Some Parts for Sale -

[ArthurS]

Cusco CF Rear Strut Tower -
- Sells for 195 over at Gruppe-s
- Looking for 140 obo...
- Has a little blue paint mark on left side bracket. Can't see it installed.




Cusco Rear Sway Bar -
- Sells for 140 over at Gruppe-s
- Looking for 100 obo...
- Would need to trade out with stock sway bar.

Whiteline Rear Endlinks -
- Sells for 50 at SPiMotorsports
- Looking for 25 obo...



Perrin Radiator Shroud -
- Sells for 55 at WorldOnePerformance
- Looking for 40 obo...







All parts are in perfect working condition. All are used but in good shape. You can always see them at the meets. Money's goes into my savings pit for my next ride.

Gauges and BC go up for sale soon also.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by ArthurS

Gauges, Grill, and BC go up for sale soon also.

I'm gonna go ahead and let you know the grill's not for sale because I'm calling dibs for Tyson.

[ArthurS]

Originally Posted by sperry

I'm gonna go ahead and let you know the grill's not for sale because I'm calling dibs for Tyson.

Opss forgot. Fixed

[sperry]

BTW everyone, those gauges are real nice. They used to be mine (before I decided I wanted the playback capability of the Defi's I replaced 'em with). I built a real nice wiring harness and oil temp/pressure filter sandwich adapter. It's almost plug-n-play, save the splicing for +V/GND/Ill you need to do in one spot.

Hell, I might even be willing to buy the oil temp/pressure/water temp gauges and center pod back from ya, since I never got around to buying the Defi versions.

[ShawnS]

Hey Art, drop me an offer on the gauges ya got. I will be needing some soon.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by ShawnS

Hey Art, drop me an offer on the gauges ya got. I will be needing some soon.

Art, if Shawn buys your gauges, I'll buy the center pod back from ya (since it won't fit in a 240...).

[ArthurS]

Alright. I may run the WRX a few more times out at the course (if I can't find a track car till then) so I want to keep them on for those events. Once I get the second car (working on a deal now), then I'll pull them off.

[Dean]

What does the radiator thingy do, and I wonder if it is STX legal?

Is the strut bar adjustable, or fixed length?

[ArthurS]

Originally Posted by Dean

What does the radiator thingy do, and I wonder if it is STX legal?

Is the strut bar adjustable, or fixed length?

Perrin Radiator Shroud -

The PERRIN Performance™ radiator air deflector will force more air through your radiator to reduce engine temperatures and increase engine longevity.

.....on a moving car air enters through the grill and is pushed across the radiator cooling the motor. Some air will escape around the top and bottom limiting the efficiency of the radiator.

The PERRIN™ radiator air deflector attaches to the top of the core support and the radiator. This limits the amount of air that can escape over the radiator, forcing more air through the radiator core. This simple bolt on piece will increase performance and will accent your under hood performance modifications.

The PERRIN Performance™ radiator air deflector is made of hardened steel and powder coated black for corrosion resistance.

Cusco CF Rear Strut Bar -

Cusco Type-CB Strutbar

Suspension upgrades such as high performance springs, shocks and tires can add additional stress to the chassis resulting in additional chassis flex. Cusco Type-CB strutbars improve chassis rigidity and reduce this flex. The all carbon fiber shaft is lighter than most other bars and adds a serious race quality to the vehicle. High precision machining allowed a precise fit for parts made in titanium and aluminum. The strut bar rigidity is improved as well.

Applications

* 02+ WRX/STi - Rear Only

Construction

* Super light and super strong 40mm diameter carbon pipe

* Aluminum rear plate is titanium in color

[sperry]

Originally Posted by Dean

What does the radiator thingy do, and I wonder if it is STX legal?

There's a percieved issue w/ air flowing over the radiator that could instead be flowing through it... this helps, or so that's the marketing. I think it's more of a dress up item. It's not STX legal.

[ArthurS]

Originally Posted by sperry

There's a percieved issue w/ air flowing over the radiator that could instead be flowing through it... this helps, or so that's the marketing. I think it's more of a dress up item. It's not STX legal.

They originally said it improves cooling 20%. Who really knows if it does. 2002 WRX's do have aissue with air escaping, becuase in the 2003 models, they lined the top with a layer of foam to prevent some of this loss.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by ArthurS

They originally said it improves cooling 20%. Who really knows if it does. 2002 WRX's do have aissue with air escaping, becuase in the 2003 models, they lined the top with a layer of foam to prevent some of this loss.

I'm not saying it doesn't work, I'm saying the car cools itself pretty damn well as it is... I can idle after an autoX run on a 110 deg day and my temp needle moves up about half a needles width... not much threat of overheating.

It does look very nice tho... but it sucks to knock yourself out of STX for looks. If only there was a way to get it to increase the I/C cooling efficiency!

[Dean]

OK, got the radiator thingy. But the question on the strut bar remains. Is it fixed in length, or does if have a threaded shaft, and adjustment nuts of some form?

[ArthurS]

Originally Posted by Dean

OK, got the radiator thingy. But the question on the strut bar remains. Is it fixed in length, or does if have a threaded shaft, and adjustment nuts of some form?

I believe it is adjustable to some degree. I'll have you look on Thursday if you want.

[sperry]

If this is the picture of the exact model you have:



then it's non-adjustable. Anything that uses stock style endlink will have multiple holes in the ends of the bar for adjustment.

