pontoontodd

The one with the big shoulder was in the left rear. Not sure if we found the same thing on my Impreza.

We thought we had prerun the rear diff and suspension swap on Bs Forester as best we could so we did that last weekend. Definitely seemed like it was time to swap the rear diff, it has been making noise (pinion bearing?) for a couple years now and there was more debris on the magnetic drain plug than usual. Everything went smoothly until we got to the rear diff bushings. They weren't completely shot but they almost certainly have 300k miles and 25 years on them and this would be the time to replace them. We tried the hollow hydraulic cylinder again but for some reason it didn't have as much stroke as it should and we couldn't see an easy way to bleed it or add oil. Then the threaded rod we were using snapped. At this point B suggested just removing the subframe. He was able to break loose all four bolts but then three of the four nuts started spinning inside the frame. So we hole sawed in from the top to get at those. That wasn't too bad but we cut into a vent line for the fuel tank so I replaced/rerouted that one later. One of the subframe bolts had a big shoulder on it that fit the subframe bushings fairly well, the other three were just 12mm. We used new bolts, anti seize, sleeves for all four bolts to fit the bushings better, washers and nylocks on the top when we put it back in. Pressed the bushings out and the new ones back in. Even in the 20 ton press removing the bushings took some effort. Reassembly went fairly smooth. B said the drive home was mostly good, pulling to the left which slowly seemed to improve. We were barely able to assemble the brakes with new pads on his worn front rotors we used in the rear, one of them was definitely dragging some. The next week he said everything was working alright and then suddenly on Wednesday it wouldn't rev over about 3000RPM, even in neutral. He tried a different fuel pump, the flow and pressure seemed good. Replaced air filter, plugs and wires, and tried a couple different coil packs, no improvement. He drove it to my house and we did some more troubleshooting. If anything the OBDII indicated it was running rich when it would stall and everything else seemed to be working properly (MAP, TPS, etc). Slammo suggested maybe the cats were plugged so we unbolted those. The front cat was empty. Fired it back up and revved out fine. Figured the plutonium from the front cat had plugged the rear cat so we tried backflushing it with compressed air which did nothing. Then tried backflushing it with the garden hose nozzle, not a drop came out the other end. B's hypothesis is that when we got a bunch of rain this week the moisture in the exhaust turned the plutonium dust into mud and completely sealed off the rear cat. He cut it out and welded a piece of tubing in its place and it runs great now. We also bled his rear brakes and replaced his HVAC fan switch with one that works better and did some other little things. In the meantime I changed the oil, oil filter, and air filter and charged up the AC on the Impreza and did a few other things. It's been awhile since I changed the air filter. That picture makes it look a lot worse than it was, there was just a ring of leaves at the end, filter itself wasn't too bad but I put in a new one. It has been running consistently cool now since the lower temp thermostat and hose rerouting and I think I've fixed a few small coolant leaks.

