My progress updates and question for track minded people.

[illwillem]

So after getting the trans grind and CEL as posted here (http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php/169977-Big-willow-need-input-on-problems-Video) I parked the car and figured out my next move. I'd known since I got the car and started tracking it that I would eventually want to take out the crappy USDM gear ration and wimpy LSD. After the transmission drama i figured that there was no better time than now and bit the bullet and ordered a blueprinted and rebuilt trans from SOS with JDM gears and type R spec LSD. Also got light flywheel and clutch and decided to stick with my 4.06 FD over the 4:4- hopefully it was the right decision. I swapped the trans this last weekend and, sure enough, i had blasted the snap-ring into a million little pieces, (the car is a 92 and well out of the snap-ring VIN
range )

Meanwhile whie waiting for the transmission to show up I installed prospeed RDX kit, some non-comp front clamps, silicone hoses, swapped out all master cyls, got a new slave, got different rear toe arms, sway bar links, aluminum overflow tank and a different seat to rework my harness. I also took out my front steel bumper and window washer bottle and fabb'd up a smaller frame rail end bar. that ill be able to attach my new splitter too. ive only got a few more things to finish and then a corner balance and im back on the track.

There are a few things that I need to figure out before I take it back to the track. Input appreciated.

1) The CEL light that I had come one a few times at Big Willow, In the video in the link that I posted. I'd never had that code before I got it 3 sessions in a row on the same turn. As was suggested I pulled off the V-tec solenoid screens on both banks and found them clean and free of debris. The car ran fine after i reset the ECU each time, Im wondering if I had maybe flooded the heads with oil because of the sustained vtec condition. I remember reading (cant find it now) that some c3.0 race motors run an AN line drilled and tapped from one valve cover to the other to stabilize pressure and drain one head to the other under this circumstance. Has anyone done this? Do you think this would have been the cause of the CEL and loss of vtec? it'd never happened to me before on any other track in my 100+ trackdays and I already have a oil breather tank installed..

2) Ive been noticing uneven wear on the outside 1/3'rd of my front tires alond with some roll over. Tires are NT01's with big sway bars. Bottom line is i need to start running more camber up front. My question is- What is the max camber Ill be able to get out of the stock adjustments? ( on KW v3's). If I remember correctly my previous specs are in the neighborhood of -2.3 front 0 toe. I'd like to get closer to a -3(+/-) based on the wear i see on the tires. The car is track only now days, but its driven, not trailored, the 100 miles. To get the camber im looking for would I need to press in something like this? http://www.daliracing.com/v666-5/catalog/index_browse_part.cfm?focus=1300#ZOOMInstalled or will i be able to get it there with the stock lobes?

 

[docjohn]

can't help with the engine bit..but the outer wear on your front tires may mean you have too much slop in your susp bushings..check that out..if I had a track only car I would get all monoballs/noncompliant everything.

 

[1K2GO]

You are maxed out at -2.3 deg. If you want more you'll need camber kits. As Doc said, sounds like your bushings are shot and time to get the rubber out of your track toy.

 

[RYU]

Speaking of just the front suspension. I'm only aware of the non-compliance clamps and the sway bar bushings as a common "track" related item to replace. What else is there?

I know the old DAL site mentioned several bushings need to be replaced but I don't know any place that sells the complete kit.

 

[1K2GO]

Speaking of just the front suspension. I'm only aware of the non-compliance clamps and the sway bar bushings as a common "track" related item to replace. What else is there?

I know the old DAL site mentioned several bushings need to be replaced but I don't know any place that sells the complete kit.

I believe Titanium Dave makes some nifty stuff but what do you care? I heard you traded your NSX in for a Segway (type R). :wink:

 

[RYU]

I believe Titanium Dave makes some nifty stuff but what do you care? I heard you traded your NSX in for a Segway (type R). :wink:

Segway with training wheels! Let's get that right...

 

[1K2GO]

Segway with training wheels! Let's get that right...

Really really nice training wheels... with or without liners?

 

[illwillem]

Cool ill check the bushings as suggested- is there one to check specifically that would be the culprate? I didnt have the front non compliance clamps till a week ago, could I attribute the wear to that? I went ahead and ordered the comptech camber sleeves too so ill have more camber to work with. As for ditching more rubber bushings I'll PM TitaniumDave, but as RYU asked, what else is there to change? Seems i have everything already covered and looking at the manual to take it apart seems like the rest is ball joints on the A arms and the tie rod ends coming off the steering rack, of which carbon6 looks like they are making a piece soon.

