1994 R2 build - Lots of big pics - build is evolving
 

This car spent the first 15 years of its life with its original owner. Garaged and kept in good condition. I ended up buying it last December from the 2nd owner.
He was not impressed with the car. He said he thought it would be a lot faster than it was.

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu76/ttribejr/18.jpg

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu76/ttribejr/20.jpg

^^ As much as i didnt want to change this beautiful stock engine bay.. i couldn't resist.

First thing I did was hook up a temporary boost gauge to see what was up. I found that the 2nd turbo was not transitioning at all and the car was only seeing 6 psi boost.
There was a huge power loss above 6k rpm. I tore into it, did a complete hose job, replaced some faulty boost related switching valves, new leading coil. Car probably recovered 100rwhp just from fixing this stuff. Sequentials were working beautifully.

The car was all stock with the exception of a DP/MP combo.

I started adding the following parts:

NGK Wires, plugs, oem fuel filter
Racing Beat catback
Supra fuel pump
PFC - tuned by Rotary Performance (12psi)
M2 airbox (highly under rated intake)
Greddy SMIC
Koyo Radiator
Tein springs, Bilstien shocks … 25” ride height front and rear

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu76/ttribejr/19.jpg
Not the prettiest engine bay, but everything was functional for power and reliability. The texas heat was brutal on air temps. I ended up installing a blitz fmic with custom mounts that stand the radiator up more.
With very little shrouding, my coolant temps weren’t any higher than with the koyo and stock IC.

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu76/ttribejr/2.jpg
And I thought it looked better than the previous setup.

I installed a bonez cat mid-pipe, but was shocked at how much power was lost compared to the 3” midpipe. My car did not boost creep or spike with the full 3” exhaust. I sold the bonez and reinstalled the MP.
If any of you have not experienced 300+ sequential horsepower, it is very fun to drive.
All was fun and well until I lost the motor about 6 weeks ago. I was WOT in 2nd gear, around 6000 rpm, tires were loose. I lost ALL power. I thought an intercooler hose had blown off.
Pulled over, checked everything… looked good. Oil was full and good, coolant was around 90f, all hoses connected. I tried to start the car back up. Motor spun fast (no compression) then completely locked up. SHIT!

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu76/ttribejr/1.jpg

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu76/ttribejr/17.jpg

Got the car back home. Motor is LOCKED. I am a pretty strong guy and I could not budge it any direction with a ½” breaker bar.
After a pretty long debate on rebuilding or buying a new engine, I decided to go with the new engine.

Ray Crowe got me the last brand new 13b engine in the US. From what he said, they are all going back to remanufactured now. I highly debated rebuilding my engine. I really wanted a good street port and all the cool upgrades.
I just couldn’t pass up this engine at this price. I was very close to having Howard Coleman build my motor, but being locked up, I figured it could end up being higher than the price of a brand new engine.
I spoke with Elliot @ Turblown and he said they have had extremely good luck with the new engines. I also debated tearing it down and having it ported, but so far I plan to install it as is.

The new engine is NEW. Not a single used part in it. Comes complete short block … flywheel, oil pan, water housing/pump, OMP injectors, various sensors already installed, etc:

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu76/ttribejr/16.jpg

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu76/ttribejr/15.jpg

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu76/ttribejr/14.jpg

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu76/ttribejr/13.jpg

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu76/ttribejr/11.jpg

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu76/ttribejr/10.jpg


More to come...

continued..
 

So my car has been sitting in my garage for over a month. I work 60hrs a week and have my kids every other weekend, and my drinking club has a skydiving problem.
So my wrench time is limited. But yesterday, I finally jumped in and got to work:



http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu76/ttribejr/4.jpg



http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu76/ttribejr/3.jpg



http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu76/ttribejr/5.jpg



http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu76/ttribejr/6.jpg




My little helper... stayed outside in the 100f heat and passed me tools all day ;)

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu76/ttribejr/7.jpg




Since the motor was locked, I couldn’t turn the flywheel. I had to take the motor and trans out together.
I got the DP and turbos removed and wasn’t too surprised to see this



http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu76/ttribejr/9.jpg




All of that was sitting inside both manifolds. Shockingly, both turbos look perfect.
I thought for sure they would be trashed, but they look great... not a single nick in the turbines.
Supposedly these turbos were brand new, installed just over a year ago... Ill post pics of them soon and see what ya'll think.

I have alot of great idea's for this build, parts on order. Many things are still up in the air.

More parts on the way
 

My sneaky pete mid pipe:


http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu76/ttribejr/22.jpg






Got some parts in this week:

-Datalogit
-Fast Acting AIT sensor
-FFE fuel rails primary and second. Also their block of kit
-ID725 x2 and ID2000 x2

If anybody has some tips/advice... I am shopping dual EGT and wideband setups that will work well with the datalogic/pfc.



http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/uu76/ttribejr/21.jpg

please keep updating.......
thanks.

for sure. I was on vaction this weekend, going to get some work done this week. Also, waiting on more parts to arrive.

Subscribed to this thread big things going on in here. Im jealouse of that new motor.

Clean car. Have fun with the build.

thanks guys. I promise it will get more interesting in the weeks to come.

I never mentioned this cars purpose. This is a street car build. My weekend warrior. Not a daily driver. Built for reliability, speed, comfort, etc. I dont have a horsepower goal, but I plan to go as high as possible while keeping it street friendly. That said, my last 3 cars had 440+ rwhp and were properly equipped to handle that power.

250+ reviews so far so ...hopefully i get can some good info:

Feel free to offer advice/opinions.

