Well it comes that time again where the job has called for me to go do some work. When I get back It will be about time for Wake The Dragon, So Im trying to get the car finished as much as I can. So I just have a few things left to do I hope. I have a few more entries to make on this trip, since usually my trips entails long boring periods of time spent in a hotel room. I plan on working on the layout of the blog and coming up with a name as well. But the other day I went and had an alignment done. I was quite pleased with the out come so far, based only on the specs I gave the guy and watching him align it to the decimal point of what I gave him. Being the area I live in I was not use to the pride in the job.

Megan Racing Rear Tie Rods AKA Anti Bumpsteer

I'll start off by saying that there are some things I would not buy from Megan Racing, just personal opinion. With that being said, here's the deal price on a part that will need to be replaced fairly often. With my luck the rear tie rods have lasted 1 - 1.5 years, this entailed alot of street driving keep in mind. But the fact is I have bought J's Racing ($635.00), then I replaced them with T1R (359.00) that was exactly like the j's but another color. These once again wore out, so I was going to give the EVS Tuning ($350.00) a shot. Right before I pulled the trigger, I came across Megan Racing ($160.00). Reason was  I could roughly buy 2 sets before I paid for another brand. The Megan Racing is made simpler than the the others and it is not anodized, it's painted. It came with all the hardware required, as did the others. Bottom line the Megans have Hime Joints just as the others, so it's going to function the same as the rest that have Hime joints. Im not sure if Megan sells replacements ends but I would say I'm sure they do, I found that J's and T1R's I was quoted roughly $180.00, plus the fact they would have to order them, EVS said they sell replacement Hime joints as well. On the board I have read threads where people had replaced their J's with Aurora Hime joints, but I was never able to source a part number.  Im sure you can see where I am going with the money thing by now on these. If you have Any of these aftermarket toe arms how do you know that their bad? If your back end starts to feel a little more twitchy or unstable a worn out Hime joint could be the cause. So jack up the car and move the wheel left to the right and up and down, in my case in all these directions you could feel and hear a "click". Garbage now. How easy is this to change? It's pretty easy.

Jack the car up and place on a stand, don't forget to chalk the front wheels.

Remove the wheel.

Remove the cotter pin and nut from the top side of the hub.

Use an 3/4 extension plus on the exposed shank sticking through the hub and hit the extension with a ball ping hammer. It has a interference fit so it may take a few strikes.

Remove the adjustment cam bolt on the inside.

Tap the toe arm now and it should fall out. 

Now try to measure from center to center of the old bar and adjust the new bar as close to that as you can. Try to adjust the inside and outside adjustment evenly to make it easier for future adjustment. 

Install the new stud and tighten it down to the hub.

Now install the bar to the inside cam bolt.

On the outside stud you have to get the geometry correct. I used 2 spacers above the bar and installed the third below the bar. The one below doesn't affect geometry. 

Tighten the Tie Rod ends.

Install the new cotter pin

Now go get an alignment because all your adjustments will have been changed slightly and slightly can reflect alot. 

If you are thinking about picking these up, here's what they do. You get more adjustment for your toe angle because the rod has movement on the inside and out, as well as the cam bolt and eccentric. The hime joint as opposed to the ball in socket does not move as much while cornering or on uneven surfaces. Next the stud on the hub has spacers to adjust the angle of the tie rod. Meaning when the car is lowered suspension geometry is changed and the spacers allow for the geometry to be re alined. If you're wondering what bump-steer is, its caused by the angle of the toe moving toe in and toe out. Its reflected to the driver to what sometimes feels as the back end is raising up and down. The hime joints reduce this.

