82transam

iTrader: (18)

Hey if it gets into all gears smoothly then that's all you can ask for

need-a-t2

iTrader: (9)

Back for more fun. With the transmission mostly squared away, I decide to focus on the oil pan. I wasn't a huge fan of the idea of chopping up the stock 20B oil pan. For the amount of work I'd rather just make a custom pan, so lets do that. The first thing I did was 3D scan the subframe as well as the underside of the engine and make a CAD model that I could design the pan from. This would be from the underside looking up. You'll notice I didn't scan the steering rack....this was a mistake....


Added the oil pan in and added cutouts for the oil pick up tube, front pressure reg, and oil dip stick This is looking down from on top of the engine:


Ordered some laser cut parts to make my life a little easier. The base flange is .188" thick steel! should be nice and sturdy. The rest is .058" steel. Overkill for sure, but I'm always paranoid of punctures in custom pans like this.

The first course of action is to make sure the base flange actually fits, and all the bolt holes line up. Thankfully it did, but I did have to cut a bit off by the passengers side motor mount. Not a big deal.


I don't know how people worked on things before 3D printing. I've heard of people using 3d prints as sheet metal forms before, so I decided to give it a try and I'm speechless how well it worked.


squish


Over side


Mocked in place on the base flange


The top piece was a bit more challenging to bend. My poor harbor freight brake did it's best, and it actually worked fairly well.


All tacked in place

need-a-t2

iTrader: (9)

and onto the engine it goes for test fitting in the engine bay.




The good news is that the pan will fit in the subframe opening quite well wit the engine in the correct location


The bad news is that I didn't account for the steering rack in my CAD model, so I get to fix this one the old fashioned way. On the drivers side the actual rack mount was in the way, so That needed to be clearanced.


The passengers side needs quite a bit more work. The whole thing is resting on top of the steering rack, and has to get chopped to fit around it.


to be continued....

estevan62274

iTrader: (32)

Nice work!
Love following the build!!

Yes the steering rack is a booger when doing the 3rotor
and what really hurts is the oil pick tube mounts on the front cover which in turn steals more space for mounting the engine lower.
But I see yours is tucked back which helps

Steve

need-a-t2

iTrader: (9)

thanks!

yeah, it's going to be a tight fit around the pick up tube! The low spot is right over the rack. Worst case I figure I can rework the pickup tube. I'm not sure why it has that funny dip in it any ways.

need-a-t2

iTrader: (9)

holiday update. I haven't gotten as much done as I'd like, but that's what happens around the holidays. The oil pan has been thru a few iterations, but I think I've finally gotten something that works.

The front of the pan went thru the most changes and just barely clears the steering rack and oil pickup tube now.


I had a spare FD oil pan kick around so I decided to add the level sensor. I hopped it out of the FD pan, and chucked it up in the lathe to make a nice round surface to mount too. Here's before the lathe work:


And installed in the pan. I'll be taking no questions on the quality of the interior welds, but it is water tight....


I ordered some flappy rubber doors to make some baffle plates for the pickup tube, but they haven't showed up yet so on to other projects. Like the intake system. I've decided to go DBW for this set-up and got a good deal on a GM 90mm throttle body. Full function engineering offers an adapter for a reasonable price, but for $40 I can make my own and I know 100% that it'll clear the throttle plate as it opens. So I fired up my 3D printer and got a design that worked. Off to the CNC mill!


Hidden inside, the adapter starts to emerge:


I needed a little hand sanding on the inside to bend some tool marks, but here she is next to the 3D printed mock-up:


I also added oring grooves, as I much prefer them to gaskets:


and backside. You can see some of the spots that needed hand sanding in this picture.

need-a-t2

iTrader: (9)

I also finished the trans mount, which means the engine is in with no jacks or stands under it for the first time ever! When I bought the car it came with a Banzai transmission crossmember, so that seemed like a good place to start. I ended up trimming it down a little and making a plate and spacer that bolts onto the stock T2 trans crossmember and a little powder coat later and volaa... The "attack" angle of the trans relative to the rear diff is within .5 degree, but if I need to change it, I just swap out the spacer either here or at the rear diff.