Wife and I went on vacation for 11 days through AR, OK, and TX. Didn't really plan on doing any off roading but it's kinda hard to avoid in AR. Met up with slammo for a day in his RAV4 prime. On our way to the beach in TX looking for the camping area he got stuck in soft sand. With the folding recovery ramps and a couple straps I was able to pull him out. Before swapping in a lower temp thermostat, engine seemed to plateau at about 215F CTS / 200F upper radiator temp while driving. If left to idle for a while it would slowly climb up (small fans kick in at 215F) until the large fans kicked in (220F), then they seemed to run indefinitely. Yesterday B came over and test assembled as much as he could of the billet knuckle conversion. Got his pair heat treated and painted. Bore for the long bolt/stud being tight was the biggest issue. I got a couple different ball hones but neither of them seems to remove material very quickly. Calipers with new pads seem to just barely fit his worn front rotors. He already swapped new ones on the front. We also had all of the lateral links painted, he got those anti seized and assembled. My main plans were to figure out the wiring issue on the Impreza and swap in a lower temp thermostat and bleed the coolant. On our recent vacation the delayed accessory power stopped working. Was still getting some voltage from its main battery feed but not enough to actually power anything. At the time I just hotwired it to the stock cig lighter. Turns out it had blown a fuse in the underhood fuse box, not sure if I checked those during my initial diagnosis. Cleaned up the wiring a bit put it back to how we had it and seems to be working now. While I was draining the coolant I had the bright idea to replumb the Ford heater cores we'd added under the hood. It seemed that with both of them in series on the heater core circuit the second one wasn't doing much, the first one seemed to cool it almost to ambient temp, and that circuit is a pretty small portion of the coolant flow. So I decided to plumb one of them into the circuit that goes through the oil cooler, figuring that would also cool the oil better. When I started I didn't realize those fittings are about 1/2”, not 5/8” like the heater hoses and cores we'd added. So I made up a couple of barbed adapters on the lathe (one of them in top of picture). It was a bit of a pain to get the hoses routed but I think it turned out fairly well. Then I drilled a 3/16” hole in the top of the 78C (172F) thermostat and swapped that in. I'd had a stock 82C thermostat in it. Got a bleeder funnel recently too so we used that, no idea how much better that works than the normal method of just filling it up and driving. This all seemed like an improvement. When idling for a long time it would still eventually get up to 215F but once the small fans kicked in it would cool back down to 210F (where the fans shut off) and then slowly go back up. The only issue we noticed was the heater core circuit wasn't getting hot or even warm. I pulled various hoses off in that circuit with the engine running and just a trickle of coolant would come out at idle. I pulled both hoses off at the engine and backflushed it with compressed air and it seemed to flow great. Heater had been working great before all this. Eventually I just decided to drive it and hope it fixed itself. Which it pretty much immediately did. Maybe just needed some revs or jostling around to bleed. Regardless, it now blows hot air when you turn the heat on and both heater cores underhood get hot. Also seems like it takes less time for the little fans to bring the temps back down. While driving the temps seem to plateau at about 200F/180F so that also seems like an improvement. Will drive it a bit like this, maybe lower the fan temp at least for the small fans.

We've been using the 187N front female CV axles for years now. They're a direct replacement for the front wheel drive Legacy. Same splines as the other female front axles (27 tooth outboard / 25 tooth female inboard I think) but slightly larger CV joints, shafts, and more plunge travel. It also has a spline stub adapter on it to fit the R160 in that picture. Sounds like 95AC CV axles are an EA thing, in that case no.

B and I did a test assembly of the billet knuckle, big front axle, and fabricated links on the left rear of his Forester. I did get this pair case hardened which will hopefully keep the bore for the long bolt from wearing out as quickly. That did tighten up the holes a bit so I'm ordering a 14mm ball hone to open those up. Mostly went together fine, will have to clearance a few minor things we had on mine that we'd forgotten about. Brakes etc seemed to fit well. Axle length worked out. Inboard CV was close to fully compressed at full extension of the suspension but there was still some play. The left rear corner is normally the one that takes a shorter axle so we should be good on the other side. Biggest issue we hadn't anticipated was tire clearance to the rear bumper. This is mainly because we'd made the trailing links longer than stock. Usually easier to hammer/cut the body behind the tire rather than in front. But in this case it would also rub on the bumper. Which could be modified fairly easily. But since there's at least 1.5" clearance in front of the tire to the body throughout the travel, we're going to shorten his trailing arms an inch. One of the reasons we're doing this pictured below. Big front CV axle we use on left, stock rear axle on right. The boots were starting to leak so I repacked the CV joints and replaced the boots. Hopefully won't be on this car too much longer. We put the old suspension back on for now. Plan is to fully weld and paint all the links etc. Then sometime in April swap the rear diff and do the rear knuckle conversion.

Not anytime soon. If it was the same ratio we probably would but I think the 6MT low range swap is going to wait a while. We just tacked up all the links, we'll mock it up and see how the lengths work out. The R160 is a bit narrower than the R180 but those big front axles have quite a bit of plunge travel and not a lot of it is used in the rear.

