Legacybt 6mt Compromised Autocross Build

Legacy has a lot of room if there if you set your suspension up the right way or flare it. I could fit a 19x10.5 +35 without hitting the struts (very close) which is 168.35mm of back spacing. I reworked the front suspension by cambering out the bolt at the knuckle all the way and then using the camber plate on my coilovers to dial it back into normal specs. Nice part about that is that the wheel pulls in sooner as it travels up and with a roll center kit it will almost perfectly retain the degree of camber for 1.5-2.0" of wheel travel. In the rear I did the same thing as you moving the rear wheel back by modifying the trailing arm link but I used arms that used hyme joints with misalignment spacers so the added rearward angle on the arms did not effect them. My camber settings were -2.5deg all way round

 

To fit my tires 265/30/19 I did a little stretch so the tires side profile matched the fender flares to prevent rubbing issues, get a better stance, and I didn't need steamrollers on my car. I ran a hubcentric 25mm spacers (extra set of studs on the spacer) in the rear and a 15mm spacer on the front with extended studs also hubcentric. With the flares I was allowed to run 143.35mm of rear poke and 133.35mm of front poke from the mounting face of the rotor. No spacers would have allowed a 295 wide tire or a 18x12 +20ish wheel with like a 285/295 wide tire on it and have a little stretch to match the flares. The flares were about a 2" (or 50mm) extension to the car so with a roll and stretch will get you about 20mm giving you aprox. 271.7mm or 10" of space inside the wheel from strut to wheel arch so a 255/265 tire depending on brand should fit in there if you have coilovers so there is less risk of hitting the lower spring perch.

 

Its definitely doable and without rubbing or stupid camber.

 

Oh and word of advice. Take a heavy flat object wrapped in some cloth (to not damaged the paint) to use as a dolly and a hammer and fold the inner edge of the wheel arch totally flat. This will make stretching your fenders (if need be) way easier and way less likely of warping the metal because it will drastically increase the strength of your wheel arches when you start pushin on them. You will chip the paint off when you fold the metal flat so I took a razor blade and cut the paint at the outer 45deg down of the rounded edge of the arch where you fold it so when it chips off it breaks only on the inside where you cant see and then for you a silver fat sharpie or mask and spray paint will do you solid.

 

Johann

I've been tempted to drop the racewagon off at your garage and have you fix the rear to fit wider tires. Running 295's on the track is legal in my class and would put the car on even footing with the rest of the field.

I've been tempted to drop the racewagon off at your garage and have you fix the rear to fit wider tires. Running 295's on the track is legal in my class and would put the car on even footing with the rest of the field.

Doooooooo itttt

I've been tempted to drop the racewagon off at your garage and have you fix the rear to fit wider tires. Running 295's on the track is legal in my class and would put the car on even footing with the rest of the field.

I have a new set of flares that are wider then the ones on my car and I can make those arms I just need a full set of the stock arms to take measurements from. Lets go 18x11 on 315s lol

Anyways if you want to talk pm me this isn't the place to do it. Nice you got your tires fitting how did your roll go? Did you have to stretch much?

I have a new set of flares that are wider then the ones on my car and I can make those arms I just need a full set of the stock arms to take measurements from. Lets go 18x11 on 315s lol

 

Anyways if you want to talk pm me this isn't the place to do it. Nice you got your tires fitting how did your roll go? Did you have to stretch much?

Please make those 315s happen. I'll probably end up trying that in a few years after recovering physically, mentally and financially from my upcoming power mods.

Yeah, after rolling flat I had to stretch a good bit to get them to fit, especially in the front of the rear fenders. Lots of time with the dremel grinding and cutoff wheels too - I just got the fronts to fit at lunch today. It's my first time hacking away, rolling and pulling fenders so it took some extra hours - probably 8 in total. I'm excited to drive along without fear of moderate sized bumps again!

I ran the tires for about 100km and am having some serious inboard rubbing. Looking less and less hopeful, I'll give spacers a shot but the fenders are already pulled pretty significantly.

http://i.imgur.com/xhh2WCnh.jpg

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=236227&stc=1&d=1472104991

The car is back up on jack stands to install a 2015 sti transmission...

I managed to install the transmission this weekend. Hopefully that's the last time that happens for a long time...

This is what a 2015 sti transmission with 50 miles (no, not 50,000) on it looks like compared to a 130,000 mile 2004 sti transmission. It was pulled from a rally build, not an accident - hoping this will be my 'forever' transmission!

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=236561&stc=1&d=1472483227

I also stumbled across a wiring bonus - there's a wiring harness (24031AA410 EDIT - this is the stock LGT 5mt Harness) that I purchased for my original swap that didn't fit. The GD chassis (2004-2007) 6spd transmissions use round connectors for the wiring harness, but the newer ones (2008+) use rectangular connectors - the wiring harness plugs right in and you can get your reverse and neutral sensors to hook up without any splicing! It's a little short, but routing it in a more direct route than the original harness leaves enough room to connect. I left the original harness on the transmission, connected and ran the new harness in parallel, taped up the now-unused connectors to protect them from the elements, and will use two pins on the 6-pin harness for the DCCD control.

Legacy GT 4-pin connector vs. Sti 6-pin connector (this is the grey connector close to the firewall):

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=236559&stc=1&d=1472483227

Original rectangular connectors taped up for protection:

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=236560&stc=1&d=1472483227

Harness number for reference:

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=236562&stc=1&d=1472483227

Finally got around to taking some photos

http://i.imgur.com/7HC6TCX.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/vg0dVPd.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/M5gOPHv.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/FjWmce9.jpg

Does that 6mt have the cooling pump?

