Cool Article about the 05 SCCA wagons floating around still.. :)

Rallysportdirect.com is having a tax return sale. Drooling over the Killer B stuff, especially the holy header. Yowsa!

I can get you all the Whiteline And Perrin stuff at a good price.

 

I'm not sure the work to swap the entire rack is worth the performance upgrade. The Solid ujoint or the Perrin ujoint mod is probably worth the minimal effort involved.

 

https://www.perrin.com/shop/suspension-brakes/steering-dampener-lockdown

 

Be sure to take a close look at the rear sway bar mounts before you order anything related to mounts or end links, those are custom sway bar mounts.

Edited February 25, 2018 by Sgt.Gator

Powerflex also makes inserts for the 4 big bushings in the rear subframe - PFR69-417x4

Sgt.Gator came through with a great deal on the White line bits. I gave him extra money to overnight things, so most of the front end parts will be here this week. Other parts must be coming from the Australian Outback as they have delivery dates as late as April. :-)

 

Moved the original racewagon motor to the heavy duty engine stand. Had to remove the clutch and flywheel first. When everything you do falls in the category of "I've never done that before and that part looks really expensive", time flies without much progress. Still, Kip and I got it sorted.

 

Then spent an hour getting the AC pump out of the way on Fjuan's sedan. One of the bolts holding the pump on is blocked by the fuel lines. So we pulled the bracket instead. One of the bolts holding the bracket on stripped on the way out...had to use my brand-new warranted for life Harbor Freight 24" breaker bar almost the whole time. Reading the shop manual gave a clue as to why the bolts were on so tight... there's no torque spec. Just 25 ft/lbs for the upper bracket bolt. When reattaching it (lifting point for motor), we used the creak method. I'm sure it'll be ok.

 

More learning ensued trying to figure out the difference between the 6mt clutch fork and the 5mt fork.

 

Looking like Wednesday is pull the motor. In the meantime, another visit to Harbor Freight is in order. Need a steam cleaner and parts cleaner. The racewagon has a torn axle boot which liberally coated the engine bay with axle grease.

 

The used process west intercooler is supposedly inbound this week. I pulled the fmic for the time being and starting from known good to me. We'll see how that works out.

Pics aren't uploading. I'll try again tonight.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

 

That is all. Looking forward to seeing this thing run again!

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

 

That is all. Looking forward to seeing this thing run again!

 

Ain't that the truth!

 

My budget is getting tight. The suspension is a must do, as there are melted parts. The engine mounts melted, too. The split axle boot was unexpected, too.

 

The fire suppression system is dated 12/2005. However it's still green. Going to get it re-certified.

 

All the race tires are blue or cracked... garage got really cold this year. On the plus side, the tire changer and balancer should pay for itself in the next 2 months.

Ain't that the truth!

 

My budget is getting tight. The suspension is a must do, as there are melted parts. The engine mounts melted, too. The split axle boot was unexpected, too.

 

The fire suppression system is dated 12/2005. However it's still green. Going to get it re-certified.

 

All the race tires are blue or cracked... garage got really cold this year. On the plus side, the tire changer and balancer should pay for itself in the next 2 months.

 

Ah, that, and an alignment rack, and I'd never again need anyone touch my cars. Well, A/C service equipment, too...

Ah, that, and an alignment rack, and I'd never again need anyone touch my cars. Well, A/C service equipment, too...

 

The store of the changer has a/c equipment. There's an alignment setup for sale on Craigslist out here. I just don't have space. Been looking at getting corner balance setup with moveable plates. It's collapsible.

What tire changer did you go with and do you already have your wall-mounted spring compressor for the struts/shocks?

What tire changer did you go with and do you already have your wall-mounted spring compressor for the struts/shocks?

 

Coates. Not sure of model number. 3phase.

 

I've been looking at spring/shock dynos. There's someone in Portland, or who does it for $140/hr. Rumored to be a pain to work with, because they are the best. Not sure how that really computes. Maybe the work is really tedious and boring?

 

Trying to balance things I need now with nice to have.

