Show Your Car and Car Discussion Thread

[SoloCamo]

Looks great - I still need to replace my cat converters as they sound like marble being shaken in a tin can. 

[Andrew]

15 hours ago, Alex said:

Installed the Legalis R today, was actually a lot easier than I thought. Still need to do some of the braces underneath, but that's for another day.

 

It shaves off around 4-5kg, and should sound oem+

 

Old exhaust out

 

Side by side

 

In it goes...

 

 

Installed

 

 

 

4.9kg weight saving from a non-titanium exhaust is pretty good.

Edited March 3 by Andrew

[Fluxmaven]

Nice subtle upgrade for sure. 

 

I tend to go the more obnoxious route 

 

The titanium single exit on the moostang dropped 20.5kg/45.2lbs over the stock system... It's a fair bit louder though

[Alex]

New front X brace and diff brace in, and changed the oil at the same time. Only need to replace the radiator and install the stiffened brake pedal then my winter upgrades will be complete.

 

[J7SC_Orion]

...winter made a bit of a return this weekend (dashboard > 1 C). I like snow, though

 

[Fluxmaven]

Warranty is up, so it's time to tune the car

 

[Andrew]

I made an torque wrenches.

 

 

I need a set of 1/4. 3/8 and 1/2 torque wrench. Buying them is going to cost me £140 for a cheapish set, so I just made my own using my 1/4 ratchet, 3/8 ratchet and 1/2 breaker bar combined with a digital luggage scale.

 

The white line is where the strap goes, followed by the Nm to kg conversion. For example with that photo, if I have to tighten something to 87Nm, it's 87x0.102 which is 8.984, then x2 because the white line is at 50cm to make it 17.74kg that I have to reach on the scale. With a 18.5kg weight, it reads 18.7kg so the scale is accurate to +/-1%

 

[Alex]

 

New Koyorad installed and coolant flushed. Now just need to start it finally for spring this year to make sure all it is all working.

[Alex]

Also for fun, this is how the engine bay looked when I first got the car:

 

[speed_demon]

I need to get a cadillac converter for my car. Too stinky!

[The Pook]

weak nostrils/10 

 

I'm glad I got rid of mine, now my car smells like a real diesel (aka a school bus) 

[Andrew]

The front brakes on this are B E E G for such a small car (AA battery for scale)

 

 

Also, when it did an MOT in October, the handbrake barely passed. I tested it out by trying to do a handbrake turn and now it doesn't work at all now for some reason.

 

I'm guessing and hoping something is seized rather than being completely broken. Seized is "easy" to fix. Replacing parts is also "easy" but that costs money.

[speed_demon]

23 minutes ago, Andrew said:

The front brakes on this are B E E G for such a small car (AA battery for scale)

 

 

Also, when it did an MOT in October, the handbrake barely passed. I tested it out by trying to do a handbrake turn and now it doesn't work at all now for some reason.

 

I'm guessing and hoping something is seized rather than being completely broken. Seized is "easy" to fix. Replacing parts is also "easy" but that costs money.

Glad you got your lug nut issue sorted out. Speaking of which you haven't got any.

[The Pook]

25 minutes ago, Andrew said:

The front brakes on this are B E E G for such a small car (AA battery for scale)

 

 

[Alex]

Uh oh.....

 

 

 

Well, had to remove basically the entire front end to properly secure the lower front rad hose but at least it's done properly now.

[Andrew]

33 minutes ago, speed_demon said:

Glad you got your lug nut issue sorted out. Speaking of which you haven't got any.

European cars usually these

 

[The Pook]

and they're the * worst 

 

you need three arms to put a wheel/tire on unless you have a hanger or are a contortionist and use your legs

 

when I finally swap my wheels I'm going to change over to lug nuts instead of lug bolts (like how God intended)

[speed_demon]

18 hours ago, Alex said:

Uh oh.....

 

 

 

Well, had to remove basically the entire front end to properly secure the lower front rad hose but at least it's done properly now.

Your rockers are super clean! Not a speck of rust. I saw an S2K the other day that was all hacked up and sadly not all of these cars are getting well taken care of these days.

 

Saw an S14 240sx the other day too, was ziptied together and slammed. Bet it's still worth 18K even in that condition. Shame I sold all three of mine...

