Stock 2007 Liberty GT conversion to VF52 Plus...

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Re: Stock 2007 Liberty GT conversion to VF52 Plus...

Postby Stifull » Wed Jul 21, 2021 12:06 am

Thanks Yowie. I am doing the fuel pump tomorrow. I don't think Subaru could have made it any more complicated if they tried. They couldn't even use the same size "O" rings.. one is 7mm inner and the other is 8mm inner.. For goodness sake, why not make them both the same.. at least replacing the pump and filter it is easier than just replacing the filter.. This guys vid is a good one although he seems to be removing the fuel level assembly for no reason just to put it back on later....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyiF9EjAR1k The filter and the pump both come with "O" rings.. green and black.. need to sus out where they go. I guess all will be revealed when I get the pump out..
Current Subarus
07 Liberty GT (mine) 180kwt on 16lb
98 WRX Club Spes 2 with 2.5ltr upgrade(mine) sub 14 sec
99 Ver 6 Sti also with 2.5ltr upgrade (son) sub 14 sec
02 WRX Bugeye Hatch lots of goodies(wife)
09 Non Turbo Impreza(daughter#4)
Previous
98 GC8 WRX Hatch(daughter#1)
02 Bugeye WRX (daughter#2)
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Re: Stock 2007 Liberty GT conversion to VF52 Plus...

Postby Stifull » Wed Jul 21, 2021 2:00 pm

So fuel pump and filter are done.. The Liberty (Legacy) in the video was NOT for a 2007 model. I wasted 10 minutes trying to get the seat out. The 07 liberty seat simply pulls up and out. NO clips under the seat as shown in the video. Total job took about 1.5 hours. The new RYCO filter was the correct one but it wasn't as sturdy as the original one that was in there. It also didn't come with 7mm and 8 mm "O" rings. They were all 8mm .. I had others so it didn't matter for me. The sock was very dirty and judging by the stuff that came out when I drained the old filter, it was due for a change. I can understand people not wanting to change them every 60Kklm . Labour alone would be a least $180+ plus $70 for a non Genuine filter..

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Current Subarus
07 Liberty GT (mine) 180kwt on 16lb
98 WRX Club Spes 2 with 2.5ltr upgrade(mine) sub 14 sec
99 Ver 6 Sti also with 2.5ltr upgrade (son) sub 14 sec
02 WRX Bugeye Hatch lots of goodies(wife)
09 Non Turbo Impreza(daughter#4)
Previous
98 GC8 WRX Hatch(daughter#1)
02 Bugeye WRX (daughter#2)
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Car: '07 Liberty GT '98 WRX CS2 2.5ltr

Re: Stock 2007 Liberty GT conversion to VF52 Plus...

Postby Stifull » Sat Jul 24, 2021 5:33 pm

Is there another fuel filter anywhere ?? Someone said I should replace the one in the engine compartment on the drivers side as well..
I can't find it if there is another there!!
Following a suggestion from Yowie, I inserted studs into the turbo where the IC bolts on. One of the threaded holes (2) were a bit loose, so I fitted a helicoil . Both are nice and tight . One more thing I don't have to worry about.
Current Subarus
07 Liberty GT (mine) 180kwt on 16lb
98 WRX Club Spes 2 with 2.5ltr upgrade(mine) sub 14 sec
99 Ver 6 Sti also with 2.5ltr upgrade (son) sub 14 sec
02 WRX Bugeye Hatch lots of goodies(wife)
09 Non Turbo Impreza(daughter#4)
Previous
98 GC8 WRX Hatch(daughter#1)
02 Bugeye WRX (daughter#2)
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Stifull
 
Posts: 412
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Location: Brisbane
Car: '07 Liberty GT '98 WRX CS2 2.5ltr

Re: Stock 2007 Liberty GT conversion to VF52 Plus...

Postby Yowie » Sat Jul 24, 2021 6:22 pm

On the same generation Forester XT there is only the in-tank fuel filter - no secondary in the fuel lines.
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Re: Stock 2007 Liberty GT conversion to VF52 Plus...

Postby Stifull » Sat Jul 24, 2021 7:35 pm

Thanks Mate...Yes, I think you would be right. There is a sock then a very fine filter. I can't see the need for a 3rd filtration when theoretically nothing should get through. I suspect the person who said it was thinking of a different model.
I ran the tank almost dry to get rid of all the 98 and injector cleaner and filled the car with 95 today.. It took 62 liters without overflowing.

Tomorrow I will do the upper engine and intake manifold cleaner thing and go for a short drive and then an oil change.

I don't have a cat on the new downpipe I just realized and I can't get one and have it fitted without completing the upgrade and then driving it to an exhaust shop before the tune. I am not comfortable doing that. If i do fit one it will be a 2nd hand high flow 100 tubes per square inch type anyway. I can't see that interrupting the flow too much.

