When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
So - confirmed choices
IRP IGN A1 kit.
RP Comp fuel pump
pending - which cat to buy. I want a cat because im not going for max hp and i want more of a stable tune that can account for an environmental change. gas, temperature, altitude and such.
did alot of searching and found alot of threads and so for it seems like the rx7.com cat is the way to go.
So - confirmed choices IRP IGN A1 kit. RP Comp fuel pump - rx7.com
Bonez Cat with gasket kit - from rx7.com - ill weld it in myself on my midpipe and save $220
I really like to buy from the original creator of something to give credit to their hard work and RnD.
C. Ludwig did alot of ground work for this kit in 2012 and then it was marketed by others. https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...nstall-992444/
In that case its just who offers a better deal since the full kit is not offered by C. Ludwig on the site. https://lms-efi-llc.myshopify.com/co...ctive-ignition
But I do see individual pieces and I read that another member got a harness from him. So who knows - when I have money in hand I'll make some phone calls.
Im going with IRP instead of Sakebomb for 2 reasons.
1. Its cheaper 695 vs 750
2. 2 rotor grounds (1 gnd for each rotor) - looking into sensor ground issue (3rd ground) - https://www.rx7club.com/haltech-foru.../#post12410099
IRP used to have an advantage where you did not have to de-pin your connector - but Sakebomb fixed it on their end. ( I dont know if they have 2 grouns on the new harness. - https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati.../#post12436253
But also SBG has pics and instructions they need to add to their page.
Some IGN coil connectors show loops while others are straight wire.
Instructions under docs on their site still reference the old harness you have to de-pin, no mention of updated harness.
Sakebomb - introduced some time here in 2014/2015 - https://www.rx7club.com/group-buy-pr...-sale-1086522/
I also noticed they have the oil pedestal I bought from banzai - After looking at the pics I noticed Banzais oil pedestal sticks out further for where the oil cooler lines hooks up. No interference issues there.
IRP - I could not find when they first started selling it.
I will also be adding Banzai transmission and rear diff brace.
Im not into drag racing so I do not have to worry about hard launches, but I really like driving on mountain roads and I will be putting it through the twisties alot.
and after specking with C.Ludwig at emi, he no longer sells the IGN 1A harness (at least not to me). but he did say to ground the coils to their perspective rotors which IRP does with their 2 rotor gnd wires.
So - confirmed choices IRP IGN A1 kit. RP Comp fuel pump - rx7.com Bonez Cat with gasket kit - from rx7.com - ill weld it in myself on my midpipe and save $220
Thats whats left to get to get this car running.
Last edited by rotaryextreme; Oct 23, 2020 at 10:15 AM.
Self note to buy IRP IGN A1 kit. RP Comp fuel pump - rx7.com
RP Bonez Midpipe with Cat with gasket kit - from rx7.com
1. Dirty Engine Bay
2. Broken / Missing parts / Parts Removed
3. Bent Support Frame
4. Clean Engine Bay
5. Driver Light
6. Passenger Light
7. Sanded
8. Welded and Painted
One of my pups absolutely would not stop crying until I let him know I was ok. He is a maltase terrier mix and he is hypoallergenic. He does not shed and his hair grows like ours and I have to give him a haircut every 6 months. His name is Junior and he's wearing his Halloween shirt - I want my mummy...lol
Ok onto the car.
The engine bay is a mess.
The front of the car is a mess.
It's all just a big mess.
1. The engine bay is covered in a slimy film. Probably from a coolant leak which cause all the white powdery build up on everything. The exhaust burned the frame rail. Oil is everywhere on the sub frame. It's all just a big mess.
2. While taking things apart to clean up the engine bay I noticed I have a broken fender trim. It's the left side of the car or LHD Drivers side. It is in the front tip that covers a hole. I guess I'll have to rivet on a L-shape piece of sheet metal to replicate that broken off part..lol. All my parts are stored on a cart with the nuts and bolts in my trusty bin cart. I took a look at my midpipe, I forgot it had a muffler on it so I guess I will be getting the full Bonez midpipe from rx7.com after all.
