bbjones121 - Denver build

[bbjones121]

I am trying to keep my interior rivet free, so i will be welding my firewall to one piece. I welded tabs to the backside to attach.

[bbjones121]

Going to brush all the aluminum, I tested a spot.

[bbjones121]

Started the rear brake lines. Since I will be powder-coating the chassis later, I purchased a bunch of small rivnuts, 6-32. Let me just tell you that this size is a pain in the ..... The tool bit has broken on me twice already, you really can't squeeze too hard. I just have some bolts that I weld on the tip.


Welded the tabs on the chassis.





Thankfully I saved the original hardware for the ABS line. It bolts right into the rear trailing arm.

[FFRSpec72]

Build is looking real nice, I like what you have done with rear firewall, I don't like rivets/rivnuts either. Whast kind of welder do you have for the aluminum ?

[bbjones121]

Build is looking real nice, I like what you have done with rear firewall, I don't like rivets/rivnuts either. Whast kind of welder do you have for the aluminum ?

Thanks.

It is an Everlast 200dv. If you talk to them, they can work with you on price. I think for about 1400 I got the dual voltage model, upgraded pedal, upgraded gas regulator, upgraded tig torch, plus the another tig torch with the thumb current adjuster,I love it. Used an old Lincoln a bit back in the day and i wouldn't give this Everlast up. The functionality is insane. It has great warranty, pretty nice Siemens IGBTs I think.

For aluminum you can adjust everything and you can use a sharp point on your electrode. You can weld the bottoms of pop cans difficultly. The next model up can do it easily.

Does it sounds like I researched a bit?

[bbjones121]

Finished welding it as one piece. By the way...this was a PITA. I do not recommend trying to weld it together unless the two pieces line up perfect. I had to beat the thing back flat as it warped like crazy.
Underside welds:



Topside Welds and brushing look:

[AZPete]

Beautiful work, especially since we didn't see you beating it back into shape.

[bbjones121]

Beautiful work, especially since we didn't see you beating it back into shape.

Thanks, haha. Yeah, the fixups from the f...ups are better done in secret. Plus I don't really feel too inclined to grab the camera for those events; I feel more like throwing it and that wouldn't be good.

[bbjones121]

Using OEM line snap holders, proportion valves within reach of driver. I reused the metric threaded connections from the donor and re-flared all connections.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Using OEM line snap holders, proportion valves within reach of driver. I reused the metric threaded connections from the donor and re-flared all connections.

Great job on the brake lines. It takes a lot of time and patients.
Your proportioning valve will not be within reach of the driver unless you have super long arms or are not wearing seat belts.
Bob

[bbjones121]

Thanks. Yeah, these took forever. Plus relandscaping our front yard didn't help.

Sorry, that is what I meant. Taking seatbelt off, then reaching up there. I just wanted them to be reachable inside the windshield.

[bbjones121]

Since I haven't powder coated chassis yet, I am also trying to make every brake line easy to remove.

I still wish I were further along.The summer will be over before I know it

[Bob_n_Cincy]

I also just noticed that your passenger side lower control arm bushings is in upside down. This will reduce the tire-firewall clearance.
Bob

[bbjones121]

I also just noticed that your passenger side lower control arm bushings is in upside down. This will reduce the tire-firewall clearance.
Bob

Is it really? Crap. I did flip bolts so flange head would be against aluminum?

[Hindsight]

Very clean brake line routing!

[AZPete]

Very nice work. The projects that take much longer than I think they should are also the projects I'm most proud of. I'll bet you've come back to admire your brake lines.

[bbjones121]

Thanks guys!

Good point on looking back.

[bbjones121]

Are my control arm bushings backwards? I thought I was following everything correctly.

[JeromeS13]

Are my control arm bushings backwards? I thought I was following everything correctly.

It looks like your driver side is correct (straight portion on top), but your passenger side upside down (it has the fillet on top).

[bbjones121]

Wow, Thank you guys for pointing this out. I would never have caught it.

[Frank818]

Those are great brake lines!!! I wish you'd do mines.

[bbjones121]

It has been awhile and I have lots of photos to add. Where to start...
How about engine?
Putting it back together.



Powder coated the head covers in two part. Prismatic colors orange and then a clear coat.

[bbjones121]

I figured it would be a good time to color match my brake calipers and engine heads with some other pieces. Even though you can't really see this, the black color of my Perrin lightweight crank was boring.

Taped off the letters so I would keep the Perrin words. Here is it just after powdercoating the orange, but before the clear coat.


With tape removed

[bbjones121]

I kept going back and forth on this on, but ultimately decided to weld up an extrusion and drill down through it. I was thinking about just getting an aluminum barb fitting, but whatever...this worked. I didn't want any obstruction down inside the coolant passage. kinda ugly weld, but hard to build up an aluminum weld pretty.

