Cool Article about the 05 SCCA wagons floating around still.. :)

fair enough. promoted.

fair enough. promoted.

I'm Promoted! Now I'll be known as Lt.Gator!

Thanks!

Thanks so much Sgt.Gator, or should I say Lt.Gator. It's a used tranny, not rebuilt. The number is 32000AH370. Buying from Kred. We're just crossing "T's" and dotting "i" to make sure it will fit before we do the transaction. Kred is 99% sure it will fit.

It will fit!

I got the AP Racing Brakes installed last night. There is an install thread in the Walkthroughs: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/ap-racing-brake-install-240152.html?p=5130132#post5130132

Next race May 1-2-3 at Portland International Raceway, I'll post up a brake update.

 

I'll be there for that race. Will be looking forward to running tech on your car. Have been making notes for things to look for.

I'll be there for that race. Will be looking forward to running tech on your car. Have been making notes for things to look for.

 

Oh Lordy!

Do you know what happened after you did my gear check last week at the Ridge????? I was in the grid for the start of the race, Bob the race steward comes over and tells me I can't start because my gear has not been Tech'd!

I had to get out and go thru a gear check, meanwhile holding up the race. Your name was mentioned a few times...

 

I think you owe me an easy annual!!!!

Oh Lordy!

Do you know what happened after you did my gear check last week at the Ridge????? I was in the grid for the start of the race, Bob the race steward comes over and tells me I can't start because my gear has not been Tech'd!

I had to get out and go thru a gear check, meanwhile holding up the race. Your name was mentioned a few times...

 

I think you owe me an easy annual!!!!

 

Don't mess with the tech guy.

 

Jim (head of tech) mentioned he'd gotten lots of feedback. Then asked if I was coming out to the next race. Told him I'd be there, as I expected my kickback program from the vendors would likely be funding my future races.

Since several of ya'll have asked about brake ducts, here's a pic of the brake duct mounting plate.

 

..

Plain Grade A Goat Milk Yogurt as brake fluid.. giving away all your racing secrets.

Plain Grade A Goat Milk Yogurt as brake fluid.. giving away all your racing secrets.

 

In a way you are right...Adopting a Paleo lifestyle was BY FAR the best 30 LBS I ever took out of my race car!

 

The health community I participate in:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/

 

Click the Success Stories Tab, someday I'll be putting mine up there.

The first race of the season was disappointing. Lots of gremlins that required fixing popped up that ultimately took me out of the race.

 

 

 

The Friday test &tune was no real problems. The issues revolved around getting the AIM data-logger to work with my RPM...Speed..and the Non Chicane version of the track. By the end of the day they were all working harmoniously.

 

Saturday the practice went fine. The car was hauling some major speed on the front straight since this was a Non Chicane race. I haven't driven PIR in the nin-chicane version since I was a cop and we did our driver training there. It was a real pucker factor.

 

Then in qualifying I was doing great, a 1:18 without really pushing it. The new splitter and rear wing were proving their worth. The car brakes rock solid from 140 mph to 70. The extra down-force was sweet!

Then 5 laps in, cough, cough, and no power. I can tell it's a fuel pressure issue. After being towed back to the paddock I can see in the AIM data that the fuel pressure was doing great, then suddenly went to zero. After running the Enduro in my old Acura I started working from the engine backwards to figure out why no fuel pressure was getting thru. Non, zero, nada at the fuel rail; took the filter apart it's clean, no gas; back to fuel cell, the pump runs in the cell but nothing coming out. Now it becomes a pain because I take the fuel cell firewall and plate off. There's the problem, the hose that runs from the Bosch 044 pump to the Outlet plate hose barb inside the fuel cell has popped off the barb! It has a special clamp that's supposed to stop that from happening. So I reuse the clamp and add a HF hose clamp too, everything works fine again.

