The "max prep" BSP build continued throughout the winter. The Moton triples on Bumblestook were purchased used and last revalved by PSI in CA but that was two years ago and I started noticing a bit of leaking on one of the shocks. It was time to get them rebuilt and revalved. I sent them over to ANZE suspension in long island and Angelo promptly took care of it. He found that the valving had diverged quite a bit between each shock and I asked that he also soften up the shocks a bit so she could be more compliant around bumpy courses. I also got new front lines to be 6" longer to get a bit more clearance from the sway bar.
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| Moton Tripples at ANZE suspension - 1/16/2014 |
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| Moton Tripples at ANZE suspension - 1/16/2014 |
That was installed back on the car with the 1000lb springs and we also replaced the rear sway bar from the Gendron to the Ankeny blade so I could more quickly adjust it between runs.
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| Ankeny blade rear sway bar - 1/21/2014 |
I ordered a set of four 18x12 (8.5" backspacing) CCW Classics that would serve as my new rear wheels. I ordered 4 to mate them with my existing set of four 18x11" CCW Classics to make two sets of wheels. This way I could have a practice tire and a competition tire set.
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| CCW Classic 18x12" - 1/31/2014 |
Over the winter I also discussed adding ITBs onto the car. Jeff Evans had an idea to use some relatively inexpensive ITBs and modify them (heavily) to work with the car and build a custom plenum so it wouldn't heat soak. We didn't really know if we were going to be able to extra any more power but since I was already going all out, it was worth a shot.
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| Aeromotive FPR on custom bracket installed - 2/19/2014 |
Bumblestook firing up on ITBs first time - Evans Tuning - Mt Bethel, PA
2/21/2014
A few days later, I went to the shop to watch her get dyno tuned. She wasn't 100% ready yet since the intake hadn't yet been finalized but we'd at least get to see how she'd do on the new setup. We got lucky that after months of constant snow storms, we got a sunny and marginally warmer day so we took the dyno outside so I could get better photos and video.
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| Getting ready to dyno - 2/22/2014 |
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| Bumblestook on dyno - 2/22/2014 |
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| Jeff Evans Tuning - 2/22/2014 |
Bumblestook ITB Testing - Evans Tuning -Mt. Bethel, PA
2/22/2014
She eventually put down 244hp/169tq which is roughly what I made last year on the custom IM setup. However, my previous numbers was taken during a very cold day and before I switch to tapered Science of Speed TB so it was likely that it made slightly less power before. We couldn't really do a proper back to back to see the difference since it's a non-trivial thing to swap back and forth. In general though, it seems the power should be roughly the same and without being able to do anything to the internals, I think we've hit the NA power wall for the S2000. The throttle response improvement was significant though but I didn't get a chance to drive her since she was missing an intake. Jeff and JDV eventually made the intake I ran last year work with the ITB setup and they part throttle tuned it without me. I also changed the motor mounts from the Innovative 75A to the Hasport 94A poly mounts. The vibration is borderline ridiculous but that motor is definitely not moving anymore.
After almost 5 months of hanging out at the shop, I would finally get a chance to drive her and take her home. I know how Bumblestook feels very intimately so when I finally got on the fast pedal and felt that response the first time, my mind was blown. She felt incredible and between the reduced weight and more responsive engine, I could already tell she was a faster beast than last year.
Bumblestook first drive 2014 - Evans Tuning - Mt. Bethel, PA
3/22/2014
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| In race trim - 3/22/2014 |
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| ITB setup done - 3/22/2014 |
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| Dat Ass Tho - 3/22/2014 |
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| Taking her home - 3/22/2014 |
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| New Shorai battery getting charged - 3/23/2014 |
Last year I accidentally let the Shorai battery completely drain. It hasn't been able to fully charge since then and has been having problems starting Bumblestook up so I also ended up buying a new one since I didn't want any electrical issues. With the build complete she's now ready for testing, suspension tuning and more importantly for me to learn to drive her 100% this year. Let the 2014 racing season begin!
