Project: Red Rocket - Judgement Day

The GSX spent a long 2 weeks at the mechanic.  It turns out the oil leak was due to the cam shaft seals that I never installed...woops.  The oil drip was from a hole in the turbo oil drain line.  Both of these were fixed in pretty short order, leaving a week to troubleshoot the reason behind not being able to get into 2nd gear.

Notice how its not in my garage!

Read on to follow the final week of the Eclipse build.

Now for Something Different - Rallycross!

Every now and then we mention our tame racing driver Christian, sometimes we even let him post an article on here.  Christian is an avid autocrosser as well as SCCA member, corner worker and occasional instructor.  We've been bugging him for years about how there is no rallycross program in Georgia, and each time he assures us that Atlanta and middle Georgia SCCA are trying their best to make it happen.  This past weekend, for the first time we got to play in the dirt, it was awesome, we want more, and If we don't get any more we're going to start killing the hostages.

Hit the jump to find out just how awesome it was.

Project: Red Rocket - Total Eclipse of the Heart

With race day two weeks away, the GSX is fully assembled, but won't start.  My original goal was to have the car running two weeks before the race so that I could troubleshoot any issues that arose from daily driving.  Well, it looks like the troubleshooting is going to begin before she gets driven anywhere.

An engine needs 3 things to run: air, fuel, and spark.  I'm obviously missing at least 1 of them.  Follow me after the jump as I sort through each one to get this car going.

Project: Red Rocket - Reassembly and 1st Crank

Well, its been a while since the last Red Rocket update.  That's because most of the action has been taking place in the mail, so I haven't had much to talk about.  The biggest delay involved the cylinder head.  The head I had turned out to be bowed, twisted, and decked beyond spec.  This thing had a rough life.

Illustrating the many ways in which the head was unusable.

While I was waiting for a new head to come in, I took the time to clean a few parts and give the interior some TLC.

The Shocking Truth about Supercars

Christain here.  I'm going to start this post with a list of cars I drove this weekend:  F430 Coupe, F430 Spider, and F430 Scuderia, Gallardo LP550-2, and a Gallardo LP560-4.  It was a good weekend.

The backstory is after the jump, along with a regular guy review of the F430 and Gallardo.

FY Friday: Easier Said Than Done.

I heard about this rally documentary a good while ago and I think I even donated a little money to its kick starter back in the day and the trailer is finally out. Basically its a documentary about rallying filmed by a Rally Driver Matthew Johnson. Im not sure if I didnt know the directors name at the time or if it just now hit me, but Ive meet Matt before and Ive actually rode shotgun in a rally stage with him before. Looks to me from the trailer that his filming skills are on par with his driving skills and Im damn excited to see this come out. So a Big fuck yes to this video and super stoked for the full feature. Also If you don't believe me on the whole riding with Matt thing hit the jump and watch me from about 10 years ago drool all over the inside of his WRX on a little rally stage.  I heart rally!

Internet Love: Corey Denomy In Palm Beach

Ive probably seen a billion FD videos over the years now, and usually its the same old same old. This one however really sucks me in. Maybe its the slow mo, maybe its the Blade Runner style sound track or maybe its just the attention to the little details in Formula Drift. Either way give it a watch and prepare to be sucked in to the slo-mo smokey glory that is FD. .



Formula Drift Rd.3 Palm Beach from Corey Denomy on Vimeo.

Racefriv Goes South Pt. 1: The Cars of Ecuador

Hey guys, Parker here.  Recently I had a chance to go on vacation to Ecuador, and having never been to South America before I jumped at the chance.  While I was there I took the chance to check out the driving machines that you might see every day in Ecuador.

Not everybody rides Llamas.  You can't see the Lambo this LLama is

checking out just to the right in this picture.

Technical Corner - Octane - Busting Some Automotive Myths

Hi Phil here again, I promise to keep this short. I'm sure you've seen the meme below or something like it:

Sometimes I feel like that about fuel octane when I read online forums, or bathroom walls or whatever.  So I decided to get to the guts of it for you so you can join the apparently small and exclusive club of people who know something about fuel octane. Go ahead and do it...click read more and find out for yourself what octane ratings are all about, also funny British people are at the end. 

Youtube Show Episode 1: WRX before and after a tune 0-60 runs

Ish and I have been talking about making a nice YouTube show for a while.  It's tough to do it right because you need music that you have a license to use, you need time to plan it out and shoot and you need to edit all of it.  Getting quality audio is tough too.  We hope to drop a new one about once a month, with future shows on subjects like budget mods for your DD and how to get into grassroots action like rallycross and drifting.  Despite the challenges we got ourselves started, if you enjoy the video please subscribe, and share!

The 1st generation: Tinymobile Revealed

Hey guys, Parker here.  I've been away from the site for a while... doing lots of work, traveling, and trying to get my career back in order, but behind the scenes there has been some real progress on Project Tinymobile. Ive taken it from a blupurle beater to something that I could actually pick up a date with (maybe). I got the car in good running order and applied some finishing touches as well so read ahead for all the goodies!