I also ordered some of these quick latches today- http://www.quik-latch.com/black-anodized-mini-quik-latch.html

I got a couple for my carbon hood as piece-of-mind and ordered 6 more to see if I can come up with something clever when I build a frame mounted bracket to attach my new front splitter. I've had to sprint in late to one too many drivers meetings because im been fumbling with the tabbed bolt design i use now.

 

[RYU]

Really really nice training wheels... with or without liners?

I believe they fit 35s though they come stock with 15s!

Cool ill check the bushings as suggested- is there one to check specifically that would be the culprate? I didnt have the front non compliance clamps till a week ago, could I attribute the wear to that? I went ahead and ordered the comptech camber sleeves too so ill have more camber to work with. As for ditching more rubber bushings I'll PM TitaniumDave, but as RYU asked, what else is there to change? Seems i have everything already covered and looking at the manual to take it apart seems like the rest is ball joints on the A arms and the tie rod ends coming off the steering rack, of which carbon6 looks like they are making a piece soon.

I also ordered some of these quick latches today- http://www.quik-latch.com/black-anodized-mini-quik-latch.html

I got a couple for my carbon hood as piece-of-mind and ordered 6 more to see if I can come up with something clever when I build a frame mounted bracket to attach my new front splitter. I've had to sprint in late to one too many drivers meetings because im been fumbling with the tabbed bolt design i use now.

I feel like you've already done this mod but i'll throw it out there just in case.
http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php/161594-Group-buy-titaniumdave-s-non-compliance-parts

 

[9doors]

I also ordered some of these quick latches today- http://www.quik-latch.com/black-anodized-mini-quik-latch.html

I got a couple for my carbon hood as piece-of-mind and ordered 6 more to see if I can come up with something clever when I build a frame mounted bracket to attach my new front splitter. I've had to sprint in late to one too many drivers meetings because im been fumbling with the tabbed bolt design i use now.

For the hood, did you go with the standard pins or did you get the elongated 4" Mini pins?

 

[illwillem]

9doors.. I only ordered the standard stuff for now, install is tomorrow so hopefully the regular length it fits.- I got 6 regular and 2 black anodized, also got some the the flush mounting buckets to try and fabb up the splitter thingy. ill let you know monday.

So, unfortunately 1K2GO and DOC were dead on the money again, torn bushing. :[

I searched around for a bit and looked into fabbing a some of my own bushings from flexane like id done with my e30 BMW in the past. After some thought and talking to a few people I ended up just taking the plunge and forking out $1260 +800 core fee to TitaniumDave to get a set of uprights he had ready to go with the monoball bushings already pressed into the pivot arms. The price is eye watering for only 4 bushings but the amount and quality of work Dave put into the other pieces ive bought makes me feel a little bit better about the situation. I am really surprised that there isnt anything else on the market for these.

To make matters worse, while popping the ball joints off of one side of the knuckle the Nut i was using to support the threads was too far down and i crunched the cotter pin channel (DOH!) now it looks like ill have to replace a ball joint, I looked up the guy in NorCal that does this service but its another $200 a pop. Has anyone successfully replaced their own, if so is there a part number i could use?

To get out the piviot arms basically the whole front end needs to come off, its not difficult but its definitely a jig saw puzzle, and you need to keep track of what goes where.

even the steering rack bracketing has to come off the car. im taking the opportunity to do all the main hoses, APR wheel studs and take off as much of the undercoating as i can

Also taking the time to wire brush the A arms clean to check for any fatigue cracks. actually makes the stuff look brand new and its a sort of Zen like meditation ritual Im using to forget how much Ive spent on the NSX in the last 3 months. (could pretty much have another one sitting in the driveway)

hopefully ill be able to remember where all this goes..

 

[Track Addict]

I searched around for a bit and looked into fabbing a some of my own bushings from flexane like id done with my e30 BMW in the past. After some thought and talking to a few people I ended up just taking the plunge and forking out $1260 +800 core fee to TitaniumDave to get a set of uprights he had ready to go with the monoball bushings already pressed into the pivot arms. The price is eye watering for only 4 bushings but the amount and quality of work Dave put into the other pieces ive bought makes me feel a little bit better about the situation. I am really surprised that there isnt anything else on the market for these.

To make matters worse, while popping the ball joints off of one side of the knuckle the Nut i was using to support the threads was too far down and i crunched the cotter pin channel (DOH!) now it looks like ill have to replace a ball joint, I looked up the guy in NorCal that does this service but its another $200 a pop. Has anyone successfully replaced their own, if so is there a part number i could use?

