Atomic's wagon build thread

[atomicEGT]

Oh man you need a roof spoiler...

LOL. It looks awesome Matt! If it weren't for the Drag Radials being on mis matched wheels, and the slightly obvious muffler... Nobody would ever believe what just hit them. How are you liking the Ksports?

I have a bubble spoiler in the garage at my parents' along with an MX6 lip. If I'm not spending all my free time on my sister's car or the S13 I'll be working on getting those installed.

I hate the mismatched wheels, but I'm also lazy. When I get new tires, they're going on the Konig Rewinds I have lying around, so fairly soon it should have matching wheels... unless I paint them (I'm thinking gold maybe). Not much I can do about the muffler, honestly. Intercooler doesn't stand out too much I think so the car doesn't get noticed anyway, people just think it's a loud-ass Escort and ignore it. LOVE the K-Sports. Had them on full soft for the trip to VT and back, going to lower it a bit more and add stiffness. Rides better than the MX3 even though it's lower, dunno about handling because you can't turn worth a **** on DRs anyway...

+1 rolling w/ the privacy cover extended. I always do too

No doubt, got tools and parts back there, plus it makes the car look way cleaner than it actually is.

[atomicEGT]

Also, I need rear discs and some real brakes like whoa.

[atomicEGT]

so apparently I was nominated for ROTM?

time for an updated mod list:

fun stuff:
-GTR motor
-PSC manifold / TiAL 38 w/ open dump
-Holset HY35W @2.0 bar or whatever it feels like that day
-5-speed swap: mystery junkyard transmission with the cheapest ATF I could find / SPEC pressure plate, mystery Exedy clutch disc (puck on one side, full-face on the other)
-Toda adjustable cam gears
-Hondata intake manifold spacer
-somewhat wire-tucked EGT harness modified to work with GTR ECU / A-code VAFM / RX7 460s / F2T knock sensor / Walbro 255HV
-Innovate LC-2
-2.5" IC piping / giganto FMIC / TiAL Q 50mm BOV / Full Race vacuum thingy (BOV and EWG are fancy FR stuff too, woooo)
-3" turboback w/ no cat or resonator, Magnaflow muffler
-Civic half-rad / -16AN lines / Sard radiator cap
-Apex'i air filter

other stuff:
-K-Sport coilovers
-15x7 +40 Konig Rewinds / 205/50-15 Falken Ziex 512s (****-all for traction)
-Bee*R rev limiter
-Pivot 2.0 bar boost gauge (not enough) / Pivot shift light (hidden in vent) / LC-2 display
-EGT gauge cluster with tach (irrelevant at full boost)
-MX3 front seats
-Proper+ bubble shifter on stock shift lever (**** short shifters, they suck)
-Tracer tail lamps, EGT front bumper w/modified 626 or whatever lip
-boring stereo stuff no one cares about
-stickers for extra HP

stuff making its way onto the car at some point:
-JPM road race front LCAs with those stainless spherical jams
-JPM 4-pt brace if I can figure out how to get it around the downpipe
-CS RSTB
-MX3 rear seats/seatbelts/center console
-some of Ferdi's fancy crossmember bushings
-CF hood with Aerocatch latches and legit Cossie vents / RMM grille (will all be painted along with the front bumper because I'm sick of it looking haggard)
-EG hatch spoiler
-MX3 mudflaps
-Quickor rear sway bar

I'd like to get it dynoed at some point (maybe after fixing the stupid ****ing exhaust manifold) and throw another trans with a welded diff in it and see how fast it will go, but I'm not sure either of those will happen before the motor comes out.

The next step after the S13 is done and reliable is to pull the GTR for a mild N/A setup (cams, cam gears, header, smaller exhaust, etc) so it will go through emissions and give me the chance to do exhaust seals and figure out a restrictor/decent oil return for the Holset.

edit: also I guess since Cody mentioned the video in the ROTM nomination I'll add it here-

[Mazda_Powered]

such a winner lol

[KAinjection]

CF hood with Aerocatch latches and legit Cossie vents

Guess I better finish mine first

[concealer404]

so apparently I was nominated for ROTM?

