Thanks!!

I pulled the power steering pump next.

It was leaking badly all over everything from the small hose that connects the reservoir to the pump.



Pump bracket out.



I brought it in to be powder coated chrome






Also around this time, I was waiting for parts from Japan and Ray Crowe, so me and my father were just focused on cleaning and painting parts.

The water pump housing nipples got sanded and cleaned, the mating surfaces got cleaned and block sanded flat.

The housing itself got primer and painted gloss black by hand.








The power steering pump got cleaned, primer, and also painted gloss black by hand.



Swapped out a bunch of old ugly red vacuum hose with new black 3.5mm silicone




I also picked up the HPS Silicone Heater Hose kit and replaced most of the heater hoses.

As well as sanding and painting the hard line that goes to the water pump housing with a fresh coat of aluminum silver





Also, while I was back in this area near the firewall, I deleted the windshield wiper motor and wiper rods.

And slapped on the JP3 Wiper Motor Delete Plate

 

Next thing to tackle was the leaking MOCAL oil thermostat.

I picked up the JP3 Front Cover Retainer kit for the AN fitting that comes off the block.

I drained the oil and disconnected all 4 AN lines to the thermostat, then installed the JP3 bracket, cleaned all threads on the AN fittings and lubricated with some clean oil before tightening everything back up.










After that, the plan was to build a separate bracket off of the frame rail to stiffen up the thermostat even more.

I picked up some 1/8 steel L-Bracket from Home Depot and drilled and tapped a M8 hole into the frame to mount it.

I also used some thick rubber washers under the hardware where it connects to the thermostat to allow for some flex.

Before all this, the whole thermostat was crooked and not level with the rest of the car.

After securing it from two separate anchor points. Everything is stiff, level and solid.

Here is a photo of everything mocked up.





With that all done, I bought some Brilliant Black Touch up paint and rattle canned the super scratched up frame rails inside the engine bay.




I also decided to investigate the coolant overflow reservoir after reading about it needing to be replaced on the forums and not to my surprise, it was pretty bad.

Tons of sediment and rusty looking chunks inside it. So I got a new one ordered.





THE PILE OF SHAME




Over on the other side of the car, I also removed the washer fluid tank and cleaned it out, and painted the filler neck.

I plan on using this for my source of Water/Meth.



I removed the OEM pump, reamed it out a little bit, and plugged it with the Devils Own Tank Tap




Talk about an awesome product and awesome solution!!



Another thing to do was weld in a 1/8 NPT aluminum bung into my charge pipe for the AEM Water/Meth nozzle.

I brought the pipe into work and had a union pipefitter weld it on.

I got 2 styles of bungs for him to choose which ever one he preferred to use.

 

Shout out to RAY CROWE!!



Here is a full list of all the OEM parts I picked up



JP3 Kits




Koyorad N-Flo Radiator and Koyorad RX8 AC Condenser.



I also got some goodies from Japan.

A 130A ADVANCE alternator and a RE-Amemiya aluminum power steering reservoir



With all the OEM parts, JP3 products, and Japanese items acquired, it was time to start re-assembling everything.

I started by swapping over my black Banzai Racing pulley to the new alternator, and reassembling the power steering pump with the new hose, reservoir, and two super strong constant compression BREEZE hose clamps.



Pump bracket, thermostat brackets, and JP3 compressor brackets installed.



The cleaned and refurbished evaporator goes back in the car with a new O-rings and expansion valve.



New RX8 compressor mounted.

I installed the AC lines to the compressor before bolting it all back into the car.

The clearances are crazy tight, but its going to work.

 

Awesome work!! Keep it up... super clean!!

 

Everything looks amazing! Great work! Keep at it!
Now, I don't think it is advisable to solid mount the oil thermostat to the frame like that, it should be ok with the engine bracket and hoses to hold it.
Remember that the engine moves and it will put stress on those mounts and may cause an oil leak.
I mount my mocal thermostat to the front cover the same but it is just held by the hoses

 

I was going to mention the same. The movement from the engine will take a toll on this. If you HAVE to use this type of bracket, fab up some sort of rubber isolator to allow for plenty of movement on the frame side while being fixed to the engine. It would need to flex quite a bit without putting stress on the thermostat so it would be best to avoid anything attached to the frame if possible

 

Thanks for the feedback guys!
I did use 2 thick rubber washers under the hardware where it connects to the thermostat on the bracket that goes to the frame. (I didnt take a picture of it installed this way, only the mock-up)
The bracket that goes to the engine cover has no rubber washers.
I dont know if this is sufficient enough to allow for the flex or not.. I guess I didnt know how much the engine actually moves under the full RPM range.

I'll keep an eye on things after driving the car a little bit in the spring.
It wouldnt be too hard to just disconnect that bracket to the frame from the thermostat.

