hk20000 - comes back for some Mitsubishi love

[hk20000]

They don't care hahaha it's "between the lines" no?

[hk20000]

more Mitsubishi love today. Learned from the DSM crowd that there's a way to get rid of much of my messy plumbing from factory in my engine bay by the means of a MAF-Translator:
So this is the before

You are probably wondering why the MAF is running in parallel to the pipe that goes to the throttle body, and I'm going to try to explain:

the MAF feeds to a set of convoluted rubber hoses that split into 2 ends, and the 2 ends are connected to a turbocharger each.
The two turbo chargers then breath fire and shoot compressed awesomeness into another set of factory hardpipes, which join near the left headlight into a single pipe, fed into the bumper space and across the FMIC across the front of the A/C condenser, up through the headlight bucket again just adjacent to the MAF, and finally into the throttle body.

then the engine splits hot lava and goes like stink.

OK so that's a big mess, and you can see it inherits a few problems:
1. if anything blows up between the turbo and the TB, the MAF will be reading totally wrong shit, and the engine will fail and I'll be on the roadside waiting for BCAA while bygoners will laugh at my ass.

2. the BOV that makes the musculine sexy sound will mess up the MAF reading because some air that it "read" was blown into the atmosphere, and the engine will grind to a near stall situation when the clutch is pushed in from a high RPM or high boost level where some X amout of air is gone when the BOV worked its magic.

so the solution is this:

none of that intestine rubber hose bullshit the turbo gets air however it can and just make the measurement done immediately in front of the throttle body. Now my idle is rock steady and the intake charge sound is EPIC. My engine sound is now officially more arousing than hentai anime.

OH YEAH. Next in my list of mods: a Dyno driveability and performance tune. Probably some time in late April or early May..... Unfortunately this MAF-T thing isn't factory and my fiddling with the S-AFCII isn't quite up to snuff at high RPM (it's hard to rev high, drive fast and still look at the S-AFC for knock signal, you know)....

Either the dyno thing or I get the narrowband gauge setup just to monitor this.

[Raid3n]

tune with a passenger. he watches the gauges and the SAFC and makes changes accordingly.

also:

"(core charge > caliper cost WTF?) "

do you mean to say the money you got back was more than what you paid for the caliper? haha you must have gotten a pretty good price on the caliper.
what store did you go to?

[hk20000]

no I went to Lordco where the caliper is $70 and the core charge is $80....so I had to fork over $150 up front and get $80 back when I return the core.....

I have a friend that did that "look at S-AFC for me" thing yesterday but some portion was too rich now and bogging a bit but S-AFC doesn't say where it's all seat of the pants I need a tune or at least a A/F gauge to spot the range that's too rich.

[thumper]

what rebuilt caliper did they give u? i hope it isn't fenco because after 2 weeks mine rusted like there was no tomorrow because they didn't coat it with anything.

[hk20000]

It's fenco but you can see in the picture it's nicely painted in greenish silver.

[hk20000]

I need to stop randomly walk into tuner shops and drop coin on stuff that's really cool...

NRG removable steering hub:


now I have to get one hand off the steering wheel to reach for the signals....fuck me.

but with the factory telescopic steering wheel setup and the removable hub, I can get the steering wheel super close to me like a DTM cockpit, and that's kind of cool LOL.

Now someone build me a proper screen that gives me all the readout like a DTM race car to replace the dash....hahaha.

[hk20000]

These JDM imports are showing signs of epic failures.... like failing aircare. And now another thing I totally don't expect to go wrong has gone wrong on me: Propeller shaft U joint is loose like a $5 crackwhore.....

already made appointment with the driveline specialist in Langley to have that replaced. This should undoubtedly get rid of the high speed shimmying I've been experiencing in the past few months.

[thumper]

egh dosen't matter where it came from 15 years is a long time for any car...

[hk20000]

naw my 25 year old Corolla still very gladly take on a top speed run with its original U joint. U joints on a light duty vehicle should last a looooong time.

[hk20000]

went to Pat's driveline in Surrey to replace the U joint. They did a quick and good job. They also know what exact part my car used. Basically I rolled in and out in like under 2 hours and my shimmying at high speeds is a history.

