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Autocross Build 1996 TSi AWD - Restore/Autocross

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UPDATE #25 - 3/28/2017 - Lower radiator hose, rear upper control arms, vented valve cover.

The lower radiator hose on the car was old and brittle. I replaced it with a new HPS hose but it was in the way of the shift linkage counter weight. I modified the routing with an aluminum bend and tucked it up against the front roll stop as much as possible. I also covered it in DEI cool tape to prevent any additional heat from the block, manifold, or turbo.

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I have also continued work on the vented valve cover and breather hoses.

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I will also be installing adjustable rear upper control arms. The old bushings were stuck as expected so they will be replaced with prothanes since they have to come out anyway.

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The battery is also fully installed now.

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UPDATE #26 - 4/11/2017 - Rear upper control arms, catch can install, interior re-install, downpipe wrap.

Rear upper control arms are installed and the car has been aligned.

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Catch can is installed and plumbed.

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The interior is back in the car after being removed for the battery relocation.

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Wrapped the downpipe for good measure as well.

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Car is ready for autocross events and the next major step is to work on the tune.
 
Awesome build.

Why stick with the GM MAF when you're already wired for speed density?

I do not have a good answer for that actually. I am more comfortable with MAF tuning but that isn't a very good reason. As far as the car sits now, I am nowhere near maxing out the MAF or at the point where the MAF would be limiting horsepower in any way so I am sticking with it for now. If it becomes a nuisance I will switch over.
 
How did you find the install on the arms? Any feedback at all will be appriciated so i know if i need to look into issues or easy of folks using them for future,

I know the poly bushes are tight but it does fit LOL, based around an oem bush so it had some space left for this.

Hope you like and enjoy them. If you have any questions i am here to answer.

Great work on the car aswell mate, keep it up
 
How did you find the install on the arms? Any feedback at all will be appriciated so i know if i need to look into issues or easy of folks using them for future,

I know the poly bushes are tight but it does fit LOL, based around an oem bush so it had some space left for this.

Hope you like and enjoy them. If you have any questions i am here to answer.

Great work on the car aswell mate, keep it up

The arms went on super easy. No issues at all. They look great and were able to get rid of my negative camber from the lowering of the car. Went from about -2.5 on both sides to right around -1.3 with some adjustment left. It fit fine with the prothane bushings no issues there. Thanks for your work on them.

My only note would be when installing the 4 bolts that hold the arms to the body brackets, put the bolt heads towards the spring. I did this to ensure as much clearance as possible to the spring allowing easier access to hold the bolts steady while tightening the nuts and to be as safe as possible when the spring is going through compression strokes. Probably not a big deal but something I considered when installing them.
 
The arms went on super easy. No issues at all. They look great and were able to get rid of my negative camber from the lowering of the car. Went from about -2.5 on both sides to right around -1.3 with some adjustment left. It fit fine with the prothane bushings no issues there. Thanks for your work on them.

My only note would be when installing the 4 bolts that hold the arms to the body brackets, put the bolt heads towards the spring. I did this to ensure as much clearance as possible to the spring allowing easier access to hold the bolts steady while tightening the nuts and to be as safe as possible when the spring is going through compression strokes. Probably not a big deal but something I considered when installing them.
Im glad they went on ok for you and the install was easy, that was my plan to make it as easy as possible for all,

As for the bolts i tried both ways and mine wont go in from the spring side since my coil is in the way at the hole i have used, thats why i went from the other side and honestly it wont hit the spring, i checked it with stock shocks and under a bit of compression that i could get and its very much clear of any hitting, since all spring sizes will be different its going to be what ever folks are happy with per setup, i have no hitting aswell just for note

If your lowered did you not want to use any of the upper holes to make your arms motion with less camber under cornering/compression? Means more tire on the road and more grip overall.

If you have driven on them yet let me know how you like the drive with them on
 
Im glad they went on ok for you and the install was easy, that was my plan to make it as easy as possible for all,

As for the bolts i tried both ways and mine wont go in from the spring side since my coil is in the way at the hole i have used, thats why i went from the other side and honestly it wont hit the spring, i checked it with stock shocks and under a bit of compression that i could get and its very much clear of any hitting, since all spring sizes will be different its going to be what ever folks are happy with per setup, i have no hitting aswell just for note

If your lowered did you not want to use any of the upper holes to make your arms motion with less camber under cornering/compression? Means more tire on the road and more grip overall.

If you have driven on them yet let me know how you like the drive with them on

I had a similar issue so I had to rotate the spring to give myself a gap to get them in. I agree there is no way for them to hit either direction of installation.

I wanted to use OEM for the roll center to start as the car has a handful of points of adjustment now and I had not dialed in any of them. I wanted to keep as many "controls" as possible so I can gauge how the car reacts to variables. I will absolutely be making use of the roll center holes once the other settings are to my liking. The first autocross I will be going to is tomorrow so I will start to get a feel for the alignment changes then.
 
