Yep NO PVC
 

Yea Eddie,

I'm gonna use (2) 2-1/2" dia. aluminized steel 45's and some silicone couplers. All total it will run about $100 + a cone filter. Should look nice and work real good. But it will have to wait as I'm going with the stock T2 TID for now.

Scott

Update Time!
 

Wow, been a while since I did an update. Got lots of progress and real close to cranking her up.

Installed the heat shields, put a 7/8" hole in one so I could lube the front u-joint. Home Depot sells stainless plugs to fit in and seal it up.

Man them fuel lines take gorilla hands to put on. Finally got em on but whoa--what a struggle.

The alternator wires are long enough, even had to cut down the main power lead--that's ok cause the stock connector was all corroded anyways.

Did have to put in some new hose on the brake master vacuum line connecting to the engine.

Had to grind down the SE water pump outlet nozzle a little--it interferes with the air pump bracket.

Still working on the AFM mounting--waiting for some K+N filters to come in. Note the HKS AFM adapter is a 2-3/4" connection. No stores locally had anything to fit up. Everybody stocks 3" filters. K+N does have several to choose from that will fit. I think someone is making a very similar connection but uses 3"--I'd recommend that one over the HKS (Think it's made in Czec. Republic somewhere). Wasted about 3 hours driving around town looking for something to fit--what a drag.

Repainted the tanks on the radiator today, lots of it had flaked off so took the time to do it right.

T2 accelerator cable fit on OK, don't expect problems with the cruise control cable either.

Used the T2 clutch slave and everything else is all FB (including the hose up to the slave). Works like a champ.

Got the intercooler on, looks nice, really want to post an engine pic but will wait till it's finished.

All wiring is done except a ground or two and a fuel kill switch.

Trying not to get in a rush here at the end. Want to make sure everything works correctly. Tomorrow hoping to test the electrical system out, then run and leak check the fuel system, then hopefully crank her up. :D

Scott

Re: Update Time!
 

Could you please give a little more detail on this? Wouldn't you be using the TII water pump outlet nozzle? Oh, wait I think I get it, to use the stock se radiator hose you used the SE water pump outlet nozzle right?

On a quick read for some reason I was thinking you were talking about some type of mod to the water pump housing to make it work right with the se front cover. Does the gsl-se front cover bolt right on to the t2 motor? I thought I remembered someone mentioning something about needing to grind something, or maybe that was if you were using a 12a front cover?

Right, the part that you bolt down on top of the water pump housing and it holds in the thermostat. Just about 3/16" of grinding in a small spot is required.

Since I used an S4 engine and GSL-SE front cover, I didn't have any problems with this. I believe the S5 engine would require some grinding to get it all to fit. I heard a 12 cover would work also but can't verify that myself. I had no other fit-up problems with my setup.

Scott

Electrical OK!
 

Tested out the electrical system today. Hooked up the full T2 ECU system and all readings were nominal.

Oh yea, turned it all on and no smoke, that's always a good thing. Put the ECU on a dedicated 3A fuse from the fuse box.

Tomorrow is install the fuel kill switch, radiator/fan, cat converter/conn pipe, fuel pressure test, prelube the rotors and maybe crank it a few times.

Almost there,

Scott

CRANK IT UP DAY!!!
 

The Turbo SE ran today--whew hoo!!

Ok only for about 15 seconds. Went through the rebuild start up procedure to build up oil pressure. Primed the rotor chambers with 2 stroke oil. Got good engine oil pressure, turned over a couple more times. Put back in the EGI fuses and gave her a crank. Took about 12 seconds but finally came up and ran for about another 15 seconds.

Just have the downpipe and cat connected. The garage quickly filled with smoke--I guess this is good smoke. Not nearly as loud as I thought it would be--but smoke everywhere.

Best news is all electrical is working OK and no fluid leaks. Kill switch works good but was a major PITA to install. I put it in the location that a 12a normally has the choke knob. Great place but not easy to install.

Still waiting on the K+N filter, should be here Friday--so yea I was running a little without it--figure it's ok for just in the garage. Hoping to take it to a muffler shop Saturday and get the connecting pipe installed so I have a muffler.

