Delayed but worth it.

Well it's been about two weeks since my last update, and stuff has certainly taken a turn for the speedy.

Before I go on at all, I'd like to put out some good vibes to anyone in Japan right now. I've been in California for the last 10 days on vacation, sipping wine and relaxing on the beach, and while all thats been going on, people have been dying in a massive show of power by Mother Nature, people just me. If you really sit down and think about what life would be like if it all turned black right now, and you never saw anything or smelled food, or listened to your favorite bands ever again, thats what death is like. Just nothing. I hope all of you are doing whatever you can to help these folks in need.

On a much better note, lots of stuff has come in, and gone on, since we last spoke with ya'll.

Transmission:

The tranny was rebuilt with new internals, and shorter gearing (JDM gears) to keep the car in boost more, as well as prevent grinding to allow faster shifts. It's not a dogbox or crazy racing transmission, but it's a street based unit with a race build on it to allow it to hold the power. I slammed a couple shifts though the car today and it is super solid through all the engagements. The JDM gears are thicker than the US ones, so it will hold more power.  Very stoked to shift under load when we can.

Motor: 

Also on the menu when I left was getting the Cylinder heads rebuilt and back from Reid's Performance, who hand ported and re decked them with new valves, guides, and lifters. The cylinder head finally came back in this morning, and was on today. The cams have been installed, and we got the valve cover back on, we still need some gaskets, so it's not 100% done, but the Tomei Head Gasket is on, so the head is secured to the block. Good luck chewing through a steel gasket. 

Also the parts Tomei hooked me up on came in, and they look AWESOME. Big thanks again to Tomei for hooking a boy up. These Adjustable Cam Gears and that Head Gasket (1mm) will keep us safe from the engine going BOOM!! so we appreciate it. 

Also Thanks to Injector Dynamics For these 1000cc Injectors, we got them on today as well. 

Seat: 

After over a month of sitting an waiting, and wishing, and hoping, and sitting again, the Seat is finally here! The pictures I posted before were of the 2008+ Model, but i got the first 2011 Model around! This seat is super pretty and even lighter then the older model, as well has having slightly more breathable padding, all muy bueno points. You can see the OMP brackets in a couple of the shots, Im going to hold off until we're ready to go to caging to put the seat in, so we can get it fairly snug with the Main Hoop and Harness bar sections of the cage. 

Vipec in the mail, trans is apart.

It's funny how things never go quite as simple as you think they will. Even in my personal life, i've got a lot  of craziness giving me trouble these days. Just when you think you have everything under control....BOOM, a wrench.

 Last week my rebuilt and race prepped cylinder heads were supposed to come in, but the valves were "abnormally thin" which is a rare issue. It's possible that a tune which was too rich, burning too much fuel, scorched the valve stems enough to wear them down, but regardless, thats getting fixed, so Hopefully they should be wrapping the head up this week instead.

I know a few posts back I said I was getting some Brian Crower Adjustable Cam Gears, and they seemed like nice enough Pieces, until Tomei heard about it and hooked me up on some Tomei Adjustables instead! GREAT SUCCESS! It's just another reason why Tomei are the company to use when going with race-level applications, because they take care of folks. I run Tomei Parts in my STI, now in my Evo, and whenever I can, they are always first on my list.

These pieces are awesome, and i can't thank Tomei and Alex at DSG for helping a brother racer out. You can't explain how nice it is to feel people have your back, and you guys prove it all the time.

Also in this week's headlines, we have the transmission out and Bill has started the rebuild process, the gears were in good shape, but we decided to amp it up and add a JDM type RS 5th gear instead of my USDM, for shorter, faster shifting on track's. For a hill-climb i'll never hit 5th gear, but for COM events and big track days, it'll take time off my laps.

In slightly less pleasing news, HMS has informed me that my OMP seat will be arriving 3 weeks later than the deadline i gave them. I don't have much of a choice on this, but it really does suck. Getting the seat fitted into the car is a fairly important part of cage design, so I might have to borrow someone else's seat for a test fit, because i can't wait on delays. I don't believe HMS can do anything about it, other then air-ship my seat to me. I still use HMS for all my safety gear, but to say i'm 100% thrilled would not be honest on my part.





