90civichhb

iTrader: (5)

I've made this one to go all the way back to the subframe in front of the steering rack.

But no other type of undertray.

aidandj

iTrader: (5)

What about the openings from the wheel well to engine bay. Seems like those should be sealed too.

90civichhb

iTrader: (5)

I've still got the stock plastic one I cut to fit. I may take the shape and build something later on. Right now I want to turn my attention to the hood and fenders. I would like to try and make two track events this year as well as 8 or 9 autocross events. So I need to focus more on heat exhange. I've got almost everything for a cheap oil cooler setup. I may jump into that one as well.

90civichhb

iTrader: (5)

Found a good deal on a Harddog Double Diagonal. Install was pretty easy. Was able to get everything far enough back so my side strikers and latches still work with the hardtop. I generally don't run with a top at autocross events. I don't think the speeds are quick enough to overcome the OEM hardtop weight. Either way, still have not been able to drive it. I am waiting on my harness so I can bolt them and the seat down to the floor at the same time. It's kind of a bitch to take my seat in and out. Hopefully I can make some door bars soon and feel a bit safer. I bet they would help stiffen up the chassis as well.

90civichhb

iTrader: (5)

After I got my harness I decided to mount everything up. I wasn't expecting the seat to hit the roll bar so I had to redrill my floor mounts. I am really happy with out it turned out. The seat is now resting on the floor up front and about 1.5" off the ground near the back. This made the seat much more comfortable and it sits about an inch off the bar. The 3" harness may have been a bit too much for me, though. The shoulder harness rubs my neck a bit and is overall stiff and hard to adjust without considerable effort. Overall pretty happy with the outcome, looking forward to seeing how it does on track.

90civichhb

iTrader: (5)

First event of the year and I was able to place 8th in overall RAW time and first in class. My class has a 1.00 PAX index so it's really only RAW time that matters for us. We are one of the largest fields outside of pro in the area. I could use a bit better suspension on the car. This budget Bilstein setup works but, it's really not that well damped at (440/300).




Losing some time here but overall a good shot.


Usually, I'll take ride alongs my first and second runs. Later on I try and avoid it.

90civichhb

iTrader: (5)

Early Spring and some friends decided to make a quick run up and down the Dragon. Super fun pace and couldn't have asked for better conditions. Marcus (Flyer129) set a really fun pace. Looking forward to getting the car to AMP on the 5th. Hopefully these Rivals last me couple more events.

90civichhb

iTrader: (5)

Event #2 for the season and my car is absolutely flying. It's a new lot and my setup seems to favor it well. I've got a track day at AMP this week but the forecast is looking a bit sketchy. May not be making it down.

90civichhb

iTrader: (5)

Installed some 1.8L front brakes on the car with some stainless brake lines. This is all for some track work I plan to do this year. Nothing big just some HPDE stuff on some super 200s. I never really touched the brakes that much in the car outside of trying to get more rear bias. Hopefully I don't lock the fronts up too easily. Just some crappy front pads with DTC-30s in the rear.

ridethecliche

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for the great roll bar install video. It was pretty helpful when I was doing my first one last week.

90civichhb

iTrader: (5)

Awesome, glad it was some help. If I had better gear and a bit more time I would put more effort into these videos.

ridethecliche

iTrader: (2)

I definitely got a bit frustrated towards the end and cut a few holes bigger than I needed to so it was easier to get stuff into position. I wouldn't call the install 'hard'. It was just a bit unnerving for someone new to this stuff.
"Wait, I gotta drill through this area with all these wires around it!?!?"

Heh.

90civichhb

iTrader: (5)

Had a chance to get the car on a racetrack. Atlanta Motorsports park in Dawsonville, GA. The course was a ton of fun and the car did really well. Coolant temps hovered in the 190-203ish range when I had the bravery to look, this was with 71-75* ambient temps. I think for more mid summer months I may need an oil cooler and possibly looking into some water injection. I don't think I will switch from autocross to track stuff but I will do more HPDEs in the future for sure. They were so much fun and the community was great.

This is my first session out. I'll post the other two as they load thoughout the day. I get much quicker as the day goes on.

90civichhb

iTrader: (5)

Second session. Not holding back as much, still a ton of time left to catch.

90civichhb

iTrader: (5)

Session three..

