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1999 GSX Black Betty

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road course. There is an event in July and I was thinking of giving it a try.

Its between these the NT01 and R888

If it were me, I'd probably go with the R888's. RE71's tend to fall off pretty quick compared to the R888's on a road course from what my friends say
 
Long update 5/22/2017

A few days before NEOHIO's first weekend of racing, I noticed Betty wasn't building boost like normal. She would build around 9lbs and stay there until 5-5500k and have crazy boost spike so I took the turbo and wastegate setup out, removed the external setup and threw an internal setup on it just to see if that was the problem. The car ran better but still was very laggy compared to before. I decided to go have fun for the weekend in Ohio to knock more rust off and reevaluate the situation when I got back.

NEOHIO events 4/22-23

Their Saturday event was mostly for novices, and I honestly wasn't expecting to run very much. I planned to go help out and instruct anyone that needed a tip or two. Turns out they had plenty of help and I was able to participate in the event and knocked off a little more rust. All in all, we had a few normal members show up and I was leading for FTD until the very last two competitors, on their final runs of the day, just barely edged me out. Not bad at all in my book because of a lagging problem.

Sunday came and a lot more cars showed up and it was a competition for sure. I think we had 8-9 cars in SM and I was fighting with a few local MBR members for 2nd-5th all day long. I was constantly swapping for 2nd to 3rd every run it seemed, until the final run. The person who took 2nd place, had me by .4 I believe at the end of our runs and I was feeling pretty good because he's a very good driver and my car wasn't building boost the way it was prior to the event. Next thing I know, 4th and 5th place cars all day swing for the fences and third place got me by .013 and fourth by .005. This upset me a little because it was two days in a row that I was beat by hail marry runs, but I had to take it with a grain of salt because I realized that the 3rd and 4th place drivers were also pretty good drivers, and my car wasn't running 100%.

During the Sunday's event, a few friends came up and said when I launched the car, a little smoke was coming out the exhaust out so I figured I'm taking everything back off when I get home to to look over the car and really evaluate the situation.

The next day, I started looking over the car and the turbo and a small amount of shaft play so I decided to rebuild it before the first event in Erie in less than two weeks. I ripped the turbo back out and waited for the kit to come in.

The kit comes in and I reassemble the turbo but the turbo would bind up after I put the compressor wheel and nut on every time. I was emailing the seller back and forth for over a week and by this time, Erie's first test and tune/points events are coming up in a day or two. I still couldn't figure out why and planned to sit out this weekend.

Turns out they canceled the weekend events due to cold temps and possible snow. Those are not great combinations for 200 treadware tires and racetrack walls all around you. This was a huge relief for me because they where going to reschedule the test and tune.

Still contacting the seller of the rebuild kit, we discovered that he sent me the upgraded MHI rebuild kit so even tho it didn't look wrong, it was binding up on the inside so all I had to do was die grind some of the housing away, clean it all out really good and reassemble. Did that but decided to swap out the wheels to make it back into an evo3 and it worked beautifully. I was pretty excited so I started to bolt my external wastegate to the housing and was going to throw it all on the car. As soon as I lifted the turbo assembly, I herd a rattle coming from the o2 housing. I grabbed a flashlight and this is what I found

IMG_1972.JPG

I was in such a rush to fix the turbo, I never got a chance to really look over the external wastegate and the plunger broke. By this time, the rescheduled event for Erie was coming up in 4 days and I couldn't get any wastegate here in enough time. So I did the only logical thing a welder would do. I put air to the nipple to pull the plunger back, reseated the rest of it, let the air go so everything would look normal, checked to see if it was sealing and welded it back together. Put o2 back on the turbo and reinstalled everything. So I found my lagging issue!!!

The next day, when I got home from work, I pulled the engine fuse and primed the system. Put the fuse back in, and she started right up. Seemed like she was even ideling better too. Took the car for a spin and running just wastegate pressure and was hitting full boost by 3000-3100 RPM's like it should! So I decided to throw the boost controller back on and slowly started upping the boost. It felt like, after I started turning up the boost, I was getting boost creep until I hit over 16psi after the controller was hooked up. I had Betty set to 20psi and took her for a 40 minute drive. I haven't had that much fun in a DSM since Betty blew the original motor 2 years ago! She has good power everywhere and I didn't want to get out. I left the boost at 20 and decided to let her sit until raceday which was 2 days away. Let's just say I was excited for the weekend to see what I could do with the car and more seat time.

