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New year, new build...v.3.0...R?


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I've got some friends that have been wanting me to get the car out on the road course with them. With no power steering it is a handful to try and drive fast through turns.

 

I've been thinking for the last few months how I would go about getting power steering back in the car. I really like how everything is laid out on the engine and didn't want to have to redo the turbo location and intercooler piping to get the OE pump and reservoir installed. I started leaning towards doing an electric pump. It's pretty popular in the drift community. Two of my friends have electric pumps in their drift cars. One has an old MR2 pump and the other has a Volvo pump.

 

I decided to go with a Volvo pump. They come in 2007-2013ish Volvos. The motor is brushless and the reservoir is part of the unit. They pull between 10-20 amps under normal conditions, but can use up to 80 amps if held at lock.

 

Since I "depowered" the rack that is in the car a new rack was needed. The 2015 STI rack was a no brainer. Got one of them on the way.

 

I've added quite a few electrical components to the car and really need to see what kind of amp draw it has with everything turned on at the same time. I'm sort of shooting in the dark here, but figured with the new pump I was going to need a higher output alternator.

 

 

This car is really becoming a unicorn now :spin:

 

 

Where did you get that HO alternator? I've been wanting to get one of these for ages for the sound system.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Alright, got the fuel pump back from DW. They said everything worked fine on their bench. The only thing they could find was a slight nick in the one of the wires. I'm sure that happened during install because they give you a really long wiring harness that you have to wrap and tuck to get to fit. We discussed that and the tech sent me a shorter harness with some serious shrink wrap around the wires.

 

So far so good.

 

Got the 200 amp alternator installed. A note for potential H6 swappers. The EZ30 has 6 rib crank and accessory pulleys. The EJ25 has 5 rib pulleys for the crank, alt and power steering. I was using the 5 rib alternator from my EJ with a 5 rib belt. I got the new alternator with a 6 rib pulley and a 6 rib belt to match the 6 rib EZ30 crank pulley. :spin:

 

I'm going to get the power steering pump installed this weekend. Still waiting for a hose to show up and then I can install the rack. I'm really, really excited to see how this works. It could be great or it could be a cluster. I've driven a few cars with electric pumps and they worked fine, so things should be ok. I'm going to control when the pump turns on with an output from the Haltech. This way I can keep it off during cranking and initial startup and keep it on during a stall.

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I decided to take the easy way out with the power steering pump. Once I got the bumper off I realized it was going to require quite a bit of fabrication to make a mount for it in the location I want it. If I didn't have interooler tubing in the way it would be easy. I have a friend who owes me a favor and he just so happens to be an amazing fabricator, so I called it in. :icon_mrgr

 

The pump with the Volvo mounting bracket weighs 13 lbs.

 

To get this pump to work with a Legacy rack you need a handful of fittings. I adapted everything to -6 AN, which makes it easy for me to build the hose.

 

The threads into the pressure side of the pump are 16mmx1.5 with an O-ring. I used Earl's part number 961955ERL to adapt that to -6.

 

To adapt the rack fittings to AN you need two metric to AN adapter fittings. 14mmx1.5 for the pressure side and 16mmx1.5 for the return. These fittings require O-rings that are attached to the steering rack lines. Part numbers AT9894DBHERL and AT9894DBJERL. There are some pics of the O-rings and the adapters on the rack lines.

 

Once you've got those you can build hose with AN fittings. The pressure side requires special high pressure fittings and hose. It should be rated to 1800 psi. I used Earl's power steering hose and fittings, so I could build the hose myself. I tried to get all the pressure side fittings made from steel, but I couldn't find the 14mmx1.5 adapter in anything but aluminum. It should be ok, but steel would be ideal. Just gives more headroom.

 

For the return line I bought some oil resistant 3/8" hose and a -6 x 3/8" barb fitting to connect to the rack. The pump has a plastic 3/8" barb for the return.

 

For power I bought some connectors off eBay, some 8ga fine strand wire and an 80 amp fuse holder. :eek:

 

There are two connectors. One takes two big terminals you attach the 8ga power and ground wires to. The other takes 3 small terminals. You only use one. When you supply 12v to this one it will activate the pump. I'm using a relay controlled by the Haltech to supply this 12 volts. I grabbed a pic from the internet showing the wiring.

 

And that's it!

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Edited by BrandonspecB
Added more pics and info
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  • 2 weeks later...

