400hp Build, Advice please!

[polarisman14]

Yeah my purpose for this one is to keep the car as fun as possible. I would think that with the 390s I would still end up in fourth gear in the quarter if I was trapping over 100. I just figured having the 390s would allow the car to drop into the next gear in its "sweet spot" provided that is around the 5k range.

 

What cam do you guys suggest? I've heard the name Schneider come up quite a few times, got any suggestions for a specific cam?

[jszucs]

cam guy here is Tim C I have his solid race roller. Just an FYI going that far is going to involve allot of other work and possibly expence depending on the way you want to do it.

 

Doing something like that will involve swaping to rollers but the cam is large enough it requires the longer 83 style valves (or lashcap adjusters but I didn't want that rout) So I opted for custom valves. But that gave me the option to get the 83 valves in an oversize and with the later retainer grove so that I could use the TI retainers and the beter quality locks.

 

Ok you say you want the car as fun as possible what is fun to you?

 

Some fun is how fast it gets up and goes, some fun is the twisties, some fun is auto X. Some fun is just having a car sit there and look good. So figure out what fun is for you and then build accordingly.

[polarisman14]

Fun to me is looks good, handles well, and drifts easily. I like do-it-all cars that can be tweaked to be used for autocross one day, drift another, and road course style stuff the other. And not missing a beat when going on a slow cruise night is important too. Jack-of-all-trades.

[jszucs]

Ok then. If it was me and the car runs right now. I would leave it that way, and start working on the suspension and stearing parts. Some of this stuff is going to be hard to find so you might as well start right away.

 

If you got the money and time id go for the full coilovers MK1 had (don't know if you can still get them or not as it involved sending them your strut housings to be modded.

 

At the very least get the sleve over coilovers, adjust camber plates front and back. New struts (going to be hard to find atleast in highend ones) You might as well start looking for rims (also not easy to find that fit well unless you like the look of 3 piece or shell out for custom one's) But that will give you a widerfoot print and more choices in tires (16's are getting hard to find wider then 225's and if you do choices are limited or they are older stock) Get some new bushings (it's a big job and rundown the bolts for the rear arms (NLA anywhere I know of but you might be able to get them from stedaban they made some for us awhile ago and there is/was a GP going on here)

 

If the car is currently down you might as well rip the whole thing apart and replace everything you can get your hands on.

[VICE]

FASTENAL

 

Seems to have 18mm x 240mm bolts for the rear arms, I just ordered me a set of 2.

[jszucs]

that is awsome info right there. What hardness are they? Are you just going to cut out the grouve in the middle for that little locking bolt or just leave it out?

[polarisman14]

Thanks for all the great info guys.

 

I did get in on the stedebani GP the day before it closed so I have motor, tranny, diff mounts along with the hub bolts and bushing kit. I will try to source whatever bushings aren't included there at another time if/when I need to.

 

I am looking for coilovers and will order Mookeeh's adjustable camber plates, right now if you order the fronts you get the rears free. Any other options for coilovers? Definitely want those.

 

Like I said I have the MPI on the way but the car is running well right now.

 

McMaster-Carr is another good resource for hardware if Fastenal doesn't have it.

 

Right now my holdup is I have to sell the parts from my Focus to finance parts for the SQ. I'm about outta money now but when I get more I'm gonna do suspension and braking stuff next. Any advice on braking components? It's already got cross drilled and slotted rotors up front so I was gonna just get stainless lines and carbon metallic pads and call it a day.

[jszucs]

coil overs your choices are arts(NLA but can buy used here once in a while they pop up) Cosmo (ebay and maybe other placed don't know about avalablity) and MK1's that's all I know about.

 

Sounds like you are more then on your way.

 

the $ issue is why I was sugesting to do the suspension first since you could drive it with the upgraded suspension then while you collect parts for the MPI stuff.

[polarisman14]

^^Sounds good. Is there any need for sway bars like the mookeeh pieces or is that overkill? It looks like I'll be going with the GC setup on the car, what would everyone suggest I use for the strut/shocks themselves? I know mookeeh makes some, any other options out there besides TEP?

 

Also any word on whether or not I would need a big brake kit or is covering my bases like I listed previously good enough?

