Second Opinions on Buildout / Headcheck

[KZJonny]

Hello,

 

As the title suggests, I've got a plan for what I think should be a reasonably mild, but fun "Stage 2.x" build for my '05/ 5MT wagon. But I'm always curious what others have experienced, and want to double check and see if I am missing anything important.

 

I am talking to a tuner as well, with regards to equipment required and not required, but there is some stuff (ie: 3 port EBCS) that they're not too fussed about at my power goals, yet I still think look good for the price and potential for better/faster boost.

 

Anyway, I either have, or will shortly have the following:

 

- JMP Custom VF40

- catless UP

- catted DP

- Muffled 2.5" turboback

- Cobb AP

 

- Cobb SF intake (probably wouldn't have, but it came with the car, so why not.) SOLD - Consensus here and from my tuner is that at my target power levels, it mainly just makes whooshy noise and makes the intake louder. Money better spent on fresh new tires.

 

- cylinder head cooling mod

- bulletproof TMIC

- improved/relayed fuel pump wiring Another Nope. Tuner prefers not to use this. AEM Fuel pump installed instead.

- I have a wideband which is earmarked for another project, but 'could' be installed here if there is any good reason to. (get a good tune, and you shouldn't need one?) Not needed ultimately, unless changing to much larger injectors. However, I do know someone with an spare '08 engine and stock topfeeds, so I am investigating whether or not that is an easy enough swap to replace my current side feeds. Nothing wrong with side feed injectors, but they don't leave much room to grow, and I can probably get the top feed setup for very few dollars.

 

Given the selections, it probably goes without saying that I'm looking for quick spool and response over numbers. This is not my daily, so time taken to finish it up isn't critical to me, and while I may take it up to the local track at some point, just to do a hot lap or two, that would be it. It won't see track or autocross duty. I just kind of want a 'superstock' LGT, with as much reliability as I can get out of a modified turbo car. (Yeah, I know. If you really want reliability, don't mod it....)

 

Anyway, some of the particular questions I have, or at least other stuff I am considering are the following.

 

- 3 port boost control: as mentioned, probably not required at this power level, but it can help with spool and build boost a little faster, then worth the $100?

 

- GS crossover pipe, yes or no?: Since they no longer offer PnP services, that would be on me... Messy and all the rest, but worth it? Seems to be relatively varied opinions on that, but for the price, and some of my time to gasket match and polish, it couldn't hurt. I've got a complete spare engine, so I can mess around with the manifolds from it and see how that goes. I'm just not sure the stock manifold would be holding me back enough to justify the cost ($$$) of a decent aftermarket header.... Decided to spend bulk money and got the Killer B Holy Header/Up Pipe Combo. Did I really need it? No. It is a frikken glorious, beautiful piece of automotive engineering? Yes. No regrets, and I love the sound of the car even more now with the ELH.

 

- anything else recommended? If I didn't have the AP, I would probably install boost, coolant temp and oil pressure gauges, but I suppose it is free to just display those, which seems like a win. Wrong. And I should have known this. AP Cannot display Oil pressure, because it is not told the actual oil pressure. The super-useful sending unit that comes with the car is just an on/off switch for the replace engine light on the dash. So, Oil pressure gauge for sure, and since I had to lose my cubby space to do that, I decided to be a tuner boi and threw in a boost gauge as well. Why not?

 

I hope that in terms of engine/powerplant this should get me where I'd like to be. It also allows me to stay on stock fuel/oiling etc.... And shouldn't put things like injector duty cycle into the red. I don't have the money to do engine internals at the moment, and would rather spend the equivalent of doing a fuel system towards upgrading to a 6MT.

 

I am also in the process of replacing all of the worn/original rubber bits under the car. Mainly because they're old and tired, and I'll probably replace most of it with either OE or group N. I figure they're pretty good value, should retain ride quality, for the most part... This in combination with Spec B JDM Bilstiens (rev C) on all corners and Spec B rear suspension with some Whiteline adjustable bits, should hopefully keep all wheels on the ground and aligned nicely.

 

Since spending can just go on and on.... I'd like to think this is a good place to stop for now. Hopefully for good, if I am being honest, but never say never. Anything else would probably just be replacing wear items over time, like getting an improved clutch (or go 6MT as noted) if the stocker can't handle the increased power over time. Me today is laughing at me from last year, while keeping warm by burning the mountain of invoices and packaging for the stuff I've bought since them for this poor old wagon. I really thought way back then I would know when to stop spending.

