Well, it’s been a while since my last project log update. With the busy dirt racing season, I haven’t had a whole lot of time to do much with good ol’ Poison Ivy. But, she is still running and running strong with only a few minor problems.
Text by AJ Hunsinger // Photos by AJ Hunsinger & Kurt Barnes
One of the issues I ran into was because I had the great idea to run Poison Ivy on the dirt track for the special “spectator races”. Though she pulled bus lengths on the others, it was a bit too rough for the rear struts that were already blown out to begin with. The lower cups that the springs sit on, collapsed on both sides resulting on the spring to drop to the very bottom of the strut. I bought some new rear shocks and replaced them the next day.
Picture with the broken rear struts.
Something that may have just been the single most awesome thing I have done to the car yet was the front bumper exit exhaust. Originally, I was going to build or buy a legit front bumper exit exhaust, but I got tired of waiting for the money to free up. So, I made my own easily, cheaply, and affordably by using flex piping bought from the local parts store.
I took my old downpipe from #VirginMary that I had made to run as a front exit exhaust, similar to running an open downpipe. I cut the flange off that bolts to the o2 housing, turned the flange so that the pipe was directed towards the left front of the car, then welded it in place. At the end of the downpipe, I attached the flex piping and ran it out of the front bumper. It sounds amazing, looks amazing, and is actually a little quieter than previously running straight o2 housing.
Myself and several DSM friends like Kurt Barnes, Ben Kiah, Christopher Johnston, Terry Madison, Cory Kuhn, and others have been attending several car meets in the area. Our cars are becoming more and more known around the community. Most of the car meets I have gone to are the local 570 Motorsports car meets here in Athens PA. But, a couple weeks ago, I made the hour and a half trip down to Williamsport PA.
Athens, PA with Kurt Barnes and his 1G (Sapphire).
570 Motorsports car meet in Athens, PA.
570 Motorsports car meet in Athens, PA.
570 Motorsports car meet in Athens, PA.
About 5 years ago, I lived down there with Kurt Barnes. Back then, I had a FWD 95 Talon TSi, named Faline. Kurt and I used to go to the car meets down there every Wednesday night. After the first couple of times attending these meets, we were able to pull in several other DSM’s. I decided it was time to make the drive down and see how the meets are these days.
To my surprise, the car count was through the roof. There were cars upon cars. And really nice cars at that. I got a few of my close friends together that live down there. Poison Ivy got a lot of attention and several people had already seen my car online. I received a lot of compliments which meant a lot to me.
Williamsport, PA car meet.
Williamsport, PA
Another issue that I have just recently experienced was a cracked header. I noticed awhile back that my eBay header had a slight crack in it. So, I bought a cheap used Pace Setter header. I was very happy with it. I loved the design, it was easy to install, etc. But, the day after I installed it, it cracked a lot worse than my previous eBay header. So, my buddy Roy gave me a better, almost brand new eBay header. I just installed that today and it is performing just as it should.
Cracked Pace Setter header.
Cracked Pace Setter Header.
Engine bay with Pace Setter header.
Engine bay picture with newest eBay header.
On October 15th, 570 Motorsports is hosting our Eat Sleep DSM 2k16 Meet. So all of my friends down from Williamsport, as well as other areas, are coming up here and attending our meet. We are expecting to get a pretty hefty car count.
I am hoping I can make it to the drag strip once more before the end of the season. But, the end isn’t far away.
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