Quick video of the car on the road for the first time this year after the winter modifications.

The car is still on a conservative tune with essentially factory timing and only 15 psi (gate pressure) on the 20g.

 
I had a similar issue so I had to rotate the spring to give myself a gap to get them in. I agree there is no way for them to hit either direction of installation.

I wanted to use OEM for the roll center to start as the car has a handful of points of adjustment now and I had not dialed in any of them. I wanted to keep as many "controls" as possible so I can gauge how the car reacts to variables. I will absolutely be making use of the roll center holes once the other settings are to my liking. The first autocross I will be going to is tomorrow so I will start to get a feel for the alignment changes then.
That makes sense feel for it then adjust to suit, i wish you luck for tomorrow, keep me updated on how you got on and how the arms felt for you on the tight turns of autoX.

Have you done many miles since the install with any cornering involved? I hope you and all like them as much as i do,
 
That makes sense feel for it then adjust to suit, i wish you luck for tomorrow, keep me updated on how you got on and how the arms felt for you on the tight turns of autoX.

Have you done many miles since the install with any cornering involved? I hope you and all like them as much as i do,

Some back roads and a few freeway entrance/exit ramps but nothing too aggressive yet. Tomorrow is the first real test. I expect them to handle just fine. The biggest difference is the rear camber being brought closer to 0. The -2.5 degrees led to some interesting behavior when hitting bumps or transitioning on and off throttle/braking.
 
Some back roads and a few freeway entrance/exit ramps but nothing too aggressive yet. Tomorrow is the first real test. I expect them to handle just fine. The biggest difference is the rear camber being brought closer to 0. The -2.5 degrees led to some interesting behavior when hitting bumps or transitioning on and off throttle/braking.
I dont know the best settings for autoX but for slower runs and quick turns i can imagine alot of camber is abit excessive, i have never autoX as we dont have these events here,

I think you will go up a hole over time and feel it be more flatter on the rear end, i found my grip increase more due to the arms not causing camber or more then it does upon movement and keeping more tire on contact with the road.

I look forward to seeing your results and feedback from the event
 
UPDATE #27 - 4/25/2017 - First Autocross of 2017



The event went very well. The car handled as good as it could have. No odd understeer or oversteer. Felt planted and reacted quickly when it needed to. Overall I am very happy with how the car has come along. The tune needs some refinement but the high compression works very well in the autocross environment.
 
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UPDATE #28 - 5/13/2017 - Lifter Tick

I have been dealing with pretty terrible lifter tick in this car for the last couple years. It was never high enough on the priority list to deal with but now that the car is getting settled, I decided to try and tackle it.

The car already has a set of the Topline revised lifters but they (along with the rockers) are the only original components in the head. I have no idea how much abuse they have seen or how many different engine detonations they have lived through. I decided to start by cleaning and see where that got me.

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I used the factory method of soaking the rockers and lifters in diesel. With the lifters you are also to pump them up then bleed them with diesel to clear them of debris.

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The lifters were full of metal shavings and debris. I had issues over the last few years where a piece of metal would be stuck in the rocker opening. Hopefully that should be resolved.

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The rockers and lifters were as clean as they were ever going to be. I reinstalled them and started the car. The tick returned over the course of a few minutes and I noticed a single lifter was not pumping oil out of the rocker similar to the others. I assume this is the problem lifter but I do not trust the entire set at this point judging by the amount of debris that came out of them. I have decided it is safer (and easier) to order a new set of the Toplines and give those a try.
 
UPDATE #29 - 6/9/2017 - Bearing Failure

In the last update I cleaned and then ultimately replaced the lifters assuming the rattling I was hearing was caused by them. As it turns out, the actual cause was destroyed bearings. They did not spin but were mangled to the point where the gaps were so large the rod were moving around causing the noise I was hearing. The motor is out of the car and back at the machine shop being gone over.

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The crank has some scoring. Hopefully it can be polished instead of cut. I am also unsure if the crank has ever been cut to begin with.

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Pistons look just fine. No signs of excessive knock/heat or any other damage.

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Cylinder #2 rod bearings appear to be the cause of the noise. Luckily I took the car apart before it got worse.

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Clutch and flywheel are in very good shape. The car hasn't seen many launches and the ones that it did do were mild so this isn't unexpected.

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Not happy about seeing the car torn apart again but I am glad it will be fixed and the noise will be gone.
 
UPDATE #30 - 2/9/2018 - Upgrades/E85 conversion.

(My photos for previous posts are on Photobucket, I will be changing them over to an alternative so they will show consistently.)

The motor is nearly done being reassembled following the bearing failure. Unfortunately the crank was scored and was already cut too far. The motor will be the same setup as before but with an Eagle 6 bolt crank and King XP bearings. Hoping it was a tuning issue when the motor was brand new caused the bearing damage which slowly got worse over time. The bearing noise started nearly 3 years ago and I put about 1000 hard miles on the car with that noise, including drag passes and autocross events. We will start with a more conservative timing map this time around. The car will also be converted to E85 as the 10:1 would benefit greatly from the lower EGTs as well as the increased knock resistance. E85 is pretty easy to come by in North East Ohio so it should be relatively convenient to run it.

