Andrew & Tamra's 818SR EM Autox Hybrid Destroked Long-Rod Build

[R.Spec]

Yes, there's a separate bracket now for the pedals.. This needs to be bolted in place before the contoured front aluminum. IIRC it goes on with some of the low pan head socket cap screws. 1/4-20 maybe?

I think it's actually properly updated in the I rev manual.

Forgive me for asking again. But after I got it all bolted up with the 5 screws. the pedal box is not even close to lining up. The master cylinder screws go through and the part that attaches to the steering column lines up. but the bolt holes that go through the firewall are not even close? Input on this?

[xxguitarist]

So the thin aluminum pieces up front aren't lining up with the other components? I'd see if you can de-rivet & adjust those until they fit. I think ours had some standoff distance from the bracket, but it squishes down to fit tightly.

[Hindsight]

The issue I had with mine was that the bracket didnt bolt square to the frame. It sticks forward a bit. I didnt notice it until I went to put the firewall over it. One side of the firewall could no longer reach the frame due to the pedal bracket sticking out too far forward. I pushed hard on the firewall to sort of bend it into place and rivet to secure. It worked but a day later the rivets failed So now I have a small gap there.

My firewall holes didnt perfectly line up with the bracket either. I just used a dremel to open them up as needed.

[STiPWRD]

So the thin aluminum pieces up front aren't lining up with the other components? I'd see if you can de-rivet & adjust those until they fit. I think ours had some standoff distance from the bracket, but it squishes down to fit tightly.

The issue I had with mine was that the bracket didnt bolt square to the frame. It sticks forward a bit. I didnt notice it until I went to put the firewall over it. One side of the firewall could no longer reach the frame due to the pedal bracket sticking out too far forward. I pushed hard on the firewall to sort of bend it into place and rivet to secure. It worked but a day later the rivets failed So now I have a small gap there.

My firewall holes didnt perfectly line up with the bracket either. I just used a dremel to open them up as needed.

Same here, there was a slight gap between the firewall and steering column bracket. I drilled and riveted a few extra holes around the big steering column hole to close the gap. Seems to be holding up well so far. If the 1/8 rivets fail, try stepping up to 3/16.

[Tamra]

So we picked up this thing last night... 7.3l e350 diesel for a steal of a price. 2 owners, full maintenance history, 155k miles, and very little rust. We just might have to put a "free candy" sticker on the back ;p

It takes up most of our driveway, but we now have a towing vehicle! No space for a trailer, so we'll be renting a u-haul for now.

[Hindsight]

Congrats on the van find! Vans are the best. You can sleep in them at the track and store a lot of tools and stuff in there.

Stipwrd: thanks for the tips on the larger rivets - I dunno why I didn't think of that. It's too late for me though since I already filled the gaps with silicone but it's honestly not a big enough gap to cause any issues and you can hardly notice it. in there.

[R.Spec]

So the thin aluminum pieces up front aren't lining up with the other components? I'd see if you can de-rivet & adjust those until they fit. I think ours had some standoff distance from the bracket, but it squishes down to fit tightly.

nope, the pedals aren't lining up with the hard steel reinforcement. while the rest of the pedals line up with the master cylinder and the part of frame near steering column. i'll see if i can get a picture.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

nope, the pedals aren't lining up with the hard steel reinforcement. while the rest of the pedals line up with the master cylinder and the part of frame near steering column. i'll see if i can get a picture.

R.Spec
Did you redrill the brake pedal arm 1/2" higher?
Bob

drill.jpg

[Frank818]

So we picked up this thing last night... 7.3l e350 diesel for a steal of a price. 2 owners, full maintenance history, 155k miles, and very little rust. We just might have to put a "free candy" sticker on the back ;p

It takes up most of our driveway, but we now have a towing vehicle! No space for a trailer, so we'll be renting a u-haul for now.

Nice donor!

[Scargo]

What!! You can't just tuck the 818 inside it?

[Tamra]

haha, the auto parts store guy today was VERY confused when I was in buying a Subaru radiator cap and 96 oz of brake fluid lol.

Anyone for a 7.3l 818? The engine only weighs 1,000 lbs...


