shane22
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Posts posted by shane22
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Over the last few days I've built a string alignment rig and played around with the wheel alignment, was a lot of iterations to get it in the ballpark!
The point of the string alignment rig is to set toe front and rear. I chose to build a rig attached to the car (like the Smart Strings system, but a boatload cheaper) as opposed to just setting up strings on axle stands so that I can jack up the car, remove wheels and make adjustments without affecting the placement of the strings, which take quite a long time to set up accurately. This was mostly put together from scraps I had lying around the garage, I had to spend maybe $60 on the aluminium tubes and some fasteners.
Each frame has adjustment in x, y and z directions, allowing me to set up the strings parallel and level, as well as centred to the car. The aluminium bars have notches cut into them where the strings are tied to them, ensuring the distance between strings at each end is exactly the same. I also marked the strings at a certain length, so that both sides are the same length, creating a fairly accurate rectangle around the car.
The front frame is bolted to where the upper radiator mounts attach to captive nuts in the core support, and the rear frame is clamped through some conveniently-placed holes in the boot.
The basic alignment process went as follows:
1. Jack the car up on to some impromptu wheel stands (I used the original Evo IV wheels as I couldn't be bothered building stands).
2. Ensure the tyres won't bind when you make adjustments. To do this, I bought a $14 pack of vinyl self-adhesive tiles from Bunnings. Under each wheel I have two tiles (with the vinyl faces in the middle). With some soapy water sprayed between the tiles, the tyres have very little friction when making adjustments. Need to be careful that the floor is level though, otherwise the car tends to want to slide off the stands
3. Set camber front and rear. I have a Longacre camber/caster gauge attached to a small piece of MDF with stand-off bolts for doing this, but there are plenty of options for measuring the camber angle (small digital level etc). On the front end, I adjusted the coilover top hats until I got to where I wanted (-3.5 degrees). On the rear, I adjusted the lower control arm's eccentric bolt until I hit -2.0 degrees.
4. Set up the string rig so I can measure toe. To set this up accurately, first I need to ensure the strings and aluminium frames form a rectangle, so I make sure the distance between strings at each end is the same, and the length of each string is the same. Second, I play around with the rig's Z-axis adjustment to get the strings pretty much in the centre of each wheel. Third, I put a level on each aluminium tube to make sure the rectangle is flat and not twisted. Lastly, I play around with the rig's X-axis adjustment so that the distance between the wheel hub and the string is the same on both sides (front measurements need to be the same, rear measurements need to be the same, front and rear don't need to be the same as the track width may not be consistent front and rear). This means the string rectangle's centreline is aligned with the vehicle's centreline.
5. Set front toe. To measure toe, it's simply a case of measuring from the string to the front lip of the wheel, then measuring from the string to the rear lip of the wheel. If the rear lip measurement is longer than the front lip measurement, you have toe out. If the rear lip measurement is shorter than the front lip measurement, you have toe in. I wanted 1.0mm of total toe out (0.5mm per wheel), so I adjusted the tie rods until I had it near enough. Unfortunately I didn't have a way of locking my steering wheel in the dead-centre position, so everything wandered a bit and I had to iterate quite a few times to get the toe right across both sides. My steering wheel is a bit off-centre, but I'm not super bothered. I'll fix it up next time I align the car.
6. Set rear toe. Measuring the toe is the same as the front, but adjustment is made through an eccentric bolt in the one of the control arms.
7. Completely forget to take any photos of measuring toe
8. Check everything one more time. This is when I discovered that adjusting rear toe had quite a large effect on rear camber, so I iterated a few more times with adjusting rear camber and toe until everything was in spec.
9. Make sure all bolts are tight and wheel nuts torqued. Disassemble the string rig, drop the car off the stands and go for a test drive. Set up the string rig again and double-check all measurements after the test drive, hoping that nothing has moved too much
I took the car up the Port Hills for a good fang, really happy with how it feels. Very similar to my old Evo VII (not surprising considering it's exactly the same suspension), drives like a big go-kart. The springs are fairly heavy (9kg front and rear) so it's super planted through corners, but the damping is very well tuned so bumps get eaten up and surprisingly it's actually more comfortable than stock suspension on the terrible Chch roads.
