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Is the hole in your center console / shifter surround panel there for any specific reason? Would cover up pretty well with a little gear shift pattern indicator like many JDM cars tend to end up with.
Is the hole in your center console / shifter surround panel there for any specific reason? Would cover up pretty well with a little gear shift pattern indicator like many JDM cars tend to end up with.
I have no idea why its there, I dont even remember seeing it when I took it apart.
Nice what a great idea !!
I was going to try and paint it with some hobby paint this weekend.
lol, I know right. Its kinda over kill but its supposed to be like something you'd see in the fast and furious.
Im going to be like those people who buy every car accessory at autozone and throw it on their car - ill even have 3 stick on vents on my rear fenders..... that are backwards.
I needed to tidy up a few more things on the car before I start making the VM kit.
Part 1 – My Fan Club
Part 2 – Roll Cage Handle
Part 3 – Apexi Silencers
Part 4 – Bazooka brackets V2
Part 5 – Rearview Camera Adjustment
Part 6 – Right Side Door Trim
Part 7 – Align Lights
Part 8 – Bleed Brakes
Part 9 – Bleed Clutch
Part 10 – Rear Diff, Trans shifter and Trans fluids.
Part 1 – My Fan Club
Every weekend I work on the car and my fan club likes to chill outside with me. We have one girl and 2 boys. The little black boy is Junior, the little white boy is Rocky and the brown/grey/black mix is Yoli. Junior is constantly smelling Yolis behind whenever she walks by – yup took a picture. Rocky poses for the camera, whenever something square and shinny is stuck in his face he just freezes up. I put them on the chair to relax and Junior and Yoli kiss and Rocky is just hanging out.
Part 2 – Roll Cage Handle
The car is up on jacks right now so its hard to get in. My wife looked like she was rock climbing trying to grab the roll cage by her fingertips because the cage is so close to the interior trim you can not wrap your hand around it. It will also be hard to get out since you have to lift yourself up or fall out. I bought 2 handles but only used one on the passenger side because I have no space on the driver side. The handle is nice quality and has 3 straps. I placed one strap above the bolted joint and the other 2 below it so it will not slide down. I can pull my body up putting at least 100 pounds on it so its good to go.
Part 3 – Apexi Silencers
I bought some Apexi Silencers so I can run the car while its parked in between the houses without pissing of my neighbor. I’m sure it will help with starting the car at 0445 am for work and the 6 hour drive to LA too. It came with clear instructions (in Japanese) and all the hardware to install them. The nut had a locking mechanism so it does not vibrate loose. There was a strip of tape that came with the kit, I thought it was some heat resistant tape that went around the bigger section of the silencer. I lit the tape on fire and it burned up like regular tape so I did not use it. Maybe its to prevent scratches on the inside of the tips, I see wiping of melted tape glue more of a pain in the ***. The silencers fit snug and look cool and….. restrictive.
Part 4 – Bazooka brackets V2
The bass tube brackets I made had the bass tube press up against the rear aluminum panel, so I made some longer ones. The bass tube now clears the rear aluminum panel, but without the tension from the rear aluminum panel it moves a little bit more now. I saved the old brackets just in case its noisy.
Part 5 – Rearview Camera Adjustment
The rearview camera is not as clear as I hoped for, its probably due to how long the cable is – like 25 feet. It is better then nothing and I really like it for reversing into the garage (when I get one) or into a spot at a car show. Another thing I like is you can set the outside yellow lines to help you from hitting your rims on the curb. The rear warning line setting is in the Kenwood deck options.
Part 6 – Right Side Door Trim
My passenger side door trim was bent outward under the little triangle piece. After I took it off I realized it was damaged due to being pulled off before to repaint the door, damn what has this car been trough. The rubber under the door handle was also not set properly and caused the old trim to stick out there as well. You have to take off the outside small triangle in the front of the door to replace the trim. There are 3 push in buttons and the have a secure fit. It felt like it has never been off and that’s probably why the front of my trim was bent because they tried to pull it out from underneath. The white clips have a guidepost that helps the trim slide down into position and then you push it down and it will snap in place. The back part has to be massaged under the door handle at the same time as you push the trim down to allow the white tab in the back to fully seat. Years ago I got both window trims from Calvin Wan but over the past 13 years they seem to have disappeared.
