Auto Log

- recent ramblings about what is going on with my automotive stuff.

06/07/02

Willow Springs Raceway - I attended the NASA/Open-Track Willow springs event. Mainly to cheer on some friends running in the NASA SE-R cup series. Willow Springs is a very fast track, and I want to get a roll bar in my car before I go out there again. Last august, I ran there with a few guys from the Porsche Owner's Club, which was a lot of fun, but made me realize that at these speeds, you really should have good safety equipment.

Anyways, I was there for Sunday's race which turned out to be a great race between Tom Paule and Naji Dahi. Naji qualified first in the class with a 1:39.xx. The day before, he totally shredded his front tires (kumho V700s) during the race. I recommended that he lower his tire pressures down to around 32 or 33psi hot, since that's what I, and most everyone I had talked to, ran on those tires with good results (he was up in the 40+ psi range!). The adjustment seemed to help, as the tires held up and he was able to hold off a hard charging Paule on the last lap to take the win.

read more about it at the www.trackracers.com site, along with a pretty cool video of that last lap.

I also had a helluva ride in Frank Lin's Del Sol vtec. He's pushing around 175whp in a very well setup car. Of course, Frank is a great driver, and was also an instructor at this event. After riding with Frank, I realize that I need some more seat time on this particular track.

the following entries have been clipped from my old site:

06/10/00

Went to Buttonwillow raceway with Open-Track. I've run this course before, but this time they ran it counterclockwise, so I had to learn it again. Also finally got my JDM 4-1 header and 2.5" AT catalytic converter installed. Car definately pulls harder in the upper rpms and easily revs to 9000 if I let it. Still needs some tuning, but the car runs really good. My tires seem to be the the weekest link at this point. Need to start thinking about R compound tires for the track. But even on street tires, I was able to hold my own against many other cars on R tires. Car went off track a couple of times (twice while in the hands of an instructor - go figure!), so it's *really* dirty! got to bust out the shop vac next weekend and clean it.

Also installed a camera mount, and thanks to Zak N. from the SE-R club, I was able to get some in-car video footage on the track. I didn't have the mount totally figured out until the end of the day, so most of the video has a lot of rear view mirror. Next time, I'll be ready though. I'll post some video when I get it, it will be off this site on my shell account hosted by a bud in San Diego. Stay Tuned.

05/06/00

I attended the Nissan SE-R dyno day. This event was organized by the SE-R club, and was held at R&D Dyno Service in Gardena, CA. The guys at R&D really knew what they were doing and were able to dyno over 30 cars on the dynojet. Some notable highlights were a few turbo SE-Rs, one car dynoed at 252 hp at the front wheels at his "normal" boost setting. he then cranked up the boost and laid down 393 hp at the wheels. And this was on a totally stock motor! That SR20DE is one strong motor.

I finally got my turn at the end of the day and after a cold run, the civic put down 166.4 hp and 125.6 ft/lbs of torque at the front wheels (corrected). This was about what I was expecting, since I still have the stock exhaust manifold and stock throttle body on there. But not for long. I recently acquired a JDM type R 4-1 tube header! As soon as I get a larger diameter catalytic converter, it will go on the car. Taking into account the standard 15% loss through the drive train, my car is currently putting out 195 hp and 147 ft lbs of torque.

click here for a printout of my dyno

03/13/00

Went to Willow Springs Raceway with the SoCal MR2 club. We ran the "big track" this time, a 2.5 mile course known for high speeds. This is the fastest track on the west coast. I was hitting just over 120mph on the front straight, and entering turn 8 at close to 105mph. Cars shod with race tires were going through turn 8 at over 110mph. Toyota Corp. showed up to film a commercial for the new MR2-spyder. They brought 3 spyders with them and were letting people take them out on the race track for test drives! The new MR2-S handles awesome! makes me want to get a rear wheel drive car. Could use a bit more power, but it was just too easy to get it to do exactly what I wanted it to on the track. My car held up well, especially considering I was placed in the fastest run group. I was the only car in my group that did not have R compound tires on. I drove my ass off keeping up with the other cars on the track, and did very well consering the company I was in (RX-7 turbos, 300zx turbo, MR2 turbos, BMW M3, Porsche 911 turbo, and a couple of very fast fox body mustangs).

