Hasbro's Build Journal, Part II. Da' Daufuskie Chronicles.

[Hasbro]

(Nothing new to see here yet)

With the new move it's time to start a new chapter. The first build is full of good what to dos and what not to dos and videos and lots of stuff. Such as going to an autox class with four different camber settings and 41 psi. http://www.ephatch.com/forum/showthr...-Build-Journal

This build, part will have some more fine tuning of the suspension, more weight pulling, and, hmmm, not much more. Oh, pics of Daufuskie, too.



Averaged 22.95 mpgs on the 2250 mile trip from Arizona to Daufuskie Island, S.C.

Edit 7/7/16; Whoah! Just caught this, 32.95 mpgs, not 22.95.





The EP's new home. Need to order the cover.





This is the first road I hit after the parking lot; a huge circle. I circle it twice doing esses to warm up the tires, motor and tranny. The roads are fun, smooth, and sticky here.

[Hasbro]

Specs

About 2,375 lbs.

...

[Hasbro]

Saved.

[Hasbro]

Next steps;

- Suspension; order Progress adjustable rear bar, harder rear damper bushings, and one other rear suspension mod that I'll keep quiet about until it happens. Maybe springs. Just need to press the go button. Then a parking lot alignment before corner weighing.

- Weight removal; inner doors, stereo, sun roof, dash.

[Ba82Ep3]

You planning on anything with the engine in the near future? It wont be long i wont be too far from you...

[Hasbro]

You planning on anything with the engine in the near future? It wont be long i wont be too far from you...

Careful, I have that in print now. :) It depends on what I do next, whether I stay here or move on. I would love to build my own house here or somewhere else and start some kind of artisan's shop or whatever, who knows, I'm pretty free to go or do anything. I've been volunteering at a project farm that promotes self sustaining practices and have been given pretty much free range. I can now run the saw mill, some of the farm stuff, all of the garden stuff, and have made lots of recommendations regarding construction of the buildings (I was a home inspector with very good creds). The lady who created it said I could have the wood shop to use as my own. I can also learn metal work and welding, forging, even stained glass, etc. so it's pretty cool.

But, yes, I would like to finish the A3 and finally have it to the original plans if things work out. I'm spinning the roulette wheel and wherever it lands is what I will do.

The hoop house below will be finished soon and four 250 gallon tanks will be for catfish and talapia. I would be doing a lot of the build work and then the fishery stuff.



Saw mill

[Bwek]

Good Looking car Buddy I still can't believe how much it weighs lol, I was Going to so the Bigger Progress too as I have the Smaller 22mm now, But i think Im going to skip over that and go to the ASR 32mm Hollow which according to them is equivalent to a 26mm Solid.

Look me up on Facebook Alfred Lamirande we can go back n forth about suspension setup!

[Hasbro]

Good Looking car Buddy I still can't believe how much it weighs lol, I was Going to so the Bigger Progress too as I have the Smaller 22mm now, But i think Im going to skip over that and go to the ASR 32mm Hollow which according to them is equivalent to a 26mm Solid.

Look me up on Facebook Alfred Lamirande we can go back n forth about suspension setup!

Thanks. I keep vacillating about a bigger bar. It is such a pleasure to drive as it is and I don't want to screw it up. I really should concentrate on pulling another 150 lbs. before trying to finalize the suspension. We'll see.

I really dislike facebook but may check you out.




Fiat Abarth SP1000

[Hasbro]

Checked Bwek out on Facebook. What is the allure? Purely social? No categories drives me crazy.

Notes to self;

So, playing around with what to do next. Reducing the next 100+ lbs. really has to be addressed so that's the next priority. That and getting the alignment field-adjusted.

Weight removal, 108 to 129 lbs., $200 to $300;

- Sun roof. The highest singular weight to remove and it's in a significant location to be a detriment to the triad of handling; acceleration, braking, and turning. It's a pain to re-fit so maybe I'll do the glue-the-sheet-metal-to-the-roof easy route or a Lexan type sheet. -30 lbs with Lexan.

