Duke Racing Celica GT-Four Time Attack Racecar

[GDII]

Looks sweet mounted. You should get some of this for under the intercooler to reduce heat soak. http://www.fortune-auto.net/reflectivefoil.htm

 

[Punknoodle]

Thanks mate, I actually have some of that ordered already Great minds think alike aye

 

[GDII]

Seems they do. Only disadvantage about using it is you can't see the nice gold finish when it's under the intercooler.

 

[Punknoodle]

Yeah, I was going to wrap it up the sides, too. Also I was going to do the engine side of the heat shield I made too

 

[Thatman]

Do tell how much you needed to use once its on please.

 

[MaliciousMD]

ST185 = Pure Sex!

Lookin' good with the ST205 RC I/C setup. Still keeping the scoop hood or going RC vent style?

 

[Punknoodle]

The scoop bonnet does close with the wta... Just... But the scoop definitely isn't going to be the best for efficiency, it doesn't let the hot air escape. I prefer the look of the scoop, but yeah, if I find an rc bonnet for a good price I'll probably snap it up. Also going to change to an RC front bar at some stage, that one is easy though you can still order them new.

 

[MaliciousMD]

The scoop bonnet does close with the wta... Just... But the scoop definitely isn't going to be the best for efficiency, it doesn't let the hot air escape. I prefer the look of the scoop, but yeah, if I find an rc bonnet for a good price I'll probably snap it up. Also going to change to an RC front bar at some stage, that one is easy though you can still order them new.

Ahhh, when I was still into 5th Gens the RC bumper and hood were still available new. That was probably 2003 though, lol.

 

[Punknoodle]

I know a guy who would be able to get one for me, it's just that fitting up the new engine management and coils etc and getting a descent tune once the water to air is all installed is the priority. It's been a long time coming!

 

[MaliciousMD]

I spy LogWorks 👍

I know a guy who would be able to get one for me, it's just that fitting up the new engine management and coils etc and getting a descent tune once the water to air is all installed is the priority. It's been a long time coming!

Function > Form for sure.

How do you plan on running the trigger wheel off the stock damper? From what I recall there isn't much room down there, let alone to be adding a mag pick-up and adjustment bracket for a trigger wheel.

Lucky you with the Haltech though. Does the Platinum Sport 1000 support AFM delete? Like the coil on plug setup, did you get the truck coils? The plug looks like the later style higher output truck coils.

 

[Punknoodle]

I'm not actually going to run a trigger wheel off the crank for this tune, it will run fine utilizing the factory cam triggers. If I do end up wanting to run a crank angle sensor later on, the easiest way is to swap the sump for a later model, which has a crank angle sensor incorporated into the pulley for the oil pump. It is possible to run a trigger wheel off the balancer, but its tight.

The Platinum Sport has an inbuilt MAP sensor, or you can use an external one, and is designed to run without an AFM, which is why I made my new intake pipe etc. The coils are from a Toyota 1ZZ engine.

 

[Punknoodle]

So I picked up my throttle body adapter after getting it anodized black:

Should blend in a lot more, it stuck out way too much as you can see from previous pictures...

Also, got my charge cooler and cam cover back from getting soda blasted. I'll picking up some black wrinkle paint tomorrow for the cam cover. The cooler I'm going to paint a flat black, not wrinkle. I just have a little bit of sanding to do on the cooler but it looks good. Here is a shot of the cam cover sans any coating, with a coil dummy fitted to show how it looks:

 

[MaliciousMD]

I'm not actually going to run a trigger wheel off the crank for this tune, it will run fine utilizing the factory cam triggers. If I do end up wanting to run a crank angle sensor later on, the easiest way is to swap the sump for a later model, which has a crank angle sensor incorporated into the pulley for the oil pump. It is possible to run a trigger wheel off the balancer, but its tight.

The Platinum Sport has an inbuilt MAP sensor, or you can use an external one, and is designed to run without an AFM, which is why I made my new intake pipe etc. The coils are from a Toyota 1ZZ engine.

Thanks for the info, not much of a Haltech guy. Been using PowerFC, F-Con, e-Manage, FAST, BigStuff 3 and Accel DFI mostly. I've used the custom ATI dampers with the magnets in the damper shell. Nice to eliminate a trigger wheel all together. Not cheap nor does it eliminate the needs for a magnetic pick-up, but it sure is trick as hell...

