9!'clipseDOHC's 1g DSM build

[9!'clipseDOHC]

Looks awesome, That engine is clean, keep up the good work

Thanks!

Can we get an avatar update too, PLEASE!

I've had the same avatar since 2006. I've got to remember my roots!

 

[Skorcher]

Awesome build!

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

Awesome build!

Thanks!

 

[Alan11]

When can i see the car.

 

[C_Keagy]

Looks pretty good! Good luck at the track with it! The engine bay turned out nice.

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

When can i see the car.

I'll be doing autox this Sunday and then hoping to hit the drags next Friday!

Looks pretty good! Good luck at the track with it! The engine bay turned out nice.

Thanks a lot!

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

Winter Project Part #3: Painting body parts, AeroCatch pins, Quick release bumper kit, Power steering pump, and a new 14b.
1.29.12 - 2.24.12

I'll start with the power steering pump fiasco. I bought the OEM Mitsubishi power steering pump rebuild kit and planned to simply rebuild my pump. Well when I took my pump all the way apart, I realized that it wasn't the OEM Mitsubishi pump. It was close, but no cigar. This meant that my rebuild kit wouldn't work on it. I hit the local you-pull-it to try and find an actual OEM pump but no luck. So I broke down and shelled out for an already rebuilt power steering pump from Pep-boys. It came in and I was happy to see that it was indeed an OEM Mitsubishi unit. I took it home and went to install it only to find that the return line that bolted to my non-OEM ps pump was of a different design and would NOT bolt up to my new OEM pump. I ended up ordering just the return line for the Mitsubishi Graveyard and had to drive my car for a week without power steering, which isn't much fun! Finally the return line arrived and I was back in the money with power steering! DSM fun!

Up next was the painting of the hood and fenders. Since the engine bay turned out so great I decided to take a stab at painting my fiberglass hood and since I was doing that I went ahead and did the fenders and headlight covers too. I used a dual stage with clear on these and it turned out pretty good. I'm still trying to finish buffing/polishing the hood and fenders though. It is extremely smooth, just trying to bring out the gloss more. I'm still pretty impressed considering this was my first time.

The AeroCatch hood pins went in without incident. I was quite nervious about cutting the huge holes into my brand new hood but it worked out just fine. I ran into one little issue with the Gixrman quick release bumper kit since I was using the kit on the laser/non-turbo eclipse style bumper and the kit was designed for the turbo eclipse/talon bumper. Howerver Chris (gixrman) went out of his way to send me the correct stuff to make the kit work on my bumper. I highly recommend him and his product. Check it out here: 1ga Quick release bumper kit - DSM Classifieds

With the above finished I thought I was done with my winter project so I took my DSM to the drag strip. However, on the way there my 14b kicked the bucket. Rather then picking up another 20 year old, never rebuilt 14b, I talked to Justin (JusMX141) and decided to have him rebuild a 14b center section for me. He sent me the new one and I sent him my old one. He looked it over and decided that it had died due to insufientent oil. He found that the shaft was blue with tons of bearing transfer, and the turbine-side journal bearing got so hot it seized in the journal preventing any oil from getting through and the shaft was turning inside it at full speed. It just so happens that I had pulled out my -4 AN feed line and dropped the stock feed line back in when I installed the new 7cm hotside... just 100 miles ago. Needless to say I went back to the -4 AN line and also added an oil pressure gauge where the feed line connects to the turbo to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Anyways, this concludes my winter project! Time to stop working and start racing! My first autox event of 2012 is this Sunday and I'm hoping to hit up the drag strip next Friday as well. I'm very excited! Here are a few final parting pictures that I took today:

I had magnets made up with my number and class for Autox. (I need to learn how to use the camera on my new iPhone, !)

My wife posing by my car for the DSM picture game. If you aren't playing, start!

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

Pan Am Region SCCA SOLO Championship #1
2.26.2012

The season opener for the points series was yesterday. It was a great turnout for us with over 25 cars competing. My car felt great, but the numbers just didn't translate. I'm still new to this sport and need a lot more seat time. This is only my 5th autox event ever.

I'm competing in SMF this year (ESP last year) with the only mods putting me in Street Mod being a Tial BOV, Tial MVS external wastegate, and a fiberglass hood. My car is not yet optimized for autox but I will be slowly making it better.