 

After the brakes and suspension purchases I gotta take the dreaded trip to the inspection station to get the bad news. I know it needs the stuff I listed already along with some body work but hopefully the steering and other stuff (wheel bearings, ball joints, tie rod ends, etc.) aren't too far out. Would rather not replace those as they don't really have any room for improvement versus stock AFAIK.

 

Is there any need to replace the stock driveshaft or other driveline components (rearward of the transmission) with any aftermarket pieces? I'll have to check for slop in the u-joints, carrier bearing, etc. anyway but don't know if replacement is truly necessary if the OEM parts can handle the power and are in good condition.

 

Thanks!

[Technology]

The reason you got that much at 15psi is, I think, in large part due to the manifolds, and I don't know what you have for a cam, but if I went with an SMIM and tubular exhaust manifold, I bet I would see another 20whp easy at the same boost. If I do a cam right, I could possibly see way more than 20whp. Modding is so much fun.

[Shelby]

i'm far from being an expert or rich but from what i have seen from guys,,put you money where it'l do the most good NOW,,bet you have seen it before guy starts building a car for the track and runs out of money long before he has horse power to do any raceing ,,it's easy to do

 

do you build a barn for the race horse your gona get or get the horse and let him pay for the barn

[polarisman14]

^^Trust me, I know all about that. On the last setup I had on my Focus I took out a personal loan to do the work I wanted to. That's the only reason it even came close to being a complete project. It still needed about 5 grand worth of paint, body, interior, and brake work to be perfect. But it was FAST.

 

That being said I want to do it right this time. The SQ is already a better platform in most respects than the focus so I'll let its good attributes speak for themselves and concentrate on the weak spots.

[Technology]

i'm far from being an expert or rich but from what i have seen from guys,,put you money where it'l do the most good NOW,,bet you have seen it before guy starts building a car for the track and runs out of money long before he has horse power to do any raceing ,,it's easy to do

 

do you build a barn for the race horse your gona get or get the horse and let him pay for the barn

Good point. It also seems like a lot of people don't want to wait for anything, they need it now now now. My car has been in the works since I got it eight years ago. It's not a bad thing to wait, save your money and then purchase what you want with cash, even if it won't be done until next season. (I know in FL the season is all year).

[polarisman14]

^^Yeah, I'm in NH--our season is from late april/early may to late november. We get about a half a year to use our cars if we don't want them to become rust on wheels. Having no patience is a good thing sometimes--it gets stuff done. I just can't purchase anything else until I sell more stuff, but it sounds like I'm about to sell another 700 worth of stuff. If that goes through I'll get the coilovers, struts, new endlinks front and rear, and I'll be outta cash again. lol.

 

Are those mookeeh anti sway bars necessary?

[Drive-By]

Haven't you guys got anyone like GAZ Shocks over there, here GAZ will take your old shocks as a guide and make you a full set of three way custom coilovers for around £800-1000 depending on spec. Surely you've got someone who makes shocks to order?

 

This is an interesting thread as when I started my build in 2004 TEP was all I could find with enough info and back-up. I spent £4500 on internals/cluch and machine work and she hasn't seen tarmac yet. To much time building my barn I guess.

 

Good luck with your build Polaris

[polarisman14]

^^Thanks.

 

So I'm revisiting the idea of using the HKS turbo I already have and need some help figuring out how I would go about adapting the flange on my turbo to the stock turbo manifold. I can't seem to find what style flange is on the stock starion manifold and it is making finding an adapter plate VERY difficult. If anyone could shed some light on this for me that would be very helpful, thanks.

 

--Matt--

 

EDIT: Found some concrete evidence. Apparently the flange that is on my car now is the TD05/T25 mitsubishi flange, which is different from the T25 flange that the turbo I have uses. What a pain in the tail that they are both named the same, but different sizes. Whoever thought that one up is a d***. Anyway, time to find an adapter flange.

Edited April 23, 2010 by polarisman14

[polarisman14]

^^Have since revised my train of thought. I will be buying the treadstone manifold (outflows stocker, has EX WG flange) and an adapter plate from t3 to t25. Much easier than making a custom piece, and cheaper, too.

