New Owner of 1837/2000

[desant78]

Quoting ApexHunter:
Nice work! J Pipe and overall length are excellent. Engine bay is really looking good now. Like how you kept the BOV out of sight.



That was one of my favorite parts of the kit, how the BOV was kept hidden and still recirculated.

It was a blast hanging out with Brett and building the kit. Best part was his face when we went for a test drive and he was so happy with the results. The first car I ever tried to work on was 1662, in 2010. I learned so much from this community as a result, and its great to reach a point where I can now help people like Brett and such a great example of a vr4.

Like Brett said, if anyone on the forum is interested in any parts of this kit, feel free to PM and we could help you out. We are in South Jersey, so if anyone is local feel free to come by amd see the shop! I'm honestly just stoked to be a small part of how great this car is coming out.

 

[faqinshiet]

Awesome work! I do like that you don't see the couplers too! Engine bay looks amazing!

 

[prove_it]

Very nice set-up. Welds are beautiful and the pipes are clean. Looks great. Even the flow through the EVO core is will done. That J-pipe is well done. Best I've ever seen.


Perhaps this will be our ETS replacements? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[strokin4dr]

I wouldn't mind having a j-pipe like that for my ets kit!

 

[GSTwithPSI]

One of the things Sal and I discussed was the possibility of Side Street Motorsports producing copies of this kit if there was enough interest. I told Sal I would be more than willing to come back by the shop and have Phil make some jigs so they could reproduce these. I can't speak to what these would be priced at, but I'm pretty confident that Sal could offer these to the community below what the ETS kit is priced at. That's assuming you can even get an ETS kit anymore, since last I heard ETS isn't even producing kits for the VR-4 anymore.

So, some overall details on the setup:

-Intercooler
The Evo 8 core I'm using actually has more surface area than the ETS core. It's also significantly cheaper: click . I'm not saying it's superior, just stating the facts. I picked mine up BNIB from a buddy cheap, so they are around used as well. In the current configuration, Phil modified the hot side inlet by hacking off the old 2.5" inlet pipe, and welded in a new 2.25" pipe which relocates the inlet so it's routed through the core support. The cold side outlet stays as is @ 2.5". The mounting tabs are bent over, and can be modified to fit stock mounting points already located on the car.

-Piping
It's all 2.25" aluminum. I currently have a 3" N/T throttle body, with a 3" 90* coupler. The UICP is expanded up to 3" to fit the TB coupler and the lower cold pipe is expanded to 2.5" to fit the cold side IC outlet. You could easily get reducing couplers that neck down to the 2.25" piping rather than expanding the piping.

-J-pipe
I gotta give it to Phil, this thing is a work of art. The J-pipe is entirely 2.25" up until it's necked down at the compressor outlet. Phil was able to create an awesome transition from the 2.25" pipe to the J-pipe flange. The J-pipe flange is produced in house by Side Street Motorsports. The pipe routes directly to the IC inlet and connects via a coupler through the core support. No coupler over the manifold, and there is a ton of clearance between the J-pipe and #4 exhaust manifold runner.

There's not cutting required anywhere, and A/C is retained. Like stated above, it's 4 couplers, 3 pipes and an intercooler. Super simple.

 

[iceman69510]

From memory, that IC does not look like a stock Evo 8. Similar, but differently shaped tanks.

 

[GSTwithPSI]

It's not a stock core. It's an aftermarket/upgraded core meant for the Evo 8.

 

[iceman69510]

Ok, what I thought, but the posts were not specific on that.

 

[prove_it]

You missed the line about an aftermarket evo 8 core then. It's there. Granted it's a lot to read, but it's mentioned.

Ok, lets start the inevitable argument on steel pipes versus aluminum... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif

 

[89Mirageman]

Looks awesome Brett! I see they're proving the Eastwood tig is worth a damn too. You hear so many horror stories about welders these days and I'm sure most of the bad comes from people who have no idea what they're doing.

