RoughStilin & _Daz_'s GF8 Track Hack
 

So, the story goes that I do not wanna risk smashing my STI on the track & have been talking to a couple of good friends who suggested buying a separate cheap car for motorsport purposes.

This arvo Darren & I picked up the GF8 in pretty much stock form, apart from a 2 1/2" cat back exhaust to today from Robbie (thanks mate) & straight away have started to get parts together to make it go a little quicker on the track. The car has already been gutted interior wise, so that is a great start.

Thanks to seagull we managed to pick up a Apexi resonator delete, some seat rails for the passenger side seat (already has a recaro fitted to the drivers side), a host of gauges, boost, voltage, oil & water temp. A plug in computer that does something???? A new P/S pump as the one in the car has a bit of a noisy bearing & a battery clamp. Also I picked up a couple of 3" OMP harnesses today from GOGEAR, ready for the Rally Sprint on Thursday night.

Tomorrow the car will be fitted with STD coil overs (massive thanks to Mao for doing this with 14 hours notice), get a minor service done, including engine oil, brake fluid etc & hopefully grab some 4 pot calipers and rotors to swap over too. Need a passenger side park light. Bigger inetrcooler thanks to the Weir family & gonna grab some dry ice and get rid of the factory sound deadening.

As mentioned the car is in pretty much standard form & to be honest for now, we do not intend to do much to it performance wise, as we think it is smart to keep the car on pretty much standard boost, not break it & enjoy it for what it is, have fun, get out amongst it & bugger being competitive for now.

Few pics of the car below. Will update in the next couple of days as to what we manged to get completed before Thursday.:)

[IMG]http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/9114/dsc01218v.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/9818/dsc01221r.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/3783/dsc01224e.jpg[/IMG]


[IMG]http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/3329/dsc01225ka.jpg[/IMG]

Beast!!

itll need to have a passenger seat for thursday

Is it this one?

[url]http://www.perth-wrx.com/vb/sale-cars-only/41747-jdm-wrx-gf8-hatch-back-b-class-race-car.html[/url]

That's awesome bro can't wait to see wat it turns out looking like.

Congrats - looks like a great starting track hack.

Nice! Giving the old girl a new life.
Might have to turn the missus' 99 into a track beast if it doesn't sell.

I am taking notes. Niiiice :)

[QUOTE=Master D;644127]itll need to have a passenger seat for thursday[/QUOTE]

Copy that Dave, I have a seat, just need to fit it to the rails Neil so gratefully donated. Passenger seat will be in tomorrow

[QUOTE=XT43;644136]Is it this one?

[URL]http://www.perth-wrx.com/vb/sale-cars-only/41747-jdm-wrx-gf8-hatch-back-b-class-race-car.html[/URL][/QUOTE]

Yup, thats the one Burke

Keep your eyes peeled for a 4" drop in the rear & a 2" drop in the front by lunch time tomorrow :)

Sweet, hope you get it sorted for Thursday night!

Will you bother to find some r-comps for Thursday or you just wanna get out there and start learning the car one way or another?
[SIZE="2"]EDIT: Burk and I currently have exactly the same number of posts. How awesome are we? Team 1701 FTW.[/SIZE]

[QUOTE=ALEX.;644167] Burk and I currently have exactly the same number of posts. How awesome are we? Team 1701 FTW.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]
and you do realise what the date is don't you? :D

[QUOTE=ALEX.;644167]Will you bother to find some r-comps for Thursday or you just wanna get out there and start learning the car one way or another?
[SIZE=2]EDIT: Burk and I currently have exactly the same number of posts. How awesome are we? Team 1701 FTW.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

We are just gonna swap the rims & R comps over from my STI for the night. The cars own decent Yoko's will come with time and when we get more cash saved up. As you said though, the main thing is to have fun, get out there & start learning one way or another :)

Nice work Simon. Need to get some 4 spots!

Stuff im so jealous!

So I just got back from Evolution R, new set of STD coilovers put in & full 4 wheel alignment with about - 3 deg of camber in the front, & - 2 deg in the rear.

I put the Apexi resonator delete in & a new pod filter, its a K&N so fingers crossed it does not stuff up the AFM too quickly.

Off we go now to get some four pot brakes that Tom pointed me in the right direction too (cheers mate) then off to weld up the bracket for the passenger seat. Collect the bigger top mount, electronic boost controller & that should be all for today (thank funk)

Tomorrow will bring a oil change, brake system flush, swapping of the wheels & tyres for my STI ones & if I can find them some braided brake lines.

