there are three issues with i guess ignition, all of them are hard to quantify, but they can all be problems.

Inductive Cross Fire is the issue with the V8's, which have cylinders that are next to each other physically and in the firing order. if the plug fires 90 degrees too early on a v8, you will eventually need a broom and a bunch of kitty litter
half of Smokey Yunick's book is about this. rule of thumb here is to have the wires separate from each other OR cross at a 90 degree angle. as this cancels the induction field.

the Rotary engine adds a thing called spark leakage, as combustion chamber pressure goes up, the resistance to the plug firing goes up as well. at some point the spark will skip the plug and will leak through the wire/coil/plug boot and go somewhere else. you can route the wires away from other metal stuff, add insulation to the wires, and get spark plug boots that cover the plug etc

the 3rd is RFI, Radio Frequency Interference. this is more of a problem with the other systems in the car, it can throw the ECU off, etc. air planes and corvettes have shielded wires, and the JDM tuners usually have them as well.

if you gave me this car to finish up, i would just play with the wire routing so that the leadings and trailings were separate and call it good.

 

This is great advice guys. I'm no engine builder, just a guy who likes to build things, so please keep the good advise coming. I did plan on 3d printing some wire separators, but wanted to get them bolted down somewhere as well to secure them a bit better. So that's on the list of things to do for sure.

In the mean time I'm trying to get all the physically large items in the bay to see where I have room to route things and where I'll have places to bolt things too. One of the last large items is the final charge pipe. I got smart this time and drew a centerline on the pipe before chopping it up. the 3d printed mock up parts have alignment marks that I can use to clock the pieces.


all welded up.


strut bar fits




I wanted to use the same valve for the BOV that I used for the charge bypass valve, so I got my hands on another turbosmart kompact valve. Mocking it in place

 

Not sure if you guys nerd out about seeing the parts machined, but here's some action shots of making the weld adapter for the BOV.


I love the "topographical" look of a roughing pass.


And of course...oring sealing.


underside contoured to match the pipe curvature.


And welded on


As you could see in the previous pictures I've been playing with the idea of a rotor shaped horn on the BOV, but you guys gotta be honest with me...does it make it look like a duck? haha

 

Exactly this, Eddy Currants and also heat. If they were sheilded however it shouldnt matter? The shielding needs to be grounded for it to work.
Just do a quick google search for EMI RFI ESD EMF cable shielding sleeve
Probably easier to just run them separated.

Example product URLs:
https://www.zippertubing.com/products/flex-shield-hp
https://www.wirecare.com/category/br...lding-sleeving

 

Link ECU finally showed up....kind of. The Fury was on back order so they swapped me over to the xtremex + the CAN wideband controller. all in all it has the same functionality, just 1 more little box to mount and power. I do like the mount that came with the ECU though. It's an extruded aluminum channel that you clip the whole ECU into. Pretty neat


Starting the worst part of any build, the wiring. It's about 100*F in my garage which is not helping. I got the Link premade harnesses which will save a bunch of time, but it's far from plug and play


Other notable actions since the last update:
- added spark plug wire separators
- custom driveshaft from mazdatrix came in, and got installed.
- transmission and read riff were drained, cleaned and refilled with Royal Purple 75w90
- I got my next project...

 

Good deal! - If you have the space to mount the 2nd box for the WBO2 controller, the G4X Xtreme gets you more I/O over the Fury, which you'll find very handy if you plan to run EGT sensors. On my Fury, I'm all tapped out on analog inputs, since I'm running a DBW throttle, OMP and cruise control via DBW.


Wiring isn't all that bad, and that pre-made Link flying lead harness will save you some time. Recommend spending the necessary time to fully document, test & verify every connection of your harness as your building it, because it will save you lots of time & aggravation later!

That looks like a great next project, how do you find the time for them?

 

Yeah, I'm thinking about adding cruise with the extra inputs. My tuner would like EGT sensors, but I just don't know where to put them in the stock cast turbo housing. does each runner need one, or the entry to each turbo? Physically there just isn't a lot of room either.

Agreed on the wiring. You can see my cheat sheet for the pin terminations, but I also have schematics I've made for the actual harness as well as print outs for each sensor and what pin it goes to on the headers. Probably a bit overkill if anything, but good idea on testing each connection as you do it.

As for the time, I just don't have kids and my girlfriend is very supportive of my hobbies.

 

To add DBW cruise control with the Link, you'll need 1 analog input, which covers your cruise system on/off, set/resume & cancel switch functions, plus a digital input for speed sensor input, and digital inputs for the brake & clutch switches. The latter 2 aren't absolutely necessary, but adding them makes it work just like OEM (i.e., self cancels when tapping the brake or clutch). Also the clutch input can come in handy for some of the motorsports features like flat shift if you want to play with that.

