ZeroDrift's 1988 All Trac. Engine Overhaul Project!

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Curry

New member
ZeroDrift":2ori97ke said:
Curry":2ori97ke said:
WOW. Awesome job with those vents! The wipers look pretty slick I may have to try that out. Mine look crummy... lol
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Thank you! The vents work fairly well, but need some more testing before I recommend getting the same style/positioning. The wipers work amazingly well but I am not liking the Saab mounting arm as it doesn't rest as low as the Paseo arm. That will change in the near future most likely. The rear arm will need some welding to modernize the wiper mounting points though. Its a fun project though and the new wipers are a great functional/aesthetic improvement.
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Yea I was amazed at the amount of heat under the bay... I thought my WRX was bad. But I am considering going to vent route as well.

I'm probably going to just repaint the wipers for now since I have a few other things to take care of like brakes and a mystery oil leak. lol
 
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ZeroDrift

New member
Curry":2cniqd2d said:
ZeroDrift":2cniqd2d said:
Curry":2cniqd2d said:
WOW. Awesome job with those vents! The wipers look pretty slick I may have to try that out. Mine look crummy... lol
Click to expand...


Thank you! The vents work fairly well, but need some more testing before I recommend getting the same style/positioning. The wipers work amazingly well but I am not liking the Saab mounting arm as it doesn't rest as low as the Paseo arm. That will change in the near future most likely. The rear arm will need some welding to modernize the wiper mounting points though. Its a fun project though and the new wipers are a great functional/aesthetic improvement.
Click to expand...

Yea I was amazed at the amount of heat under the bay... I thought my WRX was bad. But I am considering going to vent route as well.

I'm probably going to just repaint the wipers for now since I have a few other things to take care of like brakes and a mystery oil leak. lol
Click to expand...

Yeah- My last car as well as my fiance's car (turbocharged high powered GC Impreza's) don't get anywhere near as hot as these little cars do. Those do have vents from the factory though, but even without em- the cars run cool by comparison. Perhaps it has something to do with the cast iron block and the placement of the engine in the engine bay. In either case I am ordering some temperature probes to carry out some research on the effectiveness of the system.

Her car: 290 whp/350wtq
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My old car:
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Z

ZeroDrift

New member
Went on a bit of a field trip this afternoon for my photography class. While the requirements don't call for any HDR, I decided to tinker around with 'em anyways for some fun.

The car ran 'ok' for the most part. At 9000' + elevation the car is SUPER sluggish. Boost only builds to 5psi in the middle of the RPM range then tapers off. Still have issues to sort out...

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ZeroDrift

New member
Spent this weekend working on the car some. Going to be wrapping some of the smaller parts with this:

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Painted the spare transmission while it is on the engine stand. Its going to come off the stand soon in preparations for the blue Subaru's engine overhaul.
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Also made some progress on the tweeter housings that were molded over the sail panels. Going to be trimming and adding some filler to these and then either plasti-dip spray paint or if I can get vinyl to contour to the complex shape perhaps some of that.

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Finally I've taken the wastegate off and patched a small leak in the housing and re-positioned the wastegate slightly. Works much better and boost builds much stronger! I now have to re-set the boost controller to 9 psi and plan to get a fuel cut defender one day.

In other news, I've discovered some of the clunking I get when going over some rough roads. Its the exhaust that moves and rattles against the sub frames or cross members. Perhaps some poly exhaust mounts in the future? Any leads here would be most appreciated!
 
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ZeroDrift

New member
Mini update:

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While it is quite difficult to wrap complex shapes, they did turn out much better in person than the pictures. The passenger side door latch didn't come out as nice as I couldn't make the pattern match easily. May make some minor changes to that piece in the future. Ran out of wrap for the window switches and other misc trim pieces in the cabin.
 
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ZeroDrift

New member
Making progress on the tweeter pods. I did a few coats of sand-able primer to better see the low and high spots on the surfaces. So far I'm quite happy on how they are turning out- especially for my first time making a tweeter pod!

Now before I finish the installation of these, should I be concearned when going to an active front sound stage with 4 ohm Alpine Type-X tweeters and 8 ohm Dayton 'mids'? I don't know much about mixing and matching anything when it comes to active setups. Should I change the 8 ohm speaker to a 4 ohm?