Part 7 – Align Lights
I wanted to align the lights somewhat since I have time. I used a fold-up table for the fog lights and then placed that onto another table for the headlights. I tried to center the middle of the fold-up table with the center of the car for reference. The cut-off on the high beams looks awesome for reflector style lights. You can also see the low beams where it angles down to prevent blinding on-coming cars. I also did this during the day and it still lit the table up like crazy. I also tried to align the fog lights but they have a different light pattern. I aimed them both at the same height on the table but one fog light housing is facing up and the other is straight. I think it is the LEDs in the fog light housing so I will try another pair. The J7 LED’s are also weak as hell and that’s it why I did not use them in my other car – I think they will be going in the trash soon. I also read stock H3 is 35W so I'll try 55W and see how it goes.
Part 8 – Bleed Brakes
Bleeding the brakes in a nutshell. I read all about the different DOT’s (3,4,5,5.1) but I used Prestone DOT 3 Max since the stock system calls out for DOT and I know it will not affect the seals. Is has the Temp rating of 496F like DOT 4 and has 100K mile fluid life so it should last a while. I rarely drive hard so it should be fine. I put the key to the on position to allow the ABS to return to home position and also to monitor the brake light to pop on when the fluid gets low from pumping the brakes. First I sucked out all the fluid I could with my fluid vacuum. Then flushed the system by bleeding the brakes twice until I saw no more blue fluid and saw the clear fluid. I read to do the furthest from the master cylinder first so I did the right rear, then left rear, then right front and then left front. I was able to get all the blue fluid out, the brake side is clear and you can still see the blue fluid on the clutch side. Brake pedal pressure was nice and tight. I placed my catch jug on the suspension on the front so the fluid would travel up the hose preventing air from being sucked back in. I had to put the jug on a bunch of boxes for the back. It takes about 8-10 pumps per side when dry but with the key on you can pump until the brake light pops on letting you know to add fluid.
Part 9 – Bleed Clutch
The clutch was trickier since I was unable to put the jug high enough to prevent air from getting back in. The bleed screw is easy to access and this one is probably easier with 2 people. Luckily, I had a vacuum gun so I was able to pull it off by myself. The clutch uses brake fluid from the same reservoir, but it has a wall that the fluid somehow flows between - (can someone please explain this). I tried to bleed the clutch line by pressing the pedal only to have it stick to the floor. I pushed the clutch pedal halfway down about 20 times to get all the blue fluid out that I could. I took off the bleeder hose and stuck the vacuum on it and pumped it to 25psi and opened and closed the bleed valve. I repeated this 5 times, it was the only way I could prevent air from going back into the system. I now have clutch pressure and the clutch pedal returns like its supposed to. The reservoir is also more clear on the clutch side as well.
Part 10 – Rear Diff, Trans shifter and Trans fluids.
The rear diff took forever because I used this cheap fluid transfer pump that was meant for liquids and not oils. I do have the Greddy high capacity diff cover so I knew I was going to need more then the 2L that came with the KAZZ diff I have. I put almost 3L into the rear diff, almost double what stock diff cover has in there.
As I was reading about the trans fluid I came across the separate shifter chamber – oh crap. Earlier I sucked out all the fluid, cleaned it all up, installed the new bushing on the shifter and put red rtv for a seal – I didn’t even 2nd guess it as I assumed the fluid came from the transmission side. Well here I am taking it all apart to do it the right way. Thanks goodness I do not have to break my seal because the top part unscrews and you can do all the work like that. I took off the top and pulled out the springs and spring pedestals and set them aside. Then I pulled out the shift rod. It says to pour 3oz of trans fluid so I grabbed the premix bottle and poured 3oz of the KAZZ diff oil in there and poured that into the shifter base. I immediately cleaned out the premix bottle!!!! Next I greased the hell out of the shift rod, bushing and spring assemblies and bolted it all back together. Future crisis adverted – doh.