B fit and tacked up a set of lateral links for the billet knuckle swap. I turned up some of the pieces for that and a couple of wheel bearing spacers. Sometime in the next month or so we plan on swapping out his rear diff and doing the billet rear knuckle conversion on his Forester.

Finally made more billet rear knuckles. Spent some time making these a little smoother/nicer than the first pair. One pair with tapped holes in the side for wheel scraper/caliper bracket and no wheel bearing holes for slammo. He is planning on using a different bolt on wheel bearing, I'll machine that when the time comes.

Radiator bottom temp has been interesting. Once the engine is up to temp the bottom rad temp will be anywhere from 100F-200F, never changing very quickly. Occasionally all three will be within 10F. Does seem like being stopped and/or periods of high load will cause the temps to creep up but not real consistently. Block temp sensor and top rad both stay around 190-210F in normal city driving. Think I fixed my power steering leak. Replaced the return line from the rack which I'm almost positive was leaking. Thing isn't even 30 years old, disappointing. Replaced both o rings where the lines connect above the crossmember. While I was at it I simplified/shortened the return line routing a bit.

Have continued to observe and experiment with the Haltech. One issue that I've had since I have had a tablet plugged into it watching things the last month is that the O2 sensors would work sometimes but not other times (open circuit error code). And either they'd work the entire drive or not at all. One seemed worse than the other, switched them side to side and it followed so I replaced the worse one and that one seems to be working consistently. Other one occasionally doesn't work, will probably replace that one too. Also dawned on me that the Haltech was only using one of the sensors for the fuel trim. Had just assumed with the dual wideband kit and the EZ36 basemap it was using both. So I have those set for each bank now. Not that it makes much difference, they both seem to read about the same. Another issue was the cruise would work for about the first five minutes of driving and then give all kinds of errors. Went to an older version of firmware and that's back to working consistently. Keep watching the radiator temps. It was finally around 50F this afternoon and I drove the car a fair amount. After being parked for a bit the bottom sensor will be up around 100F but then when driving it starts dropping down at least close to ambient. When I got home and let it idle for a minute though it crept up to 200F, eventually around 218F, same as the top radiator temp. At that point the top radiator temp was actually about the same as the engine coolant temp too which is unusual, normally it reads at least 20F lower. This is still below the temp the first set of fans kicks in but odd to see zero temperature drop over the radiator. Once I ran the big fans, the bottom temp dropped down to about 100F in a minute or two. Even with the AC on the bottom temp dropped pretty quickly (wanted to see if the AC was still working). Top radiator temp and engine coolant temp dropped a bit too. With the big fans back off the bottom radiator temp went right back up to 200F in a minute or two. So that will be interesting to watch. Didn't seem to be in any danger of overheating but the radiator definitely isn't doing much cooling with no air moving through it (duh). Cams seem stable at all temps now. Follow the target pretty well when fully warmed up, bit of a delay when cold but not terrible. Still should get the car on a dyno sometime and actually figure out the best map for those. Got the idle lowered back down to 600RPM when warm and good throttle response. Much lower than that and it definitely hesitates/bogs when you tap the gas. Might play with that more. B stopped by last weekend and I went through the rear struts on the Impreza. I changed the valving to match B's rear struts (according to my notes I had, but I hadn't). So that might soften it up a bit, not that the ride is bad. Will see how it goes. Regardless they have fresh oil etc now. While I was doing that B replaced the pads in the (Mustang) rear calipers. Which can be quite a chore, the one took a while to get the piston threaded back in all the way. Those pads seem to wear faster than the fronts, I think they have less surface area. Also I finally got some different boots for the parking brake cables and B figured out how to get one of them to fit nicely.

