In reply to crankwalk:
THANK YOU!
In reply to crankwalk:
THANK YOU!
Added a sweet "new" free drill press to my "shop". Thanks to my wife's uncle. Yeah!
Can't wait to get to that point! Hot out to cars and coffee with mine which felt like a huge accomplishment. Glad to see yours back after the rebuild! Whats the next step?
In reply to Skervey:
To be honest I'm still surprised it is running. That being said I am troubleshooting a couple of things now. From what I've been experiencing, my brake booster isn't holding vacuum anymore. Super stiff pedal and the check valve is still functioning properly. The other thing is that there is a water leak coming from either the heater core hose on the rear iron or somewhere around there. Keeps setting off that stupid add coolant buzzer. Really hate that noise. I'd rather just have the light come on vs that blaring buzzer that makes being inside the car unbearable. Currently though, I've been working on fixing up the wife and I's house we bought in March. It was a complete gut basically. It's almost ready to move into though. After that is done, I'd like to start putting some time back into the car. Diagnosing the water leak and replacing the booster and possibly doing the differential swap. Which for the swap I bought some PBM solid bushings to replace the mazda toe bushings. After all that I'll get it aligned. Something else that's been on my mind is the chassis stiffness. When I back out of our driveway I hear the car flexing. My coworker has a 65 Falcon and he has been working on subframe connectors for it which gave me an idea. Possibly cutting off the old thin metal "frame" and welding in some new either tube metal or similar as well as an x-brace to that for added rigidity. That would also allow me to have a place to actually jack up the car other than the subframes. Just an idea at this point. I've seen where people use Miata bolt on channels to add rigidity also. I figure some form of tube welded on would be a lot stiffer and more permanent. Trust me, I'm an engineer. 
Lots of things to do before anything happens though. Doesn't seem like many have done that with an FC. Usually it's caged but, I'd rather not put a cage in it. I'd like to keep it somewhat wife friendly.
Wow seems like we are on the same path! My brakes feel very heavy to but I can tell they are at least working a little. When I turn the car off I can feel the brake get even heavier. I though it was the V8 not giving enough vacuum but maybe its just the booster.
I also have a water leak but I think its from the connection on the firewall. I found some drip marks below it. Not a whole lot but might need to tighten the hose clamp.
Also I found my car to be very stiff, I had the car on jack stands under the rear bushing of the front lower control arms I didn't know it but one jack stand was one click lower then the other and even with the 1" difference that side of the car never hit the jack stand. I looked under the car and was very surprised to see it wasn't even touching! Has to be at least a little stiff if it can hold itself up and not sag at all.
But to add to that I am thinking about adding a front lip, the car is already low enough that I have to have the tires on 2x4's to get the jack under the front cross member. So im going to have to use the side rails and jack the car from there. Im afraid the frame rails will get crushed after a while so I have thought of having extra metal added to the jack points or just add a piece alone the whole frame rail. Either way I need to get the car back to someone garage I don't think my neighbors will like me dragging a extension cord out to a welder in the parking lot. Apartment probs... Hope to be where you are soon just got married and this is our first place, next will be a house one will be car friendly!
I hate the anxiety of assembling it then the 1st time you hear it start and run and rev it is like 500lbs off of your shoulders and 12oz's heavier in your hands (cold beer) followed by a whole lot of hootin and holler-in!
Water leak fixed with some heater hose from Napa. Confirmed the brake booster is not functioning correctly. So, now the question to myself is if I want to change the master cylinder and booster to the 929 or just get a re-manufactured brake booster from oreily or where ever. Autocross coming up this weekend though. Thinking about competing with a non-functioning booster and seeing what happens. Who knows.
Well, I did my first autocross since rebuilding the engine. Only ran the first 3 runs due to water temperatures and levels. There is most likely air in the system that I didn't bleed out properly.Not comfortable with the car at all so I didn't fair that great. Then, a few days later I began the process of pulling the rear sub-frame off of the car to start the rear end swap. I have some solid DTSS bushings for added stability and feedback. Now my dilemma is deciding which route to go with it. Solidly mount everything and make it stable but uncomfortable or half and half. Ironically, half of me wants to do one and half wants to do the other. One thing is for certain though, this is a perfect opportunity to clean and paint the rear end as well as put new brake and fuel lines in.
