Another periodic check-in. Have done a few things since the last update.
Installed a new shifter knob and extension. Quite like the knob. Jury is still out on the extension.
Also added an NB wind blocker.
Picked up a set of used headers. Cleaned them up and had the lower flange replaced as it was pointing in an odd direction.
Painted them up and had a 2 inch mild steel mandrel bend system made at the local exhaust shop. Has a high flow cat converter, resonator and straight through muffler at the rear. I think it sounds great.
Also had a GM intake temp sensor welded into the intake plumbing and used an alloy offcut as an AFM delete pipe.
Added a header heat shield shortly after. Everything got stupid hot without it.
Then changed the 350cc injectors out for some 640cc EV14 injectors. Once the dead times were setup, the idle was great. Snuck a Beavis Motorsport master cylinder brace in there and ditched the kit BOV for a Turbosmart valve.
Had a road tune done after this. Very happy with the results. The car really pulls cleanly now, and transitions on and off throttle nicely. Got all the part load/throttle mapped out. There's a little bit of work to do with idle control, but other than that, it has great manners, even in traffic.
Planning to get it on a local dyno with the same tuner soon, to fine tune and make it mickey mouse.
Had some dramas with an intermittent ignition issue after that, which I traced to the CAS. Pulling back the old electrical tape showed that the connector seems to have been replaced at some point, as the wire colours don't match. I did a quick fix on the dodgey wire and ordered some new sumitomo connectors and pins. Still waiting for them to show up in the post.
After a couple of drives on the new injectors and tune, it became very clear that my stock suspension was past its best. It crashed over bumps before, but now that the car would get unsettled getting on the throttle exiting a corner, and jump and skip and bounce. It was uncomfortable before, but the extra power just accentuated the issues.
A call to MCA, and a bit of a hole in my wallet, solved that. Decided on X-C coilovers, with 10kg/mm front springs and 6kg/mm rear springs. Installed them myself in a couple of hours, and set them up to the suggested rates and ride height.
These should have been my first modification. They are very good. Even though the car has been lowered over an inch from the previous suspension, its so smooth and comfortable. Body roll is minimal. Steering is sharper than before.
I just can't get over how comfortable they ride on the road. They're way better than the BC or Tein coilovers I've had experience with previously.
