Project Domino: Lightened Bumpers

we ordered some lightened bumpers for Domino the other day.  They are not very expensive, roughly $75 each.  What is the difference?  I would guess maybe 20 lbs less weight each.  Essentially the lightened bumpers only provide enough support to having something to attach the bumper covers to.  Apparently they provide enough crash protection...if you lived in Japan since they are roughly the same as the JDM GC bumper frames.  The pictures explain more clearly what they are about than I can in words.

Here are the part numbers if you want to do this to your USDM GC Impreza RS:

57760FA680 - Lightweight Bumper Beam Front 93-98 Impreza

57760FA400 - Lightweight Bumper Beam Front 99-01 Impreza

57760FA192 - Lightweight Bumper Beam Rear Impreza

Lightened front bumper frame on top, stock on bottom.

Rear lightened bumper frame on top, front on bottom.

Rear.

Front installed.

Project Domino: GD Radiator Install

The new CXRacing radiator is in.  It was made for a GD chassis, but we talked about the differences before in a previous post.  Here is a picture on my GD chassised 2005 Saab 92x AKA Saabaru.  There is actually 5" or so more space between the radiator and the engine in the GD as compared to a GC8.

Note the lack of space in Domino.  Also the version 8 STI twin scroll header doesn't make it easier.

Since there isn't a lot of space, and this radiator is about 0.5" thicker than stock, we had to be creative.  First we ditched the awesome aluminum radiator shroud that we had bought for the project because it added 0.5-1" more thickness, and positioned the right fan right where the exhaust manifold is.  We put the fans directly on the core without the shroud using the included special zip ties included for this purpose.  We positioned the fans all the way to the top, and that was just enough to provide sufficient clearance.

Both fans affixed.

What the zip ties look like on the front of the radiator.

As you can see, there still isn't a lot of space.

Another angle.

We had to drill holes through the beam to get the brackets to work with the GD radiator.  We use the Perrin radiator mount..because it was the cheapest at wholesale .  We had to cut of a chunk of it to get it to fit the CXRacing radiator.  The next mod will be the Perrin logo delete sharpie mod.

Here is the hose installed.

The bottom radiator hose.

This is how you get the hose to fit.  In case you felt nervous to cut the silicone hose, it is fine.  It is super easy to cut with sharp razor blades.

Asuka wants a shifter too.

I figured; what's good for the goose is good for the gander.
Domino got a Cobb shifter, thought Asuka would like one too. 

With Domino stealing all the headlines as of late, the poor girl was starting feel left out.

Proyecto Domino: GrimmSpeed Adir Oil Separator Review

I got around to installing the GrimmSpeed air oil separator.  We used this same piece on our last project car as well.  I like it because it doesn't take up a lot of space and uses the oil filler to return the oil back into the system.  I also like it because it didn't prevent our last project car from making power.  It seems to "work" ... although ... I haven't taken apart the intake of the other project car recently, so I can't be 100% certain their isn't oil build up.   Aside from the space constraints, I would probably just recommend the Cosworth part instead, but they are harder to fit if you are rotated, etc.

So, you can see here that it replaces the oil filler cap.  This actually makes it hard to add oil unless you use a funnel.  I think that limitation should be noted as a con.

Here it is hooked up to the left side of the motor.  The two sides of the front vale cover ports are hooked to this line.  It is connected to the right port of the AOS.  Note: GrimmSpeed did not include this tee.  Consider this another con.  If you have a stock top mount, then the y pipe on top would be used instead.  Really?  Who has a stock top mount with the stock y pipe such that they don't need a tee?  GrimmSpeed maybe saved a buck or two in BOM.

Here it is hooked up to the crank case.  This is what is connected to the left port.

The front port here on the right valve cover is what is connected to the tee.  It is hard to see in the pic, but the place where the crank case used to vent to the intake is capped off.

The center port on the AOS connects back to the intake like this.

GrimmSpeed was super generous and provided an extra foot or two of heater hose.  Thanks guys.  I would have preferred you provided the tee connector I had to go buy.

I also repaired he hose on the far right.  Mine case cut for some reason.

Project Domino: Short Shifter

We installed the Cobb short throw shifter the other day.  The cool thing about the Cobb part vs the rest, is that both the throw and the height are adjustable.  

If you want to see the details of how to install, you can check out Cobb's install guide.  Plus, there are probably 100s of YouTube videos as well.

The only odd thing that I would add is that they didn't include a fresh new bushing for the whole near the 'C', so I had to push out the old one an reuse it.  It got a little mangled in the process.  Also they didn't include any grease for the ball part, but I had some extra grease laying around from other parts.

Here is the old one with the cable removed.

The Cobb one in from the left side.

Here it is from the right side.

Also, some wiring progress has been made.

