New parts for engine and some computer trouble

We got a couple parts for the engine. Mainly a oil filter relocation kit and a replacement for the intake silencer.

Lower in the picture is the part that replaces the intake silencer. The stock plastic box doesn't look like it has a purpose in the engine bay of a sporty transporter, so we had to get something different instead. It works with the stock intake tubing, it's just a bit shorter than the silencer.

The parts to relocate the oil filter and oil/water heat exhanger. These parts are probably made in china, but how can you complain with the price of 55 dollars and excellent quality? It has also mounting points for oil pressure and temperature, so these gauges will be very easy to install.

I really like the oil/water cooler in these subaru engines. Cooling the oil with the same water that cools the engine means that the faster heating water helps to heat the oil when the engine warms up. This makes the oil reach operating temperature quicker than normally. I'm still a bit worried how it will work in our use, because might be that the oil is kept too cool if it follows the water temperature, but I'm sure the japanese engineers have thought of this.

The broken water tubes were replaced and the engine mount is painted. Next up will be starting with the electricity of the car, which have been already almost planned.

On the internet side there has been some problems. The day before yesterday our service provider decided to block everyone's access to our homepage because the server it's on was attacked. This means that many of the people who tried to access our site yesterday or the day before can't (ever?) get in, me included. I'll wait over this weekend and send another email if they don't get it fixed. The traffic on the site is starting to get back to normal, but as long as I can't get in, probably someone can't get in either, which is a bit troublesome. So I refuse to send them my internet address so that they can fix only my problem.

The laptop I've been using for all this internet work also broke. Luckily I have everything backed up, but I still need to reinstall all the programs I've used on another computer.

Roll cage almost ready

Work progressed quite nicely this weekend, despite some subaru parts buyers bothering us. Only two tubes of the roll cage need still to be done, plus the shoulder belt mountings of the middle seats.

The upper left point of the main rollbar. There is still one tube missing, so this should be a quite stiff spot.

Here's a picture of what we had to do to install the roof diagonals. One corner had to be hammered out so you could get it more easily into place. Before welding the corner is hammered back in.

A picture of the interior.
Mika brought the corolla in for some maintenance. So don't worry, the car on right isn't our next race car project.

A closer shot of the tubes in the slide door opening. We ended making a low cross structure. If it would have been made any higher, it would have made entrance even more difficult.

We also got the engine parts painted, and we just heard that the flanges for the exhaust manifold are ready. The springrates have also been calculated, so next week we should order new shocks and springs.

Cannibalizing the spare parts subaru

We got the spare parts subaru from a company called Japan moottorituonti on monday, and took it apart. It was much work, but we didn't take much pictures. Here's the few we took.

The engine is off. We also got the wire harness and engine control unit, so we can easily get the car running with with stock parts.

The dismantled halfcut Subaru. There's still some spot parts to take off, eg. the pedals.

The no. 2 engine waiting for exhaust to be built. We also removed the parts to be painted from the first engine and prepared them for sand blasting.

Making of the roll cage continues pt. 2

The continuous breaking of electric drills meant that we never got the time to drill the extra cooling holes in the front. Now we have three working drills, one of which is new, so it's much easier to make holes. Ofcourse we began using only the used one.

The front part of the car after adding the safety belt tube and door tubes.
We left about 50mm room between the lower door tube and the inner fender so the roll cage doesn't have to be modified when we sometime in the future decide to lower the car even more.

The cockpit roll cage is done except the roof diagonal.

Adding the other main rollbar. It was off 1cm to right, so we had to do some minor adjustment.

We put the dashboard on and made a several mock up versions for the roll cage tubing that will cover the side door. It's quite easy to get into the cockpit, but adding tube in front of the sliding door makes entry really difficult. We'll see what solution we will come up with, something has to be there, just in case.

The interior.

A picture from the side.

And from the front. It's starting to look like a race car.

I just remembered. We checked the year model of the car, it's a -81 that was originally a van when it was imported to Finland. The car has later been registered as a minibus (you have to pay a high amount of tax to do this), so there is a mark of that on the cars papers: "This car has been afterwards changed from van to passenger vehicle, and all taxes have been paid".

Making of the roll cage continues

Making the roll cage continued the same way as previously. It feels like easy work and progresses quite quickly.

Both longitudinal roll bars welded and testfitting of the dashboard.

A view from the front, how the cage looks...

