Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

Yeah that was my goal too but I still have some things to finish.

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

Yeah that was my goal too but I still have some things to finish.

Well I'm sure I'll see you down there at some point.

I really like your build! Good parts and not skipping steps.

Thanks man! That was my intention when I began this build, not to skip any steps or cheap out. For the most part surprisingly I stuck to it, except for drivetrain, which scares me. Stock trans, stock axles, and 3 bolt rear, something is breaking this season it's just a matter of time but my hope is that the motor will be able to handle anything I can throw at it and some more.

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

I really like your build! Good parts and not skipping steps.

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

Neat build. You REALLY need an AWD front bumper on that thing. Keep it up!

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

Neat build. You REALLY need an AWD front bumper on that thing. Keep it up!

Thanks! It is an AWD Eclipse bumper but I want to get the talon front bumper. I think it looks nicer and there is more room for my intercooler. For right now that bumper will do just fine though.

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

Well got my last batch of parts in the last couple of days. So I took today to try and put everything together and possibly start her up. Got my like new 16g(thanks to FP) hooked up, i/c pipes, ecu, AFPR, all fluids in her, boost lines, installed new Greddy RS bov, and every other little misc. thing(Trust me there was alot).It was getting late but I needed to go to the local parts store around 4:30 for a few random hoses and hose clamps that I was missing. Got back to my car, finished everything up just as it was starting to get dark. Time to turn her over!! I was so nervous to even turn her over thinking something might go wrong after all I did but it turned over flawlessly. Built up fuel pressure right away but oil pressure took a little time. Hooked the power transistor up to try and start her but no go. Didn't have much time to look at anything as it was getting dark but I don't have spark into any of the cylinders. I'll try and diagnose on Friday and hopefully drive her around a bit this weekend Only noticed ONE leak right out of the fuel tank but that will be fixed Saturday. All in all today was a MAJOR success! So glad to just have turned over for the first time in almost a year and a half. I can only imagine how I'm going to feel when she fires So excited for that. I'll end my adrenaline fueled tirade now Now time to get some food and beverage because I had NOTHING all day haha

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

Well after hours of testing out sensors, grounds, and such I am pretty sure the cam angle sensor is the cause of the no start. I'm getting one from DSMgraveyard on Wednesday. If she runs I will get some video and pics of the finished product. Wish me luck.

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

After a year and a half build today I FINALLY got her started!!!! Turns out it was a bad cam angle sensor after all. At first when I tryed to start it everything sounded the same, but after a few more cranks it started to pop a bit so I knew I was getting closer. After a little tweeking of the CAS she fired up and ran decent. After a few more times she sounded great!! No missing a little bit of a stutter when I get on the gas but it pretty much cleared itself up. I only drove it about 7 feet because of a fuel leak that needs fixed. Once I clear that up she should be good to go. My buddy got video but the sound got fucked up. I will get video soon. Words cannot even describe how ecstatic I am right now!!! :tree:

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

It's been over a year since I updated this thing and it has been the most exciting year for this car. So much to update I don't even know where to start but here goes!

Not too long after my last post I was able to get my car to the track for the first time. This was before I installed the 2 step so the launches are terrible. This was against my buddies Mustang GT
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1171909314927&comments&set=t.729640768&type=1
This was also still with my chip from Jeff O. I had the boost gauge converted into a knock gauge and that thing would shoot all the way up under WOT. I thought there was just something wrong with the gauge because I didn't think I could get that bad of knock with good afr's and boost yet to be turned up so I ignored it, thought it was just phantom knock, and just ran the car like this for quite some time.

I later installed the wires to get the 2 step working and then went back to the track! This was against a Challenger SRT-8.

Def much better than before the 2 step, but I still had to work on my launches.

This next race is my second best time to date. Supercharged VR-6 Jetta

I'm not what you would call the biggest VW fan so this was a nice victory. I've since ran a better time of 12.3 but I didn't get video of that pass.

