This weekend James and I finished buttoning up the Impreza to get it ready for Ice Racing. The KYB GR-2s were installed with tall Impreza L springs and STi Group N strut mounts, then the car was sent off for alignment at Town Fair Tire.

A new gel cell battery was installed, power for the intercom was run, the center console was put back in, ricewrap was used to cover and protect all the miscellaneous wiring bundles, and everything was then routed and attached using a few pounds of zipties.

$29 later, the car was once again street legal after a Massachusetts inspection. I daily drove the car to and from work for a few days to make sure the new alignment and suspension was happy, and I’m now eagerly awaiting the start of the ice racing season!

The Legacy was raped for suspension bits and will be converted back to stock springs, and the stiffer springs that were removed from the Legacy will be moved to the rally car for ice racing season. KYB GR-2s will be used and bolted to the chassis using STi Group N strut mounts pulled from the DMS 50s which are on the bench until Spring.

This evening I also managed to track down the loose heater cable behind the dashboard so I can actually control my heat again.

I finished the repair on the driver side steering rack tie rod boot this afternoon. Since I opted not to remove the front swaybar and headers as suggested by the factory service manual it was a real pain to pull the boot back over the steering rack. Liberal application of heavy grease on the inside edges of the boot lubricated it enough to push over the steering rack; needle nose pliers wrapped in shop towels helped grip the boot without tearing it.

I also drilled a few holes in the trunk to mount eyebolts for ratcheting tiedowns. The sheet metal is extremely thin, so I’ll need to reinforce it with small metal plates to make the mounts strong enough to hold down a pair of spare tires while bouncing around out on stage.

The Impreza went up on jackstands this evening in preparation for ice racing season. The DMS 50s were removed and will be replaced with KYB GR-2s with Impreza L springs and STi Group N strut mounts for Winter.

The driver side tie rod boot was shredded, so it got cut off the the tie rod was disassembled. I’ll be cleaning and regreasing everything before installing a new boot.

I’m confirmed and paid up for the Team O’Neil Rally School 2-Day Advanced Winter Driving Clinic the weekend of February 19th. For the low, low price of just $600 (normally $1,650) I’ll get to toss Chris Brenton’s WRX STi around on the snow-covered rally circuit with a professional instructor sitting shotgun. I won’t be driving the rally car since a back seat is required for passengers.

This will be my third year at Team O’Neil, and the course has saved my ass on more than one occasion. Tim O’Neil’s mantra of Lift, Turn, Accelerate repeats itself over and over again in my head whenever I’m racing or driving in inclement weather.

Video footage is available of both the Novice Winter Driving Clinic and the 2-Day Advanced Winter Driving Clinic.