My question of the day is .......

Will it be ok to have the tune done and then fit a high flow cat at a later time without having to get it retuned ?????

If anyone has a high flow cat spare I would be interested if the price is right !!! I don't really want a catless system if I can help it !
Current Subarus
07 Liberty GT (mine) 180kwt on 16lb
98 WRX Club Spes 2 with 2.5ltr upgrade(mine) sub 14 sec
99 Ver 6 Sti also with 2.5ltr upgrade (son) sub 14 sec
02 WRX Bugeye Hatch lots of goodies(wife)
09 Non Turbo Impreza(daughter#4)
Previous
98 GC8 WRX Hatch(daughter#1)
02 Bugeye WRX (daughter#2)
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Car: '07 Liberty GT '98 WRX CS2 2.5ltr

Re: Stock 2007 Liberty GT conversion to VF52 Plus...

Postby Yowie » Sat Jul 24, 2021 9:46 pm

I recommend talking to an exhaust shop with a good reputation about what they can do and the best way to do it. I imagine they will either add a cat to the back end of your aftermarket dump pipe or add a cat to a fabricated next/downstream section of exhaust. The location of space under the car for a cat may be the major factor. Eg the factory spot for a cat has extra heat shielding already. The exhaust shop will probably want to get the car on the hoist to recommend the solution and quote the work.

Once the exhaust shop is selected, the simplest logistics might be to drive the car to the exhaust shop with the current catless dump pipe in the boot, pick the car up with the dump & new cat installed. Swap you new turbo on later - making sure the proper multi layer steel gaskets are being used.

Perhaps also cross-check the cost of a new catted dump (eg from X-force or Invidia or something) versus the cost of a cat and labour to add a cat, plus the cost of your time running around exhaust shops (less estimated sale price of catless dump). Sometimes it's cheaper to go in a different parts direction than persist with sub-optimal parts already purchased. The robots welding catted dump pipes on a jig are probably more efficient than an exhaust shop figuring-out and applying the one-off the solution.


Will it be ok to have the tune done and then fit a high flow cat at a later time without having to get it retuned ?????


Probably a question for the tuner. Touch-up tunes when minor things change are usually pretty quick & cheap after the tuner has already done the hard yards tuning the car.
Last edited by Yowie on Sun Jul 25, 2021 10:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Stock 2007 Liberty GT conversion to VF52 Plus...

Postby Stifull » Sat Jul 24, 2021 11:35 pm

Hhhmm ok. That all makes sense. A high flow cat is quite small and I suspect would male little difference to the flow but may also make the car a little quieter in the same way as a resonator. I would like the car to be not too loud. I have started driving around in "I"mode to get used to how it performs. It is not to bad and keeps the car off boost if throttle is applied gently. My plan is to have 'I' mode at 9LB sport at !2lb and sports sharp at 16-17max. My guess is it should make around 190+, but I am having trouble finding similar builds with data. Most of the youtube clips are all about KWTS with no mention of PSI levels so not a great deal of help. Anyway. not long now. I jsu hope it doesn't blow up on the dyno. I will be soo relieved if it survives..If you are not busy Yowie, I will let you know when it is time to do the MAC install and take you up on the offer of new vacuum hoses and an extension for the air filter box to catch some cooler air from down low in the guard.
Current Subarus
07 Liberty GT (mine) 180kwt on 16lb
98 WRX Club Spes 2 with 2.5ltr upgrade(mine) sub 14 sec
99 Ver 6 Sti also with 2.5ltr upgrade (son) sub 14 sec
02 WRX Bugeye Hatch lots of goodies(wife)
09 Non Turbo Impreza(daughter#4)
Previous
98 GC8 WRX Hatch(daughter#1)
02 Bugeye WRX (daughter#2)
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Car: '07 Liberty GT '98 WRX CS2 2.5ltr

Re: Stock 2007 Liberty GT conversion to VF52 Plus...

