Damnation: The Cynos Project

So it received a bit of a workout. Yearning for an update or two, I decided to be a bit more productive with my weekend, and so it had turned out - it started with me getting my car weighed on Thursday, a tally of 880kg with 3/4 tank of Petrol (compared to 920kg with 1/2 tank of petrol 1.5years ago), the weight difference almost totally attributed to by the changing of the seats (and lack of the passenger side), the rest added up by the replacement of the seatbelts with harnesses, removal of the HID ballasts and componentry and (temporary) removal of the stereo and rear speakers...so, that's pretty great considering all panels are stock, and windows aren't plastic!

Next are the brakes - First off I had a spare pair of Glanza hubs which I needed to disassemble in order to test fit the AE111 brake setup (which are for sale), and try as I could, nothing would separate the disc from hub. So, I thought I'd just have a barbeque:



And what do you know, the barbeque helped! Tapped right off! I also came across a bit of a bargain and bought these:







They are 4 piston Prodrive by Alcon brake calipers for a WRC Subaru Impreza WRX I believe...perhaps a bit overkill, but evidently lighter than the AE111 calipers that were to go on, obviously far more capable, and they are also radial mount (for a stiffer mounting and hence a better pedal feel) with unequal sized pistons. These will combine with a different setup on the back, based on these:



Rev3 SW20 MR2 Rear brake calipers (using the 22mm thick disc), they require a custom disc/bearing setup, which is quite clever and gives a lot of flexibility. The brake setup is definitely overkill, but at least it will take anything I can throw at it, ever. The person that sold me the Front pair of calipers also turned to be a great person, being an engineer at Brawn GP, and he had convinced me to make another purchase, for something that has no place on my car...quite rare for me:







Note, only one of those is mine, and note, they are all authentic...Super Aguri though, but hopefully my one came flying off of Kamikaze Sato's car during some race, any race. As long as it flew off! Back to the car, things are getting worse and worse, or rather, I believe they are - oil consumption is still very high, and I just can't seem to figure out what it is. The PCV valve works fine, there are no visible leaks, hot or cold, no smoke...it's just baffling the mind. I will carry out a compression when possible just to see if it could be a ring-related issue. Saying that, the vibration through the clutch/accelerator pedal is ever present. Great. Other than that, nothing much else is new - I DID finally get my wind deflectors, which, are by far one of my favourite modifications, ever. They are very subtle, but suit the car extremely well:







Whilst I was picking up the brakes and Formula one wheels, I also took it upon myself to visit around some fabrication companies in the vicinity, which was a great ordeal in itself, talking to some of the biggest and proliferate fabricators in the country, talking over details of product projects (like the upcoming uprated headbolts/studs I'm getting developed), and generally just making new friends that'll help open gateways to new products. A great day. I also finally bought a Commander to allow me to use my god forsaken HRF PowerFC ECU....trouble is, it doesn't arrive till after I leave to Saudi Arabia. Again, great. Also, still waiting for the loom for my boost controller.

So yeah, things are going slow, be it for delays with others, and just general elays, but hopefully there'll be more serious updates!