My first lap was 82 seconds and a clean run. On my second lap I went into 3rd on a straight way and picked up too much speed before the slalom and slid into a stack of cones while braking and downshifting, finished with a 83 +3 cones. Third lap was clean and took 81 seconds. For the final lap I remembered I hadn't adjusted my struts to stiff so I did that and ran a clean 80 second lap. My times were dripping, but not fast enough! To compare, my friends ran: Derek (MS3 - STX) - 76 seconds, Joe (BMW - FP) 75, Duncan (EVO IV - STU) 70 seconds. I've got some catching up to do!

Here is a video I put together with a combination of my runs:
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/sSFqJw-h4PU?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
http://youtu.be/sSFqJw-h4PU

The next event is March 11th!

 

[ArcticTsi]

Looks amazing Nathan. Really good to a see a great attention to detail build. Especially from a non-sponsored grassroots racer. Great Job. Once I get my hoopty running good and performing well, I'll step back and get everything cosmetically freshend up. Because right now mine would look absolutely filthy next to yours.

Also, what boost were you running for the AutoX event.

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

Looks amazing Nathan. Really good to a see a great attention to detail build. Especially from a non-sponsored grassroots racer. Great Job. Once I get my hoopty running good and performing well, I'll step back and get everything cosmetically freshend up. Because right now mine would look absolutely filthy next to yours.

Also, what boost were you running for the AutoX event.

Thanks so much Jose! That is a huge compliment coming from you!

I was running 16-17 lbs of boost at this event. In my class I'm not restricted on boost but I keep it a little lower to make it smoother and easier to handle.

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

I added an oil pressure gauge to my turbo oil feed line to see what my oil pressure is. It was only hitting a max of 20 psi, even at full RPM's and bosot. This is with a 4 -AN oil feed line from the head. I looked into it last night and I found part of the problem. The stock oil feed line has a restrictor built into it. The 4 -AN line obviously doesn't but it does have a restrictor built into the banjo bolt. I pulled the aftermarket bolt out and reinstalled the factory banjo bolt along with the 4 -AN line. When I first started up the car this morning the pressure went up to almost 40 psi at the turbo. However, once the car warmed up I went out for a pull it was only hitting 27 psi. This is still lower then the 30-40 psi that I would like to see so I'll probably still end up switching to the OFH with a restrictor to try to get more pressure at the turbo.

 

[turboglenn]

The carlooks great. I love the tires on there, i didn't see the name of them if ya don't mind repeating for slow people likle myself

Also, i think the MHI turbo will be fine from head like you have it, they seem to prefer or do just fine on very little oil. I have the same p[ressure at the head, 27psi when hot, and my garett with 360* thrust lived off that for 10 years without failure, however i didn't trust it to be enough for the holset

as a whole i think you're doing an outstanding job and the car will definitely be an eye-catcher (already is) I love the black 2g wheels on it and like isaid those tires are just mean looking and complete the package nicely. the powerband has top be awesome with the MHI turbo as well

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

The carlooks great. I love the tires on there, i didn't see the name of them if ya don't mind repeating for slow people likle myself

Also, i think the MHI turbo will be fine from head like you have it, they seem to prefer or do just fine on very little oil. I have the same p[ressure at the head, 27psi when hot, and my garett with 360* thrust lived off that for 10 years without failure, however i didn't trust it to be enough for the holset

as a whole i think you're doing an outstanding job and the car will definitely be an eye-catcher (already is) I love the black 2g wheels on it and like isaid those tires are just mean looking and complete the package nicely. the powerband has top be awesome with the MHI turbo as well

Thanks so much! Talking to Justin he recommended a higher oil pressure for the 14b since I'm pushing it to the upper limits. Since my last 14b died of oil starvation I don't want to take any chances.

The tires are 225/45/ZR17 BFGoodrich G-Force T/A KDW's. I do love the tread pattern on them but i will most likely be going with a more aggressive tire next time that wiould be better suited for AutoX. I'm currently leaning towards the Hankook Ventus RS3's (Hopefully I'll have a set of EVO 8 wheels by then and I can go with 235's or 245's). My current street/autox rims are the stock Dodge Avenger wheels which are only 17"x6.5". Those are the black ones you are seeing.

