De-mods are my favorite mods
01-28-16, 12:42 AM
#76
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I know this is an older thread, but I feel compelled to join because I'm kind of in the same line of thinking. I say kind of because I'm not necessarily DE-modding, just RE-modding to make the car feel like stock but still have the power of a more modded build. Which is probably the most idiotic, expensive way to do it lol.
When I got my car 11.5 years ago, I didn't really have set plans or an end state in mind. Being a mechanic in the Air Force made me love wrenching, and I started loving wrenching on the car more than at work, which tends to be a problem lol. Money from every deployment went straight to the car, a pile of parts waiting for me to get home. It felt like Christmas, and I LOVED it. Every part of it. Researching the upgrades and parts, buying the parts, installing them, seeing how it changed the car. It got way out of control. Good thing I don't have a wife because this would have ended the marriage, and as it stands, this car has been through several relationships, some of which blamed the car (or rather my love for it more than the girl) for the breakup.
For the past few years I've been heading back towards a more comfortable build. I never really got crazy power, I never broke 500, or possibly even 450. But the coilovers were uncomfortable, the car has been loud, smelly, a pain to drive. And as I get older I get tired of all that. My three old-man requirements were quieter exhaust (and rerouted wg dumps), softer springs, and reinstalling AC. And I feel those are my last three mods and I'll be pretty much done with the car (if that's even possible). I used to love wrenching on it, but I've gotten tired of it for the most part, and I think that's due to finally coming close to the way I want the car to perform, to having what I feel is the perfect balance of power a comfort. I somewhat leaned towards the ideal car to win the Sport Compact Car challenge they used to have.
I went single turbo years ago but I went through three of them before I found the crown jewel. The EFR 7670 has felt like stock twins spool with the power of a single. There is a few hundred RPM where power plateaus at the end and I'm trying to eek that out with an 8374 next, but only if I don't lose the grunt at the low end. If I do, I'll be going back to the 7670.
I'm finally getting around to suspension tuning with the help of lOOkatme. I've had RB front and rear sway bars for about 10 years and I'll be going back to stock to see if I like that better.
I haven't found anything to help more with cooling than a VMIC and dual oil cooler setup. My temps are actually too cold sometimes, and having heat in the car is kinda pointless because the air doesn't get warm enough to make much difference. A vented hood doesn't hurt either.
I used to have a plethora of gauges inside too, but that's another thing I've moved towards is deleting as many gauges as possible while keeping access to all the information. Now I have zero gauges outside of the stock cluster, with two SPA dual gauges molded into the cluster. I got tired of the look of a million gauges inside, along with the added glare at night from all those gauges (they were bright white).
With all that said, I think there are good mods you can do, but if you do a lot of mods, you have to make sure they go well together and don't end up hurting you instead. I tend to overbuild every supporting system (fuel, ignition, cooling) for the sake of reliability.
If you're building on a budget, staying more stock with reliability mods and maybe a few power mods here and there is definitely the best option.
After reading through the whole thread there were many things people said that I wanted to address or refer to. I'm not sure if I hit everything but I've rambled on long enough for one post lol.
Maybe that's what my problem is. I've had a C's short shifter for years and only recently I noticed how sloppy it is. A couple years ago I switched to an aluminum bushing because the stock nylon one was bad and I figured the aluminum one would hold up better. I didn't think about it wearing out other parts. Is that something that can be fixed without swapping parts?
When I got my car 11.5 years ago, I didn't really have set plans or an end state in mind. Being a mechanic in the Air Force made me love wrenching, and I started loving wrenching on the car more than at work, which tends to be a problem lol. Money from every deployment went straight to the car, a pile of parts waiting for me to get home. It felt like Christmas, and I LOVED it. Every part of it. Researching the upgrades and parts, buying the parts, installing them, seeing how it changed the car. It got way out of control. Good thing I don't have a wife because this would have ended the marriage, and as it stands, this car has been through several relationships, some of which blamed the car (or rather my love for it more than the girl) for the breakup.
