Mighty Car Mods - Issue 2

MOOG

Moog is host, and co-creator of the hit YouTube series Mighty Car Mods which started in 2008. He has owned many cars ranging from his Mini, VL Commodore and threewheeled Camira, through to a range of S13’s, modified Golf GTI’s and his defeated JDM S15. He has filmed over 100 episodes of Mighty Car Mods in locations including USA, Japan and Hong Kong. He dislikes eggplant immensely.

MARTY

His favourite shirt reads “no tofu” but despite this, he and Moog still managed to stay great friends while creating the hit show Mighty Car Mods. Since he was a teenager he’s been modifying anything that moves, and some things that don’t. He feels most at home in a spare parts shop or wreckers yard scouring for parts to put to use on the driveway and believes that a mod worth doing, is a mod worth doing yourself.

MAUSWERKZ

MILKCHICKEN

MECHANICAL STIG

FACEPLANT

JMACMAN12

Vincent Tannahill is a photographer, former aircraft mechanic, mechatronics engineering student, and an electric car nut. His first project car was a 1988 Audi 80 Quattro and he’s been a lover of european imports ever since. His current car is a 1992 BMW 318is which he plans to covert to run on batteries.

Jara Stojanovic, owner of the title “too many cars to remember” is an accomplished mechanic who hails from the NSW/VIC border. She is happy to lend a helping hand to those who demand. However, don’t let her kind exterior fool you, she has no problem putting the boys in their place when it comes to Honda tuning.

Ben Neal is a self confessed car nut whose world revolves around Subarus. By day he’s the ops manager of a Sydney-based Japanese parts wholesaler. On Wednesday nights he’s a manic drag racer, chasing every 0.01 second at WSID. His Subarus keep him busy, tinkering till the wee hours of the morning in his shed.

Daniel Irwin, a mechanic by day, gamer by night. He is your friendly source of info for Toyota and Subaru mechanical work. He can be found working well into the night on anything from an oil change to a complete engine swap out on a property near Newcastle. This has earned him the title “the midnight mechanic”.

Josh Neale, a certified Canadian and a general car nut, is never shy to stray away from stating his take on anything automotive. With a love for all things European, He is currently preoccupied with his JDM Axela, proving it is possible to maintain a well balanced love triangle, by keeping an open mind; much like the country he loves.

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2-Up! For best viewing results, set your viewer to 2-up (with cover) display mode!

Welcome to Issue #2 of Mighty Car Mods Magazine.

This issue is our biggest yet (well we only had one issue to beat) but its crammed full of mighty goodness. Whether we like it or not, pretty soon our cars will be plugged into the wall instead of the petrol bowser and this means there is going to be a whole lot more attention given to electric cars. And what’s better than an electric car? A DIY electric car of course. We check out the electrifying OHMBOY and get our nerd on with boost controllers. We delve into forced induction and give you tips on how to clean your intercooler. We go back to the Japanese car auctions and head to UpGarage in Japan before going behind the scenes of the Mighty Car Mods Zombie Build. We check out some AE86 action, as well as a super clean white S15 before heading to Morocco with award winning photographer Simon Lister. There’s a unique JDM bedside lamp build, and interview with rapper Mark Agustin. Mechanical Stig decodes Japanese number plates and of course Irongav is back ranting as only he can.

Thank you to our talented contributors and forum moderators.

If Marty and I are an engine, you guys are the turbos that keep spinning and making more power than we’d be able to make on our own. And this would make Vincent our boost controller and editor in chief.

We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who purchased a copy of the first issue of MCM Magazine. It is because of you that this second issue is here and we are excited about making the magazine bigger and better each and every time.

We hope you enjoy Issue #2 of Mighty Car Mods Magazine.

