That looks really good! Same gun I used last weekend for my primer.

 

Thank you. That gun actually sprays really well, I used it for por15 paint, and that has all kinds of nasty stuff in it, it smells like roof coating. And even after spraying that through it, it still sprays good, you'll be happy with yours

 

Yesterday I bolted the majority of the suspension back in, all except for the struts, when I was changing the struts over, I didn't like the way the strut mounts felt, so I ordered new ones. Also I started to buff the rest of the engine compartment. While I was buffing it , i burnt through the paint, i didn't realize that mazda put that little bit of paint on the engine compartment, so rather than risk burning through a lot more of it, I'm just going to touch it up , and clean it up the best that I can. Besides, with the engine and everything else installed, you won't be able to see most of it anyway. So today, I'm going to install the new strut mounts, and put the struts back in.



Here is a picture of the freshly painted suspension back in





Here it is with the new sway bar links installed

As soon as I finish putting the struts back in, I will drop the engine and transmission in, and start figuring out how to mount the vmount intercooler, and everything else

 

I finally finished putting the front suspension back in



Here's a pic of the driver's side back in, I think it looks pretty good with the springs painted the same color as the car





I went to put the new clutch on , and noticed that there is nothing left of the pilot bearing, luckily my clutch came with one, but not a new grease seal for it





It took about 2 hour's to cut and chisel this damn thing out , it was seized in there





After waiting 3 days for the new pilot bearing seal, I was finally able to finish putting the clutch on

 

What kind of pressure plate is that? Is it Exedy's latest design?

 

Ebay special

 

tell me what you guys think about this, I think this is what I'm going to go with for the 12a for my other car



This is the to4b that I was telling you about, just sitting on the manifold





Plenty of room





Therenis a ton of room, it just looks like I'll have to make a heat shield in between the turbo and intake manifold

 

Wow, I like it! I like your 79 manifold too.

I have the same turbo as you. Or very similar. Let me guess. 1.00 exhaust AR with a P-trim wheel. 3.25" v-band outlet. Oil cooled only. I could step my game up to this turbo when I want to make more than about 200HP or whatever my setup is currently doing. Also have to add an intercooler. That frees up the S5 turbo to go in the red truck so I don't have to deal with an external wastegate and all the plumbing in such a narrow engine bay. Just two pipes feeding it. Oil in and oil out, some charge pipe plumbing to a carb hat. Done.

So now I need to ask which exhaust manifold you are using. I love how it fits the turbo kind of up and forward. Do you know if the OBX from eBay for $175 would fit a turbo like yours next to an intake manifold?

 

Man that's sick. Where did you get that header?

 

I got it from a local forum member a long time ago, before I even had the red car, it's a cheap ebay manifold for a 13b that has the holes enlarged to bolt up to a 12a.I'll take a picture of it today so you can see what it looks like, I can't believe how well it fits

 

I don't know if the OBX one will fit the same, I looked up the manifold that i have, and they vary from 100.00-400.00. Here is a picture of just the manifold




You will know if its the same one that I found on there, because it will have which looks like some kind of adapters, and a wastegate dump tube in the picture

 

Oh, so it's just an open T4 flange. My turbo is divided so I'd like to keep it that way if I can.

I've read some posts about the OBX manifold. Some have problems with them while others use them just fine. Seems hit or miss. Not sure what I should do. I'd honestly prefer to keep the S5 turbo because it's simpler.

 

The turbo is 1.15 ar, when I ordered it, the listing said 1.0 ar. I wonder how much of a difference it will make, I'm not sure what the trim is, I just ordered a wastegate, and a 8 psi spring, the wastegate comes with a 10 psi spring. I'm nervous about blowing my engine, but im also dying to try that carb out.

 

You tweeked a nikki?

What are your plans for ignition?

 

He got a nice boost prepped hogged out Nikki at 24.6mm which should be a very good fit for his bridged 12A. I'd also say the 1.15 a/r turbo should handle bridgeports and high RPM better than a 1.00 a/r would.

My turbo also came with a 1.15 exhaust housing but I was able to swap it for a 1.00 because the engine only has 74 spec intake ports and GSL-SE spec exhaust ports. The rotating assembly is S4 NA with Atkins 2mm apex seals. Both the REPU and the brown car got engines with this porting scheme and rot/assy. It's been so effective in keeping enough low end torque yet still being able to scream to 8k that I'm seriously considering an engine with these feature for the white truck. I mean why not, right? It'll be a nice tribute to the old R5 engine it had back when I did my very first rebuild. Might as well treat it right and build something I know will make me happy to drive it.

 

I picked this up from eBay a couple of days ago, I just picked it up tonight. 85 GSL, with 79 wheels with brand new tires on it, it runs great and came with some new parts

The battery on my phone was really low so the flash didn't work on the camera, sorry for the bad pic. This was the first time I saw a black first Gen with a brown interior, and it also has power steering

 

Those waffles fooled me into thinking it was an SA! Nice find!

 

You've got the hogged nikki and the turbo 13B engine... cast off your wiring nightmare and get an RB holley manifold and adapt the nikki to fit it. Just a thought

 

That's a good idea. I have to try finishing it first, it took me a few months worth of nights de pinning and sorting out that turbo2 harness, especially the left side harness. It sucked, lol.I'm ready to drop the engine and transmission back in, as soon as I get them bolted back together.I tried to the other night, and the engine kept moving, and I had no one to hold it still, and gave up after about 2 hours of fighting with it

 

I went through that same depinning process on an S4 NA harness. I happen to like wiring but even that was enough for me to not like it for a while. It worked out great but the end result, having an S4 NA setup transplanted into an FB, left much to be desired. Lots of work for not a lot of performance. And believe me it had performance. It way outperformed the old 12A. But if we compare the S4 NA to the 74 ported R5 with the hogged out Nikki just running NA, the differences are shocking. To think the older tech, ie the Nikki, can outperform the more modern tech, is difficult for some to wrap their head around. But the proof is right there.

So the plan next year is to see about doing a new 12A setup using all the knowledge we have now to see not only if it outperforms the old 12A and the S4 NA, but also how closely it can match the performance of the R5 13B. Then if there's enough desire, to see about doing a turbo on the 12A.

 

Well I finally figured out why I was having such a hard time getting the engine and transmission bolted back together. The access plate on the bottom of the bellhousing was hitting the flywheel, I took that off and it went right back together, I feel like such a dumb ***.



Herr they are finally bolted together





And I also got them back in the car








Now I just have to figure out how im going to fabricate a transmission mount. It doesn't look like it's going to be too hard

 

The wastegate that I ordered for the to4b that I have came this weekend, I ordered the wrong size, I thought I needed a 46mm, it turns out that I need a 50mm.does anyone know if they make adapters to change sizes, or will I have to make one

 

Today I finally tried out my hydrographic kit, I dipped my shifter surround



Im pretty happy with how it turned out. Up next is the radio surround

 

The hydro turned out great!

 

That looks fantastic!