Big Changes

After I get home from event I have a sort of ritual, I sit down either then next morning or sometimes that night and while I pull footage off my memory cards I make a list of things that I'd like to change or modify before the next track day. It can be small stuff like "change the oil or trans fluid" or bigger things like 'figure out cooling problem'. I do it so soon because I feel most efficient at prioritization in the afterglow of the trackday. Things I may otherwise wait for seems to not matter as much as what i'd need to do to get back on the track the soonest and most prepared. 

During this list making I really started to think about what direction I wanted to take the car. I know enough to see that ill never consider this or any car I own "finished" but rather how far apart I set the mile markers. This whole scenario of planning then executing had started to become more and more difficult since im trying to build the car within a framework of rules. More specifically the 2015 HFFchallenge rules. These rules limit the types and extent of the modifications I can do-- as it does with the other competitors. This is so we all have similarly balanced modifications and hence a more even playing field. It is never a perfect formula, ever, Its actually the very reason most competitions have a thick convoluted rule book that people would rather avoid. In HFF's case specifically its a very clever system with 4 points classes. Street, Modified, Super Modified, Unlimited. 

When I bought the car and had plans to "just drive it" (this is before I realized that everything was broken.) I had quickly added up my CRXs' points with the stuff that was already on the car. The total was at about 5.5 points and landed me just under the 6 pt cap for Modified class. Because of this initial points tally I had always just assumed that as the class I was going to compete in.

   Now, after rebuilding everything i was at the point im no longer 'fixing things' but adding more elements to the car, and if I wanted to continue to modify id start accruing points and it would bump me up into Super Mod category rather quickly. By now I'd done a few shakedown days and the first 2 competitions in HFF challenge, of which i'd placed first both times by a pretty large margin. 

After driving the last event at BW i'd starting to think about how I wanted the car to perform and what i imagined it too look like.  Both of those question meant that i would have to decide if I wanted to bump up into the Super Modified category, doing so would afford me more points to play with (9 instead of 6) and pair me with a group of MUCH faster drivers. 

It was still early enough in the season that if I attended all of the remaining events I could still maybe have a chance to place on the super mod podium. I made the decision too switch into Super Mod that night.

The first thing is first, I needed to go through the car once and for all and eliminate all the poly bushings. My experience with Poly is that its acceptable for about a year then it just desenigrates into sand. I determined that the cause of the vague mid corner and braking feeling was probably due  mostly to failing poly bushings moving around under load and the front radius bars slopping with the weight of braking.  

For the replacement bushings on the lower control arms front and rear I decided too go again with the Hardrace products, they are relatively cheap as compared to the full spherical kits and I am a big fan of using the OEM metal arms wherever possible. None of that 'billet aluminum stuff' i've see has ever really stood the test of time. The other option was the full spherical arms made by Kingpin, they look too be very well made but I just wasn't feeling the $1200+ price tag at the moment. Also since they are made to order and take some time it wasn't gunna work.  I would need a solution that I could have in my hands and on the car with in a few weeks. I plan on revisiting these in the future as the need presents itself- but for now the HardRace stuff is more than good enough. 

Once again the quandry of what I actually have on the car vs what it SHOULD be on the car showed again. Turns out the rear lower control arm on the integras is almost identical to that of a EG/EK civic with the exception of the shock bushing is a few mm bigger on the intergra. Having delt with phantom Integra parts on my car in the past I wasn't sure which kit to order. Too be honest I didn't even know if either of them would fit a CRX since the information isn't listed anywhere, I got both and crossed my fingers that at least one set would fit. Turns out the EG/EK ones will also fit a CRX. 

Super shitty picture- but I wanted to record the moments after I was almost maimed/killed by a bearing press, fuck i hate these things.

 After I had the bushing pressed in I moved onto the axles. I found the set I needed from a cable trans DA Integra at Blue Motors, so far they have come though on every part, glad they are only 10 min away and i can run over on my lunch.


I made sure these were OEM axles and got both for around $120, not bad.

I had plans to clean and rebuild them with better grease, new bands and rubber, I figured I may as well since I was waiting on other parts too show. Turns out getting JUST the OEM rubber boots and JUST the bands is extremely hard I had to wait a few weeks of back order for them too show up.

