Heaven or Hell: A Decade Long Time Attack Build
05-06-14, 03:27 AM
#1
Heaven or Hell: A Decade Long Time Attack Build
So with 2014 marking the 10th year since I began this journey into madness, I decided why not post a build thread. If anything, Im hoping it will help me stay motivated to continue and put things in perspective as to how far the car has came. If I can provide any insight or entertainment as a byproduct that would make it all the more fulfilling.
Im not going to embark upon a detailed history of how/why I bought the car as Im pretty sure everyone just wants to kill some time and look at pics. Instead Ill prob end up posting scattered bits of background info as I mentally sort through the adventures over the years.
To provide a starting point, the car entered my life as a black '93 R1 with something like 120K on the clock. I know I said I wouldn't give a history lesson, but as Im typing this Im remembering how I saved every paycheck for a year, eating instant noodle and dollar menu items, to buy the car. Not surprisingly, it was on engine #2, which was a 3mm stock port build done by Rotary Power (the story takes place in SoCal). The events unfold in typical fashion after that, with me throwing on a PFC, bolt ons, and tuning (300 something whp - but CRAZY response...I will post an old dyno later)...daily driving and hitting the track/autox for a year until the motor decided it was really a lobster at heart and steamed itself to death (water seal). Looking back, this was totally my fault as I beat on the car way too much without adequate cooling work (just a Koyo)...against the warning of my tuner I might add. I was young and dumb. Now Im not so young, and slightly less dumb.
I have a bunch of pics from different stages over the years. Ill try to post them in some sort of chronological order so things aren't too confusing and you don't feel like your watching a Tarantino flick. I think it will help me organize my thoughts as well. Im eating a Klondike Bar right now but I feel like I should be sitting here with a cup of tea and a smoking pipe...
The car, at this point, is still a work in progress and is yet to fire up for the first time. I am pushing hard to at least start it up and get it in decent running condition sometime before my 2nd child is born around Oct of this year. Those with kids will understand why I see this as a strict deadline =P. Its crazy to think I was just a single kid when I started pulling things off the car. Its really mind blowing thinking about how far life takes you in a decade...enough philosophy.
Like life, my goals for the car have came a long way since I started down this road and have evolved, teeter-tottered, completely disintegrated, and totally skyrocketed over the years depending on what stage of the build I was in. It started with me wanting to build a dual purpose street/track car that leaned a little more towards the track side. Then I got inspired and created more lofty goals. After a few years putting in lots of work with no reward I started losing my enthusiasm and slowly started gravitating towards the "**** it...you haven't driven your car in 5 years...just get a stock motor in there and be done with it" attitude. Once the downtime hit a certain threshold I decided to go full dedicated time attack build because, who cares about another couple years at this point. Now, Id like to build it to be one of, if not the, fastest time attack FD in the US. Did I mention I like to set lofty goals? The current iteration definitely will not accomplish that, but ver2.0/3.0/etc will be an inevitability in the years to come.
To recap, the build over the years has gone something like this:
Yeah...Id like to go fast on the track and still drive home>this is awesome having a real project car!>I forgot I even own an FD>dude...I just wanna drive my car please>just ghetto rig everything and get it running, I don't care anymore>stop being a *****, the car will suck and you'll just sell it>****, maybe I should sell it...>STOP BEING A *****>**** it...all in!
On to the photographicals...
Im not going to embark upon a detailed history of how/why I bought the car as Im pretty sure everyone just wants to kill some time and look at pics. Instead Ill prob end up posting scattered bits of background info as I mentally sort through the adventures over the years.
To provide a starting point, the car entered my life as a black '93 R1 with something like 120K on the clock. I know I said I wouldn't give a history lesson, but as Im typing this Im remembering how I saved every paycheck for a year, eating instant noodle and dollar menu items, to buy the car. Not surprisingly, it was on engine #2, which was a 3mm stock port build done by Rotary Power (the story takes place in SoCal). The events unfold in typical fashion after that, with me throwing on a PFC, bolt ons, and tuning (300 something whp - but CRAZY response...I will post an old dyno later)...daily driving and hitting the track/autox for a year until the motor decided it was really a lobster at heart and steamed itself to death (water seal). Looking back, this was totally my fault as I beat on the car way too much without adequate cooling work (just a Koyo)...against the warning of my tuner I might add. I was young and dumb. Now Im not so young, and slightly less dumb.