 

The water pump housing gave me some problems…AGAIN...



Three of the M6 threads on the housing were completely blown out and stripped so bad that there was no way to mount the pump to the housing without getting creative.

I also wanted to assess the issue I experienced with the electrolysis of the steel studs in the aluminum housing.



For the stripped M6 bolt holes, I used a Heli-Coil kit to drill, tap and thread in brand new Stainless steel M6x1.00 threads into the water pump housing.

For the electrolysis problem, I used extremely strong 10.9 heavy Zinc plated bolts and coated the shafts of them with nickel anti-seize.









I took the best OEM stud I had, and cleaned the corrosion and rust from threads and shaft the best I could.

The purpose of the single OEM stud is for the usage of the FFE Idler Pulley that gets mounted in that location on the housing.




For the thermostat housing, I used a little bit of Permatex water pump/thermostat gasket maker around the surface, and torqued to spec

For the water pump housing to the block mating surface, I used the OEM paper gasket with a little bit of Permatex water pump/thermostat gasket maker.

For the water pump, I used only the OEM paper gasket.




ADVANCE sent me a free high efficiency alternator replacement harness, pretty sweet!




Power steering pump back in




All pulleys and belts back on.

I did use the 4PK1005 replacement belt to accommodate for the new size difference of RX8 condenser.

It fit perfectly.





Test fitting the radiator, I bought some brand-new stainless-steel radiator mounting brackets from Banzai Racing

Everything is looking good.

 

Around this time, I paused work on the engine bay and started digging into the AEM water meth kit.

The instructions are pretty clear, I just used a printed-out version of the PDF from their website.

I mounted the AEM controller in the rear bin inside the car. It’s pretty ugly right now, and I plan on making a more permanent bracket for it in the spring of 2025.

First thing I started with was mounting the pump onto the Sakebomb Garage pump bracket, and then getting all the wires for the controller fed through the same hole in the rear bin that I used for the Tesla Mod



The pump sits RIGHT up against the chassis. It’s a pretty tight fit, but it works.



Next was to figure out how and where to mount the AEM Solenoid.

I bought some 2”x 2” aluminum L-Bar and drilled holes to mount the solenoid to the aluminum.

Then I lined everything up with the existing M6 threaded holes that already existed on the underside of the frame rail. (I think they were for the brackets that held the OEM AC condenser in place)



I like this a lot, because it sits high enough off the ground, and also it is recessed away from the engine bay enough to be completely out of the way.

Its also super close to the washer fluid reservoir tank.






For the 12V switched ignition source, I tapped into the switched power for the wiper motor that I deleted a little earlier.

(I didn’t plan this, it just happened to work out perfectly lol)



I hooked up a volt meter and tested the different wires in the connector until I found the right one.

On my car it happened to be the solid blue wire with a YELLOW stripe.

I spliced and routed a wire from this wire to one end of the solenoid and spliced it together with the Yellow wire to the AEM controller, so everything will be armed when you turn the key.




I put all the wires inside 1/2” plastic corrugated wire loom and routed it along the oil line.

Then heat shrunk everything together for a little water proofing



For under the car, I routed all the wires for the controller in the same 1/2 corrugated plastic wire loom and bundled it together with the 1/4 nylon tubing, then zip-tied it to the plastic fuel line guard.

I mounted the AEM filter with strong zip-ties and secured everything as best as I could. I wanted to leave it somewhat easily accessible, being that it is a filter and will eventually need to be serviced.



I also drilled and tapped an M6 into the bottom of the frame rail to clip the wire loom where it was the most loose. Which happened to be right next to the steering column.

 

With the Water/Meth stuff pretty much finished at this point, it was time to really get the radiator assembly back in the car.

I cleaned the radiator fans and ceramic coated them with some . They look pretty much new now.



Then I installed the Koyorad RX8 condenser to the new Koyorad N-Flo using the JP3 adapter brackets.

Everything was pretty straightforward. Having the brand-new radiator mounting brackets, and all new rubber grommets was nice too.

I also decided to clean and paint the power steering cooling lines silver.







I finally could finishing hooking up all the new AC Lines, and the binary switch.



All oil cooler and AC lines all tucked and zip-tied neat.



Decided to paint the ABS heat shield black and put some fresh fiberglass heat shield on it.



Installed the new coolant reservoir tank and filled it up.

 

I rented a vacuum pump and gauge set at a local automotive shop.

We pulled a 23 inHg vacuum for 30 minutes and then closed the valves.

Vacuum held for over 12 hours.

No leaks, I was stoked.




So, it was time to put everything back together and check for more leaks.



I slightly relocated and more properly secured the AST with a little aluminum bracket I made with leftover 2”x 2” L-bar.

It looks much better now, and its all level and square.





Hoked up the AEM nozzle, and decided to go with the 500cc internals.




