[brontosaurus]

The 252/256 duration 10.0 and 10.8 lift Tomeis didn't require any clearancing. As far as their power band goes.. they had a small tq dip at 3500 but a large HP spike 3500-4000 that stays on boil up to 7500 and then remained flat to 8000rpm. I'd say you better plan to rev the dog **** out of those 272's to make 'em worthwhile.

Ah, I was referring more to valve/piston clearance when shaving the head, but that is still good to know. Yep, shooting for 7800-8k occasionally if it makes any power there.

hello! many thanks to adam777. In other, more boring news, I replaced the clutch master cylinder as well yesterday. Pretty painless.

 

[stormin'norman]

Both valve to piston and the lobes clearing head castings. Smooth sailing.

 

[brontosaurus]

So close.

90% wiring complete, RB header in, everything more or less connected. Just waiting to hear back from Reverant @ MSLabs about a handful of things. Can't wait.

 

[brontosaurus]

Many, many thanks to Adam777, 08_ms3_gt and cockerpunk (among others not on this forum!) for helping me get this thing done just in time for the scheduled Memorial Day cruise yesterday. Despite buttoning up the car a hour before caning the thing for 250 miles, it performed beautifully. There is a very slight misfire at low RPM that needs to be sorted out, and I think there is a chance I installed the shifter backwards, but this is the most fun I've had in this car in years. Couldn't be happier with the swap. Now it's just time to sort out the little issues and just drive the thing. I figure I"ll get the E85 tune done and see how motivated I get to do the headwork/cams this year. Not at all lacking for any power with the 6-speed+4.3 setup. Also, the Motorcraft fluid hype is real.

 

[adam777]

Car sounds sooooooo good. Can't wait for you to figure out E85 so you can set my car up for E85 too

 

[sdemo45]

sweet long distance obstructed view glamour shot, bruh

 

[cockerpunk]

Not at all lacking for any power with the 6-speed+4.3 setup.

bonus double shifting compared to every other car in the train!

was pretty funny chasing you, you had one gear for when i was turbo lagging, and could pick up a bit of difference, but then when you shifted, i was on boost, and forget about it. hahaha

the old girl did pretty well, but i found another bad ground, which was why she was running so rich. pulls alot better at high revs, and no more big backfires on every shift. i also found another boost leak, but at this point, finding another boost leak is just one of those "oh i popped the hood" type of things with that car.

i really need to find that half a degree of front camber i lost when changing the strut mounts before the broadtrip

 

[brontosaurus]

Went on a road trip with some buddies out to Glacier National Park. Aside from a throwout bearing exploding 1500 miles away from home it was a pretty good time. Since I finished the motor swap I got the flexfuel sensor wired up, so E85 is next on the ticket. Followed by finally replacing the fuel filter.

 

[sdemo45]

I'm so glad you bought those comps... they look awesome

 

[brontosaurus]

I'm so glad you bought those comps... they look awesome

Thanks :*

Took it out for the final cruise of the year, made a bunch of braps. The car is fully flex-fuel now and is noticeably more peppy when there's ethanol in the tank. Unfortunately, it is still slower than Adam_777's supercharged car, so we'll have to dig into the motor a bit this winter. Winter plans will be to get the cams installed, get some minor headwork done, throw some diff bushings in and possibly install the Mazdacomp LSD I've had lying around for the past year. Pretty minor things.

Aside from the catastrophic throw out bearing destruction, this year has been relatively good from a fix/drive standpoint. I occasionally miss the turbo setup on the street, but all in all, the VVT swap was the right choice to make.

 

[brontosaurus]

Please have your AP1 bro paint the exhaust surround on his rear bumper black.

That car is a nationals-level prepared STR -- I don't think he cares.

 

[brontosaurus]

Last event of the season! Really looking forward to codriving with Adam777, getting more seat time and improving as a driver next year.

 

[brontosaurus]

Short clip of going to dilute the E85 out of the tank prior to parking it for the winter. Have done absolutely zero work on the thing since. Four months left to get the head build done so I can have a running car by driving season.

 

[Phung018]

Loving it

 

[brontosaurus]

Despite Concealer404's best efforts, I did something pretty dumb this weekend. 93 Touring.. 1 owner, 55k miles. Survived the 600 mile drive home!

 

[horribleR]

dope

 

[GreaseMonkey2000]

:smile9: Sweet, congrats Kent! :smile9: So you still have the roadster? :dunno:

 

[08_ms3_gt]

Donated to Rawhide

 

[brontosaurus]

Thanks dudes, yep, still have the roadster.. that won't ever be leaving. Not sure yet about the FD but it was on the rather short bucket list. Between the STS car me and Adam777 are campaigning this year and the FD, I don't think I'll bother throwing the cams in the car until late summer at earliest now.

 

[brontosaurus]

So long, buttholes!!

































Or not.

Long overdue updates here.

Due to some unfortunate circumstances, I put the red car into a fence last year. Not sure if it was overdriving, slightly overheated brakes or the just barely corded Rivals, but the end result is that I dollied the car into the corner of my garage and been at peak car hatred for the past 10 months. The damage wasn't awful -- the LF fender had a good size dent, the bumper cover, hood and headlight lids had scrapes as well. Most of it would buff out, but I'd feel awful driving the thing. So, as I said, I just threw it into the corner and waited.

After months of searching, I finally found a suitable donor car on Copart. Too much money later and I had a pristine 60k mile NA with some wrinkles in the back . Texas car, so absolutely no rust. It even had clearbra on the front!

In the garage

aaaand... done! :v

I'll get some proper pictures once everything is washed, but the car looks better than it did when I bought it. Super stoked for this year with all the cars back in form, I've still got the shelf full of parts for the NA that need to be put on.

Also as an aside: Everyone should drive a Miata without doors at least once. It's magical.