Indium Gray Metallic Money Pit Mk7.5R

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Had a friend help me put it into service position. Thankfully haven't discovered any new leaks, bit of oil on the hot side coupler. I would love to find a mobile a/c service to replace the condenser while the bumper is off, but no dice.

Going through everything else with a fine-tooth comb, at least a few connectors were damaged during the engine replacement.

Once we're finished with the safety stuff, I'm considering trying one of these on an OMP wheel:

https://www.zestek.net/oem

My local shop is a dealer and I've tried it on their supra/brz, the shifters have an extremely satisfying click. Will be a really nice homage to the TCR setup.

 

[19birel]

I've been eyeing that Zestek setup for a while, it looks so nice. The stock wheels in these cars are awkwardly big too it would be nice to go to something smaller

 

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I've been eyeing that Zestek setup for a while, it looks so nice. The stock wheels in these cars are awkwardly big too it would be nice to go to something smaller

yeah, an OMP targa or super quadro would be great. not sure if i want to keep the flat-bottom or not.

 

[19birel]

yeah, an OMP targa or super quadro would be great. not sure if i want to keep the flat-bottom or not.

If you want a cost effective way of trying out different wheels, you can find reps of many of the popular ones on Aliexpress. I wouldn't dare to run any of them for safety reasons, but for $25-$50 you can get an idea of how the real thing would feel and take a quick spin around the block before you buy an actual one if you're unsure of round vs. flat etc.

 

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If you want a cost effective way of trying out different wheels, you can find reps of many of the popular ones on Aliexpress. I wouldn't dare to run any of them for safety reasons, but for $25-$50 you can get an idea of how the real thing would feel and take a quick spin around the block before you buy an actual one if you're unsure of round vs. flat etc.

my race shop probably has enough sitting around that i'll be able to make a decision. hopefully it'll be a mid-april thing

 

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Made good progress last night, I bought some intercooler clips and laughed as my friend broke the first one, then he laughed as I broke the second. Then we tossed the new ones on instead.

Got the coolant up to temp as best we could (bumper is only on enough to connect sensors) and did a couple pressure tests without any visible leaks. I did replace the passenger side union too just in case. But still, props do do88 for making it right, even a few months out of warranty. Might have to order more of their hoses once they've got black in stock again.

Also, I learned that when the coolant is circulating after turning the car off, that's not the main water pump running, it's the heater support pump over on the trans side of the head. Which, uh, makes sense since it's obviously an electric pump.

 

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Been delayed a bit, but the coolant leak is good.

Started gutting the rear end in prep for the autopower rollbar:

The planted brackets/sidemounts/sparco seats aren't a 100% fit out of the box, gotta figure that out. Either way, car is getting dropped off at the shop for rollbar/harness install.

Also picked up this bad boy. Nice bit of bling to replace the gross a2b rail.

 

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The good: autopower bar fits like a glove. Less than a finger between the top hoop and the headliner.
The bad: sparco evo XLs are a bit too wide. driver side is ok-ish, passenger is at an odd angle to avoid contacting the b-pillar. Planted brackets aren't super confidence-inspiring with where we had to drill.

Shop had to fabricate another plate for the bar, was missing some hardware. Given I'm the third owner and got it in a trade, can't complain.
The sound control module is below the driver seat in a spot that prevents me from adding proper eyelets for the sub belts. I think we're going to mount to the bracket for now.

I want to do it right, so I think sometime later in the year I'll pick up the Recaro bases and figure out a different seat option.

 

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It started raining as soon as I picked up the car, so no hooning or great photos yet, but it's done-ish!

Gotta clean up the wiring still (definitely needs the side airbag resistors at least) and I need to do an event with real tech inspection to make sure all the mounting is kosher. These guys specialize in track/race prep so I assume it's fine, though they really didn't like this seat/bracket combo.
Sub belts are mounted to the floor though, and the sound module is fully intact. The 10 year-old part of my brain is very excited by how much more racecar it is.