FTODreams Not So Dreamy Car! Project Moneyhole!

A place for members to show off their pride & joys.

Moderators: IMC, Club Staff

Post Reply
User avatar
FTODreams
Grease Monkey
Posts: 105
jedwabna poszewka promocja
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 7:39 pm
Location: Joondalup, Perth, WA

Re: FTODreams Not So Dreamy Car! Project Moneyhole!

Post by FTODreams »

Well I'm not exactly sure why the exhaust is on the other side to be honest! I'm guessing its because they didn't want to mess around with fitting such a long cannon where the normal muffler goes and welding on extra pipes. Which id say would be the case as the exhaust mounts on the body where the usual exhaust should go is ruined. As well as the fact that the cannon itself isn't hanging by the rubber exhaust mount on the left side but a weld to the body. Which has warped over time so its not even sitting aligned with the arch they've cut into the body kit to make it look like it belongs there. So i have two arches and one misaligned cannon. I believe most things on the car have had someone trying to take shortcut methods or the cheapest route possible to fit to the car.
User avatar
Vectose
Forum Moderator
Posts: 3947
Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2010 8:45 pm
Location: Newcastle

Re: FTODreams Not So Dreamy Car! Project Moneyhole!

Post by Vectose »

Exhaust welded to body? 8O
Bennoz wrote:
Technikhaus wrote:What is in said Bens big penis by the way?
A whoooole lot 'o jism 8)
User avatar
FTODreams
Grease Monkey
Posts: 105
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 7:39 pm
Location: Joondalup, Perth, WA

Re: FTODreams Not So Dreamy Car! Project Moneyhole!

Post by FTODreams »

You got that right! Ill go get a quick pic of it now if you want?
silverGPX
9.5"
Posts: 6793
Joined: Tue Oct 13, 2009 5:00 pm

Re: FTODreams Not So Dreamy Car! Project Moneyhole!

Post by silverGPX »

Yeah lll
User avatar
FTODreams
Grease Monkey
Posts: 105
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 7:39 pm
Location: Joondalup, Perth, WA

Re: FTODreams Not So Dreamy Car! Project Moneyhole!

Post by FTODreams »

Well heres a shot of the dodge muffler job! I might try my hand at cutting it off and rewelding it straight. However I have no welding experience so maybe I should test on something first.
Image
Im guessing it was welding onto one of the old stock exhaust hangers?
User avatar
FTODreams
Grease Monkey
Posts: 105
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 7:39 pm
Location: Joondalup, Perth, WA

Re: FTODreams Not So Dreamy Car! Project Moneyhole!

Post by FTODreams »

So after completing my midsemesters I decided it was time to fix up the crappy front headlights as they were not putting out nearly enough light to the road in a lot of the dark areas around where I live. Even after properly adjusting the beam and I think the dispersion, cause that had been seriously messed around with. I was sick and tired of the poor light and decided. Well If all 4wds in my area with thier silly ass HID's in their reflectors blinding me and everyone else can get away with it, I might as well try!

So I went out and bought some HID's! these cost me a measly $35 compared to the $85 i spent putting the brightest halogen bulbs in the housings. Yes there is a huge debate on what cars should have HID's and what not and the road rules here in WA state that they must have washers unless fitted from the factory. I intend to address that issue and others if they arise.

The idea is to adapt a washer kit from another car to the FTO and get it sprayed the same colour as the bumper. So ill be trying to go see if i can go get to a local wreckers to get a washer set of off a WRX. Headlight washers are pretty much the same as your window wipers so in theory all that you have to do is wire in the power wire from the window wiper power and wire that into the housing of the headlight washers to get them to pop out of your bumper. To get fluid to the washers you only need to adapt a splitter into the original hose that goes to your front window jets. I have tested and the FTO's water pump to push fluid is plenty strong, to not only wash your window but your headlights.

I will need to address the issue however of only making the headlight washers activate when i want them too. I could install a button but honestly i want something a little bit more stealthy and clean like holding the wiper stick for a certain amount of time.

Working at engineering firms because of Uni means I can get an engineers certificate a lot easier than most folk.

Pictures will be up later tonight of the install.

Any feedback or ideas is appreciated.
User avatar
Nath
Apprentice
Posts: 68
Joined: Wed Jan 29, 2014 2:23 am
Location: Newcastle

Re: FTODreams Not So Dreamy Car! Project Moneyhole!

