Thursday, November 15, 2007

Sillbeer Desktops/Wallpapers for the masses

I've read that a few people had downloaded the images from the latest photoshoot and used as their desktop, so I thought I'd pump a few dedicated images out at varying sizes for those that wish to use them. Enjoy.

Desktop 1


Sillbeer Desktop 1
- 1024 x 768
- 1280 x 960
- 1600 x 1200
- 1920 x 1200

Desktop 2


Sillbeer Desktop 2
- 1024 x 768
- 1280 x 960
- 1600 x 1200
- 1920 x 1200

Desktop 3


Sillbeer Desktop 3
- 1024 x 768
- 1280 x 960
- 1600 x 1200
- 1920 x 1200

Desktop 4


Sillbeer Desktop 4
- 1024 x 768
- 1280 x 960
- 1600 x 1200
- 1920 x 1200

For help on using these as Desktops or Wallpapers, just do a search for it on Google.

If there's any specific ones you want from previous photos, leave a comment and I'll see what I can do.

Cheers
Brendan

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Sillbeer's 1st Photoshoot

Sillbeer's 1st Photoshoot
Photo Gallery

Alright, a couple of people were having a whinge at me for not having photos up, so I quickly popped out and took some so here they are.

Enjoy
Brendan

Deliverance...

This week is a good week.

Yesterday (Tuesday) I was given the go ahead to pickup the car. It has had a run-in tune put into it by Sean at Allstar Garage on Monday...and in 39C (102F) heat I should add. Now, this was a special day for me as you would imagine, it was the day I could finally take my car home. Having started this journey on the 28th August 2004, that would make it 3 years, 2 months and 16 days to get it this far. To say I was nervous about driving it home was an understatement, but after driving it a couple of kms, I settled down and really appreciated what I and many others had created. The engine ran sweet (if not lumpy at idle due to the cam profiles), the suspension was tight, steering tracked true and the interior felt like new (as it should). That bodywork certainly lets you know it's there too, every time you look in the side mirrors..boom, take that.

I went and picked up the kids from school, they were all giggly about getting into the car too...I cranked up the tunes for them and they just loved it. Once home, I gave the car it's first ever wash. It has collected quite a bit of dust and crap since Autosalon as the cover hasn't been put on as much, and once clean the paint really did pop out so much more.

This morning was the first test in peak hour traffic, and did it serve it up...one of the worst days I've seen in a long time just getting onto the Freeway. Was it hard to drive? Well kind of, remembering it has a twin-plate clutch that hasn't really been run in yet, and a driver just getting used to a twin-plate again, I reckon it was pretty good. Give me another 2 weeks, and it would be a problem at all, just need to keep the revs up higher than I would in the Sigma.

I'll take a stack of pics soon and post up another gallery for those chomping at the bit to see how it's progressing.

Now is the journey over? Not by a long shot. Unfortunately when we switch ECU's over, the pin setup is slightly different between the ADM and JDM computers, which means the air conditioning isn't connected (although it has been gassed ready to go). But the weather is cooling down towards the end of the week, with a 30C today, and 28C tomorrow and Friday. We'll sort the aircon on Saturday along with the sump guard which I took delivery on Monday for. I will also run the sensor looms for the Defi Gauges and look towards getting those running...at least temporarily on the dash board. Then of course there's the run-in, which will be 1000kms of easy driving. The tune on Monday garnered a respectable 160rwhp on 6psi (0.4Bar) at 5000rpm (which is the current rev limit set in place for the run-in), so there's plenty left in it. Not sure what we'll boost her up to, but I'm saying the in region of about 22psi (1.5Bar), mmmmmm boost.

So keep an eye out for those photos.

WOOT!

Cheers
Brendan

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

I got the Power!.....FC

Apexi Power FC Box

Yeah, crap title I know. Anyway, delivery of the Power FC (Full Computer) was on time and on Tuesday we dropped it into the kick panel, changed a few parameters around for the injectors and AFM and voila...sutartu! It's an S15 version as I originally planned on running a modded stock S15 ECU. We'll do a little bit of tuning to make sure the fuel is ok for light driving around, then have a proper tune coming up early next week. After that I can start running the engine in before leaning on it.

