advice from a turbo fb owner

when lauching the car,
4k rpm works great don't change that at all, what needs to change in my personal experience is letting the clutch out slowly, once the car starts moving forward I push in the clutch peddle half way while still giving it gas, this way your not dumping all 270hp at once causing the wheel hop and breaking ****, but rather getting the car too move and almost instantly boosting. It is a nice feeling lunging forward once you get it with no wheel spin or hot, in mine it will wheel spin though all of first if more then 75% throttle is applied using this technique in 1st gear.

btw, your car looks almost like my evil twin!

 

That would have made sense for me to do, right? I also forgot how harsh this clutch is. It is like a light switch: on and off. I was driving pre-tune in the rain on the Lightning (New Jersey Motorsports Park), and on downshifting to enter a corner, I was having a hard time releasing the clutch in a smooth way: either I was over-reving and then propelling myself into the corner or under-reving and causing severe engine breaking.

This problem was crazy exagerated by my turbo not working correctly, my tune being stupid rich, 2" of water on the road, and the fact that I had only completed the turbo swap the day before and was totally unfamilir with the car.

I need to be much easier with the clutch and possibly put in a more progressive one.

 

Honestly, couldn't the same thing be said about allowing someone to look at the suspension once mounted on the car? I dunno, but I think your stance is a bit severe on this matter (no offense intended)...

 

mikeeric, that's how my clutch is... gah its sooo annoying

 

Are you guys using Puck type clutchs? I've heard that was a problem with them, and I am currently looking for a replacement clutch, which is why I ask...

 

i'm not sure about mine the car came with it when i got it.

 

I've got an ACT cerametallic 6 puck with a sprung hub in my car. I think you drove it at the Lansing auto-X. It should hold up much better than a stock replacement. Aside from being a little extra grabby from a stop I like it just fine.

 

I apologize if I violated someone's trust. The purpose of the picture was to troubleshoot my car. I was not the purchaser of the manual and I never signed it or agreed to anything--it came with the car. Either way, mods can you delete the picture to reduce any further issues?

The clutch I have is one of those "came with" situations. I bought the Microtech, engine, turbo, transmission, intercooler, etc from an FB owner who had collected all the parts, but was not able to complete the swap. It is a used aftermarket turbo II six puck clutch--I'm unsure of the manufacturer.

The bearings transmission that I currently have in the car is extremely worn and when the clutch is relaeased there is crazy chatter. A fourth gear pull to redline sounds like an explosion in a Mack Truck assembly plant. Besides robbing power it is a ticking time bomb. I also assume that the old bearings may be causing additional driveshaft wobble which may have lent a hand in the afore mentioned rear end situation.

Yesterday I picked up a S5 Turbo II transmission from a Japanese engine recycler. I'm tempted to change out the clutch while I'm under there. However, I would be looking a Turbo II clutches. So, I will go search the second gen forum for something a little more smooth. I can't imagine trying to be smooth on an autocross course with this thing.

On an FC I had before, I had success with RP Bonez clutches. THey were pretty progressive and at just over $300 pretty inexpensive:

http://rx7.com/store/rx7/fcdrivetrai...ch.html#Turbo2

 

Actually no - copyright also covers duplication, republishing, displaying, etc. which includes posting it here if you don't have permission to do so. technically we violate Mazda's copyrights whenever we post pics from the owner's manuals or make them available for download, unless Mazda has granted permission to do so.

 

Alright, copyright isues aside, while waiting for the control arms to come in, I picked up a Japanese S5 transmission as mine had some crazy chatter which was only getting worse (which really sucks at this new transmission will be the third that I filled with Royal Purple in the last 10 months as about $80 a pop).

Today I dropped my old transmission and I have both of them on my living room floor (Chop Shop playing on TV ). The old one has some metal shavings so I'm glad I dropped it when I did. I'm attempting to pull the S4 tail off and swap it with the S5 as my transmission mount was modified to work with the S4 transmission. What a pain! No real update, just venting.

 

Oh man, didn't you know? Royal Purple makes transmissions blow up!!!



j/k

Good luck with the swap... You gonna make it to DGRR this year?

 

I can't remember if your running a NA or TII trans. The tail shaft from a S4 will not work on a S5 without removing the counterbalancer from the S5 output shaft. I have never ran a S5 trans without it, but I don't know how it will effect it.

