Curious, but doesn’t the dash already have a tachometer? Is it in operable? Pretty snazzy regardless.
In about 2 weeks I’ll be changing out the struts for coil overs. My buddy says that with a 2 inch wider wheel there’s a good chance it will rub unless I roll out the fenders, I’m hoping that won’t be the case if I only lower it an inch. I got to ride along his new track car, Toyota mr2 and fuck that car plants down on any turn at any speed.
The tach does function, however in that final pic, you can see the shift point needs to happen at 4500 or below. It’s 80s whiz bang tech that was suitable for rpm readouts on the slow revving 80s motor that was done by 4500 rpm. The new motor goes to 6500 and revs up much quicker. When I rev the engine, the digital rpm has to play catch up. It’s happy with normal cruising because not a lot is going on. I didn’t want to lose the “jet fighter” display style but wanted something that could show me past 5500 rpm. The shift light was an added perk of the purchase. I hear nothing but good things about the accuracy of Auto Meter gauges.
Those old 80s MR2s look like a lot of fun. The targa top option is nice.
Fuck that dash is beautiful. Screams 80’s so much.
Glad you like it as much as I do. I had to disassemble the dash to replace the skin on all three LCD panels. The panels get “sun baked” from too much sunlight on the film for years and you get an opaque look in the panels and it’s hard to see the readouts in anything short of total cockpit darkness. I used depolarizing film. It’s the same stuff put on sunglasses. I had to buy a little rubber rolling pin to put the new film on…it’s the only way. Tried a credit car and it left air bubbles underneath. It’s not factory, as when the dash is off, it has the glossy look sun glasses have to them, the factory film is a flat black. When these clusters get sun baked, you basically see portions of the readouts you’re not suppose to see. Mine were baked to hell and back I guess whoever had the car before me kept the top off and left the car parked outside in the summer heat.
The dash definitely speaks of its time when a manufacturer was trying to tap into the tech boom of the 80s with digital instrumentation. Chevrolet had digital graphics in a lot of vehicles back then and they were a pioneer of sorts getting it into the hands of blue collar consumers. I’m glad they went the route they did. The digi dash had a luke warm reception car magazines back then and it was not very popular. In 1990, they replaced the digi dash with a cluster with analog gauges with a small square digital speedometer readout and mileage. The 1990-1996 C4 dashes aren’t any better at tracking rpm on a hopped up motor. The tach needle goes ape shit whipping around under hard acceleration in low gears.
Funny how time works because all the high performance cars come with digital dashes now which are accurate representations of engine output. Even the new Stingray’s main center cluster is a digital screen. Lexus’ LFA used one and they claimed a digital representation of an analog gauge was needed to keep up with the revs of that motor. The new Lambos, the new NSX…now it’s cool to have digital instruments and the old school analog is on par with a traditional stick in new high tech cars…a bit looked down on.
If you think this dash screams 80s tech wiz, you probably would get a kick out of the Doug Nash 4+3 manual transmission offered from 84-88. Touted as, “The worlds first electronically controlled manual transmission!”. Gotta love that marketing.
Thanks for the info! :tup:
My wheels should be arriving soon from Japan. Also been searching for a shop that does alignments on coil overs. Other than that, ive realized my 2nd gear clutch up wheelies are never going to be as good as my 1st gear ones unless I do a gearing change, so no high speed wheelies for me
So my wife told her friend that she doesn’t worry about me cheating on her with other women. She said its the cars she has to worry about. She tells me this as I’m attempting to watch Top Gear (USA) and watching Motor Trend on YT.
Been thinking about a more grown up car. Pretty much really getting out of tuning and stuff. Next car will most likely be German and either from M division or AMG. The fact that newer Mercs don’t have manual is a sore point for me, but I don’t think I’d mind with a C63. I like the E46 M3 a lot, but the V8 in the 90/92 M3 is something that I know I’d want ultimately (plus a more refined driving experience). But really whatever I get, I won’t really do any tuning, save for what the Manufacturer has.
Saw this car in Kyoto. Had thunder like it had a V8. dem RAYS doe
Good shit r.p.d rookie, good to see that the car is practically road worthy.
