Mod Party - 03.18.2000

Well, since the first mod party went so well, we decided to have another!  This one would be a little different however, since only two of us were actually doing any kind of mods to our cars.

Those in attendance:

This mod day was primarily to compare the KL03 intake with the KLZE counterpart, and to view the porting job that Jin had done to his spare KL03 intake.  After doing the comparison's, we installed my Tokico Illumina struts and Eibach springs, as well as Lino installing his new Stillen cross-drilled rotors and Metal Matrix brake pads.

We started out with Lino telling us about his new cross-drilled, cadmium plated rotors that he picked up from Phil Gonzalez over at Stillen.  He also mentioned getting some Stillen-branded Metal Matrix brake pads as well.  Personally, I think Lino could have made a better deal elsewhere, but he wanted to see what the items actually looked like, and I can respect that.  Anyway, Lino got to work disassembling his calipers and removing the brake pads and rotors.  Those rotors did look nice.

While this was taking place, Jin and Howard were showing JD and I their KL intakes.  Jin had already done a lot of the porting and 'knife-edging' on the rough areas of the intake manifold he has (a spare KL03).  Howard had a complete KLZE manifold sitting in a box in his trunk.  He's actually had this thing for a little while now and finally decided to drag it out to show the rest of us what the fabled KLZE's intake actually looked like.  We weren't disappointed.  Some of the differences we noted were the relocation of the PCV intake, square runners, and oblong intake port.  Another thing that we thought was peculiar were the rectangular intake ports; completely different from the KL03.  Something else different was the intake (where the elbow meets the manifold); the KL03 has two round ports sitting beside one another.  The ZE manifold has two oblong ports on top of one another.  Jin had ground the edge down on his 03, but on the ZE, this was really unnecessary.  There also appeared to be less vacuum lines on the ZE as well.

klze intakeklze vs kl03both intakes stacked!side view - stackedanother stacked viewnote the square intake runnerklze intake portscheck out the differences in the portsthe shape of the intake is different as well!

Lino finished his brake install and wanted to take it for a spin.  While he backed in his car, I pulled mine into the garage and waited for it to cool a bit.  When Lino pulled out, we noticed a scraping coming from his wheels.  I rode with him for a bit and confirmed a really loud squeal.  It was horrible!  Lino pulled the car alongside mine and proceeded to remove the front passenger wheel (we had ascertained the sound was coming from the passenger side).  On the inside of the wheel we noticed some metal shavings.  We couldn't tell if it was from the pads, or the new rotors.  Turns out that it was the backing plate.  Somehow, it was making contact with the inside of the wheel.  What he did was grab my 6" 1/2-inch extension and push out the backing plate a tad.  When he reinstalled the caliper, pads, and wheel, it worked.  No more squeal!

Then it was on to my struts and springs.  Jin happened to have a spring compressor, so he brought it.  I was glad he had it because everyone else I wanted to buy one from wanted close to $100 for one.  We decided to do the rear struts first, thinking that this would take the longest amount of time to finish.

jin starting to reassemble the right rear struteibach springs vs oem springsjin and damon putting a strut together!tightening the top nut

First, we jacked up the car (after loosening the wheel's lug nuts) and secured it with jack stands.  Next, we removed the wheels, then the interior quarter panels to gain access to the strut tower.  We then began the process of removing the nuts, brake line, and the old struts and springs.  These can be removed as a single unit.

inspecting before reassemblythe 'thumbs up' seal of approvaldamon reinstalling the left rear strut assemblyGET IN THERE!

Next, we used the spring compressor to compress the spring enough for us to remove the retaining bolt.  After doing this, we saved the boot, bump stop, and the strut mount.  Before putting together the new strut and spring, I consulted the Eibach instructions on trimming the bump stop.  This is an absolute necessity if installing ANY type of lowering springs.  Most kits will have the required amount to trim.  Since the rear was only 15mm, I just lopped off one complete nib.  Then we put these units together.  I gave the thumbs up when we had them ready to install.

tokico illumina vs oem strut (rear)tokico illumina vs oem strut (left front)the 'thumbs up' seal of approval

Installation was not that difficult, but Jin did need a little extra leverage to help him get the strut he was working on back in.  Mine went in without a hitch.  After we got them lined up, we reinstalled all of the nuts and bolts, torqueing them to specs per my Haynes manual.  Then we lowered the car, remounted the tires and reinstalled the hatch trim.

Howard and Jin both had to leave for prior engagements (although Howard's girlfriend came with him), so Lino and I were left to finish my front struts.  Actually, Lino was re-evaluating his front brakes and did the troubleshooting described above during this time.  Then I got started on the front struts and springs.  This was a lot easier to do that the rear mostly because there were less things to remove.

boy, does that look bare!the 'thumbs up' seal of approvalcompleted reinstallation (left rear)completed reinstallation (right rear)

I placed the car on jackstands, removed the front wheels and my front strut bar, then proceeded to remove the front struts.  Using the same procedure for the rear, I then disassembled the strut/spring.  The front bump stop, according to Eibach had to be trimmed 20mm, so I removed 12mm from the top (thickest part) and 8 from the bottom.  Thank goodness Lino had a Wizard to help me with the trimming; got a really clean cut with that thing.  I then put together the new strut assembly, installed, and reinstalled everything I had taken off.

Lino and I didn't think the car appeared much lower, but the drop was confirmed when I tried to get the floor jack out from the side of the car.  The car was definitely lower!  Since it was late, I didn't get a chance to take Lino out for a spin with the new setup, but both of us got to test our newly installed mods the very next day at an autocross in San Diego.  More details can be found in the 'Meets' section.  One thing I have to make sure to do is get an alignment, just to make sure that it's okay.

Whew!  Until the next Mod Day!

write-up by D. Tolentino