[IMG]http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/9314/dsc01227qe.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/430/dsc01229hr.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/9774/dsc01231h.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/7721/dsc01233me.jpg[/IMG]

Wow - that was quick!

Bring it over tonight if you are free :)

yours has more done to it in 24hrs than mine has in 2yrs! FFUUUUU!!
ill catch up with ya tomorrow night simon!

If you're sticking with a top mount I have an ARC & STI RA one that will fit.

I think Wayne (JDM style) may have braided brake lines.

and to think i was talking to daz 3 days ago about getting rego for this beast before they laid down the cash for this wow thats a quick turn around.Will be there to see this as soon as i get off the plane in the morning

nice work boys... quick work too!

The fun continues tomorrow with a few final bits & pieces, then the real fun begins in the evening, can't wait!!!

We got quite a lot accomplished today/tonight, tomorrow's looking to be just as hectic making sure all is ready for the Rallysprint.

[QUOTE=Master D;644447]
ill catch up with ya tomorrow night simon![/QUOTE]

Will be good to see you Dave

[QUOTE=Riggs;644452]If you're sticking with a top mount I have an ARC & STI RA one that will fit.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the offer, but I have decided to just keep the standard one for now, as its too much stuffing around, so close to the event, we have enough to do tomorrow as it is. Thanks though, really appreciate the offer

[QUOTE=GTB Liberty;644460]I think Wayne (JDM style) may have braided brake lines.[/QUOTE]

Thanks Andrew, I think we have ran out of time now though to do anything else, unless I can grab them first thing in the morning. If you know his contact ph #, could you PM it to me, or could you let him know I am chasing some. Cheers mate

[QUOTE=munya;644463]and to think i was talking to daz 3 days ago about getting rego for this beast before they laid down the cash for this wow thats a quick turn around.Will be there to see this as soon as i get off the plane in the morning[/QUOTE]

The boys from Murrin don't funk around mate :), see you tomorrow.

[QUOTE=ImPreSiV;644466]nice work boys... quick work too![/QUOTE]

Cheers Kim. Hopefully Darren & myself can put in a decent effort tomorrow night in the car.

[QUOTE=_daz_;644532]The fun continues tomorrow with a few final bits & pieces, then the real fun begins in the evening, can't wait!!![/QUOTE]

Faggot.

Well another day gone & I got let down with the brakes, so I m 50/50 weather to get a set from JWS, or, just run with what we have for now???

The car handles so much better now with the STD coilovers in, especially with the extra camber. It really does go round corners like a Go kart. Much, much better than my STI.

All fluids and filters purchased for the mini service tomorrow morning, including coolant flush, as I am pretty sure it will be due for a change.

So we managed to get the passenger seat in, the 2 new OMP harnesses in place, got a first aid kit & put some 100W spottie's on the front (Massive thanks Mao :thumbsup:) as I have heard the last round of the Rally Sprint at Kwinana was pretty poor on lighting & consequently, vision was limited. the front passenger park light was missing, but Darren sorted that out this arvo with a replacement from JWS.

Tommo, let me borrow a Maximum Motorsport chipped ECU, but the funking check engine light is now on, so I guess I will have to swap the ECU's back tomorrow, as I really do not like that CEL light.

I cant express how grateful I am for all the help people have given me in the 2 days. Neil (seagull) as always mate you never cease to amaze me with your mad skills and want to help people. Thank you. Mao & Warick fro their hep with the suspension, alignment & spottie's. Tom & Tom for help with the fitment of the spotlights, and lend of the ECU & I cant forget the co driver Daz, for all the driving around and cheap labour :p. Its amazing in the last 18 months how many great people I have met from the forum & how helpful these people have been, great community spirit. Sounds gay, but its true.

So a bit to do tomorrow, but should get it all in pretty easily, fingers crossed.

A few more pics, as I know how you all love em :p

Hows the fully sik sunroof :)

[IMG]http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/1815/img1030q.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/1999/img1031hc.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/6927/img1033mh.jpg[/IMG]

Good job bro have fun tomorrow I'll probably see you down there.

Done, with 45 min to spare.

[IMG]http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/3505/dsc01240uc.jpg[/IMG]

4 pot brakes installed on the front & full brake system flush.
Triangles installed.
2 X fire extinguishers installed.
Boost gauge installed, running at a mighty 11 psi :)
Oil & filter changed.
Coolant flushed & changed.
Wheels & tyres swapped.
First aid kit put in car.

