Two nice cars, but I daily my missile.

[twisted99s10]

Update: I am so burnt out on cars. I keep telling myself I'm just gona sell everythign and buy a bunch of bikes.... but every night i still find myself in the garage.

The RX8 suspension is finished and dialed in. I think it came out awesome. She has just enough angle to where the tierods just start to over center, so I'm going to have to move the rack eventually. It looks even better now that the suspension has settled. I'll try to grab some pics of it tonight.

I was going to keep the list of parts I used as a secret in case I ever decided to make these to sell, but honestly I don't have the time, or desire to try to market these things. so, the upper ball joint is a tie rod off of a mercury grand marquis. I wanted an upper ball joint that could simply be threaded in or out of the upper control arm. some of the treads had to be cut off so there was no contact with the coilover, but it was a direct fit in the spindle. The lower ball joint is a press in 94-97 honda accord lower ball joint. I had to have a cup machined by one of my friends to take advantage of the press fit, but again, the ball joint is a direct bolt in for the taper of the spindle. The tierods are off of a Kia Spectra. I chose this because it had the "slip on" tie rod spacers built into the steering rack threads.



I did have to trim about 1/4" off the driver's side outer tie rod to get the car to align.

I got the accord headlights fit in the coupe.



Then loaded it up to go to NICO Fest in Carlisle PA for some drifting. Had my fingers crossed I had gotten all the bugs worked out, and took off for a weekend of shenanigans.



Apparently crossing my fingers wasn't good enough. Saturday I snapped all 4 lug studs on the right rear, and Sunday the water pump went bad.



I drove it about 300 yards that way, up a hill, through the pits and into the trailer. I may have stopped at one point to kick the **** out of the right rear quarter panel. whoops.

any ways, I got it home and cleaned it all up a bit. I am running out of fuel in the top end so I had a second pickup point put in the fuel cell so I can run dual walbro 255 pumps. I also finished tacking together the hood. It is going to need a bit of body work but I am pretty happy with how it came out.



Going to try to paint the car this weekend, or early next week. I think I'm going to swap my 5 lug hubs on to it, so I am going to be selling all my 4 lug wheels. I still have to order in a new water pump, and some extended studs for the right rear. I'm just ready to be done building/repairing the car so I can enjoy it.

[USsil80]

Update: I am so burnt out on cars. I keep telling myself I'm just gona sell everythign and buy a bunch of bikes.... but every night i still find myself in the garage.

Truer words have not been spoken! I haven't driven my s13 since 2003, but i keep at it. Some day i might drive it again. I tip a beer your way from my garage this weekend. HAPPY FIXIN IT!

but then again isn't that what it is all about

[twisted99s10]

Truer words have not been spoken! I haven't driven my s13 since 2003, but i keep at it. Some day i might drive it again. I tip a beer your way from my garage this weekend. HAPPY FIXIN IT!

but then again isn't that what it is all about

I suppose that is what it's all about. I feel like i kinda lost sight of the fun aspect of things. I have been work'n so hard at finishing it all up that it became more of a job than fun. Some tiem away frmo it seems to have fixed that a bit tho. I'v been busy moving everything out of the shop I have been working at and into the garage at my apartment. Also I have been starting up a cut vinyl/custom t-shirt business so that has been taking up any spare moment I have. The dual fuel pump setup is almost done, still haven't ordered a water pump. I'm anxious to get it running again, just taking care of life for the next few weeks. Should all pay off in the end.

[twisted99s10]

It's been a while, but I finally did something. Water pump is replaced, dual fuel pumps are plumed in, and the new manifold and turbo are on.





Huge thanks to Ron at RLD Fab for the hookup on the manifold. this thing is truly a work of art.

Tonight I am making the new downpipe and waste gate dumps. Eventually I would like to rework the hot pipe to wrap around things a little better, but it works for now.

[CJH]

You've done a great job on your car and do really good work. I also know what its like to be sick of all the headaches and just want a more simple life. But keep at it.

Also, you have a great girl. You don't know how good it is to have a woman that joins you in your endeavors. Never let her go, and never take her for granted.

keep on keepen on.

[mrtsb4]

Where the hell did you get all these tires from and for how much??

[twisted99s10]

I have never paid for a tire. I have gone and talked to most of the dealerships in the area. The dealerships have to pay a disposal fee on the tires, so they are more than happy to give away used tires as long as they are only used for track purposes.

[mrtsb4]

So i could just go there and lie that i'm using it for track and then daily those? Or they would know?

[Nismoholic]

I have never paid for a tire. I have gone and talked to most of the dealerships in the area. The dealerships have to pay a disposal fee on the tires, so they are more than happy to give away used tires as long as they are only used for track purposes.

I never thought of that, good heads up there.

[twisted99s10]

Holy crap, is this an update? I think it is...

