Project Black ValentNine AKA DSM9.0

[Kracka]

I miss Jeff, his words of wisdom are always amazing!!!

[polishmafia]

He told you that one of your inner tie rods was loose, but he still aligned the vehicle? Depending on how loose it was, as soon as you left the parking lot that wheel would be out of alignment.

I would never align a car with a loose inner or outer tie rod. Makes no sense to me.

[Kracka]

Sounds like a good opportunity to get a Whiteline Roll Center Kit if you ask me.

[scheides]

Heh, I think he may have been referring more to the adjustment nuts on it and how much of a PITA it was to adjust. He was banging on it for quite some time

I'll check it myself for play, he didn't make a big deal about it so I'm sure it's not that bad. Jeff is pretty straight up with me, I told him to tell me if anything looked even marginal...and he did

[scheides]

Originally Posted by Kracka

Sounds like a good opportunity to get a Whiteline Roll Center Kit if you ask me.

Yuppers, Whiteline RCK and Perrin PSRS (or whatever Whiteline version there may exist, not sure if they make one for the CT9A) are already on my list

I will see Jeff again soon enough; we decided we're starting a band called 'the shitty brake ducts' or 'steering angle' or something. Should be fun

[Kracka]

The RCK & PSRS are interchangeable 8/9/X. Same fitment and part numbers

http://www.whiteline.com.au/product_..._number=KCA395

http://www.whiteline.com.au/product_...number=KCA400M

[polishmafia]

Originally Posted by scheides

Heh, I think he may have been referring more to the adjustment nuts on it and how much of a PITA it was to adjust. He was banging on it for quite some time

I'll check it myself for play, he didn't make a big deal about it so I'm sure it's not that bad. Jeff is pretty straight up with me, I told him to tell me if anything looked even marginal...and he did

I've always heard good things about him, so thats why I was a little confused. If it has a tiny bit of play in it, thats not all that bad.

Just remember to look at your tires once in a while. We both don't want a replay of what happened a couple of years ago.

[scheides]

Heh, I like how you guys act like I'm not going to take care of this, you are all pretty silly

Reminder: I have had this car in my posession for literally 5 weeks (April 15th IIRC) and the entire project started only two months before that. In case you didn't notice, I'm busting ass on this thing and safety is my #1 priority (that and actually being able to show up/drive).

Give me a little credit, and DSM9.0? Meh. Sure. Not sure why that is a fun name for this, plenty of other evos on jackstands out there collecting dust and not getting anywhere near this level of attention. I knew this thign was going to require plenty of TLC when I got it.

[Kracka]

As the site owner, you're held to a higher level, and that level of visibility makes you an easier target

[A//// Guy]

Haha you are nuts! But yea you are trucking along on this thing as other evos cry on jackstands while the birds sing. Good job dude! You have more patience than I do lol.

[polishmafia]

I didn't say anything about you not taking care of the car. Hell, its got 130k miles on it? I've seen MUCH worse things on cars that have less than half that mileage.

[dsmghost]

Haha that alignment rack looks bad

[Mark Leasure]

We need to catch up! I have been paying attention to this thread and I'm totally inspired to start turning the steering wheel in my SE.

[scheides]

So, I attended two more track days at DCTC in the last two weeks...one on May 23, one this past Friday June 6th. I have changed nothing with the car for these two events, just working on myself/driver mod and I am having an absolute BLAST doing it!

All loaded up for track day:


Pics from parade lap:










Unedited, spectator-view cameraphone vid from the May 23 event:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puFfxDagq-k&hd=1

Went home for memorial day, and my parents dropped this off on me for an early b-day present. Small tear came to my eye, it's so awesome! I've been wanting a garage clock for a looooong time and now I have one I wanna keep forever!


After that first event, I drove the car a few times, checked for leaks, checked the tie rods...I can make long lists of thigns to do to this thing but the budget just isn't there! So nice and slow with safety being my #1 concern. Turbo drain line is still leaking and cannot tell if the rear yolk on the xfer case is too or if its just oil from the turbo drain spraying back. Keeping a close eye on fluid levels and all is good so I ordered a few gaskets/seals just in case and will be putting them on shortly.


3rd event was last friday and I am really getting a good feel for the car. Starting to get a little aggressive and more confident but trying really hard to not push too far/take it easy. My #1 priority with these events is to have fun...going fast / faster is part of that but I have been focusing more and more on just enjoying myself, using this as a time to getaway from work and other things in life...absolutely love it.

Check out my sawwwwheeeeat gopro mount:

I ordered an extension to lower it down about 8" to improve the view out the front of the car. I love the view of driver input and I can pick up on the conversation in the cabin....keeping all of these videos and reviewing them for my own personal notes on improvement.

This video sucks and is very long. Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGgmXbCkAzc&hd=1




Still trying to not go nuts with mods on this car, budget is too tight right now after paying for the motor/trans/clutch etc from the get go, but the most obvious thing right now is TIRES...I'm pushing (and loving) everything else....new brake pads are doing AWESOME, suspension is so-so but definitely works.



