Fast and Light Expedition Impreza
- Thread starter worthingtontw
- Start date
Jakes01234
Explorer
all this rally talk makes me want to play with a Subaru.. i went to a few races in ME a few years ago, i think i need to look into attending some more..
Beamer pilot
Explorer
Storz, where did you get the light bracket?
worthingtontw
Observer
Finished wiring up the switch panel today. Still need to wire it into the vehicle harness but I need to pull a new harness for the lights.
And the switch panel in.
The switches will control,
Top (left to right): High beams, Fogs, Driving, Cornering lights, Forced air front brake ducts
Bottom (left to right): Amp, Nav (gps and radar detector), Coms (intercom and HAM radio), Interior lights, Co Driver Map light
The highs, fogs, driving, and cornering lights, will all be wired into the oem high beam switch so they can be shut off at the same time. Also all circuits except the nav and map light with be relayed circuits.
And the switch panel in.
The switches will control,
Top (left to right): High beams, Fogs, Driving, Cornering lights, Forced air front brake ducts
Bottom (left to right): Amp, Nav (gps and radar detector), Coms (intercom and HAM radio), Interior lights, Co Driver Map light
The highs, fogs, driving, and cornering lights, will all be wired into the oem high beam switch so they can be shut off at the same time. Also all circuits except the nav and map light with be relayed circuits.
Jakes01234
Explorer
regarding the tire conversation earlier.. has anybody used any nokians for this type of purpose? they make a fairly aggressive winter tread pattern in alot of sizes and from the experience i have of them on my TT they handle fantastic on dry pavement and snow but cant comment much on the dirt.. the TT stays away from the dirt..
Just a heads up about them, alot of people forget about them or dont know about them but they do produce a quality tire..
Just a heads up about them, alot of people forget about them or dont know about them but they do produce a quality tire..
Pedro
Capitan rally fluffer
Depending on the actual tire you have it will vary. Snow tires typically have a soft compound and will wear quickly on pavement and dirt. You really want a good solid sidewall and tread base. fortunately with the advent of the CUV there are some decent options for SUV tires in small sizes that can be made to fit a subaru. also you can get something like a high performance all season. Typically if it is Z speed rated it will have enough structure to have a stiff sidewall and have decent traction on all surfaces.
you can also spend the money for some rally wheels (15" that clear the brakes on wrxs) and fit some 215-75-15 truck tires (all terrain typically)
you can also spend the money for some rally wheels (15" that clear the brakes on wrxs) and fit some 215-75-15 truck tires (all terrain typically)
worthingtontw
Observer
Well progress has been very, very little. Student budgets suck... But I have done a few things.
A month ago I put some LED lighting in. After a year and a half, it's nice to see what the hell I'm looking for in the car at night.
They are switched on the switch panel instead of by the doors which I actually prefer. Found them at Autozone in their "pimp my ride" section but they word great. Between the three of them they are way brighter than any interior lights I have seen and consume half the energy of one regular bulb. Pretty awesome as far as I'm concerned!
Today, I decided to have a crack at building my own "axle back" from scratch. My dad had some left over bends, straights, an 18 wheeler exhaust stack from building a totally custom exhaust from the Lotus Elite track car he is building that he said I could have.
Goals were to have a lighter (barely accomplished), free flowing muffler with a turn down tip.
Here's what I started with.
A rough idea of the end product.
Drilled a million pilot holes in the inlet side.
Laid out again for sizing of tip and and bend.
Bored out pilot holes. Am I making a machine gun heat shield?
Not seen I added an insert in the center to block direct flow forcing the exhaust through the holes and into the chamber.
Welded on the end plates.
Slid center section in and finished other side.
Between then and here, I ground smooth the casing welds and then upon test fitting realized I screwed up and didn't account for the angle which the exhaust come up next to the diff and just matched the turn down and inlet bend. So I cut off the turn down, rotated marked and welded the turn down back on. Here you can see it welded to the axle back section of pipe.