Not too long after this I finally got a better job that could finally fund my DSM addiction. So I decided to ditch the DSMChips chip and go with ECMLink V3 Lite. I was now able to look further into my knock issue. ECMlink was also saying that I was getting an insane amount of knock so I figured it was phantom knock or the knock sensor was bad. So I got a new sensor and still same thing. I was told to check if its phantom knock or real knock I should put new plugs in, beat the piss out of it, take the plugs out ,inspect them with a magnifying glass and check for little aluminum specs. If there are specs, its real knock, if not its most likely phantom knock. I did that and sure enough there are specs on the plugs. So I did some tuning and got the knock to pretty much disappear. To do that I had to richen it up pretty good and retard the timing like you wouldn't believe. I'm running about 10* of timing at WOT, AFR's in the very low 11's, ignition timing set to 5* BTDC, mechanical timing fine, and only 15lbs of boost.

I ended up just running the car like this the rest of the year until I put her away for the winter. Other than a nice purchase of a Thermal 3" catback, and a set of BC 272 cams on black friday I didn't really get much for the car over the winter. It wasn't until about the past couple months that Ive been diving back into the GSX. I took a nice trip out to Extreme PSI to get some BC adjustable cam gears, and a Hallman Pro boost controller. Then a couple weeks ago ordered KYB AGX adjustable shocks, Tein springs, Megan 3" downpipe, Evo 8 Enkies, Hankook Ventus V12 Evo tires, And finally picked up an AWD front bumper.

Suspension and downpipe

Evo 8 Enkies just sitting next to the car to get an idea.

The new rubber.

Here is a pic of the Thermal exhaust installed, bye bye 3" side exit!

Here is a pic showing how bad the old bumper lined up and also the blacked out headlights.

And now the new bumper on, I know it needs paint, and it will have it soon but it lines up so much better.

Here is a before pic of the suspension/rim and tire setup.

And after..

Let me tell you how this drop and these wheels set this car off so much. I think it looks sooo much damn better and it handles like its on rails, I couldn't be happier with it! I know the bumper needs to be painted but other than that I couldn't be much happier with the appearance of the car right now.
Here is a pic just to show what the motor looks like in it's current state.

So that is pretty much everything since my last update. I still have a lot of work to do but I'm very happy with where it is right now. My biggest concern now is getting this knock issue figured out so I can turn up the boost and make some real power. I'm planning on tearing the head off of the car after the big Sonic meet this coming Sunday to hopefully get a first hand look at what is causing my knock. I can also install my 272's and adjustable cam gears. After I get it all back together and hopefully have the knock issue figured out I want to take it down to Brad Brooks to get it tuned and hopefully be making over 350 to the wheels which I don't think should be much of a problem. I would like to get this car with the 16g into the mid to high 11's. With a good tune and the boost up about 10 more lbs I don't think that should be much of a problem either. That's all I got for now. I'm def going to keep up to date with this thread from now on!

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

Should look really sharp with the bumper painted!

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

Should look really sharp with the bumper painted!

Thanks man that it should! But for now it stays dark green and adds a sort of sleeper look to it haha.

Well tomorrow is going to be my first time at the track for 2011. I just installed my Hallman Pro MBC and turned the boost up to about 22 psi dropping to about 20 psi by redline. When I get there I might turn it up to about 25 psi depending on my times. The ultimate goal would be to see an 11 second pass. So far I've managed a 12.3 with only 17 psi so I'm thinking I should be damn close running 22-25 psi. I will be taking video's and will post them asap. Wish me luck!

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

That's my goal too for this year.

Good luck, make sure to take a video or at least some pics

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

That's my goal too for this year.

Good luck, make sure to take a video or at least some pics

Well race day didn't go at all like I had hoped. I had 6 total passes but only 3 of them were clean. I struggled to get out of the 13's, my best pass was a 12.9 @ 108. The mph was there but the ET wasn't even close. This was my first time at this track so I don't know if that had anything to do with it. I'm going back to my home track this upcoming Saturday so hopefully I can get back into the low 12's and maybe get my 11 second pass. I took a few video's from inside the car, I'll get them up once my friend uploads them.

