Westridge Speed Works 1998 Impreza Outback Sport Build [Archive]

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bergdh

08-16-2007, 05:02 PM

Well its been finalized! Just yesterday we where given a 1998 Impreza wagon by our new sponsor Zima Auto here in slc. They where kind enough to set us up well in this car that has only 79,250 miles on it. Currently, and sadly it has 3 (yes only 3) nokian snow tires in a 15 inch size and to our dismay a 14 inch all season on the right rear. The only good thing this has caused is that the car was given as needing some repairs due to a "bad shaking at 60 mph" and fortunatly not driven enough to send the drive line into traffic behind us and diff parts all over the freeway. A new set of wheels and tires has fixed this "vibration" just fine! Lucky for us! I will be sure to have some pictures up soon as well we would love to do any R&D or testing on any parts anyone would like to bestow upon us! :) For now the plan is to gut the insides and look for suspension options.

Ill keep you updated!

409industries

08-16-2007, 05:49 PM

Sounds like an awesome project. Of course ill be the first to ask about the pictures of this said beast! I too know the woes of a shaky car. I'm still trying to figure out WTF is up with my STi doing that... hopefully just a mucked up alignment.

I Like It Sideways

08-16-2007, 06:58 PM

Right on!! 2 different sized tires...thats classic!
Can't wait to see pictures!
What are you thinking in terms of suspension?

bergdh

08-18-2007, 09:44 AM

well im thinking tien, gravel spec. But from what I hear it can be pricy to get them shipped from japan. Otherwise it will be some other option from tien most likely. Any sugestions?

bergdh

08-27-2007, 10:43 PM

Well we had a little break on the weekend on the moding of our 98 obs. My son was born saturday morning and we spent the weekend in the hospital! Im super excited for him to be here, did you guys know sparco makes baby seats!?

We ordered 4 stock wrx wheels from our sponsor Discount Tire localy here in utah. We where able to get 4 wheels and 4 tires for less than $500! We went in the other day to test fit the 225/45/16 size which as you can see from the pictures fit really well. We might have a slight rub during hard turning over bumps but we plan to remove all of the wheel well plastic and remove any excess in the wheel wells. Other than that they fit tight and look good!

We went for the Hankook Ventus RS-2 tires, I had originaly planned the Nitto Invo after using the Nitto 555 on my Mazda with very good results. Why I decided to go with hankook is mostly for the good support they give Autox and Rallyx contingencys and just a chance to try something new. I will buy the Invo's next unless these hankooks overly impress me. At this time after reading some reviews on heat problems with the ventus rs-2's im skeptical as the invo's where given a better rating on heat, and overall. We may just need to get a tire sprayer to keep the temps down between runs for Autox.

Other than that I replaced the left rear shock assembly as it was completly broken off the top mount. When I first drove the car and turned right hard it made a loud klunk, and under the minor inspection I could visibly give, chalked it up to a pot hole or something. Once I tore out the interior plastic, and after a chuckle it was apparent the car has some rust issues (maybe a water damage rebuild? or the car is from massachusets?) Hopefully we wont have to many more issues with weakness and rust, a good visual underside inspection seems to point to we will have a hell of a time breaking some bolts loose, but should be structually sound.

We are still waiting for one of the stock wrx wheels to come in, but hopefully it will be up and running for the next Autox, and the next Rally!

Ill keep you posted!

http://a369.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/111/l_00ca099ed755d1797f8de814f5ad7378.jpg

http://a204.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/102/l_03e85287618132117c27afcc8fc8e1a3.jpg

http://a245.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/76/l_e15453750e0307b7e0f13c918649ca6c.jpg

bergdh

09-06-2007, 11:01 AM

Well after removing the interior of the car, for some reason I thought I would stay in our stock class in Rally and Auto x. Silly me, for the rest of the season I will be running a lighter stock Impreza in SM and MA. :shootsself: O well, we will just be a little slow until the engine swap and suspension is in.... :mrgreen:

Blix666

09-06-2007, 11:33 AM

(the car is from massachusets?)

