Project Lex (92 Royal Jade SC300)
11-06-10, 01:17 PM
#62
Since it's a nice day I decided to hang out outside a little bit and do some more.
Rear sway bar end links are installed. The old ones actually didn't look horrible, but apparently they made it 150k miles so hopefully these new ones will also
I'm also going to try and work on the steering wheel issue a little this afternoon as well.
old:
old vs. new:
new installed:
Rear sway bar end links are installed. The old ones actually didn't look horrible, but apparently they made it 150k miles so hopefully these new ones will also
I'm also going to try and work on the steering wheel issue a little this afternoon as well.
old:
old vs. new:
new installed:
11-08-10, 05:58 PM
#63
Spoke with my buddy Ricer Pete a little bit today, and will hopefully be having him getting this thing aligned sooner or later
Also got some more stuff today!
- SS Braided Power Steering line from Drift Motion (to replace my possible leaking 160k mile stocker). My question however for anyone that's installed this, something seems odd. The stock unit has a couple vacuum lines comming off the assembly, and this doesn't have any ports for vacuum lines. Anyone know what the deal is there?
- Tial 40mm wastegate I got used off the ECMLink forums. This is what the manifold is flanged for, so that's what I'll be running!
- AEM AFPR w/ Turbosmart liquid filled gauge. Great price from the folks at MAPerformance, and they had it all in stock
- Two Walbro 255hp pumps. Once again, thanks to the guys over at MAP, had it all in stock
As the maintenance stuff is winding down, I'm starting to focus on mods I can start to do. As you can tell, I've decided to start tackling the fuel system. Plan is basically to run a dual 255hp intank setup just like I had in my DSM. Worm clamp them to the stock hanger assembly and set em up in parallel.
I'm unsure what the stock fpr can handle, so just for good measure I decided to grab this AEM AFPR from MAP that they have priced very nicely. And I like the fact it's black, and not bling bling anodized red/purple. Haven't figured out where to mount it or line size or anything yet, but that's ok this is still just the acquisition of parts phase.
Also got some more stuff today!
- SS Braided Power Steering line from Drift Motion (to replace my possible leaking 160k mile stocker). My question however for anyone that's installed this, something seems odd. The stock unit has a couple vacuum lines comming off the assembly, and this doesn't have any ports for vacuum lines. Anyone know what the deal is there?
- Tial 40mm wastegate I got used off the ECMLink forums. This is what the manifold is flanged for, so that's what I'll be running!
- AEM AFPR w/ Turbosmart liquid filled gauge. Great price from the folks at MAPerformance, and they had it all in stock
- Two Walbro 255hp pumps. Once again, thanks to the guys over at MAP, had it all in stock
As the maintenance stuff is winding down, I'm starting to focus on mods I can start to do. As you can tell, I've decided to start tackling the fuel system. Plan is basically to run a dual 255hp intank setup just like I had in my DSM. Worm clamp them to the stock hanger assembly and set em up in parallel.
I'm unsure what the stock fpr can handle, so just for good measure I decided to grab this AEM AFPR from MAP that they have priced very nicely. And I like the fact it's black, and not bling bling anodized red/purple. Haven't figured out where to mount it or line size or anything yet, but that's ok this is still just the acquisition of parts phase.
11-10-10, 06:13 PM
#64
Well my dumb *** just realised a Tial 40mm is not what this manifold was flanged for. I've only ever ran Tial WG's, so when I saw a 4-bolt flange I immediately thought Tial 40mm. Oops I guess. I'm going to start searching for a used HKS gate I guess, and since I've only dealt with Tial's before I don't even know what size I am supposed to be looking at that fits this flange. Ha...
If I can't find a used HKS for a decent price, I may just start considering other WG options, and get the flanged chopped off and flange the manifold for whatever I decide on. Or maybe make some kind of adapter so I can just run this 40mm I already bought. Unless anyone else has any other clever ideas. And this is one of those components I won't consider using a china-bay knock off.
Also have been speaking with Shane@DBPerformance a little bit about picking out injectors for this. Hopefully will be able to make a decision on those in the next couple weeks, and that should wrap up my fuel system.
If I can't find a used HKS for a decent price, I may just start considering other WG options, and get the flanged chopped off and flange the manifold for whatever I decide on. Or maybe make some kind of adapter so I can just run this 40mm I already bought. Unless anyone else has any other clever ideas. And this is one of those components I won't consider using a china-bay knock off.