This was also the farthest trip I ever took with my car and it held up great for the ride there and for my 6 passes with the exception of a charge pipe blowing off once. The way home, was I different story. I decided to see how fast I could go, got up to 135 and let off. About a mile or two down the road I heard something dragging so I pulled over on the side of the highway and found I almost lost my damn bumper. I was dragging it under the car and it was being held on by one bolt, so took the bolt off and threw the bumper in the back. I also noticed an insane exhaust leak, thought I cracked my manifold or something crazy. Tuns out one of the two bolts holding my downpipe on literally snapped so most of the exhaust was coming out of the O2 housing. All in all the repairs should only take a a max of 30 minutes but it definitely could have been a lot worse. I think I used of one of my lives today

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

Eeh, you made it back in one piece

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

Eeh, you made it back in one piece

Well from the bumper falling off I made it back in two pieces . But I know what you mean, it could/should have been a lot worse. Oh and thanks for being the only person who is seemingly interested in my build! :dunno:

Well today should be a rather productive day once I get home from visiting my mom for mothers day. I would like to have the head completely off the car to FINALLY get to the bottom of my knock issue. After talking to several people about my setup it has lead me to believe that due to my had being resurfaced a few too many times, the thin OEM composite head gasket, and my 1mm over-sized valves that my CR is most likely way to high for a boosted 4G motor causing it to knock. I'm probably going to end up getting a completely different head, going back to stock size valves, getting a thicker MLS head gasket, and finally put my 272's/ adjustable cam gears in. I think all that would definitely take care of my knock issue so I can make some real power and ditch this 16g. I'll update tonight if the car doesn't frustrate me too much.

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

Keep us posted dude!

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

Alright well it didn't take me long to find a cylinder head! Just bought one off of Gonzo so hopefully I'll get that by the end of the week so I can have a machine shop check it out. Still have to order my valves which I might still do today before work, then I might start ripping apart my current head. This whole getting it back together before memorial day is looking good so far!

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

I will get it shipped for you ASAP! Nice build thread.

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

I will get it shipped for you ASAP! Nice build thread.

Yea I really appreciate it, I hate not being able to drive her when it's nice out. Thanks for the kind words man!

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

Sorry,the pics did'nt want to load on my screen. Now I see the pistons. Those smiles are not that bad. I don't see any real damage. But than again I'm not physically there to inspect them. But at first glance they look ok to me. I've had deeper indentations than that from a broken keyway in the crank which caused timing to jump. I left them in the motor and that engine still runs strong to this day in my friend's VR-4.
If your looking for a good gasket,the Fel-Pro MLS PermaTorque gaskets are amazing! No o-rings needed with this gasket. You can find them for under $200. Well worth it in my opinion.

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

Sorry,the pics did'nt want to load on my screen. Now I see the pistons. Those smiles are not that bad. I don't see any real damage. But than again I'm not physically there to inspect them. But at first glance they look ok to me. I've had deeper indentations than that from a broken keyway in the crank which caused timing to jump. I left them in the motor and that engine still runs strong to this day in my friend's VR-4.
If your looking for a good gasket,the Fel-Pro MLS PermaTorque gaskets are amazing! No o-rings needed with this gasket. You can find them for under $200. Well worth it in my opinion.

Yea man I didn't think they were too bad to need to replace them but I'm no machinist so Ill ask one. My one concern with leaving those in there is that the sharp edges might create a hot spot causing me to knock which is what I'm trying to get rid of.

As for the head gasket it's come down to the one that you mentioned and this new one I discovered on ExtremePSI, http://www.extremepsi.com/store/product.php?productid=23291&cat=255&page=1. Like I said hopefully I can retain everything in my block. I'm replacing the actual head, valves, cams, gears, and timing belt. I already have the cams, gears, and head I have to buy everything else plus the machine work. Hoping to do this all for under 1k but I'll spend however much it takes to get it right.

Awesome Build Man, Just read through it, You're work seems very Flawless. Very nice, Glad to see she's making some passes. Keep it up, Subscribed Most Definitely!

Jeff.