I realized friday night that the 3 weeks I thought I had to get ready for proving grounds was actually only TWO WEEKS! So, I"m in semi-mild freak-out mode, going to do my best to button up a few loose ends before heading up there:

-b̶u̶y̶ ̶n̶e̶w̶ ̶t̶i̶r̶e̶s̶ ̶+̶ ̶m̶o̶u̶n̶t̶/̶b̶a̶l̶a̶n̶c̶e̶
-rotate existing, just fine fuzion ZRi tires
-remove front bumper, install brake duct air scoops
-drain oil, replace turbo drain gasket with nice new one
-oil change
-purchase more fuel containers (no e85 near the track anymore)
-fix gopro mount
-track insurance

Whimsical purchase of the week:
-SpoolinUp COP - still only running 25psi, ready for more! I'm getting misfires here and there at 25psi and I'll get some drag runs in TTS so I splurged and bought the DIY kit since I still have a set of coils that I used to test on beaterX a few years back. In the name of reliability....I can turn the boost down if its too much.


Other than that, I freaking LOVE driving this car, even on the street! The race brake pads are SQUEEKY but goddamn STS is SO MUCH FUN! The track time is fun and riding with more experienced drivers/instructors after they have rode with me is generally a very wide-eyed experience...makes me realize that I need a few more suspension mods but at the same time tires and experience are my #1 goals right now. Proving Grounds will mark event #4 of the summer, starting to look forward to what's next.

Last but not least, in the back of my mind I have wish list growing...depending on budget, I'd love to:
-tires--probably BFG Rivals--best price and great dry handling, game on.
-rear sway bar (need to decide on whiteline 22mm or 24mm)
-front sway bar endlink mod while I...
-replace front tie rods, inner and outer
-whiteline FLCA rear bushing/same as Perrin PSRS
-whiteline bumpsteer kit
-whiteline FLCA front bushing
-new alignment

Hoping to do this stuff sometime this summer but I won't push it. Note that a turbo is not on this list yet...I'll do an ef3 & tubular manifold when the time comes but not yet.

See you honkeys at Proving Grounds!

[bramagedained]

SpoolinUP COP is probably one of the greatest 8/9 mods.

Fairly inexpensive and all that 95% of people will need for an ignition.

I was still running that on my car with the high boost E98 setup without issue.

[A//// Guy]

That clock is awesome! Even has lil turbo in it, aww. Good stuff race car man!

[scheides]

Originally Posted by bramagedained

SpoolinUP COP is probably one of the greatest 8/9 mods.

Fairly inexpensive and all that 95% of people will need for an ignition.

I was still running that on my car with the high boost E98 setup without issue.

Hah yup! I had one on my 8 and has always been one of my favorite all-around mods. So much so that I tried to put the coils on my X and later found out it was pointless...so I'll use them on the 9 now instead

Originally Posted by A//// Guy

That clock is awesome! Even has lil turbo in it, aww. Good stuff race car man!

Heh yup! Pretty tough to get more perfect...I love it.

[turbotalon1g]

SO badass, i want the same setup, you are just proving without a doubt how perfect it is. Evo racecar FTW!

[scheides]

Few more little parts trickled in. Nothing major but I broke out the murlostands and did the old 20-minute-at-a-time maintenance package. 20 minutes here, 20 minutes there, and a week later my list is done.

During the 3rd DCTC day last Friday the motor clicked over 1000 miles and with the motor finally broken in and lots of revs to redline I decided to drain the oil out. Looked just dandy!

With it empty cleaned up the oil drain line from the turbo...it's still been slowly leaking...and installed one of the newer yellow crush-style gaskets, fresh bolts, and fresh little o-ring gaskets for the bolts. Also a new oil drain bolt w/ fresh washer, a fresh oem filter and 4.5 quarts of 10w40...ready to rock!



Next up I yanked off the front bumper and fitted the 3" ducts I have been meaning to install. There's some mismatch of I.D. vs O.D. and the 2.75" silicone tubing I had didn't fit very well, so I just did what I could to make it work. The setup is far from perfect but I think it'll do good on the track. I want to do some airflow testing to make sure air is pushed in properly but it should be good to go.





Yip, that's ducting/foil tape. It'll be at the front of the car, so should be fine.




Once that was all buttoned up, I decided to take a break and setup my new iRacing setup to practice for BIR next weekend:


Seriously though I put some NES & SNES ROMs on a raspberry pi with a $9 usb controller from amazon have been just having an absolute blast!

Minorist of minor splurges, I talked to my buddy Matt Szabaga down in VA and he sent me some pins, plugs, wires, and a cute little breadboard mount for some old toyota parts I had sitting around.


An hour with the soldering gun and crimpers and not too shabby:


Slapped it on the car:


And promptly hid it away:


Bled brakes, rotated tires, upped the rev limit (just in case), turned up the boost a little more, and I'm pretty much all set for BIR next weekend

Still shopping for track insurance, not having much luck yet...yes places offer it but it has to be organized/signed off/form filled out by the organizers so we'll see. Oh, and anyone want some beagles? Looking for a sitter for that weekend.

[evotuner]

Looking good dude! Cant wait to see it in action next week