I went 5 lug on the rear so I could get wheels that fit how I wanted. Ordered 2 pair of Varrstoen ES2 wheels. 17x9.5 et12 and a 1" spacer. I need tow adjust arms in the rear to get the rear aligned where I want it.



I adjusted my ride height, corner balanced it, and aligned it as close to my specs as I could then went drifting!

Hit the Ready Set Drift event at limerock speedway on July 26th and had a f*** blast.

The ramp up to the event kept telling me to just back out... but I just couldn't let myself miss another event. 2 days before I was set to go my nistune ecu burn out an injector driver. After frantically searching for a replacement z32 ecu I took a chance and plugged in my stock rb25 ecu. It fired up and ran surprisingly well. Crisis averted. The next day on my way to work, the water pump on my suburban decided to go bad, so I spent an hour convincing my dad to tow the trailer to CT for me. Thankfully he agreed and I loaded up ready to go.

I don't have many pics because I just recently replaced my phone, but here is one as proof that it actually happened.


Had a few bugs through the day, but all in all I was very happy. The car ran amazingly well for 23psi and 740cc injectors on a stock un-tuned ecu.

We got a new pet after the track day


Since then, the GF worked on her car a bit. RX8's apparently have connection issues and the electric power steering stops working. This car has more quirks than any vehicle i have ever had to deal with.



I made some vector art


Cut some stickers


Designed some other ones


Got a flat tire in a construction zone and f*** up the fender on the truck.


Got my 89 hatchback mostly together and on the ground for the first time in about 3 years. Still have to put my sr20 in it, but it is almost ready to sell.


Drove the coupe around fro a bit, then fell asleep. Yup, somehow this ended up being comfortable.


Then the other day I put everything but the front lip on it to make it complete. I think I am going to put the front flares back on. The front wheels stick out just a little too much.


I am very anxious to repaint it this winter. I don't hate the haggard and destroyed look it has developed, but I can't wait to see it all repaired.

My new z32 ecu will be here tomorrow. Expect dyno footage this weekend.

[pepesilvia]

from the truck to the scoobie/accord mixed front end, i gotta say you have quite an oddity collection of S-chassis. probably the oddest/ possibly the most unique. I vote putting the front flares back on btw. thanks for the update

[twisted99s10]

from the truck to the scoobie/accord mixed front end, i gotta say you have quite an oddity collection of S-chassis. probably the oddest/ possibly the most unique. I vote putting the front flares back on btw. thanks for the update

Thanks, and I am pretty sure the flares are going back on.

_________________________________


Made some of these last night. Still have to make the driver's side, and some spacers to hold things in place. Can't wait to be able to align this thing properly.





I have about $80 into all 4 arms, most of that is in the rod ends.

[twisted99s10]

NEW PARTS!

I have been working with Ron from RLD Fabrication on some caster camber plates for the s-chassis, and i cant wait to get a finished design done and tested. The first prototype seems to work and fit very well, but I have a few changes I would like to make.

For the last year I have been running my Tein camber plates rotated to adjust some caster. I liked the change and wanted to go further, but I didnt want to move my tire and wheel any closer to the firewall, as clearance is tight already.


So I measured some, and drew up some plans.


It took a few tries, but we got most of the small adjustments worked out on a test sheet of stainless.


Here is the final prototype fit to a set of Tein superdrift coilovers.


Marked out the full swing of adjustment.


Then cut a hole.


And here is the important stuff.
Static camber:


Full lock:


New steering angle:


My front setup is RLD Fab Caster/Camber mounts, 1.5" extended s13 LCAs, PBM gen 1 weld on angle kit, Ikea Formula inner tie rods, Moog s14 outters, Moved the steering rack 1" forward. I am anxious to order in some newPBM forged knuckles because I know I can pull more angle out of this setup.

The Caster/Camber mounts have the ability to adjust camber by choosing which bolt location you use in the plate. There is about 1.5" of camber adjustment at the top depending on which hole you use. Camber should be able to be fine tuned with the slotted upper spindle mount, or an adjustable LCA.

[twisted99s10]

I didn't do a whole lot this weekend. Late last week I decided I hated the black hood. Got my hands on a s14 hood and I like it better, so it will stay till I decide what I am going to do with the front end.


Pic of the back of the car with the rear camber and tow fixed.


Kinda made a paint booth of sorts to spray some bike fairings.




and that's about what my weekend consisted of. I am going to make the last few changes to the caster plates tonight. Thursday I believe I am taking it to get tuned so I have to have everything on the suspension worked out by then. Can't wait to see what this thing is going to put out for numbers.

[twisted99s10]

First working prototypes of the caster plates are finished.



For just the 15-20 miles I drove on them I could feel a really big difference in front grip, especially in turn in. The car tracked straight, and there was still enough self steer to make daily driving easy and controlled but give you really good feeling while turning on off ramps. After the alignment the car is the most predictable that it has ever been. I am very anxious to go to the Ready Set Driftevent at Pocono Raceway on September 14th.

