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So here it goes, first time really writing more than a paragraph in a couple of years...Bought this 06 tarmac black beaut about two years ago. I wanted one since I was 16 years old and finally got one at the age of 22. Before this car I was a hardcore honda boy with an 01 Integra Type R that I had a RHD swap, JDM front, complete color change done to. I had the motor built by the guys at Speedfactory, made 200whp, and was easily losing traction. Needless to say I wasn't happy about the whole traction part. The left handed shifting and stop light double takes were fun but I still wanted something else. I finally said screw it and found this Evo with an HKS turbo-back, intake, and JIC coilovers. The first two months of ownership killed my wallet. I hit the front bumper that ended up being a cheap flimsy aftermarket POS and replaced it with all OEM parts (not cheap). About a month after that my clutch went out, so I got to get intimate with the car real quick. Not to mention grew my tool collection quite a bit... I gets bad when the guys at auto zone know you by name because you are there every day.
After those couple of bumps it was smooth sailing. Made a trip across the mountains to Winthrop, WA in the summer without a hiccup and plenty of fun zipping down some dirt roads with that awd .
December of 14 rolled along and that's when I splurged. Financially. Not Physically. We'll, maybe a little physically...Sheepeybuilt 6262 forward facing kit, ams intake manifold, ETS front mount, injectors timing belt, blah blah. That was 3 months of the car being down and by May Aaron at English Racing was working his magic. Car made 528whp 386wtq at 26psi(pump gas)... Then I ran into my trouble...
About two weeks after the tune I had just romped on the car a bit and was slowing down to turn onto my street. That's when it happened. No boom, but the car just died. My buddy towed me a couple blocks and within a few minutes I knew I really screwed up. The timing belt was pretty loose and after taking off the valve cover, I could see the exhaust valves were all funked. I documented taking it apart and figured out i had:
1. Did not tighten the timing belt tensioner pulley from the bottom, pushing it counterclockwise(the correct way). Because it was easier to access I had tensioned it clockwise from the top(the wrong way). The hydraulic tensioner could not function properly this way.
2. I did not use any loctite on the tensioner bolt. That's not too big an issue. I've talked to a few guys that have gone without and been fine, but I don't think it helped my case here.
After drinking some beer and yelling a few words that are unfit for children I got over it and had the whole engine bay apart within a week. I then decided to just be patient, do the build right, and hopefully redeem myself for my stupid mistake. That summer I started back up by picking up a used head from Venezuela on ebay and got to have my first encounter with Buschur Racing. After about 5 months of waiting I had a new head ready to go... Yes 5 months but it was heavily discounted because it took that long. The shop that does their machining had an employee falling out with police involved but Nick kept me informed all the way through the process. In the end I got the most beautiful head I've ever seen and a hell of a discount on a 2.3 bottom end as well. Buschur Racing treats thier customers right! Even though it was no real inconvenience to me, it's always nice to save money on these expensive a$$ builds!
So from there, I assembled the head and block, did a master bushing set, painted the front crossmember and engine mounts, re-undersprayed all wheel wells, new tires, brakes, and that's where I sit today. I also sold the old injectors and turbo and picked up the 2150 injectors and a 6466 gen 2. When I was getting the car tuned Aaron had told me that the 6466 G2 would spool as fast as my 6262. Since his word is like gold to us evo owners I decided to listen.
Now for the future.. I am currently saving for a comp twin disc, shep 4.11 trans, stage 2 tcase, and 12 plate rear end. The drivetrain alone is a whole other project to conquer. These god damn cars aren't cheap! Anyway, this is where I'll leave you guys. Now that I have a thread I'll try and keep it as updated as I go!
Here are some day 1 pics! I'll do a detailed mods list in a day or two
Top End:
Buschur Stage 3 Ported/O-ringed Head
GSC R2 Cams/Springs/Retainers
GSC +1mm Valves
ARP L19 Headstuds
Sheepeybuilt Cam Sensor Covers
AMS F1 Intake Manifold
Boomba 75mm Throttle Body
Omni 4 Bar Map Sensor
ETS 4" Intercooler and Piping
Tial BOV
Drivetrain: (edit 2/19/16)
Competition Clutch Twin Disc
T.R.E. Stage 3 Transmission 4.11 FD, Evo 8 3/4 Gears
T.R.E. Transfer Case w/OEM Parts
T.R.E. Max Lock Rear Diff w/Billet Side Cover and Rear Cover w/Oil Sight Glass
All major parts will receive shot peening and ISF service
Wheels/Tires/Brakes:
Stock Evo X GSR Wheels 18x8.5
Falken FK453 Tires 255/35/18
88Rotors Drilled/Slotted Rotors
Hawk HPS Pads
Exterior:
JDM Rear Bumper
JDL Carbon Fiber Front Lip
Front Fender Extension Bracket
Sorry for the unorganized mess. I have a lot of different pictures over the course of almost a year! Recent weekend boredom lead to me spray painting the trunk. Did one half and took a comparison picture. I removed the stock plastic almost as soon as I got the car and relocated the battery. I never liked the look of the plastics. If you just take about $30 of rattle can primer and paint it makes a world of difference... as you can see.
Why do you even need to install fender extension bracket when your fitment is not all that aggressive anyway?
I had them sitting around for a while so basically installed them out of boredom. I like how it looks. Eventually I'll get a nice wide set of wheels and tires that will actually necessitate having the extenders lol
Nice car man, do you have an eta on when she'll be back together?
Man if I had a dollar for every time I was asked that this thing would be done lol. Should be may or June I'm hoping. It's depressing when you only need a couple more parts, but those parts are so damn expensive! (Trans,tcase, rear diff, clutch)
Talked to Jon at TRE today for about an hour. That man can talk haha. So much information to take in. I think I'll be going through him for at least the transfer case and rear diff now. I'd like to be able to use as much of the oem parts as I can. Shot peening and isotropic super finishing go a long way. Since the only drivetrain issue I've had is a slight 3rd gear grind, this is a cheap and effective route to go. I never had death whine but we'll see if the ring and pinion and stock diff have held up. I don't launch the car and I don't plan on doing it for a good while. Roll racing/highway pulls make me happy enough. I don't wanna be doing anything major again for a good long while.
Feb 4, 2016, 07:15 PM
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