 

Sunday I go out for qualifying, I'm doing great when suddenly at WOT on the front straight, huge power loss, I get going again, and again power goes away. I limp around to the paddock and again the AIM data logger reveals the problem. My boost is working fine until the last lap when suddenly it goes from a nice flat top at 18 psi to 25 psi! Each time the fail safe kicks in and cuts the ignition.

 

I look close at the turbo and see one of the hoses to the wastegate controller is dangling! The banjo bolt has come unscrewed! That caused the waste-gate to go wide open and only the ignition cut saved my engine. (Stock OEM Internals). Luckily the banjo bolt is still inside the hose fitting so all I need to do is put it back on with some Locktite this time. Then I discover the second hose is loose too!

 

LEARNING POINT: USE LOCKTITE ON YOUR WASTEGATE HOSE FITTINGS!!

 

Then I notice my Cobb AP is not connecting. Blank Screen. UH -OH. But the engine starts and idles fine.

 

With a few friends helping button up the car I get into my race suit and make it to the grid on time. OTW the grid my AIM data-logger says something about how it can't connect to the slaves on the network. UH-OH..

 

We leave the grid and on the second lap......complete loss of power. Engine is dead. I spend the race watching from a corner worker turn station.

 

Something has gone goofy with the OBD2/CAN system (I THINK*). The car is at Subaru of Bend now since I know nothing about tracing down that kind of problem.

 

Other interesting stuff:

 

I was paddocked with some super fast NASCAR cars and a truck, who also run with me in my run group. This truck is very cool, and very fast:

 

 

Notice they don't have problems with their hubs!

 

 

But the best part is the blower in his brake duct. He said all the NASCAR ground pounders run blowers in their brake ducts. He turns on the blower as he leaves the grid and leaves it for the entire race. He says it keeps the brakes much cooler.

 

His is a Roush Yates blower, but I can do the same thing with a marine bilge blower. My next mod!

 

Next race is in 2 weeks at Pacific Raceways in Kent WA. Hope the Pac NW guys can come down and help me fix the next series of things that go wrong!

A couple of more shots taken by fans I grabbed off Facebook. I talked with several Subaru enthusiasts who were walking the paddock. And the car everyone was in awe of, the former Stevenson -Pratt- Miller Grand Am car that was the smoking hot fastest car on the track. I would look in my mirror and see a distant orange speck, a second later he would go by like he had made the jump to lightspeed.

In a way you are right...Adopting a Paleo lifestyle was BY FAR the best 30 LBS I ever took out of my race car!

 

The health community I participate in:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/

 

Click the Success Stories Tab, someday I'll be putting mine up there.

 

Hi Gator, my wife is Paleo and I am attempting to go that route as well. I will see if I can make it down to PIR in Kent in 2 weeks for you.

The NASCAR Truck is sweet. I'm not even a NASCAR fan but I've always had an affinity for the SuperTrucks. Not quite the same, but have you seen the Time Attack Syclone truck?

 

http://www.speedhunters.com/2012/10/gmc-scyclone-feature/

 

If I suddenly had a ton of money to dump into a project, I would love to build something like that. Primarily because those old mini trucks are an easy way to start off RWD and very light weight. My favorite part of that Syclone build is the massive radiator and oil cooler in the former tailgate area with the bed having the aero ramp to channel air.

 

Regarding the duct blower, that is really a great and cheap solution. A quick search shows they are sub $20.

 

http://www.roushyatesparts.com/Detmar-Blower-p/det-758-blower.htm

The NASCAR Truck is sweet. I'm not even a NASCAR fan but I've always had an affinity for the SuperTrucks. Not quite the same, but have you seen the Time Attack Syclone truck?

 

http://www.speedhunters.com/2012/10/gmc-scyclone-feature/

 

If I suddenly had a ton of money to dump into a project, I would love to build something like that. Primarily because those old mini trucks are an easy way to start off RWD and very light weight. My favorite part of that Syclone build is the massive radiator and oil cooler in the former tailgate area with the bed having the aero ramp to channel air.

