The Winter mods are about done: Phenolic Spacers

[Chiketkd]

Spent the better part of Saturday afternoon installing the Outlaw Engineering phenolic spacers in my car with Tom's (svxfiles) invaluable help.

Some pics of the install are here: Phenolic Spacer Install

The install was relatively straight forward but we did run into a little bump with the front manifold bolt on the driver's side (runs under a/c pipe). The manifold itself also has a curved edge that runs under the a/c pipe, and when raised a 1/4" bumps against it!

We were able to get the old bolt out by sliding the entire manifold back a tiny bit, and repeated this process when installing the new one. To get the raised manifold to fit under the a/c pipe Tom used a metal file to re-shape the curved edge.



Strange thing about this is that Tom never needed to do this on his '92. We attribute it to production tolerances as there was no known change in manifold design between the '92 - '96 model years???

Here's a few pics of the completed install:

Passenger Side




Driver's Side


New bolts vs old (5mm longer)


Afterwards I let my car warm up for 10 minutes went on a 15 minute spin with Tom and then came back and left the engine running for another 10 minutes. Tom used infrared thermometer to measure the temp of the manifold just above and below the 1/4" spacers:

Lower Manifold temp


Upper Manifold temp


Needless to say, this mod is definitely worth the price and is virtually unnoticeable in the engine bay. There's also no clearance issues between the front of the manifold and the hood.



-Chike

[Chiketkd]

I'll be installing my last Winter mod - slotted f&r rotors and Metal Master pads from Race Concepts!

It also looks like I have my first rear wheel bearing going out, so I'll be taking my car into my local mechanic for the infamous SVX rear wheel bearing replacement this week.

At this point I can't tell if I need to replace one or both - but I'm thinking the 'roar' is coming from the driver's side. Funny, I thought it was just tire noise until Tom drove my car and pointed out that it definitely was a bad bearing.

Can't wait till the drag strips open in March!

-Chike

[n00b on demand]

How loud is it? I thought i had bad bearings too but the noise only happens on certain roads....on certain roads the car is veryyyy quiet and others its loud. I know with bad bearings it will happen on any road. Chike, you must be the happiest person to have a bearing go out that ive ever seen

[Chiketkd]

Originally posted by soobiesvx93
How loud is it? I thought i had bad bearings too but the noise only happens on certain roads....on certain roads the car is veryyyy quiet and others its loud. I know with bad bearings it will happen on any road. Chike, you must be the happiest person to have a bearing go out that ive ever seen

It's pretty loud above 60mph, and you can start to hear it around 30+mph...

I just talked it over with my wife when I got back and she was cool. Things are going to break on a 110K car. Besides I can't go to the track with the bearings howling like this!

-Chike

[svxfiles]

The only thing I would add, is to measure the clearance between the AC line and the webbing on the manifold before you start. That way if you have to file the webbing to gain some clearance the aluminum dust stays out of the engine. It is easy to file. I have more pictures in my locker, under phenolic spacer install, and Chi ke's phenolic spacer install. Tom

[Phast SVX]

Sweet Chike, definetly on my list of things i need to get!
phil

[ssnsltd]

Did the bolts come with the kit?

[svxfiles]

Yes, new bolts came with the kit, but not the gaskets, as this was a pre-production kit. A word of caution, when you get your Subaru intake manifold gaskets, make sure you do not bend them. If bent, they can be a PITA.

[ssnsltd]

thanks!

[Chiketkd]

Originally posted by svxfiles
The only thing I would add, is to measure the clearance between the AC line and the webbing on the manifold before you start. That way if you have to file the webbing to gain some clearance the aluminum dust stays out of the engine. It is easy to file. I have more pictures in my locker, under phenolic spacer install, and Chi ke's phenolic spacer install. Tom

Just to be absolutely sure none got into my engine, I'll be changing my oil tomorrow am when I do my brakes.

Thanks for everything Tom.

-Chike

[Chiketkd]

Just got an e-mail from Sean at Outlaw and the SVX production kit is now available. Due to the low volume, it will not include gaskets and cost is $95.00. However, if demand is there, they may offer a complete kit for $115.

To contact Sean directly, e-mail him at: sales@outlawengineering.com

-Chike

[ssnsltd]

Glad a placed a pre-production order. .