Build Threads The place to discuss complete builds

Kilo Racing 3 Rotor FD Conversion

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 03-08-08, 06:59 PM
  #2101  
Rotary Freak

iTrader: (7)
 
ScrappyDoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Woodbridge, Ontario
Posts: 1,855
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Wow, I was looking forward to finally hearing the saga is over. Too bad, but I'm happy to see that you are close. So many people are living vicariously through this thread.
Old 03-08-08, 08:30 PM
  #2102  
Formally 20b 3rd gen

iTrader: (3)
 
94RHDFD's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Birmingham, AL
Posts: 2,416
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
So David I took the liberty of penciling you in for DGRR08



BTW the car looks absolutley awesome rolling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Old 03-08-08, 08:52 PM
  #2103  
Full Member

 
GEO147's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Posts: 167
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
OMG what a machine....the ecutout sounds fantastic doesnt it!!!

Now I understand what all the 20B fuss is about!! The very best of luck with it in the future!!

PS: I read the whole thread and admire your patience and perseverence
Old 03-09-08, 11:14 AM
  #2104  
Eh

iTrader: (56)
 
djseven's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Nashville, TN
Posts: 6,544
Received 333 Likes on 189 Posts
It may not run right yet, but it is still one of the best looking fds I have ever seen. Atleast you got to drive it some and get a slight reminder of why you dump so much money into it.
Old 03-10-08, 10:06 AM
  #2105  
Senior Member

iTrader: (5)
 
jjshaloam's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
Posts: 309
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
The vents in the hood look real nice. What did it dyno at 9 psi?
Old 03-10-08, 10:12 AM
  #2106  
Banned. I got OWNED!!!
 
2007 ZX-10R's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: NC
Posts: 315
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by David Hayes
As I posted earlier, the car failed on the dyno due to an electrical/injector issue. At around 9 lbs. of boost, the injectors fail. So, we wrapped it up on the dyno and headed back to the shop where it's now up to George to diagnose, fix, tune, and dyno.
David, I'm starting to think you or the car are cursed, which is not unusual with these cars in general, but a truly unbelievable sequence of bad luck, hopefully the tide turns in your favor and good numbers will be realized on the dyno
Old 03-10-08, 10:20 AM
  #2107  
Mr. Links

iTrader: (1)
 
Mahjik's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Kansas City, MO
Posts: 27,595
Received 41 Likes on 26 Posts
Originally Posted by David Hayes
As I posted earlier, the car failed on the dyno due to an electrical/injector issue. At around 9 lbs. of boost, the injectors fail. So, we wrapped it up on the dyno and headed back to the shop where it's now up to George to diagnose, fix, tune, and dyno.

It's good to see the car running again and hopefully everything will be wrapped up soon. The sage continues but is close to the end!
David,

You certainly have more persistence than I do. I would have had turned it N/A a long time ago, sold it, and put the money towards that Aston you were thinking about.
Old 03-10-08, 03:33 PM
  #2108  
Old and grumpy

iTrader: (4)
 
cabaynes's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: San Francisco, CA
Posts: 2,600
Likes: 0
Received 6 Likes on 3 Posts
Originally Posted by Mahjik
David,

You certainly have more persistence than I do. I would have had turned it N/A a long time ago, sold it, and put the money towards that Aston you were thinking about.
Agreed. I'm glad to see you're sticking it out with this car, but I'm even more glad that I'm not in your shoes!
Old 03-10-08, 06:45 PM
  #2109  
Lives on the Forum

Thread Starter
iTrader: (6)
 
David Hayes's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: FL
Posts: 6,505
Received 177 Likes on 120 Posts
The Saga Continues

Originally Posted by jjshaloam
The vents in the hood look real nice. What did it dyno at 9 psi?
It didn't. When George tried to hit the gas, the injectors failed. He noticed the car went to about 9 PSI and then he hit the problem. So he never got the car to hold 9 PSI for a dyno run, it just started to boost and failed. If I'm right, the spring on the car is now a 14.5 PSI spring. So basically we didn't get any dyno numbers with boost.

I do feel damned cursed with the car but will see it through to the end. Have come too far to stop now. Gotham will get it right and it will be a nice show car for them as well as for me.

Now that I have more energy (slept for like a billion hours last night), a few thoughts on the trip. I didn't meet my goal of having everything wrapped up by when I left.

FRIDAY: Flew in to Dallas and spent the day at a hotel, waiting on Gotham to prep the car for driving.