 

I did not.

 

It doesn't help that my other project car was stuck in the US for two years behind a closed border, so some of what should have been spent on that turned into speed parts for the GT.

 

Thanks for reading. Hopefully I've covered the bases, but if I've missed something critical I'd like to know it.

 

Cheers!

 

Edited - To indicate how reality has impacted what were in theory well laid plans. As someone else said in another thread, at some point I just took out my credit card and asked people to be gentle. Ha!

Edited July 8, 2022 by KZJonny

[seanyb505]

Feels like a good starting point.

 

- 3port boost - I got one as my tuner recommended it. I wanted to make his life easier. If your tuner doesn't care with messing about one, I guess that answers that?

- A proper tune at this parts list level shouldn't put your cylinders in any kind of danger temp range. I've been kinda similar stuff for 5 years/40k miles with no apparent issues.

- Stock intercooler from your 05 or like a newer take off the last of the 2.5 wrxs? If you're concerned about the plastic end tanks splitting, I'd also be mindful of the age of the plastic entirely. Maybe find a used perrin?

- I also utilized the wideband at the recommendation of my tuner. Maybe you can use it while this project is being tuned, then remove and plug the hole with appropriate threaded thing (most down pipes that have a bung welded on also come with appropriate thread thing that I can't think what to call)

- Crossover pipe - I don't see many builds including this. I'm on stock manifolds. Seems the money is best spent elsewhere.

- Oil Pressure gauge - there's no pressure sensor on the car that will give you "Oil pressure." It's an on (pressure, who knows how much) or off (no pressure sorry) switch. It's the same that will turn on the dash oil pressure light. You can add the sensor somewhere, just know it doesn't come stock.

- Stock fueling and oiling will be fine. If time isn't a factor, send off your injectors for cleaning/flow matching. Small peace of mind. I replaced all the wet oil parts.

- Worn rubber bits - give some love to the rubber bits above the engine. Most of it is probably rock hard. Familiarize yourself with the vacuum diagram in the tuning forum. (https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/2005-2006-lgt-colored-vacuum-routing-diagram-143225.html). I bought all oem pieces as I wanted pre curved pieces that would fall into place as an aid for reassembly.

 

- Also familiarize yourself with the PCV system and all those hoses. There are a few different schematics that should get you everything:

Emission Control PCV

Intake Manifold Fuel Pipe - fuel injector

Intake Manifold Body PCV Pipe

Intake Manifold System Throttle

 

- 5mt should handle this power level as long as you're not routinely abusing it.

 

One thing I usually see people go straight to without shopping is the killerB oil pick up. Check out the moroso option. It was half the price when I did mine.

Edited August 30, 2021 by seanyb505
Edited to add more info

[NORULZleggy]

Feels like a good starting point.

 

- 3port boost - I got one as my tuner recommended it. I wanted to make his life easier. If your tuner doesn't care with messing about one, I guess that answers that?

- A proper tune at this parts list level shouldn't put your cylinders in any kind of danger temp range. I've been kinda similar stuff for 5 years/40k miles with no apparent issues.

- Stock intercooler from your 05 or like a newer take off the last of the 2.5 wrxs? If you're concerned about the plastic end tanks splitting, I'd also be mindful of the age of the plastic entirely. Maybe find a used perrin?

- I also utilized the wideband at the recommendation of my tuner. Maybe you can use it while this project is being tuned, then remove and plug the hole with appropriate threaded thing (most down pipes that have a bung welded on also come with appropriate thread thing that I can't think what to call)

- Crossover pipe - I don't see many builds including this. I'm on stock manifolds. Seems the money is best spent elsewhere.

- Oil Pressure gauge - there's no pressure sensor on the car that will give you "Oil pressure." It's an on (pressure, who knows how much) or off (no pressure sorry) switch. It's the same that will turn on the dash oil pressure light. You can add the sensor somewhere, just know it doesn't come stock.

- Stock fueling and oiling will be fine. If time isn't a factor, send off your injectors for cleaning/flow matching. Small peace of mind. I replaced all the wet oil parts.

