well if that doesn't work out LSPR and you can play with a few of us RWD regionals! I need to defend my back 2 back wins there in class (except 2018 i was DSQ for bullE36 M3, but thats another story, look at the times posted, we were the winners)
well if that doesn't work out LSPR and you can play with a few of us RWD regionals! I need to defend my back 2 back wins there in class (except 2018 i was DSQ for bullE36 M3, but thats another story, look at the times posted, we were the winners)
In reply to RallyPerry :
Hey- CUP has two events now? I don't recall seeing that!
Well, I've been busy.
I swapped the driver seat for a new one, reset seat position on both sides, and readjusted the belts.
We got all our safety gear in the mail and setup comms etc.
I reconfigured the oil cooler by removing the thermostat and welding an AN fitting on the other side. it's an FC rx7 cooler, so now it's one pass across instead of across and back. Oil pressure now never goes under 40 psi.
I modified the fuel rail to use an external pressure regulator which I mounted on the strut tower. replaced the injectors with the future megasquirt set and adjusted pressure to put them at the factory 35 lb/hr flow rate. Added 5 micron fuel filter
I cleaned out the inside of the car and painted the foot wells and under seats etc while stuff was apart.
I added an amateur radio with remote face on the dash, installed an antenna through the roof.
I added the Intake air temperature circuit back in, it had been removed.
I added a second ram mount to the dash.
repaired some marker lights and various other things.
new rear hatch lift struts (wow is that hatch lid heavy!)
replaced one plastic side window. gonna do the other one tomorrow I think.
I've been tinkering with cam timing and driving it a lot.
rewrapped the exhaust downpipe.
Car starts easy and runs pretty good but not perfect. Other than the injection issues it drives great. You get a lot of funny looks driving a rally car around on the street.
Tonight it decided to be merkurial, and the starter went bad.. I can get one shipped just in time to leave for the rally. Wish me luck getting all this together lol.
Wow, you have been busy!!
Man, I have a lot of catching up to do! Good luck at the rally!
Awesome! Gonna keep this tread alive or start your own?
Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) said:Awesome! Gonna keep this tread alive or start your own?
I think I'll keep it for the next care taker.
The windows are turning out kinda nice.
Dude I wanna ride at full song.......OHY!!!!!
And tonight, while fiddling with the starter that is bad and still puzzling over why it's running different the last day or two.. I realize the fuel pressure is 20 psi when running. Thank goodness I put a gauge on the new pressure regulator. Anyway, bad fuel pump. In stock at advance Auto! I sent my kid for it while wife and I did new competitor orientation online and she comes back with an inline pump instead of in tank..
Not wanting to fuss with it tomorrow I stuck the new pump in the lathe and reconfigured the inlet to fit the sock filter off the old pump and slapped it in. Car runs great! Things are looking up again.
So let's recap engine issues. Camshaft off by around 30 degrees, injectors leaking from improper fuel filter, missing intake air temperature sensor, low oil pressure from oil cooler configuration, bad starter, bad fuel pump, and a few wiring issues. Oh Yea and I redid the accessory belt setup for more effective drive on the water pump. It's been a busy two weeks.
Tonight I also finished up the other rear window replacement and put the rally tires on it. I mounted a couple gopros. Other than a starter in the mail, I think it's ready to go on the trailer for hardwood rally.
In reply to RallyPerry :
If you find yourself in need of another, there should be a fuel pump in the onboard spares bag too.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:In reply to RallyPerry :
If you find yourself in need of another, there should be a fuel pump in the onboard spares bag too.
Thanks. I thought I saw another one somewhere, there was one in a bin too but I didn't want to risk another old used one. I'm glad I upgraded, I'm familiar with the pump style I put in and it's been fine on the 400 hp Datsun so it should feed this thing without trouble.
In reply to RallyPerry :
For sure, I think the new replacement was a good move- but if you find yourself with low fuel pressure again in the middle of nowhere this weekend, just know that there's one back there!
Long time no post. sit down and we'll chat a while..
So we ran Hardwood and had a great time. We DNF'd, but met enough of our initial goals to consider it a success.
After the 2 week thrash it was running great at home and upon arrival. We bought lots of safety gear and whatnot, and the first time we actually both got in the car with it all on was for the ODO loop at the rally. I'm used to running course cars, and forgot how much time you have to hang out and do nothing as a competitor. Anyway the car was strong and smooth and all was good. My codriver (Mrs. RallyPerry) was so nervous she had to be coached into the car to what was surely her impending doom lol.
But, I had a plan. This is a "blind rally", no pacenotes. Now, in reality the route book had a lot more than usual and it was fine. Also I'm used to motorcycles where there are no pacenotes anyway. But i also knew that it would take an event or two before the codriver could be trusted at all, so I took an educated guess at what the stage roads were and studied up on goo maps. I also ran my phone on the left of the steering wheel with google maps navigation running. This worked out well and allowed me to ignore the codriver when needed and just do my thing.
