AGreen's mundane build thread
01-03-13, 03:19 PM
#26
I love the megasquirt actually. I never even gave Rtek a thought. It seems like it's way too limiting as to what you can and can't control. Plus I can run a speed density map with the MS, as well as any injector combination I want. That means as the car grows, the ECU doesn't need to be changed with it. It won't limit me to anything. I was pretty nice to get rid of the AFM too. But no, there's no silliness involved with getting the Megasquirt to run on the rotary. There are pleny of writeups for it, so all the hard work's been done. All you have to do is solder and install it.
The tanabe springs are pretty cool. I didn't even need the spring compressor after all. The springs were short enough to where I could thread the nut on the strut with the spring installed, then bolt it down no problems. The suspension's nice and tight, and quiet to boot. No more creaking or squeaking rolling around parking lots or slow-driving areas, so it's a definite plus.
The tanabe springs are pretty cool. I didn't even need the spring compressor after all. The springs were short enough to where I could thread the nut on the strut with the spring installed, then bolt it down no problems. The suspension's nice and tight, and quiet to boot. No more creaking or squeaking rolling around parking lots or slow-driving areas, so it's a definite plus.
01-04-13, 07:59 PM
#32
I don't have a pre-intercooler temperature sensor, but I just took my Dad out for a ride in her tonight. I was having a little trouble trying to hit full boost so I was tinkering around under the hood right after making a 12 psi run. The ambient temperature was about 50 degrees. The manifold temperature read about 55 degrees, and I grabbed the charge pipe right before the intercooler and it *felt* like it was around 90 or 100 degrees. No, I don't have a calibrated temperature-sensing hand, but I know that my hood vent is doing its job pretty damn well right now.
I figure that maybe a blend between my hood box and that vent may be in order then. If the lip is about an inch tall, sloping back to flush with the hood, throw in a few louvers like the one pictured and I'll probably be pretty happy. I think that I may have gotten a little carried away with the height of mine. If I just cut the box down a little it would probably work just as well and look better than it does now.
Originally Posted by junito1
^^haha only mods can.
Nice DIY/budget build on the car though. keep it up.
Nice DIY/budget build on the car though. keep it up.
Budget aside, it's all DIY because I hate... absolutely LOATHE taking my cars to anyone for work. Before I joined the Navy I was an ASE certified auto technician. I did a pretty decent job, but the work just wasn't there so I got out of the field. It's still my passion though, and it tears me up to see people who call themselves auto techs routinely screw peoples' vehicles up. I have many personal horror stories of other shops screwing with my wife's car while I'm at sea, and it has irritated me to the point to where I now tell her that she will not take her car to any shop, I don't care how bad the noise is or how far out she is from her last oil change. The risk of damage is better than the risk of someone screwing my car up worse.
Budget- because I'm in the military and have a wife who stays at home with the 2 kids. I think I still do a pretty decent job though
01-04-13, 08:56 PM
#33
A few things IMO:
Don't worry too much about the pre IC piping. I used to go out and barely hit boost. Those pipes got HOT. And they seemed to stay hot even after cruising a few miles. No big deal I thinkg.
I feel the same about my car. Not because my car is the most perfect thing on earth. My car sucks. It's old and stupid. But we are all FC drivers. When we are too cheap to spend money on our cars, why would we leave it to someone else to fix it? Anyone who isn't an FC owner would **** it up anyway!
Finally, stick with your "budget". Your kids are your #1.
Don't worry too much about the pre IC piping. I used to go out and barely hit boost. Those pipes got HOT. And they seemed to stay hot even after cruising a few miles. No big deal I thinkg.
I feel the same about my car. Not because my car is the most perfect thing on earth. My car sucks. It's old and stupid. But we are all FC drivers. When we are too cheap to spend money on our cars, why would we leave it to someone else to fix it? Anyone who isn't an FC owner would **** it up anyway!
Finally, stick with your "budget". Your kids are your #1.
01-04-13, 09:35 PM
#35
Thanks guys. 
I do still have the factory radio. I want to see if I can figure out how to make the CD player and tape deck work again though. It ate one of my tapes and a CD, so I had to disassemble it to get them out.
Then again, since I have the Megasquirt ECU, I think I may end up getting a tablet and completely removing the radio altogether. I can load music on a thumb drive and use the headphone jack with a dual RCA cable to the amplifier, then run that as my music. Maybe even a radio app... I'm not too technologically savvy, nor am I very familiar with everything I'm talking about here. However, everything these days is so damn user-friendly I'm sure I could figure it out. I can also use the tablet as a dashboard with TunerStudio's new shadow dash app. Hell, there's even a bluetooth option with the Megasquirt, so I would really only need a power cable and the headphone jack running to the tablet, vs having a HUGE mess of wires behind the radio. That's the one thing that drives me bat-**** crazy about this car is the overflow of wires behind the radio.
