91 FWD Laser - Black Widow

[1SloEvo]

I recently picked up a 91 FWD Laser RS turbo from a good friend of mine. When he bought it, I actually towed it for him to his house. He got back into the quad scene, so I talked him into selling me this car. It picked it up for $500.The car is going to get a fully built motor and will be run on the 14b in hopes of possibly pushing for the 14b record. It will take a very well planned build, but it is possible.

When I bought the car, it ran, but ran EXTREMELY rough. Due to the way it idled and didn't rev up very well, we knew there was some form of "vacuum" or air leak of some sort. Well, when I pulled the head off, here is what I found:

I would have to say the leak was found! So I took the engine and trans (along with everything else except the wiring) from the engine bay and interior to lighten the car. Eventually I will cut down the wiring as well to save even more weight. If I want to go for the record, I'll have to shave every ounce I can. The previous owner before my buddy let the car sit out for a while. It was shaded very well, so the car isn't in bad shape, but there was tons of dirt and mud and spider webs everywhere on the exterior and engine bay. About three weeks ago, I decided to go ahead and clean up the engine bay and all the doors and hatches.

Engine bay before cleaning:

Engine bay after cleaning:

Came out pretty well. I just used some light spray cleaner and cleaned it all by hand. Considering I didn't remove the wiring, I was happy with how it turned out. The rear hatch and the door trim came out very nice as well.

For the interior, I didn't go too crazy yet! At least that's my feelings. I have removed most everything that "bolts" into the car. I reattached the stock gauge cluster, gauge panel and the radio/dash panel. I wanted to integrate a 5" tach with shift lite, a boost gauge and an AEM wideband. I didn't want to just bolt down the gauges to the dash, so I made a custom gauge panel out of carbon fiber. Here are a few shots of the interior as well as my gauge panel. Feel free to post up any comments. I'll be posting more when I get my motor, trans and quite a few other parts over the next couple of weeks!

Interior pics:

Gauge panel pics:

 

[dsmtwins2g]

Looks good keep up the great work.

 

[1SloEvo]

Nothing too major to report, but a quick update none the less...

I dropped the fuel tank last week along with the filler neck to put in a higher flowing pump. Upon removal, I noticed the rubber portion of the filler neck and the small fume line were somewhat dried out. So I removed the clamps and cut them off...

At this point, I was wondering what pump I wanted to use. High pressure Walbro 255? The new 400lph Walbro? Aeromotive 340lph? I was talking it over with a good friend and he told me he had a pump that would work great that he would give me since we often swap parts to help each other out. All I had to do was remove it from his spare gas tank. What was it you ask? According to him it's a Denso Supra pump. Should flow all I will need for quite a while. Got the pump installed and back in the tank. I had some leftover hose from vacuum line replacement on a different car from a while back. It was perfect size for the "fume" tube. Just clamped it in place with worm clamps. I was trying to search around online and locally for something to work for the filler hose. Couldn't find anything too good without it costing a lot...until I searched the garage. Guess what you can cut to fit very will? The stock rubber intercooler pipe!! All I had to do was hold it up for measurement, cut it and worm clamp it in place. It needed to be bent very slightly, but did not put any type of kink or anything in the line. If you didn't know, you would think it's the line that was made to go there. Only thing left now is the rewire!

Other good news...I'll be picking up my built motor this weekend. Still need to order my motor mount inserts and get those installed before I can install the motor. I also picked up a mildly built 90 fwd trans and a JMF front bumper bar. I am happy that quite a few items are coming together nicely, but still got a long way to go!

 

[1SloEvo]

Another quick update...

