pulse Report This Comment Date: November 13, 2016 10:03AM
Cool, you'll have to do a bit of a build update here when you get it the way
you want it
I need a new project car...
woberto Report This Comment Date: November 13, 2016 11:51AM
You wrote in the other post "spirited driving" and "twisty/hilly
bits".
I didn't know Americans knew how to use a manual transmission.
Oh.
Please don't tell me it's got an auto...
pulse Report This Comment Date: November 13, 2016 12:42PM
At least my Cruze is manual
Mrkim Report This Comment Date: November 13, 2016 02:14PM
An automatic tranny in a sports car is about like a submarine with screen
doors! No way I'd own a DSM with an automatic. I once test drove one and even
with a turbo it was pretty pathetic. As a matter of fact I once top ended a
buddy of mines AWD turbo-auto DSM playin on the freeway one night in my old NA
Talon
My oldest daughter (with my newest grand daughter in tow) came out yesterdee and
let me pilot her Kia the hour and 1/2 out to pick up the new "Black
Steele", which of course meant I was able to give it a sweet hour and 1/2
shake down cruise on the way back home last night. What I can say with
certainty is DAMN I MISSED HAVIN ONE OF THESE TOYS!!!!
I never could get the complete story about how the cat I bought it from wound up
with this car, but evidently the previous owner had brought it to his dads shop
after it having sat in storage for 7 yrs and he did a 4 wheel brake job and
replaced the fuel pump on it, after which it had one of those nasty timing belt
events that often lead owners to throw their hands up when they find out what
the repairs are gonna cost. Evidently that happened with this one and he then
said to hell with it and just walked away from this one, leaving it with the
kids dad who then had the head rebuilt and did a timing belt/water pump
replacement on it.
To the mechs credit it seems he got the timing belt on and correctly tensioned,
which on these engines is a double barrelled nightmare [
tech.mirage-performance.com] <- a lengthy how to I penned some years
back.
On the down side, in my exuberated state when I test drove the car last mundee
night I never bothered to look at the oil pressure gauge while I was hammerin on
the car, I mean hell, why should I with a car w/only 69k on it, right ... come
on, please someone agree with me ... PLEASE? Well, I should have!
On the shake down cruise home I realized the oil pressure is pathetically low,
which now makes me feel like a total dumbass
Drivin along with my mind runnin through every mechanical possibility of how
this could be presenting itself in a car w/this little mileage I concluded it
problee came from the very oil dry start up when it was 1st fired up after its
7yr nap. More than likely this led to an instant shearing away of precious
layers of crank and rod bearing material (I surmise it likely did the same to
the rings) and this led to an instant loss of the engines ability to develop
good oil pressure, since the crank and rods are the 1st place the oil flows to
from the oil pump.
I'm gonna do an oil change on it today and will be inspecting the waste oil for
metal particles to confirm my diagnosis but my guess is I'll be droppin the pan
and changin out the main and rod bearings next weekend while hoping there's no
scoring of the crank itself ;(
Billy Watmore Report This Comment Date: November 14, 2016 11:21AM
Needs a Roo bar and spotty's on the roof :-)
And 12 gauge of course
Mrkim Report This Comment Date: November 21, 2016 03:59AM
Pilgrims Progress:
I dropped some Seafoam in the engine just to see if the flagging oil pressure
was something gummed up, but it dudn seem so. The oil pressure's Ok, just not
what I wish it was. Since it's not low enough to cause any real harm at the
moment I've decided to back burner that issue
The 25yr old stock suspension has really been effecting the fun factor so I
dropped in a fresh set of KYB AGXs, lowering springs and Energy Suspension
polyurethane control arm bushings for the front end this weekend. Then I removed
the skinny (non stock) 205-55-15" wheel and tires it had and slapped on a
set of Hankook 235-45-17s w/some decent lookin American Racing wheels I had
layin around gatherin dust.
Next weeks a short one so I'm hopin to get the new AGXs and lowering springs on
the back along w/the rear polyurethane track arm bushings over the coming long
weekend, then start focussing on a few performance mods ...finally
woberto Report This Comment Date: November 22, 2016 06:18AM
I never skimp on tyres but they are getting fucken expensive these days if you
are not in the "passenger vehicle" category.
My P-Zero 255/45 R17's are $388 each!
It's not for performance, it's for all 'round wear and tear. Pirelli's are
consistent all the way until they are trashed. Whereas others are good for the
first half of their life then scary for the the second half, then they just
explode.