For the past few years I've been heading back towards a more comfortable build. I never really got crazy power, I never broke 500, or possibly even 450. But the coilovers were uncomfortable, the car has been loud, smelly, a pain to drive. And as I get older I get tired of all that. My three old-man requirements were quieter exhaust (and rerouted wg dumps), softer springs, and reinstalling AC. And I feel those are my last three mods and I'll be pretty much done with the car (if that's even possible). I used to love wrenching on it, but I've gotten tired of it for the most part, and I think that's due to finally coming close to the way I want the car to perform, to having what I feel is the perfect balance of power a comfort. I somewhat leaned towards the ideal car to win the Sport Compact Car challenge they used to have.
I went single turbo years ago but I went through three of them before I found the crown jewel. The EFR 7670 has felt like stock twins spool with the power of a single. There is a few hundred RPM where power plateaus at the end and I'm trying to eek that out with an 8374 next, but only if I don't lose the grunt at the low end. If I do, I'll be going back to the 7670.
I'm finally getting around to suspension tuning with the help of lOOkatme. I've had RB front and rear sway bars for about 10 years and I'll be going back to stock to see if I like that better.
I haven't found anything to help more with cooling than a VMIC and dual oil cooler setup. My temps are actually too cold sometimes, and having heat in the car is kinda pointless because the air doesn't get warm enough to make much difference. A vented hood doesn't hurt either.
I used to have a plethora of gauges inside too, but that's another thing I've moved towards is deleting as many gauges as possible while keeping access to all the information. Now I have zero gauges outside of the stock cluster, with two SPA dual gauges molded into the cluster. I got tired of the look of a million gauges inside, along with the added glare at night from all those gauges (they were bright white).
With all that said, I think there are good mods you can do, but if you do a lot of mods, you have to make sure they go well together and don't end up hurting you instead. I tend to overbuild every supporting system (fuel, ignition, cooling) for the sake of reliability.
If you're building on a budget, staying more stock with reliability mods and maybe a few power mods here and there is definitely the best option.
After reading through the whole thread there were many things people said that I wanted to address or refer to. I'm not sure if I hit everything but I've rambled on long enough for one post lol.
The lower bushing isn't the problem unless it's busted and the metal bushing can wear the control shaft socket which develops unwanted play and can even cause the shifter lever ball to pop out if the top side of the shifter wears or becomes loose.
The OEM bushing is nylon for good reason and works great because it fits nice and snug.
The OEM bushing is nylon for good reason and works great because it fits nice and snug.
01-28-16, 10:21 AM
#77
I bought the Mazdaspeed metal shift bushing for my FD (the one on the very end of the shift lever, the ball) and it lasted 1 season of auto-x before it developed slop.
I switched it back out for the stock nylon one which *snaps* onto the ball when new (you can't get that tight of a fit with metal) and it has lasted so far without developing slop.
I hadn't seen any wear pattern on the outside of the metal bushing against the shifter forks bore, it was all just where the shift lever ball galled and wore the metal of the shifter bushing.
My FD (unfortunately) has poorly designed solid motor mounts, so it could even be the engine and trans vibrating the shift lever constantly that caused the rapid wear of the metal shift bushing.
I switched it back out for the stock nylon one which *snaps* onto the ball when new (you can't get that tight of a fit with metal) and it has lasted so far without developing slop.
I hadn't seen any wear pattern on the outside of the metal bushing against the shifter forks bore, it was all just where the shift lever ball galled and wore the metal of the shifter bushing.
My FD (unfortunately) has poorly designed solid motor mounts, so it could even be the engine and trans vibrating the shift lever constantly that caused the rapid wear of the metal shift bushing.
01-28-16, 10:56 PM
#78
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iTrader: (3)
Next time I pull out the shifter I'll inspect it closer. Should be pretty soon since I'll be pulling the dash yet again.
