pontoontodd

Not anytime soon. If it was the same ratio we probably would but I think the 6MT low range swap is going to wait a while. We just tacked up all the links, we'll mock it up and see how the lengths work out. The R160 is a bit narrower than the R180 but those big front axles have quite a bit of plunge travel and not a lot of it is used in the rear.

B fit and tacked up a set of lateral links for the billet knuckle swap. I turned up some of the pieces for that and a couple of wheel bearing spacers. Sometime in the next month or so we plan on swapping out his rear diff and doing the billet rear knuckle conversion on his Forester.

Finally made more billet rear knuckles. Spent some time making these a little smoother/nicer than the first pair. One pair with tapped holes in the side for wheel scraper/caliper bracket and no wheel bearing holes for slammo. He is planning on using a different bolt on wheel bearing, I'll machine that when the time comes.

Radiator bottom temp has been interesting. Once the engine is up to temp the bottom rad temp will be anywhere from 100F-200F, never changing very quickly. Occasionally all three will be within 10F. Does seem like being stopped and/or periods of high load will cause the temps to creep up but not real consistently. Block temp sensor and top rad both stay around 190-210F in normal city driving. Think I fixed my power steering leak. Replaced the return line from the rack which I'm almost positive was leaking. Thing isn't even 30 years old, disappointing. Replaced both o rings where the lines connect above the crossmember. While I was at it I simplified/shortened the return line routing a bit.

Have continued to observe and experiment with the Haltech. One issue that I've had since I have had a tablet plugged into it watching things the last month is that the O2 sensors would work sometimes but not other times (open circuit error code). And either they'd work the entire drive or not at all. One seemed worse than the other, switched them side to side and it followed so I replaced the worse one and that one seems to be working consistently. Other one occasionally doesn't work, will probably replace that one too. Also dawned on me that the Haltech was only using one of the sensors for the fuel trim. Had just assumed with the dual wideband kit and the EZ36 basemap it was using both. So I have those set for each bank now. Not that it makes much difference, they both seem to read about the same. Another issue was the cruise would work for about the first five minutes of driving and then give all kinds of errors. Went to an older version of firmware and that's back to working consistently. Keep watching the radiator temps. It was finally around 50F this afternoon and I drove the car a fair amount. After being parked for a bit the bottom sensor will be up around 100F but then when driving it starts dropping down at least close to ambient. When I got home and let it idle for a minute though it crept up to 200F, eventually around 218F, same as the top radiator temp. At that point the top radiator temp was actually about the same as the engine coolant temp too which is unusual, normally it reads at least 20F lower. This is still below the temp the first set of fans kicks in but odd to see zero temperature drop over the radiator. Once I ran the big fans, the bottom temp dropped down to about 100F in a minute or two. Even with the AC on the bottom temp dropped pretty quickly (wanted to see if the AC was still working). Top radiator temp and engine coolant temp dropped a bit too. With the big fans back off the bottom radiator temp went right back up to 200F in a minute or two. So that will be interesting to watch. Didn't seem to be in any danger of overheating but the radiator definitely isn't doing much cooling with no air moving through it (duh). Cams seem stable at all temps now. Follow the target pretty well when fully warmed up, bit of a delay when cold but not terrible. Still should get the car on a dyno sometime and actually figure out the best map for those. Got the idle lowered back down to 600RPM when warm and good throttle response. Much lower than that and it definitely hesitates/bogs when you tap the gas. Might play with that more. B stopped by last weekend and I went through the rear struts on the Impreza. I changed the valving to match B's rear struts (according to my notes I had, but I hadn't). So that might soften it up a bit, not that the ride is bad. Will see how it goes. Regardless they have fresh oil etc now. While I was doing that B replaced the pads in the (Mustang) rear calipers. Which can be quite a chore, the one took a while to get the piston threaded back in all the way. Those pads seem to wear faster than the fronts, I think they have less surface area. Also I finally got some different boots for the parking brake cables and B figured out how to get one of them to fit nicely.

Got the other ABS connector for the Impreza and have both fuel pumps working on the switch now, seems to empty and fill the main tank as desired. Finally took the center diff back out of the 6MT from the black Outback. Does just appear to be the faces of those shafts that were rubbing together, planetary seems fine. Have done a little PID tuning on the cams in the EZ36. For quite a while now they've been very unstable at low engine temperatures. It's been a tough problem to solve because you can only really try a few things before the engine's warm enough to smooth things out. Fortunately (?) it's been very cold here lately so I've been able to get them tuned in better. I did add another row to the table to lower the PID values before the coolant gets up to temp but I think it's mainly just been changing the values to make it more stable in general that helped. Still a few things to improve on that front but at least progress was made.