Saturday: My plan was to start driving the car on Saturday. This didn't happen as Gotham found the coolant leak early Saturday morning. When George picked me up on Saturday, I could immediately tell something was wrong. He let me in on the coolant leak and we drove over to the shop to investigate. His suspicions were (on the very bad side) a hairline crack in an iron because of the machining or (on the better side) something to do with the machining itself.

After pulling out the tranny and the clutch, a pressure test confirmed coolant coming out of one of the nuts on the stud. This revealed the radius groove done by the machine shop, which allowed the o-ring to float in the groove as the stud kit washers also have grooves in them. We then went on a four-hour search on a Saturday for o-rings that would work. We finally found them at Ace Hardware (had to go to two actually to get enough for the entire engine). Thanks to Carlos Lopez and Brian (japan2la) for taking our panicky phone calls relating to the o-rings. This took us to 8 pm and we called it an evening, with the plan to meet at Gotham by 10 am or so to pull the engine.

Sunday: Showed up at 10 am and no George. Tried calling him but no answer. Turns out he got the flu and was sick in bed. Got a hold of Steve Kan and Alex showed by 11 am. With George down, Alex, Abel (Gotham handyman) and I pulled the engine out. This was actually kind of fun. Took about 3 hours to label everything and pull the engine.

At this point we realized George had the o-rings and the stud we had removed from the engine. Able went to George’s house and picked these up. Steve showed and we spent the next 2 hours or so replacing the entire stud o-rings with proper width ones and with silicone. Got to the
stud hole we had removed the previous night (one came out when removing the nut) and we realized George had the actual one we removed locked in his tool chest. Decided to use one from Alex’s kit and spent 2 hours trying to figure out why it would go all the way in. Finally realized we were using the wrong length stud (they come in three lengths for the 3 rotor), replaced the offending stud with a shorter one and magically everything worked. Finished up the job and called it a night, as we had to wait for the silicone to dry for the pressure test.

Monday: Showed up at 9 am and worked with Steve Kan to pressure test the engine. Fortunately the engine held about 20 PSI and everything was good to go. Spent the next few hours helping Steve (or getting in his way) reassemble the long block for reinstallation into the car. Had to pick up my father-in-law at this point and by the time I got back from the airport, the engine was back in the car. Steve spent the rest of the day wiring the car up and the evening culminated with him starting the car.

Tuesday: George is back today! Had to organize his tools (they were in shambles from our use☺). George finished up the reassembly of the car, including the clutch, tranny, shifter, intercooler-piping, down pipe etc. This took most of the day. We helped by holding parts and by thermal heat wrapping the down pipe. Steve and George spend several hours going over the tuning on the car. Drove over to Pep Boys for a quickie front wheel alignment but they had lied to us and had no one to do the job. So, we wasted a hour or so waiting on them and lost an opportunity to take the car somewhere else. Gassed up the car and called it a day.

Wednesday: My father-in-law and I were hitting the road today to do the break-in miles on the car. First, took the car for the much needed alignment. This took a few hours. Drove the car back to Gotham and on the way back, toasted the power steering belt due to a frozen AC compressor clutch. Just my luck, right? Went back to Gotham, checked out everything and hit the road, putting in 125 miles or so around Dallas and close to the shop. Went back to Gotham for an inspection and hit the road for Corpus Christi, about 400 miles way. Only made it about 55 miles or so south before the car died.

Funky electrical stuff started to happen, giving us a certain clue that we were not going to make it much further. The ABS light came on and the stereo started to sound funny. The tach then started to go up and down, followed shortly thereafter by the speedometer. Finally, the Jacobs Accuvolt’s alarm went off and we knew we were toast. Happened to be right at an exit when the car died so I coasted it over to the side of the road, out of the massive I35 South traffic. At this point, my headlights started to do the “alarm wave” where one goes up while the other goes down. Curiously, the alarm didn’t go off but the light effect sucked pretty bad. Solved this (temporarily) by pulling the fuse. Called Gotham and then had AAA tow us back to the shop (Gotham had offered to drive down and either fix the issue or tow us back but I thought the AAA option was the best). Got back to the shop around 11 pm or so and Steve diagnosed the problem in about 5 minutes: a broken alternator cable. What is the chance of that? We had double-checked the cable when we reinstalled it.
Couldn’t figure out the light problem but we were now good to go again.