Thanks! It's def been a VERY long road to get where I am now but I seriously wouldn't take back a second of it, has taught me so much. Although I wish my work was more flawless, maybe I wouldn't have to tear the head off so much But yes, finally taking her down the track was by far my proudest moment of the car. I definitely plan on not stopping ANYTIME soon.


As for the car, I'm currently waiting on my new(used) head to arrive, hopefully this week still. In the meantime I could break down my current head as I'm using the springs and retainers from it. I also need to order a few things from ExtremePSI; Manley valves, valve stem seals, Greddy timing belt, head gasket, and a head gasket kit.

My hopes would be to have the head back from the machine shop and ready to mate with the block by the end of next week. Would give me a good amount of time to get the car running nice and strong again before memorial day. HOPEFULLY NO KNOCK, then I can finally get her on a dyno, and get her professionally tuned. Goal would be 375+ to the wheels, but now I'm getting ahead of myself One step at a time!

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

Awesome Build Man, Just read through it, You're work seems very Flawless. Very nice, Glad to see she's making some passes. Keep it up, Subscribed Most Definitely!

Jeff.

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

I don't know man. For $200 I would definately go with the Fel-Pro first. Magnus has ran over 60+psi on the Fel-Pro,and re-used it as well. For that much $ I woulod buy what I KNOW is going to work. HKS is the only other company I would spend over $200 on a head gasket from, which is a great gasket.

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

I don't know man. For $200 I would definately go with the Fel-Pro first. Magnus has ran over 60+psi on the Fel-Pro,and re-used it as well. For that much $ I woulod buy what I KNOW is going to work. HKS is the only other company I would spend over $200 on a head gasket from, which is a great gasket.

Yea I'm definitely going to end up going with the Fel-Pro. Don't feel like being a test dummy for something new and have it fail. I'll make it easier on myself and go with what already proven.


Now, onto my car. On Thursday I got my valves and head gasket set from ExtremePsi and on Friday my new head came in! So I've been busy stripping down both of the heads. They are both completely stripped and the new head is going to the machine shop on Monday! Everything on the new head seems to look pretty good to the naked eye.

Getting ready to take the valves out of the new head.

Everything is out!

Then I stripped the old head but before I did I snapped a pic of how the intake valves sat in the head. Kinda hard to tell but they weren't flush with the head. They stuck out a good amount almost as if the valves seats weren't cut for the oversized valves.

All the new go fast parts to go in!

BC 272's, BC adjustable cam gears, and Manley valves.

I have BC springs and retainers from my old head that are going in with the new head. I'm going to be dropping the head off at JNZ Monday. Hopefully I can get the head back by the end of the week or at least before Memorial day. We shall see.

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

Well I finally uploaded the video's from when I went to the track last Saturday. They were all in car video's. I think I like out of car video's better but oh well.

Here's the first one. I missed second gear and ran a 13.7 I believe.

And here is the second pass. This time I blew off a charge pipe running against my buddies STi. Just stop the video after the pass I forgot to turn off the camera.

This was my first "clean" pass of the day. I had to baby it into second because it was being fussy that day. Still only a 13.1 pass.

This was my last and best pass of the day, 12.9 @ 108.

I don't know what was going on with the car this day but I wasn't getting anywhere close to my best time of 12.3. I think it was a combination of babying my transmission and the conservative tune I had on it for the knock. Now that the knock is getting taken care of, I hope to get it on the dyno soon and get her into the 11's on the 16g. One can only hope.

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

I like your videos! What camera are you using, and where/what are you using to mount it?

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

I like your videos! What camera are you using, and where/what are you using to mount it?

Yeah,really clear. Now I'm interested what cam your using too.

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

What boost were you running?

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

What boost were you running?

In those videos it was around 22 psi. The tune is ridiculously conservative though. I was running about 9* of timing at WOT because of the knock. I ran better times on 15psi with xx amount of timing with my stage 3 dsmchip but was detonating like crazy. That is why I'm rebuilding the head.

