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Updates
Check in here often for the latest updates on Tanner Munson Drifting!!
This is the section where I will be posting the important updates and news this season, things like chassis build progress, partnership news and event recaps! Also, don't forget to "Like" the Tanner Munson Drifting Fan Page as you'll get more updates and pictures there! Feel free to post on the fan page and let me know what you think!
This is the section where I will be posting the important updates and news this season, things like chassis build progress, partnership news and event recaps! Also, don't forget to "Like" the Tanner Munson Drifting Fan Page as you'll get more updates and pictures there! Feel free to post on the fan page and let me know what you think!
Clubloose Spring Moves
The first sunny drift event of the season was a huge success! After battling some clutch issues at our first shakedown event of the season, it was great to return to Clubloose in English Town New Jersey and have a flawless weekend. With a new Wilwood master cylinder in the car all of our soft pedal/fading clutch engagement problems were gone and I was able to consistently shred some amazing Falken Tires all day! Finally getting some solid dry track time, I was able to really test my newly found chassis setup knowledge, thanks to ASD and their 2012 Mob program. During the off season I completely revamped my entire alignment and I cannot believe the difference it made! All day long the car just flat out performed; it was incredibly fast yet super easy to drive, and I couldn’t be happier!
Clubloose 2012 season opener
After what seemed like an incredibly long, boring winter it was finally time to head down to Englishtown for the first Clubloose event of the season! This event was Clubloose's 10 year anniversary event, and sadly, it was cold and rainy all day just like it was 10 years ago. Despite the poor weather, the event was still a great way to kick off the season. I had a blast just hanging out and catching up with everyone within the Clubloose family, the driving was good too haha. The first two sessions were pretty wet and slick but by the third session the track had dried up a bit and I was able to get in some good tandems with my buddies Geoff Stoneback and Brian Hoplamazian that made the trip totally worth it!
After changing the car setup entirely I was incredibly interested to see how the car would perform. I couldn't believe how amazing the car drove even in the rain! Everything about the new setup was awesome, the tuning MJ Engineering + Performance did made the motor feel stronger than ever, the knowledge I gained from the ASD Mob chassis seminar allowed me to make the car perform even in the rain, RKT56's built transmission is continuing to take abuse without issue and Sikky's mounts kept everything in place without issue! With mass amounts of water on track in certain spots I was wondering how the Falken 615K's would do, all my worries were gone as soon as I hit the track! Even in the wet these tires flat out perform!!!
The only downfall to the whole weekend was having to bleed the clutch a few times due to overheating/boiling fluid. Switching over to some high quality Motul Fluid and adding some Heatshield Products wrap to the headers and transmission should easily take care of our issues. We're really looking forward to getting back out on track and letting the car rip on some dry pavement!
Axcel Sports on board for 2012
Having a badass firesuit all embroidered and lettered up like a Formula D driver is one of every pro-am driver's desires, and now thanks to Axcel Sports I'm lucky enough to have that desire fulfilled! Being that a fire suit is a large expense as well as a large part of safety in racing, you have to make sure you're getting a quality product. That's where Axcel Sports comes in, they specialize in custom tailored, designed and embroidered fire suits and race team apparel. I just got the preview of my Axcel fire suit and I can't wait to get my hands on it! It's currently in production and should be here shortly, the anticipation is killing me! Axcel's website is under renovation but head over to their Facebook Fan Page to check out their work.
Tuning/Dyno day with MJ Engineering + Performance at Enhanced Street Performance
I have to start off this update by thanking Mike from MJ Engineering + Performance for the incredible tuning and service I've received so far this season. Due to Mike's experience with LSx motors, he was able to have our AFR's dead on before even seeing the car. Mike was able to get the car all set and tuned better than it's ever run in way less time than I had expected. I can't say enough good things about my experiences with Mike and his business MJ Engineering + Performance! Thanks again buddy! A big thanks also goes out to Enhanced Street Performance for taking time out of their busy day to run their awesome AWD Mustang dyno!