Project: Red Rocket - Down to the Block

The real work started this week on the Red Rocket.  Well, it started again.  I thought the real work was removing the head, but then I found piston damage.  Now the real work is replacing the pistons while leaving the block in frame.  I don't have an engine holder or hoist, so I didn't want to go down the Mitsubishi recommended path of block removal in order to replace the pistons.  I'll just drop the oil pan and push the pistons out from below.

Exposing the cylinders to daylight for what I hope will be the last time.

Project Scrap Metal: Bad Luck and Lessons Learned.

Next up on project scrap metal is a bunch of mods to make it more dependable. At the most recent DSD event I got about three runs in before the car started acting goofy. The scenario was somebody broke down at cordele, a spring fell out of their car (how that happens I have no idea, stupid kids cutting springs), and I let the car idle for a really long time, then shut if off and waited. When I turned the car on I immediately knew something was up, when I went for the run the car started acting crazy and shut off before I could even get moving. Tried to start the car again and nothing...dead as a door knob. We tried all sorts of things but the car was done for. Sad times. The good news is the problem was just something stupid and easily fixed. Click read more to find out what is was and all the other totally awesome fixes I've applied since then. 

FY Friday: Subaru Wagon Built for Drift

So fair warning to everyone out there, the video is a little shaky and the music is a little annoying, not the usual stuff we post here. BUT There is one really badass, important thing in this video a RWD Subaru Wagon built for drift. Yes you heard that right. Its awesome, and yearn to learn more about it. Anyways watch the video and enjoy some awesome wagon skids. Its MAD and perfect for Fuck Yes Friday.


Golden Gate Drift ProAM Round #2 from Paulo Acoba on Vimeo.

Project: Red Rocket - It Hits the Fan

A lot has happened since my last post, a long 10 days ago.  Removing the head was my first goal, since that would allow me to inspect valves and pistons and get an idea of what sort of work I needed to prepare for.

Stare into the void long enough...

FY Friday: Retro Revision

So ran into this photo on reddit a few days ago, turns out this was some original content from a Stanceworks contributor named Travis Cuykendall and its just to sick not to share. This is what I call perfection when it comes to old school 911's, super retro yet so in tune with the times when it comes to the automotive world these days.  The whole set of photos is amazing make to sure to check out his other work here! his whole flicker page is badass!

Slammed Society @ Formula D ATL

Hey everyone, Joel Lopez here! Aside from all the (interesting) action that Formula Drift brought to Atlanta. Fatlace made their way out here from California to showcase their premiere car show "Slammed Society". Taking a two year break from any action in Atlanta, Slammed Society definitely made a lasting impression in the eyes of many that were out here for the first time. Atlanta also showed that a little on and off rain wouldn't affect anything as everyone stuck through it the whole day. The whole show was definitely a success as there was a wide variety of vehicles and the placement was perfect. Situated right in between the track and the pits, the show received a ton of attention through out the day. Custom made trophies were made for the event and were rewarded during halftime to the top three cars in their respected categories. Winners of the show also received some Fatlace, Illest, and Hellaflush decals, a Slammed Society license plate frame, and cleaning supplies. The show as a whole was awesome and and a major success since there was the two year break! If you weren't able to check it out this year, definitely check it out at next years FD! Click read more to check out the rest!

Happy Birthday to the ground!

The Engines of Formula Drift: An Engineers Delight.

So this year at Formula drift I wanted to concentrate on something a little different. The engines. As an engineer I can say the one thing that always brings me back to FD and makes me realize it's probably the best motorsport in the world is the variety of platforms and motors that are allowed in FD. To have a race series that basically says do whatever you want with the drive train but keep the chassis production is an engineers wet dream. Unlimited possibilities is what FD is about and gear heads across the world love it for that reason. So this formula drift I made a point to take photos of all the engines I could get good shots of and talk a little bit about them here. Click read more to check out some of the beast under these hoods!

Project: Red Rocket - Discovery

Now that I've got a shiny new  slightly used  recognizable Eclipse in my driveway, its time to take a closer look around.  I need to know what I've got on my hands before I start ordering parts.  The car is a repo, so the original owner will not be any help here.

I know that there's a pile of spare parts in the trunk, maybe there will be some clues to the condition or history of the car...Click read more to find out!

Its like the worst Lego set ever.

Project: Red Rocket - Prologue

Christian here, with a new project.  After a couple of years of planning, plotting and some bench racing, the Middle Georgia region of the SCCA has announced that they will be hosting some rally cross events in Milledgeville!  I haven’t raced on dirt since my Baja SAE days and I've been waiting for a chance to get back into it.  Only one problem: I do not have a vehicle suited to dirt driving.  I’d prefer not to cover the Z06 in mud and dust and the repair costs would be burdensome. The F-150 would handle the dirt and mud, but is too prone to a roll-over for racing.  So it was off to craigslist to find an appropriate ride.