shove one side of the trunk interior in. The other side needs to wait for the antenna to be replaced and the meth tank to be removed. Left and right:


Goodbye, Ground Control sticker.


This one's staying, though.

Headlight Installation Day

It was threatening rain, but I had planned on this since last night, so I figured I'd chance it and see what happened. I got a little wet, but just after I'd finished shooting my last picture and was gathering the stray bulbs and tools from the project.

The tinted headlights followed the look of the car well, but they didn't do much for lighting, you could see the bulbs as clear as day, and the driver's side one was broken on the fender side, with a large hole allowing plenty of water in. OK, let's go!

The before and during surgery shots:


Mighty PWR radiator:


And here's what it looks like now!


The grille is definitely a lighter shade of silver, although the camera enhances the effect plenty. All told, it's a functional improvement, even if some of the "awesome" has gone away.

Time to go do some work with the Hydra!

Log and Lights

Tuesday, July 27, 2010:

I know you guys dig the pictures, but those are coming last in this one.

Garrison and I plugged my laptop into the Hydra tonight and went for a spin. He seemed impressed with the number and extent of the features it can read and log. I haven't taken a look at the data we collected yet, but I've taken a quick look at the manual for the Hydra, and it's evident I have a lot of learning to do.

Here's part two from today:

Upon looking at the headlights, I noticed that they were rather short of "bright", and it's far too easy to see the bulbs with the clear front lenses. I've decided to use the spare set of headlights (that we all have, I'm told) in my garage to replace the tinted and cleared ones on the car right now.

Naturally, the first thing to do is clean them up. These things get yellow very easily! I figured I'd try something different than I've used before; I used a Meguire's Headlight Restoration Kit. Using the pad on the drill is plenty easier than three grits of sandpaper, which were the contents of the last kit I used. The box also contained the buffing goo, a cloth for clearing the goo off, and a sample of some sort of interior cleaner. After using the pad, it rinsed off easily. I was impressed with the results! The kit, and the before and after:


Dormant in my basement for months was this grille, scheduled to be painted Pearl White for the Pearly, but it's got a new destination!

TJ Arrives

Sunday, July 25, 2010:

TJ is doing a 3.3 swap into his Legacy, and has been parting an SVX in the process. I managed to grab a bunch of parts from him, including the entire trunk interior, rear wiper and fluid reservoir, and the power antenna - if not for a stereo, then at least to fill the hole that's there now!


The trunk interior, and the spare well plug, spare retainer, cover panel, and trunk carpet installed:


Washer pump reservoir:


Cruise control actuator:


Speaking of cruise control... The module under the fuse block that links to the actuator was present, and its hose - typically leading to the actuator - was dangling next to the transaxle with a bolt in it!

There'll be plenty of time for that later.

Good and Bad

Saturday, July 24, 2010:

The good news is, I don't need to buy a wideband for the Hydra. The one attached to the AEM AFR gauge has output signals that I can use. For future reference, Tom offers this:

"OK just looked it up... There should be two pigtails out the back of the gauge. One if for the sensor wiring which you don't need to touch. The other is power&gnd with two other wires as well. one white and one blue. right now these shouldn't be connected to anything. The white wire is the 0-5v Analog output which is what we need to work with. For now run a 16-18gauge wire from the white wire at the gauge down to the nemesis with a little slack on it. I will try and mail out a couple pin connectors which will go right into the plugs on the hydra. I gotta grab my notebook which has the input/outpin pinouts for the hydra itself. Once you get the lead done and the wire installed to the proper pin of the hyrda connector, we will have to do a phone call and I will walk you through how to calibrate the hydra for the proper output of the gauge so it will work with the system the way you want it."

The bad? I'm adding to the list of things to work on...

* The driver's side headlight was full of condensation after the heavy rain yesterday. It is also missing the HID equipment.


* The right rear turn signal has condensation, too, but that's not much of a surprise. Still, I want to tend to it.


* One of the fog lights is out. This could be as simple as a bulb, or... ??? (Update: Bad bulb; fixed July 25)


* The dashboard brightener button (used to put the dash lights to bright when dimmed with the headlights on, for use in daylight) was disconnected for a failed attempt at meshing with the cruise control, whose controls are not present on the wheel.

I hope none of this overlaps. I need to compile the list complete!

Scrapin'

Thursday, July 22, 2010:

Some real basic stuff today. I scraped off the Subaru security and SUBARU OK stickers and got rid of that big lunkin' New Jersey inspection sticker.



I also emptied out the console and other assorted crevices, finding $3.57, lots of screws, and a bunch of other stuff.


Regarding the car running ridiculously rich, Tom says, "...bypassing the AIAC and a fine tune of the idle will help with the AFR at idle and cold idle..."

Add the lighter outlet to the list of things I need to fix!

The Exterior Mods Begin.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010:

The second day of driving the car to work!

The car runs ridiculously rich when cold, finding its way to stoich when it's nicely warm... Unfortunately, that's about 2/3 of the way to work, it seems. Looks like that wideband won't come too soon...

I figured it was about time to start swapping anything that I'm going to keep from the Pearly. The JDM lighting will move over, starting with the clear turn signals. I did this tonight, taking a hell of a lot longer than I'd anticipated, partly due to old parts on old cars being slightly shaped differently. Eventually, everything got squared away and I was missing the screw I placed on the driveway.

Note to self: Don't put a screw on the driveway.

After sweeping about a third of the driveway, I found the screw among the various twigs and other detritus I'd accumulated. It beats finding it in Karen's tire.

Here's the before and after, with the sunset showing how long this task took me...


Nice!