Finally, the manual trans fluid. I searched and searched and searched until I felt I choose the best one for my application. I read Amsoil is better for yellow metals like synchro’s, it helps them last longer but the fluid does not hold up on the track like Redline. I read that Redline is great for track when fractions of a second count and Redline allows for easier shifting, but it does not protect the synchro’s as well as Amsoil. Then there is good ole Mobile 1 which had the best overall reviews in normal daily driving. Mobile 1 fit right in between the others and still held up well to spirited driving. I’m really looking for balance with everything I do and since I will not be tracking my car Mobile 1 is fine for me.
Hopefully during the week I will get the FC Datalogit loaded onto my laptop so I can load a base map into my PFC that Daniel Kuo gave me. 550cc Pri, 2000cc Sec, cat, Xcessive LIM, no air-pump and sequential.
Thanks DK !!
Enjoy the Pictures.
pictures of
Part 1 – My Fan Club
Part 2 – Roll Cage Handle
Part 3 – Apexi Silencers
I needed to tidy up a few things that I ran across during the Day 78 stuff. Now I can start working on my VM kit next week. Hope everyone had a good 4th of July this year. I live in Oakland CA and it was NUTS !!!!!!!!
Part 1 - Apexi PFC Map uploaded
Part 2 - Fog Light Woes
Part 3 - Coca-Cola Cup Holder
Part 4 - Exhaust Hangers
Part 5 - Whoopsy Daisy - Filled the diff from the wrong port
Part 6 - Cross Brace Made
Part 7 - A/C Leak Check
Part 1 - Apexi PFC Map uploaded
Finally it was time to get to the PFC map. My wi-fi does not reach to the back of the house and I did not want to use my hotspot because I had no idea what I was in for. I ran a 100ft Ethernet cable and got the laptop on line. I loaded the FC-Data-logit software and plugged in the dat-logit. Just like many people I had to fish around for the com port and let my computer download the right driver from the net and eventually I was able to uploaded the base map I got from Daniel Kuo. This base map is for cars with these basic mods; Sequential, 550 pri, 2000 sec, IGN-1A, Excessive LIM. I verified the upload by checking the PFC Controller sec injector size - 2000 - good to go.
This will allow me to start the car and drive it around the block and get the A/C charged. Once I get it Dyno tuned I will take it slowly through the Canyon roads to break in the KAAZ 2-Way rear diff. It says I have to make figure 8's by coasting through the U-Turns at a tight angle and accelerate in 1st only in the straights for 30 minutes ?!?!?! It would have been nicer if they just said do it 100 times. The canyon road we have has hair-pin turns and very short straights and will be perfect for the job, it is 12 miles each way so I will just go in both directions and call it good.
Part 2 - Fog Light Woes
I wanted to get back to my fog lights since I was utterly disappointed with the light output. I read the stock lights are 35w so I ordered some standard 55w hella bulbs just in case my newer LED's would not fit. I put the hella bulb in one side first to compare it against the shitty J7 LED's, the hella bulb is stronger but it was not the color I wanted. The left side has a nice cut-off but the right side lights up more area. Next I put the new style LED bulb in and it is so much brighter then the J7 crap LED's that went into the trash. I was hoping that both fog-lights have the new LED's the light output would be more similar but nope - still the same problem.
I took the rebar and front fog lights off to look inside to see if I could find out what was wrong with them and I did - and WTF, why am I missing the projector on the right passenger side. So the projector gave it the nice cut-off and without it has the full scatter output. Now that I know what the problem is I order some used ones off of Ebay for parts. Now I will get the missing projector piece for the right side and the bottom cap for the left side.... NICE !!!
Part 3 - Coca-Cola Cup Holder
After I lost my center ARM rest piece I was surfing around the net and came across this cool cup holder on Etsy. I first heard of Etsy from my co-worker looking for watches. I had no idea that Etsy has so much cool stuff on there. Ebay is known for a lot of new and used car parts, Amazon for damn near everything else and it looks like Etsy has a lot of cool fashionable and gimmicky things. I was really surprised to find the FD3S cup holder on there. For 30 bucks I think it is awesome for the simple fact you can store it in your map pocket when not in use !!!!! Anyways it was a tiny bit loose so I put 4 wraps of TESA tape around the boarder and put RTV underneath to hold the TESA tape in place. I placed it back in the center console so the RTV would dry with the front notched section in place. It's not perfect but I think it's awesome and it's better than having no cup holder at all.
