DreamInRotary

iTrader: (49)

Holy crap man, that's crazy. AN style lines would be awesome but like you mentioned, expensive. Hope you get that figured out soon!

Well, it's -2degF right now. With a low of -11degF tonight with windchills approaching -30degF.

I tried cranking my car for about 60 seconds with no luck. With a jumper cable and some time I think she'll start. Really contemplating a block heater or two..

WANKfactor

iTrader: (1)

Use two clamps. Do the hard lines have the proper bead on the end? What is the rubber line like? The right size? Decent quality?

777CheekZ

yesterday i bought 1000$ worth of parts for my 1st gen....koyorad..mishimoto fmoc..taurus e-fan..RB filter relocation pedestal..RB oil filter bypass block..and about 100ft of clear wire loom
progress progress progress

dougingraham

It has been so cold the last week that I haven't done much. On Saturday I gave a couple of hinge pieces from a sun roof I am restoring to a friend who just got a powder coat gun and needed to learn how to use it. I had previously cleaned these up and primed them so they were ready for a top coat. He sand blasted them and then powder coated them and baked in his oven. (He has a very understanding wife!) And they turned out like this. They are still pitted from all the rust I had to remove and that will always be there but I am pleased with how it turned out. This is a lot more rugged than the paint I was going to use.

Doug

Redliner223

iTrader: (6)

They say once an oven is used to bake powercoating is can't be used for food prep any more.
The powders fumes linger in the over well after you are done with the project and it will taint your food.
It does have the ability to make you sick.
Just a heads up.

ioTus

iTrader: (5)

Closer inspection revealed the clamps are just backing out! So I put some loctite on its threads, cinched it back down, and we'll see how long it holds.

Good idea on the double clamp. If this one doesn't hold, I'll throw another one on there.

The hard lines are good, good bead on the end of each. Rubber is new - its EFI fuel line from O'Reiley's, 3/8", highest quality they had.

I went out to crank her up yesterday, no love. Not sure if its EXTRA too cold, or if something else is going on. Granted I dont have very good cranking nor cold-weather maps in the ECU yet, but normally I can finesse her into firing up.

Really what it comes down to is that I need the bypass air control valve installed, and the haltech that I have does not have that functionality (without customizing its configuration).

Not sure if I've made the official announcement yet, but I'll be ditching the Haltech F9 and going with a Megasquirt III, for the following reasons:

1) The Haltech does not have programmable outputs, and I need 2 for 6port/VDI port. These ports run off of BOTH RPM and manifold pressure, so a simple RPM switch isn't going to do the trick.

2) No closed-loop O2 sensing (in current form)

3) No BAC anti-stall control (in current form)

4) Haltech requires a win98 computer with a dead battery, downclocked, and plugged in via serial cable. Megasquirt can connect via bluetooth to a win7 machine.

Plus, the Megasquirt can self-tune both fuel and spark maps.

KansasCityREPU

iTrader: (9)

This is so true. I powder coat and using an oven that food is going to be cooked in is a big mistake.

I would tell your friend to do a self-clean cycle on the oven and pick up a Craig's list oven. Their cheap.

Jeff20B

iTrader: (13)

I think you've convinced me to give EFI one more try. What do you think about this idea. S4 NA engine. MegaSquirt "classic" (hey, I got it in 2004, ok?). Then I have two intake manifolds, either an S4 or an S5. I don't recall whether either one is complete but I know the S5 has a TPS but I think the S4's is missing. However I know the MegaSquirt can do mapdot, whatever that is.

Think it's a good idea to devote more time and effort to this than I'm expecting, or to cut my losses and go carb at this point?

My car is already set up for EFI with an MSD fuel pump, an 84-85 chassis with the hole in the firewall for ECU wires, and nothing there as it's currently carbed with a Mallory fpr barely bringing pressures down to 2.5ish for the Nikki (actually I think it spikes up past 3 sometimes, urg). The goal was a blow through Nikki but I can take an EFI detour to satisfy my curiosity, plus I don't have all the turbo stuff I need yet.

So S5 and not have functional aux ports? Or S4 and have to use mapdot, whatever that is.

777CheekZ

its not rx7 related but i put my mazda b3000 on block for the winter (since my licence is suspended) very sad day



rx7 is #1

DreamInRotary

iTrader: (49)

Glad to hear you think you've tracked down the fuel leak issue!