I have been gathering parts both for upgrades as well as parts being swapped for reliability.

New parts:
-RM sway bars front and rear
-Bobby's rear tubular lower control arms and trailing arms
-Compworks fender braces
-JayRacing alternator relocation + new ACDelco saturn alternator.
-Fuel labs 818 fuel filter with 6μ fiberglass filter element + -6 line to the rail.
-B&M Oil cooler with -8 lines to the '90 oil filter housing.

I have also been cleaning up the wiring harness by removing unused wires and connectors as well as re-taping everything in Tesa tape. I will also be running new 4 AWG wire for the alternator in its new location on the back of the motor.

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UPDATE #31 - 4/3/2018 - Harness cleanup/Fuel Filter/Turbo Coating

Continued cleaning up unused connectors and wiring on the firewall and the portion of the harness that runs through the lower radiator support.

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Years of dirt and oil covered most of the areas I had previously left alone. Including this harness guide near the driver side fog light area.

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Lower bumper support needed some attention as well. The body harness that runs through it was re-taped as well after pulling back the alternator wiring. The altnerator wiring will now run through the intake manifold with the rest of the harness heading to the driver's side of the motor.

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The new Fuel Lab fuel filter and element have gone in to allow for the car to run on E85.

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The turbo compressor cover and exhaust housing were coated.

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Motor is reassembled and ready for install.

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Also got the Bulfab cross member in. Ready for power coating and then installation.

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hXOaBc
 

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What ever happened to the custom spark plug cover?
 
What ever happened to the custom spark plug cover?

My buddy who was helping me make it changed jobs and lost access to the machines he was using. A few final adjustments had to be made on the inner 90 radius where the plug wires leave the back of the valve cover to make it fit just right. We have contemplated picking it back up but I have gone with the Archer Fab piece for now.
 
UPDATE #32 - 5/1/2018 - Motor re-install, coolant overflow modification, alternator relocation.

Motor is back in and running.

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The new JMFab coolant overflow bottle has been installed and plumbed. The factory plastic one was in the way of the intake piping and we removed the mounts while cleaning up the wiring harness.

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The alternator was relocated to the back of the motor to try and clean up the engine bay. The factory alternator wiring was already a mess and needed to be repaired so all new wiring was installed.

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UPDATE #33 - 5/15/2018 - Sway bar and front cross member install, cooling fan setup upgrade, miscellaneous interior updates.

Front cross member was powder coated and installed.

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RM Front sway bar went on as well. Brackets were in pretty rough shape and were cleaned before installing the new bar.

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The cooling system in the car was in dire need of an upgrade. Sitting between runs at an autocross even the coolant temps would routinely climb to ~215-219 and after a few runs could reach 226. I added a SPAL 12" and moved the single Mishimoto slim fan to the driver side.

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Comparison of the SPAL and Mishimoto fan overall thickness and motor size. SPAL is on the top.

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I used Delphi Weatherpack connectors for the new 12" SPAL and retained the factory harness connector for the Mishimoto.

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The SPAL is wired into a relay to make use of the ECMLink control of the factory fuel pressure regulator pin to control the fan. The Mishimoto is now plugged into the AC Condenser fan harness and is manually controllable from inside the car using the AC button.

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I also moved the gauges from the A-pillar to the center vent and removed the EGT sensor entirely.

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New shift boot is on.

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UPDATE #34 - 5/15/2018 - Dyno Tuning

I took the car to West Virigina to @dacowgod's (Ricky) dyno. The car has never run better. He has been recommended enough on these forums but I will throw in my endorsement as well.

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I am still running pump 93 on the 9.8:1 compression motor which I am sure is holding me back but for now the car makes plenty of power and the flat torque curve is exactly what I need for autocross. Flex fuel is likely in the future for this car but I hesitate to take it back apart as it is running great now and I only have ~1000 miles on it in 6 years of ownership.
 
UPDATE #35 - 9/27/2018 - Fuel Rail / Tail Lights / Muffler / Intake piping / Autocross / Shootout

I swapped the factory fuel rail for a Magnus unit as I prepare for E85.

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I had originally tinted the factory tail lights years ago but have since decided to swap them out for a factory original set I had laying around. Looks much better in my opinion.

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mDdxHU

The muffler that came on the car was pretty ugly and overly large. This has been swapped from the axle back for an SRS muffler.

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h6dWcU


The 4" FP intake pipe was getting in the way of the lower radiator hose and has since been swapped for a 3" that sticks the filter farther into the passenger fender area. Some heat shielding and a divider to force the the intake to draw from the wheel well will be added at some point.

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mDC49d


The Talon made it to the shootout but only Friday as the Autocross was canceled.

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The car has been to quite a few events this year without issue and has performed quite well.

 

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