We picked up a 93 brilliant black with tan interior Automatic trans FD that was in need of an engine rebuild due to a failed coolant seal retaining wall. The car is in overall very good condition. The car came to us with a new trans and torque converter as well as 4.30 diff. It also had a full exhaust, intake and upgraded SMIC.

We will be updating this thread and the project page as the car evolves. Banzai Racing Automatic FD Engine Installation



We have now rebuilt and ported the motor, installed a set of 96-98 turbos we had laying around, which we had ported the WG.





Installed Powerslot Brakes, Hawk pads and SS brake lines



Installed our Diff Brace and Trans Crossmember





Mods list as it currently sits:

Banzai Racing Rebuilt Engine
Banzai Racing FD Oil Pan Brace Kit
Koyo Radiator
Mishimoto Radiator Hoses
Aluminum AST
Engine Bay Detail & Peripheral Paint
Simplified Sequential Vacuum Line Replacement
JDM Replacement Turbos w/ Wastegate Porting
Banzai Racing Transmission Crossmember
Banzai Racing Differential Brace
Upgraded Differential Bushings
HKS Downpipe
Pettit Racing Non-Resonated Mid-Pipe
3" Thermal Catback Exhaust
Rebuilt Automatic Transmission & New Torque Converter
SS Oil Metering Lines
PowerSlot Slotted Brake Rotors
Hawk HPS Brake Pads
Techna Fit SS Brake Lines
OEM Tie Rod Ends
GReddy Airnx Intake
Upgraded SMIC
850/1300cc Injectors
Walbro 255 Fuel Pump Kit
GReddy Pulley Kit
PR Idler Pulley Kit w/ 44" Belt
New Battery
Magnecor 10mm Plug Wires
NGK Platinum Spark Plugs
APEXi Power FC
Banzai Racing Automatic FD ECU Adapter
Banzai Racing FD Commander Holder
Autometer Boost Gauge & Pod

 

The 20B will be getting an external make over this winter so this car will be seeing a lot of hand me downs, like the 18" wheels, Koni shocks, eibach springs, etc.

 

Looks like the car is coming along nicely Chris

What are your plans for this FD? street/auto-x, or....?

 

Right now we are just building a street car, keeping the A/C, PS and sequential twins. Going for something around 350rwhp, since we already have the high powered 20b FD and 13b-re Vert.

 

The 20B FD got new Apexi coil overs so the Automatic got the Koni Sports and Eibach springs



Also installed a new shifter Panel, since the original was looking really crappy and some new hatch shocks

 

I have that Rotary Revolution poster (2005) in my garage. Biggest rotary even I remember. Alot of vendors, track day, drag, and show. To bad the weather was not very good.
Have fun with the build!

 

Installed the HP Design wheels, changed the whole look

 

Where can one find a new shifter panel? I am also looking for one, all the letters have discoloured.

 

Mazda still has them.

 

I am seriously considering the 4.3 gears, however they are a bit of an investment. I know you said it makes a difference, but I was wondering how much? is it worth the money? Also does it get rid of that 2-3 second lag off the line?

 

Put in the cheaper 4.10 and see if you like that.

 

was hoping to just do it once, parts are hard to come by here and everything is expensive to ship. So if it makes a good difference I'll go for it. Sorry to badger you about it, I just have no one else to get any sort of feedback from. By the way did you have a chance to dyno your auto build yet?

 

It makes a noticeable difference in acceleration from a dead stop. However if you do not have the basic power adder mods done already, I would do those first, then upgrade the LSD unit and the gears at the same time. It sounds like you are concerned about budget, so you do not want to install gears, then break the Torsen.


It is the middle of winter, we have basically 0 miles on the engine, dyno probably will not happen until late spring or next fall.

 

Budget is a concern, but I need to spend right the first time if I can. I have your adapter harness, power fc, and oled commander I just got from you. Also running a re amemiya smic, apexi intake and will be installing new fuel pump and injectors. feed downpipe, bonez mid pipe and fujitsubo catback. I will be pulling the turbos to port the waste gate and upgrade vacuum lines. I've installed boost, wideband and water temp gauges, already upgraded tires and wheels, looking at gears lastly. I have a line on a diff from japan out of an RZ model with the 4.3 gears obviously installed, but about 3 hundred to ship.

 

I would just buy the ring and pinion

 

Freshly painted "hand-me-downs" from our 20B

 

I'll take hand-me-downs like that any day

 

Nice looking for ward to more updates.

 

We also had an efini y-pipe laying around, so that was installed.

 

Love that BB paint.

 

Installed a single 25 row oil cooler and Mocal Thermostat while the nose was off. Buttoned up the nose install, just in time to put it away for winter

 

 

Hey Banzai,

I'm trying to run the same SMIC (SR Motorsports) and koyo radiator (well, it's a clone, I think. previous owner put it in) that you have on this car, but having trouble with fitting both (bottom front edge of IC hits radiator fan motors.. got a thread about it in 3G section). Did you have to do anything special to get these to fit? Are you using the normal stock radiator mount positions? Did you use the stock IC mount brackets or did you have to fab something up? Any input would be super helpful! Thanks!!

 

No alterations of any kind

 

Hi Banzai,

I noticed that there are extra coolant lines from the automatic transmission that go to the radiator, so what do you do with those when upgrading to a Koyo? Please let me know, my stock radiator started leaking so figured it was time to upgrade. Thanks.