Not sure what part of WA you're in, but it's 7* right now here in central MN. So my car wouldn't start because it's waaaaayyyyy too stinking cold out for a car that hasn't run in 3 weeks or more.

Introducing: Redneck Garage 101!
How to cook a 1st Gen to get it to start:
1. Have a really cold day
2. Try to start said RX-7
3. Upon having no luck come up with a solution
4. Grab a kerosene bullet heater, plywood, old blankets, and some intuition
5. Insulate heater and car as best as possible and let cook for about an hour
6. Hope for the best!


Will be going out in a minute to see if she'll start up

ioTus

iTrader: (5)

that is HILLARIOUS! (let me know if it works, i'll go give it a try too )

DreamInRotary

iTrader: (49)

It did actually work!

First try after warming it she almost fired, but not quite. Cleaned up the carb a little with carb cleaner and she popped off! Warmed up the block and fuel enough to fire

You guys know me and my outdoors needs (no garage of any sorts will do that to ya) and it sure sucks. But when you have that rotary urge to go sliding around the roads...

ioTus

iTrader: (5)

I looked up map dot - looks like its akin to accelerator pump operation, for sudden open and close of throttle plates. I'm not sure if you'd be able to get away without a TPS or not - the S4 tps only registers the bottom 20% (or so) of the throttle throw. The S5 tps has the lower throw sensor, then a secondary sensor for the remainder of the throw. Just takes more wires to hook up, but I have heard rumor that it's do-able. I ended up having to get a custom TPS mount made to hook up a GM tps.

As to whether its worth devoting more time to it - if you've got all the parts you need to get it running I'd say absolutely. I'm learning so much in the tuning process.

For instance, I learned that the Bypass Air Control, although not specifically critical for the engine to run, is essential for drivability, for cold starts, coming to a stop with foot on brake and electrical components running, and preventing nose-dive in various other conditions down low.

If you have a TPS and a BAC, i'd say go for it!

What would you use for ignition? With the MS it is possible to set up in fuel-only, however I suspect that it still is going to require a modification to the distributor to pull the signal from it. (Or maybe its possible to use the signal off the trailing ignitor, not sure on this one).

I'd say - go for it! Then we can help each other tune in

~Geoff

ioTus

iTrader: (5)

Just dont drive it somewhere and park it and get your *** stuck cause it wont start back up!

DreamInRotary

iTrader: (49)

Haha sounds good! I'd more likely slide my way into somewhere akin to a snowbank or ditch where I wouldn't be able to get it out under its own power

I have a pretty serious chance to get a 85 GSL big bearing LSD rear axle right now and I'm reeeallly hoping I can go get that this or next week. First get the parts, refurbish the axle to make sure everything's alright, new fluid and brake system functional then some serious LSD sliding afterwards..

Ms. DIY

Does Nana know how much you appreciate that home made blankie?

DreamInRotary

iTrader: (49)

Haha I don't think either Grandma made any of them, not that I know of anyways...

Wouldn't I be in trouble

ioTus

iTrader: (5)

Today:
I ordered a Megasquirt MS3 and 12' harness!!! Long, I know, but I plan on doing some fancy wire-tucking while I swap over from the Haltech, and want to make sure I can wrap around the outside of the engine bay.

I charged up the battery in hopes that she'll want to start up for me. I need to get this aluminum radiator installed before I start serious tuning on the 'Squirt, as engine temps get rather high when you're loading the engine at a constant rpm for minutes at a time.

I also posted a bunch of **** for sale, please help the cause and check it out!
https://www.rx7club.com/nw-sale-want...odies-1053036/

In other news, I've decided to get serious about my custom parts side-business. The first two products I will be offering are FB stereo upgrade kits and tail light refinishing. I'm going to assemble a website for it here in the next short while, will post a link here for you all when its ready.

I am SO stoked to get the megasquirt - SO many of my headaches will be solved by getting modern, open-sourced technology.

knifehitz

How about some driver's side door pull cups while you are at it?

dougingraham

I've looked at this a little. It is not an easy shape to pull a mold from. The original was a split mold and done with injection molding. Since they don't last long I was thinking of doing something close and reinforcing it with some sort of filler. To do without the complexity of a split mold you need to taper the cup a little more than the stock part. On mine it is the lip on the rear and the side facing the driver that seems to give out. This makes sense since that is where the stress is when you close the door. I could probably do a mold of the visible side and vacuum bag fiberglass with epoxy as the binder. The back side isn't visible so just has to be slim enough to fit. The color is the other issue. Clear or black are the only real options I would do. If you add enough pigment to color it and make it opaque you weaken the resin. This means you probably have to paint it if you want it to match original. The corners at the lip might be too tight a radius to do in carbon or that would be a trick looking option and it would stand a good chance of lasting forever. Unfortunately, there is a lot of work involved in making the mold and then pulling parts. Not much cost in materials. I don't know what it would cost to make these in small quantities and be worth the time. And the quantities will never be high enough to make it worth going to the effort of injection molding even if you could get the original tooling.

