eightyfive

Hey guys! Just wondering if I could get some advice from anyone. I'm enrolled in a "drift school" that we host in my area, for April, but I've been getting some lessons with my boyfriend's friend as well. Went up to an area that had a small amount of snow to practice steering and throttle control in a way that I could slowly graduate up to pavement.

Well, yesterday was the day that I graduated to pavement, and I was rather disappointed. I'm just really glad we did this before the drift school (which I paid for). When we went up, my car didn't actually do too badly for a stock fb. It was able to slide, but took a lot of effort to do so. Not only that, but I did notice that I was burning a lot of oil (thick smoke), and my car started shutting off randomly at the end. I do know that I am the first one to drive this car hard, because the other owners did baby the car, as did I up until yesterday.

I'm looking for some advice on getting my car into a state where it can drift (at entry level), but still be reliable (it's also my daily; yes I know I'm doing it wrong)


I'm getting my diff welded this week, which will help my car slide a bit easier and I was told to get wider tires for the front, make sure they're grippy so I'm not sliding in the front as well.

I've been wanting to switch to premix for a while, I've just been doing my research before I go tearing this out. I do know that rotaries are meant to burn oil, so my question is whether or not the large amount of oil burning when I was drifting it for the first time is to be expected?

Also, will premixing help me to prevent anything going wrong with my engine due to inadequate lubrication (planning on doing a 150:1 ratio, for daily driving and drifting; let me know also if that's not right....)

My next step is suspension, as it is also stock, but it did really well for stock suspension, so I'm not too worried. It just is up there on the priorities list as well.

Any other tips for me would be greatly appreciated. We're really lucky where I live to have a fantastic drift scene, but there are not very many rotary guys that I can talk to for advice (actually only one, and he has an FC)

Thanks a lot guys, it's really appreciated!

Riggs

I'm thinking it may be time to rebuild your engine...

eightyfive

Aw, dang. I'm hoping I don't, but at the same time, it would be a good idea. The only information I have on the last rebuild was "it's been done".

joshuaput

premix will help on any rotary. But it shouldnt be smoking. welded diff will change your life. idk about wider front tires. At your level I think anything is good. as long as they arent bald. grippy up front is always good. also pump up your rear tire pressure to like 60 or so psi. good luck with the suspension stuff. I made my own coilovers for my fb. well for the front. I used 1992 mr2 turbo strut inserts and a pair of coilover sleeves with an extra set of spring that came with some other coilovers. in the back I used chopped up racing beat springs and 1994 mustang cobra struts. thats kinda the best I could come up with.

midnightbluefc

iTrader: (19)

When it comes to FB's age is a factor along with the engine. Oil consumption is very normal when driving the car hard, I've killed up to 1 quart or more in my FC when I was NA. If this car is ur dd I suggest getting some kind of alternative transportation or funds for a quick and fast rebuild swap so your not car-less for time it's down. And a welded diff will change your life. Hehe.

abeomid

If this is your daily driver, welding the diff won't be that great of an idea. Going around corners will not be fun!

eightyfive

Thanks a bunch guys. I'm still signed up for the school, so I`ll see how that goes. It`s my DD but I also have a truck that I can steal from my boyfriend time to time, and I have a bus pass from school too. I'm kind of excited for tomorrow because of the welded diff, but yeah I know street driving is going to be different by a lot.

@joshuaput, that is awesome. I'm looking into how hard it would be to make my own, but I'm thinking that if I could get an assembly that could work it could just be welded together maybe?

joshuaput

yeah the front strut casing just need to be chopped and welded. youtube has videos of doing it to corollas. same thing as to your fb. then bolt together. Welded diff is not a big deal for daily driving. in fact i think it is better. your tires wear faster and thats it.

mikerbike

Prove it!

abeomid

Really, so the fact that both tires will go around the corner at the same speed is not a big deal for daily driver...

mikerbike

Not a big deal at all. Where are you getting all these crazy ideas?

eightyfive

I think it'll be kind of fun...but a bit more challenging because the ******* cops in my town will use absolutely any excuse to pull you over. And any sort of tire chirping (even from a welded diff) they try to pin as street racing, although it's harder for them to do when you're by yourself.

My dad just called me actually, he used to race stock cars and gave me some pointers. Instead of taking the swaybar completely off, I'm going to try making it adjustable first. And I'm still looking for stiffer springs in general. Looks like my dad is going to come drifting with us this weekend though. Should be pretty interesting, haha :P

midnightbluefc

iTrader: (19)

kool, hope u have fun. and a welded diff isnt a big deal, just takes getting used to. like solid motor mounts, coilovers, 3 puck clutches.... just depends on what kind of person you are ppl cry over the simplest things.

joshuaput

the only problem you would have with a welded diff for daily, besides tire wear, Is if you drive like a jackass and are full throttle around every turn. if you drive like normal you wont notice a difference. AND if you drive in the snow you will get stuck less.