Another notable and cool little bit, I ordered my first piece of Aero Kit! I placed an order late last week for an Autovation Front Splitter for the Evo. After looking around, I had either the choice of an APR splitter, the Autovation, or a custom made unit. Frankly, the APR is as stiff as a cardboard box at speed, so that was out of the question.

 I debated a custom made one for a few weeks, but decided the cost was prohibitive. I settled on the Auto model because being made of metal, it's extremely stiff and durable, as well as being a larger splitter to begin with, compared to APR's offerings. It's also approx. 700-1000 dollars cheaper than a custom unit, with the only detractor being weight. I can live with that.

has also been confirmed that my Vipec ECU is now in the mail, so that should be here this week. The Vipec is a race-ready ECU with a host of extremely awesome functions that I really can't explain. It will be hooked into the Anti-lag system we are prepping for the car as well, for hill-climb events.

So this upcoming week:

Wrap transmission rebuild
Get heads back
Get vipec in the mail
Get Tomei parts in the mail
Take lots of pictures!



As always, be safe and have fun,
TLP/Phill

Start of a big week.

Not much to report for the start of this week, i'll keep you guys updated as necessary.

My ID 1000 injectors came in this week. If you haven't heard about these your in for a surprise. Big injectors have been used to fuel high power machines since Motorsport was really popular. In the most basic idea of an Internal combustion engine, the more fuel you burn, the more power you make. This is only half true, on a bad "tune" your engine may be burning tons of fuel, but is doing so without efficiency. In this, a car with smaller injectors and better tuning will outperform a car just burning too much fuel.

 You have to think about injectors like the fixtures in your sink. The smaller amount of water you want to get, the smaller you can make the droplets, conversely, the more water (fuel) you want, the more it turns from droplets to a steady stream. The same is true in injectors for race motors. The more fuel you try to push, the larger the droplets, and the more un-even the fueling becomes. This is the wonder about the ID's, they don't do it. The spray pattern, beading, and droplet size of these fairly large injectors (1000cc) In essence, they make these injectors run far far better, with better throttle response, idle quality, and  then any injector in its size range.


Well enough with the raving about fuel injectors. If you want to read more, check them out here

http://www.injectordynamics.com/ID1000.html

The new Evo Specific hub for the OMP wheel should be here early this week, and i'll probably bolt it in on Wednesday. The HTE seat and brackets should be arriving no later then next week, as the 10th is the deadline I've given the Motorsports dealer to get it to me.

 I have no doubt they will get the seat to me on time. I purchase most of the Motorsports "accessories" for my cars from HMS Motorsports in Danvers, MA. My suit, helmet and interior safety pieces have all come from them, and they have always taken care of me there.

In other news, my cylinder heads "should" be back this week, and we'll try to get the motor rebuilt, sans turbo, in prep for caging and after-market ECU install. I'm super stoked to see the new heads, and see how they were upgraded and ported out to give our fairly large turbo room to breathe. This head started out as a dimple re-decking, but with all the cost of getting it out to the machine shop, it was better to do it right the first time and get the head up to race-specs. I won't be running my full HP this season, for a few reasons, but when we take this setup all the way next year, I want the Head's to be fully capable of supporting the weight.

I'll have multitudes of pics up of the new Heads when they come in, as well as a few shots of the new injectors later today.

I am unsure of where the current car in Chris Howard's shop is with it's current roll-cage fab, So i can't be sure when my car will go in, but it has been in for a week, so it's likely Chris won't be done for another 2 or three. However, that really depends on how intricate the cage is. As we saw in a previous post, these are extremely intricate cages with real craftsmanship in them, craftsmanship which saves lives. Not just 1 or 2 lives either. Lots.

