carfreak85

+1.

So my girlfriend's car has been throwing the same code for a couple weeks now. Scanned and cleared the codes and the only one there was the coolant temp circuit. Should I just replace the CTS or could this be a more sinister problem?

I'll say it for a third time in two days. Drilled/slotted rotors are FOR SHOW ONLY! The whole reason they were invented was to allow the gas created from heat reacting with binders in the friction material that built up as old school racing brake pads (years and years and years and years and years ago) could have a place to escape without the gas being trapped between the pad and rotor, decreasing brake performance. We no longer have this out-gassing problem with any brake pads, so the whole reason these slots/drills were invented is pointless. Except that they look cool. Secondly, Subaru might not have designed a 90/10 F/R brake proportioning valve, but you can bet it was close. Weight transfer shifts a ton of weight up front (If you really want to know I can give you the method for calculating this weight transfer to apply to your own cars). This means less traction for the rear tires and consequently, less need for rear brake power. Sorry, I just woke up and don't quite remember all that I was going to say. I took a class on chassis/suspension/brake design last quarter. I'll go check my notes and get back to you guys on what the brake balance probably is later today.

Just a couple thoughts about brakes on old Subarus... Stay away from drilled/slotted rotors, I can't say it enough. Your wish list should look something like this: Rear: -Rear disc conversion -new BLANK brembo rotors (or whatever you want to spend $ on) -Quality pads. NOT Raysbestos or that type of common pad (Try Hawk or Axxis) -Rebuild your calipers Front: -Rear disc conversion -new BLANK brembo rotors (or whatever you want to spend $ on) -Quality pads. NOT Raysbestos or that type of common pad (Try Hawk or Axxis) -Rebuild your calipers Then go spend the money on 3 bottles of Motul RBF600 brake fluid. It has a dry boiling point of over 600*F. Valvoline is a good, cheap substitute, but its DBP is closer to 500*F. Finally, I just watched a show on SPEED where a 2009 WRX stopped from 60MPH in 118 feet or so. An article I recently read on a 1975 Subaru 4WD wagon listed its 60MPH stopping distance at 120 ft... With stock four-wheel DRUM brakes. Chew on that for a while. GD, I'm also gonna have to disagree with you about the importance of brakes on a 90hp car. With brakes as small as ours are, we need as much heat sink capacity as possible, so anything you can do can and will help... Except for those pointless drilled/slotted rotors.

It is the opinion of several industry leading specialists that with modern brake pad composition, drilled/slotted rotors are not necessacry for out-gassing, a byproduct of pad construction in the past. The loss of mass hurts the rotor's ability to act as a heat sink. But, Porsche and other manufacturers have slotted and/or drilled rotors, you may think. Pure fashion. They would be better off with sold rotors too, but people like the look. Find yourself some Hawk performance pads for the front, rear disc conversion for the rear, some high quality rotors, good brake fluid and call it good.

Any Enkei or Jackman center caps?

Alright, so I was getting sick of my uber high front spring rate (RX springs, factory 4WD struts, factory anti-roll bar) so I removed it yesterday. I must say that the combination of no roll-bar and RX springs is great! It still feels stiff will little body roll, but much less harsh and jarring then when it had the bar too. I'm happy!

Seriously cool!

1980 BRAT 1600 w/ Weber and glasspack 4 speed SR 4WD more than 120,000 A couple more pics here: http://community.webshots.com/album/64303792ZJcFUD?vhost=community&start=24

The PO of my BRAT did something similar and I am none too happy with the results. +1 for having a real shop spray on REAL bedliner.

Derburger, your XT looks great! Blue with gold, I like it!

Good looking out. What is going on there? We should be seeing them cross at 5252 RPM.

Sounds like a potent package, keep up the good work!

Everything is pic worthy! I think the specs for my header were in that other post.

Love those EA81Ts! I can give you some tips on re-dyeing/coating those bumper skins. Mine were practically white when I got my wagon.

In the event that you're talking about the EA81 digi-dashes, let me just say that I've gone down that path. I decided to convert to analog gauges for a couple of reasons. First, the original digi setup is poor to begin with. They are thin, fragile and at this point 25 years old. Second, there are few if any NOS parts floating around and even then, they are still 25 years old. Lastly, when doing my conversion, I didn't make any changes that couldn't be undone. I can reinstall my digi-dash if a fix for the squeal of death because I swapped the dash harness out, pretty plug and play actually just with a lot of disassembly. In any case, I'm interested in fixing any digi setup to put my wagon back to oem.

We need to swap header pics, I'd like to see your design! http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=55274&highlight=header

Hahahahaha, probably.

Sorry about that, I didn't read your last post fully. When I made that post, I thought you were talking about someone else, and didn't know you had named the parts as being specifically from a WRX. I'm using the same IC with a VF-11, when I get around to making up the brackets and welding a new flange on my header. While the WRX IC isn't bad as far as efficiency, about 80% maybe a little higher, there are certainly more efficient designs. Subaru DID install a different on the STI. You only lost 300 RPM for your boost threshold going from a VF-7 to a TD04? That's really good! Not bad at all, makes me look forward to my VF-11!

I'm a layman and a flamer!

I didn't care if it wouldn't "fit" on my cars, I would have made it fit, I don't like the fat, square bumper on my BRAT.

Hey, you're in Bellingham, what school are you doing this at?

Hows the condition?