FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

Did you see the *rough* price breekdown I wrote above? You can see there's clearly a huge price diff when it comes to parts...plus, there's a lot of custom fab work that needs to be done...piping and what not.

RotoHead

You know.. I still wanna do this in my FB. Time to win the lottery and then get it painted the same color as the Spirit Rs.

jimlab

Maybe you should just tell him it won't fit.

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

Wow, 19 pages and counting. Much more than I ever thought when I asked the original question about the Pettit 20B conversion.

First an update: Pettit is now back in business after the hurricane. They were without power for the last 2 weeks but are now back at it and ready to continue the project. My rims (Forgeline WC3s, 18X9 front and 18X12.5 rears) - posted pics earlier - are in and so are my tires, Michelin Pilot Sports - 245 40 18 fronts and 315 35 18 rears. The tires are mounted on the rims and balanced. Next step - cutting the rear wheel wells to make room for the rear tires. Wish I could remember exactly what Cam said today, but they cut the wheel wells, and put something on them to protect against rust. They then extend the inside wheel well lining to match the flares.

Speaking of the flares, I'm having Cam "bolt" on the Pettit flares as a temporary "fix". He's also painting black the stainless bolts they use so they are less noticable. I mention this is temporary because I've decided to have a custom set of flares fabricated out of metal for the car. These will then be welded on the car. I'm too bothered by the possibility of the fiberglass chipping and the bondo not holding to the metal as well as I'd like. Found a shop in Jacksonville (Johnny's Custom Body and Paint) that seems pretty good and is excited to take on the project. Johnny's is also going to do a custom paint job on the car. Am sticking with the original black but am striving for a very deep gloss on the car. Johnny promises pics of the job!

Don't know if any of you are interested, but I was pm'd about the radiator fans that Pettit uses. They are Spals and as Cam describes them, are the biggest and best available for the car.

I've also decided on the Wolf 4D Plus for the EMS. Chris from Wold USA (see the Wolf group buy thread) has been great and Cam feels good about moving forward with him. As I think I've stated, the Links system is no longer available so it came down to Wolf, Microtech, and Haltech as a distant third. Let Pettit decide as they are the tuners.

As for the price of the conversion, it's not cheap. Yes, you can do it cheaper by yourself if you buy the parts on your own. I'm certainly not capable of this myself and am more than willing to pay for the 300+ hours of conversion and custom fabrication. I know Pettit will do the job right.

My guess is that the car is about 2-3 weeks away from completion. Hope to have more pics soon but, given the hurricane, haven't pressed Pettit on this too much. Will post though as soon as I get them!

ermin277

I was there today picking up my car and saw those wheels/tires all mounted up, i couldn't believe how huge they were (and i run a 265 rear).

hornbm

That wasnt in japan, that was robert of rotaryshack hes by LA. He made 720RWHP on a 12a, has the dyno run on video to prove it

CCarlisi

What about the Electromotive TEC 3???? It has the most accurate timing system available (+/- .25 degree at 7000rpms). I strongly suggest you make Cam take a good look at it before making a final decision. Everybody I know who has used the TEC swears by it. I am told Electromotive is the company that pioneered direct fire ignition which is now used by every major car manufacturer.

RotorMotor

iTrader: (5)

and why not the haltech e12? not as accutate as the tec? alot of 20b guys are using the haltech with good results, and ive kindof decided to just follow in their footsteps for lack of better knowledge (or ability to understand it ) in the aftermarket ECU department.

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

Ermin277 - now you've seen the rims and tires before me! Can't wait to get a picture of them.

As for the EMS unit, I basically want Pettit to use a unit that they are comfortable with. The decision came down to the Wolf and the Microtech, and Cam has more expertise with the Wolf. I'm sure there are many good units available but my recommendation is to go with what your tuner is most comfortable with. After my previous AEM experience, you can say I learned the hard way.

Cam likes the Haltech units but is not confident of the company's future. He states that the owner of Haltech died awhile ago and his spouse now runs the business. Claims the company has not progressed much since then.

Bottom line is go with what your mechanic tells you, IMO!

jimlab

Exactly. That's one reason why I went with the Fel-Pro/FAST SEFI-8LO wide band EMS instead of a newer system like the Accel DFI. The tuner had extensive experience with the SEFI-8LO and could approximate my maps before the engine was even fired for the first time, and the system, while older and less "glitzy", works just fine and is very reliable. Why risk a considerable investment on something your engine tuner has no experience with just to have the "latest and greatest"?

Mikey

haha...that is my mock up subframe. well, the car is finished now and i have NO bump steer at all. the steering rack didn't have to come down any for the engine to fit. now, i don't know about sp's supra-7, but mine doesn't have a problem.

KaiFD3S

iTrader: (37)

keep the updates comming...

jimlab

Glad to hear it. I must have gotten your picture mixed up with the ones of the SP Engineering car. I know that their subframe sat very low and they did end up with bump steer problems.

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

So now it's Hurricane Jeanne that has taken a swipe at my car! Hopefully all is well down at Pettit and I'll be able to finish this project.