THURSDAY: Hit the road again, trying to stay around Dallas for another 100 miles or so in case something happened. Snow (not a regular thing in Dallas in mid-March) put quite the damper on our plans. We drove west of Dallas with no snow as of yet. Went to Race Ready Performance, the makers of the ecutout as we were having issues with the unit remaining closed. Very cool guy who operated his business out of a shop located at the back of his ranch. His wife and I believe his parents came over to check out the car while he diagnosed the problem. Ended up giving us another unit just in case.

Our mistake was in going to Race Ready, however, as the weather now started to close in and it was sleeting by the time we left the shop. We had the bright idea of driving south to avoid the weather system, but, not knowing the area, we went west instead, right into the thick of the snow. Got turned back around by a local but had to head right back the way we came. Went through the snow, and then back into the sleet. Foreshadowing – have I mentioned it’s not a good idea to drive an RX7 in the snow? Finally hit I35 and went south, back into Dallas/Forth Worth and into a major traffic jam of cars, snow, and accidents. Apparently, Dallas drivers are as bad driving in the snow as Florida drivers. Made it about 50 miles south of the city and decided to turn back around before the weather got worse.

For whatever reason, my father-in-law wanted to drive and I acquiesced. He has a bad habit of driving too close to the car in front of him so I spent the next 1 ½ hours coaxing him back away from the car in front. This task was doubly difficult because of the triple disc clutch setup and the tune on the car, which was a bit difficult to handle. Made it all the way to within 3 miles of the shop when he had his spin out incident (see one of my previous few posts). Kissed the ground at Gotham when we got back, had the oil changed, and went back to the hotel.

FRIDAY: Much improved weather conditions, perfect for driving. Made it a few hundred miles south to Austin (very cool city), had dim sum for lunch (very tasty) and drove back to Gotham, completing over 800 miles in the process. Left the car at Gotham and took the father-in-law back to the airport for his trip home. Went back to Gotham, discussed the game plan for Saturday’s dyno run and went to dinner with James, an FD customer from Tucson AZ who had flown in to pick up his car, drive 500 miles for a break-in on his engine, and drive 950 miles home on Saturday.

SATURDAY: Picked up James, who wanted to see the dyno, and met George over at Redline Performance. Gotham’s dyno was down so this was the next best thing. Watched the ill-fated dyno runs and got a kick out of the Honda guys coming over to see the car. When George hit the ecutout, their eyes we wide open in amazement. Had a few guys say that the car was the nicest sounding Viper they’ve heard☺

Followed George back to the shop, taking pics and videos for all of you. At one point, a biker wanted to race George but he quickly backed off when George hit the ecutout. You have to hear it in person. It’s like a massive subwoofer beating through your body.

Spent the rest of Saturday developing a game plan for getting the car done and helping (code words – getting in the way) James get on the road back to AZ. Hope you made it safely James!

Anyway, that’s the saga for now. Will post more when I hear from Gotham!
Old 03-10-08, 08:13 PM
  #2110  
Rotary!

iTrader: (1)
 
3GRX7's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Miami, Florida
Posts: 582
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
David,

If you don't mind a personal question, what do you do for a living? Unless you are retired or independently wealthy, this project must put a huge strain on your business and/or personal life!

I mean, I own a business, and it absolutely does not take 40 hours a week to operate to it's best potential, but I wish I had the time to work on my projects like you seem to be able to do.

I mean this with all the very best intentions....Isn't it so hard to get away from home so often to deal with this project? My wife would KILL me! Forget the cost involved....finances aren't always an issue with some families, but time always is hard to get, no?

Regardless, I too am impressed by your perserverence and cannot wait to hear when you've accomplished your goal.

Good luck!

-Ian
Old 03-10-08, 09:18 PM
  #2111  
Lives on the Forum

Thread Starter
iTrader: (6)
 
David Hayes's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: FL
Posts: 6,505
Received 177 Likes on 120 Posts
I had a healthcare software business, Tempus Software, that I sold in 2004. Since then I've been semi-retired and teaching entrepreneurship at a local university. Not teaching this semester because we're building a home in Asheville NC.

It is difficult to stay away from home so long. My wife is very understanding as she wants me to be happy with the car, but it sucks being away so long. Maybe the project is now finally coming to an end.


Originally Posted by 3GRX7
David,

If you don't mind a personal question, what do you do for a living? Unless you are retired or independently wealthy, this project must put a huge strain on your business and/or personal life!

I mean, I own a business, and it absolutely does not take 40 hours a week to operate to it's best potential, but I wish I had the time to work on my projects like you seem to be able to do.

I mean this with all the very best intentions....Isn't it so hard to get away from home so often to deal with this project? My wife would KILL me! Forget the cost involved....finances aren't always an issue with some families, but time always is hard to get, no?