As far as the Monoballs are concerned there isn't anyone other than TiDave that I am aware that can replace them...there just isn't a huge market for them for the NSX community (sadly). I know the guy in NorCal you're talking about and again he does great work and I wouldn't recommend that you try to remove the factory ball joint and then machine the arm for the new ball joint. It is expensive, I know, but in the end it will all be worth it.

All this money put into your suspension will give you one huge benefit that the rest of us envy; Serviceability. Hopefully it all works out for you. Goodluck

 

[ryneen]

Will,

If you live in So Cal, I would strongly recommend contacting Erik Messley from EMI for your suspension and alignment setup. He is a guru with NSX track setups. He works closely with the guys from Autowave. Both do my track prep and maintanence. I played around with a few different setups until I found Erik Messley and he nailed it. For example, I have a '91 with stock motor, I/H/E, non compliance everything, BBK on front, short gears, full interior/AC etc, Nitto R Comps. The car runs 1:32's at Big Willow and 1:39's at Laguna Seca with no aero. It really has great balance and mechanical grip.

Cool ill check the bushings as suggested- is there one to check specifically that would be the culprate? I didnt have the front non compliance clamps till a week ago, could I attribute the wear to that? I went ahead and ordered the comptech camber sleeves too so ill have more camber to work with. As for ditching more rubber bushings I'll PM TitaniumDave, but as RYU asked, what else is there to change? Seems i have everything already covered and looking at the manual to take it apart seems like the rest is ball joints on the A arms and the tie rod ends coming off the steering rack, of which carbon6 looks like they are making a piece soon.

I also ordered some of these quick latches today- http://www.quik-latch.com/black-anodized-mini-quik-latch.html

I got a couple for my carbon hood as piece-of-mind and ordered 6 more to see if I can come up with something clever when I build a frame mounted bracket to attach my new front splitter. I've had to sprint in late to one too many drivers meetings because im been fumbling with the tabbed bolt design i use now.

 

[illwillem]

Thanks Ryneen! I'll go to check him out when everything is back on the car, Ive used Westend a bunch and evasive once. Darren does an excellent job but I'd like to find someone who's got a specialized knowledge on the platform.

So more progress...

Took some time to finish cleaning all the front end component pieces and re finishing the hubs and adding some studs and made rear ball joint heat shields.






Since I've got no more rubber in the front end I also got some aluminum brackets for the sway bars when they arrived and I brought them home I went to test fit the clearance. The rear fit snug but the front has a .1' gap fron bracket to bar.... Turns out the front sway Ive been using since 2011 has been a .875 thickness and the rear has been a 1"-- something like a 200% difference in stiffness according to the Dali numbers-- WTFF!

I pulled up all my old receipts and sure enough I originally ordered the right stuff, but somehow there was a mix up and i was sent too different bars! This explains perfectly why my car is SO tail happy compared to the others i've driven and it makes me wonder how much time ive left sitting on the table..




I emailed Mark over at Dali hopefully ill get the correct bar soon to replace the street spec one. In the meantime i replaced the main 6 coolant hoses, What a pain in the ass since I only had stub nose channel locks to work with took a bit longer than planned but I got it done


also monoball installed upright arms showed up, im ITCHING to get everything back on the car so I can take it for a spin, i can imagine its going to be a totally different car. Spending both days at the track this weekend doing some instruction and ride alongs only made it worse.


old vs new

 

[illwillem]

Decided to get going on a project that id been putting off because it was going to be a pain in the ass- The front splitter. The previous version seen here: (http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php/156899-Front-splitters?highlight=front+splitters?) has treated me pretty well, it was made it out of two pieces of dibond and was mounted to the radiator support two frame supports then about 12 bolts screwed into the front chin spoiler. I made it when living at my previous house that had a steep driveway, where there was no way I could get in or out of with it actually on the car. Because of this I made it in two peices so I could 'fold' it and bring it with me in the cabin and install it once I got to the track. It worked very well but was apparent that hustling to get it on the car before my first sessions and laying on baking pavement at the end of the day to take it off was started to get tiresome. Since the car is in the air and im waiting on parts to show up i figure theres no better time than now.

The new version I want mounted solely to the frame rails so no DF that created would be wasted pulling and bending non structural parts of the car down. After spec-ing everything out I realized that there is very little to work with as far as anything solid from the radiator support forward so Id have to get creative.