Then there's the noise if you have an SUV (which I had a few years back). Tyre
noise was ridiculous but I didn't notice when I bought it. Changed to Pirellis
(Actally cheaper than the Hancocks) and it was a ninja after that.
woberto Report This Comment Date: November 22, 2016 06:21AM
Mrkim Report This Comment Date: November 22, 2016 12:15PM
I've been happy w/these Hankooks so far but yeah Pirellis are an awesome tire.
I managed to snag 'em from a lil one man tire shop in east Texas before I moved
here for $520 mounted and balanced for the set, which was pretty sweet. I wish I
could go wider than the 235s but that's all I can stuff in the wheel wells and
they only clear the front struts by like 1/2 an inch.
On a lil '74 Ford Capri I had like 30yrs ago I went from the stock 185-70-13s to
a set of Pirelli P7 205-50-15s and paid $184 each for those puppies but they
were an awesome street/race tire, sticky in the corners, just like I like
'em.
With our 4 day weekend off this week I'm gonna replace the rear suspension and
slap in some new rear hatch struts that just came in yesterdee so I can finally
throw out the stick I've been usin to hold the rear hatch open and also get a
new set of 6-1/2" Polks in the doors to replace the shot stock speakers,
then if I get lucky maybe get the back ones changed out too so I can finally
hear some tunes without havin to listen to the BUZZ of the shot speaker
cones.
After gettin all the suspension and creature comfort stuff done I'll finally be
able to start on the performance end of things. I have a sweet 2 row aluminum
radiator and dual 12" slim fans comin to replace the stock skinny single
core radiator and bulky (heavy) stock fans. Already snagged new hoses to replace
the radiator and heater hoses too. Can't trust 25yr old rubber, specially not
when blowin just a damned heater hose can lead to a major melt down.
Have my feelers out in hopes I can find another 4-1 SS header like I had on my
old NA Talon as exhaust work will be my 1st real step forward
woberto Report This Comment Date: December 13, 2016 07:56AM
Any updates Kim?
Mrkim Report This Comment Date: December 13, 2016 12:23PM
Luckily it's fared a bit better than the above pic but mostly because I haddn
been drivin it.
Got all the new suspension in and wow, what a difference. It def handles with a
sweetness comparatively. Took it out slammin some twisties and its a real joy to
drive now ... all the way back to the jackstands.
Gave it its 1st oil change and while I was doin so I managed to bump the ratchet
against the oil pan and heard something bounce inside the pan ... ruh roh! Took
a flashlight and magnet and found a sizeable chunk of metal was floppin around
inside the pan. My best guess is it's a mangled rear balance shaft bearing,
which would explain the low oil pressure as that bearing is fed directly off the
main oil gallery. Fired it up after the oil change and in about 10 mins it blew
a heater hose, so I limped it the mile or so back to the house and parked
it.
This weekend I'm droppin the pan and removin the balance shalves & blockin
off their oil ports in the block. I've already replaced all the hoses so that
should all make it streetable again while I build a new engine for it, since
it's also smokin a lil bit, which I can't tolerate.
Gonna go ahead and build a 2.4 Hyundai/Mitsu hybrid engine to replace the 2.0
stock Mitsu. Somethin similar to what I built for a few customers when I had my
shop but with a long list of mods they never paid to have done, as well as a few
secret ideas I've always held close to the vest.
Already have most of the parts and have been collecting a few odd bits and
pieces to round out the remaining stuff. 10:1 Wisecos/Eagle rods hung on a
lightened and tear dropped crank I have, a better flowing 2G DOHC head to
replace the 1G it comes with that has really shitty, too big intake ports with
lotsa dead space in the runners that kill port velocity. Fresh set of Ferrea big
valves, set of Crower cams/springs/retainers will round out the rest of the
goodies after I get the head and intake manny ported to taste. A 3"/75mm
throttle body and custom made 3" REAL cold air intake set up should make it
able to injest all the air it needs and give it that bad ass intake howl that
sounds so sweet to my ears!
Gonna start it off as an NA build that'll be turbo durable so I can just add all
the turbo parts later as funds/time allow. It's all just time n $$
Mrkim Report This Comment Date: March 13, 2017 01:06AM
Been a while so it's time to update.
So the motor in this thing died after just 200 miles, just my luck. It's been
sittin since while I've been gatherin up the rest of the parts to build the 2.4
for it.
So far I've already spent several multiples of what I paid for it in new parts
acquisitions and still need another cuppla grand before it's all said and done.