Speaking of radiator caps, so we've burped the car 3 times now. The first time that we posted about a week or two ago, was then messed up by our hoses sucking in after cool down (not siphoning back in from the overflow tank). We assumed a bad cap, so we bought a brand new OEM one. Burped the coolant again last night, went back out to sucked in hoses again.. frustrating. Started Nasiocing, and figured out that with our coolant reservoir delete, that our system was not working properly. In a normal Subaru, the radiator cap does not pull vacuum, it only releases pressure, and the turbo coolant reservoir is the one that siphons the liquid back in on cool down. We basically needed to swap the caps in order to make our system function properly. Picked up another cap this morning, just a generic Impreza RS one from the auto parts store, and success! Car is burped, hopefully for the last time.


Another coolant blooper... make sure you never ever touch the corrugated hose to the battery terminal. It does NOT go well, and you lose a lot of coolant as it starts spewing out all over the garage. We had a small section left over that we hadn't used originally, and put it in with some hoses clamped on either end. The corrugated hose is now properly secured so that it cannot get anywhere near the battery...



Exhaust is all welded up and installed permanently, gaskets included. Just need to finish the final exit and weld it up.



AWIC radiator is all mounted and lines plumbed, just need to add coolant and burp it. We welded on mounting tabs at the top, and a bar across the bottom to bolt to.



We also mounted our catch cans to the rear cross brace to keep them accessible.



Andrew also worked on some assorted wiring and getting the gauges ready to install in the dash, which will come later this week...


And, best for last, we drove it around the block! The alignment was horrible the first go (I was sawing at the wheel to go 5mph in a straight line), so we made some adjustments and went back out. Not perfect yet, but we had some fun, got into 2nd gear, got some thumbs up, stares, and waves.

[metalmaker12]

I did the same thing with the coolant line and battery, lol..brought back that moment. Congrats guys!!!

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Great job Andrew and Tamra

With your new van, you can pick up 2 kits next time. Hint, hint.
van.jpg

[Frank818]

The alignment was horrible the first go (I was sawing at the wheel to go 5mph in a straight line), so we made some adjustments and went back out. Not perfect yet, but we had some fun, got into 2nd gear, got some thumbs up, stares, and waves.

Great job on the kart! Did you get waves from others cuz your alignment was crooked and you were always about to crash in the snow?

Speaking of alignment, I am interest in the results once you finalize it. Looking at how good your LCA alu spacer helps for caster/camber.

tnx

[Hindsight]

Looking very good! Thanks for passing along the bit about the coolant hoses and battery. Seems like an easy mistake to make.

[tebriel]

Just read through your entire thread. Very fast and quality build! Also I lolled at all the 90's throwback music. Thanks for making me feel old! :-D I'm curious if you're going to add heat shielding around the exhaust housing on your giant turbo and exhaust? I'd be a little concerned with the amount of heat that thing will throw off.
Cheers!

[Tamra]

Thanks everyone!

Tebriel - welcome to the forums, and thank you! We will be buying a turbo blanket, and we are partially wrapping the down pipe as well. The headers and up-pipe have been fully wrapped with DEI Titanium wrap too.

[xxguitarist]

With our dyno session coming up this weekend, we've been cramming in the hours.
Last night we were out in the garage from 7ish until a little after 1am, and today we had a snow day, so we put in another 10 hours or so.

Big items:
All gauges installed into the dash, and the dash installed into the car. We installed our JDM V8 STi gauge cluster. ooOOoohh shiny. What's a KPH again?
Gauges are: Boost, Oil pressure, AFR, Pre/Post IC BATs, AWIC water temp, oil temp.
The gauges have an alternate color of orange, so we'll see what we prefer.



On the gauge topic, if you, like us, forgot to ground out the door switches, locate this yellow wire running up to the cluster, snip, and heatshrink (apart)... No more light!


Boost/ Vac lines run for EBCS & EWGs, BPV too. The hose we ordered for the recirc line was a little too small to fit, so it's a BOV for another week. Won't affect the tune, but would be good to have it plumbed in before autox for throttle transitions.




We also got the AWIC system filled/burped. It took some time, and hooking our shopvac to the top of the AWIC HX core at the back of the car helped a lot with initially priming the pump. It's running great now, and wired to turn on with the ACC position on the ignition. We will have a fan wired to be manually switchable from ACC also, for cooling the water in grid.


The exhaust is also installed now, and complete except for cutting the tip to length and polishing once we have the body panel in place. I reused the FFR supplied exhaust hanger, after cutting, heating & bending.

[Mechie3]

I see you did the same redrill of the BPV to fit the greddy flange. Bob n Cincy figured that out for the AWIC I put together for him. It's all coming along nicely.

[xxguitarist]

I see you did the same redrill of the BPV to fit the greddy flange. Bob n Cincy figured that out for the AWIC I put together for him. It's all coming along nicely.

