I’ll admit that I wasn’t originally planning on posting another update on Balance Auto’s ITR just yet, but then Jackie surprised us all with something new and I had to go see it for myself. During the build of the ITR he has been letting me in on pretty much all of his plans for the vehicle, but this was an exception. Last week he sent me a message which had no text – instead it consisted of two images of the shop’s ITR and the facelift it had just received. Holy gigantic splitter Batman!

The C-West bumper (which is still awaiting paint) will now be accompanied by this custom piece which came off of a race car in the USA. I used to think that the C-West piece with its splitter and canards looked pretty aggressive, but compared to this it looks rather tame!

Look at the size of it! Granted, for this shot I was using a wide-angle so it’s a bit exaggerated, but the lens was necessary  in order to fit this behemoth in.

The car has also received new shoes for the time being; it’s still waiting on its proper set of wheels so these have been fitted just so that it can be rolled around.

The new bumper will certainly allow for quite a bit of airflow for various cooling needs. Ducting will be fashioned to keep the front brakes cool while out on track.

Now, what about the engine that will be powering this thing? At the time of my visit the heart transplant had yet to be carried out but the new K-series is getting ever-closer to being dropped into its new home.

There’s certainly no shortage of parts!

A new 80mm K-Tuned throttle body will feed the intake manifold, which is a ported and polished RBC piece.

Extra shot because it’s so purdy. Getting distracted by shiny things.

There’s more K-Tuned goodness in the form of a fuel rail…

…as well as an intake.

As an upgrade for the braking department, a set of Brembo calipers were picked up and have been refinished in black.

Last but not least for today, the head which has had its intake and exhaust ports opened up and polished already.

As is always the case there are more parts on their way, but it’s coming along. Summer is getting closer and closer and there is much left to do, so some late nights at the shop may be necessary; but that’s usually how it goes with projects, right?

’til next time…

-Bill