^^^ I would check with Robert (the guy who I introduced you to in the email)....his thread on here is insane....you can probably ask him about the mid-mount vs rear mount and he will give you a plethora of reasons to go one way or the other...

 

I'll check it out but I really don't think there's any difference in the mounting, unless unnecessarily splitting hairs. One properly setup will be within percentiles of the other. Plus I could only mid mount with my diffuser setup.

I don't know why more people haven't already considered this, being IMO the biggest expensive/cost of the J&R type kits is the fab'ing and R&D of the turbo manifolds themselves. Everything else in their kit is pretty standard cost wise. But remote mount a turbo and you easily take all of that out of the equation.

 

yeah, I think fabbing up everything and RnD was the main thing...also tuning back then was an issue....

I dont think the JNR turbo kit was a bad deal...for 8000 you get everything ready to install with the ECU....

but anyway, I think you should have more room right by the engine to mount it there, but since you see high revs most of the time, I think you should be fine with a mid/rear mount since you will always be in the boost range (am assuming here, so please correct me if am wrong)

 

yeah it should be fine. Big thing for me is that a remote mount would be MUCH more budget friendly I think, which is why I'm confused more people don't consider it.

 

not sure what HP you are aiming at...

I know at 400-ish HP all you will get is smoke from the front tires....am eager to see how the axles/tires will hold up and how the power handling would go....

man am very excited to see this come to fruition?

 

With P2R doing much of the R and D on the J&R kits, I would be surprised if the mid or rear mount was not pretty well researched. Lose of heat energy, debris in the turbo and boost lag from the extra piping may have made it a less attractive option. Why not use the turbo kit available that is proven to make big power instead of building your own at an unknown cost?

 

I kinda doubt it was researched much, if at all, if someone with actual knowledge of the R&D wanted to say one way or the other, I'm all for it. I'm not the avg TL on the street, and have few to none of the concerns of street driven TL's. Debris/snow/ice is pretty much a non issue for me but weight, center of gravity, engine bay heat, maintenance, general simplicity and cost all are. Most of the things in the way of a remotely mounted turbo are dead and gone on my car such as the EVAP canister, factory style exhaust, heat shields, etc. I'd actually argue that I could put together a remote mount system cheaper than even a used J&R kit because the fabrication time and material would be so much less. Heck there's a partial J&R kit for sale right now that's just the manifolds, downpipe, IC and piping for $2450 shipped. We all know what a used intercooler goes for so the vast majority of that price is for the manifolds themselves....All I'm saying is that a lot of the cost can be avoided if the setup and situation allows. For the power levels I'm looking for and the setup I can make work, I think its a good option to look into.

 

Is going a full N/A build still out of the question?

 

In a word, yes. For the class I want to compete in I just can't make enough power to be competitive. Another consideration is if I build a full out NA motor and have an unforeseen problem and lose the engine, I'm pretty much done for the year, budget/time wise. If I blow and engine on an F/I build, I source a local junked one for less than a grand and in a weekend I'm back at the track.

Even a SC build is questionable but probably still doable. I could run in a slower class with a more attainable hp to weight ratio but then I'm aero limited and I'd rather run what I want aero wise.

 

finally back on this side of the world and back to work in the garage. New seat is in and the shifter extender is nearly done. Still have a lot of work to do on the dash and wiring before the cage can go in.

 

Love the discussion! I've mixed my 08 TL-S for street and track. I loved the looks as I kept up with the GT-3's and Bimmers!

Anybody know a good place to find a 5 point racing harness where I don't need to replace the seats??

 

A 5pt harness without a seat change is going to be pretty impossible if you want it to be functional. I'd recommend the Schroth Rallye4 harness. It can be tucked away while not in use but doesn't need to be uninstalled to do so, nice for a street car with occasional track use.

 

That interior looks sick!!!

 

Gotta love having to build car for a specific class and limit yourself. That shifter extension looks odd but as long as it functions properly.

You should never run a racing harness on anything but a racing bucket seat.

 

Looks awesome, man...the transformation is nearly complete...

 

Awesome!!

 

UUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHH
HOLY GEEZUS
That's delicious

 

Its really simple and straight forward. super functional as well with the shift knob level with the center of the steering wheel. All for less than 20 bucks.

 

All I have to say is...WOW!!!

 

shagadelic !!!

 

I can probably guess that a lot of AZ'ers thought I had given up on the track car build, but let me assure everyone I haven't. Just don't have the time like I used to. But while I've been home recently I had time to finish up the dash wiring and even got the pseudo dash and cluster mounted with some simple brackets. Next I plan to fab up a switch/gauge panel in front of the shifter to the right of the OEM cluster. Hoping to have that done over my winter break after xmas. pics aren't super great but it'll give you an idea how much the dash/wiring has changed.

