Well, just a quick one, these last 2 days' updates bullet pointed:
- Received the Sump fitting, will get that welded on soon
- Sent 4E head to AFR for cleaning and skimming
- Sent CT9b turbo and CT9a exhaust housing to AFR to get them to fit together
- Paid for my 18G kit and HRF Camshafts
Any donations for a silly guy in need? :(
Is it, isn't? Nah, it isn't a typo, but a godforsaken pun, hah! Anyway, as can be implied, the braking assembly has some bearing on this post - on the way back from a night out in London, just outside home I had noticed a horrendous sound coming from the brakes, like, truly horrendous, sounded like one of those hooligans scratching those vinyl records at clubs and discotheques. Anyway, I had long known the pads were on their way out but this took me slightly by surprise:
Yeeeeeeah, down to the metal...this time at the front! So, went to Halfrauds, they were useless, so bought these on eBay:
Bedded-in (badly), they seem to have some very strong retardation, actually surprised me at one point. I have also been busy with the new 4E-FTE to go in - I've finally received my new Dremel and set down to cleaning up the piston tops and the block surfaces too, ready for assembly. I was a bit nervous, as I believe using the sanding drum on the pistons and block surface may not have been the smartest move (didn't realise quite how abrasive it was!), but hopefully I managed to dial that back a bit with the sanding disc (and buffer on the pistons). 
I also ground off the stubborn sealent used for the sump on the other side of the block, again with the sanding drum, but that surface is less critical I guess!
Now all that's really left with the 4E-FTE is getting my CT9a housing bored out for the CT9b core, having the cylinder head cleaned and skimmed, buying and welding an 8 AN Fitting on the sump, buy and fit a Braided oil feed/return for the CT9, get some sealant, some headbolts, a PCV valve...and that's the 4E-FTE ready to assemble!!
Well, not really much to report, but I've done a couple of touches here and there to pass the time. Started off wiuth an important one - grinding out the powdercoating from where the lugnuts torque down onto on the wheels; had a severe issue with this with my Watanabes whereby the wheel almost fell off once! So, ground out the powdercoating using a Dremel grinder on a power-drill, worked fine!
Whilst having the wheels off, I also saw it fit to swap the wheels to the orientation I wanted them at originally...
Whilst it doesn't look quite as sexy anymore, I'm hoping turn in will be a bit special-er and more alert! I do really need spacers on those rear wheels though. Whilst I had the wheels off I also wanted to lower the car ever slightly, if not to really lower it, just to at least equalise the ride-heights at each corner! However, after much Plus-Gas'ing (yes, I've moved onto PlusGas), it was all to no avail. However, this did happen though...
...about half a coil had broken off the front right spring and was just lying there! Quite...interesting. Moving onto the 4E-FTE, progress is very sloooooooow...I cleaned out the sump, ready to have the new fitting for the Braided drain hose to be welded on...I just, need to buy said fitting. I also cleaned up the sump and head mating surfaces of the block a bit - still need some more sandpapering, but, nearly there I would think! 
I've just ordered a new Dremel which should hopefully mean I can clean up the piston tops and finally separate turbo from manifold, and which should hopefully mean I'll shortly be re-assembling this engine.
More updates may come shortly...
Well, nothing has happened with the car, but, after receiving a specific (and AWESOME tool), I've managed to remove the cylinder head from the block, and got the 4E-FTE bottom end onto the stand. From there, all I really did was degreased and cleaned the block, ready for a lick of paint. Whilst I was there, I did the same to the sump!
When I removed the head I was slightly shocked though at the state of the gasket and pistons:
...the original plan was to just do a straight swap! Oh well, at least once everything's nice and cleaned it'll be a better running thing anyway!
Well, they're finally on, they are SSR XR-4S Longchamps in a staggered offset (+7 and +27?) and....I don't know. The garage wouldn't install the wider offset wheels at the front as it's apparently illegal to do so (ok...), i'll change that soon. I'll need to have spacers on the wheels and the arch extensions before I'm completely satisfied.
Things to note: Steering is crazy light now for some obscure reason! And ride isn't much worse despite 45 profile tyres. I'll let the tyres bed in a bit more before I conclude on their grip and behaviour.
Well, seeing as I'm kind of ickle, I generally have some issues when I find my perfect seating position...i.e. I have small arms, so, with the fixed bucket seat in place its been very hard for me to liberally twirl the wheel, especially with harnesses in situ'.
And then came this!
The steering wheel is now perfectly to hand! Finally I can easily turn the wheel with the harnesses tightened. And...well, that's it. It's just a spacer! However, a major-ish update is due tomorrow ;)
Damnit, I wanted to use the actual title of the song but seems like I already have a blog entry sharing that title. Nevermind. Anyway, finally in what seemed like a bleak period of doing not a lot, I finally got to install the TRD Front Anti-roll bar, and what was supposed to be a 5min job turned out to be quite a bit more due to several silly annoyances.
Issue 1:
See the scratches on the end of the Anti-roll bar? Those are from my Dremel after I had to chop off a nut that the previous owner had seized, and since no endlink was attached to help stop both ends from spinning, I had to chop the nut off.
Issue 2: 
Seems like the endlinks were bent/stripped from the roll-over crash the car they originated from went through, which made starting the thread nigh on impossible - on this side I had to chop off some of the thread, cut down the underside bushing, and finally got the nut on, not fun.
Issue 3:
Not really an issue, but I had to drop the exhaust, which I didn't want to do, because I'm lazy, so, that irked me.
And here it is installed:
So far I cannot conclude much from the anti-roll bar, I will update shortly after a late night drive with no traffic, but the reduction of roll is slightly perceivable at higher cornering speeds, but not as much as I expected. What this objectively means for handling is difficult to clarify as the grip levels of the car aren't exactly lacking, so, probably track testing will reveal a difference. Saying that, this bar is less than half the weight of stock! So that's a useful weight reduction!
Update: The anti-roll bar has proven to be quite noticeable now, to the point of troubling front-end grip on the Goodyear Eagle's, never an issue before! Corners much flatter, settles quicker into corners. All in all, a good modification in my eyes - I want to try it on wet roads to gauge grip transition and adjustability!
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