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Thanks. Me either. Officially done at the body shop as of 10:00 pm last night. Ended up with about 10 hours in the front bumper with brackets/fitment/rubbers etc. to get everything to align properly. Aligning bodylines on a car like this is not for the faint of heart if you want it right-right. Here's a pic after cleanup, buffing, seal coat/waxing. Back to my house tomorrow for bumper lights, undertray, fender liners, brake ducts, R1 lip etc., etc. Then maybe a car show Sat....we'll see.
Last edited by aplscrambles; 10-25-19 at 12:12 AM.
Back at my garage now. Got the lights,lip, undertray, brake ducts, inner fenders, wipers, etc., etc. on. **** is getting real now. Roughly one more evening of work and I can actually drive this thing.
Finally made a proper intake, to pull air a little further away from the heat, and utilize a much larger filter element that came with the turblown kit.
Planning on pulling that hot side pipe and adding a little length to it and change to hump clamps to gain some flexibility with fitment. Some quick research turned up OBX racing is the only company that makes 2.5>2.75" reducer hump couplers. Just placed an order for 2.
Speaking of IC pipe clearance, this solved several issues at once and bought me a ton of room (where I had none) between the hot side pipe and the water neck. This thing is super trick looking and well made.
So 50 years later I have my fuel system sorted to my liking-- Radium Internal and External pump harnesses Double 14 ga wires to pos and grnd of the walbro 400 New sealed radium male bulkhead connector and abandoned atl connector. 10awg wire from the battery to pump relay Don't mind my horrible welding, had to move the access hole to accomodate the taller female radium connector.
Decided over the last few months to go back to a water meth system. AEM's progressive system should fit the bill. AEM v2 30-3300 AEM pump mounted to LH tow hook with jegs fuel pump mounts and some Al brackets. R1 brake ducts and undertray slightly modified to fit. Drilled, tapped, and test fitted a Snow elbow fitting I had in an old washer fluid reservoir I had lying around. Seemed to seal just fine. Welded another bung on the elbow for the water meth injector. Other upper bung is for the fast reacting ait sensor. Had the welder who's been doing all my tig work polish all my intake and i/c pipes to the same dull/brushed finish. I'm not much on chrome/bling in the engine bay. Cleaned up my uim to match. Steel brushes, steel wool and alumibrite, along with a little elbow grease did the trick
A water pipe broke in my basement the other day, so I actually had to pull the car out into sunlight (cringe) to do plumbing repairs. First time it has seen daylight in its current painted/restored state. First daylight pic of the FD after paint/body.
Finally, in what seems like 2 years of trial and error, I have pipes and couplers that seal the cc3 intercooler to the duct AND allow the hood to close properly. Not a moment too soon. She goes to Zach @ APU next Fri for a tune. Engine bay cleaned up with properly fitting pipes and couplers.
AEM water meth kit finally finished. Tank fitting and low level sensor installed and sealed. Even managed to squeeze in the AEM filter pump fits like it was meant to be there AEM controller wiring spaghetti Devil's own nozzle and fitting
So, we (me and the FD) survived the dyno tune. Overall, it was a success, but definitely not without disappointments. Boost leaks from cracks in my hotside pipe that I had remade 3 times to fit properly, had to be rewelded during the dyno session. Boost issues due to my setup that wouldn't let us boost over 13-14 psi consistently resulting in an overall number that was a bit of a letdown. I fully realize building a FD is a non stop exercise in managing expectations. This was no different. I desired to build something very specific to my taste in this car which was a quiet, smooth idling, reliable, stock port rotary, with what is touted as the fastest spooling latest technology single turbo. What one has to get through their head, is that there is not some magic or voodoo contained within an EFR turbo. It is not without its limitations. Despite what some proprietors of EFR kits here on the forum want to claim, a stockish setup is only going to make so much power even with the "GOAT" EFR 8374. We tried everything under the sun including leaning out the top end under boost to mid to high 12s but boost absolutely would not go over about 14.5 psi. We swapped out small and medium sized wastegate canisters multiple times to no avail.
TL; DR Fresh stockport REW with pettit/racing beat dual tip, and single 8374 can be made to run very well, and spool well, but is only capable of so much.
Drove the car around some local twisties when I got back in, and I must say the tune runs really well, starts and idles really smooth, good coolant temps, good iat temps, tune runs very crisp, much less smoky and eye burning, a/f rs are solid 12.0s in boost, good spool and transient response, overall a quality tune from Zach@ addicted.
Last edited by aplscrambles; 03-22-20 at 11:39 PM.
Interesting. What kind of boost controller setup are you running?
Should be able to make more boost than that. Or maybe it's just that we aren't used to seeing this on stock ports. I would have expected more. Are you sure all the boost leaks were addressed?