The rear subframe on these cars is always a pain. Im pretty happy with just poly arm bushings in mine but mine is build to slide not stick haha.
Long awaited progress.
I was able to swap out the DTSS bushings for the PBM aluminum replacements. Limited slip diff from an 88 is in and the whole assembly has been reinstalled onto the car. Also, put new rotors and pads on the rear. Now the struggle is to start it and burp the coolant to be able to drive. In true fashion, our first autocross is this weekend.
In other news, my loving wife gave me the go ahead to start gathering turbo parts. I have already obtained front and rear S5 turbo irons. Basically, what I need is ECU (probably stand alone), turbo rotors, front turbo iron cover, intake.... You know... All the essential stuff, like the S5 transmission. So I don't grenade the NA gearbox. This is going to take a while but, I'm not in a rush.
Operation get it running for autocross was ALMOST a complete and utter failure...
I attempted to fill the cooling system up Friday before. Shortly after beginning the fill process I noticed water pouring onto the floor. At first, I thought it was a loose hose or something not tight. I crawled under the car to see water pouring out of the transmission bell housing. At this point I'm thinking to myself, great I cracked an iron.
So, after an evening of ripping the intake and rats nest etc off I called it a night. The next day, I borrowed a friends cherry picker and we yanked the engine out. I can sense your suspense at this moment. Removed the flywheel and low and behold........
Rusted freeze plug. Two holes in it.
Now, I'm at the point of realizing that I can get it fixed and race on it. So, I go and pick up a new freeze plug and pop it in. We slammed everything together pretty quickly. Right as I was bolting up the last piece my buddy noticed a sensor that broke right in half. I probably could've pick one up at the store but, it was pretty late in the day. Bought a new sensor and popped it in. Runs great now. Just missed the event.
I did co-drive my buddy's miata instead. I popped in a 38.7 time on my 5th of 6 runs. Which was faster than his best time. Then, his final run he posted a 38.4. "Dude, I almost had you!" lol. For never driving his miata or any miata before I didn't think it went too bad. I got 6th out of 15 in class. Not too shabby.
Hopefully, I will be able to run my own car at the next event though. Cheers!
Hate you missed the autoX but that's sweet that it was not a cracked iron!
Cleverfrog wrote: Idling (high)
You gotta love that sound. My dad (a straight-up V8 man) couldn't get past how odd it sounds, "Like a sewing machine, Junior!". Here's to a successful break-in, and that banshee wail at 8k+.
In reply to Skervey:
Yeah it is what it is at this point. I went into the pull fully expecting a cracked iron so, really it was not all bad.
I've really been thinking hard about what direction to take the turbo build. Been doing a lot of reading of other builds trying to figure out what would be the best autocross set up. At first, I HAD to have the birdgeport sound. Then, discovered that it really is a top end power modification to do. Where as I really want the power in all of the band. A mild street port would do me fine. Then, I wanted 10k rpm. That one is still in my mind mainly because it's realistic. There are a few companies out there that will balance the whole rotating assembly. After that it is a matter of getting enough fuel and air into the engine. Price wise, from what I've seen, getting it balanced isn't actually too bad. It's all the supporting stuff that adds up quick. Hardened stationary gears, race bearings, scatter shield, etc. So, we will see how that goes. For now, I think the goal is going to be get it running on a haltech ecu with stock turbo2 parts. Perhaps an S6 upper intake and throttle body. (Supposedly they have a better power curve).
I did build myself a new work bench in our tiny little garage and was able to purpose the old nasty cabinets. Needs a bit more light but, for two LED fixtures at 48" length, it's not too bad.
After some deliberation on which ecu route to take, I opted for the megasquirt 3.
Seeings as how I really want to eliminate as many wires from the original harness as possible, it seemed the best way to go for the money. Also, i picked up an Innovate a/fr gauge to communicate with the ms3 as well as an eastwood tubing bender for unrelated or related projects.
