The Mont is back...Need to improve

[sikford]

been a long while since i have been on the forums but now im back and finally have the time to spend on the car again. The car hasnt moved for over 12 months.

OK

What i wanted to know mainly is what i need to do to get the AU hopping again.

The car has :

- Acron plastic airbox + 3" Pod filter
- All the pipework changed for the intake to the TB
- Still has the 2.5" catback

Now, what i had planned for the car was to get the following

- Pacemaker Comps 4480
- Full Stainless system
- Highflow Cat
- Auto is getting fixed and shift kitted
- New single piece stainless Intake pipe from box to TB (Getting made)

Just went and got the new iridium plugs, new leads, discs, pads, front hubs, other service stuff, fuel filter, oxy sensor. really needed a service.lol

Now what else can i do to get the car doing what it should.

I will reset the computer then have it on the rollers in 2 weeks time for a tune then i want to do some things then get it back on the dyno within a couple of weeks of it going on in a couple weeks.

just dont know if its worth doing too many other things to get the power/times i want out of it or really what is archeivable if i don't give up.

cheers guys

[Uncle_Ken]

Welcome back. Always good to hear renewed interest in your car. What type of times do you want to get?
UK

[sikford]

seriously i would love the au to hit the illusive sub 14 mark but i want to improve abit of drivability too, not fussed about fuel economy as such because it is bad on fuel already and i only drive it once in a blue moon.

cheers guys

[Day-mow]

Is there a point in going stainless? Other then durability? From what I've here in the WRX world there is there isnt a difference. Cat makes a difference.
Look into a cam before it goes on the rollers. Depending on what you get it doesn't have to be mega expensive and with the set up your going for you'll probably get pretty decent results.

[sikford]

remember it is VCT, dont even know if anyone does a cam for them. Do they?

[sikford]

and stainless as i have a mate that builds custom exhausts and headers, so that helps.

[mik]

you probably don`t want to pull the head off so head work is out, you seem to have bolt on`s and general worked out, i`m thinking seeing you don`t drive it all that often a performance diff ratio might be a good bang for buck option and not a pain, either that or a slightly higher stall converter......possibly, maybe .

[sikford]

yeah i have been looking at a slightly higher stall in it seen as the auto needs to be done anyway. Just dont know if there are too many other things that i could do without opening it up.

[JC]

Turbo it.

[Day-mow]

Cresent motor sport from syd do a re grind. stage 2 will run with out valve springs being changed. stage 3 needs HD valve springs. stage 2 will even run with out a tune. obvs best to get it tuned but its a start. stage 2 was $350 exchange i think for memory

[sikford]

im turboing my other car so i need this one to be abit more normal on the rd, if there was something proven for the vct i would open it up but i just dunno. i'd like to keep it N/A.

[XRGhia]

What about a T5 Conversion?....

[mongrelEF]

Best bang for buck would have to be the 5spd and a mild cam, without getting too serious about it. After that, a diff and you've pretty much hit the end of what you'll get without opening the engine and spending $$$....
Nearly forgot - a true twin system will help a bit. Run 1,2,+3 on one pipe and 4,5,+6 on the other, that'll give a small boost and nice sound. Usually a 1.5" pipe pair will fit, even with the restricted space.

[b2tf]

Chalk another vote for a manual conversion, dont waste time or money with diff gears they are overrated.

[Day-mow]

i would have thought a manual conversion and some 4.11's would have been quite the combo

[b2tf]

So long as you dont mind running out of gears and doing stupid revs on the highway

[sikford]

was thinking about changing ratio but not to that extreme, as it will definatly run out of puff pretty quick. wouldnt mind a manual conversion but my other car is manual so its nice to just jump in and drive the car without spending the day changin gears in traffic.lol. the way its looking is that i will have to open it up so i might look into that abit further too.

Are there any other little things that could help out performance before hand though?

[Day-mow]

sway bars, good shocks. some nice brake pads, change all filters.
i think most bases have been covered.

[sikford]

yeah might see how it goes, got a noisy lifter atm so if i cant shut it up then looks like ill just go the whole hog and open it up. Just need to make a start now.

[sikford]

not too fussed about holding off to go on the rollers as it just costs me time and thats it, might do a couple of saturdays

[sikford]

got a few bits for the car.



Just a couple more things to get then have the rear discs machined and drop the injectors into the injector bath for a good session :-P

[sikford]

Ok so i thought i had better get started on the AU so i did yesterday went and had the injectors put in the injector bath for a nice session then had them flowed then new o-rings and put them in the car and also re-did the intake piping and put the new 9" K&N Extreme Pod in the box then this morning i did :

Plugs - NGK Iridium
Leads - Eagle (Ultra Series)
Fuel Filter - RYCO
Oxy Sensor - NGK
Oil - Nulon
Oil Filter - RYCO

Then took the car for a tub then spent a fair while detailing the bay so now i will polish it and then next weekend when i have time i will bag it up on the hoist and do the front hubs, front and rear discs and front and rear pads. then tune time before i have abit of a play with it so i know where to improve.

[Day-mow]

whats it run like with all the stuff changed over? make much difference?

[sikford]

car is running like a dream, just have to flush it and put new coolant in it and do the brakes which i will do next satday then ill give it a run and see how she goes, big big difference though with doing the things that i have. Not too many dramas so far,lol

[sikford]

i could hear the change in the intake growl straight away once i started it. and it doesnt have the miss that it had before, plug 1 was abit ****** but now she is running very nicely, just be happy to get it finished off next week, im going to make some time to suss the auto out aswell and maybe get the convertor for it too.

