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Freebird: SR20VE+T 510 Wagon


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  • 1 month later...

I went to the next race and the car was much more predictable in the corners with the stiffer rear setup. However, the car now had a bit of over steer rather than a bit of under steer. This made it more fun to drive but probably no quicker.
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The next weekend or so, while digging around the junkyard for some rack and pinion parts, we came across a 620 with what seemed like a good 5 speed. 
Nothing a couple sawzalls couldn't make quick work of...
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I now have a 5 speed waiting to go in. 
 

The next race came up pretty quick and I didn't get to do much for my performance. My throttle cable snapped on the freeway so I spent some time installing a more proper pedal and throttle wheel. While this made the throttle way smoother, I'm almost always at full throttle on the track anyway.
I also, did some brake work and installed lowering blocks to take another 1" or so off the rear.

Jeff got this action shot of me on the track. It was rather pix-elated so I just had fun with the editing.
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Evergreen speedway is awesome, they let us race right into the twilight.
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We're now hard at work on these guys again. Hopefully we'll have them in and ready for the next race, in 2 weeks!
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Finally found where they post the pictures from the events. Here are some of my favorites:



Getting some tips from the pro.
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Mid slalom just happened to be one of the couple runs that Jeff was in the passengers seat!

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Coming to the end of the slalom, so much tire roll and lateral axle movement in the rear!
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Jeff is shown here in the 90 degree corner that finishes off that slalom.
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and then my fan favorite. Our buddy Nate in his type 3  :devil: 
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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Another race in the books. The Rack and pinion feels SO much more predictable and precise on the track, I point and it goes.
I had to convert my L20B to front sump in order to fit the cross member. This meant that my rear sump sway bar no longer fit. 
The lack of sway bar make the body roll a bit obscene. This picture sums up what I'm talking about quite nicely.

aXGvWSK.jpg

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The rack is out of an AW11 MR2. Nearly identical to the AE86 Corolla unit.

 

Do you have any more details on this setup? Tie rod ends etc? I assume the width between inner pivots of the rack jives well with the 510 control arm pivots. Do you have that measurement?

 

I like the slapper bar/coil over solution in the rear. On mine I took a page out of the RamCharger's book and made clamps for all of the springs ahead of the axle. It almost completely eliminated axle wrap and gave a nice increase in spring rate.

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I have lots more details on the setup :-) Jeff and I have been working on making a near bolt-in rack and pinion setup for around 2 years now. 
The tie rods used are out of a 90's Lexus, they then mate to stock 510 outers. The stock 510 steering knuckles are quite long for the short throw of the rack compared to the steering box. So we also have short replacement arms to bring the steering ratio back down if desired. 
The rack pivot points are corrected for by moving the LCA points on the front crossmember. We were also able to get the LCA points 30mm higher than stock to correct roll center and ball joint binding.
The resulting setup has, less bump steer than stock, better roll center at lowered ride height, options for quicker steering ratios, less binding, options fpr power steering, and butter smooth rack and pinion goodness,
First run of the cross members are on order and will be available soon. (By Canby?...)  Will have more precise details released eventually as well.



 

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I have lots more details on the setup :-) Jeff and I have been working on making a near bolt-in rack and pinion setup for around 2 years now. 

The tie rods used are out of a 90's Lexus, they then mate to stock 510 outers. The stock 510 steering knuckles are quite long for the short throw of the rack compared to the steering box. So we also have short replacement arms to bring the steering ratio back down if desired. 

The rack pivot points are corrected for by moving the LCA points on the front crossmember. We were also able to get the LCA points 30mm higher than stock to correct roll center and ball joint binding.

The resulting setup has, less bump steer than stock, better roll center at lowered ride height, options for quicker steering ratios, less binding, options fpr power steering, and butter smooth rack and pinion goodness,

First run of the cross members are on order and will be available soon. (By Canby?...)  Will have more precise details released eventually as well.

 

Is this based around the AE86 crossmember/AW11 rack setup I've seen documented on the realm?

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  • 1 year later...

Hhhmmm over a year since an update, I suppose I'm due.

Between a busy work year, buying a house and launching Coachwerks, I haven't made as much progress on the wagon as hoped but I have still been driving it daily and tweaking it slightly.

