|
SCCA T4 Build thread
JUNE 2021 UPDATE: BUILD LIST
It was time to put everything in 1 place. SAFETY:
SUSPENSION/BRAKES
OTHER:
GENERAL SETUP:
ORIGINAL POST: After 15 years of w2w racing I learned something about myself... I like racing more than wrenching so it's time to build a car for a class that doesn't require metric tones of cash and time to play in. That's SCCAs Touring-4 Relatively affordable entry price, relatively low operational expense. T4 is great because I don't have to touch the engine, transmission, clutch or differential. It's just safety, suspension, cooling, chassis setup, tune, tires and brakes. No fancy shop here, no sponsors and it's all done in my garage with only some exception (like the cage). I will even be doing paint in my garage. My goal is to take my current FRS to make it fully race ready for <$15k. I like to spoil myself so this may be difficult but here it goes. Out with the old and in with the new: https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7888/...e45c4ae4_z.jpgIMG_0081 by Rice Classic, on Flickr Due to the rules that specs the suspension (eibach prokit and non adj shocks) and an exhaust that exits in the stock location - you can easily build a race car with off the shelf parts. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7902/...9627a771_z.jpgIMG_0084 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7861/...2743c584_z.jpgIMG_0088 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7825/...a1679521_z.jpgIMG_0093 by Rice Classic, on Flickr While putting the exhaust on the nut seized on the bolt for the exhaust flange.. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4859/...523f0985_z.jpgIMG_0094 by Rice Classic, on Flickr Improvise, adapt, overcome - use one from my many Honda parts bin with a couple washers to mirror the dimensions.. Voila! https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7817/...738d464c_z.jpgIMG_0095 by Rice Classic, on Flickr Now that parts starting showing up it was time to gut the car. Of course of course.. the VERY first bolt I touch (seat bolt) is stuck and bugger up the head forcing me to get out a cutting wheel, chisel, hammer etc etc. But it came out.. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4821/...2ef72c77_z.jpgIMG_0136 by Rice Classic, on Flickr The rest of the interior was pretty straight forward, however I did have to watch a couple YouTube videos. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7855/...5fd3357b_z.jpgIMG_0143 by Rice Classic, on Flickr I am gonna miss this stereo - I just worked. In a world of "smart everything" I loved the simplicity and functionality of it. I'm pretty sure there's a mystery CD in it for whomever wants this ol' relic. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4808/...227d9de2_z.jpgIMG_0210 by Rice Classic, on Flickr Next step - Roll Cage. To be continued... |
Looking forward to following this!
T4 seems like a great place to play with these cars. I've thought about starting to work on the suspension bits toward this. Can get most of it on these and still play in 86 Cup stock class for awhile. |
T-4 is my favorite class to spectate at SCCA events. There is great diversity in the class with a lot of interesting eligible models. It is also a showroom stock+ class which I really enjoy because the cars perform and race like God and the manufacturers intended them to.
I have yet to see a T-4 race where there were not several drivers, with various model cars, vying for the lead in the late stages of the race. I really look forward to your build and development on the FR-S for the class. Subscribed! |
Awesome! :thumbup:
Can't wait to see the cage! |
The Cage
Local cage builder that's been around for decades - took great care. The bars are nice and tight to body and base plates are terrific.
He pushed me to remove the door metal and glass so the door bars could go right up the outer skin of the door but opted to leave the doors untouched. With that he did a great job designing door bars that snug to the body yet allow me to get in and out easily. But first! let me start by saying that when I bought my car in 2012 I had a thing for Mentos. An already opened roll fell under my seat and several of the mentos made it under the carpet, when would go around corners fast I could hear them rolling around... Here we are almost 7 years later and I finally got to remove the buggers - and find some spare change too!. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4866/...166e3af35d.jpgIMG_0146 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7881/...8e489df1_z.jpgIMG_0220 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4812/...34536e92_z.jpgIMG_0216 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7800/...e7cc7563_z.jpgIMG_0214 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4852/...d1abfcf0_z.jpgIMG_0213 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4895/...9f11c059_z.jpgIMG_0221 by Rice Classic, on Flickr I had stopped in while they were finishing it and I'm glad I did because we got to line up the seat and realized that the bar would too low for my liking where the seatbelts would mount. I hate having my selt belts are below the plain of my shoulders - they should be either straight back or even at an upward angle. This keeps pressure off my back and keeps my spine from getting compressed during an impact. So we added a bar for the belts. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4817/...4ca5142f_z.jpgIMG_0219 by Rice Classic, on Flickr I test fit the seat with the Buddy Club low profile slider mounts and because that seat is pretty narrow I was able to get it A) quite low and B) centered. Happy with that result. For the bumper strap - I have a penchant for easy buttons so I just purchased the Raceng Tow Shaft for my pimpy orange tow straps! https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7845/...6330c3e238.jpgIMG_0229 by Rice Classic, on Flickr Next up - Painting the interior/cage. |
Love this.