I was able to drive it around yesterday and it did alright. The coolant buzzer blipped once but, I'm pretty sure I still have a pocket in the upper radiator hose. The spill free funnel worked great but, for some reason the water wants to hold an air pocket in the upper hose. I think I will try to jack the front up as high as I can and re-burp it. Hopefully that's all that issue is. This weekend will be the first autocross event with it since last year. It is at Gingerman Raceway. After the autocross they are having an SCCA member only track day, which I've signed up for as well. I definitely need as much seat time as I can get. Driver mod is king in all aspects. It's probably a good thing that the event is about an hour away. You never really know what your car can do until you road trip it. Tonight I'll be changing the differential fluid with some fresh Motul with additive in it. Got to check the oil and change it if need be, dig out my gopro and that's pretty much it. I'm hoping for a happy weekend of racing and road tripping.
Man, rotarys and automatics obviously operate on black magic and witchcraft. I want to buy a dead rx7 just so I can tear it apart. LOL
Sunday's autocross at Gingerman Raceway was mildly successful. I didn't get last. I got second to last in class..... But I didn't get last. 6th out of 7 up against S2ks and M3s isn't too bad for me. My tire pressures were just way too high. I left a lot of time out there because of that and lack of driver mod.
3 runs into the 4 run event I noticed my tire was being shaved by the fender.
Luckily one of my friends had a pair of channel locks so I could pinch the fender as a band aid. I had signed up for the discounted track day but, after I noticed the tire being shaved decided to call it safe not to run the track night. Being so far away from home and popping a tire would've been a disaster. Perhaps pulling and rolling the fender is in my future.
One of the main struggles I had was not being able to sit in a comfortable position in the car due to my height and helmet. I sort of have to scrunch up to sit low enough for my helmet to not hit the a pillar/roof. Luckily, I kept my MOMO race seat from my previous project. I'm going to try reusing the slide rail with the mounting brackets. That way there is "some" adjustment. Not that it would really be needed once I find the position I like.
Also, I think mounting my 6 point harness would be advantageous as well. Starting to notice hiccups with the auto seat belt motors. Especially on the passenger side, which is odd.
Ordered a new 4 puck sprung clutch and street/strip pressure plate. Hopefully when that goes in and gets broke in I will be able to launch without just pure clutch slip. Other than that, I worked on fabricating a mounting solution for my seat. I tried to use the stock slider rail but, it didn't lower the seat enough for me to sit comfortably. Therefore, I mounted it in a fixed position. The seat is actually touching the floor in the rear and it's still not really as low in the butt as I would like. At least I can sit in a good position without having to slouch or tilt my head though. I believe the only way I can truly get the seat low enough is to go with an aluminum seat and almost zero padding. This will work for now though.
I think you need to seal that radiator and install a remote coolant expansion tank with the pressure cap and tank mounted above the engine, like near the firewall. Should be a lot easier to bleed air from the system then.
I'm not to worried about it. My overflow tank never over filled and the temperatures never over heated. If I did do anything to make it easier to bleed I'd put a sight glass with an air bleed on it on the upper radiator hose.
Oh hey, videos of me lack of driver mod.
Well, this weekend was truly awful. For a while my house air conditioning has been out, waited till this morning to schedule a repair. Then Friday night, my water pump stops working. So, that's great. Hopefully today both of those issues will be alleviated.
Other than that, I was able to pull the gearbox out. Wasn't too bad. Couple odd wires with crimp connectors on them instead of a plug. I hope to address that while it's out and fresh in my mind. Just have to figure out which goes to which. I really don't know why i didn't take a picture before I yanked them out. Dumb move by me.
Got the clutch off the flywheel and holy burntness batman. I expected to see the hot spots on the flywheel though. Trying to repeatedly launch was fantastic for burning. I'll have to get it surfaced but, I knew that going into it. New clutch hopefully will allow me to launch and shift a bit harder than the "stock" replacement. I hope to get it broke in before the next autocross on father's day.
New parts are pretty though. Mazdatrix and Racingbeat/CR3 motorsports for the win on the parts. Stree/strip pressure plate and the 4 puck sprung sport/race clutch. Should be grippy enough. Hopefully not too undriveable. Even though it really only sees autocross and the occasional trip to work and back.
Well wasn't that just a great successful evening. Never had tried it before but, I read where people used bread to push out pilot bearings. It worked great!
Flywheel cleaned up perfectly.
Everything is installed now except the gearbox and such. Hopefully, I will have the car put together for the weekend. That way I can ensure that it's broke in before the autocross in less than two weeks.
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