A lot of followers asked why we didn't just rip the stock ECU out and bash a Haltech in to get the car running straight away. Well, the answer isn't that simple and getting the Up! GTI swap to run and function as a car almost involved more work on laptops than physical spanner-twirling and bolt-threading.
Long-time followers of the show know we have had a fantastic, ongoing relationship with the legends at Haltech for over a decade, but the answer to fixing the Up! wasn't as simple as jamming an aftermarket ECU into it and hitting PgUp until it pinged a rod into a low orbit.
Unlike our beloved classic nuggets, modern cars feature incredibly complex wiring systems integrating functions that means replacing an ECU can affect headlights, your air-conditioning, power steering, and windscreen wipers.
While a Haltech R5 Nexus and PD16 PDM can run all these functions (and they have on a bunch of our project cars!), the direct-injection systems used by modern Volkswagen-Audi Group (VAG) cars isn't able to be controlled yet.
Direct injection (or DI) is where fuel is squirted directly into the combustion chamber at extremely high-pressures. This is done so manufacturers have far more control over each injection of fuel, and it happens at insanely fast rates. Basically, it is incredibly complex.
Traditional port injection is where injectors spray fuel from above the intake port, and most cars with this style of electronic fuel-injection will still cop Haltech ECUs and VCUs from us as they're the best way to control those engines.
We could use stock ECUs on those cars and remap or flash-tune them, but the less intuitive tuning interface and programming limitations (what the stock ECUs can do versus a full standalone ECU/VCU) mean Haltech will get our projects working quicker and easier.
Back to fixing the Up! GTI, and this project taught us just how involved the wiring and ECUs of modern European cars are, as they literally control every function of the vehicle. In days gone by people did these types of vehicle swaps by putting everything from the donor car into the new shell as a way of trying to trick the computer, but the integrated electronnic functions of modern VAG cars means it is no longer that simple.
Body control modules have long been used by manufacturers (even back to the 1990s) to provide security. They wanted to make it impossible to steal a car by bringing your own key, ignition barrel and ECU, plugging those parts in and driving away... which actually used to happen with some early EFI cars.
However people wanting to put late-model EFI hardware into cars that didn't have that stuff discovered these body control modules needed to be turned off via programming or by tricking the ECU, so the computer didn't go looking for them. This is where an aftermarket ECU made engine-swapping infinitely easier as they don't rely on body control modules.
Thankfully, we have a VAG Commander in our midst and Myles was able to unlock the electronics and get the Up! GTI working how it should with all its functions like headlights, air-conditioning, and wipers.
]]>Enter the T-car platform.
Aussies, Indonesians, Japanese and Kiwis know this model as the Gemini, sold by both Isuzu and Holden since the mid-1970s. But did you know GM offered 39 different T-car variants in 8 different body styles, in 16 separate markets around the world?
On top of the Gemini and Piazza offerings we got in Aus, there was a dizzying number of offerings for the rest of the world. Indonesia got our Holden Gemini in 4-door sedan guise, while NZ got the Holden, Isuzu and Vauxhall variants in coupe, hatch, sedan, panel van and wagon (Vauxhall), 4-door sedan (Isuzu), and 4-door sedan and wagon (Holden).
Argentina got the GMC Chevette and Opel K-180 as 4-door sedans, while Brazil scored 3 different Chevy models: the Chevette came in 2-and 4-door sedans and 3-door hatch, the Marajo in a wagon, and the Chevy 500 as a ute. Malaysia also had Opel Geminis.
Canada scored the Chevy Chevette and Pontiac Acadian, while the USA got the Pontiac T1000, Buick Opel-Isuzu, Isuzu Impulse (nee: Piazza), Chevy Chevette, and Opel Kadett. The Chevette was also sold in Colombia and Germany had the Opel Kadett.
T-cars were available in Ecuador as the Aymesa Condor (2-door sedan, 3-door hatch, and ute), and the Chevy San Remo (4-door sedan), and Japan scored theirs under the Isuzu brand. The Japanese market had the choice of the Bellett Gemini, Gemini, and Piazza.
South Koreans could buy T-cars as the Saehan Bird (4-door sedan), Saehan Max (ute), Daewoo Maepsy (4-door sedan), and Daewoo Max (ute), while Venezuelans could get their fix in the Chevy Chevette or Chevy San Remo (wagon). In Uruguay the T-car was sold as the Grumett 250m, Chevette, and Sport.
In Pomgolia (the UK) the Bedford Chevanne was a panel van variant of the popular Vauxhall Chevette which featured a distinctive “droop-snoot” aero-inspired nose.
While criticised by the motoring press back in the day for their driving dynamics the T-car successfuly launched GM's entrance to the "small-car" market all over the world. After decades of concentrating on large, fuel-guzzling sedans and trucks the Gemini and its siblings meant car buyers of the 1970s could "buy domestic" for their small, fuel efficient car without "having to buy Japanese" as was so unpopular back in those days.
We just can't help wondering what Marty's TX Gemini hatch might look like with the Vauxhall droop snoot front and a twin-cam from an Isuzu model...
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The Civic beat the Golf to market by two years, launching in 1972 versus 1974. Japanese car fans laud the CIvic as the progenator of the modern front-drive hatch, but that ignores the BMC Mini which launched in 1959 and revolutionised how the world saw small cars.
The Civic brought Honda's legendary engineering prowess to small cars, which was a big deal as Honda were more well-known as a motorcycle manufacturer in those days. It's not overstating the Civic's importance to say it built the legend which Honda enjoyed through the '70s, '80s and '90s.
The addition of the twin-cam B-series four-cylinder in the '80s, with its amazing VTEC cam control, suddenly meant not every naturally aspirated front-drive hatch was easy pickings at traffic lights... or race track... or twisty road.
When Honda introducted the EK9 Civic Type R, the third model in their storied line-up after the NSX-R and Integra Type R, they redefined how special and how good an aspirated front-drive hatch can be and for many, myself included, it is still the greatest aspirated FWD hot hatch of all time.
But would we even have an EK9 if it wasn't for the Volkswagen Golf, and specifically the GTI - its creation is as important as Pontiac creating the 60s Muscle Car boom with the GTO mode, or Lamborghini kicking off the Supercar Wars with the Miura. And it wasn't even an official project at first [READ MORE HERE].
The basic Golf and Civic models are much of a muchness, but the performance models are truly worth celebrating and here is where the legend of each model is built. The Golf GTi turned up during the OPEC fuel crisis, when the freedom-loving gas-guzzling V8s of the '60s were suddenly uncool, and a sharp-handling, practical and fun hatchback was the ticket.
The MK2 model which followed is regarded as one of the best European hot hatches of the 80s and paved the way for the Golf GTI to become a cult hit in both Europe and the USA. The Golf GTI made performance small cars cool long before any Civic landed on the cover of Import Tuner magazine.
The Mk3 and Mk4 Golfs may have softened in their middle age, though the V6 AWD Mk4 R32 was a killer, hand-built piece of weaponry, but things changed with the new-generation Mk5 GTI. The King was back and VW have maintained the rage since.
The turbo Mk5 GTI and later AWD Mk6 Golf R arguably launched a new era of sophistication for hot hatches. Since then everyone had to step up or fold their hand, and most of the Japanese brands took the latter.
The Golf R has become the current generation's supercar-slayer. Very few cars combine beautifully appointed interiors which feel upper-premium, AWD grip and brutal turbo performance... and before Subie fans chime in they just don't feel as comfortable or polished as the go-fast Golf. *WATCH MOOG SLAY SUPERCARS IN HIS HERE*
Thankfully, one brand didn't and they keep turning out go-fast Type R models... which is ironic as they didn't have a volume-selling Civic performance model during the import tuner scene's heyday.
The Civic went on to spearhead 90s tuner culture in the USA and Australia, as the cheap entry price, brilliantly engineered platform, and ease with which the B-series could be juiced up, made them super-attractive to young car enthusiasts. Any fast Civic knows one of the greatest moments in life is watching the face of a boomer get their old muscle car taken to Gapplebees by a fast Civic.
More than 27,000,000 Civics have been sold, compared to over 36,000,000 Golfs, but trackday enthusiasts would point to the recent Civic Type R models as being far more hardcore as a performance car offering than the top-of-the-pops Golf R.
So who has the better legacy to claim the title of FWD King?
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As engines are made up of thousands of individual components, there are dozens of ways they can fail - from innocuous sounding rattles to giant kabooms that end with you driving over your own crank, there are many ways to hurt your engine.
The first thing to check is the oil level, and hopefully it still has good viscosity (that means it is slippery), and isn't contaminated, doesn't smell burnt, or have pieces of metal floating around in it. Sometimes and engine will keep running but there will be a death-rattle sound that rises and falls as RPM rise and fall - that is a dead main bearing and you're up for a full rebuild
But what about other engines that aren't running right, but don't have a con rod hanging through the starter motor? Start with draining the oil and inspecting it. Have a look at the drain plug and wipe a finger inside the sump - you're looking for metal paste.
You can also cut oil filters open and inspect the paper element for any metal shrapnel, metal paste or the like. If it is dry inside that is a huge red flag - it means your engine is pushing oil through the filter which could mean you've got a dead oil pump (and you'll be rebuilding your engine).
If there are no red flags in the oil put fresh oil in the car and start thinking about what the engine is doing that is causing you concern - if the car is down on power and blowing white smoke you should do a compression test or leak-down test to check for a blown head gasket.
You can learn a lot by pulling the spark plugs and checking for damage; listening for odd noises from the engine; looking for leaks while it is running; and looking for odd vibrations from the motor.
With Subarus most of these paths lead to pulling the engine out and tearing it down for a proper inspection. Ultimately a professional mechanic will tell you super-fast what has gone wrong but where is the fun and learning experience in giving it to someone else?
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These discoveries became known as "barn finds" as they were often discovered hiding in old barns on farmland, as farmers would often park old cars rather than going through the chore of selling them.
Marty and MOOG discovered their own "barn find" when they were told about a pair of Brumbys on an apple orchard in Bilpin, 90-mins west of Sydney. You can watch the full project build HERE, and it is a doozy as they go completely through the tiny Subaru to restore it.
Finding one of these utes in good condition is rare today as they were dependable workhorses around Australia for decades - and that means they were normally left in the weather, and subject to all the environmental factors which ruin cars. As these old cars age fewer and fewer are spotted in the wild, which means finding an original one gets harder and harder.