Picked up the motor from Pat today (TRIXTSI). Very good deal and here is a quick rundown:

- Fully built SB (JE pistons 8.5:1 / Pauter rods)
- BS eliminated, block is o-ringed, and ARP hardware throughout
- Fully ported & polished 1G DSM head by Dennis Liongson @ LDL Speed Shop (Las Vegas, NV)
- Full Ferrea valve train w/ 1mm oversized valves and single springs

Wanted to mention some other small goodies the motor comes with. Has the 90 OFH already installed as well as all timing pulleys. I have a newer timing belt tensioner, so all I will need to pickup is the belt. Also needs a crank pulley, but I'll probably just save up and get a Fluidamper unless I can find a stock crank pulley in good condition. I'll also be looking to install some 3g lifters and I have some Evo rockers. I chose to swap over to the Evo rockers because they are a couple grams lighter. I also wanted to mention the oil drain side of things. Jesse from Full Function (who originally built this motor) also did a nice job on installing a -10 oil drain line on the stock oil pan. He welded up the original bolt holes and made it all flush and then welded the -10 fitting on. Looks very nice. I already have a oil drain fitting for the turbo, so I'll just have to get fittings to make the line once the turbo is installed.

I also found some motor mounts and a wideband here on tuners. Got the driver mount with insert installed and the other 3 inserts for $75. Got the wideband gauge with power cable for $50. I already got pricing on the sensor and sensor harness...which will end up saving me about $80 off the cost of a new one! Motor mounts and wideband should be in later this week...as well as the JMF bumper bar. Once I start getting some of those parts in, I'll get some more pics with updates! Also need to start looking for a clutch and flywheel as well! All the little things add up quickly!

 

[nitrouskris]

cant wait to see the next update

 

[airmail96]

Looking good so far, should def. keep you busy this winter: -).

 

[1SloEvo]

At least for a couple months.

 

[1SloEvo]

Still no pics quite yet. I picked up an ACT 2900 lb pressure plate from the forums today. Motor mounts arrived yesterday. Pulled the mount from the driver side, cut the front extension piece off and took all my mounts to a local shop for powdercoating. Should get them back tomorrow. Ordered the last couple of fittings for my fuel setup with exception to injectors. Also got my JMF bumper bar back. Installed it along with the SBR FMIC I got in a trade. Decided the SBR intercooler is a little too big for what I need right now, so I'm trying to get rid of it and pickup an Evo intercooler. It would take some custom piping that I can piece together, but I think it would work very well for the 14b since that's what I'll be running at first.

Only thing I need to pickup before getting the motor installed is a clutch disc, flywheel, and timing belt. Hopefully get those ordered up next week and start getting the motor and trans in next weekend!

 

[nitrouskris]

Still no pics quite yet. I picked up an ACT 2900 lb pressure plate from the forums today. Motor mounts arrived yesterday. Pulled the mount from the driver side, cut the front extension piece off and took all my mounts to a local shop for powdercoating. Should get them back tomorrow. Ordered the last couple of fittings for my fuel setup with exception to injectors. Also got my JMF bumper bar back. Installed it along with the SBR FMIC I got in a trade. Decided the SBR intercooler is a little too big for what I need right now, so I'm trying to get rid of it and pickup an Evo intercooler. It would take some custom piping that I can piece together, but I think it would work very well for the 14b since that's what I'll be running at first.

Only thing I need to pickup before getting the motor installed is a clutch disc, flywheel, and timing belt. Hopefully get those ordered up next week and start getting the motor and trans in next weekend!

i have a evo fmic, $75.00 plus s@h

 

[1SloEvo]

Thanks for the offer, but I'm waiting on a local seller to respond. I've seen them go locally for as cheap as $50. If it doesn't work out I'll hit you up to see if we can work a deal!

 

[1SloEvo]

A couple of small updates. Got the motor mounts powdercoated flat black and got the red prothane full inserts. They look great for the "black widow" theme. I got my thermostat and housing with -12 fittings installed. Also got my timing belt in.

As for the 14b, I might end up really lucky. My buddy Al has one they he said he doesn't mind if I take it. It's just a stock 14b, but it's got a ported stock hotside that was ported by New Logic. As for shaft play when I checked it, I didn't feel any. So it looks like it will be a good setup. I bought an o2 housing and a couple other small items from some good people here on tuners. I have 5 really big things left to work on...suspension (I can still get the car running on the stock suspension), intercooler and piping, exhaust, radiator with fan and clutch/flywheel. Otherwise it's just a bunch of small stuff, although I know that small stuff adds up! I'm waiting on a couple other small parts and then I'm hoping to get the motor dropped in! Can't wait for the car to get up and running!

