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10/18/01
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Starting to come together..
After a few slow months, Project GSX is starting to get back on it's feet. The odometer is creeping
up on 60k miles, so we are preparing to do the all-important timing belt job. Along with the new
belt, Project GSX will be getting a set of street grind Web Cams.
Back to the track!
This Saturday, I am hoping to attend the Sport Compact Car Shootout at Rivercity Raceway, just outside
of San Antonio. The car is a bit better tuned and running about a pound less boost than the last time
I was at the track, plus the cat has been gutted. We will see if it is good for anything at the track.
I also found that 6k seems to be the sweet spot for launching. Maybe I will try running racegas as well.
No more GSXTASY! :(
I registered my car in Texas with the bitter realization that they only allow 6 characters on a license
plate. I am considering registering as PRJGSX, but the jury is still out at this time.
7/21/01
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Project GSX takes a back seat
Well, Destiny and I have decided to relocate to Austin Texas. The Bay Area out here in California is just getting out
of control. With the electricity problems, overcrowding, crazy real estate prices.. and now they drop the octane rating
of the premium gasoline from an already low 92, to 91. That's it, we're out of here!
Nothing (besides the 45k mile oil change) will happen with the car until we are settled in to our new place in Texas.
7/11/01
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Long time, no update
Things are moving right along here at Project GSX. You may have noticed that the web site was unavailable for
a week or so. Our provider had a hard drive crash and did not notify us. Lame, but oh well, free web space you know?
I think everything is back online now. Our last backup was over a month old so it took a while to get everything
pieced back together now. If you find anything missing or not working properly
let us know.
New tires!
I have yet to get my alignment corrected, so the Pirelli's went fast. Which is good, in a way, because I was ont totally
satisfied with them to begin with. Pirelli's run a bit on the thin side, and they also did not have a built-in rim
protector. Below is a picture of one of the Pirelli's that let go. Next is a picture of the tread design on the new tires,
which are Kumho Ecsta 712's, and the other two pics show the difference in rim protection offered by the two tires.
I am definitely happier with the Kumho's. The lip protector is great, they grip just as well and they are much, much more
quiet than the Pirelli's. Cheaper too. What else could you ask for?
6/5/01
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New Intercooler installed, new turbo ordered
I did not waste any time getting the new GReddy V-Spec front mounted intercooler installed on Project GSX.
The installation of the FMIC was well recorded, and now listed on www.vfaq.com as the only available installation
resource for a FMIC on a 2G DSM. Check it out here.
In addition, I have secured a new sponsor!
Magnus Motorsports is now the official turbo builder for Project GSX. Marco, the mastermind behind Magnus, is
currently assembling a Garret/Mitsubishi hybrid turbocharger for the GSX to our own specifications. We are hoping
that this turbo will take us well into the 12's on pump gas. Specs for the turbo are as follows:
In addition to the turbo, we will be adding a custom 3" turbo inlet pipe, a 3" o2 housing with external dump and
a full 3" downpipe to replace the current 2.5" to 3" downpipe. ETA on this stuff is 2-3 weeks!
5/28/01
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More new mods!
Things are just rolling right along here at Project GSX. This weekend, the GSX received a new set of
AEM brake rotors, a new B&M short shifter, and a GReddy front mount
intercooler. The car is really starting to look TIGHT. I am in the process of posting pictures of
the FMIC, so check back later for those.
5/22/01
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New mods for Project GSX!
Things sure have been busy around the garage for the past month. Here is a quick run down of the new mods:
Carbon Fiber Hood (with red pearl coat) and Mr. Gasket hood pins.
The CF hood ended up being about
(I had to carry them each back and forth from the garage to the car) 20 pounds lighter than the stock hood.
The pearl coat is hard to see in these pictures (taken with a digital camera, the pearl is very subtle) but
in person it looks awesome.
GReddy 52mm white faced electronic temperature gauge (Water Temp).