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

You need meth

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

You need meth

Yea I really do for what I want to do with the 16g. I need to do a little more research on it though because I know nothing about it. I would like to get 400whp on the 16g. That was my ultimate goal when I went with the 16g about 3 years ago.


I had a bit of a setback at the machine shop with the head I bought. The head turned out to be pretty much worthless. Lucky for me the guy I bought the head off of was very very good about this and refunded my money no questions asked. I just purchased another head a couple days ago and I'm taking it to the machine shop tomorrow. Hopefully all is well with this head so I can get my car back on the road. It's looking really tight for my Memorial day prediction though.

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

Well Friday I finally got a call from JNZ that my head was finished up. I went right over there to pick it up, actually took off of work to pick it up and start working on it I ended up needing new lifters, rockers, and exhaust guides to go with my BC 272 cams, BC cam gears, and BC springs and retainers.

I didn't get back home until late Friday so most of the work had to be done Saturday.

Timing the motor

Just a pic of the new head with BC goodies I ended up using a Fel-Pro Permatorque head gasket with my ARP's.

It took a little while longer to get everything else hooked up and ready to fire but I wanted to get crap oil to initially start it up and get any gunk out so I had to wait until Sunday because I was beat. Sunday came, got the oil, did some finishing touches to the car then tried firing her up. Ran into a few small problems before she fired but eventually I got it and she was running and sounding good!

Here is a pic of the bay with the new gears and Gates timing belt.

And finally here is a clip of the sound with the 272's.

Me and my buddy took the car out and did a little bit of tuning with some pulls and the knock issue is a lot better but it still knocks more than I'd like. I can definitely feel the difference with the cams in and running more timing. I'm still trying to get the car professionally tuned and hopefully solve the knock 100%. I'll be taking it to the track in about 3 weeks, hopefully I see 11's

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

Nice work on the head ! Looks really clean !

Where's the meth ?

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

Nice work on the head ! Looks really clean !

Where's the meth ?

Thanks a lot man!! I love the way it looks and sounds! As for the meth, I believe that is the next step for me

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

Have you figured out what kit you would like?

It would've been my next big purchase, but other things decided they didn't wanna hold up.

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

Have you figured out what kit you would like?

It would've been my next big purchase, but other things decided they didn't wanna hold up.

No man I haven't done one bit of research on meth kits yet. I know how it goes man, you have your heart set on what you want to get than something else goes wrong. What are you gonna do?

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

Finally time for a decent sized update. Lots has happened since my last post but I'll start with the week leading up to the shootout. First and foremost I FINALLY got my bumper painted so my car is actually one color now, and looking better than it EVER has IMO. Also had a good amount of extra paint so I was able to touch up the entire car. Here are some pics, pre-shootout.

Also had some work that needed to be done in the engine bay. Cleaned the bay as good as I could, installed a 3" polished intake to replace the stock rubber one, had my buddy weld a bead on the end of each of my charge pipes to keep them from blowing off along with some new heavy duty clamps that have not let me down yet, and I installed the Jay Racing alternator relocation kit which I absolutely love. Not only does is clean up the engine bay, it got rid of my AWFUL squeaky belt problem that left me feeling embarrassed time after time again.

Last but not least...C16! Let me tell you how much my car loves this stuff! I was finally able to tune the car WITHOUT having to compensate for knock one bit! I'll tell you what, this car felt SOO damn good on this tune and had me VERY excited to make passes at the Shootout because I was almost certain I would see an 11 second pass(according to my pants dyno). Anyway, here is a pic of the engine bay, pre-shootout.

Now, onto the 2011 DSM Shootout! Here are a couple pics of the nice little rig we had to haul my DSM and a few pics I took on the way there.

Finally we had arrived, all settled in at the Best Western.

The first night we got there(Friday night) could not have gone much worse than it did. I was cruising around through the different hotels and such enjoying having my DSM at the Shootout for the first time. I get to the Econolodge parking lot and everyone is egging me on to hit the 2-step, so I do. Then I go to pull out and I see the huge crowd out on the main strip so I decide to do a quick 1st and 2nd gear pull for them. What do you know a fucking cop is in the parking lot next to the Econolodge. I pulled into the Best Western parking lot, parked the car, and quickly got out before the cop got to me in hopes he wouldn't know I did it, I was wrong. Turned into a 95$ fine for "screeching my tires." Yes that is what it said on the ticket.