Got the other ABS connector for the Impreza and have both fuel pumps working on the switch now, seems to empty and fill the main tank as desired. Finally took the center diff back out of the 6MT from the black Outback. Does just appear to be the faces of those shafts that were rubbing together, planetary seems fine. Have done a little PID tuning on the cams in the EZ36. For quite a while now they've been very unstable at low engine temperatures. It's been a tough problem to solve because you can only really try a few things before the engine's warm enough to smooth things out. Fortunately (?) it's been very cold here lately so I've been able to get them tuned in better. I did add another row to the table to lower the PID values before the coolant gets up to temp but I think it's mainly just been changing the values to make it more stable in general that helped. Still a few things to improve on that front but at least progress was made.

Have driven the Impreza a bit more and the bottom radiator temp sensor continues to be at ambient temperature the majority of the time. One time after I was only stopped for ten or fifteen minutes it and the intake air temp had soaked up to about 50F and stayed there for the short drive home. It seems that the ultimate temperature it reaches is in the 190sF at the top of the radiator and 220sF at the top of the engine. That sensor on the engine is probably less accurately calibrated and generally just reads 10F or so higher than the ones in the radiator even when the car's been parked overnight. I bumped up the temps the fans are coming on at so they're not running all the time once the car warms up. 220F on the engine temp sensor is basically when the temp gauge just starts to creep up above the middle. Have now seen a temperature drop of 180F across the radiator (it's been cold here lately), so I think the radiator is doing its job. I rebuilt the rear struts in B's Forester. No major issues, mainly changed the dirty shock oil, replaced a couple little things. B replaced the rear suspension bushing that was shot and went over a few other things on his car.

We finally got the secondary fuel tank project finished. Added one fitting to each cover plate of the stock fuel tank. Ran a fuel resistant hose down the side with the main pickup. Mounted, plumbed, and wired the fuel pumps in the spare tire well. It will probably take about ten minutes to fill or empty the tank. Seems to work in both directions by watching the clear fuel filters, listening, and watching the fuel gauge. Definitely looking forward to putting the extended range to use. I rewired the fans. Two small puller fans are on the main circuit. Two pusher fans are on the sub fan circuit on a larger fuse and relay. Main goal here is to push less debris into the condenser and radiator. Another potential benefit is not blowing the fan fuse when driving in deep water. I also wired in the temp sensors we added to the radiator earlier this year. Only drove it to the grocery store and back, which is maybe a ten minute drive, but I found the results interesting. The bottom radiator temperature is basically always around 20F higher than ambient, similar to the intake air temperature. It did read much lower when unplugged and does vary a bit so I'm pretty sure that sensor is working. The top radiator temperature kept slowly increasing but was generally 40F lower than the coolant temp sensor on the engine (by the top engine water neck maybe 6" from the radiator sensor). The ones on the radiator are probably a more accurate calibration. The top ones did get within about 20F by the end and after sitting for a bit. Also means the radiator is producing up to a 120F temperature drop even parked at idle with the fans off which I found impressive. Also we worked on B's Forester a bit. Narrowed down which rear bushing needs to be replaced, replaced a wheel stud, and adjusted the parking brake.

Plumbed a tee into the top line feeding the steering brake and put a bleeder on that, after bleeding that spot and the calipers a bit more it seems fine now. B replaced a front wheel bearing on his Forester which seemed to help his on/off throttle steering issue. I edited and posted two videos from our last trip to the UP, one long, one short:

Yes except I have mine plumbed the opposite from your example. It sort of works as a locker but mainly it's used as a steering brake. It's my favorite kind of steering brake. This shows how we ran the lines and how close the brake is to the center console compartment. Center console reinstalled, handle lines up perfectly with one of the coin holders. Mirror adjustment switch doesn't go all the way back in. Ran the lines under the carpet and through the stock grommet under the back seat. Connected them to the bulkhead under the seat. I tried a different bleeding procedure which ultimately didn't seem to be an improvement.

