Grinder's OBP

[Grinder34]

I've got the controller all wired up, but still need to sit in the car and figure out how to get the three pieces to all play nice: wideband controller, accessport, and netbook. I spent an hour on it before, but my internet was out, so I couldnt google things. Maybe this weekend I'll look at it more closely.

Earlier this week I also picked up a used set of '06 STI struts/springs/tophats for an AMAZING price. They're my backup plan for a) winter and/or b) when I need to rebuild my current coils. They're sitting in my trunk right now, which is bumming me out because I dont want to drive the car hard with a ~50 lb box sliding around!

Yesterday I also put on 35r's old wing....sexy! However, I did shear one of the eyebolts that goes to the turnbuckle. Luckily he'd been running SO MUCH angle of attack that the bolt sheared near the top and it threaded right back on! Seriously though, it looked more like an airbrake than a wing the way it was set up.

 

[melia]

it looks good! much better than going wingless for sure.

 

[melia]

you might need the risers though. the roofline of your car is a bit high and it slopes pretty aggresively.

 

[Grinder34]

A few minor updates.

I'm in contact with a guy about a custom set of risers for the wing. He's having some made for himself, and I'm jumping on the bandwagon. Should know more later this week. They're something like 4" higher than the wing sits now, so it should look really aggressive and catch lots of clean air!

I installed Fuji's old IXIZ AOS. It was easy and a pain in the butt at the same time! Mostly because i was somewhat unprepared. I had vacuum caps for some of the pieces, but all the caps were too small, so I had to stretch them. I also needed a longer bolt to attach the IXIZ mounting bracket, so made a special trip to the hardware store and got a longer one that was STILL too short. FML. Anyways, it's in now, but I havent taken off the IC to see if it made a difference.

I also got the fuel pump installed quite easily. I was intimidated to try it again since I'd had bad luck with it before, and its sort of a pain getting everything assembled and back in the tank. I also did a write up about it at the same time, so hopefully people get some good use out of that. The new pump works well, and is only slightly louder than stock. Mostly it's a high pitched whine you can hear at idle both inside and outside.

I really should do a log...maybe on the way home from work today, i've just been REALLY lazy lately. I havent even figured out how to use my wideband yet and I've had it for a month and a half!

I also ordered some ebay reflective heat tape with which to cover my intercooler, and maybe even the intake snorkel. The stuff was cheap and had free shipping...yay ebay! If it ends up being good, I'll post it up as a MUCH cheaper alternative to the DEI gold stuff.

 

[Grinder34]

Alright, got more word on those custom risers: it's happening. The prices is only a little more than APR charges for 2.5" risers. These will be a 4.5" rise (we'll see how that looks, it could be crazy!) and one seamless piece unlike the APR ones.

 

[Grinder34]

I guess it's been a while again. The risers have allegedly been picked up and he just needs to send me an invoice. I hope they're here in time for my track day!! I'm pretty excited, except with the wing my car will undoubtedly be unballanced and push like crazy. Oh well!

I also figured out how to log with my LC-1. I'll have to see if the instructors will allow me to log during a session, as that'd undoubtedly be a good source of info!

Finally, decided against the Ebay tape. I couldnt get any specs on it, so i decided it wasnt worth it. At the same time, I ordered some swanky mylar tape from Amazon. I think it'll do the same thing as the DEI Gold tape, but at a fraction of the cost! The stats looked similar to the gold tape, so it *should* do just as good a job. Anyways, when it goes on i'll do a full write up.

 

[Grinder34]

Here's a quick update on an eventful weekend.

Started it off at Vermont's house to install some wing risers, break pads and do some logging/tuning. The pads went in great, the risers look *awesome* but things got screwy when we started logging. The IAM was down, and we were getting VERY odd knock events. Like knock while idling, engine braking or revving in neutral. I'm really not sure what the problem is, but we decided i was probably safe to drive at the track.

So off to Summit Point i went!
I got a fellow STI driver as my instructor, and he was super nice. He helped my tweak my suspension setup a bit, and taught me some fun tricks. The biggest news from the weekend, however, was my brakes. I started the session with almost-new-looking Hawk DTC-30 and some 1-year-old superblue. By the last session i was virtually down to the backing plates, and i had boiled my brake fluid.

I talked with my instructor and he confirmed that the overheating wasnt due to bad driving on my part, i just am too quick now! He recommended a whole bunch of things, and I'm getting a price quote on them now.

Photos of the wing and event coming shortly!

 

[IGOTASTi]

Can't wait to see pics!

 

[Grinder34]

Here's some cell-phone pics:

Most of the pictures that seemed so awesome at the time turned out quite poorly

 

[IGOTASTi]

I wish I could have went to promote.

 

[Grinder34]

i handed out a few cards. Im not a great networker though

 

[IGOTASTi]

Oh well their loss.

 

[Vermont]

Talked to a guy at nova today that I had dropped a card on his car before. Was asking about my cat-back and what brand it was (probably due to how loud it is). I told him he should swing by here and check us out, apparently hes a newer owner so he could really get some good help here. I would have talked too him for longer but I wa salready 30min late too my poly sci test this morning :shock:

 

[Grinder34]

 

[Spamby]

You are getting brakes???

 

[Grinder34]

Yes sir! I'm super pumped! They'll ship next week hopefully, and then I'll post up a bunch of pics and I think I can get them installed that weekend.

 

[Spamby]

Well, how bout a teaser?

 

[Grinder34]

Except 4-pot not 6

 

[Grinder34]

changed to a different (less-accurate!) picture

 

[Grinder34]

Ugh, delay in getting the brakes. I thought i'd have them by now, but it turns out they wont even be shipped for another month.