Most Liked Content

This tutorial is to show you how to prepare your vehicle for a respray. This is just the bodywork involved in "preparing your canvas" for lucious shiney to be applied.

DISCLAIMER:
This tutorial is written by myself using knowledge I have gained by doin this to my own vehicle. I have absolutely no formal training. This knowledge was gained through asking questions, Google research, and just giving it a go.
Screwing it up is a perfectly acceptable result. You can learn from it and know not to do it that way again.

Step 1: Decision time
Many decisions must be made before you venture into it. Once you have started along this road, many professionals you may turn to if you give up will charge you extra to "undo" the work you have begun.
Some decisions could be:
- Will it be a bare metal respray? (Hardly necessary on a vehicle under 40 years old.)
- Will I be using a primer filler? (Thoroughly recommended for a little extra price, it's much more forgiving for amateurs.)
- Any areas you won't be painting? (Trust me, you do not want to sand an area by accident you didn't want painted.)

Step 2: Inspection
Take your time with this step. You need to find any imperfection on the body that will need repairing BEFORE the paint flys. Nothing is more aggrevating than finding a dent after you have applied the product.
Grab a flashlight and get on your knees at the corner of the car. Moving the beam very slowly down the side of the vehicle will show the little blighters that need filling.

Repeat for each panel from various angles and circle them with a marker of some sort. Then take a photo of them all as you will be sanding the circle off when you go about repairing.
If you have a fetish like myself, you can also turn off all light sources and run your hand down the side. Without visibility, the imperfections are very obvious to the touch.

Step 3: Paint rape!!
This bit actually hurts me a tad just to think about.
It's sanding time *shudder*
Grab yourself some harsh sandpaper. 60-120 grit as you will want that paint absolutely annihilated for the bog to bond with.

Be sure to sand a good sized area around the dent as well and you do not have to be pedantic about sanding direction for this. That comes later.
Give it a bloody good wipedown with some Wax and Grease Remover and consider this step complete.


Step 4: Filling the dent
Mix your bog as per the manufacturer's directions. If you think the weather may affect setting times, adjust your time rather than the mix.

Video rental cards are great for mixing it due to flexibility. You must fold the 2 compounds together, not stir them. Stirring creates air bubbles in the bog that appear as voids once dry.
Smear the mix into the hole. Start a couple of inches ooutside the dent and work it in with quite a bit of force to ensure it gets into all the scratches from sanding.

Once you have filled the dent, use your "scraper" to work it well in. This means considerable pressure when smearing left to right, then right to left. Same again up and down and vice versa.



Step 5: Finishing the repair
Allow the bog to dry. I prefer overnight as I am usually drunk as an Irishman by now.
Then grab your block of wood (if dent on flat panel)and your savage 120 grit. Rub that patch like a teen who just found Brazzers.com. When it is approaching flat, switch to a smoother grit, ie 240. Then a 320, 500, etc.


OR You could just make sure it's flat and shaped and choose to use a primer filler. This means it doesn't have to be perfect as the thicker primer gives some "forgiveness".

If the patch is on a curved panel, a thick piece of rubber gasket available from a machinery engineering shop is ace.

Step 6: Rest of the vehicle
You are now ready to sand the rest of the vehicle.
To get through the tough clearcoat, start with 80 grit on an electric or DA sander. You can then follow up with 320 grit straight away.

If using primer filler, wash that baby down with dish washing liquid and a high pressure hose and you are now ready to fire up the compressor for painting.

If you are using a standard primer, you need to follow up the 320 with 500, 800, then 1500 before paint can be applied. (It's about now that you wish you had gone for the primer filler. )

Thus concludes the tutorial for body prep. Get a few brews, a few mates, and some filthy epic mixes on the speakers; and enjoy it. Sanding does feel like an uber-drag but once you fire up that gun, a real sense of achievement comes over you and it's all worth it.

I hope this helps you out. Any questions, feel free to ask and I will try to answer them. No promises though, as you can see from my first attempt, I'm not a pro.

Just checking that I've got the forum set up correctly, and that you guys have noticed this feature:

At the bottom right of EVERY post on the forum, you should see little + and - buttons (red and green); click the green to vote up, the red to vote down. This should eventually create a heirarchy of very helpful posts, and crap we should ignore (not that we need to click that one much these days).

