This update is for Greg. :)

As I've said before, I was worried about the amount of air we were going to get into the engine due to the tight sparing around the air cleaner lid under the shaker. While Greg was in town, he beat into my head that I should just scrap the air filter and replace it with a big block of foam. While I wasn't thrilled with a big foam block, it did get the wheels turning. Eric and I started talking about it, and we came up with this:

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps28a978a5.jpg

What we did was purchase a second air cleaner lid from PTFB, and Eric cut out the 4 quarters on both lids to open up as much area as we felt we could. Then he epoxied down some stainless mesh to the 'base' lid to support the back of the foam filter material. The green foam is the fine material to catch the smallest particles possible. The 2 lids then sandwich the foam to hold it in place with 4 screws holding the 2 pieces together. The upper piece was trimmed as much as possible, and then a rubber strip was added to the edge to prevent direct metal on metal contact and to also seal the edge.

Here are the 2 lids and the filter:

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps67f56764.jpg

The one with the mesh actually holds the round filter in place. The foam only comes in a piece that's about 12" wide, so it's just wide enough to work for us. :)

Here it is installed:

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps3b709e96.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps2f7180cf.jpg

You can't tell from this, but it BARELY clears the fiberglass of the shaker. That after a lot of shaping by Eric. But it seems like it will work. It's hard to tell how much improvement we get from this, but that's a significant improvement in the filtering area.

So thanx Greg, for making me put a green filter on top of the pink K&N that I was already using. :lmao: Thankfully they will mostly be hidden under the shaker!

So before I write up the details, I'll give you all what you want. :)



That was Eric driving and me in the passenger seat. It's hard to hold a cell phone steady I discovered while riding...

Now for the details. First, for Dave and Rob, you'll be happy to know that we replaced the factory parking brake cable setup with a Lokar setup. So that big C-clip that was hanging under the torque arm is gone. One less thing for me to catch on a speed bump.

While I was out of town last weekend, and then sick with a cold/allergies last week, Eric wrapped up most of the little things we had left to do (including the shaker filter above), the brake cable kit, installing the replacement hood struts, adjusting the ride height / suspension alignment, replaced the thermostat (that may not have been necessary in hindsight, but we know it's ok now), re-installing the DSE wiper kit, charging the AC, and the other small things on our punch list.

So yesterday I went to the shop, armed with a new ECU setup after a bunch of research, and we set to work. We put the new air cleaner on, adjusted the ride height one more time with me sitting in the car, and did another bolt-check. So we fired it up and backed it out of the garage with my laptop connected, and started looking at the gauges. The first thing we noticed is that it had a lean stumble when I hit the throttle. I did some adjusting in the acceleration enrichment tables, and that made it much better. Then we started adjusting the idle, as it was hunting quite a bit. We opened up the throttle blades a bit, richened up the mixture, and again, big improvement. We did a few more tweaks, and finally decided it was ready to drive.

Eric locked up the shop, and off we went. I'm definitely still getting used to it, but there is a lot of power available underfoot. I'm certain that I never had it fully WOT, but we both got on it a bit. The clutch is very touchy, but I'm getting better with it. The steering is TIGHT! And the ride feels great so far. We drove on and off the highway, so we were up to speed, and some speeding up and slowing down, and everything seems good so far.

After I drove for a while, I pulled over and told Eric to drive it back. He can't just work on it, he deserves some of the fun too. I think he liked it. When we got back, he got out and his hands were shaking. I take that as a sign of approval. :)

We're mostly done with the car at this point. The one big task remaining is to build a front spoiler, which Eric is working on now. I need to order a set of harnesses for the inside, which will be on the way this week. We should probably finish up our list soon, so I expect to bring her home and start driving her more. Just in time for the Texas summer... :confused59: At least the AC seems to work pretty well!

Congrats on an amazing build!

There you go Bryan nice video. You must be out of your mind with excitement!!! Can't wait to see you hits some track days with it.

Congrats Bry! Car came out great :thumbsup:

Very exciting!

Green > pink.

Sounds means even on Rob's crappy cell phone video.

That is all.

Good gawd that is one ugly green!!


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA




Glad you got it all worked out! That's super exciting for you too! Rob and DG and I are just happy to have cost you some extra bucks! What else are we good for.... This is LAT G after all... and that's what we all do here. Enrich each others lives -- or break the bank... whatever comes first!