Guess so! Wish I'd seen theirs- We spent a couple hours searching for a compatible flange before figuring out we could drill & tap it.

[Hindsight]

Looking nice. I like the gauges. I am planning on getting the same pre-post intercooler gauge, but have been looking for the same thing in a WATER temp gauge too, so I could put it pre and post AWIC to get a good feeling about what's going on with water temps.

[xxguitarist]

My take on it:
If all are good, then you're good.
If post-IC air temp is high, and post-rad water isn't, then the core isn't preforming properly. Add more HX core or water flow rate.
If post-IC air temp is high, and so is the post-rad water, then you need more radiator, airflow/ducting, or an ice tank.

Post-IC water temp, before the radiator sees it, would really only tell you about how good of a job the radiator is doing. Fun, but not crucial I think.

[metros]

I've heard to anticipate around 4.5 gallons of coolant for the cooling system. How much would you guesstimate for your AWIC system? I'm assuming everyone is just using regular coolant for that system as well.


This post is always great to check out. Always a lot of progress to see.

[Tamra]

I've heard to anticipate around 4.5 gallons of coolant for the cooling system. How much would you guesstimate for your AWIC system? I'm assuming everyone is just using regular coolant for that system as well.


This post is always great to check out. Always a lot of progress to see.

Thank you!

We only ended up using about 2 gallons. However, we do not have a reservoir - it is a closed loop system currently. We plan to keep it that way for space and weight savings unless we have problems that indicate we need additional coolant and/or an ice box.

[Tamra]

Successful tuning day at EFI Logics! We limited the boost to ~15 psi for break in, hit ~310whp, and full boost by 3400 RPM! The RWD dyno was malfunctioning, so had to do the pulls as AWD, so the real whp numbers would probably be higher if we weren't spinning the front wheels too. This car is going to be FUN!!!


Dyno Pull:

[Scargo]

Oh yea. You are close to ST-2, 8:1 numbers. It will be mucho fun, especially with those little wheels for Auto-X.
I'd love to see the dyno chart, but I believe EFI is way behind on posting dyno pulls on their site. (I have a few there)...
Can you post it? I'm interested in the torque curve. Did Mikey tune it?

[Hindsight]

Wow that sounds nice! Congrats!! Looking forward to seeing that dyno chart. 3400 RPMs is fantastic for full boost.... that twin scroll setup is working nicely.

[Tamra]

Oh yea. You are close to ST-2, 8:1 numbers. It will be mucho fun, especially with those little wheels for Auto-X.
I'd love to see the dyno chart, but I believe EFI is way behind on posting dyno pulls on their site. (I have a few there)...
Can you post it? I'm interested in the torque curve. Did Mikey tune it?

Wow that sounds nice! Congrats!! Looking forward to seeing that dyno chart. 3400 RPMs is fantastic for full boost.... that twin scroll setup is working nicely.

Thanks guys! Mikey did the tune. He wanted to know if the car cost under $100k!!! Guess we're getting a good deal He wasn't so interested in the 300+ hours of labor though, lol. He was, however, very impressed with the car's performance and we had quite the crowd checking it out and watching the dyno session.

He spent about two hours on the car, probably 40 pulls ranging in intensity, getting it just perfect.

We don't have the dyno chart yet (they are going to email it, probably Monday), but I do have a video of it!




Here's a few photos from today.

Our new van was a trooper- could barely tell we were towing anything. Getting the 818 on the trailer was a bit of a pain - about 6 boards did the trick (one under the ramps, one on the ramps for the rear wheels, and one on the flat for the front tires). It was the only way to keep from bottoming out. Our current ride height with the 17" wheels is 4" on the nose. We also couldn't get it up on its own power, as the wheels just kept spinning. We ended up "winching" it on with our 10k tie down straps...we're going to get a come along before the next time.



Finished engine bay Note: We ended up with the wrong hose size this week and were not able to plumb in our Forge BPV. We learned that a BPV does not work like a BOV when not plumbed in, which prevented them from tuning using the MAF. They had to tune using speed density, and we will be adding a post IC BAT per their recommendation. Right now it was tuned using the MAF using speed density style to work around the Forge.


A few more shots:










To conclude, we might have some gremlins to work out with the AWIC setup. The post IC temperatures were pulling a little higher than we would have liked near the end, after a bunch of hard dyno pulls. It approached post temperatures of 130. However, their fan system is set up for a top mount, and with our radiator being 4" off the ground, it wasn't getting the best airflow.