 

Picked up some Enkei 92's, super high offsett but I needed a quick set of 15's.
IUG67RC.jpg

 

Needed the 15's so I could wrap them in R888's. As you could imagine, this made a huge difference on the track. Between the rack and pinion and real tires it was a night and day difference, really doesn't feel like the same car even. Not only that but SO much more enjoyable to drive daily. 
mEKyvRQ.jpg

 

 

I've had a huge exhaust leak in my manifold for quite a while, it suddenly got much worse and was unbearable and so I threw a short header on, I was hoping it would clear the steering shaft better than the stock down pipe. NOPE, had  hammer in a huge recess to get it to clear. Oh well.
SDRImYY.jpg

 

 

Parts collecting, I came across a deal on a Miata Torsen2 diff that I couldn't pass up. At that point I was still planning to do Miata IRS in the rear so it would have worked great. Probably going a different route now but I may still use this, we'll see.
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Continued track day 510 awesomeness!
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Chillen with Jeffs wolf cub.
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While messing around with the coachwerks narrowed control arms for the sedans, it occurred to me that if I could get them into my wagon, I would probably be justa s satisfied as the miata IRS I was planning to use.
The plan is to attempt an adapter kit that picks up on the stock leaf spring mounts in order to bolt up a sub frame to hold the IRS components and differentials. 
No guarantees but, we'll see!
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That brings me pretty much to today.
Currently I'm pushing on further trailing arm development as well as preparing for this.
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Picked up an SR20VE NEO VVL. I will be swapping the head and internals onto a RWD sr20 block. The paln is to first install the engine as NA, then once the brakes/suspension are finished to handle the extra power, move on to a turbo. 

There are some details to sort out for the instal and there may be a couple coachwerks products that come out of it but it's pretty straight forward and has been done enough times that there is a good amount of info.
Obviously very excited for this  :w00t: 
 

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Forgot my latest improvement. Got this electromotive adjustable electronic timing setup from Jeff. Since it was already installed on an L motor all the mounts and trigger wheel were set to go. Bolted up and driving in about an hour!
M6neLeM.jpg

 

My L20B has always missed and idled rough and I always assumed it was from stupid carburetors so I just lived with it. Boy was I wrong!
After installing this my idle is butter smooth, cold starts way easier and never misses. Opened my eyes that I have been underestimating the importance of good spark.
Also vastly improved my low end torque, not really sure why that would be. More complete burn? Just lack of misses adding up to more power?
What ever the reason it is way more enjoyable to daily now.

Added benefit, there is a tach output on the board that would work real nicely as an input for megasquirt  ^_^ 
Considering a quick and dirty ITB setup to have fun with in the mean time while i Build the VE. I need to learn megasquirt for the VE anyway and the trigger wheel was half the work ... 

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  • 3 months later...

Pulled the transmission a couple months ago and swapped in a 720 stubby 5-speed. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gears were much shorter than the gears in the 4 speed transmission and it did a great job of keeping me in some better RPM's on the typical track layout. At the same time I put in a lightened fly wheel. I had to drop down to the 200mm clutch to make it work but My L20B is far away from slipping the clutch so that was no problem. The responsiveness certainly is nice on the track but if this was a street only car I now know I wouldn't bother with a lighter flywheel. 
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14lbs if i remember right compared to 25lbs of the stocker.
 
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greasy 4sp on the left, replacement 5 sp on the right, same driveline length :-)
 
 
I was able to get a hold of an H165 LSD unit. At first the thought of downsizing didn't seem right but then I realized the R160 is good for more power than I make so the H165 should be just as well.
a9fQCqh.jpg
 
 
Found an S10 axle and stripped it of the stock bracketry in preperation. It was 1.5" longer but my wheels are very positive offset so I figured it'd fit.
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165 in the front stock 190 in that back, size difference was more than I expected. Good for more lows, as well as un-sprung weight.
 

 

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A few hours with some cutoff wheels and the welder and all the bracketry was swapped over. Even got the 510 E-brake setup in place. 

 

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Axles and diff reinstalled, new shoes and cylinders, then it was ready to go in.
 
jR7WfVc.jpg
Out with the old.
A scale showed that even with the heavy LSD chunk the H165 was still a few pounds lighter than the 190 setup. 
Also, the housing length was identical to the H190 so again, no driveline modification!
 
neRCpHL.jpg
Took the opportunity to bang some pesky trunk frame rail out of the way above the diff, even though the smaller housing may not even hit it any more.
 
Also decided to whip out a quick pan hard bar while the welder was out and there was all the open working space.
packaging for the 1" bar was very tight, it meant that the support gussets for the fuel tank bracket had to go. 
c4Crc2n.jpg
Very tight, not sure it would have fit with the 190 housing.
 
Pumped to go do some doughnuts in the goon we dropped it to the ground and thud, the fenders landed right on the fenders, our assumption that my tires would clear was just barely wrong, about a 1/4" each side wrong....

1DaY97P.jpg
Three options, raise it up, narrow the axle, or start cutting. Decided to raise it up a bit in the back for now and rolled the fender lips. This got enough clearance fpr daily driving without rubbing. 
I was initially going to find another axle to narrow but the wheel fitment grew on me and I don't want to suck them back in. 
I'll be cutting the inner fender step to get the clearance I need so I can have suspension travel and maybe get my lower ride height back.
 
 
YD3dr9E.jpg
Full setup. 

Haven't got a chance to race it with the LSD yet but we have a race scheduled for next Sunday. Can't wait!

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  • volkswagner changed the title to Freebird: SR20VE+T 510 Wagon

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