In short, if someone posts something you think is helpful, insightful or something you found useful, give it a vote if you feel that way inclined. Reward good posting Also works if someone is posting unhelpful crap that doesn't quite deserve a warning or report.

Note that you can also vote people on their profiles. Think someone is a star member? Give 'em five stars.

(As an extra bonus, I'm sure everyone's spotted that you can add 'friends' on the forum - once it gets big, it's a good way to keep track of the people you get along with the most.)

While you're changing the fuel pump, you may also want to consider this simple mod:

Anyone running extensive mods in their normally stock standard wrx or upgrading their fuel pump to the ever popular Walbro 550hp pumps should consider this simple mod

The factory fuel pump feed wires have a voltage drop of 0.2 - 0.3V from the relay to the fuel pump, losses also occur between the two or so connector plugs: one behind the kickpanel and the other under the rear seat - this is more a problem in older V1/2 WRX and BC legacys. Even Link ECU have identified this problem, and there is a suggested fix in their instruction manuals for the possumlinks.

Step 1: locate the relay and the feed line, usually black with either a yellow or red stripe, cut as close as possible to relay plug and attach a 8 gauge or 10 gauge wire. It wouldn't hurt to also obtain a clean power feed straight from battery to relay (fused about 30A or so).

Step 2: cut the factory pump feed wires after the plug so as to minimise the connections and the length of the higher resistance factory wiring. i have used bullet terminals here for ease of connection, butt connectors are just as good - i do not recommend soldering 8 gauge wire, unless you have a blowtorch or similar - dry joints do not conduct as well. Run the ground wire to a clean metal point and keep as short as possible - it is ok for the ground to be slightly thicker than power (but not vice versa).

From this simple mod (about $5 in cables & connectors), the fuel pump gets a clean 13.56V feed. Prior to this i was only getting about 12.83V - sometimes less. This voltage should be at least 13.5V. But in some cases this isn't always possible.

The factory fuel pump draws about 4 amps continously, but having thicker wires can't hurt.

Note how thin the factory wires are in comparison




Meter the voltage at this plug end where I have put the red and black wires, before & after - you may be surprised.

ok, with the track day looming I thought I'd post up a few tips on preparing the car for a playday. Take the time to prepare your car and you'll get so much more outta the day! For those of you with track experience feel free to add your wise words. I'm keeping to the basics

Brakes
Brake fade going into a corner at speed is farkin scary shit believe me. Your average road pad is just gona crumble on the track so my advice is ditch em.........they're a liability.
You must have pads that can withstand the heat generated by hard braking at speed every 10-15 secs. This is regardless of whether ur running 2 pots or 4 pots on the front.

Bendix Ultimates and Zenoeilli SP 500s are two types of pads that are often marketed as high performance street and can in my opinion also double as 'entry level' pads for the track (for Playday purposes anyway). Plenty of people have used these pads at Playdays and found them adequate. Yes there are heaps more different types but you don't need to go breaking (good pun huh) the bank for race pads. High performance street or entry level track pads will be fine.

Match ur pads up to a freshly skimmed set of rotors and ur nearly set to go. The other thing I would recommend is doing a brake bleed and replacing the fluid with new stuff. RBF 600 is a common choice but there are others as well. See the DOBC workshop thread for some good tips on fluid change

http://www.dirtyolbc...-dobc-workshop/

When you come in from your 6 or so hotlaps and line up again you don't wana put your handbrake on straight away (or at all). Your pads will be sizzling hot. Let them kool down so they don't stick to your rotors. It's common to see people pushing their cars forwards and backwards for a few minutes to make sure the pads don't stick to the rotors

Right.......so that's the basics of brakes covered. There's other shit you can do but I'm just focusing on basic stuff

Tires
Road tires will get you through a Playday but they will get chewed the fuck up especially if you attack the corners hard. A playday will scrub off 6 months worth of road tire rubber depending on how you drive in the corners.
If you have spare rims and can get ur hands on a cheap set of tires then this may be the way to go if you want to preserve your good road rubber. The other alternative is to ease up in the corners.