It is from ido3dprints and I like the fact that it is Veteran owned and operated and has a guarantee. The piece that arrived does not have the cupped section to hold the drink, it just has the hole. I do like it better since it fits into my map pocket. It does sit at an angle so if you have an open container you should drink half fisrt...lol. My arm sits perfectly beside it and it does not get in the way of shifting. Now that I think about it, if I had the arm rest will my arm even rest on it ??? It does not seem like it is in line with how my arm rest and holds the shifter. Honestly I think the arm rest was really for the RHD first and then we adapted it for the LHD.
Part 4 - Exhaust Hangers
My exhaust rubber hangers have large holes with a small rubber inserts that goes onto the exhaust pipe hangers. The Apexi N1 Dual is actually floating in the back to rubber hangers on the muffler. I ordered some new rubber hangers from evil energy because they had a shorter distance between the holes. I swapped the rubber hangers out and now the muffler has support. The rear passenger side insert was hard to get off because it had a larger back section that hit the inside of the back quarter panel, after some lube and a lot of tugs it came out - that's what she said... lol.
Part 5 - Whoopsy Daisy - Filled the diff from the wrong port
Unbelievable - once again my lazy *** assumption got the best of me. The stock diff cover has the fill and drain on the back, but the Greddy diff cover has the fill on the side which I did not see because it was behind the rear sub-frame. Looking at the back of the diff I saw the upper plug and the lower plug. So, I am incredibly lucky because of how I found this mistake. I saw a drop of oil on the drain plug and on the rear of the cover above the drain plug. I looked all over for where it could be coming from since it has to be higher than the drain plug, and there it was, another plug that I could turn by hand. I knew instantly that was the fill plug and that I filled it through a cooling return port. Stupid me. I grabbed the oil pan and took out the fill plug by hand and let the oil drain to the right height, literally a little more than 1 liter came out. I remember putting in over 3 liters and thinking damn that's a lot of oil but just went with it since I thought the top hole was the fill port. Anyways I poured the oil back into the KAAZ container and it looked like 1.5 to 1.75 liters was inside. The stock diff holds 1.3 and the Greddy diff says it holds 1 liter more. Now it all makes sense, I put about 2.25 to 2.5 liters in it until it flowed out the correct fill plug. I cleaned everything up and checked it the next day and all is good. I am concerned with how close the diff cover fins are to the sub frame, I hope I will not have too much flex in the rear diff top bushings.
Part 6 - Cross Brace Made
The cross brace is the main bracket for my VM kit. It provides support between the frame rails, supports the top of the radiator, the back of the intercooler, the P/S cooler, the AST and the MOCAL oil thermostat and lines. The bracket needs to be solid and thick enough to limit flex. To get the holes in the right spot a put some 2 inch tape under the factory brace and draw my holes. I also marked where the A/C bracket needs to bolt too. I place the tape on the new aluminum bracket, I cut the aluminum bracket to the right width and then drill my through holes for the 4 outside bolts and I tap the A/C hole to 6mm. This aluminum bracket will soon be riddled with holes to support everything else.
Part 7 - A/C Leak Check
The A/C leak check was a major concern for me since my adapter broke and I welded the ear back on. I installed my A/C condenser with the lines already bent for VM config. Now it's time to do the checks. I have the Harbor Freight Pittsburgh edition for R134a since my car has factory R-134A. I hooked the Low and High side up and I installed an hose nipple on the center port of the manifold so I can pressurize the system and check for leaks. I hook up the system and apply air and right away I hear hissing from the repair section - damn it. I called up my buddy Ivan and he said the adapter is for 95 cars with 134-a and only comes with the compressor. I pull off the adapter and give it a second look and then I realize that even though the o-rings seal is good, the problem is that air is going into the crack and passing over the o-ring and out the sides. The only fix is to seal the crack. I hit the sides of the cracks with my tig and wet sand the surface to make sure its smooth. I really did not want to use black RTV but I had no other choice at this point. I placed some RTV over the crack and tried to press it in with my finger, then I wiped the surface clean and put a nice small bead around the face where the o-ring will seat. I bolted just the adapter down with both bolts for one hour. After 1 hour I left the allen head bolt that holds the adapter to the compressor and then I took out the other bolt that holds the A/C line to the adapter. I carefully inserted the A/C line and then used the factory longer bolt to secure the A/C line in place and I let it sit the required 24 hours to fully cure. The next day I put air in the system to 120psi and it held for an hour and I called it good. I expected to have more leaks from the other o-rings but I did change them all and I guess I put the right sizes. I took off the A/C condenser so I can make the radiator and oil cooler set up and then I put the P/S pump back on and called it a day.
