shralp

Still mulling around a documentary on your Thunderhill attempt if you guys end up putting it together...

Yeah Gator would be a fun day either for sure, I'll most likely do it. At least the HPDE/test and tune on Saturday. The price is cheep! Surgeline is backed up with projects so my 6 speed swap will be another 10 days or so but then I'm (hopefully) good to go for the season.

I wonder if I could enter in the enthusiast class or if I'd have to bump up to the street class, will have to dig into the fine print. Hmmm, looked at the fine print further. Looks like I might not be able to enter in the Enthusiast class. "Engine must be OEM for particular make and model" Guess that rules me out running forged pistons and upgraded (stock sized) valves and springs? I know they are trying to restrict engine swapped cars but... Oh wait further down is says: 16-1.9 The OEM block must be utilized. Engine may be rebuilt using OEM parts with a maximum .050” over bore. Pistons matching OEM specifications may be used. So maybe I can run in this class Ah hell! - 16-5.1 "The full interior is required. All related components must be installed and functional as delivered by the manufacturer." Bummer, I'm not putting the back seat and all the belts back into my car, not even for this one event Guess I would have to move up to street class which means my lack of aero would knock me out of any contention. Still would be fun to run the event though!

Well looks like the process is getting close. ZF finished my 6 speed and its now on a big rig on its way to Surgeline Cobb Tuning here in Portland. Its a 2014 STI 6MT w/ longer ratio gears, upgraded carbon 4-6 synchros, upgraded steel shift forks for 3-6 and a Group N DCCD rebuild with a Torsen style front LSD. They have Suretrac and Cusco clutch type options but I opted for Torsen mainly for ease of maintenance down the road. Glad to finally put this saga to rest soon as track season starts in 3 weeks.

Hey tysparks81, I hear ya, its really disconcerting once you hear stories like mine! I guess the biggest difference here is that I bought this from someone that had already bought the car as a part out. It showed up at his front door on the back of a flatbed truck, (at least this is what I'd been told), so it put him in a position of being somewhat "insulated" from something going bad. If someone tells you its in good working order then that is a false statement if that turns out to not be so. Something that I didn't have the luxury of falling back on in my transaction. Also can say that the guys at Cobb said this is the first 6 speed they had ever seen in such bad shape as they typically are brick shit houses. Problem is, if you run a brick shithouse without any gear oil in it or otherwise abuse it without maintenance then its not a brick shithouse, its a blue plastic porta-potty...

WRX USA- you definitely dodged a bullet on that tranny, wish I could have said the same since this was a complete swap it wasn't a total loss, at least I got axles, shifter assembly, R180 diff etc, but yeah I got taken to the cleaners on the lump. Still wondering about the seller and what he did or didn't know but since he had bought it as a part out car I can't prove anything and I don't feel that starting an online war is going to help anybody at this point. That said, I don't think I'll ever buy big, used parts online again as you just never know. It's pretty easy to suss out the little stuff but the big stuff not so much.

Yup it's essentially a DCCD capable center diff but not hooked up to a controller. Bias will be about 70% to the rear without the DCCD hooked up.

Maybe down the road I'll choose to hook it up but my recent SpecB '08 tranny swap nightmare, (the thread is in this tranny forum) has added considerable cost to the build. I never dreamed that buying a 6 speed used would lead to it being a complete write off and ruined. I'm grateful that ZF Design is giving me a core exchange refund on it for my '14 STI tranny they are building for me. Just having a proper lump in there with a front LSD is going to be a big difference for me on track I'm sure.

The main reason I'm not going to hook it up is because I don't want to spend the cash, this swap has hit me in the wallet a lot harder than it was supposed to

Just about every person that I drive with at the track here in the Northwest seems to leave their DCCD in Auto for tarmac driving. I think the adjustability would be a big advantage for dirt/gravel/rally but it seems to be a set and forget for tarmac around here with pretty much everyone. ZF Design in Colorado is finishing up my '14 Sti 6 speed this week and while I'll be going with a DCCD, I don't have plans to hook up a controller.