One of the two main projects I wanted to do this winter on the Impreza (other being the gas tank) is installing the cutting brake from the black Outback. I made this bracket to bolt it next to the parking brake. B replaced the ABS unit with a couple of tee fittings. The one for the fronts is our solution for those lines. B rerouted the braided stainless line we had in the black Outback from the master to the cutting brake, it was still in good shape. Bolted to the cutting brake. Bolts down using two stock fasteners on the top of the driveshaft tunnel. It backed right up to the storage compartment in the center console so I plugged the normal feed location and plumbed the line from the master to the top (former bleeder location). This lines the handle up with the coin holder in the center console (haven't cut that out yet). Handle will be bent too. I made and ran new braided stainless lines from the cutting brake to the bulkhead fitting under the back seat that feeds the stock rear brake lines. We spent quite a bit of time and brake fluid trying to bleed it. I eventually got it to the point that it was driveable and I could lock up the left rear tire but the brake pedal and cutting brake are definitely spongy. Related to this mod was adding another heater core under the one I've been using. Hoping it will give me a little more insurance against overheating. Plan is still to put the two small puller fans on the main circuit in hopes that the pusher fans don't have to run much. They seem to shred plant matter and jam it into the condenser and radiator. B and I did some mockup and made a couple brackets to bolt the second one on underneath the original. That hose linking the two is definitely not ideal but I don't think it's closed off and will probably open up under pressure. I do plan to put a barbed elbow in there to help though. Should make sure the one closer to the fan is getting coolant first too. Still gathering a few connectors for rewiring the fans and extra fuel pumps.

I think it was too long but I should check.

Last weekend we did some work on B's Forester. His carpeting has been getting wet on the driver's side so he pulled off the fender, wipers, carpeting, etc to investigate. Eventually noticed part of the floor had some small cracks in it. After a little tar removal and poking he discovered about a 2-3" square section was basically rusted to nothing. So he cleaned up the sheet metal around that and welded in a fresh piece. Meanwhile I went through his front struts. Main task was replacing the bushings in the strut bodies. This pair of struts may have been on the black Outback, regardless they have seen a lot of abuse and the bushings were badly worn. Replaced the shock oil in one and replaced a few shims that were maybe slightly cracked. Verified our notes on the valving were accurate. Replaced some other boots/seals, repacked steering bearings with grease, etc. He says it's noticeably more solid now. Yesterday we worked on my Impreza. Still seemed like the radiator and condenser were pretty dirty so I got a long nozzle air gun and tried a few different modifications, this seemed to work the best. Plugged the end (M6x1) and drilled a .15" hole in the side. Then you can get that between the radiator and condenser and blast out one or the other. We got quite a bit more debris out. Replaced the steering rack. It was leaking badly from the driver's side. This would then quickly degrade the boot which would split open. I was refilling the reservoir about once a week by the end of the summer. Fortunately M had put a rebuilt rack in his (my old) blue Impreza a couple years before we parted it out so that one is (hopefully) still pretty fresh. We pulled the skidplate and replaced the rack. In the course of swapping that out I discovered that the bottom U joint on the steering shaft is nearly locked up in one direction. After putting everything back together, you can feel the tight spots in the U joint when turning the steering wheel with the front end off the ground. So I'll have to replace that. A bit disappointed, it's only been in there a couple years, new from Subaru (and extended by me). We had a bit more time and the front end was already off the ground and wheels and tires were off so we decided to go through my front struts. Didn't take too long, verified the valving mainly, added a bit of oil, replaced a wiper, regreased the steering bearings. We intend to go through our rear struts sometime this winter too. Still working on getting material for all the 6MT low range parts so we have a couple complete assemblies (including one for B). We should really tear down the one that was in the black Outback sometime and confirm the failure mode there. I think I have all the plumbing bits I need for the extra fuel tank. Need to get some electrical bits for that and the fan rewiring. We did take a peek at the ABS sensor wires and they're not super small, maybe 20 gauge, we think two of those will be adequate to power a fuel pump.

In case you hadn't noticed we have a lot more options for vehicle modifications than Australia. These pumps are 255lph. Assuming this extra tank is 10 gallons that would take about nine minutes. Could have it going before you even start filling the main tank. Worst case you fill up the main tank, pull off to the side for ten minutes, then go back to the pump. Guess I'll find out. I think this will be the simplest way. One hose connecting the tops of the tanks for venting. One hose connecting the bottom of the secondary tank going down through one of the access panels and down to the bottom of the main tank. Have two fuel pumps side by side teed into that bottom hose one pointing each direction. One of those pumps could run the engine in a pinch. Definitely looking forward to the magically increased range.