Overall it was a great 4 days off, super chill and fixed a lot of small issues, still had a BBQ, saw the fireworks and saw F9 which was more of a comedy. I was a street racer in the late 90's and yes I owned my first RX7 before the first Fast and the Furious came out so I really connected with it. I loved Tokyo Drift too, but now the movies are just movies.
pics Part 1 - Apexi PFC Map uploaded
Last edited by rotaryextreme; 07-05-21 at 07:32 PM.
I finally started the VM kit, and everything else that goes along with it. I was able to get everything done in order to make and test fit the oil cooler lines in the upcoming weekend, then I can take them to get pressure tested to 500 PSI. I want to warn you guys I have some WTF welds. I am learning how to weld and I do not do it often enough to be a pro. I can weld piping really good but I have trouble welding thick and thin surfaces together - need to watch more youtube videos. I have my friend Eduardo of Torofab do the welding for me on customer stuff, but for my stuff I just get it done to the best of my ability. More on this later, let's get to the other stuff I'm better at which is making brackets and stuff.
Part 1 - Twin Track V-Mount Kit Parts
Part 2 - Fog Light Beam Fixed
Part 3 - VM Kit Frame
Part 4 - Radiator Fit Check
Part 5 - Radiator Bottom
Part 6 - Radiator Top
Part 7 - A/C Condenser Install
Part 8 - Cruise Control - Oh Yes I Did ?!?!?!?!
Part 9 - Radiator Fans
Part 10 - Intercooler Fit Check
Part 1 - Twin Track V-Mount Kit Parts
Long story short, I have everything to make my vm kit. Long story, I was a street racer back in 1998 and I had a AWD Talon and was part of a car crew called SVP. I remember taking an FC off the line but towards the end he pulled on me. I also hung around another group of guys, Ivan was one of them and the guy I bought my RX7 off of was Cody. The 7 just had the block in it and everything was taken apart, but the sale came with the Greddy T78 kit and an Apexi front mount. It was at about that time I met Chuck at the street races and we both talked about our RX7’s that were down getting big turbos put on them, expect he was putting on the HKS T51-R KAI !!!!!! It was cool to be in the game and have the RX7 before Fast and the Furious came out. Watching the FF1 movie I could really relate to it, but now the franchise is just like every other car action movie. I did see F9 – Fiero spaceship – NICE !! Chuck who originally opened RX7Fashion and sold it then started Rotary Extreme back in 2000/2001. In 2006 Chuck decided to go a different direction and the business just sat dormient. The RX7 replica parts molds were no longer exclusive to Rotary Extreme and coincidentally VIS Racing started to offer the exact same areo parts that Chuck was selling. The guy who made the stuff for Chuck and the company VIS Racing are both in LA, you can draw your own conclusion. 2008 rolls around and I made a deal with Chuck to take over Rotary Extreme to at least bring back to bolt-on products. I have the same CNC connection, but the fabricator wanted to move on, he worked with me until about 2012. I tried really hard to do my best to keep the company reputable and in good standing. Back in 2008 It was a massive learning curve for me on how to use the software like quick books, flash software, making website pages and uploading it, working with customers, and updating products. I really enjoyed it, I was learning a lot and having a lot of fun. I also provide what support I can to Calvin Wan and his FD who is a pioneer with Falken Formula 1 Drift.