Hopefully we have a good, safe, problem free night at the plex.

good luck! that's dedication

And daz disappearing for hours trying to get oil filter

nice, will be watching this thread

Hey what a evening for all involved. I was amazed how this machine went so close to stock form with just a set of coil over fitted.

Had an absolute ball. The car went extremely well considering. No other power mods other than a 2 1/2" cat back exhaust. Handled great with the suspension & our times improved by about a second per run from 4 runs in total. Awesome, awesome fun [IMG]http://www.perth-wrx.com/vb/images/smilies/smile.gif[/IMG]

Video below, apologies for the sound, but can't be stuffed doing anything with it. The lighting is also not the best, but thats the GoPro for ya at night.

[YT]HD_P_1xmjkU&feature[/YT]

Thats amazing...and i can understand why you didnt want to do that in your STI....some places were tight as...

Simon - looks like you had a blast. Great effort to get there with mods.

In the end, PMd Wayne and he had none for your model available.

Good fun eh!

Car looked the part out there. We had a bit of a chuckle when we was you go through that second chicane ( looks to be the same run in the vid? ) where it looks like you were going to go through it the wrong way. Either that or you are doing a scando flick!

The chicanes took a hammering last nigh, I think they were only complete for the first few runs until a cone or two got smashed.

These people were not as skilled as Alex who threaded the needle between the cones instead of going around them :)

Doesn't Mao do a braided brake package?

[QUOTE=XT43;644949]

These people were not as skilled as Alex who threaded the needle between the cones instead of going around them :)[/QUOTE]


Many lols when that happened. Pity noone could see his handbrake action :-)

[QUOTE=GTB Liberty;644946]Simon - looks like you had a blast. Great effort to get there with mods.

In the end, PMd Wayne and he had none for your model available.[/QUOTE]

It was ridiculous amounts fun Andrew. We are going to enter the car twice next time so Darren can get a drive too. Bring on Feb 16th

[QUOTE=XT43;644949]Good fun eh!

Car looked the part out there. We had a bit of a chuckle when we was you go through that second chicane ( looks to be the same run in the vid? ) where it looks like you were going to go through it the wrong way. Either that or you are doing a scando flick!

The chicanes took a hammering last nigh, I think they were only complete for the first few runs until a cone or two got smashed.
[/QUOTE]

Its the first time I have ever done anything like this, as obviously is does not compare to a RAC day. The car was great taking all things into consideration.

I don't know what happened on that last chicane, I did quite well on those the previous 3 runs, but I remember saying to Darren after the last run they have moved them (as in from people knocking them over and putting them back up differently). Not sure if someone had hit them & they had moved them, but if that excuse does not work, I'm happy to run with the Scandinavian flick option :)

All in all an excellent injury & problem free night with so much fun had.

So after all the fun I had last round, I know I said I was not going to, but I have decided to do a few more mods to try and get some quicker times.

So what's next?

Greddy prfoec B electronic boost controller

440 cc yellow injectors - Hopefully the ones I have fit the rails, as I have
heard there are 2 types of side feeds, one type for the earlier models & one for the V3/4 onwards?

Walbro 255 fuel pump install.

Power FC ECU with the hand controller.

Full turbo back 3” exhaust.

Catless up pipe.

Hopefully get a better TMIC thats easy to fit, or try to fit a later model one which Geoff donated, it does not look like a easy job though.

Full dyno tune with the FC.

Project MU B Spec front pads.

Remove sound deadening & any other weight we can i.e speakers, rear washer bottle

Need to have a look at the rear brakes – I keep forgetting to, but they are making scraping sounds when driving slowly. Might just need a new set of pads hopefully, maybe a disc skim.

Lift the front suspension up 15 to 20 mm as we had rubbing noises in the front guard last round when cornering sharply.

Check out the front suspension arm bushes on the front & rear.

Carbon wrap the bonnet with that 3M carbon fibre look film - cheap & tacky I know, but the entire bonnet paint is flaking off & its a quick & easy way to cover it up.

Braided brake lines front and rear

Brake stopper

Give the car a good clean inside & out, try to polish out some of that weathered clear coat white spots & get it looking a bit tidier.


I’m Gonna take it down to Midvale on the 11th to get a bit more seat time in it too before the Rally Sprint on the 16th. I would like to also get some decent photos of the car in action too, hopefully at either Midvalve or the Rally Sprint, or better still, both.

I will take pics of all the above stuff when I am doing it & post it up.

Gonna be another busy break for the both of us it seems, but totally worth it imho :D