alex_the_hipple

Hi everyone,

I haven't been on here for a little bit now due to the fact that I've been trying to get everything set up as far as my life goes.

I still don't have my car driving but since (if everything works out as planned) I'll be leaving for a little while (military) that's fine. However, I've thought about it a lot now and I've come up with a plan for what I want to do with my car when I'm back home. I'm looking for advice, corrections, additions, subtractions (of unecessary modifications) and anybody who wants to throw in their two cents is welcome to. The following are the goals that I have for my car and what I want to do to achieve them.

- Goals - Reliability, power, keeping it streetable (I don't care about emissions, the car's in an exempt area), and making it as enjoyable as possible (I also don't care about comfort because I'm so f'in tough) to drive. Again, anybody who has anything to say about what I'm planning to do, let me know.

- 12AT swap
- TurboII tranny
- Ford rear end
- GSL-SE suspension (maybe TurboII?)
- No A/C
- No power steering
- No radio
- Stripped out interior (no panels, no carpet, no headliner, maybe a dash... is there anything lighter and more "simplified" that could replace it? Maybe a one-off custom setup of some sort?)
- "Big" brakes (I don't know if these would be sourced from a 2nd gen or if there is an aftermarket kit for this. Input appreciated.)
- Stainless steel brake and clutch lines
- Simplification of the electrical system (everything not related to the actual "running" of the vehicle would be deleted. The only exceptions are the wipers, lights, defroster/heater system? and the gauge panel/aftermarket gauge lighting)
- Front mount intercooler (aftermarket/one-off custom?) and "improved" (aftermarket?) oil cooler
- Boost controller? (only wanting to run about 6-8PSI)
- Aftermarket radiator
- Performance clutch system (lightened flywheel, stronger clutch disc and pressure plate along with the replacement of the hydraulic system, will OEM parts still do the job on an aftermarket clutch system?)
- Aftermarket wheels (15" by whatever will fit under their width wise)
- Performance tires
- Aftermarket shocks/springs
- Custom dash gauges (aftermarket gauges in the stock locations) along with miscellaneous gauges in pods (probably A-pillar)
- Replace all fluids with hi quality junk (motor oil, gear oil, coolant, differential fluid and brake fluid)
- Flat black paint job (after stripping the car to bare metal and performing any rust repair necessary, which shouldn't be that much at all from what I've seen so far)
- Removal of badges
- Full back custom exhaust (2.5") along with headers and down pipe
- CAI system (maybe custom, maybe aftermarket?)
- Turbo timer
- Aftermarket driver/passenger seats
- Custom roll cage
- 5 Point harnesses bolted to roll cage (or are they better bolted to somewhere else?)
- Stronger, custom driveshaft/propellar shaft (is this necessary, will it help at all with the reliability of the vehicle since it will be hooked to a heavier-duty rear end? Are the Ford rear ends still a limited-slip type rear end or are they "posi-trac"? Is there a difference between the two?)
- "Heavy duty" fuel system (pump and delivery system)
- "Heavy duty" ignition system (any help here on finding a way to improve this? I know that they have aftermarket modules that help with the grounding and what-not but what really needs to be done in order to improve spark and efficiency?)
- Aftermarket spark plugs and wires (I know this is part of the ignition system, I just wanted to make sure to mention it)
- Aftermarket turbo system (larger turbo, wastegate, large front mount intercooler and blow off valve)
- When the engine is rebuilt (before being dropped into the car) I want to strenghten it/improve the efficiency. What can be done other than the thicker seals and porting? What type of porting should be done in order to improve the power of the car. Will porting the engine make it less reliable? Will it shorten the life span of the engine?
- Stronger motor mounts/transmission mounts (is this necessary?)
- New bushings all around the car (sturdier, aftermarket units)
- Aftermarket short shifter kit (for the TurboII tranny, BTW, is it necessary to use a TurboII tranny? Should I use something different?)
- Aftermarket brake calipers/pads
- Aftermarket steering wheel
- Aftermarket shift ****/boot (nothing stupid, just replacing the worn out OEM stuff)
- Manual windows conversion
- Fixing my door handles/locks (they function they're just a PITA right now)
- Remove the driving lights that the previous owner installed and replace them with a set like kentetsu has on his car
- Aftermarket battery (Optima? Any suggestions?)
- Upgraded (2nd gen?) alternator
- Upgraded (2nd gen?) coils/transistors?
- Shave the radio antenna
- All new weather stripping/sealing
- Glass sunroof
- Upgraded cooling (oil) system (what can be done for this?) Would using a two stroke additive help any?
- Removal of emissions system
- Replacement of all worn suspension components
- "Fixing" my "wonder steering" (adjustment of the steering box? Replacement of suspension components?)