No, only the 2002-2007 6 speed transmissions have internal oil pumps. 2008+ went to a splash system.

Swapped in some mystery upgraded rear axles (27mm shafts & 2005+ STi inner CV's) in 2 hours flat today. Feelsgoodman.jpg

I used a cheater method and unbolted all the non-alignment suspension bolts. I was able to pull the trailing arm outwards far enough with minimal effort to drop the end of the axle down and then pop/pry it out of the diff. This meant the trailing arm pivoted at the front bushing, so I wouldn't recommend doing this if you have a hardened or poly bushing at the front of the trailing arm.

Should be obvious which is the stock Spec B axle and which is the upgraded one

Swapped in some mystery upgraded rear axles (27mm shafts & 2005+ STi inner CV's) in 2 hours flat today. Feelsgoodman.jpg

 

I used a cheater method and unbolted all the non-alignment suspension bolts. I was able to pull the trailing arm outwards far enough with minimal effort to drop the end of the axle down and then pop/pry it out of the diff. This meant the trailing arm pivoted at the front bushing, so I wouldn't recommend doing this if you have a hardened or poly bushing at the front of the trailing arm.

 

 

Should be obvious which is the stock Spec B axle and which is the upgraded one

that's the way i do it. its even harder if you have aftermarket lower arm bars in the rear.

Photodump! I cleaned my car and test fitted my new-to-me Gram Lights 57xtreme.

Wheel specs: 18x8.5 +33 with Direzza ZII 225/40R18

Not a fan of how they change the steering feel - the extra offset makes the car much less 'planted' around corners, and it tramlines over every rut in the road. I'll probably end up going back to the +45's for summer eventually.

Photodump! I cleaned my car and test fitted my new-to-me Gram Lights 57xtreme.

 

Wheel specs: 18x8.5 +33 with Direzza ZII 225/40R18

 

Not a fan of how they change the steering feel - the extra offset makes the car much less 'planted' around corners, and it tramlines over every rut in the road. I'll probably end up going back to the +45's for summer eventually.

Dibs on the wheels.

Realized I didn't have any good shots from the side, so I took a few while the car was still clean.

I'm on similar spec rims @ 18 8.5 +35 w/ Shockworks coilovers, I positioned the camber tops all the way inward to correct the roll centre/kingpin axis somewhat and retained stockish camber via the stock camber adjuster bolt on the knuckle/lower shock mount.

That and the AVO caster adjust LCA bushes gives great handling with 235 40 r18 s001's

I have finger gap tyre to guard ride height with guards rolled up n out...

This setup paves the way for 18 9.5 + 40 or wider, a spec that's getting popular down under

I'm on similar spec rims @ 18 8.5 +35 w/ Shockworks coilovers, I positioned the camber tops all the way inward to correct the roll centre/kingpin axis somewhat and retained stockish camber via the stock camber adjuster bolt on the knuckle/lower shock mount.

That and the AVO caster adjust LCA bushes gives great handling with 235 40 r18 s001's

I have finger gap tyre to guard ride height with guards rolled up n out...

 

This setup paves the way for 18 9.5 + 40 or wider, a spec that's getting popular down under

I have my camber set up to squeeze 255 width tires underneath the fenders - I took a similar approach by pushing the camber plate mounts all the way in and adding positive camber back using the camber bolt. This maximized clearance between the wheel and strut.

I was super happy with the handling of the 18x8.5 +45 wheels, but the 8.5 +33 didn't feel great. The 9.5 +40 sounds like it could be just right for a moderately aggressive fitment!

Send them to me. i need 18's bad. Also need the winter to be over so i can rebuild mine. 8 months with no boost. I'm glad the driveshaft is still working for you.

Haha I think I'll have to keep them, they'll make a beautiful set of winters next year . The driveshaft has been holding up great! Thanks again, and good luck with the rebuild!

Also need the winter to be over so i can rebuild mine. 8 months with no boost.

I hear you man, i missed my wagon when it was down for a few months. first clutch went and immediately after thought i had a rod bearing go. (long story short... pulled motor wasn't bearings but a really really odd issue with avcs bolts backing out and hitting timing cover bolt.)

Mini update

145000 miles on original longblock, compression is 140-135-135-135 and leakdown is 8-8-10-10%. I'm pretty pleased with those numbers!

Renovations and my upcoming wedding are stealing all my time and money, but I'm picking away at a stereo install during lunch at work.

This is the normal state of things these days:

I'm mostly finished the stereo install, and am super happy with how it's turned out. I'm playing with the double din kit to get it fitting better, and need to install my quick release subwoofer straps so it doesn't go tumbling around corners. If you haven't, check out my stereo install thread here: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/depth-custom-audio-install-walkthrough-resources-249910.html

I've been putting some serious miles on the car too, on a variety of roads... not all of them enjoyable with all the hardened/poly bushings and ride height.

JDM Tails finally arrived from Japan - slightly cleaner than the rest of my car...

JDM Tails finally arrived from Japan - slightly cleaner than the rest of my car...

 

So nice! Are those STI cans? I' picked up a set localish, virtually brand new. I'm really happy with the sound, but they are tucked under pretty far, so tomorrow I'm off to get them extended 3". They still will be tucked