Finally bolted it up and realized it was too long and hitting the frame and the turn down angle is still off...
Tomorrow, I'm gonna take it off again, shorten the straight bit between the bend and housing on the inlet side which will give it plenty clearance and also get the rotation of the turn down on the money. Also still need to make the hangars and paint.
I think it turned out pretty good though!
End impressions:
It has a great tone to it and is not to loud. Problem is it turned out too free flowing so it pushed the power band out of the usable range with the 6,500 rev limit. I might open it up and try adding a baffle somewhere to get some back pressure back but if it were turbo it would be perfect.
Will I do this again any time soon? Probably not unless it needs to be totally custom. It took almost a whole day between drilling what seemed to be an endless amount of holes, guessing on measurements, welding, redoing sections due to guessed measurements, etc. But considering the materials were free, and the alternative was pulling up tile in the bathroom it was fun and I'm happy enough to leave it on the car. But in hind sight, it would be way more worth it to just spend 50 bucks and buy a muffler and cut out 90% of the fab work.
A month ago I put some LED lighting in. After a year and a half, it's nice to see what the hell I'm looking for in the car at night.
They are switched on the switch panel instead of by the doors which I actually prefer. Found them at Autozone in their "pimp my ride" section but they word great. Between the three of them they are way brighter than any interior lights I have seen and consume half the energy of one regular bulb. Pretty awesome as far as I'm concerned!
Today, I decided to have a crack at building my own "axle back" from scratch. My dad had some left over bends, straights, an 18 wheeler exhaust stack from building a totally custom exhaust from the Lotus Elite track car he is building that he said I could have.
Goals were to have a lighter (barely accomplished), free flowing muffler with a turn down tip.
Here's what I started with.
A rough idea of the end product.
Drilled a million pilot holes in the inlet side.
Laid out again for sizing of tip and and bend.
Bored out pilot holes. Am I making a machine gun heat shield?
Not seen I added an insert in the center to block direct flow forcing the exhaust through the holes and into the chamber.
Welded on the end plates.
Slid center section in and finished other side.
Between then and here, I ground smooth the casing welds and then upon test fitting realized I screwed up and didn't account for the angle which the exhaust come up next to the diff and just matched the turn down and inlet bend. So I cut off the turn down, rotated marked and welded the turn down back on. Here you can see it welded to the axle back section of pipe.
Finally bolted it up and realized it was too long and hitting the frame and the turn down angle is still off...
Tomorrow, I'm gonna take it off again, shorten the straight bit between the bend and housing on the inlet side which will give it plenty clearance and also get the rotation of the turn down on the money. Also still need to make the hangars and paint.
I think it turned out pretty good though!
End impressions:
It has a great tone to it and is not to loud. Problem is it turned out too free flowing so it pushed the power band out of the usable range with the 6,500 rev limit. I might open it up and try adding a baffle somewhere to get some back pressure back but if it were turbo it would be perfect.
Will I do this again any time soon? Probably not unless it needs to be totally custom. It took almost a whole day between drilling what seemed to be an endless amount of holes, guessing on measurements, welding, redoing sections due to guessed measurements, etc. But considering the materials were free, and the alternative was pulling up tile in the bathroom it was fun and I'm happy enough to leave it on the car. But in hind sight, it would be way more worth it to just spend 50 bucks and buy a muffler and cut out 90% of the fab work.
Jrally
Adventurer
Great build up so far, on a budget. I like the fact that you're willing to try and do something different, like weld up your own muffler, very cool. I've been involved with the California Rally Series for many years, started drewing in '00, started racing in '04, was the P-Stock/CRS-GT chairman for 3 years and still compete occasionally when my budget allows, and do course closing in the Celica when I'm not racing and can make it to a rally. Keep up the good work. If you have any SW questions, feel free to ask, I'm easy to find.
-Jon
-Jon