A few shots from welding the downpipe. It's not finished yet.
It's all about having the right tools..

 

Hattori Hanzo would be proud.

 

Working on the wastegate dump tube..

 

So.. Memorial Day weekend...

We finished the downpipe, hooked up the rest of the gauges, sensors, lines, etc. Filled up the fluids and gas. Calibrated the sensors, loaded maps onto the haltech, charged the battery, and um..

oh yeah, started the new engine. first time the car has run since January.

I'll have videos online later. Lots of smoke and a bridgeported motor going "brap brap brap brap..".

Unfortunately I also found some problems I need to fix before I can tune it.

• My v-band clamp has some bad threads and doesn't seal the exhaust well enough. I ordered a new one.
• I didn't put a restrictor in the turbo oil feed line and the turbo is dumping oil into the exhaust. I ordered one of these too.
• I have yet to figure out how to configure the LC-1 to output the type of signal my defi AFR gauge is expecting. I also need to pull the LC-1 sensor out and do a free air calibration on it. The haltech is running off its own 4-wire o2 sensor, but I want to be able to keep an eye on things.
• I need to check and set the FPR, this was easier on the stock wiring harness where I could jumper the fuel pump.
• I had to find and make timing marks on the aftermarket main pulley, it only had one mark on it that was basically right at 20 degrees ATDC.

 

Best comment ever?

 

I've been stuck with this project. I have everything together but I can't get it running on the Haltech E6X. I got it to idle a few times, holding the throttle, very rough idle. I've checked and double checked the timing. I have fuel pressure and the leading coil is firing during cranking. Last weekend I couldn't get it to start again, just cranks until the battery is too low.

 

Played with the timing some more and got it idling.

Thanks to f1bluerx7 for coming over and helping.

 

Innovate Motorsports wideband AFR gauge arrived today.

 

you never mentioned where you got the motor and for how much.

i dont think i have the patience to complete such a task.

congradulations man it looks fantastic
def one of the best projects ive seen so far.

once your done put down some charts i wanna see
and maybe a vid or two?

 

I'll definately have vids when it's running. I need a tuner. Steve Kahn is always so busy and it takes too many people to get him to fly in.

I got the engine from a guy stationed in North Carolina. I drove down in a minivan and picked it up. With an intercooler, turbo, manifold, bunch of electronics, etc.. was $4k

Compression looks ok and it idles nicely now that we started to get the timing right.

I don't have the patience either, I wish this was running months ago. But I don't have a choice, I started a new job in January and moved to a new place in June. I've been busy and while I started off with a nice budget, I have to slow down to keep all the bills paid. I'm so close now I can taste it (literally when it smoke screens the neighborhood).

My roommate is working on putting an LS1 in his FC. We'll see who gets it on the road first.

 

Considering how long it'll take for you to find a competent tuner, and august being a 3 paycheck month...

It's going to be close.

 

A new set of plugs, some more idling in the driveway and a compression test later..

I have low compression on the rear rotor.

My cheap compression tester didn't really show it, but I borrowed a better tester and verified my suspicions. When I have some time I'm going to pull the turbo and exhaust manifold off and see if I can get a look at the seals.

Didn't even get it on the road

Evaluating my options. I'm not sure I have the money or motivation to have this engine rebuilt right now. You might see some parts for sale soon.

 

Good Job!

 

dont give up now. i saw a thread the other day and the guy spent thousands and like 2 years or so on it and gave up. im doing the smae thing. complete restore and build of my 7. right now i may not have the funds but i think of it as this. its my toy, why not take a couple of years and build the car how you want it to be. i can imagine how fusterating it may be having to rebuild it after all that time and effort but think about how much more you would enjoy and apreciate it after its complete. i dont know about you but i myself love that fact of being able to say "i built this car". well good luck and hope things work out

 

Don't give up man.

I spent thousnads building my FC.....1/2 bridge, E6X, T04-R, the works.......

400km into breakin it blew a seal while driving around in vac.

I re-rebuilt. I re-reinstalled. And its running now, I have a few issues to attend to (minor exhaust leaks, oil pressure sender and a few bugs) but its coming. Don't give up - right after I blew mine after 400 km's I just about scrapped the whole deal........would've been a big ******* mistake.

