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[SIZE="4"]Common (car) modifying mistakes[/SIZE]
By Botchi Santos
Philippine Daily Inquirer
22:46:00 09/07/2010


PEOPLE HAVE been modifying cars since it was invented over a century ago. But it has only been recently that information regarding modifications and customizations have been carefully logged, updated and validated, being readily available on the Internet and various books and magazines covering the topic of after-market modifications. But unfortunately, problems still exist because of the lack of attention to detail, cutting costs or just plain misinformation. Here are some of the common problems you’ll see.


No tuning direction

A lot of people can’t decide on what way they want to modify their cars, or what the end product will be, innocently assuming that a modified car will be a car for all seasons and reasons. Without getting into detail, it cannot be, and will not be that way. You have to decide if you want a fun car on the street, a comfortable, high-speed tourer, a track-only car, a show-only car, or a compromise. If the big-name car manufacturers cannot produce a car that drinks fuel like a priest drinks his wine, run down the quarter mile under 10 seconds, have a super-quiet and refined interior, a quiet engine that revs to 10,000rpm and is Euro V emissions legal, then what more you and me?


Poor or no tuning

After spending serious money on your fully built, stroked and bored out engine with a wild cylinder head, baller turbo kit and the latest stand-alone engine management system, people don’t bother having their cars tuned by a professional and knowledgeable EFI and stand-alone computer tuner or mapper. Dyno sessions range from P5,000 to P8,000 per hour on the following dyno tuning shops: Speedlab (Dastek Dyno), Auto Plus Sportzentrium (Dynojet) and Auto Technika (Dyna Pack dyno). Another common mistake is after installing new wheels and tires, plus new suspension, people cheap out and opt not to get proper corner-weighting and/or proper wheel alignment. By doing so, you do not get the full advantage of your new parts and in the case of the tires, premature wear, poor traction especially under hard cornering and braking, making your car a dangerous, uncontrollable land-based rocket.


Poor wiring installation

We’ve all had our fair share of simple electronic upgrades: a new, louder horn, higher output headlights, perhaps a simple audio install. And we all learned how important it is to properly splice, solder, insulate and ground these components properly. We also learned to use relays as necessary, and the right gauge or wire thickness. Lastly, we learned never to tap too many electrical components at a single point on the chassis or wire harness because you overload that electrical connection to the point of failure and possibly, a small fire. You should also properly insulate the wires with plastic wire conduit to protect them from heat and the elements, then zip-tie them together in place, away from other hot or moving parts


Using cheap, unknown, untested, fake, replica parts from unreliable sources

China is a gigantic manufacturing powerhouse, known more for copying rather than innovating. More and more parts are coming out of China and hitting the mainstream, often undercutting established US, European and Japanese manufacturers. While not all of them are bad, there are a good number of parts that one should research on, ask feedback and gauge satisfaction from existing users. As a general rule, while I have used some China-sourced parts, I stick with established manufacturers when it comes to precision, moving, highly stressed components such as engines parts, driveline / transmission parts, electrical parts and brake and steering parts. Using unknown, untested parts is risky because you have no baseline information or empirical data to gauge performance and expectations.


Mismatched components

If you’ll be spending a year’s paycheck on a really trick turbo system set-up with a dual ball-bearing turbo, tubular equal-length manifold and mandrel bent piping, but skimp on engine management and fuelling components, your engine will be a ticking time bomb. Likewise, using cheap, used grocery getter tires on your latest forged mono-block wheels and drive it like you stole it on the track is just plain silly. Similarly a no-name brand engine oil in your engine, tap water for your cooling system instead of distilled water and coolant mix will just damage, or worse, destroy parts of your car, costing you even more money in the long-run. My favorite error? Using low-grade fuel on a high-compression or turbocharged engine and expecting it runs like stock.


No maintenance work done afterwards

There is an age old adage that a candle that burns twice as bright lasts half as long, and this applies to cars. Most people forget that when you modify a car, you are pushing it closer to its limits. It will need more care and attention by way of more frequent inspections and when needed, requiring the best maintenance and wear and tear parts replacement.


Lack of attention to detail

It happens. You need to remove certain components of a car to get to something behind it, and forget to tighten everything. The result? You’re stranded on the road, or worse, a poorly tightened hose clamp means you’re leaking fuel or oil all over your engine bay, causing a fire, or spewing hot and pressurized coolant and overheating your otherwise perfectly fine engine. Make sure everything is tight, check it again, and again one last time.


Lack of overall balance, too much emphasis on one aspect of the vehicle

It’s common sense that if you increase engine power, you’ve got to upgrade the brakes and suspension to match the newfound power, otherwise, your car will just be disappointing to drive or worse, downright dangerous.


Overdoing things

Anything in excess is bad. A turbocharged engine boosting beyond its turbine efficiency, a suspension lowered too much removing proper suspension travel, or removing structural components in your vehicle compromising its integrity are dangerous as well. Make sure that all your modifications will not compromise safety.

As a final piece of advice, there are three things available for the enthusiast: something fast, something cheap and something reliable. You can only have two out of the three. Remember that.