technomentor

iTrader: (18)

I think we can all agree that when Dale starts his own thread, it will likely be "sticky" quality. I don't post in the threads very often, but I have read all of the ones you have created and have them bookmarked too.

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

Yeah, I love me some EZ-Beader. I really wish they had it in 2.75" for our intercooler pipes. It also sucks that you have to buy one for each size you want to do beads on. Ah well.

Thanks for the compliments, guys!

Made some progress today, I think it's safe to say it's the.....


(BTW, I totally owned that tape in middle school)

Got the AC condensor mounted today, I THINK I can install the radiator with it already in there if memory serves. I also went ahead and got the fog lights in there and installed the oil cooler ducts.

The stock oil cooler ducts have a weird rubber top on them, not sure why Mazda put that there. My driver's side duct is original and was tearing badly around the rivets. I had some leftover black rubber material that I used to make spoiler gaskets with that was damn near a perfect match. I used the original as a template, cut it out, and riveted it on. Turned out nicely, some spots it was pulling up a bit so I superglued that on. Also spilled some superglue on my garage floor for added panache.

I ordered a new K&N filter to replace the primary turbo one that is beat to hell. I have the HKS RS intake, just the pipes, never had the original filters. I prefer K&N's for filtering quality over the HKS foam type filters anyhow. This filter -


The RU-3700 fits PERFECTLY on the HKS intake pipes. And it's only $30ish, deal.

Also ordered some DEI stick-on heat reflective material for my small heat shield thing for the air filter. Went ahead and got a 24"x24" piece -


Both of those qualify for Amazon Prime, woot. BTW, if you aren't on Amazon Prime, you're missing out - free 2 day shipping on TONS of stuff. They have a LOT of car parts and tools too, not to mention all the other goodness. Prime is WELL worth it.

I'll get some pics up tomorrow, fixin' to go watch the Walking Dead with my wife!

Dale

silver_7

I can only hope my engine bay can look that clean. Amazing work Dale.

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

OK, I've now had 2 PM's asking about this.

Pettit's power steering idler pulley -

Pettit Racing

It's funny that few people know it exists! It's a bit pricey at $150, I bought it once when it was on sale. Works great, fits great, looks great.

Here's hoping my radiator is ready to get picked up today!

Dale

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

OK, a few pics for youse guyse. Radiator is STILL at the welders, maybe tomorrow? Fingers crossed.

So...

Pic 1 - repaired oil cooler duct. Should have taken a picture off the car, really hard to see there. Ah well.

Pic 2 - general engine bay shot. Notice a few things - I cleaned up/painted the alternator, and the 4 bolts that hold it together are new. Also, notice the thermostat housing, the AST nipple is removed/welded up, and (probably can't see it) the screw-in plug at the top from the factory casting process has been removed and welded up. Much cleaner.

Pic 3 - Closeup of Stillway elbow. STILLWAY! Notice the coupler - the Stillway has a 3" inlet, it's big for big boy POWAH. So, I have to step it up from 2.75". Also, Norma Torro clamp on there - guys, those clamps ROCK. Cheap, work great, last forever, you name it.

Pic 4 - My catch can. The bracket that I was using put it too high, so I had to lower it so it would clear the new elbow. It's made of stainless left over from all my IC brackets that I made. That's a Jaz catch can -


Works GREAT. It's small, unobtrusive, and has a nice breather on the top. I have two lines running from the oil fill neck stock nipples to the two nipples on the catch can. I empty it at every oil change. Keeps the IC pipes clean and happy.

And, yes, I have some surface rust on my brake booster. It annoys me a LOT. I don't want to pull the whole brake master apart to fix it. If you see me at Deal's Gap you can point at that and ignore all the other shiney under the hood.

I also realized I still have to extend my fan wiring, I should have measured for length in pre-assembly but I'll have to do it when the rad comes back. I need to add a few inches onto the fan wiring so it will reach, shouldn't be TOO bad. I also have another trick with the stock fans, stay tuned there .

Dale

genzer

iTrader: (2)

Are those the touge- factory pulley kit? 4pc?

were you able to run the stock belts with them?

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

I think all the pullies are from that eBay pulley kit. It may be mix and match.


