YR523M EK sedan

[iwearmoccos]

I think I recall you mentioning that in your thread, that sucks. There's another one scheduled for the 8th of March which I might attend after re-tensioning my belt, but it really wasn't much fun when the steering didn't want to cooperate

I didn't investigate it too much, though it seems to be the same pre and post new power steering fluid.
If tensioning the belt works for you, I might follow suit.

[Austro]

Long time no post. First off, I finally polished my headlights properly. They are far from perfect but it's a hell of an improvement.



I started doing a timing belt + tensioner + water pump job about three and a half weeks ago since the car was almost at 300k mileage. As per usual, I managed to screw something up - in this case I was so fixated on retensioning the new belt correctly and not messing anything up that I was almost finished (P/S belt tension and valve cover to go) when I realised that I completely forgot to put the lower timing cover back on. I threw in the towel at this point and didn't touch the car for another week as I was on leave and had plenty of other things to distract me, haha.



I didn't use the spark plug seals as they looked like they weren't exactly the same as the ones already in the valve cover.







Front main looked alright, not that I ordered a replacement anyway because money, cbf and hopefully B swap happens this year anyway. Yes, the sump gasket still needs doing I was worried about the corrosion around where the water pump gasket would seat, but it hasn't presented as an issue thus far. The old belt didn't look to be in bad shape, no cracks or anything unlike when the timing belt on my Prelude was replaced.



A few days later, this arrived. Some of you might have seen this for sale since a little while ago on Facebook? Got the whole setup including sensors, fuel rail, injectors, vacuum box and lines, Pipercross plenum and filter. It has the manifold for P72 head and it will cost just over $500 landed to obtain the one to suit PR3 instead. Not complaining for the price I paid though, but that said this is going to be a shelf ornament for a long time.



A few more days later again, and my awesome mates surprised me with a Rywire loom for my birthday. Since the last post, I've found out that there will be a sort of forced change to my living situation in the future, so I made the decision to try put my C7 in the EK before the year is out. I always talked about potentially getting a Rywire loom to simplify putting a C2 in, and despite that not being the go anymore, it'll be nice to work with a clean loom for sure.



After finishing up the major service, I also replaced all the small coolant hoses: thermostat bypass, 3 x heater hoses, 3 x IACV hoses.







When I went to start the car up for the first time after completing the work, I found that the battery was pretty cooked. With a brand new replacement the next day, it cranked harder but really seemed to struggle for some reason. Eventually I realised that I had rekt the IACV from getting water into it (long story), but even after attempting to rectify the issue and finally getting the car to run, there was a loud screeching noise. I got one of my mates to come over to help diagnose the issue and it turns out that the AC compressor bearing was shot - no more noise with the belt removed. With that hurdle dealt with, the car displayed the usual dodgy IACV symptoms even with the coolant bled so I hunted around at a couple of wreckers trying to find a replacement with a week to go until Japnats. One place only sold them as a package deal with the throttle body and sensors included for $125. Thankfully I was able to source a crusty replacement from a guy who B16 swapped his EK and was giving away his Y4 for free. The IACV on the right is how it looked after I cleaned it up. I was pretty worried that bolting it up with the old, flattened gasket would cause issues but my mate suggested I use some Hondabond and it's been ok.

I punted the car around a bunch tonight to try and burn part of the full tank worth of month old fuel and it seems to be running fine. SP-G is in, spanner check has been completed, oil and plugs change done. 32 hours until Japnats, next post to follow on Sunday I guess!

[Austro]

The weather didn't look promising at the track, and sure enough some mild rain opened up halfway through my first session and I spun at the dipper at the end of the first session. I kept driving in the rain which was a good learning experience, although I did shit bricks when I was pushing it one lap and didn't notice the guy in front had spun out at the corner exit until I was mid-corner. It caught me off guard and I lifted for a split second but thankfully I didn't spin straight into him (see above video). I matched my previous clubman PB pace of 71.5 fairly comfortably, but was then held up as I didn't get a point-by from the guy in front of me for the rest of the final session. They did announce an extra session as the track was drying up, but I decided to just have a break and wait for sprint config. A faint drizzle had started up and I wasn't feeling great after the close call plus not being let through.