time for an updated mod list:

fun stuff:
-GTR motor
-PSC manifold / TiAL 38 w/ open dump
-Holset HY35W @2.0 bar or whatever it feels like that day
-5-speed swap: mystery junkyard transmission with the cheapest ATF I could find / SPEC pressure plate, mystery Exedy clutch disc (puck on one side, full-face on the other)
-Toda adjustable cam gears
-Hondata intake manifold spacer
-somewhat wire-tucked EGT harness modified to work with GTR ECU / A-code VAFM / RX7 460s / F2T knock sensor / Walbro 255HV
-Innovate LC-2
-2.5" IC piping / giganto FMIC / TiAL Q 50mm BOV / Full Race vacuum thingy (BOV and EWG are fancy FR stuff too, woooo)
-3" turboback w/ no cat or resonator, Magnaflow muffler
-Civic half-rad / -16AN lines / Sard radiator cap
-Apex'i air filter

other stuff:
-K-Sport coilovers
-15x7 +40 Konig Rewinds / 205/50-15 Falken Ziex 512s (****-all for traction)
-Bee*R rev limiter
-Pivot 2.0 bar boost gauge (not enough) / Pivot shift light (hidden in vent) / LC-2 display
-EGT gauge cluster with tach (irrelevant at full boost)
-MX3 front seats
-Proper+ bubble shifter on stock shift lever (**** short shifters, they suck)
-Tracer tail lamps, EGT front bumper w/modified 626 or whatever lip
-boring stereo stuff no one cares about
-stickers for extra HP

stuff making its way onto the car at some point:
-JPM road race front LCAs with those stainless spherical jams
-JPM 4-pt brace if I can figure out how to get it around the downpipe
-CS RSTB
-MX3 rear seats/seatbelts/center console
-some of Ferdi's fancy crossmember bushings
-CF hood with Aerocatch latches and legit Cossie vents / RMM grille (will all be painted along with the front bumper because I'm sick of it looking haggard)
-EG hatch spoiler
-MX3 mudflaps
-Quickor rear sway bar

I'd like to get it dynoed at some point (maybe after fixing the stupid ****ing exhaust manifold) and throw another trans with a welded diff in it and see how fast it will go, but I'm not sure either of those will happen before the motor comes out.

The next step after the S13 is done and reliable is to pull the GTR for a mild N/A setup (cams, cam gears, header, smaller exhaust, etc) so it will go through emissions and give me the chance to do exhaust seals and figure out a restrictor/decent oil return for the Holset.

edit: also I guess since Cody mentioned the video in the ROTM nomination I'll add it here-

OH man you weren't kidding when you said that thing runs rich. o_O I'm a bit more taken by surprise at the AFRs under light load acceleration than i am with them under boost, though. Does it always do that?

[atomicEGT]

yeah, pretty much. the AFRs do some wonky things sometimes, but they're more or less solid when they need to be.

[atomicEGT]

getting the idea that the transmission is tired of putting up with my ****. occasional grinds going into gear the last few days.

also, need to replace the lines going to the catch can, they've cracked somehow and are adding to the underhood oiling issue. need to do some work on my sister's car and then it's time for this thing to come apart.

took this the other day:


how I feel about it in winter:

[CODY004WD]

I threw stock suspension on my wagon for the winter, and it does way better in the snow now. Maybe the k-sports are making it worse for you in the snow?

[atomicEGT]

probably. the stock suspension got crushed with the PGT, I was thinking about just raising the K-Sports up a bit to see if that helped. it's way less capable than it should be, and I ruined the **** out of the front lip driving it to work in a snowstorm, which is really irritating since it looks all haggard now.

[CODY004WD]

I think the firmness of decent suspension causes under/oversteer in slippery conditions too easily. I think the slop/roll is what helps so much. But height and clearance are good too.

[mx-3_4evr]

I will ALWAYS love escort wagons, specially HY35 powered ones You should of kept that M-factory LSD you had at one point

[atomicEGT]

I think the firmness of decent suspension causes under/oversteer in slippery conditions too easily. I think the slop/roll is what helps so much. But height and clearance are good too.

That's not the problem I'm having though- I think snow is building up under the car and making it hard to get traction.

[atomicEGT]

I will ALWAYS love escort wagons, specially HY35 powered ones You should of kept that M-factory LSD you had at one point

I probably would have broken it or the transmission by now.

[DuRWooD]

My winter cars have always been lowered on not too stiff springs. I get crazy amounts of snow here, and love the way my car handles it, often with the bumper plowing, and snow coming up over the hood. I get the engine bay packed with snow sometimes, so I'm thinking about a skid plate.

I think the key to deep snow driving is narrow knobby tires, and not too stiff of a spring.