R Xplicit

wow, i get one morning off, and i read this entire thread.

david, i am glad that you choose to do your own things to the car, and not taking everyone else's ideas. that is what makes our cars, "our cars"....just like Jim's car, he gets hated on by more than a few peeps, and i still think that he is entitled to his own ideas for the build, which is why it is his build.

cam is a great guy, and very suggestive as said early on in this thread. after all teh research i chose pettit too....i think that it is a good thing that cam suggests less boost and more reliability...he did the same thing to me...."stay @ 10psi and you wont ever darken my doorstep again" which was true.....too many people blow too many motors trying to be billy johnson, and some blow them not trying to be billy either, and end up going v8...*ahem, Jim* which is great....more individuality....

i hope that your car stays intact, and i know that you will be happy with the 20b, i rode in the pettit car and boy is it impressive!!!

good luck and keep up all posted....

HDP

iTrader: (2)

Wow, I get one morning off, and I read your entire signature...


Seriously though, couldn't you just use the vBGarage to list all your mods?

Scrapiron7

LOL! He's well over the limit.

fd3virgin

sorry to hear that petitt took a big hit from the hurricane. is your car ok? kvn

Snook

iTrader: (12)

I think that is a lot of money to spend if you aren't going for a lot of power output. You could easily just get a solid 13brew built and a nice single turbo that spools quick and can make you 425rwhp on the street. What I'm saying is that it's pointless to go to a 3 rotor for a relable 375rwhp. I think the 2 rotor would be reliable at that hp level or even 425 if you did it all right. The fact is that nobody ever does it right and they end up overboosting or running lean. There is a way just people skimp out on making every last detail perfect and getting the best parts that could prevent detonation and because the rotary is so picky it gets the best of it a lot more times then none!

jfxp

iTrader: (4)

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/hurricane-jeanne-takes-out-pettit-racing-352811/

Edit: oops, somebody said this already, sorry

turbojeff

iTrader: (30)

The power curves are totally different.

What kind of HP does that 13BREW put out at 4k rpms? What HP does the 20B put out at 4k rpms?

Most people don't want to be driving around at 5000 rpm so they'll have 250hp (example) available when a bigger motor will put the same hp out at say 3.5k rpm.

TurboLumpy

plus it sounds toight like toiger

Snook

iTrader: (12)

I dont think having to be at 3000rpms for usable power is unreasonable. Dont see what the point of flooring it in the wrong gear is either. Who the hell wants a car that they can be in 4th gear at 40mph and the floor it and feel more power at 2000 rpms with that engine then they would with the 13b at the same rpms?? My point is any car is most fun when you are in the correct gear for your mph and that also yields higher rpms so the poweband is there and comes up instantly.
I used to drive my dads rt/10 all the time and **** guess what if I was in the wrong gear it was still slow...it would pick up and I'd be moving but gosh darn why am I flooring it in the wrong gear if I really wanted to move its a slam of the clutch to the floor and engaging the right gear!?

It sounds rediculous to me to spend 30k so you can have more tq and equal power up top that's why I said he should aim for some real power to use what he payed for or just GET a viper! I'll try not to argue any more because I think we are both firm on our positions but I probably have some more smart *** comments backed with facts remaining

turbojeff

iTrader: (30)

A wide flexible powerband is always better than a steep peaky one.

Lets say you are actually driving it on the track, the super boosted 13b will gain 100hp in very short order as the boost raises, this is hard to predict and control coming out of a corner. Going through a corner you might not be in the idea rev range for the turbo to spool, yet you can't shift down and shift up again in 1-2 sec so you WAIT for the power to get there with the small motor. This will happen to both motors, but since the 20b has more off boost power it won't matter as much.

No arguement needed on my part. I know I'm right about a wider powerband being better.

Lets say you made $500k a year, who gives a rip if you spend $30kt on a 20b or you spend it on a new pool in the back yard, or on a boat, a Rolex, whatever...

People have been building hot rods and sleepers for decades, not something MOST people would want, but some people do. It is thier money, let them do what they want with it.

I know a guy that spent $100K on building an old dragster REPLICA. Why the hell did he do that? He could have bought a new one for the same amount and it would have been faster...

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

PETTIT UPDATE!

I'm the guy with the 20B conversion going on (and because of the hurricanse, on and on and on...). Just spoke with Tyler at Pettit and they took a pretty big hit from Hurricane Jeanne. Poor Tyler, the dude's from Canada and he picks this year to move to Florida!

Anyway, Pettit's okay but they did take a bigger hit this time than from Frances. More of thier roof was damaged and they had flooding from this in thier office and in the parts room. The dyno room's walls also shifted due to structural damage to the shop behind them.

They're now in the process of cleaning up the mess so they can get back up and running. Tyler estimates it will take them about one week to accomplish this. They're currently running on generators but they have no power to run their lifts or to do anything major (like finish my car!).

FYI - the sales group is in a different location so Jeff at Pettit can still assist you.

Luckily, they had no damage to any of the cars in the shop, including mine! So, the 20B conversion project will be able to be finished.

Cam, Candi, and the rest of the Pettit gang are great people and I am sure that they will rebound from this.