 

[1SloEvo]

Here are a couple pics of the motor. The valve cover was almost completely black. Spent a couple hours cleaning it up. It's obviously not perfect, but doesn't look too bad. I might actually pull it back off and get it powdercoated before the engine is up and running.

Also, the lower timing cover had a couple pulley marks, etc on it. I just filled them with a little RTV, smoothed it down a little, and spray painted it with flat grey paint. Not the greatest, but still a bit better than what it was!

Hoping to get it in the car today or tomorrow. I installed the timing belt last night. Afterwards, I went to put the timing cover on and forgot that the driver side motor mount bracket was still the bracket from a 2g...so I had to take it all back off and put my 1g bracket on, then re-do the timing belt. Wasn't hard...just one of those frustrating things. At any rate, it's done.

I picked up some 880cc injectors on tuners, got a good condition 14b from a local friend and got a couple more fuel parts as well. I'll snap more pics when I get the stuff in!

 

[Pipnorcali]

Nice that motor looked sweet, get this thing ready for winter warmup at sac. Raceway ...fwd dsm powa

 

[1SloEvo]

I'll have to check the schedule to see when that is for sure. It's planned as a 'winter build' but it's coming together a bit quicker...for now! Still got quite a bit of stuff to pick up though.

Here are a couple pics of the motor installed. Got it installed along with getting the new fuel filter with AN fittings installed from the stock feed line. I really like how the engine bay is looking, but I do plan to do some work to the valve cover to make it stand out a little bit. Not sure what "scheme" I will go with, but I'll figure out something!

Pics:

 

[1SloEvo]

Wanted to post a quick update. I got a new flywheel and an ACT 2900lb sprung 6 puck a couple weeks ago. Got that installed. My Jay Racing alt. relocation kit with new 75 amp alternator is also installed. I have been looking for a 7cm hotside for about a month now. Got lucky and a local friend was mentioning stepping up to a larger turbo, so we worked out a deal on his E316g setup with j-pipe and ported hotside. The hotside will be going on the 14b to see what I can get it to do, then I'll step up to the 16g! I also found a good deal on an Evo 3 exhaust manifold, so I picked that up as well.

The last big item left was an intercooler setup. On my Laser, the front bumper doesn't have a front lip, so the front bumper is VERY short. That said, with the SBR intercooler installed, it would hang about 2" below the bottom of the bumper. The intercooler measured at 12" tall. Enter the ETS race intercooler! They measure in at 10.5" tall, so it should fit very well and have at most a 1/2" of core hanging below my front bumper. And at $599 shipped with the cast end tank cores for a full intercooler kit with all piping is an awesome deal. I ordered up the intercooler kit yesterday with an IAT bung and TiAL bov flange! Can't wait to get all the parts delivered so I can get it together!

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

Subscribed! Good luck in 2012!

 

[1SloEvo]

Thanks Nate! Hoping to have it up and running early to mid February and hitting the track sometime in March! Can't wait!

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

Thanks Nate! Hoping to have it up and running early to mid February and hitting the track sometime in March! Can't wait!

Mine should be up and running by the end of January and at the track in February. I'm not pushing for the record but at least low 12's on the ol' 14b. Here is my build if you are interested: http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/dsm-build-journals/418713-9-eclipse-n-t-turbo-fwd-street-drag-autox.html

 

[1SloEvo]

A couple of minor updates. Got a bunch of AN fittings in that I ordered. I'm doing all AN lines/fittings on the turbo and the radiator! I also am almost finished fabbing up my 3" exhaust. I bought an nice tubular o2 housing and the guy included a flange to mate to it. I had an old exhaust from an SRT4 that was just a downpipe with straight pipe and a dump. I had a "U" bend piece that I connected to the o2 housing and then am basically just using the straight part of the piping to run down the exhaust tunnel. The exhaust will make a slight turn down and to the left and that will be the whole exhaust. Full 3" with one flex section, extra bung for my wideband and one 3" resonator that's about 14-16" long. I'm expecting it to be rather loud, but the resonator did a decent job on the SRT. If it does a decent job, I will leave it as is. If not, I'll hack it back up and add another resonator!

