Not really Rich as I don't want the back end to explode and then have to deal with that.

I do though want to do some autocrossing though and take my friend here in Jax Neil up on some expert instruction. Maybe before DGRR so I can have more fun?

 

When are youuuuuu going to the drag strip?

 

^^It's in the works for next year, no worries.... need to fix my current jacked-up diff problem first.

 

Haven't been on here in a while, but this was the first thing I came back to look at. Last time I checked this I think was July, so thankfully I only had one page of reading to catch up on. But at the same time, what's the update on this now. It's been a couple months since the last post here, have the wiring issues been sorted?

 

i was speaking to david yesterday and he wont be able to get online until (i believe it was) tuesday. i dont want to over step my bounds, but from what he told me he just finished dressing up the engine bay. and if everything else he has done is any indication (and im sure it is) it is beautiful.

 

Thanks for posting Dan. I am just back from a business trip to the DR. The car is pretty much done now and I am enjoying driving it. I will post up a summary and some observations and pics soon. I have been swamped with work stuff so no pics recently but I will see what I can do.

So, it's alive and well and happy in Jax!

 

David. Hope the car is doing well. I just checked in after a while myself. I look forward to an update.
Regards,
Joe

 

100% read. i laughed, i cried, i kissed 15 hours goodbye. just wanted to say i really like the car david, its world class, great job. did you ever make your guidelines and tips for a 20b conversion? has your car been in any mags or other articles? any updates?

 

Hah, I am right there with you on the crying part. I have perserved though and have made it through the conversion. I have put something together outlining the dos and don'ts of a 20B conversion as well as what I have done with the car and why and will most likely post up something soon. Just been too busy with life to do so.

The car is currently up in the mountains of NC at our home and I am loving life driving it in the mountains. Tray of the Asheville RX7 community has been kind enough to show me the ropes and to take me around to some of the better roads up here. Did a Toys for Tots event a few weeks ago and we then went on a twisty drive out to Lake Lure. Completely left a 540 WHP 2005 Corvette in the dust

Going to go soon over to the Tail of the Dragon area to scout out roads and restaurants for the Miami FL gang and for the upcoming DGRR event. There are some great roads around the area that are much less congested and a blast so the plan is to have a daily itinerary for this.

As for the car, it's pretty much together (we're never finished are we?) thanks to Kilo Racing. Just added back on the car a hi flow cat to deal with the rotary stink from the exhaust and as a by product, to make the car emissions legal. Might be one of the only 3 rotors in the nation that is compliant. I want to daily drive the car so it is important not to smell like exhaust fumes and I think this has done the trick. Want to now take it to an emissions testing station but there aren't any of these around the area.

I am happy to have Steven Osley here in Asheville as a great mechanical/technical resource. He's the one who put the hi flow cat on the car as well as recently diagnosing and fixing a PPF issue. The PPF had twisted, not cracked, and it was allowing the drive train the move quite a bit, where it banged into the PPF and caused a massive vibration on launch.

Now that this is fixed, Steve is arranging a little time on a dyne next week or so to tune the car to the higher elevations. We're also going to see if the hi flow cat affects the WHP performance but I am very willing to give up some HP for no stink.

Anyway, that's it for now. Will post up the more detailed stuff soon.

 

Wow David,

My wife and I had dinner with Tray just a few weeks ago. He pulled up in this wicked looking black FD and I said "hey that's a different car than you usually ride around in!" We had dinner and went back outside and he explained how it was your car and said I should look up the build thread. He opened the hood, and fired it up... Geez... Made my knees weak. Very very nice car, and really tasteful too.

I frequently take rides to Lake Lure on highway 9 and I have been driving that route since I got my license. I could drive it with my eyes closed. I gotta say that every time I go to Florida (former home) I think that I couldn't live there again because of those long straight roads.

Maybe we'll get a chance to meet at an upcoming event sometime.

Best,
Derrick

 

When is the DGRR event?

