Hey all, I have been trying to think of some new mods to do to my car, and what keeps coming to mind are ways of better delivering power to the ground, or to improve my handling... So here are some ideas i've had. I'm trying to stay in the low-cost range, since my budget is tight right now...

First, I saw a thread a while ago about castor bushings, but now I can't find it. It seems like they were $40 a set or so, and supposedly improved turn-in on the b13... anyone have these? Worth doing?

Second, and the main thing I wanted to see about, are engine dampers. I have heard good things about them on other cars, like civics and 350z's, and wondered if anyone uses them for the sr20 cars. It seems like it would be doable if you had a good spot to mount it to. Any suggestions? Anyone have any pics? I found a thread where a guy said that the firewall is too soft, which would mean that you'd have to go to the strut tower somehow... something like this...
http://www.racinglab.com/images/weapon_r_damper2.jpg

Finally, if anyone else has any good ideas for new mods, lemme know... I'm not looking for any more power, I can barely make use of what I have... I need to improve handling/ power delivery...

my mod list is something like this:

GTi-R t28 and mani
370cc injectors
walbro 255lph pump
300zx fuel filter
hallman mbc
custom charge pipes
Johnny racecare fmic
2g dsm bov recirc'ed
3" dp w/3" side exit exhaust
ES mounts
KYB AGX w/hyperco genII's
15" rota slipstreams
active tuning rstb
ebay fstb
progress rear sway
zeitronix zt-2 w/boost & egt
pocketlogger palm datalogging software
safc
W10 ECU

There's probably more, but I'm forgetting some stuff, I'm sure...

First, I saw a thread a while ago about castor bushings, but now I can't find it. It seems like they were $40 a set or so, and supposedly improved turn-in on the b13... anyone have these? Worth doing?

Second, and the main thing I wanted to see about, are engine dampers.

Finally, if anyone else has any good ideas for new mods, lemme know...

my mod list is something like this:

ES mounts

There's probably more, but I'm forgetting some stuff, I'm sure...
Here's the thread on the caster bushings:

http://www.sr20forum.com/showthread.php?t=149347

I got mine from Chuck (Octotat) at Bolt-In-Bars. Forum vendor, excellent service. I am not savvy enough to tell you what they did for my handling. I was advised by 98sr20ve and Johnand (very bright guys) to buy a set. I put them on with all my other suspension stuff (see sig) at the same time. However, all the suspension guru's (including Mike K.) in that thread swear by them.

I question the ability of the ES inserts to really stiffen up the motor/tranny mounts. Which leads me to your second question about the engine damper. If your motor is rocking so much that you need a damper, perhaps stiffer motor mounts may solve your rocking problem? Prothanes are inexpensive and stiffer than the the ES inserts that you press into flexy old worn out stock rubber. The Prothane is a full insert, you press out the entire old bushing and press the new Prothane into the OEM metal shell deal (that's techno-car talk).

You could look at the Progress LCA brace. That is supposed to help with traction issues and is pretty inexpensive. Toolapcfan could probably still work with you. I almost bought one. I like it because it does not have so many clearance issues for a daily driver as the Whiteline unit. That Whiteline unit hangs really low for the streets.

2 cents

prothanes=problem solved

Well, maybe I have prothanes then, I didn't put them in, they came in the car. Mine are not inserts into the old mounts, but entire new pieces of hard rubber. I don't know how much my motor is rocking, as I don't think I can get a good idea of it just from the movement at idle. I have just heard lately from several of the honda guys I know saying that it really helped on their cars to get a damper.

As for the progress brace, I don't think I can use it because of my 3" dp that hangs down pretty low... Any advice there?

thanks for the link on the caster bushings...

what Color are the mounts u have now?

I had the Weapon R damper on my Evo, and I must say that it was WELL WORTH the $140 I paid for it.

The shutters and bucking associated with highRPM shifts, and low-rpm cruising were nearly eliminated completely. It was an immediate feeling of "solidity" as soon as I took it out for a drive after the install.

Poly Engine Mount Bushings as well as one of these dampers would severly improve the feel of your car no matter what the power level....

I just am not sure whether a Damper is readily produced and available for the SR/B-series Chasis

Also, the Weapon-R kit uses a braket that attaches to the engine mount bolts and runs vertically paralell with the timing covers.

The same could be done with a little R&D with the SR, considering it uses nearly the same Mount configuration as the Evo on the Passenger side.


I also have plenty of pics of myWeapon-R Damper installed and uninstalled if you are interested

^^ Second Sean's suggestion. ES motor mount inserts are the suck. The one on the rear crossmember in particular failed even on my stock-ish B14 SE-R. Prothanes worked much better.

Control arm bushings would be a must if I didn't already have them(Especially with a T28 I'd imagine).

The new progress control arm bars clear 3" downpipe. I love the whiteline brace, but it does get scraped occasionally. I didn't even notice.

I don't see a lot of cats running engine dampers on our cars, but I remember seeing one on a VE (a guy from Belgium iirc)

My mounts are all black, and one solid piece of rubber, pretty dang hard rubber too... BObby12many, I'd love to have some pics. If you don't feel like putting them up here, email to me, please, at dr.jfowler@gmail.com.

Where do the control arm bushings go? Or are those the same as the caster bushings? Maybe I need to do a round of bushing swaps on my car in general to tighten things up...

I also have plenty of pics of myWeapon-R Damper installed and uninstalled if you are interested

is this a torque damper? Let's see the pics brother!

Does the front dogbone have a small-ish slit in it near the middle?

Heres the WR Damper I had on my Evo.

I still havent found the disassembled pics.... but I will.

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/6404/birthdaypics23fq.jpg

oh, thought you meant you had a damper on an sr20 vehicle... nice pics though.I want to make a custom one on my own but can't find a good place to mount on the engine.

Well, I'm getting one from NRG, and I'm going to be helping them to make an SR fitting, so I'll be putting up pics and a little review...

Here's a few pics of one of our member's car.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v177/00sid/IMG_0457.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v177/00sid/IMG_0455.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v177/00sid/IMG_0459.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v177/00sid/IMG_0463.jpg



Rob

And a couple more for you just in case you liked the look of it lol.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v177/00sid/IMG_0372.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v177/00sid/61ab7f12.jpg


Rob

I was also wondering about these here is one in a vzr (sr16ve).
got some pics just trying to get them up