Below are pics of the temp probe with
the threads wrapped in silicone tape (for better sealing) and the probe fitting installed in the upper
radiator hose (the upper hose feeds water OUT of the engine, the lower hose feeds water IN to the engine).
GReddy 52mm white faced electronic temperature gauge (Oil Temp).
Pictures below show the temperature
probe screwed into a new oil drain plug. The plug had to be heavily modified to fit, but works nicely.
Autometer gauge bezel.
This Autometer gauge bezel replaces one of the trim pieces around the gauge cluster. Fit is great, but the finish
does not match the stock piece. While the stock piece is textured, the Autometer piece is smooth and a little shiney.
Still looks good, though. The main problem I ran into is that the bezel is designed for Autometer gauges, which are
not as deep as the GReddy gauges I used. You can see below that the gauges stick out about 1/4 of an inch.
4/19/01
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Just when you thought it was safe to pull out of the garage..
Well, not two days after getting Project GSX back from the body shop and it is ready to go back
in. At Palmdale April 7th and 8th
the car was all scratched up. The wind caught our EZ-UP canopy and threw it against the car!
Oh well. Another check coming from the insurance company. We are getting both fenders repainted,
the passengers side skirt, and the passengers a-pillar. In addition, instead of repainting the
hood to get rid of the damage there, we have ordered a carbon fiber hood. As you may know, CF
is laid in a weave pattern, with one set of strands running north to south, and another set
which runs east to west. On this particular hood, the north/south strands are going to be injected
with a red pearl paint. The hood should be here at the beginning of next month, check back for
pictures!
5/22/01
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New mods for Project GSX!
Things sure have been busy around the garage for the past month. Here is a quick run down of the new mods:
Carbon Fiber Hood (with red pearl coat) and Mr. Gasket hood pins.
The CF hood ended up being about
(I had to carry them each back and forth from the garage to the car) 20 pounds lighter than the stock hood.
The pearl coat is hard to see in these pictures (taken with a digital camera, the pearl is very subtle) but
in person it looks awesome.
GReddy 52mm white faced electronic temperature gauge (Water Temp).
Below are pics of the temp probe with
the threads wrapped in silicone tape (for better sealing) and the probe fitting installed in the upper
radiator hose (the upper hose feeds water OUT of the engine, the lower hose feeds water IN to the engine).
GReddy 52mm white faced electronic temperature gauge (Oil Temp).
Pictures below show the temperature
probe screwed into a new oil drain plug. The plug had to be heavily modified to fit, but works nicely.
Autometer gauge bezel.
This Autometer gauge bezel replaces one of the trim pieces around the gauge cluster. Fit is great, but the finish
does not match the stock piece. While the stock piece is textured, the Autometer piece is smooth and a little shiney.
Still looks good, though. The main problem I ran into is that the bezel is designed for Autometer gauges, which are
not as deep as the GReddy gauges I used. You can see below that the gauges stick out about 1/4 of an inch.
4/19/01
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Just when you thought it was safe to pull out of the garage..
Well, not two days after getting Project GSX back from the body shop and it is ready to go back
in. At Palmdale April 7th and 8th
the car was all scratched up. The wind caught our EZ-UP canopy and threw it against the car!
Oh well. Another check coming from the insurance company. We are getting both fenders repainted,
the passengers side skirt, and the passengers a-pillar. In addition, instead of repainting the
hood to get rid of the damage there, we have ordered a carbon fiber hood. As you may know, CF
is laid in a weave pattern, with one set of strands running north to south, and another set
which runs east to west. On this particular hood, the north/south strands are going to be injected
with a red pearl paint. The hood should be here at the beginning of next month, check back for
pictures!
4/5/01
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Project GSX gets cleaned up!
Project GSX came back from the body shop last night, with a lot of minor problems fixed. No more
door ding on the rear quarter panel, fixed the shatter mark from when the car was egged, and even
got the eight inch key scratch taken out! While we were there, we had the front bumper repainted
to take out all of the various gravel chips and to give it a slightly more custom look. Notice
that all of the black bits on the front were painted.
