kp

Dude, this sucks. I know how hard it is to find the 4.4 YS1, I totally feel for you.

Next one you go see, turn the input shaft and count the turns to spin the diff one turn. You can shift the trans to check each gear, even if it's just sitting on the floor.

tim_adams85

Thanks man. Live and learn, I guess.

Been a while, but things are generally moving forward with the project. I've been driving it for about a month now (30+30 miles for work daily) and haven't had a single issue with breaking down or overheating, etc. It's loud, constantly hits the bump stops (more on that later), but power is always right there, brakes on a dime, I love driving it, and other drivers seem to dig it... lotsa thumbs up.

I bring my 100 lb dog to the shop every day, so here's how we usually look in traffic.



Some changes I've made since my last post:

Changed out the front bumper for one that's not warped and weird looking. Same with a nearly mint hood. Had to prep and paint both. No biggie. Looks much better.

Sealed up and reinstalled the LS tranny. Broke in my clutch. For those wondering, it's an XTD stage 3 cheapo clutch plus 9lb flywheel. Took it easy for about 1000 miles, and been womping on it here and there since. ZERO issues, which I'm sure will upset some of the bench builders out there. Lol. Grabs very nicely.

I kept getting a fuel delivery code, and figured it had something to do with the mystery "b20z" chip I had in my ecu. Contacted xenocron for a basemap.

This fixed the problem.



Did my alignment real quick after work one night. Set the toe, n let her go. The readings are camber/toe before : camber/toe after



Then last weekend my dad and boss wanted to go to opening weekend at the local drag strip. Here was my intake/engine setup... Sadly, no slicks.



My best was a 14.80@95 with a pitiful 2.466 60'. Not discouraged since I know what a 95mph trap means, esp with a shitty driver. The good news is I got some seat time, and NOTHING BROKE!

So here's how she sits currently.



In other amazing news, I might have sourced a coilover setup. Will keep you all posted, but things are looking promising! First autox weekend is 5/21-22, so time is of the essence. I'm doing a novice school (laugh it up; my last autox was in 2006 – I want to learn as much as possible) then the full event the following day. I'll try to keep this post updated as things move along.



As an unfortunate side note, I have to call out OWEN from DELEVAN, NY on this whole transmission situation. He's known of his own f.uck up, but said he'd exchange my tranny for a b16 he had lying around. This was three weeks ago, and he's stopped responding to my phone calls and texts since. Maybe he'll see this and do the right thing, but it seems doubtful at this point. He drives a crazy high hp LS turbo teal EF. I'm sure to see him around, and if he doesn't make things right, I have no problem making things awkward for him. If anyone reading this knows him, please let him know I'm still open to working things out. I'm not some rock star, and not made of money, so getting ripped off for 3-500 dollars is essentially a week's pay and then some.

Still stoked on the project. Still look forward to driving my car every day. And especially looking forward to ripping this thing around on autox weekends.

clippersfan28

Clean!

kp

Some ups and downs with this one, I hope everything comes out clean at the end. Car looks excellent and good to hear about your drag experience!

Bently_Coop

Looks good. Track time is a good thing too.

STRATTON

Nice looking ef.

Stratton.

radex7

LOL, why so negative?! I think it was dipped in chocolate!

Anyway, nice job on the build, and the exterior spray paint doesn't look half bad either.

tim_adams85

Thanks all. The kind words have been encouraging and much appreciated.

Had an interesting 24 hour experiment, which turned out extremely well. With most cosmetic aspects of this build, I've waited on this or that part until the right deal came along. So I've been watching for a used J's (or J's style) wing. Yeah yeah, eight years ago, I would have scoffed at the idea, but my tastes have changed, and I've come to appreciate the race aesthetic more and more.

BUT this is a budget build. I cannot justify spending 200+ dollars on a big wing! So...

Sourced a big sheet of thickish aluminum (not sure on exact thickness). Measured my oem wing dimensions, and after a bit of brainstorming and sketching, I came up with this.



We made the cuts and bends. Ended up with this.



Went to the hardware store for some nuts, bolts, and paint... and here we have it. My J's racing-influenced aluminum wing extension. Such a fun little project for a casual Saturday afternoon.





It's not quite finished, but that's the gist.