Scott

p.s. I ended up removing the new thermostat I just installed. It was from Victoria British and I noticed it did not have the jiggle pin that is supposed to be on there. So I went by Mazda today and picked up the OEM thermostat. Better safe than sorry. Moral of the story--don't get a thermostat from VB.

great stuff man, sounds like your almost there! BTW the thermostats sold at Pep Boys don't have the giggle pin either. Sometimes it's just better to go with the factory stuff.

Yeah, all that smoke is probably from the oil you pre-lubed the rotors with :). Congrats on getting it running!

~T.J.

EDIT: Sure would suck if you flooded it though ;)

Running Pretty Good Now
 

Thanks Guys, looks like my hard work is paying off.

Ran it today for about an hour. Smoke has died down alot. For a while there I was getting some smoke around the turbo and had me kind of worried. Looks like it's just the kerosene and cleaner that I used to clean up the heat shield and engine parts--whew!!

Getting about 15 inches vacuum at about 1400 rpm. Did have to adjust the hard idle stop to get it, for a while it was at 2000 rpm.

Oh yea TJ, flooding sucks any time. The kill switch has really come in handy. To start I give it about 1 sec on while cranking, then off, then when it starts I flip it back on. Hope it's not going to be like this forever (doubt it). Also, not too worried about lubing the rotors since I'm running premix, so no matter what I'm getting oil in there when it's running.

1st and reverse work OK, so the tranny is doing fine. But, the driveshaft appears to be rubbing on the heat shield, so--looks like I have some banging to do tonight. Gotta wait for it to cool down.

Hoping to get into a muffler shop tomorrow to get the 2" to 2-1/2" connecting pipe fitted.

So far so good (bang on wood).

Scott

So the stock TII exhaust manifold fit without any problem? I've read tons of times that it doesnt work, but if it works, then I'm wondering what everyone else was smoking....

I haven't had a problem yet, though there is only about 1/4" to the heat shield and probably another 1/4" to the turbo. I would hope the engine doesn't move more than 1/2" otherwise I may have problems. And yea, I wouldn't doubt that the S5 turbo comes out a little further. Can't remember offhand, but I think it is the wastegate area that comes out a little more--makes sense since the wastegate is bigger on the S5. I can tell you that all the stock S5 oil and coolant lines fit up perfectly to the S4 engine--so the turbo must be in exactly the same spot.

Scott

Rubbing Problem Fixed
 

Fixed the driveshaft problem of rubbing on the heat shield. Hammer and vise work wonders.

Took it for a very, very gentle spin around the block, all is ok.

Did notice that 3rd gear took a little effort to slip in--didn't just glide in like usual. Then again, maybe I just need to get used to the new tranny--or it isn't fully lubed up everywhere inside.

Tomorrow is connecting pipe and get that darn air filter on the AFM. Then I can show you guys an almost final picture of the engine bay.

Scott

Thought I'd post a pic of the engine bay.

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...postid=2581778

Still need to finish wrapping up some wires, install AC, install washer bottle, cruise control, and coolant overflow.

FWIW, the FC ignition cables are way too long. I'll work on getting some shorter ones.

The AFM mounting is turning out pretty good. Still need to add one bracket but you can see it all fits OK. The K+N filter is a RU-1470 which is canted 10 degrees. This helps fit it in the space allowed. A future mod will be to make a new TID and a nice cold air box around the filter. Still waiting on the air pump filter.

Got the stock FB rear connecting pipe/muffler connected up to the T2 cat. A nice deep growl sound--not loud. Looking forward to improving the exhaust after break-in.

Put on some highway miles today. Only bad thing I notice is it is a little rough between 2500-3000 rpm. Hoping it's the timing or something simple. Other rpms don't seem to have the vibration problem (it's not real bad--just noticable).

I know it isn't the tranny. The tranny has really smoothed out. Very happy with it.

Sure is cool having that turbo--it's definitely a different beast than the SE engine--weird how the manifold pressure comes up (duh). Can't wait to really get some boost going.

Tomorrow I'm cleaning up the wiring around the ECU and will have some before and after pics. Came out perfect.