Even after rolling the rear guards as much as I could, the rear tyres are rubbing where the rear guard meets the rear bumper when the outside wheel hits a bump mid-corner. I've already relocated the bumper mounting bolt away from this area and tried to bash down the metal tab, so I think I'll go nuts on rear camber (out to -2.5 or -2.75), and get the hacksaw and hammer out to really have a crack at the small metal nub that's rubbing.
That's about it for the next couple months, going to be very busy with work, a couple weddings, and Dad is coming to visit for the Skope Classic. When I eventually get some spare time, I'll get stuck in to the Brembo brake conversion and hopefully get out for a track day or two
Cheers,
Shane
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12 hours ago, mjrstar said:
nice,
When I was running 17x8 38p on my evo 4 I found that anything more than a 225 semi slick caused rubbage in the rear, athough I had only a minor guard lip roll.
I will be interested in how the AR1's perform, i have recently splashed out on a set of new NT01's for my hillclimb civic - it was a toss up between them NT01 and AR1.
on the turbo side, I ran a evo 9 based TD06sl2-20g and retained the factory exhaust manifold and evo 7+ dump pipe, then into a 3 inch exhaust. this spooled really well with the kelford 264's and still idled nicely, Also I reckon evo 8 wheels are a good look on these things, here is a pic of my old one on the E8 wheels.
as you may already know the brembo swap is super easy - i definately recommend upgrading the master cylinder at the same time to a 17/16 unit from and evo 5 + (or mitsi GTO they are the same), plus you will need to trim the dust shields to clear the bigger discs.
Pic of my old Evo.
http://iforce.co.nz/View.aspx?i=2t3nvk0u.5lv.jpg
My friends back in Perth swear by the AR1s, and I've found a a couple threads like THIS ONE which show the AR1s to outperform NT01s considerably. Of note in that thread is his comment about balancing wheels, have had that argument with every tyre shop that's ever mounted semi slicks for me
Pity we're not in Aus too, as AR1s are 30-40% cheaper than in NZ...
For the turbo, I'll be running the standard turbo off my old Evo VII for a bit of nostalgia, and because it was free +shipping (the new owner was kind enough to post it over to me - was in a tub of spares I gave him with the sale). The part number tells me it's some random mix of an Evo 6.5 and Evo 7 RS turbo, who knows. Anyway, I'm hoping I can screw enough boost into the engine to make 300-320hp at the wheels without ventilating the block too soon. If it does go pop, good chance to build a 4G64-based 2.4L
For cams, I absolutely love the lumpy 272 idle, would probably choose them over 264s even if they performed worse lol
Thanks for the master cylinder info, I'll check that out. Dust shields will be removed entirely to aid with cooling, brake fade and pad life was a major issue for me on my old VII (even with 2" cooling ducts)
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Hi OldSchool, Shane here, I've been lurking for a good few years and I thought it was about time to share progress on my latest project, a 1996 Evo IV RS I picked up a few months back. First up, I'll take a moment to introduce myself and go through a bit of background.
Introduction / History
I caught the car disease from Dad at an early age. As well as racing speedway for a number of years, Dad has owned a good run of cool old cars, including a Lotus Cortina mk1, a Ford Sierra Cosworth Sapphire, and most recently a Ford Escort mk1 with a fairly potent 2L Pinto engine on twin 45mm Webers. While I'm a big fan of oldschool and have many plans for future oldschool builds, I was more influenced by Gran Turismo and early NZPC magazines, leading to an obsession with Japanese turbo cars from the glory days of mid-90s WRC and early-2000s Japanese tuners.
After finishing a degree in Mechanical Engineering at University of Canterbury in 2011, I headed across to Western Australia chasing money in mining and oil and gas. This proved to be a good move, and over a few years I built a Evo VII with all the fruit (Evo IX turbo, 272 cams, 350hp/500Nm at the wheels, MCA Red Series suspension, Project Mu 2-piece brakes, big Yokohama A050 semi slicks and so on). The car ended up being super reliable and I attended countless track days, ending up with competing in a heap of local tarmac sprints and time attack events (scalping the odd Porsche GT3 along the way). By far the most memorable was the Targa West Perth City Sprint, a special stage set up on the Perth waterfront during Targa West, with a sprint event held in the morning before the competition cars came through. Check out the video below, nothing beats hitting almost 200kmh with skyscrapers in the background and swan river just metres away. I actually ended up setting a faster time than Jim Richards in a Porsche Cayman GT4, though he had just completed 3 days of targa stages so likely wasn't going too hard!