Also have been speaking with Shane@DBPerformance a little bit about picking out injectors for this. Hopefully will be able to make a decision on those in the next couple weeks, and that should wrap up my fuel system.
11-18-10, 07:12 PM
#65
No huge updates, but here's what's new:
Chinese stereo has been removed and is being shipped back to China tomorrow because the GPS isn't working. Their customer support via email has been great. We tried troubleshooting it via email but nothing he had me try fixed it, so he told me to send it back and they'll take care of it. Sucks, but atleast they are working with me on it. He also told me that in the end when all of this is done and it's working without any problems, if I want another one for my truck, or any of my buddies wants one, to message him directly and he'll hook us up with the "special pricing" haha.
So with that being said, the car is down for awhile because it's no fun to drive with no tunes.
I finally heard back from Shaodome on here, and hopefully I'll get to talk to him more next week about the Megasquirt setup I'll be running.
And lastly, my latest ebay winnings
FMIC - core measures 12 x 24 x 4, more Chiyna goodness!!!:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=130452815672
Q45 throttle body (for when I build my own FFIM):
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...=STRK:MEWNX:IT
I need to pick up a universal piping kit as well here soon. Just still trying to decide on 2.5 or 3". I ran 2.5 on my dsm at 628hp. There may be some hidden gains in a slightly bigger pipe, but I'm leaning towards 2.5" for starters just for fitment sake. Smaller pipe is easier to fit and work with. So I'm leaning towards that, 2.5" for now just so I can get this thing running well, then later on consider bumping up to 3". Any thoughts?
Chinese stereo has been removed and is being shipped back to China tomorrow because the GPS isn't working. Their customer support via email has been great. We tried troubleshooting it via email but nothing he had me try fixed it, so he told me to send it back and they'll take care of it. Sucks, but atleast they are working with me on it. He also told me that in the end when all of this is done and it's working without any problems, if I want another one for my truck, or any of my buddies wants one, to message him directly and he'll hook us up with the "special pricing" haha.
So with that being said, the car is down for awhile because it's no fun to drive with no tunes.
I finally heard back from Shaodome on here, and hopefully I'll get to talk to him more next week about the Megasquirt setup I'll be running.
And lastly, my latest ebay winnings
FMIC - core measures 12 x 24 x 4, more Chiyna goodness!!!:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=130452815672
Q45 throttle body (for when I build my own FFIM):
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...=STRK:MEWNX:IT
I need to pick up a universal piping kit as well here soon. Just still trying to decide on 2.5 or 3". I ran 2.5 on my dsm at 628hp. There may be some hidden gains in a slightly bigger pipe, but I'm leaning towards 2.5" for starters just for fitment sake. Smaller pipe is easier to fit and work with. So I'm leaning towards that, 2.5" for now just so I can get this thing running well, then later on consider bumping up to 3". Any thoughts?
Last edited by Halon; 11-18-10 at 07:34 PM.
11-24-10, 09:11 PM
#66
China-bay special FMIC showed up today Looks decent, definitely can't complain considering what it cost!
Core measures 12 x 24 x 4. That's 1152ci for those who measure in that way now a days
A quick peak at the MAP Ultimate Duty Headstuds (same material as A1 or ARP L19) that I picked up, and will be one of the "test subjects" for so to speak. What's unique about these are the dog point tips on them, that seats the stud in the block and preloads the fastener for a more accurate and repeatable torque sequence.
http://www.maperformance.com/map-ult...-2jz-udhs.html
Here is quick diagram showing the theory behind why these are superior to other ones that do not bottom out, but rather stop because the non-threaded shoulder reaches the surface of the block.
Looks decent, definitely can't complain considering what it cost! Core measures 12 x 24 x 4. That's 1152ci for those who measure in that way now a days
A quick peak at the MAP Ultimate Duty Headstuds (same material as A1 or ARP L19) that I picked up, and will be one of the "test subjects" for so to speak. What's unique about these are the dog point tips on them, that seats the stud in the block and preloads the fastener for a more accurate and repeatable torque sequence.
http://www.maperformance.com/map-ult...-2jz-udhs.html
Here is quick diagram showing the theory behind why these are superior to other ones that do not bottom out, but rather stop because the non-threaded shoulder reaches the surface of the block.