3. After taking off the headlights I noticed that my car was jacked up. Something happened during its lifetime and it had a shitty repair. I knew the bar was tweaked and flimsy but I thought that's just the way it was. The pop up lights supports are all bent on both sides and the upper hood latch cross support has bondo filling the repairs at both ends. The whole time Im discovering all this crap one after another Im hearing Biden in my head - "come on man" I also showed a pic of all the tools I used to straighten the pop up lights and hood latch supports.
4. I bagged all open lines and electrical connections. After about 3 can of engine degreaser and a power washer the engine bay showed some signs of life. I was happy that the sub frame and power steering rack cleaned up good. I can see the ps lines and the brackets holding it in place. The frame rails look better but the paint is still burned from the exhaust.
5. Driver Light. The pop up light bracket was bent to **** so I straightened that first. There were holes that were opened up on the pop up light bracket and a hole massaged on the car where the bracket next to the pop up light motor is. I re-shaped the frame until it was mostly flat and then I tweaked it to where all the holes lined up to the original hole location before they were opened up. You can see the smooth section where the original holes are and then the rough section where the opened it up to fit. You can also see the difference in paint on the front of the shock tower on the driver's side.
6. Passenger side. I repeated the same process from the passenger side. On another note...While I was carrying the pop up light, I accidentally gently hit the gate with it and I looked at it to make sure everything was ok. Come on Man... I couldn't believe my eyes and that fact that it worked. One of the alignment tabs was broken and instead of buying another headlight they used a cable tie.. a "a whaatt - a tiger shark" Yes a cable tie and it actually worked !!!!!. Well Im getting replacement pop lights anyways so I'll deal with that later.
7. So yeah back to the hood latch support bar (top of front bumper bolts to this). I wanted to sand everything down so I could weld some sections to make it stronger. "Come on man" the amount of bondo that was used in these locations was ridiculous and unnecessary. Anyways I used a wire wheel and took all the sections down to the metal where bondo was used. My wire wheel started to fall apart and was stabbing the **** out of my stomach.
8. Wow - Tig welding steel is harder for me then tig welding aluminum. Go figure. Tig welding steel is like waiting for peanut butter to drip off your spoon. Thats what happens when you learn to tig aluminum first. I should have used my mig for this job, anyways its done. I welded the top of the pop up light supports near the front of the fenders and also the hood latch support bar at both ends. The hood latch support bar feels so much stiffer now. Hopefully these welds will not crack. By this point I was in a state of I don't give a F%$K ...but I still needed to paint the bare metal to protect it. I hung the front harness by a bungee cord to the pop up tent frame and used the car cover to protect everything from over spray. I worked my way forward. First I did the driver side frame rail, then I wrapped the tip of the fender to do the pop light support, repeated on the other fender and finished off with everything covered except the front... worked like a charm and done in 5 minutes.
Next will be to paint the front half of the engine bay red and clear coat it. But that will be next month.
Happy Halloween everyone - I got a trick but turned it into a treat.
You made short work of that. I haven’t welded in 20 + years and I wasn’t very good at it then. Nice job.
Jason
thanks bro I appreciate it but I was really laughing at myself when I read it because I didn't show everything and I have a confession to make.
I didn't show the pics where I was trying to weld the bottom of the hood latch brace and it was so thin I kept on burning holes and I was completely chasing the hole and that's why if you were to look closely you would see that there's a weld around the 8mm nut hole on both sides and I just had to sand the blobs of welds off with the grinder. Also the Bondo in between the cracks caught on fire a few times. I really wish I took a picture of that.. it would look cool.
Thanks again for the compliment it's really all about the finished product. Ben.
Last edited by rotaryextreme; Oct 25, 2020 at 08:52 AM.
1. Parts used and new Fast IAT
2. Side sanded
3. Fix rocker panel - sort of
4. Engine bay masked
5. Base Red - color code NU
6. Clear applied
7. All tape off
1. My fast IAT came in with a pre made harness. It looks really good. I got some really cool 8mm gloves that rip less and they were orange for halloween. I got way to much stuff to do the job. I ended up using only 2 cans of color and 2 cans of clear, 1 sheet off red scotch brite and one sheet of 600 grit. Apparently the blow function on my trusty shop vac came in handy to blow the dust off before prepping for paint. Over the years I have collected painters tape from polishing aluminum - no shortage there. Lastly I have enough clear wrap to paint 10 cars.
