had a good day today, not to cold and no rain which makes a change, I've removed the gearbox today, quite easy once I'd realised you need to remove the release arm pivot shaft and leave the release bearing clicpped to the cover plate, anyway after a bit of head scratching I remove the pivot and bobs your uncle it's out,

not sure how easy it will be to get it back in 1 it's blood heavy and 2 I'm not used to these pull type clutches I'm assuming you put it back as normal and then the realease bearing clips to the cover plate, flywheel looks OK but the driven plate is worn unevenly the outer edge slightly more worn than the centre (although it's pretty much down to the rivets right across) so I'm wandering whether the flywheel is dished a little, I'll put a straight edge across tomorrow to see if I can see anything.

While I was removing the gearbox I thought I may as well remove the turbo, and it's not std, it a IHI model and says 'turbo spec VF28 9811' anyone know what this means?
pic below shows it next to a TD04 (TD04 left)

as you can see it's quite a bit bigger TD04 40mm across the compressor wheel compared to 45mm for the one fitted, the exhaust housing is similarly bigger, I'm not up on IHI turbos but it a similar size to a Garret T28 anyone know whether it's a worthwhile up grade or should I put the TD04 back on??
The car as yellow injectors which I believe are 440s, combined with the full S/S exhaust I reckon it will need a major remap I guess I need to bend Andy Carr's ear to see what's best for power and reliability.

 

Have a look on here, there is a good list of turbo specs.

Subaru Turbo List - NASIOC

VF28 would be a good upgrade for the td04, what sort of power are you looking for?

 

Thnks for the link, judging from the details there it looks perfect, I'm limited to 286bhp for the Subaru Cup see link:
Nippon Challenge - Contacts
so as near 286 as possible, this turbo looks just the job!!
also the turbo inlet pipe (the one that goes under the inlet manifold looks a bit suspect, does this come out with the inlet manifols in place or does it need to be removed? it looks a tight fit and it was getting dark so I didn't try to b=get it out.

 

If i remember right when Frosty removed his he said it was a bit of a t**t and ended up cutting it out, but if you think it's a bit dodgy then might be a good idea to replace it with a silicone one.

 

yeah it looks a pig to get at, maybe cutting it out is the way forward. or I may wait get it up and running and then remove the whole inlet , check all the vac pipes

 

Hi mate hope all is going well, I was just catching up with your progress, and looking what you ended up purchasing very nice mate.

I think some of the BHP advice was a bit optimistic on other threads, you should be well in the regs with a standard uk classic as they produced 220bhp ish the JDM WRX came in at 240 in its my93 spec and up-wards to 280 for the STI spec and uk P1

There should be room for a bit of enhancing to get to the regulations, keep us posted mate

 

I'm aiming at around 280-290 BHP (flywheel) which should be relatively easy given the turbo it as fitted, once I get it MOT'd I can then put a few miles on it make sure everthing is OK with the engine, due to the clutch slip I wasn't able to checkout the engine properly when I bought it, but the oil pressure light goes straight off and it's not knocking so I'm hoping it will turn out to be sound.
Although judging by the poor condition of the rest of it it will be the only thing that is!!!
Quick progress report,
gearbox is ready to be refitted I just need a couple for extra hands to lift it in (not easy lifting a 80kg G/B in when the car is on axle stands on the drive) hopefully this will be in Sat, I've just recieved 4ltrs of Siklolene Syn 5 racing gear box oil which should kepp the G/B lubed (mind you at £13 per litre it ought to)
I've got all the brakes off for a clean and rebuild mainly to get it through the MOT then I'll uprate the calipers, mine as 2 pot sliders on rather than the prefferable 4 pots, I'm on the look out for some 4 pots so anyone selling any please let me know.
I've started wrapping the exhaust, the up pipe is done next is the tubular manifold and de-cat pipe (although I'll be refitting the cat for it's MOT unless someone knows of a testing station that would turn a blind eye).

I've also found damage to body accident damage to the boot floor and to the N/S rear floor pan, it looks like something as punched a hole through the floor, god knows what's caused it
Both areas will need welding it up prior to the MOT, other jobs ongoing are to fit the battery box, I was thinking of mounting this where the floor damage is on the N/S rear footwell, although I may put it in the boot I'm undecided any thoughts?
However my mine objective is to get the gearbox back in, roll on Saturday morning.
On a postive note the DVLA have sent me a letter saying they've recvieved my requested for a new V5 and this should be processed by March 11 with the V5 following within 5 days, so assuming it passes it's MOT it will be taxed April 1st then on the ferry to the Isle of Man the same day, I can't wait

 

Alright Budd, let us know how you get on with the gearbox this weekend because i'm off work monday and tuesday if you need a second set of hands?

Carl

 

Hi Carl Thanks for the offer it's much appreciated, hopefully it's going in this afternoon, I've got a mechanic pal popping round later so it should be back in shortly, plus the lad who works for me should be back in time to help out (although what good he'll be is a moot point) still with 3 of us on it it should be sorted by teatime.
If your at a loose end Mon of Tues please feel free to drop by for a brew and a look at the heap!!

 

what a pain, I given up on getting the box back in, 1/2 hrs struggle was enough to tell me that 2 of us wasn't enough to get the thing back in , if it had been on a 2 posted then it would have been no problem, but on the drive with the car raised on axle stands is a completely different matter, not only was there a serious risk of injury from a falling gearbox but the real possibility of damage to the new clutch and the gearbox it's self, so I'v decided to remove the whole engine (I should have done this in the first place) removing the engine looks pretty simple so it'll be coming out tomorrow and hopefully going back in tomorrow with the gearbox attached.

 

Good luck mate, might call round tuesday if your about, just put my name down for some overtime on monday,needs must and all that.

 

no problem I'll be about all day Tues, pop over anytime, I'll PM you my phone no just me a bell before you set off I'll give you the address and get the kettle on

 

engine is now back in complete with new clutch, if you don't have access to a ramp then I'd say pulling the whole engine out is the easiest option it's very easy to remove. Only problem now is the intake pipe thingy which has same pin holes where it joins the turbo, what an absolute pain that is to get off, I've had to remove the inlet manifold and all the fuel pipes and rails etc but at least it's off, now I need a replacement anyone tried the silicone ones on Ebay? like this link:
SUBARU WRX STI 1999-2000 TURBO AIR INTAKE PIPE SILICONE on eBay (end time 02-Apr-10 12:30:34 BST)

also I need 2 inlet manifold gaskets, what are Subaru maindealers like on price for things like this?

I had hoped to bring it to the MMM this week but I'll have to wait till I get the above parts before I can get it up and ruuning, in the mean time I'm heat wrapping the exhaust manifold, up pipe and de-cat pipe, relocating the battery, fitting the cut off switch and welding up the floor before it goes for MOT that should keep me busy for a while,