March 2010

Part 6 v1- Suspension Obsession

Well, it's on the home stretch now. The lower housings, courtesy of Richard F, have finally arrived. While this would seem to imply that the car would be off it's golden jackstands...well, half true. I learned an important lesson today, and that is 'make sure you inspect everything you order online'. While I did go and check out the first two 'kits' from Ground Control, I neglected to look at the last 2...and go figure, the coilover tubes and adjustment nuts are wrong. F ME. Well, if it wasn't for bad luck at times, I wouldn't have any at all right?

Aside from that minor setback (Monday they will be there), everything else is buttoned up, and ready to go. I'll be aligning the car Monday as well, just to keep it all nice (lets hope weather is nice nice).

So here is the last part (well, first half of the last part) of the puzzle that is, the 240 suspension. Is it a lot of work to do this all? Yes. Are off the shelf coilovers available? Yes. BUT this is darn near the perfect setup for our cars, this side of completely custom everything. I'll live with this. Infinite adjustability, rebuild ability, and custom built. Screw JDM crap.

Custom Lower Housings, for the 8611's in the Front,

...and 8610's in the rear

Upper plates with the correct inner bushings that came with the Konis. Let it be known, that T3 plates also come with the correct inner bushing, but the Koni hardware had a slightly larger main shaft part, as well as a top.

And the Tein Pillowball mounts, with brass bushing

And lastly, the Ground Control setup

Tube and Spring:

With Vorshalg TopHat

With T3 plate

Here is the 8611 in the front housing, with gland nut secure and coilover tube. Remember to loctite the gland nut.

And finally here is the assembled front product. Again, use a small dab of loctite on the upper nut as well.

I'll have the back complete come Monday, and then it should all be on the ground and read to go. Lets hope I have no issues, as I can't wait!

Ryans Turbo 6.0 swapped 73 nova startup day!

today he got the beast fired up and running, a few more bugs to work out and some things to finish up, but other than that, excellent!

Part 5- Suspension Obsession

Another short update:

With all things track related, heat retention, and heat dissipation are two major concerns for any car. Keep to much in, and face nuclear meltdown in the engine bay - release to much and while you keep things cool, you don't keep the turbo lit.

The master cylinder on any 240 is 'in the wat' -- that is, its' always near direct turbocharger heat, and as a result, always fighting the high temps. To help combat that, I decided a 'shield' was a worthwhile mod to create, and to implement. I also chose to wrap some of the basic parts in gold leaf reflective tape to help regulate heat control.

So without ado, here are some pics of the mock up, and finished result

Mock  up

Test fitting, and after sandblasting:

After media blasting, and riveting

I will be spraying the backside with BBQ paint, and coating the front with more gold left. Lets hope this keeps brake fluid temps under control!

Part 4 - Suspension Obsession

In 240-land, a popular upgrade for the rear suspension involves swapping out the crusty heavy cast iron rear 'uprights' (essentially the hub assembly, where all the suspension points bolt too) for the nice and light cast aluminum ones from a z32 chassis 300zx. At nearly 8 lbs a side of unsprung weight, it's a decent 'upgrade', that typically will only set you back 40-50 dollars shipped for both.

For s13's, this is a bolt in affair -- everything lines up as it should, no binding amongst any parts and even the 4 lug hub bolts into the upright (if the owner doesn't want to swap to 5 lug right away). You will need to swap the lower coilover/shock mount to a for style, but that is easy-peezy. All is fine and dandy here, however the same isn't 100% true for s14s. While all the points remain the same, where the biggest 'issue' lays is how the rear strut actually lines up with the upright. Being that their line isn't exactly on, the strut will constantly be fighting against itself in relation to the mounting.

TO combat this issue, Zilvia and NRR member Def (jacob) has released his "DefWorks" rear upright spherical bearing. This allows the owner to swap the stock bushing for a superior mounting solution, that will actually allow s14 owners to have a 'kosher' rear setup, that is, without worry of bending/busting a rear coilover.

Instalation is very easy: Just press out the factory junk, and press these in. YOu can use a traditional press for this, or a ball joint tool. Being that I had already swapped this out for ES poly bushings (as these weren't available at the point in time) I opted to use the ball joint tool as everything was already bolted up. Press the center bushing out first, and then follow my pressing the ES bushing itself. If the stock stuff is in, just press out the entire OE sleeve as a unit. You may need some heat to help with this process if pressing the factory parts out. Install is reverse of the removal, just press the new pieces back in, and you're all done. Winner winner, chicken dinner.

So here are some pics of the bearings unassembled, and then in the car. Super simple piece, but functional as well. Win win for me.

LS1 rear disk brake install on the chevelle

I am also using PBR calipers with their pad abutments and stock brake pads. These are the same calipers used on the F-bodys, Corvettes, and Mustang Cobra’s. IMO good quality parts. So, first things first. I started by removing the drum, brake shoes, hardware, and the e-brake cables from both sides..

Then I started by draining the rear diff fluid because well, I have to pull the axle out to do so. Being as this is a Lovely GM vehicle and still having C clip axles it’s the only way the axles are going to come out.

Once the axles were out I was able to undo the line from the wheel cylinder, and remove the 4 bolts that hold the backing plate to the housing end.

Now comes time to install the F-body caliper brackets and E-brake backing plates. This is very simple to do as it bolts right in place of the original drum equipment. How awesome is GM for keeping things the same for over 40yrs? But this is also where things get a little tricky and depend on what you want to do. For me I am going to keep the factory foot e-brake lever and the factory e-brake lines. The stock drum brake cables pulled from the back of the vehicle to the front. The F-body E-brake pulled from the front of the vehicle to the back. As you read this could be challenging, and really, it’s a simple fix. Just flip the Left side bracket/backing plate to the right, and the right side to the left. Done deal. The e-brake parts still work the same, and all you will have to do is either cut and put a clamp on the factory e-brake cable to make a loop or get cables from a Ford Explorer IIRC which already has the hook and from what I was told by Tobin at Kore3 they will work with I believe almost no modification, but do not quote me.