 

Although my SQ only has the 7/8 wheel combination from a non-SHP, the door jamb sticker indicates the 225/245 combination for a SHP starion. What features other than larger wheels and tires, and different shocks/struts does the SHP have? Kinda neat to find out I basically have a diamond in the rough.

 

I got my front and rear end links and camber plates in the mail today, almost all of my suspension stuff is coming in this week (besides the stuff from the stedebani GP)

[polarisman14]

Bump, sway bars and struts coming in today...Anyone know anything about the questions I put in my last post?

[jszucs]

rim tire size and adjustable struts are the only diffrences I know about. Yes an 89 SHP would be on the rarer side.

[polarisman14]

^^Cool. Glad to know that. Apparently another thing that SHP quests are good at is poor exhaust work from the previous owner (or many owners back, who knows...). The car's exhaust that is on it now is about 3-4" too short and did the rear bumper the favor of toasting it to a crisp above the exhaust exit. It was so bad that once the bumper melted and sagged, the exhaust went under there and burnt the entire backside of the bumper area. I decided that I would use some of the stuff I had laying around (a 7" by 7" chrome trim bezel for a Hurst shifter and some aluminum flashing) plus some self-tapping zinc-coated bolts and make a heat shield for the exhaust. I'll be going with a full 3" exhaust and a 5" tip shortly (probably carbon/ti canister) so it'll be a little less gaudy then, but it'll work to prevent any other damage for the time being. Quick crappy cellphone pic of it:

 

http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t324/polarisman14/StarQuest/0508101428a.jpg

 

It doesn't look that great in this picture but I went up on to the rear sill of the bumper and bent the bezel and flashing to the contours of the bumper. I also removed a little of the plastic/foam directly above the exhaust and contoured the shield to that to prevent the exhaust from going between the shield and foam. It's perfectly centered on the exhaust tip (angular exit slightly) and for $3.92 total cost and some other crap laying around I can't complain.

Edited May 8, 2010 by polarisman14

[Shelby]

SHP's also had slightly larger dia sway bars frt and back , nothing that a good set of shocks can't make up for unless your raceing off road

 

as for takeing some time it took me over 4 yrs to get my MPi collect'd and install'd

[notfried]

you can also use a Supra trans (R154) and adapt it to hold the power

 

http://www.26liter.us/forum/index.php/topic

it can be found in the "quest for power" section

 

another ring and pinion set that is available for the SQ is 4:22's from a '94 era 4 cylinder/5 speed 2 wheel drive Rodeo(and a few other vehicles as well,i'm sure)along with sunroof seals,sunroofs,etc. and if ya need axle boots when rebuilding them ya can get 'em for a '94 Rodeo LS 4X4 v6/auto for the front axles

 

one main thing for building one of these cars (besides the love for 'em) is that not all the information that you read here is accurate,some people are full of it while others are a great attribute to this site and sometimes it's hard to split the speculation and facts

Edited May 11, 2010 by notfried

[polarisman14]

^^Thanks for the heads up. I'll check out the supra trans when it comes time to replace mine, the synchros are in rough shape on mine as I found once I got a properly shifting transmission. I'll try changing out the bushings and trans fluid but if neither one of those things helps at all a new trans will be a few years down the road (or whenever it breaks). I'll definitely consider the 4.22s as it'd take a LOT less power to break the 245s free once its time for drifting

[notfried]

^^Thanks for the heads up. I'll check out the supra trans when it comes time to replace mine, the synchros are in rough shape on mine as I found once I got a properly shifting transmission. I'll try changing out the bushings and trans fluid but if neither one of those things helps at all a new trans will be a few years down the road (or whenever it breaks). I'll definitely consider the 4.22s as it'd take a LOT less power to break the 245s free once its time for drifting

that's all the 4:22's are good for (with a stock trans)...racing...either it be drifting,scca,1/8th or 1/4 mile...ya aint gonna wanna commute with 'em,that's fer sure

[mstieg]

Another proven tranny option is the T56 (if not mentioned already). There's a thread about it in the tranny swap forum. Chad has an adapter kit for bellhousing and use of stock hydrolic master & slave.

 

Although he's been MIA lately...anybody else heard from him?