Due to the rain and a few offs, they only ran four hot laps per session on sprint instead of the usual five. I manned up and attempted to hold 140 through T1 on the final lap of the second session, and found that the car actually stuck with a only a bit of tyre squeal and understeer starting from the apex onwards. I pushed hard on T2 as well and found the same result and managed to cut down from my previous best of 67.1 to a 66.3. It's safe to say that my faith in the car has been restored, I did turn down the rear damping by two clicks compared to last time (I think) but the good feels were mostly due to having the balls to push it and feel for the limits again. On the next session when the sun was out in force, I gave it another go on the second hotlap and ran a 66.5 despite locking up for a good second when braking for the dipper and the track feeling a lot greasier, so I'm fairly confident that with improved driving I can run a high 65 next time I'm out.

I've priced up the remainder of the bits needed for the B swap at just under 4k. This includes a Mishimoto half rad, Hasport mounts, HD clutch and lightened flywheel (Toda maybe?), most OEM seals & gaskets save for HG and valve stem seals, all OEM coolant hoses, and the standard bits like timing belt/water pump kit, fluids, filters, leads, plugs, O2 sensors etc. I'm hoping to run at least one, if not two more events with the D series before it happens and I'd really like to push the D series for as long as I can, but I'd also really like to get this swap done before I have to move house.

Not sure when the next update will be but hopefully I'm back out at QR sometime within the next four to eight weeks

[mlracing]

Nice man, always stoked with progress. You're not wrong about the manning up part of it, sometimes that's the hardest thing! If you'd like another option for the aftermarket parts you are after for the swap send me a message or email, can help

[Toddxxx]

Nice work man. Hopefully I can get up there next year for jap nats

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[Austro]

Nice work man. Hopefully I can get up there next year for jap nats

Do it! I remember seeing talk last year about you making it up for that japnats haha

[Toddxxx]

yeah i just never organised it this year. i should really do it for next year
remind me to!

[Devcon]

wooo keep it up! any more updates?

[Austro]

wooo keep it up! any more updates?

Been meaning to post but have been too lazy since nothing much has happened haha.



I spotted a set of FN01R-Cs that were posted up for sale within a minute of the post being created, and the price was too good to pass up so I jumped on it. Threw a set of RE003s on that weekend on the last day of the 4 for 3 deal and they are now my new daily wheels. They only came with three caps and I immediately ordered a fourth off eBay only to find out soon after that the little circular retaining clip that holds the cap in place was missing from one of the existing caps :/ so I'm currently not running any. They have a bit of a cleaner look capless anyway, so I'm not super fussed. I also threw caution to the wind one weekend and put the SR3s in since they had been sitting in my room for about eight months at that point. I'll be getting them modplated once the B swap is in so I can knock it over at the same time. Speaking of the B swap, I would have quite a few parts accumulated for it right now but life (and buying the aforementioned wheels) got in the way so all I've acquired since the last post is a second hand set of Hasport mounts. I know they technically aren't needed for the swap but I've been meaning to replace mine for a while, and it makes sense to do it while the engine is out.

I was really tempted to run a beginner's session at Lakeside a few weeks ago but passed up on the opportunity as it was the wiser financial decision, also because the front end noises presented again despite appearing to mostly go away after I replaced the front endlinks with some cheapo Febest units. I've heard that replacing the steering rack bushes is a bitch on an RHD car but I'll try suss out ordering some to put in before the next track day which will be at QR on the 12th of July. Aside from the usual fluids to be changed, I'll also be finally replacing my axle nuts and installing new OEM rear hubs before then. Fingers crossed for 65s on sprint and 70s on clubman.

[Toddxxx]

good luck man!

