Dale,

thank you so much for chiming in.

I pulled out the spark plugs I did not check it with my compression tester but when I crank the engine I have excellent equal strong puffs.

I checked the spark plugs connected through the spark plug wires on my ign1a set up and I have no spark On the leading plugs but I do have spark on the trailing plugs. I switched the old spark plugs around and I even tested it with the new ones I do not have spark on leading 1 and leading 2.

Now that I know what my problem is it’s time to search and find out why.

 

so close! almost there!

 

I know right !!!

Im searching through my thread to make sure I still have the connector for the stock coils in my harness and where in the hell it is. I want to just hook it up and see if all for coils fire on the factory set-up.

Im looking for the connector were the little coil harness plugs into.

 

It's probably something silly. Strange that 2 would work and the other 2 don't. Probably a minor wiring issue. Have you checked power and grounds, and continuity?

 

Yes it was something silly - I hooked back up the STOCK ignition system and it fired right up -thanks Dale.

I need to post another update to catch things up to now

 

The car idles smooth once it’s running and I can get it down to 750 RPM but whether it’s cold or hot when I start it it’s really rough low rpm until it creeps up to the regular idle speed. I’m also showing my afr pegged at 10 which also makes sense because I have to open the tb for it to start up. I also have the air adjustment screw backed out like 4 turns. I’m running too rich at idle so I have to get that fixed first.

 

Day 84



When I still had a smile on my face.

We are going back in time with this update before I tried to start the car.

I want to bring the build up to date to where I currently am, which will be the Day 85 update.

For now here is the Day 84 update.



Part 1 – VM Kit Out For Painting

Part 2 – VM Kit Brackets Painted Black and IC And Pipes Painted Glitter

Part 3 – Fan Shroud Fixed

Part 4 – Wet Sand Un-painted Brackets

Part 5 – New Bushings For The Steering Rack And Anti-Sway Bars

Part 6 – A/C Condenser Refresh

Part 7 – Lower VM Kit Installed

Part 8 – Upper VM Kit Installed

Part 9 – Fixing The Uglies

Part 10 – VM KIT DONE !!!!



Part 1 – VM Kit Out For Painting



In my job profession you build, you test, your tear it apart and move onto the next step whatever it may be. I guess that's why I have no problem building and tearing apart things to get to the end result. So now that the VM kit is done and test fitted I can tear it all apart for painting and then put it back together so my vision can be realized and seen by all. Unfortunately I am not telepathic so this is the way I have to do things. The radiator, radiator brackets, A/C brackets, cross support bar and the side panels will be wet sanded. The front LRB panel, VM kit brackets, oil cooler brackets, anti-sway bar support bar and other miscellaneous brackets will be painted black. The Intercooler and piping will be painted the silver glitter color. I forgot how many brackets I had made, how the heck am I going to paint them all at once.



Part 2 – VM Kit Brackets Painted Black and IC And Pipes Painted Glitter



I actually painted the black brackets and the glitter brackets at the same time. The black paint was Rust-Oleum Appliance Epoxy Black. The glitter set-up is 3 coats VHT cast aluminum followed by 3 coats of Rust-Oleum silver glitter followed by 3 coats of VHT high gloss high temp paint. The black brackets were tied together with ss wire like a wind chime in the back yard and the silver glitter stuff was in a make shift paint booth in the front of the driveway. I would spray a coat of black in the back, then run to the drive way and spray a coat of silver. I repeated this until I had the 3 coats of black and silver done then I was able to focus on the glitter and clear coats for the IC parts. Once again there was so much excess glitter on the floor it I could have re-packed it for souvenirs like Rob did with the broken back window glass when he raced KB....lol. Everything came out great except the front LRB panel, there was so much lint and dirt that I had to sand it down and re-paint it. This time I repainted it in the make shift paint booth. When all was done and said I was relieved that I was able to prep and paint everything in one day. I also have glitter toes because I painted in my flip-flops.



Part 3 – Fan Shroud Fixed



So back to my fan shroud. It was not where I left it last (6 months ago) and a corner had been broken off. I used it as is to finish my VM kit. Well now I get to fix it. I did buy a new shroud but then I had buyers regret since I know I can make something to repair it. So the new fan shroud is still in the box and I made a new corner for it. I cut my sample piece out of paper with finger to fit in between the ribs. Then I made a metal replica piece and riveted it into place. I feels solid and looks kinda cool too... lol.



Part 4 – Wet Sand Un-painted Brackets

I wet sanded the un-painted parts just to give them a cleaner uniform look. It is not a customer quality show part job, I just wanted to get rid of some pen marks and discoloration. I have the before and after pics of the radiator and the cross support bar. The cross support bar is notched to clear the radiator neck. I quickly wet sanded the CRV pipe, A/C brackets and VM panels so that everything has a uniform texture. These parts have low visibility so they just need to look clean at a glance.