Out of curiosity I decided too pull apart the axle that broke at the track, you can see heat rings had formed and blued the metal. this it had been going south for a while by the looks of it, the R compounds and weirdo axle angle being forced on them by the shitty motor mounts finally proved too much. The grease has been so super heated that I had to scoop it out like clay.  I couldn't even get the spider joint separated because i'd been heated and cooled so many times that the tolerances no longer allowed it to slide out.

For the rebuild of the axles I had planned to vent the inner and outter joints, this helps the pressure inside the joint escape and keep temps under control. I have this done on my NSX's axles and have been driving like this for years without a problem. I followed the same formula and went and got barbed vacuum line connectors, they are made out of nylon and can take quite a bit of high heat also the barbs grip onto the rubber and keep them from sliding out.

 Meanwhile I also got the Full Race race style radius bar to replace the old bent up one that was on the car. It was still straight(ish) and the car could still be aligned but poly inserts were still responsible for dampening front loading on the control arms. Since I wanted to get rid of all poly bushings I decided to take the opportunity and replace the whole unit with a lower profile unit that would give me more ground clearance. When the Full Race part showed up I realized that the radius bars were heim jointed on both the front and back, after thinking about this I realized that these may stop the arm from pushing forward but also would allow the lower control arm too be able to twist under compression; therefor binding the bushings in the control arm and causing all sort of weird issues. Issues that I didnt want too deal with.

 The good new is they actually ended up shipping me the wrong part. It at least saved me from having to explain the problem I had with their design and just return it for a refund.

 After speaking with a couple people i was recommended that I get the Innovative radius bar kit, its basically the 'race' version of what I currently had but beefier rods and heim joints at the bar connection (instead of the poly) and OEM style provisions on the lower Control arm too keep them from twisting.

  By now the car was back at Nitradyne so Art could start some fabrication on the cage and make some adjustments to the exhaust. I knew ball park that there would be big changes to the car, I just wasn't sure how far I wanted to try and get done before the next event. The plan was too start to fix/adjust/add only the things that would keep me from driving-  At this point we had just under a month.

Another thing that I wanted to address was the brakes. Losing brakes on track sucks and it got me thinking about what I could do to help assure it wouldn't happen again. In the end, with this set-up, I was relying on the previous owner too have correctly done a damn important job, which by history is probably a mistake to assume.  My fix would be a 'scorched earth' policy, replace everything.

 I bought some new Integra type R calipers with new seals and cups and some Goodridge stainless lines front and back. Id use a spare set of Porterfield R4S pads that I had for my NSX (the NSX and the Interga type R caliper have identical pad dimensions.)

When removing the calipers and rotors I noticed i had pretty big cracks in the shitty generic drilled and slotted rotors, good thing they were coming off of the car anyways. This is why I only ever run blanks, nothing super fancy ever really works as good.

I also saw that the JBT caliper bolt-through bracket had cracked lip, im not sure if they were too tight, not tightened enough or whatever but they had too be replaced regardless.


New calipers mocked up so I could test fit wheels. R4S pads and new fluid should make a big difference as well as much more wheel clearance.

Ah yes, wheels, that was another thing id been wanting too change. I'd read a few discussions on the Grassroots Motorsports site that discussed the optimum wheel size for air pressure consistency. I was also looking too move up to a bigger tire and wheel combo after starting to get into the idea of running with areo and moving up into Super Mod class. The plan was to run a 9" front that could fit a 245 tire if I wanted too. I've been thinking about trying the RC1's compound for a while and as it so happens they offer 245/15.
As for now my standard go-to tire, the NT01 in a 225 width is still sized within spec for a 9 inch wheel. Either tire i choose to run id have to figure out how to fit the larger wheel under the fender with a widened body or added flairs. I had ordered some gen4 6ul's in 15x9 to do some test fitting but they were stuck at the port on account of a strike. I was able to get a hold of some similar wheels to test fit so we could figure out what adjustments I would need to make to be able to run mine when they showed up.

tight clearance with -3.5 deg camber

15mm spacer should do the trick and let me run up to -4.5,  if I was so inclined (get it?)