 

[oneslowwdsm]

This puts most DSM builds to shame crazy attention to detail, I wish I was patient enough for that!

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

This puts most DSM builds to shame crazy attention to detail, I wish I was patient enough for that!

Thanks so much for the compliment! It is still a work in progress and is slowly coming together. Anybody can do what I have done with my car, it just helps to have owned it for as long as I have (almost 10 years now).

Just an update on what is coming up next. This Sunday is the 2nd SOLO event and I'm hoping that I'm warmed up now and ready to do better this time. Also I'm just waiting on a nice Friday evening to go the the drag strip, the weather is crappy today so maybe next week.

As far as plans for future mods, I'm going to be upgrading suspension and handling parts (sway bars, etc) next as well as trying to shed some more weight. I pulled out almost 20 lbs this week just from under the carpet. Also wider wheels and tires are high on the priority list.

 

[DSMkid86]

Great build man. I also have a 91 GS N/T with a turbo. 14b running 10lbs. Motor/body have over 250k on them, still running strong! In the midst of building a turbo motor for it for when this one finally goes.

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

Great build man. I also have a 91 GS N/T with a turbo. 14b running 10lbs. Motor/body have over 250k on them, still running strong! In the midst of building a turbo motor for it for when this one finally goes.

Thanks! Good luck on yours!

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

Pan Am Region SCCA SOLO Championship #2 and El Paso Motorplex, New PB 13.102 @ 111.22
3.11.12 & 3.16.12

Pan Am SCCA - 3/11/12
​

I did much better this time! I ended up in 5 out of 10 RAW and 7th out of 10 in PAX for the Tires category. To compare to my friends this time, I ran a 74.4, Derek (MS3 - STX) - 73.5, Joe (BMW - FP) 72.3, Duncan (EVO IV - STU) 67.8 seconds. I'm catching up!

There were some photographers that came out and snapped some pictures. A big thanks to Paul Manomaitis and John Whalen for the following pictures!

And here is the video I made with my GoPro!

<iframe width="1280" height="720" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/S7-IqllFPAA?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

El Paso Motorplex - 3/11/12
​

I beat my old personal best but only by .079 seconds. However, even though it was only .079 seconds faster, it still dropped me from #86 to #76 on the 14b times list on DSMtimes.org. Also I got a cool video of me beating a Corvette! (He was a cool guy and said he also has a GSX). The drag radials didn't feel like they were hooking up at all even though I was still getting 2.2 60's. I experimented with different pressures all the way down to 15 psi but found that they like about 18 psi the most.

Pass - 60' - 1/4 ET - MPH - Time - Notes
1 - 2.355 - 13.670 - 112.33 - 6:37 -
2 - 2.444 - 13.993 - 110.67 - 6:53 -
3 - 2.329 - 13.600 - 110.61 - 7:09 -
4 - 2.221 - 13.202 - 112.10 - 7:32 -
5 - 2.222 - 13.102 - 111.22 - 7:57 - New Personal Best
6 - 2.314 - 13.536 - 110.29 - 8:23 -

<iframe width="960" height="720" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6uxcvuzuq7o?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

El Paso Motorplex - 3/16/12
​

I only got in three passes before snapping my driver's side axle before my 4th run. I don't know why I am now getting wheel hop but I'm going to have to try to find a way to make it stop. Here is my time slip info:

Pass - 60' - 1/4 ET - MPH - Time - Notes
1 - 2.287 - 13.199 - 111.60 - 7:35 -
2 - 2.226 - 13.111 - 112.10 - 7:59 -
3 - 2.393 - 14.242 - 108.69 - 8:25 - Missed second gear.
4 - Snapped my driver's side axle on the burnout.

My Hoosiers were hooking good so I started adding a little bit of boost in 1st gear to try to drop my 60'. I started getting really bad wheel hop on the burnout and it went POP! Luckily I had my truck at the track to along with a tow strap and several friends so we were able to get it home. The gixrman quick release bumper kit helped a ton and a big thanks to Derek, Kenny, Deal, and Becky for all the help getting it home. The axle is an auto zone unit with a lifetime warranty so I ordered the replacement which is supposed to be here on Tuesday so I'll make it to AutoX next Sunday. However my wife and I are going to start saving up for the Driveshaft Shop 650hp axles so I won't have to keep getting towed home. This was only my third trip to the drag strip with the drag radials and I made a total of 16 passes on them before the axle snapped. Of course a lot of it is due to the wheel hop which I will be trying to eliminate.

