anyone know if aluminum AST's will fit on a car with FMIC?
im wondering because the AST no longer sits in the stock location, and it looks like it MIGHT be a problem.

 

AST's can be put in different places just not inside the car

Try to hook it up somewhere up front

 

Just get rid of any AST. It is a not needed POS! Many of us here in super hot Houston have not been using it for years without any problems on our modded engines.

It is just a source of income for Pettit and others.

 

Where can I get info on how to remove the ast?

 

go to the m2performance site @ www.m2peformance.com....they sell a kit that i just bought.....comes with instructions.......you'll need a few parts they don't include but they tell you what to get to complete the job.....i haven't installed it yet but it lookes easy...

 

I don't think you should remove it. If you remove it you will probably have to burp your system every month or so. Most rotories put a small amount of carbon in the cooling system because of the o-rings around the combustion chambers. This is the reason for the AST, to remove the air that gets in the system. If mazda went to great leangths to save weight on this car why would they have put on the AST unless it was needed. My other reasoning is I am 100% sure that my aluminum one will not cause me any problems where as eliminating it "could" cause a problem. Thats my $.02

 

Mazda engineers put an AST in there for a reason. they are not retarded.

 

I'm with wickedrx7 and joeD. I would trust Mazda's engineers anyday over street modders who have no objective way to analyze what effect the loss of the AST has. As mentioned weight savings was a high priority, grams were shaved everywhere, look at your dipstick. The AST must have been of value or it would not have been included. They would also have saved money by not using it. Be safe.

 

just my 2 cents, but if you trust mazda so much how many of you take your cars to thier dealership to be worked on? just cause they spent money to put one in doesn't mean it should be left in, you know the highly thought ovr precat most of tell others to remove as thier first mod. i personally have a 94 fd stock, only addition to my car is the boost gauge. in my room sits a apex gt exhaust, eibach springs, pettit dp an mp and an ALUMINUM AST. i am keeping because i made the decision to keep it, do a little research and do what you feel is right. i am in no way saying that these guys are wrong but please don't base your decision on because mother mazda says so. as rx7 owners we all know mazda is who we should trust less. let the flames begin.

 

Well, they had to put the precat in to meet government emissions requirements. If it was up to the engineers they would have lost it in a heartbeat.

As for the AST I am also to much of a chicken to remove it. They did not put it in because of emissions so I figure they had a valid reason.

I do believe the Japanese engineers are very sharp guys. It's just too bad we cannot say the same about the US dealer mechanics.

 

please DO NOT confuse engineers with dealership mechanics. many including myslef will take that offensively.

 

yes that comment is totally out of place. Don't even compare US mechanics to Japanese Engineers. If the Japanese engineers opened a shop in the US and worked on 7's themselves, im sure everyone will take their 7 there if price was reasonable.

 

wptrx7

You need to learn somthing about business. Mazda dealerships and Mazda are two seperate entities. They just have rights to sell there cars but Mazda dealers are not owned by Mazda. Like someone else pointed out the mechanics and engineers are two totally differnt people. One went to college and the other went to a tech school.(Most likely)

 

Well I just got done polishing my ast so looks like It's staying no matter what. I looks good!

 

Even if you think the AST is nonfunctional...with which I disagree...removing it diminishes the cooling efficiency by reducing the volume of the coolant. These cars don't hold much coolant as it is. I'd hold on to every advantage I could.

The race cars that do not use the AST have completely different cooling systems that can compensate...larger radiator, larger intake grill, heavy duty oil coolers, etc....