legacycentral bbs

Fired her up this afternoon. Everything seemed to run fine. The valves were a little noisey since I had a valve job done on them. They did quiet down.

Initial break in/drive was pretty good. The exhaust is hitting the trans crossmember and driveline, so I really didn't go far. I'm going to have to take care of that. Fucking exhaust. You pay $1,700 for an exhaust that's "supposed" to bolt up, you want that fucker to bolt up! Anyway....

Idle seems to drop a little low. I think the ECU is learning that I have a lw flywheel on.....it did seem to get better as I drove. I need to get the exhaust taken care of, and get it aligned.

Awesome!

Yeah, aren't those valves noisy!?!?!? You think something is broken. It took 25 miles or so until my last one shutup!

That's sweet that she's up and running!

A noisy valvetrain is totally normal after a long period of sitting.

I can't understand why you have so many fitment issues with the exhaust though. Mine bolted up perfect except that it rubs the gas tank heat shield back by the rear axles. Trevor said that was normal though, even on the Liberties. Klienkid had issues too but I know others that got the same system didn't. Strange.

The exhaust is still the best out there though. Once you get the bugs worked out you'll be glad you have it.

I emailed trevor. He said to check the engine mounts, and that it sounds like the engine is sitting too high in the craddle.

I don't know if there is any adjustability that can be done, but I'm probably going to play hookie from work tomorrow to try and fix things.

The exhaust does sound pretty good. I just want to get everything working properly, clearances good, and alignment done so I can go for a ride. The short bit I did get to drive it this afternoon, it felt pretty good. Hopefully the idle will smooth out a little with more drive cycles.

Awesome Josh, can we get some videos of what everything sounds like?

Congratulations !!!

And I'll second/third the noisy valves, my dad thought I had bought a bad engine the first time I started it.

Ok I think I know what's going on here with the exhaust.

Does anyone have the CES exhaust installed on a 91 turbo? The 91 turbo was the only turbo model to have the cv joint type in the middle vs. the newer style universal joint. Even then, about half way through the 91 model year, they went to the universal joint style.

That's all fine and dandy except for the fact I'm pretty sure the universal joint is roughly the same diameter as the driveline. The cv joint is larger in diameter then the driveline....and that is what the resonator is hitting on....the exterior of that joint piece.

You can see it in this pic
http://www.surrealmirage.com/subaru/ima ... P_3053.JPG

So....I need to find a newer style MT driveline.

Yeah, mine isn't like that at all.

So you just need a '92-'94 driveshaft? That shouldn't be too hard to pick up and swap out, right?

Shouldn't be.....but I'll hold my breath until I get one in my hands.

Update. I think I got a driveline. It should be here thursday. So I should know then whether it's "good" or not.

I measured the diameter of the driveline and the diameter of the outer casing on the cv joint. The driveline's diameter is roughly 2.252". The cv casing is roughly 3.120".

That works out to be a difference in radii of 0.434". That's quite a bit of a difference, and a lot in terms of getting the clearance I need. So getting a 92-94 driveline should fix my problems.

I took the trans crossmember off, and the rear piece had a date with the bench vise. Clearance seems to be pretty good now. I tried bending it while it was still on the car. Using a crescent wrench actually works pretty well, but I couldn't get the leverage I needed for the rear part.

I drove it to get an alignment too. It's not until the exhaust get's warmed up do I have issues with the driveline, and it's mainly under deceleration.

I'm anxious to actually take it for a real drive and see how she does.

Hey Josh!

Sorry I didn't read this earlier, but I have a 91 turbo with the CES exhaust. I believe I have the same driveline, I'd have to check. I've had problems with the resonator hitting the driveline once in a while, but not as big of a problem as you seem to be having. The biggest problem I had is when the bolt on the tranny mount part of the exhaust came loose, and at that point it was noisy and annoying. Plus it rubbed on the driveline all the time.

Yeah it sounds like you have a little more play then I do.

I'm pretty sure the 92 driveline should take care of my particular issues. I can't get too worked up because pretty much every drivetrain component is NOT original, and is a mix match of different years and models.

This is most of the reason I can't see ever paying for a CES setup. All that money and it's not 100% bolt on.

Good you have the car running though.

Mine was 100% bolt on.

Every car's going to be different, and the more you go away from stock....the more likely the chances are that things will not fit exactly as they were meant to. Considering how bastardized my car is, I can understand....however I also can still bitch about it.

I don't have any other comparison in terms of other exhausts and how they perform, so I really can't comment whether their performance is that much above everybody else.

Oh well....it's just another issue to add to the already huge list of issues with this motor rebuild/swap project. I swear, any weird ass thing that could have gone wrong....did.....

update?

Didn't get the driveline from the place in dallas. Sillyp has one he's going to pull tomorrow and send to me. So it'll be later this week until I can go drive.

I worked on the intercooler radiator plumbing today. Didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it, but it should work
http://www.main.experiencetherave.com:8 ... s/ej22t/33

Do you have fans installed there somewhere? Are they on the back of the radiator?

You very well may want to somehow be able to turn the fans on and off with a temp switch attached to the water in the intercooler. When at idle, that water still heats way up, I know!

Legacy777 wrote:It's not until the exhaust get's warmed up do I have issues with the driveline, and it's mainly under deceleration.

I had something similar with my adapted WRX turbo back. Under decelleration, especially using engine braking, and also when backing up, I would have interference between the drive shaft and the exhaust. I installed an STi Group N transmission mount to keep things from moving around so much. This helped immensely, although I had some interference right after I installed the mount. It required some manipulation of the exhaust hangers to clear it. It's all much better now.

I don't believe any 3" exhaust is going to bolt up 'perfectly'. Honestly, there hasn't been a single exhaust out there tailored to the Liberty/Legacy the way that CES has been. I went to a few exhaust shops before getting my CES and they thought I was crazy for putting a 3" on my car. For one, the heat sheilds and spacing for everything probably wasn't designed with a 3" exhaust in mind. For second, the resonator's size actually makes the exhaust larger than 3" near the driveline. I don't really have any complaints. There are some annoyances, but I'd take this system over most others.

-Ryan

douglas vincent wrote:Do you have fans installed there somewhere? Are they on the back of the radiator?

You very well may want to somehow be able to turn the fans on and off with a temp switch attached to the water in the intercooler. When at idle, that water still heats way up, I know!

No, I don't have any additional fans. Just the stock ones. At this point, I'd be happy just to get things plumbed up and not lose an incredible amount of flow. Once I get that taken care of and get the intercooler installed, I'll have to keep tabs on the water and see what the temps are like. I was going to run a little idling test. Just let the car idle and see what the intercooler temps become vs when the engine fans kick on, and such.

I've got all sti drivetrain mounts. But anyway....yeah there's probalby not any 3" system that's completely bolt up for every car. When I get everything squared away, I'm sure I'll like it.

I've got the sti tranny mount and engine mounts as well.

Me too.

So Josh, is your AWIC radiators going to go on the AC condensor between that and the bumper?

-Ryan