Thank you! you are the best!

if any of you guys need parts, help, advice, this^ guy mike is great!

 

Awesome build dude! This is going to be an 11 second pump gas monster all day!

 

I've read this entire post.. and I find it very hepful and quite impressive, I just have one question... for those who are looking to get this kind of setup.. How much has this cost you so far ? is there a way to tally all this up ?

 

Thank you very much! and yes, I'm greatful that it is helpful and informative to others. I have run into many issues, and long nights cause of missing bolts, instructions, or what-have-you. So i figured I'd do a write up of my build in case anyone else goes for a full, all-out street/race every-day driver setup.

Funny you ask the question about the total cost... I have kept that cost in mind for a very long time (almost a year to be exact since my first day of the build process Dec 08) Once my car is complete, which is literally around the corner, I will be posting the final pictures, dyno sheet, and lastly... (drum roll) the total cost of the parts.

Note that most of the labor was done myself with the exception of the clutch/flywheel swap, and the transfer case. Those are just jobs I don't have the tools for. Tuning will be done at different shops for different setups, and I'll be logging those setups to my laptop incase of any 'emissions' problems ;-) The AEM EMS is not going to be easy, since that ECU alone fails emissions, but oh well, I'll find a way.

Also note that if you don't plan to do all this labor that I've done myself, the final price will be DRASTICALLY different for you if you do similar upgrading/installing.

I jumped into this project with a positive note, thinking to myself, "hey, at least you're very mechanically inclined, and you'll save a crapload of money doing this stuff yourself! just get it tuned!" but when shops charge you 70-100+ an hour... it definitely is something you have to think about. Not to mention, no one does work on one's car better than the owner him/herself, because it's your own property, and you care/treat it accordingly. So with that said, anything that you CAN do urself, DO IT! it makes u feel that much better anyway once its done. not to mention, you get to know the car very well, and when something goes wrong, you know where you may have done the boo-boo.

Keep checking this thread out as I update it from time to time.

My current status:
I have the koyo radiator + cap, fp red turbo, 18psi actuator, all gaskets, epm o2 housiung, aem ems + sensors, hks oil temp thermostat, water wetter, new radiator fluid, test pipe sitting in my garage. I'm waiting on a ralliart thermostat.

Sounds like a lot, but it's a one evening job in my small garage with my minimal tools. Not to mention I am so fluent in taking out the turbo/radiator by now LOL.

Once that's done, she's getting dyno'd. I may leave the AEM EMS last, and get a tune on my stock ECU just for recording logging purposes, also to see what a difference the AEM EMS does over the ECU so that all you guys out there can find the justification in it if you are looking for the HP that I want. As I read on these forums, anything over 500-550, you probably want to go AEM EMS anyway, and if you use race gas... and have a fp red, go with 1200cc injectors, but since I'm doing pump, and pump only (everyday driver with monthly track days) my 750's will be perfect.

I'm hoping for anything over ~420-440awhp wish me luck guys!

 

Wow this car is looking amazing, congrats buddy.

Hey Mike I like those D2 coilovers....very nice

 

Ask your tuner about which engine management is best for you. Since youre in ny I'm guessing you'll take a trip to Sean Ivey?

 

Thanx man! and what exactly do you mean by "mike i like those d2's"?

Sean Ivey is definitely on the list of my "go visit"'s however, I've called 3 times, got an answer twice, and left a message with people those two times for a call back, and nothing. Oh well. I do advertising and marketing, and talk to a lot of customers for feedback, and I understand that relationships mean a LOT... and people that don't care about spending time to do business.. tell me enough about their business. Doesn't matter how busy someone is. A phone call is a phone call. Some 'care' is always appreciated to anyone.

I went to college out in FL, so I'm very familiar with the scene and shops out there. Mike @ AWD in coral springs will definitely have a crack at tuning my car when I go out on vacation, which will be very soon. He's helped a great deal with parts, and most importantly (for us little guys) communication.

In the end, there are people that treat you and your car like themselfes, and their own. And then there are the others. Who would you rather do business with?

I've had bad experiences with labor on my car (the only labor I "didn't" do myself, go figure) so I'm very picky with who touches the thing now. (I do not flame, or point fingers, so that is as far as I go) There's always that old saying: if you want something done right, do it yourself. And I'm glad over 90% of this car's upgrades were done by me, and I'm the owner.

