I struggled to find an aftermarket one that fit in the opening with the inlet/outlet on the proper sides. I wound up with crossover pipes under hood because the best option I could find had the wrong orientation.
About to order a new radiator and would like your opinion :
Do I order a custom radiator that stands vertical, versus a standard Subaru radiator (dimensional) that leans back?
As others have done I plan on enclosing the radiator area to direct the air flow through the AWIC/Radiator from front to hood vent.
No experience/plans using AWIC, but I would favor leaning the radiator regardless. I ordered the shortest one I could find with equivalent area (so wider than usual) so that when it's leaned forward the angle on exit is not so constrained. Ducting the inlet is good, but an exit strategy is equally effective. Some folks here have already run ducts out the top of the hood for this. A vertical orientation makes it harder to exit the lower part of the radiator without pinching it off. In the automotive industry generally, the radiator is the source of a large amount of drag, as airflow is rarely provided a well designed plan for leaving the scene of the crime.
I struggled to find an aftermarket one that fit in the opening with the inlet/outlet on the proper sides. I wound up with crossover pipes under hood because the best option I could find had the wrong orientation.
I purchased a NIB Mishimoto X-line triple core with aluminum dual fan shroud plug and play from Axlethrasher.
We always ran Mishimoto in our race cars, so I was glad to find these.
I had no idea there would be so many chassis additions or modifications ? Some were self-directed and some were recommendations by other builders.
Shame I already paid for powder coating, oh well off it goes for its second coating.
Halo
A lot of time was spent trying to decide what to do with a Halo? Searching the forums, following Gators halo design, reviewing the Lotus 2-Eleven GT4, CAD Drawings, mock ups and finally testing the fitment of pipe to make it all work. After the design and mock-up of, GEN-1, GEN-2 and GEN-3 halo it was decided to scrap the whole idea as a halo does not really suit the 818, or at least i could not make it look good. If I decided to run a windshield it would have worked to hide the front hoop, although that was never a consideration. So raising the rear main hoop 6” was the best solution. Now I can fit comfortably under the hoop and pass the broomstick test easily !
Raising the hoop became the preferred scenario considering the general look of the car did not change….the reason I bought the kit in the first place, was because I liked the look of it.
List of modifications or additions:
1. Filled square hollow rear tube with square solid bar under the main hoop, 2” deep
2. Filled square hollow lower front tube with square solid bar 2” deep
3. Raised the main roll bar hoop 6”
4. Forward and rear brace at 5-1/2” from the top roll bar to meet closed circuit racing rules.
5. Driver’s side - Cut the center 2 vertical tubes out, replaced with one piece to meet diagonal
6. 6-Speed transmission cross brace modification
7. Added support from main floor chassis to engine bay
8. Added support to the lateral link area
9. Plated the front trailing arm brackets
10. Engine bay cross bars, now removable.
11. Driver’s side and passenger side doors – dual horizontal crash bars (designed to accept Impact and intrusion foam.)
12. Driver’s side and passenger side – Crash bar form fit in fiberglass rocker panel, includes jack points at rear
13. Driver’s side lower crash bar includes built in step at the front, easier to climb in and out
14. Repositioned cage bar at drivers left elbow area, moved the rear of bar down. This was a pet peeve with Spec Miata, so I had to move it as I didn’t want my elbow bouncing or hitting the bar again.
15. Steel plated under seat and passenger area – Kit came with aluminum
16. Added Seat mounting plate with bolts flush with cross brace, moved seat as far inboard as possible, now centered with steering wheel.
17. Added seat belt mounting nuts. Removed existing tabs
18. Added bar from top center of rear firewall to passenger side mid door, including bar from there to bottom center of front firewall. Reinforcing tub.
19. Mostly followed Zacks design on the rear wing and crash bar. Made all [6] 1” bars adjustable with solid rod ends, LH thread cleats were used as no one makes LH Thread ˝ solid rod ends.
