I am tearing down my 89 to build an all out drag car!! I am wanting to aim for somewhere around 500 hp. I am planning on swapping a turbo motor in, but that may be a while so right now I am trying to get everything torn apart and ready to put in the new motor and go.

I have a few questions though about tear down.

I have removed my whole A/C unit and plumbing and I am wanting to rip out my heater and vents as well. How would I go about doing this? I know its gonna require pulling out my dash but I didnt know what all wires can be disconnected and what I should do with them.

Also what stuff can be removed from my engine bay? I have seen pics of FC bays with stuff removed from the back passenger side corner of the bay. Mines all cluttered up and Im wanting to know what I can remove without interfering with drivability of performance of the car.

Finally I am wanting to strip my harness down of everything that I dont need hooked up. I am planning on upgrading to a Haltech or A'Pexi unit, so.

Any help? I appreciate it guys. I would really be lost without yall.

 

most of the heating/ac stuff can be accessed by simply dropping the glove box and lower dash trim panel.

before you go pulling random things out of your engine bay i'd reccomend taking a browse throught the archives and faq here, then read up on rotary resurrection:

Good Stuff - common questions

Take some time to read around and don't get suckered into removing something because you don't know what it does, just cause you hear it from some guy on the forum doesn't mean it's always true

That clutter in your engine is useful and keeps your driveable, when you try the motor swap all that stuff has to be connected or properly eliminated from the system.

But seriously your gonna have a fun time aiming for 500hp if your struggling with removing a heater core. read, read read, then go look at your car

 

Also plan on spending $$$ on a TII flywheel, clutch, starter, trans, trans mounts, driveshaft, rear end and halfshafts, wiring harness, control unit, ems or standalone. You will break the n/a parts with that kind of hp. It is best IMHO to patiently search for a TII and do the supporting mods rather than convert a n/a. My $.02

 

Well I am planning on going to a TII or a 13B-REW motor. I dont want to try and rebuild the N/A to handle that much power, but I do want to rebuild it so I can put it into something else later.

 

I was also going to ask, on my N/A I have it stripped down to the bare "block" and I am cleaning the intake manifold and everything. Now the gaskets on the intake itself are stuck on cause I guess they are stock, so how can I get them off? Also there is a **** load of built up crap inside the intake runners and I was wondering what is the best way to clean them out?

Also how would I disconnect the power mirror/sport suspension switches in the center console? I have it apart and I know I can just disconnect those few wires, but is that all I have to do? Is there any other place that I have disconnect anything?

 

You just gently/carefully pry up that center panel on your center console area.... with it popped up, you just pull it out and disconnect the plugs. simple as that.

 

Cool, thanks micaheli. I though that that might be all I would need to do, but I wasnt sure if there were some other wires that would need to be disconnected to keep from completing a circuit somehow and shorting something out.

 

Naww. they all have nice neat little plugs.. and they can't really be mis-matched. They only go one way. Know what I mean?

 

One more question...

I am going through all the sensors and such in my bay and Im noticing some weird stuff. I have a Boost Sensor on the passenger side front of my bay. I also have a turbo mounting bracket, but a standard N/A exhaust manifold?? Was my car factory turbo'd or is that just standard equipment on these cars?

 

I don't know if you know how serious of a project you're looking at?

I mean...the questions you're asking now is really petty stuff, and if you're mechanically inclined, it should not be a problem for you.
You just gotta get your hands dirty and just dig into everything.
Removing stuff is the easy part...

Now, as for how serious of a drag car you're trying to build...

I'm assuming you're talking NHRA certified?
If we're talking 10 seconds or faster, you'll need a certified roll cage for it.
This is not something you can build yourself, unless you're an exceptionally talented welder.
Talk to some shops locally that can do this kinda stuff, and then ask if it's worth it.