After that I'm back to the intake. As mentioned i'm not a huge fan of gaskets, so i'm adding orings to the LIM. Given how rare these manifolds are now days, this was a fairly nerve-racking moment. And yes, those are welding clamps....


but it turned out well

82transam

iTrader: (18)

Great progress as usual. O-rings on the intake would make removal much easier since you don't have a gasket to tear everytime lol.

Wish I knew you were looking to go DBW, I have the GM TB and FFE adaptor (to FD UIM) that I am no longer using...

TwinCharged RX7

iTrader: (14)

Looks fantastic

need-a-t2

iTrader: (9)

Thanks guys.
Yeah, as long as I don't drop an oring down the intake it'll be good. haha. If i'm honest, I like my adapter better than the FFE one. It's much more "organic" shape and makes the transition from 1 round opening to 2 smaller ones a bit smoother.

Also, while the LIM was on the mill, this needed to happen. The rectangular flange just looked weird once the IUM was installed. This looks much better IMO. It follows the gasket shape, and its just slightly larger in the event I ever wanted to use the factory gasket again. I need to find a good local place for powder coating now...

need-a-t2

iTrader: (9)

So much better. a keen eye will also notice that all the vac ports have been drilled and tapped so I can either plug them, or have options for easy installation of different angled nipples. Of course now those casting nubs on the IUM are bothering me....


It's always an exciting time when you get to start mocking things in place and seeing how it'll look. I still need to pull the engine once more to finish welding/sealing the firewall and do the final install on the oil pan, but everything is looking fairly promising. The stock 20B oil filler neck even gives good clearance around the throttle body. I may chop it down so it's not quite so tall, but we'll see.

need-a-t2

iTrader: (9)

Oil pan is pretty much done. I need to do one last test fit before paint or powder coat and doing the final install with gasket sealant. I ended up making a baffle plate for the intake. I started off by 3D printing a drill template so all I would have to do is take the angle grinder and cut between the drill holes.


and when that failed horribly I ended up just machining the slots on the manual mill. Remember folks, it's ok to fail sometimes.


That part was then bent up and welded into the oil pan


Then came the part I was not looking forward too. Welding on the base flange. For anyone that has done any type of welding before, you'll know the struggle of trying to keep a flat surface flat while welding. I kept the "tub" components tacked to the base flange while I welded them in an attempt to keep them straight, but it never really works with thin sheet metal. So this was my half-arsed attempt to keep the flange flat. I used every clamp I had, and then went out and bought more...


It kind of worked, and was certainly better than doing nothing at all, but the end result was shaped a bit like a pringles chip. It was out of flat by around .050". While I'm sure that would seal up fine with enough sealant, we can do better than that, so I put the whole thing on my hydraulic press and gave it a good squish. The low corners are supported and I tried to press on the flange at just the high ones.


That worked, but trying to get it perfectly flat is an exercise in futility. It's flat within .020" all the way around which I'm sure is good enough. IT was measured by sliding thickness gauges under the plate while on a calibrated surface plate.


Next task is welding up the fire wall on the chassis, which is sure to be fun given that there is nearly no room to work, and the sheetmetal is super thin! Stay tuned!

estevan62274

iTrader: (32)

Love the work you’re doing. Keep it up


Steve

need-a-t2

iTrader: (9)

thanks for the encouragement! Finding motivation to go out in the cold is hard sometimes, but I try to do at least 1 thing a day to make some incremental progress. Yesterday's incremental progress was getting the throttle body ready for powder coat. I've always liked those oring couplers that all the cool kids run on intercooler piping so I decided to adapt the TB to accept one of those couplers. It started out with a very sketchy setup on the lathe to machine the outside of the TB to accept the coupler. I could only get 3 jaws on the part, so just ran it as a super slow speed. Yes, I'm aware that drive belt is not long for this world.


