rage's 02SXT

RobsProjectSOHC · Post by **RobsProjectSOHC** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 12:19 pm

RobsProjectSOHC wrote:nice, gotta get them vids up! lol

where are they?! lol

ragek23 · Post by **ragek23** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 5:00 pm

Sorry man no vids yet. I have actually been driving my EVO around a lot since I had some vacation time. I'll get one soon.

Danteneon wrote:Too funny, I just got a 3 ton low profile aluminum jack from them as well. Picked up the aluminum jack stands too. Love em!

It's great seeing new pics of your car. So minty

Thanks man. here is the latest from today.

I finished the brakes on wed. It took me all day cuz I decided I would toss a fresh coat of paint on the front calipers and change over to my summer rims in the process.

RobsProjectSOHC · Post by **RobsProjectSOHC** » Sun Mar 25, 2012 12:11 am

anymore reviews on the afx comp? Debating on getting one.

ragek23 · Post by **ragek23** » Sun Mar 25, 2012 1:04 am

All it did for me was correct my CEL of having a fried circuit board in my stock pcm and thus the car runs better. It is gettings around 28MPG in City instead of close to 25mpg with the CEL. But, now I have to use 93 octane. It kinda evens itself out. Performance wise, there isn't much difference. moving from a stock cam to the comp 400 made a huge difference on the butt dyno. The af/x addition doesn't register much on the butt dyno. My reccomendation is that an apexi a/f tuner or megasquirt is the only way to go for more hp gains. Considering the A F/X promissed hopes and dreams for $500 and really doesn't give you much more than well, a better idle for me at least. I feel like I should have just bought a re-main PCM and spent the other $$ on something else that needs fixing on the neon.

RobsProjectSOHC · Post by **RobsProjectSOHC** » Sun Mar 25, 2012 11:21 am

Thank you for honest review. I though I read some where that the apexi was for when you get bigger injectors to make worth wild. Just looking to put something on for little hp but smoother running

ragek23 · Post by **ragek23** » Sun Mar 25, 2012 11:48 am

I recomend just saving up for an srt swap. If I didn't buy an evo I probably would have gone that route. hell i almost bought a junked 03 srt 2 yrs ago but glad i didnt' because I had no money back then and I would have strapped myself for cash for a totalled car

.

ragek23 · Post by **ragek23** » Mon May 14, 2012 10:47 pm

Well its time to invest in more replacement parts. My exaust is fairly old. I think the muffler is over 6 years old and I just got a CAT ineficent CEL on my hi-flow cat so I think its time for a full overhaul. Not to mention I have a bad feeling my OBX header has a leak in it again.
The worse part is my girlfriend has been telling me how aweful and imbaracing my car sounds. She says it sounds like a broken down honda ricer. Time to take action.

The plan:
pacetter ceramic coated header (so it lasts more than 2 yrs)
2.5" manderal bend ss steel mid piping
2.5" moroso spiral flow muffler (or a 22" glaspack)
2.5" magnaflow hi-flow cat
2.5" magnaflow dual outlet muffler modded to fit my srt4 bumper.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Tue May 15, 2012 9:22 am

With 2.5" dynomax piping, 2 moroso spiralflows and a dynomax camaro muffler my car is pretty quiet. Still sounds good but with less drone

ragek23 · Post by **ragek23** » Fri Jul 20, 2012 11:56 pm

Updates

audio:
A couple months ago I picked up a pair of alpine type s 6x9s for the rear deck to replace my blown kenwoods. Now I have very little bass coming from the rear

. This will soon be rectified. I got my hands on a Hifonics 4ch 4x170Watt amp for free

. The plan is to drive the rear deck and an 8" sub I have laying around. I usually wouldnt like having a sub in the back but I dont really autocross anymore so I don't have to worry about taking everything out too often.

exhaust:
the pacesetter, SS 2.5" catback, and the moroso spiralflow muffler are in! I just have to setup an appointment to have it all welded up

.

speed127 · Post by **speed127** » Sat Jul 21, 2012 1:45 pm

i know you've had them a while but those rims look sweet!

ragek23 · Post by **ragek23** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 3:30 pm

Thanks man! I totally love em. If only they weren't so hard to clean between the spokes they would be the best rims ever!

I am questioning the quality of the catback, these welds do not look very good. My local exhaust shop makes these welds look like they were made my a kindergardener.

Here is my very cheap sub and amp install. The rear deck speakers are using 2 channels and the other 2 channels are bridged on my 8" sub. The amp has livened up the Alpine type 6 speakers quite a bit. Without the amp they sound like junk speakers. With the amp, they sound like they should. Nice deep bass and nice highs.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 4:24 pm

which catback did you go with?

BlackRoseRacing · Post by **BlackRoseRacing** » Wed Jul 25, 2012 7:58 pm

sidepipe87 wrote:which catback did you go with?

the pacesetter, SS 2.5" catback, and the moroso spiralflow muffler are in! I just have to setup an appointment to have it all welded up

supertrick_05 · Post by **supertrick_05** » Sun Jul 29, 2012 5:11 pm

Hey man, glad you didn't end up selling the car! It's lookin' real good!

ragek23 · Post by **ragek23** » Mon Jul 30, 2012 3:10 pm

Thanks! Other than the trunk interior everything is in good shape. Its the only part of my car that really shows itself as the daily beater/ grocery getter.

ragek23 · Post by **ragek23** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 6:15 pm

Mission acomplished, bad purge solinoid was replaced and my exahust was installed.