20. Rear bumper guard extended to sides of bumper
21. Mount rear tow hook
22. Reinforce front radiator support to accept tow hook
23. Add door mount bracket, front of door
24. Rear fender mount tabs
25. Main engine brace, 2 bolt holes did not align, cut and modify brace to accept all 4 bolts to chassis.
26. Tabs added to main hoop – more on that later
27. Harness Bar added
I will tomorrow when I load it on the trailer. She is not picture worthy yet as I need to clean it up first, then remove the suspension, wheels and steering rack.
Very cool. I look forward to seeing the reworked chassis.
Originally Posted by Blu
Did I miss anything? Any suggestions of items that need to be welded, cut or modified before I send it to the powder coaters tomorrow?
'probably not looking to do more major work now that you're about to go for PC, but... now would be a good time to replace (or mod) the center bulkhead diagonals to allow for the install of an EZ30/36.
Pictures showing the start of modifications to the chassis.
The Factory powder coat does not like heat, from cutting, grinding or welding. It sure makes a mess. Good thing all the fab work was done at my friends place.
This all started with the broomstick test ! Very happy with the end result. Will post new pictures after it comes back with its new powder coat. Seated Side view.jpgSeated Front View.jpg
Wow, you pretty much went medieval on that chassis! Really appreciate the pics. There are probably a handful of things there that I will likely be doing. Can’t wait to destroy my brand new white powder coating.
During the past week there has been a couple of developments and changes prior to sending the chassis for its new powder coat.
Added [5] nuts on the rear impact guard to mount the bumper cover, providing a secure and easy way to remove it from the rear bumper guard
Realized the rear tow hook would interfere with the transmission (doh) relocated it to the passenger side of the rear brace.
Added exhaust hanger on rear bumper guard.
Spent hours and hours (too many hours) trying to develop, design, mockup a rear hinge for the complete engine bay (2 piece that will become one piece) hinged at the rear bumper. Took a trunk hinge from an Impreza sedan, which did not work, modified or not modified to only realize the hinge point needs to be placed outside of the rear bumper cover to make it work based on the swing arc, or at least that is my best guess.
Zak created a very elaborate mechanism with his wing mount which I may have to copy. Considering this is a race car i was hoping for a simple solution, not expensive nor complex.
Good frame mods. The best 818 cage for racing I've seen (w/o a Halo ). I'm looking forward to your completion and seeing the corner weights.
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818R ICSCC SPM
2005 Subaru STI Race Car ICSCC ST and SPM
Palatov DP4 - ICSCC Sports Racer
Good frame mods. The best 818 cage for racing I've seen (w/o a Halo ). I'm looking forward to your completion and seeing the corner weights.
Thank you sir. Chassis should be back first of next week with a new fresh white powder coat.
Have lots of other things in the works. Engine is almost ready with some cool mods, hoping for 375+ WHP on pumped gas. Only thing left to buy is a turbo, they are surprisingly expensive, argh. This will be my first turbo race car.
So many great people on here that provide wisdom and inspiration...thank you everyone.
Decided to do some some nice subtle cosmetic changes to the body, this should be fun. Nothing crazy as it is a race car after all. Stay tuned.
A racer friend of mine wants the chassis with body work attached so he can do the fiberglass work, how could I refuse that free offer. In exchange I will have to allow him to drive the car... once.. and not during a race weekend lol.
Considering not much work is being done on it as i am in the middle of landscaping and building retaining walls at home, I thought it was a good time to send it over to him.
Thanks Hobby Racer for the reminder. Didn't realize it has been so long since i posted on here.
Lots happening including another chassis modification - more on that another day.
