Subiesport Magazine - June/July 2008 - (Page 38)

more details to sort. First, we had a whole set of gauges from Auto Meter. They had sent us their Nexus gauges, which are fully electronic, color shifting and really cool. We had made some gauge pods for it, but had not wired or installed them. The reason for this was that we were planning on also installing an AEM standalone system. However, with little time remaining, we decided to leave this and install it later. We did not want to install the gauges twice since wiring in the AEM would mean rewiring the gauges, so the gauges sat in their pods dormant. In the meantime, a Rallitek Perfect Power 6 would have to do for engine management. At this time we also installed a set of 2005 2.5RS seats, a leather shift boot and a new shift knob. What we were lacking was a paint job, and with only a week to go, I decided I would spray the car in my garage. The less that is said about this paint job, the better. But to illustrate just how wrong things had gone, it was now 40 degrees Fahrenheit in my garage, I had never painted a car before, and I had never mixed paint. It did not go well. Between all the runs, orange peel and other flaws, the car looked bad to say the least. But it had to get to SEMA. So with the paint this side of dry, I hopped in and drove to Fleet Signs and Graphics, so that they could install 48 hours worth of stickers in just under 12. We added a few touches to the stickers along the way to try to hide the hideous paint job. This did not work out so well. In the end, the truck driver loading the car onto his truck would prevent the car going to SEMA 2006 when he rammed the front lip into a winch on his truck. This was a blessing in disguise, as the car clearly was not ready for the show. However, the story does not end here. Just after SEMA 2006 was the first running of Subiefest, where 38 JULY 2008 The knocking that we heard turned out to be a broken cam-cap bolt. the car sat on display in all its home-painted and broken-nose glory. While the plan was to run the car around the track, there were a few problems with this. First was the fact that the monster 18-inch Konigs wrapped in 235-wide Nitto race rubber was in no way going to fit under the slab-sided fenders. Two, a freak crash closed the track before the car could turn a wheel. This was also a blessing in disguise, at least for the ill-fated Legacy, as on the way home from the track the car started making an ominous knocking sound. Normally when something like this happens, you pull over, shut down and call AAA. However, I was at least 100 miles from home, and it was night with no AAA, so I had to press on. Early the following Monday I drove the car back to RalliTek for a diagnosis. Sure enough, the car was knocking; no, they could not pinpoint it; yes, the motor would have to come out. With a heavy heart I drove the car, gingerly, up to the barn/shop of MazdaSport editor Jeff Zurschmeide, where I would pull the motor to send it back to Crawford for analysis. This I did with a severe sinus infection, not fun when trying to work on a car. Still, I made it through with a mix of Advil and cold beer at the end of the day. A cold beer makes a great ice pack when you are trying to relieve the pressure on your head; plus, it has the added effect of getting you good and drunk so that you can pass out. O.K., it isn’t the healthiest way of beating the flu, but it worked. With the motor out and the engine back at Crawford, there wasn’t much I could do, and the car sat while other projects got priority and the engine was torn down, inspected and rebuilt. The knocking that we heard turned out to be a broken cam-cap bolt. Apparently these can break from time to time, and we just happened to have one of those engines. Further digging found that a tuning issue we had been having had washed the cylinders with fuel and the rings had scuffed the bores; not good. Furthermore, the oil pickup tube had a hole in it and was not getting sufficient oil to the bearings which were chewed up as well; again, not good. So it

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Subiesport Magazine - June/July 2008

Subiesport Magazine - June/July 2008 Contents Editor Letters Readers’ Rides Subaru News Fresh Squeezed Hell's Legacy Under the Radar Project GT Rebuild New Engine AVO 420 Turbo Perrin Intercooler Rally Like a Rockstar Rally Jordan Adventure WRC Rally Argentina WRC Rally Jordan WRC Rally d’Italia Sardegna Where to buy Subiesport WRC2008 Debut Rally America: Olympus Ad Directory Rally America: Oregon Trail Spotted!

Subiesport Magazine - June/July 2008

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