Post by Nath »

I've seen some dodgy jobs in the past but have never ever seen any exhaust welded to the body haha. Have you fixed it yet? I'd be concerned about it cracking part of your exhaust system from a lack of free movement??

I looked into HID as well. Are you doing low and high beam?
I found out I can install HID on low beam without any other modification and not need an engineer, but I'm in NSW so different rules I guess. My mechanic could have been just trying to sell me more gear too.

An idea for making the headlight washer activate solo is to find an old evo and swipe the intercooler switch and washer bottle. It has the extra washer motor, I'm pretty sure the switch will fit the two blank spots to the right of the steering wheel. Just a thought.
User avatar
FTODreams
Grease Monkey
Posts: 105
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 7:39 pm
Location: Joondalup, Perth, WA

Re: FTODreams Not So Dreamy Car! Project Moneyhole!

Post by FTODreams »

Well its been a while. Busy with life. Ive done plenty of fixes to the FTO in that time but ill only do one today as i got to run off again soon.

In reply to the last post. I got HID's in my low beams only. Putting them into the high beams would just be an absolute pain to other drivers if i was driving on a country road at night. It just does not suit that reflector housing. Ive been searching around for the washer kit from the evo actually and im slowly aquiring the parts.

So the welded exhaust to the body was starting to get a bit loud. After doing an exhaust check i found the welds in the exhaust were bubbled and cracked open. Honestly I was sick and tired of the cannon. Every fool around here has one and it sounds like a fart cannon. Even though mine sounded pretty good i decided it was time to replace. Took the car over to RPW and sat around with them for a bit as they changed the exhaust over and did a car check for me. Dave and his guys are absolutely the best! Could not recommend them more!

Because the exhaust was welded on there was troubles with the exhaust not having any movement and not only sending noise through the frame of the car but damaging one of the sides bends before the Cat. Thankfully the guys corrected the job and welded me up a new exhaust pipe and added new hangers and rubber mounts for the exhaust to go onto. My god the difference to the ride quality is so good! Not only did i get a much smoother ride with better acceleration. The noise in the cabin has been reduced and the exhaust now has a nice low rumble to it at idle but still maintains a nice roar once you get up in the rev range. Heres some pics of it!

Image

Image

Im now running a Magnaflow Sports muffler 2.5' inlet to two 3.5' outlets. Its pretty good! Found some people at the shops just standing there staring at my exhaust a couple of days ago hahaha maybe its a bit big.
Last edited by FTODreams on Sun Jul 20, 2014 3:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
FTODreams
Grease Monkey
Posts: 105
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 7:39 pm
Location: Joondalup, Perth, WA

Re: FTODreams Not So Dreamy Car! Project Moneyhole!

Post by FTODreams »

Also while im at it ive cleaned up the interior loads but while I wait from parts for RPW im not driving my baby as she needs her major timing belt service done and I'm waiting to receive the parts to do it! Ive decided not to drive her until then as the power steering pulley has an incorrect sized belt on it (dodgy mechanics around here most likely just chucking on whatever they thought would work) The belt is starting to be torn apart so Id rather not lose control on the road. Sometime next week the car will also be going in to have all the rubber in the suspension replaced and have some new ball joints put in as well as the rubber seals in the steering rack. Ive also upgraded the lower control arm rear mounts to the Whiteline Anti Lift kit. ( SO MUCH BETTER OMG. Biggest difference in the world to handling and smooth shifting) and replaced the lower control arm front mounts.

Also I upgraded the rims and tires i was on to 215/45/17 Michelin Super Sport 3 on the back and Pirelli PZeros at the front. The increased front end grip has been great. Doesnt seem to be causing any issues! Did this as when I get the car back there is a certain BRZ that needs to be beaten on the track. Any feedback on what suspension set ups would be great to outrun that BRZ on the corner would be helpful.

Tomorrow im looking at getting my fuel filter out and seeing what sort of disaster it is.
silverGPX
9.5"
Posts: 6793
Joined: Tue Oct 13, 2009 5:00 pm

Re: FTODreams Not So Dreamy Car! Project Moneyhole!

