Annual update?
So, diff wasn’t broken, sway bar end link was…
2022 went very well for the rest of the season.
2023 was supposed to be a big year as I thought I had the car figured out… Well… March said no… I went to a practice day and spent a lot of time figuring out and testing the suspension. I REALLY dialed the car in and I was excited! The following day was the last autocross the car would do for 6 months, went really well. The following Friday driving home from work, pulling into my neighborhood not doing anything rough, I downshifted to second, released the clutch and the transmission start bucking and crunching…. I limped it the rest of the way home but the stock transmission had finally given up.
During this extended down time, I had a stage 3 5 speed transmission built, all the rear suspension bushings replaced with poly, completely upgraded the brake setup with MUCH larger RX8 sized front BBK, and swapped to RX8 rear brakes. New seats and some other stuff too.
With some motivation from a friend we swapped the transmission finally in July. I spent the next few weeks limping the car around while I worked out the brake system that was leaking everywhere.
I finally hashed out the brakes, got the car aligned, cleaned up and started driving it again.
I added a flex fuel kit (works amazing BTW) and got tuned for E85. I did one event in October to shake the car back down, and the car felt awful, I made a lot of changes and it seems some of the suspension changes were not the best, the tires we also dead.
I went through the car and found blown engine mounts too… about this time someone out of the blue made a real offer for my supercharger setup. I planned on running my car for 2024 at about 350 whp on E85 just optimizing the car and trying to go fast, buuuuuuuut…. So supercharger is gone, turbo kit ordered, of course I couldn’t just take an off the shelf kit, I had to make it different and special.
I have a turbo kit coming that will support 450ish whp.
While the car is down, I am making some changes I have been thinking about for a long time. First up, make a new axle back that tucks up to the car. I used a vibrant 3” muffler and made a quick and dirty axle back with a turn down. I cut the fiberglass so it would fit better.
Next, I made a template and had the sheet metal shop I work at cut and weld a diffuser. Is it fully functional, no, but it is a drag reduction device.
Then I started a fun project that I might try and start selling. I made wing end plates that have lights in them.
The car will have new numbers, class letters and a partial livery when all this is done. Goal is to have it all back together In January and ready to party by March.
If yall want me to keep this updated let me know and I will