GT4 is looking good though, makes me miss my GT. Maybe I should start looking for a clean chassis but needs engine work GT4 state side.

 

[Punknoodle]

Little work in progress, here is a shot of the engine sans cam cover:

I cleaned the cam cover in soapy water as instructed by the guy who did the soda blasting, let it dry then I took it out and applied the paint. It is VHT Wrinkle Plus, in black. Here is is pretty soon after I sprayed it:

It goes on smoothly and as it dries, it wrinkles. If cured in a oven, it brings out much tighter wrinkles. As I don't want to use my oven, I brought out the heat gun and spent what felt like ages just going over it, heating it. It worked, this is how it looked about 1/2 an hour later:

Pretty happy with it. So I've prepared the surface of the head by removing all of the old sealant, and cleaning it down with methylated spirits. Once the paint has set for 48 hours I will fit the new gaskets, put on a bit of sealant and reinstall it.

 

[GDII]

Looking good. Makes me want to do that to my car. I was thinking red but that's too much like Honda and it will be too bright.

 

[Punknoodle]

Cheers mate. Obligatory shot of it installed, with the coils sitting in place showing how it looks. It's gonna be a shame to cover it up with the charge cooler!

 

[Perfect Balance]

Is there any way to somewhat tuck things in that engine bay? The engine bay is a mess of wires.

 

[Punknoodle]

I actually take a little offence to that! I made a new loom up for the coils/air temp sensor/boost solenoid and just tied it alongside the factory EFI loom, reason being is that stripping the factory loom and adding my new wires in to it would be a nightmare. All my looming was done very nicely, follows the factory loom and is quite well hidden! I just sort of pulled the wires out of where I had them and plugged them in for the photo without adjusting them for aesthetics.

The redundant plugs you can see are for the likes of EGR crap and the cold start injector that you aren't there any more, instead of removing them and chopping up the loom I am just going to tie them back out of the way. Once I fit the coils proper and wire in the ECU I was going to ensure everything it tied up tidy. It's actually not a bad looking engine bay when looking overall at it. A hell of a lot better than when I bought it

EDIT: Also thought I'd mention that the spark plug leads, factory coil and igniter all disappear when I wire the ECU in which will make it tidier. Anyway refer to previous shots for overall images of the engine bay

 

[Perfect Balance]

I actually take a little offence to that!

Sorry, I was not implying that it's your fault, nor do I know how they normally look, for all I know it might be hundreds of times better than the factory setup. Not to mention some engines are just like that and there's not much you can do (all new cars basically).

I was more wondering about things like the Chasebays wiring harnesses that are completely tucked and out of sight entirely. I wonder if they make anything like that for your car.


Also, I looked back at some of your other pictures and I didn't realize the cooler sat right there on top of the engine and covers most of what I was referring to. I thought the harness for the coils just kind of sat there on top of everything. My bad.

 

[Punknoodle]

No no man its not your bad, honesty and opinions are always welcome. I was only joking about being offended I assure you it will look tidy and clean once I have finished and the Haltech is installed.

 

[Punknoodle]

Well I thought I'd post a couple of pictures that show pretty much how the engine bay is going to look when the new ECU is running things.

You can see the new heat shield I made, which also holds the fuse box, the AFM delete pipe, the water to air system and the boost solenoid. The only things that will change from this photo, is that the water to air system will be plumbed (thats what that disconnected red hose is for) and I have a nice stainless overflow tank for the water to air system to mount up on the firewall, but it is going where the factory ignitor and coil sit so I cant attach it until those are removed in favor of the COP ignition.

I'm really happy with how it all looks, and works. The vee band adapter on the charge cooler looks the business, the charge cooler looks like it was there from the factory.

Anyway, photos:

And, a comparison of what it looked like when I bought it:

 

[Thatman]

Yeah, that's solid mate.👍 Whats next?

 

[Punknoodle]

Well up next is installing the new ecu and getting it tuned. Then I think I'll be happy to leave it for a bit, I'm not chasing crazy power just improved driveability and response, having a good tune will make a large difference.

