Alright, not sure why I don't have a photo...but decided after all that the black covers don't look good and we're going with white! :P
Whipped up a couple of rock shields for the O2 sensors:
Started on a skid plate to keep myself from having to re-pan the car again :P
Oh hey! Looks like it's smaller than this skid plate that came off of
some rally car of the past that passed through the shop...
Had to make a few adjustments, and that meant trimming and adding some bits. This is obviously far too ugly to actually run with, but it gives me everythign I need to measure and have a plate cut and bent. I don't have the equipment to manage 3/16" thick aluminium, so we'll mock it up and send it out to a fab shop for a nice one-piece bent unit. In the meantime, we'll paint this puppy black and run it!
No idea when I acquired a genuine Kamei front spoiler with cooler holes, but I think it's finally time to take it off the wall and hang it on the front of a car?
Either they were supposed to be painted, or someone put the ABS sheet in the mold upside down...or both.
I'm a big fan of putting mesh in holes to keep stones from hitting the car...but silver mesh in a black spoiler looks terrible. If you paint the mesh, it chips, so you need a system that allows you to touch it up pretty easily. Enter plastidip! A little bit of protection from chipping (since it's rubbery) but also very easy to touch up.
I've also built ducting above and below to help direct airflow into my oil cooler. Was going to do the sides as well, but it turns out my lovely financee has 'borrowed' my contour gauge. Guess that will have to wait!
Taped up the rear fenders, and got it outside for it's first 230km worth of driving! It's absolutely fantastic. Has some issues, the steering wheel is off to the left, I'm going to need to go to the gym for my clutch leg, the speed signal isn't getting to the rally computer, and both the fuel gauge and gear indicators in the PDM need some work. But it's driving, and a BLAST!
The PDM and programming functions into the car is fantastic. Having intermittent wipers is awesome. But I realized as I was driving, there is nothing to indicate that they are
on unless it's actually wiping. There isn't a physical switch that has moved. Same with the headlights, if you put them on in the daylight for rain, there is no way to actually
know if they are on...since the display screen adjusts the brightness due to outside light levels. Hmmm. A quick 2min with the laptop, reflash the programming, and I now have an indicator icon in the dash for both of them. Sweet!
And then, cuz this is totally normal after 200km, I tore it all apart in a friend's shop in Vancouver.
While I'm on a trip to Florida, he's going to do Paint Protection Film (PPF) on the front fenders, front apron and rear fenders. He'll then do a graphine-nano-ceramic coat on the whole car, after fixing two scuff marks I put in the clear on the roof. When I get back, I'll reassemble the car and it's basically good to go for the driving season! The PPF should keep the paint protected for 10 years, at which point it needs to be steamed off. You then decide if you want to reapply, or let the stone chips begin from that point on!
The minor items from my test drive above should be pretty easy to deal with over a night or two in the shop...so this thread is probably going to be getting pretty quiet soon.
-Dave