I'm sure everyone on here can relate to a good chunk of what I wrote above, so you guys know what I'm sayin.

Turns out that my D2's camber plate may be factory defected. It has an overly high amount of negative adjustability, with lack of positive. It's as if it was cut out wrong. D2 is going to take care of it thankfuly, and cross ship, which saves me some road time since he's an everyday driver.



I'll keep you guys posted... the leftover upgrades are looking like they'll be installed this end of the week, or over the weekend.

Once again, thank you all for your support and love, without it, this car wouldnt exist.

I'll be doing some post updating, and including some technicalities that I ran into during isntallation of certain parts so that anyone else that takes that route will be aware.

Some of those things that will be updated will be:
• perrin fuel rail (not as easy as you'd think, and there are some things to be careful about!)
• rear trunk brace (it may look good in the pics, but it's not the perfect fit that i hoped with my customization)
• epm o2 housing (quality, and machining... well, just wait for the post)
• exedy twin disc clutch (my outlook on the feel, sound, etc... also, how much weight did it shave off from the stock clutch/flywheel)
• girodisc rotors (the feel, sound, installation.. some minor things to know)
• invidia o2 housing (you may have seen this early in the thread... the dreaded downpipe gasket issue. Chances are that you have to get an invidia downpipe to match it, this is now going to be a problem because the epm doesnt come with one, and I hacked up the one that came with my turbo XS downpipe to fit with the invidia. UGH)

Minor cosmetic updates:
• I cleaned up my sensor job on the oil filter housing. I'm going to take the wheel off and the plastic covering and take pics just to show you guys which goes where for clearance of the plastic cover. When it rains, the oil temp goes down, my guess is because the water hits the sensor... I may wrap it with something to prevent this.
• the Innovate LC 1 gauge plate, and ring... I ended up screwing up one STRI gauge, and buying another to replace it. The broken one got hacked up, and I took off the dim lense, and titanium (or aluminum) face around... off of it as well, and rigged it onto the LC 1... it looks SOOO much better and uniform. I will take pics soon. (a LOT of dremeling involved, but im picky LOL)
• lining up the exhaust to the JDM rear bumper, wasnt quite plug and play
• the license plate on the JDM rear bumper wasnt quite a drag and drop either.


all of this will be posted around the post's closing (when the car is done) which is looking like way before the year end.


see you guys soon!

-MR

 

It's actually a little strange that Sean hasn't got back to you as of yet. His customer service really is top notch and he takes care of your car as though it was his own. I wouldn't let anyone else around this area touch my car after dealing with Sean...

Iveytune...

 

I'll keep that in mind. I have heard nothing but good news about him. I'll give them another call when my parts are installed. Regardless, I'm going to get my AEM EMS tuned by Mike @ AWD in coral springs.

I'll have Sean Ivey do a tune on my stock ECU just so that I can have something for emissions purposes. (ugh, I hate NY) Plus, it'll be nice seeing the differences that the stock ECU can produce in comparison to the AEM EMS with my upgrades on pump only.

-MR

 

So just after a year of having the car... I can finally say that the performance part is DONE. (aside from track suspension tuning and what have you)

In this Post: (what has changed since the last)

• I have installed Supertech Valve springs, and retainers
• along with Kelford 272 cams (after doing research on EvoM, I noticed that the Kelfords had the nicest gain in mid/top without killing low end. As a matter of fact, low end on some tests showed no loss at all in power)
• ARP head studs AND rod bolts (better safe than sorry. poor stock internals will be taking a beating)
• qtp performance o2 housing
• aem ecu installed/tuned
• straight pipe
• ralliart coolant thermostat
• hks oil cooler thermostat
• RC 1200cc injectors
• Weapon R Brake master cylinder brace (this is actually pretty nice considering that on the other side of my strut tower, I have the ingals stiffy engine torque damper, and it brought up the DC strut tower a few milimeters. Now the weapon R brings up the other side evenly. See pics)
• a lowering job (finally)
• some minor fixes. ex: fuel rail bracket, a/f ratio bezel swap, harnes tuck
• DYNO NUMBERS!

