Public Service Announcement

Talk about your Rotaries!
vierte
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Posts: 315
Joined: Tue May 08, 2012 9:14
Location: Denver CO

Public Service Announcement

Postby vierte » Mon Oct 24, 2016 9:14

Colorado needs more big turbo Rx-7s!!!!!!!!

It's been a while!.. but I've decided to build an new and improved turbo vert for Deals Gap Rotary Rally this coming April. I found a very clean vert on craigslist with some nice parts and pulled the trigger. Here's what I got so far:

1991 Rx-7 Convertible - 88k Miles - Fresh paint
Powered by Max coilovers
Nardi wood steering wheel (looks way better than I expected!)
Greddy T-78
RC Engineering fuel Injectors (1000's and 1600's)
3" exhaust

BF Turbo Manifold (may need to modifiy for stupid Vert k member)
Big Front Mount
Set of Rays

What I need:
Interooler plumbing
Walbro 450 ( E-85 compatible)
Shine Auto Front Lip
OEM TII Side Skirts
Megasquirt MS-III upgrade


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Then it blew up on me.. welcome back to the rotary game!

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chickenwafer
Posts: 2515
Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:14
Location: Greeley

Re: Public Service Announcement

Postby chickenwafer » Tue Oct 25, 2016 9:14

Nice! What happened when it blew up?

vierte
Senior Member
Posts: 315
Joined: Tue May 08, 2012 9:14
Location: Denver CO

Re: Public Service Announcement

Postby vierte » Tue Oct 25, 2016 9:14

Long time chickenwafer!

I think it just overheated real good and overflowed the reservoir. I think the motor may have a bad coolant seal, bad oil control o-ring, and hopefully just some stuck seals on a rotor. Should find out soon enough tho!

I see you have a pretty awesome REPU coming along!

vierte
Senior Member
Posts: 315
Joined: Tue May 08, 2012 9:14
Location: Denver CO

Re: Public Service Announcement

Postby vierte » Sat Nov 05, 2016 9:14

I've forgotten how much of a pain it is to pull a stock engine... It took 2 hours to pull the modded TII and 2 days to pull the stock NA motor. But its done and now it's time to swap trannies and rear then I'll finish freshening up the TII to drop in.

I have too many Mazdas right now.

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Intercooler Plumbing kit arrived. "Overnight parts from China" doesn't have the same ring to it.

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Front mount will be a tight fit...

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vierte
Senior Member
Posts: 315
Joined: Tue May 08, 2012 9:14
Location: Denver CO

Re: Public Service Announcement

Postby vierte » Sat Nov 05, 2016 9:14

The goal here is to build a vert that Mazda would have built.. if they didn't have to worry about selling any. Goals are 400whp, e85, as stock looking as possible, with as many stock features as possible. I'm keeping power steering and AC so it may be tough to squeeze 2.5in intercooler pipping in there but I think it's doable.

Do any of you have any good ideas on how to squeeze in a boost gauge while keeping the interior as stock looking as possible? The car has the stock double din CD player.. so there is no din space. I might try to hid a small orange on black LCD screen in the ash tray for boost a boost gauge. Then it would match all the orange instruments in the car.

vierte
Senior Member
Posts: 315
Joined: Tue May 08, 2012 9:14
Location: Denver CO

Re: Public Service Announcement

Postby vierte » Tue Nov 08, 2016 9:14

Freshened up the motor! Almost ready for final assembly.

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vierte
Senior Member
Posts: 315
Joined: Tue May 08, 2012 9:14
Location: Denver CO

Re: Public Service Announcement

Postby vierte » Tue Dec 27, 2016 9:14

Shiny Bits:

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Got the intercooler tucked away nicely. Kept the stock plastic ducting, fog lights were not affected, windshield washer reservoir stayed. All these things are usually abandoned for a big front mount. Had to slightly relocate the AC dryer but looks like I'll be able to keep the AC.

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I ran some fuel sizing calcs and the stock 5/16" fuel lines should have been capable of supporting my HP goals with a bit of pressure drop. Unfortunately there aren't a lot of fitting options in 5/16". I'm building hard lines under the hood with hose connections between the chassis side and the motor for a flexible connection. I ended up using Parker Ferulok fittings since they had nearly all the right connections. Eventually I'll run 3/8 line back to the tank as I'll have to rework the lines for a ethanol content sensor. Once I get all the hard lines fitted, I'm going to powder coat the fuel rails crinkle black. I also CNC'd a bracket to mount the FPR on the passenger side firewall to keep things tidy. Unfortunately running the hard lines to and from it will be a bit tricky. Engine bay is still very dirty..

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vierte
Senior Member
Posts: 315
Joined: Tue May 08, 2012 9:14
Location: Denver CO

Re: Public Service Announcement

Postby vierte » Fri Jan 20, 2017 9:14

It's slowly getting closer. After making aluminum fuel lines with steel Parker fittings I decided that was a bad idea... So I switch to stainless lines with stainless fittings. I found a place in town that stocks stainless fittings for a great price. Check out Titan Fittings if you ever decide to build a fuel system.