Postby Stifull » Tue Jul 27, 2021 9:31 pm

Finally started the install today. was going really well until I got to the last bolt(stud and nut) on the bottom side of the turbo. That sucker took me 2.5 hours to get out. I used every tool I had but the nut was not removable.. The studd started to come out of the turbo housing. But it was soooooooo tight. I am amazed it didn't snap off. It was without a doubt the tightest thing I have ever undone.
I took off the steering knuckle so I could get a 20" breaker bar onto it and it took all my strength to move it a 15th of a turn.. I gave up and got out an electric hacksaw but it wouldn't quite fit neither would the angle grinder or rattle gun. I used some impact onto the stud that was already 4-5mm out but that made no difference.
Anyway hours later I finally got the down pipe off and did a test fit of the new one. I think it must have came of a manual because it was rubbing on the transmission at the very end bottom nut. A bit of heat and a LOT of bashing and now it clears by about 3-4 mm so I will make a mount for it (the original was mounted to the transmission very near there so I will use that mounting bracket and an Exhaust clamp. At least it fits.
I was doing this so i could work out where to put a Cat.. not going to happen . There is simply not enough room. If I get everything fitted I will take it slowly to an exhaust shop and get them to have a look at fitting a high flow cat if they can find a suitable spot with enough room.
Tomorrow I will take off the turbo and the intake hoses and then assemble it all in the reverse order. If it was anything like today I will take every waking hour till next Tuesday when it is booked in for it's tune. I will also take the tiny inline filter out of the turbo oil feed.
One of the guys who works at the tuning workshop lives near me so I'll drop car off and he'll drop me home or near home and take me back to pick it up 2 days later. Hopefully it won't blow up on the dyno. I have done everything that can be done to make it as ready as it can be so I'll just have to wait and see.
Current Subarus
07 Liberty GT (mine) 180kwt on 16lb
98 WRX Club Spes 2 with 2.5ltr upgrade(mine) sub 14 sec
99 Ver 6 Sti also with 2.5ltr upgrade (son) sub 14 sec
02 WRX Bugeye Hatch lots of goodies(wife)
09 Non Turbo Impreza(daughter#4)
Previous
98 GC8 WRX Hatch(daughter#1)
02 Bugeye WRX (daughter#2)
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Car: '07 Liberty GT '98 WRX CS2 2.5ltr

Re: Stock 2007 Liberty GT conversion to VF52 Plus...

Postby Yowie » Tue Jul 27, 2021 10:21 pm

Good-but slow progress is to be expected I suppose.

Hofstadter's Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law.

Good work with the stubborn stud.
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Re: Stock 2007 Liberty GT conversion to VF52 Plus...

Postby bigBADbenny » Wed Jul 28, 2021 7:54 am

Yet another reminder for me to have an oxy set on hand when I eventually replace my turbo.
Maybe the dump is for a manual car?
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Re: Stock 2007 Liberty GT conversion to VF52 Plus...

Postby Stifull » Wed Jul 28, 2021 10:06 am

yes I think you are correct. The original is close to the end of the gearbox and has a mounting bracket supporting it there so now that it is clearing it I shall mount it properly there..
Current Subarus
07 Liberty GT (mine) 180kwt on 16lb
98 WRX Club Spes 2 with 2.5ltr upgrade(mine) sub 14 sec
99 Ver 6 Sti also with 2.5ltr upgrade (son) sub 14 sec
02 WRX Bugeye Hatch lots of goodies(wife)
09 Non Turbo Impreza(daughter#4)
Previous
98 GC8 WRX Hatch(daughter#1)
02 Bugeye WRX (daughter#2)
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Stifull
 
Posts: 412
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Location: Brisbane
Car: '07 Liberty GT '98 WRX CS2 2.5ltr

Re: Stock 2007 Liberty GT conversion to VF52 Plus...

Postby Stifull » Wed Jul 28, 2021 9:11 pm

Without a doubt this is the longest and hardest mechanical upgrade ever in 50 years of working on my own cars. The main problem today was 14 year old plastic and rubber hoses.. Things snapping ,tearing etc. I am off to the shops AGAIN in the morning to get some more hoses and hose clamps. I have a big selection of the squeezy clamps but none big enough for the oil and breather hoses. Everything that's being replaced is now all out of the car.

The turbo as expected is a VF46. It seems to be in good condition with very minimal play and will last someone for a while. The down pipe now fits nicely although it is now slightly restricted where the end of the tranny was hitting. It sits up nice and high. I must have crawled under with it an back out with it a dozen times to heat, beat, repeat etc till I had 5mm clearance and i will make brackets once I have the vf52 in place, just incase it is somehow different. The heat shield should go back on with all the original fittings to be put back on. Getting the blow off valve hose off the main turbo intake hose was an interesting time. I ended up using curved LONG Forceps to press the clamp and then lock on.. Nothing else in the tool box was going to get that sucker out of there. I left them on to aid in getting the hose back on, hopefully tomorrow.

I am hoping once I get past the old dodgee hoses it may become a bit easier. having said that I still need to get the inlet hose in place and I haven't even looked at the top mount positioning but it should fit like a glove.

My workshop bench is a mess so I will tidy that up tomorrow before I start. The pile of new bits is getting smaller but now i have 2 of most things sitting on the bench..

