Dyno Day!

Today, the rally car made a visit to the dyno at Surgeline Tuning. Dyno day is exciting, but can still come with a little anxiety. Did we remember to bring everything we need? Is everything assembled OK? Will this new, barely broken-in motor just explode when revved to redline?

Sean from RalliTek joined us there to team up with Tim Bailey of Surgeline to do the tweaking. Our car uses a Cobb Accessport which is pretty much the standard for Subaru tuners.

The very professional techs at Surgeline strapped the car to the dyno, and Sean and Tim sequestered themselves in the car, armed with laptops.

At first, there was some anxiety- The car only wanted to make 10 pounds of boost at high RPM's. Not good. But then, everyone remembered that the car is fitted with the required-by-rule 34mm turbo restrictor. Ouch. But to Tim and Sean, this just represented another element of challenge. In no time, the proper tweaks were made, and the car was turning out really solid numbers.

Some video of the very first pull:


The final results on E85 fuel:
240 hp at 4000 rpm

and

328 ft-lbs of torque at 3800 rpm.

Dyno Chart:

Surgeline has a really cool site that stores dyno results. You can see the results from you car and many others. Ours is here.

The results are just about what we expected. The turbo restrictor does its job- which is to keep power down so cars don't go too fast.

We owe huge thanks to Sean Sexton from RalliTek and Tim Bailey from Surgeline for the excellent service today. These guys really know how to tune Subarus.

Now, it's time to start prepping the car for the first rally: Doo Wops. We need to wrap up all electrical stuff- gauges, switches for all the rally accessories, and install some serious underbody protection.

Motor runs. Car drives! Sounds like a rally car.

We took delivery of the car from RalliTek today. They did an awesome job with it. The motor is in, and Sean put a base map on the ECU to match our "hybrid" motor. It runs and sounds great.

Here's the motor in the car:



Here's my favorite part:





We can actually drive the car onto the trailer! I thought we were going to wear out our Come-Along and my back. No more manual winching the car onto the trailer.

Next step: Drive the car 500 miles before next Wednesday, which is the dyno day. We need to properly break in the motor before then.

Major progress! Smoke and noise soon.

We got the car back from Rallitek last Wednesday- Motor almost complete. Took the car to Portland Muffler and had a custom exhaust built. Rick did an awesome job- He's a perfectionist, usually building custom exhausts for hot rods.

Here's a photo of the at his shop...


Today, we hosted another work party. And again, we had an awesome turnout. Dave, Bill, Patrick, Bryce, and Jessica all came over to help and we got a ton of things done.

Here's Bill fabbing up the new heater box air intake manifold.


Here's Dan drilling the first hole in the hood for the hood pins.


Here are Bryce and Jessica wiring up the new headlights. Bryce also brought a KEY piece of information with him- The turn signals in a Subaru don't work unless the stock Hazard switch is installed.



Jessica asked for light beer, but I don't think this is what she had in mind...


Here's Bill working on the seat brackets...
Patrick made a run out to Gaston and picked up the remaining seals needed to make the car waterproof.

We have a working heater, working lights, and a seat installed. The car has a hood and window seals. We even have insurance for it now.



Tomorrow, the car goes back to RalliTek to finish the motor installation. There are just some minor things to do plus putting an initial tune on the ECU.

This week, it should be running, and we can start driving it. We need to get 500+ miles on it before the dyno day on January 27th.

Thanks to everyone who has helped out so far!

Doug

Motor is in! Well, Almost....

So, the car moved into a bay at RalliTek over the holidays, and they have made short work of the installation.  Jeremy, Andrew, and Sean definitely know what they are doing.   The only thing that is missing is a simple, cheap, hard to find power steering hose.  It's on back order from Subaru.  Once it's installed, everything else can go in, and the car can be started!

RalliTek will be installing a Cobb Accessport - a computer that is used to reprogram the ECU and is necessary to control the motor which is a mix of parts from the 1993 Legacy Turbo, 2002 WRX and aftermarket.   The Accessport also will allow the car to run on E85 fuel, something we plan to do when it is available due to it's low cost and high octane rating.  RalliTek has a 2008 WRX that has been running on E85 for a long time and it's been very reliable- and makes great power.

In the next two weeks, the exhaust will be installed (full custom), the motor will be finished (even if we have to fashion a power steering hose from duct tape and pantyhose).  And, we have a date with the dyno on January 27th.  Surgeline will be tuning the car, along with significant help from Sean at RalliTek. 

After that, we only have minor things to do before the first rally... like install seats, harnesses, rally computer, rally intercom, fire extinguishers, mud flaps, skid plates, rally lights, and brakes.

Doo Wops, here we come!

The Dash is in, windshield, and off to RalliTek!

Last week was another good week.  We got the dash installed, and all the bodywork put together.  Also, the windshield was installed.  It actually looks like a car now instead of a shell.

Here's the dash.

Here's proof that Doug does more than just take photos.  Soldering together a battery cable using a torch...

The taillights got left at home... But they're in now.

That engine bay looks empty.... but not for long.

Today, the car was delivered to RalliTek for the motor installation.  The shot above is from their shop webcam

You can just see the car on the right side of the photo.  RalliTek and IPD use the same shop- That's why. there are a bunch of Volvos in the photo.  RalliTek will soon have the motor in, and then we'll have a stout rally exhaust installed before returning the car to RalliTek for tuning.  Hopefully, all of that will be done by Mid January so we'll have time to add skidplates, rally lights, and rally gear.

Big day of work

Today, we had a huge crew come by to help.  Bill, Bryce, Dave, Pat,  and Joe all stopped in for the better part of the day to toil away on the rally car.  We're lucky to have some really good-natured and skilled friends.

We got some major things done:
- Bumper cores lightened & installed
- Heater installed
- Front wiring harness simplified
- Battery box mounted
- Door, hood, and trunk seals installed

- Horns installed

We're  very close to installing all the body work and lights.  One more work night and that could be done.

Here are some pictures from today:

Pat lightened the front bumper core with the plasma torch.

While Joe took care of the rear bumper.  This may be the first time that Joe has used his plasma torch in 5 years.  Dan and I have used it a whole bunch, though.  Thanks, Joe!

Also note Dan's air compressor in the background "26 gallons".  He searched and searched for that model, since mine is only 25 gallons....

 

 

Bryce took on the task of mounting the aftermarket heater.  Doug had already done most of the ducting, but the real challenge was mounting the heater so it wouldn't move.  Bryce did a great job.

 

Bill helped mount the battery box and even got to weld some more.

Dave took care of all the seals, and then mounted the rear bumper.

Bryce ate a maple bar.

Hazel supervised.

Car is painted!

Car is back from Maaco.  For $250, they did an awesome job.  It's not showroom quality, but it is rally quality.  Here are some photos. More and better photos to follow once assembly is complete.