I cry for hytech

I got the hytech headers today ( good thing they were so gentle with them during shipping ) and we bolted them onto the motor. Holy crap they're gorgeous. Holy crap they will NEVER fit on this kit. Fuck. So if anybody wants some sweet headers for a B-series honda motor ... I've got one for sale. Sadly, I didn't get a photo of them on the motor - I wasn't thinking.

The rear shocks did come from mini spares, so I've got a glamour shot of those for you.

Say hello to tow vehicle

This is my new Toyota FJ Cruiser. It has a 5000 lb towing capacity, 239hp, 278tq, and a shit ton of foglights. I love foglights, I can't help it.



The interior is pretty sweet -- it's got no carpet, just plastic. And the fabric of the seats is water resistant, so you can practically hose it down when you throw up inside.

KAD WTF?

I'm going to start by reporting some awesome progress. Nick is doing a kick ass job rewiring the car with the new harness. He's making it super clean and well organized. He also finished wiring the bonnet section up, including a kick ass single connector which goes to the lights and horn that stay attached to the bonnet when it's removed. It's looking awesome. Then Alex welded the actual bonnet onto the front portion of the car that we cut off, so it's going to be one solid piece. He did it in a clever way that prevented any exterior paint from being affected by the weld, so I don't have to repaint the whole frigg'n car. Yays!

Also, Bill is working on wiring the steering column and dash. It's a serious team effort and they are making it so dreamy. Like Marty McFly. I needed a Hazard switch so I went to a VW dealer to get one. Ended up with a nice square switch from a '08 Jetta. Funtimes!

The rear brake kit went in looking beautiful, but we ran into some snags which I have posted at Mini Mania for help. The rear sway bar isn't fitting right, and we're not sure the new brake hose coupling will fuse well with the stock hose. And the lug nutz feel funny.

Test fit ... check!

A bunch of work has been done while I've been sitting behind a desk. The motor has been test fit - it needs a little adjustment: the intake manifold, despite being shortened, is hitting the firewall. And the alternator is also hitting the firewall.



After seeing the motor in and checking out the clearences, I'm guessing the Headers I bought are not going to fit, so those'll probably be up for sale on EBay as soon as they arrive.

I removed the pedal box so I could send it out to get it modified and turned into this:



And a fair amount of work has been done to rewire the car using modern electronics. Check it out, the fuse box is going to be on the dash. Bad ass!

More goodies...

Ordered some hytech replica 4-2-2-1 headers for the VTEC motor, figured that'd be a good place to start with performance upgrades.



Also the KAD stuff I ordered arrived; mostly I'm excited about the sweet rear disc brake conversion:



Also included in that order is a sway bar, adjustable rear camber plates, and handbrake quadrants (kinda silly).

In other news, I bought a tow vehicle, which I will post pictures of as soon as I take delivery - which should be tonight. WEEEE!

Today I just painted a lot.

Nothing mechanically exciting. I just spent all day preparing surfaces, grinding metal to smoothness, sanding shit down, priming, and applying POR-15. Not exactly thrilling, but the results are satisfying. Look how clean that shit looks! It's like a brand new car or something!






Also, I sold the original A+ motor today, and gave away a bunch of parts with it. It felt cathartic to see it all go, though a little sad. Good bye bacon!