This thing is super clean! I'm from MI too. Currently contemplating keeping this one.

 

Haha, you know the obvious answer.

 

The weather finally rose above freezing so I took the trans outside to gunk and powerwash it. There, that's proper.



New pivot ball. The old one looks fine, but I'm refreshing all the hardware for a stiff pressure plate.



Fresh mazda comp trans mounts!



New front and rear transmission seals. A hammer and chisel and pick helped me out.







Next, tackling the oil leak that was infecting my bellhousing with oil. I'm not sure what was causing it, so the plan is to replace the common culprits.

Not pictured: New oil filter pedestal o-rings. They looked pretty flat.

Next, removing the rear stationary gear to get at its o-ring. The o-ring looked decent, but it's time for a new one.



Also, a new (RX-7 style) rear main seal goes in.



The engine after cleaning and pilot bearing replacement. This job is quick and easy with the Mazdatrix slide hammer and punch. The punch even shows you exactly how the input shaft will fit, so you can know whether that's way too much grease in there, buddy. First attempts were made with a ground down harbor freight pilot bearing puller (not enough reach), in order to maximize enjoyment of the new tools.



I... did get the rear stationary gear back in, but not until after many harrowing/frantic/nauseous hours. It would not go in by hand, and never felt like it was meshing. I went to the store to pick up a dead blow hammer. It slid in after 3 light taps. Yeeeesh.

 

Stuff

See proof that my stat gear is back in:



Refurbied my clutch slave with Por-15 and a new stainless line.



I wiggled new MazdaComp engine mounts in, nubs facing inward.



Inspecting old clutch...

Clutch wear is very close to the rivet heads, which is throw away time, says the factory manual.



Flywheel surface looks like this. Shrug.



Nuuuuu Paaaaarts.

ACT Full Disc clutch, HD pressure plate, and Prolite steel flywheel.







At this point, getting a bit bored, and cleaning my transmission tunnel.

 

Flywheel nut procedure:

Get it seated firmly on the e-shaft.

The flywheel ring gear stopper is useful now. It was unnecessary when removing the nut with an impact gun.

I used permatex thread sealant on the threads (one of the stinkiest things I have in my garage), and back RTV sealant on the nut face.



Set torque wrench to 150 lb/ft, which is the maximum setting, and tighten.



Mark 60 degree increments, and hammer it to the mark with an impact gun. I used a 231C gun, and this is about as far as it could spin the nut. It was barely moving at the end.



There was some grease on the flywheel, and the friction surfaces got a wipe-down with brake cleaner.

Pressure plate mounted and tightened.



Currently waiting on an oil pressure sender, which I believe could have been leaking.

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Edit: rx7club sure did add a lot of link spam in my post. Please disregard links.

 

New throwout bearing, and fork. Honda M-77 high moly paste on the contact surfaces.



Got the cat-back back from ceramic coating at Bean's Best in Ann Arbor, MI. Looking very good. Not sure how many of these stock setups are left running around.





They are very heavy pieces. Mazda thought to incorporate bump stops on them, and what look like aerodynamic cowls.





Now time to put the car back together.

 

I've only found one stock t2 catback for sale, very rare indeed. Love the attention to detail on this car.

 

nice build. off topic question. what kind of camera u using?

 

It's a Nikon D3100 with a prime lens (Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S). Most the earlier photos are on the kit lens.

 

u edit them or raw pic?

 

I love your build, so much time dedicated to clean installs and attention to details, that being said..... i think you will be hard pressed to see 300 whp with a BNR stage 1, stock top mount, restrictive AFM, and stock cat back.

Again, love your build and look forward to seeing future updates.

 

Not dead.

Car is alive!

Almost all of the photos are JPGs straight off the camera, resized for web.

Thanks! I'll dyno it sometime. I bet it is south of 300 whp as it sits. I'm eyeballing the cat-back. I'll do a big exhaust down the road, but for now, I've ported some of the protruding inner welds in the stock cat back.


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Fewer pics lately because I've just been scrapping together small amounts of wrench time and trying to get this car moving under its own power.

Trans is inserted and bolted up. The worst part was reefing on it for about an hour until I realized it was pinching my beefy grounding harness between the trans and engine, after which it went in easily.

