What did you do to your FB today?
08-05-13, 12:40 AM
#3476
dougingraham, I feel your pain. I've had similar plans that had the kabosh put on them due to last-minute technical issues. My latest was a run at the test and tune at Sacramento Speedway. I managed to drive there (3.5+ hours) and run the car 4 times before I heard the tell-tale sign of rod knock (this was my '92 Civic). I was SO looking forward to dipping into the 12s, but 13.1 ET was the best I could muster that day. Sold the car later that week and took part of the cash and bought my FB. Not looking back.
Today I took my FB out for some thrashing at the Marina Auto-x. This is only the second auto-x I've done with her, and the first I've done with the new suspension and RB exhaust setup. I am pleased to report that all went very well. While I wasn't close to winning FTD, the car handled much more predictably than before. It had maybe a tad bit of under-steer (most likely losing the rear sway bar helped). The road race header/street port exhaust really woke the 12a up nicely. It really surprised me at how much more power it had over the stock exhaust. I knew it would wake up, but damn...hearing about it and feeling it are two different things.
I managed a fastest time of 58.37 secs, which was my last run as well. A couple more passes, and I think I could have been in the 55s. Beat a few Miatas, an MR2, a 240sx and one of those fancy new Scion FRSes. But there were plenty of FAST cars out there that were doing low 50s and even high 40s (mostly buggies and race-prepped cars).
The fact that this was on street tires with a full interior, stock 12A (along with the exhaust and suspension mods I completed a few weeks ago) makes me feel pretty good. I know this car has low 50s in it with a little more work on the nut behind the wheel.
That said, the Miata tranny will be going in on Tuesday. The A/C will be coming out shortly after that. Someday soon, I'll get some decent race rubber instead of the sketch street tires I have now. Man, was that a lot of fun!
fm
Today I took my FB out for some thrashing at the Marina Auto-x. This is only the second auto-x I've done with her, and the first I've done with the new suspension and RB exhaust setup. I am pleased to report that all went very well. While I wasn't close to winning FTD, the car handled much more predictably than before. It had maybe a tad bit of under-steer (most likely losing the rear sway bar helped). The road race header/street port exhaust really woke the 12a up nicely. It really surprised me at how much more power it had over the stock exhaust. I knew it would wake up, but damn...hearing about it and feeling it are two different things.
I managed a fastest time of 58.37 secs, which was my last run as well. A couple more passes, and I think I could have been in the 55s. Beat a few Miatas, an MR2, a 240sx and one of those fancy new Scion FRSes. But there were plenty of FAST cars out there that were doing low 50s and even high 40s (mostly buggies and race-prepped cars).
The fact that this was on street tires with a full interior, stock 12A (along with the exhaust and suspension mods I completed a few weeks ago) makes me feel pretty good. I know this car has low 50s in it with a little more work on the nut behind the wheel.
That said, the Miata tranny will be going in on Tuesday. The A/C will be coming out shortly after that. Someday soon, I'll get some decent race rubber instead of the sketch street tires I have now. Man, was that a lot of fun!
fm
Last edited by Fungus Mungus; 08-05-13 at 12:42 AM.
08-05-13, 04:53 AM
#3477
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I once again pulled the whip out of the dungeon and attempted to get this Weber to idle. Drives like a bat out of hell though. It's surprising what an Atkins street-port motor will do. Even though the Holley had a better idle I think the Weber has a smoother flow.
08-05-13, 01:02 PM
#3478
Doug - Oh man I'm so sorry to hear that. WTF is up? Seems to me a $3k EV controller should have like 3 fuses and relays between it and everything it connects to? I'm sorry you have to miss the show.
FM - dude I'm stoked to hear the Auto-X went well! I have never done one, but fully plan on it once I'm back in the city and have a venue. Have you installed a harness or anything? I just got a CG-Lock in the mail on Friday, but don't have a driving car yet to try it out. 80% as effective as a full 4 point harness:
It simply clamps over your seat belt, locking the lap belt and your butt in place. Plus - and this is my favorite feature - it adds a nice accent to go with your belly-button jewelry (see reference image).
This weekend:
Installed the lower intake mani, Atkins 6 port sleeves, oil injectors, primary fuel rail, 6 port / VDI pressure rats nest built and routed. Pulled the Haltech harness through the firewall and planning out wire routing. Mounted the coolant temp sensor on the coolant line going from the water pump to the back plate.
It's turning out that I've got a bit of a mystery engine - I really dont know what I'm dealing with. PO claimed it was an S5, but I have a growing feeling its an S5/SE hybrid. The center iron doesn't have the exhaust port below the intakes, instead a round indentation (Similar to the one near the oil filler neck), and I had to grind out the flywheel inspection plate mount on the rear iron for the S5 manifold to clear. However, the rotor housings have fitting for knock sensors above the spark plugs, which I do believe means S5.