I decided the best place that I could utilize would be the front frame rail attachment that I fabbed up a couple months ago when I took out the front bumper support. measure 10x and drill once was the name of the game. this job was about 10 time harder than it needed to be since I am only working with hand tools on my driveway. Once again wishing I had gone with a house with a bigger garage with room for a tool shop.



I got some 2x2 quarter inch aluminum bracket and some 3/4 inch aluminum square tubing. after measuring every conceivable distance I could think of I cut the square tubing into drops that attach the lower bracket at exactly the height of the lower part of the lip. I seated the posts in the crux of the L for both lateral and for and aft support- then bracketed it to existing holes in the front radiator support. this is the bottom view with the place holder radiator support bracket

at this point even before putting on all the washers to spread loads this bracket is more than strong enough to take my weight.


Im cutting the new splitter shape out of 1/4 single peice of alumilte and securing it to the chassis with 7 quick-latch minis. Each latch can hold 150lbs and clicks on and removes with the push of each button.
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I didnt take any picture on Sunday but I sanded filed and painted all the brackets to give it all a bit of fit and finish. Then started to fab an air tight channel from bumper opening to radiator that riveted together and sealed with foam. It took a lot of time and im only about half way done but the set up should hopefully increase the efficiency of my radiator and sealed hood vent. the more I focus on the from area the more I want to yank out all of the AC crap, I know I will be thanking myself later if I can manage to resist the urges.

While I was waiting for everything to dry I decided to swap springs, I decided to go with 10K front and 8K rear- I didnt dislike the 348lb 348lb set up but with the rear wing Ive noticed that the rear exhibits sort of a gangster lean on high speed tracks, I wanted to up the static rebound force but not have to re-valve all four corners, I saw the NSXR rates are 10/8k and since it is within the stock valving tolerances for the V3's I went with it. We'll see how they do, if this isnt the solution ive got my eye on a custom set of ohlins from a friend of mine, hopefully ill avoid that route.


went to pull the rear and saw this:

leaking all sorts of oil : / so much for not having to send anything in. Dont know how long its been blown but glad I saw it now. Currently trying to get the warranty replacement from KW since these only have like 5k miles on them and shouldn't have this problem. Womp womp.

 

[moderu]

Great meeting you at Buttonwillow Will! We gotta set up something when you get her back up and running. Perhaps, I'll leave the Miata at home and bring out the X (barring I get some instruction from you lol). Good luck with the car!

Kenny

 

[illwillem]

Big progress on the radiator ducting and splitter this last weekend, I got it all sorted and on the car. there was alot of time spent on noodle things but in the end got it all done.

I finished each piece of aluminum separate then riveted them together for rigidity then I had to uninstall then reinstall each piece to have it fit all fit together intertwined on the car this took a while because I had built it with pretty tight clearances.

I retained the stock latch guides and harness clips where I could too.


Splitter installed onto chassis with the quick latches:



The clips are flush mounted and push button and I can have the splitter on and off on like 8 seconds. I did find out that theres a small amount of play due to the in the design of the quick latches that translates to 1/4" of vertical rise and fall at the end of the splitter. Im going to figure out a dampening system that locks down the play this weekend, I dont want it to gain resonance and start to flop around on the front straight like a stop sign in a hurricane.



Bumper fitted:


Still playing with the size of the splitter I cut it the same over hang on the front but wider than the previous one by about an inch on the sides. Im going to also fit splitter 'fences' to the parallel side edges to compliment the canards ,not for DF but to hopefully keep the hight pressure air from curling under the car at speed. should be an even match for the seriously huge wing ive got, especially for the power the car is currently making. The hope is I am building a scale-able package that I can make adjustments too as I go. nothing is non-changeable so i figure ill learn what works as I go. I've read and been reading lots of books on racecar areo over the past few years, it fun to see how this stuff actually works. Ive been consulting my Dad frequently too since hes got a double masters in aeronautical engineering from MIT and the software needed to run very basic sims. Awesome to have the resource, I think he likes to contribute too.



all tucked in till next weekend. Should be getting the KW back in the mail and the rest of the A arms and knuckles with the replaced Ball joints installed. Cant wait to have it back on the road.

 

[ryneen]

Wow! When are you going to be up and running again?

 

[illwillem]

Should be back up actually driving in about 2 weeks, theres not much stopping in the way of getting it running, just need to bleed the clutch and re install the battery, there is some things like extinguisher mounting and re-fitting the 6pt but basically Its just putting it all back together and getting it aligned an re balanced then ill be back at the track.

 

[RYU]

Can't wait to be back on the track with you! Hopefully this time with NSX!