3/28/01 -
Welcome to the new Project GSX!
We are still settling into our new space here, so bare with us over the next
week or so as things come together.
Currently, the car is getting back in shape. For the last month or so there
have been a string of problems that I have been taking care of. Here is a list:
- The clutch was slipping - replaced with an ACT 2600.
- Various body damage - Should have the work done by April 7th.
- Stolen back-up light - Bought a new light, installed.
- Huge Exhaust leak - rewelded the flange.
- Broken shifter - Borrowing a stock shifter for now.
So, as you can see further modifications have been on hold lately while we have
been fixing these various problems. Now that we are back up to speed we are
looking at what to do next.. I have an oil cooler ready to be installed, various
parts to a body kit that I might end up using.. I am working out a deal to get a
*much* larger turbo, and possibly a sheet metal intake manifold as well. I also
picked up a 1st generation head.
Stay tuned for more updates!
4/1/01
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All sorts of stuff going down!
First off, we are currently preparing for the NIRA
event which will be next weekend (April 7th-8th) at Los Angelas County Raceway in Palmdale California.
We will be running a vendor booth for TurboXS. Make sure you stop by and say hi, as we will be raffling
off some boost controllers and blow off valves. We *hope* to have a sample sheet metal intake manifold
from the group purchase that we are about to begin (see below).
The Project GSX vehicle is going to be in and out of the body shop this week getting all of its various
nips and dings fixed (its daily driven!) so that it looks pretty at the racetrack.
Group Purchase on Sheet Metal Intakes!
Paradox Racing is hosting a group purchase on hand crafted sheet metal intake manifolds. These
manifolds are designed for use with the 1st generation DSM head. So if you have a 1st gen, or a
2nd gen with a 1st gen head on it, this is a great upgrade. Dyno charts show a 40hp gain! For more
information on the group purchase, go HERE.
Exhaust Leak Fixed!
I found the nasty exhaust leak that had been plaguing us for weeks now. It seems that the gasket
that goes between the exhaust housing and the adapter plate had dissolved. Since the XS Engineering
turbo does not use a Mitsubishi exhaust housing, it requires an adapter plate to bolt on.
While the turbo was off the car, I noticed that it was NEVER PORTED. I was told that this turbo was
previously ported by RRE but
apparently the flange was just port matched to the exhaust housing. From left to right, the pictures
show the welded adapter plate, the turbo before porting, and the turbo after porting.
Pictures from the 4/1/01 Bay Area DSM Wrench Party
On April 1st, all of the local DSM guys got together for a wrench party. Lots of cool stuff went down.
There was an EGT install, FMIC install, port work, and a bunch of other stuff. For pictures from the
event, go HERE.
3/27/01
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Here it is!
You are now *officially* welcomed to Paradox Racing! Our new site is beginning to take shape.
Please bear with us over the next week as we move all of the existing information to the sites
new format. Please let us know what you think! Head on over to the
message boards and give us some
feedback. Thanks for visiting!
3/15/01
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Help us test out the new site!
We are getting pretty close to releasing the new site. As you may know the
message boards are already online,
the @paradoxracing.com email works, and now we are
introducing our Rides Database. This database will give
people a place to post lists of modifications on our site, in a nicely formatted and browsable interface.
Right now it is in BETA, so it is working more or less but more features are going to be added before it is
finished. It also currently comes with no instructions. So check it out, and give us some feed back!
Rides Database
2/7/01
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Test N' Tune at Sacramento Raceway 2/10/01
This Saturday, a group of Bay Area DSM'ers are heading up to Sac Raceway for dragstrip testing. This will be
my first time at the track with the new clutch and the new turbo! If anyone is interested in going, drop me a
line so you can meet the crew.
And all you guys with the "faster than your gsx" camaro's and mustangs, come on down and prove it! Anyone who
shows up and runs faster times than I do, will get pictures of your car and a list of your mods on the front page
of the web site!
