Latest Acquisitions

We talked about not installing an oil earlier. However, I just could not resist buying this oil cooler when I saw it being sold. Its actually meant for a different application but it looks and performs almost exactly like the one being sold by JWRC Custom. What I really like about it is that it should lower temperature by a few degrees but not drastically. Furthermore, oil pressure should not be affected too much since it is an in-line system. Lastly, the real reason for installing this oil cooler is the 'cool' factor. This will add some bling to the front since everything is red and black. Of course, the price difference between the JWRC Custom and this one is extremely large. Here's the JWRC Custom version.

And here's the one I bought.

Another acquisition that was discussed earlier was the ScanGauge II car computer. After doing some research on other car computers that are available in the market, I decided that the ScanGauge II is the one to buy. The gauge has most of the functions I would want eg. trip computer, voltmeter, etc. Since everything is built-in into one single gauge, I do not need separate gauges eg. voltmeter and this in turn, translates into less clutter and more space in the centre console area. I have also purchased a cover to mount the ScanGauge so it will look neat and integrated with the dashboard. More information can be found here: http://www.scangauge.com/

If there's any space left on the cover after mounting the ScanGauge II, I would like to include an additional cigaretter lighter power outlet and some switches to turn on/off power supply to the charger for the comms set and GPS.

Another item on the order book is the SecureStart Jump Starter. Since I will be deprived of a power outlet to charge my Racetech battery when I move to my new place, I needed a replacement to continue providing a trickle charge to the battery when the car is not being used. I could use the stock battery but that is too heavy to carry around. I came across this product and realised how useful it is and the technology behind it is quite amazing too. It is ridiculously small but yet powerful, 900mAh is a lot of power. My plan is to put it inside the engine compartment and have it hooked up to the Racetech battery. Every week, I will take it out and have it recharged using my CTEK electronic car charger. In fact, I may not even have to do the charging at home since the SecureStart jump starter can be fully charged from the cigarette power supply in minutes depending on the amount of power drawn. Technology is indeed wonderful. In addition, I can carry it with me in the car and perhaps, save some damsel in distress. More information can be found here: http://www.boldertmf.com/product_2.htm

I have decided to give the car another makeover. The two Kansai splitters are coming off and replaced by a Greddy Front Lip. The side skirts and rear diffuser will also be re-sprayed to red to match the rest of the car. The rear spoiler may be re-sprayed to black completely or else, the two wing tips will be re-sprayed to red instead. I am still undecided whether the front grill should be replaced by the original grill. In the end, my inclination is towards a mono colour car rather than splashes of additional colour here and there. Essentially, the front end will look like this.

Pressure Sprayer Tried, Tested & Proven

Not completely convinced that the pressure sprayer will do the job of removing dirt and grime on the car, I decided to put it to the test one more time. It was raining the whole day yesterday and the truck had to go through a few muddy puddles. Of course, dirt was stuck everywhere and by this morning, this was the situation.

This provided me with an opportunity to test the pressure sprayer. I added car shampoo into the 8 litres sprayer and top it up with 5 litres of water. A few quakes to make sure the shampoo is well mixed with the water and a few pumps on the handle and we were ready to go. The whole truck, including the wheels were sprayed with the foamy mixture. The inside of the wheel arches were badly coated with mud but once the foam hits the mud, it melts right off. By the time I reached the starting point, some of the dirt had already came off. Since there was balance left in the pressure sprayer, I sprayed more foam on the dirtier parts of the car.

Next, I filled up the pressure sprayer with water up to the 8 litres mark. With a micro fibre mitt, I sprayed water on the area that the mitt was working. I stopped now and then to inspect the mitt to make sure there were no visible contaminants that might scratched the paint. I was also thinking that the mitt would actually be soiled with the dirt being picked up. Surprisingly, the mitt was clean and I concluded that it is actually being 'washed' all the time since there is a constant flow of water. To play safe, I rinse the washing mitt in a pail of water after going through the dirtier parts. About 6 litres of water was used to wash and rinse off the foam.

The first thing I noticed was that most of the water has run off. The truck was relatively dry. However, this could also be attributed to the constant polishing. Next, I filled up the 1.5 litre pressure sprayer with about 1 litre of water and a cup of liquid polish, give it a good shake and a few pumps on the handle. I sprayed the mixture on one side of the truck first and then wipe it off, rinsing the cloth frequently. Its better to work panel by panel with the polish mixture. The whole wash and mini-wax job was completed in 30 minutes. The result was most pleasing. Close inspection did not show any serious scratch marks were left on the panels. By the way, the car shampoo was not anything fancy; a 2 litre bottle cost $3. The label said that it contained silicon wax. One more observation, I did not get all wet and dirty compared to using an electrical high pressure washer or even a regular hose.