After driving the car for a few events I felt that the PO had missed an opportunity by not gusseting the cage to the chassis, it makes a huge difference in such an old chassis as far as stiffening things up and getting rid of creaks and slop. 

Now that I was set on running aero and moving up to Super Mod class I decided to up the spring rates front and back too 14k/11k. This was the set up that was initially on the car when I got it but it had shitty shocks and everything else going on that made them useless.

After swapping the rates back up I also had to really start too think about sway bars. The front and rear were both a 26mm Suspension Techniques bars. The strange thing is it was it was relatively stable on short technical tracks which seems to be counter intuitive.  I'll chalk it up too so much other 'noise' going on in the chassis with all the blown out bushings that i just couldn't feel just how much it needed to change.  After asking around I was sold on the rear ASR bar. Its one of the most expensive bars you can get; but everything i'd read (that was written by reliable sources) says it's worth the money. It also kills two birds with one stone, gets rid of some sloppy bushings that were due for replacement anyways and stiffens up the rear frame rails with some beefy brackets.

fancy-smanchy splined bar

I would however have to change the exhaust once again for it to clear the new location of the thicker bar.

While Art was working on the exhaust I put some time in on the front bumper support and cut it for more flow through to the radiator. I also got some mesh and build rock stoppers for the front of the radiator and oil cooler. California tracks are the WORST for popping radiators and windshields. The little sharp rocks that are kicked up from the cars ahead have been responsible for a lot of damage over the years. This is another example of cheap insurance that will avoid a blown motor from a popped radiator or on track oil puncture

After I cut the hole I had to match it with the bumper and make sure everything lined up. 

At this time I swapped motor mounts to the Hasport billet mounts too for better axle angle

 Next up was cutting a new/better front splitter. It always take a long time to mark out and cut an even shape. This time was especially difficult since it would have to line up to the other aero elements that I was planning but had yet too build.

 Luckily for me I had rather quickly found a J's racing wing element that matched exactly the width and approximate leg distance that Id need for the CRX. After a lot of planning it was obvious that the optimal distance back for maximum down-force moment would be to hang the wing off the back of the trunk area. Art had some ideas on what we could use for rear support at such a distance from the chassis and went at it.  After parts hunting and milling out some tubing the provisions that would be the lower mounts they were welded into the rear bumper bracket.

Initial mock up with quick disconnects for both lower mounts and upper mounts the wing could be completely off the car in 5 seconds.  Notice the rooff strakes installed too.

Old wing ends pictured

 to compliment the front aero and some aesthetic improvement I also got some nifty carbon "Spoon" CRX mirrors

 Meanwhile I'd finally received the OEM axle boots and was able to vent the CV joints. A seriously messy job. I HATE doing axles.

Hondabond then a band seals it all up

Back at the shop id mocked up the front splitter as i decided how to incorporate the rest of the stuff I'd had planned.

I'd also ordered some aluminum louvered vents too match the high pressure pocket behind the wheel. This may be overkill, but it also may be awesome. Heres mid mock up.


 Also mocked up some fancy JDM fender flairs with those borrowed wheels to test for clearance. Nevermind the Kanjo lettering, not my cup o tea.

The new rules afforded me the ability to ditch the heavy hatch glass for Lexan replacements. 

I had to go through and paint the rivets individually so it would stop looking like a shitty drag car. Worth every second. 

At this point things look too be shaping up rather nicely. With only about a week to finish everything in time to be back at Buttonwillow for round 3 of HFF challenge. Time flies when your building a track car.

Got some PCI side skirts and trimmed them too fit with my vented front fenders. I installed them and took measurements so I could extend the lower step to the width of the front splitter. All this type fo thing takes a lot of time and detail.

I also attached carbon spats from the skirt to the fender to block the air from hitting the wider 15x8 rear tire. 

After returning the FullRace parts the Innovative front bar and radius rods showed up and got installed. These are definitely a super beefy part.

A little closer still, this picture was taken after the addition of the front dive planes into the bumper sides before I extend fences down to the front splitter and wheel spats. Front wide fenders also in final form here.

Meanwhile Art was busy creating the rear lower diffuser and attachment points.

I got to work on the carbon fence attachments. This was extra difficult since I didn't want too attach everything permanently to the bumper skin, but rather be able to remove the splitter and use the bumper only if I wanted. I could then add the splitter and fences once I got off the trailer or arrived at the track. It would have all be 10 times easier had this not been the case. 

