Your work looks really nice. How does the seat position feel to you? Have you tried sitting in the car with a helmet on?

With the Bride rails, I am able to slide back and forth so I can change position for cruising (a little farther back) but I still had to notch out the under backside on the left and right to get the seat to sit down low enough on the rails.

 

david, thanks. i have sat it in with the helmet. plenty of head room.

i am going to drill some more holes later for more adjustment, but it's in the perfect location now.

yeah, i am going to wish i could slide it back slightly for long drives, but whatever. i guess i'll just deal with it

 

i decided i'm going to install AC in the FD.

i have to drive this POS 4+ hours in 90+* weather to multiple track events, and i basically can't drive it to work unless i want to die of heat exhaustion because i have to wear slacks, a button down shirt, and dress shoes.

as you can see from my previous pictures, i have no AC parts on this car. all i have is the evaporator and expansion valve and stuff in the dash. unsure whether i had the NIPPON unit or the MANA unit, i removed the evap box to find that i have the NIPPON (factory installed) AC.


SO, i'll be attempting to find some AC hard lines (are these different for the MANA and NIPPON systems?), a compressor, and a condenser.

i'll also be purchasing a new expansion valve, drier, and o-rings from rockauto.com

 

Ill be interested to see how you mount the condensor and run the lines with that VMIC. You could very likely make 5-10 kits of lines and condensor mounts to sell and make some money on the project.

Ill check later to see what extra compressor I have and you are welcome to come get it for free. Came off a low mileage JDM motor(99+ as the twins are on my car) so Im assuming is probably in good shape.

 

I might be able to help with the lines.

Yes there are at least 3 different types of AC lines so it's a PIA to get the right lines for the evap and condensor.

Denso dryer is silver

Mana dryer is black

Start with which dryer you have and what lines you need and I'll try to see what I can come up with.

PS eyeballing the evap it looks like a denso system but let me know

 

I also have an extra AC system, if you need anything just ask.

 

i am going to mount the condenser on top of the radiator (in the middle of the V) and i think i can do it pretty nicely in the cartmill machine shop. i can use my coveted VISE to make some aluminum brackets. haha. (you should have seen us trying to do metal work in my garage without a vise prior to this).
this should be a breeze compared to mounting that damn sparco seat. i was also considering using the condenser to "split" the V to divide up the airflow between the radiator and IC for use at the track, and having the condenser mounted flat against the radiator (inside the V) for everyday use. here's a quick drawing i just made for the TRACK position:



some guys in this thread did something similar:
https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...wners-1003629/

fritz my evap is the DENSO system. i just ordered this drier (there appears to be only one part # for the aftermarket manufacturers): (four seasons 33237)





did your car have a denso system, or a MANA?


my main issue is going to be the lines. everything else will be relatively easy.

 

everything on hold until i can find some damn AC lines and a condenser! :/

 

btw, I was reading lately on the es-12 refrigerant. it seems like a good alternative to 134 and it's about the same price if not cheaper.

Last time I got my A/C worked on, it was $250 to have it evacuated and charged by the dealer, utter garbage since it all leaked out by the time I picked it up.

So, I ordered a vacuum pump, manifold gauge, can tap and 72oz of es-12 off of amazon for about $200. More than enough refrigerant for a long time and now that I have the equipment, definitely worth it.

 

ok so i pulled the trigger on making custom AC hoses. no point in using all the stock stuff if i don't have the stock stuff and used parts are impossible to find, right? i am planning to have this done by next weekend.

now i just need to find some 525 viscosity mineral oil and some DENSO style compressor fittings and i'll be good to go.

 

I like how u put USPS is the devil. I 100% agree, they've been a PITA with probably 60% of my deliveries and I'm to the point where I'm going to request my stuff gets delivered with different companies.

 

i've had an interesting week and weekend with the FD.

1. my manifold warped at the block flange, so i had that milled (similar to the way Turblown is doing their new manifolds) and reinstalled the turbo kit with some nice new nordlock washers and copper clad nuts to go on the stock mazda inconel studs.

2. after reinstalling the turbo kit i noticed an even louder exhaust leak from the downpipe area, which i discovered was the 3" stainless flex section.

3. with my downpipe off i discovered my DEI titanium heat wrap was obliterated by my hot exhaust (but only the section pre-flex up close to the turbo)

























here's a video of me verifying the exhaust leak that couldn't be seen because of the stainless braiding that was covering it up. i plugged the bottom of the downpipe and filled it with water to see where it leaked out (it was a little dark in the video, sorry):

https://fbcdn-video-a.akamaihd.net/h...afc89c69cc7911

 

Are you planninig on re-wrapping the DP with something else? It sucks as alot of the better heat-shielding is far from cheap.

