rallyruss

I agree. go for it. I run a 6 way amp with component speakers in the doors and two 8"s in the rear. it does take some time to install a system properly. I have seen too many hack jobs form sterio places with free/cheap install. cruthfield is a good resource. they have good fitment guides and a full range of quality stuff.

I like the red top as well. but if I were on a budget I would look for a decent size interstate or deka. both good battery companys. interstates often last much longer that the standard three year battery life.

subaru MAFs DO have a burn off cycle. I have measured it on my graphing meter. right after the car is shut off it lights off for a few seconds then its done. its a very simple cleaning method. works well on organic material. not so well on dirt ect. thats where you may find the need to clean your MAF. I use brake clean(not brake fluid) because its cheap and as stated leaves no residue. you can by the expensive MAF stuff but I really dont think there is much difference.

ok well your mechanic must have reason to suspect the rear cat. did it fail a test? I just looked it up and alldata. shows all with 2 cats. I thought that was only for CA cars. if thats the case then you have the one where the Y pipe meets and then one behind it a ways. on your car air injection will effect the cat. also loose/worn throttle shafts. and the adjustment screw on the carb(need to drill out a plug to get to it) along with the regular timing/ignition stuff

I have more pix that show it a bit beter in the galery. some still here on my computer. the IC is sideways because without chopping the intake hose and stretching it that was the simplest way to keep the hoses short. it also lines up with the existing scoop theat way. I was concerned about boost leakage with a choped plastic hose. I also was not cool with smashing down or removing the body below the IC in the rear tire area. you cant really see the turbo because its mostly covered with the heat shield that keeps the heat away from the turbo at lower speeds. I have noticed a bit more low end power with my set up but not alot of gain at top end because the old one was over boosting at full throttle (as high as 15lbs.) and the TDO4 wastegate holds at stock boost level no problem. I feel that as soon as I get the bugs worked out of my boost control system then I will really feel the benifit of my new system. the IC is mounted solidly to the body and the tie bar. and gets good air flow. there is a rubber skirt that goes around it thats not in the pic to help direct air flow. truthfully if I did it over I would go front mount IC. thats where an XT turbo would be perfect.

heater hose will get soft and swell eventually. its not designed or fuel/oil vapors. as a temporary fix maby but I dont like to do things twice. use the fuel/emissions kind of hose. never really had a problem wih a healthy motor making a mess inside the intake. every 30,000 or so I clean the throttle body and thats about it.

every time I learn more I just realize how little I know. for the most part our mafs are ok. ford is where I learned about the clean the maf trick. they do not have a burn off (mabey new ones do). lots of problems there. usually come in with new O2 sensors installed by someone and lean codes set in the computer. a squirt and a memory reset and its all good till they get dirty again.

also the TDO4 waste gate is much larger and can control boost on a car that flows better than stock. I had pics but cant find em now. I will do some searching. I sent them to caleb a while back. good luck with the rotating housing. your gona need to get real creative with your waste gate. and on the intake side its real easy to use a 90deg. silicone hose. edit: posted one pic below. a few more in my galery.

I run a glass pack now and its a little anoying on long drives at speed. I think if I extend the pipe out a little further it might be quieter. idle noise is ok. it does tend to pop on decel too. have not got a chance to figure that out. the tone is great. from what I learned over years of playing with exhaust is if you have more pipe AFTER the muffler it really gets quieter. if you just put a muffler on and no pipe behind it or it ends under the car. its really loud then.

gates, goodyear and others make fuel/emisions line that will work. I redid all mine a while back. I cant rember for sure but I think it was 5/8" that worked well. I also uses some heater hose T's and eliminated the stock plastic parts. I would not run breathers unless you like the smell of crank case vapors while your car is sitting at a stop light.

cough cough...did you check the EGR yet?

mabey you meant brake cleaner? brake fluid is nasty stuff. caleb is right for the most part. they are self cleaning. and you should not have any oil in the MAF for any reason. I have needed to clean them due to a failed paper air filter alowing stuff thru. all it takes is a squirt at the elment and you are all good. brake cleaner or throttle body/carb cleaner work well.

actually a resinator is not a cat. two differnt things. resinators are for noise reduction. nothing to do with emissions. non CA models did not have the second cat. If I rember correctly from my old 85 gl they used a resinator in place of the cat. but the CA models did have second cats. as for testing a cat. assuming the car is in good condition. no misfires ect. you can check the O2(if it has one) to see if it cycles properly. if it does and the car still runs dirty then you may have a cat. problem. you can then drill a hole in the exhaust and check the sniffer readings before and after the cat. your car may have air injection. if so that will effect the cat as well. is the car injected or carbed? what kind?

a turbo motor will have low compression readings due to the fact that its a turbo and has a lower compresion ratio. the cams may have made it read lower still. If you cannot idle it normaly then I think the readings are due to the cams.

yeah talk to WJM he had some avl. a while back. I got a set from him and never had time to put them on. still sitting in the garage.

just make sure if you use a cut and splice universal O2 that you dont get the ground shielding wire crimped together with the signal wire. (its all in one wire) when I got my old RX thats how it came to me. O2 no workie that way.

the green hose is for the crank case pressure/vapors. yeah if the by pass valve fitting came loose or broke then yeah it wont run or run poorly. unmetered air bad.

the reason you dont gap platium plugs is the gap tool usually damages the tiny little platnum tip. at least thats what the Bosh rep. told us back when I used to work in parts. the problem with regaping is it does not take into consideration the wear on the internal resistor. usualy if the tip is worn to the point where the it needs to be regaped the resistor is worn the same. I understand you did not mean cheap like crappy but I just wanted to clarify for others reading this thread that although they cost less they are probably the best plug to use in our situation. your parts guy was wise in cautioning you to go colder with a bosh plat plug. he must have known about bosh generalizing the needed heat ranges for specific motors. yep I use NGK too.

hmm... your not supposed to gap the platinum plugs. electrode disapear? like due to being the wrong heat rage for the car? a bit too hot NGK and Delco are not "cheap" brands they both make good quality plugs.

new hoses may be a good thing to do if they are getting old. us mechanic types have hose removal tools for that verry problem. its like a large pick that you slip under the hose to break it free. also try twisting it works much better than pulling. rember those things you put your fingers in as a kid? chinese hadcuffs I think they called em. if you pulled it just got tighter. just like your hose.

Wix made them for a while but they did not sell well due to the price so they droped the line. they were sold as "sport truck" filters. yeah sweet82 penzoil is crap as is the filters they sell. I belive they are just a Fram in a yellow can.

nope 14 mm just like most other cars on the road. domestic too. sorry no leads on a piston stop. you could just make one or use one for another aplication.

well if you really want to base it on a Rally car you will want stiffer springs and dampers. avoid going larger with the sway bars. gut the interior. add a cage. install undercarige protection. mud flaps. oh you need some nice seats with 5 pt harness. and of course rally tires. now the bad part is most all of this is going to be custom work($$$$) so you really need to decide just how rally you want it. do you just want to rallyX it? or really rally. I would recomend doing a rallyX first to see what its about.

fram wastes all the funds on advertising and makes up for it by putting out a crappy proudut. my fatherinlaw insists on using them because they are cheap. drives me crazy. yeah there is no question that fram is junk. just cut one open and see how its made compared to a wix or other Quality filter.