Upon arriving to ESP, Mike was already there setup and waiting to get cracking on the start up and idle tuning, but the first thing he did was hand me a brand new EFI Live AutoCal unit! With this badass new toy, I can log everything that the motor's doing during events as if Mike had his laptop hooked up, and then send him the file to examine it. He can then make any necessary changes or any adjustments that I might recommend for my driving style, he then sends me the file back, I store it to one of the 5 file storage spaces on the AutoCal unit, then upload it to the car and let it rip! This AutoCal unit really is amazing, it basically allows Mike to live tune the car from his couch as if he were strapped into the passenger seat; AND he can do it with your racecar, tow rig, daily driver, or any other vehicle that EFI Live works with!
After Mike went over the AutoCal unit with me, we got going on the startup/idle tuning, then did a little bit of on-road logging before throwing it on the dyno. After several pulls Mike had just about everything in shape and it was just a matter of making some small tweaks to get everything juuusssttt right and keep it safe for all the abuse this motor's gonna get this season! Check out the torque curve on the graph below!
Last but not least I have to give a shoutout to Dave at ESP, his shop, his hospitality and his Mustang dyno! He was super helpful throughout the entire day and even skipped his lunch break to make sure that everything went smoothly, and it sure did! All in all we arrived at ESP around 10:15am and were rolling out all tuned up with a great day with great people around 4pm.
Check out the pics and videos from the day!
My father helping Dave strap the car down
Build updates
Lately customer work in the shop has been picking up so we've been working overtime to get the coupe ready for our tuning and dyno day with MJ Engineering + Performance. From making some aluminum door panels, to putting the final touches on the engine bay with some Heatshield Products goodies, to making some last minute wiring changes, the car is the best/cleanest it's ever been! I've also made some time to get some little things done on the turbo 'vert, things like starting the wrapping of the hot parts with Heatshield Products Lava wrap and installing some turbo lines. Check it out!
Most of the 2012 partner vinyl is on!
Aluminum door panels all installed
My father doing a little wiring :-)
Finally got the Heatshield Products Lava Mat installed, no more cooked feet!
Heatshield Products thermal sleeving
Heatshield Products starter blanket
On the left, is a picture of the oil feed line elbow/adapter setup I made, the one fitting had to be trimmed down a bit to clear the head of the GTO pan filter line retainer bolt. The picture on the right shows the finished product of my first time wrapping an exhaust manifold with Heatshield Products Lava wrap. I've gotta say, this stuff is awesome! It's very easy to work with and the finish is brilliant!
Falken Tire!
The first sunny drift event of the season was a huge success! After battling some clutch issues at our first shakedown event of the season, it was great to return to Clubloose in English Town New Jersey and have a flawless weekend. With a new Wilwood master cylinder in the car all of our soft pedal/fading clutch engagement problems were gone and I was able to consistently shred some amazing Falken Tires all day! Finally getting some solid dry track time, I was able to really test my newly found chassis setup knowledge, thanks to ASD and their 2012 Mob program. During the off season I completely revamped my entire alignment and I cannot believe the difference it made! All day long the car just flat out performed; it was incredibly fast yet super easy to drive, and I couldn’t be happier!
Between driving sessions I was able to catch up with my 2nd family full of drifter buddies. My fellow ASD Mob member Lee Alexander was able to come up to Jersey and get some good seat time in his new Sikky kitted V8 S14, which he seems to be adapting to rather quickly! Speaking of Sikky, along with Lee and myself, my good friend Geoff Stoneback has also partnered up with Sikky this season and was out ripping his newly swapped V8 S14 as well! When we weren’t driving we were in the pits hanging out and having fun, which is what this sport is all about!
Throughout the day I had the opportunity to catch up with tons of friends and drive with some rad dudes including Geoff and Lee, Ryan Tuerck, Justin Tuerck, Brian Hoplamazian and Miro Ovcharik just to name a few. We were able to drive hard with these guys all day long and the car continued to flat out perform, we didn’t have a single hiccup at all! The recent tuning adjustments MJ Engineering + Performance made were spot on and kept the motor ripping all day. Thank you to all my partners who have helped me get this season off to such a great start: ASD Motorsports, Falken Tire, RKT56, MJ Engineering + Performance, Sikky MFG, Stance Suspension, Heatshield products, Jimmy Up, Mechanix Wear, Clubloose for the rad event and my friends and family for supporting me!
