The last couple of weeks have been very busy. Too busy but without that pace, we wouldn’t survive as a business. We usually get to work at 7:30 or so, do some work on our own cars or get organized for the day. “real” work starts at about 9am. The phone rings from 8 to 8.  It doesn’t matter what day it is, new year’s day, Thanksgiving. I’ve been at the shop on all of those days over the last 5 years. So has Bill.

So lately has been more rushed and the projects are becoming more difficult and challenging than usual. This comes as we finish several very big projects, each difficult in their own way.

Dan’s Impreza WRX Wagon

Last week we finished Dan’s Impreza WRX Wagon. He used the car for 3 years as a track-only car and finally the stock Subaru EJ205 motor gave up. It had more blow-by than the catch can could handle and Dan decided to go all in on a rebuild. It was still on the stock clutch, stock 5 speed and motor. We built the car on a fairly tight timeframe with all the other projects around, installing an Mfactory close ratio semi helical 5 speed gearset that took about 45 days to get after being lied-to by their top distributor. The engine we installed was an Axis 2.5 (EJ257) liter that we assembled at the shop, decking the heads and opening the quench area. The new power came with the help of larger injectors, a huge MAF housing and a new Tomei Arms 7760 turbocharger. (305whp at 18psi) During disassembly, the factory clutch fell to the ground in a clattery cloud of dusty friction material. When it spun to a rest it revealed that the rivets were the only thing left on the disk. It was due time for a complete overhaul. After the car was done we checked and rechecked everything. We replaced all four wheel bearings, seals, axle boot seals, repacked the axles, broke the engine in on the dyno and then Matt tuned it. It was up about 80 ft lbs from before and with less boost! (270 ft/lbs)

We still worried that Dan’s first outing, 8 hours away in Canada and including 5 days of track time was a huge risk for a complete new build. This made me nervous but I had promised him that we could do it. (why do we do this?)

Over 3 years, we’ve learned from Dan’s car that wheel bearings in early Subaru are good for about 3 events with no ducting and R compound tires. 5 Events with brake ducting and R Comp Tires and about 7 events with the bearings cleaned of their factory grease and repacked with NEO Synthetic grease from the outset. This should show how many times this car has been to the track. We have replaced the front bearings and hubs about 5 times. The stock motor had about 20 weekends on it before it expired.

Jim’s Porsche 930

Next, onto Jim’s 930. This one was challenging because we were in a new area on a new chassis for us, changing the suspension from torsion beam to coil-over strut; JRZ 3-ways. The transformation started last year when Bill added some serious support to the rear end with a roll cage augmentation/addition. This was needed as the stress of the suspension was soon to be on the strut towers and not on the torsion beam mounts. Months later we finished the job, adjustable trailing arms, knuckles, the JRZs, bladed sways… the works. The car took about 25 hours to finish. Compare that to a 2 hour Subaru Strut installation! We took the car to Direct Tire to use their laser alignment table and with the help of their master alignment tech, Scot and he squared the car and we brought it back to the shop to dial in the rest of the alignment. What a huge endeavor. Next the car went onto the dyno with Matt to tune the HKS AIC. For those not around cars 10 years ago, the AIC is an “Additional Injector Controller” the oldest “new” technology in fuel injection. The kit comes with an injector bung which gets welded to the inlet stream. It’s triggered by boost and fuel is shot down the engine’s throat to roughly richen the mixture. It sounds sort of wild but it works. We ordered the part from Japan, new old stock – “Dead stock”; very hip. It was the only way to get extra air into the intake with the stupid Bosch CIS injection. Matt assures me that CIS was used in WWII airplanes. Well, it sucks. Next year we’re doing real fuel injection in the car because it’s a beautiful car that has an incredible motor that will be awesome with the right engine management. Jim agrees. The AIC shut off at his first event and the car didn’t run right. That was strike 1 for DSG. Apparently the gains were so high that it stopped working. Disappointing. Tomorrow Scot travels to NHMS with Jim to make sure that the car is sorted on the track. This is an exercise that we’ve wanted to do with a customer for a long time. Thanks Jim for letting us see it through.

(update from NHMS- 7/13/09- Jim wins this weekend making it DSG’s first SCCA track win. He ran as low as 1:12 on NHMS road course with the single-oval configuration. He reported that the car is handling better than ever and that he hopes to beat his longtime success-marker with an RSR soon. )

Rons RASpec Impreza

Finally in on to Ron’s motor which spun a rod bearing at NHMS last week. Total bummer. It’s made me wonder how long Subaru motors are supposed to last at the track with a lot of power. I’m guessing a year at 400whp between teardowns. Awaiting data from other engine builders. I remember hearing that the Grand Am Legacy did one motor per event..hoping for better news. We hope to have the car back together for Redline Time attack in TN. At this time we’re guessing on several causes and hope to post results once we talk to the machine shop and come up with some answers.

I also hope to blog more on specific events, both Okemo Hillclimb and Jim’s experience at NHMS with Scot as his engineer in practice. I think that they both did something awesome last weekend and someone should write about it.

PS- My car spins the tires through second launching uphill.