Killing 2 Birds with 1 Stone

The power window switch on the SP's passenger side decided to go into semi retirement after 6+ years of faithful service. The switch could still bring down the side window but couldn't bring it back up. Bummer! While replacing the switch I decided to remove the inner door cover and replace all the mild steel bolts with lightweight aluminium potassium bichromate coated items. Also did the driver door side. There are 8 M6 X 12mm bolts per door on the inner side and 16 bolts total for 2 doors. Picture below of the new lightweight bolts. Using the larger than standard 18mm diameter washers.

Picture below of the new bolts on the passenger side door

Picture of the faulty switch. Switch cost me RM48. Bolts cost me.. errrm....

TMM Archives - Ralliart Group N Long Hub Bolts/Lugs

If you're planning to run thick wheel spacers (>10mm) to clear your 4/6/8 pot race calipers then the stock hub bolts/lugs will not have sufficient thread left for the lug nut to securely fasten the wheel when the wheel is mounted. The stock hub bolts/lugs are only 45mm in length. My Japanese supplier was able to supply me slightly longer 55mm length bolts but I decided to go for the pukka Ralliart WRC Long Hub Bolts (Part Number: RX031877A1) as these are 66mm in length and made of much stronger tensile grade steel than the stock bolts/lugs. You will need to increase the strength of the material to make up as you're already loosing stiffness and strength going to a longer bolt. Believe I have seen lugs break when too much muscle power is made to loosen an overtighten lug nut. Not a nice sight and a real pain to fix. The bolts are also zinc plate to prevent corrosion and ultimately rust. Picture below of the bolts pressed mounted to my front hub/axle assemble.

Picture below of the entire assy with my CNC machined 12mm wheel spacer mounted. As you can see lots of thread and length of hub bolt/lug left for the wheel and lug nut.

These long lugs just perfectly reach near the end of the thread of my Racing Gear lugnuts with the wheel mounted.

Price of the Ralliart long hub bolts unfortunately is not so friendly. It cost a whopping near RM500 for 8 bolts/lugs. No shit!

Carbon Side "GT" Mirrors

The stock powered side/wing mirrors weight 1.1kg per side (2.2kg total). These are less than 200 grammes for complete assembly including mounting plate. Great way to lose some high up weight. Also the size and shape of the mirrors results in less drag compared to the stock mirrors. Spoon Sports, Signal Auto, SPA Design and numerous other go-fast companies make similiar mirrors. Picture below of carbon GT side mirror including it's mounting plate. The mount leg is anodized aluminium while the ball pivot is stainless steel and threaded for easy adjustment. Mirrors used are convex so appear objects in mirror will appear larger than normal. Helps to compensate for the smaller sized mirror. I have no visibility issues using these side mirrors.

Picture below of the mirror mounted to the SP. All in all a pretty decent mod. Looks trick, lessens weight and also reduces aero drag too. Also took the opportunity to remove the mirror adjustment controller from the dash and replace it with a carbon blocking plate. Not recommended for those who have a mirror adjustment fetish. Fasteners used are stainless steel. Will lose even more weight going to titanium & aluminium.

One note of caution though. You'll want to be careful parking your car anywhere with these mirrors are they're pretty easy to be ripped off and stolen.

Here's a recent pix of the SP with these mirrors waiting to be chassis foamed. Will do an article on that later..

The Development Never Stops - Preview of Jack's Fuel Line Conversion

While I've been busy lately with non-SP related matters (such as getting my daily banger) my mates have been at the mod stuff even harder. Picture below of Jack's latest project. He converted not only the fuel rail supply line to AN fittings with braided hoses but the fuel pressure regulator and fuel return lines as well. This guy never ceases to amaze me. Enjoy the art work below. You can just imagine the planning, lengths and types of braided hoses, alloy AN hose ends and not forgetting the $$$$$ involved. Just the fuel rail supply line + adapter alone will cost RM400+ You can more than double it with the fpr end. And that doesn't include buying the fpr itself. I think you can get the basic Sard fpr for below RM400 if you try hard enough. Jack's using Earl's hoses and end fittings while I'm using Goodridge. The different brands are not interchangeable except for the adapters. Anyone out there wanna try Aeroquip, XRP or Icore?




Hopefully Wacko Jacko will do a full article when he's up to it. The gaffer's getting married next month. Happy Getting Married Bro!!!! Watch this space.

The other nutcase is Senior. He's been hard at work most of his off days stripping the tar and sound deadening from his monster. With his own hands! Senior's also got himself a Motordrive race seat. Jacko and Senior should be called the IMF - Impossible Modding Force! Think I better go dig a hole somewhere for myself to hide. As it is and at the rate things are going lately I might have to take a sabbatical from modding. Planning to get hitched early next year and will also be moving into a new love nest - SP, new car and all. Might work on small projects when funds and time become avail. My shifter base bush kit for one is still sitting in my room gathering dust. Will see how things go..