Like many "barn find" cars the MCM Brumby had its share of nicks, knocks, and rot but finding classic cars left as time capsules are rarer than gypsies with mortgages. Every "barn find" is unique as its history is individual to the car's ownership, to how it was used, where it was driven, if it was modified or raced or used to transport depressed lemurs.
People froth "barn finds" so hard because there are no two cars the same, and you have a direct link back to the car's original history. And this is where barn finds get contentious, as some people believe they are only custodians of a car and it should be preseved as is while others believe that car should be restored to relive the car's glory days.
As you can see, Marty and MOOG chose the latter path for their Brumby build as they wanted to build a reliable, safe car which retains the vibe of the original vehicle but is upgraded to perform like a modern car.
The big question is; would you restore the Brumby, or would you have left it as-found?
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Today we have cars built at home in sheds making way more power than any of these old classics, and modern supercars offer eye-watering performance. So has time passed these old nuggets by, or are they still the dreamboat poster mobiles of our childhood dreams?
Way back in 1973 the Lamborghini Countach was one of the most dramatic-looking cars on the planet, and its drag strip time of 14.4@180km/h meant it was about as fast as a decent muscle car on the quarter-mile. Supercar fans will say the Lambo would out-corner any muscle car, but the truth is the Italian beast was never a fantasic-handling machine.
By the late 1980s supercars had grown turbos and we were starting to see some really rapid machinery. The brutal, lightweight F40 Ferrari could do 300km/h and also run the quarter-mile in an astonishing 11.7@202km/h.
Just a few years later the bonkers V12 McLaren F1 blasted supercars into the 10-second bracket by running 10.8@228km/h on the dragstrip. It also went on to reset the top speed record for a production car by recording a pass of 386km/h (240mph) in 1994. It is regarded by many as the ultimate supercar thanks to its mi of driving dynamics, top speed, rarity and engineering.
Compare that to the storied R32 GT-R from the same era, which would do 13.3@173km/h in stock form, although they were quickly built up into wild beasts thanks to the aftermarket industry - today there are 6-second R32 GT-Rs which are street registered.
America's wildest production supercar of the 90s, the '96 Dodge Viper GTS, could do 11.8@189km/h on the dragstrip with its thundering 8-litre V10. It could also wind out to 300km/h with enough space.
Today the fastest internal combustion hypercar (the 2021 Bugatti Chiron Super Sport) will do the quarter-mile in 9.1 seconds at 259km/h, while a McLaren 765LT, Ferrari SF90 Stradale and Porsche 918 Spyer are all nipping on its heels with a 9.4@241km/h, 9.5@238km/h, and 9.8@238km/h passes, respectively. Note, these times weren't recorded with a 300mm roll-out not a standing start.
In EV world, a Tesla Model S Plaid will do a 9.2@245km/h but it is totally shaded by the Rimac Nevera which throws down an epic 8.2-second quarter-mile! Compare that to a 2020 BMW M5 CS which will run 400m (with a 300mm roll-out) in 10.6@209km/h, while Ford's top-dog Shelby GT500 Mustang runs 10.6@214km/h.
There are some epic non-production-car times out there from SSC, Lotus and Hennessey. The 5.9L SSC Tuatara runs 7.44@294km/h on E85, while the 6.9L version went 7.9@275km/h on non-ethanol fuel back in 2011. Lotus' new Evija EV does a 7.5@292km/h, while Hennessey's Venom F5 takes 7.6@288km/h to cover the 400m.
Dodge's fasest Hellcat, the Challenger SRT Demon 170, is a purpose-built street/strip warrior with over 1000hp. The street legal muscle car runs a crazy 8.6sec at 243km/h, while Chrysler sold a race only "Drag Pak" Challenger drag car that could do 7.5s!
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If you've bought a project with an engine you can see that has missed oil changes, done a million miles, and is ready for a birthday (but you're on a budget), then there is some good news. Building an engine is an expensive process, especially if you're farming it out to a shop, but there are ways to breathe life into an old engine without breaking the bank.
The first port of call is cleaning the engine so you can see what you're working with. Pressure-cleaning the outside and giving it a good scrub with spray-on oven cleaner (remember to wash it off thoroughly, don't let it dry on aluminium!) is just the start of the cleaning process.
Buying a gasket scraper and some wire brushes, plus a couple of cans of both WD40 and a good penetrating spray (to undo tough bolts), a box of heavy duty gloves, a few good plastic tubs, and a 20L can of kerosene will all come in handy.
Put kerosene into each of the tubs, with dirty parts going into one tub and, after they've had 15-30 minutes to soak, give them a good scrub. They can be rinsed in the clean kerosene before having a quick spray of WD40 to protect the raw metal surfaces from rust.
The cleaned parts can then be labelled and put in the clean tub and moved to the side. This saves the labour cost of having your engine builder pull the engine down and sending the parts out to be hot-tanked.
A large part of the expense of an engine build comes down to the hours of labour involved, and paying for precision machining of several key surfaces. The cylinder walls will need to have any wear marks or glazing removed through a process called "honing", which involves a type of precision sanding of the cylinder walls.
While machine shops have automated, finely-calibrated and very expensive machines to do this, for budget builds you can buy a "ball hone" which fits on the end of a drill. Doused in WD40 to lubricate the honing stones, you can then whip up and down the bore to remove any minor imperfections.
Check each cylinder afer 2 passes and if your finger nail gets caught in any scratches or lips, give the bore another pass. However, be careful not to go too far or you'll open the bore up too much to be able to reuse your old pistons, adding dramatically to your build cost.
Wipe the cylinder down with a clean rag when you're done, and give the cylinder a wipe down with fresh engine oil to prevent flash rust forming.
Another area you can save money on machine work is decking the cylinder head mating surface, both on the top of the block and the bottom of the head. Using a large stone normally used for knife-sharpening you can lightly skim across the surface of both decks.
It is vital you run a brand new stone sideways so it reaches across the whole surface in one go, and keep checking to make sure the surfaces are flat. Don't trust your hand - get a known straight edge and lay it along the deck surfaces.
Decades ago it was almost considered routine maintenance to have your engine torn down every 100,000 miles to have new piston rings and bearings added. Over time the piston rings in an engine will wear and running an engine longer between oil services, taking a lot of short trips, and high mileage will all increase the wear on piston rings, which will ultimately lead to blowing smoke and a loss of compression.
Cleaning your stock pistons and con rods, while adding new piston rings, will help make your engine run like a new one for years to come, and saves the expense of buying new pistons.
If your engine has signs of wear on parts like the crankshaft and camshaft you can have them polished back to serviceable condition using linishing paper. This isn't normally a job for novices because you can polish too much and then the crank and cam won't fit back into your motor - you'll need new bearings sized to work with the now-machined parts, too.
This is where it can be handy to have someone experienced in building engines come and give you a hand, so you can measure the parts to work out what size bearings you need.
If any of this is intimidating, a good idea is to buy an old lawnmower, motorcycle or pump engine and practice rebuilding that. They're cheap, simple and will teach you many of the tricks you'll need when working on four-stroke car engines.
And remember, the Internet is probably you're best resource - there aren't any engines out there which haven't been rebuilt at some point, and someone will have put information online about it. If you don't have a workshop manual, keep Google to hand and do a lot of research before you dive in.
]]>This poor Daihatsu was so crusty and neglected there isn't many areas which don't need a comprehensive clean. So, we thought we'd show you 3 great ways to get rid of the grot!
Specialist sprays like brake cleaner or throttle/carby cleaner are more expensive than normal degreasers but they're also mega-super-turbocharged in their cleaning powers compared to degreaser. Using a gasket scraper and wire brush, you'll be able to quickly remove built-up dirt, grease and oil, and you can save money by buying them in a case of cans rather than individually.
Pick up some green scouring pads (ones without soap!) and they can be used to help agitate the grot making the sprays work better and faster.
Heavy under-car scale and surface rust will need more powerful cleaning agents. Shops like our mates at Supercheap Auto sell rust cleaning solutions, which will need a fair bit of care to handle - remember your personal protection equipment, like gloves and goggles.
Many of these liquids will need to be washed off, so have a spray bottle filled with water at the ready to de-activate the rust-killing chemicals. It is vital you follow instructions so you don't end up with oxidisation all over your aluminium parts. It is also a great idea to not go ham washing areas with wiring or electrical components.
Get a good shop vacuum, like our Ryobi unit which does wet and dry media. This means it can get rid of almost any small matter sitting in or under your new project. Loose dirt, mud, scunge from wet carpet, or even greasy schmutz, is all fair game even though they would kill a regular household vacuum in seconds.
If your carpet smells funky or has some strange stains, try leaving it laid out flat in the sun for a few days - just bring it in before the sun sets so it doesn't get wet again. Once it is dry give it a good going over with a washer vacuum (which you can rent) and carpet shampoo, which will really help lift the trapped dirt and scunge.
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Actually, he’s also been named as one of the three hosts of the new series of Top Gear Australia. But this is NOT the end of MCM.
More than 16 years since it kicked-off, and a billion views deep, the show we all know and love will go on, epic cars will be built, and amazing adventures undertaken. So, what’s all this Top Gear hullabaloo about?
In case you hadn’t heard of Top Gear, it is a BBC TV program where three people get to fang a bunch of rad cars all over the world, including some properly crazily expensive doorstops masquerading as 400km/h hypercars. But, why should we care for such folly when we love old nuggets that stink of soy and random bum sweat?
Because it is awesome our mate Moog has been presented this opportunity. There is an old saying that a rising tide floats all boats, and Moog now has a platform to represent the Mighty Car Mods scene to different people.
“It’s exciting because I get to represent MCM and car enthusiast culture to a new global audience of people that may not know a Super Turbo from a Mira,” Moog said to me when he told me the news.
After 16 years of MCM and over 1 billion views, I’m sure we can agree that being part of the Mighty Car Mods community means we all have a claim that we represent a decent slice of the global car community.
I’ve both worked in the automotive media for 20 years and known the boys for most of that time, and I’m stoked to call them friends. I can genuinely say this is like seeing a friend win the Daytona 500, Bathurst 1000, or LeMans 24-hour, and we should be stoked one of our brethren, a genuine car enthusiast, has been chosen to join a global hit TV show.