Marty & MOOG

THIS ISSUE: Intercooler Cleaning

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Boost Control Brett from GFB shows us how it’s done

Bpage 13 Electric Van Importing

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Behind the Scenes: Zombie Build Bpage 30 Faceplant’s AE86

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Riding in Morocco A two-wheeled adventure through the lens of Simon Lister

Bpage 46 Reality: Part 2

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Editing and Design: Vincent Tannahill Enquiries: magazine@mightycarmods.com

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Game Review:

By Jara Stojanovic When it comes to racing simulators you have a few choices, but when it comes to the xbox360 there is one game that makes sense, Turn 10’s Forza 4. After the introduction of the Original Forza in 2005 the Forza series has gained a large following making it one of the largest racing games for the XBox360.

If you’ve ever played any of the previous Forza games you would know how much fun they are and how you can sit there for hours just tuning up a car to take out on your favorite track without the worry of getting home after a long day of racing.

The game feels like you’d expect any next generation racing game to feel like. The handling of the cars feels pretty spot on to the real ones, and although speed is hard to experience when you’re sitting on your couch, you can still get a good sense of speed when your hurtling down the main straight of Nürburgring at 200+km/h.

Upgrading your car doesn’t just stop at performance.

With many colour combinations and also the option to put decals on your car there is no limit to your creativity.

If your not handy with the controller, you can always buy a pre made decal or car from the online store via in game credits.

Wide ranges of tracks are available so you can go to the places you only dream of. All the tracks have a lot of detail and also change with weather conditions.

With some technical tracks like the fictional Fujimi Kaido and the ever popular Nürburgring keep experienced players on their toes, while there is still a challenge with the less technical tracks like Tsukuba Mugello to keep even the newest gamer happy.

Playing online is a lot of fun. You can meet up with friends over Xbox Live and race around or if you have enough friends play car soccer just like Top Gear or just drift like a pro. Playing against other people from all over the world brings a whole new meaning to the game. With the challenge of racing real people, Graphics wise the game looks just you can never have too much fun. as good as its competitors with With lastly the main career a fair amount of detail when it comes to shadows and highlights. mode holding the whole game All the cars have detailed interiors together, Turn 10 has been able with some having working gauges to give some variety with players visiting multiple tracks in one like boost and water temp.

Special attention has been made season, although it can get a little repetitive once you’ve played to details in certain light with bright sunny days making the cars through it for many hours and been to all the tracks at least look bright and vibrant and dull once. overcast days making the cars look like they are hidden in the All in all I love this game. After shadows. playing it for a few hours you get hooked in and the enjoyment you You’re not limited to a stock get from modifying cars you only looking car either, with the dream of makes it worth every upgrade shop offering a whole cent. If you’re into racing games range of aftermarket body kits and have an Xbox360 then give and wheel combinations as well this game a try, you won’t be as a wide range of performance disappointed. upgrades to make your favorite car drive like a racecar.

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HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Oxygen Sensors Narrow vs WIDE

By Marty Mulholland

O

2 Sensors, or ‘Oxygen Sensors’ - they are in every modern car and they are an integral part of the engine management system. With car makers having to comply with strict emissions standards, the 02 sensor plays an even bigger role than it once did. 02 sensors were invented back in the 60’s and measure the amount of oxygen in the exhaust stream and output a voltage which the ECU then reads. By gathering information from a number of sensors it can determine the air/ fuel ratio in real time, and can then make adjustments rather than relying solely on pre programmed mapping.

simulated narrow band output which means you can bypass the factory sensor and have the wideband give the ECU a reading. This can save you buying narrow band sensors as they wear out and offset the cost of a wideband.

We covered a wideband install back in Season 1 using the Tech Edge DIY Kit. Link: http://youtu.be/br-z88IUrN8 Tech Edge Widebands: www.wb02.com

Most cars from the 80’s onwards have just one sensor, but new emissions standards are requiring more of them. All cars sold in the US must have a sensor before and after the catalytic converter so its efficiency can be monitored, while some cars have up to 4, both narrow and wide band.

Narrow Vs Wide You hear the term ‘wideband’ used a lot in tuning circles.

The ‘narrow band’ 02 sensor that is found in most cars has a much lower resolution as the ECU can gather enough information from this to adjust mixtures to return the best fuel economy and emissions. Wideband 02 sensors were invented in the mid 1990’s and their prices have dropped to the level that they can now be purchased aftermarket and installed into cars and are the best real time insight you can get into how your engine is running.

