Well this is a continuation of this post.
https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generation-specific-1979-1985-18/85-gsl-se-siezed-engine-7-days-after-bought-rx-7-vet-my-ultimate-restoration-pics-652365/

Everythings pretty much done, Just waiting for parts and money now... Have my Dellarto and alm flywheel in the mail. Getting exaust, fuel pump, tranny & starter, oh and clutch... And I should be done.

I did notice something from switching over my gsl-se parts to the S4 engine. The bolt that goes through the front cover and into the eccentric shaft is totally different on each models.. That shouldnt be a problem right? Just use the S4 bolt correct, and find a washer for it (the s3 washer is to small by a lil bit).


Anywho heres some pics, one of the engine small block done (have the water pump, pulleys, and intake painted, need to do the front engine cover still... and trying to find a place that sells the gasket that goes inside the front engine cover, around the eccentric shaft.)

And some pics of the engine bay, almost finished.

 

Nice. Gonna be fun to drive.

wish i was this far into my project.......

 

Even with my Edelbrock not fully tuned on my S4 NA its loads of fun to drive. Seems to really like the high rpm's without the aux sleeves in, but no low end torque at all. Oh well, its not a DD so not a big deal, but makes it kinda hard to launch from a stop at the track, need 5000rpm or more to get a good launch. Hopefully you have better luck with the low end torque. But either way, the S4 seems to make tons of power from 5000rpm and up. I've even accidentally put it past pegging my tach (8000rpm max reading, about 8700 pegged, was higher than that). Anyway, got a little carried away one night doing some doughnuts on dry pavement and before I new it my engine must have been spinning 9500rpm, with still more power available. Whoever says the S4 engine ain't worth the time is a fool.

 

Yeah, Im taking it to the dyno, and if I am still making power over 7.5-8k, I prolly should get a scatter shield? right? since Ill have an aluminum flywheel.

Just got the front engine cover all cleaned up and first coat of paint on it... It had more grease than all the other engine parts plus the engine, put together...

I broke down and painted the alternator also.... Should look grand, put my water pump to fan assembly back together and mocked it up on the engine..... Im getting so excited, nothings gone wrong yet, besides s3 to s4 problems.... but Im getting worried that a gremlin is gonna pop up here once I get the rest of my parts.

 

Just because you make power above 8K rpm doesn't mean you can rev that high on a stock internal engine. The S4 was only designed for 7000rpm redline, at 8400rpm the apex seals start to "chatter", which basically destroys the apex seals and the housings. On top of that, the water pump will start to cavitate at that rpm, on top of other things that are going on. The stock clutch is only rated for 8500rpm max, can shatter at speeds above that.

To sum it all up, only a properly prepped engine will withstand engine speeds above 8000rpm without damage. A stocker will survive it a few times, a 12a has been proven to withstand over 13000rpm for over 15 minutes, but after it blows everything in the engine its garbage.

Seems like your dressing up the engine nicely. Should be a nice show piece. Mine is all about the function. The only reason any part of the engine saw any paint was to keep it from looking like a rusty hump in my engine bay.

 

LOL, yeah, I was joking about the scatter shield .. sort of...

The reason my engine bay/parts are all looking pretty is because I still dont have all the money needed for parts.. So while I wait, I clean and paint.... If I had all the parts at startup, this car would be as dirty as before.... but it is nice having 20lbs of grease and crap out of the car.... Racing mod lol... All I know is if I have a leak somewhere (all new gaskets) Im gonna go postal, id rather the engine not start than a leak after all of this work... I was going to paint the engine bay, but ehh, this aint no restoration lol..

heres my mock up of the engine.

 

Take some McGuire's cleaner wax to the paint in the engine bay. I did that to mine, and it shines like brand new. The paint in there usually cleans up great, because it never gets exposed to sunlight like the rest of the car. The paint in my engine bay makes the rest of my car's paint look pretty sad.

 

Looks good. I did the Rotary Aviation mod w/ the aux port using Devcon. I thought about getting the Pineapple Racing inserts but in the end I decided to try the low budget method. Just something to consider. Also what clutch set-up are you going to be using?

 

Actually since this is a s4 engine, I wasnt sure if my s3 ones would work.. and the engine I got was just the housings and cast iron so I didn't have any sleeves.... Since Im going to have an aluminum flywheel and will be launching at about 5k I figured Id just run them out. Plus I took out all of the crap in the lower intake manifold also.

I was thinking about an ebay clutch.. but the word varies from person to person.. A guy on this site (guy Im buying carb, fly, exhaust ect.) told be to get a stock clutch with an upgraded rb pressure plate... Id like to buy a kit for under 250 that comes complete with disk, pp, through out bering, clutch aligner + other random things. Any idea?

