2008 Lancer CJ VRX - Build thread

[Avenir]

Yeah I am keen to get them as my control arms could still be the culprit for shit handling etc from the last time I drove. My Super Sport coils also didn't offer caster adjustment, just camber, height, damper etc. (not that I need it, I just really want my car to drive and handle rather well and looking into them they will offer better perf at high speeds, corners etc..)

I will probably get the Whiteline Grip Kit after the control arms which includes all the bushings with sway bars and then call it a day on suspension parts! Thanks for the heads up bumble I will go for them soon.

Thanks awood, I know my lancer is looking a bit all over the shop at the moment (appearance wise), but I think I have gotten most of the under the hood stuff done/ordered now. Just couple more suspension parts and a tune then I can make the car have a better aesthetic afterwards. Which in contrast I see a lot of lancers the other way around, pretty much all bodykits, rims and stickers... GOD the STICKERS for the sake of all things good.. no more stickers. Put 1 or 2 on if you must and leave it ahahah. Just the other day I saw a CJ lancer at the lights, with get this.... a sticker on the back boot lid that said "DIRECT INJECTED" I couldn't cringe anymore with it, it was an LX model I believe. None of our lancers are direct injected to my knowledge but even that is besides the point smh.

Anyway sticker rant over, no offence to stickered car members lol,

Avenir

[Mars1811]

Good stuff!
"Direct injected" hahahaha. Might have been a diesel swap

[bumblebee]

Could have been worse
They could have had the decal on it that says "common rail EFI" or similar
Are your new adjustable coil over able to be rebuilt or get spares parts ?

[Avenir]

Jeez I dont know what it was, the sticker was the size of half his boot lid lol...

True but I think DI sticker is up there with some of the worst! I am not sure I haven't looked into rebuilding or spare parts. Just look after them and see how long it goes, The stock suspension lasted 140k so I am assuming as these are better quality that they will last that as well, if not more. The lancer won't be the only car I'll drive, in time I plan on 'stealing' the Z4 from my mum after my room mate moves out in 1/2 years and drive that from time to time.

Avenir

[bumblebee]

this is why i made sure the adjustable coilovers i bought i could get spares for them before i bought them
cos you never know when something might go wrong ,and they do cost a bit of $
so , if they do develop issues you have a fighting chance of getting them fixed rather then bin the lot cos you cant get it fixed and then make the wallet get thinner again buying new stuff

[Avenir]

If any of my coils break, especially being suspension I am not going to repair 1 part down the line. I'll just get it fully replaced again. Otherwise they will wear at different rates. Let's not talk about them breaking straight out the gate too they just got on ahaha.

PRE UPDATE:
I have the Superpro TRC1023 control arms on the way, should get to me by this week or next week to quickly slap in and get a wheel alignment shortly after so I can then drive the car back to Melb and get the new door fitted. It'll be good to see the added difference the arms will do after the coilovers, as I have already driven the car before they were in.

I will be getting a few smaller items from my brother at Bursons for real cheap as I have been meaning to get them:
- OBD II reader (might just get an old school one via cord plug-in... I know the new ones are cool and flashy but If its all that important later on I'll just buy another one. I don't plan on watching the readings every day, and like the fact its old school too)
- Black plastidip for the front bumper black out that I still haven't done yet
- Exhaust sealant for the new exhaust coming soon
- More double sided tape for some new bodykit stuff I'll eventually do
and other bits and bobs plus whatever else I might need for a tune?? SOMEBODY SAY TACTRIX OPEN PORT? Think Bumbles ears pricked up after I posted this..??? lol Thats if Merlin is still around once I email him..

As always I'll let you lads know. Also I have decided to throw out the idea of painting my rims, its just too bloody hard. Might eventually get some black Avid av06's like @lancer2014...

Long live the lancer,
Avenir

[bumblebee]

Try reading the performance na section about tactrix and the rest of OBD2 stuff you will need
Merlin is still around don't you worries about that
Can you buy just one of the adjustable coil over complete? The majority of manufacture won't let you do that and you need to buy a full set.