[bbjones121]

So out of the entire WRX of parts in the basement, I have only sold one part to this date, the power steering pump. Guess what was part of that pump I did not remove before shipping it off... the alternator tensioner!!!

I went ahead and made a simple one. I plan to powdercoat or spray paint it black.

[bbjones121]

Again, I thought the black Perrin color was boring, so I taped off the existing Perrin sticker (thankfully this is a high temp sticker) and powdercoated away.





I couldn't find a good place to put the fuel pressure regulator, so I actually drilled and tapped one of the air intake manifold tabs.

[bbjones121]

The Cobb air intake filter and neck put the intake in a perfect spot. I plan to shield off the engine from this later.

[bbjones121]

I actually took pictures of the entire process with the CV shaft powder coating. It is amazing how the colors change. The orange is very dull when it is first cured, but when the clear coat cures, it almost sparkles. The white powder is the clear coat before it is baked.

CV housings sandblasted first.

[bbjones121]

I wish I had photos of my transmission, what a pain in the a... I had to take it apart 3 times after adjusting the backlash and sealing. Beware, the 02 and 03 wrx cv stubs have an internal c clip. This is not the c clip that you just tug on really hard and it eventually pops out, this is a real c clip that you have to use a c clip pliers to remove. Unfortunately mine was clipped inside my Cusco LSD, so I had to take that apart along with the tranny to get to the clips.

[AZPete]

Very nice work. I appreciate the detail you took in properly cleaning and powder coating many of the parts, like pulley and CV housings, that most of us just installed. Nice.

[bbjones121]

Very nice work. I appreciate the detail you took in properly cleaning and powder coating many of the parts, like pulley and CV housings, that most of us just installed. Nice.

Thanks Pete. Any testing of the stock ac compressor yet?

[Mechie3]

I like all the color added to the normally boring colored parts (like CV's).

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Michael And I set up an oven and bought the equipment to do powder coating.
After a month or so of using it, we determined that it takes a lot of time to disassemble, clean, prep, coat, reassemble and clean the equipment after each part.
It was really slowing down our build. So we went to cheap, easy, and quick rattle cans. "because racecar"

BBjones, Your stuff looks awesome.
Bob

[bbjones121]

Michael And I set up an oven and bought the equipment to do powder coating.
After a month or so of using it, we determined that it takes a lot of time to disassemble, clean, prep, coat, reassemble and clean the equipment after each part.
It was really slowing down our build. So we went to cheap, easy, and quick rattle cans. "because racecar"

BBjones, Your stuff looks awesome.
Bob

Thanks. Yeah, the prep work sucks. I have almost given up so many times. The brake calipers were one of the worst. I finished them up and the clear coat started spider web cracking. I was completely upset and settled on having to reblast them and start over. I actually just charged them up and sprayed one more coat of clear on them and thankfully the powder only stuck inside the cracks. I was able to bake and they turned out perfect.

[bbjones121]

I feel like this is one of my most rewarding steps. I feel like second to style, among brakes and headlights, comes the exhaust of a sports car. The look of the exhaust is very important to me, it says if a car has some beefy guts or if it is all for looks. I feel like the kit really lacks in the headlight and exhaust department, but that is where customization comes in play. Every major sports car out there typically has dual exhaust. Among the high hitters are quad exhaust systems. Most WRX's you see on the road are quad exhaust, so I figured why not...

After months of studying every known exhaust system and setup in a 2.5l WRX I finally settled on one setup, that is a Nameless exhaust. I have a subaru legacy gt with a Borla exhaust. I love the way it sounds for my legacy, but I just didn't feel that the deep rumble would be suited for a small little sports car. In fact, when you start looking, almost every exhaust system you get for a subaru makes it very deep and rumbly. Another big issue is the amount of space we have in the 818. Most systems wouldn't fit. I believe the Nameless exhaust system sounds perfect. It has a little burble to it, but it gets pretty loud and poppy like a racecar should. The biggest advantage are the tiny mufflers they have.

I had been talking with Nameless about just purchasing the tips and muffler with a stub out, but hadn't heard back from them. I started looking for used and found a very good price on some. This system has the 5" diameter mufflers, the rolled lip 3.5" tips, and staggered/angled configuration.

[bbjones121]

I am still learning how to weld up stainless. I can't believe how low of current you weld, I set my tig to 50 amps and am only about half-3/4 pressing down on the footpedal.

[bbjones121]

[Hindsight]

Woah, very nice! It never occurred to me to 180 the main pipe to get more space and alignment for the mufflers and tips. Those are really nice looking tips too, and I like the low and wide placement. It has an effect of widening the look of the car. Looking forward to seeing it finished.

[mikeb75]

Superb work there! Looking forward to seeing & hearing the finished product.

[Canadian818]

Great work!