Engine Update
The following is a list of the build;
USDM 04 STI Engine FFR818r #71
IAG Stage 2 EJ Short Block
(w/ New OEM Case Halves, STD Bore 99.5mm IAG-Spec Pistons, IAG Spec H-Beam Rods, OEM Crank)
JE Pro Seal Subaru EJ25/EJ257 100mm 0.039in Head gasket
IAG AVCS & Turbo Oil Feed Line
Used B25 Heads, planed, 3-angle advanced valve job, new valve seals, Stage 2 272 Camshafts, single AVCS, new bronze exhaust guides
GSC Power-Division Single Valve Spring Set w/ Titanium Retainers
GSC Standard Size 32mm Exhaust Valve Set
GSC Standard Size 36mm Intake Valve Set
ARP Head Bolts
NA intake manifold, modified & turned 180 degrees. Powder coated red
Torque Solution Phenolic Thermal Intake Spacers 19mm
Custom Alternator brackets to suit rotated intake
Subaru oil Pump 11mm
IAG Billet Timing Belt Guide (Red)
Timing belt kit – Gates racing belt,
Tensioner
Timing belt idler smooth x2
Timing belt idler small next to tensioner
Timing belt idler gear
Timing belt covers - OEM
Water pump OEM
Okada Plasma direct coil packs and boots
Cobb 1050x Injectors
IAG PTFE Fuel System kit with lines, FPR Black fuel rails
Garrett Turbo G25-660 non waste gated with oil restrictors and water line adapters
Killer B Oil pan and pickup with Arctangent Design Oil Control Plate
Tomei Expreme, Equal length exhaust manifold
New OEM engine wiring harness
Cusco Engine solid mounts
New OEM motor mount brackets
As per post #46, list of mods # 26 i mentioned adding tabs to the roll hoop. The intent was to have a friend, who offered and suggested, covering the roll hoop in fiberglass. I have zero experience with fiberglass so i thought why not let him do it. Well with Covid-19 and numerous other reasons it never worked out ( all for the better i believe)
Once the fiberglass idea was dead i cut the tabs off - oh there goes the powder coat again lol.
Since i made a new main hoop and raised it, was easy to make another hoop as i had all the measurements. Placing the additional hoop behind the main one was very tricky due to the higher and longer diagonal bars going to the back and getting narrower the further you move away from the main hoop. Trying to get the second hoop to align and look good was very time consuming. Once in place i added (3) 1” spacers along the horizontal with the same DOM pipe. Using tie down straps to pull the ends together was useful.
Next was to fill in between the two bars. I started with high density low expanding foam, great stuff to work with and very easy to shape. F1FEE64C-BA80-48D4-A17B-9DE212C19A66.jpg
While that was setting up i measured and cut (4) .030 steel plates to fill in the triangle open area. These were put in place with panel bond as I thought this would be much easier to work with including providing a better finished product then welding them in. 455BAF4C-3944-436D-BD98-FF2ED22AD3FA.jpg
The fun body work part, i started with ABC Glass (short fibre) to smooth out the holes and shape the areas. That stuff dries rock hard. Cheese grater, sanding and more glass, cheese grating and sanding i was ready for light weight body fill. After that stage was complete i used Evercoat metal glaze for a nice smooth finish. Sanded down starting with 100 all the way to 320 with a quick scuff of 600. B2F04CF3-9F07-4AC9-8EE6-2618607644BA.jpgAB9F999B-CAD8-4FF6-81E3-6D4C8622A2BA.jpg4321B327-4E7E-4759-9F7E-A724C89E2FA7.jpg
Finished with spray can paint, 2 coats of Krylon Primer and 2 coats of High Gloss white enamel.
I wasn’t too concerned with my lack of experience, imperfections with body fill as i plan on wrapping it anyway.
Has anyone put in a quick steering rack? If so what did you use?
I have a Woodward rack but I'm a center seat too so. Ratio is 2.02 with if I remember right the rack travel is 5in, my steering wheel is 13" dia, and the tie rods are around 6" long, so it like 1.2 turns lock to lock. woodward sterring rack.jpg
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Does anyone have an exterior outline of the car in vector file format? Want to play with color, decal placement and overall wrapped look of the car.
I did ask FFR, they sent the standard images that are on the website which is not workable.
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Originally Posted by Blu
). I'm looking forward to your completion and seeing the corner weights.