I’ve had some amazing times on various projects with MCM including helping write their books and helping on several car builds, but this is a different kind of exciting because it feels like now Top Gear will have someone speaking for me, and everyone into cars like me.
Marty agrees. After Moog told me the news I gave Marty, my brother in Liberty RS Turbo sickness, a call to see what his plans were and he was stokedus to the maximus.
“This is great for him because he’ll eat tofu in strange places and drive cars we just don’t have access to, and maybe he’ll bring an exotic nugget back to MCM,” Marty says. “Plus, it means I won’t have to deal with him trying to scrap my Gemini while I’m building it. I’d been wondering how I was going to get him away from the shed for a while so I can work on the Gemini, and this has worked out perfectly!”
]]>This car started as a 2000 model Civic GLi, an auto D16 non-VTEC single-cam base model. We did some work to get it looking and handling its best thanks to EK9 Civic Type-R kit and Enkei RPF-1 15in wheels.
The K-series engine we used is a K24A3 from a mouldy, festy Aussie market Accord Euro. We sold the stock transmission off to help pay back the purchase price of the car, and then it was onto decking out the engine with everything we'd need to make over 160kW at the front wheels and give us over 8000rpm of iVTEC glory.
ENGINE PARTS
ENGINE FITMENT
The DC2 Integra subframe is a genuine second-hand Honda unit bought from a wrecker, but it was stripped and rebushed to make it ready to accept the power the modified K24 is kicking out now.
TRANSMISSION
We used a Honda Y2M3 six-speed manual out of a DC5 Integra Type R, which came factory with a high-performance K20 engine from the factory. We also used a factory Honda DC5 Integra gearbox bracket to mount it.
Hybrid Racing shifter - HYB-SAS-01-06 – LINK
FUEL SYSTEM
We put together a few kits to sort our whole fuel system as the K24 will make more than double the D16's original weedy output. The Hybrid Racing kit included a fuel rail, fuel lines, fuel regulator, and fuel pressure gauge, while the Honed fuel pump kit included much more than just the lift pump.
WIRING
Some accessories we needed included various sensors to suit the K24, and some to suit the Haltech ECU. The charge circuit for the engine needed to be customised from the Accord parts to suit the Civic body loom.
Boostd Intl dash cluster – EKCIVICDASHNODASH – LINK
ACCESSORIES
As with any engine swap there are a bunch of random parts like radiator hoses which can take ages to sort out if you can't buy off-the-shelf parts like these!
All up we spent nearly a year planning this swap and researching what parts we needed to have on hand before we even lifted the Civic's bonnet. The swap itself took a few days as we had a couple of worn parts to replace which we couldn't have foreseen before we started, and using trusted brands from reputable companies meant everything came together like it should have.
The car is now driving on Sydney roads and a rude amount of fun. B16 who?
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You look overseas! Every car manufacturer has, at some point, sold a version of their production cars not available in a particular market. Australia missed out on plenty of special edition high-performance Japanese and European machinery, while America never scored the full hot-sauce Euro-spec machinery and Japan missed a lot of the spiciest American muscle.
The answer is, you do what MCM has done!
In recent history Marty and Moog have undertaken some epic builds to create special cars you just don't see on Sydney roads. The latest one is, of course, Moog's Volkswagen Up GTI project which you can see HERE (Ep 1) and HERE (Ep 2) but Marty also knocked out his amazing STi-swapped Levorg (before adding forged turbo EZ30 six-cylinder power to make it a real one-off).
Both of these builds required sourcing complete cars so the lads had almost every part they needed to build a model never sold in Australia - or sold at all in the case of the manual transmission STi Levorg!
Many car manufacturers build cars using what is referred to as "platform engineering". This means different models will share some underpinnings and, while it means your idea might not go together like the Lego Levorg, it does make building one-off cars much easier than having to cut and graft whole subframes in like Marty had to do with his beloved Mira build.
Saving this huge amount of fabrication is a massive saving of time, money and stress. If you can bolt the suspension, chassis members and drivetrain from a factory spicy model into your car it means you can rely on factory suspension geometry, driveline angles and more! As someone who has had to work all that stuff out (and hates math), it isn't fun, kids.
Still, the upside to tackling this huge amount of work is a one-off all-wheel-drive turbo Mira which wasn't legal to import when Marty began this project. It also makes the project a lot ore memorable for undertaking such a big job with friends.
Look how happy Mechanical Stig looks! (he loves MIG welding)
If you think that much fab work is for other people and want to undertake a factory phantom build like the Levorg then the first step you'll need to do is fire up the Googles. A lot of research, and a chunk of luck, is key to knocking out a clean, drivetrain swap from a sister car, as there are traps everywhere.
Marty and Moog discovered this during the 2ZZ-GE Corolla engine swap the lads undertook with Yaris Hilton.
While it looked on paper like they would be able to simply bolt the Corolla's far-spicier 141kW 1.8-litre DOHC 2ZZ where the factory 62kW 1.3-litre dunger lived that wasn't quite accurate. Thankfully the lads were able to have a look online at other 2ZZ-swapped Yarises to work out what combination of custom and factory parts they needed to mix and match to create this spicy budget Yaris.
This was still worth going through as Yaris Hilton was a hoot to drive with the "big-block" 2ZZ swap, and could have been a great alternative to VTEC-swapped Hondas builds which make Moog so itchy.
So, while clean GT-R Skylines and manual Chasers command big dollars, why not take some of those parts to build a neat 4-door, all-wheel-drive RB26-powered R33 "GT-R sedan", or turbocharge and manual-swap an NA 2J-powered IS300? Take a BA-BF Falcon wagon and swap all the XR6 Turbo bits, or grab a wrecked M3 and shoehorn all the saucy pieces into a 3-Series wagon?
You're unlikely to see another at your local car meet!
]]>Back in the mid-late '80s the world was getting their teeth into the awesome Group A era. Many of our most loved and legendary performance cars came to be as manufacturers had to homologate a certain number of road-going versions to make their spicy racing ones legal for competition, and Toyota were right there amongst it.
Despite their staid image Toyota have turned out a bunch of killer performance cars over the years, and the Celica GT-Four (AKA "All-Trac") is one of their best from this era. Packing a turbocharged two-litre four-cylinder 3S-GTE engine and all-wheel-drive grip it proved to be a capable beast in the highly competitive World Rally Championship of the day.
Some of the world's greatest rally drivers, including Carlos Sainz, Juha Kankkunen, and Didier Auriol raced them on the global stage. They didn't have it easy with factory teams from Subaru, Mitsubishi, Ford, and Lancia all battling for rally and stage wins during these years, but they took plenty of epic wins.
What does this have to do with Toyota's most boring sedan? Well, for years it was rumoured Toyota USA built one Camry with the turbo AWD drivetrain from a Celica GT-Four as an evaluation vehicle for the California Highway Patrol (CHP).
So the story goes there was a rule preventing American police forces from using foreign-built cars in their fleets. Toyota wanted a slice of that highly lucrative police market and, as they'd recently started building Camrys in Kentucky, they passed the Made In The USA test.
Among a handful of ordinary aspirated four-cylinder, and one V6, front-drive models that Toyota promised the California police would be better in the snow than their rear-drive barges, there was one special hottie.
While this tale sounds too foggy and odd, even for the Internet, it was recently confirmed by a fella called Joel Luz. Joel would know because after moving from the Philippines to the USA he founded Toysport who were the official importers of TRD hardware to America... but he also handed special projects for Toyota USA.
While they seem diametrically opposed, Luz confirmed the Camry and Celica GT-Four platforms are so closely related the process of swapping the turbo AWD hardware across was a piece of cake.
Added to this, he fitted some HKS goodies, plus he bored-out the turbo compressor wheel andwound up an electronic boost controller for some extra atmospheres. Limited-slip diffs with shorter final-drive ratios provided extra grip and worked with the larger 15-inch steel wheels wrapped in special police-spec tyres, respectively.
The extreme nature of police work means their testing routine is equally hardcore, including having to idle the cars for an hour-straight with all the electronics on. Now, for any kids reading this who haven't experienced the unreliable fun of old cars, today that doesn't seem so tough but back in those days it was a real torture test.
Additionally Toyota had to fit low-bolstered Recaros to pass the test involving having a seat which fit an officer's duty belt. This piece of equipment included a bulky radio, firearm, nightstick and more, so a lot of real estate was required. But the most extreme test involved hopping a 205mm (8-inch) curb 20-times without sustaining damage!
To handle the extreme test the Camry's stock struts were filled with shocks from Toyota Team Europe's TRD inserts and rally-spec springs were added as well. The coils featured spring rates from the WRC parts bin, but with two extra inches of ride height to offset the Camry's extra weight.
Luz then double-stitch-welded parts of the chassis for increased strength without making it too stiff. And while the turbo Camry was regarded as a very good thing, after two years of evaluation testing it didn't pass the CHP's testing.
So far no Internet sleuths have worked out what happened to this spicy lil' California roll, but it most likely was destroyed once it didn't pass the police tests.
This is a real shame as it would have been a fantastic competitor to Mitsubishi's Galant VR-4 or the Subaru Legacy (Liberty) RS Turbo, which were also turbo 2L AWD rockets based on bland base models!
We could only hope Toyota would have eventually put a widebody kit on the Camry, like their IMSA GTO Celica, and entered it in touring car racing! For now though all we can do is dream of this missed opportunity...
]]>Firstly, compared to regular unleaded you'll use 30% more to travel the same distance and that's down to the chemical make-up of the fuel. Secondly, ethanol is a form of alcohol and it will destroy any rubber hoses or seals not made to withstand alcohol, leading to fuel leaks, blocked fuel filters, trashed fuel pumps and injectors, and more.
The good news is it's not impossible to set your car up to run E85 at the track, and regular unleaded for the daily drive to work, so you're not stuck carrying jerrycans of fuel around like we had to with the Suba-ute.
The secret is what is called a flex-fuel sensor, which you fit to your fuel line so it can read the ethanol content of the fuel running through it. The sensor then reports this to the ECU and the computer adjusts the engine's tune to take into account whether you're running spicy fuel for awesome boosty fun times, or you're driving Janet from Accounts to work in peak-hour traffic.
Some cars (like certain V8 Holden Commodores) actually come set-up for flex-fuel from the factory, but most cars we play with have no provision to run E85 long-term, and aren't tuned for the awesome corn sauce. This means there is a bunch of set-up required to get your nugget ready for E85 or the flex-fuel life.
