How to Properly Delete ABS

How to Properly Delete ABS

By Bryan Leonard, VP, Chase Bays

Deleting ABS from any car can certainly prove to be a daunting task. The ABS works with individual wheel sensors to help detect and subsequently prevent wheel lock up. While this may be perfect for a daily driven normal street car, on cars being developed for performance driving, factory ABS can sometimes cause problems.  Motorsport grade ABS systems are great but generally start around $8,000 for parts alone. You can repurpose certain factory ABS systems to work as a stand alone system, but again, this can become costly.  

Deleting the ABS sometimes is as simple as pulling the unit and re-plumbing the system. However, many times removing the ABS can pose major issues to the car's electrical system causing “limp mode” outcomes. This is chassis-specific and the internet can be a useful friend here. 

The biggest question to ask is what are the implications of deleting my ABS? Who else with my chassis has completed this task and what issues did they face? For drifting this really allows left foot braking without ABS intervention. Keep in mind you would really need a manual brake of some sort to get the proper pedal feel. We offer an excellent solution in the Dual Piston Brake Booster Delete. This comes with our bias valve integrated, which is a critical part to fine-tune your non-ABS brake system. If you select another master cylinder solution, we would advise buying the bias valve to complete the setup. 

 

Research your platform, see if someone makes a delete kit electronically and hydraulically.  If not, ask professionals who are familiar with that platform what to do with the electronics. Next ensure that you have properly unioned the lines to their appropriate position. Trace where the front lines connect to the ABS and ensure that union is mated to the front line that leads to the master cylinder.  Same with the rear lines. You or a professional will need to be comfortable with flaring. If you aren't comfortable or don't trust your work, seek professional advice.  It is critical these items are flared properly. NEVER use a single flare on a braking system. Double flares are common on US cars and DIN on Euros. Japanese cars have a little of both. Identify what you have on your car for consistency.  

Chase Bays offers line solutions for popular chassis including BMW E30, E36 and E46, Nissan S13 and S14, Honda Civics and Integra, Miata and more. Using the E36 as an example, lines running from front to rear including front line relocations for both the OE master cylinder and our Brake Booster Eliminator, handbrake lines and even caliper lines to complete the setup. Our lines will adapt directly to the chassis, master cylinder and calipers for the most aesthetically pleasing, leak-free, easily installed solution. 

 

If an off-the-shelf solution isn't available or a custom solution is needed, building a hardline will most likely be the easiest method since soft lines require proper tooling to crimp. Use a proper line bender as well, some people will attempt to bend the lines by hand.  After spending so much time on properly laying out your hardlines, flaring, the last thing you want is to kink the line because you didn't want to use a proper bender. Make sure you flare and add the fitting before you bend a section if that end is short. The flaring tool takes a certain amount of space. If you bend too early, you may not be able to get the fitting on.  

Braking systems are super critical. You must be proficient at using these tools or seek a professional. Failure to do this, well, you know. Do your research before committing. Build a game plan, then execute.

Bryan Leonard has extensive experience as a professional race car builder, driver and driver coach in series including IMSA, World Challenge, WRL, Porsche Sprint Challenge, and SRO.

Chase Bays goes to Drift Week!

Chase Bays goes to Drift Week!

Written by Christian Niezgoda ( @kaizokuchristian )

Drift Week has become a huge name and part of drifting in North America, but some folks are still learning what it is. Drift Week is a cross-state adventure where you street drive your drift car to multiple tracks and then drift those tracks. For Drift Week 7, there were nine track days. You are not allowed a trailer or support vehicle once the adventure has started. You are, however, allowed to trailer to the first track and home from the last track. We opted to street drive the entire trip. 

A group of friends and I built a 1997 BMW M3 for the trip in a matter of weeks. The build was full of parts I felt were necessary to make the car reliable enough to do nine track days and over 4000 miles of street driving. 

One of the most important things to having a reliable car is keeping all the fluids maintained and sealed up, such as engine oil, power steering fluid, brake fluid and coolant/water. While thinking of what this car would need to be ready for the trip, I immediately thought of Chase Bays. I knew I needed reliable and high-quality products to manage my fluids and make it through this trip. These products included:

• Chase Bays Dual Piston Brake Booster Delete
• Chase Bays Power Steering Kit with Cooler
• Chase Bays Raised Inline Filler Neck (to delete that pesky expansion tank)
• Chase Bays Clutch Line
• Chase Bays Handbrake
• Chase Bays Handbrake Brake Line Kit
• Chase Bays Coolant Overflow
• Chase Bays Windshield Washer Reservoir
• Chase Bays Engine Oil Cooler
• Chase Bays Oil Catch Can

All of these products were super straightforward to install, which was great given our timeline of three weeks to complete the car and hit the road.

Our Drift Week trip started in Boise, Idaho, with our first destination being Tucson, Arizona. After two successful days at Musselman Honda Circuit, we headed to Southern California. There, we had five total track days at three different tracks. The last leg took us to Tooele, Utah, for the final two track days at Utah Motorsports Campus. Then, it was time to return home. Sounds simple enough, right?