I have a bunch of pics from different stages over the years. Ill try to post them in some sort of chronological order so things aren't too confusing and you don't feel like your watching a Tarantino flick. I think it will help me organize my thoughts as well. Im eating a Klondike Bar right now but I feel like I should be sitting here with a cup of tea and a smoking pipe...
The car, at this point, is still a work in progress and is yet to fire up for the first time. I am pushing hard to at least start it up and get it in decent running condition sometime before my 2nd child is born around Oct of this year. Those with kids will understand why I see this as a strict deadline =P. Its crazy to think I was just a single kid when I started pulling things off the car. Its really mind blowing thinking about how far life takes you in a decade...enough philosophy.
Like life, my goals for the car have came a long way since I started down this road and have evolved, teeter-tottered, completely disintegrated, and totally skyrocketed over the years depending on what stage of the build I was in. It started with me wanting to build a dual purpose street/track car that leaned a little more towards the track side. Then I got inspired and created more lofty goals. After a few years putting in lots of work with no reward I started losing my enthusiasm and slowly started gravitating towards the "**** it...you haven't driven your car in 5 years...just get a stock motor in there and be done with it" attitude. Once the downtime hit a certain threshold I decided to go full dedicated time attack build because, who cares about another couple years at this point. Now, Id like to build it to be one of, if not the, fastest time attack FD in the US. Did I mention I like to set lofty goals? The current iteration definitely will not accomplish that, but ver2.0/3.0/etc will be an inevitability in the years to come.
To recap, the build over the years has gone something like this:
Yeah...Id like to go fast on the track and still drive home>this is awesome having a real project car!>I forgot I even own an FD>dude...I just wanna drive my car please>just ghetto rig everything and get it running, I don't care anymore>stop being a *****, the car will suck and you'll just sell it>****, maybe I should sell it...>STOP BEING A *****>**** it...all in!
On to the photographicals...
05-06-14, 03:37 AM
#2
The first photo I ever took of the car. Just after purchasing it. It had some vacuum line issues that were causing the secondary turbo to not come online. It also had a leaky injector (danger!). Before even taking it home I dropped it off to my friend Pete @ XS Engineering, who has (and still does to this day) helped me immensely with this build.
A'PEX Dunk exhaust yo! #5"tip! (came with the car)
A'PEX Dunk exhaust yo! #5"tip! (came with the car)
05-06-14, 03:58 AM
#5
2/7/03...=(
I stand corrected, 277whp and 258ft*lbs. Gotta love that stock sequential hesitation. But check out the torque curve...almost full torque @2700rpm. Even though it was down on power, the car felt like it flew on street driving. Totally annihilated my friends 410whp SR powered S13 (big A'PEX RX6 turbo) (more on this car later =PPP). Koji Arai is a master tuner and the only person I feel comfortable handing over my car to. For those in SoCal in need of tuning services, I strongly recommend looking him up.
I still have these stock twins, they are for sale if anyone is interested.
I stand corrected, 277whp and 258ft*lbs. Gotta love that stock sequential hesitation. But check out the torque curve...almost full torque @2700rpm. Even though it was down on power, the car felt like it flew on street driving. Totally annihilated my friends 410whp SR powered S13 (big A'PEX RX6 turbo) (more on this car later =PPP). Koji Arai is a master tuner and the only person I feel comfortable handing over my car to. For those in SoCal in need of tuning services, I strongly recommend looking him up.
I still have these stock twins, they are for sale if anyone is interested.
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05-09-14, 08:03 PM
#11
Indeed it is an RB26 block, but it will not be under the hood of the FD haha. I was just messing around. At the same time that I was pulling the FD's motor my friend was building a 2.8 block for his R33 project. The car went on to make around 900awhp.
The head was sent to Japan to a shop called R-Section that specializes in 9sec GTRs in full street trim (RH9). The port/polish job was beautiful. The level of perfection found in good Japanese machine shops is something very hard to come across in the states.