- Sound deadener crap. Ugghh but simple. -13 lbs.

- Firewall insulation. I listed this as done before but couldn't take a razor to it after all and will remove it whole. Which entails pulling the dash I guess. -10 lbs.

- Dash. This is an unkown and more reaearch needed. I know it's a real pain and am not sure what can actually be removed while still retaining the gauges, etc. -10 to 20lbs.? More?

- The stereo is sort of stuck back in so pull that out for good, although I have finally started using it lately. -8 lbs.

- Door interior. Plus cut out some of the sheet metal with a saw and hole cutters. Will need some plastic or whatever for inserts, which only will weigh a couple of pounds so I figure with the sheet metal removal that -20 lbs. is possible.

- 2 to 4 lb. lithium iron battery and old battery attachments. I haven't seen the 2 lb. battery or it's charger since before the move so if I have to get a new one that will blow my $200.00 budget. Oh well, spilled milk, I'm through whining about all the stuff I gave up from the move. Also need to confab a really nice disconnect that allows use of the current Odyssey battery. Don't want to rely on the lithium alone. - 13 lbs.

- rear bumper plastic and bar re-location. Need to ask on CRSX about whether the rebar is actually a structural necessity. If not, it's coming off or it will be minimized and welded to the inside of the body. At the very least the plastic bumper will be cut up higher. -2 to -15 lbs.

- Hood. For now, go the cheap route instead of a new cf hood and cut out as much metal from the stock hood and also cut out two vents for re-directing radiator air flow from under car to above car. -2 to 10 lbs.?

This removal will finally put the EP under 2300 lbs. (approximately 2,275 lbs.) and free up about 6whp. More importantly, it will pull about 30 or 40 lbs. off each front coilover. That's a 10% reduction and a very good reason for holding off from spring changes until then.


Alignment

No garage but wrote down the numbers from the alignment from the last time so can just loosen the corners and adjust height by the amount of turns on the spring threads and for rear camber the turns on the rear camber arms. The front camber will take more effort but I'll just level them in the parking lot - that's a hell of a lot easier than leveling all four corners!

Going for -2.75 front, -3.0 rear camber, 0 toe to keep it simple. Caster, uhhmmm, good question. Whatever it is for now.

Then figure out what to do with springs and rear bar. Probably 336 front right, 350 front left, 515 rear right, 560 rear left. Or go to 375-400front/600-650. You know me, Mr Vacillation.


Motor

Been reading a lot and still want to improve the A3 . Still stubborn after ten years. 170-175 whp until I can swing Ba82's suggestions. Still want a bullet proof, normally aspirated, good mpg, 200 whp A3.

ASAP;

- Header and mid pipe, whatever gives a nice mid range. 4-2-1 and early or late RSX S mid pipe, or R head or whatever. Then stage 1 cams or whatever can be used with Re-flash and stock springs, 7600 redline. 14.5lbs/whp.

A little later;

- Reverse pin?, mild head and intake work, cams, timing chain, etc.. Down the road, higher compression pistons.

[Hasbro]

Not much news but jeez, this forum is diiiieeeeiiinnngg.

This may surprise you but I want to talk about tires. I've been reading a TON of stuff on what tires to get next. Jumping the gun but I made a surprising discovery that was right under my nose.

I had decided I just haaad to go down to 15x10 with Maxxis RC-1 245/40/15s in order to build the optimum street handler. The tires are gorgeous for all of the right reasons. But changing the wheels, tires, and probably the brakes just isn't financially feasible. Maybe some day.

