_-Night-Shade-_ [ 1994 GS-R ] - Winter 2012 ... Part 1

[Dark_Rider2k3]

I have iridiums on my BP and it's going good... What all do you want to know about 'em?

[ethand]

Wow, that looks great, nice work!
CF does work well for your car - one of the best I've seen, I'd say. Great photos, too

[mazda915]

super awesome pics and work log now my eyes hurt from reading to much lol but well done man great work on ur ze and super clean bravo !! keep i up !!

[IMACHU2]

Clean machine! Poor Domo

[_-Night-Shade-_]

Those are some really nice pictures !!

Calender worthy

Thanks man! Glad you like them!

I like the valve stem caps! I've been considering adding a drift charm for some time now... but it just doesn't seem right because the MX-3 is FWD

Hahah yeah man it's mostly for sh*ts and giggles. It's like a local trend here, a kind of JDM culture thing, a lot of guys my age here rock them. I may be one of the younger ones on here in the MX-3 scene but in the local tuner scene here we're all in a similar age group.

Let is know how the iridiums go, I've only heard bad things, but I think we'd all appreciate an opinion from a respectable guy, instead of a internet(PT) rumor...

Nice to know I'm a "respectable guy" in your books, lol. Personally I haven't heard any bad things about 'em but for sure I can give you my analysis.

Wow, that looks great, nice work!
CF does work well for your car - one of the best I've seen, I'd say. Great photos, too

Thanks mate! (:

super awesome pics and work log now my eyes hurt from reading to much lol but well done man great work on ur ze and super clean bravo !! keep i up !!

Much appreciated! Thank you!

Clean machine! Poor Domo

;D Domo loves it!


Okay, spark plugs. First thing's first: you have to understand this bit before I tell you what's happening on my setup - I know for a fact Iridium spark plugs give a better spark simply because of the electrode shape. The smaller it is the better the spark, it can't work any other way, it's physics. However, copper still has the lowest resistance out of all the metals that are used. So copper spark plugs are the most efficient. This is not the same as having the best spark. The problem is copper is too soft of a metal and you can't make the electrode as small as you can with the much harder Iridium. The thing that people forget is that spark plugs are just one part of the ignition system, and while they are important every component of the system needs to up to par in order to get the best performance. So in theory when you install Iridium spark plugs, they will have a bit more resistence, and in order to maintain the same flow of electricity, more voltage has to be supplied to them. Now, if your ignition system is already working at its peak with copper plugs it probably won't be able to supply the extra voltage and you'll see a decrease in performance. I'll get back to this point in a bit.

So, initially after installing the plugs my fuel economy got slightly worse, just a bit. Something like 20-30km less per tank than usual. However, correlation does not equal causation. Coincidentally right when I changed them is when we started getting colder temperatures, plus maybe that's when they switched over to the winter blend of fuel as well, hard to say. Another thing I noticed when looking at them is the gap looks a bit smaller than my old spark plugs which I had gapped to the correct measurements. The plugs are supposed to come pre-gapped but I know they can be off sometimes. So I need to check that. All of these extra variables make the matter hard to diagnose. Plus I haven't touched my distributor ever in my time of owning my MX-3, which is almost 3 years now. And god knows how long it hasn't been maintained since before I bought it. So I'm sure I need a fresh cap & rotor. I might even need an external coil to take full advantage of the plugs if the stock ignition can't handle it. Also it doesn't help that I'm running eBay brand plug wires. They look flashy but I'm sure their construction is pretty cheap. So I might have to bite the bullet and get some more expensive ones. After I eliminate all of these variables I can let you know my results, which I'm sure will be positive gains across the board. But that will have to wait till spring time.

I originally wanted to use Denso Iridium spark plugs as they make the smallest electrode on the market (0.4mm), smaller than NGK Iridiums, and are used in something like 40-45% of all racing applications. But I got the NGKs for free so I'm running them for now but eventually I'll make the switch. There is a lot of good info out there, I recommend reading up on http://www.sparkplugs.com and Denso spark plug website. They both explain the science behind everything and have tests and dyno graphs that show how Iridium plugs increase performance.

[Nd4SpdSe]

Let is know how the iridiums go, I've only heard bad things, but I think we'd all appreciate an opinion from a respectable guy, instead of a internet(PT) rumor...

