Sitting at 129K miles, my car is now due for some really deep maintenance. 

1. Cooling system.

Well, it is bound to happen with radiator sandwiched in Plastic. The OEM radiator is leaking from the bottom seal. I decided since I am going to track the car to upgrade to a KOYO race radiator with a mishimoto thermostat.

The koyo radiator does fit in the oem place but they moved the radiator cap opening to the upper intake tube.  I had to cut the intake tube a few inches to enable full flow otherwise the hole will pinch itself. the radiator is a lot thicker than the oem one and should provide some great cooling at WOT on track.

The mishimoto thermostat replacement is a easy task. I like the low temp opening but I also really like the wider opening at 190F. It feels like a lot more flow is happening at operating temps. This is not so great for daily but I imagine for track use, this is the best option out there ( other than running without thermostat).

2. Valve covers.

I've noticed that the cyl5 plug is submerged in oil , so I order a new set of valve covers. Replacing everything was a pain since you have so many things to take out before reaching the covers. but 1 afternoon was enough for this job. One issue with the cover is the plug tube seals leaking all the time. So I took some rtv and surrounded the seals with black rtv that is resistant to oil. So far , so good.

3. Plenum spacer,

while I had the whole intake plenum out, I installed the Z1 5/8th angled spacer. It was easy but 1 bolt was bad and sudendly I had to redrill and retap a center hole in the lower plenum. It took me a few days to get the right tap for the job.

So NOW it is time for some trackdays.