At this point, all the major components have been fitted. I still have some welding to do on the intercooler piping and I've decided to powder coat the pipping to match the manifolds. Parts to build a new wiring harness should be here this week and I get the joy of trying to wrestle a stock harness through the firewall. The first time I did this.. I managed to throw away my wiper harness as its combined with the engine harness. This time I plan on keeping functional windshield wipers! If this thing is ever derivable, I'll take it to the car wash to give the engine bay a good scrub.

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Finally got the tires off the old wheels and they need some work! I think I'll need some smaller spacers this time around. The fronts are 8in wide and the rears are 9 so I'm looking at 235/40 or 45's in the front and 255/40 in the rear. The plan here was to powder coat them Spanish gold however I'm looking at some options to paint them instead. I worry about the powder coating temps starting to cause precipitation hardening of the wheels. The anecdotal evidence on the interwebs seem to show that forged wheels don't seem to be bothered by powder coat temps however semi-forged and gravity cast wheels are more susceptible to fatigue cracking after powder coat.

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When I originally drove the car home.. it drove like crap on the coilovers. It was too stiff and bouncy and occasionally you would get a clunk from the suspension. Well below is a good example of how not to set your suspension up. One coilover had all three lock rings tightened against the lower spring seat. It looks like the last owner had tried to raise the ride height by adding spring preload. None of the lower lock rings were tight against the body of the coilover so it could move back in forth from the play in the thread.

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Shadowden
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Location: Highlands Ranch
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Re: Public Service Announcement

Postby Shadowden » Fri Jan 20, 2017 9:14

I read similar things prior to having my wheels coated. They are pretty lightweight aluminum wheels and the powdercoater actually said they had some trouble with them because they are so light.

I am reading the temperatures for powder coat are around 400 degrees.

I really cannot see it being a real issue:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... 8Lh9-cilMg

vierte
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Posts: 315
Joined: Tue May 08, 2012 9:14
Location: Denver CO

Re: Public Service Announcement

Postby vierte » Sat Jan 21, 2017 9:14

I'm leaning back towards powder coat. The concern is, to age harden certain grades of aluminum, you heat it to around 400 for an hour then you let it air cool. Which is pretty much what you do with powder coat. I think forged wheels go through an age hardening process when manufactured. Cast wheels likely don't but I don't know about semi forged. We have a metallurgist at work, so I might pick her brain on aluminum heat treatments. Either way the wheels already have powder on them... Couldn't hurt to coat again!

Received some of the wiring goodies to build a harness. I found some nice fire resistant wiring loom with a tracer. Looks pretty nice! Just waiting on wire to arrive.

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vierte
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Posts: 315
Joined: Tue May 08, 2012 9:14
Location: Denver CO

Re: Public Service Announcement

Postby vierte » Sun Jan 22, 2017 9:14

Today I learned... That two piece wheels are really cool... Until you have to split them apart! Crap that's a lot of crusty bolts to free up! I was thinking about tumbling the bolts and nuts to clean them up but now I'm considering just buying new hardware. I'll see what I can find out there if they aren't too expensive.

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Shadowden
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Re: Public Service Announcement

Postby Shadowden » Sun Jan 22, 2017 9:14

I would have thought that the center and barrel would be tied together around the entire circumference. Thanks for the photo.

vierte
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Posts: 315
Joined: Tue May 08, 2012 9:14
Location: Denver CO

Re: Public Service Announcement

Postby vierte » Sun Jan 22, 2017 9:14

Yea, usually they have bolt holes all the way around. This set is a bit odd. It's not round on the outside.. its ovaled and then there's a bracket that goes over the part that doesn't have holes through it. The reason for this is you can't get the face out of the barrel unless you tilt it sideways... which you can't do unless its ovaled. There's still bolt holes all the way around.. they just don't all go through the face. Really.. it's a bad design on Rays part.

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chickenwafer
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Re: Public Service Announcement

Postby chickenwafer » Tue Feb 07, 2017 9:14

Coming along dude!

vierte
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Posts: 315
Joined: Tue May 08, 2012 9:14
Location: Denver CO

Re: Public Service Announcement

Postby vierte » Wed Feb 08, 2017 9:14

It is.. but I'm rapidly running out of time!! Needs to be running and bugs worked out by mid April.

I did get the harness designed and 80% built this weekend. Once fuel rails and blockoff plates come back from powder coat, I'll get the sensor connectors tied in and the last pieces of harness sheath installed. It turned out really good.. hopefully I got all the wires that I need! I also am upgrading the Megasquirt MS1 to an MS3x. Got all the electronic parts.. just need to finish up a new case that doesn't use a cheap DB37 connector. I also decided to order a flex fuel sensor since this thing will be tuned for E85 and it will be filled up on both sides of the country.

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I also printed some fuel rail clips to support the new stainless steel fuel lines. They turned out surprisingly nice!



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