- Worn rubber bits - give some love to the rubber bits above the engine. Most of it is probably rock hard. Familiarize yourself with the vacuum diagram in the tuning forum. (https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/2005-2006-lgt-colored-vacuum-routing-diagram-143225.html). I bought all oem pieces as I wanted pre curved pieces that would fall into place as an aid for reassembly.

- 5mt should handle this power level as long as you're not routinely abusing it.

 

 

 

One thing I usually see people go straight to without shopping is the killerB oil pick up. Check out the moroso option. It was half the price when I did mine.

 

Yes, you do not need to go all crazy IAG parts to have you car nice and quick. I went moroso, and others that people didn't get. Many tend to follow the crowd. Yes they make great stuff, but put your money else where. Get stuff like the Fluidampr crank. I have this and I se so many people pass this up. The car just comes inline so well and balanced when I drive it compared to my 09 WRX.

[KZJonny]

Points well taken.

 

So I will add new vacuum and PCV hoses to the list. Replacing the infamous blue "T' was already in the plans, so while I'm there, no sense in keeping the old lines. that have to come out anyway. I will debate replacing everything with OEM when I see the collective price tags. It may be the better long term solution to get a couple rolls of high quality (silicon?) hoses and just cut to fit. I will have to investigate what I can get, and what is rated for vacuum.

 

I hadn't come across the silicon filled fluidampr in my research to date, and it does seem like a worthwhile investment, so thanks for that, add it to the list of things to research...

 

I think it may be best/most logical to sort of divide the list of parts into those I really need before getting tuned, and those that are just smart to have, but won't require re-tuning if I do more work later. On that note, my reading suggests that within this community, Brentuning and Tuning Alliance are the go to e-tuners at this point? I am not dead set on dyno tuning, since I think my power goals are reasonably modest, and may not warrant it, but there is something to be said for driving in, and getting tuned in person. I don't mind the added expense of the dyno tune, but at the nearest reputable place to me, it's ~$600(CAD) for a tune, and $400 for any re-tuning for a further mod. I've already invested in the AP, so I wonder if it may be worth saving some money on the tuning process via e-tuning, which would also allow me to take advantage of the much more modest re-tune prices that seems to go along with that. (All that said, I don't begrudge the return price at the brick on mortar, they still have to strap down and take up the dyno time, so I get it. I just wonder if it is perhaps worth the minor hassle of sending logs and loading maps to potentially save a couple hundo.)

 

This all started as "have someone, probably JMP refurbish my spare turbo, so I can swap in a known good VF40, and have a backup." Aaaaaand here I am now, ripping apart half the engine bay. Ah well. Should be worth it.

[whitexc]

I believe I read through this thoroughly....are you doing all this to the existing engine, in the car? How many miles?

 

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

[shralp]

Your build looks pretty good to go. If you have that stock intake, I’d put that back in as you won’t see any gains on a VF40 and you may even have to deal with boost creep issues. Sell the intake and put the cash into something else. Fluidamper is nice too be sure but super pricey Edited August 31, 2021 by shralp

[KZJonny]

I believe I read through this thoroughly....are you doing all this to the existing engine, in the car? How many miles?

 

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

 

Correct. I don't see any reason to pull the engine for this kind of work. I *could* drop it, I suppose, but I will cross that bridge when I get to it.

I'm not planning on doing much of any of this until the spring when I have my 2-post installed. I figure this will all be a lot easier without having to crawl around on my back below the car.

 

The car is pretty much stock. ~150 000km. So...93 000 miles? Not young per se, but also not what I considered to be high miles for a mainly stock car.

 

The previous owner had mainly done cosmetic mods, lighting and such, as well as the COBB intake, and some 18" wheels. It idled badly when I picked it up, so I returned to stock intake, cleaned up the OCV's and solved that problem. Found some minty stock 17"s, and lightly used Z rated tires. Been a riot to drive since then.

 

I can go into more details, but I've probably put about 10k km's on it over the past 4 years, without any major hiccups. I've done a few 3000km OCI's with synthetic just to gently flush it, and will do all other fluids when I do the timing belt in the Spring. (Car is off the road until all this work is done, I decided I didn't want to drive it with what is probably the original timing belt. What should have taken a day turned into a year, and my spare bedroom being half-filled with boxes full of speed parts.)

Edited July 8, 2022 by KZJonny
I can't spell.

