Every Tuesday night
He's my co-pilot, he's got the best seat in the house!
Death Eater Build Journal
- Thread starter Ciotti
- Start date
Every Tuesday night
He's my co-pilot, he's got the best seat in the house!
Every Tuesday night
He's my co-pilot, he's got the best seat in the house!
Domo for the win! I've got a Domo magnet on my toolbox. He keeps it safe from outsiders.
Your car looks great man... I wish I had met up with you and attended Auto-X with my white '94... I think my new (to me) Cobra would be too much to handle on the course lol.
That's a rad helmet bro! How much that run ya??
A little over 6 beano's
Awesome!
I got $6.. hook it up... :-D
Good god it's been a long time since I updated this...
On Christmas eve I smacked a curb and broke the right front wheel while being a hooligan in an empty parking lot (note to self, wet black top becomes black ice in the winter) so I bought myself a replacement R58 Cobra R wheel for Christmas!
January, February, and March were spent recovering from the Christmas present spend-a-thon so I didn't buy any goodies for the car but I did take first in my class at the South Jersey/Philly SCCA Winter Series...
First event at NJMP
Second event at CBP
Third event at NJMP
I missed the fourth event but carried enough points from winning the first three to take first place in E Stree Prepared for the series
By that point the 275 Toyo Proxes 4's were toast so I decided to go with the only new hot autocross tire that's made in big boy sizes, the Kuhmo XS. A little over $800 later and I was in 285/40/17 heaven with the (as tested by Sport Compact Car) stickiest and fastest street tire available. They weren't kidding either, these tires kick up the same amount of gravel and rocks dead cold as my Toyo's did when they were at temperature!
I then had to completely relearn the limits of the car which was fun but frustrating as I would brake too early out of instinct, realize my mistake, and then early apex almost every corner with my foot on the floor trying to make up the lost time.
By the next event I was used to the tires and on fire, I managed to grab the second fastest time of the day and I was only 3 seconds off the fastest time of the day X Prepared Porsche 912 which (for those of you keeping score) is gutted and 1,000 pounds less on super sticky R compound slicks, has more power, a completely built suspension, and is German. So, to say the XS's are working for me is one hell of an understatement
At this point I had been dealing with the 160,000+ mile old once rebuilt T-45 that had developed a 50/50 shot of third gear working and no fourth gear at all for the past year. My plan all along was to swap it out for a T-56 but to do the swap the way I wanted was right around $4k so it kept getting put on the back burner. All of a sudden I had a bunch of money saved and I was ready to do it so I spec'd everything out and was ready to pull the trigger. Buuuuut then taxes ate almost $2,000 and that plan crashed into the bloody mountain and burst into flames!
So, tail between my legs I found a 0 mile T-45 for $400 that had never been taken out of the Tremec box to be put in a car and I had to jump on it. The old T-45 took all the abuse when I was shifting the piss out of it writing that Shifting a T45 Quicker 101 post. I have no need to abuse this one like that any more as I've grown out of those shenanigans so it should last a good long while.
I also had the Spec aluminum flywheel reinstalled and a Centerforce Dual Friction clutch put in along with the trans and they are great. The aluminum flywheel had been removed and replaced with an OEM steel one a little over a year ago and my god had I missed being able to tach the car up from idle to 7k in under a second. The Centerforce clutch is great too, completely stock pedal pressure but it grabs like hell especially when the revs climb as those little weights on the pressure plate fingers start doing their thing.
That about brings us up to date, I meant to take pictures of the clutch but I completely forgot, up next are some fresh upper control arms, poly bushings in the OEM lower control arms and a built rear end with a working rear diff which will be nice for a change
Ooh, I almost forgot, I finally finished up one of the videos from last year...
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT6J-jBXTeE"]YouTube - 10/19/08 Philly SCCA Autocross[/ame]
On Christmas eve I smacked a curb and broke the right front wheel while being a hooligan in an empty parking lot (note to self, wet black top becomes black ice in the winter) so I bought myself a replacement R58 Cobra R wheel for Christmas!
January, February, and March were spent recovering from the Christmas present spend-a-thon so I didn't buy any goodies for the car but I did take first in my class at the South Jersey/Philly SCCA Winter Series...
First event at NJMP
Second event at CBP
Third event at NJMP
I missed the fourth event but carried enough points from winning the first three to take first place in E Stree Prepared for the series
By that point the 275 Toyo Proxes 4's were toast so I decided to go with the only new hot autocross tire that's made in big boy sizes, the Kuhmo XS. A little over $800 later and I was in 285/40/17 heaven with the (as tested by Sport Compact Car) stickiest and fastest street tire available. They weren't kidding either, these tires kick up the same amount of gravel and rocks dead cold as my Toyo's did when they were at temperature!