Clubloose 2012 season opener
After what seemed like an incredibly long, boring winter it was finally time to head down to Englishtown for the first Clubloose event of the season! This event was Clubloose's 10 year anniversary event, and sadly, it was cold and rainy all day just like it was 10 years ago. Despite the poor weather, the event was still a great way to kick off the season. I had a blast just hanging out and catching up with everyone within the Clubloose family, the driving was good too haha. The first two sessions were pretty wet and slick but by the third session the track had dried up a bit and I was able to get in some good tandems with my buddies Geoff Stoneback and Brian Hoplamazian that made the trip totally worth it!
After changing the car setup entirely I was incredibly interested to see how the car would perform. I couldn't believe how amazing the car drove even in the rain! Everything about the new setup was awesome, the tuning MJ Engineering + Performance did made the motor feel stronger than ever, the knowledge I gained from the ASD Mob chassis seminar allowed me to make the car perform even in the rain, RKT56's built transmission is continuing to take abuse without issue and Sikky's mounts kept everything in place without issue! With mass amounts of water on track in certain spots I was wondering how the Falken 615K's would do, all my worries were gone as soon as I hit the track! Even in the wet these tires flat out perform!!!
The only downfall to the whole weekend was having to bleed the clutch a few times due to overheating/boiling fluid. Switching over to some high quality Motul Fluid and adding some Heatshield Products wrap to the headers and transmission should easily take care of our issues. We're really looking forward to getting back out on track and letting the car rip on some dry pavement!
Axcel Sports on board for 2012
Having a badass firesuit all embroidered and lettered up like a Formula D driver is one of every pro-am driver's desires, and now thanks to Axcel Sports I'm lucky enough to have that desire fulfilled! Being that a fire suit is a large expense as well as a large part of safety in racing, you have to make sure you're getting a quality product. That's where Axcel Sports comes in, they specialize in custom tailored, designed and embroidered fire suits and race team apparel. I just got the preview of my Axcel fire suit and I can't wait to get my hands on it! It's currently in production and should be here shortly, the anticipation is killing me! Axcel's website is under renovation but head over to their Facebook Fan Page to check out their work.
Tuning/Dyno day with MJ Engineering + Performance at Enhanced Street Performance
I have to start off this update by thanking Mike from MJ Engineering + Performance for the incredible tuning and service I've received so far this season. Due to Mike's experience with LSx motors, he was able to have our AFR's dead on before even seeing the car. Mike was able to get the car all set and tuned better than it's ever run in way less time than I had expected. I can't say enough good things about my experiences with Mike and his business MJ Engineering + Performance! Thanks again buddy! A big thanks also goes out to Enhanced Street Performance for taking time out of their busy day to run their awesome AWD Mustang dyno!
Upon arriving to ESP, Mike was already there setup and waiting to get cracking on the start up and idle tuning, but the first thing he did was hand me a brand new EFI Live AutoCal unit! With this badass new toy, I can log everything that the motor's doing during events as if Mike had his laptop hooked up, and then send him the file to examine it. He can then make any necessary changes or any adjustments that I might recommend for my driving style, he then sends me the file back, I store it to one of the 5 file storage spaces on the AutoCal unit, then upload it to the car and let it rip! This AutoCal unit really is amazing, it basically allows Mike to live tune the car from his couch as if he were strapped into the passenger seat; AND he can do it with your racecar, tow rig, daily driver, or any other vehicle that EFI Live works with!
After Mike went over the AutoCal unit with me, we got going on the startup/idle tuning, then did a little bit of on-road logging before throwing it on the dyno. After several pulls Mike had just about everything in shape and it was just a matter of making some small tweaks to get everything juuusssttt right and keep it safe for all the abuse this motor's gonna get this season! Check out the torque curve on the graph below!
Last but not least I have to give a shoutout to Dave at ESP, his shop, his hospitality and his Mustang dyno! He was super helpful throughout the entire day and even skipped his lunch break to make sure that everything went smoothly, and it sure did! All in all we arrived at ESP around 10:15am and were rolling out all tuned up with a great day with great people around 4pm.
Check out the pics and videos from the day!
My father helping Dave strap the car down
Build updates
Lately customer work in the shop has been picking up so we've been working overtime to get the coupe ready for our tuning and dyno day with MJ Engineering + Performance. From making some aluminum door panels, to putting the final touches on the engine bay with some Heatshield Products goodies, to making some last minute wiring changes, the car is the best/cleanest it's ever been! I've also made some time to get some little things done on the turbo 'vert, things like starting the wrapping of the hot parts with Heatshield Products Lava wrap and installing some turbo lines. Check it out!