[NORULZleggy]

Your build looks pretty good to go. If you have that stock intake, I’d put that back in as you won’t see any gains on a VF40 and you may even havre to deal with boost creep issues. Sell the intake and put the cash into something else. Fluidamper is nice too be sure but super pricey

 

Your right on that part being very pricey, but I made sure I got it. Had to make sure I had all the quality I could get. I think you can find it for less than 400. Might have covid tax on it now though.

[KZJonny]

Your build looks pretty good to go. If you have that stock intake, I’d put that back in as you won’t see any gains on a VF40 and you may even havre to deal with boost creep issues. Sell the intake and put the cash into something else. Fluidamper is nice too be sure but super pricey

 

I'm definitely not opposed to that, since it's probably worth a few dollars. I am also the worst packrat, and tend to keep everything "just in case I change my mind and need it someday..." Not the best habit.

 

Are you suggesting that COBB's assertion that it provides cooler, more laminar airflow and 20% more overall goodness may not be entirely true? Certainly not!

 

Seriously tho, isn't the entire point of the OTS Stage 2 + SF Intake map literally just to accomodate the COBB intake? I mean, I will be happy enough to keep using stock type air filters changed regularly rather than having to clean+oil the cone type. And if it makes a difference, it is the complete intake system that use the stock snorkel, not just a COBB filter jammed into a pipe and set up as a hot air intake...

 

If stock intake is sufficient for my ~240-250 awhp goals, then stock it will stay....

[NORULZleggy]

I'm definitely not opposed to that, since it's probably worth a few dollars. I am also the worst packrat, and tend to keep everything "just in case I change my mind and need it someday..." Not the best habit.

 

Are you suggesting that COBB's assertion that it provides cooler, more laminar airflow and 20% more overall goodness may not be entirely true? Certainly not!

 

Seriously tho, isn't the entire point of the OTS Stage 2 + SF Intake map literally just to accomodate the COBB intake? I mean, I will be happy enough to keep using stock type air filters changed regularly rather than having to clean+oil the cone type. And if it makes a difference, it is the complete intake system that use the stock snorkel, not just a COBB filter jammed into a pipe and set up as a hot air intake...

 

If stock intake is sufficient for my ~240-250 awhp goals, then stock it will stay....

 

Stock Intake is good for like up to 350 HP on a dyno. The cobb stuff will net a few gains but not the best. I would go with AEM like I have with the massive filter in the fender. Stock will get you 240 plus power. You can keep it and sell it later. I know people always say do not get an intake, keep the stock box blah blah. I get it, but My AEM does work when I am giving the car hell.

[shralp]

I'm definitely not opposed to that, since it's probably worth a few dollars. I am also the worst packrat, and tend to keep everything "just in case I change my mind and need it someday..." Not the best habit.

 

Are you suggesting that COBB's assertion that it provides cooler, more laminar airflow and 20% more overall goodness may not be entirely true? Certainly not!

 

Seriously tho, isn't the entire point of the OTS Stage 2 + SF Intake map literally just to accomodate the COBB intake? I mean, I will be happy enough to keep using stock type air filters changed regularly rather than having to clean+oil the cone type. And if it makes a difference, it is the complete intake system that use the stock snorkel, not just a COBB filter jammed into a pipe and set up as a hot air intake...

 

If stock intake is sufficient for my ~240-250 awhp goals, then stock it will stay....

 

The point of OTS stg 2 is to get you to drain your wallet as much as possible No seriously, I hear what you're saying. Essentially you're just not pushing enough air thru system with a VF40 to warrant an aftermarket intake. Believe it or not, I purchased a Cobb intake back in the day when I swapped in my VF52. When I took the car in be tuned at Cobb Surgeline in Portland, they actually had me take it off and put on the stocker as the VF52 doesn't require it either. Once I put in the JMP 16G then they finally told me to put the Cobb back in

[seanyb505]

The engine in these is more a pull out then drop affair if I'm reading correctly here. The extra hour to get it out makes life so much easier when putting it all together.

[KZJonny]

The point of OTS stg 2 is to get you to drain your wallet as much as possible

 

 

Ha! Yeah. Truer words have probably not been spoken.

 

When I was picking up my DP at a localI(ish) tuner, I asked about the ~$300 difference between the one I was was getting the COBB. Why would I spend the extra dollars? His response: "There really isn't any difference, it's more of a brand loyalty thing." Cool. So...

