Fall Photo Shoot

W shot some hot pics of the 240 and his S2000 today.  It's good to finally have it back on the road.

Complete Interior

Some tasty interior shots, since it's now all put back together.  Note the legit harness bar holding the Sabelt belts in place.  (Picked up cheap on Zilvia and perfect since I'm not 100% sure what I want to do about an actual cage yet.)  Also, excellent condition black dash and door panels that I found here in Columbus.  Finally, the Master Switch and fan switches mounted on a real carbon radio-delete panel by Kognition Design.  Enjoy.

Nismo Key and Fuel Filler Cap

A little birthday present to myself.  Rare and discontinued Nismo goodness...mmmmmm.

Wilwood Superlite Front Brakes

As I mentioned before, there were some issues with the Evo Brembo calipers rubbing on the rotors.  Long story short, I wasn't going to be trusting the brackets I had any longer.  So, I went with a proven, legitimate setup: Wilwood Superlite front brake kit.  This kit includes brackets, 2-piece rotors (aluminum centers for weight down), lightweight 4 piston calipers (roughly half the weight of the Brembos), plus all the required hardware.  Installation was a breeze, they bolted up like OEM components.

Now, that's a real bracket.

I also got to brush up on my safety-wiring skills.  That's how a rotor should look.

Rotor mounted on hub.

Caliper in place.  Just to reiterate, these are SO MUCH lighter than the Evo Brembos.

Wheel on, ready to roll. 

The best part?  There is plenty of clearance between the caliper and wheel, so I don't need to run any ghetto wheel spacers.  I absolutely love these new brakes.  Unfortunately, Wilwood doesn't make a rear kit, but I'm planning on tossing something together.  I should be able to spec out the calipers and rotors from Wilwood, and CNC up a bracket to mount them.

To finish up the brakes, I need to replace my leaky master cylinder.  That will be done after vacation.

Alignment and Corner Weighting

Today, I took the 240 over to Auto Assets for alignment and corner weighting.  I had previous experience with the shop, as the Audi Avant is a regular visitor - so I knew they were legit.  Although, they were a little hesitant to work on a Japanese car.

First up, corner weighting.  This process was done with me in the driver's seat, for optimum setup.  I was quite pleased with the results:

LF: 673lb (26.5%)
RF: 657lb (25.8%)
LR: 610lb (24.0%)
RR: 602lb (23.7%)
F: 1330lb (52.3%)
R: 1212lb (47.7%)
Total: 2544lb (wet, with 170lb driver)

Second, alignment.  Dennis helped out with setting the specifications, pretty much as much negative camber as possible....just kidding.

Driving back to Dublin, the overall feel was MUCH improved.  The vehicle was stable and confident as higher speeds.  Unfortunately, we identified a front brake clearance issue (rotor to caliper) and a leaky master cylinder - both of which need to be fixed before drivable again.

Interior Mostly Installed

Dennis and I put almost all of the interior back together today.  Dash, center console, door panels (which I purchased from a guy in a "I Turbo Boost" shirt last weekend) are all back in place.  Now, I just need the harness bar and harnesses (which are on the way).  I also still need to mount the master switch and fan switches on the carbon radio delete panel.  Still, good progress for today.

First Drive

I worked feverishly this weekend to finish up the remaining harness items and vacuum routing.  Since I didn't have the oil pressure switch, ACG, or vehicle speed sensors connected to the meter last weekend, I wasn't 100% sure that the engine wasn't about to grenade.  Now that I had those connected, my confidence was high.  Maybe, too high.

So, I decided it was now or never.  I needed fuel...running off of 3-year-old vapors wasn't going to last long.  I started the engine, backed out of the garage, and drove to the fuel station.

Some said that it would never happen, but it did.  I finally drove the 240 under its own power.  The engine seems to be running fine, however, the suspension needs some work (alignment and corner weighting) and the transmission seems to be a little hard to shift (maybe just from sitting so long).  Anyways, there's always more to be done, but today a major milestone was reached.

First Start? Holy shit!

Almost 3 years after I last drove the 240.....it's finally running again.  And, it started on the first try!  Wilson gave me a hand on both Saturday and Sunday to get the rest of the electrical system all connected.  Finally, it took a jump start from the Audi to turn the starter and fire up.

The idle was rough (due to some vacuum lines that need sorted out and 3-year-old fuel in the tank).  But, once I gave it some throttle, it jumped up to 2000 RPM and was running nice and smooth. 

A celebration toast was in order...