Our mates at Haltech made this awesome graphic to explain how a flex fuel sensor fits into your fuel system. There are a few different ways to set it up, but the below image is the most common way to do it.
Obviously, if you don't have a car set-up to run flex-fuel from the factory you'll also be buying an ECU which can be tuned to run on several different fuel types. The car needs to be tuned on regular fuel with no ethanol content and then with full 85% ethanol, and then the tune can be adjusted so as the ethanol content changes the ECU knows how much timing, fuel and boost to run.
We've been mates with the legends at Haltech for years and we've set up a bunch of cars with flex-fuel on their Elite ECUs and Nexus VCUs.
Because ethanol will shred your rubber fuel lines, breaking them down internally and causing them to swell, split and generally cause you both a massive fire hazard and big problems for your fuel filter and injectors.
To fix this you need to replace all rubber hose with Teflon-lined hose, like this 200 Series hose from our mates at Raceworks. The Telfon won't break down and you can read THIS STORY HERE about how to make these types of fuel hoses.
Your in-tank fuel pump will need to be E85-rated, as will all the rubber in the hanger. This is why some cars need to have a new cradle added which can tolerate E85 fuel.
When setting up the flex-fuel system on my 1964 Pontiac (CLICK HERE) we knew the engine was going to make a bunch of horsepower so we had to add a surge tank and two extra fuel pumps as E85 requires 30% more flow than regular unleaded. Depending on how spicy you go with the engine set-up in your car you may also need to increase the size of the fuel lines from the tank to the engine. Obviously the injectors will also need to be upgraded to suit this flow/power requirement as well.
The elephant in the room about all of this is the expense and time required to go right through your fuel system and upgrade your ECU (if it needs it). This is why smart people recommend choosing what fuel you'll run at the very outset of the build, because this will guide what ECU and fuel plumbing solutions you'll need.
Obviously, it is easier to just stick with only running unleaded fuel but the benefits of E85's knock-resistance on hot days makes it worthwhile alone for anyone wanting to push their car.
]]>Plucky Californian Subaru dealer Jack Coyle entered an FF-1 coupe, a naturally aspirated front-drive rally car, into the fearsome 1971 Baja 1000; already regarded as one of the most difficult off-road races of the time.
BAJA! For off-road racing fans the annual race from Ensenada to La Paz is Mecca, and the equal to the Monaco Grand Prix, Indy 500, US Nationals, or the Le Mans 24-hour. While there had been timed runs dating back to 1962 it wasn't until 1967 when Ed Pearlman co-founded the National Off Road Racing Association (NORRA) and made it an actual event that the legacy began.
The Baja 1000 and Baja 500 are very different races compared to traditional stage rallying. They're run flat-out through unforgiving, rough terrain full of brutal rocks, deep sand, tough hill climbs, deep ruts and 1000 other obstacles, both natural and man-made.
The other crazy part are the spectators who line the road. Many of us will have seen the footage of 1980s rally crowds, but that style of "hands on" spectating is still alive and well on the Baja Peninsula. And such a rough, unforgiving race would naturally see wild, unique race cars being constructed to take it on.
Cars like the Baja Boot (see above) revolutionised racing as they went harder and faster than off-road race vehicles. People would also grab cheap, cheerful and lightweight VW Beetles and modify them into the iconic Baja Bugs.
Soon they were being built into even more stripped down rails, built on tube frames and cable of blasting over the desert thanks to their tiny mass and reliable air-cooled power.
There have also been genuinely groundbreaking machines, like Parnelli Jones' "Big Oly" tube-frame Bronco. This open-top tube-frame monster which won the event and started the whole Trophy Truck style of truck!
Up against these featherweight fliers, the full-size Subaru FF-1 coupe didn't set the Baja world on fire. But, it did spark a determination at Subaru to taste off-road glory. And how good are those slot mags?!
Subaru were back at the Baja 500 in 1972 in a newer GL Coupe, built in Japan by Coyle's mates Koji Takaishi and Noriyuki Koseki. Koseki, an employee of Fuji Heavy Industries, must have been inspired by his Baja experience.
Koseki created the Subaru Rally Team a few years later in the mid-80s, entering a Group A-spec Subaru Leone RX Turbo into the hardcore, world-famous WRC Safari Rally. Then, in 1988 it was Koseki who established Subaru Technica International (otherwise known as STi), and then partnered up with Prodrive in 1989 to birth the Subaru World Rally Team.
An epic legacy, which all came about thanks to a San Bernadino Subaru dealer wanting to drive over rattlesnakes flat-out through washed-out rivers in the Mexican desert!
]]>While their 90s-on models are rightfully legends in their own rights, with World Rally Championship pedigree, turbo power, all-wheel-drive grip and more, one of the most iconic Japanese cars of the '70s and '80s is the Subaru Brumby (or BRAT in the USA).
BRAT stands for Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter, while Brumby referred to a native Australian horse renowned for its ability to go anywhere and live in harsh environments.
Produced from 1977-1994, across two generations this charming small ute was requested by the head of Subaru's USA division, intended to take on other utes in the small commercial vehicle class. These light "mini" trucks, many of which were Japanese, were more nimble, cheaper to run, easier to park, and in many cases more reliable than large American trucks of the day, and far nicer to drive than commercial vans.
There was one serious problem for Subaru's plans, though: a little thing called The Chicken Tax.
The Chicken Tax is a 25% tariff (AKA tax) on certain imported goods brought into the USA. And it all came about because, after World War 2, the USA flooded Europe with cheaply farmed chicken.
This angered governments over there as it was considered a delicacy, and their local farmers were losing a lot of money to these American imports. So the governments of several European countries either banned US chicken or applied a tariff to imported chicken.
In response, in 1963 President Lyndon B. Johnson enacted a 25% tariff on light trucks (and potato starch, brandy, and dextrin) imported into the USA.
Subaru were keen to sell their all-wheel-drive small utes at a sharp price point, but adding 25% tax would blow the Brumby/BRAT's business case clear out of the water. But then some Clever Doug worked out a maaaad loophole.
The Chicken Tax applied to Light Truck vehicles, not passenger cars. So how do you make a 2-door coupe-utility into a passenger car without redesigning the whole cabin? You bolt some all-weather plastic seats into the tray!
This fix was uniquely American, as the Suba-ute was never sold in its home market of Japan and Aussie Brumbys didn't require these seating shenanigans.
Americans loved the quirky idea, especially in warm western states where other large 4x4s like the Chevy Blazer and Ford Bronco sported convertible backs for a similar vibe. They were the hottest rides around at the time, and the Subaru was a quirky, small and cheap way to get the same thrills.
Interestingly, the Chicken Tax continues to this day, even though tariffs on brandy, dextrin and potato starch were rolled back years ago. And the global nature of car production has thrown some spanners in the works for manufacturers.
Tariff Engineering is the term describing how companies dodge these taxes. Ford was recently fined $1.3bnUSD in penalties for bringing their Transit vans into America as passenger vehicles, before removing the seats and passenger trim pre-sale. All this, because of cheap chickens!
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Have you watched the Budget 4WD Off-Road Adventure (CLICK HERE) yet? If not you're missing out on nearly 40-minutes of awesome dirt-chuckin' action in Marty's bargain Mitsubishi Delica off-road van. While we love cheap Japanese 4x4s some of us prefer our dirt-going rides to have a bit more handling and braking, and a lot more choo-choo so, in the interests of balance, here is an off-road Mitsubishi you may not know about: the RVR Hyper Sports Gear R!
Launched in February of 1991 the Mitsubishi RVR was available as a basic naturally aspirated front-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive hatch... and a gnarly little automotive bulldog called the Hyper Sports Gear R. To transform it into said Hyper Sports-and-so-on-and-so-forth Mitsubishi took the drivetrain from a little car called the Galant VR-4.
While it doesn't look like much in its civilian trim, this was Mitsubishi's "Evo Zero". Packing the formidable DOHC two-litre turbocharged 4G63, a slick five-speed manual, all-wheel-drive grip and limpet-like handling, the HH-series VR-4 fired the first shots in Mitsubishi's 90s turbo performance era.
Its plain Jane looks have helped keep it a cult classic today, and clean examples are highly prized.
Here is a Galant in more recognisable trim, running in the Group A class of the World Rally Championship. It took the three-pointed-diamond's fight up to the Subaru Legacy RS, Ford Escort Cosworth, Lancia Delta Integrale, Mazda Familiar GT-R and Nissan Pulsar GTi-R in Group A rallying, providing some epic footage in the hands of Aussie legends Ross Dunkerton and Ed Ordynski.
Mitsubishi stopped short of packing all the Group A hardware into the RVR, however. They moved a few packaging issues for the 4G63 around (like changing from a front-mount intercooler to a top-mount) and this meant the spicy mid-size MPV RVR (LOL) wound up producing between 170kW and 184kW depending on the year/specs.
You can see the differences in the RVR engine bay below. Keeping the front of their off-road beastie free of an intercooler lessened the risk of trail-side stoppages should a rock or stick pierce the charge air cooler.
The turbo model scored a chunky bodykit which helped push the dimensions out to a nuggety 1695-wide, which is chunky considering it was only 4480mm-long and 1625mm high. For its short length the wheelbase was comparatively generous at 2550mm helping accentuate the stout dimensions.
The RVR's performance capabilities did cop a knock with Mitsubishi choosing to fit them with open diffs at the front and back, instead of sweet, skiddy limited-slip jobbies. But there were aftermarket solutions for those problems in years gone by.
Because most Ralliart fans head straight for Evos or Galants the RVR has spent decades living in the shadows of its more-famous siblings and, when they started being imported to Australia in the late 90s, few gave them a second look. However, they have developed a real cult following as a budget all-wheel-drive performance car.
They have a small following in Japan, as evidenced by the tuned-up example posted below which I found on Google. There was also a red-hot example in Queensland 15 years ago running nines at the drags with a stroker 2.2-ltire engine.
So next time you're looking for an off-road machine that you could also take to the traffic light grand prix, have a look around for a Mitsubishi RVR Hyper Sports Gear R. They may not be common or as spacious as the Delica, but they'll be an absolute hoot to drive.
]]>However, Renault has done some epic, epic things since it was founded in 1899. For instance; introducing the turbocharger to Formula One, beating Porsche at Le Mans, and beating some of the greatest 4WD Group B rally cars with a 2WD hatchback! They also won the very first Grand Prix, way back in 1906.