This method obviously does not replace the conventional and proven system of using high pressure washer and water hose. But in a situation whereby facilities are limited, this method works well. The important point to note is not to rush and apply too much pressure. Keep the water flowing all the time to ensure the area being washed is well lubricated. Rinse the washing mitt and drying cloth often to prevent dirt from collecting inside.

More Enhancements in the Pipeline

It looks like we are on a roll now that we have tested and tasted the potential of the little Swift. Little Nickie has indeed grown up much since the epic drive. He is no longer restricted to just a point-to-point car and certainly, calling it a supermarket car adds insults to injury. He has proven that with the right enhancements, this little fella can run with the big boys. Not implying that the car is as good as the Porsches, Lotus or BMW but it held up very well on its own. In any case, the Swift is not in competition with them and the drive was not to prove that the Swift is as good as the company. It was a fun drive for friends to get together and enjoy their passion for long distance driving and dining. They certainly made provisions for the Swift knowing that it has probably only half (or less) the horsepower compared to their cars. The only sensible thing to do is to let them know the limitations so that the convoy is kept intact and safe driving is maintained. If one car breaks down, the whole convoy will be affected. So, we kept to the limits of the least powerful car, in this case, the little Swift.

The next logical thing to do is to enhance the car further so that the rest are not bogged down if the Swift does go with the company again. The obvious power mod as I have mentioned before would be a supercharger but thats taking it way over the top. Until I am convinced that the natural aspiration (NA) enhancements cannot provide the added boost, will I consider a supercharger. Its really a no-brainer to install a supercharger. Its instant power without blinking an eyelid. But, that would be boring because there will be nothing else that needs to be done further. I prefer to take the slow route, it gives me opportunities to learn more about the car and how far it can be pushed. Even if I finally install a supercharger system, all these enhancements will not be made irrelevant.

Exedy Lightened Flywheel. A guy on the forum wants to sell this but he is unsure whether he wants to part with it. Nonetheless, if he does not want to sell his, I will buy a new one. This flywheel is 4.7kg compared to the stock flywheel which weighs 7.2kg. The nett effect of having a lightened flywheel is better throttle response but it also means more revs are required to get the car going since there is less 'stored' energy in the flywheel. It all sounds a bit confusing eg. wouldn't it be the same if I stepped harder on the throttle to give me the same acceleration. The answer is no. For the same amount of revolutions, the acceleration with a lightened flywheel is much quicker compared to the stock flywheel. The quirkiness comes when you need to park the car or drive slowly. You will realised that you need to keep the car on a higher revolution to keep it moving slowly. With a heavier flywheel and the 'stored' energy, the car needs less revs to move off. On the move, the throttle now becomes more sensitive to inputs; lift off the feet and you will feel the revs drop almost instantaneously but when you jam it, you will see that the revs climb much faster and that translate to better torque. With the low gearing on the Swift, this is bound to be a neck bending experience and hopefully, increase the Gs. The logic for me to have a lightened flywheel is so that I can catch up with the others in the convoy if I get somewhat left behind. It does not increase power per se but it helps me to close the gap quicker.

MoMo Quark Steering Wheel and Quick Release. Someone commented that the present MoMo Corse Devil steering wheel looks 'cheap'. As you know, I don't really care what they say and I certainly did not buy this wheel just because someone said my present steering wheel looks cheap. I bought it because I really liked the shape and form of the wheel. It looks really elegant and yet, sporty. Besides, I also got it from a fellow motorhead who thought he was the only crazy guy around to have more than two steering wheels! Eric, if you are reading this, you are the man! Again, I am blessed to have met Eric. Besides being a nice seller, we discovered that we have many things in common, not just cars alone but other stuff. He is also helping me to source for a low hub so that when it is installed onto the quick release (QR), the wheel will not be in my face. The QR I am buying is styled like the NRG one shown below. A quick visit to the NRG website (http://www.getnrg.com/) revealed that they even have a thin version of the QR. Needless to say, that is on order as we speak. In the meantime, I will make do with the present set-up until the thin version QR arrives. The QR is a necessity, not for style. As I have mentioned previously, this was one enhancement I need in order to get in and out of the car comfortably. It also helps that it doubles up as a security measure to prevent my car from being stolen.