90civichhb

iTrader: (5)

So after my last track day I found that my manifold just was not up to the task of track work. The relief cuts had closed up around the 1 and 2 runners and it started to leak by my third session. Car still drove well but you could see the lack of spool and a gradual loss of peak boost as the temps came up.

So to fix that I went with a new cast manifold from a company in the UK called Kraken. They just recently got Vender status and has them for sale. The manifold is a great piece and fit flawlessly. However, my ARTech downpipe was not having it. I ran into trans tunnel issues and then once I clearance that the O2 bung hit the PPF, and my old exhaust wouldn't bolt up correctly. So I just called it quits and am in the process of ordering a downpipe and exhaust setup from them. I will have more on the install once I get all the parts. Going away form bolts and gaskets and gonna use Vband clamps for everything (except turbine housing). Gonna be nice to have one less thing to check every few months.

90civichhb

iTrader: (5)

Decide to port the manifold since my ARTech downpipe wouldn't fit. Now I am getting a new downpipe and exhaust fabbed up. Gonna be a few more weeks so why not use that time.

90civichhb

iTrader: (5)

Had a member on here ask to build a splitter similar to mine for them. Shipping was going to be pretty cost prohibitive so we decided to just settle on the side spats and hardware. Really happy with the way these turned out and hopefully they bolt right in with minimal effort. They are pretty much an exact replica of mine but about an inch longer at the top and an inch shorter inboard of the wheel arch. This should make install a bit easier.

90civichhb

iTrader: (5)

So the guys over at Kraken built an exhaust for me since my old stuff didn't fit. The downpipe fit well but I had to remove all my studs to get it lined up (300zx studs). With the studs in the turbo there wouldn't be enough room without notching some of the chassis. Also, V-band all the things! Seriously, there is no reason to stay away from v-bands in the exhaust. Install was stupid easy.

I have about an hour or so with the car on the Kraken manifold and exhaust. First of all the fitment for all these parts was awesome. Getting to some of the bolts took some tricks and wrench flips but this is to be expected from any manifold (my ARTech was no different). The pipe diameter is pretty much 2.5" and the bellmouth has nice bends, possibly a custom mandrel to get the shape. I run no cat and a straight through Magnaflow. Everything is nice and tucked above the chassis rails. O2 sensor is at the 12 O'clock position and install was tight. I had to use an O2 sensor socket to get it tight.

On Saturday I will be taking it up to Miata's at the Gap on HWY129 thought Tennessee and North Carolina. I won't be able to get on track with the setup until October. So far I have about 10-14 high gear pulls ironing out my VE table. With my old tune still on the car it was obvious that it needed some work. First and second gear hit like a train but the boost started to taper a bit more at high RPM with my EBC settings. I usually run around 12-14psi but was seeing 10-12psi. I have made a few adjustments to the EBC boost table and then I'll do some 4th gear pulls and data log to compare my old setup to this one.

Overall, it's a great setup. Installation took me about 2 days since I had company over and I had to get some more water line for my turbo water inlet ( an oversight on my part), but I see no reason one couldn't do it in a few hours with the car already torn down for it. Correspondence with Kraken has been fantastic and I had no worries about shipping or time frame promises. The quality is there and soon I will be able to test the reliability. For faster updates on this stuff check out my Youtube channel. I'll have more content and an overview as the week progresses.

90civichhb

iTrader: (5)

Took the car to Miata's at the Gap for the 4th year now. Crazy it's been that long with this car.

Really put the new manifold and exhaust through some high temps and hard driving. I am a bit upset that there won't be a video since my flash card is still corrupting data, so I ordered a new card to hopefully fix the issue. I had a great run in but leaving I hit traffic and there was heavy enforcement on the way out. Overall it was a pretty good time. Met a few other MT. net'ers and hung out with some of the local Knox Area Roadster guys. Also, road up with Mountain Miata's and talked to a few vendors. The event has grown larger every year I have gone so far.

Anyway, here are some images of the setup installed and after being beat on from this weekend. I'll know more about track reliability in October. I will however, be doing some autocross with the setup and really looking forward to it. After getting the VE table adjusted and my boost table setup this thing hits hard 1-3rd. It spools great and the exhaust sounds fantastic. Really happy with the setup overall. If Kraken offers a cast to V-band for the T25 and increases exhaust size I would make the switch. The 2.5" stuff flows fine but I know there are gains to be had high up in the rev range with this car.

Here is the IMGUR album http://imgur.com/a/K1JKr