 

Regarding the duct blower, that is really a great and cheap solution. A quick search shows they are sub $20.

 

http://www.roushyatesparts.com/Detmar-Blower-p/det-758-blower.htm

 

Thanks for the link.

 

The NASCAR truck in my pic has a lot of stuff going on on the bed like the Syclone truck. Next time I'll get some pics of that. The diesel truck style vertical exhaust is functional and shoots flames too!

Thanks for the link.

 

The NASCAR truck in my pic has a lot of stuff going on on the bed like the Syclone truck. Next time I'll get some pics of that. The diesel truck style vertical exhaust is functional and shoots flames too!

 

I was working turn 7 at the Ridge (end of the carousel) when that truck came out a bit out of sorts. You could see the body twisting as he got it back inline. The rumble was something else. Wish I'd hooked up the gopro for that.

I forgot to update about the new brakes!

The brakes worked flawlessly at Portland International Raceway this last weekend. (Something I can't say about the rest of the car.)

 

The brakes were especially taxed to the max because this was a Non-Chicane race, which at PIR means we use the entire "old" front straight, a distance that got me up to 141mph before the brake zone.

 

The Ferodo pads worked well but are a bit of a process to bed in properly. I'll probably be switching to Essex's CL RC 8-6-5 Sintered pads for the long run. The CL pads last longer, the bedding in is a non issue, they have extreme high temp tolerance, and they brake good when cold too.

So, did Subaru of Bend get back to you on the possible ECU issue?

So, did Subaru of Bend get back to you on the possible ECU issue?

 

Not yet. They probably won't get to it until tomorrow. I'm a charity case!

If they have nothing, try AiM and/or Roger Caddell. I've found them helpful in the past on my wagon.

If they have nothing, try AiM and/or Roger Caddell. I've found them helpful in the past on my wagon.

 

If they can't fix it next stop will be Cobb Surgline OTW Pacific Raceways next week.

I DO need to talk to Roger about how to use the AIM. I attneded his class at the Ridge and know I'm missing a LOT.

If they can't fix it next stop will be Cobb Surgline OTW Pacific Raceways next week.

I DO need to talk to Roger about how to use the AIM. I attneded his class at the Ridge and know I'm missing a LOT.

 

This site won't fix your current issue, however, he does have data for comparison and how-to videos - http://www.jamescolborn.com/

The car is running again!

There were two independent problems:

1) The dang fuel line popped off the plate again inside the fuel cell. That's what caused the engine to die in the race. We took the plate off, cut the end of the hose off and put on a new FI Hose Clamp.

I have new submersible fuel hose and more FI clamps on order. If this happens again during the season, and for sure next winter during rebuild downtime, I will replace the fuel hose from the pump to the plate and at the same time use some med grit sandpaper to rough up the hose barb so it has better grip.

 

2) The OBD2 connector had a wire pulled out. Mine is relocated to under the glove box and is not held tight by a bracket. Over the course of plugging and unplugging from it the wire got strained and finally came out of the connector. My race buddy Subaru Tech, Kenny, soldered up a new piece of wire and we are back in business! He says most OBD2 brackets are plastic, but a few models of Subarus use a metal one. He's going to figure out which model/year uses the metal one and we'll permanently attach the connector port to the frame or roll cage so it's under no strain.

 

So back to all the other stuff to get done. Paint the blue stripes on the hood. Get my number in nice graphics on the hood. Go over the brakes, I may need new rear pads, and bleed them....all the routine pre-race stuff.

 

I hope to see some of you at Pacific Raceways next weekend.

I seem to only be able to get here once every couple of weeks but what a great read.

 

Eager to know if you can nail down just what happened to the Spec-B. Bottom end was built by one of the best so very curious.

 

Funny knowing what I know now just how little changes I'd make if I were ever to pick up another one. I still think the 08-09 Spec-B's are great but maybe a 2011+ STI.