Well, you can prep a car as much as possible, but that is a lot of driving and track days piled up next to each other. As anticipated, my fluid systems were flawless, and the brakes were insanely consistent on the track and the thousands of miles spent street driving. I could hardly remember what the boosted setup felt like because I loved the manual brakes so much. The power steering system stayed cool and consistent while pushing the car to its limits. 

Thanks to the Chase Bays Oil Cooler, the engine oil temperature was easily managed throughout the trip. Removing that troublesome BMW expansion tank was helpful. We remedied this by using the Chase Bays Upper Water Neck and welding it to the thermostat housing. Then we installed the overflow tank for the venting side of the system. We still were struck with a challenge as the 225k mile head gasket decided it had finally had enough. The compression ring between cylinders 5 and 6 had failed and caused a misfire. 

This is where another aspect of Drift Week came into play—community. We were in an Airbnb with some great folks, including Kevin and Ryan from Canada. We hardly knew them before the trip, but this adventure was not only track days and drifting but meeting new friends and building awesome relationships with those people through drifting! We hitched a ride with them and gathered all the parts to perform a head gasket repair in the garage of our Victorville Airbnb. We saw some amazing places such as Pelican Parts, Hoonigan, and Moon Eyes. Ultimately, we fixed the car. We missed a few track days due to it, but we were back at it before long.

Another thing that helped this repair be so much simpler was the simplicity of the Chase Bays parts we had installed. The Motorsport Dual Piston Manual Brake made pulling the intake manifold a breeze since the brake booster was no longer there. The cooling system was nice and simple since the expansion tank was now gone. So many aspects of the engine bay had been simplified thanks to the Chase Bays products, which made working in the bay much easier.

Once we completed the Southern California tracks, we headed up north to Utah. There, we hit a bunch of snow on the final track days. The brakes shined here as they worked just as well in the frigid cold as in the warmer southern weather (we missed the California snow track day). I could control the car consistently with left foot braking thanks to the easy-to-manage manual brakes provided by the DBBE. I could throw big entries in the wet and use the foot brake to slow the car without just locking up the brakes or jabbing them as inconsistently as you can with a vacuum-assisted brake setup.

In conclusion, we built an amazing car that was an absolute joy to drive, even with some really old high-mile bones. The parts from Chase Bays helped keep the car cool and consistent throughout the entire 4000+ road miles and 7 track days. Not a bad way to spend a week, if I do say so myself.

Team Jenkins SEASON UPDATE - D1NZ Grand Final

Team Jenkins SEASON UPDATE - D1NZ Grand Final

Well, what a massive last few months it has been for everyone at Team Jenkins HQ.

We recently completed the D1NZ National Drifting Championship off with Round 5 - The GRAND Final at Auckland’s Pukekohe Park Raceway in New Zealand. To start, Pukekohe is somewhat a HUGE round for us being not only in our home town , but also being super close to our Naming Rights Sponsor - Brian Roberts Towing. To add , this track is well know for it’s high entry speeds which ensures all drivers give full commitment when entering the drift section. Consisting of a large right hand sweeper followed by  a couple of tight turns - all drivers have to bring their A Game to this track to ensure that you don’t end up in the wall. Over the 2 Day Competition Weekend - We saw multiple cars making contact with the outer barriers and sand traps - Something the Team Jenkins Silvia’s were lucky not to touch once!

To start the 3 Day Weekend , Friday kicked off with a relaxed Setup and Test Event which allowed us to unload our large amount of gear and setup our pits to ensure we were all set come the competition day on Saturday. Testing proved valuable to both Troy and Ben - giving the team time to trial adjustments to the tyre pressures , Suspension Dampeners and ride heights. By that afternoon , both of our Team Jenkins Nissan Silvia’s felt strong and ready for more practice and qualifying throughout Day 1 of the D1NZ Competition.
Saturday and Day 1 of D1NZ started off well with the weather playing in our favour for the first time in 3 years of competing at Pukekohe Raceway. We didn’t waste any time in speaking to the D1NZ judges to ensure we got the line right before our morning practice session. Completing multiple laps and gaining feedback from our Spotters and Judges , both Ben and Troy felt strong before heading into the qualifying session later that afternoon. The weekend wouldn’t be right without a quick speed bump being thrown our way with Troy blowing a Differential on the last corner of the section in Practice. With plenty of time to spare - Our Crew quickly got the new Differential installed into the rear of the RB30 Powered S15 and we were back on the Tarmac to get one last practice right before Ben’s Qualifying session.

Pro Sport Qualifying kicked off with a bang as the first few drivers launched into the wall as they over did their entry speed into the first corner. Ben being told by our spotter just to keep it cool - he put down a fantastic first and second run , putting him in 2nd place for the main game later that day.

