El Chupacabra, X-Ray's 2002 L Sedan 5MT

[xrayspecs]

small update.

 

finally welded up the ujoint. this weekend will be installing it and trimming my tie rods a bit more so I can get some toe adjustment back, I wasn't aggressive on the first cut, cause its a lot harder to put metal back later.

 

Edited June 25, 2020 by xrayspecs

[xrayspecs]

So got the Ujoint installed today, and took it around the block, with just an eyeball alignment HOLY COW is this steering rack an improvement! also with no more rag joint you really do feel more of the road through the steering wheel. so much for NVH!

 

I'll have to get out the tape measure and align the car so I can drive it to the shop for a proper alignment soon.

New shortened 15+ STI ujoint next to the original one with the rag joint.

 

Ujoint installed finally, although I did mess the timing up on the shafts so I'll have to take it apart and fix that this weekend. no broken clock spring though which is good.

 

 

took a 1/4" off each outer tire rod to get the needed ability to get some toe. both the tie rod outer and inner shafts have 1.75+/-.05 thread on them and I used a thinner jam nut to achieve toe in.

 

 

Finally back on the ground.

 

 

 

Not for long though! finally dug every part out of everywhere in the garage for the next project.

 

 

slowly chipping away at my want to do list for this chassis.

 

 

pulled out the ujoint and painted it with some black enamel paint as in my excitement to drive the car. I had skipped that step putting it all back together, waiting for the paint to dry also gave me some time to adjust the toe back to reasonable enough to get it to the alignment shop, and straighten out the steering as it was majorly misaligned.

 

 

car is now in backwards for the next step, will be pulling the whole rear subframe off the car.

 

Edited July 10, 2020 by xrayspecs

[autonoob]

It seems like you are having fun with the modification of your sedan. I can't wait to know how this whole thing will turn out

[xrayspecs]

Started on pulling the whole rear sub-frame. No rush on this since Ill have to get a press for a few of the bushings.

 

first step, disconnect the exhaust, two 14mm nuts and bolts. I dont even try and take the axle back off as its so rusted (OEM) and just pull the whole mid pipe and it off together.

 

 

disconnect the driveshaft from the diff.

 

 

then the only things left holding the whole sub-frame in are the dampers, abs speed sensors, park brake cable and rear brake lines. Its been a while since I have flushed the brakes, so i just disconnected the hoses and will bleed the brakes later. I should probably get new soft lines anyways, since I'm already doing the work.

 

 

 

 

PRO TIP, Put all your ebrake springs/clips/pieces in a baggie and write what side it goes on the baggie in sharpie. less looking for lost springs later

 

 

to get to the subframe bolts disconnect the sway bar, it gets it out of the way.

 

 

also, what 20 year old rubber bushings tend to do. can't wait to have them all replaced and not blown out.

 

 

 

everything is loose, and ready to drop.

 

[BoozeRS05]

Keep it up man. Cool thread

[xrayspecs]

Sub-frame is out, so many crusty bushings, got all of the links loose and time to start putting the new urethane ones in. lots of PB blaster and cheater bars to get bolts and nuts that havent moved in almost 20 years loose. time to start planing adding shop air to my garage.

 

 

 

 

[xrayspecs]

Finished stripping the rear sub-frame of the links and hubs. My plan is to put new bushings in the sub-frame, then put the sub-frame back in, then add the diff back and build the suspension back into the car as i get the bushings into all the links. I really should upgrade the sway bar and shocks/springs.

 

 

since I plan on installing the whiteline adjustable control arms, I am putting on the toe lock bolts in.

 

Original OEM adjusters.

 

 

The lock kit next to the oem eccentric bolt adjusters

 

 

Temporally installed in the sub-frame till the arms go in.

 

 

I haven't got a press in my home garage yet and my work shop is full up with work so cant exactly sneak a subframe in to press bushing in and out right now without getting in trouble. Resorted to how i've done it before in the past.

 

started with the diff bushings as they were already 90% ripped.

 

Start with cutting out all of the guts of the rubber you can out of the bushing.

 

 

then you need to use a metal blade or high TPI bald for the next step. put the saw into the bushing and start cutting, you want to cut through the metal of only the bushing. you want to make 3~4 notches all on the same side about 1/2" from each other. use a chisel/punch and hammer to peal the bushing back where the notches are located at. take care not to gall the face on the subframe when doing this.

 

 

 

the bushing should look like this once you start to get it pealed back, just keep beating it with a punch till it pops out.

 

 

 

when done right, shouldnt take anymore time than using a press and the proper jigs.

 

 

 

for my next trick press the bushings in with no press... but need to knock the rest of the subframe bushing out.

[xrayspecs]

Been busy with work lately, however managed to get some more of the diff bushings out.

