Monthly Archives: September 2011

Industry Track Day ’11

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Once or twice every year, industry workers come together at a track somewhere, which is usually never nearby, and enjoy the pastime that we work to support on a day to day basis.

Industry Track Day was held this year at, the not so new anymore but new to most who attended, Chuckwalla Valley Raceway. Situated in the middle of nowhere, as most tracks that I’ve been to tend to be, it’s a long long drive to get there. In order to arrive in time for the check in and driver meeting I left my house before the crack of dawn. Still tired and ever so groggy I drove down the freeway, past Morongo Casino, past Palm Springs & Indio, and past the Salton Sea.

Yes, it is that far. 1 more hour down the road and I would have ended up in Arizona. I watched the sun rise on my way there and watched as the sun set on my way back home.

After arriving, checking in, and going through the driver meeting, the tents were put up and the cars were unloaded and prepared to go.

(That ridiculously taped up car is mine. I had heard horror stories of people tracking their cars at Chuckwalla with a brand new red tow hook, only to return home with a brand new tow hook that no longer had paint on it.)

(Too cautious? I think not! And don’t be fooled into thinking I had missed a few spots, what you’re seeing is 2 layers of blue painters tape and another layer of white and black duct tape on top.)

The showing at Industry Track Days is always a hodgepodge of many different types of cars.

We had American Muscle.


A plethora of German ultimate driving machines.

JDM

KDM

Italian Stallions

(Look at the size of those things!)

We had the old

And the new

Relatively stock cars

And the dedicated track only cars

Even pirates had a showing

Despite the blistering heat (it reached about 100 degrees out at CVR while it was a cool 73 degrees in LA) good times were had. There were some technical difficulties with the timing system, so unfortunately no one knew if they were getting faster or slower as far as lap times go, but that certainly didn’t stop us from taking our cars out and thrashing them around.


(Evasive Motorsport’s Mike behind the wheel of his Civic)


(Crawford brought their tC’s out to play as well)


(Featured on the blog many times before, Ex-Marketing Manager for Tein, Philip Chase’s Evo IX)

(I don’t have a GoPro, and wanting to review my own driving I resorted to my own GhettoPro. If you’re wondering, yes that is my point and shoot digital camera zip tied to my seat. It didn’t work out so well due to the shaking. I almost get carsick just watching the video that it took.)


(And by the end of the day, my normally white TE37’s had turned a brake dust grey/black color, and I’m on my way to earning my Brownbo [Brown Brembos] Badge)

Touch Ups Anyone?

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Ever wanted to touch up or repaint your dampers because they had some scratches, scuffs, slight rust building on the damper shell casing but couldn’t figure out the a color to match our dampers? Well it’s your lucky day because I’m going to give everyone some tips as well as paint color that would match the TEIN green color.

 

Because the dampers are powdercoated from TEIN Japan we don’t have the machinery to re-coat them at either of our North American facilities. During Overhaul we do offer to paint them using paint found at your local hardware store. The paint is by Rust-O-Leum Painter’s Touch in Gloss Green Meadow. The color is not exact but closely resembles the original powdercoating as you can see in the second photo down, the left damper being the painted damper and right damper having the original powdercoating.

 

 

When repainting or touching up your dampers it is always good to have the dampers clean, free of dirt, debris, and oil. I Recommend staying away from heavy duty parts cleaners as they eat away at the paint as well as the sticker/ label print. Mild cleaners are good, but if heavy duty cleaners are needed, try using a minimal amount.

Preparing the damper may vary from one damper to another, based on its condition. Taping off any sticker/ labels as well as the threaded sleeves,top ring nut, and piston rods is always good as it would help for the future damper reference, as well as the threaded sleeves and top ring nut.  

 Mild sand paper or, if needed, a wire brush are recommended to allow for larger paint chips and rust to be removed for a clean and even surface. Little surface sanding will allow for a better adhering surface.  A bench grinder with a brush wheel could also be used to help with the clean up process of the paint but can be a bit tricky with some hard to reach areas, which is why I can only recommend it to those who know their way around a bench grinder. Wipe down the surface with a lightly damped towel to remove any last foreign debris that may still be on the damper from the prep work.

 

Before painting, make sure the damper is placed in a good position allowing for easy access to all painting surfaces of the damper. A well ventilated area is always a must. Primer is recommended to allow the paint to adhere.

 

 

Even spraying motions back and forth in one direction at a 5 inch distance prevents any uneven coats, as well as overspray drips.

 

Allow a few hours for the paint to cure. Of course, time frame is longer in humid areas. Check the damper for any areas missed for resprays. Once thoroughly dried your damper is complete.

