Just installed the CSF Race radiator yesterday. I was wanting to stick with the OEM fan, but it just wouldn't bolt up to the spots that were on the radiator. The fan that came with it was actually bigger in diameter than the OEM one, so we'll see how it does. I let the car idle for like 10-15 minutes to see how temps held up, and it seemed to do fine.

 

Is it possible to just make a couple o' quick tabs/brackets outta something flat, thin and metal to allow use of OEM fan? Super jelly on the mirrors!

 

I mean, I bet there's a way. Do I have the means to do so? Not really. I've got this one working, and it seems to be doing fine, so I'm not too worried.
The correct ETACS and interior switch are finally on their way, so I'm excited to get that and get the mirrors hooked up and working

 

Yes, I believe it was designed with the intent of using the aftermarket slim fan. I am sure that the routine normal driving that people do is fine with this slim fan. I might compare both at a Track day since I have them in my possession and can log coolant temperatures. Maybe turn it into a production that is in the spirit of Mythbusters .

 

So these last few months have been an interesting rollercoaster. Been making some more progress on the Evo, while dealing with some curveballs that life has thrown my way.

I got some new radiator mounting brackets to go with everything else in the engine bay.



Then I started in on the next big project with the Evo: the suspension overhaul. She has needed it ever since I bought her 3 years ago, and I feel bad it's taken me this long to address it. As I was disassembling everything, I got an eyefull of just how bad it was. All 8 ball joints on the car looked like this photo, the LCA (front and rear) bushings were trashed, and the rear diff carrier bushings were hardened solid. It was just a mess under there. SO! I opted to get Whiteline everything.

One of 8 trashed ball joints.


Rear subrame came down to get access to everything that needed to be swapped out back there.


Old mustache bar vs the STM replacement. MUCH lighter than OEM.




Whiteline rear sway bars included in the overhaul.





Got the caster adjustment bushings for the front LCA, along with the roll center bump steer correction kit.


Dropping the front subframe turned out to be a bigger challenge than anticipated, due to the driver side vertical bolt in the frame rail putting up a MASSIVE fight. Hooray for rounded corners...


Got all new power steering rack bushings as well.


New front subframe setup.


This bolt.... I hate this bolt. It was just spinning and spinning inside the cage-box thing inside the frame rail. Obviously, that had to be addressed and fixed. We opted to drill out the spot welds holding that front corner on in order to replace the damaged bolt. Got the corner of the frame rail all cleaned up, painted with weld-through primer, got a new bolt and created a much bigger square head that fit inside the cage better (I forgot to take a photo of that before we got it welded back inside the cage; you can kind of see the head of the bolt in the photo below from when we painted it), and got it all painted up in prep for welding back up. That's tomorrow's task.







The suspension overhaul has been a much bigger project undertaking than I originally anticipated, but it's going to be SO incredibly worth it. I can't wait to take her for a spin!

Things still left to be completed:
* weld the front corner subframe box thing back into place
* get the front subframe remounted back into place
* still waiting on the 6 rear ball joints to come in
* rear subframe mounted back up
* thorough alignment

Tracking down those rear ball joints this past week has proven to be a lot harder than I anticipated. No local parts stores carry them at all, most local-to-the-States vendors online didn't carry any. The HardRace ball joints were showing as all out of stock everywhere I looked. I found one company that makes them (Febest, part number 0420-CT9R), but they only had 5 in stock, and I needed all 6. I eventually found a vendor that stocked the HardRace ones (for reference: https://www.aleksracing.com/hardrace...cn9a-cp9a-ct9a) and got a set of 6 ordered. Hoping those show up in the next week or so, so I can get this project buttoned up. I've been borrowing my friend's Fiat Abarth, and while it's a fun, spunky little thing, I miss the Evo.

 

Looking good keep up the great work!

 

Life just doesn't slow down at all, does it? The last 6 months have been a whirlwind, with plenty of changes for both me and the Evo.

Where we left off: still waiting for rear ball joints and to finish with the front subframe.
It all got welded back into place and painted. Here's to hoping it never has issues again.


Then I noticed another issue - driver rear cv axle boot had a pin hole and had flung grease EVERYWHERE. That was a headache to clean up, and I got to learn how to change out those boots. Far from my favorite maintenance job I've ever done.



After all of this, she got a really good alignment, and had been driving great. Life threw me a curveball and my job transferred back to a position in Washington, and I was able to buy a house. Her first garage! I feel so lucky and spoiled. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to me!! I've spent a lot of time the last 4-ish months working on the house and adding my personal touches everywhere, so the car hadn't gotten much attention.


February rolled around, and we finally got dumped some snow. I did what every sane person would do, and took the Evo out for some fun in an empty parking lot. No Youtube videos of her playtime, but they are on my IG. I had a BLAST, and she did great. There was a small incident with a hidden parking curb, which bit harder than anticipated.






I had the express joy of straightening a bent core support (hooray for a power pole right behind my house and a comealong), replacing the AC condenser, intercooler, lower charge pipe, front bumper, and headlights. What a time to pick up some JDM MR headlights. Not the way I was wanting to get them, but hey. I have them now! I also took this downtime to get some new wheels and tires, which means I now have a dedicated set of snow wheels/tires. I also got the JDM HVAC wiring all fixed up properly and everything is functioning now. For a wiring novice, this was a hard task for me to figure out what I did wrong initially 18 months ago. BUT, I've gotten a lot better, and understand things a lot more now. The prize was worth the struggle for me in this case.

I think her new shoes and eyes look stunning. I'm happy to have her back on the road after an excessively long wait for the headlights to ship from Japan. Our first really nice weather weekend was this past weekend, and I was able to get her all washed up and out for a drive. Feels amazing.