Author Topic: The end is near. (Read 10896 times)

Mr Crowley · « **Reply #25 on:** April 17, 2014, 08:37:10 pm »

Screw you creaky bushings and sway bar. Some low wash bearing/suspension grease ought to fix that for another season.

Also getting started on my Headlight relay project. After reading a bunch of stuff about HID's, projectors retrofits and Halogens. I am going to try to get the most out of my Halogens. After doing some sniffing around with my voltmeter I have confirmed what the following article says. http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/relays/relays.html Stock wiring does not allow the bulbs to reach full potential. If I measure voltage across my battery posts, I get around 14 Volts give or take. Lets call that 100%. The voltage drops to 12.5 Volts for my low beams and 12 Volts for my highs when measured at the lights themselves. Approximately a 2 Volt drop. Factory wiring and switches are creating some resistance and lowering total output. While the voltage drop only equates to about 15% reduction in voltage at the lights. The drop in lumen's works out to 800 out of a total possible 1356 lumen's. Which is based on the rated lumen's output of my lights at 13.8 volts. 803 lumens is about 68% of the total possible light. To me an extra 32% more light output seems worth trying to achieve.

Since I am a very beginner electrician on my best days, I'd be happy to hear any input you guys have on what I am saying. I am also sounding this out for feedback as well as to make it clear in my head before I proceed.

So the plan is to turn this circuit.....

Into this one.....

Subaru does this slightly differently as I need to use the ground wires for the switch circuits and not just ground those to the frame or negative terminal. Also I think I may use some old bulbs to make this like a harness I plug in rather than splicing into the factory harness. The factory headlight wires seem super short to me. Maybe there is some extra stuffed into the hollow areas where they come out of the front quarter panels? Anyways, I am off to Kelowna for some early season mountain biking so I probably won't get this truly started until Tuesday. If you guys have anything to add I would love to read up over the weekend.

Asstuna · « **Reply #26 on:** April 17, 2014, 09:59:11 pm »

teflon the sway bay/bushing contacts before you smear the inside of the bushings with lithium grease
i have some of the above. Swing by tomorrow

Mr Crowley · « **Reply #27 on:** April 23, 2014, 03:25:10 pm »

Got up this morning and took off for school. Either I didn't eat my Wheaties or I'm low on power steering fluid. Been a long time since I drove a car without power steering. Last time it was a 1970's Beetle, this time it still has bug eyes but I don't think it's funny any-more. Picked up a bottle of lovely red ATF and parked the damn thing. Parallel parking with no power is for manlier men than I. I get out of the car and at this point it becomes clear to me that it is not JUST low it's spewing ATF everywhere. I have a mini tantrum as I have been fixing small issues everyday since the middle of march and this one seemed like one too many. Many new cars cross my mind but finally I look at the old girl and cave. I love her and I am a sucker for punishment. I manage to sum the motivation to get my jacks pull my skid plate and see what the hell is going on. Turns out it's just a loose hydraulic fitting. Very loose. I manage to spaghetti arm my way in there and get a wrench on it and viola. No more leaky steering rack. Based on how loose this was I can't actually believe it held any fluid at all. I filled it back up, turned the wheel a bunch of times to bleed some bubbles out and topped it off again. All seems well and after a second look seems to no longer be weeping out of the fitting.

The 180,000km mark for my car has given me and almost endless supply of minor troubleshooting and repairs. What will be next. Stay tuned.

LilDrunkenSmurf · « **Reply #28 on:** April 23, 2014, 03:32:19 pm »

She just figured you were bored.

Mr Crowley · « **Reply #29 on:** April 24, 2014, 08:22:08 pm »

Success! Almost done the headlight relay project. Waiting on finding and old set of 9007 bulbs so I can dismantle them to use as male fittings. All other wiring, soldering and testing is done. I brought the power up from 12V to the full 13.8V as measured at the bulb. Doesn't seem like much but in Lumens that should bring it up from a dismal 800 to over 1200-1300. I'll take some before and after pics of the harness plugged in tomorrow night if I can get a hold of bulbs. The part I'm most proud of is that I took the time to find sockets which makes this totally plug and play. When all is said and done there is no modification to the factory harness.

This is the Subaru specific diagram I made myself to keep me from getting confused. Both drawings are the same diagram. I just realized I could get the hot wire shorter on the second one.

The trickiest part was pulling the 18G wires out of the sockets I bought and soldering in some 12G

This is what the complete harness looks like. Minus the two male fittings I have yet to make for the black/yellow switch wires.

Wires hooked up to test. (those wires will have a sealed socket)

No electrical project would be complete without me accidentally grounding out at least one hot wire. Good thing I put fuses in the harness.

I'll post some pics of the hopefully brilliant changes tomorrow.

jellynuts · « **Reply #30 on:** April 25, 2014, 02:38:13 am »

That harness is clean. Nice job!

Dano · « **Reply #31 on:** April 25, 2014, 08:23:40 am »

Very nice, I have the lights on my car wired much the same way, except to hid's in the Morette projectors.