Part 5 – New Bushings For The Steering Rack And Anti-Sway Bars

Now that the VM kit is out it is the perfect time to mess with the steering bushings. I got the Super Pro steering rack bushings SPF2307K. These are the newer ones that you do not have to round the edges. I did have to shave the alignment pyramid on the bottom. I shaved 1mm off the top and 1mm off 2 faces on the sides. There a 4 sides and I just did one outside and one inside so like a L-shape. After that it slid right in. The most important thing is to make sure that the side that is cut open slides up past the metal section that is cut out for the steering rack linkage. I put a flathead screw driver tip at the point to watch for and where your bushing should end up at. My stock steering rack bushing was going out where the steering linkage is so I figured I should address it now. The other steering rack bushing was easy peasy. The front anti sway bar bushings I replaced with Energy Suspension 9.5112G. It came with wider brackets with slotted holes. I hate slotted holes because they have a tendency to bend easier. I installed my front anti-sway bar cross brace and the bushing fit nice on the front anti-sway bar and I centered the bolts in the slots to prevent one side of the bracket from having more flex then the other. The Energy Suspension bushings 11.5109G are 16mm, for the 93 RX7 I think and since I have a 12/95 RX7 I have the 13.5 mm rear sway bar so I was unable to use them - whoops. Well, at least my rear bushings were in great condition so I put the bushing grease in them and put them back in place.



Part 6 – A/C Condenser Refresh

I have seen a lot of bent fins in my line of work and over time you develop your own special way of straightening them. My technique may not work for others but it work for me. I use a small screwdriver to pull up severely folded over fins and then I can use my small pliers to straighten them. The pliers are smooth on the inside and rounded on the outside. What I do is bend the fin up and if it is really bent I will use the pliers at an angle to crimp the fin straight. If the fins are just slight bent I will run the tip of the pliers down the fins one at a time, in the correct angle they are supposed to be, one row at a time. It is very time consuming but it pays off. My A/C condenser had some really bad folded over fins and some that were just leaning a bit. I even had to remove the tops of a few fins because they had separated from the tube. When I say tops I mean there are many fins inline that are offset and go the depth of the core. There might be 10 in a row, usually the top one that is really bent over has to be removed because it has separated from the tube. You remove it to allow the remaining fins bellow it to get good airflow. I have the before and after pics. I straightened the fins and sprayed a light coat of galvanized color on it. I was going for a factory look. You can still see some stains in the fins but you don't want to paint the fins, just make it look freshened up.



Part 7 – Lower VM Kit Installed



Now it's time to put the VM kit back together. This kit is kind of like Tetris and I have to put one part in and then slide another part in and rotate it to fit in place. I put the cross bar in place and put the oil thermostat on the bottom and the A/C line bracket on top. I also finally started to put the clamps on all the hoses now that they are in place. The space is tight between the upper and lower engine coolant necks and the radiator necks so I had to put the hoses on the radiator first and then install the radiator by pushing both hoses onto the engine and bolting the upper radiator brackets in place. I used my short mechanics seat to hold the bottom while I gather the lower brackets and attach them loosely. I move back to the upper cross bar and install the cruise control bracket that uses the same bolts to secure the cross bar. I tighten all the upper cross bar bolts, radiator upper support brackets and then the lower radiator support brackets.



Now I slide the A/C condenser in place and secure it with my A/C brackets and mate the 2 A/C connections and re-install the pass side horn and front air guide. Now I can install the rest of the cruise control brackets and the cruise control module. Next I install the P/S cooler and secure the AN fittings so there is minimal stress on the hoses and then I secure the hoses with hose clamps. Next is the AST and all its associated hoses. The last brackets assembly I put in place is the upper VM IC support frame. Now I can install the Pri Turbo intake pipe so I can see the space I have to route the boost controller solenoid IN to the pri turbo outlet and boost controller solenoid OUT line T'd to the wastegate and turbo pre-control actuators. I ovalized a clamp so it would hold the boost solenoid vacuum lines without pinching them. I put the intercooler on the IC frame and I put the pri turbo filter on so I know the angle to bolt the pri turbo intake in. My HKS pri turbo intake has slots so it can actually rotate a little so I have to make sure it is in the right angle. Once I had the angle set I pulled the intercooler and intake filter off and called it a night.



Part 8 – Upper VM Kit Installed



The next morning the first thing I did was take apart the HKS intake filters and painted the beat up back plate the black epoxy color. Now it is time for the rest of the VM kit install. I bolted the IC core and panels in place, then installed the primary turbo outlet pipe to IC, then I bolted in place the charge relief valve for the second turbo pre-spool (HKS BOV #1) and lastly I installed the secondary turbo outlet to IC pipe. I triple checked to make sure I hooked up the vacuum lines in the correct configuration for the second turbo. For the 2 inch turbo piping I felt T-bolt clamps would be overkill and tacky so I am using these really nice screw clamps that have an inner extension so that the teeth do not ride on the silicon. I just happen to have these laying around and I only had 4 that I needed - awesome !!!