Got a couple things done over the weekend. Relocated and permanently mounted the oil cooler. I had it temporarily mounted behind the intercooler for a bit. I wanted to see if it would adversely affect oil pressure before I properly mounted it. Turns out any pressure loss from the cooler is negated by the cooler temp. Oil pressure was quite a bit lower without the cooler in place because oil temps were significantly higher.

 

I made some little brackets out of angle iron and riv nutted them to the car. Works perfect. I've been using a Mishimoto thermostatic sandwich plate to send oil to the cooler. It has a 185F thermostat and oil temp has been staying around 195-200 while cruising.

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The other thing I got done over the weekend was repaint the bumper and hood. The first time I sprayed them I made some mistakes and the paint I got was a horrible match. It was more of a blue gray.

 

This time I did a much better job painting. Zero striping in the metallic and the paint matches much, much better. I also painted my EDM fog light delete covers and installed them! Super excited about that!

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Edited by BrandonspecB
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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm excited to say that this thing is getting fast!

 

It's been a slow process bringing the boost up a bit at a time and working on the boost controller, meth controller, and timing at each boost level.

 

Currently at 25 psi with quite a bit of work to do, but this car has never been faster.

 

I use 60-80 mph as a benchmark to see where the car is at. I take RPM, gearing, and tire diameter to figure out which RPM 80 mph and 60 mph happens at and then subtract the time difference in the log. The fastest my EJ went was 1.46 seconds. This was 34 psi boost, 19F IAT, with a weight of around 3750 lbs.

 

This morning with 25 psi boost, 40F IAT, with a passenger, so total weight was close to 4000 lbs, the car went 1.36 seconds. Still lots of tuning to do. AFR was super rich from the meth injection causing it to break up a bit.

 

Car goes to my friend's house tonight for a power steering pump mount. Hopefully I can get that all finished up over the weekend and get some more tuning done.

 

I'd really love to see a 1.10 60-80 time with a solid tune and no passenger.

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Yeah always have elevation working against me. Summer gets really bad. Density altitude goes over 8000' on some days which is why I don't really drive it in the summer. It's just a slow, heat soaked, laggy mess.

 

I'll definitely get some more videos once it's dialed in. Will a launch control test video tide you over for now? It was dark, but I wanted to hear what it sounded like outside the car. Could make it blow fireballs if I wanted to. :cool:

 

https://rumble.com/vfoibp-launch-control.html

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Friend sent me some pics last night of the power steering pump. He should be done tonight. He had to mount it at a slight angle to clear the intercooler tubing. This weekend I'll get the rack installed, hoses and power to it and see how it works.

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Had the car out today. I don't drive it much and when I do it usually goes from a garage to another garage. I parked it on the street for a bit and honestly haven't really ever seen it from a distance. Snapped a few pics because why not.

 

Also took a pic of the engine bay in its final form. Welded in some bungs for the turbo inlet temperature and pressure sensors. Can't really do much else in there.

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You car looks good man. Time to install these folding mirrors :spin:. I can't remember if you were planning to or already did..

 

 

Also, where is that bracket above the radiator that is supposed to hold the 'hood support arm'?

 

 

 

Is your battery in the trunk a la bmw?

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What a fantastic build. So much talent and skill. Amazing. On a side note, I've been looking at split spoke style wheels for my '06 GT and you had the two on your car that I was considering. The pic with the Raijin on the front and the EKM3 on the back was exactly what I needed to see. Raijin it is.
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You car looks good man. Time to install these folding mirrors :spin:. I can't remember if you were planning to or already did..

 

 

Also, where is that bracket above the radiator that is supposed to hold the 'hood support arm'?

 

 

 

Is your battery in the trunk a la bmw?

 

Thanks! Folding mirrors are already installed. Definitely a fun addition!

 

The hood prop doesn't fit anymore due to the intercooler tubing. I need to get a set of hood struts, but for now I just throw the prop in the back seat.

 

Yeah battery was relocated to the trunk.

 

What a fantastic build. So much talent and skill. Amazing. On a side note, I've been looking at split spoke style wheels for my '06 GT and you had the two on your car that I was considering. The pic with the Raijin on the front and the EKM3 on the back was exactly what I needed to see. Raijin it is.

 

Thanks, appreciate it!

 

Glad I could help with the wheels! I much prefer the Raijins. They look like a 19" compared to the EKM3.

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