Compliance

Cruising around the board tonight I came across Josh's aka(josh7ownes on s2ki) 2000 Berlina Black S2000. I didn't really think much about from the first photos he posted however, as I scrolled down I became more intrigued. The first picture that happened to make me look closer was the side shot of his car with his SCCA setup, I spied a Recaro SPG. This caught my eye because not only is this my favorite seat but I had been searching all over the internet for one. So I looked at the car again still not seeing much. Fortunately for me he posted a mod list. This is where I got really excited, because this S2000 is sitting on  JRZ coil-overs. Ill run down some of the mods that I think anyone should know to sum up the business that Josh's car brings to the party. First lets go over the wheels, 17x9 + 63 with a 255/40 Hankook RS-3. I know first hand that this combo very fitting for the car and it "fits". I am so sick of seeing cars with stupid offsets that it is always refreshing to see a car with correct wheels, that forces me to point that out "Holy shit the wheels fit!  Next I see where he has gone with Innovative 75a mounts another very practical mod for is Auto X pleasure.  The rest of the car happens to be very well put together with a full exhaust and a piggyback tune. Aside from miscellaneous small mods I feel this sums the car up. Its not alot but then again when you are trying to compete in a class there happens to be rules to follow. Its always refreshing to see cars still built like this, and Good Luck this season!

viNz86 Death By Black

Over the years I have come to the conclusion that in Canada they build cars, even though we all thought all the cars had square wheels. It just seems if your an S2000 owner affiliated with Canada you almost automatically have an amazing build, period dot done. I don't know if its the maple syrup or  french fries and gravy. Nevertheless it seem as if I like just about every S2000 that comes out of Canada. Vince is no different and started with a great canvas a Berlina Black S2, I mean nothing goes better than it does with black and his is murdered out. I have been a follower of his build thread for sometime now and not just because he tracks the car and has a nice list of parts but also for quotes like this "The best way for me to save money is to repair damage parts and prep all body work. All I did was pay for paint (since I don't know how to paint!)" What true enthusiasts has not said something along these lines? The best part of it all is that once your done not only did you save money for other avenues of the build but now you have a new skill so props to you sir. Another thing I like is details, this is kinda hard being that the car is all black you really cant see all the small details in the car. In particular I am talking about the Spoon Fenders and J's Racing side skirts Now take note in the photo how the Spoon fender kinda of flares out towards the bottom, Vince modified the side skirt to follow that contour. Normally the side skirt is flat and follows a straight line down the fender and kind of caps into the wheels well. I like this and the finished product is fantastic. Also The fender is completely cut out in a correct fashion for the over fenders, another nice note. But among these details (including now a Carbon Mugen Hardtop) I like how they are subtly hidden by a set of modest Enkei RPF's. In his newer projects Vince has undergone installing a Kraft Works Supercharger with FMIC, on his own, its pretty cool to see how he continued to save money by doing work himself. I am sure this will continue to be a weekend killer at the track! Keep up the good work and Ill try my best to slide in updated photos of his build! 


Vince also wanted me to give shout out to his local shop Speed Syndicate. Ill be sure to check them out sometime.

S2000 Track day In Japan

Im sure you have seen the horrible and continuous aftermath of the Tsunami and looming Nuclear issue in Japan. I have seen alot of people on Facebook post about Pray for Japan Etc, which is all good. In fact I just got back from there last month. But I want to also let people be aware that its just not the Japanese to pray for but also Americans that are stationed there or transiting through there. Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard etc. These people are playing in important part in the clean up, fire fighting, and search and rescue. This is something that I hold special to me because I myself am in the military. I can tell you that we as the United States were the first people there bringing the aid in the form of help,food,water, and everything else to try to help. Also there are a number of other countries from around the world that are lending a helping hand.

The other day I was cruising www.s2ki.com and came across a great thread with what appears to be a S2000 track day in Japan. It has alot of great pictures for you to drool over. I always enjoy looking at pictures like this and for the longest time I couldn't get it how they built cars the way they do until I finally went to a few shops in Japan and saw first hand what type of parts and accessories were right down the street, then it just dawned on me. Any fitting or fluid or whatever you need for a project is on the shelf, pretty cool.