Thanks for all the advice on this. Good to have someone else looking over my shoulder making sure to at least warn me when I'm doing something I shouldn't. Yes, we're just using these as transfer pumps. One for each direction since they all seem to have a check valve built in, the only reversible ones I can find are pretty expensive. 14ga seems overkill for 5A. I use 16ga for almost everything. Will take a closer look at the ABS wires for sure, I like the idea of just using them for power and then grounding the other terminal of the pumps. Will probably see what other wires are running back there we're no longer using too. On the topic of wiring, any suggestions on a relay/fuse good for 80+ amps? Want to put both the pusher fans on the secondary fan circuit. Figure I'll switch the big relay I add with the stock wiring/relay. Those fans pull almost 30A each (over 30A when submerged in water apparently). Planning on putting both the puller fans on the primary fan circuit, they are small and don't draw as much so I should be good there. Currently have one of each on each circuit on 30A fuses.

Good point I'll take a look at the gauge of those wires. Won't be under much pressure so according to the internet it'll draw 4-5 amps and even 22 gauge wire should be adequate. Definitely not getting any relays involved. Thanks again for the cabin air filter tip. We were discussing how full of junk the evaporator would be without it. Like the one on the black Outback was.

B and I worked on the secondary fuel tank for the Impreza. I pressure tested it and flushed it out, seems like it doesn't have any leaks even at 30psi. I got the mounting flaps carved up so it fits and matched up the bumper mount holes. We had to do a little more hammering in the spare tire well. We came up with a plan on how we want to mount the fuel pumps and run the hoses. I need to get another pump, some hoses and fittings. Going to try to get wire connectors for the ABS wires so we can use those for the fuel pumps since they're already running front to back and will never be used for ABS again. B replaced the cabin air filter and cleaned out the airbox and blower fan, they were all loaded with debris. He also traced the brake lines under the hood and we came up with a plan on eliminating the ABS module and plumbing the left/right steering brake from the black Outback.

Impreza has still been wandering a bit so I wanted to replace a couple of the lateral link bushings and CV boots. Got a bunch of Group N bushings so I'd have some on the shelf for future repairs. With the billet knuckles and dog leg trailing arms and the stainless studs in place of the long bolts it's a much easier job than it used to be, didn't take me long to get both axles out. One thing I've been wanting to address almost from the beginning of this swap is the slop in the rear diff stubs. The combination of slop in the diff splines and the splines for the female axles allows the inner CVs to move around more and have more backlash than normal. The splines for the inner CV were worn on the stubs that have been in the car for a couple years now. I peened a pair of them like the one in the bottom of this picture. I tried pressing them first to squish the splines but that did nothing. This may not last long as a means of reducing the slop but I figured it was worth a try. B swapped out a couple of the lateral link bushings and cleaned up the long studs. He also shorted a couple of the inner bolts that were rubbing on the inner CV boots. I regreased and rebooted a couple CVs and replaced one axle. Once we got it all back together one CV had basically no slop on the splines, the other one still had some but less than before. While we were under there I decided to refab the section of exhaust that hangs under the subframe. Cut out that flattened section and replaced with 2.5" x .095" 4130. Actually has clearance to the CV joint now. We also came up with an initial plan for mounting the extra fuel tank. Can't wait to get that hooked up. B unbolted the top of the radiator and pulled it back the little it can move with the radiator hoses on it, then he blasted a bunch of crap out from between the radiator and condenser with compressed air. I want to get/make some different nozzles for doing that more effectively, should probably at least check that regularly. Still hoping that getting the puller fans on the primary fan circuit and the pusher fans on the secondary fan circuit will help.

Posted videos from our trip back in June, one long, one short, maybe the best mix of mud/sand/rocks from the UP yet