Good thing I like the car :>
The build parts list is now pages long .... and still growing. However, when I
get it done it will be like no other set up I've ever seen and it's gonna be
chock full of tricks, both visible and some not, that should make it a solid
performer with top notch show quality custom touches too. It's nice when a car
runs well, but when it does so and all the work is clean, has as many wires as
possible disappear, and everything is all tailored in as clean as a pin, it's
even better, and that's how I prefer my work to look, so ...
Decided to keep the engine bay color scheme really simple, black on black on
black. I'll have the intake manny and intake pipe either painted or powder
coated a matte silver and the valve cover powder coated a dark metallic blue,
but just about everything else will be black, including the aluminum engine
components. Not really monochomatic, but close.
Overall, its a "labor of love" project. Now if I can just find that
damned
tree and chop that bitch down, I could finally stop doin this ->
pulse Report This Comment Date: March 13, 2017 06:46AM
Sounds unfortunate, but like some good progress; at least you know where you
stand and have a plan. Can get yourself an awesome engine now, and do a rock
solid build. So long as you love what it comes out as in the end it doesn't
matter.
A project car always costs a heap more than you paid.
I paid around 10,000 pounds for my Supra. I spent around 10,000 pounds on it.
Then I sold it for 10,000 pounds.
Sigh. Bloody cars!
I've given up on project cars. Prefer just to take the massive hit of
depreciation these days. Bought my wife an A250 4matic a few months ago. It's
quite a lot of fun for what it is and it has shiny wheels.
I'm still driving the same pile of crap Cruze I have been for 7 years. At least
it's a manual and I got a discount via my brother who worked at Holden. It's
practically worthless now which is really sad since I've only JUST hit 25,000km
in it in 7 years (15,000 miles).
I can't justify replacing it.
Mrkim Report This Comment Date: March 13, 2017 11:14AM
I hear ya man, kinda like the old adage goes "If it has tits or wheels,
you know there's gonna be problems". Having learned long ago that few build
projects ever balance out on paper and that you have to be willing to drive your
$$ outta the bitches, at least this iddn news to me.
That said, what I am starting with is a 25yr old car that's got such low mileage
(69k), it's nearly new in the grand scheme of things (or at least so I keep
tellin myself), that what I'll wind up with when I'm done is a nearly new car
with improvements far above what Mitsu ever offered in any of these cars.
I get lotsa ribbin at work, where all my parts are shipped to, about what I'm
spendin vs what the car's worth. One cat asked me one day when one of the
shipments of AN fittings came in "So, what are you buildin, a race
car?". Told him really quick "I'm buildin a Kim Steele car!".
On balance, most people who view my project as folly are themselves spending
more in a single years payments and insurance for what they drive than I'll have
in mine when it's finished, while theirs will rack up that same cost for 5 or 6
years and be worth little more than a decent trade in value on the next
"shiny new one" they buy afterwards.
I've never owned a new car, nor will I. Much prefer to find what I want that has
a few issues I can address, buy it cheap, do the work myself and drive it till
the wheels fall off, which over my lifetime has likely saved me hundreds of
thousands of dollars comparatively. 'Sides, I hafta justify havin all the $$ I
have invested in tools and shop equipment somehow
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 13/03/2017 11:15AM by Mrkim.
woberto Report This Comment Date: March 14, 2017 06:10AM
Justify it any way you can just don't stop.
Mrkim Report This Comment Date: March 14, 2017 11:31AM
Heh, no way 'berto, and thanks for the encouragement buddy!
There's a stack of parts boxes sittin on my fireplace hearth nearly 3' tall by
5' wide, with more comin almost daily as I wind down the allocation process for
this build, which serves as a constant reminder of the commitment I've already
made. Then there's the beautiful black driveway ornament I hafta walk past at
least twice a day too.
One of my last big ticket items is actually comin from down in Oz, a Davies
Craig electric water pump kit [
www.ebay.com] . Was soooo close
to pullin the trigger on it this weekend but had to put it off a cuppla weeks
when the water heater here at the casa died on me
This fucker's gettin built, by hook or by crook! As always, it's just time and
that keep gettin in the way.
fossil_digger Report This Comment Date: March 14, 2017 01:40PM
did Pulse get that *plus613racing.net* car wrap delivered?
pulse Report This Comment Date: March 14, 2017 01:56PM
That's a great idea
fossil_digger Report This Comment Date: March 14, 2017 02:18PM
don't forget the under car neon multi LED programmable to the
beat.....setup.
you know how much he likes blingage.
Mrkim Report This Comment Date: March 14, 2017 11:04PM
This baby'll have a Bar None Motorsports window decal from my old shop and
that's it. Stickers belong on tool boxes, not cars!
And blingage? Sheeyut negro, not on MY ride