Today, I installed the Autometer A/F gauge I got from another member here, hooked it up to the O2 sensor and surprise surprise the O2 sensor is a dud. I used the Mitsubishi FSM troubleshooting guide and the O2 sensor doesn't get up to the required voltage (0.6V to 1.0V) under any conditions measured with a digital multimeter as instruction. So much for Taiwanese cheapo O2 sensor from eBay. Picked up a universal 4 wire from Lordco and I'll be installing that tomorrow.

[hk20000]

O2 sensor is in and alive. Very happy about that. I can see that the ECU is running closed loop at steady speed cruising that's a good sign that means I don't have other electronics problem.

center console cleaned up and looking very good (With DAISO parts LMAO). Can someone recommend me a solution to the fogging up of clear plastics in these parts? Thanks.

[hk20000]

Horsepower run:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3a2hsy5ma4

204AWHP @ 6000RPM on Mustang Dyno.

I'm loving it.

[hk20000]

So the car is fine it's making more power than I ever dreamed of so there's nothing better to do than to wash it and try photoshoot.

So Excuse my n00bness here's what I see in photoshoots. What is different from a regular shoot and shooting and call it a "photoshoot"

First, I think, for most people, the shoot starts at the eye level of the photographer, because without much imagination people are "used" to looking at things at that height and that angle. So it ends up looking like this:



A photo taken at eye level. Very plain, sometimes the photo even loses focus by having something a lot more vivid and complex in the background. I mean The first thing you see here would be McDix, THEN the Galant.

Unless composited with a very epic image language or structure, most photos from pros aren't taken at that level, because it lacks ingenuity and the photo does not "pop" because it just feels so ordinary. I learn this from all those crazy shots from Top Gear and other fine automotive documentary videos. There are, no doubt at all, some fine photos out there taken at these heights for cars but usually those that are memorable has special lenses or methods to make them look "not like your every day photo" in its own way.



So how about something like this? Putting your camera on the ground level the picture will project the subject as though it's something larger than the view. Hence the cliche "Larger than life". Not so much detail is revealed here how about we move the camera out by a foot?



The photo now reveals a little more detail of the car and less detail of the powerlines overhead. But in composition maybe the first one has stronger flow exactly because the power lines cut through the picture a tad further to the left leaving "breathing space" for the eyes.

The idea is that a low level shot is often very effective shot for cars. For girls maybe it becomes too perverted at some angles. But it's a language often pursued in photography nonetheless.

With extreme low shown next to show is extremely high shot:


This is taken from 2.5m off the ground and you can see the tripod. I have tried taking a shot with the tripod tilted back and it turns out I didn't hold the slanted tripod steady enough to get a proper shot at all..... So this is the only "high shot" I have.


Another tool used by many photographers is to use a series of photos to bring out a narrative. Like this:




These photos do not work so well alone but with them juxtapositioned like this there's a "force" driving the viewer closer to the details. A lot of modern way to juxtaposition your photo can be used this is just the easiest way for me as I uploaded everything unprocessed in photobucket.

Another theme often pursued by photographers are depths. With a clear vanishing point in the photo the structure is easily established.



However that usually takes a lot of time to actually set up the scene to work and I'll explain why my examples are so shit poor later.

Another composition technique is the crossing of lines and basic trigonometry mind game in photos, for instance

With the camera at a slanted angle, the power lines disappear into the distance almost horizontal to the edge of the picture, and that's messing with your head. This messing with heads make it slightly more interesting to look at.

This following shot is taken with a eeriely blank background. Blank background taken within city limits make a funky feeling. Viewers look "into" the space even though actually no matter how hard you look it's not going to show where this is taken. It looked as though I tried to show you where it is because much of the photo area is taken up by the voidness but that's exactly where I leave it to your imagination:


finally, for automotive photos you cannot miss the detail shots. Cars are cars are cars until you pick up the little details that make this car different from the other car you see down the road.

Even if the shot itself does not tell the story as a whole to the viewer, it's entirely OK because as a single picture in a suite it's going to help tell the story, be it a rusty bolt, a wheel cap or a melon shooter these little details help tell the viewer what this car is all about.

Using a wide aperture you can easily make the background look blurred to accentuate/emphasize what you are trying to 'graph




Ohnoes my lugnuts are cracking!