The high pitch rasp and ricer sound is totally gone. The vibrant hi flow + moroso muffler + magniflow muffler= a great combination. It's still loud at the very high top end where you would expect it to kinda be. But the rasp is totally gone when it gets loud. It also is much more deep and throaty than before. Its like going from playing music on a 6x9 speaker to a 10" subwoofer. Performance wise, cannot tell if its because the CEL is gone or not but the butt dyno is liking this setup aswell.

supertrick_05 · Post by **supertrick_05** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 7:57 pm

Need to adjust the tips to the outside a few inches, but other than that, looks good!

ragek23 · Post by **ragek23** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 9:49 pm

Well the clutch has been toasted. I am finally getting a respectable clutch with more holding power and a stronger flex plate. I ordered the clutchmasters stage 1 from modern. I also am going to try out the rage tek clutch pivot arm. Hopefully this will be a winning combo.

ragek23 · Post by **ragek23** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 12:18 am

WOW, just drove the car home and man does this clutch grab. I can't wait till its more broken in. The rage tek pivot arm isn't in yet. We had our hands full with lots of other issues.
Earlier in the thread I mentioned that I was getting the exhaust system installed at a local custom exhaust shop. Well... They fucked everything up OMFG. I found mig welding sticks still stuck in the welds. I am talking like 6" long. The exhaust already has 2 leaks where they used clamps and they cut into the rear tubing before the rear cut-outs.

I had also had them look into my evap leak. They tore apart the metal hose and put in a hose without a clamp which actually caused a bigger leak!

Danteneon · Post by **Danteneon** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 9:11 am

ragek23 wrote:

You need this...

viewtopic.php?t=28793

Sorry to see that they did such sloppy work

ragek23 · Post by **ragek23** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 3:14 pm

Wow thanks! I am going to go order that hose asap.

freelancer1988 · Post by **freelancer1988** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 9:07 pm

Are you able to take it back to the shop and get some sort of refund or repair? Sounds like I could of done a better job than them and I have no experience with welding. lol.

ragek23 · Post by **ragek23** » Sat Oct 13, 2012 11:29 am

Well i took tge car back to them 3 times to fix the evap leak and only paid the first time. It's obvious they are just completely lazy.

ragek23 · Post by **ragek23** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 11:21 pm

Wow fixed the leak. I put atv sealant over where the line is pushed within the other line to the tank and the CEL is GONE!!!!!!!!! Oh and the shop also burned out my lower 02 sensor when they welded the piping in because my old cat was fine. O well atleast I have a beautifully running car with a full 2.5" header back now

.

ragek23 · Post by **ragek23** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 2:08 pm

now to protect the welds from rusting:

The curing process takes about an hour. You need to let it dry and then run the vehicle and cool it multiple times to let it get its ceramic properties.

ragek23 · Post by **ragek23** » Thu Nov 15, 2012 7:00 pm

:/ another lash adjuster went on the intake side. Sounds awefully loud. Time to get the whole kit so I don't have to keep replacing one every year.

chew* · Post by chew* » Thu Nov 15, 2012 10:30 pm

ragek23 wrote::/ another lash adjuster went on the intake side. Sounds awefully loud. Time to get the whole kit so I don't have to keep replacing one every year.

It's 1 of many reasons why I suggest new when adding a cam but what the hell do I know

ragek23 · Post by **ragek23** » Fri Nov 16, 2012 1:01 am

I already have a comp400 with SS valves and crane valve springs. The rockers are the only original part on the whole top end. But, thanks for the suggestion. Lol, id love an 005 or 007crane came but I don't want to go the megasqurit route to tame it.

chew* · Post by chew* » Fri Nov 16, 2012 9:45 pm

ragek23 wrote:I already have a comp400 with SS valves and crane valve springs. The rockers are the only original part on the whole top end. But, thanks for the suggestion. Lol, id love an 005 or 007crane came but I don't want to go the megasqurit route to tame it.

Yah we call them rockers or automatic lash adjusters but in reality they are hydraulic lifters and anything hydraulic is prone to fail over time, especially after XX miles and then you demand 50% more labor from them when you add a cam.

I won't claim it a fact but maybe you could tame a 14 with a safc II seeing as your pcm is already capable of taking the cam into it's power band.

Doubt it will beat MS but it would likely get you by.

ragek23 · Post by **ragek23** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 10:27 pm

Actually untill I take my light weight underdrive pulley off I am limited to 5500rpm. I get the missfire code at high rpm. So right now the comp 400 is perfect lol.

update: so after taking a look inside the head I found 2 lash adjusters totally broken. the arms were ok btu the nylon around the 2 intake adjusters are totally gone. After adding a full new set of exhaust and intake lash adjusters there is new life in the car. Howerever, now I have an exhaust lash adjuster making noise..... Its probably a defective part. Thanks topline and your great chicago made parts. Oh and the new rocker arm rails were not completly de-berred from the factory so they needed some filing to get the adjusters on.