After 5 years in Perth I felt it was time to move on, and I took a work transfer to Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, USA. It was supposed to be a 3 year stint, but my employer decided to pull out of USA a few months after I arrived, so I was only there for 5 months in total. Still, it was a great experience and I had an awesome time! Personal highlights were visiting the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC, and getting to drive a NASCAR at 270kmh around Pocono Speedway in North-east Pennsylvania. It might look boring on TV, but it's a good rush in real life
Back to NZ, Time to Find a Project
After all of that I couldn't be arsed moving all over the world any more, so I took another transfer back to NZ, settling in Christchurch again. It had been far too long since I owned a car which was any fun to drive, so I set about looking for a Nissan Silvia so I could give drifting a crack. As you can tell from the title of this thread, that didn't exactly go to plan! Browsing through Evos on TradeMe late one night, I stumbled across a cheap Evo IV RS near Takaka, and conveniently I was heading up the Nelson that weekend to see family so I picked up Dad and we shot over for a look. I think I knew what was about to happen, as I withdrew a stack of cash from the bank to aid in any potential negotiations
$7500 later, I ended up with a beat-up Evo IV RS that felt very strong mechanically, but was almost undrivable due to the disgusting interior covered in dog hair and dirt. The exterior had a tonne of dents and scuffs and the paint condition left a lot to be desired, but none of that really mattered as none of that makes the car any slower. After a very chilly trip back to Chch, I finally had something to sink my teeth into.
Initial Clean-up
First order of business was to get a full valet inside and out, thankfully removing most of the dog hair and grime from years outside on a farm. Most of the driveline is still caked in crud, but I'll deal with that over time as I work through modifications. Aside from a good clean, I found a fibreglass front lip, bought a Recaro driver's seat from a GSR-spec Evo (RS comes with standard Lancer interior), grabbed a cheap suede racing steering wheel to replace the 2000s AutoSalon-spec spaceship wheel it came with, chucked in a fire extinguisher and matt-blacked a bunch of exterior trim pieces that had worn to an ugly grey/white.
Build Direction & Planning
Over a few slow mornings at work I pieced together a spreadsheet listing my goals for the car and the (very long) list of parts I needed to buy.
The aim: build a track/sprint/hillclimb car as fast (or faster) than my old Evo VII, for around 1/4 the budget. I'd spent a good house desposit on the VII, and as I actually want to buy a house at some point, I thought I'd better be a bit more thrifty with this build
This means only modifying what absolutely needs to be upgraded, and making use of the great Evo parts bin wherever I can.
The plan:
- Full service, with replacement of all engine and driveline fluids, spark plugs, air filter etc. etc.
- Fully adjustable motorsport-spec suspension, again going for MCA Red Series as I had such good results with them on my VII. Their results at World Time Attack speak for themselves, and their after-sales service and set-up advice is top notch.
- Brembo brakes from a later model Evo, 2-piece front rotors, heavy duty rear rotors, track-spec pads, braided lines, 3" cooling ducts.
- For the track, WRC-looking wheels with fat semi slicks, looking to try the new Nankang AR1s as they're said to be within a second or two of Yokohama A050s and less than half the price.
- For the road, any old wheels which look half decent and can clear the Brembo brakes without massive spacers.
- A tablet system for monitoring engine vitals, custom programmed to flash warnings when safe parameters are exceeded etc.
- Basic power upgrades for 300-320hp at the wheels (turbo from later model Evo, 272 cams, replace dump & front pipe, de-cat etc.)
- Eventually, throw in a roll cage, proper seats and harnesses, and start competing in local street sprints and hillclimbs.
Servicing
I grabbed a full suite of Motul fluids, a new set of spark plugs, a few gaskets and a new pod filter. For now (until I turn the engine up), I'll make do with the cheaper Motul oil rather than spending $170 on 5L of Motul 300V. I found that the old pod filter was tek-screwed directly to the MAF, so I picked up an adapter from SuperCheap to neaten it up.
Suspension
While over in Sydney for World Time Attack Challenge, I grabbed a great deal on MCA Red Series suspension, $2450 AUD (normally $2900). A couple hundred in shipping and customs fees later, I had a big box on my doorstep. I added them to the shelf of credit card debt in the garage, along with a bunch of other parts we'll come to later.