For the EGTs, you'll really want a bung on each exhaust manifold runner so you can measure the EGTs of each rotor. That comes in handy for fine tuning the AFRs of each rotor since you can't have a WBO2 to monitor each exhaust runner individually.

 

"Speed of light" had some pics and info about how he added thermocouples to the stock manifold. Might want to search for his posts.

 

here is what I did for EGT. NPT thread in bungs, with 2500 degree sealant (I can’t remember what it’s called but was a metal paste that hardens). This clears the actuators. Don’t forget to cut the heat shields before installing on the car.

 

Looking good. Are you still able to replace the sensors when using that 2500* sealant?

 

Yeah. The sealant is only on the cast manifold and the npt thread of the bungs. The bungs still connect to the sensors with normal compression fittings. Hopefully it holds up. I tapped a little further than I should have in one of the NPT holes, it snugged up ok, but it went in a little easier than usual.

 

hmm...the thought of removing the turbos again is not a pleasant one. They are not fun to get in and out. That said I also have a motor mount right in the way.


But I may have to pull the motor one more time any way. When swapping out the speedo gear in the tranny I sealed up the seam between the tailshaft and the intermediate housing, but not the intermediate housing to the gear housing, and now as i'm ready to fill the trans up i'm worried it's going to leak right there. I suppose there is a slight chance I may not have disturbed the original seal and i'm good, but I'm not usually that lucky of a person. I should probably suck it up and just do it.

In other news, I got a few small projects done. New steering wheel installed. I'm not a huge fan of the stock wheel, nor do I like most aftermarket wheels. The Nardi wheels in miatas however...


If you didn't know any better you'd say it was supposed to be there. People smarter than me probably already know this, but it's not a bolt in operation to install it. The fingers for the turn signal cancel are 90 degrees off on the miata wheel so modifications are "needed". Set up on the mill for milling new slots.


New cutouts to match the stock wheel (left)



Lastly gas pedal mount is done. Came out fairly well. Might make a few more and see if others want them.


Installed


lots of room for the RX8 pedal


Looks like stock, although I should have kept the silver cap that was on the RX8 pedal...



More fun to come!

 

Well, I hear you like to cnc so....

 

Progress continues!

Finally got all the parts pressure tested! 3d printed some caps for the intake


after fixing a few pinhole leaks I got all my parts powder coated as well. Swirl tank is done. I even added a few more bungs for the coolant level sensor as well as the EWP sensor. I also got around to rounding off all the radiator and intercooler mounting bracket corners and powder coated.


oil relocation pedestal coated with sensors installed.


I also never showed the bypass adapter that I machined.


Hopefully the last time everything is torn apart. Went thru and tightened all the coolant and fuel fittings. It's starting to looks good!


Exhaust is also done!


Wiring adventures also continue. Everything inside the engine bay is pretty much wired. Things like this are the reason it takes me forever. It's not enough to splice wires together, I have to tear everything apart and re-pin everything so there's aren't splices. Case and point, a simple fuse holder into the ignition relay...


I also have a small OCD about wire retention. Like these cool 3d printed harness holders that keep the harness near the firewall and away from hot things. These are just PLA, I'll print the real ones out of ABS if i end up using them.



Still a good amount of work to do, but the list is getting smaller.
- finish 1 oil cooler line
- plumb power steering cooler
- Make AC lines
- make Rad and intercooler sheet metal ducting
- finish all the interior wiring like the E-pedal and wheel speed sensors.
- finish vacuum system plumbing

 

this summer cruised past, but we're almost there. Got the vacuum system finished up. The IUM is super close to the firewall, so I made these custom 90 degree adapters for the vac line.






Still a bit of a rats nest, but cleaner than the stock one for sure. The vacuum reservoir chamber is a repurposed oil catch can.




Up next was to address the last remaining oil line. I don't like the idea of the oil thermostat just dangling by the lines so I made a custom mount for it using the original radiator mounts.




There's 2 ears that have plastic bushings in them (not pictured) that hold onto the thermostat. This allows it to rotate a bit as the engine moves around.


I also mounted the power steering cooler to that cross member. I bought this finned cooler thinking it would work well, but I hated it.


Ended up just modifying the stock loop a bit. I'm still not in love with it, but at least I don't have to look at it...

 

couple other odds and ends done too. Finally powder coated the FPR bracket


and as part of the wiring and vacuum install, got the GM 3bar map sensor mounted


and speaking of wiring....we're so close. The main harness is installed hopefully for the last time.





