9ElevenHeadlights Raven Headlights

During the first iteration of the 911SC build, we installed LED headlights from Audette Collection with Bosch fluted lenses along with an H4 harness conversion. While aesthetically it looks great, to be frank, I found the lights to be dim and a bit scary to drive at night. I wanted to get something that was really well engineered and have been eyeing 9Eleven Headlights for some time now. 

9Elevent Headlights Raven headlights in Gunmetal

The headlights are an engineering work of art and while they are quite pricey, I'm more than happy to support small business who do things the right way. Installation was pretty straightforward since I already had LED lights before with the H4 conversion. The kit came with a harness that connects to the H4 socket and then their connector on the other side that goes to the headlight.

H4 adapter harness

I also got fresh headlight gaskets. Even though my old ones were still fine I figured it's cheap enough to put a fresh set in. I've never bought anything that actually included white gloves to ensure you don't mess up the lights during install. 

included white gloves

The lights look absolutely gorgeous installed and the brightness is spot on. I opted for black headlight rings and I think it gives a nice aggressive look.

Raven gunmetal headlights installed

Raven gunmetal headlights installed

Lights on

Audette Collection headlights (left) vs
9Eleven Raven Headlights (right)

J's Racing Intake

I ordered a J's Racing Intake from Japan late last year since I wanted a snorkeled carbon fiber intake like my PasswordJDM intake that takes up less space and doesn't block the radiator as much. With it raining all day, I figured it'd be a good time to install it. Installation could've been smoother. I had to use a Dremel to open up the snorkel tube hole to actually fit the air filter and it was a bit of a pain lining everything up and to clear my cooling plate but overall it's a nice piece and should function well.

Coolant Sensor Fix and New Battery

For a while now at cold start I'd get a temporary "Failure Detected" message on the Cayman with the coolant temp gauge showing no value. Once the car warmed up, this would go away. After some research I found that this is a symptom of the coolant temp sensor going bad. Given that the car is now 19 years old, I suppose that's not completely unexpected. 

New coolant temp sensor, o-ring and reitaining clip

I ordered a new OEM sensor along with a new o-ring and retainer clip, dropped the car off with Lee at Hybrid Motors and he made quick work of replacing it and topping off the coolant. Unfortunately on my way home after picking it up, I got a nice bullseye from a rock and cracked my windshield. I used a Permatex repair kit to prevent further spreading for now but I will probably get the windshield replaced once I find a place I can trust to replace it with OEM glass. 

Cracked glass

Attempting a temporary repair using a Permatex repair kit

My Antigravity lightweight battery is also approaching 7 years old and while it's still fine, I don't want to run the risk of a battery failure when I'm out somewhere due to age so I pre-emptively bought a new 40Ah version to replace it.

New Antigravity Battery

Maintenance Update:

Mileage: 56,258

- New Antigravity 40Ah battery

- New coolant temp sensor, o-ring and retainer clip

Noisy Idlers, ABS sensor woes, and Washer fluid leaks

Earlier last year I noticed wiper washer fluid was leaking all under the Jeep. The typical fix for this is replacing the washer fluid pump strainer which I did. Unfortunately this didn't really fix the problem so I decided to complete just replace the whole washer fluid bottle since the pump itself wasn't leaking. This is someone annoying to replace since it comes with a full tray assembly for where the ECU sits so I had SJF take on this project. Turns out the existing bottle itself was fine and my main issue was with the hose but whatever, I already had the new part so why not put it in anyway.

new wiper washer bottle assembly

Since the Jeep was going to be with SJF for a while anyway, I figured i'd address a few other things like replacing the 4 ABS sensors since I would get the traction control light go on when driving on the highway for extended periods of time. This is typically caused by a bad sensor so got some new OEM ones to replace them. Turns out the rear rear abs wire had gotten damaged at some point and that was the main source of it but glad to have these sensors replaced anyway. I also had the crank sensor replaced which a very typical item to go bad on these vehicles. It's 10 years old now and I don't want to get stranded somewhere because of a bad sensor so a new OEM one went in as well.

New hub assembly

While the ABS sensors were getting replaced, the right front hub was showing some play so that got replaced. There were also some wear issues on one of the brake caliper bracket so had both front brake calipers and brackets completely replaced as they were pretty cheap anyway. 

New front brake caliper

New front brake caliper

The front bumper stops were also completely worn out and falling apart so those were both replaced with fresh new ones. I had this whining supercharger like noise too from the engine when it was cold. At least one of the idler pulleys was not happy at all so I got them all replaced along with the tensioner and the main drive belt and now it's back to being silent. 

Maintenance Update:

Mileage: 84,485

- New wiper washer fluid tank assembly

- New idler pulleys

- New belt tensioner

- New main drive belt

- New front bump stops

- New front calipers

- Brake fluid flush

- New front right wheel hub

- New right rear ABS sensors wire 

- New ABS sensors all around

- New crank sensor

JCW Suspension

Ever since I got the Mini, I wanted to do an OEM+ upgrade by doing a JCW conversion since they don’t make a 4-door JCW. I already completed most of that conversion shortly after buying the car and even sourced the JCW suspension new but just didn’t get the opportunity to install it to complete the transformation. After a few years of procrastination I decided it was time so I dropped it off with SJF so he could complete the install.

JCW suspension

The JCW coilovers are height adjustable but have a fixed valving and are made by KW. Since the car has almost 85k miles, I figured I’d also get brand new hardware, top hats, etc for the install to just freshen things up since putting those old components with new suspension seemed like the wrong thing to do. 