Saturday's test and tune

I get to the track early to help get everything ready for the day and as we are setting the track up its in favor of AWD or high horsepower cars because the starting line is just about a straight drag strip! Then a turn with a slalom and hairpin turn with another hairpin and done. A very simple course which is great to get multiple runs for a test and tune.

Started the day by running a time most drivers finished around, a 31.7. Not bad at all but I felt slow still. 2 other SM competitors I have to watch out for this season were either right in front of me or right behind me. Felt pretty good about the new setup. By the end of the first session, I was running a low 30 and the other two where just into the 29's.

Second session we had 8 runs so I focused on tire pressure being where I wanted it for every run and trying to loosen up the rear end to help me rotate on the two hair pin turns. All in all I was pretty happy because I was only 1 of 4 drivers to get into the 28's Pulling out a 28.998 on my second to last run. I left feeling very good about the car knowing I need seat time, Betty is still only running 20lbs, and that the other 3 drivers that broke into the 28's are always the fastest at MBR events.

Sunday's main event!

I went into our first points event knowing the car can be very competitive, which made me relax a little and just let me forcus on driving. We also got 6 runs total with 3 in morning and 3 in the afternoon. We didn't stop for breaks because there was thunderstorms on the way for later in the day.

The course was more technical this time around and I wasn't going to get the drag strip advantage I had over most of the other cars on this day. First run of the day everything was going smooth until the last turn I got a little aggressive with the breaking and locked up the tires and took 2 cones out. I honestly need to drop a pad compound or two because I easily lock them up if I'm not close enough attention to the pedal pressure I'm applying. It's almost like an on off switch.

After the second run I was running a high 31 and was just right behind the other SM cars because I wanted a good clean run.

Third run I dropped my time to a 31.689 which put me in 2nd with the leader putting down a 30.7xx.

I was feeling pretty good again going into the 2nd half because I knew I still had more left in the car and my driving skills.

Run number four of the day, I put down a 31.667 with a passenger. I love hitting my old time, or better, right after I get back in the car because I'm right back in track with no steps lost.

Run number five I had another passenger but managed to knock off 3 more tenths with a 31.3 while 1st place is staying around his old time of 30.6xx. Still thinking I'm doing fine for what I've been through with this car in the last few weeks.

Run number six comes up with the 1st place driver running before me with a car between us. As I head to the starting gate he finishes and I hear people start clapping and yelling good job. I figured awesome, he beat his old time, genuinely happy for him. Got back in the zone and went in kill mode. No passenger this time, I launched and everything I did on this run the car just handled it beautifully. I cross the line thinking that was a damn good run, but I knew I wasn't close to first place. Then I hear people start yelling "there's no way he just did that" before I could see the display for the times. I roll up on it and the display is reading 30.424!!! BOOM!!! I started yelling with excitement because I knew, once again, it's not the car and that this thing is very capable! I pull around to park and get out and rush over to the 1st place driver. He asks me what I ran and I tell him, 30.424! His eyes light up like ohh shit this is going to be close. I asked him what he ran. He forgot the last two numbers but he also pulled a 30.4xx! So this is going to be close! I'm pumped and excited but we had to go pick up before the storms rolled it because it was starting to sprinkle. We get everything all cleaned up and off to the results. Of course they waited to do the modified category last so we were eyeballing each other the entire time! The finally get to SM and they get up to third place and they ran a 31.1xx then the guy announcing the times paused for a second and looks at us and says this is a little interesting. Both of our names being Justin BTW, "The 2nd place driver with a time of 30.42... 4" and my heart sunk because that was my time. Then he starts talking again before I could come up for my prize saying "and first place, with a time a 30.42...". I'm thinking that guy just beat me by a thousandth or two, being happy and a little said at the same time. He finally says the last number... "4". WE FREAKING TIED TO THE THOUSANDTH! It has never happened in our region for FTD, and I wouldn't be surprised if ever in all of SCCA!! All the hard work and struggles I've had with this car, this made it all worth it and Betty still isn't finished yet! I literally can't believe Betty is an FTD car in our region and here's the proof!

IMG_1982.JPG

IMG_1981.JPG

The best part about this is that the other Justin I tied with, was the Justin that helped me with my mad dash to the shootout last year. He knows the trouble personally and I really couldn't have asked for the weekend to end any other way!
 
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MBR points event number 2 6/04/17

The weather called for thunderstorms for most of the day so not many people showed up to the event. We had 6 runs in the morning and 8 in the afternoon.

