Some comparison pics between my old original clutch fork and a new supposedly updated/better version. I can't believe this sucker made it through the last 16 years of abuse unscathed :lol:

My spec stage 3 sprung 6 puck clutch w/lightened pressure plate. 20k miles use and still has plenty of life left :icon_tup:

It also was pretty gentle on the light flywheel surface, I was pretty surprised.

Because of the exedy twin disc, this clutch is up for grabs, PM me if interested.

Hey Rich, do you use a turbo blacket? Reason I ask is look what I found...

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1245981123

thewird

I cant tell from the pic, is that v band welded or cast?

The V-band flange is welded and it cracked at the weld.

thewird

Yeah, I'm using a turbo heat blanket, no cracks at all but I also haven't roadraced this setup. I did notice that the ceramic coating from A-Spec had basically crumbled off.

Guess that's what 1800*F does to a turbo with a blanket on.... It's only seen 4 track days + the gap...

thewird

1800????? My EGT can be seen in one of the pics up above, it's a few inches post turbine. My temps never get past 1300ish with the water injection, this with boost as high as 20 psi.

Looking really good and top notch as always Rich. I also just went with the RA super seals as well. Have a couple of thousand miles on the new engine and 5 days at the track... so far so good. Look forward to seeing at Gordon's in August. I'm going to drag David Jerome with me and make him drive his FD up as well :D

I still don't have my methanol installed so its 16.5 PSi on pump gas (Sunoco 94). It's not 1800*F consistently but it touches it at high RPM when going through the gears (like your on a track)

*Red Line is rear rotor and blue is front rotor

Single Pull
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/7504/pulli.jpg
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/pulli.jpg/1/w875.png

Multiple Pulls through the gears (3,4,5 and then 3,4 and another 4)
http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/8613/pulls.jpg
http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/pulls.jpg/1/w875.png

For example at Mosport on the back stretch, I can imagine it being 1800*F for a good 10-15 seconds or so as I redline 4th gear (8k RPM) and then am a little bit in 5th

thewird

very nice build!!! looks great.. subscribed :)

Brent, it'll be great to finally meet ya, DJ is my favorite cuddle bear at each DGRR event, so make sure not to get in between us :lol:

thewird, you're running a stock LIM? Damn, there's a big difference between our temps (like 400 degrees), perhaps the 4 inch exhaust is helping me?

That is probably a likely source because I have a 3" with Racing Beat dual-tip. I bought some backpressure sensors but have yet to install them lol. I'll definitely put them in soon. And yes, I'm running the stock LIM, however its been ported and port matched to my intake ports.

thewird

So your A-spec ceramic coating crumbled off? That's not cool, I just paid for that option...

:-/

Keep in mind I ran a turbo blanket, not sure if that is the reason.

thewird

Hey Rich everything looks awesome!

Is there ANYTHING visually different? or just a better cast?

Yeah your not suposed to run a turbo blanket over ceramic coatings. I'd imagine the difference in your egt's is Rich's water injection.

I still don't see how this should matter. If they claim 2000 degrees, then it should be fine, even with a turbo blanket. Or does it heat the turbine housing up to where it expands more, thus cracking the coating? This is a pure guess. But I still don't see why a 2000 degree coating should fail because of a turbo blanket. Keeping heat IN the exhaust is what it's all about.

The coating from my source that I've used for about 7 years now is very resilient, and has been extensively tested on high-hp rotaries for longevity. It doesn't crack or flake off. I sent all of my exhaust components to him to have them coated in the good stuff :)

I just ordered a new TiAL Q BOV in blue, should add some color to the engine bay. My silver 'regular' TiAL BOV will be for sale soon.

Thanks Yuri :)

You can see different numerical stampings on the clutch forks, otherwise I didn't see a difference.

ceramic coat FTW this after a year of high heat torture right before i had the compressor housing powder coated.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...4/IMAG0004.jpg

no! it was mine!

Nah. After about a year and a half of use (including 3 track weekends) my coating was flaking and crumbling off too and I wasn't using a blanket. IMHO either improperly applied coating (poor suface prep) or simply a crappy coating. I've had other coated pipes from other coaters last years and years and still look new...not the case with mine. :(

Crispy

Chris, PM me if you'd like to have your exhaust parts coated by the same guy who did the rest of your stuff...... guaranteed not to flake off :)

keep in mind that ceramic coating has a short shelf life the guy that did mine orders it after he has the part and preps it so he gets it in and sprays it imediately but the first batch he did flaked and he resprayed it for free it was simply a bad batch of material.

