Project TA 200

Building a Budget Time Attack Car

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Upgrades and Arts and Crafts

With Super Lap Battle just a few days away I felt it might be time for a new post.  That and I finely had some time to put some new parts on the Project.  Unfortunately I wont be racing at Super Lap this year as the car is far from race ready, so I will be down there for support and hard parking.  Anyways back to the project and its progress.  

Every now and then you will come across deals that are just too good to pass bye, even if you have already upgraded the part. This very thing happened to me recently. While doing my weekly craigslist search for random parts I may need down the road.  I happen to stumble on a major suspension upgrade for the project. A slightly used set of Koni yellow shocks for $200, a set of Ground Control springs and sleeves for $200, and a full set of Ground control top hat extenders for $50. Now I know what you are thinking, Matt you already did shocks and springs on the car. Well you are right but if you remember the front shocks were not adjustable. And what you don’t know is that after the install I found that the front springs had been cut by 2” by the pervious owner, so this extremely hindered the performance of the shocks.  On top of that it also made the ride height so low I had trouble not scraping, rubbing, or just bottoming out on just a normal non-spirited drive to and from work.    

Next I decided to tackle a part I had been meaning to install on the car for a few months now.  A while back I picked up a Spoon rep duckbill for the low price of $30 off of craigslist. And I got to get rid of that ugly little stock dx rear wing.

 After that it was time for some more functional upgrades. When I bought the car it came with some of the most hideous Momo pedals I have ever seen. On top of being ugly they were also severely over sized and made it hard to drive the car. So they were the first thing to go, so the last few months I have been drive the car with just bear steel pedals. Which in hindsight might have been more dangerous then the Momo’s as my foot would slip off the clutch anytime it was wet out side.  

I wanted a set of these. But my budget has gotten a little bit tight lately with work cutting back my hours.  So I decided to go with something I saw on the web.  

I went to my local Ace Hardware and picked up about 2ft of 3M-grip tape for $2.65 and made my own race pedals, and it worked great. We just had our first real good rainstorm up in the Bay Area, yes it really rains in Cali. And the grip tape worked like a charm my foot didn’t slip once, no more accidental stalls for me.    

And now its time for some fun, who remembers arts and crafts time at school. So I work at big box store right now and we always have a huge supply of extra cardboard lying around. So some of you may have a good idea of whats coming next.  That’s right I started mocking up a diffuser. This more then likely wont happen anytime soon but I just felt like playing around. If anything I will be trying to find some way of closing off the rear of the car. As the eg civic’s are notorious for basically having a parachute attached to the rear in the form a bumper.    

That’s going to do it for now I may have a short post later on this week about my time at Super Lap and some of the fun that will be had.

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Every Little Bit Helps

So this past week was a little busy. Between work finding time to work on the project, and getting ready for the final Global Time Attack Pro-Am event of the year. But I did find some time for pick up some parts and get them installed.

So the first thing I picked up this past week was a NRG torque damper off of Craigslist.org for $40 new in box never installed.

The torque damper is a compact shock that reduces unwanted engine movement. The damper installs between the engine and the chassis to reduce the motion of the motor and transfer more power to the wheels by minimizing engine movement and increase the life of your engine mounts. The Damper also acts as extra insurance encase a motor mount were to fail. It improves acceleration from start for a smoother shift between gears and minimizes miss-shifts.

While I didn’t get a chance to install the damper this week. As I’m still trying to figure out, where I want to attach it and how I want to fab up brackets to mount it.

This week was also filled with a little bit of disappointment. I thought I had found the deal of the year off one of the Facebook groups. But its like people say “if it looks too good to be true its probably is.”  So I thought I had found a Recaro SPD that was in killer condition for $200 with rails for a 92-95 civic. well right there I should have know better. So after a 2 hour drive to check it and some other parts out I found it was a rep. While it was a very nice rep I just couldn’t bring my self to trust it for my use.  However the trip was not a complete waist of time I did manage to pick up a Neuspeed strut bar for $40.

And lastly this week I manage to improve my aerodynamic on the car. With my first OEM Honda part for the project. With a set of OEM Honda mudguards I bought from a local shop for $80.

I know what a lot of you are thinking thats not aero its cosmetic. Well your wrong in the case of the EG6 Hondas. It helps with aero as it completes the fender liner in the rear. The rear bumper of these cars are notorious for being a parachute and causing drag on the car. the mudguards will help to seal off some of the air coming off the tires.

Before

After

These pics really help show just how much air was getting shot into the bumper. while this is not a huge upgrade when it comes to areo every little bit helps.

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Racers Don’t Take Holidays

This week was a short one for work, but on the up side Project TA 200 got some much need love.  This past Monday while most people were out by the pool having a few brews and some BBQ.  I was up to my elbows in grease working on the car with some friends.  The mission for the day was to get the new shocks and springs on along with a few other bits and pieces.  

It pays to have friends to help you.

So just like any other install on an older car your bound to find some other things that need upgrades or repairs. In this case it was a pair of torque mounts that are barely hanging on and just made their way on to the upgrade list. 

Anyways back to the upgrades. First up was the shocks and springs all around. I went from these no name springs and stock shocks.

To a set of Tokico blues with Ground Control’s and Eibach 6.6k springs in the front.

