The Project Pad

I have some of those mounts too, just installed them . I had to make the holes just a bit wider

T-minus 6 days until I leave for BBQ in Vegas

BBQ 2019 List

Completed:
*951 Intercooler with intake routing
*IIc ECU firmware upgrade and updated timing maps
*Rolled fenders
*3rd brake light
*Poly engine mounts
*Oil change
*Coolant flush
*MC2 cam swap with cam seal
*Passenger mirror change
*Rear brake refresh
*Aftermarket cruise control install

In Work:
*Front brakes (Coleman sent the wrong rotors, correct parts should arrive Monday just in time to leave Tuesday evening)
*New wheel/tire install

To do:
*Test drives
*Fine-tune cruise control
*Install seat-mounted fire extinguisher bracket

Working on installing the new wheels/tires. 16x7.5 ET35 Carlsson by Ronal wheels that I had stripped/powdercoated white. 225/50R16 Continental ExtremeContact Sport tires. Oversized slightly, but a MUCH better tire selection. Currently pictured with a 30mm spacer. I have a 25mm spacer that I think will just barely clear the caliper and give a little more fender clearance. Might also need to run more camber. I've got some adjustable strut mounts for that, but probably won't install prior to BBQ. The car rides high enough (due to downpipe/tie rod interference) and with stiff enough suspension that I shouldn't have issues. Car is begging for some Group 4 flares and mud flaps!

Before refurb:
IMG_20190924_170943 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

IMG_20191018_153904 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

Looks like plenty of clearance in the rear

IMG_20191019_123242 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

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Front with 30mm spacer
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NOS goodies that might go on

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MC2 cam swap. Wish I knew more about the history of this engine, the head looks damn near new! Curious if it was rebuilt with bigger valves...

IMG_20191019_162127 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

951 intercooler install. Some people have been able to keep snub mount, but I wasn't. Hopefully the poly bushings are stiff enough. Eventually I'll fabricate some sort of snub. Tight everywhere!

IMG_20191020_132906 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

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Good news, oil cooler and shroud still fit

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Pre intake routing

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Was able to squeeze and oval filter past the BOV and set it behind the grill

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You can never have enough heatshields on a 20vt

IMG_20191022_185055 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

Safety first, added a 3rd brake light since I fear getting rear ended. Used a universal one so the angle doesn't match perfectly but it'll do for now.

MVIMG_20191022_132505 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

IMG_20191022_125602 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

Rostra cruise with CV mounted VSS

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Dang Alex, the car is looking badass. I can't wait to see it! Where do you guys keep picking up these NOS mud flaps? I really want a set!!!

25mm spacers didn't work, so back on with the 30mm. Definitely needed some camber for the front tires so I installed my AK Motorsport offset strut mounts. Didn't come with exactly what I needed for the Ground Control hats, but was able to find some hardened washers that did the trick. Supposedly the newer AK mounts come with the right parts, but I got mine during a group buy years ago.
Going to install some spacers on the rear to help even out the stance.
Also raised it up probably 1/2-1" just to be sure it wouldn't rub the fenders. Suspension is pretty stiff regardless, but better to be sure with UrQ fenders!
Not sure how much camber this is, it's with the AK mounts all the way in.

3D printed a scaled up version of the stock Ronal R8 centercap to match the larger bore of the 16" Carlssons. Prototype print turned out nicely, just need to scale it up about another 0.5mm for a better fit and then I'll print 4.

Test drove last night with a rough alignment (getting a real one on Tuesday) and everything is working pretty well. It was pretty laggy with full boost coming on about 750-1k RPM later than before so I need to troubleshoot that. I either have a boost leak or the MC2 cam I thought I installed wasn't actually an MC2 cam. Idles right at 20mmHg so must not be too much of a leak. Going to troubleshoot that tomorrow. Boost leak test and then if all looks fine swap back in the other cam I removed.

Ecstatic about how she looks now! Some Gr4 fender extensions would certainly help complete the look.

IMG_20191025_161524 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

IMG_20191025_161549 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

MVIMG_20191025_163918 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

LRM_EXPORT_810513056986600_20191025_191516590 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

LRM_EXPORT_810564165425285_20191025_191607698 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

way to go - this thing is spectacular

Boost is back, no leaks, swapped back to the MC1 cam... So the MC2 cam I bought must've been an N/A cam or something [PENSIVE FACE]

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

Interesting, I wonder which cam you actually installed. There is a cam chart around somewhere, and it shows the MC1 and NF/early NG to be the same, and the MC2 and Late NG to be the same. I'm running the cam from my original NG and it runs amazingly well.

Oh, and car isooking awesome! It's the little touches that make it so great!

Wow, haven’t been on in quite a while, car is looking fantastic!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

DE80q wrote:Interesting, I wonder which cam you actually installed. There is a cam chart around somewhere, and it shows the MC1 and NF/early NG to be the same, and the MC2 and Late NG to be the same. I'm running the cam from my original NG and it runs amazingly well.

Oh, and car isooking awesome! It's the little touches that make it so great!

Yeah I was surprised. Maybe I got a JT/KX cam? It's a solid lobed one like the MC2 is supposed to be. But it definitely didn't like to build boost for whatever reason.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

Post BBQ Pre BBQ Update...confusing right?