I forgot to mention an actual de-mod I might do. I thought it would be awesome to have a twin plate. I picked up an ORC twin plate from my old roommate for $800 if I remember right. I'm not gonna lie, it's kind of a pain in the *** to drive. If you drive the car every day you can get used to it, but it'll still surprise you sometimes. It's like it engages at different times every single time. Maybe I didn't install it exactly right, I don't know. It's annoying though haha. I might go back to a simple ACT sprung 6 puck or something. I didn't have as much trouble with that one. This was another case of over-building. lol
I forgot to mention an actual de-mod I might do. I thought it would be awesome to have a twin plate. I picked up an ORC twin plate from my old roommate for $800 if I remember right. I'm not gonna lie, it's kind of a pain in the *** to drive. If you drive the car every day you can get used to it, but it'll still surprise you sometimes. It's like it engages at different times every single time. Maybe I didn't install it exactly right, I don't know. It's annoying though haha. I might go back to a simple ACT sprung 6 puck or something. I didn't have as much trouble with that one. This was another case of over-building. lol
01-28-16, 11:06 PM
#79
I have had an Exedy single sprung 6 puck in my FC with the ACT Extreme pressure plate for about 10 years.
I put an Exedy sprung twin disk in the FD and I thought it was sooo much more streetable.
Much, much easier pedal and more progressive engagement throughout the pedal movement.
Only drawback I had was even compared to the FCs clutch it had so much more clamping force that I had to learn to let off the clutch slower between shifts in the higher gears since it CAN engage with absolutely no slip (at the low power level I am running), so it can be abusive to the drivetrain.
To me, the 6 puck single with heavy pressure plate is a sure way to ruin a nice street-able car.
-edit- actually, when I first got my sprung 6 puck single in the FC I re-used the flywheel from when I had an organic disk.
It had the same engagement problem you are talking about; seemingly random engagement point.
After I started drag racing and trying 2nd gear launches and such it got better and had a repeatable pedal engagement- well next time I took it apart I found it was because the disk had finally worn the flywheel friction surface even, since I could see it was more worn in some spots and less worn in others.
So, it might be a similar problem for you with one or multiple surfaces out of true.
I put an Exedy sprung twin disk in the FD and I thought it was sooo much more streetable.
Much, much easier pedal and more progressive engagement throughout the pedal movement.
Only drawback I had was even compared to the FCs clutch it had so much more clamping force that I had to learn to let off the clutch slower between shifts in the higher gears since it CAN engage with absolutely no slip (at the low power level I am running), so it can be abusive to the drivetrain.
To me, the 6 puck single with heavy pressure plate is a sure way to ruin a nice street-able car.
-edit- actually, when I first got my sprung 6 puck single in the FC I re-used the flywheel from when I had an organic disk.
It had the same engagement problem you are talking about; seemingly random engagement point.
After I started drag racing and trying 2nd gear launches and such it got better and had a repeatable pedal engagement- well next time I took it apart I found it was because the disk had finally worn the flywheel friction surface even, since I could see it was more worn in some spots and less worn in others.
So, it might be a similar problem for you with one or multiple surfaces out of true.
Last edited by BLUE TII; 01-28-16 at 11:12 PM.
01-30-16, 12:19 AM
#80
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iTrader: (3)
I have had an Exedy single sprung 6 puck in my FC with the ACT Extreme pressure plate for about 10 years.
I put an Exedy sprung twin disk in the FD and I thought it was sooo much more streetable.
Much, much easier pedal and more progressive engagement throughout the pedal movement.
Only drawback I had was even compared to the FCs clutch it had so much more clamping force that I had to learn to let off the clutch slower between shifts in the higher gears since it CAN engage with absolutely no slip (at the low power level I am running), so it can be abusive to the drivetrain.
To me, the 6 puck single with heavy pressure plate is a sure way to ruin a nice street-able car.
-edit- actually, when I first got my sprung 6 puck single in the FC I re-used the flywheel from when I had an organic disk.
It had the same engagement problem you are talking about; seemingly random engagement point.
After I started drag racing and trying 2nd gear launches and such it got better and had a repeatable pedal engagement- well next time I took it apart I found it was because the disk had finally worn the flywheel friction surface even, since I could see it was more worn in some spots and less worn in others.