In the rear I went to a set of Tokico illumina with Swift 9k springs. Which after the install and test drive I think may be a little too stiff, but that something I can play with after a few events. If I still feel the same I may change them out.

I also installed the Hardrace rear camber kit I picked up awhile back.

That about it for the performance upgrades the rest was just cosmetic. I trade out my old stock mirrors that were suffering from floppy dog ear syndrome for a set of spoon reps.  I also had a chance to swap my stock lugs for a set of Gorilla spline drive lugs. And lastly I stopped by Wheeldude and picked up a new set of center caps for my slipstreams.

All and all a pretty productive day.

[projectta200-blog]

Its Been A Slow Week

So this past week has been a little slow. Been slammed at work so the project has been taking a back seat. Also resent bills have put little bit of a dent in my funds.  But even with all of this I still managed to pick up some more parts.

This past week while at another friends house helping out with his project ae86  doing some sanding. We deiced to clean out his side yard so we had a place to store some of the body parts. While cleaning out his side yard of crap I came across a old splitter from another one of our friends old time attack car. The splitter was off a 034 Motorsports car driven by Christian Birkenstocks another Global Time Attack driver. So for shits and giggles we test fit it on Project TA 200 and wouldn’t you know it, it was almost a perfect fit. So I asked him what he was going to do with it, he told me “shit if you want it take it. its just taking up space on the side of the house.” It pays to have friends that use to race or have junk lying around you never know what you might score.

Plus one splitter price FREE.

I also did manage to pick up a set of front camber arms off of fb for $25. They will need some new ball joints, but I can pick up a set from Blox for around $30 each

Hopefully with the holiday comming up in the next week I can finally get around to installing some of these parts on Project TA 200 instead of just stock piling them.

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Getting Up to Speed

So over the past month or so I’ve started picking up some parts here and there. From Craigslist, Facebook groups and some friends that just had some crap lying around. And lets just say that Project TA 200 is starting to pick up speed fast, soon enough I’ll be out there with the big boys.

First thing I needed was set of matching rims and tires, because well the ones on the car were shot and I couldn’t stand having two different wheels on the car. So I managed to find a set of 15x6.5″ Rota slipstreams for $150 off Craigslist. I then wrapped them in a set of 195/45R15 Toyo Proxes T1Rs for $186.

Next I came a cross a guy selling a ASR rear subframe brace and Blackworks Racing rear control arms for $50 on a Honda Facebook group. The arms will need new bushings but those can be sourced from a local shop for around $30 for the set.

My next come up was from Craigslist. I found a guy that was literally across town from me that was parting out his track car.  And was selling some of his suspension parts from the car. So I picked up a set of front and rear sway bars and a Hard Race rear camber kit. The front sway bar was 24.0mm off a 94-01 Integra GSR-$80. The rear was a Progress 22.0mm bar which I got for $110. And I got the Hard Race camber kit for another $80.

and lastly my best find so far, I got a set of spoon rep mirrors, a set of OE Honda front headlights and a Blox adjustable test pipe for the awesome price of $20 off Craiglist.

all and all not bad so far. I haven’t had too many scares, except the tires which were just hard to find a set that kept me in class and were still competitive.

[projectta200-blog]

Soon enough I be out there (via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwQ3PmUx1Tc)

[projectta200-blog]

Motor racing is like one big family, ultimately, and when you come back to it, that's really what it feels like.

Motor racing is like one big family, ultimately, and when you come back to it, that's... - Mario Andretti at BrainyQuote

[projectta200-blog]

 Let’s start from the beginning.  My name is Matt Viramontes, I’m an automotive photographer. Normally you can find me me behind the lens of my camera at a race. But after years of watching  my friends race around the track. I suddenly had the itch to start racing myself.

This all started about six months ago after picking up, my what was to be commuter car.  Like everyone looking for a car that got decent gas mileage, I picked up a Honda. It was nothing special just a normal 95 civic hatch, with a LS Integra swap. Like most  20-year-old car, it had blown suspension and was not the prettiest thing to look at,  but what do you expect when you spend only spend $2,000 on a car.

So at this point I was still thinking this thing was going to be a great commuter car. So I started by upgrading some of the Creature comforts. The first thing I changed out on the car was the seats. Someone had stuck a set of LS Integra fake leather seats in the car that were pretty tore up. So I found a set of del Sol buckets on craigslist for $150. Next I changed out the steering wheel with a Nrg Quick Release Steering Wheel Package for $175, this was done for security more than anything else, as I live in the bay and Honda’s get stolen on a pretty regular basis round here. Next I bought my first actual performance parts a set shocks and Ground Control sleeves, off my little brother from his old civic for $175. Unfortunately we were only able to find two of the Eibach springs that went with them. So I had to order a set of Swift Springs from maperformance.com which ran me another $150. Everything up to this point had been done to improve the every day drivability of the car.

 Then one night I was discussing these upgrades over dinner with a couple friends who are also car guys, mainly Subaru and Mazda drivers. Commenting how I had forgotten how cheap it was to fix up a Honda. telling them I hadn’t spent more than $200 on any one part so far on the car. After dinner I just couldn’t get that thought of out of my head. The next week jokingly over dinner again with those same friends I told them about my idea. How I wanted to build a time attack car to compete in Global Time Attack and not spend more to $200 on any one part on the car, they all laughed, and so project TA 200 was born.