I then had to completely relearn the limits of the car which was fun but frustrating as I would brake too early out of instinct, realize my mistake, and then early apex almost every corner with my foot on the floor trying to make up the lost time.
By the next event I was used to the tires and on fire, I managed to grab the second fastest time of the day and I was only 3 seconds off the fastest time of the day X Prepared Porsche 912 which (for those of you keeping score) is gutted and 1,000 pounds less on super sticky R compound slicks, has more power, a completely built suspension, and is German. So, to say the XS's are working for me is one hell of an understatement
At this point I had been dealing with the 160,000+ mile old once rebuilt T-45 that had developed a 50/50 shot of third gear working and no fourth gear at all for the past year. My plan all along was to swap it out for a T-56 but to do the swap the way I wanted was right around $4k so it kept getting put on the back burner. All of a sudden I had a bunch of money saved and I was ready to do it so I spec'd everything out and was ready to pull the trigger. Buuuuut then taxes ate almost $2,000 and that plan crashed into the bloody mountain and burst into flames!
So, tail between my legs I found a 0 mile T-45 for $400 that had never been taken out of the Tremec box to be put in a car and I had to jump on it. The old T-45 took all the abuse when I was shifting the piss out of it writing that Shifting a T45 Quicker 101 post. I have no need to abuse this one like that any more as I've grown out of those shenanigans so it should last a good long while.
I also had the Spec aluminum flywheel reinstalled and a Centerforce Dual Friction clutch put in along with the trans and they are great. The aluminum flywheel had been removed and replaced with an OEM steel one a little over a year ago and my god had I missed being able to tach the car up from idle to 7k in under a second. The Centerforce clutch is great too, completely stock pedal pressure but it grabs like hell especially when the revs climb as those little weights on the pressure plate fingers start doing their thing.
That about brings us up to date, I meant to take pictures of the clutch but I completely forgot, up next are some fresh upper control arms, poly bushings in the OEM lower control arms and a built rear end with a working rear diff which will be nice for a change
Ooh, I almost forgot, I finally finished up one of the videos from last year...
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT6J-jBXTeE"]YouTube - 10/19/08 Philly SCCA Autocross[/ame]
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quite some story you got there. :beer:
Nice to hear what you have been up to:beer:
I'm doing a Detroit TruTrac, they're clutchless so they don't wear out and they send more power to the wheel that's gripping which is what I need for Autocross
man i really miss auto xing if my car wasnt so deeply set up for drag id come out and join in on the fun
I've again been remiss in updating this, so here goes...
At this point I had been dealing with the car's factory 160,000+ mile old once rebuilt T-45 5 speed transmission that had developed a 50/50 shot of third gear working and no fourth gear at all for the past year. My plan all along was to swap it out for a T-56 6 speed but to do the swap the way I wanted was right around $4k so it kept getting put on the back burner. All of a sudden I had a bunch of money saved and I was ready to do it so I spec'd everything out and was ready to pull the trigger. Buuuuut then taxes ate almost $2,000 and that plan crashed into the bloody mountain bursting into flames!
So, I found a T-45 for $400 that had never been taken out of the Tremec box to be put in a car and I had to jump on it. The only reason the old T-45 broke is that I kept shifting the piss out of it at Atco (which is in the videos on the first page) and on the street at 7,000. I have no need to abuse this one like that any more as I've grown out of straight line shenanigans so it should last a good long while.
I also had the Spec aluminum flywheel reinstalled and a Centerforce Dual Friction clutch put in along with the trans and they've been great. The aluminum flywheel had been removed and replaced with an OEM steel one a little over a year ago and my god had I missed being able to tach the car up from idle to 7k in under a second. The Centerforce clutch is great too, completely stock pedal pressure but it grabs like hell especially when the revs climb as those little weights on the pressure plate fingers start doing their thing.
Koni single adjustables then went on to replace the tired old Tokiko Blues and my god what a difference they made. The compression dampening is set and much stiffer than the Blues that were on the car which makes turn in MUCH crisper and got rid of a lot of the instant front end brake dive which made threshold braking very difficult. The rebound dampening is adjustable but even on full soft it is far better than the Tokiko's were at managing the weight of this big fat vert. It's really nice to be able to set them nice and soft for weekly daily driving and then crank it up for fun on the weekends and dial it in for each track layout/venue I'm at.
The car actually rides MUCH better on the street over bumps and pot holes because the Tokiko's were underdampened for my stiffer spring rates(650 front and 275 rear) and the car now rides a lot more like my girlfriend's 08' Jetta in that it sucks up bumps without upsetting the entire car. Instead of banging over every bump and slamming the wheels down into pot holes, the dampening controls the suspension so much better that I just cruise over bumps that used to knock the car all over the bloody road. There are 2 recessed manhole covers in particular that I hit every single day on the way home where previously they would send 2 wheels well over the dotted line into the other lane and now the car just goes thump thump with no drama at all and keeps on cruising dead straight.