Have driven the Impreza a bit more and the bottom radiator temp sensor continues to be at ambient temperature the majority of the time. One time after I was only stopped for ten or fifteen minutes it and the intake air temp had soaked up to about 50F and stayed there for the short drive home. It seems that the ultimate temperature it reaches is in the 190sF at the top of the radiator and 220sF at the top of the engine. That sensor on the engine is probably less accurately calibrated and generally just reads 10F or so higher than the ones in the radiator even when the car's been parked overnight. I bumped up the temps the fans are coming on at so they're not running all the time once the car warms up. 220F on the engine temp sensor is basically when the temp gauge just starts to creep up above the middle. Have now seen a temperature drop of 180F across the radiator (it's been cold here lately), so I think the radiator is doing its job. I rebuilt the rear struts in B's Forester. No major issues, mainly changed the dirty shock oil, replaced a couple little things. B replaced the rear suspension bushing that was shot and went over a few other things on his car.

We finally got the secondary fuel tank project finished. Added one fitting to each cover plate of the stock fuel tank. Ran a fuel resistant hose down the side with the main pickup. Mounted, plumbed, and wired the fuel pumps in the spare tire well. It will probably take about ten minutes to fill or empty the tank. Seems to work in both directions by watching the clear fuel filters, listening, and watching the fuel gauge. Definitely looking forward to putting the extended range to use. I rewired the fans. Two small puller fans are on the main circuit. Two pusher fans are on the sub fan circuit on a larger fuse and relay. Main goal here is to push less debris into the condenser and radiator. Another potential benefit is not blowing the fan fuse when driving in deep water. I also wired in the temp sensors we added to the radiator earlier this year. Only drove it to the grocery store and back, which is maybe a ten minute drive, but I found the results interesting. The bottom radiator temperature is basically always around 20F higher than ambient, similar to the intake air temperature. It did read much lower when unplugged and does vary a bit so I'm pretty sure that sensor is working. The top radiator temperature kept slowly increasing but was generally 40F lower than the coolant temp sensor on the engine (by the top engine water neck maybe 6" from the radiator sensor). The ones on the radiator are probably a more accurate calibration. The top ones did get within about 20F by the end and after sitting for a bit. Also means the radiator is producing up to a 120F temperature drop even parked at idle with the fans off which I found impressive. Also we worked on B's Forester a bit. Narrowed down which rear bushing needs to be replaced, replaced a wheel stud, and adjusted the parking brake.

Plumbed a tee into the top line feeding the steering brake and put a bleeder on that, after bleeding that spot and the calipers a bit more it seems fine now. B replaced a front wheel bearing on his Forester which seemed to help his on/off throttle steering issue. I edited and posted two videos from our last trip to the UP, one long, one short:

Yes except I have mine plumbed the opposite from your example. It sort of works as a locker but mainly it's used as a steering brake. It's my favorite kind of steering brake. This shows how we ran the lines and how close the brake is to the center console compartment. Center console reinstalled, handle lines up perfectly with one of the coin holders. Mirror adjustment switch doesn't go all the way back in. Ran the lines under the carpet and through the stock grommet under the back seat. Connected them to the bulkhead under the seat. I tried a different bleeding procedure which ultimately didn't seem to be an improvement.

One of the two main projects I wanted to do this winter on the Impreza (other being the gas tank) is installing the cutting brake from the black Outback. I made this bracket to bolt it next to the parking brake. B replaced the ABS unit with a couple of tee fittings. The one for the fronts is our solution for those lines. B rerouted the braided stainless line we had in the black Outback from the master to the cutting brake, it was still in good shape. Bolted to the cutting brake. Bolts down using two stock fasteners on the top of the driveshaft tunnel. It backed right up to the storage compartment in the center console so I plugged the normal feed location and plumbed the line from the master to the top (former bleeder location). This lines the handle up with the coin holder in the center console (haven't cut that out yet). Handle will be bent too. I made and ran new braided stainless lines from the cutting brake to the bulkhead fitting under the back seat that feeds the stock rear brake lines. We spent quite a bit of time and brake fluid trying to bleed it. I eventually got it to the point that it was driveable and I could lock up the left rear tire but the brake pedal and cutting brake are definitely spongy. Related to this mod was adding another heater core under the one I've been using. Hoping it will give me a little more insurance against overheating. Plan is still to put the two small puller fans on the main circuit in hopes that the pusher fans don't have to run much. They seem to shred plant matter and jam it into the condenser and radiator. B and I did some mockup and made a couple brackets to bolt the second one on underneath the original. That hose linking the two is definitely not ideal but I don't think it's closed off and will probably open up under pressure. I do plan to put a barbed elbow in there to help though. Should make sure the one closer to the fan is getting coolant first too. Still gathering a few connectors for rewiring the fans and extra fuel pumps.

