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Xavier Borg, who is the developer of FC-Tweak, discovered a few things about the stock FD ignition. The FD actually has VERY powerful coils, they have to be on a rotary engine. But, the ancient 80's technology of the igniter the FD comes with is holding it back. So, he developed a modern igniter for the FD with modern components and a large heat sink. It's called the FD-IGN-10XB.
So I got one of the first 10xb's, when I heard what he was doing I was immediately in line. It will also allow me to remove the HKS Twinpower which is no longer needed with the setup.
Here it is next to the stock igniter.
I discovered that the cruise control bracket interferes with the 10xb, Xavier now knows about this and I think he will revise the heat sink in newer versions. This is ONLY on LHD cars with cruise which is a configuration he wasn't able to test when developing it.
The good thing is the fit is VERY close, only needed to remove about 3mm from the cruise bracket. Before -
Modded cruise bracket, about 5 minutes with the Dremel and some back and forth to test the fit. The bottom edge is what I was taking off under the rubber grommet -
After with the igniter in the car -
I need to pull that bracket and re-paint it since it now has a raw metal edge that can rust.
Next the PFC needs to be set up for the 10xb. FC-Tweak now has an auto setting where you just specify that you have it and it sets up the map appropriately. He also has in the instructions what settings to make in FC-Edit to do it manually as well.
With the map tweaked I went out for a test, Unfortunately I'm getting misfires and issues. Emailing with Xavier it's likely either a grounding issue or my ancient coils aren't up to the task, most likely the latter. The coils need to be in top shape for the 10xb to work well. Also the Twin Power can hide dying coils so it's possible mine have been dying for some time and I didn't realize it. I have a set of low mileage JDM coils in the attic stash but I need to find time to pull the UIM, pull the coils, and do some bench testing to see what's going on.
I'm confident that I can get this new setup to be awesome, but to be on the safe side the twin power and old igniter aren't going anywhere just yet
Dale
I too am excited for the ignitor. If I were staying on the Power FC/stock twins I think his product is the right choice. I dont know that it will function well on a Haltech or anything outside of the Power FC. Please keep everyone updated on the new igniter though, I would like for him to offer them to the Rx7club members since a lot are still power FC.
There's no reason this setup wouldn't work well on a Haltech. There may be some settings to optimize spark with the 10xb and a Haltech but that's no big deal.
I'm just not a fan of the IGN1a setups, too many of them seem to have flaky problems. Ignition is something I want rock solid and I don't have to mess with or worry about. Yes, I'm having issues with this setup but I think that's me using this new igniter on 130,000 mile stock coils, it's bringing out the weakness in them.
There's no reason this setup wouldn't work well on a Haltech. There may be some settings to optimize spark with the 10xb and a Haltech but that's no big deal.
I'm just not a fan of the IGN1a setups, too many of them seem to have flaky problems. Ignition is something I want rock solid and I don't have to mess with or worry about. Yes, I'm having issues with this setup but I think that's me using this new igniter on 130,000 mile stock coils, it's bringing out the weakness in them.
Dale
Dale, I'd agree your coils are probably just worn out - try some fresher coils and see how that pans out before going the aftermarket coil route.
My $0.02 on the IGN1A setups is that probably 99% of the time the failures can be traced to one of two primary causes: (1) Shortcuts taken with the wiring and/or failing to explicitly follow IGN1A coil wiring directions, and (2) Lots of crappy made in who-knows-where IGN1A counterfeit coils flooding the market. On item #1, it is especially critical that you follow the directions for grounding the coils properly - there are 3 grounds; a signal ground for the TTL coil trigger signal; a high current battery ground for the +12VDC power input, and a cylinder head, or in our case housing ground. The housing ground provides a ground path for the secondary/discharge side of the coil. A lot of guys will combine the power & discharge side grounds together, and sometimes run into issues with it.
Other causes of IGN1A failures sometimes stems from poor mounting locations of the coils (i.e., stuck in places where they heat soak and/or see more vibration, like under the UIM), or in having your ECU command way too much dwell in the tune, which can cause you to cook the coils when running sustained high RPMs and/or higher voltages (>14.5).
The ignitor looks nice, kinda steep though at 725 dollaz. And I thought the RMagic one was pricey, lol. How does this negate the need for the Twin Power? Why not just have both?
The ignitor looks nice, kinda steep though at 725 dollaz. And I thought the RMagic one was pricey, lol. How does this negate the need for the Twin Power? Why not just have both?
The new igniter basically modernizes the old one. The HKS was simply a plasma booster if I recall correctly. It has better technology inside and by comparison blows away the RMagic one. Not trying to sell @Xavier Borg product for him, but its worth every penny.
The new igniter basically modernizes the old one. The HKS was simply a plasma booster if I recall correctly. It has better technology inside and by comparison blows away the RMagic one. Not trying to sell @Xavier Borg product for him, but its worth every penny.