Anyways on the pictures:

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Where I left off:
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Decided to weigh the heavier one out of curiosities sake.
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Onto other news- honestly I feel a little daunted working with fiberglass. I've worked on some very basic 'brackets' and such in the past, but when it comes to a rigid sub enlosure- I am not sure of myself. First off, I can't seem to make any tape stick to the interior trim well enough. Secondly I seem to be a little inexperienced with resins and various methods to make the structure rigid enough to support the small 8" JBL sub.
 
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ZeroDrift

New member
Thanks for the link!

Finished the tweeter pods. Not 100% perfect, but its close enough for now. Still have to install them and change the front sound stage to active.

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ZeroDrift

New member
Made progress on the audio project recently.

First attempt at a sub enclosure. It is operational for the moment but am waiting for some black auto carpet and some misc items such as a grill in the mail. I hope to finish this next weekend if everything goes as planned.

The rear section I used fiberglass to provide clearance for the magnet structure; however that didn't work out as planned. As it is now the speaker hits the rear by about 1/2", and the plan will be to add a front spacer. I picked up a sheet of 3/4" MDF and will try to borrow a router to recess the speaker and grill to sit flush with the carpet.

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ZeroDrift

New member
Figured I'd update this thread after this weekend's road trip. Put on roughly 750+ miles and went over several mountain passes. All in all the temperature of the motor was very stable and never showed any signs of an inability to shed excess heat.

I've since discovered another item that needs attention though. During some of these mountain passes the car would continually see 3-8 pounds of boost when going up the pass and unfortunately would tend to smoke when RPM's are higher. How high I cannot say exactly as the tach has been on the fritz for a while. It was suggested that a leak down test should be performed and I am thinking that I could have a few valves that aren't sealing properly. The car does seem a little sluggish and inconsistent and with the smoke, a new head may solve several issues and give me a chance to go with solid lifters as opposed to the OEM shims and buckets.

If anyone has a spare head that will work on the ST165 I'd most likely be interested! Also if you have suggestions on things to do on a bare head I'm all ears!
 
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ZeroDrift

New member
Some minor progress today on the mount restorations. Polyurethane arrives next week and the project will continue then!

Out with the old worn out rubber:
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Cleaned and nearly ready for paint:
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First coat of rust proofing primer:
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Z

ZeroDrift

New member
Curry":37ml91lj said:
Wow nice progress. Those mounts look FRESH! I'm going to have to do this eventually :cry:
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Thank you! If this turns out how I planned I can offer this as a service in the future.


Figure I'd share the news. Valve guides are toast, as I had expected. As a result I am picking up a spare head and going to prepare that to swap in. Luckily I've got a few potential used heads lined up!

Should the budget allow I'm going to do some minor work on the head to make it match my overall goals with the car. More updates on this shortly. Any specific advice on 'must do' mods to a spare head please chime in! Also would be greatly appreciative for brands to avoid!
 
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ZeroDrift

New member
Just got the A/C system converted and recharged. It works fairly well (heck of a lot better than no A/C), but now I'm noticing that the cooling system is even more stressed. Specifically when it is at lower speeds: as in, the fans are suspect. So, quick test and found that when one fan is disconnected, the other works more strongly. Suffice to say, something is a little screwy with this scenario. Checked the relays and one seemed very rusted while the other two (fan relay #2 and #3) looked new. Decided to just buy a new one from Napa for $20 and am going to check grounds and any plugs to ensure everything has a good connection. More to come on this in the next few days.

In other news, I'm going to install the mounts that are finished today and will report back on how they work after a while. Gotta say I'm eager to try em out!

Lastly, I am in need of a window sprayer. The passenger side one busted some time ago and its time to get that sorted out. Napa and Autozone don't really have anything that is model specific, nor am I too keen on the LED/chrome options out there. Suffice to say, the search is on!
 
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Dracov

Member
Since you read through all of my little build thread I figured I would return the favor :D

Everything's looking really nice on your build! I'm especially liking the reflective heat wrapping, as these cars are utterly miserable with under the hood heat management. This will doubtless give me some ideas to plot out for mine.

Edit: For windshield sprayers I picked up a pair of ones off a newer Camry (I think) that will sprinkle the washer fluid onto the windshield instead of shooting it out in a stream. It was only $10 or so for the pair and should hookup with little trouble. If you want I can go dig up the part number.
 
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