So now next thing to do once caliper brackets are on and mounted would be to install the E-brake shoes. I was going to assembly them until I realized I am missing some parts from the adjuster. So no will need to do some searching.. The E-brake shoes don’t have to go on at this point, but it makes life easier. For E-brake shoes I am using PBR’s.

After the backing plate is on and the E-brake stuff is on you can now finally reinstall the axles. Just install them the same way you took them out..

Here is a little comparison of a front C5 caliper and a rear C5 vette and LS1 F-body caliper..

For brake lines I will be using braided stainless steel lines I bought from Kore3. They are very nice pieces and have a clear heat shielding on them to protect them from any elements out there. I had gotten the 5 line kit. Kit consists of two (2) front 14” braided lines (front), two (2) 12” braided lines (rear), and a braided center drop for the rear. Also came with all the banjo bolts, washers, hardware, and brackets to weld to the rear axle for placement of the rear lines. I thought I lucked out on the rear brake line and didn’t have to make cut and flare about 6” of line, but I just may have to.. I found this..

But it was a false alarm, it was a repair someone made as the other side has one solid brake line.. damn. The lines I am using..

I still need to get some hardware to mount the caliper to the bracket, front and rear rotors, E-brake parts and a few other things before I can claim this finished. Aaron

starting the BBK on the Chevelle

i also started on the BBK (big brake kit).

i dont have rotors yet because im a broke ass, but i go the caliper bracket mounted up, and caliper on with wheel to just check things out.

ill only show a few pics of it as i want to create a write up. i did this because i was bored pretty much.

More Nitrous Install in the Chevelle

little update..

got the nitrous feed line ran.

need to get a grommet and my fitting.

all thats left is fuel feel line, and wire the bottle warmer. i are getting confused with the damn relay haha.

Vinnys F3 Camaro, new paint for a new season

some new paint, and some tweaks for this 7.70 sec street car.

frank, viny and the team at psi motorsports are looking for 7.50s on this tremec true street car this year...

Part 3 - Suspension Obsession

Call me naive, but I can say I was officially bitten by the FFF bug. I typically look at everything on forums as an example; that is, not as a 'how to' but more of an informal source of information that I can use towards fixing/improving my car. I don't mean to sound any more arrogant that I usually am, but I'm pretty adept around cars -- I can essentially do anything (this side of rebuilding transmissions, screw them) and everything I want with my car.

So while looking for a way to improve the structural rigidity of my cheap japanese car's tinker toy subframe, I came across a thread about foam filling it. Now, I've seen such things before, typically in regard to rockers, or inner unibody voids, but never a subframe. Much like any car of this configuration, the subframe is a nicely formed/stamped piece of metal that is hollow. Regardless of it being firmly mounted to the chassis, it is something that can certainly bend under stress, and at the same time transmit noise from the differential into the cabin. Because of these two issues, the Foam especially appealed to me as it would fill the subframe void, while at the same time increasing surface area, which would help absorb sound/vibration. Double win: Stiff Subframe and I can crank Celine Dion without hearing the driveline of the car.

So I read a few threads, and find out that the US Composites Structural Foam kit, in 8:1 variety was the best bet. The Coast Guard requires 2:1 for their boats, so this 8:1 would be more that sufficient for my subframe (but then again, I don't' plan on taking it swimming). By the 'members' comments it would become very hard, but remain plyable to a degree. This seemed great as it would add a great deal of rigitdy (8 to 1) while not becoming like burnt noodles on the bottom a lasagna pan. I order their 16 lb kit, of 8:1 stiffness and went to town.

Now, back to the FFF aspect of things. They all wrote that it was 'easy' and 'no issues'...which was 9/10 true. What they forgot to mention was the 'mess' that this stuff created. Certainly i knew there would be a mess - something that never/does not bother me. BUT in the same regard, i was not expecting anything like the mess that expanding foam creates. After completing the foam project, I will say the following

1. Make sure you ahve some sort of sheeting down to keep the garage clean. I used big pallett sheets. this stuff makes a mess

2. Ensure you have a heat source on the foam. It says it 'works best' at 80 degrees - they don't like. I had the garage at 70 degrees, and until I directed the kero bullet heater onto it, it didnt' expand as it should

3. Don't make more than you need, as it will foam out and all over. If you only need a little bit, make less. Any 'extra' is just wasted.

All in all, it was a great learning experience, and a worthwhile mod. I suggest anyone to do this, if they have sub frame out of the car. It's a no brainer. Rigidity, sound deadening, and cheap - perfect combo.

The Kit I used

It finds itself eveywhere!

Slight Mess

Looks good here, but look at the joint - amazing stuff!

Luckily it 'breaks off' the subframe easily. Thankfully.

All done, and re undercoated

Thank you cargo edition Maxima!

Aarons Chevelle gets some wheels brakes and juice!

My buddy Aaron is taking big steps with his Chevelle, throwing on a healthy mix of C5 front brakes, and Fbody rear brakes on his 70 Chevelle, and he also bought a nitrous kit from me that is being installed. Here is a shot with the new wheels fitted, No brakes yet.

Part 2 - Suspension Obsession

Well, all is coming back together slowly but surely. The joys of waiting for parts right? Somedays it would be easier to have started with a Fox Body ya know? Oh well, live and Learn.