[Avenir]

I have read a fair few areas of NA performance but its a bit of a minefield atm so many dead threads and gems along the way. I actually have talked to merlin now, I'll give some more details below. Don't think i can just buy one coilover, but I haven't message XYZ support centre so I don't know yet. Maybe..

LITTLE UPDATE BEFORE THE WEEKEND:
Hey guys so its been a bit of time again, and a bit of progress as well.

SUPERPRO CONTROL ARMS - Have arrived at my parents place, gonna install them this weekend. They will hopefully stiffen up the steering especially with the poly bushings. Then I gotta focus on the back end.

EVO X SPOILER - Yes I know its random, but I picked up one of these for 200$ Already at my place and I'll take it soon to get spray painted by the same bloke doing my door for a low price hopefully. Always liked these spoilers purely as a decal/aesthetic. Ill have the bottom part kept matte black and the top part as grey (same as car), I love the two tone look.

MAGNAFLOW 2.5inch CAT BACK - By surprise it is approaching my parents place in less then a week, the tracking lately of parcels has been absolute shit so it went from not even being in the country for 2 months to now being a few days away from my door step. I want to get this installed but I am unsure if I should go the extra mile and get a high flow cat with it first. If anyone can recommend one for 2.5 inch that is fairly cheap i'll have a look!

OBDII READER - Ended up picking one of these up from Repco, its a Foxwell variant which had perfectly good reviews and had more functionality then the real shit ones. Everything I need to check up on some codes for the lancer and any live data. On sale too!

TUNE - I talked to merlin over email and gotten a bit closer to tuning. I am currently not ready as I have to get the exhaust on first, but he has stated that he is tuning another lancer atm and will hopefully try to hit me up when its finished. Probably looking at $400.

NEXT PARTS:

BUSHINGS. MORE BUSHINGS - Nuff said, most of them are completely fucked on my car and i'll need a combination of the control arm bushings, sway bar bushings, and trailing arm etc. Probably buy some kits from super pro, but I know they are a bitch to install especially without the right tools so see how I go.

BMK007 WHITELINE KIT - This is the sway bar, link, bushing kit that I can buy. Its overkill for the street but eh car will handle mad after this. It's about 700$

BODYKIT STUFF - Few things like side skirt extensions and rear diffuser off bodykitkingdom they have add on/stick on ones that look not bad for a reasonable price... plus I am not wanting to change the body of the lancer too much in this respect. Just add a bit of flare. Otherwise I'd get an evo lol.

Pretty much everything I can remember. Once I get the car driveable again it will get the new door on and be right as rain. Bushings are probably the biggest issue at the moment.

Long live the lancer,
Avenir

[bumblebee]

Hope you enjoy feeling every bump in the road after you shove the bushes in you plan on getting from super pro
OBD2 tool , your better off to get this if you have Android phone
https://www.amazon.com.au/ScanTool-4272 ... B00H9S71LW
Or just get a cheapie $100 android phone and no Sim card and run that , this will out perform and Foxwell device any day of the week

[Avenir]

BUILD UPDATE

So my progress so far has moved onwards in a few ways.

Control Arms
Started off this weekend putting in the new control arms from super pro... TRC1023. These have the offset bearings for extra caster on the front end. Generally better performance handling compared to the 1022. Think it took dad and I about 20 minutes to get both rooted control arms out, then lube up and installed the new ones in about 10 minutes. Probably the quickest install of anything on the car so far.

I didn't get a pic but the old control arms bushings were filled with tears, and the front bearings that connect to the wheel were completed torn open on both arms. So it was good to see them gone. I can confirm the steering is so much sharper now too, it's not aligned but it actually holds against the road now at 100km/h. That with the accuracy of the new steering rack and its night and day.

Exhaust

Had no idea it was coming but showed up on the doorstep Friday... great timing ahaha.

