Mechie3's 818S

[Mechie3]

Stock tank. Just came inside from placing a seat in the car. I've been too tired to do anything besides clear all the boxes off the car (made room to part the mini inside while we were gone) and put a bracket on the seat and test fit it.

Harnesses: Not sure where to mount these. The R has a separate harness bar welded in. I might make something to bolt to the seatbelt tabs from left-right and the center X like a harness bar in a car. I think the square tubing might be too low for a harness.

Height: My head seems to clear, but it's close. With a helmet it might not, but I need to get a level to check. The seat is currently on the lowest setting in the rear and the second lowest in front (slight backwards angle). The bracket is a three piece design with a lower angle piece, then two side bolt on arms that bolt onto the side of the seat. if I make this a one piece design or invert the angle (currently angles in, could make it angle out) I could make new holes in the arms and lower it a little bit more, but not much.

[wleehendrick]

I'm interested to see what you come up with regarding the harness bar... look at it as an opportunity to design/sell a solution to the rest of us wanting to put a 5/6 point in an S! I noticed that the harness slots in the BiMarcos appear a bit higher in the seat back than typical... perhaps the squarebar would work with other seats.

BTW, I see you're a bit over 6"... how's the reach to the pedals with the standard tank in place?

Thanks,

Lee

[Mechie3]

BTW, I see you're a bit over 6"... how's the reach to the pedals with the standard tank in place?

Thanks,

Lee

Yeah, I'm a bit over six inches tall.

My knees are bent, but not uncomfortable. I prefer sitting close to the pedals anyways. With the clutch pedal fully depressed my leg is not quite fully extended (hard to tell as no MC's are hooked up to know where actual travel is). It's quite close to how I sit in the mini or WRX.

[metalmaker12]

Nice seats, I am running kirkeys

[wleehendrick]

Yeah, I'm a bit over six inches tall.

Oops... download.jpg

My knees are bent, but not uncomfortable. I prefer sitting close to the pedals anyways. With the clutch pedal fully depressed my leg is not quite fully extended (hard to tell as no MC's are hooked up to know where actual travel is). It's quite close to how I sit in the mini or WRX.

Good to hear... that's my preference as well (leg slightly bent when clutch fully depressed). Since I'm about an inch shorter that you, I'm optimistic that the standard tank will be fine for me.

[Mechie3]

After a three week hiatus I found time between church, dinner, and a jet lag nap to do a little bit of work on Sunday. When I pounded in the gas tank so it would fit, it created a wrinkle that I wasn't happy with. To fix this, I cut out a pie slice, lined up the edges, and welded it back together. Mostly uneventful until I accidentally kicked the pedal control from 80 amps to 150 amps. Couldn't figure out why my welds went from not bad to instant hole burning. Did a leak test and painted the exposed metal.

https://vimeo.com/74079344

[wallace18]

If you need another tank I have one.

[Mechie3]

Thanks. The one I welded seems to be fine. Though, I'm not sure I want to ever find out it isn't. Last night I decided I probably want to mount a fire extinguisher beneath the passenger seat front.

[Mechie3]

Installed the gas pedal, clutch master, steering column, and made a template for a custom heatshield to separate the back side of the gas tank from the engine bay. Nothing fancy, just some sheet aluminum, but I feel better knowing there's a barrier between the headers and the tank.

https://vimeo.com/74190037

[Wayne Presley]

Installed the gas pedal, clutch master, steering column, and made a template for a custom heatshield to separate the back side of the gas tank from the engine bay. Nothing fancy, just some sheet aluminum, but I feel better knowing there's a barrier between the headers and the tank.

https://vimeo.com/74190037

Looking good, I put a heat shield in on my car between the headers and tank also.

[D Clary]

What do you lubricate the rack with? Without the ps fluid do you use a heavy oil, and how do you keep it in? Just curious so I can get ahead on mine.

[RM1SepEx]

some grease on the end bushings, the oil wasn't for lube it was to "assist" moving the rack

[Mechie3]

Just grease. I cut the entire piston out so there's less drag and wear and then packed the pinion and lubed the end bushings.

[Mechie3]

13th day of work. Finished mocking up my rear gas tank heat shield, mounted the radiator subframe, set the radiator in place (need to find the rubber mounts) and bolted on the gas tank.

https://vimeo.com/74259750

[RM1SepEx]

Just grease. I cut the entire piston out so there's less drag and wear and then packed the pinion and lubed the end bushings.

I removed the seal and left the piston, little to no friction w/o the rubber seal

Did you leave access to the left rear corner of the gas tank area? you need some access there for the brake and clutch lines to run.... or you could just run them outside vs cutting the corner...

I may need to provide something for mine protecting the fuel tanks too, I'm a bit concerned about that area...

[Mechie3]

Did you leave access to the left rear corner of the gas tank area? you need some access there for the brake and clutch lines to run.... or you could just run them outside vs cutting the corner...

I did cut it away some to clear the trailing link arm. Might need to cut it some more for the brakes. I haven't permanently mounted it yet. Thanks for the heads up though.

[Mechie3]

Day two passes with minimal work on the car at the wife's request I not work on the car tonight. Grrr....

I did get some stuff done during lunch. I can't find the original rubber mounts for the bottom of the radiator. Aside from that, the subframe is too low so the radiator hose interferes with the steering rack bellows (as the other builders have found). I took the rubber bushing that gets removed from the shifter assembly and made an aluminum standoff to mount it on. The standoff fits in the original mount hole and will have a nut that threads onto the bottom to hold it in place.