Last edited by Halon; 04-27-11 at 07:22 PM.
11-26-10, 01:04 PM
#67
I'm still waiting on an EMS setup so I've decided to start doing some 'non-intrusive' mods that won't affect the current drivability of the car. So....
Initial mock-up of the FMIC is done. Couple notes are that there is a TON of room in here to fit this thing. 4" thick intercooler, and zero trimming of the bumper will be needed. Also I ensured to put it high enough so that the bottom of the FMIC will not be hanging below the bottom of the front bumper, which I made sure of because I've seen quite a few other ones setup like that and it looks weird IMO. I got it perfectly level at the moment (made sure the car was level first). Also I took a picture to show the gap between the FMIC and the A/C Condenser. Lots of room in between there. I would have pushed the core back further but the A/C lines would then be blocking one of the inlets of the FMIC, so that is why it is placed exactly where it is. If I could have tucked it back further, I may have been able to retain the factory coolant reservoir but nope, so I'll just be using the old reservoir from my Talon. There's 2 horns. I remounted one a little more out of the way, and the other I will either remount, or just remove as I don't feel like I really need 2. It alsoit looks like I will be able to retain the stock crash beam, but for weight reasons I may just leave the sucker off, we'll see And lastly, doing this made me notice part of my bumper is broken (you can see in the very center the plastic grill piece is broken in the center) 
ghey, but whatever because eventually (probably not unilt next year) I plan on switching out the the 97+ bumpers so not a huge deal.
OK so here's some pics. Probably be making a trip to Lowe's later for some lengts of aluminum angle to mount this in place.
Initial mock-up of the FMIC is done. Couple notes are that there is a TON of room in here to fit this thing. 4" thick intercooler, and zero trimming of the bumper will be needed. Also I ensured to put it high enough so that the bottom of the FMIC will not be hanging below the bottom of the front bumper, which I made sure of because I've seen quite a few other ones setup like that and it looks weird IMO. I got it perfectly level at the moment (made sure the car was level first). Also I took a picture to show the gap between the FMIC and the A/C Condenser. Lots of room in between there. I would have pushed the core back further but the A/C lines would then be blocking one of the inlets of the FMIC, so that is why it is placed exactly where it is. If I could have tucked it back further, I may have been able to retain the factory coolant reservoir but nope, so I'll just be using the old reservoir from my Talon. There's 2 horns. I remounted one a little more out of the way, and the other I will either remount, or just remove as I don't feel like I really need 2. It alsoit looks like I will be able to retain the stock crash beam, but for weight reasons I may just leave the sucker off, we'll see
And lastly, doing this made me notice part of my bumper is broken (you can see in the very center the plastic grill piece is broken in the center) ghey, but whatever because eventually (probably not unilt next year) I plan on switching out the the 97+ bumpers so not a huge deal.OK so here's some pics. Probably be making a trip to Lowe's later for some lengts of aluminum angle to mount this in place.
11-26-10, 04:08 PM
#69
EMS I plan on running the Megasquirt system the member Shaodome on here sells. Just been waiting to hear back from him for over a month now... Hopefully I hear back soon. As for the manifold situation. I may do exactly that. Or my other thought is pick up a V-Band Tial 44 and flange it for that. I'll figure that out when the time comes.
Anyhow, more updates:
FMIC is mounted. Used some Aluminum Angle up top to hold it up and in place. It stayed up and in place real well with just those 2 brackets, but since it's thinner metal up there it could swing a little bit if you pushed on it.
So... dug in the trash can where I've been putting everything I've ripped out of the car. Found some left over steel strapping from the ghetto bass system the original owner had installed, which I ripped out. Dug in my can of misc bolts and found 2 small matching bolts that threaded right into the chassis. Can't say I'm a huge fan of using this strapping stuff as it isn't the cleanest looking way to mount stuff, but all I needed was something to prevent swaying and it really worked perfect in this case. Pretty happy with how it turned out in the end.
OK more pics
Anyhow, more updates:
FMIC is mounted. Used some Aluminum Angle up top to hold it up and in place. It stayed up and in place real well with just those 2 brackets, but since it's thinner metal up there it could swing a little bit if you pushed on it.