I hope all this has been worth it. This car will be my daily for the foreseeable future until I start doing things like getting the gears and the peddles mixed up and parking it inside a shop or reverse into someones pool. Maybe It wont happen, after all it's not a Camry.
Current Subarus
07 Liberty GT (mine) 180kwt on 16lb
98 WRX Club Spes 2 with 2.5ltr upgrade(mine) sub 14 sec
99 Ver 6 Sti also with 2.5ltr upgrade (son) sub 14 sec
02 WRX Bugeye Hatch lots of goodies(wife)
09 Non Turbo Impreza(daughter#4)
Previous
98 GC8 WRX Hatch(daughter#1)
02 Bugeye WRX (daughter#2)
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Stifull
 
Posts: 412
Joined: Sun Nov 18, 2018 11:30 pm
Location: Brisbane
Car: '07 Liberty GT '98 WRX CS2 2.5ltr

Re: Stock 2007 Liberty GT conversion to VF52 Plus...

Postby Yowie » Wed Jul 28, 2021 9:34 pm

Heroic effort!

I never had the guts to swap all that stuff at home. The line on "too much of an embuggerance so the mechanic can do it" is quite low for me.
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Re: Stock 2007 Liberty GT conversion to VF52 Plus...

Postby bigBADbenny » Thu Jul 29, 2021 9:54 am

The turbo heat shield usually must be trimmed to clear an aftermarket dump bell mouth.

If you can’t find a photo of the mod, I’ll take a pic of mine, although mine has potentially had too much material removed.

Iirc it’s taken from the area at the lower rhs of the shield.

Its a quick job with a cutoff wheel on a grinder.


A bunch of hoses indeed.

Most of the pcv pipes respond well to having just boiled water poured on the ends to bring them up to a flexible state, after which they can be walked off (or onto) the fittings.
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Re: Stock 2007 Liberty GT conversion to VF52 Plus...

Postby Stifull » Thu Jul 29, 2021 10:21 pm

Well today was another eventful one.. Getting that big red sucker hose with all it's appendages to go in under the intake manifold. It only went in about 1/4 of the way and I thought.. I'm gunna ring Russ and see how much he'll charge me per hour to send one of the boys over and dig me out of the hole I had dug myself into, but after removing a few things from around the back and taking off the bracket that the boost controller and the other thing that lives on that bracket off I managed to get the hose in there.

I took to that bracket with the angle grinder and took off all the bits that were causing grief and put it back on and attached all the hoses and fitted the 3 port boost controller , but not connected so it runs on wastegate pressures only for the drive down to the tuner. It has connectors fitted so it's just a matter of plugging it in when it arrives.

I tried fitting the engine cover, mainly because it helps funnel air into the IC but the boost controller sits up in the way. There is nowhere else where it fits do I think I will just mod the cover and allow the controller to stick through it.

I gave the workshop bench area a clean as well so tomorrow I can start with tools back where they belong and begin the install of the turbo. Yes I will need to take to the heat shield with an angle grinder to make a little slot for the actuator arm to run through, that's if I can ever line everything up and slot the turbo into position. Then the IC and all the other stuff I have removed or loosened or unplugged..

I had to order a part through Russ which must have to come from Melb or Syd as it wont be here till monday. It is a breather from the RHS rocker cover to the breather bar. Silly hose...16mm on end and 19mm on the other so there's no making that one up. That's the reason why the red hoses have no clamps on them because the air filter one will have to come off to get that pipe on. It seems that there is not many clamps on the breather hoses or the vacuum hoses. I put one on the blow off valve and main breather on the big red hose but didn't bother with clamps on the others. they are in a vacuum anyway so I think they will self seal. They are all pretty tight in there..... What do you think ??? I am all for no more clamps cause I have had enough of playing with that big red hose. I have black ones on the Rex so it kind of looks normal to the untrained eye. I got red ones because they were new 2nd hand and at a good price.

I remembered to remove the inline mini oil filter to the turbo. Felt sure I would get soo flustered that I would forget to do that. I will have to have a good look around before I even think about starting it. I found a hose that had pulled off today when moving something and I had no idea it was off till i saw and end hidine underneath another hose. Could have soo easily missed it..

Image
Current Subarus
07 Liberty GT (mine) 180kwt on 16lb
98 WRX Club Spes 2 with 2.5ltr upgrade(mine) sub 14 sec
99 Ver 6 Sti also with 2.5ltr upgrade (son) sub 14 sec
02 WRX Bugeye Hatch lots of goodies(wife)
09 Non Turbo Impreza(daughter#4)
Previous
98 GC8 WRX Hatch(daughter#1)
02 Bugeye WRX (daughter#2)
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Stifull
 
Posts: 412
Joined: Sun Nov 18, 2018 11:30 pm
Location: Brisbane
Car: '07 Liberty GT '98 WRX CS2 2.5ltr

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