[Austro]

I've been waiting for some on-track photos to be finalised before posting about the track day, but I'm not sure when they'll be done. Unlike every other Time Attack ran event I've done before, they ran sprint layout before clubman much to the disappointment of most of my group of mates who were in attendance. We had a decently sized group with a few first-time track attendees (330?whp S15, AE111, AP1) and a few people running cars for the first time (SR20 GXE10, tivo, EK1+8). Only my car and the DC2R were essentially unchanged from the last event. It showered in the morning but the track was dry and weather overcast when we arrived for the afternoon session.

Natsoft shat itself for the sprint sessions, but from what I can recall I ran a 68.4 taking it easy in the first session out. The car felt pretty unstable for the last two hotlaps, but it turns out my tyre pressures were way up due to only setting them to 31psi before heading out. I've previously never bothered to figure out the rough increase in pressure in the first two sessions and preempt it by lowering them prior to starting the day. I think the urgency to PB on sprint made me realise how much potential time I was wasting by not working on this before. Since my spinout at T1 in December last year I've been kind of babying it for the first two sessions, but now that I feel more comfortable with the car and how it drives I feel like I can up the ante pretty quickly in the first session. I surprisingly ran a 66.6 in the second session which is 0.3 seconds off PB pace, the lap felt much slower as the car didn't seem to handle the high speeds of T1 and T2 as well as it did at japnats and I was still braking for them and not powering on as early. I was barely powering on as much as I did for japnats during the dipper and crossover while transitioning, so overall I felt like I wasn't pushing the car as hard as I did when I ran similar times. My thoughts at the time were that I wasn't committing enough to powering on more/earlier to settle the car, and maybe the specs of my fresh alignment were making the car feel more understeery on exit? I took my car to a different shop for an alignment in the hopes that they would actually adjust my camber to the specs I wanted. The rear was previously at -1.3, and I had to brought out to -1.7 and toe zeroed from -2.5 ish. I didn't get an alignment before japnats so I have no idea how long it's been at toe out for.

With all that in mind, I figured I might be able to nab a 65.9 if I carried the T1 & 2 speeds from japnats and pushed harder for the slower corners. In hindsight, I realised that I should have been going flat foot earlier but also straightening up earlier to use more of the track and not wasting time spinning the inside wheel over the crest. On the third lap of the third session, I didn't brake for T1 and the car understeered more than it used to even with less throttle input and I ran onto the ripple strip at the exit. Knowing how bumpy they are, I figured the back end would step out and thankfully I was able to catch it. I tried not braking again two laps later and accelerating earlier, but didn't make the turn and arced off onto the grass and then into the gravel. At the time it felt like understeer, but looking back on the footage I found that I had to correct some very slight oversteer just after initial turn-in, and then I actually hit the inside curb which pushed my car out and induced another bout of oversteer which set my line too wide after I was done correcting it. I'm no expert, but I think the weather on the day was pretty good, so I feel like the RS3s just aren't performing as well as they used to even based on how they felt during street driving. I also realised that there is an open window next to where they're usually kept in the storeroom so that probably doesn't help with evaporation/temperature cycles.




I felt pretty average when we started on clubman but I managed to work up to a 71.1 in the first session (previous PB is 71.5), and then in the second session I ran a 70.23 lap followed by a 70.19 even with braking for T1. I felt like the car had a lot more to give as I was still braking too early for dipper and finding more speed on T4. I can't put it down to one single change/improvement, but I'm finding that I can carry a lot more speed through T4 without feeling like the car will spin and accelerate earlier without running out of room. When heading out for the third session, we were informed that we would only get three hot laps. I ran a 70.23 on the second lap but had my final lap thrown out the window due to getting passed by this RX8. There had been no issues for most of the day as we had a private group booked, but I think a novice driver got behind the wheel of the RX8 for the end of the day and joined up with our session. Pretty frustrating, but what can you do. Afterwards my mate who was also driving a D16 EK1 on RS3s mentioned that he was going flat foot after turn-in for T4 and sticking it, which sound about right as I definitely could have used a lot more of the track on exit. This gives me reasonable hope for high 69s next time, but I'm now a bit unsure about cracking 65s for sprint. Brakes still feel mediocre and I can see a small spot of paint that has come off the boster just below the master, so it might need a rebuild sooner than later.