Widebands like the Tech Edge unit we installed have a

Preventative Maintenance

Oxygen sensors wear out. They are constantly being subjected to hot exhaust gas in all kinds of running conditions, and over time they lose accuracy and eventually give up the ghost. It can be a little hard to diagnose when your 02 sensor is broken but the biggest tell tale sign is bad fuel economy. If the sensor gives up entirely, your ECU should display a check engine code that will pinpoint the fact it isn’t getting the voltages it expects, but this isn’t always the case. If you suspect your 02 sensor is on its way out, the outlay for a new sensor can pay itself off very quickly in fuel savings. You can get wire-in universal sensors as seen in our episode, OR you can get sensors specific to your car that will come with the correct plug and will take minutes to install. Tip: You’ll probably need a 22mm socket or spanner to remove it!

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I

ntercoolers, almost all turbo cars have them, they help make your intake temperatures nice and cool and some people even go as far as having them on for looks, But did you know that your intercooler may be stopping your car from making good power and could be causing that smoke you see from your exhaust?

Here we’re going to show you how to get back that horsepower that your dirty intercooler is robbing from you.

CLEAN AN INTERCOOLER

covering the cores, either way a clean is needed.

Mix up some kerosene and methylated spirits to make a 50:50 mix. 1ltr is enough to start. Pour it into your intercooler.

Make sure you cover one end with either your hand or the optional tape/rag, so then you don’t loose

By Jara Stojanovic all the mixture. You’re going to need around First of all you’re going 1ltr of each for a small to need to remove your intercooler or 2ltrs each intercooler. This may involve for a larger front mount. removing your bumper so Grab hold of your make sure if you’re going intercooler and plug up the to jack your car up you take other end and swish the all the appropriate safety mixture back and forth in the precautions. intercooler. Make sure you get Once you have your it in all the cores while you do intercooler out, have a look this. Do this for a few minutes inside. It may be full of oil, and then drain out the mixture like the one I have here, or it into a bucket or bottle via a may only have a little bit of oil funnel. The mixture will look a

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What you’ll need • • • • • • •

An intercooler Kerosene (the blue stuff) Methylated Spirits (the clear/purple stuff) Clean rags to clean up spills Bottles and funnel or a Bucket to catch the old fluids Water (either from a hose or, if your water has calcium in it, use Demineralized water) Optional: Cloth Tape or a Rag to plug up the intercooler

little less blue than what it was before and should contain a fair bit of oil and crud.

Make up another mixture and wash it through the intercooler again. This will again get rid of more oil and other contaminants from your intercooler. Keep repeating this process until you’re happy with how clean your intercooler is. I normally put through 3 washes if the

intercooler is really dirty or has never been done before.

Once you’re happy with how clean your intercooler is, get out your hose, or bottle of distilled water, and put some in your intercooler.

Remember again to plug up one end. Swish the water around in the intercooler for a minute or so and then empty it out into a bucket or bottle.

Don’t pour this down the drain, as it will contain some of the methylated mpirits and kerosene mixture as well as some oil. We don’t want this to go into our waterways.

Wash the intercooler out until there is only clear water coming out, and then place it in the sun to dry. This may take a day to dry so it’s best to do this on a Saturday and put it all back together Sunday afternoon if you need your car for the week. If you’re in a hurry, get a hair dryer onto it and heat up the cores a little.

After a clean out like this you will notice your turbo will spool much better and that smoke you used to see when you started your car in the morning (or when you gave it a boot going onto the freeway) will be gone. If not you may have other issues.

It’s best to do this every 20,000km if you have a modified car or a diesel, remembering that not all turbo diesels have an intercooler, so check first. On stock standard cars or ones with little turbos like that in the Kei Cars, you can let it go for 3040,000km or when

ever the car starts to get a little smoky.

This is also a good trick to do on intercooler piping, as it will also get a film of oil over it. Make sure you flush out as much of the mixture as you can and let it dry out in the sun before fitting it all back up. You may notice a small puff of smoke on first start but this is just what’s left of the mixture that you may have missed after the water and drying.

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