So, it might be a similar problem for you with one or multiple surfaces out of true.
I put an Exedy sprung twin disk in the FD and I thought it was sooo much more streetable.
Much, much easier pedal and more progressive engagement throughout the pedal movement.
Only drawback I had was even compared to the FCs clutch it had so much more clamping force that I had to learn to let off the clutch slower between shifts in the higher gears since it CAN engage with absolutely no slip (at the low power level I am running), so it can be abusive to the drivetrain.
To me, the 6 puck single with heavy pressure plate is a sure way to ruin a nice street-able car.
-edit- actually, when I first got my sprung 6 puck single in the FC I re-used the flywheel from when I had an organic disk.
It had the same engagement problem you are talking about; seemingly random engagement point.
After I started drag racing and trying 2nd gear launches and such it got better and had a repeatable pedal engagement- well next time I took it apart I found it was because the disk had finally worn the flywheel friction surface even, since I could see it was more worn in some spots and less worn in others.
So, it might be a similar problem for you with one or multiple surfaces out of true.
I will say the pedal is definitely easier on the twin plate. It's just the random engagement that gets me. But it's not so bad for the most part after driving it a lot in a given amount of time.
02-01-16, 12:21 PM
#81
I have the basic reliability mods, Efini Y-pipe, Greddy SMIC and elbow, modified stock air box, and down-pipe, and i am the envy of my car club--the wheels are rarely 'up in the air'. The car has all the ***** you need for the street, and, most importantly, driveability. I put all my 'great ideas' into my weekend track car.
06-05-16, 12:58 AM
#83
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LOL I just put in RB duals in place of a GReddy Ti because I got tired of the can look and I was hoping it would be quieter (I'm not sure it is), but I really contemplated keeping the Ti in there because it's lighter by a ridiculous amount. I might put it back in someday.
06-05-16, 07:59 AM
#84
^I finally replaced my GReddy SP with a new RB Dual. Wished I'd done it years ago. Way better look, nearly as nice of sound at WOT and less droning at cruise. While I agree with the weight thing, I could stand to lose a couple of LB's which will make up some of the difference.
BTW, if you know anyone who needs a rear stainless bolt-on hanger for the RB dual, let me know. I ended up with two.
BTW, if you know anyone who needs a rear stainless bolt-on hanger for the RB dual, let me know. I ended up with two.
06-06-16, 12:56 AM
#86
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Yeah I could stand to lose some weight too. As far as the RB duals, I haven't gotten tuned yet so it's only been normal driving and I haven't heard it at WOT yet. I'm eager to hear that.
06-06-16, 08:42 PM
#87
Original Gangster/Rotary!
iTrader: (213)
All you guys running RB dual tip catback and looking for 'big' power on a single turbo, be aware that thing looks great and is nice and quiet--- it also hurts peak power.
I'll reach out to my buddy Garrett, but IIRC he lost about 20 rwhp (was in the low 400s) moving from a free-flowing catback (Turbotuff, lol) to the RB dual. Gained it all back when he reversed the swap.
I'll reach out to my buddy Garrett, but IIRC he lost about 20 rwhp (was in the low 400s) moving from a free-flowing catback (Turbotuff, lol) to the RB dual. Gained it all back when he reversed the swap.
06-07-16, 02:17 AM
#88
06-07-16, 07:16 AM
#90
06-08-16, 01:18 AM
#91
06-09-16, 03:12 AM
#93
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iTrader: (3)
What sizes are you looking at? I was going to do 12" wheels all around but 295/30 has a limited selection to choose from so I decided to do 11.5" all around with 285/30, pretty much doubled or tripled the selection.
06-09-16, 04:42 PM
#94
Original Gangster/Rotary!
iTrader: (213)
What kind of power levels, usage of vehicle, and realistic tread life are you guys looking for?
Based on that I'm happy to give my experience and recommendations, I have firsthand experience with pretty much all of the tires you're bringing up
Based on that I'm happy to give my experience and recommendations, I have firsthand experience with pretty much all of the tires you're bringing up
