2003: Diary of modifications
January 2003
1st:
I could mention that I am still waiting for the fenders, but then I'm sure
everyone knows that already!
I have been noticing that the clutch is starting to slip which is of little
surprise considering the extra torque being put through it! Its the usual story
though, trying to source a performance clutch in the UK is difficult and if my
searching fails I may look at importing one from Clutchmasters.
22nd:
I have never been too sure as to how secure my roof spoiler is so I have
ordered a new one which clips over the edge of the boot. The important lesson
here is that if you own a roof spoiler which adheres to the window, do not use
a jet wash near it as it soon becomes unstuck!
31st:
Tired of the long wait I have requested that I be refunded for the z-fenders - the money will go to paying for the clutch.
February 2003
10th:
Not exactly car related by I now have a digital camera, so I hope to be putting up some improved photos - particularly of the interior of the car.
12th:
I have spent most of the last month trying to find a suitable aftermarket
clutch. I surprisingly found one in the UK, but the maximum torque was only
197lbft which will not be enough.
I contacted a couple of clutch companies in the States, but the price was
either too high or the company was unhelpful.
I followed up a lead on a different company 'SPEC', and after surfing the net for a
couple of hours I eventually found their contact details. Due to time
contraints I called rather than emailing and spoke to a very helpful chap.
Needless to say I ordered one immediately!
There were several stages of clutch available, I was advised to go for the
Stage 2 clutch; a segmented Kevlar disc with a maximum rating of 280 lbft. The
cost was quite reasonable so I paid an additional $80 and went for the
lightweight option, this will lessen the rotating mass and allow the revs to
pick up quicker. I will also be having the flywheel lightened and balanced,
which will give similar gains.
Package should hopefully arrive next week.
No sign of the z-fender refund.
19th:
Clutch arrived today! Looks very nice, almost a shame that it won't be seen - hopefully it will perform as good as it looks. Some close-up pictures of it are in the gallery.
28th:
The z-fender refund came though at the end of last week (hurrah!) which will go
towards paying for the clutch.
The new roof spoiler has been left with a local sprayer. The spoiler should be
ready next week, and I hope to have it fitted the week after.
March 2003
1st:
Today the car has gone to Owen Developments near Abingdon.
The new clutch will be fitted and while it is out the
flywheel will be
lightened, balanced and re-surfaced.
Aquamist 2c system
In additional, and most importantly, an Aquamist water injection system will be fitted to lessen detonation. This should allow the boost on the supercharger to be increased. To do this the diameter of the top pulley will be decreased by around 2mm and the Unichip will be re-tuned.
6th:
Rang Owen Developments for an update.
The clutch has been fitted (and I assume the flywheel has been done), however
the
Aquamist
system didn't arrive until today, so this has put them back a
few days. I was expecting to collect the car on Saturday, but depending on how
things go today they may need the car for longer.
Also, they have found that the supercharger is not behaving in a way they
expect.
Fingers crossed for Saturday.
7th:
The car will not be ready for tomorrow. The s/c is not making as much boost as
expected.
Owen will contact the manufacturers of the s/c to find out if it is possible to
get more power.
10th:
The manufacturers were successfully contacted this morning, and the car is on
the dyno this afternoon being tuned.
The s/c was not designed to go above 3-4psi and will not run any boost when off
the throttle (obviously), however Mark has been able to make some adjustments
to increase the boost by another 1-2psi.
11th:
Not so happy today. The dyno broke yesterday which means that the tuning has
been delayed, however I cannot collect the car until Saurday anyway.
Previously the car was making only making 137bhp at the wheels and 171bhp at
the flywheel, very disappointing, this does make me wonder just how much power
can be squeezed out?
12th:
The tuning is complete!
Unfortunately the Alpine supercharger I have does not appear to give boost
willingly so finding the extra power wasn't exactly straightforward. The s/c
does not need to run whilst the car is cruising and this is controlled by an
actuator, it was necessary to adjust this beyond the factory settings to allow
the s/c to make more psi (I hope to get a better explanation of this later on).
Previously the psi was around 3 which has been increased to 6 through most of
the rev-range but reaches 8 at the top end. In addition to taking 2mm off the
pulley the fuel pressure has been increased.
The power output is now 199.5bhp at the flywheel, I was hoping to reach the
full 200, oh for an extra .5!.
I discussed increasing the fuelling with Mark and we may look at putting in
larger injectors at some point in the future, but at the moment I am looking
forward to driving the car with its new-found power and the increased fuelling
may come at a later date (more money!)
24th:
Collected the car on Saturday, a week late due to the belt breaking the
previous Saturday on the way home!
The s/c now has an industrial belt fitted, which should withstand the tension
and use better than the belts used before.
I have been quite cautious about experimenting with the new power as the car
behaves very differently under hard acceleration. The lightened flywheel allows
the revs to pick up very quickly which was rather disconcerting at
first, however the acceleration is excellent and the car will cruise at
'high-speeds' with little effort.
The spoiler may get fitted end of this week/beginning of next.
Oh and the oil pressure gauge seems to have packed up!
May 2003
29th:
Studie Bumper & Bug Guard
Rotec Vent
This month a big "thankyou!" goes to David at
KSpec
for fixing me up with some of the parts I have always dreamed of! Also, he has added a pic of my car with the light lenses to their website!
Since discovering the Studie kit, I have yearned for the front bumper and up
until recently it has proved very difficult to acquire. Kore Motorsports did
make a replica, but only produced a few due to supplier problems. In addition
to the bumper is a gorgeous Rotec bonnet vent,
smoked replacement rear light
lenses and a bug guard. Obviously a bug guard isn't the most beautiful of items
but it should help to reduce the stone-chipping on the bonnet.
June 2003
16th:
I have arrived back from my hols and my stuff has been delivered! It was all
neatly boxed in a wooden crated (which wasn't the easiest thing to get into).
The bumper looks fantastic as does the Rotec vent.
My next task is to save up for the painting and fitting of the bumper and vent,
at the same time I will get the Rage Extreme flake applied.
Car has had its 70k service and seems perkier. The oil tap in the block has
been leaking for a while, this has been fixed and the oil gauge works again!
July 2003
8th:
The car is having its wheels re-furbished this week. They are being acid dipped
to remove all the old paint, then sprayed in silver and finished off with a
rainbow metal-flake.
Assuming that the wheels are ready by the end of Friday that car will go off on
Saturday to have the new bumper fitted and sprayed.
11th:
Car back, wheels look considerably better! Although I wish I'd asked for more flake to be used as the rainbow effect isn't very prominent.
12th:
Two new tyres are needed. Took the car to a local tyre place which have all the
equipment for getting tyres off alloys without causing any damage.
Unfortuately they were not careful in removing the tyre and ruined the new
paint job around the edge of the rim - thanks for using a crowbar guys!!
22th:
Collected car from painter, bumper looks superb! The bonnet vent proved
difficult to fit and it wasn't possible to have it fitted flush with the
bonnet. Hopefully this may get sorted out when the re-spray is done next month.
Since having the car lowered the front tyres have worn on the inside edge more
quickly than the outside (due to there being too much negative camber). I have
ordered a set of front and rear camber adjustment bolts from Whiteline in Oz to
correct this. The cost is approximately the same as a new tyres so they should
pay for themselves.
August 2003
30th:
Car has gone to the painter for the full respray.
September 2003
11th:
I have never been able to decide whether I like the 'max' roof spoiler or not, so its going. It will be replaced with a more subtle offering from MS Designs.