 

I agree Mike, looks like you over-modified it. But like Sam says, if you get the right transmission it will run right. Don't put that purple **** in, though.

 

i use ATF and synchromesh.. seems to work great.. and its inexpensive

 

I have always used a 50/50 mix of ATF and standard gear lube, and have always had great results. No sticking synchros, ever. 20+ years and counting...

 

my experience with the ACT puck type clutches is that they are not too unstreetable, from a stop its grabby and more on off than a normal clutch. once you're moving i really like em, on off is prefect there.

the ACT copper clutch does wear very fast on the street too, its nice cause it doesnt trash the flywheel or PP, it just wears quickly.

on all the street cars ive built after 2002, when i pulled the iron cross out of the 20b, ive just used stock clutches on NA's and for a turbo i like the ACT hd (not extreme!) pressure plate/stock disc combo. the HD setup will hold 250-300hp and effort is still nice. the extreme PP = huge pedal effort

on the road race car, we like the iron cross, but you want the sprung hub, cause you don't wanna break the drivetrain

 

Please elplain yourself. Why would the counterbalancer not work? It fits. What does not work about it? These are all TII transmissions.

 

Alright, I think my old transmission had the GSL-SE tail on it. I torqued everything down, but the drive spindle is not centered and a cut off drive shaft I have laying around will not fit in correctly.

My questions are this:

Is there a secret to assembling the tail to the transmission (e.g. torque sequence etc)?

Is there something I may be doing wrong?

Anyone with experience or technical info, please pipe in.

 

I'm confused now as to if my transmission has a S4 or a GSLSE tail on it. Anyone with tips on telling the two apart and helping with the above two questions?

By the way, I have been using RP in my track and DD cars for years. I have put it in trashed transmissions that would grind or shift hard (on my Miata and FC) and they shift like new. I use the 50/50 mix that is half ATF and half gear oil. Don't knock it till you try it.

 

Anyone people? Everyone always has something to say unless it get too technical. Someone has to know. I can't keep my transmissions in my kitchen forever.

 

You might want to post that question in a separate thread. That way you will get the attention of somebody who actually knows what he's talking about. Give it a good title and you should get a good, quick answer.

 

Post pics of your tranny. Surely someone here can tell which tranny you have.

The following link is the type of clutch I have in the widebody. A Stage 3 Kevlar clutch. Pedal pressure is nearly the same as the Stage 1 organic clutch that's in my 2nd gen, though the engagement distance is slightly shorter. I'm very pleased with the drive-ability of this clutch. It feathers nicely and has yet to slip during clutch dumps with the Dunlop Sport 8000 245/50/ZR15 rear tires.. This isn't the exact brand/seller that I bought the clutch from as I only paid $300 for it.

http://performance.importrp.com/comp.../i-157537.aspx

I have driven an 87 TII with a Stage 2-3 that had 60% pedal effort increase and found it to be a pita to drive. Pedal effort for this for this clutch is as near stock as one can get. Only downside is the long break in period which is common with any type of organic clutch disc. Iirc, this clutch was rated at 300-350 hp. Given the choice, I would buy this clutch again over any type of puck disc.

ReSpeed used to have one of these listed on his website but I can no longer find it.

 

Well, I know what both of my transmissions are, I just do not know what tail was on the one that I pulled off and I do not know what I am doing wrong with assembling it.

In the attached picture, the one on the left is the one that came off and the transmission mount works on the GSL-SE and the two screws go through the flat surface. The tail on the right is off the S5 tranmission and as you can see, mounts totally differently to the transmission as it takes four screws instead of two and mounts to the side.

For all I know I could just be torqueing the screws in the wrong sequence. Does anyone have the correct sequence and torque specs for mounting the transmission tail?

 

The one on the left is a first gen tail shaft. The right one is a second gen. The only way to make a NA tail shaft fit a TII trans is to make the rear opening where the tail shaft goes through larger to accomidate the larger output shaft of the TII trans. I would like to see pics of your trans. I dont believe that you are running a TII trans with a NA tail shaft. It takes alot of modding to make that combo work.

 

If your trans looks like this one than it is a NA trans.