Unfortunately, I was not there when they installed the valve springs, retainers, cams, injectors, head studs and rod studs. I took pics of the QTP o2, but my batteries were dead, and couldn't take pics of the install. Also, wasn't there for the final tune to get on video. I just let them do their work since I was busy working all week.

I'll start with some simple stuff...

i finished grinding the fuel rail mount so now both bolts go through.


an image of how close the QTP o2 housing comes to the radiator. Note I had to use the stock radiator because the Koyo didnt give this clearance!!!! If you want clearence, go with PWR's 42mm. That's going to be on my list soon.



an image of the rc 1200's


an image of the brake master cylinder brace


an image of the injector harnes flipped down (cleaner look)



an image of the new bezel for the LC1 a/f gauge to match the other STRI gauges





images of the HKS oil thermostat install/swap (you can see in these images the finished job of the oil temp sensor and oil pressure sensor install on the oil filter housing here)







images of the ralliart coolant thermostat install/swap



















images of the high flow cat/test pipe weight difference




images of AEM install/location




slim radiator fan swap and weight differences:





images of my lowering job



images of the different o2 housings and weight difference
invidia:

qtp: (sweet! more metal, same weight, and more performance)

epm: (ew, for something with a bent flange, and a flapper side that hits the radiator... this is just another reason i didnt use it.)


while we are on that topic... here are some pictures of the QTP versus the EPM
EPM first then QTP, then EPM, then QTP.... etc... you get the point. (can anyone say... epm... turbulance? also... whats up with the bent flange? and that gasket? and why use such big tubes, when the final output into the downpipe is so small? sure the qtp used the same 2.5" output.. but at least their tubes match, and don't cause turbulance. just my two cents).















Here's some shots of my evo 7 tails, and the new badging. :-)


And now what you all wanted !!! some numbers!!! final cost numbers, and HP / TQ numbers!

First: I'll type this stuff out incase my images ever get lost on photobucket or what not: (NOTE, ALL RUNS ARE DONE ON 93 PUMP GAS) I do not mess with race/meth/alky. I don't need to be filling up more than one tank! LoL

the FP Red with 750cc injectors, and the nvidia o2 housing on a STOCK ecu produced:
~380hp with ~333tq
the same setup on the AEM ECU produced:
~430hp with 375tq (wow, ~50hp gain and ~50tq gain)
the same setup with the kelford 272 cams installed, along with the supertech valve springs, retainers, the qtp o2 housing and the 1200cc RC injectors produced:
~480hp with ~400tq (Fq500 is here :-) )
the scanned dyno sheets... there are a lot of misc runs, I'm sure you can put two and two together as to what is what. No two runs are the same.



Now for the final cost: (heaven help me, because I'm tallying this up as I write this post)

• Injen intercooler piping kit (upper/lower with intake) $360
• OBX intercooler $275
• OBX alternator/accessory pulleys $85
• Greddy Titanium Cat-Back Exhaust (I did NOT pay this for it though) $1600
• Ebay test pipe $100
• Turbo XS downpipe $250
• QTP o2 housing $200
• FP Red turbo ported/coated w/18psi actuator ~$1650
• Greddy profec II spec B electronic boost controller $400
• GT Spec Turbo header manifold $450
• PWR Slim radiator with water wetter $400
• Ralliart coolant thermostat $75
• HKS oil cooler thermostat $65
• Exedy twin disc clutch with light flywheel HD series $1600
• Shep trans Stage 4 transfer case with REM treatment and built ring/pinion + Diff $3250
• Redline heavy duty shockproof fluid for transfer case $25
• Braille auto 15lb Light weight Battery $130
• Evo7 tail lights (good deal) $250
• Ingals engine stiffy torque damper $150
• Weapon R brake master cylinder brace $75
• Perrin High flow fuel rail $150
• RC 1200cc Injectors $350
• Walbro 255 fuel pump $100
• ARP head studs $110
• ARP rod bolts $100
• Kelford 272 cams $550
• Supertech valve springs kit / retainers $300
• Samco radiator hoses (upper/lower in viper red) $170
• Ebay water temp sensor adapter housing for radiator hose $25
• 42 Draft Designs oil temp/pressure sensor fittings for oil filter housing $30
• STRI Gauges- Oil temp/pressure, Water temp, Boost. with all sensors $400
• LC1 Innovate a/f ratio gauge kit w/sensor $250
• Autometer dual steering column pod $35
• Carbon fiber 3 gauge pod dash kit $210
• DC Titanium front and rear strut tower braces (I didn't pay this much) $750
• Agency power rear adjustable sway bar $210
• Carbing 6 point underbody brace $288
• Cusco front bumper brace $200
• Mitsubishi Trunk Brace $50
• D2 coilover suspension kit $1000
• Girodisc Stage 4 brake kit with Ferodo pads/shims/Motul RBF660 fluid/stainless steel brake lines $1780
• AEM EMS $2000