 

just cut the braiding off of the flex and found the leak:

 

good question. i will probably go with a generic inconel shield for that section of the downpipe. i wish i could afford to wrap the whole thing in inconel shielding :/


as for the flex, i may be going with one of these high quality stainless bellows. i just emailed them for the price for the stainless one, as i'm sure the inconel version is double the price:

Reid Washbon Racing | Inconel Bellows - Stainless Steel Bellows

 

i was just reading some more about exhaust wraps (paying attention to the heat ranges of the different wraps) and saw that the Summit brand lava exhaust wrap is supposedly safe to 2500*F:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-350209/overview/


but this looks like the exact same stuff as the DEI titanium that i used.

so i'll do some more reading and i may give this a try. it's only 25$.

 

If your patient...I'll give you an update on how they wrap works out. I bought it from summit...same stuff for 25.

 

i just came across this one too, which could easily be bend into a downpipe shield:

 

also, my fabricator friend just referred me to these, which are $1.01 er square inch, and good up to 2500*F with the ability to strap it straight to the pipe (as they say on their website):

Heat Master Shields


and check out the rotary engine section down at the bottom of this link:

http://www.koolmat.com/race.shtml

 

i bought a bunch of parts from nostalgicAC.com: a bunch of universal stuff, as i'm making custom AC lines, including a condenser, drier (condenser/drier purchased as one unit), -6, -8, and -10 hose, and several fittings (crimp style) as my car came with the DENSO (factory installed) air conditioning. i also got some ES-12A from enviro-safe, and some R12 mineral oil from summitracing. i am hoping to charge the AC next weekend, but it may not happen (see below)

here's where i'm at currently:


i didn't make those tight 90* bends, i just altered the pre-made (by nostalgic AC) tube that came with the condenser/drier




condenser and drier ready for some mounting tabs to be fabricated






denso evaporator all cleaned up with new expansion valve (R12 version from rockauto.com, four seasons manufacturer) expansion valve not pictured




-10 and -6(ish, m14x1.5) crimp fittings to match the denso evaporator.




view of how tight the area is with the bigger fittings




previous arrangement before i decided to change to 45* for these two








image of the stock setup.



so the current state of the car is the lines are all ran and prepared to be crimped, EXCEPT I CAN'T FIND ANYONE SELLING STOCK AC HOSES THAT CONNECT TO THE COMPRESSOR. this is vital, as i can't use any generic fittings. i got some hoses today at the junkyard to fit denso compressors, a few which are close, but none that will work, unfortunately :/

so i'm at a standstill until i can find some stock AC hoses to connect to my compressor.

 

very well done!

looks like it was well implemented and thought out.

for those compressor fittings, you may want to contact Fritz. i got another one from him and i pulled a vacuum on mine this weekend, held 28"Hg for a half hour so i should be good.

Even if you do get the stock hoses, how are you going to connet them to your custom fittings? Cut and flare?

 

AC>...Lolsies

 

i just got one hose from mannykiller (aaron, as i recall), the bigger "suction" hose that bolts to the side of the compressor. i still need the one that bolts to the top of the compressor.

i have two denso style fittings that fit both ports, but they're just the fittings, so i'd have to have a crimp fitting welded or brazed to it, which can work, but i'd prefer to use the OEM connections so i don't have to do any cutting/aligning/etc. and pay my fab buddy to weld or braze the lines for me.

the best case scenario would be to use both OEM hoses and just use a "splice" crimp fitting and crimp the OEM hose to my custom hose, but i don't know if that will work, as i think the custom hose is "barrier style," which is much thicker.

there is also this option: Auto Air Conditinoing Parts - Auto A/C Hose Crimping & Line Repair -Replace any auto A/C hose in minutes!
but i'm skeptical. i am going to go talk to the hydraulic guy locally and see what he thinks, after i have mannykiller's hose in hand, and see what we can come up with.

i wouldn't have tackled this project if i knew it would be so hard to find the OEM stuff... it's like everyone with an FD just took their AC parts off and threw them in the trash. crazy.


why can't i just have an LS1 AC compressor?

 

That wrap burned out because of the hole in your downpipe. It will be fine if if the flex is not billowing out exhaust directly on to it.