Richee3's Progress thread., Wilwood BBK installed. Options

[mkernz22]

Here's those videos of my exhaust:

[richee3]

Thanks Mike! Much appreciated.

Tonight I put Racing Beat end links and Energy Suspension rear sway bar bushings on the car.




The old stuff wasn't terrible. I just replaced the end links a couple of years ago with AutoZone stuff. Not the best stuff money could buy, but they were still in decent shape. The sway bar bushings weren't great but weren't shot. After we lowered the car, we got some telltale knocking telling us that it was time for new parts. Here's the new stuff next to the old:




And one installed, just because I was camera happy.



The verdict: The ride quality is ever so slightly improved and most of the knocking is gone. We also raised the rear coils half an inch or so. Just enough that the rear tires are no longer tucked. As for handling... Meh. Can't really tell much of a difference. Flywheel and front suspension bits, then it's time for paint.

[richee3]

Driving with this Greytop thermostat is driving on borrowed time. It could go out any time. It might last for years or quit in ten minutes. I'll chance my $20 and get a new one.

Ah, I remember this quote. Turns out I got 7 months of borrowed time out of the Greytop thermostat. Yep, I am now on thermostat #4. And once again, it had to fail some weird, obnoxious way.



Seriously, another ripped seal? There must be something about a BEAMS. This is the 3rd thermostat out of 3 different BEAMS engines that blew that same seal. Oh well, $27 later there's a brand new Toyota thermostat in there, so I'll see how long this one lasts me.

[navseal345]

1 year. Is my guess.
Is the car one color now? Cant tell from the Sig.

[richee3]

car turned over 3 times, then fired right up. Didn't even have any idle problems or anything.

Today marks a big day for me... One year since we started the BEAMS. If only I had known what kind of headaches I was in for Here is my impression of the BEAMS after one year and ~22,000 miles. The BEAMS is a very tame cruiser, getting you around without any hint that there's anything special under the hood. Around 4k, you get a little tease of power. At 7k, it's still pulling hard and begging for more. Highway passing power is lacking, but that's because I still have a naturally aspirated 4 cylinder. I can (and will) do a couple of final, small touches to free up the last of the power out of the BEAMS. It's a great engine, perfect for those who are content with the 5S but want just a little bit more. It has proven to be as reliable as any Toyota engine (apart from where I made some mistakes- my fault, not the BEAMS). The factory LSD is by far my favorite thing about the BEAMS. The extra power is nice and all, but the power is all too high up in the rev range to be used. The LSD, however, is there all the time, in every single corner. It pulls the car quite nicely through any corner I've taken. I haven't pushed the car hard enough to induce any understeer, but I've pushed it well past where the open diff would have had issues. With a good set of sticky tires, this car could do some good things. Overall, I love having the BEAMS. Swapping was a great move.

I should've gotten a 3S-GTE

1 year. Is my guess.
Is the car one color now? Cant tell from the Sig.

Nope, it's still two colors. I intentionally picked a picture with poor lighting to disguise the fact that it's multiple colors

[enderswift]

We must celebrate this occasion at the meet.

[ricochet1490]

I'm in chicago right now, when is this "meet" lol

[richee3]

I'm in chicago right now, when is this "meet" lol

Will you be in town tomorrow? It's like an hour Southwest of Chicago, at Starved Rock State Park. I'll pick you up if I have to!

Luke- A round of gratuitous high-fiving will do. I wish your 3S rebuild was done. I can't wait to see it!

[ricochet1490]

sadly no... I'll be driving east... going home
Mom is doing her chemo treatment right now and we're going home tomorrow.
maybe next time though

[SwissFerdi]

I haven't pushed the car hard enough to induce any understeer,

Truly? Can be done on a Celica driving 7/10, I'm surprised you say something like that.

I should've gotten a 3S-GTE

If she keeps the car, I see you swapping a GTE within 15 months.

[ricochet1490]

I just read something in the dyno forum of the beams owners group where dude changed plugs and went from 2.25 exhaust to 2.5 exhaust and went from 177hp to 184 hp..... with Dan having 2 in exhaust......... you tell me what he'll think about it being a pissed off 5s when that gets done haha - get that exhaust done buddy!!!

This post has been edited by ricochet1490: Jul 13, 2012 - 7:38 PM

[richee3]

Ferdi- I mean with the LSD, no understeer yet. It'll be a bit more difficult with the new coils as well. It's a bit worrying to me since I don't know the car'a new limits and I definitely don't want to find them after its too late. If I can get the BEAMS to pull the way I want to, it'll stay in the engine bay.