WTF

:FU: :wink:

bergdh

09-06-2007, 11:38 AM

I just ment I think they pulled it out of the ocean its so rusted, and it has mass tags :)

BlueRu

09-06-2007, 10:03 PM

Nice pick-up. Cant wait to see what all you guys do to it after the swap! :D

bergdh

09-23-2007, 09:13 PM

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/Rally/DSCF3392.jpg

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/Rally/DSCF3394.jpg

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/Rally/DSCF3402.jpg

Not to bad on just the Hankook SR-2's, they actually do pretty well on the dirt, gravel its more like running on marbels.

Here are a few of the start of the interior tear out, Its mostly out now. A little tar left on the driver side to tear out and some hours of removing the residue from the tar and we should be ready to start painting. Im so excited I bought 4 cans of white the other day at wally word. 99 cent special!

On the way as well is a Cobb short shifter and Hardened bushings! Ill document that install a little better!

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/Rally/DSCF3404.jpg

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/Rally/DSCF3405.jpg

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/Rally/DSCF3406.jpg

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/Rally/DSCF3403.jpg

bergdh

10-05-2007, 09:59 AM

well im am super excited for tommorow! We have our first rally x event in utah in almost 3 months. My friend Jaron and I are co-driving the OBS, on his half life Hankook Ventus rally tires. The event shold be a good one. Its up north in a gravel pit. I have been out in a gravel lot by my house practicing my turns all week! It will be great to race on rally tires, whole world of difference over street tires! Wish us luck and Ill be sure to have pictures up on sunday!

Not All There

10-05-2007, 10:36 AM

welcome to the gutted interior club!

bergdh

10-07-2007, 03:56 PM

Well we had the first event in the OBS. It went really well. I tool 3rd place in M4, and the car actually took the top 3 positions. Jon "tigger" drove the car to 1st place, his first event in a AWD car. (Jon drives the yellow nissan, and broke it at the last CRS event a few weeks ago. So we offered up the car for him.) Jaron my Westridge Speed Works team mate drove the car to a secong place finish, and I third. I had the fastest run of the day till Jarons very last run, which took the fastest away from me. Im not sure if all regions time rally cross like we do ( all runs added together for your time?) but I started fast and as the course got deep and loamy, with some ruts almost 1 1/2 feet deep, they started throwing me around and unlike the FWD tracking I was used to the AWD would grab and throw me out of the ruts and almost off course into the cones. So in order to avoid a 10 second dnf/off course penalty, I had to reverse and correct. Robbed me of my good time! I need some more seat time in the ruts with AWD for sure!
(I take back what I said about skid plates being over kill for rally cross!) :oops: :oops:

I got a few pics before my camera died, we also have some video we will get up for sure!

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/DSCF3733.jpg

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/DSCF3732.jpg

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/DSCF3729.jpg

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/DSCF3727.jpg

Also we lost the lower bolt to the driverside front brake caliper so when you would hit the brake it would flip up and hit the wheel. We had to drive home about 100 miles on the freeway and down one of Utahs most deadly canyons without using and brakes! :shock: It was nuts! But we made it. We where in a little utah town and the local Auto Zone up there did not have any interest in helping us get home, Auto Zone is lame, and I will never shop there again. After giving me poor customer service the guy wanted to sign me up for thier rewards card.....ya right!? LAME!

sebhockey

10-07-2007, 04:26 PM

Nice pictures, sucks about losing the caliper bolt.

Blix666

10-07-2007, 04:28 PM

that's awesome that the OBS snagged all 3 podiums in your class! how many entries?

bergdh

10-07-2007, 04:55 PM

there where 4 entrants in M4

RoadRunner

10-08-2007, 07:57 PM

You should throw some strut tower bars on that, if you haven't already. They made a huge difference in body roll in my wagon, and they were only $55 shipped for both.

bergdh

10-15-2007, 07:51 PM

Im so excited for the instalation of our new part.....ill have some pics posted up tommorow!

bergdh

10-16-2007, 01:54 PM

Well here it is......

The Cobb Short shifter is by far the best shifter on the market period! Dont be fooled by the ebay special or any other. And I know you thinking short shifters are for ricers, not so. This shifter comes with adjustment for throw and shift nob height. The throw adjustment is where you can save your tranny while still getting the tight qucik feel! I was amazed at the difference. I love that you know for sure that its in gear and you know you can release the clutch pedal fast and hard and never grind the gears. Also the vibration feedback you get coming up the shifter is reduced by far.