Regardless, I too am impressed by your perserverence and cannot wait to hear when you've accomplished your goal.

Good luck!

-Ian
Old 03-10-08, 10:19 PM
  #2112  
Rotary!

iTrader: (1)
 
3GRX7's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Miami, Florida
Posts: 582
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Wow, good for you, David....I wish you the best of luck in this project.

Congrats on selling the business...It's a dream of mine to sell mine and become semi-retired as well. Maybe some day!

Also...can't beat having a cool wife, huh? I like to think mine is as cool and understanding as well!

All the best,

Ian
Old 03-10-08, 10:24 PM
  #2113  
Original Gangster/Rotary!


iTrader: (213)
 
GoodfellaFD3S's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: FL-->NJ/NYC again!
Posts: 30,531
Received 539 Likes on 326 Posts
Damn, I can't believe gotham still uses that same place for alignments, blast from the past for me

David, the car looks phenomenal. In the end, it will all be worth it
Old 03-10-08, 10:58 PM
  #2114  
Junior Member

 
Speedfab's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Florida
Posts: 41
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
David,

Please bring your car home ASAP so that I can administer a proper beatdown.

Love

Tracy
Old 03-10-08, 11:09 PM
  #2115  
FB=OS Giken LSD

iTrader: (20)
 
mikeric's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Wilmington, DE
Posts: 2,279
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I feel your frustration. So close yet so far. I bet when it is all running correctly, you won't even believe it.
Old 03-11-08, 12:13 AM
  #2116  
Banned. I got OWNED!!!
 
GARCO MOTORWORKS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: next to the polishing wheel!!!
Posts: 1,179
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
You need a garfinkle engine torque brace to cure all the problems .
Old 03-11-08, 12:24 AM
  #2117  
Blithering Idiot

 
dontlift's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: NE Pa
Posts: 338
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
the project is now finally coming to an end.
It is closer than it's ever been before

Congrats on the progress so far; at least you got a chance to sample the car again. Good luck on that fuel injection issue...
Old 03-11-08, 12:46 AM
  #2118  
Full Member

 
toyzzzz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Tucson, Az
Posts: 117
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Hope you get the car back soon! I made it home after the 950 miles with no problems, besides a warning ticket near Van Horn for 5 over of all things.
James
Old 03-11-08, 07:42 AM
  #2119  
Lives on the Forum

Thread Starter
iTrader: (6)
 
David Hayes's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: FL
Posts: 6,505
Received 177 Likes on 120 Posts
Originally Posted by toyzzzz
Hope you get the car back soon! I made it home after the 950 miles with no problems, besides a warning ticket near Van Horn for 5 over of all things.
James
Glad you made it James. Damn nice FD, very clean and well done.
Old 03-11-08, 07:45 AM
  #2120  
Lives on the Forum

Thread Starter
iTrader: (6)
 
David Hayes's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: FL
Posts: 6,505
Received 177 Likes on 120 Posts
Originally Posted by GARCO MOTORWORKS
You need a garfinkle engine torque brace to cure all the problems .
To answer your PM question several months ago, the 3 rotor does have engine lift holes on the rear iron if I'm not mistaken. We used these holes to attach an FD engine lift brace so Im guessing they're the same.

Didn't take pics though - forgot. I'll call you when I get the car back. it does need your engine torque brace
Old 03-11-08, 08:26 AM
  #2121  
Lives on the Forum

Thread Starter
iTrader: (6)
 
David Hayes's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: FL
Posts: 6,505
Received 177 Likes on 120 Posts
Originally Posted by Speedfab
David,

Please bring your car home ASAP so that I can administer a proper beatdown.

Love

Tracy
Wow, this is a name from the past. Tracy, you do excellent fabrication work. You also do great work on VWs and Porsches, but stay away from the RX7s.

I've never posted this in the 5 years since I've been to your previous shop but now that you've joined the thread, you and your previous partner and shop, SpeedCraft, really screwed me over. I paid you a little over $8,500 for a Pettit rebuilt engine, a front mount intercooler, an ACT stage 3 clutch and an AEM ECU. Combined with my previous bill of $4,500 for a down pipe , SS exhaust system, "upgraded twin turbos", and tuning, I would have thought I would make decent HP. After all, you guys did give me a dyno sheet indicating my car made over 330 WHP. Guess what?

The car never ran well so I took it to Pettit Racing. How much HP was the car really making? After all this money and supposed tuning, ...275 WHP. Check out the AFR on the car, in the 12s for most of the run.