I gathered myself quickly after that, 95$ is not a big deal and wasn't going to spoil my fun. So we went back to the hotel for a bit, started to drink and get crazy, then I had the idea of going back over to the Econo, this time on foot. Two of my friends thought it would be a good idea to walk over there with open beer cans in their hands, not a good idea! Again two cops in the parking lot next to the Best Western saw us walk in front of their cruisers. Stopped both my friends with the beers, ARRESTED and HANDCUFFED them and told us they were spending the night in jail for open containers of alcohol. These cops were being complete dicks to us. We lived 8 hours away, had no idea where they were taking them, or for how long, and the cops didn't want to tell the 3 of us(who weren't going to jail) where the cop shop was. They finally told us but said they would be spending the night.

So obviously the 3 of us are FREAKING out. Remember we were only in Ohio for about 5 hours and all this is already happening. We actually end up getting a call from both of them around the same time saying they will be letting them go for good behavior but we have to go and pick them up. Only one problem, we were all wasted, and the way the night was going we weren't going to take any chances on driving. So what do we do? We have to walk 3 miles there to get them.

When we finally get there they are full on joking with the two receptionists behind the counter. Said they were also shooting the shit with the cops while they were there. They said and I quote "These are the two nicest guys you ever arrested." They even took their "mug shots" just for fun before they left. Anyway 3 more miles later and we were back at the hotel, BEAT as hell, ready to just forget about that whole day and have fun at the car show on Saturday.

So on Saturday we are on our way to the track for the car show/autocross and I get this call from a random number. I dismiss is because I thought it was someone at the shootout I gave my number to trying to find me, he/she also left a voice mail, I dismissed that too. THEN I also got a text saying "Trudee Baske, manager Best Western. You need to return to the hotel immediately. You are getting kicked out and we are calling the cops." I was like okay someone is fucking with me so I called the number and the owner of the Best Western picks up flipping the fuck out on me because I was storing 5 gallons of C16 in the hotel room. She said we had 30 minutes to get there and get all our shit and get out, she was calling the cops, and I was lucky she wasn't pressing charges. I honestly didn't even think twice about storing the fuel in there, it was 90$ for 5 gallons of that shit and I wasn't about to just let it in the back of a truck where everyone at the event would want it, so I put it inside for housekeeping to see, whooops!

I left my car at the Shootout hoping to return to it when we got this all sorted out. The ride back to the hotel was DEAD silence from all 5 of us. We get back to the hotel and thankfully no cops, they didn't even call them. So we packed all of our shit up and were all wondering "what the fuck now?" We ended up getting a hotel down the strip a little further at a Motel 8 which still worked out very well. Still tons of DSM'ers there and at a nice spot. This time I didn't bring the fuel inside. Thankfully this was the END of our bad luck(authority wise) at the Shootout.

Anyway back to some of the pics I took of my car and some others after we returned to the track to try and salvage our day.

That night was finally a nice drama free night and before I knew it, it was race day! The morning started off a little rainy and my damn car wouldn't start. Turned out I had a bad connection on my starter, got that fixed and cruised out to the track.

First pass in the DST class my car was breaking up the entire way down and I got a 13.2 @ 101 I believe. Changed out the plugs, motor was running awesome again but my 3rd gear was acting up worse then ever. Engaging maybe 25% of the time I was trying.

Second pass motor running awesome but completely lost my 3rd gear. Went back to the pits started fiddling with the linkage and shifter just to see if that was the culprit. Nothing I did made it any better. I was thinking of just calling it a day and watching some racing but my friends changed my mind. Since half the guys in the DST class were breaking and not even making it down the track and the fact that we drove 8 hours to race my car I said fuck it and ran it one last time. Still couldn't hit 3rd, just bogged it into 4th and cruised to a 13.8 @ 106.