Course was not my favorite as there were two very tight hairpin turns and not much room for the car to really breath and build boost. Also the course was designed going through the two bumpiest spots on the track which we try always avoid.

The morning passes went pretty good as I was one of the top competitors all morning long. Runs started off with a low 46 second time and working my way down to a 44.8 on my fifth run of the morning. My sixth run I pushed it just a tad to much and the rear end rotated around just a little too much so I spun out.

Going into break a 44.6 was put down and that was the fastest time of the day so far. As we grouped together for break we decided that because the weather was clearing up, we would take our morning runs and afternoon runs, and add them together. I was fine with this because the slick conditions were helping me out a lot and would help me towards pax at the end of the day. After we decided this, the person controlling timing pulled me aside and told me that the person who ran a 44.6 hit a cone and that I was FTD in the morning!!! I was very surprised because of the course design.

Afternoon runs started off with the driving lines dried and ready to go. I pulled a low 44 on my first run and slowly worked my way down to a 42.9 by my 6th run. Halfway through my 7th run, after hitting a bumpy part of the track, a belt started to squeal really bad and it felt a little under powered running a 43.4. The run felt smoother, but unfortunately it was slower. Let the car coast back to the staging lanes and turned her off to see if I could assess what was going on. I popped the hood and noticed my alternator belt was a little loose so as much as I could, with it being really freaking hot, I tried tightening it a little. I let everyone run their last pass of the day to let the car cool down before I went out for my final run. I get back in and it's gone until I pull up to the starting gate. At this point two drivers pulled away from me since my 42.9 and I knew with the alternator slipping, it wasn't going to be my fastest run but I still ran it anyways. I come back through the first bumpy part of the track and all of a sudden the belt squeal stops, but I'm still lacking power. Finished my run with a 43.3, but with a plus one come.

I was alright with the day as I knew I was FTD in the morning and the third fastest in the afternoon and I possibly could have knocked more time off if I didn't have problems with my belt. I park the car and start packing everything up and a fellow driver comes up to me and asks if this bolt, he found on track while picking up looks familiar to me. It was the long alternator bolt where it connects to the block because I turned the wheel to see if mine was there and it was gone. Lost the nut but I have plenty that will work. I'm glad he found that and brought it over. Everyone finishes cleaning up and we all gather for the results. I finished 1st in raw time in the morning, 3rd in the afternoon which brought me to 2nd place in my class. Not a bad way to start a season having a first place and a second place in the first two events.

I got to get in the car and now she won't start. I can hear the fuel pump kick on and the starter spinning. It's just not kicking out. I was pretty annoyed now because I just put a new starter in it. I had a few guys help me pop start the car and I headed home to park it.

During the week I finally found time to pull the started back out and bench test it. Starter bench tested fine perfect so I thought maybe a back connection somewhere because of the bumps on the last course. Reinstalled everything and the same thing. I pulled the radio cover and pulled the starter relay out and tapped it on the ground a few times and plugged it back in. Car fired right up! Ordering a new relay today after work and hopefully another present present will be here tomorrow for Betty. I'll be putting the alternator bolt in this week and she'll be ready to go.

Next event is this Sunday on Father's Day. Weather looks is predicted to be bad again and with the holiday, it's looking good for Betty again.
 
Any updates on your thread boss? Its been a while. Interested in seeing how the car has help up!

A very long story cut short, July of last year during an event I lost compression in the used motor I swapped into the car. Started idling like crap, wouldn't build boost, and started smoking a little. I wasn't too annoyed about because it was a junkyard motor that had 170k on it but at this point I needed a break from a lot in life and the car was one of them.

After a year break it's time to start having fun and working on the car again. What I want to do with the car has changed. This will not be an top competeting SM auto cross car anymore. This car will be rebuilt to bring back its reliability and the fun of owning a DSM. Last season I always felt like I was bandaid fixing issues to get Betty to the next event and that's not how these cars stay reliable.

My new plan for the car will be a very fun street car that I can go to any event if I'd like to, autox/drag/etc, without having to worry about the car at all. I will be taking my time assembling Betty the right way because last time it was thrown together to make it to the shootout.

As of right now, I have started buying little things here and there that I know I need like gaskets and bolts I need to replace. Also I dropped my stock block and head off at a shop that will allow me to reuse my eagle rods and wiseco pistons I had laying around as long as everything checks out by their machine shop. If you have been fallowing my entire build you know what that means! Revisiting the stroker motor! I'm not 100% on what turbo I want to use just yet but I have a few ideas and plans that I don't want to get to excited for just yet. First one I'm gonna try is gonna take some fabrication work and parts should start showing up early next week. Hopefully I'll have some pics by the end of the week or the fallowing if everything works out the way I'd like it to!