FM - dude I'm stoked to hear the Auto-X went well! I have never done one, but fully plan on it once I'm back in the city and have a venue. Have you installed a harness or anything? I just got a CG-Lock in the mail on Friday, but don't have a driving car yet to try it out. 80% as effective as a full 4 point harness:
It simply clamps over your seat belt, locking the lap belt and your butt in place. Plus - and this is my favorite feature - it adds a nice accent to go with your belly-button jewelry (see reference image).
This weekend:
Installed the lower intake mani, Atkins 6 port sleeves, oil injectors, primary fuel rail, 6 port / VDI pressure rats nest built and routed. Pulled the Haltech harness through the firewall and planning out wire routing. Mounted the coolant temp sensor on the coolant line going from the water pump to the back plate.
It's turning out that I've got a bit of a mystery engine - I really dont know what I'm dealing with. PO claimed it was an S5, but I have a growing feeling its an S5/SE hybrid. The center iron doesn't have the exhaust port below the intakes, instead a round indentation (Similar to the one near the oil filler neck), and I had to grind out the flywheel inspection plate mount on the rear iron for the S5 manifold to clear. However, the rotor housings have fitting for knock sensors above the spark plugs, which I do believe means S5.
08-05-13, 01:11 PM
#3479
ioTus,
Thanks...I'm very happy. No action shots as my friend that was supposed to show up ended up arriving just I finished my last run. But there are a few shots of it lined up in the grid:
Regarding your mystery engine, as long as your housings are S5 (and assuming the rotors are correct for the housings), you should be OK as long as you have the correct flywheel/front counterweight combo. Any way to contact the PO about this to confirm? Can you post pics?
I bought mine thinking it was an S4 but it turns out it is a GSL-SE engine with an S4 front cover. After contacting the PO about it, he confirmed that and told me he had run the engine in an S4. That's where the confusion for me was. Kind of a bummer for me because I ended up getting a bunch of S4 bits for the engine before I realized that it was an SE. In the end, it'll be fine...I'll just be running an S4 intake and hunting down an SE flywheel.
fm
Thanks...I'm very happy. No action shots as my friend that was supposed to show up ended up arriving just I finished my last run. But there are a few shots of it lined up in the grid:
Regarding your mystery engine, as long as your housings are S5 (and assuming the rotors are correct for the housings), you should be OK as long as you have the correct flywheel/front counterweight combo. Any way to contact the PO about this to confirm? Can you post pics?
I bought mine thinking it was an S4 but it turns out it is a GSL-SE engine with an S4 front cover. After contacting the PO about it, he confirmed that and told me he had run the engine in an S4. That's where the confusion for me was. Kind of a bummer for me because I ended up getting a bunch of S4 bits for the engine before I realized that it was an SE. In the end, it'll be fine...I'll just be running an S4 intake and hunting down an SE flywheel.
fm
08-05-13, 01:24 PM
#3480
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It's turning out that I've got a bit of a mystery engine - I really dont know what I'm dealing with. PO claimed it was an S5, but I have a growing feeling its an S5/SE hybrid. The center iron doesn't have the exhaust port below the intakes, instead a round indentation (Similar to the one near the oil filler neck), and I had to grind out the flywheel inspection plate mount on the rear iron for the S5 manifold to clear. However, the rotor housings have fitting for knock sensors above the spark plugs, which I do believe means S5.
08-05-13, 01:24 PM
#3481
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08-05-13, 03:37 PM
#3482
Waffles - hmmm good
iTrader: (1)
Well, my issue is now clear; I put a small prybar between the crossmember and the control arm, and with moderate to heavy effort I'm able to actually shift it about 5mm front/rear along the bushing. With a little effort I was able to re-center it.
That's not supposed to be possible. The bushing should not be able to be slid in the bore without tons of pressure, but it is.
The left side one cannot be budged at all, even with heavy effort.
Clearly, time for a new LCA. Not sure I could trust a new bushing in the same bore.
Explains why the problem appeared over time with no relevant changes taking place, too. Everything felt plenty tight until I used the prybar.
That's not supposed to be possible. The bushing should not be able to be slid in the bore without tons of pressure, but it is.
The left side one cannot be budged at all, even with heavy effort.
Clearly, time for a new LCA. Not sure I could trust a new bushing in the same bore.
Explains why the problem appeared over time with no relevant changes taking place, too. Everything felt plenty tight until I used the prybar.
zero $$. Just a thought.
08-05-13, 04:12 PM
#3483
I'm happy to roll along with my wrapped-stack-o-washers alternator spacer because there's no downside; it's damn near invisible when installed, and it's mechanically a perfectly sound solution. Zero compromise
A metal spacer would have to ride against the side of the control arm, which would risk having the suspension bind up under load. Would not be a fun thing to be surprised with in the canyons.