Originally Posted by DaleClark
There's no reason this setup wouldn't work well on a Haltech. There may be some settings to optimize spark with the 10xb and a Haltech but that's no big deal.
I'm just not a fan of the IGN1a setups, too many of them seem to have flaky problems. Ignition is something I want rock solid and I don't have to mess with or worry about. Yes, I'm having issues with this setup but I think that's me using this new igniter on 130,000 mile stock coils, it's bringing out the weakness in them.
Dale
Xavier is extremely smart with everything he has accomplished. I will have to research a little more on Wasted spark vs direct fire for higher HP applications and probably speak with Xavier about it directly.
^Thanks Steve! I've been meaning to dig up a picture with the stripes to post up. I'll have to get a picture from the front, I have one of me and Phil Parker on the Dragon for the first time in 2010 on the wall of my garage.
The stripes were from the mind of @Carlos Iglesias , I actually had some really good straight on pictures of his car from '96 or so that I took to the vinyl shop and said "do this". Vinyl guy about killed himself doing that job!
Very cool project you got going here Dale. Can't wait to see fresh black paint! On the mechanical side, I love xavier's software, I have and frequently use fc tweak pro, Nothing short of amazing what he's done to advance the powerFC platform. But this igniter module has me scratching my head. My @DriftinJim ign1a kit ran by my powerFC hasn't missed a beat, has good bracket placement, was cheap, strong energy sent to the plugs and last but not least gets the coils out from under the uim away from the heat. Just give them a good ground and install them properly...
Very cool project you got going here Dale. Can't wait to see fresh black paint! On the mechanical side, I love xavier's software, I have and frequently use fc tweak pro, Nothing short of amazing what he's done to advance the powerFC platform. But this igniter module has me scratching my head. My @DriftinJim ign1a kit ran by my powerFC hasn't missed a beat, has good bracket placement, was cheap, strong energy sent to the plugs and last but not least gets the coils out from under the uim away from the heat. Just give them a good ground and install them properly...
I think that is a good option too. I think he has one of the best IGN1a kits going. BTW, let's just say I know DriftinJim well (I was best man at his wedding )
Really I like the concept of the 10xb a lot better and I think it will match or out perform an IGN1a setup with no additional wiring or having to relocate coils. At the end of the day it's a close call as to which is the way to go and I just like the 10xb setup better.
So, life has gotten hectic since I started this whole thing. First, got a new job, which is doing great. New job is 100% work from home. We also got new carpet in the bedrooms in the house. The crap computer desk I've had for 15 years that was particle board wasn't gonna get moved back into the study if I had my say about it.
I've been wanting to build a new desk for quite some time and this was the "time to do it" moment. Carpet guys hauled off the old desk in pieces and I made an awesome new desk, all built from scratch, and now since I'm spending 8 hours a day at it I'm super glad I did.
Then my wife wanted me to make a pull-out pantry in the kitchen, and I also was rebuilding @suzukisteve 's engine....it's been busy .
All that said, I finally did some work on the damn car yesterday. Yay!
- Broke down the front end of the car. Removed the fender liners, belly pan, front bumper, and front fenders. Fenders have holes for JDM side markers and I'm back tracking on that, I'm over them and I think they clutter up the front of the car a bit. I have had in the attic a set of clean and straight US fenders from a friend's car (Thanks Nick!), they bolted right up and are straight and in great shape.
- Started removing the JDM side skirts. Ages ago I got a set of real deal '99 side skirts. I do like how they look, but they have a lot of caveats. First, they are HEAVY, they are solid foam rubber, one side is 5.5 pounds so you're adding 11 pounds to the car. Second, they were originally molded with the appropriate color from the factory. Want to change color? Get a used set where the coating is cracked and looks sorry? Tough. They DON"T take paint well at ALL since they are so soft and squishy. I've had them painted in the past and it just cracked. Plasti-Dip did OK on them and was flexible enough but I'm going paint. Anyhow, one side came off just fine, they are held on with some bolts going into rivnuts in the car body and a ton of glue and double-sided tape, yes that's how Mazda designed them. The passenger side is off but 2 of the rivnuts on the driver's side are spinning in the body and I didn't feel like dealing with that yesterday .
- Trying to figure out a front bumper. My stock '94 bumper is in decent shape. For some reason it doesn't fit super great around the headlight on the passenger side but that's about it. It's not wavy or anything. The paint on it is DONE so it will need some serious sanding, primer, etc. to get happy again. A 99 spec front bumper would IMHO be awesome but BOY those aren't cheap. I also have a pretty cool OG Knightsports front bumper that I got for cheap but there's some pros and cons there. More on that later.
So, where are we at, what needs to be done before body shop time?
- Fenders are good, I'm going to order new bolts and try and get them to fit 100%.
- Finish removing the rest of the dip on the car.
- Align the front end so the panel gaps are money.
- Figure out front bumper and side skirts.
