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Update: Aaron Weir’s RWD CRX Build

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Race to the Ontario1500

With the upcoming event only weeks away, we catch up with Aaron to discuss his history with the RWD CRX, and what’s in store in the future. To learn more about the Ontario1500 Motorsport Adventure – presented by Motomaster, click here.

Can’t get enough? Check out the backstory on Aaron’s car in our previous post by clicking here!

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Fall Nationals Prep: Chris Miller Racing/Prayoonto Racing Interview

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Chris Miller is all over YouTube. If you search Chris Miller and see any of his old racing videos in the Orange Camo Hatchback you will see why his opinion is a big deal. He is one of the most known names in Import Drag Racing and a pioneer for going fast in both Outlaw and also Sport Front Wheel Drive SFWD. So we interviewed over 10 drivers, Chris is one of them. Here’s what he had to say… Continue reading

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“3 Minute Fire”- Cody Loveland revisits Pikes Peak 2013 Crash with FabricationLife

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We have seen his video all over the net, but what you didn’t see is the behind-the-scenes aftermath of Cody “LOVEFAB” Loveland’s fiery collision at Pikes Peak.  Just put yourself in the drivers seat on this wild ride.  It was a brief ride, but extremely dangerous with a vicious crash. This could have been deadly had it not been for top notch safety equipment.  That, and proper chassis fabrication, is the only reason this was not a fatal ride that day in Cody’s used-to-be NSX, now coined Enviate.

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Octavio’s 801whp stock-sleeve Civic from KMOD.

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Octavio’s Civic is not hardly a Civic, anymore….

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You are not reading wrong. 801hp on stock cylinder sleeves in Octavio’s K-series Civic. The power number and in general, the graph are amazing all the way across the board. Look at that Air Fuel! This thing is nuts. And while possibly a ticking time bomb, as everything eventually can blow up, we are proud to see people push the bar with numbers to truly test the walls of these blocks and the action. Do we have the balls to do it, possibly not, but it is a fun thing to watch for anyone who is a fan of making power and pushing limits to the maximum! Continue reading

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Intercooler Series: Derek at SpeedFactory builds Dual Core Intcercooler Pt.2

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Welcome back to part 2 of our Intercooler Series with Derek at SpeedFactory.  We are now going to be mocking, measuring, and cutting the materials for the intercooler in this portion.  We also will show you another piece or 2 in this article we made from scratch and detail why these components were needed.

 

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PART 2 – FABRICATE AND BURN

Back in part 1, we explained to you why it is crucial to have all of your fabrication components before you start your job, while giving a few photos of what we were using.  Our shopping cart tells you the exact materials we were using for the intercooler project and give you an idea of the outlets you will have to visit for these materials.  Vibrant Performance is a similar outlet, where you can go for all of your fab materials you may need to complete such jobs.

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End Tank Design

Without trying to point out the obvious I’ll start by saying intercooler cores are square and air moves most efficiently through rounds.   My goal is to trick the airflow into thinking it is flowing through a round object by making that transition from square to round as smooth as possible.

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It may sound easy, it may look easy, but keep in mind it has to fit within a chassis where the turbo and cooling systems are already developed and in place.   A couple things on my mind while I am making this is having a solid structure,..i want to have as few welded seams as possible because the welded seam will always be the weakest link in a pressurized tank (also the reason I weld the tanks inside and out).  

 

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With that being said some fabricators who have mastered the english wheel, press brake, slip roll may look at my design thinking they could have done it in fewer pieces or made a smoother transition…this is where repeatability comes into play…if there were to an accident or unforeseen damage to the intercooler I have to be able to quickly repair or re produce this intercooler again.

 

Inner Velocity Stack

Speaking of airflow, I machined this square to round transition to further smooth the airflow and try to keep turbulence at a minimum and velocity at a maximum.   This is at the intercooler outlet leading into the 3.5″ charge piping leading to the throttle body.

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Stack finished and welded, ready to adorn the end tank and flow like a freight train! 

 

The finished Product

As for the end result of the tank, it’s what I felt would fit, and perform best for our 1000+whp application. 

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Inside Jokes

We spy a Smurf! 

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Here is an inside joke with Cole.  It’s Smurfette, because he calls the Vibrant Civic Si “Smurfy” obviously due to the blue colors used on the wrap.  This little caricature was to be Smurfette holding down her skirt due to the wind inside of the end tank.  This is a great play on the classic Marolyn Monroe scene from the 1955 film The Seven Year Itch, placing Monroe in a white dress which is now famed all over.  Good go Derek! 