 

Yea I've read mixed reviews about the ACT, XTD/XTR, Exedy and a slew of other ebay set ups. I just may buy a new clutch disk from Racing Beat (heavy duty) and get rid of the 6 puck clutch disk I just recieved. OEM clutch would be good too!

 

LoL I just put in an order at black dragon for about 300 bucks... got the stock clutch included in that... Ive been told to get the stock clutch but get a racing/street pressure plate..

 

HEY, WHATEVER WORKS!

 

Well Got my OMP area on the front cover sealed up. Bought the roll of gasket material and cut out some 24 ga. sheet metal to go over top, with a bit of gasket silicone on both sides.

On the LIM I got the mazdatrix emission block off thing. And where the 6 port actuators were, I put a bit (looks like alot in pic) of gasket silicone around the 2 openings and then stuck a dime in each one... waited a bit and then filled it all the way up with the silicone and put my 2 pieces of cut to fit 24 ga. metal on with the bolts... not pictured. I WILL not have any leaks! lol.

The only thing I have to do now while I wait for 3 parts orders to come in is to take out my fuel pump/filter. But Ill just wait till I get my pump. Need to buy the pump, regulator, exhaust next week along with the transmission and the starter + a couple hoses and clamps next week. And I think I have every thing completely... Not including the bolts in individual baggies, I have like 50 + parts that are new/dean refurbished .

The only things going back in the engine bay that was from my old engine setup from the fan to the driveshaft are.

1. Lower intake manifold. "modded"
2. Front engine cover. "modded"
3. Oil pan. Cleaned! (200k engine before)
4. Water Pump. Cleaned Painted
5. Alternator. " "
I will be getting a newer alternator and LIM later, but for now it works fine for me.

Anywho, heres a couple pics of the interior once cleaned up (8 min). I need a far left vent brown (by window) and a good plastic paint that anyone might have found that matches up to the brown. (the rear wheel covers in back are sun damaged.) Thats about all I need. I honestly haven't been in the car much (died 6 days after buying it) And I think this is way better than my other 2 rx-7's. Good timing 2 because I .....sort of.. well painted interior pieces colors, before I had a sense in style... Looked good though, for a 16 year old with race interior LOL, around the ladies....

BTW: Thats a 199,798 mile, 22 year old interior Someone cared about it, to bad the exterior is crap with a crap "oem" respray job on half of the car peeling, oxidized, worn. Luckily I am sort of a body man/painter.. Not good at interiors though lol.

 

be verrrrry careful with alu flywheels. personally i'd never run one (seen too many explode into people's feet.. and one took 4 of a mate's toes off on his left foot).. i have a lightweight billet steel one from mazdaspeed (AFAIK) and its fantastic. car revs so quickly and smoothly..

 

lol Thanks but I dont plan on ever going over 7.5k. How fast was your buddies going? Any one else think I may need to fabricate/learn about a scatter shield? I have a new light steel one available for 250 also.

 

Thinking of putting an apparently brand new Dellorto 48 sidedraft on my S4. What sort of mods did you do to your lower intake?

 

If your using the S3 LIM buy the S3 gasket for it.

The only other problem is that the s4 blocks primary ports (2 center ones) are like 2.3% longer than the s3 intake, you cant see easily when you get the gasket. But since the ports match up except for the very bottom, it shouldn't be a problem... You could port match it I guess, I might if I have time.

The following should be the same (correct me someone) if you have either a s3 or 4 lim.

I took out my actuators for the 8 (EDIT 6) ports and all the crap associated with it, which doesn't need to be done, your preference of course. But since I took out the 6 port sleeves I figured it wouldn't bee a bad idea to allow for a little more open air in the intake. As you can see in the pic, I used 2 dimes and then liquid gasket then 24 gauge sheet metal and the 2 screws to hold it down.

The center of the intake is the emissions crap.. you can fab your own gasket/metal. I bought the eliminator from mazdatrix or racing beat (have had about 10 orders between those 2 and black dragon w/ in 2 months so not sure where).


Also, if your doing a "conversion" from series 3, the omp on the front cover is gonna give you problems with the s4 block. Use a 12a front engine cover/omp and don't worry it pumps just as much, if not more than the 4 line one from the se. Or you could do what I did, and remove the OMP, If your using the S3 LIM Mazdatrix doesn't make a block off for it. I got a roll of gasket and cut it out, put liquid gasket on both sides of it, placed it on the front engine cover, then used my cut out piece of 24ga metal to cover, and screw down.