$2013 GRM Lancer Shelby

[Vigo]

In early October i was invited to tag along with a couple friends to this year's GRM Challenge, but i was non-committal.

After a while i caught wind they weren't even set what car they were going to take but it was going to be one of their DDs. One of them, Matt, DDs a 1987 Shelby Lancer i traded to him and asked me what we could do to upgrade it for Challenge action. The gears were turning when i thought "Wait a second, why should we risk anyone's DD when i have ANOTHER lancer just sitting here and a pile of parts to throw at it? We can cruise to FL and blow it sky high and everyone can still get to work on monday!"

Thus began the current build.

I havent had this car all that long so i don't have much in the way of 'before' pictures. All i'd done to this car since getting it was add a better muffler to the full 3" exhaust and put the wheels from the Shelby Lancer onto the Lancer Shelby.

[Vigo]

A little back story on these lancers (mine and Matt's): In june or july i made a package deal with my friend Bill to buy all his fwd-dodge related stuff for 2k. That included the 1987 Shelby Lancer, the 1988 Lancer Shelby, and piles and piles of stuff. Since then, i sold roughly $1400 worth of parts out of the parts piles and off of the cars so the budget is looking pretty good so far. I also traded the Shelby Lancer to Matt for a 92 Montero which MAY end up towing us to the challenge. If that happens both the tow vehicle and the challenge car will be in the $2013 budget.

To kick the project off right we decided to completely replace the 2.2 engine and auto transmission with a better rebuilt 2.5 and rebuilt auto that came in the big dodge deal. We jumped right in on 10/14 'Genocide Day' (http://theoatmeal.com/comics/columbus_day) and made good progress.

[Vigo]

[speedfreek500]

Pretty cool project, What are you doing to the suspension?

[Vigo]

Well, on the front all i've done is swap in some old LRE l-body springs which are ~220 lb/in and lowered it a bit. I also maxed out the stock camber adjustment and then adjusted the toe back to 0 (or as close as i can get it). I dont plan to do anything else to the front suspension.

The REAR suspension hasn't been touched yet but that's where all the action needs to happen to get this thing to turn. I have a rear axle from an 89 Daytona C/S with the big internal bar and the 11" discs. My PLAN is to box it up with a plate of 3/16" steel (i have done this to 3 of my other cars too), put some spacers behind the brakes to bring the wheels out (purely for looks), and install that. I also have a polybushings external swaybar i can put on it if it still needs it.

What i havent figured out yet is the springs setup. I dont really feel like stealing any of the stiff springs from my other cars so i need to come up with something new. I was just looking at Pat's $2013 Shadow thread and eyeballing his rear coilover spring setup. I have some ebay coilover stuff i've never used that would be great for the back if i can get msyelf to build some perches like he did. Failing that i will probably take the junkyard approach like i usually do and use some cut down Cherokee or Caprice springs to stiffen it up.

[glhs0075]

Nice looking L/S. I can't wait to hear more about your GRC exploits!

[Pat]

Cool! Glad I'll see you out there!

[2.216VTurbo]

I recognise the Starion IC from my old 89 ESI-R, I miss that car-sometimes Props to you for the ambition and mad skilz to put together a GRM Challenge entry

[Vigo]

Well, we got all the gauges wired up (Wideband, Fuel Pressure, Boost) and drove the car some. Turned it up to cutout and it is still running SUPER rich with base pressure at 28psi on the +40s. It wants to idle richer than 10:1 too. I already have the pressure turned down more than 40%...

This car reminds me why i swap everything to 5spd... Auto sucks the life out of these things!! Im hoping 10 more lbs of boost will change that.

I ordered a 3-bar map on ebay, it should get here thurs or fri.

I think i'm going to try 3" lift springs for the front of a Cherokee and see how stiff they are after i cut them in half. There's a pair for $30 on local CL. Actually 3 pairs.

[fishcleaner]

Will defiantly be following this thread, good luck and kick some butt.

Go with the stiffest springs you can get, it's not like you are building it for comfort.

[Pat]

Try double springing the front if the Jeep springs aren't enough. See the ScAries thread...details and pics in there.

[88C/S]

Subscribed.

