Lane's SCA - Project 92 SC

Project 92 SC - 2002 Project Log.

1/5/02 - Removed the front fascia (which will be replaced by one for a '95), and all the plastic around the radiator for directing the airflow (there's a bunch of it). Yanked one of the popup light assemblies (gonna save some real weight here), but it looks like fabbing a few brackets will be necessary to hold the turn signal lenses & body panels that cover the popup light assemblies.

1/26/02 - I decided to keep the popup light assemblies in place so I wouldn't have to fabricate brackets for one of the front fender mounting points, the turn signal lenses, and the painted body panels that are attached to the popups. It's ok, since most of the weight in them was the lights and motors which are now removed. Also gave the 93 motor that will be going into the car a good degreasing and cleaning.

3/2/02 - I finished filling the lock hole of the new trunk panel with fiberglass. Also re-contoured some of the new front fascia, removing extra plastic meant to be used as mounting points that won't exist on this car. Took delivery of a true short shifter from Chris and blasted/powdercoated it - it'll be installed later when the interior is closer to finished. Received some Sparco hood pins for both the hood and trunk, and blasted/powdercoated those also to match the car's paint. I've also been scouring the web recently to find the best deals on race seats, coilover springs, lightweight wheels, etc.

4/02 - I picked up a set of new-for-2002 Konig Helium lightweight wheels, weighing in at 11 lbs apiece. My Kumho race tires will now reside on these wheels, and I'm looking forward to the next day on the track to get some use out of them. Also received a used complete rear disc brake setup for a great deal which will be added to the spare parts bin and provide a donor caliper to replace a bad one currently on the car. The parking brake mechanism that is a part of the rear calipers tends to freeze up over time if the owner doesn't regularly use the parking brake. A Corbeau Forza race seat was also purchased and mounted (after I hacked off & mounted the stock seat rails) to check seat angle & height. This will help me determine if I have to invest in a set of Corbeau Saturn mounting rails or if the modified stockers will do.

I completely removed the Carrera suspension and put the stock parts back on. The now-modified coilover housings will be blasted and powdercoated while the car is away (more on that later). Picked up a set of 4 used rebound-adjustable Koni strut inserts for a good deal. God bless the Internet.

5/02 - Not all that much has been happening in my garage lately. The car has been trailered to a shop for one of the upgrades that I don't have the expertise to do and will be away for a while. :) A full writeup with pictures will follow when the car returns.

I've blasted and powdercoated the Carrera coilover housings (pic on the suspension page) and had the upper strut mounts milled out to accept the larger strut shaft. Now if I could only decide what spring rate to run, I'd be set (and that's something I'll have to do pretty soon).

A spare set of 4 brake calipers was also recently blasted and powdercoated. The calipers will eventually be a color I have not yet decided (vote below), but for now, they have received only a test coat to see how the powder covers & adheres. I'm new to doing powdercoating myself and have to learn somewhere. If you're interested in seeing how parts have been turning out and how to do the job yourself - check out my powdercoating page.

A '93 motor with 47k on it is sitting on a stand in the garage, which is one of the car's next upgrades. The current motor has a lot of miles and is pretty tired, and I wouldn't want to risk it on the track. The new motor was purchased last winter for a great deal, and was even cheaper than a rebuild would have been. I picked up a Fidanza lightweight flywheel off a guy on eBay, and fabricated an EGR blockoff plate for the motor as well (all throttle body vacuum lines, EGR valve, EGR solenoid, canister purge solenoid, and charcoal canister will soon see the inside of the garbage can). Also picked up a billet strut brace and some different plug wires from SPS.

6/02 - I finally decided what spring rate to run on the coilovers and ordered a set of Carrera springs off the web (more details on the suspension page). Finally received the braided stainless brake lines I've been waiting for from SPS. Also ordered & received an ultra-lightweight battery (thanks to Deebs for the great find).

7/6/02 - Received the seat tracks that have been on order from Corbeau for months (for the Forza seats). If you ever need these, order them a long time in advance.

Made the trip down to Rockford IL to pick up the car. The rollcage fabricator has had it for a couple of months, and the job is finally finished. What a great job these guys did - you can see pics on the cage fabrication page.

But, since all the glass had to be removed for the cage job and it proved to be impossible to get the windshield out without breaking it... the car had to be taken for its next big upgrade ahead of schedule.

7/13/02 - The windshield, rear window, and triangular side windows were replaced with Lexan by Bob at ProGlass (thanks again to Deebs for the recommendation). Lexan is much lighter and more impact resistant than glass. (Pic at left is shown before the edges of the windows were blacked out.)

7/25/02 -Received a 5-point Crow camlock harness that I'd ordered. SPS now had their braided stainless brake lines in stock once again, and a set of those arrived at my doorstep as well. These are both some seriously nice products..