The tube in the legroom welded. This tube isn't mandatory, but we thought it would increase safety, so we added it just to be safe...

The roll cage at this stage viewed from the rear. The sad looks are because the project destroyed it's third electric drill...

The subaru engine mount from the front.

And from the rear. The mount still requires a few finishing touches and paint.

Roll cage tubing bent.

All bends to the roll cage have been done.

The second main rollbar. We're going to have two of them, so every passenger is inside the roll cage.

Testing how the longitudinal rollbar fits the car after it was bent.

A picture from another angle.

The rear engine mount is ready

I almost forgot this. Getting the Karmann ready meant that we had to move the race taxi from blocking the doorway. The only problem was that the car didn't have a engine mount for the subaru engine and we had measured the engine to be in mounting position. So we had to weld it quickly together to get the Karmann out.

A picture from the inside of the car, so you can see the shape of the engine mount.

And a picture from behind. The engine mount still has to be removed, welded from places that couldn't be reach at this moment, and finished. So the final part wont look like this. On the right side you have to go around the engine, because the cylinder pairs on a boxer engine aren't aligned, the other one is a couple cm more forwards, this means the engine mount had to be made asymmetric.

Starting to make the roll cage

On wednesday we sent the tube order to another company, and it was told that they have the size we wanted in stock. So on friday I went there to get them.

We've been waiting to bend tubes for a month, so work progressed quite well.

We began by measuring the needed lenght and angles of the bends.

On friday the tubes were left outside filled with water, to make bending easier.

The rule book also states that: "The tubing must be bent by a cold working process".

Measuring and marking where to bend. We've been told that you should begin from the middle, so we did. You should also bend a bit too little, it's easier to get more angle to the bends, than take it off.

Not the first, but the second bend. This is the tightest bend. This is the tightest bend in our cage, we were just a little bit nervous... Notice the clothing has changed from the previous picture, it's starting to get a bit chilly outside.

A closer picture of the bend.

The ready main rollbar

The fit was a bit tight, so we had to press the rollbar a bit together when installing it. If you are way off, you should bend it a bit more, because if there is much stress in the tube, the heat when welding it will alter its shape.

The main rollbar is on.

We decided to bend the lateral rollbar inside, didn't work out. As soon as the metal warms enough that the ice looses it's grip, the bending doesn't work as well. We also realized that our first design isn't legal, as you can only have one bend going upwards. We had a small bend about 20cm upwards to make welding of the front point easier.

The new lateral rollbar. This is the trickiest tube to bend in our roll cage because it has two angles bent into different directions.

The main rollbar mounting foor and reinforcement plate. You have to secure each mount with bolts, and bolting them afterwards through the frame is a bit difficult, so we bolted them beforehands.

Ready main rollbar mount.

When the main rollbar was welded into it's position, it was time to cut the lateral rollbar into shape. We use a tube notcher to cut the tube into the right shape.

A picture of the junction. The tighter the fit, the easier it's to weld.

The main rollbar and lateral roll bar in position. They are barely visible from this angle.

Here you can see a bit of them...

Adjusting the fit of the lateral rollbar front mounting point.

The lateral rollbar follows the lines of the car quite well.

At this point all the hard work concerning the roll cage feel done. Bending the tubes and making the lateral roll bar got done. If they come out good, the rest of the roll cage is just straight tubes cut into the right lenght. Easy, right?

Found a new rust spot, preparing for paint and making rear engine mount

Much was done this holiday, but preparing the car for paint doesn't feel like anything gets done because you really can't see the change.

We also ordered new tubes for the roll cage. Mika called the company that we ordered them from almost daily, and the last information we got was that the tubes would arrive on 25th November 2008! Feels like it's difficult to order small amounts of tube, and you get no service if you just want two or three. So we ordered them from another company.

Some of you found the pictures of the lathe scary, so its probably best to continue with pictures of something a bit more familiar.

The interior is ready for paint. The car has also been used for hauling stuff, so it's full of small dings and scratches. Because we will be showing the engine bay often, we wanted it to be painted well. Notice in the lower corner some filler that Mika just applied and Henrik sat on before it dried.

We found a new rust spot. From the surface it didn't look that bad, but after a closer inspection we had to make a new metal sheet for it.

Beginning to make the engine mount. The parts for it are ready and it needs just to be welded together.

The Ghia is almost ready, it just need a final clear coat before it can be pushed out from the garage so we get more space for the race taxi.