(photo by @knust.media)

Will probably give it one last shot on the 30th of August to run 65s/69s at QR before probably going B swap.

[Toddxxx]

Good stuff man! Imo keep at it with the D until you hit those time goals. Will be so much more satisfying to finally achieve them rather than getting close then putting the B in and beating them. That also means more time to prep the B!

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[Austro]

Good stuff man! Imo keep at it with the D until you hit those time goals. Will be so much more satisfying to finally achieve them rather than getting close then putting the B in and beating them. That also means more time to prep the B!

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I agree, I'd love to keep driving with the D16 for a while until I crunch times at other tracks as well. I feel like I've still got a lot to learn with it, and my original goals were 64s/68s on street tyres haha.

[Austro]

Another awesome snap from @knust.media from July 12th. If you go to the track and you don't get on-track photos, did you really go etc etc lol







Spent a chill afternoon knocking over a few jobs. Got a pair of NTN branded rear hubs for a bargain total of $160 landed and finally popped them in. These ones seemed to be shaped slightly different on the backside and also had ABS rings. The ones I pulled off had a lip protruding around the outer race of the bearing. I'm guessing this is due to old P/Ns getting superceded and the part itself getting generalised. The replacement should hopefully have rectified the occasional humming from the rear, that being said I haven't noticed it much over the combination of cranking tunes and the creaky PCI RTA bushes. On that note, I also pulled them out for the first time since the install 50-60,000 km ago. I wonder if anyone else has put that much mileage on these things in the space of one year lmao.





I wasn't too concerned with the predictable knocking over certain bumps and under certain conditions after initially putting them in, but the creaking at lower speeds that occurred even with normal amounts of suspension articulation on smooth surfaces was really starting to do my head in. Brian from PCI mentioned to give bearing grease ago, and sure enough after a quick wipe down and application of Castrol HTB 2 the issue is completely gone. I'm not sure how long it'll stay like this for, but at least it'll be easy enough to repeat the process when necessary. If it gives me significant grief with future issues I'll just put some Spoon bushes in. I had a quick feel of the actual bushes and there was some radial play in both and what felt like a fair amount of axial play in the RHS unit. I don't remember what they were like brand new and this is probably to be expected, I'm merely commenting on how they're going from what I can tell.





The poly D bushes that came with my EK9 RSB & F7 brace package were looking a bit sad and ovalled when I got them, so I had been intending to replace them for a while. I remembered to tack on a pair of OEM ones to my mate's parts order this time, and I really should have done it ages ago considering it was only $13.30 for the pair. They formed a snug fit around the bar with the D bracket on and the extra material between the bar and the brace was compressed once everything was tightened down properly, which is a good change from the old ones that were probably just coming along for the ride by this point in time.

If I'm motivated, I might order the bushing cup press tool kit off eBay to install my Hardrace front LCA bushes before the 30th of August. I'm also very keen to run gymkhana at Lakeside DTC on the 16th of September if I can get a spot. More updates for tidying up small things soon!

[Austro]

Bought a DA9 a few weekends ago. 1k as is with 163xxx on the clock and partial logbooks - turns out it came from Victoria close to where my Prelude is from. Overall in decent shape, has a decent dent in the hatch and a lot of grease marks that need to be buffed out plus clutch and P/S pump seals. Some of the coolant hoses and the radiator cap need to be replaced too. Was ready to part out and move the Prelude on but then I got depressed about it and now I can't decide what I want to do lol, and I've already registered the DA. More to come on this later.

Engine oil, trans fluid and brake bleed have been done and the EK is ready for QR this upcoming Thursday. I also decided today that I might as well flip my front RS3s to see if it will resolve the seemingly lower levels of grip when trying to hold 140 through T1 in July. Hopefully I can get it sorted in time.