As enthusiasts and gear-heads almost all of us have modified our cars in ways never intended by the OEM manufacturer. More-often then not we don’t really contemplate how these modifications are going to directly affect our beloved’s reliability; for example Mitsubishi’s 4G63t motor tuned to 400hp+ may well be able to handle it’s daily flogging on my way to work, however the gearbox was definitely not intended to see 7k+ shifts on a routine basis. - I can feel the angry emails already! Before you jump to a conclusion, I’m not in any way insinuating there is anything wrong with the need for performance from your vehicle or that you have forgotten anything in your brilliant equation for automotive perfection. However, it’s been my experience that I don’t always foresee the next weakest link until it inhospitably presents itself.
A good example of this would be our catastrophe earlier this year with Project DSM. After spending the winter and spring building, or rather re-building our Project DSM, we conveniently didn’t worry about the added stress to such components as the rear differential housing, to be more accurate the cast aluminum mounting tabs on the rear diff.
After letting the gf put a good 500 easy miles on the car before we started testing for gains, I callously took the car to work with out any worry. Well to my dismay I was soon limping the car into some poor saps front yard. I had literally ripped the rear end out of the car by simply launching it as I had done countless times before.
This was a pretty hefty blow to our self esteem as this car was to be our feature for the upcoming summer. In fact we had quite a few plans for it including anodizing the intercooler and re-installing the stock exhaust (with an electric cut out just after the 3.5” downpipe in order to obtain a very sleeper-esque quality. Not to mention, unlike most of the magazines, this car is a part of my family. It’s not another trophy car built by throwing dollars at it(though it seems like it sees it share of that, and I live in the shabby apartment to prove it). I, like you eat, sleep, and work for my hobby.
So with the DSM down, and an uncertainty of how to remedy the problem, not just shore it up, we pushed her in the garage to sleep for a while as we started to tinker with our new toy; the Z. At this point however, I had to stop and think about how I was going to get to work in the northeast with my two decidedly poor choices for winter transportation.
Thank god for friends, as without them I’m sure it would be a long commute in the snow by foot. My advice to you, is to enjoy your car, but don’t be as blind as I to the impending domino affect of catastrophic failures that loom around the corner of all those with highly stressed vehicles. I vow to return the DSM to duty this winter, and follow that up with numbers and the what, where, and why that you read this publication for.
-E
Meet the Editors
At Enginuitive, we really are guys just like you, and to prove it, here's your chance to learn a little more about us...
Earle
Earle's a self taught mechanic in the classic sense. He learned how to turn wrenches by taking his first car apart, certain he could put it back together with a better torque curve than the factory, and hasn't stopped trying to cheat physics since. He's held jobs doing everything from working on powerline transformers to interviewing people for the Census Bureau, but has spent the last few years as a race mechanic, parts coordinator, project manager and finally sales rep for the largest automotive racing school in the world. Don't think his desk job keeps his hands clean though, when he's not making sales pitches, he usually smells like burnt gear oil. Yeah... that shit smells.
Alex
Alex is a United States Marine with a small government paycheck and just enough free time to sleep... occasionally. Like most of you, the off time he's alloted to sleep and eat is often spent under a worklight, trying to figure out how to get what he just took apart back together, to get his ride up and running for work the next day. Before enlisting he worked in construction, auto parts, data entry, and gig called "Hospitality" where you really just kiss rich people's asses. He only askes one thing of the nation he defends... vote for a pay increase for the military, Project PonyCar could use a supercharger.
Earle
Earle's a self taught mechanic in the classic sense. He learned how to turn wrenches by taking his first car apart, certain he could put it back together with a better torque curve than the factory, and hasn't stopped trying to cheat physics since. He's held jobs doing everything from working on powerline transformers to interviewing people for the Census Bureau, but has spent the last few years as a race mechanic, parts coordinator, project manager and finally sales rep for the largest automotive racing school in the world. Don't think his desk job keeps his hands clean though, when he's not making sales pitches, he usually smells like burnt gear oil. Yeah... that shit smells.
Alex
Alex is a United States Marine with a small government paycheck and just enough free time to sleep... occasionally. Like most of you, the off time he's alloted to sleep and eat is often spent under a worklight, trying to figure out how to get what he just took apart back together, to get his ride up and running for work the next day. Before enlisting he worked in construction, auto parts, data entry, and gig called "Hospitality" where you really just kiss rich people's asses. He only askes one thing of the nation he defends... vote for a pay increase for the military, Project PonyCar could use a supercharger.
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