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159/2000 Summit White Intro

mjdarg

Active member
Joined
Oct 21, 2013
Messages
36
Location
Raleigh, NC
Hi Everyone,

My name is Michael and I've been on this forums for a few years, posting a bit, but mostly lurking. I figured I'd do a real introduction for me and my car.

I'm currently a Master's student at NC State pursuing a Mechanical Engineering degree. I've also been on the FSAE team here for the past 3 years working on the suspension design for the car. I'm working on developing a vehicle model to analyze the stability and control potential of race cars as a design and tuning tool. This involves creating tire, kinematic, and compliance models to accurately model the tires and suspension.

I picked up #159 from my parents who bought the car new in 1991. Since being in college I've slowly spent time learning these cars and what makes them happy. Right now it's mostly maintenance to keep the car reliable and running, since time is pretty limited with school. Long-term goals for this car are somewhere in the 350-400 whp range to keep it lots of fun on the street and back roads.

Mods on this car are pretty limited right now.
-Evo Bilsteins with Swift lowering springs
-BBS 16x7 RX wheels w/ Nitto Neogen 205/50/16
-EBC Redstuff brake pads
-MBC





And some FSAE photos...




 

iceman69510

Turn Right Racing
Staff member
Joined
Mar 5, 2001
Messages
10,964
Location
Michigan
Welcome. Wing much on that FSAE car? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

mjdarg

Active member
Joined
Oct 21, 2013
Messages
36
Location
Raleigh, NC
Quoting iceman69510:
Welcome. Wing much on that FSAE car? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif



Hehe, there's a little downforce. We have to use very aggressive aero to generate any usable downforce at our low speeds. Max speed on track is about 60 mph, and the average is about half that.


A few weeks ago, I snagged a Thermal R&D 3" catback from a 91 Talon at the local LKQ. $20, not bad. It was pretty dented up, so I figured I would have to cut out the damaged section and weld in a bit of tubing. I had a mostly free weekend, so I figured it was a good time to get it done before the cold sets in. Was a decent project getting it all fitted up with new hanger locations. Doing this makes me want to get a lift sooner rather than later. After getting it finished, my arms felt like noodles after trying to support the exhaust while on my back /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif

Before...



I was able to use the waterjet at school to cut some flanges. Beats paying $20 for a Vibrant flange!


The finished product minus hangers compared to stock


And a quick acceleration video of how it sounds /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjJeNbupaoY
 
Last edited:

mjdarg

Active member
Joined
Oct 21, 2013
Messages
36
Location
Raleigh, NC
Quoting GSTwithPSI:
That flange looks pretty thin.



1/4" thick. The Vibrant flanges are 3/8" but I just had to put these on the belt sander real quick to make sure it was flat. Haven't noticed any issues sealing so far.
 

mjdarg

Active member
Joined
Oct 21, 2013
Messages
36
Location
Raleigh, NC
Recently the car has been burning a decent amount of oil, gradually getting worse; about a quart every 500 miles. Started smoking after idling for a while so I figured either turbo seals or valve stem seals. I started with the turbo since its the original center assembly and has not been rebuilt as far as I know. When I got the exhaust manifold off, I found my burning oil...



I then started looking into how to replace the valve stem seals with the head on the car. I opted for the EuroXport valve spring compressor. I read good reviews on this tool, and I had an equally good experience using the tool. It fit perfectly on the head and included everything I needed to remove the valve springs. Since I was taking the valve springs out anyways, I opted for some BC 1100 valve springs. I didn't want to drop too much on springs, but if the valve springs are original, they're most likely pretty worn. I went with some Viton seals from Extremepsi.

Several of the rockers looked like they experience some chatter at one point. I ended up going to my local junkyard to pull rockers and revised lifters. A Kia Sedona was the donor vehicle /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif



I pressurized the each cylinder with my 10 gallon air compressor to keep the valves up. I found that hitting the spring retainer while the cylinder was pressurized helped to loosen any stubborn keepers. A few of them required several hard whacks before they came loose.



7 of the 8 exhaust valve stem seals were toast. They crumbled as I took them off the valve stems. No wonder they leaked so bad. You can also see the spring on the seal was floating around on the valve stem.






I also took a day off to travel up to Richmond with a friend and visit J-Spec Auto. They've got a lot of Subaru stuff so he picked up a steering wheel and turbo for his Forester he's swapping. I snagged an Apexi boost gauge to replace the crappy HF gauge I've had for a while. It will take me a little while to get used to the units, but I couldn't pass up on some jdm swag for the galant /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 
Last edited:

89Mirageman

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 5, 2006
Messages
2,502
Location
Stantonsburg, NC
Quoting GSTwithPSI:
I wish my parents were as cool as yours.



My thoughts exactly. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

You're in Raleigh, only an hour or so from me. Not too many GVR4's around here.
 

mjdarg

Active member
Joined
Oct 21, 2013
Messages
36
Location
Raleigh, NC
School's been busy, especially with the FSAE competition in Michigan which just passed. The team spent lots of hours getting the car ready for it. We've got another one in Nebraska in a few weeks. I've been doing a few things here and there when I've got time, some mods and some minor maintenance.

-New aluminum exhaust manifold heat shield to replace rusty original POS
-New balljoints, endlinks, and Energy front control arm bushings
-3D printed center console tray to replace cupholders
-New knock sensor








Today I had some time to hit up LKQ and check out an '88 Colt that showed up. I grabbed some odds and ends like relays and bolts. I also found a black brake fluid reservoir that will definitely look cleaner! I snagged a cool 4WD badge off one of the doors. This evening I was able to wire up my AEM UEGO that a friend of mine gave to me a little while ago. I looked into using the fuse socket 6 inside the cabin which is for automatic transmission things, but I ended up just using an add a fuse. The fuse side of that socket ends up going to two pins on the back of the junction block so I would have to add a pin to one of the connectors there. I might try and hunt down a pin as this would be a pretty clean way of powering the sensor.







 

iceman69510

Turn Right Racing
Staff member
Joined
Mar 5, 2001
Messages
10,964
Location
Michigan
Good progress. I especially like the console tray.

Making more? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 

strokin4dr

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 30, 2005
Messages
2,770
Location
Savannah, GA
I like that tray too. Make some extras!
 

CutlassJim

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 17, 2006
Messages
1,698
Location
Manchester, NH
Or at least put up the file on thingiverse. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
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