[metalmaker12]

Nice..dyno stuff.. Btw good luck getting it on that trailer with body on.

[Harley818]

looks good..... sounds good.
Nice work on the dyno - great results.
Glad to see you driving the other day Tamra.!!!! lol
Can't let Andrew have all the fun.

[Mechie3]

Why does a BOV not function like a bov? Mechanically they should be the same.

[RM1SepEx]

Tamra, go to Harbor Freight for $60 you can get a nice portable winch with wireless remote to pull it up on a trailer. Much better, faster, easier than a come along http://www.harborfreight.com/

[Tamra]

Nice..dyno stuff.. Btw good luck getting it on that trailer with body on.

Yeah... not looking forward to that... We will have to get even more creative.

looks good..... sounds good.
Nice work on the dyno - great results.
Glad to see you driving the other day Tamra.!!!! lol
Can't let Andrew have all the fun.

The car feels great! I noticed it especially last night when we got it home, and I pulled it off of the trailer and drove it back into the garage. It revs QUICK and catches itself really well now. We'll have to see who drives it first at the autocross in a few weeks... if Andrew goes first, then I get warm tires.... hmmmm

Why does a BOV not function like a bov? Mechanically they should be the same.

To be honest, we have no idea and we thought that they did function the same. However, the tuner was having a hard time even tuning the idle before he realized that it was a BPV that was being used as a BOV. Once he figured that out and switched to speed density, it was smooth sailing.

Tamra, go to Harbor Freight for $60 you can get a nice portable winch with wireless remote to pull it up on a trailer. Much better, faster, easier than a come along http://www.harborfreight.com/

Thanks Dan! We'll probably pick that up.

[metalmaker12]

I might go to patriot place for April 16th. Bass pro shop car shows are great there. You guys to bring your kart.

[Frank818]

That exhaust kicks!!!

About the 6 gauges you got in the center, are those 2 blue on the left (angled to each other) visible when you drive with your right hand on the SW?
I noticed I had to push my gauges on the right side (starting over the center console) if I wanted to see them.

[wildbill]

Why does a BOV not function like a bov? Mechanically they should be the same.

I believe that there would be a difference when tuning. The BPV and BOV serve the same purpose, but the BPV directs the released air back into the intake before the turbo and after the MAF. There would definitely be a difference in the readings of the MAF in the two different scenarios, which may require some changes in the tune.

......just my 2 cents.

-Bill

[Hindsight]

Speed density FTW!

[Scargo]

Two things: I went straight to Speed Density. It has worked out well for me.
Secondly, (in road racing) I believe in having the gauges UP and centered, where you can see them instantly without diverting your eyes from the road and other cars for very long.
This is different from a street car or even an autocross car, where you are done with a run in a minute. Gauges are superfluous during that brief moment; only relevant before and after, so placement is irrelevant.
Make placment, size, color a statement if you want. In racing you have very brief moments to look at gauges and they bettered be readily readable.

[Tamra]

I might go to patriot place for April 16th. Bass pro shop car shows are great there. You guys to bring your kart.

Hopefully by mid April we won't be in kart mode anymore, at least not fully!

That exhaust kicks!!!

About the 6 gauges you got in the center, are those 2 blue on the left (angled to each other) visible when you drive with your right hand on the SW?
I noticed I had to push my gauges on the right side (starting over the center console) if I wanted to see them.

Thanks Frank! Andrew spent a lot of hours on the exhaust to get it to fit and look nice.

The angled gauges are covered with our right hand as they sit. However, once we pass inspection and get the car registered, we are going to a smaller diameter, quick release steering wheel, and at that point they will be fully visible.

Two things: I went straight to Speed Density. It has worked out well for me.
Secondly, (in road racing) I believe in having the gauges UP and centered, where you can see them instantly without diverting your eyes from the road and other cars for very long.
This is different from a street car or even an autocross car, where you are done with a run in a minute. Gauges are superfluous during that brief moment; only relevant before and after, so placement is irrelevant.
Make placment, size, color a statement if you want. In racing you have very brief moments to look at gauges and they bettered be readily readable.

The gauges we bought have flashing lights and a buzzer that go off if the car were to exceed or dip below certain unsafe values. That way, in autox, if we hear an obnoxious buzzer go off, we know we have a problem without even having to look at the gauges. Instant feedback! We will also have each other as a passenger for the first while, with the passenger watching the gauges like a hawk during runs.

[Scargo]

I guess I will have to pry it out of you as to the gauge brand... What and where did you get them? The features "sound" interesting.