The Renault brothers, Marcel, Louis and Ferdinand, had marketed their car company in the famous town-to-town races of the pre-World War I era. The three brothers actually raced their own product, until Marcel was killed in the 1903 Paris-Madrid race.
For the first Grand Prix, a 1200km epic multi-day race held on roads near Le Mans, they modified their 1905 race car with some revolutionary technology never seen on a race car before: hydraulic dampers (ie: shock absorbers), and rear wheels with removable rims (thanks to Michelin).
Despite searing temperatures melting the tar and leading to blinding dust that crippled drivers' eyes, the lead Renault ended up coming in 32 minutes ahead of the second-plate Fiat. It also topped 154km/h in the straights, which was much faster than the other cars in the race.
Fast forward 70 years and Renault was back on the Le Mans roads, hunting for wins. But this time they were taking on the might of Porsche!
Renault turned up to Le Mans in 1976-1978, looking to take an outright win with their Renault-Alpine A442 tube-frame prototype. Powered by a 500hp two-litre four-cylinder and capable of over 360km/h down the Mulsanne Straight, Renault overcame teething issues with the new car to go close to winning the 24-hour classic in '77. They dominated the race 'til the overnight stretch when failed engines of all three cars handed an unlikely win to Porsche.
Renault radically revised the A442 for 1978 and came back not only faster than Porsche, but more reliable. WIth some of France's best driving talent behind the wheel (along with Le Mans legend Sir Derek Bell) they finally lifted the trophy, having beaten the mighty 800hp Porsche Moby Dick, 935 and 936 prototype.
In 1980 the wild, mid-engined, turbo 1.5-litre Renault 5 Turbo took scalps against more powerful opposition from Fiat, Lancia, Audi, Peugeot, MG and Ford. Running only select World Rally Championship events the tiny rear-wheel-drive Frenchie managed to take wins at the Monte Carlo, Portugese and the Tour de Course (Coursica).
But Renault's major contribution to motorsport is introducing turbocharging to Formula One, radically changing the sport in the 1980s. The 1.5-litre V6 EF engine took on the mighty 3.0-litre NA V8 Cosworth DFV, which had been the leading engine choice for F1 teams since the mid-1960s, and won.
The turbo Renaults debuted in 1977 and took a little while to get around teething issues with the ground-breaking technology, but it all came together at the 1979 French Grand Prix, where French driver Jean-Pierre Jabouille took a massively popular win at the manufacturer's home round.
However, it was the duel for second-place between Renault's Rene Arnoux and Ferrari's Gilles Villeneuve which lives on as one of the greatest pieces of racing in Formula One history. The parochial French crowd were howling at the thought of a French car, powered by a French engine, with French drivers on French tyres (Michelin) and French fuel (Elf) could potentially go 1-2 at the home Grand Prix. Watch it HERE as it is genuinely mesmerising.
The turbo Renault V6 F1 engine wound up winning 20 F1 races between 1979 and 1985, 50 pole positions and 51 podium finishes. Renault's history in the sport is off-tap, both as a manufacturer and an engine supplier, with 12 Constructor Championships, 11 Driver's Championships, and hundreds of race wins.
So, before you disparage the Clio just know it has impeccable heritage...
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It may seem like an odd partnership given Marty and MOOG's shared love of tofu kebabs and yak milk smoothies, but the dedication and tenacity required of Brandyn is much the same as what anyone tackling a project car needs. A big side bonus is the positive mental health benefits to exercise and training, which we can all benefit from.
So when the MCM boys heard that a young Aussie was trying to get his way over to the USA, they jumped on board to help fund the trip, and make sure he had a bunch of Chopped loot in his gym bag.
Brandyn is about to jet off to Wisconsin for the CrossFit Games as the only qualifier in the 16-17-year class from Oceania (Australia, New Zealand and the South-East Asia region), which is a huge accomplishment. So we sat down with the Marsden High HSC student to find out more about him, and how he wound up being one of the best teens in Oceania at CrossFit.
How did you get into this fitness pursuit?
Do you have a special diet?
My diet mainly consists of a high-carb intake. To fuel the training I do I need to eat lots of carbs and have a high calorie intake, a lot of that being liquid as it's easier to get down quicker. I don't eat for enjoyment, I eat for performance and this gets very tough sometimes as it becomes a chore to eat a lot of the time.
Do you have a lot of exercises to remember, and are they more complex than lifting weights?
There are a lot of exercises in CrossFit so it takes a long time to get proficient in all aspects, and it is a highly technical sport. You also have to get strong and be capable of moving high loads quickly and effectively, so there is a lot to do in each week and never enough time in a week.
What are you most excited about for the competition?
I am really excited to just throw down and show what I've got on the big stage. There are going to be a lot of people watching, so I just really want to show the hard work I have put in, and give the spectators a good show.
How is it working with MCM?
So stoked to have Mighty Car Mods on board sponsoring me for my trip to the Crossfit Games in the USA. I've been a massive fan of the boys for so long, and it's a dream come true to be teaming up with them.
Mighty Car Mods are proud sponsors of Brandyns Trip to the Crossfit Games. Follow Brandyn on Instagram here: https://instagram.com/brandyn_gaskill
Check out our CHOP-FIT GYM Pack
Ultimately, society changed from when magazines first kicked off. Today, modified car magazines aren't dead, but they need to change to stay relevant.
Magazines about modified cars go all the way back 75 years to 1948. This was when Robert E Petersen founded Hot Rod Magazine, which still publishes monthly magazines today.
Roadkill's David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan both worked on car magazines for years before their awesome show took off, and previous Editors of Hot Rod have helped found the NHRA (the first governing body of drag racing), help establish muscle cars, and more.
From this one newsletter designed to round up happenings in the burgeoning American hot rod scene, dozens of titles sprung up covering everything from racing classes, specific brands of cars (Super Chevy, High Performance Pontiac, etc), styles of modifying (Lowrider Magazine, Mini Truckin'), regional publications (Perth Street Car) and more.
Magazine wars sprang up when you had competing titles in one scene, like Fast Fours & Rotaries, Hot4s, Auto Salon Magazine and SPEED all covering late model "tuner" cars in the early 2000s.
Before the Internet was in our pocket these magazines curated all the coolest stuff we were interested in and distilled why we should care about it. They found awesome cars we didn't know existed and told us about new tech to make our cars cooler, faster, or better-looking.
People loved to read magazines and the closer to your particular niche (we'll get to that later) the better. They're hugely expensive to staff and produce every month thanks to buying the paper, paying for the printing, paying for the writers and photographers every month, paying for staff to proof-read and design the magazine, as well as having someone steer the ship (ie: an Editor), but from the 1960s-2000s there was huge money to be made through advertising and promotions.
Magazines aren't dead today, but they do have some epic challenges ahead and need to change to offer buyers something new. The biggest problem is they have so much competition which is cheaper (or free) and easier to access. Today we're fed magazine-type content directly into our phones and this doesn't really cost us much thanks to data plans.
To buy a magazine you need to find a book store or newsagent who stocks it, or have it delivered on a subscription. All of this is time-consuming (especially when Aussie logistics companies prefer to card recipients rather than delivering the packages). Realistically, subscriptions are the way magazines will survive into the future.
Another challenge is profitability.
Most magazines are owned by large publishing houses and they're saddled with overheads like expensive commercial rent, paying for staff in their PR, Marketing, Legal, HR, and Circulation departments. This cuts into profits and so most large publishing houses will close magazines down to try and save money.
It's all too easy for big firms to cut editorial and art staff, hack budgets to the bone, and generally affect the thing which makes them money. Fewer staff makes a magazine harder to put together, but it also keeps the business lean and nimble.
Some magazines, like Street Machine, take a wider view and run events, sell merch and use their online presence to bolster revenue, as they use their healthy brandname to help sell ad space and raise sponsors for projects.
As the impending recession looms then the next challenge for magazines is the fact they're a luxury item (ie: you don't need them to survive). When you're watching every dollar you spend as the price of fuel and rent explodes things like new mods for your car, magazines, and event entries/spectator tickets will be tougher to purchase.
Magazines always have a big crunch in recessions as people put their dollars into more important things, though this is where general interest vs niche content comes into play.
Most general interest car mags (for instance) will have 180pg of which most people would be interested in 30% of. Niche, you may be 90% interested in. Where will a cash strapped person spend their last $10-$12?
This is why magazine teams need to know and understand their audiences. Because if you know why people won't be able to resist purchasing your latest issue then you have a lifeline - relevant content, told in an authentic way, with a care for the reader AND the subject matter, will all combine to be irresistable.
The care, passion, dedication and love for the process required to put out a banging issue every four weeks of the years is immense, and it takes a toll. So i understand why some people give it away. It will also never make you rich like the magazine industry once did for the owners of some legendary titles.
But I reckon magazines DO have a future.
I'm probably a bit more emotionally invested in this whole bunfight given my 22 year career in automotive print media. I started reading car magazines when i was still in primary school, more than 10 years before I was legally allowed to get my licence, and the stories captivated me: 400km/h twin-turbo V8 Corvettes, the latest supercars from Europe, wild racing events, and more seemed a world away from my upbringing!
I reckoned working on one of those magazines must be better than any "real job" and when I was 19 I was lucky enough to land a spot as a work experience kid at my favourite magazine (Street Machine) which has led to a career in print media spanning over 20 years now.
That's me, back in 2004, at 21 years of age being paid to drive a 700hp R34 GT-R. Living. The. Bloody. Dream.
I worked on SPEED Magazine from issue 3 until it was folded in July 2005 with Issue 22. From there I moved to Auto Salon Magazine as it had undergone a change, evolving from a purely sex-spec title into something wtih much more focus on Japanese and European tuning, and high-performance builds.
I miss my time on those magazines almost every day, but I have kept writing and experiencing awesome things thanks to magazines (like getting to sit in a genuine GT500 Super GT race car way back in 2005... and yes, I did manage to squeeze my tubby butt in, thank you very much!) - Photo credit MARK PAKULA
Magazines can educate and entertain us, transport us to places we might never get a chance to go to and, today thanks to the amazing photographic hardware available, magazines stand a great chance of surviving as an art form.