 

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This intercooler, while many pieces have been shortened and cut for your viewing, is ready to produce the 1000+whp that it will take to rail the Civic past those previous 8.4x time slips.  Last year, we bested mid-8 second passes but now we will eclipse those times.  A new day is on the horizon for the SFWD Civic you have seen.

Ultimate Callout Challenge – Turbo Diesel Competition
February 5, 2016

If you haven’t heard, you probably aren’t in their league…the…

2015 PRI Show – Highlights
December 23, 2015

The Fabricationlife team witnessed this year’s crazy busy SEMA show…

2015 World Cup Finals – Import vs. Domestic
December 7, 2015

On the first weekend of November 2015, the Vibrant team…

Update: Aaron Weir’s RWD CRX Build
September 1, 2015

Race to the Ontario1500 With the upcoming event only weeks…

FormulaD Orlando June 4-6 2015
June 16, 2015

The FabricationLife media team got out to experience the recent FormulaD…

SEMA 2014 – Vibrant Coverage
November 11, 2014

Fall Nationals Prep: Chris Miller Racing/Prayoonto Racing Interview
September 24, 2014

Behind the scenes of one of the busiest teams in…

Man takes you inside Volcano with GoPro!
September 7, 2014

Standing at the base of a Volcano in a mix…

Super Strong Line-X Coating Put to Test
August 27, 2014

How strong would you think LineX would add to the…

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Intercooler Series: Derek at SpeedFactory builds Dual Core Intcercooler Pt.1

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Ok, we bring you a large amount of extremely high quality fabrication photos and topics on our Facebook Fan page.  We have also been bringing you top notch articles and topics on Fabircationlife.com, including; Quickies: Intro to Tungsten & PrepSolidWorks TipsPrep Is EverythingFabricators Series: Collectors 101, and all of our Tig’d Up Tuesday reviews.  Now we want to show you a more detailed fab session with a seasoned vet, Derek Chorum.

 

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Continue reading

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Dubai GTR makes 8.1 second quarter mile pass.

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Damn my neck hurts just watching it! These GTR’s are knocking down the times. This one is still All-Wheel and it is not tubbed. As a street car, this monster would hurt feelings and be quite the “Pull up at the track” threat! That is a 1.29 60′ on that 174mph pass, in case you were wondering. Watch it after the click….

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Fabricators Series: Ron Bergenholtz.. What is Fabrication?

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Ron is no stranger to the world of motorsports. He knows a thing or 2 about Fabrication owning both a successful drift team and one of the most historic Import Drag teams in history. We recently had a sit down with Ron B. to speak quickly on his thoughts of Fabrication. Sit back and listen. It is great to hear someone speak who isn’t just another critic, but a student of the art. When you love fabrication, you are proud to see it anywhere you can.

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Mark One: 3D Carbon Printing comes to life!

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Let us introduce you to the Mark One, the newest 3D printer on the block for all of you Fab-Tech nerds, like us! The Mark One is the worlds 1st printer to hit the market to print Carbon Fiber. When we saw initially we screamed aloud “Take my money now!” This small package packs a punch, and could revolutionize how we think of and use Carbon Fiber, while expanding where the material is used.

 

Carbon fiber is used in almost every field of racing today, along with many applications in both oem and aftermarket platforms. It’s strength can be over 5-10 times the strength of ABS plastics, and have a higher strength-to-weight ratio than machined aluminum. This makes carbon fiber very sought after for a number of reasons- safety, weight, and durability being at the top of the list.

 

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We are at PRI!

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The PRI Show (now owned by SEMA) has moved back to it’s classic location of Indianapolis.

the cold weather, attendance is looking to be strong over the next 3 days. We are at the Vibrant Performance booth, and will have free stickers available the entire show. Please stop by, take a few, and tell us if you follow us! We also plan to do updates periodically about the show on Facebook, and have a daily report about PRI posted on FabricationLife.com

We walked through the venue last night and snapped a few photos of the booths as they were setting up.

 

Seeing this car on track is mind-blowing at times.

 

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Real Time Racing

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Blower Cars always get big attention, this one will draw a crowd!

 

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This build is extremely interesting. Ford GT with a blow-thru setup, using VanJen Clamps, big screw supercharger, electronic city, and a completely redesigned cooling system. More to come on this car on FabricationLife.com.

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Here you can see the prep work going into the display.

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We will update more on the PRI Show. Check back to see what craziness we find, and who we happen to see. If you have something you are wanting to see tell us!

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