What have you done to your MSP today?

[livelyjay]

Decided to work off some steam and refinish my two pairs of headlights. One pair will be going back on the car in OEM form. The other pair will be used to transfer my current HID kit into and sell on this forum.

Begin HL1/HL2

Finish HL1/HL2

Second pair before clear coat

Finish HL3/HL4

 

[ilovewheels]

just got back from an open track day practice at a local track, got more laps than I can count in tonite. Quick question though...does anyone who tracks their car ever experience problems with the back end getting loose? Felt as if the back end wanted to keep stepping out, not sure if I've already asked but I guess I will again. I played around with dampening on the rear and it helped a little but I have no experience in setting up a car so I dunno lol. it was fun either way.
(quick cell shots)
celly1 by korbancorbett, on Flickr
celly by korbancorbett, on Flickr

 

[rally2003]

I don't know what setup you have, but if you don't want so much rotation start with the little things first then move up. Start with tire pressure and then work your way through rear suspension adjustments if possible sway bar adjustments. My car rotates a lot at lower speed for autoX and not so much for track. Also your spring rates and tire size are a huge factor. I run a 255 front and 225 rear to help rotate more. The more square of a setup the less it will slide around. With springs I run a higher spring rate in the rear than front to stiffen the rear for more rotation. Lastly it is FWD lol A lot of rotation from the rear of a fwd car is due because of the driver. Corner entrance and exit speed along with throttle control are huge especially if you even slightly lift the transfer of weight shifts dramatically.

 

[ilovewheels]

thanks I appreciate the help. As far as tires go I run a square 245/40 setup, no sway bar adjustments available right now, and spring rates are like 8k/6k(mayb 8k/8k lol) I believe. Some of the drivers yesterday were real helpful with driving tips but I'm just getting acquainted with the cars characteristics on a track. Usually I'm just fooling around in the canyons but yesterday was my first time I had substantial track time to try out different lines and so on. Definitely a good experience

 

[rally2003]

Just need more seat time at the track. You'll get there.

 

[Gabi]

Decided to work off some steam and refinish my two pairs of headlights. One pair will be going back on the car in OEM form. The other pair will be used to transfer my current HID kit into and sell on this forum.

Begin HL1/HL2

Finish HL1/HL2

Second pair before clear coat

Finish HL3/HL4

What are you using to restore them?

 

[ilovewheels]

Just need more seat time at the track. You'll get there.

ya, driving is easy...driving fast, now that's another story haha

 

[323]

ya, driving is easy...driving fast, now that's another story haha

im also a noob. been meaning to make a thread for my own questions as i went to an open track once and while it was fun, i feel i did horrible. i think a good starting point for you is to lower your rear tire pressure. less pressure, more grip. then try decreasing rear damper settings a few clicks at a time. less stiff, more grip.

rally2003, does that sound about right?

 

[IllaNoizeTV]

So Zealous and I removed the carpet and sealed up the leaks from which it was leaking water every time it rained. So im praying that its fixed now. I still have the idle issue where it Idles very low, there's loss of power, and stalls every time its just idling and not moving until engine is warm. Once its warm, runs fine, no problems. Egr was replaced, maf was replaced, smoke tested and did a boost leak test and no vacuum leaks or boost leaks, iac valve replaced, spark plugs are good and coil packs are good. I'm getting the code p0090 which I think its a bad fuel pressure control solenoid. Well see on Monday. Gonna get it checked

 

[googoo1oo]

Kinda quiet around here... well im getting this dual gauge cluster ready for install. When I got it it was in decent shape but I wanted it to look nicer so I decided I was going to sand it smooth and refinish it. Here it is prepped and sanded:

[URL=http://s280.photobucket.com/user/googoo1oo/media/11_zpsmxouhuqd.jpg.html][/URL]

Here it is after refinishing with a badass paint that when it dries looks identical to the factory molded plastic:

[URL=http://s280.photobucket.com/user/googoo1oo/media/after%201_zpsghql73eo.jpg.html][/URL]

And a close-up:

[URL=http://s280.photobucket.com/user/googoo1oo/media/after%202_zpsyeha7alw.jpg.html][/URL]

 

[googoo1oo]

Also that carpet job looks like it was a lot of fun!

