A Post 1

Ha. I’m here for a moment. Nice weather got me out to the barn for a few minutes this week. Nothings happening yet though… except a realization that I don’t have the time I thought I did.

The turbo is not going to happen… at least not in the next few months. Recent happenings in the racing world, do however have me extra excited and motivated about turbocharging my car. You’ve probably heard that Formula 1 is talking about a switch to 1.6L turbocharged motors, but have you also heard that the WRC and BTCC have already taking steps towards doing the same? 1600 love is real.

And of course… all the magnificent numbers that these series get out of 1.6L has inspired me to do a little better than whatever 6psi non-intercooled might get me. Not that I’m looking for 650hp. Actually,the plan would still be a meager 200hp… although hopefully with that much torque as well… from like 3000rpm upwards. The reason for this stems from my desire to be reliable, that and… NOT replace my transmission and rear-end with something stronger.

That’s looking into the future though. For now, I’ll be struggling just to finish all the things that still remain from my original TO-DO list:
1. Rear roll center down
2. Back-half reinforce
3. Front Splitter
4. Jacking Points re-inforced and tow hooks

That and… generally re-assembly, which includes a couple tricky things like… fabricating & designing a new wiper motor/system. I told you I screwed up when I designed my Shakkito plates. The plate actually clears stock wiper motor, IF it’s already in place. It doesn’t leave room to install the motor if it’s removed though! Not sure what to do about that. Might center mount a new motor and go single wiper (seems ricey), might try and find a lower profile motor, might modify the existing plate (easy but backwards).

And… what little money I had set aside for the turbo, I decided to spend on a few little things that will make the car better this year.  Like an Illegal Garage driveshaft, and an aluminum crank pulley.  The manifold, turbo and plumbing are already here, the rest of the parts will trickle in, and then next winter I’ll hope to do that, do it right… and do NOTHING else.

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