Can I still post here? - 98 2.5GT

[jamal]

gallery here of everything until I update links:

http://jamalb.net/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=15

Well, after the demise of my 93 I bought another Legacy:



and then hard-parked the shit out of it.

So basically, it's nice to have a car that's all the same color and a 5-speed. I'm going to pick up where I left off with the old car, and concentrate on the suspension and brakes since I once again have a non-turbo slow car. At least this one is a little faster than the old one.

But first, I have to get everything in good working order, which involves this big box of parts I bought at the dealership for about $600:



And sadly the reason for the big box of parts are these:



So in that box are a timing belt, tensioner, water pump, head gaskets, intake gaskets, cam seals, and valve cover gaskets. There are a few new main seals laying around so I might do that while I'm at it.

At least the car lot I got the car from gave me $500 back when I threatened to return the car.

So after I recover from having to pull the engine out of the car right after I bought it, I should have a nice, reliable platform that I can dump some money on and go to the occasional track day.

First thing is the box of parts, some steering rack bushings, my kartboy endlinks and 18m rear swaybar, and some fresh Sti suspension.

ricer mod list as of 10/2010:
sti struts (front slotted for more camber)
Racecomp engineering black springs
whiteline offset top mounts
whiteline roll center adjuster
new motor and transmission mounts from an 08 sti
wrx front brakes
h6 legacy rear brakes
stoptech street performance pads
stoptech/centric rotors
techna-fit SS brake lines
cusco MC brace
kartboy urethane trans crossmember bushings
kartboy front and rear shifter bushings
custom shift linkage bushings
super jdm shift knob
kartboy rear diff outrigger bushings
kartboy rear subframe lock bolts
kartboy endlinks
whiteline sport alk
whiteline 22mm f/r adjustable swaybars
whiteline steering rack bushings
Turn in Concepts lateral link and trailing arm bushings
LGT wheels with 225/45-17 Hankook V12s

can you tell that I like kartboy and whiteline?

future plans are:
4-pot front brakes

headers or something
wrx driveline swap?

[smh0101]

Shit, what happened to the other legacy?

[jamal]

I think it was something to do with the rod bearings having a lack of lubrication. That was partially caused by extended high g cornering around a traffic circle probably.

[jamal]

Oh, and as an added bonus I have a really great place to work on the car now:

[Bane]

if you don't mind my asking, how much for the car, and what kind of mileage?

[jamal]

It was $4800 with 131k. Except for the slight headgasket leak everything seems to be in great shape. The paint is good, the tint was well done, it's very clean inside and out, nothing seems to be rusting out, the shifter and clutch feel great, pads and rotors are new, and the a/c is cold.

[DLC]

You're more than welcome to post here jamal.

Nice ride, glad you have something that's still interesting to tweak but a suitable DD.

[94SS_Canada]

Nice ride, ive got a quick question for you

check your pms

[Dynamic Entry]

ya, I looked into my crystal ball and see many others following DLC's lead as first gens start to dissappeeaaarrrrrrr

maybe the site will change from 1st gen legacy to "old school" legacy over the next five years?

I love the LGT and hope to one day build one


jamal, i am jealous you get to use that shop, that's cool

[jamal]

Well it's been awhile and I haven't really done much. I assembled and slotted my front struts with my old 04 sti housings and newer sti everything else. I think I'll probably just pull the camber bolts out of the old car and use them instead of slotting the rears.

I've got to say the new car handles pretty well. Actually it seems to grip just as well if not better than the old car. I'd attribute that to the stiffer chassis and not so worn bushings. Plus I turned the front camber bolts to max negative. It's too floaty and really needs the suspension and ALK though.

I still need to pull the motor too. It's going through coolant at a pretty good rate but at least doesn't overheat. I keep saying maybe this weekend but the half dozen motor builds at the shop seem to take priority and I'd rather spend my day off not working on cars.

[SubaruNation]

is that shop like a community place for tuning/parts use or what?

[theflystyle]

ditto ^^^^ i wish i could find someplace like that. hard to work on a car in a neighborhood apt parking space lol

[555BCTurbo]

I would say you are still entitled to post here...hell I do, and I have an Audi now

[jamal]

is that shop like a community place for tuning/parts use or what?

No it's where I work. I gave up my boring desk job for awhile (read: unexpectedly laid off), to do something a little more fun.

The place is called HB speed, and it generally looks like this when we pull the cars in for the night:





Yeah, we're keeping busy.

[SILINC3R]

hey ill work for free kind of

[SubaruNation]

wow, that is awesome!

looks like alot of sti's... does everyone have one down there?

and that Supra must be deadly

way to go on finding that setup

[jamal]

finally doing the headgaskets. Just got the heads back on at 12:30. Maybe I'll even be able to drive it home tonight. Unfortunately I only have a cell phone for pictures.