I think it was too long but I should check.

Last weekend we did some work on B's Forester. His carpeting has been getting wet on the driver's side so he pulled off the fender, wipers, carpeting, etc to investigate. Eventually noticed part of the floor had some small cracks in it. After a little tar removal and poking he discovered about a 2-3" square section was basically rusted to nothing. So he cleaned up the sheet metal around that and welded in a fresh piece. Meanwhile I went through his front struts. Main task was replacing the bushings in the strut bodies. This pair of struts may have been on the black Outback, regardless they have seen a lot of abuse and the bushings were badly worn. Replaced the shock oil in one and replaced a few shims that were maybe slightly cracked. Verified our notes on the valving were accurate. Replaced some other boots/seals, repacked steering bearings with grease, etc. He says it's noticeably more solid now. Yesterday we worked on my Impreza. Still seemed like the radiator and condenser were pretty dirty so I got a long nozzle air gun and tried a few different modifications, this seemed to work the best. Plugged the end (M6x1) and drilled a .15" hole in the side. Then you can get that between the radiator and condenser and blast out one or the other. We got quite a bit more debris out. Replaced the steering rack. It was leaking badly from the driver's side. This would then quickly degrade the boot which would split open. I was refilling the reservoir about once a week by the end of the summer. Fortunately M had put a rebuilt rack in his (my old) blue Impreza a couple years before we parted it out so that one is (hopefully) still pretty fresh. We pulled the skidplate and replaced the rack. In the course of swapping that out I discovered that the bottom U joint on the steering shaft is nearly locked up in one direction. After putting everything back together, you can feel the tight spots in the U joint when turning the steering wheel with the front end off the ground. So I'll have to replace that. A bit disappointed, it's only been in there a couple years, new from Subaru (and extended by me). We had a bit more time and the front end was already off the ground and wheels and tires were off so we decided to go through my front struts. Didn't take too long, verified the valving mainly, added a bit of oil, replaced a wiper, regreased the steering bearings. We intend to go through our rear struts sometime this winter too. Still working on getting material for all the 6MT low range parts so we have a couple complete assemblies (including one for B). We should really tear down the one that was in the black Outback sometime and confirm the failure mode there. I think I have all the plumbing bits I need for the extra fuel tank. Need to get some electrical bits for that and the fan rewiring. We did take a peek at the ABS sensor wires and they're not super small, maybe 20 gauge, we think two of those will be adequate to power a fuel pump.

In case you hadn't noticed we have a lot more options for vehicle modifications than Australia. These pumps are 255lph. Assuming this extra tank is 10 gallons that would take about nine minutes. Could have it going before you even start filling the main tank. Worst case you fill up the main tank, pull off to the side for ten minutes, then go back to the pump. Guess I'll find out. I think this will be the simplest way. One hose connecting the tops of the tanks for venting. One hose connecting the bottom of the secondary tank going down through one of the access panels and down to the bottom of the main tank. Have two fuel pumps side by side teed into that bottom hose one pointing each direction. One of those pumps could run the engine in a pinch. Definitely looking forward to the magically increased range.

Thanks for all the advice on this. Good to have someone else looking over my shoulder making sure to at least warn me when I'm doing something I shouldn't. Yes, we're just using these as transfer pumps. One for each direction since they all seem to have a check valve built in, the only reversible ones I can find are pretty expensive. 14ga seems overkill for 5A. I use 16ga for almost everything. Will take a closer look at the ABS wires for sure, I like the idea of just using them for power and then grounding the other terminal of the pumps. Will probably see what other wires are running back there we're no longer using too. On the topic of wiring, any suggestions on a relay/fuse good for 80+ amps? Want to put both the pusher fans on the secondary fan circuit. Figure I'll switch the big relay I add with the stock wiring/relay. Those fans pull almost 30A each (over 30A when submerged in water apparently). Planning on putting both the puller fans on the primary fan circuit, they are small and don't draw as much so I should be good there. Currently have one of each on each circuit on 30A fuses.