Subscribed. |
You can definitely have a competitive car within your 15k budget. I guess you could say I am partial to the class. :D
https://jacksonracing.com/jr-media/uploads/t4car.jpg Good luck and have fun! -Oscar Jr. |
Quote:
My 2019 goal is to do the 2 Majors races in the NW (Portland and Seattle) and reset the T4 track records on my first outing. In my ITA car, my fastest times were within 1 second or less of the current T4 race records at both tracks - you being the current T4 record holder at Pacific Raceways.... ...for now. :party0030: |
Did you sell the CRX? Hopefully a local ICSCC racer if you did.
|
Quote:
CRX went to a LuckyDog team, very nice guys too and I get to drive it in their first Enduro which is exciting. ITA stopped being a "growth" class in conference years ago despite my many efforts to revive it. Had some great seasons though. I see T4 being a growth class in both SCCA and now in Conference with CT4. The Race schedule this year is a little odd and early-season heavy. Because of that, I'm going to miss the first couple Conference races because of the SCCA Majors. With 5 races in May alone, I have to prioritize. I plan on making the Spokane Triple though! |
prep prep prep prep then... PAINT!
Since I'm not doing any fancy wire tucks or anything I figured I'd just tape the wires, leave them in place and get the darn thing painted. The factory-matched paint turned out great!
I usually do a Single stage but this time I went Primer ->base coat ->clear coat, and it is fantastic. A friend of mine helped out after about 12 hours of prep and 5 hours of spraying it was as done as it was going to be. https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4914/...00e1a6c0_z.jpgIMG_0236 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7838/...bbd1408b_z.jpgIMG_0235 by Rice Classic, on Flickr PREP: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4878/...383b2c93_z.jpgIMG_0262 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7830/...87bce30c_z.jpgIMG_0263 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7884/...8d7aff5a_z.jpgIMG_0265 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4830/...01bb87c1_z.jpgIMG_0264 by Rice Classic, on Flickr BASE COAT: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4875/...90748e19_z.jpgIMG_0266 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4829/...d2d4e530_z.jpgIMG_0267 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7886/...a81907ac_z.jpgIMG_0268 by Rice Classic, on Flickr CLEAR COAT: https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7818/...0b073399_z.jpgIMG_0270 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7838/...162aaeb1_z.jpgIMG_0271 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7883/...434e25ed_z.jpgIMG_0272 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7853/...de3823b5_z.jpgIMG_0273 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4878/...f3fa6856_z.jpgIMG_0275 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4846/...5ee2dc07_z.jpgIMG_0276 by Rice Classic, on Flickr I'm going to let it all call cure for a couple days. Then I'll take all of the masking off and start installing the dashboard, seat, belts etc. On the 28th it goes to Toyota for the Valve Spring Recall so I won't have an update until it's back from them. After that though is when the fun begins. Oil cooler, Air ducts, brakes, suspension, header cat-delete, setup, ride-height and eventually tuning. Feb and March are gonna be busy! |
Great googly moogly - the dash is back in, so is the seat and the belts. Holding off on the gauges and window nets until it's back from the dealer.
The seat is on the Buddy Club low profile slider brackets and they work well, a bit lower than stock on the lowest setting but I'm 6'0 and I'm happy with the height. However, they don't perfectly center the seat to the steering wheel, Im just left of center but once I'm moving I don't notice. I racked my brain trying to figure why my headlights didn't work and then after someone said "check yur plugs" I found a plug under the dash that was disconnected and voila.. back in the saddle. Now I'm fighting a P0500 code (left rear vehicle speed sensor code) and a seatbelt door chime that I will have to turn off via software. It may just be a bad sensor but I need to do some voltage/resistance test to find out. Car goes into Toyota tomorrow morning for Valve Spring recall performed and then when it's back the real fun begins!! I hope the tech at the dealer is skinny because he's not getting in the car if he ain't - that seat is tight!! https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4902/...96437a18_z.jpgIMG_0289 by Rice Classic, on Flickr |
I hope my interior ends up looking that nice.
