'88 L Street/Track Build- Coilovers • B6ZE • Weber DCOE's • Widebody • Chopped Top •

[ThisVelologist]

I've been really enjoying your build progress. You certainly have good taste, my friend. Thinking of your widebody aspirations, I saved this pic for you:

[theastronaut]

Couple updates. Picked up a tach cluster, buffed the lens and matched the odometer to the original cluster. Also painted inside the light hood bright white for better illumination at night.











And I bought a Capri XR2 for the trans and parts to make the Miata motor FWD friendly.

[theastronaut]

Hi - saw that you planned to use a Weber 45 dcoe on the engine. I have a 90 Festiva EFI manifold that is partially modified for using a 45 dcoe. A while back I sent in photos of the initial fit up - maybe I can refind the pictures! Anyways, I now have the the 45 dcoe adapter plate and a used 45 dcoe (missing parts but maybe rebuild able) for mock up/fitting/clearance purposes and a piece of 1/4" plate aluminum for finishing it all up. Needs some fabing and welding. but all the basic bits are there.

Since I have a EFI car and will never use this set-up (just started making it up for fun), would you be interest in it at my cost (about $85) at the moment, plus shipping?

I can get some more photos of it if you are interested.

Doug

Doug, I appreciate the offer. Sounds like a nice setup for a single carb, that would cut out the need to sync duals- great for a daily driver. I'm going to run dual DCOE's though so it probably wouldn't work for the build.

John, I was just looking over your last Autox results again and noticed the first place "novice" ran the third fastest time in a WRX. I call shinnanigans on that. Those cars aren't easy to toss around an Autox track, that driver has some experience. Lol.

They're not very strict with their classes. You could be the most accomplished driver in the world and get put in the novice class if you've never done an autocross. I was put in the stock fwd class my first time there, and the novice class that second time. Funny thing about the WRX's, the stock cars are usually outrunning the highly modded cars. There's a full race WRX that ran consistently in the low 50 second range (I ran low 47's) since it wouldn't spool soon enough and when it did it just blew the tires off it. A driver mod would've helped but it was apparent that it would be a handful.

[Advancedynamix]

John, I was just looking over your last Autox results again and noticed the first place "novice" ran the third fastest time in a WRX. I call shinnanigans on that. Those cars aren't easy to toss around an Autox track, that driver has some experience. Lol.

[Doug Brown]

Hi - saw that you planned to use a Weber 45 dcoe on the engine. I have a 90 Festiva EFI manifold that is partially modified for using a 45 dcoe. A while back I sent in photos of the initial fit up - maybe I can refind the pictures! Anyways, I now have the the 45 dcoe adapter plate and a used 45 dcoe (missing parts but maybe rebuild able) for mock up/fitting/clearance purposes and a piece of 1/4" plate aluminum for finishing it all up. Needs some fabing and welding. but all the basic bits are there.

Since I have a EFI car and will never use this set-up (just started making it up for fun), would you be interest in it at my cost (about $85) at the moment, plus shipping?

I can get some more photos of it if you are interested.

Doug

[Advancedynamix]

This just keeps getting better. It's better to learn how to use the body roll to your favor than it is to try and get rid of it. Time your apexs (especially on chicanes) so that the rebound helps rotate the rear end while you apply throttle to drive out hard. This will be easier with more power, but it can be done stock as well.
My fast laps are a result of me timing my turn in so that I can throttle through the curves. Precise trail braking and throttle control go a long way.
If you do decide the roll is too much for you, I recommend shortening your rear shock shafts. The rear sag is what's allowing the roll. Stiffer spring rates will only raise the car and reduce its stability over choppy bumps. It may feel faster, but I promise that it won't actually be faster.

[likeJIF]

Awesome build man!

[theastronaut]

awesome! that neg camber ,, is that from lowering the car? can you keep the stock ride height with the suspension?

The camber is from slotting the front coilovers to let the knuckle mount at an angle, and I've shimmed the stub axles in the rear to create negative camber. The car could be raised back up some but not all the way to stock height.

[errjam]

awesome! that neg camber ,, is that from lowering the car? can you keep the stock ride height with the suspension?

[theastronaut]

Thanks guys.

I've now run two autocrosses and have studied the videos from both. The car feels great out on the track, it's extremely planted in the corners. The fastest time was a 42.9 and I ran a 47.01 on a very open track. Having only 58 hp was a big disadvantage with the layout as I was accelerating all the way down the straights, even through the chicanes that all of the more powerful cars had to slow down for.

One thing I've noticed is it seems like I have a bit more body roll than I'd like. I took a couple screen shots of the car mid-corner to show this. The car is almost lifting the inside rear when trail braking into the corner so it's getting all the weight onto the outer wheels. I'm running 125/105 springs at the moment so I think I should go stiffer to control the body movement better. It also looks like I have too much rear travel before it gets on the bump stops. I don't want to lower it down on the stops since I'd need to shorten the shocks to match and I'm running out of room in the fenderwells. It also looks like the tires could use more air pressure up front.

Link to my first and second run, along with a few other hatchbacks running. Thanks to member DriverOne for shooting the event.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZUXkn0xFv8






The results from the latest autocross. Many of the "stock" classed cars are not stock, or at the least they're not on street tires. They don't check/inspect the cars to class them and you can run r-compound slicks in a "stock" class if you want to. I really need more power and better tires. It's impressively quick for what it is though. The guy with the 911 wanted a ride once timed runs were over... He was laughing at how slow it was off the line, but soon scrambled to find something to hold on to through the chicane and first big corner! We had talked about the 911's rearward weight bias and he mentioned that he couldn't enter the corner hard or the back end would come around. On our third timed run the track was damp and he nearly spun going into the first big turn. I didn't slow down as much as I should have going into the same corner and the tail of the Festiva came around some but it was easy to correct and stay on my line. Had I not tried to trail brake as much it would have stayed hooked.

[Prafeston]

That wheel is sexy!

[jhli]

She looks really good.

[theastronaut]

I've done a little more cosmetically- grandma style floor "rugs" and a Nardi steering wheel for the interior. The clear was badly faded and flaking on the hood so I fixed and primed a couple spots and wetsanded it in preparation for paint. The base coat I bought ended up being way off. I had my first autocross the next day so I shot a couple coats of clear to seal it up until I could get the base tinted to match. The "fake patina" look turned out to be a hit at the autocross, so it may stick around for awhile.




I picked up a Yakima roof rack at a flea market for ten bucks, bought the correct clips on eBay cheap, and shortened the load bars so they looked more proportional to the size of the roof. I'm still looking for a cheap wind deflector. I also swapped the silver painted center caps out for a set with brushed stainless outer rings and black centers.




The woven floor rugs.





And the Nardi wheel

[theastronaut]

That pretty much catches this up to the car's current condition mechanically. I did buy a rear beam with good parking brake cables from a local forum member to replace the bad original cables. I ended up completely rebuilding the brakes on that beam and swapped the whole assembly out. Was much easier to build it on my "Taco Cart" tool box/work bench than in the car.

[theastronaut]

I originally just wanted to slam it 5-6" for looks so I started researching my options for dropping it. I ran across Charlie's "Advanced Suspension Mods" thread and decided to go with his Raceland Mk2/KYB Mk1 coilovers since they would offer plenty of drop. Once I got the coilovers on though I became more interested in how it handled since it now had more grip than anything I'd ever owned.

I made a thread for the suspension back when I was planning and building it, so I won't double post all the details here.

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?57187-5-6-quot-Drop-with-VW-KYB-s-Converted-to-Coilovers