Time for an update.....

[Superleggo]

A neat tank installation. I wish I had fitted air suspension but I am not going back now as I am getting too much hassle to get it on the road for the summer.

[richbaker78]

flickr is crap - took ages to find how to post pics with their 'new improved format'....anyway...gauges trial fitted.



at last the paint prep began....a whole weekend of rubbing stuff down at my mates bodyshop SW bodyworx. massive thanks to Stu.

[Superleggo]

I am getting excited about your paint.
It will transform your work.

I can't wait for more pictures.

[richbaker78]

blimey its been a while....
Ive solved the wiper puzzle - they now work a treat with decent wipe :-) all that remains is to make a decent version of them using rose joints etc which is next weeks job.

So that has left me with one last job.....my fibreglass dormy roof is a nice shape but poorly made.

Many many screws on the outside look ugly, it flexes too much and sweats /condensates and looks rubbish on the inside. As I plan to have it lifted and dropped by air rams I need it to be strong so have decided to double skin it and strengthen it and solve all the problems at once.

I templated the profile, then made some wooden ribs

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then bonded them to the roof and added some thin wall steel box - as is now used for stud walls these days as its very very light



then started filling with expanding foam which I will shape and form the inner skin over. this also serves to take the flex out of the very flimsy lightweight steel strengtheners and gives some thermal benefit



then I ran out of foam....hoping to have this and wipers all done by next week.....then its finished for now....

[splitbusvanatic]

Looks good.
What did you use to bond the wood to the fibre glass ?

[Superleggo]

Nice work Rich. Good idea to stiffen the roof. I was about to tackle mine as well.

What are you doing about the canvas. I was thinking of making mine out of banner material.

Are you planning on bonding in the windows or using the seal as I have heard that they leak?

[richbaker78]

I used fibreglass resin to bond the wood - it is what was used originally. ALso to lighten the bows we added a lot of holes to the back of the wood which also gives more surface area for bonding.

Canvas will be lightweight and brieathable - as found on modern vans - the old plastic was sweaty and rubbish. I also want to make some mods to that

I am planning on bonding the windows - that will come once I finish the inner skin...as it will require some re-shaping of the aperture. Looks fairly easy though.

1/2 term this week so hopefully see both roof and wipers finito...unless the weather is good for biking or surfs good!!

[richbaker78]

more roof progress

shaped the foam with saws and sand paper


the old strengthener had rotted away...I made a wider one from some cut down angle....I drilled it to 10mm to ensure a good bond through the metal

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bonded in with FG


then welded in a web to link the original strentheners in the corners, the new strengtheners and the wooden bows



then fibreglassed over the foam.....
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still some finishing left on the inside - and some more on the outside but there is nearly no flex in it at all!

[richbaker78]

Been away for a bit so not much progress....body prep continues slowly, closed all the holes in the roof so sll mods are finished on the roof


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After much though I decided to buy a new gearbox and use the subarugears reverse r&p. It's not that there is problem with the Rjes I still think it's the best adaptor system out there....however a play on a gear calculator clinched it so I sold the Rjes and my box and bought a 2003 wrx box for £200 including clutch and flywheel....thanks ebay.

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I'm using the later and improved ty754 box which is a similar year to my engine.
I have costed up the conversion at about £1500 inc the donor box. You can get a box built for about £450-500 on top of that but I going to build it myself....a first for me so should be interesting!!!!

Being so far along with my project I was concerned I was going to have to redo a lot of stuff as the box size might be different....however it basically moves the driveshafts back about 20mm and down about the same which actually improves clearance on full drop. So it looks like all I will need to do is remake the mounts and gear linkage, plus the internal box work. Sounds easy....

Although subaru gears have a how to on their website....I'm going to make a more thorough one here as it does assume some prior knowledge I didn't have....I am a complete novice so hopefully others can learn from my errors.

First step is to remove the rear drive stuff to facilitate box shortening...remove the roll pins from the gear selector and pull it off. Then undo about 10 14mm bolts around the top and give it a gentle tap to remove.


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This reveals all the bits you have to remove.....

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So remove them...they just lift out....

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Leaving this

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So far it's taken about 10 minutes.....next is to remove the centre housing ( the empty bit) so it can be shortened...to follow

[doppelganger]

looking good im looking at gearbox options on the GF`s squareback right now so video when it comes to the grinder work
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[trev]

excellent, I'll be watching this progress

[ricola]

I did one of these for a mate recently so if anyone wants pics pm me your facebook details and I can add you to the group...
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