So the one thing that did me in was the VM group buy. It killed me financially and it was a horrible wait for all the customers. I was getting feedback and making design changes along the way, giving free shipping and absorbing all the cost for the upgrades, but I learned so much and I am so thankful for the experience. I ended up refunding the last FD VM customer and kept the kit for myself. I also did a complete redesign on my FC VM kit the V2 which fixed a lot of things. This GB is documented here on the forum and goes for a few years and it burnt me out. Now I want to focus on my car and save for a home and that is why Rotary Extreme is dormant again, not out of business - just dormant. Luckily, I do have a career job so it allows me to run the business as a hobby and provided GB’s every now and then. I also have to thank the ride share company for allowing me to go out on weekends and make side money to fund my project car… lol.
So yes, back to my VM kit, I have the Twin Track VM kit that I originally designed to support the BNR twins in sequential. The core has a divider panel on the turbo inlet side that splits the core in half and it reduces turbo lag with using a core of this size. When the second turbo comes online the core is already pressurized so there is no loss of power. The transition is barely noticeable since the core buffers it. I also provide a power steering cooler based on your needs. The drift cooler is huge since your always at high RPM, the track is the medium size and the street has a small one. I used a combination of PS hoses, AN fittings and a Derale Cooler specific for oils. The hoses are 2 different sizes so you have to deal with this using the AN fittings to make it happen. Yes I am being vague because, well it’s something I will offer in the future again. The IC core is a Garrett core and is have a modified 2 pass Koyo Racing radiator. A/C also works but you have to bend your own lines. I made this kit before the sweet Greddy VM kit came out and I’m glad Greddy supports the FD’s still. I have tons of leftover steel and aluminum flat bars, aluminum piping and silicone hose. I still have a full 4ft tall tank of Argon and a bunch of steel and aluminum rods to weld with. I do want to give a shout out to the HF Central Machinery belt sander. It is affordable, quiet, light weight, and easy to work with.
Part 2 - Fog Light Beam Fixed
I received my parts fog lights and pulled the aluminum tape off and screwed the cover on. The other fog light that was missing the lens ended up being a pain in the ***. Must be more 12/95 issues. The 12/95 fog light has a separate retainer that’s holds the glass lens on the outside whereas the earlier fog light is like an encapsulated egg. I also noticed on the older fog light that the front half says 55w but the back says 35w. Weird. On the older fog light I had to split the pressed parts apart to get to the lens on the inside and that is where the light cut off is placed as well. I took off the rubber seal so it can fit in the groove on the newer 12/95 fog light. I bolted everything back together and verified everything was tight and nothing moved around. I was so happy to see the same beam pattern with the cut off lined up. I also noticed that I can look at both fog lights without being blinded by the one missing the lens unlike before. You can see the headlights lighting up the inside lower corners just below the fog lights. I was tempted to get the JDM yellow lenses, but I decided to just stick with the clear ones for now. Besides I can buy yellow LED’s now, probably not an option back in the day.
Part 3 - VM Kit Frame
I have not made a VM kit in a while so I was completely lost when I looked at my samples. I know they are color coded. The FC VM kit and the 3 types of FD VM kits were all in one box and all I know is that the gold brackets for the radiator are the same for all 3 FD kits and only the intercooler brackets are different. I had to reference my VM installation instructions to figure out what went where. Eventually I figured out the frame for the twin track kit and I test fit it to make sure I had the right pieces. I made sure the rails were at 90 degrees from each side to the back cross bar and then I drilled my back supporting holes. Everything checked out and now I can start working on the radiator.
Part 4 - Radiator Fit Check
Since I am making my own VM kit it allows me to make more modifications to parts on my car that I would never ask the customer to do. My kits are 100% bolt in and made to your request. This is the first time to make a FD VM kit with the fog lights and after all the work I put into my fog light I really want to keep them. I put the radiator in place and rested the top pipe on the cross bar and then held the bottom up in place with a chair. The radiator just fit under the fog lights and should clear the LRB under tray. I did have to trim the ends off the bottom of the air guide support that the bumper attaches to and also the back of the outer 2 fins, the middle fin cleared fine. I also cut the front post off of the radiator to allow the fog light baffles to fit without being pushed forward. Without the fog lights the radiator can go up another 1/4 to 1/2 inch, but I had just enough to make a bracket for the radiator to attach to the brackets that set the height front the front lower part. I have a cross brace on the upper IC brackets that sits behind the top radiator end tank and that is the stop point for how close the top of the radiator can get to the cross brace between the frame rails.