Sweet Hakosuka in the background...
05-20-14, 02:33 AM
#14
Next I started the agonizing process of prepping the chassis. Stripping everything down to a rolling shell, removing all sound deadening and seam sealer in preparation for seam welding, and finally seam welding the entire chassis.
This was done over about a 3 month period, putting in several hours a day mon-fri after work. Dirty, miserable, horrible work that I do not wish upon anyone. This was one of those, "never again" type situations. Everyone else had their own projects/lives to tend to so it was just me by myself soloing.
The car was always planned to have a cage so I really don't know how necessary the seam welding was. After getting a look at how well everything was done from the factory I stared getting the feeling like it might have been a waste of time, but I wanted to put everything I had into the build so I pressed on. Hopefully the effort will show some improvement on the track. I am a firm believer in the power of many small things adding up to great advantages.
Sadly, the engine bay would stay looking like this for yeeeeears. A motor did not occupy this space until just earlier this year.
This was done over about a 3 month period, putting in several hours a day mon-fri after work. Dirty, miserable, horrible work that I do not wish upon anyone. This was one of those, "never again" type situations. Everyone else had their own projects/lives to tend to so it was just me by myself soloing.
The car was always planned to have a cage so I really don't know how necessary the seam welding was. After getting a look at how well everything was done from the factory I stared getting the feeling like it might have been a waste of time, but I wanted to put everything I had into the build so I pressed on. Hopefully the effort will show some improvement on the track. I am a firm believer in the power of many small things adding up to great advantages.
Sadly, the engine bay would stay looking like this for yeeeeears. A motor did not occupy this space until just earlier this year.
05-21-14, 08:22 PM
#16
The turbo setup I was planning on using.
Twin scroll Garret T04X Squared from XS Engineering. 4" inlet. 1.15A/R. Divided XS Engineering cast manifold.
Indecently, this setup is now for sale as I am going a different route. See post in For Sale seaction for more info if interested.
Kitty cat not included.
Twin scroll Garret T04X Squared from XS Engineering. 4" inlet. 1.15A/R. Divided XS Engineering cast manifold.
Indecently, this setup is now for sale as I am going a different route. See post in For Sale seaction for more info if interested.
Kitty cat not included.
05-25-14, 02:20 AM
#19
Around the same time as I finished the seam welding project I left my job at the shop where I was building the car. My garage at home was a disaster at the time so I had to just throw everything in a storage unit. This was the first dormant period where I didn't touch anything for a year or so. Life has the ability to easily put the brakes on expensive hobbies when you don't have your **** together. While working for a big name shop was a great experience that I don't regret, it definitely delayed me in "getting my **** together". I met a lot of great people and friends who I still call my brothers to this day. I got to travel quite a bit and learn from some of the brightest minds in the tuning industry.
Then I learned that you don't necessarily have to make a career out of your hobby, and by separating the two it may actually make each more enjoyable.
I also came into additional distractions during this time in the form of other car projects. Particularly, a 240sx that a friend of mine had given up on. I bought the car as a rolling chassis and could probably put together a build thread on it almost as extensive as the FD's. Ive seen some posts on here of people embarrassed of going through a misguided 240 "stage" like they're ashamed to admit they owned the car. I love S-chassis cars and probably always will. The SR20 is old but when done correctly such a fun and reliable motor. I learned how to drift/road race on a very stock-ish setup and was totally hooked. I slowly built the s13 to 385whp setup, racing almost every weekend during the process. Eventually I took the car to the 2005 D1 Drivers Search at Irwindale and earned my D1 license. I also competed in one of the first Super Street time attack competitions with my 240 at Buttonwillow, getting 2nd in my class.
I still have the car in my garage to this day. 50+ track events worth of hard miles and it still fires up and performs without missing a beat. I ****** love that car and can only hope that I can develop a similar relationship once the FD finally runs.
Then I learned that you don't necessarily have to make a career out of your hobby, and by separating the two it may actually make each more enjoyable.
