Importdreamz's Blog

Intake Manifold Has Arrived =)

importdreamz — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:44:54 +0000

Too solve the issue of the butterfly valve a new intake manifold was in order. Originally I was going to purchase the the manifold from Blox Racing; unfortunately their B18C manifold is on back order due to a current redesign of it. Blox would not be able to release the manifold until early March. Therefore I had to up the price a bit and order from Skunk2, which is not a compromise in any way.

Today I received the Skunk2 GSR intake manifold in the mail, boy was I excited. Even though I will not be able to work on the Honda until the summer comes my way, I can admire the aftermarket parts piling up in my storage room. Hopefully summer come sooner than later. Until then I will keep you posted on all of my purchases and planned projects.

Multiple Issues Present Themselves on the Honda

importdreamz — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:56:45 +0000

The past month has been very demanding to keep up with my Honda Civic’s maintenance. When I first brought the car home I noticed it was running very hot and had an extremely rough idle. So I checked the radiator for coolant. There was absolutely none in the entire system. So I added some coolant and pressure tested it. No leaks at all. Obviously the previous owner neglected the Honda Civic; therefore I decided to take a look over everything. I began by doing the basics (oil change, sparkplugs, wires, and etc.). After that I let the car run for about five minutes to try and figure out the rough idle issue. After what seemed like hours of diagnosing the problem the simple cause finally popped into my head. The car was obviously running on a bad tune. After turning the car on again I realized the Apexi S-AFC was no longer reading engine RPMs or throttle percentage. I proceeded to check the wiring for the S-AFC and sure enough none of the wires were grounded or spliced correctly. Once I soldered all of the wires and grounded them the Civic idled smoothly.

Well now that it was running like a champ with no mechanical problems at all, so I thought. The day after tuning the engine I drove approximately 3 blocks from home when all of the sudden my front driver side knuckle assembly dropped to the road and popped my wheel out sideways. After getting out of the car and inspecting the problem I soon realized the previous owner never put any cotter pins on the ball joints between the castle nuts. Over time the castle nuts worked their way off of the ball joint until one of them came off. Rather than simply replacing the ball joint I decided to go ahead and replace the entire front suspension with Acura Integra GSR parts. The Acura parts included the knuckle assembly, upper ball joint, control arm, lower ball joint, rotors, caliper and axles. Luckily the rear was converted to discs by the previous owner. For now the Honda is drivable. I say this because I recently found out that the butterfly valve no longer operates at 100% efficiency.

Winter Months =(

importdreamz — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 19:44:31 +0000

Unfortunately Iowa has met the dreaded winter months again. This time winter brought with it 3-4 feet high snow drifts and enough ice to make the roads impossible to drive on. This means all of the enjoyment of performance auto racing has come to a halt. For the next few months I will not be able to build on my Honda or my Scion due to the fact that I have no garage to park either of them in. This, however, does not mean I have to put the projects aside til next summer.

Now is the prime opportunity to organize plans within budget, contact potential suppliers, research rules and regulations, and most importantly meet amazingly awesome people (via forums, blogs, discussion boards, and etc.).

I will keep you updated on product purchases, blueprints, and events within my local area as this winter progresses. Feel free share your projects with me. I would be ecstatic to learn about your project car, how you captured the racing fever, and what the future of auto racing means to you.

Mark of a New Beginning

importdreamz — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 03:13:10 +0000

Hello world, my name is Ira Collins and I am a import car fanatic! For the last several years of my life I have dreamed of the big day in which I would finally be able to own and build an amazingly flawless import show car and an all out track car. Well that time has finally come. After years of long hours at work, months of military training, and borrowing more money than I need to cover my student loans, I have finally made the purchases of my dreams. I now own a vehicle for each category: Show and Track. For show I purchased a black 2006 Scion tC and for track I bought a turbocharged 1992 Honda Civic DX hatchback. With the purchase of these two vehicles I am ready to begin a new life of learning and meeting many amazing people along the way. Come join me as I blog about my journey to becoming an automotive enthusiast!!!