AussieDan

Long time no update

Despite not finding time to update the blog I have actually been making progress on the car.

The new sound deadening is in, I put a single layer of Raammat on the floor and transmission tunnel, which is about the same weight as the oem tar I took out and should be much quieter.

Most of my time has been taken up with wiring…in typical fashion I decided to do things the hard way and use the entire WRX body harness.  My reasoning for this was that I get the WRX cluster, cruise control, keyless entry & ABS.  This also means that instead of merging the engine-related sections of the WRX harness into my original harness, I’m adapting the WRX body harness to the Legacy lights, doors, radiator fans, wiper motor, mirrors, sunroof, etc, etc.

I am keeping the Legacy HVAC, so that wiring will need to be merged into the WRX harness, but otherwise it’s more-or-less a matter of cutting the plugs off the WRX harness and grafting on the Legacy equivalent.  Of course it’s not always that simple but that’s the rough idea.

So far I’ve completed the power windows, the door locks are wired but I’m not sure if the polarity is right (the wiring diagrams don’t show the polarity of the lock actuators, so they’re hooked up but not soldered yet).  The door switches, rear defrost, rear lights, headlights, radiator fans & airbag harness connector are all done.

Next up are the power mirrors, sunroof, fog, cruise and hazard switches, then the HVAC.

In the meantime I’ve also been doing some work on the motor.  I’m porting out the TGVs, which are mostly done and just need some cleaning up and to have the holes filled…not sure yet if I want to put in plugs or invest in the equipment I need to weld aluminium (100% argon tank, teflon liner, al wire) and weld them up, I’m leaning towards the latter.

I also have to gasket match the intake manifold and exhaust manifolds.  I picked up some headers but I don’t think I’ll be using them due to some interference issues.  This wouldn’t be such an issue with the TD04, but I came across a good deal on a ported vf29 & 565cc injectors, so I want to make sure that the exhaust system is up to the task.

I haven’t done anything about plumbing the new ABS actuator yet, I still need to track down the correct ’05 bracket and rubber dampers to get it mounted and see how much work is going to be needed to get it working.

Phew, I think that’s it for now.