I am also interested in the plugs for the Perrin inlet, as I am switching my purge system to the jdm style after breaking my second solenoid while messing with my intake manifold.

Overall I have almost the same setup on my car, glad to see I am not the only one who liked this route for a bugeye!

Mr Crowley · « **Reply #32 on:** April 29, 2014, 10:04:33 pm »

Tonight was the first night in awhile that this old man stayed up late enough to snap a shot of the headlight re-wire results. Come to think of it, I'm never out late enough to use them

I'm blown away. When I first turned them on mid day and to show a few folks they seemed brighter but nothing to wow about. Normally my girlfriends 2013 Mazda 3 headlights put mine to shame. Hers are bright. Mine are like searchlights. Very pumped. I'm going to take a bit more time to get the cut-off at the correct height but I'm calling this one a success.

Low Beams

High Beams

Asstuna · « **Reply #33 on:** April 29, 2014, 10:19:05 pm »

Okay, now I'm impressed.

LilDrunkenSmurf · « **Reply #34 on:** April 30, 2014, 07:25:42 am »

I was impressed last night, seeing them in person. They were bright.

Mr Crowley · « **Reply #35 on:** April 30, 2014, 07:10:33 pm »

Today's task. Get rid of a sporadic and persistent CEL that I've coped with for years. Tried to hack it back together twice and pretty much just resorted to living with it as it just didn't seem glamorous enough to tear apart and solider new wires underneath. It's the 2nd purge valve on the car. Located right behind where the gravel sprays off the rear tires when I am smiling. One of the vents I know goes to the Intake manifold solenoid and the other hoses just purge compressed fuel vapours from the tank and circulate during a fill up. Since my connector plug and the actual valve itself were damaged beyond just wiring in a new connector I bought a weather-pack connector and soldiered the wires directly to the valve pins. Then ran wires so I could relocate the connector somewhere safe from road debris.

Makeshift boxy workstation.

Soilder, Epoxy, shielded tubing and loads of black tape. This will outlast the body work.

Tested to make sure it worked and the wiring was sound.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ear1H_l6lFQ&feature=youtu.be

seat safety switch · « **Reply #36 on:** April 30, 2014, 07:37:13 pm »

That's probably a good idea, good mod. My wiring seems okay, I'm going to just replace the valve for now. I wonder if wrapping the connector in that plastic wiring loom would help or just trap salt and crap against it.

Mr Crowley · « **Reply #37 on:** May 02, 2014, 03:09:31 pm »

Quote from: seat safety switch on April 30, 2014, 07:37:13 pm

That's probably a good idea, good mod. My wiring seems okay, I'm going to just replace the valve for now. I wonder if wrapping the connector in that plastic wiring loom would help or just trap salt and crap against it.

I filled the connector and part of the covering tube with epoxy. Not much room for salt and other crud. So far so good. It's great to have no CEL's for once.

Last night I finally got around to replacing my drivers side valve cover gasket. Jacked up the car to remove my skid plate and have some room to get at the bottom bolts. Pretty happy with how it went overall minus a bit of a blunder getting the cover back into position with the gasket in place.

Once I was done that the last item on my list was to straighten the engine out on the motor mounts. Those were a huge pain. They were both seized. Instead of breaking free they began to deform slightly. I stopped and sprayed some more liquid wrench on them and left the car blocked up overnight. The forecast predicted a minor amount of overnight rain so I made sure the jacks were on solid footing and went to bed. Today was a pure and simple war of attrition which the car almost won. I was in a tough spot because I just recently re-wrapped the headers and installed a new skid plate. The headers when hot were rubbing slightly on the skid plate because of the motor being slightly lower on the passenger side. The rubbing is causing some wear in the wrap so it needed to be straightened.

This morning I woke up to a drizzle. I layered up with a garbage bag poncho and a full rain suit and began the war. The picture doesn't do justice to the puddle underneath the car.

One nut came loose immediately and gave me a slight feeling of relief. The other however just wouldn't budge and was crossing the point of no return. They disgusting feeling of a nut stripping is always a huge disappointment. I kinda figured after last night that this was a possibility and was prepared with a small propane torch and a Dremel. The torch failed to free it. The Dremel however worked like a charm. I managed to cut the nut down one side and split the nut with a cold chisel. I was super relived to see that the threads of the motor mounts stayed intact. Lucky me. 3 hours laying on my back in an inch of standing mud puddle and I win (or lose depending on your point of view).

YvanF · « **Reply #38 on:** May 05, 2014, 10:51:25 am »

Wow, koodos to you for getting it done in a puddle. I would HAVE said uckfay it and waited till it gets nicer hout hahaha. I am le lazy!

jellynuts · « **Reply #39 on:** May 05, 2014, 09:01:48 pm »

Agreed... I will never complain about not having a garage again... until winter.

LilDrunkenSmurf · « **Reply #40 on:** May 05, 2014, 09:05:16 pm »

I made the mistake of working on my car in a heated garage, while it was covered in snow. It ended up with me under my car, on cold concrete, in a puddle of ice and water. I was just changing the oil, but I had to get the skidplate off/back on, and ended up turning my hip/shoulder completely numb/white. It was out at my dad's place, so I had to take a cold shower, to get feeling back, and it felt like burning. So I feel your pain, and I'm glad to see you went under there prepped.