It's all not that much money to do it right, considering the time I've got invested. I spent substantially more on getting the air cleaner chromed.
I like things 'correct' whenever physically possible. Less to worry about.
08-05-13, 05:03 PM
#3484
I'm with you DivinDriver - Do it right, do it once 
So I didnt post any pictures before, here's the picture version of my weekends progress.
Here's the spot I had to grind down to get the S5 VDI intake to sit properly on the LIM:
Re-pinned the Haltech injector harness to plug into OEM S5 injectors.
Haltech plugs are blue, Mazda plugs are Grey
Here's where she's at as of now. Will be getting the fuel rails and rest of intake manifold on tonight.
So I didnt post any pictures before, here's the picture version of my weekends progress.
Here's the spot I had to grind down to get the S5 VDI intake to sit properly on the LIM:
Re-pinned the Haltech injector harness to plug into OEM S5 injectors.
Haltech plugs are blue, Mazda plugs are Grey
Here's where she's at as of now. Will be getting the fuel rails and rest of intake manifold on tonight.
08-05-13, 10:28 PM
#3486
2yr Anniversary
What's the sensor in the line from the rear iron to the water pump? I have the same line run on the Turbo FB to delete the stupid thermowax setup on the S4 throttle body. Must be a temp sensor of some sort for the Haltech or an e-fan thermostat?
This week marks the two year anniversary of the car and myself. I went to my fiance's grandpa's house for his birthday (he's the one who bought the car and sold it to me) and thought I'd take a few pics.
1st Pics I Ever Received Of The Car
Tonight, As She Sits
This week marks the two year anniversary of the car and myself. I went to my fiance's grandpa's house for his birthday (he's the one who bought the car and sold it to me) and thought I'd take a few pics.
1st Pics I Ever Received Of The Car
Tonight, As She Sits
08-06-13, 03:23 AM
#3489
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I cant choose a color, hmmm...It's between Corvette white and A Deep Gloss Black. White looks amazing with the side moldings on and black looks better without. That's my opinion. Last few days I stripped my paint, gonna do some body modding, trying to figure out a great exterior color. Any opinions?
08-07-13, 02:37 AM
#3493
PK_12A, congratulations!
Today I took the day off and had a mechanic friend of mine come over and help me do my Miata-RX-7 hybrid tranny swap. The goal was to have the old FB tranny out, the RX-7/Miata hybrid in, and an Exedy Stage 1 clutch put in by 4pm. We didn't make it by 4...we'd gotten tranny off by noon, but the flywheel was proving to be a real PITA and required a puller and a BFH to get it off. Then the flywheel had to be taken to the machine shop to be resurfaced, so another 2 hours of waiting. Then a break for dinner and we picked up again at 8:30pm.
During the down time while we were waiting for the flywheel, my friend pulled my non-functional AC out. Very nice surprise...I'd been planning on doing it soon, but kept putting it off. Now it's a non-issue. While I like to do my own work, I was totally OK with this.
The results were in at 11pm and I have to say, I couldn't be more pleased. The shifter feel is so much improved. It is exactly like a Miata (which makes sense, since the gear set and shifter is exactly that). The first and second gears go by quicker than before. It'll scratch 1st and 2nd with ease, even with the measily 110 bhp or so. The clutch grabs well, but isn't harsh. The shifts are "snick snick" tight and quick. It's like a completely different car!
Of course, with a big project like this, there is always *something* that goes wrong. In our case, my friend caught the speedo cable on his shirt and apparently pulled the cable out or the cluster, so I have no working speedo now.
But if this is the only thing that went wrong in a project that had so much potential for stuff going wrong, I feel extremely fortunate. I'll deal with the speedo on another day. It's time to hit the sack.
fm
Today I took the day off and had a mechanic friend of mine come over and help me do my Miata-RX-7 hybrid tranny swap. The goal was to have the old FB tranny out, the RX-7/Miata hybrid in, and an Exedy Stage 1 clutch put in by 4pm. We didn't make it by 4...we'd gotten tranny off by noon, but the flywheel was proving to be a real PITA and required a puller and a BFH to get it off. Then the flywheel had to be taken to the machine shop to be resurfaced, so another 2 hours of waiting. Then a break for dinner and we picked up again at 8:30pm.
During the down time while we were waiting for the flywheel, my friend pulled my non-functional AC out. Very nice surprise...I'd been planning on doing it soon, but kept putting it off. Now it's a non-issue. While I like to do my own work, I was totally OK with this.
The results were in at 11pm and I have to say, I couldn't be more pleased. The shifter feel is so much improved. It is exactly like a Miata (which makes sense, since the gear set and shifter is exactly that). The first and second gears go by quicker than before. It'll scratch 1st and 2nd with ease, even with the measily 110 bhp or so. The clutch grabs well, but isn't harsh. The shifts are "snick snick" tight and quick. It's like a completely different car!