 

 

The same details above can also work with the S.Tech Lowering Springs and Full Length Adjustable Dampers lower adjustment brackets (Flex, and Super Drift) as they are also green. Other dampers and parts may also be green such as spring seat locks, and uppermounts but are anodized instead painted and wouldn’t look good redone in paint.

I hope this helps a few out there looking to repaint or touch up the paint on their dampers.

So fresh and so clean clean

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To some automotive enthusiasts with suspension modifications, many think “install it, set it and forget it”. In many ways, this in incorrect. One thing everyone should consider is that suspension is exposed to the elements of the road. Whether its debris, rain, snow, dirt, mud, sand and possibly road kill, over time these elements could take a toll of the performance and life of any brand suspension. I wanted to go over a few tips for cleaning your suspension that myself and a few other coworkers use.

Cleaners and cleaning tools needed:
Running water, light brush, cleaning solvent in spray bottle (ex. Simple Green), rubbing alcohol, spray lubricant, clean terry cloth and elbow grease.

Damper removed for cleaning

Damper shown fully disassembled for cleaning. The adjustment threads were covered with dirt that made the seat locks hard to remove.

After 10 minutes of cleaning with the brush, simple green and water the damper is looking new again. Once the damper is dry, we clean the piston rod with rubbing alcohol to get rid of any water spots and remaining soap. Before we reassemble, it’s recommended to spray the threads on the damper body and piston rod with a spray lubricant to help from parts becoming seized and rusted.

The damper all assembled again and torque to the recommendations in the installation manual. This damper is ready to rock and roll!

SuperPro Special Orders

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As we have all seen and followed the inflation for Importing Products is quite high at this moment which is forcing us to not be able to have these in stock.


 

Unfortunately we are hit by the same issues that every company is experiencing at this moment. We will regrettably be holding all SuperPro stocking order but will be ORDERING SuperPro as Special Orders Only. Meaning that we will still be placing orders with SuperPro for all your orders but will take about 4-8 weeks to receive in and all orders have to be paid in advance, and no cancellations.

These bushings are designed to last longer from other manufacturers bushings since these come with double helix,bullet and knurling grooves.

The double helix provides a region for grease to travel along. This allows a boundary layer of grease to form between the inside diameter of the bush and the outside diameter of the tube. The double helix is extremely successful in greaseable shackles as the grease can travel from the center of the bush along the helix and out to the grease grooves in the head of the bush.

Knurling is used on control arm bushes to enable unrestricted pivoting of the polyurethane bush around the crush tube. The knurling has two inherent design advantages. The knurling reduces the surface area of polyurethane in contact with the crush tube. This reduction in surface area results in less frictional forces being developed. The Super Pro knurl bore combined with the integral grease retention lips keeps the lubricating grease intact for the life of the bushing, and eliminates the necessity for periodic re-greasing.

It’s definitely worth the small wait time.

Of course if you do need these in a RUSH we can also offer an Expedited Shipping quote upon request.

Please check out the following link to place any orders or to see their Online Catalog.

http://www.tein.com/products/superpro.html

 

Full Scale RC Car?

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So Nismo decides to build a Nissan Leaf Racecar…. Hmmmm. I’m not too sure what to think of it. However, with the increased sales in Hybrid Electric vehicles, I suppose it’s something to look forward to.

But, how does it sit with some of you petrol heads? How does the whirr of an electric motor compare to a good ‘ole piston, or even a rotary engine?

To me, it’s clearly not the same. There’s nothing like the experience of seeing a piston engine powered car speeding down the racetrack. Even the sounds of a car going through gears leaves a heavy imprint in my mind of how a car is supposed to work. What’s with the whirring sound of an electric motor that seems to grow exponentially? It’s really not the same at all.

At least it’s good to know that Motorsports, in any form, isn’t dying out. The fact is many of us still find lots of joy behind the wheel of our own car, racing or not. What difference does it make if the sound of the motor isn’t the same? Probably very little.

TEIN seems to be very well prepared in providing suspension kits for all types of enthusiasts. We’ve received many inquiries recently specifically for Nissan Leaf suspension, which TEIN Japan already has available (Street Basis dampers, part# GSK32-11AS2). We’ve had suspension for the 3rd generation Toyota Prius and the Honda CR-Z for some time now. So maybe we’re on the right track in understanding that “Green Cars” are here to stay.

Speaking of Electric Powered Race Cars, seems that Toyota has put one out on the Nordschleife. End result- ONE QUICK LAP TIME!