-- September 04th, 2006 --

Alright, finally some new stuff to update you with!! Woo-Hoo! I am incredibly excited about the past few things I have gotten done. Recently I have...finished my diff cover and installed the welded diff, installed the Apexi AVC-R, fixed the PS leak, stopped the "shimmy" in the steering between 45-50mph, replaced steering rack bushing with ES bushings from SPL Parts, and decided on a few turbo upgrade parts. Here they are pretty much in that same order....

....Now without further delay...

I think when we left off last time I was polishing my differential cover. They sat on my workbench for a few weeks cuz it took so long to polish it out the way I wanted.

It looks really great though, and even better installed. I cannot wait to get more sparkle under there. SPL Parts will be my savior in that dept. If you remember, I will also be powdercoating my extra subframe to mount under here. It is all coming together nicely.

Also as stated I finally got my Apexi AVC-R electronic boost contoller installed. I am currently running 10psi daily and 12-14 @ the track. I have yet to time it again in the 1/4mi. but with the diff. and boost turned up a little...I should be mid 13's.

I kept looking on all the forums I belong to, and watching my favorite sellers on ebay. I was finding full entire power steering setups with the hard lines, hoses, resevoir, pump...all the crap I didn't need. I only needed the high pressure hose and fitting. with sensor. At last...I found it. Plus, I was lucky enough to find it right when it went on ebay and it was OBO...

...so I offered him $70 shipped and scored! Hells yeah!! Now when I clean that area, it actually stays clean! I am so fuggin happy...alright!

New on the list was figuring out what to do about the shimmy in my steering wheel that happened on both accel and decel between 45-50mph. The first thing I thought was...hmm, maybe a wheel out of balance. Nope. Then I thought...could I have bent a tie rod again...? No on that account as well. Hmm, what about the steering rack? Well, lets start smaller...the steering rack bushings!! Yes, absolutely. So I bought a set thinking..."this may help a little." I could have not been anymore right. This Energy Suspension bushings I ordered from SPLparts.com were about $29 shipped, and the best I ever spent at that. These went in pretty easily. I had alot of nastiness and grease all over under there. The previously mentioned power steering leak gunked up everything under there. I sprayed it until I ran out of brake cleaner and had a much easier and cleaner time.

This is one of the old bushings.

I started with the left side and tried for about 30 minutes to get out the old worn rubber bushing. It ripped into about 7 or 8 pieces during removal. I got it out though with a little ingenuity, and PB blaster for lube. I used a jack with a small block of wood to elevate the steering rack high enough to slip the old on the rest of the way back out and the new polyurethane bushing into place.

With this genius plan I finished installing the two bushings and torqued everything back to specs (65-80ft/lbs). And here is the finished product. All in all, very easy to install. I would definately recommend this if your steering is sloppy, or you experience a "shimmy" or "vibration" in your steering wheel at certain speeds.

My first initial impression with the new bushings is WOW! Holy crap, I never would have thought that two little rubber/polyurethane pieces would be able to make such a difference. There is much more direct feel from the road, and my car turns EXACTLY when I tell it to. It is much, much more responsive. There is no more "shimmy" at 45-50mph which I am fuckin tickled pink about. I hated the suspended feeling like I was going to shake the wheels off, or crash while braking at those "key" speeds was a really shitty feeling.

As for the turbo upgrade parts I mentioned...

I have decided on Nismo 550cc Injectors, FP Big28 turbo upgrade, divorced chamber turbo outlet, and this turbo manifold.