Maxxis RC-1 245/40/15 with hand grooved "cheater" grooves



So, what to do. The long standing plan was to go Toyo R1Rs in 245/35/17s front but that's more wheels and more money for a tire that's beautiful but a bit long in the tooth. I started reading about street tires, a lot in England, and realized that a lot of guys over there were shodding their rides with R888s. A semi slick but a bit of a pariah in the racing circles over here due to overheating. But it's cooler across the pond and they stay stickier there instead of greasing up the way they do here. I don't need to worry about greasing on the street so, long story short, I'll go with 225/45/16s on all corners. 23.8" diameter and the treads are rated at 8.7" but they are wider than that from what I've read, "considerably wider than ZIIs", which run wide also. Three pounds less per tire, too. They'll be a tough fit on the rears but that's not a big deal and I can get decent mileage with them by swapping. I'll have to lighten up on the rear camber, too. These will give me [B]REAL[B] track rubber just a notch down from slicks. They warm up fairly quickly for a track tire, similar to my RA1s and Kumhos so that's not a factor for me.

* Disclaimer - I am NOT advocating R888s for anyone - use at your own risk!!!

Toyo R888 225/45/16



Missing these was pure over sight on my part as I've looked at them a million times. Maybe a better choice will come up this spring but I doubt it, unless Maxxis makes my size. Time to get back to pulling weight.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Nothing interesting,more of the same;

Finally getting back to it. Spent 1 1/2 hours cleaning crap out of car to put in storage Friday. Been carrying almost 200 lbs. around since the move. I have about 140 lbs ready for storage but will keep the extra 43 lb. passenger seat due to needing it for sister as she sometimes goes with me, sigh. Fair enough, since I'm living in her house for free. Not being able to work on the Lil' Ripper has been driving me crazy.

Will do the alignment first, then start pulling weight;

- Might do -3 front, -2.75 rear or maybe less to play with some rear sliding just for a change. I'm sure I can get the back to come around at that high of a negative camber with front being much more sticky. Also raise all corners 1/8".

- weight pulling in order; start (cheapest first!) with radio removal, parts of dash, door inserts, 13 lbs. sound deadening, get a bigger dremmel and attack inner door and hood, buy another lithium battery and install, lastly mess with the sun roof and more dash. About 98 lbs. before dash. That will put me below 2300 with seat removed.

Posts are really redundant but they help me organize my thoughts---

=================================================
2/13

The cheapest weight will come off first, in the next 2 - 4 weeks;

sound deadening, dry ice 5 or 10 bucks? - 13 lbs.
radio & speakers, free - 8 lbs.
firewall insulation, just cut most of it out - 8? lbs.
door cards, will leave it open at first, card board templates, free - 15 lbs.
rear bumper plastic, free - 2? lbs.
dash pieces, glove box, etc., free - 10 to 15 lbs.
Total of 56 to 62 lbs.
To be conservative, I'll say that will put the total at 2350. Rather be too high than too low. Long way to go to 2275, my minimum goal.

For giggles I was playing around with weights for a minimal street legal EP that could be driven to an autocross, came up with under 1950 lbs.. A towed autocross or track days car could be around 1850! Less if you went nuts and acid dipped everything. For a full track car you'd add a cage and other safety equipment. You could get away with around 250 more lbs., so 2100.

[Hasbro]

SHG_EasyE dropped me a nice letter today. His rear rcas will be available soon and that is long awaited very good news.

--

Check out the camber/caster top plate he found in England starting at post #3139;

http://honda-tech.com/appearance-bui.../#post50208882

-

I have this thread running to try and get some feedback re. spring/bar tuning - I know, I'm just pitiful;

http://forums.clubrsx.com/showthread.php?t=1091874

[o2ep3]

been a while since i been on here good to see some updates on your ep keep up the good work.

[Hasbro]

I've been super busy with a new job but will change a bunch of stuff this summer. Glad you posted your new work, one of my favorites.

[o2ep3]

Thanks dude

[maksym]

Hey man good stuff, really liking what you are doing with your ep. Had a question for you. Do you still run the reflash with an intake only with stock header/exhaust (as I remember from your first thread)? I have a similar set up besides a raceheader and 05-06 rsx s midpipe, just wanted to know what your ltft is at during idle, fully warmed up. Mine stays at around -7% constantly, I know it is still within the limits and raceheader leans it out a bit more but depending on your readings it might lead me in the right direction in figuring out some of the drivability issues im having. I would really appreciate it if you could let me know what reading you are seeing with your ep. Thanks and sorry to threadjack.