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I took it to it's first drift event with the cam, cut knuckles, proper alignment, and Accusump setup. I let the engine sing to 6k RPM and killed some tires with 4 or 5 hours of seat time, was super nice having the Accusump setup for piece of mind. Had a lot of fun this event - the car is a completely different machine. I still need spacers since the front tires are rubbing at full lock with the cut knuckles. A steering wheel and hydro ebrake are next on the list after that.
Got to install my Hotchkis swaybars and solid engine mounts I got for my birthday back in December.
Got a pretty cool feature on EngineLab's website about my Canton Racing Accusump install.
I just want to hug Pipsqueak after I beat on it a few weekends ago at the first Lone Star Drift event of the 2015 season. The GTO held together despite having issues with the newly installed welded differential and a lot of changes since the last drift event last year.
The welded differential made the car SO much different to drive and I spent most of Saturday trying to re-learn how the car needed to be driven. I had developed bad habits from the crappy stock limited slip differential that was on it’s last leg. The welded diff really helped the GTO step out sideways and transition smooth. And the Hotckis swaybars…wow, the car had none of the transition sway it had before.
I think my ‘Squeak is growing up and turning into a real drift car! I have a lot of work to do to improve my skills, but at least I have a new understanding of what mods the car needs to improve.
Oh and a big thank you to Canton Racing’s Accusump. The LS was on the rev limited a lot this weekend and no oiling hiccups!
My custom, fully adjustable Shane Whalley front suspension arms came in a few weeks ago and I had a chance put them on yesterday. All I can say is wow, they made a bigger difference than I expected.
Not only are they works of art compared to the stock arms – they are functional and fully adjustable. This may not be ‘sick’ angle for a modified drift 240sx, but it is for a GTO compared to the appalling amount of minimal steering angle you get from the factory. The arms have more angle to give, my limiting factor now is the tie rods hitting the inner wheel lip. Shane achieved even more angle on his drift GTO.
The install was straightforward and required minimal modification to the front subframe. I, as usual, had the GoPro running for the install and will post the video once I finish editing it. The car still needs a serious alignment, but the swaybar endlink relocation was immediately noticeable when I was able to go from lock to lock with no binding from the BC endlinks. I drove the car home with the arms unaligned and I could still feel an improvement. Can’t wait to try it on the track. If you are looking to take your GTO to the next level definitely check out these arms from Shane.
Last weekend was a garage party installing fresh new parts on ‘Squeak.
We started off with the Whiteline rear camber bushings install. That was a pain in the *** because we could not find a bushing removal tool anywhere local. Instead, we ended up having to make our own out of some plumbing pipe and all-thread. After hours of drilling and wrestling with the rear outer control arm bushings, we got them removed and installed the Whiteline adjustable units.
Once the worst was over we buttoned up the rear subframe and started on the NRG quick release and steering wheel install. This was not only for aesthetics, but function as well. A removable wheel will allow me to get into the seat easier – especially with a helmet on. The stock GTO wheel also wobbled when I swapped from lock to lock since the mounting point was not centered. The NRG wheel will rotate in a perfect circle so that should allow me to handle it more accurately. Or that’s what I’ll convince myself it will do haha.
Finally we got the Rocket Bunny style rear spoiler ready to go by removing the old wing and previous owner’s wing mount. We cleaned the truck and applied close-enough colored vinyl over the unsightly old drill holes. The S14 240sx spoiler install was straight forward, but required some muscle to get it to form to the GTO’s body lines and be riveted. Too bad there isn’t a RB style duck-bill spoiler available for GTOs off the shelf…
Last-but-not least I plastidipped the rear wheels to match the rest of the black OEM wheels, did some camber and caster adjustments to the front arms with the addition of 20mm front wheel spacers and pressure washed the underbody.
Until next time….can’t wait for the next drift event April 26th!
We attended Round 2 of Lone Star Drift TXSL + ProAm event last Sunday April 27th. It was a helluva drive from Houston to Mineral Wells after a long work day on Saturday, but with a few thumbs up and many cameraphone pics from other motorists we trucked through the night.
We got up Sunday morning at the hotel and moseyed out to the track a few miles down the road at an abandoned helicopter area next to the airport. The weather was nice in the morning, but the sun came out and it got hot inside the car while in grid. Fortunately it clouded up around midday, sprinkled off and on, but the awful stormy weather mostly held off until after the event was over.
Pipsqueak performed phenomenally with the new Shane Whalley arms, fresh alignment, perfectly round steering wheel (stock one rotates off center), and Kenda tires on all four corners.
This was my first time to drive such a high speed/large track so I took it slow and entered late until I felt more comfortable with the track. After the competition finished up the practice drivers had only an hour left to drive. I so played harder, entered earlier, and saw 94mph on one of my entries. Dayum. I did have my moments of suck when I understeered and straight up plowed cones.
There was a significant improvement in my driving and the car’s handling. I think this GTO is on its way to becoming a nice drift car.
The only real carnage was to the front end – I mangled the passenger side fender on the first run. These new arms achieve some serious angle, never had this issue before. We borrowed a hammer and did a pretty good job of rolling the fender the rest of the way. I’m thinking flares are going to be a future mod.
In other news I captured some awesome video of my front and rear suspension in action with some old GoPros. They both actually stayed on the car so no cameras were harmed!
I also got some aerial footage right as the storm was coming in so the footage is pretty shaky. Still cool none-the-less. The wind storm was so bad the motors were generating their own power and lighting up the LEDs on the quad copter after I turned it off. Caught my hand in the props as I was trying to unhook the battery.
Nah, I was tapped out enough with the cam swap and all the suspension work, pulley wasn't on the list. Not interested in HP numbers so 397whp lights up the tires just fine
Some PRC heads and new injectors would be nice down the line though.
06-26-2014, 11:22 PM