 

[illwillem]

Well guess I should update this since Ive done A lot since last time I did. I finished installing the 1 inch track bars and repositioned my type R lower bar so it was no longer the lowest thing hanging down under the nose of the car, I also had to make some adjustments to the splitter to line up better with the battery tray, still have some work to do on that but it tucks in nicely now.



I also built a fully sealed radiator/type R hood scoop to match the fully sealed induction side, this version is gonig to replace the Dali carbon one that worked but had a slight gap between the hood and the actual scoop on my set up. This version I built in a overlapped seal with high temp edge stripping,




I built this version to have much tighter sealing clearances as to keep the back side air flowing smoothly.


I had but not yet installed a dual mishimoto fans with the aluminum backing. Already with just the stock fan this moves an incredable amout of heat, so much so I've ordered gold foiling to deflect some of it since my BMC is just on the other side of the wall.

Next I finally fit everything back together on my sump and added clamps to all the 'push on' hose fittings. When I recharged the sump system I realized that the ECV was pissing oil onto my carpet in my trunk, becasue the carpet is that gray color I hadn't noticed it before. Upon removing it I realized the leak must had been there for quite some time dripping everytime the ECV was activated, it makes me wonder if this had anything to do with the phantom oil light I was getting under hard loads at Big Willow. Curently figuring out what to do from the people over at accusump, going to make a video of the leak for them so I can get a replacement valve hopefully soon so I can start to use the sump again. This alone will keep my off the track until I get it fixed. :/



I got all my Suspension back about a month late from KW, turns out 2 of the shocks started to leak out of the top adjuster. after going back and forth and getting sent some FRS KW V3's (wtf) i got my shocks back. I finished installing the new Swift rates along with some new SOS billet top hats


Now that everything was on the car and I had bled the cooling system and brakes then made sure it ran with the new tune it was off to get alignment at West End Alignment. I cranked the coilovers to SUV height so I could get on and off the tow truck with no drama, tow driver was stoked and took about 300 pictures before he let me take it off his truck. It was nice to have the car out in the light of day and out of the cave its been hiding in for the past 8 months.


After a full 5 hours of work on the car to get it corner balanced and to adjust then RE ADJUST the camber lobes finally had it on the ground and ready to drive around the block for the first time since I blew up the trans. There is still little things that needed to be replaced and tuned that i found out about only as we had it on the rack but, thats life it seems with an NSX. After getting it good enough for now and realizing that id need to be back sooner than later we buttoned it up for its first drive around the block by the alignment shop. That little drive reminded me why ive been dumping so much money and time into the car for the past 8 months. This car really is the whole package, the looks, the sound and raw driving experience... and I was only on side streets keeping it under 40mph!

Corner balance revield that my car weighs 2703lbs without driver and 3/4 a tank of gas. I got the 0 toe all around and -3.5 and -2.7 camber I was after. I did raise the car a small amount from last time out of preservation for the splitter and chassis mounting points that i DO NOT want to have to make again. The car is actually going to lose a few more lbs once i organize getting the stuff i need. After it was declared 'buttoned up' I drove it 6pt harness and all back through downtown LA and home, the car didnt skip a beat. I've yet to get on the power all the way and really feel the new RDX and ecu mod, also yet to take it up to redline to see the difference in gearing but the whole thing feels strong as ever and ready to go.

some pics as I got home:








grinning as i could finially see it outside in the light

A couple days after I got a special package in the mail, sort of an impulse buy I couldn't resist.



I still have some fiddling to do with gapping the titec diffuser and heat shielding to finish, but i will say this, This exhaust makes the NSX sound like a BEAST. I feel sorry for my quiet canyon community when I decide I need to take it out of the garage for a track day at 430am. :[] I cant wait to blast down the front straight and just melt people where they stand. Typically not a fan of overly loud cars but it just feels so right coming from this thing, i think people will agree.

More real soon..

 

[Greg-TT]

That is some serious looking front and side splitters. Loving it!!! Keep us posted with your new exhaust set up :smile:

 

[1K2GO]

Tip o the hat to you Will, that beast is racy! What exhaust is that and what is the diameter of the tubing? Badass!

 

[chudson1549]

Love that exhaust

 

[RYU]

Will, speaking from experience, with all that additional free-air flow you might be running a little lean. Let's that bad boy on a dyno and check the AFRs. Are you still running the stock intake? I forget.. are you on the RDX mod thingy?

- - - Updated - - -

Also, after the corner balance is your ride height still even all around?