Of course, with a big project like this, there is always *something* that goes wrong. In our case, my friend caught the speedo cable on his shirt and apparently pulled the cable out or the cluster, so I have no working speedo now.
But if this is the only thing that went wrong in a project that had so much potential for stuff going wrong, I feel extremely fortunate. I'll deal with the speedo on another day. It's time to hit the sack.fm
08-07-13, 03:44 PM
#3495
pk-12a - grats man!!
fm - this is a swap i'm very interested in. My gear box is SOOOO notchy, its sometimes impossible to shift into first from neutral, and very difficult to shift into second. It is physically impossible to quick shift in my car at the moment.
Yesterday: One of my best bro's and old-school rotorhead (Meatllic_rock) came down to work on Selene with me. Routed / installed Haltech harness. Routed fuel lines for parallel fuel rail. Mounted VDI manifold and secondary fuel rail. Pressure tested fuel system - leak on one end of the fuel rail. Needed to get an O-ring to seal it - hardware store closed 20 minutes prior.
Today: Fixed fuel leak, bumped fuel pressure up to 60 lbs - still no leak, so we're good! Of all the things I can deal or cope with in life - fuel systems, lines, and fittings are the spawn of the devil. Fiery death awaits at every little drip. So i'm glad thats behind me. Spliced the S4 TPS into a GM weather proof plug for the Haltech harness, mounted the Dynamic Chamber and throttle body. Plugged all the sensors in, did a quick hack-job on the flying leads for power, ground, signal for the ECU, and tried to give her a crank - no fuel.
I'm thinking its just a matter of properly connecting the ECU flying leads. I was just running the fuel pump always on (from the carb) and not using the fuel pump control in the Haltech, so I have a feeling thats whats going on, its not getting a resistance from the fuel pump so its not trying to fire the injectors.
After work I'm going to properly wire in the flying leads and then start troubleshooting.
No pics until I'm done
fm - this is a swap i'm very interested in. My gear box is SOOOO notchy, its sometimes impossible to shift into first from neutral, and very difficult to shift into second. It is physically impossible to quick shift in my car at the moment.
Yesterday: One of my best bro's and old-school rotorhead (Meatllic_rock) came down to work on Selene with me. Routed / installed Haltech harness. Routed fuel lines for parallel fuel rail. Mounted VDI manifold and secondary fuel rail. Pressure tested fuel system - leak on one end of the fuel rail. Needed to get an O-ring to seal it - hardware store closed 20 minutes prior.
Today: Fixed fuel leak, bumped fuel pressure up to 60 lbs - still no leak, so we're good! Of all the things I can deal or cope with in life - fuel systems, lines, and fittings are the spawn of the devil. Fiery death awaits at every little drip. So i'm glad thats behind me. Spliced the S4 TPS into a GM weather proof plug for the Haltech harness, mounted the Dynamic Chamber and throttle body. Plugged all the sensors in, did a quick hack-job on the flying leads for power, ground, signal for the ECU, and tried to give her a crank - no fuel.
I'm thinking its just a matter of properly connecting the ECU flying leads. I was just running the fuel pump always on (from the carb) and not using the fuel pump control in the Haltech, so I have a feeling thats whats going on, its not getting a resistance from the fuel pump so its not trying to fire the injectors.
After work I'm going to properly wire in the flying leads and then start troubleshooting.
No pics until I'm done
08-07-13, 05:35 PM
#3500
FM - dude I'm stoked to hear the Auto-X went well! I have never done one, but fully plan on it once I'm back in the city and have a venue. Have you installed a harness or anything? I just got a CG-Lock in the mail on Friday, but don't have a driving car yet to try it out. 80% as effective as a full 4 point harness:
I am really tempted to get a racing bucket though...the RX-7 seats are just too high...my helmet hits the headliner when I try to move my seat up to where it should be. And I'm not a tall guy...5'9". The thing about putting in a racing bucket is that you really *should* put in the roll bar as the bucket isn't designed to collapse like a regular reclining car seat. Flip the car with a racing bucket but no roll bar or cage, the bucket seat will hold your head right where you don't want it to be when the roof comes caving in on you.
With the Miata hybrid tranny swapped in, I'm chomping at the bit to get back out there. The Miata tranny swap is absolutely worthwhile. I had my doubts that it would make much of a difference, but I now I'm a believer. Of course, I still need to learn how to drive. :p
The tranny is fresh, so it shifts like butter. And the throws are ridiculously short. A thing of beauty! My FB tranny shifted like a truck. The self-centering spring was broken, so I was constantly fishing for gears. The difference is like night and day.
fm
Last edited by Fungus Mungus; 08-07-13 at 05:40 PM.