 

[iceman69510]

Quoting prove_it:
You missed the line about an aftermarket evo 8 core then. It's there.



Whoops. Distracted by the sausage and egg McMuffins I guess.

 

[G]

Looks good, i'd definitely buy one of those j-pipes for my measly 16g. My outlet is ported though so i'd have to measure the id for a custom one. I'd also want mine to extend out more towards the support since I have an afco rad. As far away from exh mani as possible.

 

[BENE38A]

setup looks great

 

[GSTwithPSI]

Now that the car is making substantially more power on E85, I'm beginning to find some weak points. A launch at the track twisted off one of the 3 bolt axles in the rear diff.

Thanks to Anthony's awesome writeup, I was able to swap a 4 bold LSD into the 3 bolt diff housing. I wanted to get the car rolling around again before the winter, as there's a few more things I want to try and accomplish before I tear it down for the winter. I'm planing to drop the whole rear subframe this winter and recondition everything, as well as strip and undercoat the whole undercarriage. I'm still torn on whether or not to keep my 4WS, so for now, I just did a quick diff swap to get the car up and running again.

Started with new 4 bolt axle cups

4 bolt rear

3 bolt diff and 4 bolt LSD diff

4 bolt LSD assembled with bearings and 4WS drive gear

4 bolt LSD installed in the 3 bolt pumpkin

4 bolt axles

Done

Buttoned everything up and took it for a test drive. It seems like it drives pretty much like before. The car still bitches when I make tight turns, or reverse while turning. The only difference is now, it seems like the LSD makes a little noise, rather than the wheels chirping and hopping. It only happens at super low speed with the wheels cut hard, which leads me to believe it's just another symptom of doing sh*t to the car you're not supposed to; like welding the center diff. Took it for a drive on the highway and it's silent, as I'd expect. Overall, it was a pretty easy swap, and hopefully this keeps me from snapping axles in the future.

 

[prove_it]

IIRC, in the mitsu service manual it does say not to weld up trans parts... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif


I'm surprised you didn't make the swap to an EVO rear diff.

 

[GSTwithPSI]

Got the new radiator in.

New SPAL "High Performance" 12" fan. This one is rated at 1600cfm, and has a more sturdy design. We'll see how it works out.

I used a combination of solid mounts and the push through ties to install the fans. Everything fits much better, and is much more secure.

First impressions: this setup moves a sh*t ton of air, but I won't get a real feel for how this performs until this summer. I can definitely tell it puts more of a load on the electrical system than previously, though. I think I may need to look into installing a high output alternator.

 

[viktor4g37]

Where is the filler cup of the radiator? and how to pour antifreeze now?

 

[iceman69510]

Viktor, you can see the filler cap on the thermostat housing right at the end of the valve cover (toward bottom of picture). This is the style used on Eclipse 1g.

 

[GSTwithPSI]

I got the privilege of meeting Pot in person this past weekend. Hands down, one of the nicest and most knowledgeable Galant guys I've ever met. Pot came by my place with a large order of parts, and in typical Pot fashion, far exceeded my expectations.

We got to shoot the sh*t a bit over some beers, and even went out and gave 1837 a good flogging. Right as we left my house, I was complaining to Pot about how much of a piece of sh*t my trans was as I banged the car through a few gears. Apparently, the trans didn't like that. On the return trip home I slammed 3rd, then back to 4th, then nothing. The car is now forever stuck in 4th. I was pretty upset; not because the car was broken, but because I didn't even run Pot through a good launch! Maybe next time I guess.

The shifter arms are moving at the trans, but the gears ain't changing. My guess would be busted 3-4 shift rail or fork. I guess I should be grateful the trans busted during a test beat with a friend, not during one of the 50 passes I made at the track this past year. It's all about perspective, I suppose /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rofl.gif

 

[89Patches]

So what's new with the turd?