I don’t know why we work so well under pressure, we merely do. That’s an understatement coming from Jason Park, owner of Fluid Control Solutions of Porter Ranch, California. Jason with his fantastic driver, Chris Cook, are old hands at turning wrenches and had been running their original Integra, nicknamed Ghost Rider, until an untimely guide to a wall took it out of commission.
The passing of Ghost Rider (1.) left the FCS guys with a problem, a ton of sponsors for a car that was inoperable and eight weeks to acquire back about the track. After sourcing a stripped Integra from a good friend, the car was treated into a nice acid bath as well as a full stitch-welded chassis due to a pair of Harbor Freight engine stands plus some ingenious engineering. With the car cleaned and after aggressively stripping any signs of non-vital metal through the carcass, it weighed in at a svelte 600 pounds. The FCS guys were in a time crunch but wouldn’t cut corners. Jason adds, Nothing was ignored in this project. If time allowed, we went HAM on the fabrication side of things. That started having a customized 25.5 certified rollcage along with a modified lightweight Wilwood aluminum pedal assembly. The front end of the car was reengineered to incorporate a custom drag splitter along with a chromoly birdcage to add reinforcement; that matched the one-off bellypan and catch pan installed to reduce drag and increase the cutting negative effects of the aero.
01 2001 acura integra exospeed 3 piece front endwithin eight weeks is a tall order for anyone, so the FCS guys looked back. The drivetrain, suspension, and interior bits were all good, so we took what we could. The Integra was changing back into a genuine car, especially after being sprayed with a fresh coat of paint, although jason states, The back half of Ghost Rider 1. was shot. Furthermore, each of the chassis components were blasted with powder, but after laying across the color, it only left the FCS team with five days to build an entirely functioning race car. Jason recalls, We got it back from the painters and had to tap, align, fit, assemble, fix, redrill and upholster and start the auto when there wasn’t a bolt about this new canvas.
04 2001 acura integra RS exospeed forged star 8 wheel
05 2001 acura integra RS FCS fab battery box
06 2001 acura integra RS exhaust port
A week’s worth of sleepless nights and coffee runs later, the FCS guys piloted their miracle build to your 9-second pass in Vegas, which might have been a finale for some other shops. Like all hard-core drag enthusiast, Jason and Chris and all of those other team wanted more. Jason recalls, We contacted BorgWarner about attending races on the other side of the country for the first time. There was a catch, we had to convert our new outlaw-spec vehicle to a SFWD car to compete inside the Airwerks BorgWarner shootout at Englishtown, New Jersey, in 2 weeks! The guys were treading in unknown waters, so they hitched up and headed east to meet up with Chris Miller of New York-a big fish inside the competitive drag racing pool.
Jason said, We needed to change everything; the manifold, intercooler, the leading end-even put the interior way back in. After meeting up with Miller, and one a lot of energy drinks, the crew got the car prepped in record efforts and hit the asphalt at Englishtown where some mechanical problems resulted in a less-than-stellar performance. A quick jaunt returning to Cali got the FCS guys an entirely built GS-R cylinder head stuffed with Web cams and rockers and a Supertech valvetrain. The wiring harness and engineThe guys hit a rather large problem-a hurricane, although once back around the east coast, the FCS guys set their sights on the World Cup Finals in Maryland! Jason adds, Sandy hit. Battering the store like a tin can, blowing out the lights, tearing the compressor apart, and destroying everything in its path. Hurricane Sandy de-activate the northeast and left it with no power, no heat, without any gas. And where was the FCS crew? Sleeping in a dark shop using hand tools to finish prepping their race car. After three days for being elbow deep in the Integra, the crew emerged to utter disaster. New York, New Jersey, and most of the coast was in ruins, but that didn’t stop these diehards. After rummaging through debris looking for ramps, welders, and gasoline, they loaded the car and headed for Maryland, for one more race. Diehards? Yeah, you might say that.