[Vigo]

Well the front springs are LRE L-body front springs, i believe. They lowered the car a bit and are fairly stiff for stock-style springs, 220lb/in if i've got my numbers right (hah). I don't want to overdo it on the front stiffness since i dont think i will get the back all THAT stiff with cherokee springs.

I have a line on some used 205/50/15 hoosier autocross tires from Fastasleep that will hopefully be waiting for me at the challenge. He's also sending me an adjustable rpm window switch i can use to trigger a 2-stg boost control system. Thanks

Just to be clear the idea is to put cherokee FRONT springs in the stock k-car REAR perches. They are the same diameter and have the same style of tapered end.

I took another friend for a test drive today at ~14psi untuned and stupid rich. Still counting the days until i get my 3-bar map in the mail so i can get boost into the right ballpark and start tuning! I ought to check and see if my OTC Genysis will communicate with this thing.. It would be nice to be able to look at knock counts on all 4 cylinders at once. My otc2000 can only show 2 cylinders at a time.

[Vigo]

So i got my OTC Genysis on this thing and it basically works as an OTC4000 emulator when reading off the 93 PathfinderII cartridge im using. The interface is a little weird but i figured out i could set up a custom datastream list with 8 items which means i CAN watch knock activity on all 4 cylinders.

Also found out i've got no narrowband o2 signal at the ECU which explains why i had to back my fuel pressure down to 10 (TEN!) psi to get it to idle at 11:1 with +40s.

So now i've got to figure that out. I'm wondering if i caused a problem by putting an 89 smec on the 88 harness because of the 3 vs 4-wire o2 change. I'm going to make a thread over in the EFI section about that since i dont have immediate access to 88 and 89 wiring diagrams sitting here at home.

[Pat]

So i got my OTC Genysis on this thing and it basically works as an OTC4000 emulator when reading off the 93 PathfinderII cartridge im using. The interface is a little weird but i figured out i could set up a custom datastream list with 8 items which means i CAN watch knock activity on all 4 cylinders.

Also found out i've got no narrowband o2 signal at the ECU which explains why i had to back my fuel pressure down to 10 (TEN!) psi to get it to idle at 11:1 with +40s.

So now i've got to figure that out. I'm wondering if i caused a problem by putting an 89 smec on the 88 harness because of the 3 vs 4-wire o2 change. I'm going to make a thread over in the EFI section about that since i dont have immediate access to 88 and 89 wiring diagrams sitting here at home.

It shouldn't. The 4th wire on the 4 wire O2 just runs to a common sensor ground in the wiring harness. The SMEC wouldn't have any indication one way or another. My guess is that there is dead sensor or a broken wire somewhere. I'd swap the sensor first. If that doesn't fix it, check wiring continuity.

[Vigo]

Yep, you're right. I was concerned that the signal wire might have been on a different terminal at the SMEC in 88 since i've never actually owned an 88 before (many 89s though!). There is no voltage coming off the sensor so once i put a good sensor in it should be good to go!

[BadAssPerformance]

Subscribed!

[Aries_Turbo]

sub-scriz-ibed lol.

[Vigo]

$30 bought me a pair of lift springs for the front of a cherokee. Unknown brand and lift amount. I took a stock k-car rear spring with me to compare and everything looked workable.

I don't know if anyone has actually done this before or if it's something i made up. I have rear springs from a 67 Caprice coupe in one of my other cars.
I measured the stock wire diameter as ~.525 and the cherokee springs as ~.640. The actual coil pitch is pretty similar.

Also got the external walbro255 mounted. I cut 4 slots in the spare tire well with a cutoff wheel, stuck a flathead in them and bent them in the appropriate directions, and threaded hose clamps through the slots. I put a 90* fitting on the pump inlet because i didn't like how it was going to look without it. The ID on that fitting stepped down to something i didnt like so i ran a drill bit through it so it has a consistent ID.

I was having a hard time finding fittings because the pump is tapped for a 3/8-24 straight thread. Eventually i figured out 1/8 npt (which is a tapered thread) is 3/8-27 (iirc). CLOSE ENOUGH.
So i went to lowes and got me some NPT fittings.

Still need to run the wiring for the pump. Im going to run a ~12ga dedicated power wire from the alternator charge post through a relay down the passenger side of the car. Maybe tomorrow.

[speedfreek500]

I would use 10ga and a very short ground wire, I ran my pump from the + side of the coil to a relay.