 

If the thing hadn't come with my car, I would never have bought an intake, no. So, most likely that will go up for sale. Strangely the car also came with 2x short shift kits? So, one of those as well, there is a limit to how much stuff I need to packrat.

[KZJonny]

The engine in these is more a pull out then drop affair if I'm reading correctly here. The extra hour to get it out makes life so much easier when putting it all together.

 

I think you are a much, much faster wrench than I am to get the engine out in an hour. Pretty sure when I pulled the engine out of the the scrap car, it took me an afternoon, and that was when I didn't care particularly about breaking things, since it was all gravy to me anyway.

 

I mean this seriously tho, which part of the work to do you think will be expedited by taking a day to remove and install again? I did the plugs right after purchase, and have done a few H4 timing belts no problem....

 

Exhast stuff is mainly below the car or would have to be mounted to the engine after re-installation in the bay, negating any propsed benefits of pulling the engine. I can be convinced to do it, but I'm struggling to see where it will be of net benefit....

[KZJonny]

Your right on that part being very pricey, but I made sure I got it. Had to make sure I had all the quality I could get. I think you can find it for less than 400. Might have covid tax on it now though.

 

So, following on the topic. I found the local distributor for Fluidampr, and it's something like $550 CAD. Not terrible, but also not cheap.

 

Before considering something like this as a purchase, maybe you can describe/explain your experience with it, vs stock? Do you feel it improved driveability and the engines running condition/smoothness?

 

I read what the manufacturer had to say, and of course it will solve my ED, and grow back all my hair. Lots of promises, but that's par for the course when you're trying to sell a thing. I am open minded, but prefer hearing real world experiences. (Or controlled studies, but that is hard to come across.)

 

In all reality, the stock crank pulley is 17 years old now, and would be a smart enough thing to replace while changing the timing belt anyway, so it wouldn't be hard to convince me to pony up the difference for an improved version. (Quick online search suggest OE replacement is ~$180 CAD?, so it needs to be $350 dollars better than original.) All that vs. ~$120 for a light weight crank? That is a lot of dollars!

[NORULZleggy]

So, following on the topic. I found the local distributor for Fluidampr, and it's something like $550 CAD. Not terrible, but also not cheap.

 

Before considering something like this as a purchase, maybe you can describe/explain your experience with it, vs stock? Do you feel it improved driveability and the engines running condition/smoothness?

 

I read what the manufacturer had to say, and of course it will solve my ED, and grow back all my hair. Lots of promises, but that's par for the course when you're trying to sell a thing. I am open minded, but prefer hearing real world experiences. (Or controlled studies, but that is hard to come across.)

 

In all reality, the stock crank pulley is 17 years old now, and would be a smart enough thing to replace while changing the timing belt anyway, so it wouldn't be hard to convince me to pony up the difference for an improved version. (Quick online search suggest OE replacement is ~$180 CAD?, so it needs to be $350 dollars better than original.) All that vs. ~$120 for a light weight crank? That is a lot of dollars!

 

It's really hard to tell you if it is worth the money. But I can tell you my car runs very smooth, there is not so much of a chop, and through the RPM range the power band is very smooth.

 

I would read some reviews of others, but this was a must to truly balance the crank and stop wear with the boxer motor. Now I bought my car with a bad motor then saved money and bought parts and dropped it off at the builder and tuner and they did it all. If you have the extra money or you can eat tuna out of a can for 2 months to save for it buy it.

 

It is not light weight and I would never buy one of those.

 

After I replaced Perrin lightweight pulley (after driving with it for over 3 years) with Fluidampr harmonic balancer I noticed a definite change:

 

1. Much less noise from the engine and transmission.

It's difficult to butt-quantify it but its really significant: somewhere between 25-50% less.

 

2. Much less vibrations.

Much less vibration at idle and even less vibration at 5000 RPM. I was surprised how little vibration (compared to before install) there was at high RPMs! When holding steering wheel the only vibrations I could feel was low frequency pulse: most of high frequency vibrations were gone! Also, rough start caused by TGV deletes has been mostly eliminated.

 

3. More linear (and smoother) acceleration.

With lightweight crank pulley RPMs went up much faster but I could feel that torque didn't go up as fast. I could feel acceleration lagging after RPMs: while doing WOT data-logging, RPMs would go up really fast up to 3000-4000 RPMs but the car wouldn't accelerate as much as anticipated. Other byproducts of this RPM-acceleration lag was jerky ride at low RPMs (up to 2200 RPM) and relatively high RPMs required to start moving reasonably fast from the stop.