B25 heads. Camber Plates. Bottom of motor. Front view of shredded timing belt. Pipe wrap that got too hot and is no longer flexible. Motor mount that melted.

 

So far, it appears the lower idler pulley for the timing belt sheared off. The timing belt self-destructed. What's odd is the lower passenger side cam gear sheared off (it was being held in place by the cam cover. Looking at the gear, it appeared to be used as compared to the condition of the rest.

 

The melted motor mount was only on the passenger side. I haven't checked if the black flakes are melted plastic or axle grease. The axle boot on that side has a large tear (or it melted too).

 

The insulating pipe wrap (thermotec?) is a solid. It's no longer flexible. Touching or moving it causes clouds of white mist to become airborne. As the old saw goes "now we're cooking with gas"...it got really hot under there.

 

The turbo wrap is in the same state. I'm guessing everything was glowing at one point.

 

More pics later.

Coates. Not sure of model number. 3phase.

 

I've been looking at spring/shock dynos. There's someone in Portland, or who does it for $140/hr. Rumored to be a pain to work with, because they are the best. Not sure how that really computes. Maybe the work is really tedious and boring?

 

Trying to balance things I need now with nice to have.

 

The guy in portland (The Shock Shop) retired last year. As far as I know there's no one local any more doing shock tuning. And yeah, he was the best. And yeah, he was a pain to work with.

 

-Erik

The insulating pipe wrap (thermotec?) is a solid. It's no longer flexible. Touching or moving it causes clouds of white mist to become airborne. As the old saw goes "now we're cooking with gas"...it got really hot under there.

 

The turbo wrap is in the same state. I'm guessing everything was glowing at one point.

 

Take that stuff and throw it in the garbage. More fires are caused by oil saturated exhaust wrap than anything else in the racing world.

 

If you need thermal protection, the factory method of clam-shell sheet metal is superior. Excessively difficult to pull off on non factory parts, but at least it won't catch fire.

Take that stuff and throw it in the garbage. More fires are caused by oil saturated exhaust wrap than anything else in the racing world.

 

If you need thermal protection, the factory method of clam-shell sheet metal is superior. Excessively difficult to pull off on non factory parts, but at least it won't catch fire.

 

I have a collection of photos of WRC and GT300 racecars. All use the clamshell heat shields. I'll be returning to that method.

 

If I could find a sheet of Iconel and metal forming skills, I'd use that.

The guy in portland (The Shock Shop) retired last year. As far as I know there's no one local any more doing shock tuning. And yeah, he was the best. And yeah, he was a pain to work with.

 

-Erik

 

Huh, I've been told I'm a pain to work with. Maybe I should contact that guy to see if he wants to sell off his stuff.

 

I watched Jerold Lowe rebuild the Thill25 car's shocks on the workbench. I was in awe. We put it on, set up the strings, and went racing.

i was gonna say, at the least the manifolds and crossover look to be stock, and so should be easy peasy to get OEM heatshields sourced and installed. When you win the lottery, can always spend that money on swaintech coating as well, but not this year.

i was gonna say, at the least the manifolds and crossover look to be stock, and so should be easy peasy to get OEM heatshields sourced and installed. When you win the lottery, can always spend that money on swaintech coating as well, but not this year.

 

Based on the results of current covering as well as well-funded racecars, I'm pulling away from swaintech and other coating solutions. In particular, the cast iron manifolds have a lower heat limit than other metals. You want to get the heat out, just not onto other parts. An engineer can comment more objectively, but internet search says air insulated metal covers are the best solution.

 

Iconel heat shields are the bomb, but crazy expensive to make. Using the factory shields should take care of some issues. For other locations, I'll be looking at standoff shields as there are a couple of aftermarket solutions that should fit.

 

Seeing the melted motor mount was a bit shocking.

In a "it's a small world, so don't burn your bridges" moment, the person that built the cage for my Spec Miata and who did the setup is getting out of the business. He's selling his SmartStrings setup and is willing to come to my shop to give me an intro on how to use it.