But a 4" coupler fits like a glove. The TB even has nice little stops to butt it up against.


and then I just welded it on. Now mind you I'm not a great welder, and cast aluminum is a bit tricky for me, so the grinder helped out a lot on this one. Shouldn't be too ugly once the powder coat is on.



Also if you've never seen inside a DBW TB, it's stupid simple. There's a small gear set powered by a DC motor. There's an encoder that's integrated into the plastic cover, that's coupled to the butterfly plate shaft . Neat...

gracer7-rx7

iTrader: (16)

Won't powder coating interfere with the tolerances?
Why not vapor blast it or anodize it instead?

need-a-t2

iTrader: (9)

I'll have to mask a lot of surfaces, like the inside where the butterfly plate goes, the oring groove, etc.... My preference is to powder coat. I don't have vapor blasting equipment, nor do I know any local places that do it, and anodizing cast aluminum never works out well. Especially cast that's been welded on. So if I have to go thru the effort of masking everything off, I might as well get a more durable finish than paint.

Pete_89T2

iTrader: (4)

For vapor blasting/honing, you might want to contact JP3 Motorsports to see if they can do your TB parts for you. https://jp3motorsports.com/

They offer a full restoration service for the stock FD TB's, and part of that process involves vapor blasting/honing the parts. You'll still have to ship parts, but they aren't too far away, and maybe they can do what you need for a fair price?

need-a-t2

iTrader: (9)

thanks for the info. I'll have to look into it.

need-a-t2

iTrader: (9)

i've been pretty bad about taking pictures of things, but work is progressing. Most notably the firewall is all welded up! It needs some seam sealer and paint and the engine can go back in for good! For the time being though, the engine is in, the oil pan fits finally, and I've started looking at how everything else is going to fit in the engine bay. Moving the engine back has had it's consequences, the latest of which is the secondary turbo inlet pipe. Even after trimming it down it's a VERY tight fit, but it does fit. The heater lines are right in the way as well.


However, chopping off the top of the tube would be a fairly large reduction in area and may choke the turbo a bit. I decided it was worth while to try and add a bit more cross sectional area to regain some of that area. I started by 3D scanning the modified tube and reverse engineering the area the tube originally had


I could then model up a little bubble that would give me approximately the same cross sectional area in the area trimmed.


It's a pretty weird shape, so I thought this might be another good use for the 3D printer, printed some forms and pressed some thin Al sheet in in. It actually worked better than I was expecting


Then welded it all up. I'd apologize for the welds as usual, but this time I'm actually fairly proud of myself. Not only is welding cast aluminum a bit difficult, but the cover plates were only .03" thick and welding that to castings that were over 1/8" thick I did fairly well I think. I'm certainly getting more comfortable welding thin Al.


All better. It's still a VERY tight fit, and getting it into place with the heater core in place is nearly impossible, but it fits....Note the cutout added for the heater core line as well.



And speaking of getting things to fit....the rear turbo interfered with the xcessive LIM so modifications were necessary to both pieces. Might even have room for a heat sheild in there.


While the engine is still in, I mocked up the radiator and intercooler that came with the car. Not sure I'll be able to use either. Pretty much no room for the crank pulleys. Oh, also the turbo outlet pipe is too tall, but overall it's not looking too bad.

need-a-t2

iTrader: (9)

Slowly making progress. Firewall is all sealed up and painted. It's not pretty, but it's water tight for sure. seam sealed every seam inside and out and epoxy primed and painted over it.


inside


Before I put the engine back in, I figured it would be a good time to address this mess. It's been leaking for years I'm sure.