An alternate solution would be to 3D model the part and have someone 3D print them. Might be able to do for $10-$15 cost that way. You wont get a good color match so black and leave raw or white and paint it. And I don't know if this would be as rugged as the original without any reinforcement.

Mazdatrix has only the 84-85 right side grey door pull available at $12.41

ioTus

iTrader: (5)

A 3d printer is on my horizon - however I'm not sure the technology is there yet to make finished products, more prototypes. Will have to start looking into it.

Today - i tried to start the car again. Checked for spark - check. Checked for fuel - check. Checked the spark plugs - fouled (again- they're brand new i've literally driven them twice now). Pulled the plugs, cleaned them, tried to crank it again - no love.

I'm done trying. Going wait to put the megasquirt in and forget about this whole haltech fiasco.

dougingraham

GSL-SE:

Had not been started in I think 3 weeks and has seen temps of -18F during that time. She was not happy about starting today when the temp was 45F. After around 30 secs of cranking she caught and I was able to get her warmed up. Did not go for a drive as the streets are still wet with snow melt (yes they salt here so she does not go out). Moved her so I can get the EV out for a drive later today or tomorrow when I get it back together. I still don't have a heater in the EV so I didn't drive it the last few weeks either.

GSL-EV:

I adjusted the throttle cable. When I installed it I had essentially zero slack so if I was even just brushing the pedal when I turned it on the motor controller would not arm because it saw some throttle. Just a tiny bit of slack now. About 1/4 of what the GSL-SE has. I had been having problems with the tach so I moved the cables. It looked like it was seeing interference from the high power cables going to the motor. I moved the tach sensor cables about a foot away and adjusted the pickup a bit closer. I won't know until I drive it if it solves the issue. Waiting for some paint to dry so I can put it all back together. It is getting close to sun set so I will probably wait until tomorrow to drive it. I had it apart because I discovered I had a clearance issue between the slave cylinder bleeder nipple and the power board above it. During hard acceleration it would rub the bottom of the power board when the motor/transmission would twist on the mounts. You can see this movement in the stick shift. I have a lot more torque so it rotates more. When I took it apart I also found the clutch flex line was being chafed so I addressed that as well.

Give me a couple more years and I will have a well sorted car. Next is the vacuum pump for brake assist. (I should probably do the heater next but I just dread taking the dash apart to get to the heater core. Anything to avoid that!)

Looking at a damaged driver side pull cup to see if I can make a mold.

dougingraham

I am pretty sure you could make a usable door pull cup. Would it last any better than the factory part? I don't know. The 3D printed parts are a little rough in appearance but for a door pull cup there is not much that is all that visible anyway.

On the starting issue, I feel for you. I just about gave up today when it finally caught. I suspect part of my problem was my battery was a bit low from the cold.

ioTus

iTrader: (5)

I had the same thought about the battery - had charged it overnight. The starter was cranking lovely! The engine just wasn't having it .

All I can figure is my timing @ crank must be way off... I've tried every fuel setting from way lean to way rich. Before this bout of no-startiness, I had to bump it up to 25% more fuel on the trim control and floor it, and she would fire right up, then slowly back off the extra fuel while holding at 50% throttle else she'd die.

I spent a day attempting to program that behavior into the haltech, and by the end of the day she wouldn't start AT ALL. I reverted to the previous maps and manual technique, and she fired right up. This process is getting expensive, these spark plugs are not cheap.

My hope is that the megasquirt will be easier to program, PLUS it will be able to control the air bypass valve, to simulate part-open throttle at crank, idle, and cold weather conditions.

Today: bought some shelves to get my tools and parts out of random boxes on the ground and within hands reach. My goal today is to finish organizing the garage, pull Selene in, and get ready for the wire tuck / megasquirt install.

JedisonsDad

Bought a new coolant temp sensor.