01/22/2000

Well, happy belated new year! I'm in the middle of completely redoing my website, hope you like the new format. I went to Laguna Seca just before thanksgiving - had a blast. That little civic works really well on the track. I was very impressed with the car. I didn't feel like I was pushing the car to it's full potential, yet I had now problem passing just about everyone in my run group. I ordered a JDM 4-1 header from Erick's Racing Engines. Hopefully it will go on by the end of January. Then it's off to the dynojet to let Erick work his magic and tune it. I signed up for two more events. The big track at Willow Springs in March with the SoCal MR2 Club and also a "streets" of Willow event with honda hybrid.

Rick has got the 13B in the 510 and Able (flaco) did all the wiring with leftover DFI components. Rick has been porting some motors recently for Able and Rotory Power and has been super busy. He might be able to fire it up in a few weeks.

11/14/99

Haven't updated in a while.  Been pretty busy with work and stuff.  I'll have pictures up soon of the regional SCCA auto-cross event held at Hollywood park last October.  But I'm going to wait until I get back from Laguna Seca next week!!!  That's right, I'll be hot-lapping the famous track in Monterey, CA during the week of thanksgiving.  Only new upgrades to the civic are an adjustable rear camber kit, and a new fuel filter and spark plugs.  I'll probably be selling the 510 to a friend of mine.  Just can't seem to find the time or money to restore it right now, and my GF's been bugging me to get it out of her garage.  At least he'll do good things with it.  First on the list is a bridge-ported 13B rotary engine.  And by selling it to a friend, at least I'll be able to drive it and see it.

07/26/99

I went up to Willow Springs "Streets" track with the SoCal MR2 club.  I dialed in a little more stiffness on the rear shocks since this is a tighter course than Buttonwillow.  Wow, had a blast!  After  a few laps of warming up and getting comfortable on the track, I was able to push the car pretty hard.  Great speed down the front straight and I was taking many corners on 3 wheels!  Even got a picure to prove it (thanks to Dave - AKA "miataracer").  Jeff H. gave me some good criticism and got me to adjust my racing line a bit which really helped out.  I was real impressed with the car.  I had previously raced on this same track in my integra, which didn't do nearly as well.   Only mechanical problem was an exhaust flange that came undone (fixed it at the track with "loc-tite") and a broken rubber exhaust hanger.  Found out the next day when I crawled under the car to check things out.  Fixed it, and tightened up the rear swaybar link.  Car held up well, Can't wait for the next event.  Oh, still haven't touched the datsun.

07/18/99

Well, had to make a decision a few weeks ago.  Chris's truck blew it's oil pump and took out the rest of the engine with it, So he asked me if he could drive one of my cars for a couple of weeks until his truck is fixed.  Tough decision.  I let him take the civic finally, because it would be cheaper to fix/replace if anything happened to it.  Plus I'd kill him if he dinged my integra.  Anyway, I finally got the car back on Saturday, after arguing with him (he wanted to keep it longer).  I put in an integra master cylinder and brake booster for next week's willow springs race, and only have the weekends to work on it, so I had to have it back by saturday.  He also didn't wash the car at all in 3 weeks, and the Carbotech brake pads give off a LOT of dust, and if you don't wash the wheel, that stuff gets baked on.  So now my front wheels have black stains on them.  Arggggh!  Some people!
Got the brakes done and the car is ready for willow springs.

06/24/99
Went road racing with Open-Track on June 24, out at Buttonwillow Raceway.  This was the first real test for the civic.  I was pretty happy.  The car handled pretty well and had some real good speed on the straights.  I set the front shocks on 4 (stiffest) and the rears on 1 (softest).  Didn't want to get caught in a spin, so I played it safe.

05/04/99

I finally got around to going to the drag strip this weekend.  Went down to Carlsbad in the Civic and ran a bunch of 14.3x @98 and 99mph (on street tires).  Not bad considering I haven't done a lot of breathing mods or tuning yet.   You can check out the times on the new Drag Racing Page.

04/17/99

Finally got some pictures of the datsun developed.  I think a new camera is in order.  I can't seem to get any of the pictures to come out well.  Anyway, I don't think I'll be doing anything with the datsun until late summer or fall.  IRS reamed me this year, so extra funds are tight.  Plus, I still have to get some things for the civic.
 