[jamal]

holy crap. I didn't get the motor in the car until this morning. It was running by like 8:30 and seems to be all good. Here are a few pictures. I found a DSLR at the shop so I took a few with that but haven't got them off yet:

look my engine



I wish I'd sent the heads to be cleaned and milled. Hopefully they're straight



putting it together





One nice surprise was the new clutch that was in the car. You could even still see the original finish on the flywheel. That also explains the missing washers on the motor studs. The bad is not milling the heads, not replacing the oil pump or main seal, and not replacing the motor mounts, which actually did need it. The only hang up I had was rounding off a cam cap bolt. Luckily a hammer, 9mm socket, and impact driver took care of it.

[jamal]

Here are some pictures from the last few days:

Disassembled and cleaned heads:



I really wish I'd sent the heads to a machine shop to be milled and cleaned, but I didn't have the time or alternate transportation while I waited for who knows how long.

Here's the new and old headgasket



The gasket has been revised a few times for the better.

Cleaned off the block



And started putting things back together



I replaced a lot of seals and gaskets and stuff while I was at it



Here's the block with the heads and valve covers on



New front, rear, and cam seals



New water pump, thermostat, and gasket



Installed water pump, seals, cam gears, idlers, timing belt



Then install the intake manifold. Don't forget to clean off the sealing surface.



Connect the harness to all the sensors:



And you have yourself a long block ready to go back in the car



Then all I had to do was plug in the main harness connectors, fuel lines, attach the bellhousing bolts, throttle cables, and accessories, put on the intake, fill the fluids, and then disconnect the ignitor to prime the oiling system. The car started right up, runs great, and doesn't leak. Seems I did everything correctly.


__________________________


New suspension

The next step was get started with the suspension. I personally like the stuff that comes on the sti, because it's firm and has some big, beefy inverted dampers that can withstand a lot of punishment on and off road. So I picked up a full set on the cheap from some guy who bought parts without realizing they didn't fit his car.



The reason two struts are red and two are black is that the stuff I bought was from a 05-07 sti, which does not fit any other car. I previously had a set of 04 sti stuff, which does fit other cars, and took those front housings to make things work.

Here you can see the inverted 40mm shaft:



I also slotted the struts for more negative camber and cut a nub off the front bumpstops (which are inside the struts).



To assemble the fronts, you should find yourself a spring compressor or unsuspecting fat guy:



Here's the full set of suspension ready to go in the car:



Jacked up car and removed old suspension:



Put in the new stuff



I should probably re-assemble my rear seats at some point



I also took the Whiteline Anti-Lift Kit off the old car:



It replaces and relocates the rear mounting point for the front control arms:



By replacing the bushing with urethane and moving the mounting point outward, it reduces dynamic caster loss and increases the static positive caster. That's a good thing. It also removes all the anti-lift and anti-dive geometry from the front suspension, which softens things up while accelerating out of a corner to improve front grip and reduce power-on understeer.

Also I put on my kartboy endlinks and 18mm rear swaybar (stock is 16)



So that's all for now. I have some steering rack bushings and new tie rods. My current tie rods are trashed and seized to the rack. So I get to have a fun time pulling those off and fixing my alignment, which is now toed out significantly in the front due to the modifications. I'm also going to get some bigger swaybars and possibly camber plates in the not too distant future.

[smh0101]

Wow... Thats awesome... Hows it handle?

[SubaruNation]

dam nice job jamal,

you got this stuff down no problem.

[jamal]

Wow... Thats awesome... Hows it handle?

Pretty well. The alignment is way off and I can notice. I'm going to change the tie rods tonight and get things straight with the toe plates we have. The tires also seem soft and are probably a little low. I need summer tires.

[jamal]

update-

tie rods were seized to the rack, so I drove around with a boatload of camber and toe out long enough to ruin a few tires.

Tonight I pulled the rack out of my old car, which for some reason had different inner tie rods. I used a cutoff wheel to make it fit. I'm pretty sure my new steering rack has a shorter ratio than the stock rack and also it has whiteline bushings on it so that should help. It's still on the lift at the shop so I'm not sure how the alignment turned out. We have toe and camber plates so I'll have a pretty good idea tomorrow. Also I changed out my motor mounts and fixed an exhaust leak.

Otherwise the car has been running pretty well since the headgasket change. Apparently I didn't screw anything up.

[jamal]

Well, the car feels really good with the new steering rack, tie rods, and motor mounts. The rear diff outrigger bushings make some pretty strange growling noises on decel but I don't really mind.

I also borrowed some wheels and tires from a friend:



Not sure if I like the look. I think I preferred the black wheels. On the other hand, these are super light and 17x8. I need to roll the rear fenders a bit though. It's way hella flush:

[92wagon]

keep the black ones!!!!