Troy’s Pro Qualifying session followed shortly after. And after watching the Pro Sport Session - Troy knew that the judges were rewarding big commitment and speed into the first corner. Using that knowledge , Troy entered into the section with a speed of 182KM/H. Followed by a large amount of angle , Troy put the Brian Roberts S15 into the Top 5 Qualifiers straight away. Feeling confident he wouldn't move much from that spot. Once the Qualifying Session had finished , we were placed in 7th Spot for the main game - giving us a By Run first up and moving Troy straight into the Top 16 Battles.
With it unknown what Mother Nature would throw at us in regards to the weather over the weekend - D1NZ Organiser Brendon White signalled to get as many of the Pro Sport Battles completed on the Saturday as possible. From this , Ben’s Pro Sport Battles commenced with our first battles being up against another S13 Silvia , but powered by a crazy V8 Engine. Ben drove a clean and precise lead run , followed by a very good chase behind Jase Brown in the S13. Taking the win from this battle - Ben then moved up to battle yet another S13 Silvia , but this time that of Scotty Dinsdales. Another close battle from both of the S13’s , it was Scott who would be in error on his lead run , giving Ben the win again and moving him up to Top 4.
Top 4 would prove interesting as the driver that Ben was supposed to battle unfortunately having to DNF as he had a large amount of damage from colliding with the previous car he battled with. This wasn’t the way we would have liked to win , but we moved up to battle for 1st and 2nd straight from that! 
The Battle for 1st and 2nd would be the biggest we had seen. With the fast entry and 2 very good drivers , both Fans and Our Team were on the edge of their seats to see what would unravel in the final battle. A very clean chase run from our opposition gave Ben the energy he needed to stay up close on his opponents door. Ben did just that! And managed to put his Brian Roberts S13 on the rear wheel of the C33 Laurel that he was battling.  Everyone was ecstatic! It wasn’t until Sunday’s podium that we found out that Ben had won first place for the Round! An AWESOME result to end the season on a high for both the Team and our Sponsors!
Troy had a very similar scenario in the Pro Series - With receiving a By Run straight into the Top 16 - He would battle Team DSR’s Adam Davies first off. This was someone who Troy has battled many times before in the past. 
As Troy had qualified the highest out of the 2 - This meant he led first. Entering the section at pace , Troy put down a very clean lead run to which Adam made an error behind him and put a wheel off in the chase. After our Spotter notified Troy of this , he knew that we would have the advantage. Not backing off though - Troy followed Adam down the front straight at close proximity. Only to be signalled by Adam that he had an issue with his car right before the Sweeper - Giving Troy the win straight away and into Top 8.
Top 8 saw us up against the Championship Leader - Cole Armstrong. Both Troy and the Team knew this was going to be a HUGE battle , so we would have to give it our all if we wanted to continue on from here. Troy didn't hold back! And put down a very tidy and close chase run first off , followed by an unfortunate error shown by Troy when he went slightly wide on the last corner , giving Cole extra points for managing to grab the last inner clip. It was here unfortunately that Troy’s weekend would end as the win was awarded to Cole - He then also went on to win the Round AND the Championship for the season!
To finish - This whole Season has been a learning curve for Team Jenkins Motorsport. Introducing another driver - Matty Hill from Australia , To run under the Team Jenkins umbrella for the season - Whilst also developing our cars further to ensure we remain competitive and consistent throughout the Championship Season. We believe that we have gained some crucial data and track time on each of these tracks , only to not get that special Podium Finish until the Final Round of D1NZ. We have seen the Team Jenkins Motorsport Car’s compete in 7 Competition Events , Along with 2 Special Show & Shine events to which we had the cars on display for both the Sponsors and Fans to check out the cars up close and personal.

- Troy and Ben Jenkins
Owners / Drivers of Team Jenkins Motorsports

 

Chase Bays Hydro Hand Brake

Chase Bays Hydro Hand Brake

We are beyond excited to announce the Chase Bays Hydraulic Hand Brake. This has been in the works behind the scenes for a while. Here were our main goals with this minimalist design:

• Compact. By using a side mount master cylinder we've created the most compact base and master cylinder mount available. We wanted the ability to install under factory center consoles and others on the market do not allow for this. Ours is over 2" inches shorter than the current popular options.

• Stability. No excessive wobbling of the handle and a more solid mounting option. The factory trans tunnel metal flexes too much, we're offering a steel plate that matches the base shape with nuts pre-welded on. This is sandwiched under the chassis or you can weld onto the top. This makes mounting a breeze and creates a sturdy mount.

• Modular. We have designs for stand alone and inline style MC, with the handle being reversible for Pull-Up or Pull-Towards.

• Complete. This does OR it will have the option for everything you need to install. We offer over hundreds of -3AN Brake and Clutch Line kits already, so we'll be offering chassis specific Brake Line Kits and Universal kits to assist your install further.

This is already strength tested and is being drift tested as I type. In less than a week we will be sending to production. We will be doing a pre-order and you can expect these in two months.



April 27, 2017 by Chase McMaster