Check out more pictures here http://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/850019-functionform-true-jdm-tuning/

Oh and just a little reminder why whats going on in other parts of the world

First Auto X of the Year

Couple weeks ago I decided to hit up the first Auto X in my area. Ill be honest Ive never really been a Auto X kinda guy, but I am trying to focus hard on details of my driving skills after doing alot of research on the great Ayton Senna. So I am in this mindset now that any seat time is going to help hone my skills in. So I convince my girlfriend to go with and drive here Civic and being a girl she invited her friend who had a Civic as well. We had a blast! Now they want to go to the next event I am glad I got them into a hobby they enjoy too! Showed up to the coarse they had setup saw the layout and got pretty excited because it was a pretty long coarse. Misfortune hit because some of the Fire Extinguishers were not properly charged and we could only use a portion of the coarse, so that was a bummer. Also part of the parking lot had been newly re sealed and it was super slick, but we can work through that. All our times improved as the day went on and I started working out some kinks. I had some understeering issues throughout the day, but completely forgot to soften the front suspension I believe this would have solved it, I realized this on the way home with a Oh Shit! Duh! moment. Sure enough I peeked down at my EDFC and it was set pretty stiff still. It always dawns on me in confusion when I get to something like this and look around and the lack of modded cars, because how many times a week do I hear people say im buying this or that part to make it handle better and all its used for is to make it handle better parked somewhere I guess? So lets see some more cars with mods on them next time. One of my favorite cars there was a super charged E90 M3 Holy Chit! What a beast! Looking forward to seeing this at a track day coming up soon. So I am very excited to try to work on my times at the next event I hope to see you there!

Looks like the next event is Saturday March 26th Millington Airport in Memphis TN. So if your going let me know and will try to get some sort of dinner plan made.

Spoon Mono Blocks

So the other Day I get a call from my friend Brice, and he was super excited about installing some Spoon Monoblocks on his car, but then again so was I. Let me give you the skinny on these.... Obviously very well made, but then again they were made by Nissin who also made the OEM caliper on the S2 and also very light weight.  Installation was super easy.

Is there cutting of the dust shield? Yes its about a 2 inch piece you cut off Tin Snips will do the job to clear the new bracket just cut the corner of the dust shield off on the top and bottom.
Can I use my Brake pads from the stock caliper Yes I would upgrade to a more aggresive pad than OEM if you have not.
Can I use my OEM brake rotors? Yes In fact I prefer Honda Genuine brake rotors unless upgrading to good aftermarket rotor.
Can I use my OEM Brake lines? Yes However you might as well upgrade to Stainless steel lines. Spoon brake lines are not required, you can use any stainless steel brake line that is compatible with the stock caliper.
Do I have to flush my brake fluid? No however you will have to add and bleed the brakes. But this is a great time to upgrade to some ATE Super Blue. If you adding all the stainless steel lines You should flush the whole system.
Will it clear my Wheel? If your running a Volk Racing CE28N You will need a +55 or lower to clear. Different wheel and spoke design may require more.
How do I install the Pads? Remove the 2 allen bolts from the back cover pry a screw driver between the rotor and pad to push the piston back and install the pad then reattach the black cover making sure not to over tighten these bolts.
Novice level? If you can bleed brakes you can do this, but you will need sockets with metric allen stocks.
Is there a Left or Right. Yes the bleeding ports will go pointing towards the top to allow the air to escape during bleeding.
And don't forget the Reservoir Covers to absorb the brake fluid if it leaks out during hard driving.
Feel free to contact my with any questions or help.

What is so nice about a caliper like this? Well the braking feel is greatly improved as well as stopping distance. Also to change the brake pads is a breeze! So you can have track pads and street pads. All you do is take the black cover off thats on top of the pads and pry a screw driver between the pad and rotor to push the pistons back and pull the pads out and put the other pads in, re attach the black cover and your done. takes longer to remove the wheel. Be sure not to over tighten these bolts. I would highly recommend these as a must to have without spending tons of money on a AP Racing or Endless kit.

SAVE THE RING!

Show your support, and keep the Nurburgring from failing by seperating the two tracks and the Euro Disney World. There is so much history here from around the world, aside from being the best piece of tarmac in the world! So lets do our part and get involved, go to the links sign the petition pick up a sticker and show our support!. After all Sabine Schmitz would!

Sign the petition linked from this page
http:/savethering.org/

Get your Save the Ring Sticker from
http:/www.247motoring.com

Like it on Facbook
Save The Ring

I Have Not Forgotten You

I have been very busy at work lately, and have just been too tired to get on here and try to think about blogging. I have been Looking Into a real camera for doing coverage with, so I am excited over that! With all the other excuses to go with this I have spent most of my free time in the garage. I am also working on making the face of the blog more exciting and coming up with some stickers, let me know what you think.
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