Intake Install from Hell

I wanted to get a PasswordJDM dry carbon intake (a.k.a the whale penis among the SCCA STR crowd) since we started this build but without a hood to accommodate the snorkel, it really wasn't a good option. I bought the intake shortly after I received my Mugen hood but didn't get a chance to get it installed until now.  With the racing season now over, it was the perfect time to head over to SJF to work on the car before putting her away for the winter.

PasswordJDM Dry Carbon Intake and Cooling Plate - 10-28-2018

Due to the finicky nature of this install, under normal circumstances, the install of this intake is supposed to take around 2-3 hours if you take your time. Unfortunately, this would not be the case for me since the snorkel is supposed to sit exactly where my Setrab oil cooler sits so it took us all day to get it done. We didn't really have too many options for relocating the cooler since the lines weren't long enough to move to the other side. We eventually settled on simply lowering it and moving it closer to the AC condenser. Removing the driver side bracket allowed for the cooler to be screwed directly onto the radiator support. For the passenger side, we were able to reuse the mounting bracket but SJF had extend it to reach the cooler's new location. The horn had to be moved to the other side and extend the wiring to reach it.

Old cooler location

New cooler location

Now that the cooler was out of the way, the snorkel was able to be installed in the correct location to perfectly suck in cold air right from the bumper opening.

Snorkel installed

The next bit of trouble was the oil cooler lines. We routed them this past winter over the frame cross member because there was plenty of space there but unfortunately for today's install that's also exactly where the bottom of the intake chamber was supposed to sit. Rather than relocating the lines, I opted to just cut parts of the bottom of the intake chamber for clearance. I'm already getting nice cold air via the snorkel and I'm not getting any heat soak from the header due to my vented hood anyway so there was really no performance hit by doing this. My extra large radiator also caused fitment problems and we had to trim some of that intake on that side too to clear the mounts for the radiator fans. The fitment of the two intake chambers wasn't that great either. We had to trim the opening to allow the two parts to fit together without interference and after a few hours of slowly trimming, we finally got it fitting properly.

Intake chamber trimmed to fit. 

We got the intake cover on and after playing around with the dry carbon cooling plate with the cut out specifically for this intake, we finally got the hood to close. The top of the intake chamber just touches the frontmost vent on the Mugen hood but it's not really a problem. The other downside of this intake is that you can't use the stock hood prop anymore. I could use hood struts but with the Mugen hood weighing close to nothing, it's not really recommended.

Everything fitting perfectly now - 10-28-2018

Password JDM dry carbon cooling plate - 10-28-2018

The final challenge was putting on the bumper again. The right side of the snorkel actually hits part of the grill so that needed trimming as well.

Snorkel behind the trimmed grill - 10-28-2018

This whole day was pretty much an exercise of patience. Measure, trim, fit, remove, measure, trim, fit, rinse and repeat to satisfaction. Big thanks to SJF Performance for putting up with what will forever be dubbed "The Intake Install from Hell". I'll have to go back on the dyno to measure the difference but my butt dyno definitely felt a difference on the drive home with the nice cool air rushing into the intake. In VTEC it also sounds really great!

Other miscellaneous fixes today included tightening the brake cylinder brace that somehow vibrated itself loose and tightening up the slack on the throttle cable.

First Oil Analysis

I wish I had done this more regularly before but I guess there's a first time for everything. I sent the oil sample I gathered from the last oil change before I went to The Glen to Blackstone Labs and the results seem good considering some track miles in there. It'll be good to see how this trends going forward but the years of racing seem to have not had any measurable negative effect on the engine health so far.

Blackstone Labs oil sample results - 10-23-2018

Watkins Glen with Hooked on Driving

The return to The Glen was as fun as I imagined it would be. I don't do track days for competition, only to have fun, so a successful track day for me means checking three boxes and those are:

• Are you alive?
• Did you have fun?
• Is the car still in one piece?

This event checked all three, with the fun component fulfilled in spades.

Watkins Glen International - 10-18-2018

The day didn't start off too well though. The temperatures had dipped into the low 40s overnight and I woke up to a steady cold rain shower. Not exactly what you want returning to a historic track where the cost of a mistake often means smacking into a blue armco at speed.

Watkins Glen International - 10-18-2018

Although the first session was very wet, the sun did occasionally pop out and the wind allowed for drying conditions but we still had to be very careful on any of the painted surfaces as those seemed to refuse to dry at all. The event ran pretty smoothly. All the run groups ran on time and there were no incidents to speak of on the track which is pretty good for a track that's notorious for claiming a few cars each event. Unfortunately, I didn't run any session where I didn't hit some traffic but it was still pretty manageable. Not too bad considering my run group had around 40 or so cars. I managed a mere 2:25 on RE71Rs in these conditions. I suspect that's not a great time but since I never recorded times before at least I now have my baseline for the next time I come up here.

 Laps 6-8 of Session 3 - 2:25 on Lap 8
Watkins Glen - 10-18-2018

That ends the 2018 motorsports season for Bumblestook. I've got a new intake to install but in general, I will just be getting her ready to be tucked away for the winter. It's been an incredible year with her transformation and she's exceeded my expectations in every single way. She truly is the one S2000 to do it all for me.

Car setup notes to self:

• Increase front compression by 3 clicks to combat rear twitchiness under braking.
• Ran 30/28psi cold pressures.
• Car felt very neutral. I like this setup.
• Front toe might have slipped. Steering wheel slightly angled to the left now. 

Ready for The Glen

One of the things I wanted to do this year with Bumblestook was to go back to Watkins Glen. After a successful shakedown at NYST a few weeks ago, all she needed was fresh oil and a nut and bolt before I make the return to The Glen a reality next weekend.

Oil sample taken for analysis - 10/6/18

I figured while I was doing the oil change anyway I might as well get a sample to send over to Blackstone laboratories to get an oil analysis done.

6 fresh quarts of Amsoil 10W-30 - 10/6/2018

Going over the car was a good idea. A lot of bolts had worked their way loose such as sway bar end link, subframe bolts, header side engine mount and even bolts for the doors. She might be a street car now but she still retains a lot of her race car DNA under the surface so it's really no surprise things vibrate themselves loose.

Oil filter stopper

One thing I absolutely don't want vibrating loose is the oil filter. It's never happened to me before but it has been known to happen. On a car that has bolts with Loctite vibrate loose, it only makes sense to add some extra safeguards here. The filter is always properly tightened but as an additional piece of reassurance, we installed an oil filter stopper. Since I have a Mocal sandwich plate, the bracket had to be bent out to line it up but it works quite well. It's attached on one end to the motor mount and then onto a hose clamp secured to the oil filter to prevent it from backing out. 

There are a few things that I want to install and/or address after the season is over but for now, she's mechanically sound and ready for some fun up the esses.

Maintenance Log:
53,035 miles - 6 qt Amsoil 10W-30