Do some research on what kind of tire pressures to run but on average you can expect your pressures to go up 8-10 psi from cold........... so factor this in and monitor it every time you come in from the hotlaps. Tire pressure gauges can be brought for as little as $10. Handy to have on the day

Oil leaks and oil
Check your car over for oil leaks beforehand. We all know where the typical ones come from so get in there and fix em up now. There's nothing worse than having to stop the track day because some fucktard spilled oil all over the track. You'll become very famous very quickly and for all the wrong reasons if that fucktard is you!

I run Castrol Edge 10/60 because at high temps it holds its viscosity and doesn't thin out too much...............but once again there are plenty of good alternatives out there. Do some research and ask around. Gated sumps and baffled sumps are a bonus if you can afford them. They are designed to reduce oil splash (baffled) and keep oil around the pick up (gated) at all times thus saving you from the dreaded BEB!.......especially when you've got some G force going on in the corners. The BEB of course, is the Achillies heel of any Subaru hitting corners at speed......especially those long gradual corners that force the oil to the corners of your sump!

Some people like to run 500ml extra oil as an added (but not 100% guaranteed) precaution against the dreaded BEB! Check you car for oil leaks every time you come in. Another common leak on the BC/BF5s is the power steering cap. The seal on the factory cap isn't that great especially when the oil's heated up and under pressure. I've changed my power steering unit for a later model one with a better cap.

Tow hooks
Most BC/BF5's have the front tow loop but having one on the rear is good as well in case you go nose first into the kittly litter. It's just easier to hook you up from behind and tow you out that way. If you do have one or are planning to put one on the rear then make sure the hole is big enough to accept a tow hook. Good idea to carry a D shackle in case the tow hook doesn't quite fit your loop.

Feel free to ask questions and post up useful hints for first timers

We can help you with your problem, but we can't help you with your own stupidity lol

Here's our yearly refresh of things you can do on DOBC aside from post. IPB is bloody awesome forum software, and there are a lot of features newer members may not yet be aware of.

1) Add friends. Members you talk to a lot, really like or otherwise want to watch closely can be added as friends; you will see a list of these on your profile as you add them.

2) Report a member. The opposite of a friend. If you feel someone is truly not behaving as part of the community, or is actually a spammer rather than a genuine member, you can report their account rather than just their posts.

3) Add a profile picture. This is bigger than your little user image; most people make it a wee bit more personal.

4) Post status updates on your profile. Works in a similar way to Facebook.

5) Add comments to someone's profile. Kinda like a PM, but viewable by everyone (and hence public).

6) Add or subtract reputation points on posts. This is a big one! If you think someone made a useful, insightful or otherwise brilliant post, you have the power to give them a + (note the little + and - marks on the bottom right of posts?)... if you think they've made an incorrect, abusive or otherwise unhelpful post that brings down conversation, you can vote the post down. Each vote contributes to a member's reputation.

7) Become a paid member. This year the annual fee will be $15, and 100% of that goes back into supporting the site with things like hosting, domain registration, software upgrades for the forums, pre-ordering DOBC apparel, etc. The advantage is pretty blue rank pips and access to new forums, and when they come, access to DOBC car stickers.

There are plenty more features here, but that should cover it for now. There are many more in the pipeline as the site grows too, so stay tuned and enjoy The Brown Side

The shuddering is most likely due to you changing the pads back to your ultimates.
IMO those marks are probably not heat spots, they look more like pad material build-up to me, which is getting left on the discs once you have started driving on them with the different pads.
The pagids would have left a transfer layer of pad material on your discs, this is how they work, and this is part of what is achieved in the bed in proceedure. Now that you have changed back to your other pads, the transfer layer is being worn off by the different compound pads trying to establish their transfer layer, and this can cause high spots and the shuddering you are experiencing.
Thats why if you are swapping between pads for street and track, its best to have another set of discs as well.
Next time you chuck the pagids in, you may have the same problem again, plus you will also need to re-bed them in to the discs for them to work as effectively as before.

Hope that is of some help Joe - I could be wrong about the probs with your discs, but I have seen similar before so just thought I would share my view

In regards to the cheap discs, I used cheap no name discs with my Brembos for many seasons of racing. This is with Endless race pads and they seemed to last pretty damn well, with one set of discs doing 2 seasons! BUT, to be fair the Brembo sized discs are a lot larger and can handle heat better so the same may not be said about the smaller 294mm disc - I know that I cracked 2 sets of Znoelli 4 pot/294mm rotors in the first event I used them on - probably comes down to how you use the brakes though (and I am most likely too hard on my brakes! lol gotta make up time somewhere!).

