2014 Upgrades

[fieldl]

So it's 6 weeks away to my first race and currently the engine is out of may car and it's not running.  No pressure but its time to start planning my upgrades for this season maybe a little late....

Currently my car is running:
* Stock JDM K20A from FD2
* Modified exhaust using motorcycle silencer, standard was bogging the car down a lot.  The temperature and high humidity have a real impact.  Not pretty but it works.
* Hondata Flashpro mapped to car showing around 220bhp
* Quaife sequential gearbox

In order to try and progress and actually win a race this season I'm thinking of the following:
* MoTeC M400 standalone ECU - I need flatshift and autoblip capability without binning the DBW system, this will also allow me to add a lot of sensor data.
* ACT Clutch and Flywheel - To replace the one I've destroyed
* TODA High Compression pistons with TODA head gasket dropping the height by 3mm
* TODA Connecting rods
* TODA VTEC Killer Camshafts with new valve springs and VTC lock
* Replacement chains and tensioners
* Hondata or similar intake manifold gasket

Then get it all remapped plan is to remove VTEC and lock VTC ensuring it's always on the power, I'll lose a bit of low down pace but will gain at the top end.  At the moment I can start go right to the front then by T9 I'm down to 3,4,5th place as all the higher power stuff blasts past.  This should mean I can get right up there.  I'll also have a lot more data to look at.

Been looking at the good work being done on the Race Tech dash and Wings on here, could well add that to the list.

[8407jeff]

It has been six weeks.  How are the upgrades coming?

[AtomMadStew]

Hopefully the clutch will hold out this time. Are you not going for itb's? Are you restricted in any way to mods to engine/horsepower?  VTEC killers are really aggressive and should help.
All the best with the build.
Stew

[speedmachine]

aren't you allowed to just boost the thing instead of removing vtec and difficult stuff? Surely over 300hp will help you to the front!

[fieldl]

How's it coming along.....
Slowly very slowly.  First race weekend of the season is now out of the way and I've been travelling with work every week.
I'll put up a race report and video in the Race forum but let's say it's been challenging with parts availability and the ever increasing cost.

So I've had a change of plan.  Some of the parts I wanted were on 3+ months availability which is really tricky as I have a race every 8-12 weeks and no spare engine.

I'm just confirming a few details and then I'll update with the new plan.

[fieldl]

Well like any good project it's running over time and budget.
Lots of changes to the original plan too.

On my desk I now have:
* Brian Crower Stage 3 cams including all the valve seats, springs etc etc
* Brian Crower valves slightly larger than stock
* ACL race bearings to refresh whilst it's apart
* ARP head bolt kit to keep it all tied down
* Mahle 12.7:1 pistons
* Carillo A-Beam connecting rods
* Hondata intake manifold

I also have a Hondata KPro to replace the Flashpro, but I'm 50/50 on fitting it as I need to change the loom and sensors to a DC5 loom instead of the FD2 one at the moment.

On their way is an entire new gear and dog ring set from Quaife, the gear selector cable has gone and replaced with a fixed setup of rods and bellcranks.  A Flastshift Club is on it's way as a quick fix to avoid going with the KPro immediately.

Nigel Rees of GSD RaceDyn is flying over this week to look at the geo, cornering and braking dynamics in order to help me get the best chassis setup.  Expensive but a few of us have got together and I figure there is a lot of time in the setup.

[fieldl]

Well in true racing form my 2014 upgrade plan has turned into my 2015 upgrade plan.
Before my last race in September I bought a blueprinted Group N FD2 K20A that was run in the Macau GP in 2013.  That helped win my last races and the 2014 Class C championship.  Importantly I now have a spare engine.

All year I've had issues with the gearbox and time based ignition cut systems were not helping.  So we fitted a Geartronics GCU and could instantly see what the issue was.  Quick gearbox rebuild (again) with new Honda bearings fixed the float issues we saw.

My original engine is now off for a rebuild with all the Brian Crower, Carillo, Mahle parts.  Slight concern on valve clearance but the engine builder is one of the best in HK/China so I'm happy, we are even having the crank balanced.

I have all the reports on the chassis dynamics and we've got some work to do.  The suspension is now off my car and on its way back to me.  I'll be having the bilsteins rebuilt to my spec in the UK. 

The final upgrade will be new Anti-Roll Bars, I have the design and have found a manufacturer so that should be sorted.

I'm also rebuilding all four corners to replace all components including bearings and rod ends.  We had one fail and so did the other team running an Atom.  Not fun and not something I want to happen again.

Oh and I moved to a Dash2 Pro replacing the Stack dash so we now have data, just need more sensors

[John Scherrer]

Great stuff ! Sounds like you're determined to succeed ...

The anti-roll bar plans sound interesting - I've seen a few over here, but not sure if they ever survived past the trial stage. The rear looked reasonably straightforward, the front not so and it looked pretty ugly too (not that looks are too high on a racer's priority list!)

[fieldl]

I have received the engine back, needed new cylinder head and water pump and it took a bit longer than expected as the Macau GP got in the way.  So the engine is ready, needs running in and mapping.  All the wishbones, tie rods and push rods have been replaced including the steering rods.  Every bit of metal connecting the chassis to the wheels has not been changed.  New CF wheel arches are acquired and being fitted once I've got the brackets back from the paint shop.  The secondary radiator has been removed and I've had one fabricated to go in the side pods.  Oil cooler will be going to other side once the engine is in. 

Just waiting on the suspension and ARBs from the UK which oddly is taking MUCH longer than I expected.
Then we just have to put it all together again.

[John Scherrer]

Good progress !
Please can we have some photos when you start putting it back together?

How will the anti roll bars work?
Did you design them yourself or have you adapted a product for another car?

[AtomMadStew]

What was wrong with the cylinder head - or have you had bigger valves installed?

[fieldl]

Finally got the car on the dyno last night.
Very very happy with the results:


The car looks great it's all been repainted all the pushrods and wishbones have been changed.


Hub dyno is good allows for very accurate mapping:


Max cam angle clearance is perfect:


Oil cooler install is very nice as is the radiator the other side, car barely got hot on the dyno:


CF wheelguards look nice


So what's left... the clutch is dragging so the engine needs to come back out grrr and there is a weird problem with the throttle plate closing by itself.  Then the engine needs running in properly.

First race is the third weekend in March 

[AtomMadStew]

270ps = about 265bhp
Nearly 300whp.  Shame about the clutch dragging - could well have done without that - looking good.
Shifter looks well
Nice job

Stew

[fieldl]

Just to answer a few of the questions....
My previous cylinder head had warped due to overheating we had skimmed it but it wasn't within the tolerances I needed as yes I've gone with larger valves.

Suspension rebuild was a nightmare.  One of the rods was bent and I needed a replacement part from Bilstein who don't stock them.  Eventually one was tracked down but it took forever.  I sent them to the UK in October they came back last week.  The same company was supposed to be making the ARB's needless to say I've not seen them.  I'll give them the benefit of the doubt that they are just busy.

I do feel that I've gone about as far as I wanted and then some.  I now have two engine's this one and a Group N Touring Car engine both are powerful but different both are being hold back by the stock manifold.

The manifold is a pretty restrictive design bit like the air intake really some funky bends going on that actually drop the performance.  Getting a manifold custom designed and built in China is nigh on impossible, need someone from the UK to do it.

Typically my package of sensors has just arrived in Hong Kong only a couple of days later than I needed them.

[fieldl]

Here's to doing the same in 2015