Photobooks (like the one MCM did for Turbos & Temples III), annuals, and the like are how magazines can survive into the new digital era. Against 15 second videos of celebrities dancing, or alongside your favourite digital creators magazines can be something to give you a fresh look at your hobby. But, they will need support.
Is it time to bring back some of these legendary titles?
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It wasn’t until the Middle Ages (approximately 1500 years ago) that forge welding was invented. This is where blacksmiths would hammer and pound heated metal until it formed a join, though it had to be low-carbon steel or wrought iron due to the limited amounts of heat able to be produced in those times.
Hot rivet welding, where red-hot rivets are hammered through overlapping sections of metal, became a popular in building bridges, ships and pressurised vessels later on. By the start of the 1800s, however, electricity and the discovery of acetylene gas revolutionised welding.
Rivets are all around us in cities today and hot rivet welding allowed transport networks around many of the large cities to grow during the Industrial Revolution.
Acetylene gas was discovered in 1836 and the red-hot temperatures it could heat metal to made gas-welding a possibility. However, it wasn’t until the end of the 1800s and the invention of the low-pressure acetylene torch that gas welding took off.
The acetylene gas is mixed with oxygen in specific ratios (using regulators on top of the gas bottles), and while simple it does take a lot longer to join the metal than electric arc welding. However, oxy-acetylene can also be used to melt siezed or broken fasteners out of their hole.
Arc welding was discovered by Nikolai Benardos and Stanislaw Olszewski around 1881-1882, with the technology being refined rapidly over the next few years into the start of the 20th Century. Arc welding covers basically all welding which uses an electric arc to super-heat the parent metal and join it to other metals touching it, and this includes stick, MIG and TIG.
Stick welding is the earliest and simplest form of arc welding, as it uses an electrode with a current passed through it to heat the job until it goes molten and can be joined together. Popular in heavy industry for its simplicity, ease to learn, and ability to be used in difficult weather conditions, the electrode is covered in flux to act as a shielding agent against contamination of the weld.
As modern car enthusiasts we’re most familiar with gas metal arc welding, either Metal Inert Gas (MIG) or Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG). TIG was developed in 1940 by Northrop Aviation to stick their advanced XP-56 fighter plane together and is beloved by car enthusiasts for its ability to join thin and soft metals (like aluminium or sheet metal). It uses a tungsten head housed in a cup, shielded by argon gas, and sometimes boosted with filler rod.
TIG is possibly the hardest type of arc welding to learn as it relies on tight fit-up between the parts being welded, and the coordination required to control the torch and the filler rod.
While it is more commonly used thanks to its simplicity and ease to learn, MIG was actually developed in 1948, eight years after TIG was created, but is the go-to when it comes to heavy automotive fab work like making engine mounts, modifying suspension and chassis components,
A spool of wire is fed through the torch tip, shielded by gas (commonly a mixture of C02 and argon), and MIG is popular thanks to the heat it can pump into a job. This improves penetration on thick steel jobs.
]]>The father of the modern "roll bar" is credited as John Aley, an Englishman who raced cars and witnessed a bunch of nasty accidents. In those days roofs were prone to collapsing in a roll-over as the pillar structures weren't as strong as they are today, so he came up with a three-pointed cage for Minis and other small English machines.
Cars got radically faster in the early 70s and the need for improved safety dawned on everyone as racing fatalities stacked up. The FIA, who sets the rules for motorsport all over the globe, officially required race cars to have roll bars in 1971. The Porsche 917 race car above is a ferocious 250mph Le Mans racer from the late 60s, whose tube-frame chassis served as the crash protection - could you imagine racing this for 24-hours at Le Mans in the night and the rain, with your feet hanging out the front?
This Ford Falcon GT-HO Phase II shows off a typical "roll hoop" used in many touring cars and GT racing cars from the '60s through to the early '70s. Thanks to Street Machine for the killer pic - you can read more about this awesome car HERE.
Still the design left a lot to be desired, as the above pic of Bill Brown's GT-HO Falcon race car from Bathurst 1971 shows. Amazingly he walked away from that wreck, but only through the luck of his seat breaking which let him lay flat against the roof. Watch the footage of the crash (CLICK HERE) to see just how lucky he was.
By the mid-late 1970s roll cages replaced roll bars, as the extra protection was saving lives but the welded-in framework also helped to stiffen the chassis. Cage design has progressed today to attempt to tie the entire structure of the car together, but the design is set by racing class rules.
Different forms of motorsport have different rules for roll cage design to suit the environment racers find themselves in. This can make it difficult to take a car between drag racing, speedway, rallying, land speed racing, and even different types of circuit racing, as one cage won't be compliant between all the types of racing.
Today, roll cages are common even in fast road cars, and are available as weld-in or bolt-in fitment. For weekend warrior street/track cars, a bolt-in four-point cage is regarded as best the lack of bar work in the front of the cabin is viewed as far safer for on-road use where almost all roll cages are banned or frowned upon.
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Before the 1950s most race drivers wore overalls or work clothes, as the dirt and grime would build up through a race. Even today fireproof suits resemble boiler suits worn back in the 1920s and 30s, though they're totally different in construction.
As an interesting comparison there is approximately 50 years between this photo of German Grand Prix ace Bernd Rosemeyer (above) and Danny Ongais (AKA "Danny On The Gas") below.
Ongais, a famed drag racer and Indy 500-winner, survived this stack at the '81 Indy 500 thanks to all his safety gear, and a metric butt-load of luck.Although the car had completely disintegrated and left him exposed his fireproof suit prevented burns and his helmet prevented him from headbutting concrete.
Fire is the biggest bogeyman for anyone climbing into a car, and it was the single biggest fear of most racing drivers in the 20th Century. The "fireproof" suits worn over the last 50 years are typically made from a synthetic fabric by DuPont known as Nomex, as it lasts much longer than Proban-treated fabric.
Three-time Formula One World Driver's Champion, Niki Lauda, is probably the most famous face of why fire-resistant clothing is crucial in race cars. Literally. The Ferrari F1 driver's horror crash during the 1976 German Grand Prix (above) was totally survivable without the fire, but as with so many crashes in that era the fire was what proved near-lethal.
Lauda's survival spurred a huge drive in improving car safety, the safety equipment and emergency response at the track, and the safety gear worn by drivers. The drivers were sick of seeing their friends like Lauda, Jo Schlesser and Roger Williamson perish in the flames.
Decades earlier things were far more relaxed. One of NASCAR's first superstars, Tim Flock, started wearing a specialised racing suit in contrast to many other drivers who simply wore mechanics' overalls or casual clothes they'd wear to dinner. With the huge risk of fire in those days racers soon started soaking their racing clothes in a soapy mix of Boric Acid or Borax to give them enough fire-resistance to get out of a burning wreck, though it was nowhere near enough to prevent deaths.
Eventually, after countless terrible firey, fatal crashes in the late 50s and through the mid 60s (like the terrible crash which killed Eddie Sachs and Dave MacDonald at the '64 Indy 500 above) enough was enough. Bill Simpson and Jim Deist (who had developed parachutes for drag cars earlier) came up with aluminised cotton boiler suits.
Better came in 1966 after Simpson met Pete Conrad, a NASA astronaut who sold Simpson on the advanced Nomex material used in Apollo program spacesuits. This was the same year Mel Kenyon wore a Nomex fire suit from Hinchman , which had been developed with the assistance of DuPont, while racing the Indy 500.
Simpson's Nomex suits were worn by legends like Masten Gregory, Walt Hansgen, Marvin Panch and Bob Tullius, and by 1967 Simpson was the first to sell a commercial Nomex racing suit. He even proved his suit by setting himself on fire.
Today, many drivers will wear their suit with several other layers underneath. To keep them cool a menthol insert is often worn, while additional layers of fire-resistant material helps extend the all important "burn time", which is amount of time a driver can survive a flaming environment.
Back in the 1960s drag racing had their own problems with fire, so their results look more like what a volcanologist would wear when climbing into a live volcano. Above is the safety outfit of a top fuel drag racer of the era, featuring the terrifying breather mask and hood which was vital given drivers were pummelled with engine fumes, oil and tyre smoke during a run.
When engines exploded (which happened all the time) the flames, and burning fuel and oil, would coat the drivers as they sat behind the motor. At 200mph.
So it took a bit of time to get the cars stopped so the drivers could get out, which meant they needed to take one seriously firey ride.
Fire killed many in drag racing and continues to be a huge risk in the funny car class, as the drivers don't just sit behind a several-thousand-horsepower supercharged V8 race engine but they have a one-piece body encapsulating them in the 300mph death sled.
Helmet design hasn't changed a radical amount in the last 50 years, but it did go through a rapid development as motorsport started getting seriously fast (and dangerous) in the 60s.
Formula One's first World Champion, Nino Farina, is seen above in 1950 in the helmet he wore to win that year's inaugural F1 Driver's title. This style of hard lid hat was a huge step up from the soft canvas caps drivers had worn up to that point (see that photo of Bernd Rosemeyer at the top).
By 1959 the open-face helmet was common place in racing series around the world, and some racing series like rallying and NASCAR saw it used well into the 1990s! However there were significant risks for open-wheel racers as they were still at the mercy of rocks being thrown up, or blinding rain spray.
It wasn't until 1968 a full-face helmet was worn in a grand prix race, when American hero Dan Gurney donned one for the ferocious German Grand Prix. Held on the Nurburgring Nordschleife it soon ushered in a new era of far better facial protection for grand prix drivers - British driver Alan Stacey was killed at Spa-Francorchamps in 1966 after a bird hit him in the face at over 200km/h!
The HANS (Head And Neck Support) device was around before Dale Earnhardt's fatal crash at the end of the 2001 Daytona 500, but his death from a basal skull fracture was the single biggest push for racing authorities to mandate their use. Basically the HANS device prevents your neck from hyper-extending to a fatal point in a crash and it is believed to have saved countless lives since it was widely mandated.
]]>Sometimes it is actually preferable to buy used high-quality parts instead of simply picking up the cheapest brand new parts you can, as these can be nasty low-quality junk. There can be some pitfalls to buying used parts, so this week I'll give you tips on how to buy used car parts, as this is something I've done for years with a stack of my projects (like my Burgundy Ron Subaru and DirtE30 builds, seen below).
If you're buying second-hand parts you really should inspect them before splashing your cash down. Even when you know the car and the parts you're buying you should inspect them, though this can be difficult if they're for sale online and a long way from your location.
