The restoration 2.0

Brayden_connolly

Brayden_connolly

True Classic
As with any project car its never truly finished...

Since I restored my 1985 Bertone two years ago it's gotten a decent amount of use between daily driving, car shows/meets and the occasional track day, the fire breathing 1500 I built has held up wonderfully but im ready for more power! First lets get caught up...

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(Gridlife at Road Atlanta)

About a year ago I bought what was once a 2002 Acura RSX Type S, it was a low mileage car and the perfect donor for my X.
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My plan after cutting the drive line from the mangled Acura was to have the swap completed for Fiat On The Dragon in the spring of 2017, due to some time restrictions that plan did not work out so I kept the motor in for the summer.

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Over the summer some minor changes were made like new seats and some cosmetic improvements and the car held up great... Until Road Atlanta...


Gridlife

Its a large track day/ time attack/ music festival that takes place at various tracks around the country and offers reasonably priced track time for beginners to fully licensed racers. As long as you can deal with 20 year old Subaru owners asking "what kind of car is that bro?!" every time you turn around I highly recommend giving it a try. Anyways.. I trailered my car down to Road Atlanta with a friend of mine and spent the weekend driving on one of my now favorite tracks, unfortunately after 10 full sessions my X had enough and I lost (what I thought) was the clutch...

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Back at the shop I discovered the real issue...

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The center had broken out clean... (when this happened I was approaching the braking zone on the front straight in 4th gear)

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With a new flywheel installed I continued driving until the snow fell. Now after finishing a few other projects around the shop (you may have seen here recently...) It's finally time for my K20 conversion!

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Along with the new motor I will be upgrading to Koni coilovers, upgrading the brakes, doing some aero improvement and fitting some wider tires. More updates coming soon.
 
Yeah that is a first for me too, not seen that. Wow! Should be a good step up with the K20. Maybe I will see you at at local tracks toward the end of the summer. That car looks right on and I like the car # "3:2:1 GO!"
 
After getting the car stripped down I began making the cuts for the K20.
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And test fitted the driveline...

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While I was cutting and welding I remembered an idea I had a few months back about how to improve the aerodynamics of the X, specifically the rad pocket. Ive always liked the look and function of venting up through the hood but didn't see it to be practical on a street car, I want to be able to take the top off still and have it for when it starts raining halfway through the drive...

Here is the solution I came up with...

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Add the boxes...

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And what we are left with is a minimally invasive solution that will evacuate more air from the rad area, keep the front stable at high speeds and aid in brake cooling.

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Did I mention how little space it actually takes up? :D

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And while I was up front I replaced both the shock towers...

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They might not look bad from the outside but this is how much I needed to replace...

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Remember folks, rubberized undercoating hides a lot! Especially when water gets behind it... o_O
 
Nice work. I really like the rad venting into the wheel arch - looks like a practical solution for a street going X :D

Did the flywheel give out from excessive lightening? I can see how removal of a little too much material could weaken that area.. I did think that typically material is removed further out from the center though.
 
lookforjoe said:
Nice work. I really like the rad venting into the wheel arch - looks like a practical solution for a street going X :D

Did the flywheel give out from excessive lightening? I can see how removal of a little too much material could weaken that area.. I did think that typically material is removed further out from the center though.
Click to expand...
Yes, it was an improperly machined one that I got with a parts lot.
 
Rad vent looks good man! Good work fixing the shock towers as well....you're right, the rot was well hidden.

Whatcha gonna do with the built 1500 engine? ;)
 
Looking good Brayden. Love the fix you came up for venting the rad. No rain in frunk and can still put roof in without damage. See you in a couple of Mondays.
 
Hey Brayden,
Shouldn't be much longer before I'm ready to post photos of your custom cluster. Just waiting for a few parts to arrive.
I'm almost down to the cosmetics. More to come ... -bbrown
 
I like your outside-the-box thinking on re-imagining radiator airflow. Making the decision to retain frunk targa top storage does limit options. Not that I am an aerodynamics engineer, much less play one on TV, have you considered the consequences of diverting airflow from under the car to funneling extra air into the wheel well pockets? Since the wheel wells are a pocket just like the front rad compartment, you may end up just trading one pocket for two and not make any gains.

If that possibility makes sense, then consider a solution that worked for Chrysler engineers: https://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a31469/dodge-charger-daytona-scoops/
 
Dan Sarandrea (Phila) said:
I like your outside-the-box thinking on re-imagining radiator airflow. Making the decision to retain frunk targa top storage does limit options. Not that I am an aerodynamics engineer, much less play one on TV, have you considered the consequences of diverting airflow from under the car to funneling extra air into the wheel well pockets? Since the wheel wells are a pocket just like the front rad compartment, you may end up just trading one pocket for two and not make any gains.

If that possibility makes sense, then consider a solution that worked for Chrysler engineers: https://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a31469/dodge-charger-daytona-scoops/
Click to expand...
I am far from an aerodynamics engineer but I believe it will be an improvement. The idea behind it was to make air flow through the front pocket instead of hitting a wall and minimize the "front end lift" at high speeds. I angled the ducts to funnel air directly at the brake rotor and center of the wheel as well so even if its just moving from one pocket to another it will at least cool the brakes a bit and hopefully keep the front end a bit more planted.
 
Brayden_connolly said:
As with any project car its never truly finished...

Since I restored my 1985 Bertone two years ago it's gotten a decent amount of use between daily driving, car shows/meets and the occasional track day, the fire breathing 1500 I built has held up wonderfully but im ready for more power! First lets get caught up...

View attachment 8562
(Gridlife at Road Atlanta)

About a year ago I bought what was once a 2002 Acura RSX Type S, it was a low mileage car and the perfect donor for my X.
View attachment 8561

My plan after cutting the drive line from the mangled Acura was to have the swap completed for Fiat On The Dragon in the spring of 2017, due to some time restrictions that plan did not work out so I kept the motor in for the summer.

View attachment 8563

Over the summer some minor changes were made like new seats and some cosmetic improvements and the car held up great... Until Road Atlanta...


Gridlife

Its a large track day/ time attack/ music festival that takes place at various tracks around the country and offers reasonably priced track time for beginners to fully licensed racers. As long as you can deal with 20 year old Subaru owners asking "what kind of car is that bro?!" every time you turn around I highly recommend giving it a try. Anyways.. I trailered my car down to Road Atlanta with a friend of mine and spent the weekend driving on one of my now favorite tracks, unfortunately after 10 full sessions my X had enough and I lost (what I thought) was the clutch...

View attachment 8564

View attachment 8565


Back at the shop I discovered the real issue...

View attachment 8566

The center had broken out clean... (when this happened I was approaching the braking zone on the front straight in 4th gear)

View attachment 8567

With a new flywheel installed I continued driving until the snow fell. Now after finishing a few other projects around the shop (you may have seen here recently...) It's finally time for my K20 conversion!

View attachment 8568

Along with the new motor I will be upgrading to Koni coilovers, upgrading the brakes, doing some aero improvement and fitting some wider tires. More updates coming soon.
Click to expand...

Wow Brayden, what a clean cut!!! never see that
 
Since the last update I made some progress,

I welded up the box, prepped and painted the engine bay and frunk.

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While I waited for paint to dry I rebuilt the trans axle, installed the Wavetrac LSD, a drop 6th gear and began going through the suspension. I rebuilt the steering rack and replaced the factory rubber bushing with a aluminum rack bushing.


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Very nice work :)

Flywheels usually do not fail this way, appears Murphy had it'w way with this flywheel :(
Out of curiosity, might the broken out center of this flywheel be available for an autopsy ?


Bernice
 
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