Matty's rough weekend.....
March-14th-2005, 04:36 PM
#1
The man behind the mask
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Birmingham, AL
Posts: 11,572
Matty's rough weekend.....
I should preface this story by saying how frustrated I am in general with the whole "msprotege - whiney-asses" situation. I have very little patience to begin with and they seem to want to push me as far as they can. I'm VERY seriously contemplating not building anymore blowers for anyone other than the 2 people who have already paid me. I'm just too pissed off to work this hard for so little money.
Friday, Luke (rogue pro5) comes into town to do a header install on his car and go racing with me. Friday night we arrive at the track. I let Luke drive the whole way to get a feel for the car to see what he thinks about it. I'm assuming he liked it a lot. We get to the track and I meet up with a local friend in his GTi making 200whp 248lb-ft. He tells me his best time of the night is a 9.6 @ 78mph. I'm impressed. He asks me to pop my hood so he can see the blower.
Apparently the sound of an import hood popping is enough to summon every local ricer in a 10mile radius. Now I enjoy attention when people are looking at my car but this was the stpidest form of flattery I've ever encountered. These kids didn't even know what they were looking at. More than once I was asked who made my turbo? How fast is it? How much boost does it make?
When i told them it only made 4.5psi they all seemed dissappointed like I let them down.
After about 5 minutes of being swamped by ricers calling my car "da ****" Luke asked me if I can to "run my mouth or my car"? I laughed and said "I'll make a few passes."
First pass:
Car felt just as I remembered....couldn't launch for ****, massive wheel hop, lots of wheel spin. For some reason I was down to running a 10.2s @ 71mph....this is only about 3mph faster than my stock NA times....something isn't right.
I get out of the car and Luke asks to take it out a few times. He's never raced before i figure what the hey.
Second pass:
11.3s @ 69mph......Luke sucks.
Third Pass:
10.5s @ 68mph.....see a pattern here?
Miller decides he wants a try in it so off he goes.
Fourth pass:
10.3s @ 68mph. the car is running stock NA p5 times....what the hell.
As Miller is approaching the return road I hear "hey does it look like he's dragging a belt??"
I pop the hood and discover two things....the blower has thrown the belt and I have coolant spraying from my radiator.....
I have the car towed over an hour back to my home where I start diagnosing the problem. First thing in the morning Luke and I decide to get a start on his header and after finishing it up I pop my hood and start removing everything from the engine bay. Here's what happened.
I have a front motor mount insert, similar to the AWR, that was put in about 15K miles ago. when I first installed it was AMAZING! I loved it. The more I drove on it though the worse it got...I notcied it's now WORSE than stock. But why?? Well, my rear mount is 100% hollow.....destroyed.....empty. Nothing there but the metal O-ring. the bushing is GONE.
Under a hard launch my engine kicked up and the charge piping punctured the radiator core. In the same second the piping hit the core it simultainiously shattered the water pump which the blower was mounted to. Under closer inspection this morning I have also torn the side engine mount on the passenger side. It has a gash through it for flexing in ways it wasn't supposed to.
Here's my total parts replacement list as of now:
radiator
coolant hoses (samco upgrades)
AWR front and rear engine mounts
AWR side tranny mount inserts
water pump
new supercharger bracket
all in all it was a rough few days for me.
Friday, Luke (rogue pro5) comes into town to do a header install on his car and go racing with me. Friday night we arrive at the track. I let Luke drive the whole way to get a feel for the car to see what he thinks about it. I'm assuming he liked it a lot. We get to the track and I meet up with a local friend in his GTi making 200whp 248lb-ft. He tells me his best time of the night is a 9.6 @ 78mph. I'm impressed. He asks me to pop my hood so he can see the blower.
Apparently the sound of an import hood popping is enough to summon every local ricer in a 10mile radius. Now I enjoy attention when people are looking at my car but this was the stpidest form of flattery I've ever encountered. These kids didn't even know what they were looking at. More than once I was asked who made my turbo? How fast is it? How much boost does it make?
When i told them it only made 4.5psi they all seemed dissappointed like I let them down.
After about 5 minutes of being swamped by ricers calling my car "da ****" Luke asked me if I can to "run my mouth or my car"? I laughed and said "I'll make a few passes."First pass:
Car felt just as I remembered....couldn't launch for ****, massive wheel hop, lots of wheel spin. For some reason I was down to running a 10.2s @ 71mph....this is only about 3mph faster than my stock NA times....something isn't right.
I get out of the car and Luke asks to take it out a few times. He's never raced before i figure what the hey.
Second pass:
11.3s @ 69mph......Luke sucks.
Third Pass:
10.5s @ 68mph.....see a pattern here?
Miller decides he wants a try in it so off he goes.
Fourth pass:
10.3s @ 68mph. the car is running stock NA p5 times....what the hell.