There isn't any mod that I've done other than the MM full length subframe connectors that made this much of a positive difference to everything about the car, it brakes better, is more comfortable, and turns in so much nicer than it ever has. I'm also really happy that the bump/compression is set and not adjustable as it prevents me from banging my head into the wall trying to figure out how to get that set properly.
I bought them from Sam Strano (F Stock dominator and 08' National Autocross driver of the year) at Strano Performance Parts Strano Performance Parts - Parts Catalog up by Valley Forge, PA and not only were his prices great but he gave me a bunch of super helpful tech help over the phone and killer customer service when the $hit hit the fan and I needed the order to go out in a hurry to make it here in time for the install. Even if you don't see parts for your car on his site, call him or email him and I'm sure he can get you whatever you need.
Long term impressions are that I couldn't be happier with them and everyone that has ridden in the car on the street or at an autocross has been blown away and either wants a set for their car or has already bought a set for their car like my father
Here are a few good shots that were taken from 2 of our summer series autocrosses by a photographer which was a treat because I'm usually the only photog there so I get great shots of all the cars but one
And I shot these HDR's handheld real quick between heats at the one event...
After seeing how much front end body roll I was getting during banzai trailbraking maneuvers, I ordered up a big ol' Steeda front bar which has done an incredible job at flattening out corner entries and comes dam close to pulling the inside front tire up in the air on corner exits
Up next are poly bushings in the OEM lower control arms (because of ESP class rules) and an Eaton posi rear diff which will make a HUGE difference because my factory diff is GONE.
Oh and here are the videos that have not yet been posted...
http://www.ciottiindustries.com/gallery/Autocross/Solo11-9-2008.mov
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2SEvKhsfJs"]YouTube- 11/9/2008 Philly SCCA Autocross at Boeing[/nomedia]
http://www.ciottiindustries.com/gallery/Autocross/Solo1-18-2009.mov
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crF-D4wF0kc"]YouTube- 1/18/2009 South Jersey SCCA Autocross Winter Series Event #1[/nomedia]
http://www.ciottiindustries.com/gallery/Autocross/Solo2-8-2009.mov
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl8vlvu2XHo"]YouTube- 2/8/2009 Philly SCCA Autocross Winter Series Event #2[/nomedia]
http://www.ciottiindustries.com/gallery/Autocross/Solo8-16-2009.mov
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz0GnXOrayE"]YouTube- 8/16/09 South Jersey SCCA Autocross[/nomedia]
And finally a trailer for the next video I need to get done which was a huuuuge autocross that was setup on a road race course!
http://www.ciottiindustries.com/gallery/Autocross/Solo5-9-2009.mov
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_mR0bFfp54"]YouTube- 5/9/2009 North Jersey SCCA Autocross Trailer[/nomedia]
At this point I had been dealing with the car's factory 160,000+ mile old once rebuilt T-45 5 speed transmission that had developed a 50/50 shot of third gear working and no fourth gear at all for the past year. My plan all along was to swap it out for a T-56 6 speed but to do the swap the way I wanted was right around $4k so it kept getting put on the back burner. All of a sudden I had a bunch of money saved and I was ready to do it so I spec'd everything out and was ready to pull the trigger. Buuuuut then taxes ate almost $2,000 and that plan crashed into the bloody mountain bursting into flames!
So, I found a T-45 for $400 that had never been taken out of the Tremec box to be put in a car and I had to jump on it. The only reason the old T-45 broke is that I kept shifting the piss out of it at Atco (which is in the videos on the first page) and on the street at 7,000. I have no need to abuse this one like that any more as I've grown out of straight line shenanigans so it should last a good long while.
I also had the Spec aluminum flywheel reinstalled and a Centerforce Dual Friction clutch put in along with the trans and they've been great. The aluminum flywheel had been removed and replaced with an OEM steel one a little over a year ago and my god had I missed being able to tach the car up from idle to 7k in under a second. The Centerforce clutch is great too, completely stock pedal pressure but it grabs like hell especially when the revs climb as those little weights on the pressure plate fingers start doing their thing.
Koni single adjustables then went on to replace the tired old Tokiko Blues and my god what a difference they made. The compression dampening is set and much stiffer than the Blues that were on the car which makes turn in MUCH crisper and got rid of a lot of the instant front end brake dive which made threshold braking very difficult. The rebound dampening is adjustable but even on full soft it is far better than the Tokiko's were at managing the weight of this big fat vert. It's really nice to be able to set them nice and soft for weekly daily driving and then crank it up for fun on the weekends and dial it in for each track layout/venue I'm at.