I also came into additional distractions during this time in the form of other car projects. Particularly, a 240sx that a friend of mine had given up on. I bought the car as a rolling chassis and could probably put together a build thread on it almost as extensive as the FD's. Ive seen some posts on here of people embarrassed of going through a misguided 240 "stage" like they're ashamed to admit they owned the car. I love S-chassis cars and probably always will. The SR20 is old but when done correctly such a fun and reliable motor. I learned how to drift/road race on a very stock-ish setup and was totally hooked. I slowly built the s13 to 385whp setup, racing almost every weekend during the process. Eventually I took the car to the 2005 D1 Drivers Search at Irwindale and earned my D1 license. I also competed in one of the first Super Street time attack competitions with my 240 at Buttonwillow, getting 2nd in my class.
I still have the car in my garage to this day. 50+ track events worth of hard miles and it still fires up and performs without missing a beat. I ****** love that car and can only hope that I can develop a similar relationship once the FD finally runs.
05-28-14, 04:13 AM
#20
Next the car was off to the Heineken drinking Filipino genius that is Gary Castillo and aloha kid sensation Lanny Higa at Design Craft Fabrication for roll cage and rigid wing mount fabrication. Yes...that is a ghetto DIY attempt at some aggressive fender rolling...this has since been addressed lol.
Len made these cool gussets to tie in the rear kickers.
I also forgot to mention the A'PEXi N1 Type Pro dampers.
Im really proud to have had these guys contribute to the car.
Gary getting started on the cage.
Front and rear dimple die gussets, made by yours truly...
Oh, and Recaro SPG.
Theres another one on the main hoop that ties in behind the door that I don't have a pic of at the moment. Unfortunately, a lot of the build was done before I even had a cell phone. Then I got this shitty flip phone, etc, etc so documentation is not as good as I wish it was. Thats prob why I take pictures of everything now.
Arriving to the shop one morning I came upon this...
Gary was doing all the maintenance and track support for the C-West dry carbon time attack car at the time (I think he still does) and had just started his obsession with the F-Series Honda motors. This was his subtile hint...
You learn to expect interesting surprises when you work with Gary. The weird cover by the cam gears is his prototype i-vtec adaptation for F-series. He ended up sorting everything out and making a handful of complete conversion kits. They work and they're awesome.
Len made these cool gussets to tie in the rear kickers.
I also forgot to mention the A'PEXi N1 Type Pro dampers.
Im really proud to have had these guys contribute to the car.
Gary getting started on the cage.
Front and rear dimple die gussets, made by yours truly...
Oh, and Recaro SPG.
Theres another one on the main hoop that ties in behind the door that I don't have a pic of at the moment. Unfortunately, a lot of the build was done before I even had a cell phone. Then I got this shitty flip phone, etc, etc so documentation is not as good as I wish it was. Thats prob why I take pictures of everything now.
Arriving to the shop one morning I came upon this...
Gary was doing all the maintenance and track support for the C-West dry carbon time attack car at the time (I think he still does) and had just started his obsession with the F-Series Honda motors. This was his subtile hint...
You learn to expect interesting surprises when you work with Gary. The weird cover by the cam gears is his prototype i-vtec adaptation for F-series. He ended up sorting everything out and making a handful of complete conversion kits. They work and they're awesome.
06-01-14, 01:24 AM
#21
Draining the fuel before dropping the factory tank in preparation of fitting the fuel cell.
To get a straight line across the irregular surface of the trunk we used a wall mounted laser like the kind used for hanging pictures. Then let the sawzall eat.
This is one of my regrets on the build. I cheaped out and tried to save some money by making my own container. It came out nice...but I wish I had just spent the money for the ATL aluminum container. I will probably redo this later. Spend the money and do it the way you know you want it.
Installed.
Making a template to cut the piece that will cover the top of the cell and the rest of the trunk.
Finished plate uses metric rivnuts to secure to the chassis.
You can also see the ridged wing mount that allows downforce to act directly on the chassis. I don't have any good shots of it, but the base is a 3 piece design. The center section is detachable to allow removal of the fuel cell. The upper mounts were machined from aluminum billet and are height adjustable. This was all done 3-4 years ago, I will likely modify things a bit on this next round of fab work.
