Learning?

[Solboy]

Hey guys, it's been a while since I posted, my last post was on a fire start on my carb, by the way fixed, just a matter of tuning I think, I am in california again and have yet to look at it- but will when I return home again.
But my main question besides just diving into my car and tearing stuff apart, is there any books I can read that can benefit me in understanding these cars and cars in general, I suppose I could just google it, but you guys know your stuff and I just wanted to know if you had any suggestions. FYI I am becoming a pastor, so my natural trade is not mechanics haha, but I love my sx4 and I love cars.
My goal this summer is I would love to EFI my sx4(already did a 4.0 head swap) then at the very least put a hand e-brake in the eagle(I wannad try and drift my eagle), and switch from 5 spd to 6 spd. I would do a stroker with an EFI, but I am not even sure that is possible- see I have dreams and fantasies, just not sure about everything- and feel that I barely know nothing when I work on my eagle or car in general.
I just want suggestions on books I could read to learn from, as I learn well with reading then doing.
So suggestions at all? I will prob take some community college mechanic classes when I get home as well.

[craigp29690]

Drifting an Eagle, really dude?  Having been to a few drift competitons, it takes some serious horsepower and setup to do it right.  Plus you want the car low and stiff.  A 4wd wagon just isn't made for that.  Plus a 25-30 year old tranny and drive train is going to grenade on you.  YOu also need to change the diff out to at least an LSD if not a locker.   But 2wd, not 4wd is needed.

Don't want to tread on your dreams but if you want to drift you're looking for a light, big HP, small RWD car.  At the last NOPI Nats I went to they had a Honda Passport with an S2000 drive train that was amazing.

Plus you need a real deep poket for tires, lots of tires.

[Solboy]

Um the eagle is rear wheel drive... it has 4X4 option?
It's not all wheel all the time?
I understand the concepts but it's something I want to do, your not knocking a dream or treading on it, it's still a challenge and would be fun, besides I think it would have more than enough power, real thing I only need to worry about is the weight at that point.
I'm sill going to try it, and I never said I was making a hobby out of it just something to try and do, I'm no professional drifter and don't aim to be so my deep pockets will be fine as don't expect to be drifting every weekend.
It would just be cool to do- and be able to do is all
Thanks for the input though.

[siguy8]

Do you mean drift like Fast and The Furious type, or just locking up the rear wheels on a corner so you slide around? I'm curious about re-routing the e-brake cable  and putting it in between the seats as well...

[Solboy]

No no where near fast and the furious I am no profesional, more like just whiping around corners and such, but yea we are in agreement, that would be cool
so anyone got any input?

[thereverendbill]

a pair of vice grips on the shaft of the e brake realease will make your e brake pedal just like the other pedals and rebound instead of stick.  Just a tip though the rear axle is NOT going to last long if you plain on sliding around so prepare for a walk home and a tow bill

[Solboy]

Man we got some negative downcast birds around here.
I'll just reinforce the axle or get a new one, how's that? see problem fixed.
you all keep thinking this is going to be a slide around every weekend type of thing, I just wanna see it be done!
vice grips? eh, that's sketch too by the way.

[thereverendbill]

I not downing the idea just making sure you knew that the axle will need some upgrading (the wheels tend to come loose and fall off if abused ).  The vice grip idea is the cheapest way to do powerslides, I found out about it with my old 79 K30 pickup when we went wheeling and all of my friends in cherokees told me it couldn't be done in a big heavy pickup 

[Alcology]

I've found that just spending lots of time reading car stuff on the internet has been a big help.  www.hooniverse.com is a fun site with an active community to just get in that car mode.  http://www.build-threads.com/ this site is fun since it features web sites about cars built by their owners.  Quite a few about drifting builds if you want to see what that does to a car and what reinforcements/changes are needed to just have it survive.  And spending lots of time here going through the projects topic and the altered eagles topic.  The best way I've been able to learn is to just get in and do it.  Once you get home again, just take the time to look everything over and see what needs to be done.  When you get to something you don't know, come to the site and search it out.  Take it back out to the car when you've read about it. 

[Alcology]

Oh yeah, www.ateupwithmotor.com is good for some solid history as well.

[tougeagle]

If you want to learn about cars, the best thing to do is go to the library or bookstore and pick up some beginner/intro books on automotive, or take a few classes at your local community college, that is the best way to go. Learning about cars by using forums is not necessarily the way to go, as some will steer you wrong on very basic concepts that are often misunderstood. You will have a lot of reading/classes ahead of you if you want to install efi and make it work, because doing such requires some knowledge of how it works, in case anything goes wrong. I'm not saying you need to be an expert on it, but understand the basics. You don't want to be clueless about somethign you put on your car just because it seemed like a good idea. Start off easy and work up from there.

Drifting does NOT involve using the E-brake. That's a commonly misunderstood concept bred by r!cers (pertains to the culture of hack tuning and bad driving habits) in FWD econoboxes. If you want to snap your e-brake cable and screw up your drivetrain, that is the best way to do it. Drifting involves rear (or sometimes all) wheel drive vehicles, with a high amount of horsepower and torque. Drifting is turning a corner and apexing beyond optimal slip angle (the slight angle off center the vehicle will have at its limits of cornering before sliding/drifting, around a corner) and using engine power to purposely break traction to the rear wheels. You can easily make an Eagle do it, but it would require at the very least the swap I did, if not a stroker motor, and some decent bucks to get a good 350 or so hp from it. I used to drift my cherokee all over the place when the roads were wet, by turning in, pushing the clutch in, revving up high and popping the clutch back out to break traction and go sideways with wheel at full lock. But in order to do this safely you have to have some understanding of basic performance driving, or you could end up watching your baby pulled up onto the back of a flatbed with a winch. I'm all for people following their dreams, and this is no exception. Just make sure you are prepared to learn and do the mental (and monetary) work necessary to do it, and you will eventually get there

[ericarmstrong]

I would NEVER drift an eagle, center of gravity is to high to risk a system failure or surprise obstruction.  Not to mention if something failed the car isn't really designed for high speed rollovers.  A spirit with modded suspension and a roll cage.....maybe. 

[tougeagle]

I would NEVER drift an eagle, center of gravity is to high to risk a system failure or surprise obstruction.  Not to mention if something failed the car isn't really designed for high speed rollovers.  A spirit with modded suspension and a roll cage.....maybe. 

You'd be very very very surprised at just how well an Eagle corners Remember, you sit just a few inches higher than a normal car, but the entire engine and drivetrain is lower, proportionately. The top of the valve cover is about lower chest height and the bottom of the transmission is just below the bottom of your feet. All the weight is concentrated at the very bottom of the car. I've taken 35mph turns in the mountains at 55-60 mph, and she hung on without a single protest from the tires, and no severe body roll.... Then again, I have a rear swaybar and poly bushings.

[ericarmstrong]

I've pushed mine a few times and was surprised. Still though,  imagine being in mid drift and having a sway-bar link go..... Yikes!