Is it possible to jump a connector to give the car's brain a signal that the seatbelt is in use? |
Awesome build, looking forward to following along!
|
Awesome! I'm Jelly
|
Quote:
I used a friend's Carista app to remove the seat belt warning chime on both the driver and passenger seats, as well as the alarm when you hit the keyfob lock button with the doors open, and made it so pressing the keyfob unlock button once to unlock both doors. I'm interested in seeing your Innovate gauge install! |
Quote:
Sadly I never ran the red T4 FRS car up there, only the white STU FRS. I always borrowed a friend's old T4/SSB car up at Pacific to get National starts. I think the time has moved since my 2014 T4 record in the SSB Civic Si. I think I still have the STU record though. Setting goals and going over your data to improve are important. Make sure you have data and work from there! -Oscar Jr. |
Other than my valve springs getting finished I haven't got much done beside cleaning the garage and getting organized to get started again. It seems like every time I turn around other plans are being made for me! I should have more time after this weekend to get moving.
My next steps are: Interior
|
What shocks are you going with?
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
(I ask mainly because my goal is to slowly work my way toward a T4 build, but a cage won't come for at least 2 more years) |
Interested in your thoughts about corner balancing the car, tried this weekend but couldn't put a dent in the 100# difference across the front axle without the ride heights getting super screwy (like >1/2" different left to right)
<3 this thread |
killer job with the interior prep and paint, that all came together very nicely. What type of prep work did you do before attacking the base coat?
ST4 should be a lot of fun with this machine once it is finished. - Ryan |
Quote:
TBH, I can't speak to either, nor have I seen any dyno graphs of either. I can speak to my decision making process which heavily relies on my favorite quote: "is the juice worth the squeeze". I looked at what I'd be racing and where for starters.. A lightly modified FRS in the PacNW where the race tracks (except for Spokane) are quite smooth compared to many across this country. So all I have to build for are: PacNW tracks, maybe 1 in CA and then Road America (2020 runoffs). I called Bilstein directly and spoke with one of their technical guys about my car and my intentional use-case. Basically the B14 was valved/designed based on data acquired from testing at the Nordschliefe (sp?) on a lowered, stiffened car. Bilsteins are also inexpensive to have re-valved/rebuilt. The capability, up front cost and revalving cost/availability of the Bilsteins sold me over other options. The best places to gain time on track (low hanging fruit at this level of prep) will come from Tires, Tuning (power) and setup. Spending $$$ on fine tuning shocks comes last so it wasn't in the 2019 plans. |
Quote:
We have sprayed cars in the past with single stage, and there's something to be said for spraying once. However the base coat + clear coat really laid down nicely. The clear coat was very resistant to runs so we could lay it down thick, coat after coat. The 2 stage really pops and the effort was worth it. Its going to cause me pain to drill holes in it to mount things like seat belt eye bolts, cool shirt tray and lead weights! |
Quote:
|
Quote:
https://www.subarusource.com/ Their prices were low enough to justify buying new OEM stuff. |
Toiling away in the garage....
The gauges are on hold. I need a thing before I do thing so that thing has to wait...
So onto other things! :D Time to get into the engine bay! Off with the bumper https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7838/...43fcee0f_z.jpgIMG_0364 by Rice Classic, on Flickr Adios A/C! https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7832/...88337422_z.jpgIMG_0360 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7834/...c102a291_z.jpgIMG_0361 by Rice Classic, on Flickr Now it's time to:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7802/...e14ff568_z.jpgIMG_0365 by Rice Classic, on Flickr Intake ports were a bit cruddy, but not bad for 85k miles!! Gotta say, I'm very impressed. After a bit of cleaning https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7886/...623e2da4_z.jpgIMG_0366 by Rice Classic, on Flickr Here's how much GOOP was used by Toyota during the Valve Spring replacement... I hope it doesn't cause the same failure others have seen. Old Harness https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7833/...20bfd8b3_z.jpgIMG_0370 by Rice Classic, on Flickr New Harness https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7916/...d5620416_z.jpgIMG_0371 by Rice Classic, on Flickr That's right.. I bought 5 coil packs. When it costs $1000+ per race weekend, it makes sense to carry spares of things that you may need. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7868/...a5d4a969_z.jpgIMG_0372 by Rice Classic, on Flickr Unfortunately 2 of the sensors on my car were NOT compatible with my 2015 harness, requiring me to do a little soldering. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7865/...cf7973dc_z.jpgIMG_0377 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7806/...d2d63c2b_z.jpgIMG_0378 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7901/...84eb2b9e_z.jpgIMG_0379 by Rice Classic, on Flickr |
...continued
Intake back on and A/C Delete installed
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7911/...4e3a3076_z.jpgRSYO4805 by Rice Classic, on Flickr 55mm Restrictor plate (because rules) https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7823/...6e4bae8a_z.jpgIMG_0389 by Rice Classic, on Flickr Jackson Racing Oil cooler https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7842/...d161276d_z.jpgIMG_0390 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7811/...744de5fd_z.jpgIMG_0391 by Rice Classic, on Flickr Pulled the header - taking it in tomorrow to have the cat replaced with a straight through collector. The plan is to keep the heat shields in tact too. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7922/...6e10495f_z.jpgIMG_0392 by Rice Classic, on Flickr |
...the wheels on the car go round and round
ARP studs aren't cheap so I figured I would press them into new hubs/bearings instead of into 85k old ones...