Here you can also see the fiberglass C-West rear hatch with lexan window. The quality of work on the C-West hatch is impeccable. Fitment is spot on and the fiberglass is strong as fawk. In fact, someone had inadvertantly laid the hatch on the shop floor near the door. A bit later, someone else was pulling out a R34 Skyline when I heard a CRUNCH! I came out to see the left rear wheel of the GTR sitting on the back corner of the hatch...to my amazement, the hatch suffered no real damage other than a big *** R34 dusty tire track across it. The fiberglass held up unbelievably well. The R34 is not a lightweight car!
The rear cover was run through the bead roller to provide more rigidity. The chassis as well as the hatch had to be notched to allow for the upper wing mounts.
To get a straight line across the irregular surface of the trunk we used a wall mounted laser like the kind used for hanging pictures. Then let the sawzall eat.
This is one of my regrets on the build. I cheaped out and tried to save some money by making my own container. It came out nice...but I wish I had just spent the money for the ATL aluminum container. I will probably redo this later. Spend the money and do it the way you know you want it.
Installed.
Making a template to cut the piece that will cover the top of the cell and the rest of the trunk.
Finished plate uses metric rivnuts to secure to the chassis.
You can also see the ridged wing mount that allows downforce to act directly on the chassis. I don't have any good shots of it, but the base is a 3 piece design. The center section is detachable to allow removal of the fuel cell. The upper mounts were machined from aluminum billet and are height adjustable. This was all done 3-4 years ago, I will likely modify things a bit on this next round of fab work.
Here you can also see the fiberglass C-West rear hatch with lexan window. The quality of work on the C-West hatch is impeccable. Fitment is spot on and the fiberglass is strong as fawk. In fact, someone had inadvertantly laid the hatch on the shop floor near the door. A bit later, someone else was pulling out a R34 Skyline when I heard a CRUNCH! I came out to see the left rear wheel of the GTR sitting on the back corner of the hatch...to my amazement, the hatch suffered no real damage other than a big *** R34 dusty tire track across it. The fiberglass held up unbelievably well. The R34 is not a lightweight car!
The rear cover was run through the bead roller to provide more rigidity. The chassis as well as the hatch had to be notched to allow for the upper wing mounts.
06-12-14, 03:51 AM
#22
Around this time, a good friend was returning his 9sec drag FD back to a street car. I picked up a few parts that I would have otherwise had to sell a kidney for.
The most interesting of which is a PPG straight cut dog engagement gear set pre-installed into an FD trans and ready to go. Other parts included the C-West hatch, bored out throttle body with RC Engineering plates (Ive never seen another one of these), OS Giken clutch (Ive since switched to an Exedy twin), 4.3 final drive, ported UIM, reinforced PPF and probably a coupe other things Im forgetting.
With the cage and a good amount of chassis work completed the car sat for probably about a year while I collected parts and money to start on the body work.
The most interesting of which is a PPG straight cut dog engagement gear set pre-installed into an FD trans and ready to go. Other parts included the C-West hatch, bored out throttle body with RC Engineering plates (Ive never seen another one of these), OS Giken clutch (Ive since switched to an Exedy twin), 4.3 final drive, ported UIM, reinforced PPF and probably a coupe other things Im forgetting.
With the cage and a good amount of chassis work completed the car sat for probably about a year while I collected parts and money to start on the body work.
06-15-14, 04:14 AM
#24
Random parts that were acquired from Mazdatrix.
New door/window moldings, windshield/hatch weather stripping, climate control plastic.
To me, new moldings make a huge difference in the "cleanliness" of a build when working with these old cars. Its subtile, but the final impact is so satisfying.
Some engine refresh parts.
OEM Stanleys.
Had to have Ganadors, although the visibility sucks.
New door/window moldings, windshield/hatch weather stripping, climate control plastic.
To me, new moldings make a huge difference in the "cleanliness" of a build when working with these old cars. Its subtile, but the final impact is so satisfying.
Some engine refresh parts.
OEM Stanleys.
Had to have Ganadors, although the visibility sucks.