As Miller is approaching the return road I hear "hey does it look like he's dragging a belt??"
I pop the hood and discover two things....the blower has thrown the belt and I have coolant spraying from my radiator.....
I have the car towed over an hour back to my home where I start diagnosing the problem. First thing in the morning Luke and I decide to get a start on his header and after finishing it up I pop my hood and start removing everything from the engine bay. Here's what happened.
I have a front motor mount insert, similar to the AWR, that was put in about 15K miles ago. when I first installed it was AMAZING! I loved it. The more I drove on it though the worse it got...I notcied it's now WORSE than stock. But why?? Well, my rear mount is 100% hollow.....destroyed.....empty. Nothing there but the metal O-ring. the bushing is GONE.
Under a hard launch my engine kicked up and the charge piping punctured the radiator core. In the same second the piping hit the core it simultainiously shattered the water pump which the blower was mounted to. Under closer inspection this morning I have also torn the side engine mount on the passenger side. It has a gash through it for flexing in ways it wasn't supposed to.
Here's my total parts replacement list as of now:
radiator
coolant hoses (samco upgrades)
AWR front and rear engine mounts
AWR side tranny mount inserts
water pump
new supercharger bracket
all in all it was a rough few days for me.
March-14th-2005, 05:32 PM
#4
The Jamaican Sensation
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Montgomery, AL
Posts: 2,662
Dude..no ****. I saw your item on protegegarage though! Man....people will start catching on bro...just give it a little time. Rome wasn't built in a day. If it makes you feel an better, I failed my PT test today and now I have to go the gym 5 days a week and do aerobics w/teh fatties (no offense to anyone)....I just had a migriane from hell and couldn't concentrate on running...and if you fail the damn test...you can't retest for 45 days...and you gotta do this mandatory **** in the morning at 0530....
Dude....keep ya chin up.
Dude....keep ya chin up.
March-14th-2005, 05:35 PM
#5
The Jamaican Sensation
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Montgomery, AL
Posts: 2,662
Originally Posted by Roddimus Prime
oh ,they dont bother me....it's just the fact that I've been working on this for so long spending all of my money and have $0 to show for it....
March-14th-2005, 05:36 PM
#6
Awesome Member
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Pittsburgh PA
Posts: 3,186
Wow, that really, really sucks. I can't imagine how frustrating this must be.
Just remember though, all great artists suffer for their work. Let's hope the recognition doesn't occur posthumously!
Just remember though, all great artists suffer for their work. Let's hope the recognition doesn't occur posthumously!
March-14th-2005, 05:43 PM
#8
The Jamaican Sensation
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Montgomery, AL
Posts: 2,662
Originally Posted by FC3s Boy
there is always going to be little problems matty keep your head up, sounds like you need some drag radials and a msp LSD when it gets going right-
lol.
6 months....tops....I'm getting one for strictly racing purposes....it may "occasionally" see the street...
March-14th-2005, 05:49 PM
#10
The man behind the mask
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Birmingham, AL
Posts: 11,572
p.s. that reminds me, Do you have a spare MSP tranny laying around chris?? Mazmart wants $900 for their MSP tranny and axles....if I can't find another one I may take them up on it.
March-14th-2005, 06:00 PM
#11
Registered User
Join Date: May 2003
Location: San Diego
Posts: 562
Originally Posted by JDM-P5
Chris...I need a 2nd gen Rx-7...willing to let one go?
lol.
6 months....tops....I'm getting one for strictly racing purposes....it may "occasionally" see the street...
lol.
6 months....tops....I'm getting one for strictly racing purposes....it may "occasionally" see the street...
hahaha i got a few of those
March-14th-2005, 06:01 PM
#12
Registered User
Join Date: May 2003
Location: San Diego
Posts: 562
Originally Posted by Roddimus Prime
p.s. that reminds me, Do you have a spare MSP tranny laying around chris?? Mazmart wants $900 for their MSP tranny and axles....if I can't find another one I may take them up on it.
March-14th-2005, 06:11 PM
#13
The Jamaican Sensation
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Montgomery, AL
Posts: 2,662
Originally Posted by FC3s Boy
hahaha i got a few of those
My Mom has her 1989 GTU (still pristine...but far from stock) and refuses to give it...much less even let me BUY it from her....she undoubtably LOVES that car too much to say goodbye. Even though she complains about the stiff clutch pressure...lol...my step dad enjoys the south florida traffic w/it though....damn...i need a toy again.
March-14th-2005, 06:16 PM
#14
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Lincroft, NJ
Posts: 1,105
That sucks, Really sorry to hear that! I think everybody above said most of it, Keep your head up, they're will always be problems and **** like that. I hope everything for the repair goes well and you arent too discouraged by this. Hopefuly it'll all be well in the end.