Hope you all have been awesome! Can't wait to get back into the game!
 
Small little update. I got some parts in for Betty that im currently working on but they're not ready to be shown because it's still the early stages and haven't had much time to work on them. I'll be posting pics hopefully this week if I get more time.

In the mean time, the shootout bug has bit me and I was itching to be there with a running DSM. Someone I know had a 96 awd talon manual sitting in his back yard for a few years. The guy wasn't very patient with this car and we all know you have to with these cars. He told it needed a new slave cylinder and a thermostat. Offered him 1300 and he took it. Best part is on the way home it rolled over 101000 miles. I forgot to mention it has the LSD rear end too

IMG_2644.JPG


It's not the prettiest but what can you expect for 1300!

The next day I started working on it. It's breaking up under boost so I swapped good plugs and wires but it didn't help. Next on the list is BLT and coil packs which I have. I pulled the slave off and it was working properly so I decided to bleed the system. YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN HOW BLACK THIS FLUID WAS! I blead most of the system out but my help had to leave so I'll need to finish but it's shifting much better, not perfect tho. I drove it everywhere I went this past weekend and never had an over heating issue. The needle didn't even move after it got up to temp! Well see what happens with this car after the shootout! It's nice to be driving another 63 again. It's been too long but I will say this car in nothing compaired to Betty.
 
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UPDATE!!!

So I finished bleeding the clutch in the talon and drove the car out to @GofaST4life for the shootout. On the way there I noticed the coolant was perfect the entire time but the stock oil pressure gauge was reading just above the middle of the gauge while driving on the highway which is pretty normal. I'm thinking the previous owner was looking at the wrong gauge thinking it was getting a little hot when it wasn't. Anyways on the way there some noise from the rear started getting loader so when I got to Ohio we took the wheel off. I have no pictures but who ever messed with the ebrake last should never touch a car again. Unfortunately there was not much we could do at the time so we pulled most of the ebrake system out and out the wheel back on till I got home.

We started heading to the shootout and my buddy called me and told me to pull over because the wheel wasn't right. I pulled into a parking lot, got into his 350 and we took off.

The shootout didn't seem like the shootout for me. I had no car there and a lot of the big players weren't there which was very disappointing. Plus they got rid of autox and max effort so that sucked. We didn't stay more than 5 hours and we left.

We grabbed the talon on the way back and waited to look at it until the morning. We found it has a non OEM wheel bearing and it doesn't fit the bore of the stock wheel. I went and picked up a spacer and I was good to go for the trip home. The car ran perfect and had no complaints at all. 1300 wasn't a bad deal at all for this car.

Anyways let's get to the update on Betty. It's taken me awhile get to this because I was doing it at work and I've been swamped their so that means little time but here's an idea of what's to come for here. These pictures aren't the finished project BTW. Still have to clean it up more.

IMG_2664.JPG IMG_2665.JPG IMG_2666.JPG IMG_2667.JPG

I've been wanting to do this for awhile so I thought let's go for it. Evo x twinscroll coming soon!
 
Betty 2.0 is going to be a f**king monster man!

Cannot wait to get gapped! :LOL:

How about we call her Betty 2.3?

Small update

I received the X turbo and swapped out the stock wheel and compressor for the 20g wheel and cover I had laying around. While swapping I noticed it was leaking oil into the hotside of the turbo a pretty good amount so I bought a rebuild kit for it. I put everything back together so I could mock it up and my spare motor. On the back of the X turbo there's a bracket built into the casting which was hitting the block. Took it to work, cut it off to retest fit. Put it back on and now it JUST barefly hit the block. I was gonna grind off a little more until I noticed it was also hitting the coolant banjo bolt everyone shaves off when installing a decent sized turbo. Mine was already shaved from before and I didn't feel comfortable shaving anymore off so I went and bought a manifold spacer and now everything will work. I can't do much more until I have to motor on the stand and I can install the extended studs into the head. Next step is gonna be give the engine back a good scrubbing and possible repaint.
 
For those who haven’t heard, I bought another DSM to dedicate to racing and pla on keeping Betty nice street car now. With that said, I have picked up Betty’s head from the machine shop and now I need time to go pick up the block. After that everything should start rolling from there!

Here’s the link to the new cars build thread A.K.A Sandy

https://www.dsmtuners.com/dsm-profiles/sandy.14050/
 
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