Keef
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- 24,526
- Dayton, OH
- GTP_KeefRacer
- GTP Keef
Latest post of the RX7, #875.
1991 Mazda RX7 GXL
Exterior:
Rolled and flared front fenders
Yellow vinyl fog lights
Custom flame broiled rear bumper
JDM speed-induced paint chipping
Interior:
Momo Monte Carlo 320mm steering wheel
Nifty matching shift boot
Ebay hub and hub extension
Memory Fab S68 bucket with Recaro mount
Suspension and Chassis:
Stance GR+ Pro coilovers (Super Sport rear dampers), 9k/7k spring rates
Energy Suspension polyurethane bushings
Racing Beat rear toe eliminators
Mazdatrix front strut tower brace with engine torque brace
Mazdaspeed hard rubber engine mounts
Mazdaspeed hard rubber transmission mounts
Custom-designed front subframe brace
Wheels and Brakes:
Enkei RPF1: 17x9 +22 all round (effectively +17 rear), painted Horizon Gray Metallic
Rear wheel spacers, 5mm
Buddy Club bronze aluminum lug nuts
Optional H7 package A: 4-piston front calipers and vented rear discs
Russell stainless steel brake lines
Engine/Engine Bay:
K&N panel filter (woot)
Racing Beat downpipe and presilencer
Custom stainless steel cat-back exhaust
Drivetrain:
Useless factory viscous limited-slip
Clutch works good so whatever
Custom mysterious clutch fluid leak
...
I've always wanted to make a thread about my car. Ever since Azuremen and Joey did it I've been totally jealous of them; they were like gods to me. I'm so excited!
Recently I pretty much decided I don't feel like buying a race kart. Mostly because none of my friends are into the idea at all, and it'd be tough to even play with the thing by myself. So now that I've got some money saved up from the past few months I've built a new interest in my car. That's really where my interest is--in hanging out with my buddies taking apart and putting together our cars, new parts, old parts, etc. Karting just doesn't feel like a hobby I'll ever get into.
So, now I guess I'll take a picture and words to sum up my 1999 Civic Si (EM1) and what I've done to it and what it's done to me over that last year or so. Long first post is long...
Way back in the fall of 2007 I lost the car that really got me into the scene. It was the first time I ever really worked on a car extensively in my own garage. It even took me to the Tail of the Dragon, which I've posted about before. It completely blew my mind, and I learned so much during my short year-long ownership of my 1996 Del Sol VTEC (EG2):
Bummer. After two long months of searching, I finally found what I wanted. It wasn't the greatest, it had a lot of miles, and it was overpriced, but damn it, I was scarred and I wanted what I wanted. So I bought it.
So I was happy that I had the same engine, the same transmission, the same this and that, but much more comfortable and practical. Sweet. over the year I did some things to it, but not much. In fact, my cousin gave me a Christmas gift right after I bought the thing:
A tidy little subwoofer to compliment the stereo that was already in it. It might not make the car go faster, but hey, it was free.
I plowed through the snow pretty well in it. One time I was going great through a foot of fresh snow, and I got stuck. In mud!
During the spring I blew a crappy Nokian tire in downtown Dayton:
I replaced the brakes with shiny blank discs from Brembo and Hawk HPS pads, I replaced the sway bar bushings (which didn't do much) and the shifter bushings (which didn't do much either), and I added these fancy braces to the chassis:
Those aluminum strut tower braces worked far better than I had ever expected. The car felt immediately more solid as soon as I pulled out of the driveway, with much less noise, flex, and man, when it hit a bump it hit a bump!
Eventually I got the autocross itch, and I ended up buying something that would allow me to have some fun.
Black 15x7 Enkei RPF1 rims with a +41mm offset wrapped with 205/50-15 Falken RT615 tires. I ran my first--and only, so far--autocross soon thereafter. I did well, it being my first experience at really thrashing my car without fear of hitting anything hard. I've got a lot of learning to do though.
Well that was fun and all for the rest of the summer, but soon enough it started dipping below 40 degrees every now and then. The Falkens became very slippery on the road in those temperatures. On one ~30 degree night I went to put the car away and drove it around the block. It felt like I was driving on squares, and when I parked it and knocked on the tires they felt like the hard plastic of my dashboard. Time for winter tires!
Since then I've had a baby...
Yeah. That really put a damper on things. Since then I've been saving up for the kart I've now pretty much decided not to buy. So, now all I've got to do is see if I keep my job through the rest of the winter. If everything goes my way I might just start buying parts again. Until then I'll just let this thread wander it's way down to the bottom of the page. I may resurrect it to post about my upcoming trip to Detroit, and hopefully some parts and fixes and whatnot in the future.