Asking the seller for detailed photos showing the condition and asking specifically for details of any problems or defects can help. Or getting a trusted friend experienced with those parts to go inspect the part for you is a good idea, too.
If you're looking at buying something advertised as a "swap kit" then spend time inspecting the photo(s) to make sure all the parts you need are actually there. I purchased the parts shown above as a "complete six-speed swap" for a Subaru wagon I was building... except keen eyes might notice the kit pictured above is missing the rear diff centre and two CV shafts. I asked the seller to confirm those parts were included and, thankfully, they were.
When buying engines and mechanical parts it pays to take a second person with you, as they can spot issues you might gloss over in your rush to buy this dort-making piece of hotness. If you can't see the engine running, turn it over by hand and listen for any rattles or clanks, and make sure it spins butter-smooth.
If it doesn't rotate smoothly then it has internal issues, and that is a danger sign for your wallet. If the engine is advertised as needing a rebuild, ask the seller why and what is wrong with it. It also pays to ask the seller where they got the engine from, and what specifically it is out of so you can double-check it is indeed as advertised.
You should also, at bare minimum, check the colour of the oil and look for where oil or fluids may have leaked from. Check for any and all damage, missing parts, and burned wiring. If you have time and space, pull the spark plugs out, inspect them and, while plugging the holes, turn the engine over to give a bush-spec compression check - doing this has saved me from buying an engine where two pistons out of six were missing their ring-lands!
If the parts are massively cheaper than what you've normally seen them for sale for, then you need to ask yourself (and the seller) why. Are they selling counterfeit parts as the real deal? Are these stolen parts? Or is the seller trying to palm off broken parts, or parts needing rebuilding, to unsuspecting noobs?
I bought some Recaros a while back and, before spending my money, I did some searching on Google to learn how to tell a genuine Recaro LS from a fake. And while the seats I was interested in turned out to be genuine, I wanted to be sure they were given their price.
Before you buy parts that you can't physically go and pick up, it pays to get freight quotes. Australia is a huge country and it is expensive to send stuff around it, so there have been plenty of times I've had to pass up parts I needed or wanted because the cost of shipping them interstate made them uneconomical to buy.
The Getrag transmission pictured above cost me $200 from a mate in Brisbane, but I was quoted $700 to freight it 900km to me in Sydney. Luckily, I asked around my mates and was able to pay a friend to bring it with him as he travelled back to Sydney; this can be a great way to get parts you need delivered far cheaper than paying retail logistics rates.
All in all, buying used parts is great as you can build up a stash of spares, and restoring them for use on your project is a great skills-building exercise. I funded one of my BMW E30 builds through buying and selling vintage BMW parts, and trading for parts I needed.
Today, there are plenty of ways to buy great used parts, including eBay, Gumtree, Facebook Marketplace, and specific Facebook groups, too. So, before you buy the cheapest, nastiest low-quality new parts, have a look around your used options.
]]>Is it the Japanese with the Suzuki or the French with the Peugeot 205? Both are front-drive three-door sports icons which have rich motorsport and tuner heritage. So which is more legendary?
Note: Before all the Volkswagen Golf fiends start sending nasty messages written purely in sauerkraut, it is widely recognised that while the Golf GTi started the hot hatch trend and the Mk2 Golf furthered that, the Peugeot 205 GTI is the best European hot hatch from that era. So there.
The first-generation Swift GTI arrived in Australia in 1986 equipped with a twin-cam EFI 1.3-litre four-cylinder. It was incredibly flimsy, stodgy looking and had less interior features than an outback apartment. But, it was a heck of a lot of fun.
Better things came in 1989 with the launch of the second-generation model and this one really stepped everything up a notch. It was far better built, more fun to drive and looked a good sight better.
Tuners grabbed hold of the second-gen model and really kick-started the "late-model tuning scene" Down Under with these pocket rockets. Events like Auto Salon and Small Car Sunday proved massively popular.
It only had 74kW but because it weighed as much as a wet dishcloth it was fast enough to smoke the overweight local V8 muscle cars and big, outdated European sedans.
It was not quite fast enough to catch the 90kW 1.6-litre single-cam 205 GTI Peugeot, though. And then the French went and put a 1.9-litre engine in the 205 to make it even faster!
Where the Swift really shone was the price - the Peugeot was so much more expensive than the Swift GTI you could almost buy a base model Swift with the difference.
Though it was far more expensive, the Peugeot (somehow, for a French car) also had much better fit and finish, and the quality of the interior seemed much nicer.
The driving experience is widely judged as being much better in the Peugeot, too. Having driven both back to back, I have to agree with the 205 GTI providing one of the greatest driving experiences of any 1980s car... or even any production hatchback today.
When it comes to motorsport heritage, the 205's Group B legacy is well-known. But Suzuki didn't do too badly with the Swift (or Cultus overseas). Its light weight, cheap price and excellent response to modifications made it a hero of production rallying classes.
Many would know of Monster Tajima's twin-engined Cultus, made famous at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb... and then the international stardom brought about as a hero car of Gran Turismo.
So the Swift GTI's greater supply numbers and much cheaper buy price made it a more popular car on the streets. The Peugeot is a better car to drive with a more impressive motorsport heritage....
But nobody built RBABY (the King of Australian show cars) out of a Peugeot, did they?
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Right from the start, way back in 1895, a Peugeot won the Paris-Bordeaux-Paris races. This was considered by many to be the first car race of all time, and they took more wins in Grand Prixs in the pre-World War 1 era. They then spent most of the next century building solid, dependable but not overly exciting cars.
This changed with the 205 model in the early 80s. The small front-drive hatch featured sensible models designed for running about town buying red wine and cigarettes, but there was also the 205 GTI which became the most celebrated hot hatch of the 80s and the first-generation of hot hatchbacks. VW may have started the hot hatch craze, but Peugeot perfected it. And then built one of the greatest rally cars of all time off its silhouette.
Starting with the World Rally Championship in 1984, Peugeot entered a more ferocious, wildly advanced mid-engined beast to the Group B class. And it would go on to inspire the design and engineering of countless race cars in other classes for decades to come.
Loosely based on the epic 205 GTI road car the 205 Turbo 16 was a hand-built beast that would make over 600hp by the time the class was ended in 1986. The all-wheel-drive 1.8-litre DOHC four-cylinder took 19 WRC wins, two Constructor's Championships and two Driver's Championships in just three years of competition. And up against some of the most highly-funded, radically unrestrained factory teams from Ford, Fiat, Lancia, MG, Toyota, Ferrari, Porsche, and Audi, among others.
The 205 T16 was then modified to Desert Rallye Raid spec and won the ferocious Paris-Dakar event four times, from 1987-1990. The 205 also served as the base for another special edition, hand-built using Le Mans and Formula One technology with an incredible budget, and to just win one event.
America's Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, also known as the Race to the Sky, is a grand master on the international motorsport calendar. Audi, Peugeot's greatest rival in Group B rallying, had revolutionised the event in the mid-80s with their Quattro Sports so now the French wanted to usurp Johnny Hun.
The 405 T16 was a four-wheel-drive, four-wheel-steer 600hp turbocharged brute and WRC legend Ari Vatanen piloted it up the giant hillclimb in 1988 in record time. Even more special was the short film made of the run, called Climb Dance and it inspired a generation of car enthusiasts - CLICK HERE TO WATCH IT
Around the same time the World Endurance Championship was stacked with epic Group C sports cars running turbo engines and ground-effects suspension, capable of over 400km/h and lap times that made F1 cars look slow. Peugeot joined late with their 905 but it was built to incoming rules allowing what were essentially Formula One drivetrains.
Debuting in 1990 the 905 won the '92 and '93 Le Mans 24-hour races, as well as the Driver's and Constructor's titles in the 1992 World Sportscar Championship. All up, the howling V10 monster took 9 wins in 17 race entries. They returned in 2009 with the 908 diesel to win the Le Mans 24-hour race for the third time.
At the same time, Peugeot's 405 was shaking off the brand's stodgy image in touring cars. The 405 was their three-box front-drive sedan designed to take them into the 1990s, and the twin-cam Mi16 model was a proper hottie. With razor-sharp steering and handling they are capable (in good condition) of running away from other cars in its class like the Legacy RS Turbo and Mitsubishi Galant VR-Four.
Australia's own Peter Brock raced a standard Mi16 at the Bathurst 12-hour production car race. But the hot sauce was the hand-built models used in the 2-litre Touring Car categories around the world. They were followed by the 406 models in the mid-90s, though the 406s didn't have a hot-sauce road model.
There were some hot-shoe 306 and 106 Peugeot road cars through the 90s, and the front-drive 306 Maxi rally cars took plenty of all-wheel-drive scalps in tarmac events, but Peugeot returned to the top-tier of the World Rally Championship in 1999 with the all-new 206 WRC.
In four years the 206 WRC took three Constructor's titles and two Driver's championships, before being replaced by the 307 for the 2004 championship. Peugeot ultimately bowed out of the WRC in 2005.
While they haven't enjoyed the same kind of success since, nobody can ignore how epic the French marque's impact on 80s and 90s motorsport was.
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The first step is to try and pressure-wash the undercarriage, ideally with a soapy degreaser and water mix as the water will clean the dirt and organic schmutz while the degreaser chemicals will take care of the oil and grease.
For really thick deposits of gunk (oil/grease or mud) you'll need to get a stiff-bristle brush in there and scrub-a-dub-dub. If you're working in a well-ventilated area with eye and hand protection, then Oven Cleaner is great for cutting through really oily and greasy sections but you need to be SUPER CAREFUL when using it as it is a catastrophically toxic product.
Once you've got the underside less dirty get in there with a good penetrating spray, like what our mates at WD40 sell. Regularly going around service areas with a couple of squirts of WD will make bolts easier to undo when the time comes, reducing the risk of rounding the head off or snapping them completely.
When you're working under a dirty car it pays to cover your head. Every time you crack a bolt you're likely to wind up with dirt in your hair, ears, up your nose and in your eyes so a pair of motocross goggles, some ear protection and a sacrificial hat should prevent the worst fallout from getting places it shouldn't.
When you unbolt parts check the condition of the bolts and nuts you remove. Replace haggard fasteners so they're easy to refit and then remove next time. It can also be a good idea to run a tap through bolt holes where the bolt threads look rusty, or clean up dirty or rusty studs with a die.