Thanks for the offer but I'm not going to pull all those pipes now...every nut and bolt is safety wired and it would be a royal PITA to redo them all. Not a whole lot of the coating left on these pipes. :(

http://www.reganrotaryracing.com/safetywire.jpg

Crispy

Just added another thing to the to-do list(safety wire). Seriously Crispy, you have to stop doing all these things that make sense. :D

Well I was so effing fed up of those damn bolts backing out at the track, while I had the pipes off the car I safety wired them. The first time I tracked the car after installing the single T I lost two bolts entirely and the six others were just dangling in their holes and the exhaust was blowing right past the WG entirely. LOL. I switched to better hardware, then went with split washers, neither worked, then Nordlocks - which helped A LOT but the ultimate positive mechanism to stop hardware from coming loose is to safety wire them. They aren't coming out now!

Gonna track your car? Safety wire those WG and DP hardware.
Crispy

Oh yeah, those bolts are checked every Monday. 9 days at the track in the last month :D. Sorry to hijack rich

Must be nice to get a BRAND NEW motor Rich. Looking good so far!

great stuff, rich. good luck with it.

Rich, any updates?

thanks guys!

Funny you mention it Marshall, I just spent the last 8 hours sitting in my engine bay (on the subframe) cleaning and scrubbing and rubbing. I wish I had my camera to take a picture of the pile of filthy paper towels :D

With the motor out I took the opportunity to remove the coolant line and brake booster line that runs along the backside of the firewall, and I also disconnected the brakes lines from the brackets that hold them. I was able to clean all the road grime and oil sludge from that part of the bay, and I also went crazy with DEI fire sleeving.

Here is what is getting the heat treatment in my setup:

DEI Fire Sleeving:
passenger side ABS Line: 5/8th
EGT Probe: 3/8th
s/s Wastegate lines: 5/8th
500R turbo coolant feed and return: 5/8th
oil feed: 3/8th

DEI Fire Shroud:<----this stuff has velcro so is used when you can't slip the sleeve over the end of the line or harness
Engine wiring harness (the section by the downpipe): 1 inch
Rest of harness gets DEI fire tape.
oil return: 1 inch

I replaced and heat sleeved the three fuel lines in the driver's side corner of the bay, this with thermo-tec sleeving which isn't as heat resistant as the DEI stuff but it's on the other side away from the turbo. I'm going to use some heat reflective film as well on the firewall around where the downpipe routes.

I took the time to reroute and loom alot of the misc lines in the bay to clean things up...... ie water injection wiring, boost gauge wiring, egt sender wiring etc.

I'm going to be sending off for ceramic coating the heater hose hard line from the pass side of the bay as well as the heater hose line that runs along the backside and the brake booster line. I'll get them done in black for a nice clean oem look, the pieces are looking a little worn and beat up after all the years.

I ordered a Mazdaspeed ground kit which should arrive from Japan in about 2 weeks.

Lastly, I ordered a bunch of stuff from Ray at Malloy to include the wiring harness for the starter/battery/alternator.

Sorry for the ramble, I'm exhausted and am going to bed :icon_tup:

I hate when that happens...but that's certainly the only solution.

BTW, nice rebuild and writeup!!! I knew the 35R would work well for you :)

G-

I've taken some pictures of the cleaned/heat-barrier'ed (doubt this is a word :D) engine bay but don't have internet at the new apartment yet to transfer pics from my home pc onto the net. Should be able to do it this weekend.

Other updates:
Received the Tial Q BOV in a nice anodized blue, along with gaskets for the 500R.
Received the Mazdaspeed grounding wires.
Received some other random goodies from Japan, a Feed brake fluid reservoir cover and 99 spec undertray piece.
Received like three boxes of parts from Ray at Malloy, to include a brand new starter/alt/battery harness. I was on the fence about this one but my existing harness was in pretty sorry shape and this is definitely the time to do it :)

I should have some of my ceramic coated pieces back by the weekend (to include the front cover) so that I can start building up the motor. I opted to do something a bit different with the compressor housing, stay tuned for pics of everything :icon_tup:

rich! let me know when to come out again man!!!

looking forward to seeing that motor go in!!

tom

Some spy shots of my newly polished compressor housing before being sent off for surgery :icon_tup:

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...0&d=1247190138
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1247190138

^^ loving this build :D

It don't seem like your going to get the car done for the carlisis memorial? am i right?

