Member Profile - Andy_Mac's JDM '06 GT-B

[andy_mac]

Sweet. I'll look into that neoprene stuff, just used the Ados spray on contact adhesive we use at work which probably isn't the best stuff.

Yea thats a bit of a tricky one. Isn't the map light insert a completely different shape too? Got lucky that mine doesn't have a sunroof so matched perfectly. Did yours come with the black grab handles and all the other black out pieces?

[bigBADbenny]

Yep I got the tbSTi complete wagon interior, so wrapping my headliner and plastidipping or plastic painting /dying the cabin/map lights will be the go...

It's around $50 for a 1liter can, use a paintbrush to coat both pieces lightly, then apply some steam whist stretching the material

[alexeiwoody]

Awesome looking lib/legacy! Nice choice of rims/callipers, would love to see more pics

For anyone else playing at home, you shouldn't have needed to replace the rear hubs, simply ripping off the dust shields on the std hubs would have been enough to fit the rotors and callipers on - and may have saved you all the headaches with the handbrake.

Are you sure you have yourself the right space saver? Only the ones off the Sti/brembo equipped models work, whilst the WRX/legacy ones look similar, but don't actually clear the fronts. Got any pics of the full size rim?

[andy_mac]

Definately need some more pics. Saving up for a DSLR now so i can start taking some quality photos. Almost everything currently is taken on the iphone, hence the average quality.

Yea i know ripping off the dust shields is the usual way to do it and means hubs stay in place but i was using tbSTI backing plates that mount directly to the caliper rather than keeping the stock ones and using adaptors. Need an engineers cert in NZ to use adaptors so am trying to stay clear of needing that for a while longer.

Don't have any full pics of the spare but it definately doesn't work on the front, rear is quite close but doesn't rub at all

[andy_mac]

Yep I got the tbSTi complete wagon interior, so wrapping my headliner and plastidipping or plastic painting /dying the cabin/map lights will be the go...

It's around $50 for a 1liter can, use a paintbrush to coat both pieces lightly, then apply some steam whist stretching the material

There's a guy on LGT.con that did the whole dying/ painting thing and it turned out looking pretty much perfect in the end.
If you're going to the effort of wrapping the A pillars you should get the tweeters remounted in them. Its the one thing i regret not doing on mine.

Might have to try the can one. Felt I was being a bit frugal with the spray stuff as i didn't want overspray going into spots i didn't want it.

[andy_mac]

So a few things have been done since the last update.

Finally got around to installing a Spec B STI front lip. Loving the aggressive look it gives the front end. Considering making up some sort of DIY rubber lip protector similar to the one offered by Subaru to prevent it getting damaged on low driveways.



I've also done a decat on the stock downpipe.
Thought about going for an aftermarket one but due to the massive cost for twinscroll ones and after some discussion with others with much more knowledge than me I decided to keep the stock one. Apparently with the tiny size of the stock turbo's outlet and the stock flow there is almost no advantage going for a divorced or bellmouth one and that the two cats are the only tangible restriction.
Used a hole saw to drill out the majority of it and then smashed the remaining pieces with a large metal pole. Also removed the inner metal brackets and steel mesh.





Comparison between the previous tune and a couple of current pulls.
First two are the current logs and the 3rd is from last years tune.
Its overboosting quite significantly at the lower end but will be getting it properly tuned for 18psi in S#, and lower for the other modes, so should be able to hold 18psi a bit longer. Definitely gives it a considerable bump in torque with the higher boost though so really looking forward to how the tune gets her purring.




The cars booked in for a new tune in a couple of weeks to get everything tweaked just right.

Only thing I haven't quite sorted yet is the whistling audible at lower revs. Really can't tell if its a problem or whether that's just how it sounds without the cats to slow everything down. I've checked all the intake pieces that were taken out and pressurized the intake with no luck tracking down any leaks, Learning View hasn't really changed at all in the A/F Learning table either. It's just considerably louder than I was expecting, but without previous experience of a decatted downpipe of this nature it could be me just worrying over nothing.

[McDoof]

It will be interesting to see your real dyno results compared to my 3.0R. On the same dyno. Bring on the 23rd

[andy_mac]

Haven't been very onto it keeping this thread updated so here's whats been going on in the last few months taken from my thread on CS

We'll never got to the bottom of the whistling, had been leak checking for a few weeks and came up with nothing. Had a smoke test done while it was on the dyno and that showed nothing either so think it's just a whistle caused by the decat.

In related news the dyno tune done by Throttlehappy/Matt is all complete. Turned out the definition file that had been used for the previous tune wasn't exactly right which was the cause of the strange boost control its always had, boost never seemed to want to stay down. So Matt wrote a new one up on the spot and now things seem to be spot on.
Got a Grimmspeed 3-port boost solenoid to go along with the tune too. Those two together have made it a completely different car to drive now.
Used to make next to no usable boost in first gear, now gets full boost without even really trying. No longer a slug getting off the line quickly if the occasion calls for it. It's fast but tame in S mode but S# is just wild, needless to say it stays in S# 90% of the time.
Base run on the dyno sheet is Matts first tune revision not the previous tune.

[andy_mac]

Couple more bits I've been doing lately

Haven't installed these yet but feel i'll need to once the STI pink springs are installed to get a bit more rear camber.



Also got this set for the intake side
Install wasn't as bad as I was expecting, unbolting the hard breather line and BOV line from the back of the intake manifold made all the difference for getting the new turbo inlet hooked up.
The top mounted breather line was the only real problem, there was just no way for the engine cover to fit over it with it being as tall as it was. Managed to get it sorted by cutting it down and raising up the bracket the cover attaches to. Probably cut it a bit shorter than I should have but she doesn't seem to leak at all.
Got rid of the intake resonator too, isn't all that much louder but does have a bit of a weird noise it makes at certain RPM's, undecided whether i'll keep it off or not.







As expected, the BOV was too tall for the engine cover so took to it with the grinder, still need to tidy it up a bit but she fits pretty well for now.

[andy_mac]

Haven't got as far as installing the STI pink springs yet but for those interested there's the identification dots for the two options I went with.

Front: ST2033021010 - 2 x orange dots - GT/4-cylinder specific
Rear: ST2038021020 - 2 x blue dots - Wagon specific

[andy_mac]

Long story short, the front swaybar would touch the tie rods when any form of loading was applied.

Ended up contacting Whiteline directly, showed them the same pictures I have here, who without hesitation sent a new bar out to me.
New bar definately looks slightly different even though the part number is the same, guessing there has been a product revision at some point recently since even the bolt hole sizes are 1-2mm smaller with the new bar, along with a much longer reach, mildly different bend angles and different style lateral clamps.

All in all, happy with this turnout, every company has their stuff ups from time to time and they've handled it well.

[andy_mac]

And the latest project is hacking together a custom front mount intercooler, so far got the core fitting pretty nicely. Almost no bumper cutting needed

[riddy_95]

More photos please!
Loving the front mount

[andy_mac]

Not many, still a work in progress. Been waiting for that flange to be made up so the hot side can be finished off. Just need to weld everything up now and make some proper cooler supports.
There's a few teasers

[HardwareBoB]

Looking good! Cable ties are the way it's done