:king:

Awesome to hear it running and rolling! Great job and it looks fantastic!!!

You keep saying that and it's starting to worry me as I'm sure it would do the latter! I'm not inviting ANYONE from here to visit my shop!!!!
:warning: :badidea: :warning: :badidea: :warning: :badidea: :warning:

Oh --- "we" don't need to actually physically visit... Oh No! We can cost you plenty with just a few visits to this website for regular updates... :thumbsup: :underchair:

Hence, why you haven't seen THIS yet!!!!
I'll post when it's DONE!!!! :computer:

I assure you that this site was responsible for plenty of my expenditures during the build process... :G-Dub:

It was Rob and Weld's fault... I was an innocent bystander.

No doubt in my mind, I've been around here long enough to notice who the antagonists are!!!
:poke:

Great news she is finally on the road. :thumbsup:

When do the new seats and 335s arrive? :stirthepot: :cheers:

Sure you were :D

Bryan, very pleased for you. :thumbsup:

Great to see the car running!

I had a chance to monitor the AITs using a bluetooth adapter for the OBDII port and the Torque application.

When going down the highway, the AIT is about 6-7 degrees above ambient. The temps go up fairly quickly with the car idling in traffic, but they drop quickly once moving again.

Andrew

Partial update on this. I hoped to update this way before now, but...

After scouring the country, and with help from Weld and Sieg even, I could only come up with a single seat that I wanted to use. I had focused in on the Recaro Cross Sportster as my replacement. This unit has a base without the side bolsters, which was way more comfortable for me. I found one in Eugene, OR, and Sieg was gracious enough to go check it out in person for me! Thanx again!!!

Unfortunately, the packaging and shipping cost on this thing were ridiculous. And even worse, the Recaro dealers were telling me 9 - 12 weeks to get the corresponding passenger side seat, as they are only manufactured in Germany. That wasn't working for me...

So after some soul searching and opening up my options, I have changed my selection to the Recaro Specialist M instead of the Sportster. From what I have read, that seat actually sits a little lower than the Sportster, which will be good for me. The 'M' also has a flat base, which again works better for me. And, perhaps most importantly, Recaro has them in stock, so I can get them quickly. I just completed the order, and they should be here next Thursday. I'm sure Eric will have my mounts made by Friday. ;)

On another front... I spent Wednesday night rewiring my Fan relays. The Holley ECU wouldn't handle the combination of the AC and coolant temp fan control the way I expected, so I needed to add a couple of relays to the system. That was fun, as it was all tucked up under the dash and I had worked so hard to keep it all clean. Thankfully I was able to do it without too much pain (although my back and sides might disagree with that statement!).

Eric has been working on the new front spoiler. That will be mostly wrapped up this weekend. It looks good on the car, and we're working on a design to add a splitter and perhaps some canards which will bolt-on to experiment with on different track days.

Now, about those 335's... :twak: :action-smiley-027: :hitaxeonthehead: :bigun2:

I'll plan to do some measurements on these this weekend. I expect we'll have another 97-98 degree day here, so it will be interesting to see what the ATS shows. I expect some longer duration tuning rides to start dialing things in. :)

Seig is the official Lateral-G seat checker. I have first hand experience with this...:sieg:

Hmmm, this trend is bothering.

Bryan - Too bad that seat situation didn't work out.

I know... It became ridiculous with shipping though! The cheapest option we found, insured at least, was $240. Then the packaging was going to easily put that over $300. For just one seat!

On the seats I just purchased, I'm getting a pair of them shipped via UPS for $109 from California to here. Just goes to show the power in bulk purchasing.

The big boy have negotiated contracts and the little people pay for it. :(

Amazon Prime shipping rates is one good example, Summit Racing also.

Glad you have them on the way. :thumbsup:

You keep changing stuff and all that Bry and I might be finished before you. Now wouldn't that be embarrassing. :whenitsdone:

315's FTW. :peepwall:

Dude! Harsh... ;)

I'm driving tomorrow, damnit! Gonna spend some quality time with a laptop and the car, we'll see how my tuning skills are.

Awesome Video, I think I was actually on that road before.. I flew into Dallas to pic up a 911 Carerra S from Park Place Porsche‎.. and were on that road..