mmmm.. made in Japan. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7827/...ee7663a8_z.jpgIMG_0398 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7861/...78439704_z.jpgIMG_0400 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7855/...d8bb10c7_z.jpgIMG_0401 by Rice Classic, on Flickr It was easy to use the old rotor to help with the press - but I needed to clean up the opening so the new hub didn't get wedged in there. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7911/...d229720f_z.jpgIMG_0404 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7828/...998c8a50_z.jpgIMG_0405 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7816/...9838ef3d_z.jpgIMG_0406 by Rice Classic, on Flickr Time to do the rears! Uh oh.. these are NOT made in Japan. That primarily only impacts my OCD. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7913/...e6e00ecb_z.jpgIMG_0408 by Rice Classic, on Flickr Removing the old front hubs... They did NOT come out easy. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7857/...2c6824fd_z.jpgIMG_0410 by Rice Classic, on Flickr A couple swings of the hammer were not on target. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7848/...8d7dedd7_z.jpgIMG_0411 by Rice Classic, on Flickr Installed with APR brake duct adapters. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7839/...ea782ce6_z.jpgIMG_0412 by Rice Classic, on Flickr I didn't like how my ball joint was exposed so I modified the OEM heat-shield to keep the lower joint protected. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7903/...5b822e3f_z.jpgIMG_0415 by Rice Classic, on Flickr Unfortunately when I did the other side.. I CUT THE HEAT SHIELD ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE MOUNTING HOLE!!! Anyone have a spare driver side heat shield they want to send me? (please?!) https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7822/...cbf57201_z.jpgIMG_0419 by Rice Classic, on Flickr Time to put in the new pads.. Raybestos ST47 (I'm told these go to "11"). https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7819/...756278c7_z.jpgIMG_0417 by Rice Classic, on Flickr |
But now I'm stuck on brake duct hoses...
So I 'm stuck at the brake ducts..
Apparently the APR Brake hose routing wants the ducts to go where my oil cooler lines are and that just ain't gonna work. I also can't remove the washer bottle either because the rules don't allow it. I don't want to run the ducts under the car either so I'm really out of options here. I'm very interested in running brake ducts but not sure how to make this work! Passenger side opening.. Just enough room. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7881/...523ed1cc_z.jpgIMG_0423 by Rice Classic, on Flickr Driver side room.. Nowhere near enough room. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7832/...52598858_z.jpgIMG_0420 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7907/...ff546ce6_z.jpgIMG_0422 by Rice Classic, on Flickr Thoughts? |
Quote:
|
Vibrant performance washer bottle. You would have to make it work but it is tiny compared to the stock one. I have one in my turbo stuff somewhere in storage.
http://vibrantperformance.com/catalo...Path=1022_1249 Ptuning also sells a kit. They are designed so that an intercooler will fit in there. |
Quote:
Also, I ditched the backing plates. Mine is 95% track car tho. If Tristor doesn't have a backing plate to ship you, I believe I still have mine. But if you decide to go with the Verus kit, you won't need them, as they come with stainless ones. http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...&postcount=164 |
Quote:
I have the PTuning one. I believe though SCCA rules don't allow modifying this component at all, so I don't think he can use either of these. |
Are you allowed to cut THROUGH your washer bottle?
You can also go *around* it, although not ideal. |
SCCA rules = “If it doesn’t say you CAN, then you CANNOT.”
However I'm going to invoke the Roffle(sp?) Corollary which suggests "If if says you CAN then you bloody well CAN." |
|
Quote:
Sent from my Moto E (4) Plus using Tapatalk |
Damn these rules!
So the good news is that I found a UK shop on Ebay that could get me B14s before the race season started - nobody state side was expecting anything until late April!
The downside is that I didn't plan on the spring seats being incompatible with the springs the rules require me to run. The Eibach Sport Plus springs required by the rules are designed for OEM type spring seats and not the small diameter seats that come with the b14s. Thankfully the upper perches I bought fit the eibachs perfect. https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7820/...3d0f04fb_z.jpgIMG_0434 by Rice Classic, on Flickr The Eibach springs on the them: https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7927/...6eac371f_z.jpgIMG_0435 by Rice Classic, on Flickr https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7804/...3bf928f6_z.jpgIMG_0437 by Rice Classic, on Flickr Looks like I may need custom seats (or are they called perches?) made to mate these springs up to these shocks. Anyone know if an easy-button exists to solve this riddle? |
| All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:49 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
User Alert System provided by
Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Lite) -
vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.