Member Profile - Manaz

[Manaz]

The dump pipe has had the splitter welded in. My McGard wheel nuts have arrived. My replacement steering rack has arrived. I was hoping to have the VF52, dump pipe, mid-pipe/Y-pipe all fitted for next Wednesday night (drags, baby!), but that seems a bit unlikely now unfortunately, given there's at least three days for the dump to be ceramic coated, then everything needs to be fitted.

I'm considering a DAMD steering wheel - if nothing else, it will give me a fraction more leg room when sat in the car (I'm 6'4" tall, and my legs are very close to the wheel).

[shav]

Nice mods coming your way then mate. Sounds good

[Manaz]

A shot of wheels, R33 calipers and McGard lock nuts:

[Manaz]

Time for an update.

So, the car has a VF-52 turbo fitted now. And a 3" TCP mid-pipe and matching Y-pipe.

The Invidia downpipe has been test fitted (it required a bit of bending to make it fit properly), and is now being ceramic coated - if I'd had it coated before fitting, the ceramic would have come off during the required bending). Once that's finished, it will be fitted, and a final tune (road and dyno) will be done (the 3-port will be fitted at the same time, and hopefully the VBG1). I'll get a dyno readout to show how things have gone to that point, and I'll get some photos of the car too.

What's next? I want to fix a few interior issues (the trim surrounding the gearshift rattles, and it drives me nuts!), and I want to get the audio improved a bit (I'll start with dynamat/similar to reduce vibrations and dampen panels, and go from there - at this stage, I plan on keeping the stock McIntosh stereo, though some of the speakers may get replaced.

Then the car gets detailed. And we see where we go from there.

[shav]

Sounds like a sensible plan Robert. I like

[bigBADbenny]

I want to fix a few interior issues (the trim surrounding the gearshift rattles, and it drives me nuts!)

The silicone between the pieces of the reverse lockout collar dries up and the collar starts rattling.
To confirm hold the collar when it rattles.

[Manaz]

I want to fix a few interior issues (the trim surrounding the gearshift rattles, and it drives me nuts!)

The silicone between the pieces of the reverse lockout collar dries up and the collar starts rattling.
To confirm hold the collar when it rattles.

5EAT.

[Manaz]

Received my Tapturn and DAMD steering wheel today...

Oh, I forgot to mention that Shockworx coilovers will come soon too (I hope soon!).

[bigBADbenny]

I want to fix a few interior issues (the trim surrounding the gearshift rattles, and it drives me nuts!)

The silicone between the pieces of the reverse lockout collar dries up and the collar starts rattling.
To confirm hold the collar when it rattles.

5EAT.

Bruce's recommendation was to use lanolin spray from a chandler

[Manaz]

Bruce's recommendation was to use lanolin spray from a chandler

I didn't realise Bruce was a kiwi!

I suspect I'll end up using some trimming foam to prevent the outer ring on the gear selector surround moving against the other parts of it - I had good success with it on the Bora.

In other news...



Installation was quite simple, took me probably 30 minutes.

[bigBADbenny]

Ultimately it's the mod you'll use the most and appreciate most often

[Manaz]

Just a minor "mod" - but I fitted by TapTurn today (I've got the latest version, with the strobe pack).

Fitting it was... fun.

Getting the lower dash off wasn't hard, nor locating the stock flasher unit. But getting the stock flasher out was "fun" - the lower dash pieces are held in place with cables that are attached to the switches/etc (the post-FL car has the traction control button for an example), and the relay itself is clamped quite tightly into its location. If it could be taken out from under the dash, removing it would be quite easy - but there's not much room under there!

Once the stock flasher is out, plugging the TapTurn in is easy, and then putting the dash back together is also easy.

It was immediately effective - the tap-turn feature (tap the indicator, you get three flashes. The indicators also stay lit for about a minute after you lock or unlock the car, which is handy for moving about in the dark around the car.

An easy mod, does exactly what it says it'll do. #winning

[Manaz]

OK.

So,this is what the stock downpipe looks like from the engine bay (you can see the ceramic-coated VF52 in this shot):



And this is what it looks like from underneath the car:



This is the stock downpipe mated to a 3" TCP midpipe/Y pipe and stock mufflers:



This is what a ceramic coated Invidia downpipe looks like (with bellmouth splitter welded into it pre-coating):



These are what the Invidia pipe looks like when fitted (Yes, I know it wasn't actually attached to the mid-pipe at this point):




I'm about to go out to do some logging. That said, logging isn't needed to know that it's a bit different to what it was when stock. IAMs prior to the downpipe re-fitment were all perfect.

[shav]

Bloody nice mate. Looks the goods.

[Manaz]

So, first run in S# mode, and I pop a hose clamp on the TMIC to throttle-body hose. Typical