Post by silverGPX »

Good work on getting thru so much but may I ask why the exhaust is on the left when there is a perfectly good stock cutout on the right? Do you feel silly that its sticking out so far and theres a big gaping hole on the right side of the bar?
User avatar
FTODreams
Grease Monkey
Posts: 105
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 7:39 pm
Location: Joondalup, Perth, WA

Re: FTODreams Not So Dreamy Car! Project Moneyhole!

Post by FTODreams »

Exhaust is on the right side because the previous owner cheaped out on everything on the car. So the exhaust shop that did it in Malaga to reduce cost on exhaust piping they just cut a whole in the bumper to make it a straight pipe to attach the cannon onto.

Either way if I routed it back to the original side there will be another dumb hole. Yes it feels stupid but I don't have the money to get another rear bar atm. The reason it's sticking out so far is because of the original hanger mount that was there was hammered and bent upwards which caused the muffler to be mounted so far forward(it's quite a lot longer than the cannon). It doesn't look as stupid as a blast pipe atleast.

Blame the idiot previous owner. I'll restore it to factory condition when I have the money.
User avatar
Technikhaus
Oldtimer
Posts: 3656
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2011 4:45 pm
Location: Dunedin - NZ
Contact:

Re: FTODreams Not So Dreamy Car! Project Moneyhole!

Post by Technikhaus »

Just go quads next time and make use of both holes!
Looks pretty nice though, better than a canon!
Man '96 FTO GPX
Man '89 Legacy RS Rally car
Man '90 MR2 GT
Auto '08 Fairmont Ghia
User avatar
FTODreams
Grease Monkey
Posts: 105
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 7:39 pm
Location: Joondalup, Perth, WA

Re: FTODreams Not So Dreamy Car! Project Moneyhole!

Post by FTODreams »

So an update to whats been done in the last 6 months to the car! Its a big list!
So took the car off the road for a while cause i got yellow stickered by some cop for having not bright enough headlights (checking them in the day) and supposedly leaky oil engine. Oh well. Stuff happens.

SO while i had to fix all those problems up my first time at the pits showed i needed new ball joints, cv shaft seals were split, was leaking oil from behind the cam seals and all my sway bar mounts had fallen to pieces.

So i decided to have pretty much the best FTO in Perth so I dropped some serious money on the thing.
First up I changed all the mounts in the car to a polyurethane apart from two of the engine mounts. Also put on a whiteline anti lift kit!
Swapped out the sh*t steering wheel for a not so sh*t steering wheel but is still pretty sh*t.
After that we had a look at fixing the engine, since the engine and gearbox had to come out anyways figured id spruce up the old gearbox!

First jolt of bad news was that some of the valves on my engine were bent. Dont have the pictures on me now but big hooray there! While I saved up some money and decided what to do with the engine if i wanted to replace the valves or just get a new one I worked on the gearbox.

Cleaned out the gearbox, gave it a fresh coat of silver paint! Man what a difference it makes to the engine bay. Then Due to not only the clutch diaphragm being rusted and missing a few teeth, the flywheel was also rusted and chipped in some places, and the springs in what seems to be an Exedy Heavy Duty Clutch were seriously worn.
Sooooooooooooo
Got a lightened Aluminium flywheel from RPW
Replaced all the seals and throw out bearings for the box
Got a new twin plate clutch so that I wouldnt have to have the biggest left foreleg in the world. Which is great.

So after that I went and bought a MIVEC engine from over at SSS automotive! Man it took like 4 days for the engine to get here it was amazing! So in went a MIVEC engine with 89000kms on it!

Also got some brakes with the engine! Upgrading from single pot to twin pot calipers was great! Cleaned them up and sprayed them red, also rebuilt the calipers. Fitted up some RDA slotted rotors and some EBC green stuff pads! Also with a flush of braking fluid to DOT5

Next up the engine got all new belts, water pump, the lot! And all new seals! To make it just a bit nicer I threw out the old headers and got a new set of RPW Extractors put on! And also fit up a new CAT just to make it fit better so now its running 2.5" all the way through since its already got the magnaflow muffler on there from before.

Next the factory ECU wouldnt run the engine cause it was non-mivec. So I got the new Haltech Elite put in so in the future I can upgrade to turbos with less hassle! And e85 and what not.
And finally we are at the present everything is up in the engine. But everything has come to a halt cause I need a new/used gear selector cable cause the old one was shot. All in all im pretty excited to have it up and running finally!! Just this last thing to do before i can get it sent over the pits! IF anyone has any that they could express post over to here I would love you long time! <3 Id like to have this running before Christmas!!!
User avatar
FTOwnage
Mechanic
Posts: 648
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2012 11:15 am
Location: Newcastle

Re: FTODreams Not So Dreamy Car! Project Moneyhole!

