I figured since everyone is posting there progress threads for this year, I'd finally get off my lazy a$$ and do the same. It's been slow moving over the winter and early spring, my daughter was born in December so the car was on the back burner while I enjoyed being a new dad. Any work I did get done was usually on other people's stuff. I did collect some goodies over the winter, and figured it's time to start throwing things on, finish tuning, and finally paint this pig.
Took a quick drive today, and decided to grab one last pic of it's current condition. My plan is to start digging into the body sometime next week and start getting ready for paint. No close up pics, because honestly, the car looks terrible close up. Needs much love.
For those who missed my progress year, or just plain didn't care, the car was LSJ swapped last fall after my stock motor went bye bye when a valve kissed a piston. Still running the same m62 setup as before, though I will be dropping to a 2.9 pulley and adding meth once we work out some of the current bugs. I'm running off a 02 LD9 wiring harness and PCM with the GM speed density reflash, tuning with HP Tuners. Overall works decent, we had some grief early on with desensitizing the knock sensor, but eventually got that worked out. Car is responding much better, though is still lacking some balls where we know it shouldn't be. I occasionally get some flakiness; random stumbles with idle, or the occasional wild AFR fluctuations at extended periods of idle, and the occasional hesitant start. Not gonna lie, some days part of me wants to just toss an eco harness and PCM back in and call it a day. While alpha-n isn't ideal, it did get the job done. I am keeping an eye on PJ's progress with the P12 pcm swap and considering that as an option in the future if I'm not satisfied with the current results in the end.
My profile's list of mods should be complete, so if you're curious of the mods up til now, it should all be there.
First order of business over the winter was to start upgrading the suspension. My 300 year old koni red/ground control setup was getting too uncomfortable to ride around in, and since my main goal for this car is to be a solid auto-x car, they just weren't going to cut it. I was going to wait til spring to upgrade, but came across a deal on low mileage Tein SS's that I couldn't pass up. These are one of the few things I did toss on over the winter in my free time.
Also picked up some aluminum control arms, and started to clean those up. I've had poly bushings sitting around for years, and they'll finally be put to use. I'll be running these unmodded and adjusting the camber via the Tein camber plates. I also wanted to address the rear track, since the unmodded arms are going to give about an extra 1/2", on top of the rear track already looking awkwardly narrow...so PJ is making me some spacers for the rear that I will throw on once I gather the rest of parts needed for the rear disc swap (just going with the Saturn swap)
I've been doing more carbon fiber work lately. I wrapped the bracket that holds the brake distribution block to the master cylinder, and got that installed today.
Also wrapped my interior mirror sails, which have not been installed as of yet.
My seats have been in need of an upgrade. I've never been a fan of the stockers, just not comfortable, and as far as I'm concerned, ugly. Browsing around ebay, I stumbled upon these bad boys, saw no one was bidding, took a few measurements, and a whopping $60 later, I picked up a set of leather Lexus IS300 seats!
The fronts are close to being drop in...the tracks are pretty close width and depth wise, so it looks like I basically need to hack off the feet, and weld on some new ones. I need to obviously wire up the power functions, though I will not be utilizing the heater function. I'm also going to see if I can remove the side air bags and still leave the cosmetic cover intact on the seat, as these are heavy mother f$&*ers!
The rears are going to take a little more creativity, they're about 4" wider, but I'm confident I can make them fit and look clean.
I also grabbed a spare cam cover, and had some AN bungs welded on so I could hook my catch can back up. I finally had a chance to paint it about 2 weeks ago and get it installed.
Started with a coat of some ultra silver I had around:
Followed up by BMW Techno Violet and some clear:
The carbon fiber spark plug cover still needs alot of work, just threw it on quick to see how it's going to look. I think I'm going to relocate the ICM and coil packs..the bright red annoys me and and i want to clean it up. I may end up just ditching the MSD setup and wiring in some LSJ coils since I have them here. Still undecided.
Here's how the bay sits as of today. The strut bar is a cheap ebay piece, I'll be making my own soon. I just ordered some 1" steel tube to work with, and I'll be re-using the ends of the ebay bar where it attaches to the strut towers. I also want to clean up the bay some more, thought I was happy with it last year, but I've decided more wires and hoses need to be relocated..not sure I want to invest the time into a full tuck, but I feel it may be inevitable. I really want to get the car to where I'm 100% satisfied and can just enjoy driving it for a few seasons before I decide it's time to move on to something new.
As far as the body, it's still being painted BMW Sterling Grey, as planned. I have some rolled fenders (courtesy of Tinkles) that be swapped on, and I picked up a brickyard spoiler last week to toss on as well. I'll be sticking with the LSS bumpers/skirts til I can get a hold of a GMX rear lip to finish the new kit. Other than that, nothing major. Still keeping my eyes open for some pre 00 toyo tails, and I'm debating Malibu door handles since I have a pair sitting in my parts pile. I'll be sticking with the current gold wheels.
As far as performance, I'm not trying to break any records, just making a fun to drive car that I can beat on a bit and have fun at auto-x. Like said, I have plans for a 2.9 pulley and meth..if I decide to keep the car long term, I may more seriously look for a TVS, but I'll cross that bridge when it comes.
C&C welcome as always.
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