Is this an external wastegate or internal? If internal, are you using the upgraded turbosmart actuators?
I thought Dyno Jets read low compared to many others. I would have expected quite a bit more also, but then again it's like what you said about managing expectations on these things sometimes. Curious to hear how the butt dyno feels as that's what is important. I am sure she is hellafast.
Interesting. What kind of boost controller setup are you running?
Should be able to make more boost than that. Or maybe it's just that we aren't used to seeing this on stock ports. I would have expected more. Are you sure all the boost leaks were addressed?
Is this an external wastegate or internal? If internal, are you using the upgraded turbosmart actuators?
.92 A/R IWG 8374. Medium wastegate cannister that Elliot supplied with the kit. Boost is controlled by the PowerFC through precontrol utilizing the EFR solenoid. I don't think it is just the stock ports. Am I sure all the boost leaks were addressed? No. I'll be digging into that more myself now that I'm back home in NC. This makes less sense the more time passes. DJseven had an almost identical setup, tuned on the same dyno at Addicted in '17. Was making well over 20 psi. and 400+ hp https://www.rx7club.com/single-turbo...sults-1118515/
Looks like now I have another issue to clear up anyway, there is oil all over everything on the driver's side of my motor after a hard run around some local twisty roads. We did an oil change on the dyno, not sure if it was overfilled, or my dipstick seal is bad, or I'm building crankcase pressure and need a catch can. Always something.
Last edited by aplscrambles; 03-23-20 at 08:49 PM.
I thought Dyno Jets read low compared to many others. I would have expected quite a bit more also, but then again it's like what you said about managing expectations on these things sometimes. Curious to hear how the butt dyno feels as that's what is important. I am sure she is hellafast.
Funny you'd mention that. Dynojet is actually known for reading high, but as I understand, Zach explained to me there's been a recent software update for dynojet dynos that they now no longer correct their #s so that they are more inline with mustang, dyno dynamics etc. That doesn't explain how low my numbers are though...
I think there is some kind of boost control issue. With an internal gate setup, if anything I would have thought you'd have boost creep when pushing it, not the other way around.
Maybe try a manual boost controller and see if you can get the boost to increase.
I think there is some kind of boost control issue. With an internal gate setup, if anything I would have thought you'd have boost creep when pushing it, not the other way around.
Maybe try a manual boost controller and see if you can get the boost to increase.
Exactly what I thought going in, that if anything, we'd have trouble keeping the boost down with the small wastegate in the 8374. Just so happens, I have a turbosmart boost tee that Bryan at Rotorsports had installed, which, IIRC, made more boost with his street tune, prior to my fuel system change.
I have never used the PFC's boost controller on a single turbo EFR, but I can see a mile away that its not working that well. You can see the end of the ramp up is not holding boost that well( boost overshoots " spool" up target, then is coming down, then comes back up in the midrange some). Just look at how bumpy the torque curve is.
At this point in time I would add the borgwarner single port IWG75 upgrade with a 14.5 psi base spring( default), then turn the controller off( just unplug it) and keep an eye on the tune.
This should give you a very flat 14.5psi the entire RPM curve( based on your dyno from 3400RPM to redline).
I have never used the PFC's boost controller on a single turbo EFR, but I can see a mile away that its not working that well. You can see the end of the ramp up is not holding boost that well( boost overshoots " spool" up target, then is coming down, then comes back up in the midrange some). Just look at how bumpy the torque curve is.
At this point in time I would add the borgwarner single port IWG75 upgrade with a 14.5 psi base spring( default), then turn the controller off( just unplug it) and keep an eye on the tune.
This should give you a very flat 14.5psi the entire RPM curve( based on your dyno from 3400RPM to redline).
What does the Turbosmart actuator do differently than the EFR canisters? Slightly better response? Controls boost better? I want the ability to raise the boost higher than 15 on occasion. First, I my throw the Turbosmart MBC back in just to make sure the boost actually will go higher, and that I don't have a deeper underlying problem. I'm starting to have my doubts that I can make the powerfc precontrol setup work at all. Seems using precontrol with an EFR gets mixed reviews at best. I'm leaning toward a standalone boost control setup of some sort. How would the IWG75 you recommended plus something like a eboost street, utilizing the EFR solenoid work? Assuming one got it set up correctly, my porting, restrictive exhaust and water meth, it'd be nice to be able to turn up the boost a couple psi for fun once in a while.
Why not upgrade to a different ECU entirely instead of running the PFC? Seems running an Adaptronic should be able to control boost, raise boost to different levels using switches, has an internal MAP sensor for higher boost, control your AI injection, and has more safeties than the PFC. I think the PFC is best for more stock set ups and twin set ups. But I think it’s lacking for more complex single set ups with direct fire AEM coils, etc.
10-24-19, 11:54 PM
