Brainsperms Rio

[brainsperm]

Just wanted to post some pics of the massive changes my car has been through. I plan to attend NOPI Nationals in 06.

Before the Fender Flares:





After Fender Flares:








What a difference.....


Glossed and New Rims



Guage Cluster Painted and Installed





Rotor





Rotor Next to my Car..getting an idea of the finished look





Cleaned Engine....better watch out Kevo..LOL





Something I did a few weeks ago....My door panels are now Vinyl instead of the kakhi material.. and the wrinkles... its the Mercedes Leather look I was going for. I did not want the Vinyl to be perfect.... The wrinkles were intentional.

[brainsperm]

Taken from www.Socalkiatuners.com:

Originally posted by "Brainsperm"
**Special Thanks to Fast01Rio For offering some of the info I am using**

Solid Motor Mount Inserts: From KFX Performance
Video: From Sony s710 Camera Phone


Tools Needed:

14mm Socket
17mm Socket
14mm Wrench (optional)
17mm Wrench
Jack
Jack Stands



How-To:

First, you need to get the car jacket up in the front. Place the Jackstands alone the runners behind the front wheels for support. Lower the jack and remove.

Next, undo the 4 motor mount bolts (14mm) on the center cross member.

Then, take the jack and place it under the oil pan opposite side to the drain plug. Jack it up and slightly raise the engine. This is just to take the weight off the cross member since it has to be take off and to support the engine. (See Pic below)






After the engine is supported, then you can remove the 4 (17mm) bolts holding up the cross member which is on the floor in the pic above. These bolts were on kinda tight and required some leg muscle to loosen them. if you have an impact gun, it should be an issue.

Next you will need the 17mm socket and 17mm wrench to remove the bolt holding the Motor Mounts in place.



Here you will see my front Motor Mount was split in the center, which explained the constant jerking of the car when changing gears.





A Comparison od the OEM and Solid Motor Mounts:






At this point, it is up to you on your method to swap out the mounts. Options include soaking in Lye overnight, Having a machine shop press them, or using a drill and various other tools to take the mounts out yourself (method I chose).

Once its done, Your Mounts will look something like this:





Now its a matter of putting it all back on. For this, I chose this direction.

I bolted the Motor Mounts back in the bracket that is attached to the engine and tranny. I did not tighten it down.

Then I bolted in the rear 2 bolts for the center cross member but left some slack for movement to adjust.

Then I bolted in the front 2 cross member bolts. In my case, it seems the engine had shifted a little. So by playing with the jack to raise up the engine a little more and by pushing up on the tranny pan, I was able to get the front bolts in. This may not be an issue with others, but if it is, this is just a way to approach the matter.


Once the 4 cross member bolts are in place, tighten them down.
Next, replace the 4 Motor Mount bolts on the cross member and tighten them down. At this point, you may or may not need to shift the engien slightly from above to get the Motor Mount bracket flush. But tightening the botls down should do the trick as well.

After this is completed, not you can tighten the Motor Mount Bolts I said earlier (attached to Engine and Tranny bracket).

Finished Product shoudl look something like this:





Here is a small video of the engine running. Hopefully, you can tell there is abesolutely no engine movement...


Engine (Needs Quicktime)


Enjoy!

***Note: Installation of these Motor Mounts will create Major Cabin vibration and noise from withing the car. It is extremely noticable when taking off from a stop and acceleration when driving on street. When driving on freeways and speeds are faster, this vibration and noise is non existant.

These mounts do prevent Wheel hop and Does transfer the Hp and Tq much much better to the wheels than experienced with OEM motor Mounts.

I myself was quite suprised at the difference these mounts made. Even what other have said about them was nothing compared to what they actually feel like. The first time i put my car in drive and took off to 2mph, it felt like my tranny was grinding gears.. that is just an idea of how rough and noisy it is. These do take time to get use to and defiantely a new apprach to minimizing the time you experience the inital vibrations and noise. This Mod definately creates a big suprise for someone who has never used or been in a Car with Solid Motor Mounts.

In the end, I am happy with how well they preform in smooth gear changes and keeping the tracion of the Tq and tires to the road. ***

[brainsperm]

**More images of the various buildups can be seen at www.socalkiatuners.com **

What you guys are missing here due to image upload limitations:

1) pics of the slotted/drilled rotors installed

2) the fenderflare buildup

3) custom molded/fiberglassed rear spoiler buildup

I can't post all he pics here as this site does not let me. There is alot more I'm sure I am forgetting.

[Spec SX]

Awesome pics. I really like what you have done to your Rio. Great job and keep up the awesome work. I just went to www.socalkiatuners.com and thats a nice site.

[ahfrederick]

Checked out the site and must say that you got a good one there! Good pics and great events! Keep it up bro! I don't currently live in SoCal (been 10 years) but we'll move back! Back to San Diego!

[wcck]

Lookin good brain!

Nice runnin into you again. I don't see you much on the other boards anymore.

westcoastcustomkia.com