Eric Hsu
We stumbled across an interesting website the other day:
http://wordsmith.org/anagram/index.html
For kicks, we decided to search the name of resident tech guru "Eric Hsu", and found it can scramble into some fitting arrangements (seen here with punctuation added):
"Uh . . . rice!" - Eric's choice sigh of desperation when he's asked for stupid advice, like Cavalier/Supra taillight conversions.
Such ire - The intense anger felt by Eric when being asked for stupid advice.
Ice rush - The dead-cold panic felt by those who realize they've asked Eric for stupid advice.
Cries, "Uh!!" - What such a person does when Eric exacts his revenge for having been asked for stupid advice.
Enter the domain of Eric Hsu at your own risk:
questionit@importtuner.com
Pick of the Litter
In your February '10 issue, the article "Ditch the Daily Grind" talked about rebuilding a Y80 GSR transmission. I ordered an Integra GSR LSD tranny online and they sent me a Y80 LSD transmission. The guy from the engine depot stated that the Y80 LSD tranny was from a rare '94-'95 GSR from Japan. I was wondering what the difference is between my Y80 and the Integra Type R S80 tranny and LSD? Do you have any suggestions that could help piece my tranny together?
-Sothia Chhom
via importtuner.com
There are actually quite a few different versions of the Y80 and S80 transmissions. The main differences are the gear ratios and final drives, although even within the transmission models themselves there are different ratios and final drives. Unfortunately the only sure way to know which transmission you have is to count the teeth on the gears and ring and pinion, figure out the ratios, and match them to a model's specification sheet. Asking a couple different guys I know that build a lot of Honda transmissions, they both agree that the synchro designs are all very similar and are even interchangeable. They also agree that you either have to believe the guy you bought it from or take it apart and match the specs to properly identify which year and model your transmission came from. Honda uses both helical and "Salisbury" (clutch-type) differentials. Generally, the newer the transmission, the greater chance it has a helical LSD in it. The older it is the greater chance it has a Salisbury differential. As for tips for building transmissions, just make sure you follow the directions in the factory service manual and use the correct tools. If you don't have the right tool, don't ghetto rig it because there's a good chance you can fu*k something up pretty good.
Power Potential
I currently drive an '04 Honda S2000 and was thinking about purchasing a Sun Auto Hyper Ground System. I came across this product reviewed in your December '02 issue, in the article titled "Ground Out" which showed an S2000 that made an additional 2.1 whp after installing the Sun Auto grounding wires. What are the grounding points that would deliver the best horsepower gains?
-Buenagua
via importtuner.com
Power gains with grounding kits vary from car to car, but generally the best gains are found by grounding the battery, engine block, cylinder head, ignition coil(s), and valve cover. The best way to find the grounding points is to test the car on an inertia-type chassis dyno, such as a Dynojet 248, and test multiple grounding points during back-to-back runs. From my experience, I've also found that the older a car, the more horsepower the Hyper Ground System will make due to the car's degrading electrical system and lack of proper grounding from the factory. Make sure to use the genuine Sun Auto Hyper Ground cables because they really do use extremely high-grade copper wire in their kits.