Here's the dyno which I have saved for some reason (maybe this moment):



After paying Pettit another $6,000 to undue the mess and fix all the issues caused by you guys, I dynoed in at a respectable 312 WHP, with a very safe 11.5 AFR:



Moral of the story. As I've said on the Florida Shop List thread, don't take your car to anyone in Jacksonville.
Attached Thumbnails Kilo Racing 3 Rotor FD Conversion-speedcraft-dyno.jpg   Kilo Racing 3 Rotor FD Conversion-pettit-dyno.jpg  
Old 03-11-08, 10:27 AM
  #2122  
Lives on the Forum

Thread Starter
iTrader: (6)
 
David Hayes's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: FL
Posts: 6,505
Received 177 Likes on 120 Posts
EDIT to the above: I was charged $12,500, not $8,500 for the engine work, AEM ECU, front mount intercooler, clutch, and tuning.
Old 03-11-08, 10:44 AM
  #2123  
Junior Member

 
Speedfab's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Florida
Posts: 41
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Oops. Good natured ribbing gone terribly wrong, this is.

David, I am genuinely sorry for what happened to you at Speedcraft. There is no doubt that Todd screwed you, along with many other people including myself. I hate now that MY name was ever associated with that place... I didn't learn the true depth of how bad it was until after you were gone. I should have left the day he went to jail instead of staying to do pro bono work trying to right an overwhelming number of wrongs. He was no "partner", in fact I lost some tools and other items to his equally crooked family when the whole thing finally imploded. I did, however, get every customer's car out of there and back safe with the owners, and manage to keep them from being further stolen from. I certainly didn't do a good enough job in your case, and as stated above, I am very sorry for that. I hope that at some point in the future I can somehow make it up to you.

I would very much like to have you visit MY shop some time so that you can personally witness things getting done RIGHT.
Old 03-11-08, 11:15 AM
  #2124  
Rotary Freak

iTrader: (1)
 
pomanferrari's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: San Jose
Posts: 1,650
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Originally Posted by David Hayes
Wow, this is a name from the past. Tracy, you do excellent fabrication work. You also do great work on VWs and Porsches, but stay away from the RX7s.


The car never ran well so I took it to Pettit Racing. How much HP was the car really making? After all this money and supposed tuning, ...275 WHP. Check out the AFR on the car, in the 12s for most of the run.


After paying Pettit another $6,000 to undue the mess and fix all the issues caused by you guys, I dynoed in at a respectable 312 WHP, with a very safe 11.5 AFR:


Moral of the story. As I've said on the Florida Shop List thread, don't take your car to anyone in Jacksonville.
The last dyno I saw, you were making about 500 rwhp on the Mustang Dyno which is probably around 550 rwhp on the Dynojet Dyno. You didn't need to pay $18.5K to make less power than my 2 rotor on stock turbos.

Basically sir, you were skull f*cked by SpeedCrap. I think the best thing for SpeedCrap or SpeedFab can do is refund some of your money.

By the way, once this law is passed, guys like SpeedCrap or SpeedFab will be going to jail for this kind of skull f*cking:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxObnyFtxrI
Old 03-11-08, 12:54 PM
  #2125  
Lives on the Forum

Thread Starter
iTrader: (6)
 
David Hayes's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: FL
Posts: 6,505
Received 177 Likes on 120 Posts
Originally Posted by pomanferrari
The last dyno I saw, you were making about 500 rwhp on the Mustang Dyno which is probably around 550 rwhp on the Dynojet Dyno. You didn't need to pay $18.5K to make less power than my 2 rotor on stock turbos.

Basically sir, you were skull f*cked by SpeedCrap. I think the best thing for SpeedCrap or SpeedFab can do is refund some of your money.

By the way, once this law is passed, guys like SpeedCrap or SpeedFab will be going to jail for this kind of skull f*cking:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxObnyFtxrI
Pomanferrari, this isn't my 3 rotor we're talking about. It's my 2 rotor from over 5 years ago. It's from the first time I ever modified my FD. I was basically inexperienced and lacking in knowledge about rotaries. I've learned a lot since then. The dynos I posted were from my 2 rotor, stock twin turbo setup. And yes, I did get taken for a ride by SpeedCraft.

Don't worry, my 3 rotor will make a lot more than the 550 HP you saw last. The car is at Gotham Racing and is in good hands.


Quick Reply: Kilo Racing 3 Rotor FD Conversion



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:54 AM.