[Alex]

9 minutes ago, speed_demon said:

Your rockers are super clean! Not a speck of rust. I saw an S2K the other day that was all hacked up and sadly not all of these cars are getting well taken care of these days.

 

Saw an S14 240sx the other day too, was ziptied together and slammed. Bet it's still worth 18K even in that condition. Shame I sold all three of mine...

Yeah I'm going a bit OCD with this car. I go so far to clean and apply a spray-on ceramic underneath the car ever year.

 

I did replace the kick panel because it's common for sand to gather in the 'S2000' logo and scratch it up if you don't care for it. This plastic piece alone was $400...

 

 

 

So far in the winter I have:
- New Koyorad radiator
- New kick panels
- New exhaust
- New under bracing
- Copper anti-sieze on all underchassis bolts
- Replaced all the clips (very satisfying because the fender liners, etc. become super secure)
- New Recaro PP in the driver side
- Replaced access clips/plugs in the cabin
- Coolant/oil drain and refill.
- Adjusted handbrake tension
- Replaced brake/clutch fluid


Just ordered ID1050x injectors and have a new fuel pump carrier and Warlbro 255LPH ready to install - stock injectors are on the way out and I am very not comfortable hitting 97% duty cycle beyond 8k RPM.

Then, new bushings and mounts all-around are the next order of business along with a new waterpump and Fluidampr crank pulley.

 

I want this to be in as good of condition as possible. I have rather unrealistic standards too

I have been debating if long-term I want to go stand-alone ECU (Haltech, for example) with a custom screen instead of the OEM dash.... but thats for later.

[Supercrumpet]

20 hours ago, The Pook said:

and they're the * worst 

 

you need three arms to put a wheel/tire on unless you have a hanger or are a contortionist and use your legs

 

when I finally swap my wheels I'm going to change over to lug nuts instead of lug bolts (like how God intended)

 

Yeah I'm absolutely sick of the lug bolts on my Alltrack. Been taking wheels on and off on it for years and I've developed a bit of a method in which I can shuffle the tire out of the wheel well on top of one of my feet but it still sucks. I've been really tempted to buy a stud conversion kit for a long time now but it feels hard to justify the price.

[Cerberus]

tip from a auto tech, put the 17mm or 19mm lug stud into your impact, then slide the impact and wheel lug all as one piece, get it aligned and send it to almost tight to start another.

 

alternatively use one of these sets

Wheel Hanger Stud Pilot Pins

WWW.HARBORFREIGHT.COM

 

Edited March 17 by Cerberus

[speed_demon]

@Alex I found the only sticker I would ever dare put on an S2K.

 

[Alex]

7 hours ago, speed_demon said:

@Alex I found the only sticker I would ever dare put on an S2K.

 

Lol very accurate, the car kinda sucks with the top up. I've done top down in the snow before, it's fun honestly.

[tictoc]

** PSA **

 

Pro Tip - If you are doing any sort of an involved teardown/rebuild use a paint marker to track progress of nuts/bolts/connectors that have been final torqued, connected, etc and are complete.

 

I nearly cost myself an engine in the STi due to a wee little bolt that backed out.

 

Houston we have a problem. 

 

That's an interesting location for a bolt. 

 

 

The bolts for the timing belt guides should all have either a light weight thread locker or RTV (depending on location) to ensure that they do not back out from vibration.  I am usually pretty thorough about tracking my progress during a build, but right at the end of putting this engine together I must have got in a hurry.

 

Luckily before the bolt wedged itself between the tensioner and the guide, it broke off one of the teeth that the crank position sensor reads on the crank sprocket.  That confused the hell out of the ECU, and timing and AFR was all over the place, with the ECU trying to compensate for the whacky readings it was getting from the crank sensor.  That quickly threw a CEL (P0335), and after checking all the easy possibilities (loose and/or faulty electrical connections) I popped off the left side timing cover to verify that the timing belt hadn't jumped, and discovered the above.  No telling how long the belt would have lasted before it let go, but it threw the CEL right before I got on the interstate, and I was able to swing into a parking lot to figure it out.

 

 

[Andrew]

Alfa buddy