[Day-mow]

what have you dont with the pod? just stuck it in there or?
photos ;)

[sikford]

Originally Posted by Day-mow

what have you dont with the pod? just stuck it in there or?
photos ;)

the pod is mounted with an adaptor inside the box from the end of the 3" pipe, and re-sealed the box into the corner abit better than it was before.

[blueoval]

Welcome back Dan.

Best things I did were the following:
Suspension upgrades -
brake rotors
quality brake pads
better brake fluid
Bigger Front Sway bar
quality shocks and springs

Often suspension improvements are overlooked and people generally want the look rather than the handling experience. This avenue would be my first port of call. I went the next step and added braided brake lines all round as well as a rear sway bar.

Transmission includes:
heavy duty tranny cooler (a no brainer if you want you box to last the distance)
electronic shift kit
full fluid flush of the system

I went further and added full synthetic trans fluid and found my shifts feel slightly better when the trans is under duress or hot weather. I like to do hills runs and I manually shift the auto box for better drive ability in and out of the corners. This puts additional wear and stress on internal components so I thought it's better to add a little bit more longevity to the box if I could. It's $40 for 4 litres of Nulon full synth tranny fluid. I needed 2 bottles to fully flush the box out. People will frown on manual shifting in auto's here, but I wouldn't do any spirited driving any other way. It's the way I drive and I prefer it that way regardless of the consequences.

Another trans mod that I hear is definitely worthy for better 0-100 times is a stall converter. Either one from Jim Mock (3000rpm) or you could get your stock one modified with a few extra revs to about 2400rpm max. This will certainly make your car move off the lights quicker and could possibly induce unwanted wheel spin.

Exhaust system is up to you. If you can afford and justify a s/s system, go for it. They look better in my opinion, and I personally think they change the note of the car a little bit compared to a mild steel unit. But thats purely my opinion. Get a high flow metal core cat, preferably a 100 cell unit, and go mandrel bent in the pipe work. A set of pacemaker 4480's is a good choice to go with as well.

The stuff above is what I did for not only a performance improvement but also keeping longevity in mind as well.

let us know how you go

[sikford]

Originally Posted by blueoval

Welcome back Dan.

Best things I did were the following:
Suspension upgrades -
brake rotors
quality brake pads
better brake fluid
Bigger Front Sway bar
quality shocks and springs

Often suspension improvements are overlooked and people generally want the look rather than the handling experience. This avenue would be my first port of call. I went the next step and added braided brake lines all round as well as a rear sway bar.

Transmission includes:
heavy duty tranny cooler (a no brainer if you want you box to last the distance)
electronic shift kit
full fluid flush of the system

I went further and added full synthetic trans fluid and found my shifts feel slightly better when the trans is under duress or hot weather. I like to do hills runs and I manually shift the auto box for better drive ability in and out of the corners. This puts additional wear and stress on internal components so I thought it's better to add a little bit more longevity to the box if I could. It's $40 for 4 litres of Nulon full synth tranny fluid. I needed 2 bottles to fully flush the box out. People will frown on manual shifting in auto's here, but I wouldn't do any spirited driving any other way. It's the way I drive and I prefer it that way regardless of the consequences.

Another trans mod that I hear is definitely worthy for better 0-100 times is a stall converter. Either one from Jim Mock (3000rpm) or you could get your stock one modified with a few extra revs to about 2400rpm max. This will certainly make your car move off the lights quicker and could possibly induce unwanted wheel spin.

Exhaust system is up to you. If you can afford and justify a s/s system, go for it. They look better in my opinion, and I personally think they change the note of the car a little bit compared to a mild steel unit. But thats purely my opinion. Get a high flow metal core cat, preferably a 100 cell unit, and go mandrel bent in the pipe work. A set of pacemaker 4480's is a good choice to go with as well.

The stuff above is what I did for not only a performance improvement but also keeping longevity in mind as well.

let us know how you go

definatly looking into the auto with the cooler and shift kitting it, very good idea about the fully synthetic for the box too as i do like my manual shifting aswell, i want everything in mandrel such as exhaust, and intake once the new one pipe is done. i have been wanting to put a higher stall in it but just dont know how much of a stall as i would prefer not to open the thing up if i can get away with it but if i have to then i will re-think what stall to get. the car will eventually get the suspension overhaul too but most likely after the rest is done apart from new exhaust so will hopefully be just after chrissy time.

Was there a big difference with doing sway bars as i will probably do them both at the same time(front and rear).

It will just be nice to get the beast back p and running to keep me happy,lol.

[blueoval]

Originally Posted by sikford

definatly looking into the auto with the cooler and shift kitting it, very good idea about the fully synthetic for the box too as i do like my manual shifting aswell, i want everything in mandrel such as exhaust, and intake once the new one pipe is done. i have been wanting to put a higher stall in it but just dont know how much of a stall as i would prefer not to open the thing up if i can get away with it but if i have to then i will re-think what stall to get. the car will eventually get the suspension overhaul too but most likely after the rest is done apart from new exhaust so will hopefully be just after chrissy time.

Was there a big difference with doing sway bars as i will probably do them both at the same time(front and rear).

It will just be nice to get the beast back p and running to keep me happy,lol.

I noticed a significant difference in handling with sway bars. Less body roll around corners. Found the car sat flatter when powering out of corners. Entering corners was a bit faster and generally it made the handling experience more enjoyable. Again, I'd only do it if your into handling, other wise may not be any point.

Getting the car running and operating smoothly would be first and foremost as you say.

With the stall, on a stock cam, you will notice a better 'off the line' improvement than the stock torque converter has to offer. It's by no means a cheap exercise so only do it if you have the funds and you are looking at reducing your 0-100 times. I think exhaust and suspension upgrades will be the biggest bang for buck improvement by far.