As i'm sure most people are aware, rebuild kits are hard to find and expensive. So I opted to go with a Mazda 929 1" bore master cylinder and a new Mazda 626 fluid reservoir. Its pretty much a bolt on replacement. Cleaned up the booster and bracket and it's much better looking now

need-a-t2

iTrader: (9)

No good progress made short of a few little things, like adapting a few hard lines to AN fittings. I've not done much brazing, but I machined counterbore on the inside of a steel AN fitting to just barely fit over the hard line used a nickel based braze to join them together. A bit like sweating copper joints but a lot hoter.


Little powder coat later and it looks pretty OEM+. Not sure I'm a huge fan of the "desert" black texture, but this was good part to test it on.



So I'd like to talk intercoolers if y'all have opinions. I have the SMIC shown above that I think for my intentions (400hp ish) would be sized fine, but the more research I do the more the more I'm torn if I want to go with a v-mount.
SMIC pro's:

• I have it already and the ducting is all set for it
• shorter intake charge volume?
• Don't have to relocate the radiator

SMIC con's:

• both the intercooler and the crossmember it sits on are VERY close to the front pulley bolt
• I'll still need to modify the intercooler core for the new piping

Vmount Pro's:

• will create a lot more clearance for the front pulley bolt. Might also free up some space for the electric water pump
• Will be all custom made so I can size it however I like
• am able to use a non-OEM radiator size.

Vmount Cons:

• more expensive
• Lot more work for this and the radiator.
• I think to get the best benefits from a Vmount a vented hood is needed, and that's not something I'm interested in.
• maybe slightly larger charge volume, but likely negligible.

thoughts?

gracer7-rx7

iTrader: (16)

Vmount has worked extremely well for me without a vented hood and even without any significant ducting. It has been rather surprising how well it works. Both the rad and ic having direct exposure to incoming air seems to help cooling significantly.

The pipe length of a vmount setup is similar to a stock mount so that nets out.

The radiator is work to revise but doable for someone with your skills.

On my old setup, Speed of light re-purposed my M2 Large SMIC and set it up as a vmount. Repurposed the Koyo rad as well. Your ic looks like it might be a medium. Not sure if you plan on staying with that size core or going bigger.

Of course, you could hit the easy button and order a Greddy vmount kit instead of DIY.

estevan62274

iTrader: (32)

V-Mount is my vote.
Even my cheap Rotary Works v-mount kit has worked great for my single turbo setup here in the Florida summer heat for the last 6yrs

Steve

need-a-t2

iTrader: (9)

thanks for the replies. I considered just buying the greddy kit but considering that I'll need to modify the piping and the radiator anyways, seemed like a lot to spend on a non bolt-in solution. Ideally I could just find the intercooler core and mounts for the intercooler and work from that, but it doesn't seem that difficult to make my own core if need be.

In other news...turbos are in and everything fits. I even got the factory heat shields to fit. I need to get spending some cash on the fuel system now. what are all the cool kids running for in tank pumps now days? I see the Bosch 044 is no longer available which is what use to be the go-to for a pump.

need-a-t2

iTrader: (9)

Making slow progress


Decided to use the old TB coolant nipple on the rear housing as the main turbo coolant supply. My plan is to run the return directly to the radiator.


The rear turbo inlet pipe ended up coming out well, but man is it tight to the firewall and the heater core line. I'm a little afraid it may hit the firewall as the engine bounces around a bit on the motor mounts.


Same concern with the turbo control valve....I could likely shift the engine over a little to help this, but the engine is centered well now between the frame rails. Might be a good idea anyways. I think the REW engine is slightly offset in the engine bay as well from the factory.


Interior is going back in too! I put down some dynomat and replaces all the jute in the carpet as well.


Started looking at the fuel system as well. I'm planning on running ID1050s. Fuel rail is pretty close to the heater core hardline


Will likely have to cut up the hard line and put a joggle right by the rear fuel rail fitting


I'm also just going to run all the injectors in the LIM so I've started working on a solution to block the primary injector ports in the irons.