But, do whatever you have to I suppose.....good luck!!!

 

The current plan is to try to pick up a 13bt shortblock and swap that in while I get my full-bridge block rebuilt. I just need to find one locally that I can afford.

 

Ok, last saturday I picked up a stock S5 JDM 13BT longblock. Getting it cleaned up and prepped for the swap, once it's in and running I'll have time to get the money together to fix the other engine and figure out how to get it tuned next round.

Anyone have the following parts they can sell for cheap? This will be easier if I don't have to mod it for the haltech.

S5 TII: wire harness, ecu, air flow meter, boost/pressure sensor

 

I found someone with the parts I need.

 

So I spent the last couple weekends cleaning up an imported S5 TII engine and swapping it into my FC.

I had to pick up a boost sensor, afm, wire harness and ecu on the forum.

Got it all in, the water pump leaked from the pulley, replaced the pump...

Have fuel pressure, cranks over, voltage at the coils, coils and cas have good resistance readings on meter, all fuses look good, etc etc... No spark, won't start.

I'm going back over there today to try the tips hailers recommends in these two threads:

https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generation-specific-1986-1992-17/wtf-wrong-w-my-7-no-spark-coils-664149-printthread/?pp=50
https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generation-specific-1986-1992-17/help-fellow-seven-out-no-spark-1-a-668568-printthread/?pp=50

When I get this running it looks like I'll be driving on a stock port for a while. I've already sold the haltech to get money for this engine. I'll probably be selling the bridgeported engine too, I don't have the time and money to get that running right now. Maybe I'll get the new engine ported in the future.

9 months in and still haven't been able to drive this car.

 

Turns out I do have spark. My timing light is junk. I took a plug out and put it by a strut tower post, both with an extra CAS spun by hand and with the CAS in the car during cranking I got plenty of spark.

So despite having nearly 40psi of fuel pressure at the rails, I guess I'm still missing fuel or air.

The plugs are clean and dry when I check them after trying to start it. I tried deflooding it so many times I'm worried about burning out the starter. The engine turns over fine, and I even tried jumping it to make sure it isn't just low voltage. It doesn't sound like any fuel is burning. There's no smell from the exhaust at all and the wideband AFR stays dead lean.

I've done nearly all of the checks Hailers mentions in those two threads. I have 5v at the boost sensor plug with and without the AFM connected. I have 12v at the injectors and coils. My CAS, Coils, wires, plugs are confirmed working.

I'm going to send the injectors to witchhunter.com to be tested and cleaned so I can rule that out.

I'm running out of ideas.

 

Did you end up needing a resistor pack for the S5 high imp injectors? If you don't have one I've got one in my garage that you can have. It sounds like the injectors are not firing.

When I get back we will get it sorted.

 

I have the original resistor thing that came with the car. Is the S5 NA and S5 TII resistor pack different?

I have the NA one hooked up now. It would be sweet if that's all that's wrong.

I sent the injectors off anyway, it won't hurt to know that they're all flowing correctly before I get it running. Last time I bought a set of 550cc injectors off the forums, out of 4 of them, one was about getting about 50% flow and one was 100% blocked before they were cleaned.

 

In response to a question I got in a PM about my wheels and tires:

I have 17x8 with a 35 offset in the front with 255/40R17 tires.
I have 17x9 with a 40 offset in the rear with 225/45R17 tires.

That tire size makes the tires an inch wider than the wheel resulting in 17x9 in the front and 17x10 in the rear.

The rears have less than an inch between the tire and control arms but aren't touching. I think the fronts are close to the coilovers, maybe an inch away.

 

Highly informative thread I must say. From what I've read, it seems like a huge pain in putting together a solid TII swap.

2 days ago I decided to go TurboII swap, and my 13bt should arrive today at the shop. Im praying it doesnt need a rebuild.

Being a first time buyer of the 13bt, are there any visual check's I should perform which indicate it as being a decent motor? What should I look out for?

 

A visual check (i.e. looking through the exhaust port) may show you if a seal went for a trip and caused internal damage or show leakage residue of the coolant seals on the outside or other major damage.

In other words, the only way to be sure if your motor is decent is to compression test.