Also put in the new oil pressure sender. It was dated 2015. I can't believe Mazda still makes them, but thank you Mazda.

Exhaust is in, with stainless hardware and fresh OEM gaskets.







Thhhhherrre ya go!



Did a 6 mile test drive on Fall gas.

Thoughts on the ACT HDSS Clutch + ACT Prolite Flywheel + Mazda Comp Mounts:

There are no driveability problems or harshness compared to stock. Honestly, I could not easily tell the difference pulling away from a stop. Clutch is smooth and easily modulated. Clutch pedal effort is like stock. My wife's Focus ST has a stiffer pedal (could have gone stiffer?). The biggest change I can feel is the throttle response when free revving. Revs do not drop too quickly. Idle is rock solid, including when the AC cycles. There is no vibration or added noise in the cabin.

The car is very nice to drive and should have shipped this way from the factory.

I'll put together an in-car video once its configured for full boost.

 

247 WHP, 228 ft-lbs torque. I think that's about how quick the car feels. Things seem to be in order, but the airflow starts to max out in the fatter part of the torque curve.




I'll be driving the car like this for a little while. In the future I'll be looking at higher flowing TMICs and exhausts.

 

Inspirational, your patience and attention to detail is superb! A proper 10th AE you have. Will be applying similar methods to my build. Thank you!

 

What were your AFRs on that pull? Im pulling the same numbers from a Mustang Dyno with a BNR Stage 3 and 15lbs of boost to redline but have it tuned pretty fat at high 10s right about 11 afr after 12lbs of boost.

 

I wrestled with google docs for a while, but I got the AFR plotted for that run.

It goes about as lean as 11.5.



What is your exhaust like?

 

Euhm 11.5 is not lean but rich


Ow btw interesting article to read: The Ultimate Wideband Air/Fuel Ratio Meter Test Part 1

 

Hmmm may have to lean mine out a little. I have noticed since I was at the dyno my AFRs have gone back down to low 10s so who knows.

For exhaust Im running the newer REV2 from Racing beat all the way back.

 

Seems kosher then.

If you look closely at my graph, you can see how it suddenly transitions from 10.5 to 11.5 AFR at the secondary transition. Just eyeballing the dyno chart, you can see the dip, and it looks like about an 8% difference in torque. That's something.

 

Yea it took quite a while to figure out the weird dips on the dyno that you cant quite get smoothed just on the street. But the engine also only has ~3k on it so Im sure compression is still changing.

 

Sorry OEM cat-back. Replaced by larger RB exhaust.

I had the down pipe ceramic coated by Bean's Best in Ann Arbor. Also threw on some DEI Wrap that I had left over. This should keep things cooler.

Also fabbed up a simple copper O2 sensor heat sink. I trashed the old sensor's threads, so the new one is a Bosch sensor.



The sound is quieter at idle and louder on boost. The RB exhaust really takes out all the high frequency rasp. Very impressed.



Holds boost a bit better! Still maxing out the boost controller.

 

I am still alive.

The car rules but it makes me feel like I'm choking when the toxic exhaust cloud wafts back into the cabin. I want a cat.

Racing beat doesn't sell parts for this, so time to make more one-offs.

This is a 3" G-Sport GESI cat (EPA version for the good wash coat).



And me learning to gas weld using my new oxy-acetylene torch setup.

This is.... not beautiful, but it appears to be leak free and is holding up. I used stainless tig rod as filler.



I didn't have any warping, and the fitment was perfect. The only issue was me sucking at welding, and sometimes starting the jig on fire.



The sound is essentially identical. I don't get resonance at any speed. Smell is almost OEM-fresh, and it lights up really quickly after start up. Very happy with this adjustment.

Aaaaaaaaaand kinda bored now, so I did a paint correction and got the slight haze out of the clear coat. Feeling pleased with the results.

 

Wow, the paint looks great.

With the cat have you noticed any reduction in power or turbo spool? I'm considering a cat too, for the same reasons.

 

I think it does soften it up a tiny bit when you're under boost threshold, but I haven't measured or data-logged anything. Also, I can still hear the turbine loud and clear through the exhaust, which I greatly appreciate.

 

An absolutely incredibly beautiful car!! Wow!! Glad to see that you still have the car! Did you buy it from the original owner?