 

Nice!

How much did the dash weigh? Do you plan on keeping the factory gauge cluster?

 

I do plan to keep the OEM cluster just for simplicity right now. It's tough to give a weight on the dash being I had previous modified it before actually removing it and weighing it but I'm pretty sure the dashboard itself is a little over 20lbs and the steel bar supporting it is about 30lbs

 

Man! I would love to see this thing converted to RWD, it would be the perfect track car!

 

Glad to see you posting again. I am taking my car to king motorsports on Tuesday for my cage build, long tube header/exhaust, custom tucktech engine harness, AEM EMS2, tune, transmission rebuild, and more.

I might beat you with finishing the cage.

 

Man that sounds like a hefty build, can't be cheap! Yeah you will probably beat me on the cage build. I'm just gone too much for work to get everything ready right now.


Also need to come up with a new panel to hold gauges and switches. If anyone has any ideas let me know.

 

effin love it Rex and Brian...

 

I feel like us diet'ers are a dying breed around here.... no one's really interested or posting any diet related stuff lately

 

haha

yeah am pretty much not on the site....work and the kid have gotten to me as of late...but hopefully soon, I will be back with some big news

 

I hear you man, it's getting tough to even have work time in the garage these days. What's sorta sad is that 3G TL's are getting so cheap it makes no sense to get rid of them. Might as well just hang onto it and enjoy when I can. I am gonna save some cash and pick up an S2K though I think. Need/want something nice for the summer to take around town.

 

That is how I felt about my cl. Once it hit kbb of 6-7k. I asked a few dealers what they'd give me for trade in for shits and giggles and both said 2-3k and that was years ago.

I wish I could pick up a fun rwd car like a miata or s2k, but the problem is I already have the acura as my fun car and have no more space to park vehicles.

I just picked up a new daily driver in august, a 2014 ford focus st. I took it to an autocross less than 2 weeks after buying it. It is definitely lots of fun to drive, but now I have 2 front drivers. I am going to the free Octane Academy Driving experience they offer when you buy a new ford st this weekend at miller motorsport track in utah. It should be a blast.

I am actually working on my gauges and was thinking of doing a switch panel. I will post some pics of what I have later today.

I took my car to king motorsports yesterday. It looks like a full cage from them would run 3-4k. That is more than I want to spend plus I still drive on the street. I am going to go with a roll bar instead with maybe a few extra bars/mounting points for around 1500. Exhaust will be roughly 1500 also, and tranny rebuild around 1500 also. Add up the other things and I'll probably spend 6-7k. I think I will pass on installing the stand alone for now. Swapping ecu ' s to pass emissions does not sound fun. I will be doing a before and after dyno for the long tube headers and 3" single exhaust.

 

Any updates for my favorite Azine thread?

Vill0169 and Swoosh check out my build thread in my sig if you think there are no diet threads going on. Could use your expertise and Swoosh ' s enthusiasm.

I have pics in my thread of my steering wheel gauge pod and a cf panel where radio used to be for kill switch, and other switches and gauges eventually. Maybe it will give you some ideas.

 

Subscibed! Im planning on tracking my TL and while I don't have any plans to strip it, I think i can find some good info here.

 

You'll remove the spare. And the jack. And then the bumper weight. And then that center speaker. And then it'll start.

 

Hey guys,

Not much new on the TL right now. Just got back from a few months deployed so hopefully I'll find some time in the garage here soon. Interior wiring is mostly wrapped up and ready to go. I'm going to have no choice but to drain the old fuel and oil and start a full service and will follow that up with a wellness check on the engine with at least a compression check.

After all that, I want to look into swapping to TSX rear spindles. They're aluminum vs the TL's steel and looks (at least) to be a direct swap. Of course there are lots of ideas floating around in my head but really, I just want to get the car back to a trackable status and enjoy it next summer before tackling future projects.

 

Glad you got home safely, man.

 

^ x2

Welcome back.

 

Thanks guys!

 

^ x3
I think the TSX has different mount on the bottom of the shock ?

 

The 1st gen TSX looks to be really close to the TL. Here are some pics. Biggest difference is the hub/bearing section but that's fine and I'm pretty sure they use the same rear caliper setup.

TL:


TSX:




I'd weigh the difference out first and see if it's worth it but it'd be unsprung weight so I'm itching to see how much lighter they are.