I'd say the list is getting smaller, but I'm always remembering things that still need to be done.
- finish 1 oil cooler line
- plumb power steering cooler
- Make AC lines
- make Rad and intercooler sheet metal ducting
- finish all the interior wiring like the E-pedal and wheel speed sensors.
- finish vacuum system plumbing
- finish oil fill neck
- wire EWP

 

One of my favorite threads to follow! Love all the custom work.... it's getting closer....can't wait to see it fire up!

Steve

 

This is the greatest thread. Love all your custom fabrication!

 

thanks for the kind words! I'm also getting impatient to fire it up.

Not much exciting to show, but I've got the ECU 95% wired. Still need to finish wiring the wheel speed sensors, ethanol sensor, and cruise control buttons, but it's far enough along that I've started playing around with the ECU set-up. Having almost no experience with standalones, short of some microtechs about 10 years ago, the ECU is surprisingly intuitive.


I've got all the sensors reading right, DBW working, and the CAN lamba sensor all set up. Fuel pump is working and with no leaks in the entire system! I even have the OMP working. And probably the most important thing, I reached out to my tuner to get on the schedule to start getting a base map started.

More to come, so stay tuned!

 

It runs!!

I got all the little things buttoned up that were stopping me from trying to start it. EWP is wired (more to come on that later), Timing is set per the link manual, injectors and ignition outputs checked, fluids filled and primed, and base maps (many thanks to Pete_89T2) are in. Before I get to the saga of starting it, a little eye candy first. Powder coating the UIM was also one of the last pieces of the puzzle. I ended up buying an electric oven just got get it done, but at least I have that capability myself now. After coating I threw it on the mill and machined the "3 Rotor" raw. Came out pretty good, but much to my surprise, the main chamber of the manifold is NOT parallel to the mounting flange. There's a good .75" height difference from front to back. Made it a little challenging to machine, but I think it came out great.






this is it, the almost-final arrangement. Still need to do the intercooler and rad ducting, but that's not going to change much



So, as I mentioned I did get it running. Cranked it over for about 2 seconds and it fired right up.....and then kept going....and going and going. I shut it off immediately, but the log showed it went to about 4000RPM before I cut it. As I also mentioned I got a good base map from Pete who, I can only assume is NOT using a DBW set-up, and is using the idle control valve. Turns out when using DBW, the ECU still looks at the idle valve % and uses that as a TPS target. Needless to say the 35% control that was on the idle control valve cracked my throttle open 35%. A good learning opportunity for myself that scared the bejesus out of me.

Then the other issues started. I got the idle down to 2000 RPM, and I think i know how to get it down farther, but while sitting there burning off all the assembly oil my 10A EWP fuse popped....the engine got a little toasty, but not what I would consider overheating. Still not ideal for a brand new engine. Got that addressed and then my battery started randomly just stopped outputting power. Verified by measuring the voltage at the battery with the main breaker off. So I may have gotten a bad battery with my relocation kit. I've got it on the (special) charger now, and hoping that a full charge will fix it. TBD....

 

Congrats!
Such a unique build

 

Gotta feel so good after all that hard work!
Keep it up.... Pics are great but we want videos too

Steve

 

I will absolutely get videos...eventually. The good feelings were short lived. Not sure what's going on with the EWP set-up, but it's caused the motor to get hot twice so far. It's the davis craig controller and pump, which everyone seems to like, but it seems that the pump's duty cylce is too low, and allows local heating of the coolant by the spark plugs. Unfortunately, you don't know that because the pump doesn't cycle enough to get the hot coolant near the sensor. As a result I am getting very sudden spikes in the coolant temperature. I think for safeties sake I may switch back to the 'ol reliable belt driven pump to get me up and running, and maybe revisit the EWP later on.

The good news in all of this, is that I happen to have both FC and FD water pump housings on hand already. Seems that the FC housing is a better fit overall, and is not an uncommon thing to run on a 20B. As much as I hate it....this may be where I'm headed:

 

How have you plumbed the thermostat, thermostat bypass and EWP sensor? I tried to find in the thread, but couldn't quite see.

The warmup algorithm on the controller gives little spurts during the warmup phase. As a result, if you block up the thermostat bypass and have a sensor at the front of the engine, it won't see increases in engine temp until the pump is flowing coolant at a steady rate through the block. This will be even more pronounced on a 20B as the rear rotor is further away from the sensor at the front.

When the sensor finally picks up the coolant temp has increased, the pump will immediately kick in, causing a rapid cooldown. These rapid temp fluctuates are not ideal.

The EWP150 is more than capable of handling the requirements of a 20B at full speed. The issue is with the way coolant circulates if you don't have a bypass setup.

The solution is to use a thermostat and plumb a bypass line so the coolant circulates through the block until it reaches operating temperature. I have written extensively on this in this forum and can dig up the old topic if need be.