Yup that's what I figured Gator. The wagon won't ever be raced competitively with a sanctioning body so I figured tranny cooling wasn't worth it ( As much as I'd love to). I'll buy a race ready car when the time is right.

haha damn auto correct

Good stuff to consider BarManBean, I have tossed around the idea of cooling for the tranny. Costing it out will probably sway me in one direction or another. The car really never sees sessions longer than 30 min so not sure it its worth the expense but we'll see what costs come in at. Plans are to keep spec B gearing at this point as they will work with my goals. Glad to have them take some time to poke around to see if anything needs to be a la carte replaced. Assuming the R180 is to spec I'll keep the torsen style LSD for now, if merely because its relatively maintenance free. Will do bushing and mount upgrades for sure. Yup Gigs, definitely not worrying much about putting anything on too aggressive clutch wise. The one that came with it is junk so I'll need to replace it with something anyway. I did ask Surgeline about a twin plate and while they are highly recommended, the expense was more than I wanted, (or needed to pay). Thanks guys for this and any further recommendations!

Hey All, My GT wagon is going into Cobb Surgeline in a few weeks for a 6 speed swap before track season starts in March. I'm bringing them a complete swap out of an '08 Spec B. I'm having them crack the tranny open to check for anything amiss and install an OEM front LSD while they have it open. The R180 will get opened up and checked for spec as well. No plans for DCCD on this car. Other than the typical transmission centric upgrades, (shifter bushings, tranny mount etc.) does anyone have thoughts on anything else that should be checked and/or upgraded while I'm doing the swap? Wouldn't mind stiffening up the frame with some bits but I'm thinking more on items I'm already paying labor for during the swap and those parts of the car they won't be tearing into. Clutch suggestions? - Cobb likes to use the Exedy Stage 1 (HD version) for road racing cars that put down 350 to the wheels or less. My end goals won't go over this number down the road. Glad to finally get this done, my 3 to 4 shift has been balky for two seasons now and I've never been particularly enamored with Subaru's 5 speed. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated

enlighten me here, the power steering needs to be cooled as well? Wow had no idea it got super hot?

Hadvw, Tough question as you'll give up something on either end no matter how you slice it . Pads are pretty easy to change so if you can at all plan for just getting a track specific set you'll be way happier in the end. When I did run stock brakes I'd run Bobcats on the street and then XP10's on the track. Seemed to be easier running same brand different formulas for ease of bed in when swapping back and forth. After doing it about twice I found that it was really quick to swap them out as you just get faster and faster. No real experience running XP formulas on the street as I'd swap the streets back in immediately once I got home from the track.

Nice! take lots of pics!

Wish I had the 6 speed installed but alas it sits in my garage staring at me don't think it would be a good idea to take the GT to the track with no 1st gear. Looking forward to 6 speed goodness with front LSD next season!!

Dang! Your givin'er to make it fit! I'd keep on eye on that, I do know that sometimes excessive heat and make rubber brittle and susceptible to failure. Maybe your not hitting it that hard at sub 250 temps but... Stoked to see this build coming together! 24hrs race documentary anyone?

Love that doublewide trailer style belt stretcher Cue Sanford and Son theme song...

Spec'd these out yesterday at Gator's garage, they are legit!

Why thinking AWIC? do tell...

Think you created a new alloy there

I followed Rallispec's break in procedure on my Street Spec Hybrid Value/Standard (they were back ordered on the 4032 Mahle so upgraded me on the Standard package to the Cossie 4032 plugs for $200) and so far so good with break in and then tuning and 4 days of track flogging. A bit of street driving here and there and a few hours of travel to and from the track days as well. So far so good

Just seems strange to me. I beat the snot out of mine on the track for 7 seasons at similar power levels with zero issues, (and less "preventative" stuff, i.e.- oil coolers, catch cans, racing sumps, etc...)