Also playing with reflection with this one. Smooooooth paint. Thanks Speed XXXX Autoline for this banging paint job.


And finally here is why all my shots are crappy. You DSLR spoiled kids, I have spent too much money keeping this thing running I'm shooting all these with a point and shoot. And to make things worse, it's not even a "proper" point and shoot, introducing a Sanyo CG6 2 year old camera this camera does not even have long exposure, specification of aperture size or focal length, nor brightness correction like those fancy Exilim or whatever.... There's only that much I can do but hey! I tried!



Also a pro would not use ALL his shots in a photoshoot, you must pick and choose and discard those that aren't up to snuff.

That's why right off the bat I said I'm a n00b. But hey, you liked them photos don't you? If you want to take some driving shots with my ride (using your ride as a camera car, of course) PM me about it :P. (I can dream, can't I?)

Next I'll be photoshopping all these pics to trick your eyes. Stay tuned to this post!

[mx100]

Just saw your car on Garden City tonight.

Looks great! keep it up!

[underscore]

can you explain that MAF stuff again? as I understand it you moved it from just after the airbox and before the turbo/intercooler/bov/TB, to after the airbox/turbo/intercooler/bov and before the TB?

[hk20000]

yes that's pretty much the idea! It's also called a "blow-thru" setup because now the turbo is blowing air through the MAF instead of pulling air from atmosphere through the MAF.

The OEM MAF will not work in this case. a GM MAF with MAF-T or aftermarket fuel management system is required.

[underscore]

gotcha. I was hoping that might help out the 3S-GTE guys but standalone fuel management would probably have less headaches than trying a find a compatible MAF.

[hk20000]

So the open frame monitor I got went to the crapper and I decided to ditch the whole carputer idea. As the function of playing MP3s and Navigation is available through my smart phone, I decided to make a permanent and solid dock for it. And since the left side vent is broken and I can't find a replacement for it, Izumi and Akira will have to stand in place of the vent....Good idea since that place doesn't get direct sunlight like other parts of the dashboard.

The HTC Touch Diamond, how I love thee. The phone comes with a factory "docking dongle" thing which takes standard Mini-B input and it comes with a 3.5mm standard headphone jack output. So I wired it all down below the void of the vent and huzzah you can't see all the crazy wires outside no more.

Every time I get in the car I just conveniently slot the phone into the phonestand (hot glued into place, btw) and I'll have my 8GBs of music, with Sat Nav voice speaking over the music when needed.

[hk20000]

Custom front lip time:

inspired by many other journalists on this site this is the best looking $20 or cheaper front lip I have ever seen. This is very useful for lowered cars where the front lip occasionally scrape the floor when going up curb ramps and parking lot ramps.
This stuff is your average garage door 3M stopDraft lip for garages, with "eyes" cut out wherever it turns sharply.

Free form one half of the thing first, as it is soft material it allows lots of room for creativity. Remember to lay a layer or tarpauline or something when you are working on this as rocks and dirt REALLY likes the stopDraft strip and you have to constantly clean it. I cleaned it with brake cleaner, the other possible thing to do is to use alcohol wipes.

This is where you probably want to stop and get someone else to come over and continuously check for symmetry when you tape the rest of it up.

This is how it looks when it's done. Unlike other users on this board I have the full intention of letting this lip rub the ground when I drive up a parking lot ramp or up a steeper curb in some shopping malls, I have therefore opted to rivet on the front center of the lip and the 2 ends near the wheels. Now you can't make it come off at all.

Amazing amount of SEX added to the front of the car for about $20.

[kchan]

wow!
car sure is unique looks great!

[hk20000]

I forgot to put up some HDR shots my friend took for me a while back.... His name is Logan and if you like his style pm me he wants to shoot more.

[thumper]

can't see clearly but... i hope that lip dosen't hang lower than the lowest point of your wheel... u know why

[hk20000]

naw it isn't my tires are low profile enough. Cops never bother me with that family sedan look and anime figures shield. LOL.