 

 

 

installed KTD905 Into the outrigger. Almost done cutting and chipping the stubborn subframe bushings all out so I can put the polymer ones in.

 

 

Subframe Bushings out, after almost 20 years they really really really really didnt want to come out of the subframe without a fight. I have zero body rust, but the subrframe bushings had some on the bushing that was really keeping them in. They all pretty much look like this one once they came out.

 

 

sub-frame all ready for the new Powerflex poly bushings.

 

 

Bushings fit perfectly. cant wait to see how they transform the car along with all the other bushings.

 

 

 

 

Rear most bushing on the trailing arms is out and working on getting the bushings out of the upper links.

 

Edited August 5, 2020 by xrayspecs
Added more pictures

[xrayspecs]

The pile of old crusty blown out rubber

 

 

the Powerflex bushings are a money fit, getting the old ones out by far took the most work.

 

 

lower front bushings in place, follow the directions as they are different sizes and go in a certain way.

 

 

 

Lower rear/outer bushings in, these also are different sizes and go in a certain way. the pin holes go vertical on both sides.

 

 

 

just need to finish with the upper link and rear diff bushings itll be reassembly time.

 

[xrayspecs]

Finally found some time and a break in the 100+ days to get the rear diff bushings installed into the subframe. The finish on the KDT906 bushings isn't the greatest and the sharp metal edge of the bushing was digging in and causing the bushings to not start square to the location. some time with a small die makers file and it helped a lot. I put a chamfer on the leading edge of the bushing band helped a lot, i also used some assembly grease and froze the bushing to shrink it a tad.

 

A piece of 5/8" grade 8 all thread is a great replacement for a press if you have the patience. I used a 2" x 3" pipe fitting as a stand off/support to pull against with the bushing, i didn't want to wreck the sub frame trying to pull against the thin wall tubing the bushing resides in.

 

 

 

 

Now i just have to put it all back together.

[xrayspecs]

Subframe is back in!

 

Diff bushing crush tubes all lubed up and inserted.

 

put the front dogbone in so I could lift it up with the jack. not pictured some 2x4's so it would lift evenly.

 

 

Subframe in! Bushings look great and cant wait to see how they improve the car.

 

 

Now to finish installing the rest of the arms and torque it all to spec.

[Chrio]

Loving this

[xrayspecs]

once the subframe was in and settled i toured to spec, will be checking it again after a couple hundred miles for any settling.

 

upper arms have all new bushings and are in.

 

 

remove the little trim piece, two 12mm fasteners to get access to the bolt to stick a torque wrench on it.

 

 

 

 

Set the adjustable arms to match the OEM track and toe arm lengths to start with. gets it close to the ballpark to start for when you go in for an alignment. i used the oem arms and bolts to make sure they matched up before snugging the arms up for installation.

 

 

 

everything installed and torqued to spec, waiting on the trailing arms and hubs.

 

driver side trailing arm and hub install.

 

 

 

install should be done this weekend if the heat wave doesnt get to bad.

[xrayspecs]

all new shinny rear subframe and trailing arm bits are installed and torqued to spec. she looks good, cant wait to get it on the ground and aligned.

 

only thing left to do is put the brakes back on, and bleed the brakes.

 

after than itll be on to the install the JDM front clip.

 

 

 

[xrayspecs]

Finally got the old girl back on the ground.

 

still need to bleed the brakes a few more times to get all the air out of the lines and take her in for an alignment but shes off the jackstands! after the alignment its time for some new tires.

 

 

 

[xrayspecs]

didnt expect this to get here as fast as it did, but got a new transmission mount and am going to do the old fill in the gaps with 2 part urethane to really make it solid. bought a cheap knock off group N style to do this with.

 

 

[s2baru]

Great job man! Persevering through it all

[xrayspecs]

Adjusted the park brakes and bleed the brakes, and put the new in transmission mount into the car last weekend and got it on the ground, took it around the block everything felt good, and went to park and the park brake cable on the passengers side broke. im going to replace both the drives side and passenger side here when the parts get in. Ordered one of each p/n's 26051AE06A & 26051AE07A. Ill add pictures when they get in.

 

But since now I have all the mechanical parts fixed up and repaired it was time to swap the front clip.

 

 

 

Stripped of the USDM Legacy L front clip and waiting on the JDM Spice I got a while back.

 

 

 

 

test fit of the bumper and lights, still need to sort out all the wiring to have the correct connectors for the fogs and the hids.

 

Edited September 28, 2020 by xrayspecs

[xrayspecs]

Some more work today since its finally cooling back off.

 

Got the core support separated from the cut off, the headlight supports should be larger that the ones on my chassis and allow the headlights and ballasts to fit with no needing to hammer it open.

 

 

also test fit the fenders, i knew the jdm trim line wouldn't match the usdm from research I had done in sli.net, but i think i have a plan for what I'm going to do with them. if it works ill post it if not ill find a passenger side usdm fender to replace the trashed one on that side.

