F that. Daily that b!tc#. Otherwise why own it? It's an Evo. Enjoy it. Okay, I wouldn't daily it either, but I would drive the crap out of it every weekend.

 

It's an RB thing. They oil starve because the head gets over oiled and can't drain back to the sump. It's common for guys to make external drain backs to drain oil out of the head and back to the pan.

 

Itd be hard to resist. But having it in the back of my mind how special it is, and if its pristine like the above car, I'd have a hard time driving it for anything other than 100% enjoyment on a perfect day.

 

I was working out in the garage keeping the CNC running while doing my day job and just looking at the Evo cause I havent driven it in a month. I just got the itch to hop in a fire it up to give her a few revs. Made me happy and made me miss having a DD Evo.

 

Does it have anything to do with the engine being tilted to the side? I always imagined that would slow the return of oil. Just curious..

I could see that. I come from a strange group I know a guy with a '74 Ferrari Daytona that drives it all day, every day. I have no problem cutting up my "super rare blah blah" Evo 9, it's JDM bumper (I just cut a tow hitch hole in it), and I drive an older exotic every chance I get. I'll put more miles on it this year than it got it's first 13yrs of life. I could never, ever, ever buy a car to not enjoy the way it's meant to be driven. Then again, I'd never pay "collector car" pricing, either. If I were given a TME, though, I'd drive the crap out of it. F the resale value

 

agree on that completely... I just finished a major nut n bolt overhaul on a friends e9 and I resisted the urge to do a "plate every last bolt" restauration.... It had to be fit for battle and not too nice to be kept in the garage... He has enough of those cars anyway..

 

Can I get a photo of that?

Also, which hitch did you use?

 

I got it from a member here. I *think* I can put the tow hook cover back on...but not 100% sure.

 

Ha! I was actually contemplating this too. Even looked up plating kits. Ultimately I decided to just switch everything to stainless steel bolts. But yes I've gone off the complete deep end restoring my car into a streetable amateur level track car. It doesn't help that I winter drove my car through many winters but I am atoning for past sins.

 

Just be careful on stainless hardware, most stainless hardware is much less strong than the grade 12.9 or 10.9 hardware that came on the car. And it also tends to be more prone to galling.

 

Basics
https://www.rg-group.com/resources/b...what-causes-it

Avoid the black oxide coating as well. Most of my wheel area black ones show signs of rust in ~2 years. Proper zinc is the only thing that comes close or switching to Titanium$.

 

The issue with zinc is hydrogen embrittlement which effects higher grades of hardware. 12.9 and zinc need extra processing to help it and the processes to help arent always effective. I cant remember the finish mitsu uses (cadmium or something?) but IIRC, it doesnt have the same negative effects.

That said, most our bolts are way over sized anyways.

 

I had all my hardware cleaned and replated when I did my first motor build a few years ago and it was 100% worth it. I just pulled apart my rear and dealt with rust remediation, dropped tank diff subframes blah blah and sent out all the hw in the rear to also be cleaned and replated. The cost is cheap as in like $100 (generally at min quantity) and the results are night and day going from rusty sandy hw to beautiful plated and more importantly protected was totally worth it.

Not sure if the OEM plating is Cadmium, I know some bolts are more of that yellow color vs the typical clear zinc. Cadmium has been banned for the most part due to toxicity but its still highly used in aerospace, defense industry, government work and maybe still OEMs?

I had my hw plated in yellow zinc which is really zinc chromate.

 

This is true. I'm using it to replace most of the areas of grade 5 bolts (m6, m8, etc). Using OEM bolts for the higher stress areas.

 

I buy zinc-aluminum flake coated hardware when I can. It's the dull grey bolts you see used by lots of OEMs. GM and Ford are particularly fond of it. It's rated to last 40 times longer in a salt spray test (standard corrosion test) than a normal zinc plated bolt.

I avoid stainless hardware like the plague unless it's purely cosmetic. Stainless can be kept from galling if you use a good thread lube and you avoid using stainless for the female threads too. i've found myself in a few situations where I'm forced to use stainless for both and I've had success with good lube, but as already said above, it's considerably weaker than other bolts, usually somewhere around half as strong as a grade 10.9 bolt of the same size.

Also, if you ever find yourself designing something around threaded fasteners it's important to recognize how a bolt is being stressed. You'll only ever find strength ratings for tensile strength (being pulled apart). Shear strength is usually around half of tensile strength as a rule of thumb. Properly designed stuff doesn't put bolts in shear, but sometimes it can't be avoided. In those situations your best bet is to use the strongest grade available and step up one or two diameter sizes.