I couldn't remember how long I had them, but I ran NGK Iridiums (for 4cyl 2.0L Probe) since at least 2004 (had to search the boards for a reference it's been that long, lol), My ZE swap was done in 2003 so I had put close to 100'000kms on those plugs! Oh the way I drove it I doubt they ever had a carbon build up, lol.

[_-Night-Shade-_]

Well it's winter again which means the MX-3 is stored again. The last couple weeks of driving it I was using my block heater and I'm surprised how much it actually warms up the engine! The whole intake manifold and valve covers are actually warm to the touch before even starting the car. Definitely saves it from cold start-up wear.



And I've got a treat for y'all, I put together a video of a few of my runs from the drag strip back in September. This is mostly to highlight how badly my clutch slips at peak torque after all the upgrades I've done. It's time for something more serious, OEM organic clutches just won't do it from this point onward. Enjoy:

http://youtu.be/9tpKwpPT88c?hd=1

[Evo_Spec]

i know hot it feels to have your clutch slip, especially when racing

[Ryan]

I just read your whole work log from start to finish, for once.

Is your clutch still the one you got with the motor? If it is, a clutch wears more on the outer edge, its now bowl shaped against a new(?) fidanza. The other thing is, if you don't acetone wipe your clutch flywheel combo before you put it together, and you're pushing the clutches limits, its bound to slip just because of the residual skin/engine oil on your skin. I made this mistake with my DE swapped MX, and not with my ZE one, and the ZE one bites hard (new exedy organic on properly decked MX flywheel)

Another thing, you definitely have an MX-6 transmission. The guy who did the ZE swap into his probe must have switched it in. If you want to know for sure, take the vin number off the tag on the transmission and pop it into an online decoder, it will tell you what type of car it is. I suspect this because I swapped in a transmission from a 94 MX-6 and I have the same RPM phenomenon as you (500 RPM less at cruise). AND because through all my research on the matter, I have never found anyone who has, with any sort of proof aside from "it was in the car when I got it", found the 4.11FD in a Probe.

Nice car, nice mod list. What sort of times were you seeing at the track? That truck at the end there sounded like it was going to eat you Also, I've heard that putting a piece of that thin crappy sellotape over the mic will stop it from distorting.

[_-Night-Shade-_]

It's a PGT transmission, we already verified it with the VIN on the housing way back when the swap happened. The fidanza is used. The clutch didn't appear to be bowl shaped. It's just a crappy clutch. It's a Valeo. And yes I cleaned the flywheel and everything nicely before putting it back together. I'm not sure if you read the description on YouTube but my VRIS #1 wasn't working at the time, that plus the clutch is the reason why the acceleration wasn't what it should be. The revs are slightly lower but not as low as they would be with an MX-6 transmission. My times were horrible, 15.2 (which is worse than just a plain KLZE swap never mind bolt ons!) was the best I got and all my 60ft were 2.5s. I did 9 runs and every time I tried something different. Just having to slip the clutch while launching hard already made it slip more when shifting. But if I shifted slower or didn't launch as hard I'd get a slow time anyway... Oh well, next season.

[Ryan]

You'd never be able to see the shape of the worn clutch.

Interesting that its a PGT transmission, first time I've ever seen it.

[Nd4SpdSe]

You'd never be able to see the shape of the worn clutch.

Interesting that its a PGT transmission, first time I've ever seen it.

THere's been people lately saying that they've been finding 4:11's in Pgt's and visa-versa. There's argument over if it was the earlier or later years, or both actually, of the PGT they switched, I'm not sure, but it's been a debate now for a few years...

Actually:
http://forums.probetalk.com/showthread.php?t=1701304424

[MrMazda92]

Holy crap, that's the cleanest PT thread I've ever seen! They were able to post differing opinions/experiences without fighting!

[MrMazda92]

I'm picking through your worklog Igor, and you've got a clean looking build going. We don't always get along, but I'll admit you've done a hell of a job on the car.

[IMACHU2]

Holy crap, that's the cleanest PT thread I've ever seen! They were able to post differing opinions/experiences without fighting!

Granny shiftin' not double clutchin' like you should - bro are you a rookie? (Trying to Probe Talk it up in her)