So... dug in the trash can where I've been putting everything I've ripped out of the car. Found some left over steel strapping from the ghetto bass system the original owner had installed, which I ripped out. Dug in my can of misc bolts and found 2 small matching bolts that threaded right into the chassis. Can't say I'm a huge fan of using this strapping stuff as it isn't the cleanest looking way to mount stuff, but all I needed was something to prevent swaying and it really worked perfect in this case. Pretty happy with how it turned out in the end.
OK more pics
11-26-10, 05:27 PM
#70
I know Jordan personally. He definitely knows Megasquirt like the back of his hand. You should just ship the car down here and let him tune it when the time comes. I would honestly get some real lower brackets for the front mount made up. Those cheap steel ones on won't do much when the car starts moving.
11-26-10, 07:33 PM
#71
We have an excellent tuner up here who people actually come up from other states to have him tune their stuff. He does a large majority of the tuning up here, from Road Race cars, to drag cars, even has worked on Brent Rau's 1000hp 6 second Eclipse.
I've talked with Jordan a lot over PM's, and am certainly interested in getting his system. Just waiting to hear back from him. Hopefully sooner rather than later...
As for the lower brackets. Like I said it's not what I'd usually do, but I had it, and it works fine. The FMIC is solidly mounted, you cannot wiggle it at all. The upper brackets hold it solidly up, but if you pushed on the bottom of the core it could move. So those bottom straps were added, and are just to stop any swinging and they do. My buddy came over to check it out and grabbed the FMIC to shake it, and literally said "damn that sucker is on there solid". So I'm not really worried about it. It isn't going anywhere, it is on there good.
Also just ordered some more chinese CXRacing goodness Can't go too long without getting something off China-bay, or I start going through withdrawal Just a universal 2.5" piping kit for the FMIC piping. I decided on 2.5" instead of 3" as the smaller piping will simply be easier to plumb/route. And I only ever had 2.5" on my Talon and made 628awhp. If in the future when I'm running high amounts of boost, if I feel 2.5" is hindering me then I will maybe consider changing it out then. But for now, 2.5" is my choice.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=330491362847
And picked up a 6-pack of reducer couplers as those will be needed to transition from 3" inlets and the 2.5" piping.
http://www.cxracing.com/mm5/merchant...gory_Code=HSCM
I've talked with Jordan a lot over PM's, and am certainly interested in getting his system. Just waiting to hear back from him. Hopefully sooner rather than later...
As for the lower brackets. Like I said it's not what I'd usually do, but I had it, and it works fine. The FMIC is solidly mounted, you cannot wiggle it at all. The upper brackets hold it solidly up, but if you pushed on the bottom of the core it could move. So those bottom straps were added, and are just to stop any swinging and they do. My buddy came over to check it out and grabbed the FMIC to shake it, and literally said "damn that sucker is on there solid". So I'm not really worried about it. It isn't going anywhere, it is on there good.
Also just ordered some more chinese CXRacing goodness
Can't go too long without getting something off China-bay, or I start going through withdrawal Just a universal 2.5" piping kit for the FMIC piping. I decided on 2.5" instead of 3" as the smaller piping will simply be easier to plumb/route. And I only ever had 2.5" on my Talon and made 628awhp. If in the future when I'm running high amounts of boost, if I feel 2.5" is hindering me then I will maybe consider changing it out then. But for now, 2.5" is my choice.http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=330491362847
And picked up a 6-pack of reducer couplers as those will be needed to transition from 3" inlets and the 2.5" piping.
http://www.cxracing.com/mm5/merchant...gory_Code=HSCM
Last edited by Halon; 11-26-10 at 11:49 PM.
11-27-10, 04:02 PM
#72
Got a bunch of the ABS ****, removed. Now I need to finish ripping out all the brake lines, find some Tee's (supposedly off a 93-96 Corolla), and run all new lines. I've never ran new brake lines so this will be a learning experience. I think I need some kind of flaring tool.
11-29-10, 03:49 PM
#73
Just ordered up a couple more things from MAP. Great prices thanks Chris! I may be running more than 30psi in a couple years, but since Megasquirt will have it's own internal MAP sensor, the gauge will just be a "guesstimater" beyond 30 and I'll be able to log the actual PSI in Megasquirt!