This all changed with Fluidampr harmonic balancer: acceleration is smoother, more closely reflecting throttle position; there's significantly less jerking movement when suddenly accelerating or suddenly releasing the clutch at high RPMs; moving from the start requires less (attention drawing) RPMs; and low RPM jerkiness was reduced by more than 75%. And all this while WOT Torque/HP vs. RPM curve was almost identical to the last two with lightweight pulley: I couldn't distinguish between them when all three were drawn in Virtual Dyno (smoothing 2). The same with Boost-RPM spool curves.

 

4. More stable tune (timing?).

After Fluidampr crank damper/pulley install, a knock I used to get when I stepped harder on gas before engine was fully warmed up, was cut in half.

 

Read here: https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2771614

[seanyb505]

I think you are a much, much faster wrench than I am to get the engine out in an hour. Pretty sure when I pulled the engine out of the the scrap car, it took me an afternoon, and that was when I didn't care particularly about breaking things, since it was all gravy to me anyway.

 

I mean this seriously tho, which part of the work to do you think will be expedited by taking a day to remove and install again? I did the plugs right after purchase, and have done a few H4 timing belts no problem....

 

Exhast stuff is mainly below the car or would have to be mounted to the engine after re-installation in the bay, negating any propsed benefits of pulling the engine. I can be convinced to do it, but I'm struggling to see where it will be of net benefit....

 

For some reason I thought there was more work going on than strictly bolt ons. In car is probably fine.

 

I was saying only an hour more based on what I thought would already be done. I think my record is like an hour 45, but I had already pulled it out once within the previous 10 days or something.

[KZJonny]

 

It is not light weight and I would never buy one of those.

 

After I replaced Perrin lightweight pulley (after driving with it for over 3 years) with Fluidampr harmonic balancer I noticed a definite change:

 

1. Much less noise from the engine and transmission.

It's difficult to butt-quantify it but its really significant: somewhere between 25-50% less.

 

2. Much less vibrations.

Much less vibration at idle and even less vibration at 5000 RPM. I was surprised how little vibration (compared to before install) there was at high RPMs! When holding steering wheel the only vibrations I could feel was low frequency pulse: most of high frequency vibrations were gone! Also, rough start caused by TGV deletes has been mostly eliminated.

 

3. More linear (and smoother) acceleration.

With lightweight crank pulley RPMs went up much faster but I could feel that torque didn't go up as fast. I could feel acceleration lagging after RPMs: while doing WOT data-logging, RPMs would go up really fast up to 3000-4000 RPMs but the car wouldn't accelerate as much as anticipated. Other byproducts of this RPM-acceleration lag was jerky ride at low RPMs (up to 2200 RPM) and relatively high RPMs required to start moving reasonably fast from the stop.

This all changed with Fluidampr harmonic balancer: acceleration is smoother, more closely reflecting throttle position; there's significantly less jerking movement when suddenly accelerating or suddenly releasing the clutch at high RPMs; moving from the start requires less (attention drawing) RPMs; and low RPM jerkiness was reduced by more than 75%. And all this while WOT Torque/HP vs. RPM curve was almost identical to the last two with lightweight pulley: I couldn't distinguish between them when all three were drawn in Virtual Dyno (smoothing 2). The same with Boost-RPM spool curves.

 

4. More stable tune (timing?).

After Fluidampr crank damper/pulley install, a knock I used to get when I stepped harder on gas before engine was fully warmed up, was cut in half.

 

Read here: https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2771614

 

 

Great summary, thank you. I will do more reading, but I actually can see this being something I would appreciate. I'm not sure I am buying that it's going to severely reduce engine wear/damage, but it certainly can't hurt.

 

I'm not into 'luxury' and still like knowing I am driving a car, and one that has some guts at that. I guess I intend to drive this things like, a.... GT car? It is by far the most mechanically advanced/engineered car I own, or are ever likely to, so why not have it be smooth AND powerful. It's fairly unlikely I am going to have much use for getting to max RPMs as fast as possible, and bang-shifting from stoplight to stoplight...

 

Now, more research. Which grocery chain has canned tuna on sale this week?

[KZJonny]

Update on progress..

