Just to reiterate these guys' inquiries, is it legal to drive stateside? I'm looking at buying a JDM Evo IV that is supposedly already registered, but if it isn't I want to know if it's possible to register it at all. How did you register yours?

 

Any updates please

 

Been working on the car this past week. Time to get this car on the road. The AYC did not work so out it comes. In with RS diff. Nice 49 pounds shaved. Another 11 pounds with evo 8 alloy rear arms.

 

1= Out comes 75k mile trans.
2,3 = In goes carbonetic blade experiment. Carbonetic cover holds 18% over stock. I mated to 44% over ACT extreme. I want this clutch to hold the power. My new goals are 450/450.
4,5,6 = clutch install studs
7 = in goes 5k mile cherry trans
8 = love this car. trans removal is a breeze. look at all the room. no need to swing engine forward. no need to drop subrame. Heck, the radiator doesnt need top come out. The tcase drops right down. didnt even need to drop downpipe. You evo 8 guys got screwed. evo 8 take about 5 hours this takes maybe 3. Nice..
9 = roll stop removal a breeze as well. well designed car.
10 = out comes GSR open diff tcase. in goes low mile RS case. adds just 3lbs for LSD
11,12 = how to get oil in tcase. simple tool makes life easy.

 

^^^ Thats sweet


I was wondering if still even owned the coupe.

 

Nice work Jerry. It's coming along very well!

 

this car is turning out so sick Jerry...NICEST EVO IN TAMPA!!!

 

Today was the best MoD to date. Installed some low mileage bilsteins. Retained the evo 4 springs. The change was nothing short of stunning. I can fly over speed tables and everything is dead quiet. Suuuuper smooth ride. cant believe this car is pushing 16 years old. Nicest car I have ever driven.

The clutch is stupid good. Dead quiet like stock, smooth like stock. shifts far better than stock. grabs hard but smooth on aggressive shift. absolutely fantastic clutch so far. If it holds the power and lasts reasonably long this clutch is golden. only downside is stiff pedal which is nooo problem since it does everything else well.

Finished up interior yesterday. project is really picking up steam.

 

Looking good Jerry!

 

Dint feel too much like working today. Got a few hours in. Two of which were deciding where to mount the gauges. Didnt like either of the two common mounting options. You can get plastic gauge surround to mount the gauges in lower corners of gauge panel.. Dont like that it blocks part of tach and fuel gauge views. Second there are some generic two and three gauge pods for right hand pillars. I have seen them in person and wasnt thrilled with the fit and finish. Plus the gauge pods space the gauges out too much. So I decided to custom mount a couple of pods. I am happy with the results. clear view of all gauges remains optimum.

 

great build! thanks for taking the time to post all of this, these early evos are very cool

 

build looks great Jerry...my tranny is perfect just got the car up and running next im over that way we can go for a ride.

 

way to get creative with the tools

 

Nice! Surprised you decided to keep the IV block though. I'm working on converting a 2dr Mirage to Evo IV. Have the engine and awd system, but not installed yet sadly due to the engine having severe crankwalk. I'm just gonna source an Evo 8 shortblock rather than fix what I have. Don't wanna risk it walking again. Love your build though! Maybe I'll get to see it in person someday! Also, glad to hear your
opinion on running Bilsteins on the IV! That has been my plan, but I wasn't sure how well it would work out. Glad to hear it's nice.

 

I would not be afraid to use the 4 block because it walked. All 7 bolt engines can crankwalk. Its because the 7 bolt cranks are not nitrided from factory. cheep oil care leads to crank walk. doesnt matter what year it was made. evo 8s get least crankwalk cases because most everyone uses at least mobil 1 or better. thrust design has nothing to do with crankwalk. the two designs have equal amount of thrust area. the split design was adopted because it is more economical to produce. there are two reported cases of crankwalked 8s in tampa. we dont have that many here.

Nitriding the crank drastically reduced possibility of crankwalk and spun bearings. Building an engine with out doing so is a poor choice. I have not seen a block ruined from crankwalk. the dying bearing protects the block from damage. all you need is new crank and new bearings and you are good to go.

the bilstiens are amazing, excellent choice for your project.