Magline HF 601 18" Forged Wheels. These are my dream wheels, 18" x 7.5" ET 42 and weighs 5.5kg according to one website. I would think they probably weigh more like 6 to 7kg. Whatever, they are still lighter than the present 17" x 7" ET 43 57Motorsport G07WT wheels I have right now. They will be a perfect fit on the Swift. I admit that I still love the 18" wheel look on the car eversince I had the OZ Ultraleggeras. More than just the look, the light wheels contribute significantly to better acceleration and reduce the unsprung weight of the car. I also have the option of using either set of wheels for different applications.

Racetech Design RTR 700 Racing Battery. This battery weighs a mere 6kg compared to the stock battery which is almost double the weight of the Racetech battery. Read more about the battery here (http://www.racetechdesign.com/index_files/Page1228.htm) Obviously, the sole purpose of having a lightweight battery is to....save weight, of course. There is only one drawback to having a lightweight battery; it drains faster than normal battery unless the car is used everyday or the battery is trickle charged by using a battery charger. I have recently experimented with some solar chargers but they don't really work so well. I still prefer to use the electronic battery chargers like CTEK. A digital voltmeter will also have to be installed to monitor the state of the battery. The battery bug would be my choice. It attaches directly to the battery and it checks the battery each time before start-up. I will also have a plug-in voltmeter in the cabin to check the voltage while on the move. I don't need to know the voltage all the time and besides, the 12V power supply is needed for other things.

Exedy Organic Clutch. I had this clutch installed previously but removed it because the timing was wrong to have it installed. I was not sure which direction the Swift was going then and having it on the car seems out of place. Good thing nobody bought it when I tried to sell it. Now, its going into the car and the time is right especially since I am going to install a lightened flywheel. These two components somewhat goes hand-in-hand. A stronger clutch will definitely give me more confidence during long drives. It will be harder to work the clutch initially but once it breaks in, you won't know its there.

It is an exciting time for me and the little Swift. I am energised from the last drive and honestly, I cannot wait to hit the road again with the Swift, of course, with all the enhancements done.

Portable Washing System

 

 

 

I don't like a dirty car. I don't care what people say when they see me washing my car even if it looks clean to them. During the last drive, this was one of the problem I faced. Luckily, when we were in Phuket, we were able to find a reasonably good car wash but I have never really liked my car to be washed by anybody else except myself. Anyway, this problem got me thinking for a solution. A search on the internet actually came up with many alternatives. The system I was looking for should be light (so that it does not add weight to the car), compact (so that it does not take up space) and reliable. The type that runs on 12V car battery was considered but I figured its better not to tap battery power because I don't want to end up with a clean car but a dead battery. That would really be silly.

So, I settled for the manual pressure sprayer. They are cheap, reliable, light, compact and almost indestructible. I bought a 2, 5 and 8 litres sprayer for different application. The 2 litres sprayer is for small jobs eg. clearing up the mess around the rear windscreen and boot area. The 5 litres sprayer is for a complete clean-up job for the Swift. The 8 litres sprayer is for home use or for Daisy since she has a bigger boot space. Don't be too quick to pass judgement on these pressure sprayers. They may not give you the pressure like the electrical high pressure jet washers but they work well enough to provide enough water to do a proper wash. They also provide a continuous flow of water so you are not wiping the car 'dry'. This prevents or at least minimised the chances of scratching the paint job. I had the wand shortened so that it is easier to work with and only need to top up the bigger sprayers with water when I need to but keep the 2 litres sprayer filled. I also make it a habit to carry water to fill the radiator or other purposes and the sprayer doubles up for the job.

I experimented with them on the Isuzu truck. Unlike a conventional wash, you don't need to hose down the car. I filled up the 8 litres sprayer and added car shampoo. A few pumps of the handle and voila, believe it or now, I have foam coming out from the nozzle. I sprayed the whole car with the foam. By the time I came back to the start point, I could see that a fair amount of dirt has already been dissolved. At this stage, I only used about 2 to 3 litres of water.

Next, I used a micro fibre mitt to wipe the car in situ with the water from the pressure sprayer. So, at all times, the area being wiped is always wet and chances of scratches occuring is minimised. Take note that the whole idea of this car wash system is not for the purpose of detailing a car; it is meant for removing dirt so that it does not build up and makes it harder to remove later. Whatever fine scratches I put on the paint job can be easily removed when I do a proper detailing job when I get back home.

Once the whole car has been wiped (I used the term wipe, not wash specifically), I proceed to dry the car with a micro fibre cloth and using a pail of water to rinse the cloth. This is where the collapsible pail comes in handy. It contains up to 9 litres of water and folds flat for storage. After wiping the car dry, I can even add some liquid polish mixed with the water in the 2 lires sprayer. Spray a thin layer of it on the car and then wipe it off for a simplified polishing job. No more having to hunt around the car park for a tap or hose. Simple and effective.