 

May well be that I am updating this as much for my own benefit as anything else, but then again, maybe someone else will be doing a set up similar upgrade and be curious about the results overall.

 

Also wanted to say thanks again to everyone who's chimed in so far. I appreciate the advice from those who've been down this road already. I realize that the 3rd Gen platform is old enough now that there isn't much to discover, and on the plus side, having such a low mile car, I reap the benefits of all the little 'longevity mods' like the cyl. 4 cooling mod reasonably early on, so with any luck that will help squeeze some more trouble free kms out of the powerplant.

 

Anyway...

 

Got my JMP Custom VF40 back this week, and it is sweet. The photos he provided of the improved billet compressor barely do it justice. It's still a fairly small turbo, which is fine in my books, but with the lightened components and extra blade area, I am *really* looking forward to feeling the difference. I am also jumping straight from essentially stock to a "stage 2+" (I really kinda hate the stage nomenclature, but it does provide sort of a common ground for talking about these things.), so I am willing to bet the seat of the pants different is going to be pretty wild. On the off chance he reads this this thread.

 

YET ANOTHER huge thanks to John, he was great to deal with, and turned the turbo around in a few days despite having some pretty serious damage control going on around his house. I know there is a separate thread for it, but without having used the turbo yet, I can and will vouch to anyone how great the service is with JMP. It's clear how much he really cares about these cars.

 

On the same note, John mentioned casually that a EL Header would be a good investment to maximize performance of the turbo and overall efficiency of the platform. I suppose that was all the incentive I needed to get a new header and ditch the UEL stocker. So, now, I get to stare a shiny new header and a freshly rebuilt turbo sitting in my spare room until the Spring...

It's kind of a shame to wrap up so much of the goodness in heat wrap, but all in the name of lower under hood temps.

 

Found a decent price on the Canadian side on a Fluidampr crank, so went with that as well. I've been noticing them more often on other cars with similar and much wilder engines, and if they are helping people with platforms/engines that are far more notoriously rattly and vibration prone than the EJ, then I am sure it will be a nice add in the GT. So, thanks to NORULZ for the suggestion. I was blissfully unaware of their existance before you mentioned them.

 

In addition to the complete turbo/exhast system, I snagged up some Spec B rear control arms and am waiting for some Cusco rear sway bar braces to match, and the adaptors to mount the Spec B stuff to the rear. Paired up with some Rev B Spec B struts and coils, should be a good middle ground between ride comfort and a performance? The unknown origin bilstein struts I've got now have seen better days, tho they don't leak. It's the "STi Pink springs that make the car a little lower than I really want, so I hope the Spec B springs put it back to a more reasonable ride height. (Front control arms are now Mevotech aluminium arms, which as far as I can tell are the same as the Spec B, but easier to find around here, and far cheaper. There seems to be some speculation on how good the ball joints are, but they can't be worse that the original (?) ones I pulled out... and NAPA carried the 555 replacements. Easy as...)

 

I think that is about the end of the modifications for now.... I mean, I've got a box or two of various heat sheilds/blankets, replacement hoses, rebuilt steering rack, etc.... but I think of the rest of that as just maintenance kind of items, not really relevent in the context of trying to organize a suite of mods for a car that work well in concert.

 

If I had to guess the next thing that will either go, or need to be replaced as a prophylactic measure would be the clutch and flywheel (Probably go to a single mass?). I don't know how long an already old clutch is going to stay happy dealing with the increased power, but we shall see.... This is also where I was considering just swapping up to a 6MT. Given that a new clutch kit with FW is like ~$1200 around here right now, and I can get a Spec B 6MT for ~$3500, seems like not a bad option? I find that generally the claims the JDM parts importers make about mileage on cars and parts are reasonably accurate most days, so in theory, you should be getting a clutch and FW combo with the new trans that should last quite a while... At very least it should never break from the kind of power I plan on ever modifying the engine to make. And the taller final gearing is just icing on the cake. I think a few years ago it would have been hard to argue that a $2000 mod that increases highway fuel efficiency slightly would be worth thinking about, but with 91 octace @1.7XX these days, even small difference in mileage can mean a couple hundo a year, so... yeah.

 

Anyway, if there are flaws in my logic here, or I am just missing something that is a clear winner in terms of improvement and supporting mods, please chime in with what you think.

 

Cheers!