The few weeks before BBQ were spent frantically doing updates to make the car more reliable and comfortable for the drive. Even down to the last few hours before we left I was working on the car.

Fresh rotor rings from Coleman rotors along with some Hawk HP+ pads. Still can't wait to get rid of the manual brakes and boy do the Hawks dust like a MF'er! Worse than my EBC Yellows on the S8.

IMG_20191028_170033 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

3D printing center caps

IMG_20191027_201053 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

IMG_20191028_173030 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

Mystery cam that didn't like to spool. Changed out injector o-rings while I was in there again too. Really curious if the head has bigger valves because it certainly looks like it was rebuilt recently.

IMG_20191027_142941 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

And ready to hit the road! Had a last minute snafu the morning that we were planning on leaving. Went to go drop off at the alignment shop and it wouldn't start! Turns out the crank trigger wiring pin at the ECU developed a short and I had to do some emergency electrical work to put on a new pin. Thankfully that solved everything. Unfortunately the alignment shop couldn't get one of the rear adjusters loose and didn't align the car. The right rear had 2 degrees of toe that I had never noticed and even drove to BBQ the prior year. I took it back home and was able to free the adjuster and did a rough eyeball alignment....drove well enough! And FYI with the AK strut mounts set to max camber I got -2.5 degress in the front.

IMG_20191029_082343 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

The trip....ended up just over 3000 miles

2019-11-20_07-04-41 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

Day 0.5
Late Tuesday night my wife and I started the journey by a quick jaunt to Portland. LOVE these headlights.

IMG_20191029_211529 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

IMG_20191029_231426 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

Day 1
Stuck in construction traffic in the middle of Oregon

IMG_20191030_093534 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

Only a few hundred miles in and the brake dust is accumulating

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First stop on the trip, Crater Lake! My wife is amazing and glad she's crazy enough to join me on a 3000 mile journey in a 35+ year old car.

MVIMG_20191030_111852 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

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Random Cayenne Turbo owner that did a u-turn and chased me down to talk about the car.

IMG_20191030_113156 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

As we made it into Reno where we were going to stop for the night I heard a grinding. I figured it was the front brakes, which I previously had some clearance issues with the pad and rotor hat on and had to space the caliper out slightly. But low and behold one of the rear caliper mount bolts fell off! Quick trip to Home Depot got me some bolts and loctite to solve that problem. Thankfully it hit the rotor and didn't rub against the inside of my freshly restorce wheels!

IMG_20191030_195853 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

Day 2

Mono Lake vista point

IMG_20191031_095649 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

Up and over Tioga Pass heading into Yosemite National Park

IMG_20191031_113707 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

Tunnel view at Yosemite...LOVE this place

IMG_20191031_131521 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

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Brake dust starting to get thick
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Did I mention how much I love these headlights?

IMG_20191101_063956 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

Day 3

Pre-sunrise at tunnel view as we head out of the park
IMG_20191101_070640 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

Somewhere along the way, found some killer roads between 395 and Nevada

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Thirsty girl...roughly 20mpg for the entire trip like last year. Don't have EGO feedback enabled

IMG_20191101_100850 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

Made it into Vegas and cleaned her up!

IMG_20191101_153302 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

Jamie Orr vehicle spottings

MVIMG_20191101_171402 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

The cool kids (myself, Greg, Alan)

IMG_20191101_231743 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

Day 4

Don't worry, I'll update with the good pictures when I get through them...just cell photos for now.

Lunch on Saturday before we headed out to the Valley of Fire

IMG_20191102_114938 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

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Dinner at Hofbrau Haus!

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Greg has attended all 10 BBQs and did it in the same car! Sean and I came up with the idea to get him a present the previous year, so I made sure to take some extra nice phots of his car and had one printed.

IMG_20191102_193549 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

It wouldn't be Hofbrau without some spankings

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Day 5

Chill BBQ at Seans house

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Everyone admiring the glory of 10 valves and channeling their inner AngryTaco
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Day 6

Back on the road heading home

IMG_20191104_105244 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

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Random brush fire

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Day 7

Cold morning in Central Oregon!

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Back in Washington!

IMG_20191105_103922 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

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HOME! And very dirty

MVIMG_20191105_155742 by Vex Art Media, on Flickr

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Awesome pics as always, Alex. It was great seeing you and Jen!

Awesome Alex! Thank you for sharing!

Epic trip! Glad all that pre-trip prep paid off, sounds like it was super reliable. Definitely making me a little sad my car likely won't be road trip worthy (I don't mind zero interior and a straight exhaust but... some... people do) because that looks like an absolute blast!

Great pics, out of interest who's is the red coupe? anymore pics?

John Cryan on FB

varia wrote:John Cryan on FB

Thanks, I recognize the name off fb groups. It looks good and suits the red.

Yes, Alex great pics As always . And I’ll try to get a page on the red cq started here soon.

Cryanquattro wrote:Yes, Alex great pics As always . And I’ll try to get a page on the red cq started here soon.

I would be interested in reading that, might help me keep motivated with my cq.

pete82 wrote:

Cryanquattro wrote:Yes, Alex great pics As always . And I’ll try to get a page on the red cq started here soon.

I would be interested in reading that, might help me keep motivated with my cq.

Seconded.