Project Domino: A Transmission Made Whole

We got around to replacing the extension case on the JDM 6-speed.  If you recall, the out put shaft part on the case was dented such that it impacted the seal's ability to seal in the oil.  We couldn't be 100% sure if it would be a problem down the road, but I feel better knowing oil will not be leaking out of the gear box.

If you recall this is what the dent looked like as posted up previously:

Here is the old case broken down:

Here is the replacement case with the internals swapped in:

A bead of Loctite sealant being applied:

Ever wondered what the DCCD looked like on the six speed?  Hint: it is the circular thing with a wire going into it.  I am not going to be buying the DCCD Pro for now, but I have been told that the DCCD will just run in automatic mode without it.

Here is the transmission sealed back up and ready to go.  Note: we also replaced the black seal on the end.  It would be silly to have to redo the whole job just to save a few bucks.

Next up, the transmission cradle will get reinstalled along with the drive shaft.  Note the Cusco transmission mount.  That should stiffen things right up.  That means the drive train is just about done. :)

Project Domino: GC vs GD Radiators

When we were dismantling Domino, Teryn pointed out that the radiator that domino had was for an automatic.  Aside from the stock radiator being already kind of small, it just wouldn't do to have another chunk of it not being used because it was sectioned off to cool an automatic transmission.  I've bought a few expensive name-brand radiators for my 92x paying $300-400 just to have it crack at the welds a year or two later (I am looking at you Koyo).

This time we are trying out CXRacing radiators.  We have a wholesale account, if you would like us to order you some of their products by the way.  First we ordered a GC8 "turbo" radiator from them which is no longer available.  The stock radiator is something like 27.5-28" wide.  Their GC8 radiator was like 29"+.  It would have fit if it weren't for the AC lines.  Also strangely it had no real mount point on the top of the radiator, nor did it have a radiator cap.  I think this is what they meant by "turbo."  I will reserve judgement.  It might be possible that it would work fine for a real JDM 2000 STI (GC8), but basically it wasn't going to work for Domino.

Here is some pictures of the "GC8 turbo" radiator from CXRacing that we will not be using.

Here are the weird top mount points it had.

You can see here it is at least 1" wider than stock.

The welds at least look decent.

Since there aren't anymore GC8 radiators, we decided to just go with a GD radiator from CXRacing.  I was actually pleasantly surprised.  The quality looked to be about as good as the Koyo radiator I installed last time in my other car, but about $200 cheaper.  Time will tell if it also performs well.  I wasn't sure if the old stock fans would work with this radiator, so I just ordered with the aftermarket fans and shroud.  Stock is probably better in this case, but I don't have any extra stock GD fans.

Here are some pictures of the CXRacing GD radiator:

Domino Milestone: Engine Install

We reached a milestone today, the motor got installed.  It went mostly painlessly except we put the Cusco motor mounts rotated 180 degrees.

Note: the STI billet aluminum oil filler cap, +5 whp. :)

Here she is with turbo and manifold all bolted up, and our awesome SteamSpeed 2.4" inlet tube installed.

Also, the wiring harness is almost completely merged except the fuel pump controller.

Here is a small fraction of the leftovers.

Next stop will be to replace the extension case on the transmission.  The pieces are starting to come together.

Getting the Engine Ready to Install

We decided that to day was a good day to get the engine off the old tire and on to the engine stand.  It was looking a little sad on the tire.

We were getting ready to install the Kinugawa twin scroll exhaust manifold, and we discovered two disappointing things: one of the runners on the right side was hitting both the oil pan and oil cooler, and the runners were actually about 3-5mm smaller in diameter than the stock manifold.  Why there would be fitment issues is a mystery to me since ostensibly this header is made precisely for JDM STI stock twin scroll engines like my version 8 ej207 motor.  We took it off and put the stock manifold back on.  We put the Kinugawa manifold in the corner to think about its short comings.

I snapped a pick of the OEM oil filter that was on the car when it was in Japan for posterity's sake.  Subaru PN 15208AA100.  After some quick searching on the Internet, these filters appear to be JDM only and are supposedly superior to the OEM blue filters.

I installed a cheap filter from O'Rilies that is intended for a USDM EJ205.  It seems to be fine.

Here is a close up of the Steam STX 71 twin scroll that we installed on the motor.

And then the STX 71 vs the stock IHI VF-37.

Here is the SteamSpeed silicone turbo inlet tube that will replace the smaller stock inlet.  FYI, the JDM STI stock inlet is larger that the USDM version.  I'll try to dig them up off of my shelf to show the comparison.

Wondered what the SteamSpeed AVCS oil feed lines look like?  Here it is installed on the Steam STX 71 turbo.

Here is a picture of the oversize intake ports of the version 8 ej207 heads to make USDM ej257 owners feel jealous.  :)