Part 5 - Radiator Bottom
I made my marks and welded on a an aluminum right angle with a 6mm rivnut in it for both sides. I re-installed the radiator and bolted in the lower brackets which set the vertical height and horizontal position to clear the A/C connections for the A/C condenser. The radiator lower side brackets hold the radiator up but are shaped like a U to absorb body flex without damaging the radiator.
Part 6 - Radiator Top
Now that the bottom of the radiator is in place it's time to make the top brackets and the pipes to go to the engine. I had some beefy aluminum right angle that I turned into the top brackets. It is probably over kill but it'll last for a 24 hr endurance race easily. I used some 45 degree silicone hoses and cut the piping to fit the radiator side. I used my vibrant bead roller to make the bead at the end of the pipes BEFORE welding them as it would be much harder to spin the bead roller around let alone try to spin the radiator around.. lol. One thing I learned was to always pressure check your system to verify your welded are good. I made a test kit that uses a tire valve stem and a standard mini air compressor. I did have a leak and then I spent 3 hours chasing that leak and ended up with a big *** blob that I sanded off and re-welded. The upper and lower pipes look like **** and I'll redo them in a few weeks after I get some new 45 degree angle silicone. I also want a larger opening between the pipes and longer legs on the silicone to absorb engine movement.
Part 7 - A/C Condenser Install
I must really want my fog lights, stupid is as stupid does - that's all I have to say about that. So I had to make more modifications for the fog lights to fit with the A/C condenser. I test fit the A/C condenser and it was hitting that back of the fog light, its worse because I still have to weld a bracket in place to hold the AS/C condenser down. I took the front rebar with the fog lights off and set it to the side. Next I measured everything to make the A/C brackets and took the radiator back off. When welding my little post I used some copper as weight to hold them in place so that when I zapped them they would not move. If I was a dope welder I could do this with one finger holding it and without a helmet just close my eyes and tack it in place, but I'm not at that unicorn level yet. Now with the radiator and A/C condenser in place I can fix the fog light issue. I ended up drilling new fog light holes 1 1/4 inch forward of the old holes in the rebar. I bolted everything back up and all cleared well. But now I have to notch the fog light bracket for the plastic clip to go into the hole securing the bumper cover and I will also have to trim the bumper where it goes into the fog light side panel.
Part 8 - Cruise Control - Oh Yes I Did ?!?!?!?!
They say when you want something bad enough, you will find a way to make it happen. Yes, I really want my cruise control that much. I have the IRP IGN-1A kit which meant I had to ditch the cruise control. I brain stormed on extending the cable and putting it in various places in the engine bay. The cruise control fits right in front of the A/C compressor and sits above the A/C condenser and on the frame rail clearing the intercooler end tank. I took it out of the bracket but then realized I would have to make a retainer for the cable and plastic wheel cover. I ended up making some beefy brackets to hold the cruise control on the frame rail in front of my JP3 battery fuse box holder. It is solid since I have multiple angles bracing it. It is on its side but hey it's in there, now I just need to extend the harness.
Part 9 - Radiator Fans
My fan harness is already extended from all the vm kit making so I just wanted to bolt it in place so I could route the harness and see what I need to do to secure it. I do not know what happened but somehow I have a section broken off where it bolts to the radiator. I could have fab'd something with sheet metal and rivits but I wanted to get a new shroud so Ray found one for me and I also ordered up the 89-91 Turbo FC fan temp sensor which turns on 10C sooner. Thanks Dale for your fan thread.
Part 10 - Intercooler Fit Check
The last thing to do was to fit check the intercooler. It clears the hood, the cruise control, I have enough room for the power steering cooler and the pri turbo HKS intake filter fits. I made this kit before with HKS intakes so I have the old parts I used for that fit check, major score. Now I just have to make the turbo outlet to IC piping and fit both of the HKS bov's in there topped off with the 2nd turbo HKS intake filter. Before I can do all that I have to make the oil cooler kit first so I can send the lines out for pressure testing.
06-22-21, 11:16 PM
