Naegleria_Fowleri

500 dollars = suspension kit from racing beat. I can't remember what it includes though.

Jeezus

iTrader: (4)

RB springs, front sway bar, rear adj sway bar. I have had my eye on it for some time

I was thinking of suspension. There is so much I can do to this car! I want to get new calipers (yes onlyonthurs, I have new hawk pads/brembo rotors/brake lines, but not SS lines ), baffle plate, front air dam with brake cooling routing, I mean the list goes on and on! I am using the blown engine and a 13b blown engine from a -SE to make a 13b 4port, so thats why I am limiting it to 500$. Rebuild kits are so expensive!

So as far as suspension, what should I get first? I definately want the Illuminas, but I will not put them on until I get the RB springs. Something about me makes me want to do everything to completion at one time. Kinda like I wanted a new carb, then needed everything in my sig for it to even work lol.

perfect_circle

sounds like youv got a project on your hands.. i would wait until you get it running before doing anything else. just my $.02

Jeezus

iTrader: (4)

Shoudl be running in 2 weeks, just tryin to find out how to remove the front bumper off the SA to tow it out.

perfect_circle

there arent any tow hooks on the SA?

Jeezus

iTrader: (4)

Yes there are, But My friend with the truck wants the bumper removed for ease or something.

dbragg

iTrader: (7)

illuminas--$373 shipped www.shox.com
eibach prokit--$220 shipped, some ebay store
RB front sway bar-- can be gotten for a little over $100


dont waste your money on the RB rear sway bar, just remove yours. its a nice free upgrade.

as many people have stated many times, its a MUCH better idea to get a car up to par before throwing cash at go fast goodies. lets say you spend all this money on all of this stuff, but you never replace the front steering components, bushings, etc. one day your out flying around and you get to a nice curvey road and you decide to let loose a little. youre weaving around and then all of a sudden something in your front suspension brakes and you loose control. you then would either smack into something hard, or hit another car. this would more than likely kill you and probably others as well.

i vote buy the front steering components, ball joints, and bushings. then buy all new brake components. after that do the suspension. think of it this way, if youre intelligent at all then doing this stuff is inevitable. so why not just do it now and ease your mind and not have to worry about it later?

all the components can be bought for $500. go to www.rockauto.com and buy moog products

Jeezus

iTrader: (4)

By front steering you mean Idler/Pitman/Tie rod?

dbragg

iTrader: (7)

yes. ball joints and bushings also.

you wanted graphite. look here.

http://p-s-t.com/sport/sifekpg.html

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

Trailer or dolly it, these cars are not designed to flat towed.

13BT_RX3

Springs and swaybars don't go bad easily, so you could buy used with no ill effects.

Jeezus

iTrader: (4)

What is the reason? It is going maybe 30 minutes away.

Kentetsu

Yeah, skip the rear swaybar. If you are adding a RB front bar, then keep the stock rear in place. If you stay with the stock front bar, then lose the rear bar.

If you haven't gone through the bushings and front end, then I will change my response to cover that rather than springs/shocks/bars. Safety first, then speed. When I did my front end bushings, I went with PST (see link above). However, since then Respeed has begun selling bushings and since Billy is such a great supporter of us rotorheads and this forum, I would be obliged to send you in his direction. Pricing should be comparable, and the support is way above what anyone else will deliver.

For front end parts, check with rockauto. And when you order your idler arm, go with the Moog unit. This is the same piece that some of the specialty shops are selling as their "race" version, but are charging up to 30 bucks more than Rock does. I have one, and it is very beefy and uses a ball joint rather than bushings. When you order tie rod ends, get the adjusters too so you won't need to deal with rusted parts. Ball joints have a reputation of being a real bitch, and some say that you can't replace them without replacing the entire control arm. I replaced mine myself, and it was fairly easy when making use of Autozone's loan a tool program to obtain the needed press.

The best part of taking care of the front end is that once you are done, if you still have any steering slop then you can adjust the steering box to tighten things up. Just don't try this first, before replacing the worn out steering components. When you are finished, you'll feel like you're driving a new car (albeit one with the damned reciprocating ball cheap assed steering).

Rear springs and shocks you can install seperately, and at any time because they are a real easy job. Front springs, well you'll want to do the front struts at the same time since everything comes apart at that time anyway. This is also the best time to do the ball joints, for the same reason.

Tension rod bushings can be done along with the front sway bar install, again because you have to take it apart anyway.

djjjr42

The poly-graphite kit linked above is $179 and that's the front only. The whole energy suspension setup front and rear is also graphite impregnated poly (black, not the red) and is just $160. You could even not use the parts for the rear in this kit and still save a few bucks.

Edit: Oops I just noticed the date on this thread, you're probably already past this point.

Jeezus

iTrader: (4)

nah, still interested. Planning on suspension next

Kouryou

Tires before suspension, it doesn't matter what you've got in springs and shocks/struts if the rubber meeting the road is crappy you'll still be sliding all over the road. Best, easiest, and most able to be appreciated by the old ***-o-meter.

Get some Falkens or Hankooks - depending on the size of wheels you have you'll have many good options.

After getting the tires spend some money on the suspension / steering - springs, struts, swaybars, steering, bushings, new tie rods, ball joints, idler arm, and pitman arm.