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/Rally/DSCF3768.jpg
Show here fully installed in its shortest setting. The install took less than 30 min with only a few tools.

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/Rally/DSCF3749.jpg
First off you will want to remove the interior plastic, and center console until you have clear acsess to the shifter and the rusty looking plate. You will need to remover the shift nob by twisting to the left. Remove the shifter boot and you should be able to see everything as shown above. With our interior already removed we will just start by removing the shift nob.

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/Rally/DSCF3750.jpg
From here we will next need to remove the six philips head screws securing the rubber seal and the steel plate. We did this with a Drill and a little help to hold the screws as you reverse them out. They wont want to pull out and wont thread out so use some dykes or something else to give them a boost.

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/Rally/DSCF3751.jpg
You should be left with the rubber seal in place. Check it out for breaks or tears, alot of dirt can get in through here.

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/DSCF3753.jpg
Next we have to work on the steel plate. This is where the most time comes in and the most modifacations. This is a very important step as it will allow your shifter to work without any interference. In the upper left inside corner that curves down, we need to cut it back square to allow the shifter linkage room for the extra angle caused by the new shifter. We used a standard hack saw with the blade adjusted to let us cut without going all crazy. Use some problem solving here and im sure you can figure out the best way to cut it. Also when cutting be sure to use some sort of cutting fluid, we used wd-40, it will save you lots of time and makes it almost effortless. We also clamped it to a shop table so we can cut it straight and make it look good!

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/DSCF3754.jpg
This is what you should end up with. The metal is thin and will bend easily! Make sure you brace it so you dont destroy this piece.

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/DSCF3756.jpg
After its cut out take a file and clean up the edges, dull them down and you will thank youself latter when you dont bust your knuckles on it someday.

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/Rally/DSCF3751.jpg
Next remove the bolt that secures the linkage to the shifter. This should be a 12mm bolt. once its out pull the linkage away and make sure its free of the linkage so we can apply super human strength to "pop it out of joint" I did this by pulling up and leveraging back a little bit and it should pop out of the ball joint at the base of the shifter. Also I put the shift nob back on to help get something to grip on when pulling the shifter out. Just be carefull not to break the plastic joint it sits in! Use some strength and finesse rather than a bigger hammer here! After its out clean the joint in the top of the tranny, wipe out all the old grease and get it prepped for some new grease.

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/Rally/DSCF3761.jpg
Next you will want to pull out the bushing and the spacer in the center. The spacer should slide out, I used my finger nails to pull out the bushings. Clean these up and put them in the new shifter with a lite coat of grease.

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/Rally/DSCF3760.jpg
Shown here with the bushing in.

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/Rally/DSCF3762.jpg
Fill the joint up with some grease and grease up the ball on the end of the new shifter. From here you will need the assistance of a small hammer. I used a plastic mallet type. After its all greased up, place it in the joint and with one hand put downward preasure on the shifter while pounding on the top. Do this with the shift nob removed and ONLY USE A PLASTIC MALLET! Or else you will ruin the threads on the shift lever.
You will know when its in! (thats what she said! :) )

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/Rally/DSCF3763.jpg
Next Install the connecting bolt back through the shifter and make sure you have the throw setting already setup before you bolt it on. Taller on the Throw setting will make you tranny last longer, shorter = shorter life. Your choice. Also with this you can adj on the fly, so maybe one night you want short, go short, you want long go long. (one reason the COBB shifter is superior!) There will be a line cut into the shaft for the adjustment, this is the limit dont pull the shaft out past that or the bolt cannot clamp! Nothing like missing a shift cause the shift lever failed!

Once that is all adjusted tighten it down, and be carefull to not over tighten it! Especially on the small allen head bolt in the shifter, prob 7-10nm is fine.

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/Rally/DSCF3765.jpg
Next reinstall the steel plate we cut earlier and you can see where we needed to cut away the metal really helps! The six screws will never tighten so just snug them down and your almost done. Install your shift nob and set the adjustment for shifter height.

Clean up and go pull some short shifts! Try some different adjustments and find what works best for you. Also this would be a great time for Grimm Speeds Tranny Cocktail! Which will be the next purchase!