Took the car to play on the dyno at [URL="https://www.facebook.com/overdriveauto"]Overdrive Automotive/URL] and after a few hours of playing with the Nistune software I was able to get some decent numbers out of the car, but I am far from content. An electronic boost controller will be a purchase in the very near future. I thought 24psi would be enough to get me into the low 500 hp range but apparently my estimates were off by a good bit. After some good tuning tips from their in house tuner I was able to get it just shy of 400 to the rear wheels on their Dynojet. The guys from Overdrive were awesome to work with. They allow dyno rentals to tune your own car like I did, or you can hand over the controls to their in house tuner. If you are looking for a place to take your car deff give them a shout!

Sorry for the one s*** picture I did take. I was too amped to finally get the car running properly.


After the dyno time the car is a completely different animal. The drivability is drastically improved, and the power once the turbo comes on is just an absolute blast. I was disappointed in my numbers until I left the shop and got on it a few times on the way home. It has been a solid 12 hours and I don't think there is much that could wipe the smile off my face.

[twisted99s10]

Wow, it has been a long time since i updated this. Since the last time I posted a lot has happened. I went drifting some more, remembered how fun it is to drive a race car on the street, sold some stuff, got a winter car, did a whole bunch of design work and vinyl cutting, bought a house, got most of it renovated and moved in, and am finally getting to where I can work on the coupe again.

So, to pick up where I left off... I hit the last RSD event of the season at Pocono. The track was crazy fast, and was my first real time doing 3rd gear transitions. Shiftlocking down to 3rd to initiate a drift is a crazy experience. The first part of the day I was battling over centering issues. In the shop and around town it didn't look like it was going to be an issue but in full motion the problem very quickly showed itself. I finished out the first session doing shallow angle slides to keep it off of lock. The reduced caster made initiations much quicker. there was no delay between turning and the car following. It made the car much more flickable and am very eager to make a few changes and get the car back out next year.



To correct the over centering issue all I could do was put caster back in the car. I had no way to build bump stops at the track. The rest of the event went pretty smoothly and i got to run multi-car tandems for the first time in over a year. Towards the end of the day the foam in the fuel cell started plugging up my fuel pumps so I had to spend a bit of time removing all of that and digging it all out of the walbros. That foam stuff has been nothing but a problem all year. I will be having baffles put in the tank for next season.

3rd gear dirt drops.


Pic of the car sitting in the pits. I am really going to miss the missile look next year. To me, this car just screams exactly what it is, the bare essential needed to do what it is supposed to do and have an absolute blast doing it


a video from Bravo Whisky of the event is here
http://vimeo.com/74686519
Figures the only footage is of me under the car fixing the fuel pumps.

Stopped at Quaker Steak and Lube on the way home. If you guys have a chance to stop here they have the absolute best wings ever.


Drove the car to work and around town a bit, really did forget how much fun driving a car like this on the streets is.


The looks on peoples face when you floor it and break the rear tires loose at highway speeds is the best thing ever.

And this is where it sits right now. Fuel system back apart to finish properly cleaning all the bits of foam out of it.


Plans for this winter include a lot of preventative maintenance. Lots of loc-tite, and drilling and wire tying nuts and bolts to make sure nothing loosens up unless I want it to. I want this car to be super reliable next year. A lot of time finishing up and double checking that everything is as it should be. No more stupid little problems. I plan to build a functional splitter, undertray, and rear diffuser, aswell as some functional rear aero. Not sure if i want a gt style wing, or a spoiler. There will be a lot more suspension tweaking. I need to get more rear grip. I ran the entire pocono event on 1 set of rear tires and that just should not happen. Been doing a lot of research on tie down and pop up shocks. I am also working with RLD Fab to develop some roll center correcting front and rear knuckles. We may put together a full bolt on angle kit for s chassis cars. Finally I plan a full respray and vinyl wrap for the car. I have had this particular design saved on my computer for a few months and I still like it, so it will be based roughly on this.



So thats where everything sits. Now that I am all moved in and settled a bit, I'm crazy anxious to start working on things. Next drift season is approaching fast!

[twisted99s10]

Few quick updates. The garage is finally organized and work has begun.

We took the trans out of the Lincoln and sent it off to the junk yard. It was a fun project, but with it down on 6 cylinders, and a few other issues it was time to move on. Alex has something else big in the works. He just has to finish up his fiero project first.


I started by taking everything apart. I am just starting at the front and working to the rear. Fixing things and making sure everything is proper as I go.

Front body panels off, intercooler and radiator out. Alex is in the background fingering his belly button being a jackass.


This is where it sat last night.


front end suspension completely apart. I am moving the rack further forward to hopefully eliminate any chance of over centering. Alex's fiero is in the background. It has a Cadillac North Star engine shoved into the back of it and that thing moves. it will be a damn impressive car once its finished up.