Thanks BLK13X! I get some chatter now and again on slow/tight corners (especially if I take off while turning around a sharp turn). However, as I've put more miles on it and done a couple of fluid flushes it has simmered down a good deal.

Rodger - CO made for an excellent day of driving! Started with a huge thunderstorm which provided a good time on a wet track. Shortly after, sky full of sun and a beautiful dry track to tear up until the night time fell. Running at night w/mediocre lighting was certainly a challenge. Not to mention other (and much better prepped cars) with LED light bars made it hard when they came up behind you to focus. All in all it was a killer evening that provided a diverse driving experience.

 

Well I had slowly started acquiring parts to go NA-T, however, instead I decided to pull the trigger on a house of my own. With the help of my family and girlfriend, we bought a killer little place here in north Denver. I finally have a small garage/workshop that I've been dreaming about for years! Pictured is my '03 TRD Taco, my girlfriends Mini S, and my SC. It's so satisfying to have a place of my own, projects, and space to spread out. I was looking forward to saving up turbo parts but this is more fitting for the time being.

However, the mods won't stop (they'll just be smaller). I've ordered a stainless turndown 3" muffler to weld into my exhaust because I plan on ditching cats and picking up a Xerd header to keep myself occupied. Rather than go turbo, I'm going to stick to small mods so I have the money to continue to maintain/repair/drive/track this car as I wish.




Thanks for reading!

 

Looks like your SC is in very good condition I like that early red colour. Great with an original 5 speed.
PS: Congratulations on the house and the garage

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Thank you very much sir! I'm thrilled about the house and garage situation.

As for the SC - she's what I'd call a ten-footer

 

well if it is anything like WA those arent "clouds" thats just the 4:21 breeze from denver 😋

Heck yeah man congratulations. A house is definitely a more sound investment than modding a car. Especially since that house includes the garage space to do said mods 😎

 

^ Much appreciated! I'll admit I get border line obsessed with this and other projects. Sometimes it's hard to set that aside and make a smart investment for once (instead of throwing money down the toilet on project cars like I tend to do lol). Like so many things in life, it's another balance I'll learn to find. Thank you for the kind words - already putting the little garage to good use and couldn't be more stoked.

 

ince I'm not going NA-T anytime soon I'm planning on picking up the MVP version of the XERD header. My car is already relatively loud with the single 3", so I preemptively wanted to install a muffler to keep the sound down when I install the header. Currently the car has a stock exhaust manifold, 3" exhaust w/bottle resonator, and nothing else. The sound is wonderful, however, I know ditching the cats would make things too loud and too raspy. I looked all over and wanted to keep things racey. Vibrant's stuff is nice, but their mufflers have never been anything to write home about IMO. My buddy has a motovicity account, so I purchased one of these instead:


It's a Blox racing 3" in 4" out SS turndown muffler. Robotically tig welded and nothing fancy, however, the finish and quality were very good for what I paid.



I was foolish and ran the welder too hot (my buddy here is pictured, we took turns welding it lol), and also kept the garage door open which totally ruined the argon covered. So the welds aren't colorful and pretty like I'd like. However, we were able to re-route the back section, line it up, and add a new hanger successfully (all while on my back taking the exhaust on and off and on and off lol).

Finally - here's the finished product. I'll snap another picture sometime. The sound is killer, and the look holds true to what I'm trying to go for (which is a track ready street car).




I've filled the passenger side exhaust hole w/a custom tow hook that I made. I love the sound and look of the single exhaust, although the open exhaust hole is enough to irritate me regardless. Hope you all enjoy!

 

Heck yeah man lovin the pace of progress. I've been to busy to even get my mufflers welded back on let alone cut my cats out like I've been planning to
You should upload a soundclip when you get the cat(s?) out
Good to see more riders on the forum with that KTM lurking in the background

 

Thanks man! Trying to find a nice balance of fun and practicality for this car. I've had a habit in the past of going too hard towards "race car" and not having it be fun on the streets. When I pull the cats I'll post up for sure - I've got emissions again in May so I might wait until then to install the header. There's a few sound clips on youtube of catless guys with catbacks. I just wanna stay away from it being too raspy. I didn't mind the rasp in the old days, but something about it coming out of the back of a slow Lexus has never sat right with me lol. The KTM is my buddy's - it's a riot!

 

One more pic for reference. Might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I'm loving the look and sound.

 

Congrats on the house!

 

Thank you sir! Couldn't be more excited.

 

Congratualtions on the house! It´s very nice to have your own workspace for your cars. The possibilities get so much larger

 

Thank you all for the kind words! Sure makes it easier to get up and head to work when it goes towards something like this. I'll continue to tinker and post about this bad boy through the summer!

 

I picked these Ergo II's up off of a guy that had them sitting in his closet for the last several years. Went through all of the precautions to verify their authenticity, and I believe them to be real. Got an absolutely killer deal that I couldn't pass up. Now I just need some seat brackets... Anybody got an extra set lying around?