Oh, it'll be done :)

The motor is already ported, built, and on the stand. I'll have the front cover back from the ceramic coater this weekend and will start building up the engine sunday, should be able to drop it in soon :icon_tup:

Got wheels?

Negative, but they're in transit. Should show up at the shop on monday or tuesday.

Fikse FM5 Classics in 17x8.5,10 with Kumho XS 245/40 and 275/40. If it sounds familiar it should, I am going back to the future with this setup and I love it :D

"I just spent the last 8 hours sitting in my engine bay (on the subframe) cleaning and scrubbing and rubbing."

oh do i remember that well even though i have done my best to forget it. having the engine out is always dangerous.

it always starts with "oh i will grab some towels and parts washer cleaner and just hit a few of the surfaces. then it's "oh i will just unbolt a few items and clean behind them." then it is the realization that the engine compartment is a pit and everything needs to come out.... disconnect the steering to clean behind it etc etc.

there is only one way to do things.

good luck on your rebuild. i think it is neat that you are not changing some of the primary items and are happy w them... the turbo for instance.

hc

Howard,

This is the story of my life! I took out my 12a and well, the parts list is growing by the day and the car hasn't been on the road since!

I'm glad I'm not the only person suffering from this affliction.

I can't wait to see this thing get put together. Subscribed for sure.

Some pics of the brand new starter/alt/battery harness. Ray at Malloy sells these way below list at somewhere around $500. You can compare it to my old harness, which after a lot of cleaning, wrapping and re-sleeving may find it's home in another FD.

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...4&d=1247333286
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...5&d=1247333286
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...6&d=1247333286

Some in-progress engine bay pics......the back of the engine bay was an absolute mess. The first pics don't show the heat shielding on the turbo side of the engine bay. You can see the black DEI fire sleeving on the EGT sensor line, ABS line, and wastegate lines. I also replaced the fuel lines below the brake booster and have them some less-extreme Thermo-tec. heat shielding.

The last pic shows the newly-installed harness as well as a nice clean steering rack with the Gotham p/s delete line loop.

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...7&d=1247333419
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...8&d=1247333419
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...9&d=1247333419
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...0&d=1247333419

Hey Rich,

IM also in the process of replacing my engine (due to bearing failure).

I picked up a BRAND NEW motor from Ray just this past week.

Very nice, came with a flywheel, complete crank pulley, oil metering valves, water temp sensor, thermostat housing with Cap & water level sensor. Can’t beat the price for all you get.

When I first bought my car 10 years ago I installed a NAPA thermostat. The coolant seals let go a month later. I had that motor rebuilt with 3mm apex seals.

A couple years later I upgraded to a Power FC & noticed the knock readings would peg, under no load, above 3K rpms. This was why my HP reading were always low on the dyno. The stock (M2 chipped) computer was always retarding the ignition.

I didn't want to mess with another rebuild on my 119K motor. Plus, if you can find a rebuilt core to exchange, your core deposit is based on how much of your old motor is salvageable. Sounds like an apartment cleaning deposit where they always find some excuse to keep your money.

So it's nice to start all over with new stuff.

Unfortunately I have to go out of town for the next 10 days, so I can't finish it up until I return. The benefit is I made a list of all the hoses, seals, gaskets, nuts & bolts I want to replace. They should be waiting for me when I get home.

It's amazing how tolerant we are of these cars. Over the years I’ve replaced the diff, transmission, turbos & engine (now X2). Most any other car I would have considered it a POS & sold it long ago.

I want one! :bigthumb:

thanks for letting me use IRP as a car wash last weekend!

https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2573...5e8e73d5_o.jpg

rich's new motor on the stand with the front cover on...

https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2545...cc55ac87_o.jpg

https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2463...f0588548_o.jpg

https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3493...770dca78_o.jpg

so fresh and so clean clean

https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2516...40c74e6b_o.jpg

https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2547...36a16526_o.jpg

my car...

https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2510...9f98e011_o.jpg

chris (Uncle Hungry)'s car...

https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2653...cc305682_o.jpg

https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2443...8125150e_o.jpg