Nope they are not stock belt sizes I think I got one or both belts from Banzai Racing.

Dale

CrispyRX7

iTrader: (139)

Very nice Dale. Very nice indeed! I love the color combo.
But..ahem..that catch can is going to be a wee bit small if you ever decide to give your car a real workout.
Regards,
crispy

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

Of course, Chris' car is really just a 4-wheeled contraption to carry his catch can around .



THE RADIATOR IS IN! THE RADIATOR IS IN!

I got the fan wires extended and got the rad mounted up tonight with radiator hoses installed. It's SO close now, but I gotta head to bed, early morning tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow it'll be closer to being DONE!

I'll get pics up tomorrow.

Dale

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

Attached are two pics. First is me adding length to the fan wires. The orange and blue on the radiator is protective tape.

Second is a shot with the radiator in. Huzzah!

Dale

silver_7

Looking good Dale. Cant wait to get the rest of my parts in and on.

idiazs

iTrader: (26)

nice job looks great

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

The car is SO CLOSE to running again. But, I'm having to take one step back.

After getting the radiator in the car and getting all the coolant hoses hooked up, I figured it would be smart to pressure test the system for leaks. I have a Snap-On pressure tester that you can hook up to the radiator cap, pump, and pressurize the system.

I pressurized it air-only as I didn't want to fill it with coolant if there's a leak . Pumped it up to 10psi and looked, listened, and felt for leaks.

Sure enough, the thermostat housing has a PINHOLE leak. It's from an old weld, a LONG time ago I drilled and tapped the thermostat housing to install a water temp sender. Read my thread on this topic - it's a dumb idea, and putting it in the throttle body coolant hose is WAY smarter.

Anyhow, I had that hole welded up. As part of cleaning up the housing, I ground it down flush, sanded it smooth, and painted the whole thermostat housing.

Of course, there's a small pinhole leak in there. Bleh. But, I'm happy that a) I found it now, b) it's a part that's not hard to remove/reinstall, and c) I didn't have to drain coolant out to fix it.

So that's coming off this weekend. I'll grind that area down and drop it off at the welders on Monday.

The oil cooler lines took a little doing to get happy with. I'm VERY paranoid about them rubbing up against something and getting damaged. I have spiral wrap on some of it, adhesive foam on parts of it, cushion clamps to situate it, etc. I feel good about it, but it's a WHOLE lotta stuff in there.

I put the battery in the car, pulled the EGI fuse, and cranked up to build oil pressure tonight. Builds up pressure fine and I'm not seeing ANY leaks on my new oil cooler lines, the fittings at the oil coolers, etc. That makes me feel good so far. I'd like to get the car started up so it's at full oil pressure to really see for sure.

I'm taking my AC receiver/dryer and the two lines for it to a custom AC shop tomorrow. Dude said he can custom make AC lines, I'm going to see if he has the right fittings for the system and what he has for driers. Hope that pans out, I'd love to get the AC all closed up and charged.

Saturday I'm going to push the car out of the garage, put the nose back on, and hook up the fender liners. I'm also going to WASH IT, it's NASTY.

Attached is a pic of the damn-near-final engine bay. Battery is hooked up to a charger. It looks a little weird in bits, I used the flash on my phone to fill in a bit so you can see more of the detail. The hood latch looks TERRIBLE in the pic, in person in looks fine. VERY happy with the silver and black on the IC pipes, that looks killer.

Dale

theorie

iTrader: (31)

Lookin' good Dale!

silver_7

Car is looking good Dake. Looks like I cant make this meet. I will def make the next one. Maybe by then it will be warmer also...lol

fd3s7007

As always Dale, great write up!

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

Damn, no updates in a while! Sorry about that, it's been SUPER busy at work and fixin' to get BUSIER.

Anyhow, on with the news!

First off, the car LIVES! Started it Friday night. I got the thermostat housing back from the welders on Thursday, ground down the weld and painted it that night, installed Friday night, filled with water/coolant (thank you, Lisle funnel!) and she fired right up first try, no drama!

Mind you, I had already cranked the engine over last weekend to build oil pressure in the system and fill the lines/oil coolers with oil. If you have an engine that sits for more than 2 months, cranking to build pressure first is a VERY good idea. Sitting lets the bearings get dry, just pull the EGI fuse, crank until you get pressure, then reinstall and fire up.

