Thats interesting as I rather like my 300 lbs springs and don't find them too stiff. Maybe its because I have a little bit more weight on the front axle?

Good to hear your engine works so well now!

Wally, do you know your front corner weights? How much stuff do you have up there? What rear springs/torsion bars are you running?

Not by heart, but 2 years ago it was about 42% at the front, but now with the heavier G50 tranny its probably more like 38-40%.
Total weight with cage is probably around 985-1000 kg in street/track trim with about half a tank of gas, so its about 400 kg front side or 200 kg/450lbs per front wheel side.

I have the DS oil tank up there, oil cooler, fuel pump and filter, hydraulic clutch reservoir, the battery, waterinjection tank, thicker sway bar of course, some bars in the front subframe and some to hold the DS tank in its place and a bar between spring towers welded in.
Plus the usual 4 ltr reserve tank and some spare tools.
All in all, it adds up I suppose and that was the whole idea too ;)

In the back I now run 25.5mm torsion bars only with a Whiteline 24mm swaybar.

Been working on the bug more, working the kinks out of it. I kept having problems with the idle jets and it was getting worse and worse. I finally realized the jets had collapsed after being tightened too much. A new set of idle jets solved most of the problems I was having. I also adjusted the linkage so I'm getting full throttle now (not 2/3rd's like before) and the motor just races to redline from about 3k. I'm on my 3rd oil change, a little over 1700 miles on break in, and I'll be switching over to brad penn 20-50 now. While I was at it I picked up oil to do the race car too.

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...9.jpg~original

Now that the right front springs are in, a friend hooked me up with a free front end alignment on a new laser rack. We discovered that the front end has been tweaked a little bit so the smallest about of camber on the passenger side was -1.3*. The front toe was also way out from being lowered which killed my tires rather quickly. So the new specs are:

Front:
0* toe
-1.5* camber
1* caster

Rear:
0* toe
-1* camber

Since the tires were cording out it was time for a new set, but unfortunately Kumho stopped making the Ecsta MX in my size. In fact the number of good cheap tires in 205/40 17 has gone down significantly. So I stepped up to the next size 215/40 17 and got a set of Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec. Everything was fine in the rear but the front fenders needed a bit of massaging. It's a little rough and track rat/drifter looking now but the fenders needed a respray any way. Now I think I know the secret origin of the euro flared fender look, elbow grease and pliers.

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...6.jpg~original

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...7.jpg~original

With the motor at 100%, alignment done, new sticky tires and enough clearance for full suspension movement, it's just an animal on the mountain roads. As soon as I can afford a new camera mount I'll get some new in car video up :)

Nice update report!

As an alternative wrt a video camera: I just bought a new ultra small (spy) cam in the shape of a key holder/remote car alarm device. $ 9,-- and a $12,-- SD cart and it works like a charm!
You can just duct tape those things on your car :rolleyes:

I saw the video you put up and it's pretty clear for a little camera. Where did you find it?

Op evil bay; look for 'spy camera' ;)

Like this one:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=150410036677

I think I'll start tossing my race videos under the build to keep them all in one place. I took the street bug autoxing again on a perfect day. There was a light turnout since there were 3 other competing events so we finished up pretty early. I'm happy to have some external footage finally and it's nice to hear the mean exhaust note on the outside.

I really need to stiffen the rear of the car some more. Every time I touch the throttle it'll push if I'm not pointed straight, even if I slowly roll on to it.

Internal shot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD7HtdAy3rg

External shot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYzywFqh_Rw

Well I will admit I like what you did with the front fenders. Can you post up some more pics of the fenders now that they are modified?

Haven't put an update up here in a bit...

Unfortunately I only have bad news. About 6 weeks ago I was coming home and there was a bit of construction work going on where they had several plates over the road. Well one of the plates came up as I was driving over it and it collected my exhaust. It killed the muffler and damn near tore the header off the car. The street bug is stock height in the rear so it wasn't like i was scraping down the road either. I didn't get a pic of it but the pipe going into the muffler is nearly folded 90 degrees.

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...9.jpg~original

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...0.jpg~original

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...2.jpg~original

I contacted the water district who was responsible for the construction and I have to file a claim. I've ordered a new exhaust which sure be here next week and once the car is up and going I can double check that nothing else is broken. :P

How did the claim go?

Not sure, it's lost in bureaucracy at the moment. I'll be lucky to see anything by tax season :P I did get a new sidewinder exhaust on though and it's much quieter. I love the added ground clearance too, well worth the upgrade.

Unfortunately I have to sell this bug to pay for vet bills. I put it up in the for sale section and need to get it sold asap. :(

On January 8th 2011 I sold Mojo to a nice german fellow who wanted to do everything I planned to do and turn him into a GSR. I was unemployed at the time and needed the money so I was just happy the bug was going to a good home. Fast forward 3 years and a month later and I bought him back when the opportunity presented itself. I've known too many people who lament about the one that got away and I was in the same boat. So when I saw the ad on thesamba.com I recognized my car immediately and made the effort to get it back.

Drove 6 hours through hellish fog and rain in order to get him home
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...f.jpg~original

Interior is better than it was before, seats were re-upholstered with a black tweed like material that is as close to the original as you can get.
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...m.jpg~original

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...y.jpg~original

Also got the original sport rims back but he had them stripped and powder coated, very nice!
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...j.jpg~original

Mojo and Lucy together again
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...k.jpg~original

Unfortunately there was no motor when I bought him back, but I just happened to have a race motor sitting on a stand in the garage, how serendipitous! I started tearing down the motor to check for wear and raise the CR for street duty.
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...z.jpg~original

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...i.jpg~original

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...3.jpg~original


So now I'm the 3rd and 5th owner of this sports bug and I'll be tossing up some more updates soon. I really want to have him back together and on the road before the show season starts in April but I'd also like to get some body work done.

Nice!

SWEET!

Those seats look fantastic with the black tweed.

-Dave