You can see my aluminum steering rack mount here too.

[Frank818]

You had to build an alu steering rack mount?
FFR or donor was not providing any?

[Mechie3]

They provided a steel bracket and two aluminum spacers. At first the bracket didn't fit but FFR sent an updated version. I decided to forgo all of that and make my own integrated unit.

[Frank818]

Well it looks very nice! You seem to be an excellent alu worker.
Let us know if you ever decide to sell them (or other alu parts) to the community.

[Mechie3]

I'm still trying to find cost effective ways to produce parts. Using the machines at work for personal profit is a gray area with potential for getting fired if someone sees it differently than me. I don't have a personal shop to fit a CNC in so I'm stuck out sourcing.

[RM1SepEx]

nice rad standoffs!

[metalmaker12]

You suck. Lol sweet, make me both and I will make your exhaust and send it to you

[RM1SepEx]

did either of you get your front swaybar mounts to work? Mine bolted to the donor at a 30 degree down angle on both sides. I cut and straightened it and the holes are too close together on my mount. Tony told me his wagon donor had a bolt on one end and a slot tab on the other.

[Racebrewer]

Nice job on the mounts. Did your posted dimensions on the rack mount work out?

Thanks,
John

[Frank818]

Using the machines at work for personal profit is a gray area with potential for getting fired if someone sees it differently than me.

Well I can assure you we, here, are all seeing it the same way you do, so that's a good start! loll

But seriously yeah, I didn't know it was machine at work. Very touchy situation.

[Mechie3]

did either of you get your front swaybar mounts to work? Mine bolted to the donor at a 30 degree down angle on both sides. I cut and straightened it and the holes are too close together on my mount. Tony told me his wagon donor had a bolt on one end and a slot tab on the other.

Didn't try yet. I know my rear swaybar mounts were aftermarket, but don't remember if the sheet metal tab over the top was stock or not.

Nice job on the mounts. Did your posted dimensions on the rack mount work out?

Thanks,
John

The second dimensions are what I used. The rack seemed a little high on the aluminum bracket side still as when I bolted it down, it lifted the other end up. I was able to tighten both sides without it bending or binding up. I might take a little more off the bottom.

Well I can assure you we, here, are all seeing it the same way you do, so that's a good start! loll

But seriously yeah, I didn't know it was machine at work. Very touchy situation.

They're cool with engineers using the machines for any and all personal work, which is awesome. It's just when you start to profit and you aren't paying for broken cutters, fluids, electricity, that it's sketchy. Some say that there's enough G-jobs (government jobs, aka personal work) done that I couldn't possibly outdo all that the inexperienced people break. Others see it more black and white.

[Mechie3]

Made the nuts for the standoffs. Unfortunately the pins on the radiator are off by about .125". Doh! In other news I learned to weld aluminum tonight so it might be an easier fix.

[Mechie3]

Had a productive lunch break today. Cut 2.00" out of the middle of the oil dip stick tube. The cutting fixture also doubles as a little jig to tack weld it back together to make sure it's straight and concentric. After it's welded I'll ream out the inside to ensure it's smooth. I need to design and machine a new pull for the dip stick and shorten it's effective length by 2" as well.

[Mechie3]

Welded the oil dip stick tube back together. It actually welded up really nice with a nice small even bead. It was slightly concave though and I wanted it so I could grind it down and have it look like it was never modified. Bad idea. The 5 minutes it took to weld a clean bead turned into 30 minutes of welding, grinding, and fighting an odd contaminant that would create a bubble and require more grinding, more welding. Meh...I stopped caring after 30 minutes that it was smooth.

Before:


After:


Here's the nipple I welded up on the crossover tube. It used to connect to the throttle body which connected to the steel tube I welded earlier. I used to just loop the aluminum and steel nipples together but decided that since I have a welder now I can delete another hose, two clamps, and clean it up a bit.

[longislandwrx]

cool, I haven't messed with the steel lines yet but I did drill tap and plug that crossover. very nice. every ounce counts.

[Mechie3]

Yeah...the ounces. lol. I'm doing it more for the bling. I remember seeing my first modified subaru in person and how messy and terrible the engine bay looked. The ounces are a side benefit to making it look nice and neat.

[longislandwrx]

your pms are full... do you know where the post that showed your steel lines went?

NM... post 135. thanks.

[Mechie3]

I deleted some messages. I'm a moderator on two other forums so I get used to a 1000pm limit and forget to empty my other ones.

Post #135:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showt...l=1#post110771

[RM1SepEx]

Jealous.. I didn't put ANY effort into this area and my engine bay will be UGLY...

[Samiam1017]

Craig by eliminating the coolant line to the throttle body does that effect the IAC? And can the IAC be removed?

[Wayne Presley]

Craig by eliminating the coolant line to the throttle body does that effect the IAC? And can the IAC be removed?

You can remove the coolant line but there is no reason to remove the IAC. The coolant line keeps the the TB from icing and sticking in cool climates.

[Mechie3]

I removed the coolant line when the car was my DD in upstate NY. It never stuck. Also since my car is dbw it doesn't have the IACV.

[longislandwrx]

ditch the lines, keep the iac, you will get idle surge without it.

[Xusia]

OK, I just hit acronym bingo. IAC? IACV? dbw? Help!