This was my first time burping and changing the coolant in my car.

I disconnected the throttle body coolant hose after reading a little bit on the forums about it.

I’M NEVER NOT GOING TO DO THIS EVERY TIME FROM NOW ON. It seriously works too good at allowing air to escape WHILE you are adding in new coolant.

I also fixed the fitment of the Y-pipe to intercooler by using a 30-degree silicone elbow and cut it to length to connect to the intercooler.








Built some small custom radiator ducting with the remaining leftover 2”x 2“ L-bar and some 1/16 aluminum sheets.

I mounted the air dams to the undertray and bolted the duct walls to the frame rails and tow hooks.

Not sure how much it will help, but I want to think every little bit does help.









A few days later I took the car in to have the AC system evacuated to 30 inHg and properly charged with R134a refrigerant.

I had them do 1lb (or 16oz)



Everything went well, except for now, I was having inconsistent switching on and off of the AC compressor, it was working, but whenever it felt like it.

I added an isolated ground to the compressor and it did help, but it didn’t seem to completely fix the problem.

After reading some forums, and some time playing around with the fan speed controls in the car, I have perfectly working AC… on only fan speed 1.





Turns out I pushed the top radiator hose on too far to the Koyorad inlet… a few of the main radiator hose clamps were a bit loose as well...

__________________________________________________ __________

The car is storage for the winter now, but the plan right now is to add a relay and using Dale Clarke’s AC Fix from 2021 or Bydlo’s fix from 2024, next spring.

Overall this project was a great learning experience. Looking forward to really testing the car next year with these new changes to the cooling system. As well as feeling working AC in the car.

 

UPDATE~!

First thing I did this spring when was to drain and refill all my gear oil.
I was not sure when the last time it was done, how old it was, or what type of oil was in the car (Previous owner did it at some point, I assume)



I went with KAAZ for the rear diff, I figured it would be good to just stick with the same brand as my differential.



Alot of metal flakes came out of the rear diff oil as I was draining it, I suppose the differential is a wear and tear item. Not sure of the overall condition of the gears on mine, but at least now it has new oil.
Also, replaced some drain plugs that were pretty hammered and rounded out.

Next I did a drain and refill on the transmission.

I figured I would try the famous Motorcraft Transmission Fluid. This stuff is NOT CHEAP!



The fluid out of the transmission looked alot cleaner and there was no metal visible.




Been driving the car alot this summer when I have the time.

Rear diff still clunks, but somehow feels less clunky now, if that even makes sense. Like the clunks are less aggressive
The transmission feels smooth and a little less notchy.
I feel it was probably a good call to change out the gear oils.

Shakedown of the new cooling system:
The Water/Meth kit works amazing, Air intake temps go from 55C to 35C immediately after a few good hard pulls under boost. So far, I am very happy with the results of last years work.

Water temps are more stable, and the temps cycle from 94C to 88C quicker now after the fans kick on.

I did rent a radiator pressure testing kit from O'reilly's earlier this spring and found a few loose hose clamps leaking coolant under pressure, tightened everything up good and everything seems to be holding now
I also discovered that my system wasn't able to be fully pressurized due to my 16psi vented AST cap leaking pressure, so I replaced my AST pressure cap with a sealed (non-vented) 0.9 bar (13psi) cap

I think the only other thing to do to control temps under the hood would be investing in a vented hood.



For the AC Fix, I bought a

relay off amazon

relay off amazon

.

And followed a combination of fixes:
Billy7's Fix from 2020
Dale Clarke’s AC Fix from 2021
Bydlo’s fix from 2024.

Disconnected my old battery, pulled it out of the car
Unplugged the PowerFC, installed the Banzai Racing patch harness with the new Relay, swapped out the Imasen H270 AC relay for a new one, cleaned up some ground to chassis termination points with some 100 grit sandpaper, and put everything back together.



Pretty tight in this corner with the patch harness..



I chose to go with an XS Power AGM S925 battery over Lithium.
Much cheaper than lithium, 13lb weight savings over my old battery, and safer.

My rear bin and old battery setup was a mess. So getting a new battery was a good excuse to go through and clean it up a bit.




Finally secured the AEM AI Controller, all new battery multi-termination points, new hardware, new tie down, re-crimped some ring terminals, and labeled everything with wrap-around labels.





Turning the car back on, and running through the ECU Re-learning sequence, the AC now works on all 4 fan speeds
100% Fixed.
For some reason now, my car also idles soooo much better now on cold starts.. And the idle doesnt surge and hunt when I flip on the AC and switch on and off different electrical loads.
No idea why, but I'm assuming it has to do with me cleaning up and having better ground connections?

Anyway, I'm really really happy with the car now, I feel more comfortable driving it now than I ever have, and its probably running better now than it's ever ran.