Most of the 2012 partner vinyl is on!
Aluminum door panels all installed
My father doing a little wiring :-)
Finally got the Heatshield Products Lava Mat installed, no more cooked feet!
Heatshield Products thermal sleeving
Heatshield Products starter blanket
On the left, is a picture of the oil feed line elbow/adapter setup I made, the one fitting had to be trimmed down a bit to clear the head of the GTO pan filter line retainer bolt. The picture on the right shows the finished product of my first time wrapping an exhaust manifold with Heatshield Products Lava wrap. I've gotta say, this stuff is awesome! It's very easy to work with and the finish is brilliant!
Falken Tire!
I cannot express enough how ecstatic I am to be on board with Falken Tire this season. Getting to be involved with such a huge supporter of the drifting lifestyle is an amazing feeling and I cannot wait to get out there and rip up THE best drift tires on the market, the prized Falken Azenis RT615K’s!!!! Falken started off the season by sending me a rad swag package with all sorts of goodies and apparel, a huge thanks goes out to everyone at Falken Tire for taking care of us drivers so well! I’ve run just about every drift tire out there and nothing compares to the Falken’s, nothing! From the super consistent, predictable and crazy high grip to the smooth/even wear of the 615K’s, there’s nothing more I could ask for from a drift tire! My first tire order arrived today and after loading up the brodozer with 20 brand new Falken's it's making me super anxious for the first event of the season. I've got to get these bad boys mounted up ASAP so the car will be all set and ready to go for our dyno date with MJ Engineering + Performance on the 19th, after that it's off to Clubloose on the 31st for the first event of the 2012 season!
JimmyUP on board for 2012!
I'm super excited and proud to announce a new partnership with JimmyUP for the 2012 season. I've been a long time supporter of JimmyUP since it's creation in 2007 and have always been impressed with their fresh designs and the overall respect Mike has for all his customers. JimmyUP is on board to help out with some catchy yet professional crew shirts, vinyl and the freshest new drift swag to keep us looking good on and off the track! Be sure to check JimmyUP out and support them by “Liking” their Facebook page, and taking a look through their website to order some new swag!
2012 Comp car build almost finished
The 2012 competition car is coming together super fast! We’ve got the drivetrain all up and running, the new ASD Hydraulic handbrake combined with George Marstanovic’s dual Z32 rear caliper setup is locking up the rear wheels like you wouldn’t believe, and we’ve got a dyno date set with MJ Engineering + Performance to get the car running tip top! All that’s left is finish up some body work, wire up our lights and lay out all our partners vinyl then it’s off to the first Clubloose event of the season on March 31st!!!!!!!
Over my weekend of decommission dad got the manual headlight adjusters all done up.
Quick interior pic. I've still gotta coat the floors, install my new aluminum door panels and line the drivers side with Heatshield Products "Lava Mat" to keep from burning my new shoes, but this shows you the switchez on switchez setup and the awesome ASD hydro E-brake assembly I'm running. I had a chance to give the new e-brake setup a quick test today and let me tell you, this setup GRABS! I'm thoroughly impressed with the quality of both ASD's e-brake assembly and George Marstanovic's dual caliper setup. These two combined is garaunteed to give you the perfect hydro e-brake you've dreamed of!
New Logo
My good buddy and 2012 media partner Mark Lenardon came through with a badass new Tanner Munson drifting logo that can be seen in the top left of any page on this site! Mark has been working on some cool new projects with me already this season and I can't wait to release more of our media as the season goes on. Be sure to check out Mark's fan page and website (link can be found in the "Partners" section) for his incredible work.
Heatshield Products
Heatshield Products is a family owned and operated business that produces some amazingly high quality temperature controlling products for us racers. Everything from Heatshield Products is packaged well, the actual build quality is impeccable, there’s no doubt in my mind that this stuff is going to work! A few of the items I’m super pleased would be the “Starter Blanket”, the “Lava Mat” and the “Lava Exhaust Header Wrap”. There’s nothing more embarrassing than coming in from a run, switching tires, then trying to start your car and hearing that dreadful super slow cranking from your baking starter, with this new starter blanket I can kiss the possibility of the baked starter goodbye! No more melted shoes from my hot exhaust once the Lava Mat goes in! And I’m excited to get my back up car turbo piping wrapped up in the Lava Header Wrap! The “Lava” products are actually partially made up of crushed volcanic rock, how awesome is that! Be sure to check out Heatshield Products if you’re looking to keep your drift cars temperatures in check (which you should be!)!!