[thumper]

... and still not feeling the color of those wheels

[hk20000]

Updated the rear upper control arms to 1999-2005 Mitsubishi Galant control arms. This is the difference (not my pics):



There is not much performance gain from it other than the fact that one of these is over 15 years old and made with a "U" shaped stamped steel construction, while the other one is made with an "O" shaped bent tube contruction for maximum strength.



installed with what was remaining in the set of energy suspension bushings, of course.

It is certain that the rear has a lot less geometry play and the cornering is more confidence inducing than ever. The bushings also allow the car to handle bumps and potholes with a lot less resonance and actually provide a better ride.

[hk20000]

Epic fail rear trailing arm. Suspected cause: 4WS struggling with the new solid bushings.



replaced with OEM arm with bushings factory drilled for the play necessary to operate 4WS.... Going to replace it on the left side when I come back...

[hk20000]

People put badges and designations on their cars to show what it really is. Si, as we all know, means Slow Imbecile. RS means I can't afford a Type R, GSR, or even a GS for that matter. Mine says it with a punch.

[hk20000]

Winter has come and I have converted the car to winter mode.

1. Remove all 4 wheels
2. Inspect all 4 wheel wells for rust, grind down if found. I found nothing.
3. paint the wheel wells with Por15, undercarriage and control arms as well. Include your fingers in that list so that everyone who sees your hands in the coming week or so can laugh at you.
4. find some rare 15" alloy wheels on Craigslist at 4x114.3, I found a set of Momo Star relics from a barn (literally)
5. find some snow tires that work with your wheels, also from CL. I got a set of Arctic Claw by Firestone 215/60/15 at like 99% tread for $350 a set, no tax.
6. Put them together at a friend's shop, and sell the tires that came with the wheels to offset the mount + balance $$
7. voila.


Looking for the center caps of these, if you know any sources please PM me.

During these months I fixed these:
1. leaking freeze plug
2. leaking lower heater core hose

I'm happy to report that the Fenco brake calipers are still in good working order and there are no other real problems with the car....

Future plans:
1. replace the smaller sized Colt brake booster with the original Galant brake booster (now that I know there's nothing wrong with the old one).
2. remove the front lip for serious snow action.


I love how the lip comes clean off the bumper. Mitsubishi always very utilitarian.

[thumper]

Originally Posted by hk20000

Looking for the center caps of these, if you know any sources please PM me.

have you tried ebay? seriously... my friend found hardware for his old-school rikens on ebay

[hk20000]

The lip loves the bumper too much and it won't come off..... oh well.

[hk20000]

the garden liner lip at the bottom already starting to deteriorate from all the parking mishaps.

Will need to improve on the design. I think I cut too many slits for the bendy bits.

[underscore]

maybe melt the edges together where you cut it?

[hk20000]

Originally Posted by underscore

maybe melt the edges together where you cut it?

oooooh that's some engineering excellence right there.

[underscore]

3rd year Electrical

[vo_hantu]

Saw your car at the Hybrid R grand opening...nice ride!

[hk20000]

^ I thought that place was called Gearheads.

[hk20000]

The exhaust system collapsed inside the muffler so I dropped some coin and went for an SRS catback.

Yes it's the cheapest exhaust out there. But then most reviews and videos show that they are alright. Without a direct application for my car I resorted to the Mitsubishi Eclipse D33A GSX catback system based on the fact that the Eclipse platform was just a modified E84A Galant VR4 So here goes:


Looks the same as the factory exhaust on first look, all the hooks seems to be there and it seems to line up well, so I went ahead and put it in.

here's a clip of the car without exhaust just for lulz:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DarlftaU7y0


......only to find out that the D33A and E84A differs in their wheelbase, and the E84A is a few centimeters longer.....So I put a random piece of alum pipe into the gap and drove to the muffler shop like this

The rear portion looks quite cherry though.

muffler shop

Took me quite a while to figure out where the custom bracket that came with the exhaust system goes. But it goes....there. Just in front of the gas tank.

Here is a clip of the exhaust:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0CaU...eature=channel

Here is a clip of somewhat driveby:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAFhW...eature=channel

Finally a mod I've done a long time ago without posting: Arospeed B pillar room bar. On a FWD family sedan based car this makes a world of difference man.

[SpuGen]

Ooh. nice rear cross bar.

I have one that was supposed to be for my S13. It's still sitting there. lol

[Jackygor]

exhaust sounds great!