Mr Crowley · « **Reply #41 on:** May 13, 2014, 04:28:39 pm »

My own beliefs about a performance cars suspension set-up is oversimplified. I have read all the suspension FAQ's and numerous other articles on set-up and tuning. I in a past life, I used to rebuild FOX suspension in a bike shop and have attended many training sessions and done many rebuilds. If you want a DH or Freeride bike set-up for racing or hitting monster jumps I was always a good guy to consult for setting spring rates/compression/rebound circuits. Theoretically tons of experience. (I realize not car specific)

A year or two ago I consulted VEX and purchased a stiffer rear sway and some very nice ST coils. In spite of what I know about coil overs/suspension theory. I immediately chose to ignore it all and go straight to lowering my car. Since I don't race auto-cross or track the car I am not pushing tractions limits very often if ever. Recently I've had the pleasure of meeting CanadianJ and had a chance to hear about his old coil woes and go for a ride on his Jeff spec FEALs coils. Point is they were very nice. The car rode flat and did not get upset by anything. It handled Calgary war zone like streets like a walk in the park. I can't say much about how they'll be when pushed to the limit but I imagine better than most lowered coil set-ups. We jumped out of the car and were looking at his car when he said something to the effect of "I should lower it down just a bit". I'm not quoting verbatim but that was the jist. At that moment it struck me. I had broken everything I had ever learned about suspension to lower my own car. The ST's on my wagon were set-up to be only high enough to make it never hit the bump stops and to clear my fenders and that is the limit of my parameters. I like many love how lowered cars look great. (lowered not slammed)

I know better than this. I really do. I got caught up in the whole lowered car = more performance thing and didn't until now ever question it all that much. I remember reading a couple of articles plainly stating that lowering a MacPherson Strut too much has some pretty heavily diminishing returns. At the time I was likely stoked on the look and ignored it because it didn't meet my desire for a LOW FAST CAR.

To continue to build a better car I will first remember some things from my Downhill days. First things first. Do not try to change the suspension geometry unless you know exactly what you are trading off. You will almost always lose more than you gain. In the case of the MacPherson design that equates to the lower control arm angle relative to the car. Mine lowered is pointing ever so slightly inclined upwards from the frame going to the wheel. Which means that the camber goes more positive when I corner hard or hit bumps. The opposite of having those tires use the whole tire. This article explains this part of the issue quite well. As do many other articles about MacPherson set-ups

http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticles/ID/1712/PageID/2376/The-Ultimate-Handling-Guide-Part-V-The-One-Unforgivable-Sin-Overlowering-Your-Car.aspx

More to come.....have to go live life now.

deedz · « **Reply #42 on:** May 13, 2014, 06:08:32 pm »

Loving this thread and all your in depth posts.

LilDrunkenSmurf · « **Reply #43 on:** May 13, 2014, 08:17:05 pm »

Subaru enthusiasts have long cried foul of the MacPherson design. A typical AutoX alignment is ~ -1.5* in the front, to counteract the positive camber in the turn, that you're speaking of.

Mr Crowley · « **Reply #44 on:** May 29, 2014, 09:38:02 pm »

Well, it's time for another episode of bite off more than you might wanna chew and swallow that sucker. In goes this on Saturday. I'm lovin the idea of jackstands lying on my back wrestling my transmission from my car. I may have lined up a second set of hands I may not have, if all goes well I might even manage a third set from someplace. We shall see what comes together. I have two days to do it but hopefully it takes me just one.

Mr Crowley · « **Reply #45 on:** May 30, 2014, 06:28:54 pm »

While digging to the core of my beast I found this.....guess I correctly diagnosed my issue. Tomorrow will be a fun day....

I'm thinking it shot up through the shift fork cover (explains why it wasn't seated correctly), then made it's way down to the skid plate where I found it.

lakelouise02bugeye · « **Reply #46 on:** May 30, 2014, 11:53:17 pm »

I may be able to help depending on what day youre doing it on, dont for get the pilot bearing for the flywheel

Mr Crowley · « **Reply #47 on:** May 31, 2014, 08:47:26 am »

I'll be at 636-21st ave nw (in the back garage as its not my house). Likely all day. Feel free to stop by if you like.

lakelouise02bugeye · « **Reply #48 on:** May 31, 2014, 10:10:30 am »

Damn, im not in town until monday

Mr Crowley · « **Reply #49 on:** June 01, 2014, 09:37:41 am »

Day 2 begins in about an hour. I need bacon and coffee before I get at this again. Getting the transmission off the alignment dowels was hard. But The transmission part is mostly done now. Need to torque the bell housing to spec and re-assemble everything.

At least I got full use out of the old one. 190,000km is pretty good if you ask me.

Didn't get a great picture but old clutch pieces everywhere. Took awhile to clean the hosing out. Also think I might die from asbestos related illness.

Mmmm. Freshly machined goodness.