JimmyUP on board for 2012!
I'm super excited and proud to announce a new partnership with JimmyUP for the 2012 season. I've been a long time supporter of JimmyUP since it's creation in 2007 and have always been impressed with their fresh designs and the overall respect Mike has for all his customers. JimmyUP is on board to help out with some catchy yet professional crew shirts, vinyl and the freshest new drift swag to keep us looking good on and off the track! Be sure to check JimmyUP out and support them by “Liking” their Facebook page, and taking a look through their website to order some new swag!
2012 Comp car build almost finished
The 2012 competition car is coming together super fast! We’ve got the drivetrain all up and running, the new ASD Hydraulic handbrake combined with George Marstanovic’s dual Z32 rear caliper setup is locking up the rear wheels like you wouldn’t believe, and we’ve got a dyno date set with MJ Engineering + Performance to get the car running tip top! All that’s left is finish up some body work, wire up our lights and lay out all our partners vinyl then it’s off to the first Clubloose event of the season on March 31st!!!!!!!
Over my weekend of decommission dad got the manual headlight adjusters all done up.
Quick interior pic. I've still gotta coat the floors, install my new aluminum door panels and line the drivers side with Heatshield Products "Lava Mat" to keep from burning my new shoes, but this shows you the switchez on switchez setup and the awesome ASD hydro E-brake assembly I'm running. I had a chance to give the new e-brake setup a quick test today and let me tell you, this setup GRABS! I'm thoroughly impressed with the quality of both ASD's e-brake assembly and George Marstanovic's dual caliper setup. These two combined is garaunteed to give you the perfect hydro e-brake you've dreamed of!
New Logo
My good buddy and 2012 media partner Mark Lenardon came through with a badass new Tanner Munson drifting logo that can be seen in the top left of any page on this site! Mark has been working on some cool new projects with me already this season and I can't wait to release more of our media as the season goes on. Be sure to check out Mark's fan page and website (link can be found in the "Partners" section) for his incredible work.
Heatshield Products
Heatshield Products is a family owned and operated business that produces some amazingly high quality temperature controlling products for us racers. Everything from Heatshield Products is packaged well, the actual build quality is impeccable, there’s no doubt in my mind that this stuff is going to work! A few of the items I’m super pleased would be the “Starter Blanket”, the “Lava Mat” and the “Lava Exhaust Header Wrap”. There’s nothing more embarrassing than coming in from a run, switching tires, then trying to start your car and hearing that dreadful super slow cranking from your baking starter, with this new starter blanket I can kiss the possibility of the baked starter goodbye! No more melted shoes from my hot exhaust once the Lava Mat goes in! And I’m excited to get my back up car turbo piping wrapped up in the Lava Header Wrap! The “Lava” products are actually partially made up of crushed volcanic rock, how awesome is that! Be sure to check out Heatshield Products if you’re looking to keep your drift cars temperatures in check (which you should be!)!!
Back up car build! Turbo 4.8L LSx convertible S13
So as many of you are aware from my previous updates, I acquired a '93 240sx convertible last fall just after I went to Formula D Irwindale. I knew I was going to use this car as my next back up/spare car and give it some street use as well. I didn't however, fully know what I was going to do with the drivetrain. I knew it was going to be another LSx base, but I didn't want to pour another $5k+ into a built motor. I'd always followed the turbo LSx scene and always wanted to give it a shot, sooo long story short I just said the hell with it and went for it! I had recently acquired a 2000 Chevy Silverado, 2wd, regular cab short bed (RCSB) with a 4.8L LSx V8 for a DD. I then decided to swap my back up race motor (LS6) into the RCSB and use the 4.8L for my back up/turbo motor. The reasoning for this is the factory bone stock truck motors handle boost very well, especially the 4.8L being that it has the shortest stroke in the LSx family.