I finillay found the problem on my srt4 and why it only boosts to 9. The previous owner was an asshole and he micky moused putting some lame as shit bov and replaced the cold aide with some steel pipe. He cut the old plastic hardpipe but didn’t cut it right so there was a massive air leak there.
Fixed it, and we at 18 psi and holding now.
I now have to retune the car since I will be running 22% ethanol mixed into the fuel to keep knock away, run cooler, and have a safe a/f ratio of 11.8
This car really pulls now. Some dude in a 2012+ camaro SS tried pulling on me. He didn’t want none of this shjt. If it wasn’t for the destroyed 2nd to 3rd synchro that’s gone, I would have held him off.
Fun times. Can’t wait to optimize the car. Depending on how it behaves, I might not ever swap the turbo.
That’s a nice fix and that’s pretty impressive running with that LS3 car. Is the SRT4 four wheel drive? I always thought those and the Cobalt SS were fun turbo 4 cylinders. I really like the early 90s Honda hatchbacks. I bet they’re like little go karts with a turbo. Engines on those with the red valve cover and headers always looked super cool to me. I remember a video of a guy picking the driver rear of his Honda hatchback off the ground just from using his legs to lift…I bet that’s a very “tossable” car that’s easy to recover
I have lost my damn mind… I bought a Zex 10 lb nitrous bottle off ebay brand new at a good buy and some 10 lb botle mount brackets off summit for cheap but I think they look pretty nice:
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/zex-82013?seid=srese1&gclid=CMbOxPiCycwCFdgYgQodNqEBuw
I am beginning the very slow process of cobbling together a nitrous system. I asked this guy a question about the bottle and he mentioned it still had a remote bottle opener on it…SOOOO fingers crossed he lets that trick piece slip through with the bottle when it’s shipped to me as those are $300-$400 for just the remote opener. All the solenoids and plumbing will be new. The dream setup would eventually be to have a dual 10 lb bottle setup in the hatch area with an electric bottle warmer on each bottle and appropriate relays to control the warmers. Blow down tubes dumping out through the hatch floor to the outside for safety.
Just going to purchase a bit every month and research in the meantime…it’s the cheapest way to go fast but it’s still adds up quick for all the required parts. Goddamn bottle warmer blankets are $150 for one but I can be patient and snag some for sale off the Vette forum I’m on in the future. I mean it’s the whole reason I got the SPEC stage 3+ clutch with its high torque holding capacity. I’ll only be running a baby 100 shot but I don’t need overkill on spray, just a little extra fun. I regret I didn’t do a 427 stroker motor vs 383. At least when I’m spraying I’ll have 427 power, I should be in the 550 rwhp range once properly tuned on the spray. At around 3000lbs with me in it that should be a quick rip through the lower gears.
Kinda crazy with all these hotrod tricks I’m trying, you can get a new Corvette Z06 that still puts down 600 or so rwhp all the time, with a warranty, and AC. Gotta pay to play I guess. I do have some concerns though as Florida has a slightly vague description of the legal use of industrial grade nitrous. Apparently, transporting medical grade nitrous in greater capacity than 14 grams is illegal without a license. The industrial grade nitrous which has sulfur added to prevent people from huffing it (and used in performance cars) is legal without a license so long as the person transporting it does not use it but how can they prove you did? You also must have the ID sticker facing up for easy ID of the bottle(s), I guess that’s why I saw so many new ZEX/NOS/Nitrous Outlet/Nitrous Express bottle stickers for sale, not just for visual appeal but for avoiding getting in hot water with the law. Also, rumor has it no visible lines can be seen hooked up if you are pulled over. But they sell NOS brand nitrous oxide kits at fucking pep boys RIGHT WHEN YOU WALK IN THE DOOR! I’m going out on a limb that officers for the most part do not inspect for nitrous and I am being a worry wart about it.
I will have a cargo shade that pulls over the entire hatch area anyway so it won’t be visible at all. My seat bolsters are very wide and the old 80s and early 90s C4s had power sport seat switches in the bolster that you used to adjust the seat or inflate it. I’m going to get a bezel and instead I’ll have buttons to arm the system, activate the remote bottle openers, bottle warmers, and the purge.
The SRT neon was a beast. How much boost can you run on the stock turbo?