1991 Mazda RX7 GXL
Exterior:
Rolled and flared front fenders
Yellow vinyl fog lights
Custom flame broiled rear bumper
JDM speed-induced paint chipping
Interior:
Momo Monte Carlo 320mm steering wheel
Nifty matching shift boot
Ebay hub and hub extension
Memory Fab S68 bucket with Recaro mount
Suspension and Chassis:
Stance GR+ Pro coilovers (Super Sport rear dampers), 9k/7k spring rates
Energy Suspension polyurethane bushings
Racing Beat rear toe eliminators
Mazdatrix front strut tower brace with engine torque brace
Mazdaspeed hard rubber engine mounts
Mazdaspeed hard rubber transmission mounts
Custom-designed front subframe brace
Wheels and Brakes:
Enkei RPF1: 17x9 +22 all round (effectively +17 rear), painted Horizon Gray Metallic
Rear wheel spacers, 5mm
Buddy Club bronze aluminum lug nuts
Optional H7 package A: 4-piston front calipers and vented rear discs
Russell stainless steel brake lines
Engine/Engine Bay:
K&N panel filter (woot)
Racing Beat downpipe and presilencer
Custom stainless steel cat-back exhaust
Drivetrain:
Useless factory viscous limited-slip
Clutch works good so whatever
Custom mysterious clutch fluid leak
...
I've always wanted to make a thread about my car. Ever since Azuremen and Joey did it I've been totally jealous of them; they were like gods to me. I'm so excited!
Recently I pretty much decided I don't feel like buying a race kart. Mostly because none of my friends are into the idea at all, and it'd be tough to even play with the thing by myself. So now that I've got some money saved up from the past few months I've built a new interest in my car. That's really where my interest is--in hanging out with my buddies taking apart and putting together our cars, new parts, old parts, etc. Karting just doesn't feel like a hobby I'll ever get into.
So, now I guess I'll take a picture and words to sum up my 1999 Civic Si (EM1) and what I've done to it and what it's done to me over that last year or so. Long first post is long...
Way back in the fall of 2007 I lost the car that really got me into the scene. It was the first time I ever really worked on a car extensively in my own garage. It even took me to the Tail of the Dragon, which I've posted about before. It completely blew my mind, and I learned so much during my short year-long ownership of my 1996 Del Sol VTEC (EG2):
Bummer. After two long months of searching, I finally found what I wanted. It wasn't the greatest, it had a lot of miles, and it was overpriced, but damn it, I was scarred and I wanted what I wanted. So I bought it.
So I was happy that I had the same engine, the same transmission, the same this and that, but much more comfortable and practical. Sweet. over the year I did some things to it, but not much. In fact, my cousin gave me a Christmas gift right after I bought the thing:
A tidy little subwoofer to compliment the stereo that was already in it. It might not make the car go faster, but hey, it was free.
I plowed through the snow pretty well in it. One time I was going great through a foot of fresh snow, and I got stuck. In mud!
During the spring I blew a crappy Nokian tire in downtown Dayton:
I replaced the brakes with shiny blank discs from Brembo and Hawk HPS pads, I replaced the sway bar bushings (which didn't do much) and the shifter bushings (which didn't do much either), and I added these fancy braces to the chassis:
Those aluminum strut tower braces worked far better than I had ever expected. The car felt immediately more solid as soon as I pulled out of the driveway, with much less noise, flex, and man, when it hit a bump it hit a bump!
Eventually I got the autocross itch, and I ended up buying something that would allow me to have some fun.
Black 15x7 Enkei RPF1 rims with a +41mm offset wrapped with 205/50-15 Falken RT615 tires. I ran my first--and only, so far--autocross soon thereafter. I did well, it being my first experience at really thrashing my car without fear of hitting anything hard. I've got a lot of learning to do though.
Well that was fun and all for the rest of the summer, but soon enough it started dipping below 40 degrees every now and then. The Falkens became very slippery on the road in those temperatures. On one ~30 degree night I went to put the car away and drove it around the block. It felt like I was driving on squares, and when I parked it and knocked on the tires they felt like the hard plastic of my dashboard. Time for winter tires!
Since then I've had a baby...
Yeah. That really put a damper on things. Since then I've been saving up for the kart I've now pretty much decided not to buy. So, now all I've got to do is see if I keep my job through the rest of the winter. If everything goes my way I might just start buying parts again. Until then I'll just let this thread wander it's way down to the bottom of the page. I may resurrect it to post about my upcoming trip to Detroit, and hopefully some parts and fixes and whatnot in the future.
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