kimokalihi's 91 SS EJ20 Swap

[evolutionmovement]

The bushings go around the rack between the brackets and crossmember—they're not a part of the rack itself, nor do they really attach to it. That's analogous to getting the mounting brackets with a remanufactured alternator.

[kimokalihi]

lol I see. That makes sense. I've never looked at them before but everyone always talks about getting new steering rack bushings and how their car feels brand new again.

[Mattheww044]

Hey Kimo! I was hoping to see you at the WCSS, were you there? I also had a question about your wideband. Did you put the wideband 02 sensor up top on the DP, and re-locate the stock one to the bottom bung on the DP, or just leave the stock one up top, and put the wideband down below?

[kimokalihi]

I was there but left before the show at 9 in the morning probably. My friend was sick and got a lot worse overnight.

I put both sensors at the top of the pipe right behind the turbo.

[Mattheww044]

ahh i see. Nice set-up. I have my wideband up top and stock one down below. I was just wondering if there would be any problems for either of them. my friend said that you are supposed to have the wideband down below so its not around so much heat, but i can't imagine them making a part like that without it being able to be in those kinds of conditions.

[kimokalihi]

Thanks. I was told it would be fine where it's at so I installed the wideband behind the wastegate. Perhaps it won't be so intense there.

I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter where you put the O2 sensor in the DP.

[beatersubi]

Even if it did, they would likely be 'new' replacement rubber pieces.
You really want poly steering rack bushings. I went with whiteline and was happy as a pig in... well, you get the idea.

[SiCkSTi04]

wtf...no A/C system?! haha thats a nice looking downpipe :-)

[kimokalihi]

Thanks, it's custom. Had a high flow cat welded in the middle of it, added 2 bungs at the top and ceramic coated it. Turned out really nice. The ceramic coating does keep some of the heat in but not nearly as much as the guy was saying it would at the shop where I had it done. He said you could hold your hand an 2 inches away and not feel any heat off it. HA!

AC is gone Hose didn't fit the EJ20G compressor. EJ22T compressor didn't fit the EJ20G bracket and I either didn't think to swap my EJ22T bracket on or was too lazy to do it and tore out the rest of the AC. Car weighed 3,013 on the alignment rack. Can't remember how full the tank was though. I think I'm going to do a small motor build with 2.5 block, standalone, FMIC, larger turbo and injectors, 6spd swap, full cage and racing buckets with harnesses eventually so I'm not worried about AC.

[Legacy777]

Here are some pictures of the steering rack and crossmember

http://main.experiencetherave.com/subar ... s/ej22t/21


As for the O2 sensor, you really want it just downstream of the turbo. Too far down the down pipe and it won't react quicly enough or won't be hot enough.

As far as putting the wide band right after the turbo.....I've heard similar comments about the heat, but it should be fine. That's where mine is.

[kimokalihi]

If you are worried about the heat from the turbo being too close to your wideband there are instructions on how to make your own copper heatsink for the wideband or you can buy one premade.

Thanks for the pictures Josh. New rack would come with new tie rod ends right?

Anybody know where I can get custom power steering hoses to replace the hard lines/hoses? Mine are nasty from bending them to fit this motor and they look like they're restricting flow quite a bit. Maybe even entirely but I'm not sure.

[PhyrraM]

Take the motor-side PS hard pipes from the Forester EJ20G motor and the rack-side hard pipes from the Legacy. Go to a industrial hydraulics house and have them crimp on new hose sections between the mis-matched hard pipes. Should be a no-brainer for a competent shop. Pay carefull attention to hose length and 'clocking' on the pipes.

The result should be a custom hose that matches your motor and rack perfectly. You might need to swap back to the Forester PS pump.

[kimokalihi]

Yeah if I use the forester power steering hard lines I would definitely need the forester pump to fit them. That is, if I didn't throw those lines away. Would it be a problem if one of the lines was cut? They chopped right through one of the hard lines.

[PhyrraM]

Not sure. They chopped through an engine-side line? I've seen rack-side, but not the other.

I would collect what you have and go show it to them. If they can do it, they will let you know.

For my job, the place I use is pretty good. I have yet to run across a fitting they cannot locate and crimp. I've had them replicate fairly complex bent tubes without problems. If you imagine an ABS brake line, but made from 1/2" tubing, you would be close to what a good hydraulic shop can do. Unfortunately, I'm in SoCal so they wouldn't be able to help you much.

[cj91legss]

i have a wrx'ish downpipe on my car and the Stock O2 sensor is right befroe the lower can.... way down. and i have never had any issues.

[kimokalihi]

Yup the side line. That's how these cheap importers to it(or exporters? whatever you call the guys who remove the engines from the cars in japan). They chop everything. Hoses, wiring, pipes, whatever makes it easier and quicker. Many valuable pieces ruined and they're hard to source parts too. What a waste.

