The SP18 project

[chicaboo]

Hey I forgot, I broke to breaker bars from Supercheat Auto on Satuday while trying to change my wheels, I'm the man!

[platypus]

hahaha, its funny cos you bought breaker bars from supercheap and expected them to hold up i've snapped ring spanners from there... that was tré funny!!!

gave i've told you to go and get yourself a good length of RHS to use as a breaker bar

[chicaboo]

Tis all OK now Jam, I'll just go back for a refund AGAIN! I ended getting my mate with the rattle gun to loosen them for me anyhow, so it ended up ok after all...
Another funny thing was the wheel chocks I got from them also bent after the first jacking! Man they sell some ****!

[platypus]

invest your money in bricks and mortar... that'll stop the car rolling!!!

[goldsp]

ey gav its jonno . i havent bein on in a while so wats the plan with ur car man?. keen too meet up again with a no longer stock sp20

[chicaboo]

Hey baby Burgs,

Basically the manual is the same as the auto was minus the sunroof plus shortshifter+bushings, Injen CAI, and hopefully soon Eibach lowering springs, liteweight underdrive pulley and firmer engine mounts... I might even scam someone's Mazda3 gearknob?
Generally my auto is still a far better car, even thought it's now almost stock again. It has smoother more refined suspension (with or without strut/sway bars) and I miss the torque from the auto. The manual does notice now when it has some passengers in it, but then again I don't need to rev the ring out of it to make it go either. I think the manual will start to feel better when the springs and engine mounts are in, I'm just not used to this thing called transmission lash...
Oh, and remember when I zoomed by you on the highway on Australia day cruise? I'm hoping the manual has the balls to do it even better. I'll need to try some other things to chase every last little bit of power though, ie: Digital Fuel Adjuster, intake manifold, and failing the DFA not working, will be looking at Microtech...

Might be able to catch up with you and your bro next month maybe? Take it easy champ!
Gav.

[platypus]

Originally Posted by chicaboo

Oh, and remember when I zoomed by you on the highway on Australia day cruise? I'm hoping the manual has the balls to do it even better. I'll need to try some other things to chase every last little bit of power though....(snip)

just remember that everything is securly on my car now....

[goldsp]

nice work gav, but u wont be chasing me down lol

i have my plans too

[chicaboo]

Update:

Getting the Eibachs fitted tomorrow if everything works out fine today...
That just leaves the bumpers, headunits and exhaust left to change over.
If I'm lucky I might jag some help for changing the exhausts tonight? Any volunteers?

Gav.

[twilightprotege]

bugger off!

i'll get your radio out though and show you how to do them

[chicaboo]

The thing is I need a 22mm spanner to get the EGO sensor off, might have a look at supercheat while I take my broken breaker bar and sockets back...
Hmmm to the radio, I hope I don't have some fancy J48 technology that interferes with that. I'm not sure about the pull as hard as you can and see what happens method...
Should be able to do my bumpers tomorrow after work, and maybe fix some of the gap issues on them at the same time. I wouldn't mind sitting the front number plate up higher too....

[platypus]

the stereo, is easier if you push it from behind while pushing the keys....

i think we forgotted to mention that the stereo need to have the ford removal tool pushed sideways to remove it.... (for those who don't know, the ford removal tool is a cut up coat hanger and is a common tool for all philips stereos too)

EGO sensor?? don't you have a speed wrench, or an adjsutable spanner?

[Cosmo Dude]

Originally Posted by ahb11m

EGO sensor?? don't you have a speed wrench, or an adjsutable spanner?

For $2 a 22mm ring spanner is cheaper than replacing the O2 sensor because you used a nut ****er on it. I'm not sure why you'd bother as both cars should have the same sensor. Un-plug the electrical connection and swap it out with the exhaust

My supercrap 22mm ringie is only used when I need to change or tension my power steering belt. So $2 for a tool I need but only infrequently is good value.

[platypus]

speed wrench, i'd agree

adjustables... there are good ones and bad one.... and they are things that IMO live in the boot, as it saves carrying the full set...

[chicaboo]

Update:

Got the stereos done, I knew about the sideward push too, but the Ford tool wasn't strong enough for the 6 stack. So I had to go about things another way...
Hmmm, Rod has a point, IF I can simply unplug the sensor from the wiring that would be easy. Me and the mechanically minded friend never thought to trace the wires back to the source...
Springs go in tomorrow, what a saga that has been! Anyhow I've really been looking forward to them for a long time now.
I should be able to put the front and rear bumper on after work. I don't look forward to working in the dark though... Sideskirts might be a week or two off however.

[platypus]

i dunno about your car, but my EGO plug is just right of the manifold cover (when looking from the front)
in fact you can trace it in this pic to the plug
http://www.astinagt.com/forums/vbgar...etimage&id=100

[goldsp]

so gav hows the manual go compared too the auto?

[chicaboo]

I can't really say yet until I get the exhaust and headers over to the manaul, I'm sort of half way through that at the moment. But since I've had the 2 cars I can tell you that the stock auto with just headers and exhaust feels very much stronger than the manual. The auto will always be torquier too, which is a tradeoff, but I already miss that...
I tend to baby the manual a fair bit I find, so maybe when I have the engine mounts fixed up I will give it a harder time and see how it feels then? Today in the rain I noticed the manual car pushes a fair bit more too. That might've been an isolated slippery road, but I will keep babying the car until I gradually become more acustom to it.
On saturday I gave it a good go around some corners at Tamborine, but I didn't really stretch it's legs. Once again I felt like it was pushing too much on tight hairpins where I knew the auto was a little more predictable. I think that most of this push is from wheel hop, which will be reduced with the engine mount upgrade I mentioned. Otherwise I might have to play with my camber or castor ontop of the struts to chase some more corner grip...
If I can make it down south later this month, that will be the ultimate test, since the car will have had the chance to open up on the highway and take in the cool mexican air. But as you know the auto was absolutely ape**** down there last time, so I do expect alot from the manual now!

Gav.

[platypus]

i would actually say its an alignment issue

[chicaboo]

It just farken got aligned on Friday when it was lowered...