the white car project | update 6.3.2012

[1988GTU]

Some places of employment will fire an employee for having a FB account..... Sorry, it's not worth that risk. If it's a big issue, why not use photobucket? You can post a link and have a password on hand for private PB accounts.

Some places of employment will fire an employee for having a FB account

Seriously? I'd be glad to be fired from such place anyhow enough offtopic.

Yes seriously... and I don't think you'd quit or want to risk getting fired if the job paid fairly well enough to set that small standard aside.

[weba]

Some places of employment will fire an employee for having a FB account

Seriously? I'd be glad to be fired from such place anyhow enough offtopic.

[3X00-Modified]

I can't see that as being legal... Yet I can see a company firing you for using your facebook on the premises or complaining about your job and such on it or complaining about fellow employees on it... But simply having a facebook you'll get fired... A lawyer would LOVE that case...

[Money pit Beretta]

Sorry, thinking about my GF's 2.4 Quad. And it has a chain like my Eco. Tired and stressed out. Not thinking clear.

[3400beretta]

Sorry, thinking about my GF's 2.4 Quad. And it has a chain like my Eco. Tired and stressed out. Not thinking clear.

Dude quad's have chains too. That is an aftermarket belt setup he's running there.

[Money pit Beretta]

Thank you, learned something.

[DOHC_tuner]

Have you considered a electronic powered steering pump? Like the Toyota MR2 i think.

Get a better intake setup weba. Your engine bay screams "wire tuck" I know you can tuck some of those wires behind the intake manifold....thats what I did.

Have you heard any updates on the redesign of the belt kit yet?

[weba]

I got rid of the power steering mainly because it was too light for my taste, so no plans to put any pump back there for now.

Stock intake and t\b will do for now, they are a the biggest restriction on the system and that is next on the list to be replaced, but not for this summer (just want to drive it now, not build). I am going for ITB's in future. I already bought a set of motorcycle ITB's, but sold then because i do need bigger ones. Plan is to use Quad4Rods DCOE adapter and Jenvey 48mm bodies with custom plenum style intake. This will include major changes in the engine bay, so just wait for it.

Also this is Not a show car, so the wire mess have to be tolerated I have toyed with the idea of relocating all the relays & etc inside the fenders to get rid of the all the wire mess except sensors. It's not on the todo-list anytime soon, would also require re-painting the engine bay to make it nice.

Re-design of the belt drive for reproduction street driven engines is on hold for my part. I would have to pull my engine apart to take measurements, so soonest time to do that is next winter.

[weba]

What I've been doing lately:

- Waiting for custom rear axle bushings. The only thing that keeps me driving the car right now.

What I've done since the last update:

- Changed to Walbro fuel pump, I bought 195LPH unit, but the number on the box indicates it's 255LPH..

- Sandblasted and re-painted Fuel tank straps

- Sprayed cavity wax where to where the fuel tank sits.

- In need to make my car actually to be silent on my 'silent-mode' exhaust, i cut open the sideways muffler to see how it can be modified.


This is how it was constructed, no wonder i didn't reach the sound level i was hoping for, and Dynomax calls this a street muffler... HAH!


With limited options to make the muffler actually silent, I stuffed in 80cm of 2" muffler pipe, this Should really do the trick. Lets see what happens.
Also with the muffler re-welded shut, it will most likely only last couple years before rusting.
Then I can just order new one, and modify it with only drill & screws, since I'm now familiar with the design and solution.


Now... Where are those damn bushings, i could already be driving this thing...

[90GTZHO]

Weba i just watched the vid you posted up of your car....









All i have to say is your car is pure sex! Definitely amoung the top five of best Berettas on this board!

Also, i have a manual steering rack in my car right now from an 85 Cavalier. I will be removing it soon as i can stand the tightness of the rack, but you may enjoy it! Its looser than the power rack with no power but tighter than a rack with power. It take the steering from 2.25-2.5 turns up to a 4 turn ratio. It feels good while cruising down the road, but i do alot of tight turning and parallel parking so the manual rack on 17x8's with 225's sucks! If you are interested let me know and when i remove it we will talk more

Difference in size between the power rack and manual. Its WAY light than the power rack too

[weba]

Doesn't that manual rack have like 3+ turns from lock to lock?