The car actually rides MUCH better on the street over bumps and pot holes because the Tokiko's were underdampened for my stiffer spring rates(650 front and 275 rear) and the car now rides a lot more like my girlfriend's 08' Jetta in that it sucks up bumps without upsetting the entire car. Instead of banging over every bump and slamming the wheels down into pot holes, the dampening controls the suspension so much better that I just cruise over bumps that used to knock the car all over the bloody road. There are 2 recessed manhole covers in particular that I hit every single day on the way home where previously they would send 2 wheels well over the dotted line into the other lane and now the car just goes thump thump with no drama at all and keeps on cruising dead straight.
There isn't any mod that I've done other than the MM full length subframe connectors that made this much of a positive difference to everything about the car, it brakes better, is more comfortable, and turns in so much nicer than it ever has. I'm also really happy that the bump/compression is set and not adjustable as it prevents me from banging my head into the wall trying to figure out how to get that set properly.
I bought them from Sam Strano (F Stock dominator and 08' National Autocross driver of the year) at Strano Performance Parts Strano Performance Parts - Parts Catalog up by Valley Forge, PA and not only were his prices great but he gave me a bunch of super helpful tech help over the phone and killer customer service when the $hit hit the fan and I needed the order to go out in a hurry to make it here in time for the install. Even if you don't see parts for your car on his site, call him or email him and I'm sure he can get you whatever you need.
Long term impressions are that I couldn't be happier with them and everyone that has ridden in the car on the street or at an autocross has been blown away and either wants a set for their car or has already bought a set for their car like my father
Here are a few good shots that were taken from 2 of our summer series autocrosses by a photographer which was a treat because I'm usually the only photog there so I get great shots of all the cars but one
And I shot these HDR's handheld real quick between heats at the one event...
After seeing how much front end body roll I was getting during banzai trailbraking maneuvers, I ordered up a big ol' Steeda front bar which has done an incredible job at flattening out corner entries and comes dam close to pulling the inside front tire up in the air on corner exits
Up next are poly bushings in the OEM lower control arms (because of ESP class rules) and an Eaton posi rear diff which will make a HUGE difference because my factory diff is GONE.
Oh and here are the videos that have not yet been posted...
http://www.ciottiindustries.com/gallery/Autocross/Solo11-9-2008.mov
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2SEvKhsfJs"]YouTube- 11/9/2008 Philly SCCA Autocross at Boeing[/nomedia]
http://www.ciottiindustries.com/gallery/Autocross/Solo1-18-2009.mov
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crF-D4wF0kc"]YouTube- 1/18/2009 South Jersey SCCA Autocross Winter Series Event #1[/nomedia]
http://www.ciottiindustries.com/gallery/Autocross/Solo2-8-2009.mov
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl8vlvu2XHo"]YouTube- 2/8/2009 Philly SCCA Autocross Winter Series Event #2[/nomedia]
http://www.ciottiindustries.com/gallery/Autocross/Solo8-16-2009.mov
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz0GnXOrayE"]YouTube- 8/16/09 South Jersey SCCA Autocross[/nomedia]
And finally a trailer for the next video I need to get done which was a huuuuge autocross that was setup on a road race course!
http://www.ciottiindustries.com/gallery/Autocross/Solo5-9-2009.mov
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_mR0bFfp54"]YouTube- 5/9/2009 North Jersey SCCA Autocross Trailer[/nomedia]
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You'll love em brother
I'm glad you are keeping the thread updated and I enjoyed the vids.
sick video man.....i was thinkin of getting down there to citizens bank park for an autocross event.....Im up near allentown PA
UPDATE
It's been way too long since I've updated this thread so here goes...
In 2010...
Cobra Daytona seats
Steeda wing
Thus far in 2011...
Walbro 255
Built rear (Eaton diff, Moser 31's, TA cover, ARP 2.5" studs, 1/2" spacers) and MM LCA's
Next week...
BBK longtubes and catless H pipe, Stage 8 bolts, Percy's dead soft gaskets, new front o2 sensors, and great big plates welded to my frame rails to repair the sections on both sides behind the front tires where it rusted/rotted straight through and cracked
It's been way too long since I've updated this thread so here goes...
In 2010...
Cobra Daytona seats
Steeda wing
Thus far in 2011...
Walbro 255
Built rear (Eaton diff, Moser 31's, TA cover, ARP 2.5" studs, 1/2" spacers) and MM LCA's
Next week...
BBK longtubes and catless H pipe, Stage 8 bolts, Percy's dead soft gaskets, new front o2 sensors, and great big plates welded to my frame rails to repair the sections on both sides behind the front tires where it rusted/rotted straight through and cracked
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