In other news I spent a lot of time wet sanding, buffing, and polishing the paint on my hood and fenders and they look a gazillion times better! Also I finally got around to replacing my 20 year old swaybar end links with a beefy set of MOOG end links.

Look for more updates next week!

 

[airmail96]

Awesome work man I just read through this whole journal and love everything about the car. Keep up the good work and thank you for the Links to the how to's.

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

Awesome work man I just read through this whole journal and love everything about the car. Keep up the good work and thank you for the Links to the how to's.

Thank you so much!

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

Quick update. I got my axle fixed (which was free and took like 10 minutes) and raced in the 3rd SOLO Championship on March 25th.

Since I had only ever participated in 4 SCCA events prior to this season, I still qualified for the rookie category so I was moved back into that group. With that in mind, going into the 3rd event I was in 3rd place overall for the rookies. During this event I placed 2nd RAW in the Rookies class and 3rd PAX. This was enough to move me up to 2nd place overall in the rookies class for the year. They guy in first place is running an STX 2012 Mustang 5.0. I beat him by a full second in RAW but his .822 PAX (compared to my .852) is killing me. I'm going to have to beat him by 2.5 seconds RAW to get a PAX win.

In other news I acquired a set of EVO 8 Enkie rims. These are 17x8 compared to me current 17x6.5 wheels. This will allow me to upgrade to a much wider 245/40/17 tire. I am also planning on running a much stickier Hankook Ventus RS3 tire which should help me close the gap on first in the rookies category. The only bad news is that the RS3 in that size is on backorder until May.

 

[talonESturbo]

nice ride wen is you next trip to the drags

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

nice ride wen is you next trip to the drags

Thanks! I'm hoping to go this friday!

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

I'm back!

I took a little break from working on the DSM because I purchased a 2005 Evolution VIII and have been getting that up to speed. So first, here are some pictures of my new DD/AutoX Evo.

Washed before it rains,

Sliding through the turns.

Evolution (Literally). Evo IX, Evo VIII, and Evo VI.

AutoX

Rally Armor mud flaps

And now back the DSM! At first I wasn't sure what direction I wanted to take the DSM now that it was being relieved of street duty. After much deliberation I decided to convert it into a light weight drag car and keep playing with the 14b turbo some more. I am curious to see how it will do with a full bus ply drag slick plus a few hundred pounds lighter. Plus I am toying with the idea of throwing on a slightly bigger turbo and taking my car to the DSM shootout next year to compete in the Stock Appearing Turbo class. We shall have to wait and see where this road takes me.

My car currently weighs 2,520 lbs, which is about 300 lbs less then stock. My goal is to drop that down to 2,200 or so, so another 300 lbs. My project will mainly take place over the winter but I went ahead and started on lightening the interior behind the dash today.

Here is my plan:
1 gallon fuel cell with Bosch 044 fuel pump
Sheet metal trunk and back seat area
Front bumper exit exhaust with v-bands
Gutted doors
Gutted dash
Lexan side windows and back window
24.5x9x13 slicks
13x8" wheels
Possibly custom made traction bars
Removing wiper system, sounds system, heater core, and power steering.

And here is what I did today:

Pulling the dash.

Pile of dead weight that won't be going back in the car.

Test fitting the lighter dash.

Mock up with the first sheet metal plate and first layer of filler work.

Making a template for the second sheet metal piece.

Second sheet metal piece installed. These are being painted now.

I will keep you updated on my dash project, it should be done and back on the road in a day or two. I'm actually hoping ot finish it up tomorrow.

 

[9!'clipseDOHC]

I finished up my dash project today. All in all removed over 40 lbs from the dash and behind it. Keep in mind this does not count anything A/C related as that was already gone. I removed the all the ducting, blower motor, heater core, all the HVAC boxes, some of the wiring, and the dash cover. And it still looks like a car! Now I just have just 280 lbs to go to reach my goal.

Painting the dash

Installed!

Sheet metal center console

The dash is stupid light now. Removing the metal dash cover is a great way to cut some weight without losing that car feel or having to shell out for something custom.