Heard stories about how strong those neons are. I know people talk shit on the neons, but the srt4 is something else.
stock turbo holds 15 to redline. I bought a big wheel stocker to replace the one it came with since it was failing (had the dental drill noise of death), this one holds 18 psi to redline.
they are fun. I would have never considered one, but when I looked them up it seemed like underrated car. Its fun as shit car and I don’t regret buying one.
I didn’t expect a turbo 4 to behave like this. You hear what they can do, but then when it does it, its like WTF.
its fwd
also, nitrious sounds cool. In cali its legal as long as the bottle isn’t connected
Messed around with wiring in nitrous switch locations. Old seat anyway, so I just used an exacto knife to carve out the foam in this area to fit the switch and feed the wires through. Interior is feeling more like a cockpit in a jetfighter than a car with all the switches sprinkled throughout. Red purge button has a 3 amp rating. Anyone with experience with N20 let me know if that is sufficient amperage rating for it. Other switches for the N20, bottle warmer, and optional remote bottle openers are 10A rated I believe. Bottle brackets show up tomorrow and maybe the bottle. Wouldn’t mind mocking up the location. Bummer: the seller of the Zex bottle told me it was $140 extra for the remote opener on the bottle. Just a tad silly of me to think I was also getting that too.
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj622/jamallhughes/wires_zpsswysoj13.jpg
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj622/jamallhughes/photo%203_zpsnlexyljl.jpg
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj622/jamallhughes/photo%204_zpspcfdhnzr.jpg
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj622/jamallhughes/photo%205_zpsd63lseed.jpg
Also this happened: big 80s bag phone off ebay for $10. HUGE. The circuit board for the phone isn’t even in the phone, it’s in a big metal case behind the phone and there’s a humongous battery separate to itself. I took all that stuff out of the circuit board case and there’s plenty of room for a cheap Ipod to go inside and a link cable right to the mp3 jack on the junkyard radio.
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj622/jamallhughes/one%20more_zpsusntlmi3.jpg
It’s getting velcro strips so it can stick roughly where it’s at. Paper plate is on the Vette and it is street legal again…14 years since it was on the road. It still needs an alignment but I may take it around the block tomorrow just because.
Had the coil overs installed today
Just threw em in with the settings that came from factory, almost a 2 inch drop, and I could go lower. Will raise the rear to duplicate the original geometry of a slightly higher back end when my wheels arrive this week. Dampener settings are all the way soft and so far feels similar to my OEM struts. So far looking better than stock height
How many miles on the Si? What year?
2012, 34k miles
Got an alignment done. Toe was almost set to my liking prior which was why last night I didnt notice anything out of wack. The rear though has close to -3 camber which will be lessen when I raise the rear so it should be OK when I get my wheels. Bad news is I’ve had bad luck driving behind semi trucks a week ago and will need to replace my windshield and a fog light due to the trucks throwing rocks.
That Si looks nice. Didn’t they make the new ones in hatchback too? I remember looking at one on a dealer lot back in 2011 and remembering how nice it was to see a six speed offered. My friend has a Honda Fit with a five speed and I love the clutch pedal engagement. The shifter is notchy but in a good way…if that makes any sense. Speaking of sense (or a lack of it), I found a good deal on a bottle with a blow down fitting already installed…I don’t think I was suppose to get that part too but I’ll take it.
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj622/jamallhughes/nitrous1_zpsr6kpyqby.jpg
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj622/jamallhughes/nitrous2_zpsfzispf04.jpg
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj622/jamallhughes/nitrous3_zpszmrn6rp3.jpg
And apparently I decided one bottle wasn’t enough so I have another 10 lb bottle on the way so I can run a dual setup. Also ordered another set of brackets and some blow down tube kits for safety. I have been warned to stay away from Zex brand parts but the bottles are fine to use. Thankfully it will all still be low profile enough to be hidden under the cargo privacy shade.
Yeah I think the new models might have a hatch style as the type r in Europe is. Personally I think mine and the generation before are the better looking ones than the 13+ model years. The trim got chunkier and faux chrome, but to each his own. I may do an exhaust next if I find one that is less raspy and more deep bass in tone. Now, I’m trying to figure out what size tires will work with 17x9 +35 offset. Leaning towards 235/40
