Inactivity Status Report
Hi fellas,
I don't think I'll have much to post in my build for a while. I have ideas here and there on what I'd like to do, but finding the time to do is difficult. For now, little things that aren't time-consuming, or projects that I can break up into several weekends, are what I want to focus on. Things like that hood, for instance.
I decided to go ahead and start an Instagram account, but I don't know how often I'll be updating it. I mostly did it to keep up with the local car scene I'm a part of. Which reminds me...
I decided to put the group's black banner on. Only, instead of on the windshield, it's above the windshield. What do you think?
With that banner now on my car, I'm actually going with the crew to appear in a car show! I pray that people will look away from my couple rust spots, lol...
Maintenance
Yes, the car still can't fill up. I'm occasionally rooting around the EVAP system, poking and prodding at what could be the cause, but I haven't had time to lift up the car and perform a thorough inspection. I can get around the filling issue by holding the pump handle half-way.
I believe some front-end suspension components are getting tired, and need a refresh. I get some clunks on occasion, and some various other noises. Nothing seems to be impacting ride and handling, but that's for all I know. It could be like my lateral links, where they were destitute, and I didn't know until I replaced them.
When changing the springs, one of my rear brake pads fell out of my caliper. I picked it up and put it back in, but couldn't help but notice how low it was getting. Soon, I'm going to have to perform a brake job.
The rear swaybar assembly is holding up nicely! I successfully added an extra layer of ghetto on top of my current ghetto set up: flare nut wrenches holding the bolts in. I found that by leaving flare nut wrenches slotted into the top bolts, it's far easier to tighten the assembly, and will serve as a tell-tale if the bolts begin to loosen. However, I do know that I need to re-grease my bushings already. God, like two days later, the damn bushings dried out! They don't completely close around the swaybar, so I probably have to hollow them out slightly.
Rust is truly the greatest adversary of the Protege, and there are a couple of concerning spots along my car's body that'll become a real problem later on. They're all on the rear passenger-side quarter panel, too. I need to starting seeming my options in regards to stopping this and repairing it.
Finally, I feel like I need to re-wrap my header. The old wrap around it is holding up, but it looks like it's falling apart in a few spots.
Modifications?
More and more, I find myself wanting a short throw shifter again. I'm used to this sportier clutch and the lightened flywheel, but I believe a STS would sweeten the deal. I might try what was suggested to me with my old and bad OBX adjustable shifter; punch a hole through it and slide in a thin bolt/nut assembly to hold it in place. I'll try this first before venturing out to buy a new shifter.
It probably won't do too much, but I'm thinking about wrapping the CAI piping in gold heat reflective tape. Found a pack of 5 roles for 18 bucks, so could be worthwhile. I'll try and get some measurements of temperatures before I perform this, though.
When I do my brakes, I really want to replace the old, mushy brake lines with some braided steel ones. Out on the track, I've found my pedal lacking preciseness. It's gotten a bit mushy and hard to communicate with, so some brake lines should crisp up the lines.
Mesh grilles are too freaking expensive for this platform, but I really want one...I'm coming up with some plans to take an old Protege grille, cut out the OEM plastic middle section, and put in some mesh wire, somehow. I could potentially build a mesh grille for around 40 or 50 bucks--half the price of the cheapest mesh grille on ebay.
I've also come to realize that a lot of my car's blacked out. The tint's dark, the wheels are black, the rear valence is black, trim's black, I have a mini two-piece "splitter" that's black, black grilles and foglight deletes, etc...this makes the headlight bezels and the chrome-nose grille stand out awkwardly. I would love to paint the headlight bezels, and black out the chrome on the grille again.
All this is keeping with the theme of "College-Budget". I'm trying to keep costs down, and want to see just how much I can do on the cheap! I've been quite lucky and fortunate with most things, I believe.
Closing Remarks
That's it for now. I've finally reached a period of stability! There hasn't been any sudden breakages, no parts have blown out on me, nothing...I've been able to breathe, and look at this thing as a modifying platform again. I'm still keeping an eye and ear on this thing, though.
The last racing event really taught me a lot about my own driving ability. Sometime along the line, I stopped listening to my car's weight shifting, and have grown too heavy on the gas pedal. The car's potential probably tripled after putting the swaybar back in and after lowering it, but I need to change right along with it.
I'm also confident that I'll need to buy some RE-71Rs to survive if I compete next season.
I've also been saving up some cash on the side to get my car dyno'd. I really want to know how much it actually weighs, and how much power it actually puts out. It'll give me a proper idea of what to think about when it comes to modifying it. If my car's truly at 2716-2749LB curb weight, bringing it up to 165 HP N/A would bring me to the top of my class, power/weight ratio-wise. Might be far too costly and difficult to do N/A though.
I've also come to one realization...say, when I graduate, and this internship becomes a salaried engineering job, this build thread will no longer be a "College Budget"-oriented one. What'll I name it then? :^)
That's it for now, see you guys around