Off-road vehicles are most susceptible to having problems with undoing fasteners thanks to all the water crossings, dirt and mud spray, bashing on rocks, and general age. For this reason alone we'd suggest you buy a large tap and die kit, so you're properly ready in case any bolts or nuts cross-thread, strip, snap or generally play silly buggers when you're thrashing on your nugget.
Keeping an old pallet, even one cut-down to half-size, is an excellent idea. You can ratchet-strap large, heavy parts of the car to it where, if they were on a workbench, they may be free to roll around making the job more difficult. If your assistant falls asleep after eating too many poki bowls you can also ratchet strap them to the pallet for hilarity.
Finally, a half-inch torque-wrench is absolutely needed when tackling jobs on 4x4 suspension, brakes or the drivetrain. Many of these off-road beasts use torque-heavy diesel engines so the bolts holding it all together are generally large and need to be done up tight. Buy a good quality torque wrench, don't drop it, and get it calibrated every 3-5 years, as this is one tool that is super-handy to have in your kit.
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Read on below and we'll take you through all the stuff we used to take our Civic from stock to choo-chooing like MOOG walking through a pepper market with a strong head cold.
Our Civic made 113.3kW at the wheels on 9PSI and 98 Octane premium unleaded fuel, but that jumped to 132.3kW at the wheels on 12PSI and E85. As we've explained in the past, E85 is the secret sauce when it comes to boosting a naturally aspirated engine, and this is especially true as we could glean another 3psi (a 25% increase) and nearly 20kW at the wheels just by switching to the sweet-smelling boost juice.
It's important to note this combo isn't intended to last for 300,000km with basic maintenance. When you run a "stock bottom-end" combo your engine is on a timeline depending on how you drive it, how hard it is tuned and the specific mix of components.
If you've been inspired to grab yourself a base model EK Civic powered by a non-VTEC SOHC D16, then here is what you'll need to verily maketh thine choo-choo. We've thrown some figures in for the prices of various components, too, but all up we're a scooch under $5000 to turbo this Civic:
How to make a turbo D16 EK Civic:
If you've watched THE FINALE of our BIG-BLOCK MIDGET BUILD then you'd have seen the lads fit a Cusco limited-slip centre to the tiny truck. This job is very different from other differentials they've worked on (see how the GR Yaris & Corolla diffs work HERE) so it was a voyage of exploration for them... but the results were worth it!
A differential works by using a pinion gear (pictured below), which is attached to the tailshaft and turns the big ring gear you may have seen in images of diffs that have been pulled apart.
The ring gear is the big gear next to Marty's finger that he's jamming in the back of the diff looking for cashews. The pinion spins with the tailshaft and turns this gear, which is bolted to the diff centre. Inside that centre are spider gears all meshing together to turn the driving force 90-degrees out to the axles, which are bolted to the wheels.
The skiddy success of this episode all comes down to the Midget now being able to transfer what little power it has to the wheel with the most traction, as this is the function of a limited-slip differential. So, while doing big skids is the goal it is actually our old enemy traction which lets us do it - remember it is a LIMITED-slip diff, not a NO-slip diff!
In an open (or "single-peg") diff the power escapes out the wheel with the least amount of traction as it is the easiest to spin. The wheel with all the traction is more difficult to turn and the differential has no way of pushing the engine's power to that wheel, so the one-tyre fire continues until glory is reached (as seen below in the amazing photo I found on Reddit).
Here is the open diff centre with the ring gear unbolted and knocked loose. You can also see the spider gears which transfer drive out to the axles - these are what are welded together when someone talks about a "welded diff", which is just a crude, cheap way of locking both wheels together so they spin at the same time.
This can be fun on a track-only car but is a pain in anything else as you need the inside wheel to spin at a slower speed when turning a corner, so the car will pivot around the bend easily - welded or locked diffs will offen chirp the inside tyre when making tight turns and the force exerted on them can often lead to the weld or an axle failing. Just buy a proper LSD, guys.
With most LSDs the inside wheel won't be fully locked together with the outside wheel, meaning you'll still get a nice, smooth, non-chirping, tight-turning car. It will only lock the inside wheel up when accelerating or putting load on the system.
Below is a photo of the ring gear being fitted to the new, Cusco clutch-type LSD centre. An LSD (limited-slip diff) can come in a few different operating methods, and the common ones you'll hear include Torsen (or torque-sensing), viscous, and plated or clutch-type. There are multiple reasons manufacturers will use different types of LSDs in different cars, but it is widely agreed that a plated LSD is best for a motorsport or high-performance appllication.
In the below image you can see the clutch packs, which look like round discs. Just like a clutch in a manual transmission these plates all grip together to transfer the engine's drive.
As one wheel loses traction the clutch plates will lock up, sending equal drive to both wheels and giving more traction to the wheel with grip, moving the car forwards... or sideways! The clutch plates lock more tightly than other LSD types which can rely on fluid, or springs or sometimes a really aggressive pigeon... no, wait.
Some motorsport-oriented cars, like special edition Spec C STi Subarus, actually have plated LSDs fitted from the factory.
The down side to plated LSDs is these plates can wear with aggressive use, requiring them to be shimmed tighter to maintain the proper locking operation. Basically, they can be pulled apart and have spacers or extra plates installed to make the diff tighter, or they can also have plates removed to make the diff softer and act a bit more like an open diff.
The photo above shows an Eaton TrueTrac, which is an aftermarket helical gear limited-slip centre. This is the modern replacement to the clutch-plate LSD as the diff operates as a full open centre when there is no load (no acceleration), but gradually locks up under load, eventually locking up solid.
We used one of these centres in the diff build for my Pontiac. If you want a look at how to build a live-axle rear-end from scratch you can CLICK HERE to see Matt from Geelong Diffs put together a 1000hp-rated Ford 9inch.
]]>So, while he was wiring up my 1964 Pontiac (check out the video on it, HERE) I asked him for his top tips on rewiring cars, and how to avoid ending up with the Forbidden Spicy Spaghetti.
Davo, is wiring up a car scary?
D: No, and yes. *chews nugget* It all depends on how much experience you have with electrical systems. The more you work with them, the more you get to know how they work and how they should be put together. *grabs another nugget* So when you're starting out it is probably a good idea to find a friend who is good with electrical work, watch what they do and ask lots of questions.
Start with small jobs you can find a lot of information about, like installing a headunit or speakers. *sacrifices another nugget* You can gradually build up the difficulty of the jobs as you go so you're not diving straight into something complex like redoing an entire wiring loom.
When it comes to rewiring a car, what is the biggest mistake you see people making?
D: Apart from building Pontiacs? Failing to plan. *sips milkshake* It was really important we sat down and talked about all the electrical parts going into your car before we started work on it, because this made sure I wasn't going to run out of electrical power for functions and I knew what I had to do before we started pulling the car apart.
Writing down the electrical load of all the components in your car, studying wiring diagrams for your make and model, researching what alternator and battery you might need are all among the first steps you should do before you go out and buy an ECU or wiring loom.
So you'd call this job complex? I thought old cars would be easy to wire given how simple they are...
D: The more electrical "stuff" you have in your car, the more complex it is. And with your new drivetrain, you've got a tonne of electrical parts to run in your car, including air suspension, the auto transmission, electric air conditioning (see more HERE), three fuel pumps, an electric pump for your intercooler, two huge thermo fans, a stereo, plus all the normal car features like lights, blinkers, taillights, interior fans and more. And why is there an axolotl under your dash?
We're making this simpler by starting fresh and using the most modern technology available to us with the Haltech Nexus R5 VCU and PD16 power distribution module. We can connect them with simple Deutsch connectors and flying lead looms, saving having to do more crazy wiring.
Is it easier to work on fresh modern cars that are more complex in their wiring and tech, or on simpler older cars?
D: Old cars aren't always easy because the wiring is often so old its actually broken. *nibbles on pate* People don't realise that wires will eventually stop working after five or six decades. Also, it can be hard to find accurate wiring diagrams for old cars and sometimes the switching on old cars can be really fiddly and intricate, like the crazy manual indicator switch on your car. A modern car has a simple electrical switch but yours uses literal levers and rods to activate the indicators and we had to tie into that!
Wiring cars involves a lot of cramming yourself into uncomfortable positions for hours at a time, doesn't it?
D: Yes. *sips pina colada*
After you got the wiring loom planned out what was the next big challenge?
D: Working out where to mount all the hardware in the car, so I could work out how to run all the wires, and how to fit them through a car never designed to have this many wires in its loom! *munches on bruschetta* There really was no space under the dash so the Nexus had to be mounted behind where the original speedo would have gone, meaning that couldn't be refitted. This wasn't too big an issue as you're using a Haltech IC-7 colour dash but it did mean having to make a blanking plate for the hole.
When it comes to wiring a whole car do you think it is easier to try to fix what is there, or start fresh?
D: I think it depends on the car. You could spend weeks and weeks fault-finding an old or unknown wiring loom, looking for broken wires or faulty switches, and this is why it can cost so much to drop your car with an auto electrician and have them go through that job for you; the labour is huge.
In the case of your car the old wiring was completely stuffed so we were always going to start fresh, but even then I'd have done it this way because of all the functions to wire into the car, which weren't originally fitted to it. Also, Iain, why is there chocolate mousse under the ashtray?
Did the Haltech gear make wiring my car easier?
D: Yes because, for instance, the CAN keypad makes switching all the car functions, like indicators, headlights, ignition, and more, much simpler as we don't have to wire up all those independent switches; it's plug-and-play between the R5 VCU and the keypad, then you just assign functions in the NSP software.
On a traditional wiring loom you'd have to individually wire all those functions in through relays, but that isn't an issue with the Nexus.
What was the hardest part?
D: Listening to you prattle on about nonsense for 8-hours a day over 2 months? It would have to be taking the time to sit down and assign all the functions for the car in the NSP software. *takes a bite of his Sundae*
The Nexus R5 can control almost any electronic function you want, but you have to assign each function to a wire and when you're wiring a whole car there are a lot of wires and funcitons to assign long before you ever load a base map in and try hitting the key. This probably took me a couple of weeks to sort out, but it was worth it in the end as the car runs like a modern car!
The biggest thing with wiring is the hard work you put into the planning stage pays off when it comes time to hit the key and power the car up for the first time. Remember to throw your battery on a charger the day before you want to do that so you know you have plenty of power there, too!
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