 

 

 

 

 

Since i have the JDM/OEM harness from the cut off, i also stripped it apart for the pig tails and all the wires need to do the HID Ballast wiring on the car. i know there are threads that detail it but ill add it here as im doing it for another up to date reference.

 

I also wired up in the relay and switch for the fog lights and it tested good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

in the end your wires will end up wired as such.

 

[xrayspecs]

its been a while since an update, with family holiday and everything moving slower than id like but chipping away at it.

 

instead of making a new harness based on the above, i am doing a bit more than I originally planed on. after comparing the jdm and usdm wiring diagrams, everything matches up on the following i am working on.

 

I am swaping the USDM MB11/12 in connector F39 on M/B for the heavier wires from the JDM harness I have (both global and USDM FSM's show 15a fuses for 9/8 and the fuses on the jdm fusebox confirm as 15amp fuses and relays) I got lucky and my front cut included all this factory JDM wiring.

 

 

Headlight LH

RL (Red w/Blue stripe) OEM wire pulled to M10 on F39 M/B for hot leg.

RL (Red w/Blue stripe) This is potted/factory soldered to the one above.

RY (Red) High Beam signal on the HID's.

B (Black) ground

4 pin connector

 

Headlight RH

YW (Blue w/White stripe) OEM wire M11 on F39 M/B for hot leg.

YW (Blue w/White stripe) This is potted/factory soldered to the one above.

R (Red) High Beam signal shown on the Global as Red?

B (Black) ground

4 pin connector

 

im also wiring up the fogs to be fully independent. i know this is detailed elsewhere but ill add details here for future.

 

The front cut had the radiator and cooler with the fans on it too, so took those apart and swapped the them to my car as my fan shrouds were cracked from age/crash.

 

old and busted.

 

 

 

new hotness.

 

 

Since in the summer ive had some higher than id like underhood temps when running the AC in standing traffic, go LA! I also swapped the secondary fan assembly for the primary fan assembly so now the primary/secondary fans have 5/5 blades over the oem 4/5. everything was a direct fit.

 

now the fans look like this, hopefully theres a bump in CFM and the temps drop a little.

 

 

 

The rad reservoir was newer in better shape so that got swapped as well. Overflow cap with the extra spice.

 

 

 

on the slowest part of any project for me, fitting the body panels, refitting them and checking fits etc so the lines are correct. lots of panels on and back off.

 

 

hopefully ill be done getting everything fitted up soon and can get the font end color matched.

[xrayspecs]

Getting there, getting around to fitting the headlights, and getting all the body lines on them to match up nice. need to finish up some wiring, and relocate the power steering cooler i installed with the new rack.

 

 

 

test fit with the bumper cover. really like the white, maybe ill just wrap the whole thing white for a while.

 

[xrayspecs]

Been a bit of work on the project since the last update.

 

I never liked the look of the chrome on the grill as they came from the factory, so tapped it up and painted the whole grill trim black. I need to do the same with the door window trims so its all the same shade of black.

 

 

 

Also since I had the full front harness on my JDM cut, i took my front sub-harness apart to pull the plug lines all the way to the USDM fuse box. currently in the process of taping the who sub-harness back together. the benefit to this is the JDM plugs have a heavier gauge wire than the single bulb usdm plugs. fuse rating is the same. means no need to add extra fuses or relays into the engine bay and will look factory once finished. the only wires that needed to be spliced and resealed up was the high beam trigger lines from the cab harness and the high beam signal line. Ill scan the marked up FSM's and upload them here if anyone is curious.

 

 

 

also since one of the park brake cables broke, I am just going to replace both of them together. do it right the first time.

 

[Underdog]

Love this build. Can’t wait to see it with the front end all painted.

[xrayspecs]

thanks, your 15 sti steering rack swap thread was super helpful in performing the swap on my car.

[xrayspecs]

I had some help, and got the front harness all tapped back up and put in place.

 

 

while I was at it, I made the modifications to make the fog lights fully independent. so made the necessary modifications while the fuse box was loose and apart before putting it back together.

 

steps as follows, use the power, yellow/green line for the back washer plug, not used on the sedans. i pulled the power right out of the plug.

 

I split the two plugs apart so that I didnt need to make a massive jumper. tape the washer plug back up.

 

 

From the relay block in the MFB, disassemble and locate the Red/yellow wire that powers the coil side on the Fog light relay.

 

this needs to be replaced with the 12v power leg from the rear washer plug.

i pulled the whole connector out and tapped it up, and inserted a new connector that fit into the fuse box, the connector from the washer unit is too large to fit and will need replacement.

 

 

stuff everything back in and put it all together.

 

 

 

also replaced the MFB cover with some more JDM spice.