- Save up moneys and pick a paint shop
Getting started, the RX-8 daily in the background says "Hi!"
Front end disassembled:
Pile O' Parts -
Another view -
New US fenders lightly bolted up with Knightsports front bumper mocked up. Note the turn signals are just sitting in there, they aren't correctly in place. -
Another shot of the Knightsports bumper -
Bumper again -
Passenger side skirt removed. You can see all the glue and tape residue -
OK, so here's where I'd like to hear some ideas from you guys.
On the bumper, pros and cons:
STOCK BUMPER
PRO: looks good, in good shape, I already have it, bumper bar works with it, bolts up good.
CONS: Could be something more different, fit around passenger headlight is weird for some reason.
KNIGHTSPORTS BUMPER
PRO: Neat looking, OG for sure, I already have it, seems to fit well.
CONS: Has 4 giant fog lights that would all need to be replaced and I don't really need that much fog light. Does need some minor body work done to it. Will need to hack up the bumper reinforcement for it to fit. Will need to fab new fiberglass ducts for everything. It's fiberglass and could be fragile long term.
99 SPEC BUMPER
PRO: Awesome looking, OEM fit and quality.
CONS: Pricey, would have to buy it/get it shipped, would need to get a lot of other things with it - new turn signals, new ducts, etc. etc. etc.
Any input or good ideas or experience on this would be awesome!
Also thinking about the side skirts. I have a set of no-name side skirts that seem fairly decent in the attic I've had forever, going to test fit those and see if they would be decent. The Shine 99 spec replicas are also a possibility, I like that they look like the 99's without the crazy foam structure and they aren't as heavy.
99 spec just looks amazing so voting for that, especially with the side skirts. I have the shine side skirts as well and will likely install them because it completes the look with the 99 spec bumper imo
Dale, Looks like you've been busy my friend. I've got to say with all the times I've changed bumpers and other things (in my mind) in the end I'm always glad I never did. The Knight Sports looks good but like you said that's a lot of fog lights. And though the 99 is awesome I was never a fan of the form fitted license plate holder, especially when we don't have front plates (but that's just me).
Hey Dale, here's my $0.02 opinion regarding the bumper.
Stick with the '93 style bumper. If the one you have isn't fitting just right, it should be easy enough to find one that does. Seems EVERYONE who mods their FD is going with the '99 spec stuff, so keeping it closer to OEM original make yours stand out even more. I like the functionality aspects of the '99 spec bumper (better airflow to radiator & oil coolers), and the slightly more aggressive look, but that molded in license plate section ruins it for me. Kind of like a square peg on a round hole.
Not too keen on the Knightsports bumper either, as I'm not digging the fog lights and the fiberglass material will be a PITA in the long term - I'd sell that to fund your project, it's probably worth good coin and someone will ****** it up fast.
To me the ideal front bumper if you're going to mod it from '93-95 USDM spec would be one made of the same stuff as the OEM bumper that is shaped just like the '99 spec minus the license plate bump out. Don't know if such a thing exists, unless you settle for fiberglass.
I say stick with factory looks unless you are going to match the rest of the body with the knight sports bumper. 93 or 99 spec is fine, staying 93 will save money for other aspects of the car. I'm a sucker for the 99 spec mainly for functionality but would need the wing to match. Otherwise i love the USDM with R1 lip and spoiler combo. It really depends on if you are going for OEM, OEM+ or want a full kit.
Short digression, pictures of the new desk . All 100% built from scratch, the white cabinet is 3/4" plywood with 2 drawers on full extension ball bearing drawer slides. Desk top is edge glued panels that I stained and coated with poly. Underneath the desk is a bunch of mini shelves and brackets that holds all the supporting junk (fiber modem, wifi router, 2 UPS's, hiding place for my MacBook) so it's all up off the ground and hidden from immediate view.
The right side computer is the work laptop with 2 22" monitors on a VESA mount. I have the laptop up in the air to act as a 3rd screen and also can use the webcam at a good height.
Left side is my personal stuff, I have a MacBook Air M2 hiding under the desk with a USB-C adapter to hook it up to the wall mounted monitor. There is a desktop PC under the desk for games and PC/Windows stuff, also hooked to the same monitor, just switch inputs to use it.
This is the result of a LOT of Youtube watching, lots of time thinking about my setup, screwing up and re-doing a few things. Overall very happy with it. Key tool for the whole project is a table saw and a pocket hole jig, this stuff isn't that hard and it's great to be able to custom-make stuff like this to your specs and how you want it to be.
Back on topic, I thought about it some more and I concur, I think I will stick with my stock front bumper. I do have the Shine replica Mazdaspeed lip for it (you can see it in the first few pics in the thread) and it does look sharp.
I've got some new bolts for the fenders coming, so next big thing will be getting the fender and hood alignment all happy and finishing the side skirt removal.
06-15-22, 11:38 AM