Review of Proposed Enhancements

I want to start off by thanking Cj from AP Drive. As always, he provided valuable inputs at the expense of closing a sale. This is one nice person the world should have more of. Good advice is always hard to come by. If you read some of the things posted in forums, you will soon realise that there are many uninformed, ill-informed or mentally deformed people who just wants air time. They offer nothing constructive to your queries and when all else fails, they ask you to do a search on Google. Then, there are the crusaders who tries to flaunt what little they know so that they too can have the air time they want; their mission is to protect the newbies but not knowing that what they say, in reality, reflects their lack of intelligence. There's a saying that goes like this; you can fool some people some of the time but not all the people all the time. Another saying goes like this; if you keep your trap shut, nobody will know you are an idiot. However, I consider myself blessed to have met many nice guys from the forum, not ON the forum. In fact, we have become good friends, sharing thoughts and ideas not just about cars but life itself. That is probably the only consolation and motivation that prompts me to visit the forum. But, I have grown wise and avoid threads that the so-called 'gurus' patronise. But, you cannot avoid these people because they will poke their nose into every other thread to show their intelligence (or the lack of it) so that they maintain their status as Gods of Mods and Crusader to the meek and humiliated newbies. Perhaps, their web persona is a way for them to gain the respect they need because in real life, they don't get a second glimpse from others. But, that's their business and as long as they stay out of my hair, I will not give them a hoot. Sorry, I had to let off some steam and now, back to the issues at hand.

The idea of an oil cooler has been ditched. I was 'educated' on the pros and cons of an oil cooler by Cj and the conclusion is that the Swift does not really need one. The oil temperature at 120 - 122degC at 4500 to 5000 rpm is normal. The critical temperature is actually around 135degC. Since I change my engine oil regularly, there will not be any siginificant ill effects on the engine. All I need to do now is set my oil temperature warning light to come on at 130degC instead of 120degC. Problem solved without incurring a cent. All thanks to Cj. In addition, the license plate will be changed to a longish-type since the present squarish-type is blocking a part of the front lower grill. Every bit of enhancement counts.

The full bucket seats will stay. To provide better ingress and egress out of the cabin, I will invest in a quick release for the steering wheel. It will also serve as a security measure. I love those bucket seats and giving them up is the last thing I would want to do.

The stock ECU will stay. Apparently, in order for Monster Sport to re-program the ECU, you need to send them the stock ECU. Downtime is about 3 to 4 weeks and the cost is about $1500. There is really nothing wrong with the stock ECU, it provides the power and more importantly, the flexibility and adaptability to suit different conditions eg. fuel grade. Of course, a little bit more juice would be nice but I can always do it some other way, perhaps mechanically rather than electronically. I have also been advised not to re-flash the stock ECU. So, the new ECU idea is ditched.

The Hurricane drop-in air filter will be replaced with the stock paper filter. Air filtration was one of my worry during the drive. While I knew that the enhanced air intake system was pushing in huge amount of air into the system, I also know that a lot of dirt is going into the system too. Coupled with the rain and dirty water being sucked into the system, it was a bit uneasy. Although provisions were made in the intake system for water drainage, there was concern still that everything may not be 100% perfect. However, my inspection of the air filter and the main components seems to show that all is well. I thought the filter will be covered with mud but it seems to be really clean. This is either very good or very bad. It means either the water has run-off even before reaching the air filter. Or everything has gone into the system. But, if the latter was to happen, I think the engine would have seized up but it did not. I am convinced that the Hurricane steel-mesh air filter is working well; it actually filters out dirt down to 0.5 microns. But, I prefer to err on the safe side, so the paper filter is going in and the Hurricane filter is coming out. This is a good article regarding stock air filter:

http://autospeed.com/cms/A_2232/article.html

Read it and make your own conclusions. I already had intentions to remove the Hurricane air filter previously but never got down to doing it because the local conditions are not extreme enough to have it removed. Having gone through the extreme conditions of the epic drive, I am convinced the paper filter will prove itself useful; it will not create a power loss or 'choke' the engine. If conditions are better during such drives, I can always pop in the Hurricane air filter.

Securing a 4-Point Harness

 

 

 

 

Here are pictures to illustrate how a 4-point harness is secured.

Securing the Chassis Brace

 

 

 

 

For those who asked about how the chassis brace is secured, here are pictures to illustrate the installation.