Comp car parts arriving
A few of my eagerly awaited parts have arrived for the 2012 competition car build. I'd always considered making the jump to a dual caliper rear brake system, allowing my hydraulic e-brake to be on its own line leaving my factory brake system and pedal feel untouched. I had watched the market and kept my options open last season and decided to bite the bullet on George Marstanovic's dual Z32 rear caliper kit along with the ASD hydraulic brake after hearing how happy my fellow Mob member Stewart Leask was with his identical setup. I got in contact with George, ordered my kit and it showed up not too long after. George has done an excellent job of building a top notch kit that any handy/competent drifter can install in a day. If you're considering going to a hydraulic e-brake setup and want a true dual caliper setup, you wont be disappointed with this setup!
I'd also chatted with Stew about some random thoughts and ended up taking his advice on switching to ARP extended/hardened wheel studs.
ASD goodies!
2012 partner Autosport Dynamics hooked it up with a precise Longacre camber/castor gauge, some thick new toe plates and a 16" vertical hydraulic e-brake assembly! The toe plates and caster/camber gauge are going to help us keep our alignment in check and aid the crew in making the proper, precise alignment changes while at the track. The ASD e-brake assembly is one stout piece, nothing is spared or sacrificed with this unit. The handle is a custom in house CNC'd piece, the pivot points all use self locking nuts and brass washers, and the master cylinder plunger is connected to the CNC'd handle via a top quality FK heim joint; in short, this e-brake means business!
RKT56 built transmission is here, exhaust is finished and a new partner is on board for 2012!
First off, Friday afternoon our new fully built T56 from Rick over at RKT56 arrived in tip top shape ready to put in our back up car. Half way through last season I had the T56 in my competition car rebuilt by RKT56 and afterwards it was a completely different transmission! The transmission has performed flawlessly since then and seems like it will continue to take all the abuse I can throw at it. My second experience with RKT56 has been outstanding, anyone looking to get their T56, T6060, etc rebuilt needs to check out RKT56!
So as many of you are aware from my previous updates, I acquired a '93 240sx convertible last fall just after I went to Formula D Irwindale. I knew I was going to use this car as my next back up/spare car and give it some street use as well. I didn't however, fully know what I was going to do with the drivetrain. I knew it was going to be another LSx base, but I didn't want to pour another $5k+ into a built motor. I'd always followed the turbo LSx scene and always wanted to give it a shot, sooo long story short I just said the hell with it and went for it! I had recently acquired a 2000 Chevy Silverado, 2wd, regular cab short bed (RCSB) with a 4.8L LSx V8 for a DD. I then decided to swap my back up race motor (LS6) into the RCSB and use the 4.8L for my back up/turbo motor. The reasoning for this is the factory bone stock truck motors handle boost very well, especially the 4.8L being that it has the shortest stroke in the LSx family.
Recently my parents went away on vacation leaving me with full reign of the shop and household, I seized the opportunity and put in major hours on the back up car as well as obtaining some amazing new partnerships as stated above! Throughout my week of wreaking havoc in the shop, I got the engine bay all stripped down and painted up, and the turbo system 80% finished. It doesn’t sound like much, but fabbing a LSx turbo system from scratch in a S13 all the while doing our usual customer work had me in the shop from 9am-midnight just about every day for the 10 days my parents were gone! Full up to date build specs of the 'Vert will be posted in the "Office" section shortly. Anywho, Check out the pics below (there are 100+ pictures of this build on my Facebook Fan page!)
Drivers side manifold and crossover pipe are done!
Crossover pipe and clearances
Engine bay dried!
Passenger side manifold complete
With the engine out and the engine bay drying we got started fabbing up the first manifold and merge pipe/collector.
Painted! Rattle can's are crazy these days.
Bay all prepped and ready to be taped for paint
Turbo location set, turbo brace/bracket is made..goofing around with a hoodstack idea...yay or nay?!
Test fitting!
Shortblock ready for the top end
After discovering the lovely mess inside the top end of the motor and attempting to clean the stock #862 4.8L heads & valves to no avail I decided to throw on a spare set of #241 LS1 heads I had laying around. I disassembled the #241 heads completely, cleaned/soaked them in Mineral Spirits then reassembled them with new valve seals, spring seats & retainers and a set of PRC Platinum Dual valve springs.