The best thing you can do to make your brakes last longer when using them on the track is to add brake ducting - this will make your discs, pads, and fluid last a WHOLE lot longer.

The oil problem starts being more prominant when you take your car on the track... basically the Subaru heads cannot drain excess oil back to the sump fast enough, so the oil has nowhere to go except being blown out the breather ports on the heads. As Joe would have recently discovered, Manfeild is really bad for this, and the quicker you end up going, the more oil you will see blown into your catch can. Mainly due to the high speed right hand corners, so the oil is getting stuck in the left hand head and blown out that breather. And it is oil in this case, not oil mist... I used to pour the contents of my catch can straight back into the engine after each race! It was still perfectly clean.

If you have space, you can do as Ichi/Rick suggested with having 2 catch cans and the lines running to opposite sides of the car, so the flow of oil is going against gravity. Hopefully this results in less oil in the cans, I have seen pics of a few overseas subbie track cars running this set-up.

Another option is to just run the single catch can, and then depending on which track you are running on, block the outside head breather (hose with a bolt in the end). Manfeild, Puke, Hamptons = block LH head breather, Taupo = block RH head breather. This was suggested to me by the guy that drives the car that tintins mechanic built - and he knows a thing or 3 This is how I ran my car for a couple of season.

I have now made quite a complex catch can system which results in only condensation in my catch can, no mass amounts of oil at all anymore... its ugly as though, but who cares - it works!
It consists of a tank which sits in the centre of the engine above the inlet manifold. I have added 1 extra port to each of the rocker covers (which are unbaffled) and then all 4 rocker cover ports (2 baffled factory ones, and the 2 unbaffled ones I added) are plumbed into the centre tank, along with the main crank case breather. There is a baffle plate inside that seperates the upper and lower parts of the tank which has a few holes drilled in it, and in the upper part there is a large port with a hose connected that joins to the main external catch can (mounted on LH strut tower).
Heres how it works... oil is blown out the breathers on one side (eg: LH side when going around Dunlop @ Manfeild) and goes into the centre tank, when the car gets back onto the straight, the oil can then drain back down whichever path it chooses - usually the easiest option is to go back down the unbaffled ports that I added to the rocker covers. If for some reason there is a really large amount of oil being blown out, any excess that cant be contained in the centre tank can escape through the holes in the baffle plate, and then go into the external catch can.
I cant take credit for this idea though, it was suggested to me by Al Maclennan at Macbilt, and is the same system he runs on Colin Parkins GT2 Subaru. Does the job pretty damn well... just a shame it makes the ugly subaru engine bay look even more ugly!



A single catch can, and blocking the outside breather should do the job 90% of the time though (can even add a drain back to the sump line from the bottom of the can if you like). But if you are going to run full slicks, the grip levels go up a few notches, so there is more potential for a higher volume of oil to be blown out, so maybe at that stage considering a set-up similar to mine would be a good idea.

So I decided to change the fuel pump in the wagon, after having experienced fuel-pump failure previously...these pics are taken when I did the coupe, but the basic concepts are the same.

Here goes:

Tools required:
No.2 philips screwdriver
6mm blade screwdriver
long nosed pliers
8mm socket, 1/4" is best
side cutters, butt crimp terminals, crimping tool
cable ties

Step 1.
Locate factory fuel pump location, usually in the boot drivers side. Remove the cover by taking out the 4 philips No.2 screws



Step 2.
Use the long nose pliers to remove the clips holding the hoses on and push them aside, the fuel feed line is usually a clip-lock fitting; use pliers to hold clip and wedge with flat screwdriver. Use the screwdriver to wedge the plug clip and unplug also. The middle hose is fuel return (to tank) and top is fuel tank breather.
These differ on the older model BC legacys: the bottom is the return, middle is feed (screw type hose clamp used), and top is breather. And all are push-in fuel hoses.