[90GTZHO]

its actually 4 turns, but if your looking for a tighter feeling steering wheel with less weight and more tidyness under the hood, its the way to go.

[weba]

Passed the inspections today, so the car is now back in business, I'll update more later.

And the Cackparts bushings are installed too

I may head to road course in Saturday...

[weba]

This is where i spend yesterday. Short description: It's one of the oldest race tracks in this country, in todays standards it's considered slow and 'Motorsports museum', what makes it perfect for Sunday racers without fully built GT-glass cars.

YouTube link for in car video from no-so-slow vehicle.

The track it self has heavy elevation changes lots of corners is considered as hard to really hard, also very limited or none safe-zones, so going out means going into a wall. One who is interested can find lot of videos and stuff online.

It's the first time current setup of the white car sees racetracks.. and it worked like a dream!

I drove something around 20-25 laps (3km circuit) in 5~ lap sessions. I ran the whole lap utilizing 3rd gear, that track is fun to drive, even if you are not pushing it to the limits. I spent my day getting my self more familiar with this car, since it's completely and totally different than when it was stock, and has nothing in common with the black car, except body dimensions.

Also this being a public event, sometimes the track had heavy traffic, and the cars were pretty wide mixture from 600hp purpose built racers to stock family sedans.. Keeping one eye forward and another on rear view mirror that means.

I didn't have friend to take pictures, but i'll add pics someone else took when i see them. Here is one:

Big picture


Oh, and I am completely and totally happy what comes to the brakes\Suspension, they worked really great. Faster track could change that tho, in here I top out the main straight in bit under 160km/h (100mph).

Everything felt really balanced, the car only had very minor over\under steer that could be corrected with gas pedal, really controllable. It did not plow at all!
Also the thin torque of Quad allows flooring the throttle at mid corner and get no wheelspin at all.

There was not a single time when i felt that i wasn't in control of the car, it went just where i wanted it to go and could take a really hard braking too.
I only felt the tiniest bit of body roll when braking into a corner at 150km/h, just enough to notice it, and that's it.

Tires is where the limit was. Being manufactured in 2002, soon 10 years old, they are way too hard for track driving, i could have picked up the corners wayy faster with softer tires, these just kept screaming for help in every single corner, and i wasn't even trying seriously.

After the tires, next limit seemed to be the driver.. Driving that track Fast needs experienced driver with big cojones. So far haven't found the limits of the car.

To remind, here is what i am using on the now track-proven suspension:

Front suspension w/steering:
- Custom valved Bilstein B6 Sport shocks, upside-down installation and less than 4" of suspension travel. Built in the stock Beretta strut housings.
- Springs are cut down Eibach with only the stiff material, 228 lb/in. Also 'pre-torque' is twice~ the stock because of shorter strut.
- NOS GM strut mounts
- Stock control arms with Energy Suspension poly bushings.
- Stock GM Tie rod outer ends
- Stock FE 7 Bar, end links. Energy Suspension poly bushings.
- Delrin tie rod inner bushings.
- Bypassed power steering pump, Stock GM steering rack (2.5~ turns)
- Camber -1°24 and -1°36, Caster 1°36 and 1°48, toe 0.
- Wider track because of the brake setup.

Rear suspension:
- Stock rear axle
- Bilstein shocks
- Custom order springs
- Cackparts plastic bushings
- Stock FE7 swaybar
- ADDCO 1" swaybar
- Stock camber\caster\toe.
- Wider track because of the brake setup


Also my hands & shoulders still hurt.. I need to build up my body to drive this thing
What puzzles me, is that even if this car has much stiffer suspension than the black car, it makes like 0 suspension noise and acts really civilized when comparing to black car. That one bumps and clunks and clanks all the time and it's making me nuts.. Going to try the new rear axle bushings on it too, I think the newer 92+ strut mount design is also more prone to making noises...

[Money pit Beretta]

Nice Weba. I think I remember that track on one of the GT games on the Playstation. Even on the game the track was tough.