Like my Whiteline bar (pay no attention to the busted endlink ):

[AtomicLabMonkey]

I believe he was talking about the strut-tower brace, not the swaybar.

[Kevin M]

He is referring to the brace, but that's the front sway bar, not rear.

[ArthurS]

Whoops sorry everyone. That pic was of the front sway bar. The rear sway is adjustable 22-24 mm.

The strut tower I think is slightly adjustable, but I don't remember. I'll go out and look when I leave work.

[sperry]

DERP!

You guys are right. Although I don't know anyone that "adjusts" their strut top brace... what does that achieve?

"Well, the car was pushing in 3, so I though if the struts were held tighter, she'd loosen up a bit"

Aside from simple pre-loading of the brace, what would you adjust?

[AtomicLabMonkey]

Geez man, don't you know that lets you change the float-wedge and Rickenbacker coefficient between tires? Gets 'em matched perfect and staggered special!

Joking aside, I would assume adjustment would simply allow for correct fit to an invididual car, especially if there is any dimensional difference between a wagon and a sedan.

[Dean]

Originally Posted by sperry

Aside from simple pre-loading of the brace, what would you adjust?

Nothing, just that.

Originally Posted by AtomicLabMonkey

Joking aside, I would assume adjustment would simply allow for correct fit to an invididual car, especially if there is any dimensional difference between a wagon and a sedan.

Actually, unless you pre stress a cross member like this, you will probably have less than optimal results.

The purpose of strut bars is minimize deflection of the top of the strut towers relative to the body and each other. Either you can preload tension or compression, depending on what your goals are. I have never understood the bars with pivots. By placing a pivot in the bars, they allow the body to twist or cant at that pivot instead of resisting that force as well.

The biggest problem with most tensioning systems is the inherient slop in the adjustment component, and any additional flexability it might add to the system. But that is usually less than any pivot might allow.

Also unless you have replaced your stock top mounts, strut bars usually have little effect as the play in the stock rubber mount allows a significant amount of deflection despite the bar.

[AtomicLabMonkey]

Originally Posted by Dean

Actually, unless you pre stress a cross member like this, you will probably have less than optimal results.

The purpose of strut bars is minimize deflection of the top of the strut towers relative to the body and each other. Either you can preload tension or compression, depending on what your goals are. I have never understood the bars with pivots. By placing a pivot in the bars, they allow the body to twist or cant at that pivot instead of resisting that force as well.

Dean,

I'd be interested to hear the tech behind your statement on preloading a strut tower brace.

As for the pivots, I've never really understood that either. When the design includes pivots it reduces the brace to a simple tension/compression member, instead of also being able to (at least somewhat) resist a bending moment as well. I made up a rudimentary FEA model of a front end and pivoting & non-pivoting STB a while ago, and the non-pivoting resulted in less inward tower deflection when exposed to a vertical wheel load... the pivoting style did still have some effect though.

[Dean]

The pivoting kind will allow the two sides of the car to displace relative to each other like a rhombus:

o|\
\|o

Whereas one without a pivot will resist that to at least some extent.

Everything has some sort of flex, and preloading in the approrite direction is an attempt to minimize it.

Lets assume the firewalls are perfectly stiff, and pretend that the whole interior unibody and body fenders act as a single surface called the side panels.

The flex we are trying to reduce or at least control is what is allowed by the side panels under load from the strut top relative to the fixed point/line that is the firewall side panel intersection. by placing a rigid memeber between the two strut tops, we force any load applied to one side to have to work against the stiffness of it's side panel, as well as the other side's though the bar. By slightly preloading the bar in compression, we ensure there is no slop in the bar itself, and minimal defelction is allowed on one side before the other side's resistance comes into play.

In a small number of cases, you might preload the bar in tension to reduce body flex and possibly allow for additional negative camber.

[tysonK]

Originally Posted by sperry

I'm gonna go ahead and let you know the grill's not for sale because I'm calling dibs for Tyson.

correct, "dibs"!.

[AtomicLabMonkey]

This should probably be in Technical Chat now...

Originally Posted by Dean

The pivoting kind will allow the two sides of the car to displace relative to each other like a rhombus:

o|\
\|o

Whereas one without a pivot will resist that to at least some extent.

Hence my comment about bending moments.

Everything has some sort of flex, and preloading in the approrite direction is an attempt to minimize it.

Lets assume the firewalls are perfectly stiff, and pretend that the whole interior unibody and body fenders act as a single surface called the side panels.

The flex we are trying to reduce or at least control is what is allowed by the side panels under load from the strut top relative to the fixed point/line that is the firewall side panel intersection. by placing a rigid memeber between the two strut tops, we force any load applied to one side to have to work against the stiffness of it's side panel, as well as the other side's though the bar. By slightly preloading the bar in compression, we ensure there is no slop in the bar itself, and minimal defelction is allowed on one side before the other side's resistance comes into play.

In a small number of cases, you might preload the bar in tension to reduce body flex and possibly allow for additional negative camber.

I understand the loads involved, but a properly designed, fitted and torqued-down brace shouldn't have any slop in it, so that should be a moot point.

As for the camber, any front clip flimsy enough to measurably distort wheel camber angle from the amount of force you'd get from a couple turns of a STB's rod end needs a whole lot more help than a STB is going to give it.