I'm working on what to do about the hood; that's not about aesthetics - it's about function. Also, I need to do a more proper job of mounting the Hydra. Maybe this weekend?

First fill of the tank today, as well. This should be interesting...

In the Beginning...

Monday, July 19, 2010:

I had the pleasure of hanging out in the DMV today. The regular crowd was there, along with a gentleman sitting on the bench behind mine who broke wind every time the last cloud had wafted away. If you're reading this, thanks for finding a way to make the DMV truly ugly.

I got my ugly plates; the lady behind the counter told me that everyone asks if there are any white ones left. She also told me that there weren't any left. Oh, well. I bent the front one to match the plate that Tom had relocated under the bumper. Let's see how long it takes until I take heat for it?


Garrison hailed me up on Facebook and informed me that he noticed that the Silver has plates. This was code for "Let me come over and change the pulley with you so that I can ride in the car." It worked; that's just what we did.

I'll just say that getting started from a stop is going to take some getting used to.

Meantime, it pulls quite strongly, displaying as much as 7psi. I'll have to look into how much it's getting per the Hydra once I start logging. I also need to clean up its idle; it's very rich, and it tends to stall now and then.

Good times ahead!

The Mail Came!

Friday, July 16, 2010:

...but I'm skipping town in an hour or two, and it's track, track, and work before I can get to the car.

I still have to change the pulley and secure the Hydra, so I probably won't drive it until Tuesday, anyway. Gah!!

Still waiting...

Thursday, July 15, 2010:

Yep, the mail still failed to deliver, so there she sits.

I plugged the Hydra into the laptop yesterday and downloaded the programmed maps and settings. I want to find the serial number to request the wiring diagram from the guys at Hydra. It's got to be in or on it somewhere...

I have no idea what the inspiration was, but I turned the key to START without pressing the clutch, and the engine turned. It's not that I need one, but it would be nice to have a neutral safety switch on the clutch pedal. If this is going to be my keeper car, it may as well be right, right? Back burner job.

Regarding the DCCD, without any controls, the torque split is 35% front and 65% rear as a default. I can get an aftermarket controller for it; DCCDPro seems to be an economical one that lots of folks claim works well for them. It can wait.

So, it looks like the car will sit tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday. We'll give it a try on Monday, then.

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Wednesday, July 14, 2010:

It looks like "overnight" is not how quickly mail comes from New Jersey. Hey, you never know. This puts the car off another day. That's not all bad - I can't drive it until I install the 9 psi pulley and secure the Hydra, anyway.

Still a project car

Tuesday, July 13, 2010:

I've started to accumulate the list of things that I need to do to the car. Some of them are things that I'd change for myself. Some of them are things that don't remind me of the car from before.

* The interior of the trunk is gone, right down to the metal.

I'd envied that the interior of the car was all present and secured when I'd seen it some time ago; the panel under the rear deck in the Pearly is hanging due to some missing fasteners, but the Shadow had its panel properly in place. I've sourced an entire interior for the trunk, including one of the drain plugs in the bottom of the spare tire well, the screw that holds the spare in place, and the board that covers the spare. The same donor car will be offering the rest of the trunk's original contents, including the power antenna (in case the car ever has a radio again, and at least to fill the hole in the body) and the washer fluid reservoir.

* There's no rear wiper. The hole is plugged, and the car is undoubtedly slightly more aerodynamic and lighter as a result, but I'm not afraid to make the sacrifice to have a rear wiper. I have one en route.

* The cruise control has been removed. I really enjoy the luxury of cruise, and I intend to reinstate it in the car. Some parts are on the way; I need to sort out how much I need.

* The wideband O2 sensor for the Hydra was removed for another car. I don't want the Hydra to do too much guesswork, so I'll pick up a replacement; I've seen them as much as $400, but as little as $170.

* The Hydra is hanging over the clutch pedal. This is from when the O2 sensor was disconnected. It'll be an easy fix to place it back up where the original ECU was.

* The seats are cloth, and non-power. I'll swap out the seats with the Pearly. The extra mass of the power seat is worth it to me, and I really dig the leather.

* The DCCD isn't functional. Evidently, it was shorting out, so it was disabled. I'm not sure how much of the system is present (I can see the switch, anyway).

* The heated mirror switch has been wired to the meth pump. I have to decide whether to keep the meth system, and after that, whether the whole heated mirror thing is worth it in a summer car, anyway.

* The shift boot is kind of freely attached. No big deal, but on the list.

* The steering wheel says Impreza on it. I'll exchange this with the Pearly for the straight up MOMO logo. Both wheels are quality, but choice is choice.

I want to transfer the JDM clear front corner lenses, the red-lit interior bits, and the Alcyone tailbar. I have to choose whether to replace the tinted headlights with conventional ones, and whether I want to put the silver grille I have in the basement where the black one is now. It's hard to remove from the car's legendary character without sacrificing personal preference.

I think I can find a balance.

That's a pretty hefty start. I'll keep posting the new things and completions.

Delays, delays

Friday, July 9, 2010:

Washed now:


It seems that New York State has decided to add to the amount of paperwork involved in registering a car. Contrary to every stipulation on the sheet, the seller now needs to fill out Section 6 of form DTF-802 in order for the buyer to register a car.

Evidently, the simple bill of sale isn't enough anymore.

This means that I need a guy some five hours away to scribble a few numbers and letters on a piece of paper. The good news is that the form is available online. The bad news is that I've got to wait until it arrives in the mail. Tom is sending it out today. The soonest I'll be able to register the car is probably Thursday, which is the same night I'm packing for back to back race days this weekend, and I'll be leaving Friday.

I guess I'll see you on Monday, friend.