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/Rally/DSCF3767.jpg

bergdh

12-15-2007, 09:02 PM

I just finished painting one of the set of stock subaru wheels we just got from Discount Tire. I used aircraft remover to strip the old powder coating and used some wal mart brand flat black for primer, followed by the "ford blue" engine enamel. I think it will look pretty sweet with the new Hankook Ventus Rally tires which should be in soon!

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/Rally/IMAGE_204.jpg

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/Rally/IMAGE_202.jpg

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/Rally/IMAGE_203.jpg

subydrift

12-23-2007, 05:19 PM

Sweet build so far Berg! I can't wait to see it out at the URG rallies!

donutking

12-24-2007, 04:48 AM

looking good cant wait to see this car blosom as u mod it and post more pics.

Not All There

12-24-2007, 06:38 AM

nice write up!

wolfman79

12-24-2007, 10:56 AM

Subscribed

Good work so far, I'm taking notes if you don't mind.

bergdh

12-24-2007, 01:26 PM

Thanks!

Right now im stuck as to what to work on next, this winter I was going to completly rebuild the engine but my buddy pretty much talked me out of it and to go with a "if it aint broke dont fix it" approach. I think I wills start to work on the body and paint job next to get it at least looking good for next season. Redline Rally has been working on our sponsors stickers and those should be along soon, as soon as I fork over the mula! The proofs look great and Zima Auto liked them very much!

If we get a little warm spell here Ill start on the body work. I still need to do some more on the tar removal on the inside. Having a baby leaves you with like no time to do anything!

RenegadeOfFunk

02-26-2008, 01:02 AM

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/Rally/DSCF3402.jpg

It seems that almost every OBS, mine included, the back bumper is hanging off in the corner....:pissed:

bergdh

02-27-2008, 07:34 PM

Well after 2 weeks down and $400 buck latter my car is back and running. It took some amazing battle damage!

1. Front door pushed all the way backwards destroying the hinges, door and driver side 1/4 pannel.

2. B pillar used as red neck tow hook twisted.

3. Rear hatch lock latch used as red neck tow hook bent the rear door frame up and right.

4. Rear bumper bar twisted and rusted spots tore through.

5. Evap can near gas tank ripped off

6. Rear bumper plastic ripped off

7. Engine completly swamped

8. ECU fried

She now runs, a little rough but hey its a rally car and I expect it to work its way out.

I guess im glad this happend before the planned body work!

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/DSC_0451.jpghttp://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/DSC_0448.jpghttp://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/DSC_0447.jpg

nordicskiah

02-27-2008, 07:50 PM

ummm what happened here?
nice short shifter install too. check your photobucket images, they arent loading on my end

bergdh

02-27-2008, 08:21 PM

we where testing some dirt spots at miller motorsports park here in utah to hold a rallyx. my buddy was driving and I had the camera, I told him to drive over the ice and pull a nice drift. Mind you a week before I had been on this same spot and it was flat dirt! He drives onto the ice trys to turn on my summer tires and the abs just locks up. He ends up sliding straight for the hill and runs into it. The front end breaks through the ice and I just thought that it was a rut from the BFG Rallybuggys that had been out there last summer. No turns out all the snow melt filled the retention pond that was non exsistant the week before and this was the canal that feeds it. Eventually the front end sank into 3 feet of water and I had over a foot of water inside the whole car.

Also I had no tow hooks on the rear end so we had no way to pull it out. Ended up putting the chain through my wheel and pulling it out that way which bent the control arms on the left side a bit.

04caliwrx

02-27-2008, 11:03 PM

those look more like street tires, not dirt tires lol. How do they work out for you/

bergdh

02-27-2008, 11:08 PM

ha ha ya they are Hankook Ventus RS-2's We where testing the track surface for some stuff that day and with the temp at about -10 rally tires would have been as good as hockey pucks!

bergdh

04-21-2008, 07:48 PM

Well we just got a new upgrade! So long to the OBS. That project will become parts and spares for the new RS rally car!

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd285/bergdh/IMAGE_016.jpg

Im super excited about this car! After all its my favorite! Zima Auto will finish up some frame and structural fixing and then we will get to go to work on the engine and body. I couldn't tell today if the timing belt was broken or not, but the passenger side of the frame hit the timing cover and valve cover and broke some of that. Hopefully the timing belt never broke so we dont have to look at the valves and head.

More to come!

04trailsti

06-11-2008, 05:07 PM