Boost.

I just read something in the dyno forum of the beams owners group where dude changed plugs and went from 2.25 exhaust to 2.5 exhaust and went from 177hp to 184 hp..... with Dan having 2 in exhaust......... you tell me what he'll think about it being a pissed off 5s when that gets done haha - get that exhaust done buddy!!!

Working on it Gotta get that nasty suspension knock cleared up first. Parts are on the way, then I'll be trying to tackle my ever-growing list. I'll check out the dyno thread in a bit, I've mostly ignored that thread.

This post has been edited by richee3: Jul 13, 2012 - 7:49 PM

[ricochet1490]

2ld2rusty

page 3

http://www.mr2.com/forums/beams-owners-gro...registry-3.html

[richee3]

2ld2rusty

page 3

http://www.mr2.com/forums/beams-owners-gro...registry-3.html

Nice! I'm not really willing to spend the money to get the before and after figures, but that 1/4" made a big difference. I'll be honest, I've made absolutely no progress towards new exhaust. Right now I'm more concerned with how in the world I'm going to get those poly rear bushings in. I suspect it will be a multiple hour job with many curse words and more than one bloodied knuckle.

Pictures from the meet, just because we were bored and had the time.









Alright, I'm ignoring this thread until I have something worth posting again.

[richee3]

New goodies!

-F1 Lightweight Flywheel
-2.5" Magnaflow Cat
-2.5" Vibrant Performance Ultra Quiet Resonator
-2.5" Vibrant Performance Street Power muffler



It'll probably be loud as hell. I'm not okay with that. I'll probably swap mufflers 3 or 4 times before finding one I'm alright with. I'm currently looking for a factory muffler that has the flow I want but will be as quiet as I like. The BEAMS Altezza muffler would be perfect- it was designed for a BEAMS anyway, quiet as any factory muffler, but has a valve inside that opens up with higher flow to allow a straight through flow. But at nearly $500 big ones to get an Altezza OEM muffler to the states, I'll pass. An IS 300 muffler is the same as an Altezza muffler with the valve setup, but is too big physically for what I'd want. No thank you, 4" tip. Suggestions are welcome.

Anyway, backing up. Last week, I went to install the poly front suspension bushings.

Helper: Check.


New bushings and tie rod ends: Check.


Fan because it's fawking hot: Check.


Four hours later, I promptly gave up due to some difficulties, and took the car to where I work. I had to put new Moog lower ball joints and put them on my tab at Harry's. I overnighted them from Japan and got back to work the next day. Pictures are worth 1,000 words and I'm too lazy to type everything out. I posted it all in Dustin's thread anyway.







I didn't end up putting the tie rod ends in because I spent 12 hours total fighting the lower control arms and didn't feel like wasting any more time. I'll get those put in later. I am currently without front sway bar end links (part of the story I didn't post with the pictures a moment ago.) I've also been too lazy to order the Twos R Us end links, which is just a lame excuse because it's literally more effort to sit here and type this post than it is to go order those. I'll finish those up then get the exhaust fabbed up soon. I'll update later with a "Wow! This exhaust is loud but it really makes the BEAMS feel great!" post.

This post has been edited by richee3: Sep 21, 2012 - 3:40 PM

[navseal345]

2 thumbs up! You should invest in a lift for that garage, and rent it out to fellow 6gc'ers.

[mkernz22]

If it's too loud, changing mufflers won't do too much, just get another resonate put on because those are actually meant to quiet it down

[ricochet1490]

If it's too loud, changing mufflers won't do too much, just get another resonate put on because those are actually meant to quiet it down

I was thinking about twin resonators and no muffler on my setup- but that'd prolly be more ear ringing than i'd want to put up with anyway lol...

Dan, You'll have to hit me with the parts you ordered from twosrus. Got some lightly dryrotted bushings in my RHD subframe I thought about switching out... but I might also just hit them with soem rubber conditioner real heavy to soften them up... but lmk anyway.

[cheela]

You're gonna be the midwest supplier for exhausts and beams engines.

[ricochet1490]

Helper: Check.

Is that JDM girlfriend too?!?
Soo much JDM around I had to ask!!

This post has been edited by ricochet1490: Aug 6, 2012 - 10:09 PM