 

Having watched race teams I'm in awe of use this same setup; I'm looking forward to learning new stuff. Car setup is something I've always paid professionals to do because I had access to them. As this is no longer the case, I'm going to attempt to do it myself. Nothing teaches like experience.

well, i am an engineer, and functionally speaking the USDM OEM stuff is amazing for the price to create. 2 piece sammich of thin steel with an airgap to the hot part is the best bang for the buck, mostly in a mass production world.

 

Used to work on some products that literally sat at 120C all day long, and to make improvements for power, we had to find new and better ways to insulate it. our stuff doesn't have to get and stay so hot anymore.

 

but then you get to the JDM stuff which has ceramic (not flexible, but similar to a felt as far as physical composition) wrapped around the SS thin walled pipes, and then you sammich that with similar heatshields. the biggest difference with these metal shields pieces is that they also sammich the joint between sections, unlike our exposed flanges/bolts/gaskets. but the STI has a higher markup, and so they can do more expensive stuff, and are expected to wring more performance from the engine too.

 

all depends on your needs for: cost, reliability and performance. as always, you can't have your cake and eat it too. going to have to give up a little of something to get a little of something else.

Having some fun now?

 

That's DEI Titanium wrap. Once it cooks, it gets stiff, and will flake away when you bang it.

 

Interesting that the motor mount is cooked. Not sure why that happened. Avoid the temptation to go solid mounts unless you want to be chasing even more gremlins caused by vibration breaking things like sensors.

 

Smart Strings are great. The first time you use them takes forever. Then you mark on the bars where they need to be set and the subsequent setups are much faster.

 

However, you will need a four post lift with a rolling scissor jack or you will be doing a zillion up and downs with a floor jack the first time you square the rear toe and front toe. Once the rear toe is set and your thrust alignment is a known straight line, later toe and camber changes aren't bad with a floor jack.

I'm duplicating the parts list of my wagon, hoping to skip some learning. Have group-n mounts.

 

The smart strings purchase comes with a demo on the wagon. :-)

 

Getting a lift is once again punted to next year. My entire budget is spoken for. And some things are falling off to stay on target. :-)

A big pile of Whiteline parts showed up today. Overnight and next day air is so much better than "You'll get it after you don't need it anymore".

 

Sgt.Gator made a lifetime customer on this deal.

 

In other news, Kip and I pulled the motor from Fjuan's car. It has a bad oil leak which looks to be the oil cooler. I pulled the cam cover off on that side. The lower half is dirty but not glistening. The upper half was clean, same as the belt.

 

Looks like there were some issues with the heat shields cracking, too.

 

It's on the engine stand with a drip bucket. I'll check tomorrow. After a good clean, we'll see what we can see.

 

Next up is getting the transmission out of Erik's wagon. I'll pull the motor first. Then transmission. Learning a bit each time. Almost did it the factory method this time, except we pulled the bolts in the wrong order. Still, it came off pretty easy.

well, i am an engineer, and functionally speaking the USDM OEM stuff is amazing for the price to create. 2 piece sammich of thin steel with an airgap to the hot part is the best bang for the buck, mostly in a mass production world.

 

Used to work on some products that literally sat at 120C all day long, and to make improvements for power, we had to find new and better ways to insulate it. our stuff doesn't have to get and stay so hot anymore.

 

but then you get to the JDM stuff which has ceramic (not flexible, but similar to a felt as far as physical composition) wrapped around the SS thin walled pipes, and then you sammich that with similar heatshields. the biggest difference with these metal shields pieces is that they also sammich the joint between sections, unlike our exposed flanges/bolts/gaskets. but the STI has a higher markup, and so they can do more expensive stuff, and are expected to wring more performance from the engine too.

 

all depends on your needs for: cost, reliability and performance. as always, you can't have your cake and eat it too. going to have to give up a little of something to get a little of something else.

So the swaintech stuff is worth it? Or I should look at building more metal shields out of mild steel?

So the swaintech stuff is worth it? Or I should look at building more metal shields out of mild steel?

 

Yep!