Well, like I said, these are tenative plans. They could change on the fly, it's just what I'm really wanting to do right now. When I get back home all of this work will probably be done at once (of course, not in one day or even one week but I won't be doing this one step at a time, it will become my full time job while I'm on my little break) and this list isn't in any chronological order. ANYBODY who has ANYTHING to say about what I want to (agree/disagree) please reply to the post or send me a PM. Also, should I expect to acheive my goals with a setup like this? Is anyone out there running anything close to this? What kind of power should be expected out of a setup of this kind? I'm not looking for numbers, more like the butt-dyno I guess. I want to be able to have enough power on tap to do what I want, when I want. I don't mean just engine power either, but pure performance. Well, I'm out for now but please respond here as I know this forum is full of very knowledgable people.

Thanks again,
Alexander Hipple

Rotor Nut

some of the things you metion can be done now or should be done now (e.g. handles and locks). the high end motor oil is still being debated here if synthetics should be used in rotary engines (so to be on the safe sid just buy the regular stuff). You don't really need to shave the antenna to save a couple of ounces, if you don't like the look of the antenna extended then just diconnect the power to the antenna motor (both of my antenna motors do not work and they still recieve reception, though not always the best). Tell us when you begin to start this project so we can by all you extra stock parts from you for our restoration projects.

FirebirdSlayer666

iTrader: (3)

Well if you only want to run 6-8psi of boost, a boost controller is not necessary. Depending upon how big your wastegate is will determine how much boost it will run without a boost controller. That being said, if you're only running 6-8psi then you don't need a heavy duty Ford rearend. You can use a GSL-SE rear end with LSD and disc brakes. If you have no radio you can just remove all the antenna stuff altogether and fill in the hole. I would recomend getting the S4 TII alternator as it plugs right up to all the existing wiring for the 12A and gives you more juice. You can read up on the 2nd Gen Direct Fire Ingnition System(2GDFIS) trick as many people do it and it's really great. But if you want full blown hot ignition then go with a full MSD ignition. Also if you're running the turbo I'd go with a 3" exhaust over the 2.5" for a much better flow. I believe that's all my input

3rd and final 7

iTrader: (9)

with the motor mounts you can either go with solid ones from here http://www.mrcmfg.com/respeed/catalo...53736305f318e9
or you can go with theses polys http://banzairacing.net/subscribers_...tor_mounts.htm
if you wanna go with synthetic motor oil it cost a small grip of cash you cna either put Royal Purple or you go with Idemitsu which you can get from right here http://rx7.com/store/rx7/saengine_maintenance.html

if you have a bee hive oil cooler then it would be a good idea to upgrade to a FMOC.

an Optima Red Top is the way to go with a Batt.

thats all i can think of right now sorry its all jumbled around but its the best i could do.

oh and what branch of service you going into and whats your job going to be?
me im in the Army and i work on UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters!

FirebirdSlayer666

iTrader: (3)

Oh yeah I forgot to add, I run Royal Purple 10W-30 and I've never had any problems. There's a big war over Synthetics vs. Mineral oil in rotaries. But from my own experience, I haven't seen any of the so called "gumming" that synthetics supposidly do to rotaries. But you can run whatever you want. Alot of the race guys use Amsoil just to throw that out there too