The "Am I crazy," build. Or, a group project.
 

I've debated whether I'm going to post this here or not. The fact your reading this will tell you where I ended up in that decision.

I'm quite possibly well over my head here, so my intent is to lean on the community as much as possible. This is to be a learning experience for everyone, especially myself, as well has to have a little fun. This isn't meant to cut corners, but in the vein of @rdahm I think it's safe to say that things don't need to be exceptionally expensive, complicated, convoluted or otherwise to do something like this.

That said, I've done a thing...

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...99600f3772.jpg

I am very much early days here. I still have parts to acquire. I still have the overall plan to...plan. I have an idea of what I want to do, but how feasible it will be to get there is TBD. It's taken me 10 years just to get to this point, so unlike the above mention (though I don't know exactly how long it took from concept to a first drive), and more like other threads similar to this one, this is going to take a long time.

Logistically, this is a huge PITA as I am still in the UK while the car and parts are in Chicagoland. I may start making some videos of the journey, and I have other locations where I'm documenting my thought processes, plans, as well as working with some locals on getting various things done; fabrication and the like.

There are many here that are far more experienced than I in this regard, and given the community that this is, there will be a few that I will be targeting for a brain pick. What I don't want this to become is why this and wtf that, unless it's constructive criticism which is to say if you want to pick apart something, you'd better explain why and give alternatives. It's a learning experience, not a soapbox platform. I'm happy to be corrected in stupid decision making.

That said, initial plans are as follows:

• Side port setup.
• I've already acquired and have had initial work done on a 12A and 2x REW center irons. Ports are still stock for now. This is all Jeff Bruce stuff.
• Have acquired 4x REW housings. Also stock ports.
• Still need the front and rear irons. Leaning towards S5 as IIRC, the ports initially better match to the 12A in terms of secondary port flow.
• Will be dry sump
• Forced induction method TBD
• Transmission TBD
• Rear end probably will stay stock with some more than average bracing.

Some of my initial discussions have revolved around what I'm doing with the subframe, ECU, front cover (buy or mod for dry sump) and the like.

So...don't expect weekly updates to this thread. I wouldn't even expect monthly updates. Work will progress as and when it can. I am taking advantage of the exchange rate as the GBP-NZD is about 2:1, which is great. GBP-USD is near pre-Brexit vote levels and a good 30% advantage, not to mention labor costs and the like are far better than what I've seen being offered here in the UK. You wouldn't believe what I've been quoted for an e-shaft over here.

So...I'm looking forward to stepping back into this world as I've been very inactive for a long time. I'm particularly looking forward to having some behind the scenes conversations when the time comes to those that have gone down this road already and get their insight. I don't want to reinvent the wheel here, but there may still be some room to do slightly different things.

Out of pure interest, how much did that e-shaft set you back?

The shaft itself was $5,360 NZD.

Definitely gonna be following this build!! 👍👍

To answer the question, you're crazy :).

Good luck! :)

Dale

Is this going into the VR?

This is gonna be crazy cool :icon_tup:

‘Tis. Can’t believe I’ve had that thing for nearly 20 years!

I’m hoping to do as little as possible/only what’s necessary to the chassis overall to get this to fit well. Don’t want to compromise things so trying to think outside the box a bit. Difficult not being next to it.

:popcorn:

Awesome, subscribed

Hell yeah! thankfully i think there are more resources out there to cut through the unknowns. It still a daunting challenge but ill help as needed. At least as advice not to follow haha

+1. Hope you can do it

I think the last time I saw it was 10 years ago. You'll have to let me know when you are back in town so I can come check it out, I'll even help wrench on it :nod:

So...

Who here has done some real research into electric turbo/superchargers? And real ones. Like:

https://duryeatechnologies.com/
https://www.aeristech.co.uk/products/esuperchargers/
https://www.garrettmotion.com/electr...rid%20-%20Home

Garrett's is more of a hybrid approach, and while I appreciate the advantage here, it may be more simple to just have an all electric compressor and forget the turbine side.

Now, while these don't seem to have the correct sizing required, with whatever products are out there [to the end user] it would seem somewhat trivial to retrofit a properly sized compressor. In addition, some require 48v. It would also seem somewhat trivial to retrofit a 48v battery, very trivial to split out 12v for "legacy" stuff (everything else) and maybe less trivial to find something suitable to charge the battery. The power required shouldn't be all that great, so hopefully it wouldn't be a big challenge to find an appropriate alternator and associated electronics that are up to the task. This aspect could be skipped in favor of the Garrett solution, but that just potentially adds more complication to it.

I'm going down this road for a few reasons.

1) I'm not looking for a ton of power. Don't need it. That is to say, maybe 700 at the absolute top end. That means I don't need that much boost.
2) As this is greenfield, why not look at current/emerging technology? While one aspect will be greatly simplified (exhaust setup), another does potentially become a little more complicated. But I like innovation. So do you.
3) Said tech has the potential for much improved drivability. Near instant boost. In theory, a properly sized setup will still give enough boost/torque at the extreme low end and hold it all the way to whatever redline is determined.

I'm still on the hunt for a front and rear iron. And still deciding on the port work.

Makes no sense on a rotary. There is tons of exhaust available to spool your a turbo.

We’re not doing blanket no’s in this thread.

What is blanket nos?

By that I mean the goal here isn't to shut down an idea simply for the fact that "this is how it's always been." If there's a legitimate reason why something will not work, then fine. But let's avoid the negative responses without factual evidence.

Hmmm...I thought we could edit posts...that's still not a thing? So...serial post we go.

Having dug a little deeper, the technology is such that it makes sense to have it as a "booster" for my goal, not as the primary power maker. A custom setup would still be feasible, but I simply don't have the facilities to do it. So back to the tried and true I suppose. Now to find just the right one...