Mocking up some shapes.

Everything cut, drilled and riveted together though missing some smoothing tape and final tweaks.

Meanwhile at the back of the car Art had finished the oval exhaust section that clears the new sway bar , it has a cool bumper exit provision. It took like 4 cans of wrinkle finish and 5 years off my life to get everything finished uniform.

I finally heard on Thursday that my wheels had shown up at the shippers from the port, there'd be no way id get them in time if I didn't drive all the way down to OC at midnight to pick them up so I could have the tires mounted the next day. Luckily it worked out and I was able too meet someone there late and pick them up.

The next day Art mounted my New NT01's so I was within points for the HFF competition. 

Spent the last part of Friday buttoning up stuff and bleeding the brakes and making final adjustments. Finished at the shop at like 445am and drive the car home on the freeways through LA as you see it here. I had too be ready for an AM trailer pick up so we could load the car and drive out too the track. I will say the car was LOUD on the drive home. 

Got home no problem, nothing fell offm and I could feel the car was MUCH different that when id driven it before. I was super excited to drive it on track.

The next morning bright and early. Looked even better in the daytime.

Too much wing angle, was yet too be adjusted. 

very nice details, especially for a track car. 

removing everything too fit on the trailer.

Exhausted, but ready to go set some laptimes. 

Once at the track we settled in, ate some food, bullshitted and made final adjustments for the next day. Also took advantage of some cool lighting in the garages late at night I was able to finally step back and see how far it had really come in a month.

You can see the rear aero detail on the upper rear windown

The day started off good, no sleep still but I felt ready too go.  I was still not so sure about the cars handling so I waited back in the grid to try and go out with the most possible room if front and behind me on the track. This ended up being a good move, it allowed me almost a whole session to really feel the car out with all the changes. A few laps in I heard a "clunk" and the car started too feel mushy to my inputs turns. When I came back in I noticed that the left front was bout an inch lower than the rest of the car. crap.  Upon inspection I saw that the rear sway had come off the splines and that the front shock had actually pushed past the notch provision and slid down into the front fork, only stopping because the shock body tapers to a larger diameter. 

Also I realized that the 'vents' that were installed on the inboard side Slide joint of the CV boots were basically just acting like an air pump and squirting the grease out under compression. 

I pulled the inboard side vents out and re banded the axles while still on the car also re-threaded the rear sway and moved onto the front shock problem.

 Sevens Only Racing store at ButtonWillow amazingly had some hardware that we needed. Art stripped out the fork with the OEM bolt and threaded the wider, longer, bolt through the fork. The nut on the back side had too be grinded down as to fit against the forks rounded body. Once threaded through it was tightened to holy hell as to clamp sufficiently on the shock and not slip again. This was done on both side as a preventive measure.

Old bolt vs new bolt washer and modded nut

Second session of the day started to grid and the car wasn't even on the ground yet. As Art threw it all back together I jumped into my racing suit and was literally belting up as he was lowering it off the jacks. I knew since the first session i'd ran didn't count for time this was probably going to be the best chance to get a good time. Once everything heats up laptimes usually increase by just over a second. If I was going to get under the 2 min barrier this session was going to be my best chance.  

I wasted no time after my warm up lap and jumped right in- immedietly matching my best time on the Toyo RR at the previous track day. The next lap was exactly a second faster; next two laps were stunted by traffic and the remaining clear laps were also both low, 1:59's now that's consistency.

After second session I felt relived and excited by the progress. So far I hadn't even changed dampening or rear sway stiffness. This was a shake down run to chase out gremlins and I had set a PB time for the car that was still new too me. 

The rest of the day the car felt down on power, I was guessing the valves needed adjustment after an over rev (later found out they were quite a bit off) and the heat was taking its toll on the new tires.  I was only able to run a couple 1:59's from there out. I was hovering consistently around 2:00 min mark for the rest of the day. 

In the end the time was good enough for a 2nd place finish in HFF challenge rd.3 this gave me some solid points in the new class. I was just happy that everything just stayed together.

video of the lap here:

More tuning and testing to come--Until next time!