Also that is super awesome that your dad is into it and willing to help. Give him a high five for me.

Garyrotor79

I heard that you can adjust the LSDs to slip easily or tighten them up so that it takes more pressure to slip. Not sure about it but maybe it's worth looking into before welding?

joshuaput

you could take it apart and make some shims. I took one apart once and pulled the clutches out and used one as a template on a 12oz soda can. I cut it out then put all the clutch disks back together in the lsd with the soda can "shim" in it. It locked up a ton better. but I couldnt tell any difference between that and a welded.

Garyrotor79

If you can adjust the LSD you can always go back if it's too tight unlike welding. I would also be concerned about getting slag or other contaminates in the gear lube which could prematurely wear out bearings. I also like the idea of increasing the air pressure in the rear tires. I entered two autocross events last year for the first time with my 79 and slid around on 10 year old tires. I bought new tires for this year but had lots of fun.

joshuaput

yeah you take the diff out and give it a real good cleaning/chip excess slag out. Honestly taking it apart and undoing it is more work than its worth. also if you are drifting it wont be too tight. and if you think you can just adjust it before an event or whatever than you must have more time and motivation than I ever have.

I understand your point of view on this. but if you have driven with a welded diff and want to drift than youll realize that on any level we are doing adjustable diffs are more of a "showoff item" than a neccesary item.

Garyrotor79

My point was, once you weld it theres no going back.
Have you decided yet eightyfive? Sounds like it will be a blast whatever way you decide to go!

Riggs

Just get another rear end and weld it. Swap in tue welded diff for events. Swap it back out at the end. Should only take a half hour or so once youre familiar with it.

.::evil inside::.

Whatever you do, don't waste a 24 spline LSD unit. Either swap it like Riggs said, or sell it to someone who will use it. Weld up a piece of **** open diff.

eightyfive

Hmm. Plans got delayed, but the plan is to drop it off to get welded on Wednesday and pick it up Thursday. There's a good diff in the PNP in town, but I haven't figured out how to pull it out. It's the same car as mine, so it should still be the LSD.

Just wondering what makes the 24 spline special? Sorry for being a little uneducated, haha.

Also, I'm getting my spare engine ripped apart so I can start looking into getting parts to rebuild that. It'll be a garage rebuild, because everyone in town is charging $2500 to do it, but hey, it'll be a fantastic way to get to know the motor. I'm also doing this in light of the fact that as I am drifting my daily, if (or when) it kicks the bucket, I won't be out of commission for too long.

Also probably going up to see my dad this weekend to get him to help me out with the adjustable sway bar project.

eightyfive

Oh, and in response to the slag, our friend who is doing the welding is helping us out by giving us extra oil, and then we'll just drain that after we drive it for a couple of days and then we can replace it. He did a pretty good job of cleaning it out of my boyfriend's truck though. He welded his diff a couple of nights ago.

eightyfive

Went up to try sliding again yesterday. Went really well, now I'm finally onto working on my own skill. The welded diff did really well, and I'm looking into figuring out how to get some wider tires on the front.

Also, it's time to change the differential oil, and I'm just looking for input on what to use. For the LSD that I had you have to have the additive in it, but now that it's welded that is eliminated right?

So, GL-5 SAE 90? Also, is there a particular brand that anyone suggests.

While I'm at it, I'm probably also going to change out the transmission oil too, as I haven't done so in the 4 months of having it. Now that I'm beating on it more, I'm going to have to keep up with this stuff. Any suggestions for transmission oil too?

This weekend went really good though. Most of the issues that I was worried about turned out to be my own fault. The smoking that was going on that I thought was just burning oil and no big deal was nearly disappeared this time, as I finally learned how to properly dump the clutch (I'm used to dirtbikes and feathering the clutch, it wasn't good) and no more smoke. As hard as it is to understand for me, I guess the person teaching me is very correct that while trying to protect my car, I was really hurting it.

Anyways, here's some pictures. Thanks for the help again!

Garyrotor79

I think I can see a huge smile on your face in the one photo!
Looks like big time fun. Glad everything worked out.
I think I was the first to change the oil in my transmission and diff after 29 years. The transmission oil was like water. I replaced it with Lucas synthetic and it shifts like new now. I filled the trans with a funnel near the master cylinder stuck into about 24 inches of tubing into the transmission. Made things a lot easier.