Step 3.
Remove the 8mm bolts being careful not to drop them. Lift the pump out adn tilt it slightly to the side so the level float does not get caught


Step 4.
Take complete assembly and work outside. It is a good idea to use the metal cover over the tank to stop dust getting in. Use pliers and move clips aside and slide off stock pump - the aftermarket ones fit on in the same manner. For the Ver 3/4 WRX and earlier models with the fatter style pump you need to cut the wires and crimp them to the aftermarket pump. Ver 5/6 WRX and above the factory plug fits straight into a Walbro pump (not sure if other pumps are the same, but Walbro seem a popular aftermarket choice). Use cable ties to hold the wiring in place and stop it rubbing against the sharp edges of the mounting bracket. I used a large cable tie at the base as wel to hold in place as the stock rubber bung was too big.


Here is a picture of size comparison between the stock V3/4 pump and the aftermarket one:


Step 5.
Drop the pump back in. Put the 8mm bolts in first and then the hoses and clips, the feed line should lock in place with a click - give it a few pulls to ensure a tight fit (the earlier models V1/2 use a scew type hose clip for this - and the feed line is the middle one). Make sure it's plugged in and put the cover back on... and seats back in

use a smaller dai steering wheel.............instant quick rack lol

On my BL, I found road pads ok with slotted discs. Basically when pads get hot, the materials inside the pad expel gas. Its this gas that gives you the firm pedal but little or no response from the brakes. Its because the pad is literally floating on a layer of gas between the pad and disc. The slots give the gas somewhere to go.

Also make sure your cooling system is in top notch condition, as its going to take a beating on the track.

Hi

Anyone know which fuse is the fuel pump fuse on my wagon (see attached image)? I am selling it, and have it on display away from me during the day, but scared it will be stolen. It is alarmed, but would feel safer if the fuel pump was also disabled.



Cheers
Rayden

As my wheel nuts were not the easiest to wind on I decided to hit them with a tap and die,

What you need:

M12 x 1.25 tap
M12 x 1.25 die
Some form of lube/ greese, I would use a greese base over crc or wd40.
Socket to the size of your wheel nuts



Remove wheel an spray studs with your lube and CAREFULLY wind your die onto the studs, wind it about 1/4 to 1/2 way down and back off to prevent the die clogging up, ( may have to do this a few times depending how bad they are.) becarful not to cross thread it,





Next is the wheel nuts.

Place your wheel nut into your socket and spray with greese,



Insert the tap into the nut ( this is easy to cross thread so be very careful doing it,) with the same process wind it in 1/4 to 1/2 way in and reverse, my nuts were full of paint so I took it right out and cleaned the tap .



Continue to wind it all the way through as far as you can.



I did this a couple of times spraying new grease in each time to make it clean,

Before doin this I would be lucky to hand wind them on half way, now I can get them all on the whole way.

If your in Auckland and wish for me to do this we could arrange something at some point.

Find a bolt on the car that has a 12mm socket head

Unless it is a NON vehicle one then it will have a 13mm head.
The correct way to describe bolts is the thread diametre and the thread pitch followed by the bolt length from the underside of the head.
there is NO other way to describe bolts, Head size is never correct as a say 10mm bolt can have a 17mm/16mm or 14mm head depending on usage.
So when Boostin said a M8 bolt then you are looking for a bolt that has a thread diametre of 8mm and a pitch of 1.25 mm ( the most common size of 8mm bolt )

So while one person loosened the nipple, another got a turn sitting in the seat just doing slow gradual depressions of the pedal (as opposed to hard stomping, holding and releasing the nipple)......maybe 8 -12 of these for each corner and when the person at the hub end thought the new fluid was thru, the driver would hold the pedal down while the nipple was nipped up. We repeated that process until we all had a turn doing both.











so once that was done...........it was wheels back on and torqued up



Compulsory bevy and shite talking time



Overall a damn good session and we all came away with some practical useful tips that we didn't have before! ...........Big ups to Ichi again. If I've missed anything feel free to post up

I'll be inviting ideas for the next workshop soon

Piston material development has come a lot further than this thread suggests eg: Piston noise on start up.

The Germans have brought better materials for Forged pistons (to allow a higher silicon rate) for quite some time now. As many of their top level engines utilize Forged pistons.

My own MAHLE forged pistons have little or no sound on cold starts. And (by opinion) some of the quietest available. These by silicon content are considered a Eutectic piston (over 12% silicon)

The popular opinion of forged pistons as they will resist detonation better than a Cast/Hyper-eutectic piston. I would argue that you should not have any detonation in your tune at all.