Even with the mess in the top end the bottom end still looked extremely clean and fresh for having 150k miles on the ticker.
Discovered this lovely mess inside. Previous owner had replaced the headgaskets with very cheap gaskets and aftermarket bolts. Headgaskets were leaking and I wasn't aware when I pulled the motor and stored it for 6 months. Luckily the cylinder walls and pistons were still okay. The steel valves on the other hand were too far gone.
Got the motor on the stand
Comp car parts arriving
A few of my eagerly awaited parts have arrived for the 2012 competition car build. I'd always considered making the jump to a dual caliper rear brake system, allowing my hydraulic e-brake to be on its own line leaving my factory brake system and pedal feel untouched. I had watched the market and kept my options open last season and decided to bite the bullet on George Marstanovic's dual Z32 rear caliper kit along with the ASD hydraulic brake after hearing how happy my fellow Mob member Stewart Leask was with his identical setup. I got in contact with George, ordered my kit and it showed up not too long after. George has done an excellent job of building a top notch kit that any handy/competent drifter can install in a day. If you're considering going to a hydraulic e-brake setup and want a true dual caliper setup, you wont be disappointed with this setup!
I'd also chatted with Stew about some random thoughts and ended up taking his advice on switching to ARP extended/hardened wheel studs.
ASD goodies!
2012 partner Autosport Dynamics hooked it up with a precise Longacre camber/castor gauge, some thick new toe plates and a 16" vertical hydraulic e-brake assembly! The toe plates and caster/camber gauge are going to help us keep our alignment in check and aid the crew in making the proper, precise alignment changes while at the track. The ASD e-brake assembly is one stout piece, nothing is spared or sacrificed with this unit. The handle is a custom in house CNC'd piece, the pivot points all use self locking nuts and brass washers, and the master cylinder plunger is connected to the CNC'd handle via a top quality FK heim joint; in short, this e-brake means business!
RKT56 built transmission is here, exhaust is finished and a new partner is on board for 2012!
First off, Friday afternoon our new fully built T56 from Rick over at RKT56 arrived in tip top shape ready to put in our back up car. Half way through last season I had the T56 in my competition car rebuilt by RKT56 and afterwards it was a completely different transmission! The transmission has performed flawlessly since then and seems like it will continue to take all the abuse I can throw at it. My second experience with RKT56 has been outstanding, anyone looking to get their T56, T6060, etc rebuilt needs to check out RKT56!
Now that the motor was in and mounted, I had to start working on getting the exhaust done. I wanted to reuse the custom 3" to 4" Kales Custom exhaust I had had made back in 2009 for my 2010 car, but due to the new mounts and layout of the drivetrain I wasn't able to use the entire thing as I had hoped. I was however able to scavenge the back half (dual 3" to 4" y-pipe back) and my 3" Summit Racing glass pack mufflers. It took several attempts to get the entire system tucked up high enough with significant clearances before my father and I were finally both happy with the outcome. Here it is!
My next update for this post is to announce my new partnership with MJ Engineering & Performance! MJ Engineering & Performance specializes in LSx applications and some of the best custom LSx tuning in New England, something I've been lacking for a while now. We're currently looking at renting a semi-local dyno in the near future in order to get both of our 2013 cars tuned and ready to race! If you're in the New England area and are looking for a top notch tuner/shop to get your LSx powered vehicle tuned and up and running, definitely give the guys at MJ Engineering & Performance a shout! I'm really looking forward to getting a good fresh tune in the racecar for this season.
More Coupe progress!
Back to the car! Engine bay work is just about done, there's a few small things left to be buttoned up like putting the radiator hoses, intake setup back on and covering some important lines and wires with some awesome Heatshield Products product! I've finished my new gauge cluster and tried my hand at leather wrapping the housing panel and I think it came out pretty good! My main switch panel is next seeings how we're working on rewiring the entire chassis right now. One thing to check out and consider for your own LSx build is switching to a Ford style relay starter setup. Along with this new relay setup we'll be adding a Heatshield Products starter blanket to help keep our starter cool! Once the engine bay is finished up and all the wiring is done then it'll be on to the body work. After that it's time to get going on the back up car build! Hopefully before the season starts we'll have both cars completely finished and some solid test and tune time in. Anyways, check out our progress!