If I want a little extra power I can always fit larger injectors and have the turbo high flowed, that is getting a larger compressor wheel fitted in to it. It is a somewhat common practice, as fitting a whole new turbo would mean my intercooler wouldn't fit, my dump pipe wouldn't fit, my oil and water lines wouldn't fit so it would cost a lot, and I don't really want to spend THAT much more on it, when it will make enough power to keep me entertained with a hybrid turbo set up. As I said, I don't want crazy power just improved response etc.

Steering and stopping wise I'll be buying some nice slotted rotors all round and upgraded pads. I may consider some 4 piston calipers and rotors from the ST205 but they take a bit of engineering to make them fit, my friend has good pads and slotted rotors just going into his so I'll see how that goes - they need to handle the occasional track day. I'm also buying some bushes for the rear of the car, namely the diff cradle bushes, rear diff mount, and sub frame bushes. That will complete the handling side of things.

And, I'll keep a look out for group a bonnets and bumpers for good prices. But it's not urgent. And that's pretty much all I want to spend on it, I've already sunk so, so much in to it and I'm at a point in my life where I want to buy a house, start thinking about having another baby, so this car will stay in the garage even more lol, bringing it out for fun and track days. I really do love the car though and I'm so proud of what I've achieved with it so far, considering I've planned and performed everything my self pretty much...

 

[Punknoodle]

I am working nights all week this week, and I'm not used to it, so I had about a 4 hour sleep this morning and then I was wide awake. So I went down to garage and got busy.

I ended up moving my pump for the charge cooler - I wasn't quite happy with the alignment of the hoses, now they are bang on. Made a penetration through the panel beside the radiator, bent the steel over for protection, and ran the hoses in to engine bay. Plumbed up the charge cooler.

So, I filled it up, bled it etc and took it for a little drive, holy crap it made a massive difference. It comes on boost earlier and stronger, the BOV sounds great, its just behaving really great. I'm well impressed, can't wait for the Haltech!

 

[Paulie]

Looking good Nick, I sure hope you can find a good tuner, I know I haven't along with many others, driveability being the major issues, along with bottom end performance, most guys just tune the top end to make a number and leave it there.

 

[Punknoodle]

Yeah mate I have Matt Spry from PITS down on the gold coast lined up to do it, he has a very strong reputation, in fact if you google him you will find countless forum topics all raving about him. It's expensive (about $1200 just for tuning) but worth it.

 

[Ibonibo]

Ahh things are coming together mate.

Looks good and sounds surely as good as you tell us here

Give us feedback on your Haltech ECU when you got it. I won't change my Link anytime soon, but it's good to know how satisfied you are with it, if the case ever comes that I change mine.

Good choice on the blue colour for the hoses and piping. Looks great 👍

What HP are you chasing after when finished?

 

[Punknoodle]

Cheers ibo, I've been doing quite a bit of research in the the Haltech and talking to the guy who is doing my tuning and he's the one that said spend the extra to go Haltech over Link G4 because they have much better software and resolution etc, and more support, so that's why I decided on it. Now I just need to save up and order it, things happen slowly when you are a solo dad...

I'm not really chasing a whole heap of power with this turbo, mainly better driveability and response, factory ECU runs really retarded timing and quite rich, it lacks a lot of low down response, miss fired, idles badly, I don't trust it when the boost creeps up I don't want it to detonate so I can't hold WOT for very long, which is frustrating, so basically I just want a car I can pin the throttle in and know it'll be ok. In saying that I'll be really stoked it I get good low down grunt and a power figure of around 170 kW at the wheels. Before the exhaust was done and with the restrictive air to air intercooler and air flow meter and before the head was rebuilt it put out 130.6 kW at like 10 psi.

Since then it's had the exhaust, the high flowing cooler and throttle body adapter, it will have better ignition and no air flow meter, and should boost at around 15psi. So I think 170 kW is a reasonable guess.

 

[GDII]

Looking good. Nice clean intercooler setup.

One thing I have always wondered about ST185s. There appears to be a big empty space between the radiator and the front of the car with that big long nose. What is in there? Is the space usable for anything cooling related?

 

[Punknoodle]

Just the air con condenser and a large support bar for the bumper, as well as an oil cooler and power steering system cooler. Looks are deceiving, there isn't a large amount of room in there, there is with the group a bar though, it has a smaller support and a large opening for a front mount.

I mounted my heat exchanger where the condenser used to be.