I am shopping for:

-Dual EGT & Wideband - 0-5v so datalogit can do its thing.

-A good "CLEAN" way to install the essential guages.

-Boost controler

-Water/Meth kit. So many to choose from these days.

Back in the day, I had a Greddy ProfecB boost controler and I really liked it. It wasnt a "smart" boost controler. Simple hi/low and a WG speed actuator that you could "tune" with. I heard they are discontinued now, so I have some research to do.

As far as guages, I am thinking of building a custom single din to be mounted under the radio. I have a Nice double din pioneer setup, but I may sell it and go single din just for guages. I like a real "low key" look and would rather not have them on the dash/column/a-pillar. I am also looking into a better way to mount my commander. Unfortunately the cool little Commander holder only works with the 93 dash. Right now, I use a cell phone holder on the center a/c vent and use it to monitor AIT/Water/Injector duty/Boost. I may do a custom mount.

@egt

I've bought my stuff from exhaustgas.com
Exhaust Gas Technologies Inc. - Motorsports Catalog

Currently not installed, but quality of the probes looks good, the company is also well known...
the amplifier gives you a 0-5V output

@lambda

I've used the innovate lm-1 on a ton of cars (sr20, rb25, rb26, m50, m52, m60, 13B NA, 13BT engines...) and never had a problem...

Powered by max dual egt kit..., in my build thread :-)

I saw that. The Package said (i think) 5-18v or something like that. I wasn't planning on installing egt guages. I just want to log them for tuning purposes. Are yours capable of that as well? I know it has to be a 0-5v signal.

That ignition setup caught my eye, glad i didn't already buy a twinpower.



So far this EGT setup is on top of my list. I just couldn't find many people here that tried it.

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...-612960/page6/

starting from #145

if howard starts freaking out, its good enough for me! ;)

just kidding... I will install my probes on thursday, but it will take some time to get my engine back into the car... I can only give you some closeups of the probes/amplifier/packaging... ;)

Check out the gauges from PLX Devices.

I stripped the original motor down to the shortblock to get ready to ship back as a core. I wont have time to open it up and see what happened... Malloy Mazda requires it back with in 30 days and I don't want to risk a 1000 dollar core charge! I got some of the parts transfered over to the new motor. The only part I have left to removed is a plastic fitting that attaches to a water pipe on the block... just under the oil filter adapter. If anybody knows how to remove that fitting, let me know. I tried using fuel line disconnect tool, but it didnt want to come off.

Also, OMP lines. Mine dont have any oil in them. Do they generaly stay full of oil or does gravity make them drain back down when the motor is shut off? I want to make sure its working properly. Is there any point at all in using the upgraded OMP lines?

I picked up some more parts, I will take pictures and update tomorrow!

I ended up going with the product from Exhaust Gas. I will post pics when the kit shows up.

Anybody looking to go with Exhaust Gas kit... Call them first!

They recommended larger probes for more durability with turbo/rotary. They modified he kit and sold it to me for the same price and free shipping too!

locked motor happen lot on rotories?

Most likely an apex seal jammed between the housing and the rotor.

Awesome build man. I love black FDs.

ooooooooops... Just got them trough their online store, calling from europe would have been a little bit expensive! ;)

Any further infos? I've ordered their Stinger probes, which one did you've got?

Not common at all! it is almost unheard of. Most people just lose all compression. Also one of the primary reasons i chose to get a new engine other than rebuilding mine. I can't imagine how deep my seals would have dug into my housings to cause it to lock this bad.


Thanks! I agree, that is likely exactly what happened.

I Think they are the same "stinger" probes, but are a step larger... maybe 1/4" instead of 1/8"

The guy I talked to seemed to know his stuff, so I told him what I have and what i need, he did the rest. He said the probes are super fast/responsive and I should have no trouble getting 3 to 4 years of use out of them....what more could i ask for? He said using full synthetic oil will make them last longer. I -could be wrong- but i think he said something about the sulfer in dino oil degrades the probes at a much higher rate.

When i told him what i need, My requirements were "fast response" and sustained 1600f+ temperatures. He said these are good and accurate to over 2000f.

Looking good, gotta love the black!

More parts..
 

Finally got around to opening some boxes UPS had dropped off last week:



FPR



http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...0726-01108.jpg



Exedy twin disc



http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...0726-01104.jpg



PFC Datalogit


http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...0726-01106.jpg




Fast acting AIT sensor



http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...0726-01107.jpg




Greddy Elbow



http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...0726-01109.jpg




Greddy boost controler



http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...0726-01111.jpg




OEM mudguards (not sure if I will end up using them or not, but I like rare parts)



http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...0726-01112.jpg



Defined Auto V-mount kit



http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...0726-01113.jpg

http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...0726-01114.jpg


http://i635.photobucket.com/albums/u...0726-01115.jpg


Can anbody confirm if that is a Nflo radiator?
I bought this from a local guy who bought it brand new and never installed it. His invoice from Defined Autoworks says he paid an extra 50 bucks for Nflo.
But it looks just like my regular Koyo.

Looking good man. Off to a good start.

Placed my order today for Various gaskets and seals I need to put the motor together...

Still shopping for:

Upgraded engine mounts
Upgraded Diff bushings
BOV
Wideband setup
Fuel lines/fittings


And now the big debate. A new gas station just opened up near work, e-85. I have always wanted to run e85, but never wanted to plan special routes for fuel. I already have 725/2000 injectors..... Now I have to decide pump/meth or e85.

I like this thread, nice little bits