 

Thanks for the kind words Derrick. Tray was "baby sitting" the car for me while I was back in FL. I know it was a tough job, but who better than a Marine to do it? Will definitely hook up at an event here soon.

DGRR:

http://www.dealsgaprotaryrally.com/

April 19th thru the 22nd.

 

Just because you added a Cat to your car does not make it emissions legal.





John

 

Cool, that should give me enough time to get my 8.8 irs rear setup back in the car.
If everything works out, I may trailer the car up for the meet. I've wanted to go for awhile now, but timing has never worked out.

 

^ It all depends on what you term "emissions legal". Having fought this battle long enough with potential threats on the car challenging its legality, I can say with a high degree of certainty that I can now pass EPA requirements. It's all in the details, but it comes down to do I have a reasonable belief that the car is emissions compliant and I can now answer "yes". So, from a federal perspective, I am good to go in the opinion of my legal counsel who also happens to do all the compliance work for Mazda USA. And if I am not, it will point back to Pettit Racing anyway that did the conversion work and labeled it as street legal.

And FYI, any of you that have done any exhaust system mods (all of us) are technically in violation of the same EPA regs and the shops that swap out stock systems to flow thrus are the most at risk for a $2,500 per incident fine.

As far as state regs go, I have the car registered in FL and it has always been legal according to their standards, which are not very high by the way.

 

You should definitely go, it's the best event on the East Coast by far. I say drive the car on up - I did that the last three years and there is always a group you can hook up with to make the trip.

 

With a 0 tread wear rating, my NT05r's will be worn out by the time I get there!

 

^ Then I say trailer it is! A group from Miami trailers up their cars each year so you will be in good company.

 

I trailer up from Tampabay each year also.. so thats an additional option as well for caravanning.

 

dgrr last year was a blast, i highly recommend it to anyone on the fence about going!

 

[QUOTE=David Hayes;10913466<SNIP>
Just added back on the car a hi flow cat to deal with the rotary stink from the exhaust and as a by product, to make the car emissions legal. Might be one of the only 3 rotors in the nation that is compliant. I want to daily drive the car so it is important not to smell like exhaust fumes and I think this has done the trick. Want to now take it to an emissions testing station but there aren't any of these around the area.
<SNIP> [/QUOTE]

David- can you find out what brand and model number of catalytic converter was installed, and if it was ceramic or metallic ?

FWIW, I had a metallic cat with the air-pump, and with me running rich AFR's, the metallic cats melted, and I've read some others have also had this problem.

Thanks in advance, and I hope to finally go to the DGGR in 2012, preferably with you if you're leaving from JAX . . .

:-) neil

 

Neil, it's a Magnaflow 59920 Universal Catalytic Converter (Non CARB compliant)

http://www.magnaflow.com/02catalytic...niversal=59920

It is a 200 cell per inch metallic substrate CAT. Magnaflow (and other brands I researched) do not recommend ceramic cats for our cars as they have a lower melting point around 1,000 F. The Magnaflow metallic cat can handle over 1,400 F so they say.

Magnaflow also recommends you move the CAT back into the mid pipe section to further protect it. We'll see if it lasts

I still have your electrical equipment and it is safe and sound. Am coming back to Jax in a week or so and will connect with you. Thanks again for loaning out the equipment to me.

 

Glad Steve could help you out.

Hopefully mine will be rolling soon!

 

If you don't have your air-pump, you could be OK, depending on how rich you're running.

The Factory cat I believe is ceramic, probably of a higher quality.

The metallic cat I used was 200 cells per inch, and it was positioned in the mid-pipe section.

Good luck, and hope to see you next week.

:-) neil

 

^ Well, I could have the same results then barring the marketing hype of Magnaflow as to their mew metallic substrates. We'll see soon enough.

I should have also thanked John (allrotor93) for his help in hooking me up with Steve Oz. John has a 20B build going on right now that looks absolutely beautiful. He's doing it the right way and has Steven Osley working on the car. It's going to be a really nice build and I look forward to seeing it tear up the roads at DGRR.