Some updates on the car on a few things I've done lately.
- Had a lot of heat in the tunnel area. Like serious significant heat, felt like there was a Sun down there. I think it's due to the CD009 heat, as well as the exhaust right there now and no stock heat shield, and also because I have quite a large opening there now from my various shifter setups I've been trying. With the windows down on the highway, the negative cabin pressure you could really feel it sucking the heat up from under the car through that opening and into that tunnel area. So I decided to wrap my exhaust with the Titanium / Lava Rock exhaust wrap that I've been hearing good things about. Wrapped the entire downpipe, and also wrapped the front portion of the turbo-back exhaust up to my resonator which is located pretty much at the tail of the transmission. I also bought some Dynamat type material and used that to cover the enormous opening. I feel absolutely no heat at all anymore, the difference is incredible! Also the cabin is significantly quieter with that opening covered. It's literally the perfect amount of quiet and once again a nice quiet comfy cruiser-mobile!
- I had found my eBay FMIC core was leaking when I was doing a boost leak test at 30psi. I had this same type of eBay core on my Talon 10 years ago, and had the same problem. So lesson learned, basically I'd never recommend anyone use one unless they plan to run lower boost (i.e. sub 20psi). I purchased a new Treadstone FMIC to replace it (TR1045). It's actually just a touch smaller than the eBay one (12x24x4 eBay vs. 10x22x4.5 Treadstone). But Treadstone rates it at being efficient up to 860hp so I think it'll work great. I called them and talked to someone and they say they tend to 'under rate' them as well just to be conservative. I compared the design to my eBay/CX Racing unit. The external fin design is extremely similar between the two. Extruded straight thru fin design with slots cut in them (not louvered, just slots I suppose so air can travel between the fin tunnels to some degree). Not staggered at all just straight thru which I personally like for external fins as it allows air to pass through fairly well to the heat exchangers behind it (AC condensor & radiator). Staggered and louvered external fins would be better for thermal transfer, but at the cost of potentially blocking airflow to the heat exchangers behind it. And coming from DSM's, that was an issue on those cars so it's forever ingrained in me that I don't like that. The internal fins are much different between the two. The eBay core uses basically the same type of fin design on the inside as it used on the outside fins, just straight thru extruded fin design. Great for flow, but not as great for actual heat exchange as there is little turbulence/tumbling. The Treadstone internal fins are staggered which I feel will do a much better job at transferring heat, ultimately resulting in lower IAT's. What I also really like about the Treadstone is the built in diverters in the end tank to help direct some of the air towards the upper half of the core. Really cool idea I think to help try and use the entire core rather then potentially the bottom portion being 'overused' and the upper portion being 'underused'. Does it actually make a difference I have no idea, but I like the idea behind it! So despite being just a touch smaller, I think this FMIC is going to definitely outperform the old eBay one by far. And the best part is that these intercoolers are veeerrry affordable. I little bit more expensive than the eBay cores, but not by much, and significantly less than other aftermarket companies. I used two 90* brackets to mount it, very simple and just the standard zinc/steel brackets you can find at Menards or Home Depot, they were about $3/ea. Just cut and drilled new holes as needed. I also picked up some plumbing metal strapping for $1 to help keep it stable. It's on there pretty firmly and I made sure it was nice and level (crooked FMIC's drive me nuts!), I'm happy with how it turned out!!
- I got my new brake SS Braided brake lines installed. Brake fluid flushed and refilled/bled with Dot4 fluid.
- I did a complete radiator fluid flush. I drained out as much of the green stuff as I could via the radiator plug (seemed to be about half the coolant system capacity). Refilled with straight water. Turned car on to get up to temp. Then repeated that process about 4 times until what I was draining was pretty much just clear water. Then I added the Toyota pink coolant. In the end probably ended up at about a 70% water / 30% coolant ratio. I had an excellent helper during this process.
- I bought a new Wise style front lip. my old fiberglass one had cracked to the point it was basically two pieces. So I pulled it off, and put my new one on (poly this time not fiberglass). So I have that all mounted up. I will be giving the car back to my body guy in the next month or so to get it painted along with some other misc stuff.
- I bought two new / remanufactured door hinges from Daryl Demarte in Australia. He rebuilds these things to be better then stock, for a reasonable price I felt. Mine are old, a little saggy, and figured since I'm giving the car back to my body guy, might as well have him put these on at the same time. They should arrive from Australia later this week, already painted to match my paint code.
That's it for now!