Dad and I were quite saddened by the fact that the arms were piss easy. Got the music going and the morning coffee we wanted more work to do so we decided to slam in the exhaust too. Got it all out of the box, and rigged it up, we realised by DESIGN this cat back exhaust required me to cut the exhaust just behind the second O2 sensor, after the CAT. So being reasonably equipped mechanics we got the drop saw took out the exhaust and cut it, filed it and fit it up. Only to realise that the back end of the cat back was not exactly fitting right anymore because of this. So we cut the aftermarket one slightly back as well, and effectively shortened it.

The exhaust came in pieces that slipped together and had big U shaped clamps to hold them together. So the exhaust still worked and fitted perfectly like you couldn't even tell it had been modified. On the plus side since it is just before the last O2 the ECU couldn't tell anything was different.

The end result was quite a loud, quite angry sounding lancer. Although a bit more minimal then I initially thought... but it has a good note and you can feel the car revving a lot more now. Its also loud enough to actually hear on. Whereas before at idle the lancer is close to quiet. Starting it up now gives me a smile.






NEXT UPDATES

Unfortunately the spoiler wasn't done this weekend, we didn't have time and thought we may as well get it painted first.

I'll be purchasing all my rear end bushings probably this week. Because after they are fitted the car will actually be well enough to drive again, then get the wheels aligned.

Once I do this I can get the door replaced and spoiler sprayed + fitted. Then contact merlin again to get my car tuned.

Not long now. I miss driving her.

Avenir

[bumblebee]

Save your pennies up
Go talk to a exhaust shop and get a custom Mandrel bent exhaust and toss the OEM over your shoulder
With a 200cell cat your will hear and feel the difference
Even more so with a ECU tune

[Avenir]

I am thinking I might. Because all I would need is a pipe with a cat that connects to the rest of the catback. The problem is the O2 sensors. They would need to go in the new pipe with their own fittings. That's the expensive part. The only OEM part of exhaust left is legit 1 metre from the extractors to the new cat back..

I was thinking it might open it up a whole lot more if it was 2.5 inch all the way through. I have no idea who to talk too though and how much a 1 metre pipe with a 200 cell cat would cost, plus labour. I'm guessing it would be expensive.

Also thought about that, merlin stated I could have a bit of a pop tune if I wanted... Either mild or aggressive pops. But I'll probably lean towards mild. Keen to see how much louder it might be after that.

[bumblebee]

Dunno how you came up with the idea that the expensive part is the O2 sensor mount.
A decent exhaust shop can get this knocked up very easily.
I got a 2.25" system installed with Lukey muffler and 200 cell cat from memory for around $350
In the grand scheme of things, that's quite inexpensive.
Fire up Google maps
Go looking for local custom exhaust shop
You want to find one that has a Mandrel pipe bender machine.
If they don't have that , find another shop.
Plus
They can weld all the exhaust together
Stop the carbon monoxide from leaking under the car
Go up thru the holes in the floor pan
Fill the cabin
And reduce your chance of living

[Avenir]

Well I assumed that a 1 metre pipe of stainless steel cut and welded to fit a standard 200 cell cat would be very easy work and probably wouldn't take much labour time /cost. Fitting the right size, thread and position for 2 O2 sensors I would think might take a bit more brain power to accomplish. But if they have the tools they have the tools I don't mind.

I found a few in my area, one called muffler magic. I found another that had really good reviews but to be honest looked like they just did work for Aussie falcons and commies nothing else.

I'll make sure they have a mandrel bend machine, sounds good.

Yeah don't want to be breathing any of that at the moment the exhaust is actually sealed really well.

Let everyone know soon!

[bumblebee]

The exhaust shop will have the threaded inserts on the shelf to weld in place.
And no doubt a centre punch to mark the hole with and a drill and correct size bit to drill the hole so the sensor go thru.

An exhaust shop is an exhaust shop
If they do exhaust for bombadore and found on rubbish dumps , they can do a lancer with their eyes closed.soblobg as they do custom exhaust your cooking with gas.
So after you cut your exhaust and mounted the new one , what did you use to test the exhaust seal with to make sure no carbon monoxide leaks from the cut and join you did ?