Spuds' Vroom Machine

[Spuds]

So, I've been still hearing a hissing sound on throttle. Went looking for leaks. I found one (I think ?) at the donut gasket, probably because I just reused the original. Maybe it's time for a catback since I gotta get a gasket anyway

Also, the fix for the undertray didn't hold. Thinking of trying out JB Weld fiberglass wrap to hold it. Or maybe I should just give in and get another one.

[Spuds]

So it turns out the front pipe flange is very pitted where the donut gasket seals, or doesn't seal in this case. Cleaned it up as best I could with a file, but getting it actually flat is going to take precision grinding/machining. I of course did the logical thing and tried some high temperature rtv. Waiting for that to cure, hopefully it works.

[cmiovino]

Originally Posted by Spuds

I of course did the logical thing and tried some high temperature rtv. Waiting for that to cure, hopefully it works.

It should. Mine wasn't that bad, but my Borla catback wasn't sealing with the stock donut gasket. Tried a replacement, new Felpro one. Same issue. Tried adjusting the spring bolts around, etc. Nothing worked.

I used Permatex red gasket maker. Slathered the donut gasket in it, tossed it, clamped it down, and waited 24 hours. Perfect seal.

I was actually under my WRX today and the previous owner installed a Cobb turboback over 10 years ago. Glanced to see if there was any gasket maker. Sure enough, there were traces of it.

If I ever do any exhaust installs in the future, I'll be using some sort of gasket sealer. I've sort of always been against it because the gasket should seal itself, right? But it just works. At least a little pinch doesn't hurt.

[Spuds]

Well that worked for about 2 minutes. Or there's another leak. It's really not that bad I tell myself. I'll figure it out eventually.

The other thing I did was make another attempt at repairing the transmission cover undertray. Used some jbweld fiberweld in segments /layers. It was about as frustrating as I remember composite layups being from 15 years ago but it seems like it will work. Hardens well with a strong bond, drillable, cutable, sandable which is good cause I had to do all that to make stuff fit. Rated for 400°F, should be fine on the left center hole, a bit away from the exhaust. Stuck some gorilla tape around it because it seemed like the thing wmto do. Next time I just try to order a replacement...

[Spuds]

Long time no update.

Last time I adjusted height was way back here:
https://www.ft86club.com/forums/show...&postcount=128

That's roughly 352mm. Now my ride heights are 336F/342R (ignore any other measurements I posted, these are actually correct)

Looks like the car settled 16mm (over 0.5"!) for one reason or another. Very good to know for future reference. Was wondering why I was plagued by inconsistent understeer this year. Not sure if this is normal...

[Spuds]

Ok learned some hard lessons about roll center. At the lower-than-expected ride height, the car would be really lazy up front and not really fun to drive at all, then understeer as it leaned over and lost camber.

Raised to a new empty ride height to 341mm front and 345 rear, offset a bit side to side to account for my fat arse. With my weight in the driver's seat it's at 339mm front and 341mm rear.

Also installed a Perrin 16mm rear bar at medium setting, replacing my 14mm stock bar. Geometry on the medium setting looks identical to stock btw.

Went for a drive and the car drives completely differently now. Much more neutral at street levels of speed at least, and the front end is now quite quick. It even solved some of my low speed turning inconsistencies. Might have not needed the rear bar even. I'll see how it goes at the next event, but may dial it back to the soft setting assuming the endlink geometry will accommodate it. I might also lower the front 1mm at the same time just for visual flatness when I have a passenger lol.

Still needs an alignment but the car is fun to drive again!

[Spuds]

Ok so new ride height and alignment numbers, millimeters from center of wheel to arch, and degrees:

Empty, no trunk junk, 1/4 tank of gas:
FL: 341.5 FR: 339.5
RL: 347 RR: 345

F Toe: 0
R Toe: -.01 (out)
F Camber: -4/-3.8
R Camber: -2.2/-2.1

---------------------------------------
Plus 200lb driver weight:
FL: 338 FR: 338.5
RL: 341 RR: 342

F Toe: 0
R Toe: +0.01 (in)
F Camber: -3.9
R Camber: -2.3

Interesting notes:
-Looks like with standard 7k/7k rates on the T2s, the front lowers at ~50% the amount of the rear when front seat(s) is occupied.
-Not entirely sure how I gained camber going higher in the front, but maybe something else was going on with ride height last I did an alignment.
-Goes around corners way better this way.

Also ran the Perrin 16mm rear bar on medium.

Overall this setup felt really good at my last AX. Might drop the rear bar down to soft though, as I got just a bit more oversteer tendency than I wanted. It was fast enough for a top 10 raw time though so I'm pretty happy.