A few updates to my AT.

Simba

New member
Been meaning to get to a few things with the car for some time now, and as the legacy of my "cheap winter car" goes, I always end up working on the bloody thing in the dead of winter when I really need to be driving it. :twisted:

Oh well. I'm pretty pleased with how a lot of stuff turned out. Few things left to go, but she's just about where I want her.

Pardon the clarity of some of the photos, I hate using a flash, but all of the currently available natural light is hampered by snow.

First, did a battery relocation with twin Odyssey dry cells in parallel. Together they provide around 1400 cranking amps for ~20 seconds. 56 Ah total capacity, roughly equivalent to the big optima I used to run up front, but in a very compact size. Also built a custom bracket out of aluminum which is bonded to the spare tire well with the same adhesive that holds a Lotus Elise together. Carpet is largely for appearance though it helps prevent arc welding should a lead slip when removing/installing the batteries. Cable is 0/1 gauge which goes through a 300A circuit breaker. As the batteries are totally sealed I don't need a box, nor have to worry about gasses in the cabin.

batteries.jpg


Second, rear seats go away. It's surprising how heavy they are, and I don't think I've ever actually had anyone in the back of the car.

noseats.jpg


Third, fabbed up a chromoly hatch/harness bar and a support bar that tie the rear seat belt anchors into each other. The lower bar also doubles as a handy way of mounting my audio gear. Both are powdercoated red.

hatchbar.jpg


Speaking of audio gear; I built a custom carbon fiber sub enclosure-- weighs only 10 lbs-- and reorganized things for simplicity and lightness. Also blew the dust off a Rockford Fosgate EPX2 signal processor, which I've always loved. Photos don't really do it justice as I have to either use a very long shutter or a flash-- ick.

audio1.jpg


audio2.jpg


audio3.jpg


Straight intake with a proper AFM mount. It's 3" aluminum with some satellite foil on it. I also engine turned the intercooler core.

straightintake.jpg


Powder coated the valve cover red, went to new magnecor plug wires. I use them on everything else, so I figured the 'four should get some. Also a new 160 amp alternator.

valvecover.jpg


Redid my switch panel and radio surround in CF. The panel is quite a bit larger now as I got rid of the cup holder. Real cars don't need cup holders.

Also dumped the ash tray and lighter and built the AVC-R into the panel. Flash shows all the lovely finger prints on it. :p

switchpanel.jpg


Powdercoated the strut bar, cruise cover, made a fuse box bracket, etc, etc. The black hose is a cooler I built for the IC core that uses a ducted fan tucked away beside the transmission. (3" core is too thick for a fan under the hood)

engineleft.jpg


engineright.jpg


Also did a few other interesting things like more modern HID ballasts, which are about half the size of the old bricks, front diffuser/undertray that I finally got around to finishing, but forgot to take photos of, and some other random crap.

Still have a few things to do like install my poly subframe bushings and some other odds and ends, but she's getting pretty close to where I want her.
 

GT4times2

Moderator
Looking good, Simba. I didn't know you were an audiophile. (Well, how could I, in the first place?, lol). I really like the hatch/harness bar (really nice). Did you fab it yourself?

I'm contemplating removing the rear seats, but with my son, I know he'll want to ride in it once it's rolling. So I may have no choice. I may have to reupholster my rear seats, if anything.

So:

I'm curious, what material are you using for the carpet (where the seat were) ? I'm asking, just in case I may follow suit. Is it the same type of padding/carpet material used for speaker boxes, or is something different? Do tell.

Nice update. And for some reason, I thought you had an EMS controlling things.

And one last question, are you using real CF for the dash panel, or is it plastic?
 

Simba

New member
GT4times2":34t6widz said:
I really like the hatch/harness bar (really nice). Did you fab it yourself?

Yup. TIG welded 1-1/4" 4130 DOM tube and 1/4" end plates. It's very, very strong.

I'm curious, what material are you using for the carpet (where the seat were) ?

Plain 'ol trunk liner, aka sub box carpet. I used dark charcoal, which isn't a perfect color match, but is close enough for my taste. It weighs nothing and is very flexible, very easy to get good results with.

Nice update. And for some reason, I thought you had an EMS controlling things.

G-force chipped ECU for now. I've been teetering on the point of going to an EMS and a full build on the engine, but it's making ~300 whp at the moment, which is about all I really want out of the car. I have other stuff for going faster. :)

And one last question, are you using real CF for the dash panel, or is it plastic?

All the carbon in the car is real. Most pieces, like the sub box, are a wet layup of 3k 2x2 twill carbon, sometimes with a black fiberglass backing if I need extra thickness.
 

Meurz

New member
Some clever mods there Simba, props to the carpet result, looks like a pre formed OEM item!
More pics ftw. 8)
 

deecee

New member
Tasty :) Satellite foil? Where you get that from?And what alternator did you use? I know Powermaster Motorsports is doing a 170amp one
 

smog7

Moderator
looks good simba. have you noticed any differences with the 3" straight intake over the stock system? also, what are your thoughts on the bay area top mount? you've had it for a couple of years now haven't you?

oh, and what does it mean to engine turn an ic core?
 

Simba

New member
smog7":2ihjwobj said:
looks good simba. have you noticed any differences with the 3" straight intake over the stock system?

Perhaps a slight bit more top end, and the turbo is somewhat louder. It's largely a packaging solution as I had other stuff to fit into the space occupied by the factory intake routing.

also, what are your thoughts on the bay area top mount?

Still works fine. The fitment isn't perfect out of the box, and it really needs a bracket to keep it stationary (I added one to the pass. side of the core), but other than that it works great for daily driving.

The only problem is that the core is very thick and there's no room for a fan anywhere near the core, so I had to get creative to move air through it at slower speed.

oh, and what does it mean to engine turn an ic core?

It's an old practice of milling circle patterns into metal. Here's a closeup photo of the process:

EngineTurnClose.JPG
 

darthripley

Moderator
I don't really care for the audio stuff in the backseat area but it was done cleanly so i can respect the work & time put into it.

I'm surprised that you're making 300 or close to it to the wheels with a t3/t4 & the bay area TMIC.
We had unbelievable heat soak with the ARC A2A TMIC which caused the ECU to pull timing etc.
I'd really like to see dyno sheets if you have them mainly because I am trying to decide between a t3/t4 or gt3071r turbo setup.
 

mike325ci

New member
simba, i still want to see your car one of these days... since you are fairly local to me, you know...! plus you are the only person i know that has both an elise and an alltrac like me heh... it looks awesome and well-done!!

any more work done to your car since?
 

CSAlltrac

New member
I really like how your harness bar turned out, I have been kicking around the idea of making a similar bar. Something like this is what I was thinking, you gave me a different idea for mounting the bottom of the bar.
htup_0809_08_z1994_honda_civic_cxmiracle_x_bar.jpg
 

EricGT4

Member
mike325ci":3v9mqfmr said:
simba, i still want to see your car one of these days... since you are fairly local to me, you know...! plus you are the only person i know that has both an elise and an alltrac like me heh... it looks awesome and well-done!!

any more work done to your car since?


I second that. I am in the NY area now and definitely want to check out your trac some time.
 
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