After spending the minimum-socially-acceptable time with family at Christmas, I rushed back to Christchurch and got stuck in. In a couple hours I had the coilovers in and the car back on the ground. I took it for a quick squirt around the block, it's certainly a handful on the bumpy Christchurch streets with about 20mm of toe in on each corner
A DIY string-alignment rig is in the works currently, I'll post an update when I get it all sorted.
Appears that the standard front struts were replaced with some heavier-duty KYB units (most likely in Japan as there was actually anti-sieze on the bolts).
One of the things I really like about the MCA Red Series suspension is their offset camber washers for the front struts. Camber is adjusted only through the top hats, and the eccentric washers come in a few different offsets to allow you to play with the inclination of the strut. They also remove any chance of the lower mounting bolts slipping under hard cornering, meaning your alignment stays in-spec.
Wheels & Tyres
I started trawling TradeMe for sweet deals, with the aim being to find anything that had a 90s Tarmac WRC vibe, inspired by Tommi Mak and Gigi Galli throwing down around the tight European tarmac stages of my childhood.
I'd initially only wanted standard Evo V wheels for the road, as they'd be cheap, look OK and most importantly clear the future Brembos. As luck would have it, I stumbled across a set of beat-up Compomotive MO5s in 17x7.5 +38 and the price was right after a couple of re-lists. I got a good surprise when the seller turned out to be an old uni mate who I hadn't seen in six years, was good to catch up and see his sweet old 80s? Toyota food truck, complete with a wood-fired pizza oven in the back (Intergalactic Pizza Co, give him a like on Facebook). I got some cheap Neutons mounted up, these will only really be used for WOF/cert, travelling long distances and driving when it's too wet for semi slicks.
For track wheels, I held out for the holy grail of 90s WRC wheels, the Enkei WRC Tarmac. The local Evo wrecker was happy enough to part with a set that needed a good tidy-up, not that I was going to tidy them up at all, would only make the rest of the car look worse
. They're 17x8 +35, and I got a set of 235/40/17 Nankang AR1 semi slicks mounted up. Really stoked on how fat the tyres look, none of that stretched stanceboi business
After a quick roll of the guards, I fitted up the Enkeis for the first time
So happy with how this looks! The front could do with some 20mm spacers to fill the guards (especially as the current -2 camber will be boosted to -3.5), and I'll drop the front ride height a little bit too. The rears are mighty tight, so I'll remove the springs and do some clearance checks to ensure I've rolled the guards enough. They're already at the ideal -2 camber, but I can deal with -2.5 if I really need to.
That's about it for now, next up will be the DIY smart-strings rig and a wheel alignment, and once I find a set of rear Brembo calipers I'll do the full brake upgrade. I'll probably hold off on power upgrades for a few months, as I'm itching to get out on track and set a good baseline. Been over a year since my last track day, I'm sure I've forgotten what an apex looks like!
Thanks for reading, would love to hear your comments and thoughts below
Cheers,
Shane
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Great write-up Craig! Good to finally see all the details, only so much can be gleaned from elevator chats
As for where to from here, well I'd suggest throwing some semi slicks on it and hitting up Barbs and Collie, good chance to show up some of the Evo kids while they wonder what the car even is!
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Outlaw 10.5, 550ci V6, 3.87s @ 198mph
http://www.speedhunters.com/2016/02/game-changer-aaps-outlaw-v6-corvette/
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At work
.That's not even the track, that's the testing ring. Down the hill, there is 2.3km of paved private glory.
I'm not going to lie, I've managed to score about the best job, in the world, ever. Yesterday I fixed a Ferrari 458 Challenge racecar (minor electrical fault). Today I spent the day fitting aftermarket race suspension to a Lotus 340R. It's the bizzaro world, and I'm going to ride it out for all I can.
*waits for people who read Stuff and/or UC Engineering FB page to put 2 and 2 together*
I won't give it away but you have quite possibly nabbed the best graduate position in the history of the world!
I still remember Prof. Pearse (taught Acoustics in the Mech dept, unsure if he's still there) telling me FSAE was a waste of time because most participants take 5 years to get their degrees without any major additional benefits from having done it, and that UC did not support a team starting up. That was my first year in 2008, so I really hope he's humbly eaten his words after seeing UCM's success.