In other news, DSG got back from the 100 Acre Wood Rally in Missouri yesterday. DSG'supported driver and Ex-Subaru factory Driver Ramana Lagemann was involved in a nasty crash with his SP class GR Subaru, but thankfully Both Driver and Co-driver are both ok, and i'm told the car will be repaired by the next event. This is a common event with Rally Racing, but its never fun to see or hear about people you know crashing. The Lawless Project Wishes Ramana the best and hope he remembers "thats why they call it fishing, not catching"

Rally Tire competitor and Open Class car driver Burak Tuglu also had a crash, giving him a DNF (did not finish) for the event. Burak drives an Evo 9, and one can be certain that he will be back to continue his campaign. In better news, Rally Tire team-mate and another DSG maintained car, driven by Lauchlin O'Sullivan, Driving the STI, placed 2nd in SP class for the weekend. Keep at it guys!

Major Process on small things, temporary halt on big things.

SO!

It's been a few days since i've updated in any significant way. Not a whole ton to say on this front so far. the team has been super busy prepping for a rally in Missouri for the Rally-Tire team, so my car has to take backseat for the active race projects going on right now.

I stopped by the shop this morning to check things out, and its serious business over there now. I made use of myself as a human vice grip for a light-pod setup, but most of the work was well above my level to be helpful. It's hard to explain the confidence you have when you see real race cars in a shop you work with. craftsmanship, as well as ingenuity, go hand in hand with motorsport in way show based owners can't really understand.

Here are some Updates:

Cage:

The car before me is currently in Chris Howards shop for its cage, so once it's done i'm going in. I'll upload a couple pictures of another Evo 8 for reference, my cage will be very similar. It's a 6 point cage with multi-point braces across the chassis, and welded A-pillars for rigidity. It's about as safe a system as you can have in these cars, assuming your seat and harness are properly attached and tightened.

In terms of prep, the car has been stripped completely, and is merely a tin-can at this point.

Motor: The head should be back this week from the shop, and My Turbo + injectors should be arriving soon, my turbo choice is a made-to-order combination, so it takes longer than an off-the-shelf turbo. I've also ordered new adjustable cam gears (brian Crowers) to replace the worn Vishnu ones.

The Vipec ECU order went through today, I don't imagine it will take super long to get that here, although it is useless until the other parts come in and we put the engine back together.

Suspension :

I'm not really messing with it too much, but a larger rear sway and some choice bushings have been ordered. I'm debating getting cash for AST4100 series coilovers, which are excellent, but I've been dealing with some family issues and money issues, so they may be shelved for now.

Misc:

I picked up an OMP Targa steering wheel, (Super nice piece!) From HMS Motorsport on saturday, and it will be going in along with the FIA quick release hub. Also, I finally found a seat that fit! A crucial aspect people often overlook when building these cars is just ordering any old seat, not finding one that fits perfect. I spent hours sitting in different combos a week ago. My biggest issue is my large torso and super wide shoulders. The shoulder protection on most seats only went out as far as my shoulder blades themselves.

I finally found the only seat that really worked, the OMP HTE.

Timeline:

- Transmission needs rebuilding, will have to wait till after the rally event.
- Motor will likely be rebuilt as this is going on.
- Chris will likely be ready for my car about a week after the motor is done being built.


For those of you keeping tabs, thanks for reading!
Phill

Update status.

So here we are, it's been only a couple days since the Jinsoku Evo was dropped off at DSG, and major progress has already been made.

- Head is off the car, was shipped out to Reids today to be Re-Decked, Ported, with new valve guides and seals.

-AC unit is coming out of the car, so the condenser and all associated lines are coming out also, same with the water pump. This will free up a ton of space for us to work with.
-New turbo and injectors are being machined, and should be here in 2 weeks. Turbo choice still under wraps.
- Trans is off for a full rebuild with new synchros, bearings, sliders, and cleaning the housing.

Prep is continuing on for Mt. Washington, regardless of whether I run, i'm making sure I'm ready to, if i can make it.

Biggest issue so far is the un-kemp installs on the car, lines were a mess, and wiring was not well tucked at all, the HID wiring box was hanging freely inside the engine bay behind the MAF system. The boost controller was frozen in place, and the vaccuum lines were looking shabby.