I was so frustrated with the timing of the trans taking a shit. I was at the DSM Shootout with my car which had been my goal for about 3 years, and the motor felt better then EVER, thought I would break my personal best of 12.3. But it just wasn't our weekend at all.

Here is one video I took with the GoPro. You can tell I had a hell of a time getting it into 3rd. The launch however was good.

I knew exactly what this all meant. Time to beef up the entire drive line! I didn't waste too much time. The day I got home a went to the credit union to apply for a 5k personal loan. I got accepted and have the check sitting next to me now.

I did a good amount of research on everything that I want to do and this is going to be my setup. Obviously going with a Shep stage 3 transmission, ACT 2600 pressure plate with a Southbend clutch disk, JNZ tuning drive shaft rebuild kit, new stock replacement front axles, and a 4 bolt rear/axles I picked up from my buddy. If I have some money left over I want to get a meth injection kit and a nice 3000GT front brake kit I found online for a good price.

This weekend I pulled everything out. Trans, clutch, flywheel, x-fer case, driveshaft, rear end, and axles.

Here is the trans out of the car, just waiting on the special shipping box from Shep to send this baby out!

Pics of my toasted clutch, this thing only had about 4k miles on it. But more than it's fair share of launches. Will probably never go with a Fidanza clutch again though.

Disk wore down past the buttons.

Buttons were wearing down the surface on the pressure plate.

And finally a pic of the old rusted out 3 bolt rear. Definitely going to hang onto this bad boy just in case something happens to the 4 bolt. This rear is still good and NEVER gave me any problems.

The game plan for this week is to get all of my parts ordered, take my flywheel to the machine shop for a resurfacing, install the 4 bolt rear, and ship out my transmission to Shep. I would love to have this car back on the road in two weeks for a local event at our track but it all depends on the turn around time on the trans. I have a feeling Shep is busy dealing with all the other broken transmissions from the Shootout so I'm not holding my breathe.

I'm so excited to get all of this onto the car. Going to feel good not having to worry about any drivetrain parts failing on me for a while. I can finally take advantage of the NLTS. I also now feel confident when I upgrade my turbo setup that it will be able to handle the power. The motor has already been built for quite some time and I feel the drivetrain is finally going to match the motor making for a VERY solid DSM. I'm going to try and keep this thing a little more up to date so I don't have to make such long posts. Reply's are much appreciated

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

Damn, it sounds like you had quite the fun time, between the cops and the track At least everybody came back in one piece, including the car. I wish I could've made it, but I set a personal goal to make it there next year. For the transmission, you'll be happy with something new. When I installed mine, which is nothing as fancy as yours will be, just the Evo 1 gearset in a 90 trans, but new everything else, and shimmed, it feels so solid to drive. It has given me zero issues. And it's nice being able to shift straight into first, without grabbing second before first

You're really trying to get the most out of your 16G eh? Good

 

Re: My 08-09 1990 GSX build, and the story behind it all...

Damn, it sounds like you had quite the fun time, between the cops and the track At least everybody came back in one piece, including the car. I wish I could've made it, but I set a personal goal to make it there next year. For the transmission, you'll be happy with something new. When I installed mine, which is nothing as fancy as yours will be, just the Evo 1 gearset in a 90 trans, but new everything else, and shimmed, it feels so solid to drive. It has given me zero issues. And it's nice being able to shift straight into first, without grabbing second before first

You're really trying to get the most out of your 16G eh? Good

Yea man the Shootout was so ridiculous this year with all the shit we went through but it was all worth it and it makes for a good story. I hope to see you and the whip their next year!

The transmission has me pretty damn psyched, going to feel so good to bang gears and not really feel bad about it What exactly is the difference with the evo 1st gear?

As for me trying to get everything out of the 16g, yea I really am. I at least would like to see an 11 second pass on it this season before I retire it. Or at least beat my 12.3. I've decided that this is probably going to be the last full season for the 16g. My goal is to have a nice FP GT30 setup on the car by next years Shootout. We shall see I guess.