By this time the paint has dried on the intake filter back plate and it was time to assembly and install them. I remember reading that Colten G. said that HKS had discontinued the yellow filters, I must have been lucky to get them when I did as well. I put the yellow filters in and installed the rest of the intake kit. I know I could have used black silicon for the intake couplers - but - I love HKS so I decided to run the blue couplers with the HKS print. I installed the black couplers onto the greddy elbow and the IC and put the IC to greddy elbow pipe with the HKS BOV #2 in place and slide the IC coupler up onto the pipe. Last I installed the LRB front panel with some rubber backed washers I used for the plastic lids on my air box kit. The T-Bolt clamp studs that extend past the nut forever stand out like crazy and the paint job on the front LRB panel bugged me, don't worry it gets fixed. When I was wet sanding it to re-paint it I came across a backup plan.



Part 9 – Fixing The Uglies



I unscrewed the nut on the T-Bolt clamp and squeezed the clamp in place and made a mark where the bolt extends past the retainer so I knew how much to cut off, which was about 1/2 inch. I held the bolts in a vice and cut 1/2 inch off of them and cleaned the ends and made sure the nuts screwed back on. I reinstalled the T-Bolts clamps and now they blend in and don't stand out like the Burj Dubai tower.



The LRB front panel was painted with that really durable Epoxy paint - twice. The shinny paint was a distraction and from wet sanding it before I knew I had a backup plan. So I wet sanded it again and it came out really cool. The paint for some reason came off all the edges easily but this just made it that much better. The rotor shapes and all edges are highlighted now and it gives off a personalized artistic look. Im really happy because it flows much better with the rest of the engine bay. I don't mind the blue couplers either since I have the yellow filters in that area, it's kind of like the sun peeking through the clouds.



Part 10 – VM KIT DONE !!!!



Man, what can I say. After 1.5 years of constant weekend work its finally done. It has been quit the journey and I learned so much. Thank you to everyone who has helped me along the way. I hope that this build thread has contributed back to the community because without the community I would have not been able to accomplish this on my own.



Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to all.

And to all have a good Rotary Life.

pics Part 1 – VM Kit Out For Painting

 

pics - Part 2 – VM Kit Brackets Painted Black and IC And Pipes Painted Glitter

 

pics - Part 3 – Fan Shroud Fixed

 

pics - Part 4 – Wet Sand Un-painted Brackets

 

pics - Part 5 – New Bushings For The Steering Rack And Anti-Sway Bars

 

pics - Part 6 – A/C Condenser Refresh

 

pics - Part 7 – Lower VM Kit Installed

 

pics - Part 8 – Upper VM Kit Installed

 

pics - Part 9 – Fixing The Uglies

 

pics - Part 10 – VM KIT DONE !!!!

 

Sweet. Now just box that up and send it over here haha

 

Send anotherone my way too, north FL.
Freaking awesome work man... you have to post some video of her running.

 

Lol, I will make more after I get my home - when... I don't know.

But I have posted enough pics and info so it can be copied hahaha.

 

Thank you so much bro.

Yeah as soon as all the bugs are worked out and shes tuned I will.

I really want to do a dyno tune so I can see how the profile looks for the modified solenoids and the BNR stage 1 turbos.

 

Next update - day 85 - kinda sucks.
I went to take more pics for my 85 update and discovered a new leak - a coolant leak coming from the rear rotor housing near the bottom or just under the main manifold exhaust gasket.
Now I have oil and coolant leaks.
All explained soon with pics - hooray

 

At least it's not coming from the bell housing. I once bought a studded engine, and everything after I drove the car it would get hot because an air bubble would form as the system would not suck all the coolant back in from the overflow because of it de-pressurizing elsewhere. I finally noticed some drips coming out of the bell housing. I didn't even know that was possible.

I pull the transmission and every single nut on each stud has a drip of coolant on it. Luckily I just removed one at a time and put sealant on it, never leaked again. But quite an endeavor.

 

Wow interesting, I see coolant on the bottom exhaust side of the rear rotor housing. I have no idea how it is getting there. I checked the turbo coolant crush washers and they all look good. All my VM kit coolant related hoses are good. Heater hoses are good. I did find a tiny bit of seeping coming from the the upper temperature sensor with the crush washer on the back of the water neck. I will have to remove the alternator to get a socket on it or buy an extra socket and cut off one face which might be a cool tool to have. I just might do that since I'm going to HF for a boro-scope to look at the hoses under the upper intake manifold. I think that upper temp sensor is a 19mm? Does it ground through the threads or can I use Teflon tape? Yes I did search, Im sure its here somewhere but I have to go to work.. lol

 

Hang in there!

 

Thanks Bro. Im trying.