Pro Sport Boost Gauge (30-0-30):
http://www.maperformance.com/prospor...rformance.html
Depo Wideband Gauge/kit. Helluva price, never seen a WBO2 kit (w/ gauge) for this cheap before. And the gauge is a perfect match to the Pro Sports :
http://www.maperformance.com/depo-ra...-52772led.html
Pro Sport Boost Gauge (30-0-30):
http://www.maperformance.com/prospor...rformance.html
Depo Wideband Gauge/kit. Helluva price, never seen a WBO2 kit (w/ gauge) for this cheap before. And the gauge is a perfect match to the Pro Sports
:http://www.maperformance.com/depo-ra...-52772led.html
Last edited by Halon; 11-29-10 at 03:52 PM.
11-30-10, 07:50 PM
#74
TB showed up in the mail today. Very clean, pretty happy with it's condition!
Also after quite a few conversations back n forth with Shane, decided I will be ordering up some injectors from them over at DBPerformance (DBPTuning.com) here shortly. So thanks to him for taking time to help me choose some suitable, yet affordable, injectors that should work for my goals.
What we decided on were the 900cc High-Z EV14 injectors that FIC is selling for a bit less than the other High-Z ones. They claim that they flow the same as "other companies 1000cc" injectors. So I'm assuming they are referring to the ID1000's. We shall see. I will end up pushing these pretty far, but they should work for my setup and goal. If they start to run out of room, I can always just look into a Fuel Pump setup that allows me to run higher base fuel pressure.
Here's a link to the injectors:
http://www.fuelinjectorclinic.com/cg...ey=IS145-0900H
Also been speaking more with Shaodome about the Megasquirt setup. Big thanks to him for talking to me and helping me get this figured out. I will be running MS3 w/ the MS3X expansion. Just need to order it all up. Once it gets here, get it wired up with some helpful guidance from him. Then take the car, still in stock form, to get tuned on the dyno and running well in stock form. Reason for that is I want to take as much of a "1 by 1" approach with this car. I don't want to change everything at once, then when it's time to start up and there's a handful of qwirks, you spend forever trying to figure out which of the 30 things you did are the root cause. This way I know I have a car that is 100% working/driving/idling as it's still stock and running great. That way when the MS3 is installed, and the idle is jumpy or whatever, we know for a fact it's something in the MS3, and not something else like a vacuum leak or something induced by other mods that were done at the same time.
Just a few random screen shots of what the Tuner Studio program looks like that I'll be using. I'm going to start out with the free "Lite" version. And if later on I feel I want to take advantage of some of the other features within Tuner Studio, I may spend the $35 to upgrade to the registered version. But for now I'll just stick with the free "Lite" version:
http://www.efianalytics.com/TunerStudio/
Also after quite a few conversations back n forth with Shane, decided I will be ordering up some injectors from them over at DBPerformance (DBPTuning.com) here shortly. So thanks to him for taking time to help me choose some suitable, yet affordable, injectors that should work for my goals.
What we decided on were the 900cc High-Z EV14 injectors that FIC is selling for a bit less than the other High-Z ones. They claim that they flow the same as "other companies 1000cc" injectors. So I'm assuming they are referring to the ID1000's. We shall see. I will end up pushing these pretty far, but they should work for my setup and goal. If they start to run out of room, I can always just look into a Fuel Pump setup that allows me to run higher base fuel pressure.
Here's a link to the injectors:
http://www.fuelinjectorclinic.com/cg...ey=IS145-0900H
Also been speaking more with Shaodome about the Megasquirt setup. Big thanks to him for talking to me and helping me get this figured out. I will be running MS3 w/ the MS3X expansion. Just need to order it all up. Once it gets here, get it wired up with some helpful guidance from him. Then take the car, still in stock form, to get tuned on the dyno and running well in stock form. Reason for that is I want to take as much of a "1 by 1" approach with this car. I don't want to change everything at once, then when it's time to start up and there's a handful of qwirks, you spend forever trying to figure out which of the 30 things you did are the root cause. This way I know I have a car that is 100% working/driving/idling as it's still stock and running great. That way when the MS3 is installed, and the idle is jumpy or whatever, we know for a fact it's something in the MS3, and not something else like a vacuum leak or something induced by other mods that were done at the same time.
Just a few random screen shots of what the Tuner Studio program looks like that I'll be using. I'm going to start out with the free "Lite" version. And if later on I feel I want to take advantage of some of the other features within Tuner Studio, I may spend the $35 to upgrade to the registered version. But for now I'll just stick with the free "Lite" version:
http://www.efianalytics.com/TunerStudio/
Last edited by Halon; 11-30-10 at 10:11 PM.