Booyah

I am also looking for some brake upgrades. Trying to decide if I want to get a whole big brake kit or just replace my stock ones with new oem parts.

vipernicus42

iTrader: (4)

Okay, so you've covered intake, exhaust and fuel according to your sig ..

So I agree with the folks that you need some suspension.

I have KYB GR-2 gas shocks and RB Springs, and I'm quite satisfied with them.

Personally, I haven't found a need for the sway bars yet, if you aren't past your first full season of autocross, you can leave the sway bar for a time when you have a bit more money, the shocks and springs are good enough.

After those though, my attention turns to bushings. After 20+ years all rubber on a car is crap, so depending on how your steering is, I'd either start with the steering rack and associated bushings, or do the bushings in the rear if your steering feels okay.

Pick up a "Black Dragon" (used to be Victoria British) catalog, they have awesome diagrams and parts lists for bushings and steering parts.


So in order:

Do these first:
- RB springs ($53ea Front / $44ea rear @ RB or Mazdatrix)
- KYB GR-2 gas shocks ($53.26ea front / $48.01 rear @ Mazdatrix)

Total: approx $400 + ship

Do these next if steering sucks:
- Inner and outer Tie Rods ($29.95 inner ea / $29.95 outer ea @ Black Dragon)
- Adjusting sleeves with nuts ($9.95 ea @ Black Dragon)
- Idler Arm ($59.95 @ Black Dragon)
- Pitman Arm ($59.95 @ Black Dragon)
- Ball Joints ($39.95 @ Black Dragon)
- Control Arm Bushings ($9.95ea @ Black Dragon)
- Tension Rod Bushings ($19.95 for a set @ Black Dragon)
- Sway Bar End Links w/ Bushings ($19.95 set @ Black Dragon)
- Sway Bar Bushings (middle) ($12.95 set @ Black Dragon)

Total: approx $375 + ship


Do these next if car sits funny or the rear is soft:
- Upper and lower control arm bushings ($79.95 for the set @ Black Dragon)
- Watts Linkage Bushings ($34.95 for the set @ Black Dragon)
- Sway Bar End Links w/ Bushings ($19.95 for the set @ Black Dragon)
- Sway Bar Bushings (middle) ($6.95ea @ Black Dragon)

Total: approx $150 + ship

Other:
- Hawk HP Plus Brake Pads ($65 front / $62 rear @ Racing Beat, $68/$62 @ Mazdatrix)



Remember, handling is great, but control is even more paramount.

Jon

djjjr42

It looks like we're in about the same spot. I've got a weber sidedraft 45 and the RB exhaust, plus new wheels & tires, suspension is next! Did you decide on which springs to go with? I can't decide on Eibach or RB...

inuissus_cendi

If you do go for a sway bar, I'm gonna plug Billy's new unit. Stiff as the others, lighter than stock, and a great company that has done great things for the community.

www.mrcmfg.com/respeed
IIRC...

Billy: If I plug your stuff enough to I get a discount?

MosesX605

Assuming that everything in the front end is solid, the very best thing you can do to improve the handling of your car is to get some negative camber up front.

About -1.5 deg is still streetable and provides a massive improvement in front grip during cornering and does wonders for turn-in response. Additionally, dialing in some additional positive caster, to around +6 deg, will also be beneficial. Steering effort will be increased, but the added stability is worth it.

There are more than a few ways to go about this. The caster can be achieved through stock means, but the camber cannot. You can either:

- Get camber plates, like those offered by ReSpeed
- Redrill the pivot points for the lower control arms, effectively lengthening them and adding negative camber. a 3/4 inch increase is good for about -1.5 deg.
- Slot the strut towers. I don't like this approach, but it does work.

Redrilling the LCA mounting points is cheap and effective, but there are some concerns about the effects of widening the front track. I haven't done this mod, but there are plenty of threads on it on www.ausrotary.com. ReSpeed's camber plates are a good quality unit and are priced right, so I'd go with them.

That leaves ~320.

Next, get yourself a large front anti-roll bar. The RB unit is fairly inexpensive and does wonders.

Now you've got ~200 left.

Herein comes the choice. If you refrain from buying camber plates and instead go for redrilling the LCAs or slotting the strut tower, you can purchase a set of Tokico Blue shocks/struts and the RB spring set. Those are a good combo and will serve decently on a combination street/Solo car.

Whatever you do, get that quality alignment. The improvement from the camber alone is enough to knock your socks off.

djjjr42

Do you or anyone else that you know of use this bar? If so please provide some feedback on its use. Since its a new product with a tubular design rather than solid stock, I'd be a little hesitant to be the guinea pig, oops I mean pioneer. I'm also at an indecision on which front sway bar to go with. The others have been around a while, tried and true if you will, and I am leaning towards RB right now.

MosesX605

Tubular is better than solid, IMHO. The strength can usually be comparable and the weight savings is significant. My RB front sway bar weighs a ton.

Plus, billy makes good products.

dbragg

iTrader: (7)

+765873462

i was at billys shop a couple weeks ago and ive seen this bar in person. i promise you that you have NOTHING to worry about. everything billy sales it top notch quality.