02/09/99

Minor updates to the site.  Added the Engine & Installation pages and updated some civic pictures.  I've got some more film to pick up, so hopefully, I'll get some cleaner pictures.  And I may be acquiring another project car to work on!  I have to get the details, and its not even certain, so I'm not going to say just yet, but it's an 'old-school' type of car.  Keep your fingers crossed!

01/07/99

Happy New Year!  I Just got back from a week's vacation in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico!  Man vacations are soooo great.  I didn't want to come back, but you know how that goes.  I did manage to do some racing while I was there.  There was a go-cart track just outside of town with these 9 HP lawnmower engines.  They were pretty quick, I think it was the only time I've ever driven a go-cart that I actually had to use the brakes.  Maybe I'll post some pics soon.

12/19/98

Wow, a whole month and no updates.. I had been working everynight for almost 2 weeks
straight on the car until I got it running on Saturday 12/5/98.  I had dropped the motor
in the week before and had spent the weeknights getting everything connected and ready
to go.  fired right up without any major problems!  Sounded like a harley or something
running on just the open header until I made it to the muffler shop.  I do have a check
engine light - code 14, which is the Idle Air Control valve.  Traced it down to a damaged
wire, so I'll have to run another wire manually.  My GC's and front GAB shocks came in which I installed.  the rears should be here before the new year.  Now I have the
pleasure of breaking in the car and getting used to the quickness compared to my integra.

11/14/98

Yes!! The motor is 95% complete.  My cams aren't in yet, so that's all that's left to do with the engine.  I've got the hoses, vacuum lines, and wiring all hooked up and ready to go.  And I did it all by myself (I'm so proud).  I also ordered the Mac-Daddy suspension this week (yes, it is fully Mac'd out).  GAB adjustable shocks, Ground control coil overs, and some sway bars.  My mouth is watering, I can't wait to get all this stuff on the car.  Could be running as early as next weekend!

11/8/98

Put together the entire bottom end today.  Tried to install the shifter bushings and they were the wrong part.  The mfr switched the parts in the box accidentally, but Summit is sending out another set on Monday.  Next weekend, I'll put the cylinder head on and then after I get a couple of misc. parts, It'll be ready to drop in the car.

11/7/98

Picked up my crankshaft last night.  Today I picked up my bearings and went around to the auto part stores getting miscellaneous items like assembly lube, perma-tex, etc.

11/4/98

2 main bearings are still on backorder from Ohio.  I got my flywheel lightened by 3-4 lbs.  Also went to pick up my cylinder head from RES/portflow.  DEEEYAMMMN!!  some of the cleanest headwork I've ever seen.  It's all done and looks sweet!  I dropped off my intake manifold also to get match ported.  Will be ready for pickup on Saturday.

11/3/98

Worked out the details with a hook up on some JDM spec Civic type-R cams.  Sent my deposit today.

10/31/98

Dropped off my crank at Hitchcock for balancing.  I wanted to get  my stock flywheel shaved, so I held off on the flywheel/clutch assembly balancing until next week.

10/22/98

Ordered new main bearings and new rod bearings from the dealer.  Also picked up a gasket set from Trans-pac in Carson.

10/10/98

I bought some B16a pistons from a friend of mine and had them pressed onto my B18c rods.  This should give me a 10.6:1 compression ratio.  Did you know that the B16a rods are thicker/stronger than B18c rods?

9/28/98

I just ordered a 6-puck clutch with heavyduty pressure plate from RS Motorsports.  They let me drive an integra with this clutch in the parking lot.  Very easy to drive on the street.  While I was there, I picked up the Unorthodox Racing underdrive pulley - Damn that thing is light!!  I'm getting one of those too.
 

In the Beginning....

After I decided to keep the engine, I tore it down to inspect all the parts.  The previous owner had thought he cracked some pistons, due to his improperly tuned turbo kit.  It took me all day on a Saturday with regular hand tools to dissasemble that thing.  After further inspection, I found out that two pistons were cracked between the rings, but luckily, no pieces had come off and the cylinder walls looked perfect.  I would also need new cams, since the regrinds that were in there looked pretty crappy.  Since the head was off, I recently dropped it by Port Flow Design in Wilmington, CA for a mild street port, titanium valve retainers, and an upgraded spring package.  I figured I might as well get the flywheel lightened up too, and then get the crank, flywheel, pulley, and clutch assembly balanced before everything went back together.