Summer is almost here which means it back to work on my drift car project.

FC shell, 13Brew complete with tranny, apexi powerFC, MSD ignition system, etc.

My research has shown that most people are modding the stock FC wiring harness to get the REW in, but I am planning to go a different route due to the nature of the car.

The dash is coming out along with all of the A/C, heat, radio, etc. The cluster is coming out, in fact all that will reain is the stock steering column.

my current plan is to adapt a FD cluster for my main gauges and of course the usual aftermarket boost, oil pressure, etc.

What I need to know is this: With a stripped to the bone race car, what do I need to run this car so far as vaccum lines, electrical, etc? This car is never going to see the road and will not be road legal. It is intended for track use only and human comforts are secondary. What is the bare minimum to get this thing running?

Thanks

- Ian

 

i'd ditch the powerFC. they only thing they're good for is plugnplay into the FD wiring harness and the great base map they come with. they also can run the stock OMP and some other cool little things, but most people get them because they are plug and play for FD's

ditch it and get a haltech.

 

Let me ask this, is there a particular reason to ditch the powerFC for the haltech? I am used to subaru's, not mazdas so I'm still picking up the finer points of the various mods. I was told by a local guy here who does a lot with FD's that the powerFC was his comp of choice.

I've got nothing against changing, just need some convincing on why it is the thing to do.

Oh yeah, I suppose that more info on the engine might be in order:

13B-REW
PowerFC (jethro, that ring any bells?)
Turbonetics T 60-1 (I think, been a little while since I've seen the engine last)
MSD ignition system
Some work on the fuel rail, not sure of the details (going to post some pictures when I get off of school and start digging into things)
Greddy FMIC
Greddy intake manifold
I'm sure there is more, but that is all I can remember for now.

It was putting down 400+WHP numbers and 11 second 1/4 miles in a full interior FD when one of the apex seals let go. The guy who ended up with the car after that was doing a V8 swap and sold me everything that he was pulling to put the V8 in. Eventuall the core will be going to rotary resurection to get a complete rebuild, upgraded seals, porting, etc. In the mean time I will be using it to get my mounts fabbed up.

 

wiring

to make it work with a power FC you need to wire in nearly eveything required to make it work bone stock, including the oem engine harness which is most likley toasted

A haltech on the other hand, is much easier to setup

 

looks like a lot of searching this forum is in your future. goodluck on the project

 

We've done a lot of searching about the swap in general...either we weren't typing in the right info of there has not been much discussion on our path.

So far it has been hard to find any information about this swap other than a lot of people don't do it. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

 

The PFC will expect to see the stock main wiring harness, however, ANY ecu will need the same things the PFC needs to see. A Haltech MAY be a simpler install (MAY) but if you already have a PFC and a local guy who knows them, changing ecus seems pretty damn silly IMO. I mean all of the sensors and everything are already in place on the motor....

 

That was pretty much what we thought, so far as everything already being there. I can get a stok harness from the same guy who I mentioned earlier that liked the powerFC.

Actually that mention of the harness leads us full circle back into what I want to know about:

What of the harness is unecessary junk? I know that at least in other cars I have worked with there is usually at least a little bit of stuff for emissions control, both vaccum lines and wires on the harness. There is probobly some other stuff in the bay in the category that I call "unknown black box with connectors" that involves the emissions, A/C, or other systems that are NOT going back in the car...

Any info on what I don't need to be worrying about would be great.

 

I would have to disagree.

Keep the PowerFC.

 

that seems like alot of work just to keep the powerFC, but whatever.

 

I am doing a 13b-rew swap into my fc with a haltech e8, I need to retain stockish twins/vaccum hoses and solenoids, and run sequential with emmisions intact.

I may consider trading you my Haltech e8 with a now terminated and just slightly (4-5K) used flying lead harness for your PFC and stock engine harness, + PFC commander + some cash.

A haltech E8 is a premium line haltech with many many options, inputs and outputs. PM me if your interested.

 

Well, a lot of comments and some good info on what I should be doing with my ecu. Anyone want to chime in with some comments on the original subject?

 

Kind of vague....will you still be running the twins or single?

 

Single - the engine I have purchased currently is equipped with a turbonetics 60-1

 

Check this out for some images of the engine:

http://rc-tvproductions.com/rx7.html

 

All you need is the injectors, water thermosensor, intake air temp sensor, throttle position sensor and crank sensors. It is wise to keep the knock sensor but not manditory. What several people have done is purchase our S4 PFC adapter harness kit, to save them from having to install the FD dash harness. It also would allow you to use the FC engine harness if you felt like it.

You also need to configure the coils, igniter and map sensor

http://www.banzai-racing.com/product...ss_adapter.htm

If the FD engine blew an apex seal you will need to remove the turbine housing of the turbo and inspect for damage.

 

I'm going to have to disagree with you and agree with everyone else. If the PFC works, keep it because you have someone in the area that can tune it for you.

 

1) It sounds like you've got to do wiring work no matter what ECU you choose. You should choose the ECU you can get tuned to the highest quality. PFCs have the most tuner support out there for the 13brew. Texas has a few very noted PFC tuners in fact.

2) I've never done a swap like this, but can't you use a 3rd gen wiring harness and just plug it all in? (after clipping the unnecessary stuff off) Or is this talk of rewiring because of the other plugs that go into the ECU?

 

At the moment, just because of the easy access to FD parts, it's looking like all of the wiring will remain 3rd gen. That way everything works together. Normally this would be a problem, because of the FD's gauge cluster, but I am gutting the dash anyway, so it doesn't bother me to change over to the newr cluster.

 

You really don't need that much from the chassis side of the harness.

The ignition is on the chassis side, but thats easy to deal with, the pressure sensor is also on the chassis side, again easy to deal with.

Other then those 2 mentioned above bare minimum would be power/ground/fuel pump control/relay control, all of these services are also provided to the stock FC computer.

Easy...