Post by FTOwnage »

Nice work! :D

Pics would be sweet.
FTO GPvR 6A13 Single Turbo (Almost finished....)
User avatar
SchumieFan
Oldtimer
Posts: 5875
Joined: Thu Aug 05, 2004 5:00 pm
Location: GPS signal lost
Contact:

Re: FTODreams Not So Dreamy Car! Project Moneyhole!

Post by SchumieFan »

Whoa - that's a f**k ton of work... kudos... how much did it end up costing you?

Also ECU should have worked (I believe? Somebody correct me?)
Image
User avatar
Vectose
Forum Moderator
Posts: 3947
Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2010 8:45 pm
Location: Newcastle

Re: FTODreams Not So Dreamy Car! Project Moneyhole!

Post by Vectose »

SchumieFan wrote: Also ECU should have worked (I believe? Somebody correct me?)
Nope, non MIVEC and MIVEC ECUs are different.
Bennoz wrote:
Technikhaus wrote:What is in said Bens big penis by the way?
A whoooole lot 'o jism 8)
User avatar
bjk
Totes
Posts: 5746
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2011 1:34 pm
Location: Adelaide

Re: FTODreams Not So Dreamy Car! Project Moneyhole!

Post by bjk »

SchumieFan wrote:Whoa - that's a f**k ton of work... kudos...
Ditto! Some serious coin.

I feel ya about being pinged by cops for oil leak! Absolute bitch to try and sort out, though I guess a fresh engine will help matters! Can also sympathise on internally broken engine, found out my "low km" purchase ended up spinning a bottom end bearing.

Have you driven the car much yet? Any comment on how much difference the anti-lift kit makes?
POWERED BY #TIMKNOTTMOTORSPORT: 2013-2016
Image Image Image Image
User avatar
FTODreams
Grease Monkey
Posts: 105
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 7:39 pm
Location: Joondalup, Perth, WA

Re: FTODreams Not So Dreamy Car! Project Moneyhole!

Post by FTODreams »

Hahaha yeah I had the opportunity to upgrade so I did! Engine cost about $1380 delivered. In total I've dropped about $6000 on it! That's including Labour if I've had things done at a shop!

Nah the ECU's arent interchangeable, mivec ecu has control for the variable intake valves and such. We did try it to ssee what happened but it just cranked and seemed like it was going to start. We knew it wouldn't.

Yeah I gave it a test drive around the block and not sure if it's cause of all the bushes being polyethylene but there was a ssignificant decrease in the nose of the car going up and down with acceleration and braking! Also god does it hug corners and the other thing I'm not sure about is, sh*t does it spin the tyre! (Bloody no LSD makes me cry) not sure why...

With the haltech elite and whatever base tune is on there that the guy has installed on there I'm sure there is more potential to be had!

I'll get some photos up soon :)
User avatar
bjk
Totes
Posts: 5746
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2011 1:34 pm
Location: Adelaide

Re: FTODreams Not So Dreamy Car! Project Moneyhole!

Post by bjk »

Nice. The Elite is a stand-alone ECU? Definitely be good to see what power you can pull from a better tune. I think dstocks here has a Haltech but don't quite remember.
POWERED BY #TIMKNOTTMOTORSPORT: 2013-2016
Image Image Image Image
User avatar
rock_it
Oldtimer
Posts: 6599
Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2007 5:00 pm
Location: The Shire .. NSW
Contact:

Re: FTODreams Not So Dreamy Car! Project Moneyhole!

Post by rock_it »

bjk wrote:Nice. The Elite is a stand-alone ECU? Definitely be good to see what power you can pull from a better tune. I think dstocks here has a Haltech but don't quite remember.
I think Dstocks and Aza both have the Haltech ...
I just had to add it ......
sublime19 wrote:Lol clearly you don't know me well enough, it was a joke :roll:
I talk a lot of sh*t, usually have to keep a roll of toilet paper handy in the car for my mouth :lol:
Astron_Boy wrote:Hold me Sooty, I need man comfort.
:utbnb:
Post Reply