 

[IllaNoizeTV]

Also that carpet job looks like it was a lot of fun!

Lmao. That's funny. It was a huge PITA. especially in the 100+ degree Florida weather. But I'm happy we finally got it done. Next is the idle issue I can't seem to find. [emoji53]

 

[livelyjay]

What are you using to restore them?

I used the Sylvania restore kit that you can get off of Amazon. It's a glorified pack of sand paper, but it comes with some activating spray and clear coat. Not sure what the activating spray is, but it takes out the yellowing from the plastic. The it's 400, 1000, 2000 grit paper and then a rubbing compound. I added 600 and 800 grit after the 400 just because I had it laying around. The clear coat is the key though and really makes them look brand new again.

 

[livelyjay]

Kinda quiet around here... well im getting this dual gauge cluster ready for install. When I got it it was in decent shape but I wanted it to look nicer so I decided I was going to sand it smooth and refinish it. Here it is prepped and sanded:

How do you get the body filler to blend nicely with the plastic? I started mine, but the body filler has an abrupt cut off with the plastic.

 

[ilovewheels]

here's a video of one of my runs from my last track day.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oec9Hy1OEIY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[googoo1oo]

the whole process took me about 7 or 8 days to do. when I got it there was some chips here and there and a bubble in the plastic that needed to be gone. lucky for me the maker did a good job there wasn't any sharp or abrupt edges to deal with but I did do a lot of sanding and painting waiting for the paint to dry and re-sanding and re-painting until it was where I wanted it in the end i'm really happy with the results. it looks like it was molded in the factory.

 

[googoo1oo]

ilovewheels that looks super fun!!

 

[OThree.5]

Kinda quiet around here... well im getting this dual gauge cluster ready for install. When I got it it was in decent shape but I wanted it to look nicer so I decided I was going to sand it smooth and refinish it. Here it is prepped and sanded:

[URL=http://s280.photobucket.com/user/googoo1oo/media/11_zpsmxouhuqd.jpg.html][/URL]

Here it is after refinishing with a badass paint that when it dries looks identical to the factory molded plastic:

[URL=http://s280.photobucket.com/user/googoo1oo/media/after%201_zpsghql73eo.jpg.html][/URL]

And a close-up:

[URL=http://s280.photobucket.com/user/googoo1oo/media/after%202_zpsyeha7alw.jpg.html][/URL]

What kind of paint is that?

 

[hornsfan10609]

just got back from an open track day practice at a local track, got more laps than I can count in tonite. Quick question though...does anyone who tracks their car ever experience problems with the back end getting loose? Felt as if the back end wanted to keep stepping out, not sure if I've already asked but I guess I will again. I played around with dampening on the rear and it helped a little but I have no experience in setting up a car so I dunno lol. it was fun either way.

One observation I have is that you are running massive tires and 9" wheels all around as well as coilovers. That much grip on the front is going to make the back feel loose. A stock suspension MSP is a great car to learn performance driving in, but you are starting with a modified car. The coilovers and wheel setup make a huge difference in how the car behaves and every change you make to the suspension will affect one or more characteristics of the car.

 

[hornsfan10609]

1574 is still running 14psi and I reallly need to swap the wastegate and turn it down..... But damn it is so much fun!!! I upset a guy in a turbo volvo the other day, a kid in an eclipse GS-T asked if I used NOS lmfao, pulled about a half a car on a lightly modded MS3 from a 2nd gear run, and a local buddy with a yellow MSP was about 2 cars behind from a run in 3rd. This car is fast, kinda want to earn some bragging rights before I turn the boost back down.