Otber small updates coming, but this will do for now. ��

sr20paisa

neat! if you would actually curve the wing down to make it more streamline, it could have some good use for a drag civic......sick build btw

tim_adams85

Couple quick updates:

Installed the corbeau harness I've had lying around (it came with my seat, both used, from a friend). It's a massive 3" 5pt. harness, but it definitely keeps me tied down. Also kept the stock seatbelt and receiver for quick trips to the corner store, etc. The same day I ripped my seat bracket apart to raise it an inch or so and allow another inch of travel closer to the steering wheel... did I mention I'm 5'3"? Anyway, the seat setup and harness both feel perfect now. And the seat still sits on stock adjustable rails, so taller friends can drive too.



And now for probably my most rewarding single mod I've made to the car (besides the engine swap). A friend of mine purchased a set of Progress coilovers months ago, which happened to be the exact kit I'd been saving for. Then I went to place my order, only to learn they're on back order. BUT homeboy wasn't installing his anytime soon, so we did a little swaparoo, and I ended up with my kit, and he'll have his in a few weeks when the new batch is available.

Anyway, super stoked on these! A quick shot of what I had (stock struts, eBay sleeves) vs the new setup (progress cs2 450/450):



And a pic of the car:



The rear is right at the recommended height (12" hub center to fender), but the front is 11.5". So planning to raise the front to 12" and align it. I'm fortunate to do my own alignments, so I can take my time and get everything dialed in correctly. Planning on setting the front camber to negative 2.5-3 deg., and the toe at 0.

As for first impressions of the coilovers, they feel really solid, yet still agreeable to my daily 60 mile commute. Much less rigid than I thought they'd be. REALLY looking forward to throwing them around the autox course in a couple weeks!

That's about it for me. Possibly making a crazy DIY front lip from some plastic stripping, which I plan to scrape everywhere I go. But otherwise, taking it easy and just gonna enjoy the car for the rest of the summer. Will be sure to keep y'all posted on my escapades. Thanks for reading.

Triller831

I dig this build bro! You have been upfront and it looks like you had fun! The little Choco Taco seems sick. Enjoy the summer.

tim_adams85

Quick update on the car, followed by a quick update on my life:

Made a lip out of garden edging... it's Blue Hawk brand "composite edging" from Lowe's. Comes as a 20' length for 25 bucks. Pretty much perfect for be EF bumper. You just need to make (or buy) 13 L-shaped brackets, and line everything up.

Also adjusted my front ride height up about a half inch so it sits evenly with the rears (approx. 12" hub center to fender). I'm very happy with it.

Some pics.






And now for other news: this is no longer going to be an all-motor project.

Long story short, I've been working as an auto tech full time for about six years now. Last weekend I was approached by my long time friend Emery who happens to own Street Tuned Motorsports here in Rochester NY. For those who might not be familiar, they specialize in building Mitsubishi Evos, DSM, Nissan GTRs, Subarus, and many other high end turbo cars. They've broken pretty much every world record on the 4G63 platform.

Anyway, our conversation was about lots of things, but one of them was essentially, if I'm so passionate about building my car and helping friends build theirs, why am I working in general auto repair? It was a question for which I really had no sufficient answer.

Fast forward three days: I've been hired as one of his now four full-time techs! It's a huge move for me professionally, better pay (salary!), benefits, and I get to work on some of the fastest street cars in the world! Plus performance parts at-cost. And they're going to teach me to fabricate, and essentially do everything they do. I've been there two days so far, and am absolutely blown away.

So I say all of that to say, given that I'm now a tech that works in a shop that builds 800-1000 hp turbo cars and fabricates all of our parts in-house, it's only a matter of time before I end up with a crazy custom fabbed turbo car. Probably this winter.

For now, car is staying the stock b20, and just gonna do everything I can to make right on my new boss for this amazing opportunity. Really, I can't even express how stoked I am on this move.

For those interested, our website is STM | STREET TUNED MOTORSPORTS | USA-MADE PARTS | RACING PERFORMANCE & DYNO TUNING

Thanks for reading!

Grahambo02

Great thread man. Congrats on the new gig as well.

Bently_Coop

Congratulations on the new Gig.

djakob

This car is giving me major motivation!! That wing set up turned out way cool. Maybe i'll have to attempt do something like that of my own.