Scott

If I didn't know any better I would swear that was an oem install, Good job. Also, do you plan on sticking with the stock TII intercooler or are plans for front mount in the future? Again good job, looks beautiful. :)

Thanks Rotor13B
 

Yea I think I'll stick with the TMIC. It's a simpler and cheaper solution for me. Just need to install a descent hood scoop. I'm gonna try and use the WRX scoop, looks like it will fit up OK and IMHO it looks good too. I know a FMIC can be done with PS and AC but I don't want to re-arrange everything just to make it fit.

And yep, I tried to maintain the stock FC look as much as possible. It also helps when using the stock wiring harness--you only have so many options if you go that route.

Scott

Ditto.

Was your car or interior originally another color?

I don't recall black with grey interior being in option in 84

Thanks DF.

Yep, it's all original.

The window sticker I have here says the paint is sparkling black metallic and the interior is off black velour.

My 84 -se was the same color outside but had that fugly burg int :(

Congrats on the car, looks great!

Thanks setzep, yea both you and DF have helped me through all this. If it wasn't for this board and all the support and information from everyone I wouldn't have even tried to do this (or thought of it).

And yea, I can't stand burgandy/maroon either--but to each his own.

Turbo Clearance
 

Well I saw this car in another thread and noticed that it ?appears? to have an S5 turbo installed. Do you guys think this is an S5 turbo?

http://i6.ebayimg.com/02/i/01/2f/fb/41_1_s.JPG

This kind of shows the clearance available between the turbo and idler arm. This one actually looks closer than mine is--remember I still have the heat shield installed.

Rex4life, you do VERY good work. You'd be welcome to come work for me anyday...most private party mechanics are not nearly so meticulous. Good job on the install, couldnt have done it better myself. In fact, I probably would not have fooled with stock EFI, but you did a good job in making it work. I see your reasons for using it.

BTW, that pic above is an s5 turbo. You can spot an s5 turbo apart from an s4 by the s5's bent wastegate rod and fatter, rounded off exhaust housing, whereas the s4 wastegate rod is straight, and the exhaust housing is sort of squared off.

For the record, rebuilds always smoke when started. Even if you do not add any lube to the internals, there is assembly stuff inside that will burn for several minutes, sometimes more if some of it has gotten into the turbo manifold and has to burn more slowly. Furthermore, just about everything on the whole exhaust side of the engine will smoke like hell for a while due to cleaning agents, greasy hands, oil residue, etc. being on them. A smoky car for 1-2 hours after startup is to be expected.

Cool!, it must have been a special order, because they didn't come in that combination offered by the factory back then.

Thanks alot Kevin, coming from you that is quite a compliment. If the space program is cancelled maybe I'll be looking for a job.

Well I still have the slight vibration problem. I have determined it is not the engine. It only happens in the 30-40 mph range, other than that it seems to be OK. Happens in neutral or in any gear. Gotta be either the tranny or the driveshaft. I'm gonna try remounting the driveshaft flange 180 deg from it's current position. Easy to do and who knows, maybe it will work.

Worked on cleaning up the ECU wiring today, almost finished but I'll have to re-route some of the ground wires I added. Picture coming soon.

It was also a very nice day to wash the car--so I got her nice and clean for the first trip back to work.

Scott

Still Have Vibrations
 

Been a little while since an update.

Still haven't figured out the vibration issue in the 30-40 mph range. I do think I am homing in on the problem though. It's not real bad but noticeable and I don't like it. I rotated the mounting postion of the driveshaft on the differential pinion flange--no effect.

I checked the angles of the u-joints: front 4.1 degrees, rear 6.2 degrees (off vertical). Thus I have almost 2 degrees of difference and this is known to cause harmonics in the u-joints at certain speeds--my problem exactly.

I ended up lowering the tranny output shaft about 1/4". This helped some but the vibration is still there. Currently the angle difference is about 0.8 degrees which is more than desired. I'm gonna have to lower the tranny output shaft more to get the angles right. No more than 0.5 degrees is desired. Basically the working angles of the u-joints need to be within 1/2 degree or there will be harmonics set up that cause vibrations.

Looks like I will have to redo the mount to get the output shaft angle that is required.

May be a week or two till I have a chance to get this fixed. Otherwise it's still running great.

Scott

Hmm, I have mine spaced 3/4" up from the FB trans mount like you but I have no vibrations. Could it be a out of balance shaft?