Now, once safety is taken care of, let's look at the equipment...
That stock IRS rear end is a disadvantage on the drag strip.
Are you willing to go solid rear axle?
Advantages - relatively cheap to change ratios, stronger
Disadvantages - initial install is a bitch
Are you going to "tub" the rear wheel wells?
The stock rear wheel wells can barely fit a 9"...maybe 10" slick back there.
Do you need more traction?
Driveshaft loop? Relatively easy to install a universal kit...
Trans shield? Someone posted a pretty nice "kit" that will bolt onto the stock Turbo II transmission...
The transmission is eventually going to fail, so are you going to convert to some kinda dedicated drag transmission?
Chevy TH400?

The way I see it, that stock rear IRS is really the weak point in the whole system.
Abuse it enough, it's going to explode.
Internals will fail, and the rear diff housing is eventually going to crack.
This is why I ask if are eventually going to go solid rear axle.

You can drop the swearing, cause it just makes you look immature.
And seriously, you're not asking serious questions.


-Ted

 

Well Ted the questions are serious to me. Im not talking about building a true strip only car. Im just wanting something thats streetable, but is a drag car. I would love to tub the rear end cause I think that looks cool as ****. And I dont care about maturity in appearance because honestly Im not very mature. lol. But, eventually if the rear end wont hold up to the strain I will go to something better, like a solid axle.

So, some questions now for you specifically Ted.

If I tub the rear end will I have to go solid axle or can I go ahead and tub it out with the stock rear end for the time being?

I have never heard of putting a Turbo 400 trans on a rotary engine. How would I go about doing that? Would it need a custom bell housing?

Also, would you suggest going with a 13BT motor or a 20B? Which one would better handle the stresses of drag racing?

BAsically Im wanting, like I said, a streetable car but one that I can take to the strip and not have it stand out from the other drag cars. Im up for the challenge of building it, I just cant seem to find enough details anywhere on the net. Its basically just stuff about people doing the work for you or factory manuals.

 

Leave your car alone and research for the next few years. Best advice I think you can get at this point.

 

Dude, do you realize hat the rest of your posts are gone??? Maybe that should tell you something. Seriously, quit being a *****. I have yet to see you give sound advice anyway, so.... Maybe your the one who should read up for the next few years.

Guys like NJ, micaheli, and Ted have been helpful. But your just being an idiot. Seriously, if your not gonna help, please go away.

 

Okay, from your original post, I thought you wanted to built a purpose drag-only vehicle...

If you're trying to keep it streetable like a daily driver, then you can basically ignore what I said.


Going solid axle would actually be easier in the long run.
There's a lot of kits that have all the parts you need to stuff a live axle back there.
Check out any drag racing catalog or even Summit Racing for prices.


There are several guys that have done that.
Check out the Drag Racing subsection in this forum.
The TH400 is an *automatic* trans that has been proven in drag racing.
Once you get it all dialed in, it's pretty much bulletproof.
Don't have to worry about miss-shifts...
The stock FC turbo transmission isn't too reliable over 400hp at the wheels, especially if you're going to drag.


Depends how fast you want to go?
I'd go 20B if you can swing the money...


See, it all comes down to...
1) How fast do you want to go?
Going 10-second 1/4's is not that bad.
Going 9-second 1/4's is a whole new ball game...

2) How much you want to spend?


-Ted

 

Ted, you are such a help. I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out.

I really want to keep the total price around $20k total. Right now I have about $8000 to throw at it. But I do have an N/A motor which needs to go.

And as for how fast... Most cars around here are running mid 11's or so. I would really love to have a low 10 second car and maybe eventually break into the 9's or lower. I would love to turn this into an all out NHRA drag car, but that would cost me a pretty penny that I dont have at this point. Its just that I have never been around the legit drag scene, only illegal street races. I dont know where to really begin building something that would compete on a level of the NHRA.

 

One more question. I have found a few kits that are TA/SA conversions, but they are talking about using a Ford 8.8 rear end. Will that work?? Would it work with a stock driveshaft and trans??