So we got into the first stage, taking it nice and easy, even discussing the notes at first and figuring it out together. About half way through the first stage just as we started to get a rythm going the car developed a miss that got worse as time went on. It was ok for a while but a few stages in we were barely getting up small hills in 2nd gear. After changing the entire ignition system in service with minimal improvement, we withdrew after stage 4 of 6 to avoid holding up the event. We were way over bogey with max speed of around 30 mph at the end and struggling to get up hills. I know from years of course car work what I was going to do to the other competitors if we continued at 30 mph in fast stages. But, overall we had a great time, gained some experience doing this stuff together in a car, and RallyPatty liked it a lot. We drove it onto the trailer, everyone safe and healthy..
In the pic of the left side of the car we are smiling because of all the spectators cheering and taking videoas we struggle past at 20 mph up hill..
Plans change.
A week or two after Hardwood we went to get the second load of spares from Chris. I had been thinking about an engine swap and reading a bit. These things can be dangerous. So on the way there was a 2012 Fusion long block (duratec or MZR 2.5L) for $100. This is the predecessor to the Ecoboost and the engine of choice for me. I figured for that price it was worth getting just to look over the configuration a bit. These things can be dangerous.. Then at Chris’s house he decided to proudly display the rear windows I brought him with the row of bad head gaskets from the car..
After some research I decided the most logical thing to do was to MS the old engine (pfft, logic lol). It just kept bugging me because I know that the likely chain of events would mean putting enough work and money into the existing setup after a year or two to have just done the swap now. But there were lots of details that just don’t work out well with the Duratec in a rwd car. Transmission? Intake and exhaust that doesn’t point back at the cab? Rear sump oil pan? On the plus side is that the Duratec 2.5 is rumored to be good to the horsepower number I want without mods (300ish racing up to maybe 400 hoon-tune), There's good aftermarket if that's not true, longblocks are $300 locally and everywhere, without balance shafts it’s a 146 pound longblock, and the intake ports are almost big enough to lose a tennis ball into. I was starting to lose sleep.
After much research I decided the only real trans option for this application is a T5, and a bellhousing for this does not seem to be available or at least easily attainable. Quad4rods used to make one but they went under years ago. So I search the classifieds in all the common places for a while with no luck, and research all the other options (ranger, miata, mustang) to death with no good results found. Honestly I was getting close to making my own bellhousing for a future swap. Then one day FB marketplace suggests a listing for one, 8 hours from home. Long story short the guy was passing through town in a week. So I ended up with the right bellhousing, a newer t5 prepped for racing, and an MZR aluminum flywheel, clutch, puck disc, etc.. the swap is on.
So that was maybe a month ago. The old engine and wiring is out, the new engine is mostly prepped and test fit a few times. Under hood area is getting prepped for paint. The last major items are showing up this week. Here’s what I ended up doing more or less:
Surprisingly it all fits nicely so far. However I am going to cut a bit of clearance around the back of the engine cyl head on the firewall just to move the shifter back an inch and make it easier to work on back there.
That escalated quickly :)
Bluej (here) one of our local E30 rallycross guys, is in the middle of a durotex swap into his E30, using a Miata transmission I think.
It's going to be super embarrassing when this thing kicks my ass at a future rally. 
Since Perry mentioned it, this is one of the shop windows facing into the backyard:
irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:That escalated quickly :)
Bluej (here) one of our local E30 rallycross guys, is in the middle of a durotex swap into his E30, using a Miata transmission I think.
yes, and he wants to know more about this combo of parts to make a t5 work behind one of these. that'll be useful for both Betsy (b2300 w/ 2.5), and the e30 in case the miata trans doesn't hold up. So are you doing a megasquirt? I"m going to use a microsquirt with a few additional bits.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:Since Perry mentioned it, this is one of the shop windows facing into the backyard:
If you rack up five head gaskets, does that make you an Ace?
In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :
I still have to drive it well, which is yet to be seen lol.
It'll be nice to have some similar competition I think.
Still working at it. It seems like everything on this project requires a welder.
Anyway, the last few days I decided on a final engine position and added a bit of firewall clearance for the water outlet on the back of these engines. I also have the turbo position settled but the right turbo isn't here yet.
Today I turn my attention to changing the Z axis over on the cnc plasma so I can tune the voltage driven torch height controls better while I make engine block off plates and mounts etc..
Yesterday a local car guy I've known a long time stopped by and brought me a real hard copy of the prep manual and a hat. Thanks Jim!
Other pic is one of my helpers. You didn't think I got all this done by myself did you?
Ugly 'ol race car has officially entered test and tune status. First start was around Thanksgiving, I've driven it a couple hundred miles in the last week or so. So far the car is reliable and fast. I started from scratch with so many systems I'm kinda surprised everything works so well. Things like power steering, brake booster delete, hydraulic clutch conversion, cooling system design, ecu controlled alternator, etc all work great. The 2.5 is responsive and torquey, plenty of power even at low boost and early in the tuning process (rich mixture). Needs paint!
Looks like that Cossie intercooler was made for that engine!
Just for giggles, here's a 'before' pic of the engine compartment.
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