2. I sanded both sides of the car. A while ago I had all the dings taken out plus one big ole dent right in front of the driver's side rear tire. I had briefly contemplated painting the sides as well but after I wet sanded it, the repair were so good I did not want to risk messing it up.
3. Apparently this year has a paint issue on the rear lower rocker panel before the rear wheels. The passenger side was fine, the driver side was a mess. When I had the dent fixed I asked the body shop to fix that issue to, but they just re-textured where the missing paint was. At first I saw the part that I circled but then I noticed the back section. I ended up removing paint on both sides of the original section that the paint come off from. So after repainting it I have what looks like a lake that shows the different years it dropped water. I really efed this up but I knew the side skirt will cover it.
4. After masking the engine bay and wiping everything down for paint I noticed some damage I didn't pay attention to in full depth before. I saw the bent frame rail but after cleaning it this weekend I saw the welded section and the paint that was burned by the flying metal weld splatter. It looks like a meteor shower on my frame rail.
5. I painted the engine bay the base red color. I applied 2 coats of base red. It was a little tricky crawling in and out but it was good practice for when I applied the clear coat.
6. I applied 2 coats of clear. It came out really nice and I love the color. As I said before I can't believe I missed whatever the hell landed right on the passenger side front tower frame support. I'll see if I can chop it off tomorrow with an xacto knife. Other than that I have no runs.... whoo hoo !!!!!
7. I removed all the tape and WOW !!! The engine bay looks so much better now. Im happy I took the time to clean it up. The color is really deep and I love this shade of red. You can see the older paint how its faded compared to the new color. The color does not match, I'm so happy I did not paint the sides.
Time to start cleaning up the parts removed from the engine bay to put them back in.
looking at the pics im going to paint some more of the engine bay in the back corners towards the top and bottoms to blend it some more. bring it to the firewall.
In hindsight I am so thankful that I painted just the front half first.
If everything is out of the engine bay I would say sure paint it all at once. It is a different story when you have the ABS and Brake booster in there still. It was easy to find a spot to cut the line to blend it to the front but damn... taping up the firewall and the units was a pain. I was surprised how little I had to remove to paint the back and man was it filthy. I did the whole routine of cleaning, masking and taping for paint - took like 4 hours.
It was so difficult to use the spray can because it only sprays with the can up. You literally had to start with the can vertical then angle it to get into places - repeated this process like 400 times. I finally got the base red coat down and even though it was not perfect it was good enough.
Then the clear coat - damn...discovered a life hack on this one. So I wrapped the front and I ended up with a bowel in the engine bay. Because Im using the thick 2 part automotive clear with hardener, the over spray was collecting in the engine bay creating a fog and causing the clear coat to have a grainy fuzzy look. Oh damn....... quick get the vacuum cleaner. As I sprayed each corner I would have to vacuum the over spray fog out - you could see the mist getting sucked into the hose leaving a nice shinny coat. It was really difficult and I was leaning all over the front half of the engine bay. Trying to spray clear into the corners would have made it a disaster to paint the rest of the engine bay at once.
With everything out - spray at once.
For me - with the abs and brake booster in - spray the first half and then cutting it on the rear part of the shock support frame for the second half with the back corners.
Im really happy with the outcome and it looks so much better.
That was all done by spray can? That's impressive! Really looking good. I so regret not doing my engine bay when I redid my black FD.
What made you not do the firewall while you were at it? The ABS is not difficult to remove.
Thank you sir, I have a lot of practice with rattle can. It is the good paint for cars that the paint shop puts in a spray can. I think its really the 2 part clear that makes it pop. 2 coats of each.
At this point Im just tired. But the more I look at it the more I want to paint the firewall. I just didnt want to re-bleed the brakes and deal with the brake booster.
I still have one can of red and one of clear.
Maybe I'll sit on it until I get motivated....
I am happy as hell that I did the back corners though...it really looked bad without it.
It really does look waaaaay better now, it makes all the difference.
I just sprayed my engine bay yesterday. I can understand on being tired of prepping for a proper spray. The spray is the easy part! I will reassemble the bay at my leisure. But...you are right, I am not looking forward to bleeding the whole braking system including the ABS after reassembly. I've had good success with my Motive pressure bleeder in the past on the brakes as well as the clutch lines, but I am not so sure how effective it is on the ABS unit.