8/24/02 -Received the higher-rate Carrera springs I'd ordered thru the mail. I was also thrilled that SPS finally had Energy Suspension's full bushing set in stock. Wow, this set has a lot of parts and replaces virtually every piece of stock rubber in car's suspension.

8/31/02 - I finally tackled the job of replacing the high-mileage 92 motor with a low-mileage 93. For the average driveway mechanic with air tools and a hoist, it's not too difficult to get the motor out. Installing the motor takes more time, due to having to look up torque values on all the bolts, and consult the factory service manuals to make sure all the electrical connections are correct.

Since the '91 & '92 motors were different than all the other years for crank timing, the '93 PCM needed to be transplanted along with the '93 motor. All that was required was filing down some plastic on the electrical connectors so they'd plug into the new PCM - the pin-outs were the same. It seems like the '93 PCM doesn't get along perfectly with the '92 ABS computer though, as the ABS idiot light stays on until the car starts rolling. I'll have to try a '93 ABS computer and see if it takes care of it.

Along with the motor, a HP-coated header, Fidanza lightweight flywheel, Accel coils, SPS plug wires, Dyna-Batt lightweight racing battery, and a Centerforce clutch were installed.

9/14/02 - Now that I had the springs on hand, I did the final assembly of the coilovers. The fronts were installed, along with SPS front wheel spacers, SPS billet strut brace, and SPS stainless braided brake lines. You can see more pictures and info on the suspension page.

As I began disassembly of the car's stock rear suspension by removing the hubs, I had the bad luck of rounding off two of a hub's 4 mounting nuts due to a wrecked socket. Doh! Since I've got a spare set of rear knuckles and the Energy Suspension poly bushing set needed to be installed anyway, it wasn't long before the entire rear crossmember was off the car and the suspension was completely apart.

A warning though - if you have a lot of miles on your car (along with rusty suspension parts), it will require a LOT of work to get everything apart. Most likely, you'll need a shop press to get the long bolts out of the rear knuckles too. While it was all apart, new rear hubs/bearings, the SPS 4-way rear anti-sway bar, and SPS rear wheel spacers were also installed.

At this time, the Crow 5-point camlock harness was also installed.

9/28/02 - I picked up a '93 ABS computer from a junkyard last weekend, and it did take care of the idiot light problems I had. With the help of a shop press, I also finished the installation of all the poly suspension bushings. This was a very time-consuming job, but their fit and finish was excellent.

With the car as close to being mobile as it has been so far, I took it for a ride on the local backroads. Sounds like there's some noise coming from the rear suspension somewhere that I'll have to track down. I also received an unexpected surprise during the ride also - the stock exhaust system decided to leave the car. The muffler bracket broke, and the muffler's bouncing weight twisted and broke the pipe as it comes out of the resonator. Not a huge deal, as the car will be receiving a new exhaust soon anyway. It was amazing that the original exhaust lasted this long.

I've finished painting the edges of the lexan side windows, and have powdercoated their screws mirror black to match the car's paint. A bit of weather stripping is being applied to help keep any water out, and the windows are being reinstalled in the car. Since the masking tape removal from the painted lexan made a less-than-perfect painted edge, I've decided to use black vinyl instead of paint on the edges of the windshield and rear window. We'll see how that goes.

10/8/02 - The black vinyl applied to the edges of the lexan worked pretty well. It's not 100% perfect due to the difficulty of cutting on a curve, but it'll do. Also had to lay down some weatherstripping before re-installing the lexan, otherwise the car wouldn't even be close to being waterproof.

Took the car to a garage down the street and had them put a hanger on what's left of the stock exhaust. This is only temporary until I address the exhaust system, but I want to get the car ready for a track date that's coming up in a few weeks.

I finally found the noise that was coming from the rear of the car. I had thought it was from the suspension, but it turned out that aftermarket pins I have holding the trunk lid closed needed some adjustment.

10/14/02 - Changed the oil, and got an alignment. This was the first alignment I've gotten with serious negative camber dialed in, and there were a few issues (you can read about them on my suspension page). Only one week until the car's first day on the track.

10/20/02 - Participated in an event at Gingerman Raceway - details and my thoughts are on the results page, and you can see photos and video HERE.

10/26/02 - Bought a junk '96 SC2 from a local body shop for an incredible deal. It has been in a rollover, but it will be a great parts car. Time to see how fast I can strip it, and chop up what's left for the trash to haul away. Gotta free up the garage stall it's taking up asap.

12/29/02 - Working in my spare time, it didn't take long to strip the car. The spaceframe seems to weigh about 300 lbs empty. I added a new page in the projects section with some photos of stripping and cutting apart the parts car. Destruction sure is fun.

Took a look at the results from the poll that I had posted asking everyone to help me decide what color to use as an accent color on my '92. I will be using yellow, which was the color that had the most votes. Thanks to everyone that voted and helped me decide.

I also started powdercoating a few pieces in yellow - you can see them on the powdercoating page.