The Assembly: Tony Angelo's Scion FR-S
By Justin Banner, Photos by TAngelo Racing
Man, talk about coming down to the last minute! Lets look at where we have been to where we are currently. Tony Angelo and the TAngelo Racing team acquired a Scion FR-S that was recovered from Hurricane Sandy's mess. It gave the guys the idea to work with Sandy Relief charities to give back to their native North East and those affected by the disaster.
The car was stripped down to its shell and rebuilt for the purposes of contributing to charity and drifting by Tony, his team, and MA Motorsports. TAngelo Racing also gained a new garage to work in. This new garage gives the Bloodmasters a place to hang around, smoke, drink, play with 50cc bikes, and not do much else. The Scion has received the engine and transmission from the 2011 tC as that chassis was done in last year and it was also fitted with a Winters Quick Change. The Cage was CAD'ed out and installed by Tony's team and really great friends. Now, we're up to the reassembly after getting everything fabbed up and painted.
Ok, not much time to lose here! It will look like the engine is going in first, but trust me, that's only how it's going to go on paper. Everything that can be installed while other things are being installed will be installed. Get that? We don't have time for you to read it again! Time is of the essence here. |
Once the engine is back in, the guys had a look at two issues that were keeping them from making power; the intake and the exhaust manifolds. The originals were made to fit inside the tC and were cobbled together from parts that could be found or fabricated. These were not going to do for 2013 on the Sandy car! |
The intake manifold is a full custom piece made by Dominic. It features long runners with a medium sized plenum. The throttle body mount is designed to accept the GM LS style throttle body, giving them multiple throttle bodies to try. Currently, it will use the GM Drive by Wire throttle body but the plan is to find the best one out of all of the ones in the aftermarket. Compare that to the original, which was “a cracked mess of a piece, huge plenum, short runners, honda TB” and other issues. I think the new one is a huge step forward. |
That the tC made any power with that manifold was a shock to everyone. Then the exhaust manifold broke apart. Yeah, that just happened. |
While the manifolds were being taken care of by Dominic and Tony, the rest of the crew continued to install parts onto the FR-S. Here, the front dampers from Stance are getting installed. |
The new Garrett Turbo should really make some power, especially now that a new manifold is being designed. Tony tests the fit with the turbo and blow off valve each time a change is made. |
Not only will it be impossible to fail to notice when the monster HKS Wastegate opens, but its purple color will sear itself into your retina too boot. The Garrett Turbo looks mean and ready to force-feed the transplanted 2AZ-FE! A throttle body sourced from a GM LS series engine should be large enough to handle whatever the turbo has in store for it. The formerly-equipped Honda throttle body would not have stood a chance. |