So far so good! No leaks (knock on wood), drove it around a bit and she drove fine. Had to clean the windshield, the car is NASTY dirty!

So, what do you do when you get it running nice? Take it apart again!

Saturday morning I started in on it. Pulled the transmission out to change the clutch and change out the 5th gear in the transmission. I'm going to make a post with a few tricks and tips on a clutch job, BTW. Trans came out fine, US 5th gear went in fine, new Exedy Stage 1 clutch went in fine. Yay!

I ordered new clutch hydraulics (master and slave) from Ray last week, I was hoping to get them Friday but they'll be here Monday. I went ahead and removed the original components so the car is ready for the new ones. I hope to have it back up and running tomorrow night.

And, yes, I have a braided clutch line, I've had one for ages.

I also put some DEI heat shield stuff on the transmission tunnel. After a good run on the Dragon the passenger side of the trans tunnel would get pretty warm. The adhesive on that stuff isn't so great trying to stick it to old OEM heat shields, even after degreasing. I used a staple gun and put a ton of staples on to hold it in place, MUCH better than just adhesive.

After the car runs again, next step is to put the receiver/dryer in and get the AC blowin' cold once more. And it needs WASHING bad!

One pic here, you can see the aluminum part of the nose was also painted in silver. VERY happy with how that turned out! This front section all looks so nice now!

More posts in a second with some of the tricks and stuff I used recently!

Dale

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

OK, some tricks for you guys -

First off, I had to do some cutting to my belly pan to make it fit with the new setup. Unfortunately I already cut it up a lot to fit the old IC, so with the new setup there's a few spots where it is open where it shouldn't really be open.

Also, I had one mounting tab on my belly pan that was chewed up for no good reason. Let's fix this.

First, to fix the open hole on the passenger side. Bought some thin steel sheet from Lowe's, spent a good amount of time making a cardboard template, then transferred that to the steel and cut it out with tin snips. Drill a few holes, and done. Did a coat of Plasti-Dip on it, looks good and fits well. It bolts to the frame rail and sits inside of the belly pan on the side.

Second, to fix that bad mounting hole. I cleaned it up a bit, then got my old grommet kit out and installed a grommet on that hole. It's super easy, you have a bottom die that you set the bottom half of the grommet into, lay the part in the middle, then put the top half on top. They have a tool you hit with a hammer, it crimps the grommet on, done. So far it's working like a champ.

See attached pics!

Dale

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

One last quick trick -

My high pressure AC lines were really bent weird from the old intercooler setup. To straighten and work with them, you can use the same vice adapters I mentioned previously for work with AN fittings. They work GREAT, easy way to bend and straighten aluminum lines without damage.

To straighten, just gently clamp it in there. To bend, hold part in the vice and bend slowly by hand. You want to bend a little at a time, if you work at it you can get it!

Dale

mannykiller

iTrader: (93)

Updates??!! =-)

RENESISFD

iTrader: (13)

^ He finished the install and put riv-nuts everywhere he could.

Project88Turbo

iTrader: (22)

Dale,

The install looks great! Your attention to detail, choice of fasteners, and clean overall look are very impressive.

I do have one question. With all of this effort to lower air charge temps, why do you run an intake kit that may ingests "hot" air? The M2 and Pettit ones appear to source clean air, but I could be wrong. (EDIT: I saw the picture with the cold air duct)

I'm still an FD newbie, so I value your input

Vince

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

I need to take a few "all done" pics!

Car did GREAT at DGRR this year. I'm actually over COOLING the car at this point, 78-80 deg. C water temps, doesn't want to go higher than that! I'm interested to see how the water temps are on a Florida hot day, they're coming up soon.

Sealed cold air boxes are nice, but they are a BITCH to work with, find space for, and remove/reinstall. On a turbo car, the intercooler does the majority of the cooling work, and if you have water injection on top of that it really chills it down. My air temps are great and drop like a ROCK under boost.

Dale

Project88Turbo

iTrader: (22)

^ I forgot about your water injection setup. That definitely helps the intake temps big time.

Keep up the good work!

Vince

silver_7

I wish this thread had a "Like " button. hahahaha