1/25/01
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A little humor..
These are good for a laugh. :)
You know you are a racer if...
You might be a riceboy if...
1/22/01
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Project GSX is moving!
The transition to the new web server should be seamless for everyone, but I thought I should let you know
that we are in the process of moving. If the web site dissapears, give it a day and it should be back up.
New clutch installed!
First off, I want to send a BIG THANK YOU to Alex from Jumptronix
for helping me install the clutch. Read the write up of the Clutch Install
and you will see that Alex prefers a blowtorch, prybar, and cut-off wheel to more conventional tools.
1/16/01
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New Parts Arrived!
I received my shipment from RRE a few days ago. Below are
pictures of my ACT 2600 pressure plate,
ACT street clutch disc,
RRE lightened flywheel, Energy Suspension motor mount inserts,
and a 3 inch test pipe.
A little more color..
Over the weekend, I changed out my front brake pads. While I was at it, why not paint the calipers? Well,
My little side job ended up taking close to 12 hours of labor. I will post pictures of the finish product
tonight.
1/09/01
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Project GSX on www.streetracing.org
Back in December, at the Palmdale IDRC event, Project GSX was on display in the
TurboXS booth. Apparently a photographer from
www.streetracing.org Here are the links:
http://www.streetracing.org/events/idrc/120300/left.php?path=page3&img=dsc00039.jpg
http://www.streetracing.org/events/idrc/120300/left.php?path=page3&img=dsc00040.jpg
More new parts!
In addition to the new clutch, flywheel, and test pipe, I have gotten my hands on a slightly used GReddy
oil cooler. It will not be getting installed until it is time for my next oil change, however.
This coming weekend the GSX gets new factory brake pads, and we are going to experiment with high-temp
engine paint on the calipers. Check back for pictures!
1/8/01
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Next stop.. CRANKWALK!
I bit the bullet and ordered an ACT 2600 clutch, RRE
lightened flywheel (14lbs), and some urethane motor mount inserts. I am hoping that the
Crankwalk Theory from Marco at
Magnus Motorsports. He seems to think that crankwalk
is caused by the 2G oil squirters. This theory differs from the information posted by
RRE which can be found
here.
Either way, the clutch is going to get installed next weekend along with the motor mounts. I also ordered
a test pipe, but I do not think that will be getting installed as I need to wait atleast 500 city miles
before really putting any power to the floor. Hopefully I can find the battery charger for the digital
camera and get some good pictures of the clutch install. When the ACT2600 clutch disc goes, I plan to try
using the stock 2G clutch disc which is supposed to be better designed. Stay tuned for some serious 1/4 mi
improvements with the new clutch, test pipe, and some race gas!
1/2/01
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Getting back up to speed.
Well folks, Project GSX has taken another step forward towards its goals. For a quick refresher, Project
GSX will complete stage 1 when it makes a quarter mile pass at 12.5 (full weight [no spare, tools], on
pump gas with a catalytic converter). At that point, the car should dyno at over 300 horsepower at the
wheels.
Over the weekend, I was able to fix a very frightening rattle. Ever since the turbo install, I had gotten
this weird RPM-based rattle. Seemed to come on just under 3000 RPMs, and was worse when coasting. It seems
that the 3000 RPM range is when the engine vibrates the most, and the down pipe was rattling against my
RRE
lower stress bar. The rattle was fixed by cutting a piece of silicon hose and wrapping it around the
stress bar. No more rattle! WHEW!
In addition to fixing the rattle, I was able to get my hands on a used GReddy oil cooler. Looks awesome.
This is one of the additional cooling tools that I want to have in place for when I upgrade to a front
mounted intercooler. Spearco water injection is also on the list, and possibly the Fluidyne radiator
replacement that RRE sells.
Also in the very near future (within the next 4 weeks) will be a new clutch (undecided about which clutch
to use at this point) and a test pipe.
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