Modding day--injectors, throttle body coolant bypass, upper radiator hose

Sup guys,

Slowly and steadily the pieces are all falling into place! At this point, I've decided to hold off on installing the supercharger until I get smogged early next year. At this point it's easy enough for me to pop my catalytic converter back on and reflash the ECU with my stock tune. In the meantime, I'll be gathering the rest of my parts and getting ready for my first track day! I figure I should probably learn the limits of the car naturally aspirated before I go bananas with boost and kill myself.

Another thing I'd like to get dialed in before boost is my wheel fitment. Right now I'm running the stock wheels (17x7 front, 17x8.5 rear) with 225/45R17 front and 255/40R17 rear Dunlop ZII tires. The grip is phenomenal, but I'd like to experiment with a "square" tire setup--having the same size tire on all four wheels. This will require two new rear wheels and I'll need them bored out to to fit the larger front hub. I'd run 20mm wheel spacers in the rear to match the front's flushness--all this requires fender work. In the end, it's totally worth it for both cornering grip and braking grip. Without further ado, let's go over the modding day!

Here are a couple of my buddies--Glenn on the right owns the silver S2k and his brother Dexter is currently shopping for one!

Here you can see the fuel rail removed, as well as the injectors. We made sure to depressurize the fuel system beforehand by loosening the fuel cap, removing the fuel pump fuse, and cranking the engine for a bit. Unfortunately, the car ran so poorly with the giant injectors that I ended up swapping in my stock injectors again! I'll need them eventually for the final stages when the supercharger is on and I'm at the dyno.

Here you can see the stock coolant path to and from the throttle body. Many cars run coolant through the throttle body to prevent icing in colder climates. Here in sunny California, we have no need for this feature--all it does is heat up the incoming air with hot coolant! This mod is extremely cheap and easy--the only downside is that you have to bleed your coolant afterwards.

Here's the coolant path rerouted, and the throttle body coolant inlet and outlet covered with white caps.

The last thing we did was install the new upper radiator hose. It's shaped like an "S" to clear the supercharger's aftercooler once it's installed. Suffice it to say, I took a bath in coolant.

There you have it! Another modding day braved, another dollar saved. After smog, it's on!

~T