Weight was a consideration for my choice as the MAHLE's were a 100 grams lighter than the RS type RA forged pistons that they were replacing.

Lighter reciprocating mass as well as piston design has many benefits to longevity and engine response.

With an 80hp increase over stock engine output, you could look into Forged pistons. But there is no reason a properly tuned engine could do these numbers with a cast piston.

Hyper-eutectic pistons contains even more silicon in its composition; something like 16-18% making them brittle in strength but allow a lighter piston and reduced piston ring groove wear.

Alloy radiators: Lasts as long as the Kardashian's marriage.

I just wanted to publicly acknowledge that Ryan (boostin) is an absolute legend.

Not only did he let us stay at his place last week, but he put up with 3 nights of us rebuilding the rally car in the driveway, stealing his parts, making a big mess and pissing off his neighbours....

I doubt we would have made it back into the event on the 2nd day without all your help, we really do appreciate it mate. If theres anything I can ever do in return, just sing out.

The worst part is I of course had to go and biff the car on the last day and undo everyones hard work.

Vivian

Joe, from your list of requirements, the "not breaking the bank" is going to be the hardest part.
Unfortunatly, the real good track pads are very pricey - and from memory, you would be looking at *minimum* $250-$300 for a set of front pads to suit the 4 pot Subaru calipers.

Trust me, I know it can be a hard thing to do to part with that much cash on some brake pads (and I cringe everytime I need new pads as they cost HEAP$ for my calipers ), but honestly, the difference they make is amazing, and well worth the money spent.

I rate Endless pads really highly (Specifically the N35s competition compound).
If you dont want to go to a full race compound pad, then look at the Endless MX72. Its a fast road/track compund which should serve your needs (and will be cheaper than the competition pads).
I have found the Endless pads to last really well and not eat rotors too badly - there is always going to be some wear to your rotors, but the Endless seem to be less harsh than other brands I have used.
Some of the others I have tried are Pagid, Mintex, Ferodo - They all worl really well, but I always come back to Endless as they seem to last the best and give the best, most consistant pedal feel (even when they are getting low).

Check out: www.endless-sport.co.nz and maybe drop Richard an e-mail letting him know the details of your car and what you do with it and he can make a suggestion as to what the best pad compound would be for you.

I've re-registered two dead cars in the last few years, both of them Gen 1 Legacys. The process for the BF wagon was painful, considering I'd owned it for five years and driven it for two years before giving it to my son. He let the rego lapse in spite of my reminding him to put it on hold. Grrr.

Anyhooo, I booked it into the local VTNZ after talking to the manager about the VIN process. I should perhaps mention that I'd dealt with these guys for several years. I should also mention that it didn't help me one iota. He explained that the test for pre-1990 cars is essentially just a more detailed WOF, whereas the test for post-1990 cars involves stripping the interior, pulling the inner guard liners out, and pulling the brakes apart. Any evidence of corrosion or previous repairs are referred to a specialist independent inspector, who then determines what is required to bring the car up to an acceptable standard. He may also determine that the car is beyond reinstatement and refuse to pass the car.

In the case of the BF7, the VTNZ guy picked up on a previous repair to the front r/h corner, and referred me to an inspector, even though It was obvious that the repairs had been done years earlier. It's all fair game to these guys. So, I contacted an inspector and had a chat to him (This all costs extra, of course!). We arranged to meet at a local garage with a hoist, and he took one look at the chassis rail and said, "this won't ever be going back on the road!" When I pointed out that the same VTNZ had happily issued WOFs for the same car for the previous few years, he just fobbed that off and told me that a VIN inspection was a whole different ballgame. He was convinced that the chassis was bent, and almost as an afterthought got his measuring gear out to check it. He was shocked when it measured millimeter-perfect. He agreed to allow a local panelbeater to tidy the offending chassis rail up a bit, after which the car was passed. Ironically, this is the car I subsequently wrote off a few months later.

When we got the VIN for the BC Crowesport, we found a more reasonable VIN guy on the recommendation of a friend in the car importing business. That car was considerably easier to get through the process, and only required a new pair of brakepads 'cos they were too worn. Piece of cake by comparson . . . .