The other issue was a "minor" head leak that seemed as if it had been going for upwards of 10k miles. It was a small leak, but even small leaks over long amounts of time can lead to big issues. It should have been fixed a long time ago, but such is life. According to the previous owner, all installs were done by the original purchaser of the car, before him, and if so, it was pretty sloppy work, thankfully it seems the tune was ok, and the piston tops look good. Somehow the adjustable cam gears got all ground up, so i may have to replace them too. It's not what i like to see on a street car, because it shows the car was beat pretty hard, but the major parts of the motor are all 100%

We're replacing the head-gasket with a stainless steel Tomei gasket and new ARP studs, which will be much harder to bite through than the OEM setup. Given the power figures involved in this project, i'm not taking any chances.

I'll be putting up the stock Recaro interior and certain choice pieces from the motor that i'm not using, up for sale.

bits that will be going:

OEM Recaro Evo 8 interior, front and rear seats
Harness Bar for evo 8/9
Evo 8 Speakers, brand unknown, but they sound nice!
OEM Evo 8 Head Unit for stereo
Possibly OEM Evo 8 door cards.
Head Liner
carpets
AC system
Evo 8 Stock Turbo


I'll be posting it all up on IWSTI and EvoM later this week when it all comes out.

Car is now at the Shop

So, as of today the car has been moved over to Dent Sport Garage for the motor and transmission work.

For anyone not familiar with DSG, they are probably the best race mechanics and builders in the Northeast for high end cars. You can't beat a team of dedicated individuals who all race themselves. They aren't just people who install your clutch, the are folks to run, race, and beat the crap out of their own gear, so they know what works. So all engine internals and tuning are going through them.


Dent Sport Garage



We are yanking the head and prepping the car for the motor work today, and i'll check back on monday to take pictures for everyone!

-Phill

Evo is here!

So I got the car back from Buffalo last weekend. It is a Wicked White Evo VIII GSR.

A lot of people have asked "why go with an Evo, when your an STI guy?"

Thats a pretty simple response. Its a better race car platform. Mostly thats in the motor. The EJ257 motor that the STI's use has pretty severe power limitations on stock internals, and even after a rebuild, long term durability is not necessarily a guarantee. On the other hand, the 4G63 from an Evo 7-9 Iron block has a very solid base to build power on. The Evo has transmission issues, but with a mild rebuild, its not a problem. Also, building a whole new engine on an STI is way more expensive then 600 bucks to rebuild an EVO transmission.

Car has some mods done to it so far, but still needs serious work.

First step is going to be a Re-Decking of the cylinder head, with upgraded valves and a porting. Following that up, the transmission also needs a rebuild. A couple gears grind, and it doesn't like going into 1st and 2nd at mid level speeds.

Second step in the next few weeks will be to build on the mods the car already has, including an upgraded fuel system and new Turbo. A Vipec Racing ECU (electronic control unit) Will also be installed and calibrated to run the new car.  Specifics on turbo choice and internals will be kept under wraps until the season starts.

Anywhoo, it will be an excellent car once it's completed. It will obviously have all the required safety trimmings, SCCA spec cage, and race seats. Suspension will be kept mild for now, with an upgrade next year. The car has also earned its name en route back from Buffalo, as the Jinsoku evo, Which is Japanese for Swift of Feet. The car feels exceptionally nimble, and the name seemed appropriate.

Updates coming later this week.


PR


While I'm here, I might as well post up the stats on my STI

Engine:
Invidia Catless Downpipe
Invidia N1 Ti tipped cat back
Samco Turbo Inlet
Tomei EL header
Tomei up-pipe
Grimmspeed Heatshield
Grimmspeed AOS
DW 650cc injectors
Walbro 255lph fuel pump
Cosworth Air Pump Blockoff plates

Suspension
Whiteline Roll Center Kit
Camber bolts
RCE Yellows
RCE 25mm sway bars
Whiteline Steering Rack Bushings
Whiteline Rear Camber Adjuster

Brakes:
Grimmspeed master Cylinder Brace
BF goodrich stainless steel Brake Lines

Transmission
TiC Holy Shift kit W/Kartboy short shifter.
TiC Crossmember Bushings
TWM 400 something Gram shift knob.

Interior:
Rally Innovations Harness Bar
Fire Extinguisher
Schroth Profi II ASM harness
Alpine CDA 117 Head Unit
Dynamatted doors


Exterior:
Rally Armor Mud Flaps
35% tint