- Main ECU Unit (for direct replacement of the stock ECU)
- Power FC Commander (Hand Controller)
- Main plug interface
- Label on the side with serial number
- Accessories interface for Commander and Boost Control Unit

Speaking of boost control, I'll either be using the Power FC Boost Control kit, or a C-Red is now an official Trust/Greddy supplier, a GReddy Profec-B Boost Controller.

Sillbeer from the front all registered

Now for the good bits. Yep the car is registered, and the plates are now on. Ride height has been adjust so that it has plenty of clearance on the coilovers, but may need to look at a different exhaust down the track a little to get even more clearance...this is a daily remember. The car is getting it's air con regassed today, (this morning) and I'll take it down to Exley's Tyre Service (where I got my tyres from) to get a base alignment done. There's way too much camber front and rear on the passenger (left) side of the car and too much toe at the front. Now I apologise for not giving it a wash before taking the pics, but time was short when they were taken yesterday.

- Front quarter view
- Front wheel showing the Brembos
- Side view showing new ride height
- Rear quarter showing plenty of tyre clearance
- Rear quarter view 2
- Left profile - OMG it's phat, too much camber
- Right profile view

The rear height might be dropped by another 10mm or so, but we'll see how it goes for now...that'll be all part of the fun of getting it closer to perfection. Still to come now is fitting of some additional chassis bracing I've yet had time to put on (URAS Chassis Rail Extention and Tunnel Brace), then I need to work out how to add the Defi gauges which are waiting in the wings.

Shakedown will follow while we work out the inevitable bugs. Stay tuned.

Cheers
Brendan

Sunday, November 04, 2007

IT'S ALIVE!

Yeah, well you knew that from the last post, but I tell you, this engine is silent. The re-shim job on the head has resulted in one of the quietest SR's I've heard to date. After a bit of fiddling around with a couple of sensors not working, the engine was idling ok. The boys also spent a bit of time on the computer trying to get a base tune in to it for driving it around, but were have some major communication problems. I decided at that point to order in an Apexi Power FC and Commander, then have it tuned using the Datalogit module. This is a tried and test ECU, so with that landing on Monday, we hope to have a tune put down later in the week, early the week after. In the meantime, we also replaced the RG brake lines with ADR approved items from Maltech...custom ordered in a decent length as the RG lines were a little tight for my setup.

Once C-Red had it in a running condition, it was taken down to the pits and passed compliancing and was promptly registered - they were rather impressed with the quality of the build. This was a big weight off of our collective shoulders. I had the car registered in the set of plates I ordered last year - SILLBEER (der!), which have been waiting down at the Welshpool licensing centre since then.

Friday afternoon and Saturday morning were then spent fitting exhaust, suspension and brakes back onto the car. The exhaust was a pain, because getting clearance between the subframe and differential was such a hassle. In the end, I changed the rubbers used on the rear hangers, and that seemed to work out much better...still it took a good 2hrs. Friday afternoon I also managed to get rear left suspension arms changed back to the Kazama catalogue and RG coilovers, making sure to adjust the length of the arms to that of the stock ones to reduce likely of a huge geometry changes when fitted. Nice.

Saturday morning, I finished off the rear, refitted the front Kazama caster rods and tie rod ends, along with the RG coilovers. While in there, we re-fitted Brembos onto the front and bled the brakes. My right leg is very sore now from pumping so hard (thanks Greg). I finally fitted the Nardi steering wheel back on and Marc said I should take it around the block. I didn't need to be prompted twice.

Getting used to a twin-plate again wasn't too bad, but having work boots on certainly didn't help. I had to come back in briefly to refit the steering wheel because it was out about 30 degrees, but then it was out onto the road. After a quick check to see that I could stop, I drove around the block. OH MY GOD! Even though it still needs a decent tune and an alignment, the car felt brilliant. So alive, the cabin was a nice environment...it was just purely joy for me. Three years in the making, for myself then and there it was a gratifying occasion. The grin on my face was testament to that.

So from here what's left to do? Well this is shakedown time. We won't be taking it out to any 'public' events just yet, not until we've managed to clear away the decks of any possible gremlins that comes from rebuilding a car from scratch. I also need to fit the Defi gauges so we can keep an eye on all the vitals - I'll be heading to Trimcare for some help in that department. Sorry for no pics this time, but once I have some time with the car myself, I'll arrange for a few nice ones.

Cheers (woohoo!)
Brendan