PS, if you guys ever need a Project Engineer, let me know
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Barbagallo (WA, Aus)
65.0 - shane22 - Evo VII - Hankook Z221 Semis
Not sure I'll have many times on here to compare to! No video of the PB, but here's a close time. -
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i bet it cant do a burnout though
That's the point, it's a bit hard to get a wheel going in a 4WD. Stepping out sideways in the rain when you hit boost going around a corner is about the extent of it really
+1 burnout signal on the weekend, also leaving Custom Cars & Coffee.
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The number of people (usually school kids) who have done the 'do a burnout' signal as I drive past in my Evo astounds me. I guess being in a country where Falcons/Commodores are seen as dream cars does that to people...
I've only encountered one full muppet so far. He was a salesman at a Nissan dealership here in Perth, and I was there with a friend who was checking out a 370Z. The conversation turned to handling and track work, and the salesman earnestly said "You wouldn't believe how good these things handle! Your Evo over there wouldn't stand a chance, I mean they use the Triton steering and front suspension because they're 4WD and all."
I politely mentioned my lap times at the local track and that I'd recorded a peak of 1.2G lateral acceleration, noticed he had no comprehension of what I'd just said, and walked off to find another salesperson.
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Yep; I grew up in Appleby-ish area so spent many years riding SBL's finest.
Cool to see one reborn!
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Great work; such wood.
I have a feeling that I used to go to school on this bus. The blue engine cover looks very familiar. Any idea when it was taken out of service as a school bus?
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3D scanning bros - anybody used any cheap chinese stuff before?
I bought this today for like $100 shipped:
Don't really care if it doesn't work as it was only $100. May have to employ a Chinese friend to translate the instructions when it arrives, but there's a video on the manufacturer's website that kind of shows you what to do.
End goal is to 3D scan an entire a car so I can do some mad aerodynamics on it (CFD without a GUI, so all C+ coded, should be fun...). Currently looking like I'll need to do like 170 scans and stitch them all together, as buying one of those continous hand-held ones is like $2k+ even for cheap chinese shit.
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What gearbox would you use for the 4g63t?
http://www.ttindustries.com/car_index.html
Some smart dude makes these in a shed in Tahuna, Nelson. ~$10k I hear. All the rage in the Malaysian Drift scene right now. The RATTLA Falcon drift car runs one in NZ too, but goes through like 3 every meeting as it's 900hp.
And whoever suggested a V6 is on to it. VG30ET + GTX3076R = new rear tyres every 6 laps. Clark Proctor styles.
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Have looked at K24s a fair bit for a Time Attack dream/project...
K24A1 out of a CRV is the best bet. Can be had for like $600 over here in Aus (couldn't spot any on TradeMe to compare though), and their heads flow the same as the fancy-pants K20 Type R heads (i.e. SHITLOADS). They only have half-ass VTEC, but no worries, just put in some VTEC-killer rocker arms, chuck in some K20 cams and run on high lobe all the time for max lumpy idle. Chuck on one of the smaller BorgWarner EFR turbros (internal wastegate, integrated BOV for max easy plumbing) and hello 500hp. Probably a good idea to chuck in some forged pistons and rods too. Gearbox might be an issue, but there are plenty of adaptors out there to mate K24s to S2000 gearboxes. www.k20a.org for loads of information.
But, the K24 is a big engine, and as previously mentioned has a lot of screwing around to get it to suit RWD (new exhaust manifold, intake manifold etc etc). So for easy 400hp, proven engines, I would go SR20 (please please if you do this chuck on a VE head).
Other ideas would be 4AGTE or B16/B18?
Chur,
Shane
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Apparently there is a mint clothing place by Aroundagain cycles on ferry road..
Kill two birds with one stone as the have some top bikes at Aroundagain.
Treasure Trove Clothing & Alterations according to Google Maps, will check out tomorrow, cheers.
Where'd you get your helmet from Jeff? Sweet addition to any retro bike I reckon.
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Hornby Save Mart is the only place for the up and coming tweedonista's
I didn't spot much in terms of sweet hats out there though?
Anyone got the hookups for waistcoats and hats? Went round Savemarts in Hornby, Cranford St and Battersea St, lots of tweed suits etc but almost nothing in terms of hats and waistcoats. Attempting to tweed it up for cup day, any of you folk going?
Pity we're not in Aus too, as AR1s are 30-40% cheaper than in NZ...
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Shane's Evo IV RS Track Build
in Other Projects
Posted
Haha I was close to modelling it all in SolidWorks but it really wasn’t necessary
I’m just happy it’s not 45 degrees in the garage! Perth summers are the worst lol