New front shocks and springs

New rear shocks

New top hats and associated hardware

The overall installation went pretty smoothly and I had the ride height set to just a little under factory height since it’s winter and the suspension settled maybe around 0.25-0.5” after sittting around before alignment. 

Front suspension installed

Rear suspension installed

New ride height

The car feels really amazing to drive. The ride is a bit more firm but very well controlled just as you’d expect from a KW tuned suspension setup. I’m definitely very happy with the upgrade and I’m glad that the JCW conversion is finally complete.

While the car was there I also had SJF flush the brake fluid since that was due.

Maintenance Update:

Mileage: 84,996

- New JCW suspension (made by KW) all around

- All new suspension bolts, top hats, etc for the suspension

- Motul RBF600 brake fluid

New Seat Foam for the 944

The interior on the 944 is actually really clean and original. The only thing after 35 years is that the driver side seat bolster flattened over the years so I wanted to actually fix this to make things 100%. Unfortunately finding brand new OEM seat foam is difficult, if not near impossible, so I bought some new seat bottom foam from Design911 in the UK.

Seat out of car with new foam next to it

New foam

The only problem with the new foam is that it’s a bit generic for the standard seat so it’s not a direct replacement. It doesn’t have the appropriate cut outs for the power seat controls nor and doesn’t match all the contours needed to slot in to the seat frame.

Removing the seat cover and cushion from frame

New seat foam vs very old one

I spent several hours cutting and trimming the new foam to match the old foam then recovered and attached everything back to the seat frame. It was frankly way more work than I thought it’d be but not only does the bolster look better, the fresh foam makes the seat feel much better and supportive.

All the foam trimmings

Seat bottom frame

Everything put back together

MCS 2-Way and AP Racing Competition Brakes

It's been 7 years now since Bumblestook was retired from true competition trim and being a bit of a do it all car. One thing that always bothered me though was the compromise I made on raw handling performance opting for just a decent suspension setup and blingy brakes.I suppose it was fine when my initial goal was to maybe drive it around a lot more on the street with a few fun events every now and then. However, looking at my actual usage in the past years it was time to take the gloves off and put in something real again.

I worked closely with Brian at Karcepts to spec out a MCS 2-way adjustable damper setup with remote canisters that would optimize track handling while still being manageable on the street. I settled with Hyperco 850 lb/in front and Hyperco 750 lb/in rear 2.25" ID x 7" springs, Karcepts top hats and matching MCS 2-way remote dampers. It was also matched with 0 rate helper springs and Delrin couplers to avoid binding and minimize noise. 

I had SJF do the install since I needed to get holes re-added to the rear of the car to get the canister into the cabin but unlike the car's BSP trim, I wanted this install to be much cleaner. I got some RS Pro canister holders so it could get mounted up on to the rollbar for a clean install with easy adjustment.

Rear canisters mounted cleaning on the rollbar

I had a similar thing done to the front except mounted to a plate so that it could sit in the space behind the bumper and in front the radiator away from the engine heat while still being easily adjustable. The lines going to the passenger side dampers were really at the limit here due the location of the canister. There's just enough slack to make it work but I think if I have these serviced in the future I'm going to get slightly longer hoses made.

Front canisters mounted 

Cooling plate trimmed to allow knob adjustment

Clean install in the front

While we were at it, new tie rods and tie rod boots were all installed since my old ones were starting to show some signs of wear and I wanted everthing as buttoned up as we possibly could.

New tie rods and tie rod boot

Since I was already going down the slipper slope of performance upgrades, I worked with Brad on securing AP Racing Competition brakes with 325mm J-hook rotors from Sakebomb Garage. I decided to continue with using Carbotech XP10 front pads with part number CTFRP3116. This is for the D50 radial depth pads so that they have proper coverage on the 325mm rotors. My carbon brake duct shields needed significant trimming to not interfere with the new rotors. I don't even think they're really that necessary anymore but since they're already on there might as well still have the extra brake cooling.

New AP Racing calipers with Carbotech XP10 pads

Brake duct shield trimmed

Brakes fully installed

A few other things had to be done. A bit of the brake pad needed some sanding down since it was a tad too thick and contacting the rotors without the brakes applied. Also, for winter I run Enkei RPF1 17x8 wheels in the front to clear to the Spoon calipers but even with 5mm spacers they barely clear these calipers so I opted to put on 12mm spacers to get enough clearance. Thanksfully I already run extended studs so the added offset wasn't a problem. New brake lines were also installed and of course the whole thing flushed with Motul RBF600 fluid. Also flushed the clutch fluid and since we're doing fluids, flushed the diff fluid as well.

And of course the ride height was adjusted to what I previously had and a new alignment done.

Fresh alignment settings

Driving the car home, I was absolutely pleased by how the car rode even on its "race" dampers settings. It had a very "Euro" drive dynamic to it, stiff yet comfortable. Cornering felt nice and flat and the brakes felt great too. I can't wait til it warms up and I can really put the car through its paces.

Big thanks to Brian at Karcepts and Brad at S2K Takeover for the part selection and settings guidance and of course SJF Performance for bringing my ideas into reality.

Maintenace Update:

Mileage: 69,631

- 1qt 80W140 Redline diff fluid

- 1L of Motul RBF 600 brake fluid for brakes and clutch

- New front brake hoses

- AP Racing Competition front big brake kit with 325mm J-hook rotors

- Carbotech XP10 CTFRP3116 front pads

- New tie rods and tie rod boots

- MCS 2-Way Remote dampers with 850/750 springs and Karcepts top hats