Triwheeling

With a bit of hiatus till next rally-X, the timing was good to do a bunch of work on the rally FX. Most of the major work was done and I’d put enough miles to break in the new clutch and LSD. I was itching to test it out, and this past Sunday was an auto-X event. I decided to slap on my old 13″ racing wheel set and go for it! Decided Saturday morning to swap over the rear swaybar too. That one is a Whiteline uprated adjustable bar.

For anyone keeping track, here’s what has happened to the rally FX:

Head cleaned, decked, pressure tested, performance valve seat cut, valve seals replaced, guides reconditioned, valves adjusted.

OEM headgasket replacement, ARP headstuds used instead of OEM bolts. Not exactly a sexy part, but it’s a lot nicer to work with, and stronger. Perhaps overkill with this basically stock engine, but I won’t have to worry about it, and it should hold toque too, I don’t think I’ll need to retorque after breaking in.  A tip for any other 4AGErs contemplating this though, if you’re running the side distributor, something needs to be done because there is a clearance issue with one of the studs.  A lot of people say to grind down the stud. I think a much better solution is to grind down the tip of the distributor shaft. I’d rather do that than risk messing with the temper and grinding on a fairly expensive high performance fastner.

A late model JDM 20V 4AGE flywheel was procured off the net (bottom in picture) and a Exedy sport clutch for late model Celica/MR-S was installed.

Probably the biggest single item would be this shiny KAAZ LSD. This is pretty sexy and shiny, too bad it’ll never been seen!

Removed the evaporator, the last bit of A/C componentry left. Not too much else I can remove and lighten up and stay in class.  Except for this thing! There always seems to be some odd little thing you’ll discover from previous owners when you get a used car. Oneof tThe previous FX was full of them, the underdash UV neon tube probably the biggest offender. This one had this electronic air cleaner hiding under the passenger seat. Don’t think it was doing much good.

So how did the auto-cross go? Not bad, I managed to win my class, but none of the heavy hitters were in the class this time. I murdered quite a few cones all the up until my fourth and final run. The LSD takes some major adjusting to! With front wheel drive, it presents a pretty heavy change. The car likes to go straight, which makes sense when you think about it. I found my self hitting this resistance when trying to initiate a turn, and then overcompensating and turning the wheel too hard. And then when straigtening out turning the wheel back the wheel would snap back with much vigor. The car now requires much more attention and a firmer grip off the wheel. I am rewarded with grip out of turns though. Can squeeze the throttle coming out of turns and the car actually goes now, nice! Oh, and launching off the line is also nicer.

I think learning this new element will make the car work well, but it sure is different! Oh, and the car is exhibiting a stalling out problem on hard left turns. Kinda odd, I was thinking not enough gas in tank, but not so sure. So the car still isn’t quite ironed out, but almost there!

What about the title? People were telling me I was three wheeling all over the place on the course. I guess the race tires, stock suspension, but stiffened up rear sway bar did this. I’m curious to see if anyone got any pictures.