Total for parts: $20,448

Misc Labor
• AEM Tune ~$750 (I forgot the exact number)

These two were done together:
• Clutch Labor
• T-Case Labor
$700

• Pulleys Labor
$200

These were done together and package deal with springs/retainers/cams/studs
• Valve Springs Kit Labor
• Camshafts Labor
• Headstuds Labor
$1900

Package deal with Rod Bolts
• Rod Bolts Labor
$700

Typical alignment cost less than a performance tune for toe/camber/height/spring-rate/dampening
• Alignment Labor
$110 - $600

Total for Labor
~$5,000

Note that some parts and labor were done in package deals.
But in the end, ballpark is around $20-25k for something along these lines.

Not to mention... Any labor I didn't mention, I did myslef.
Also, if you plan on getting a helmet, roll cage, race wheels/tires, you can slap that ontop of that price above. =-O

Mind you that these numbers do NOT include any speeding tickets, lawyer fees, or any issues/mistakes that you may come across... not to mention the actual price of the car, insurance, gas, oil changes, fluid changes, blah blah LOL

Anywho... I hope you all enjoyed... time to take my beast to a track and have some fun spanking ferarris and lamborghinis. :-)

 

Impressive build, very similar to what I want to do with my 8. I'll be going with the Fcon Pro instead of the AEM because you can still pass emissions with it .

 

Well I just got them a couple weeks ago...haha cant wait to get them installed.

Car is looking amizing brotha

 

awesome! Yeah, AEM is pretty picky with some things. Starting is 1. You have to crank a few times more than the usual. And with a small battery, that isn't good. Apparently there is a fix for that that you can buy. It's something I'll be looking into for the future. Luckily if you don't have the 'guy on the side' to pass you on emissions, I can swap out my ecu, and unplug the map sensor, and replug the factory, and I'm good to go. The MAF is an easy install as well since I left all my harness and sensors in tact. That way if I ever lose the 'hookup' I can pass emisions as well. 2. Being that mid range throttle can be weird. I don't know if its the AEM or the stock metal MR bov choking, or surge, but sometimes I get a weird back-off of power when i play with the throttle mid range. full throttle does it once in a blue. I thought it may have been spark plugs, but I replaced them and it still happens. I think at this point I have to buy HKS DLI or something for ignition. I dont think the stock coil ignition system is good enough. I'm probably mis-firing.

Keep me posted on the Fcon pro, and let me know what power you get out of it, and how the drivability is with mid range on and off throttle.



thanx man :-) yeah, you'll like them. It's a stiff ride, but well purpose built. I recommend lowering it at LEAST as low as I lowered my car. Reason for this is because if you try to keep it stock height, the shaft of the strut will not be threaded into the lower part far enough, and if you hit a bad bump, you risk bending the lower part that the shaft threads into (the purple piece) I don't know the correct terminology for these. I keep the dampening at full soft on front and back. camber had to be slightly adjusted at the front to prevent some tire wear on the outsides. Keep in mind that the lower purple piece that I'm talking about does not have a mount to put your brake lines on, so zip time them carefully, and keep wheel travel and steering in mind when fastening them so the inside of your rim doesnt grind down ur front brake lines, that could be deadly, literally.



thanx for the support guys!

 

According to nils and the other people I've heard of using the Fcon, it is in a different league than the AEM. Search "nils Fcon" and check out his review. As stated before Sean Ivey is right down the road from you and is a Pro dealer.

 

Looking great!