Is it normal to hit fuel cut several times downshifting from 5th to 3rd and punching it? My MBC is set to 16lbs and it works great on normal acceleration through all the gears but if I downshift and floor it, the ECU hits fuel cut several times all the way through the rest of the RPM range through 3rd gear and as I'm looking at the boost gauge it doesn't appear to really go above 16lbs but it could be happening so fast the gauge can't keep up with it. I dunno. It's annoying though.

Is this harmful to the engine?

[kimokalihi]

I noticed every time I fill up my tank there's an insane amount of pressure released when I undo the gas cap. Way more than normal. Would this be because I plugged up the lines that were going to the charcoal canister? Is this bad?

[Legacy777]

Thanks for the pictures Josh. New rack would come with new tie rod ends right?

I would think the rack should come with new tire rod ends....but I'd probably suggest checking.

[Legacy777]

I noticed every time I fill up my tank there's an insane amount of pressure released when I undo the gas cap. Way more than normal. Would this be because I plugged up the lines that were going to the charcoal canister? Is this bad?

Yes, this is because you plugged the lines going to the charcoal canister. I don't think it's bad....from an engine running point of view. It's less good from an environmental point of view since it's releasing more gasoline vapors.

[Legacy777]

Is it normal to hit fuel cut several times downshifting from 5th to 3rd and punching it? My MBC is set to 16lbs and it works great on normal acceleration through all the gears but if I downshift and floor it, the ECU hits fuel cut several times all the way through the rest of the RPM range through 3rd gear and as I'm looking at the boost gauge it doesn't appear to really go above 16lbs but it could be happening so fast the gauge can't keep up with it. I dunno. It's annoying though.

Is this harmful to the engine?

I believe you are hitting fuel cut because you are likely at a higher rpm and immediately go into boost, which may cause a momentary overboost situation and cause the ECU to go into fuel cut.

Have you altered the fuel cut limit of the ECU? If not, it sounds like you're hovering just around the limit.

[kimokalihi]

I wasn't worried about the engine performance but rather the gas tank or fuel lines from the pressure.

That's what I was thinking, the turbo must be spiking when I downshift and punch it. It's difficult to watch the road and the boost gauge at the same time where it's at down in the bottom of the stereo cavity so I'm not certain if it's hitting 18.3lbs of boost which is where the fuel cut is set on this ECU. Is there something I can change to stop this from happening? EWG, electronic boost controller, etc? It bounces off fuel cut so much it's almost not worth downshifting into 3rd, maybe I should just try 4th but that would suck too.

[PhyrraM]

Lower your boost controller a PSI or two?

[kimokalihi]

You know that's not what I want to hear! haha. It's already low at 16lbs. I already want to build a 2.5 motor

On a brighter note, this came:

[kimokalihi]

Custom grill. I used gutter guard perforated metal from Home Depot for about $2 or $3. It's the perfect size to do a grill and it's got the perfect shape holes for grill mesh.







Cut out the plastic in the middle leaving the subaru emblem. Mainly because I was afraid the grill would flex too much without some sort of support and possibly break. It actually doesn't look too bad though.







Grill hung and ready to be sprayed.







When I cut out the center bracing it left holes in the grill that looked bad. Taped it up and epoxied the holes up.











Masked up and ready for paint.








At this point my niece spotted me with the camera and wanted to take a picture of me. She's going to be 6 years old in a couple months.







Primered.








All done except some trimming of the grill. I didn't wetsand the grill or do as thorough of a job painting it so naturally it did not come out nearly as nice but it's also less noticeable so I'm not too worried about it.











WRX hood scoop install:

Blanket over the engine to keep the metal debris out of my engine bay. Used an end grinder to cut out the hole in the hood. Smaller holes are to allow the hood mounting points to sink below the outer layer and this allows the hood to sit nice and flat on top of the hood.











Sanded and primered.









Masked off and ready to hit the newly exposed metal with some cheap white primer.








One coat of gloss black, wetsand with 400 then another coat and wetsnad with 600 and one more coat of gloss black. I'm no painter, that's for sure but it came out alright. Wetsanding between coats made a huge difference.







Custom bracket to hold the front on. I realized I cut the hole too big so the bracket was necessary to give the front bolts something to hold on to. I forgot to take pictures of the mounting bolts on the scoop. I cut the holes in the scoop a bit larger to fit larger hex bolts from the hardware store (1/4" front and 5/16" rear I think) and then I used my 5 min epoxy to glue them permanently to the scoop. Worked out great.







Custom grill and hood scoop installed. I didn't end up attaching the grill material to the grill at all! It stays right in place and looks attached just by installing the grill. Sweet.

[CAV3MAN227]

-Great looking car. makes me wish i had a 90-91 body style. awesome that you did this hood scoop too. i plan to do the same on my 92 ss when i have time. i just had 1 question on how u did it. how did u get the scoop dead in the middle? what were your measurements based off of?
-Joe