Actually, that was shot here in Austin. Highway 183 feeder road, just in case that's what you were thinking... ;)

Eric sent me a pretty cool shot of her last night outside of his shop. It's a little dark, but you can see the front spoiler which he built.

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps3e05d2ed.jpg

Here are a few more before it was painted. I was a little worried about how it was going to look in the silver, but it turned out great!

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psb5439b04.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psc8c3c501.jpg

And the big belly pan he made which attaches to the subframe crossmember and the spoiler:

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psd4e6a7ca.jpg

I'll get more pictures this weekend showing it painted.

Love that 2nd gen early TA body style.:thumbsup: If you could just pick a BBQ spot.

Looking good Bryan

Did I hear something about a BBQ in Austin :excited:

Salt Lick was quite good, but they struggled to keep up with drinks for the 320 Aussies there :D

That's the money shot right there! :thumbsup: this turned out fantastic Bryan! Great job to you and Eric!

Ok I will quit with the 315 comments (Rob will continue anyway) because that spoiler and bellypan look KILLER. Those are great finishing touches. :trophy-1302:

:woot:

:bang:

I agree! This was design two, the first one didn't work out as well as we hoped, but I'm happy with this! At some point, assuming that I do enough events to warrant it, we have plans to add an actual splitter, and possibly some canards on the sides. As it is though, I'm worried about how long it will take to scrap this one up. I want to drive to work, and my office is in a hilly area with simply no good way to get in. I told Eric that I hope he made a template for this thing... :confused59:

Looking good. If you aren't having issues getting out of the driveway at Eric's shop then I think you should be ok in 90% of Austin. I haven't run into any huge issues with my car but did have to raise mine a little for more suspension travel. Mines lower but then again it has no front spoiler yet.

Have you scheduled your first tack day yet? It's only 102 this week, perfect time to test out the cooling system....

The C63 is pretty low too, and I've driven a few C5's and C6's, so I'm definitely used to the low spots! We have some brutal speed bumps here too! Thankfully none in my building at work or home, but that work entry would be tough! We'll find out soon enough!

No definite plans on a track day yet. Are you enjoying the events around here?

Interestingly, we built a block-off plate for the oil cooler for when I run on the street. It's not allowing the oil to heat up enough, in the couple of drives that I've done so far. And that's with 99* temps! I'm keeping a close eye on that...

:beathorse

There's some dinner for ya... ;)

#$^%!# !@# _)( _!@# #%(*@#$ @#_$)(#@$ :bigun2: :bigun2: :bigun2:

Today started out as a good Saturday... I drove up to Eric's shop and pulled the car out to go get the front end alignment checked. I didn't really want anyone to change it, because Eric and I took measurements ourselves and thought it was pretty close. I just wanted to check that we were right.

Sure enough, it was almost dead on (kudos to Jake!). The toe is a little off, but we knew that. One side has about 1/2* more caster than the other, and that's ok. The camber was dead on with me sitting in it, and the thrust angle is almost perfect too. Great!

So I left that place and drove to a friend's who is about a mile away. He wanted to see it, so we went for a quick ride. All's well, we come back to his place and sit around and chat for a while. And while doing so, the car is sitting in the hot Texas sun (it's 106* here today) for an hour.

When I come out, my hood is buckled up about 2" in the middle!!! WHAT?!?!

Eric and I have been fighting about 1/2" of bend, and we've been adjusting and trying to get it to settle down. Apparently it was the hood hinge struts which were causing it, even though we weren't convinced of that. So I hopped in the car and drove back to his shop to get it in the shade and release the pressure. When we did, we could see where the 'support' (I use that word loosely) that runs front to back was buckling right in front of the hood hinge. NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

I was so pissed off that I just left. I'm supposed to drive the car to meet up with some car buds tonight for them to see it. Eric pulled out the struts, and at least it appears to sit down mostly, but it's still bowed at this point. I absolutely do not want to have to replace the hood, between getting it, painting it, and getting another stripe kit for it, that will cost a small fortune. And I certainly wouldn't replace it with another VFN is this is going to happen again.

This feels appropriate about now:

:bur2:

You need a couple really cold beers!

That's about what I felt like doing today! I don't think fiberglass will respond quite as well to the sledge though. :headspin:

How is the hood looking after two days? Was it damaged beyond repair? I was thinking of using a VFN hood on my build but I am having second thoughts now.