My OEM TOB should be here Friday or Saturday. Once I get that, I can install my trans, starter, intake manifold, fuel rail, injectors and the fuel lines to the rail and regulator. Then I'll be waiting on my intake pipe and intercooler. Hoping the intake pipe will be here soon so I can see where the filter is going to sit. Slowly coming together...just getting more and more anxious!

 

[1SloEvo]

Got quite a few more parts in. Gaskets, SS oil feed line, AN fittings and hoses for coolant lines and oil return line. I'm also doing AN fittings and lines to and from the radiator. Just waiting on the weld fittings to come in the mail for that. I finally got my OEM TOB last week. Got the trans installed along with the starter, intake manifold, fuel rail, injectors, feed line, and return line. Biggest thing I'm waiting on now is the ETS race intercooler kit so I can get it mounted and get everything lined up. Also waiting on the 7cm turbine housing to manifold gasket. Once I get that I can get everything for the turbo completely bolted up! I made my 3" exhaust last week and finished it this weekend. Complete exhaust is 7' long, one resonator, and dumps at the back portion of the exhaust tunnel! Only weighs in at about 20-22lb! I'll get pics of the exhaust and the engine bay a little later on!

 

[Pipnorcali]

Oooo ets race ic nice

 

[1SloEvo]

More updates. Spent about an hour or so on the car last night and a couple hours on it tonight. The one thing I wanted to work on was getting the fmic and piping 'mocked' up to get the mounting brackets cut to make sure the intercooler is ready to be installed when that time comes. That said, I just temp installed all the pipes (no clamps) and put the intercooler in place with some supports underneath to hold it up. This allowed me to get the intercooler where I wanted it and figure out where I wanted to mount the brackets (flat aluminum). I think it turned out pretty good. Here are a couple of quick pictures of the intercooler mounted with the cardboard still in place to protect the fins!

Also thought I would throw up another quick shot of the engine bay as it currently sits (minus the piping).

Last thing I wanted to talk about and post a pic about is the exhaust I fabbed up. Very simple, all stainless steel. I might have to get a second resonator installed to make it a bit quieter since I still want to drive on the street from time to time...however, if I sink much more money into the exhaust, I'll probably just have an aluminum exhaust made with two decent sized resonators. Shouldn't weigh too much. This exhaust is about 7' long from start to finish and weighs about 25lb.

Let me know what you guys think.

 

[_801_]

Nice build, Excited to see the times you lay down. Good luck on the 14b record

 

[1SloEvo]

Thanks for the reply!

I got a good bit done over the last few days. Finally got the bumper cut to fit the intercooler, finished installed the fmic and piping with corners lights and front blinkers, made brackets for my radiator and got it mounted. Also got the coolant lines made for the radiator. I decided to go with all AN fittings and hoses. I got all the water/oil lines for the turbo made and installed. I reused the stock battery tray, but just mounted my mini battery on it...just used a stock tie down. I cut a chunk out in the middle of the tie down so it fits snug on the battery...then I welded it, sanded it and painted it. I also painted the tray black. The last thing I was doing tonight was putting the gauges on a switch. I have no reason for the gauges to be on 100% of the time, so now they don't have to. I also put a momentary button on my gauge panel in case I decide to go with a push button start....not sure on that one yet.

I'm down to just a few things...getting/installing axles, boost/vacuum lines for MBC and BOV, waiting on a coupler for my 2g intake pipe, get fluids put in, get the exhaust put back on...and get a good base map to drive on. That's about all that's left. Seems like a good bit, but most of it can be done in a couple of hours.

 

[_801_]

Excited to see this one when its done. I have a soft spot for the laser. Also how wide of a tire you going to be running on the front (sorry if you already posted this).