I do still have the factory radio. I want to see if I can figure out how to make the CD player and tape deck work again though. It ate one of my tapes and a CD, so I had to disassemble it to get them out.
Then again, since I have the Megasquirt ECU, I think I may end up getting a tablet and completely removing the radio altogether. I can load music on a thumb drive and use the headphone jack with a dual RCA cable to the amplifier, then run that as my music. Maybe even a radio app... I'm not too technologically savvy, nor am I very familiar with everything I'm talking about here. However, everything these days is so damn user-friendly I'm sure I could figure it out. I can also use the tablet as a dashboard with TunerStudio's new shadow dash app. Hell, there's even a bluetooth option with the Megasquirt, so I would really only need a power cable and the headphone jack running to the tablet, vs having a HUGE mess of wires behind the radio. That's the one thing that drives me bat-**** crazy about this car is the overflow of wires behind the radio.
01-04-13, 10:33 PM
#36
Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 24
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Great build bro I love seeing anyone build and do it all (most of it right) on a budget. I also have a wife that stays at home with my one kid. I work on a towboat so I am not home but two weeks at a time after leaving for a month. So I know how it all goes, this is great motivation to finishy car ASAP.
01-06-13, 08:55 AM
#38
Senior Member
Thanks guys.
Then again, since I have the Megasquirt ECU, I think I may end up getting a tablet and completely removing the radio altogether. I can load music on a thumb drive and use the headphone jack with a dual RCA cable to the amplifier, then run that as my music. Maybe even a radio app... I'm not too technologically savvy, nor am I very familiar with everything I'm talking about here.
Then again, since I have the Megasquirt ECU, I think I may end up getting a tablet and completely removing the radio altogether. I can load music on a thumb drive and use the headphone jack with a dual RCA cable to the amplifier, then run that as my music. Maybe even a radio app... I'm not too technologically savvy, nor am I very familiar with everything I'm talking about here.
01-06-13, 12:14 PM
#39
That's exactly what I'm going to do! So what tablet did you get there? I was looking at some of the smaller tablets, maybe a 7 inch. I'd want something that I could take out of the car so it wouldn't get damaged in the heat down here, but still large enough to be functional. So is it pretty much like I'm expecting? My amplifier has a dual RCA aux input port, and headphone to dual RCA cables are abundant, so that wouldn't even be an issue. I'm just wondering about how it would mount so that I could be able to take it out and put it back in.
01-06-13, 01:01 PM
#40
Moderator
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: https://www2.mazda.com/en/100th/
Posts: 30,832
Received 2,603 Likes
on
1,847 Posts
the stock radio is the most complex part of the car, i would bet there are nearly as many pieces in there as the rest of the car put together, its complex!
01-06-13, 06:46 PM
#41
Maybe this vent then.
It's prettier than mine, but I'm not going to rip the whole thing off. I'll just cut mine flush and put this over top. That way, the ducting under the hood to the intercooler is still there, and the top still retains the lip that creates the low pressure area to suck the air out.
It's prettier than mine, but I'm not going to rip the whole thing off. I'll just cut mine flush and put this over top. That way, the ducting under the hood to the intercooler is still there, and the top still retains the lip that creates the low pressure area to suck the air out.
01-06-13, 07:22 PM
#42
Full Member
I love the megasquirt actually. I never even gave Rtek a thought. It seems like it's way too limiting as to what you can and can't control. Plus I can run a speed density map with the MS, as well as any injector combination I want. That means as the car grows, the ECU doesn't need to be changed with it. It won't limit me to anything. I was pretty nice to get rid of the AFM too. But no, there's no silliness involved with getting the Megasquirt to run on the rotary. There are pleny of writeups for it, so all the hard work's been done. All you have to do is solder and install it.
The tanabe springs are pretty cool. I didn't even need the spring compressor after all. The springs were short enough to where I could thread the nut on the strut with the spring installed, then bolt it down no problems. The suspension's nice and tight, and quiet to boot. No more creaking or squeaking rolling around parking lots or slow-driving areas, so it's a definite plus.
01-06-13, 07:53 PM
#44
It's fiberglass, possibly FRP, but most likely just fiberglass.
I don't know if that's entirely true. The front of it measures 31", 28" long, and it's 29" at the back. So it'll cover more than the opening. Here's how it looks on a junkyard car
EYC!~~60_57.JPG)
I don't know if that's entirely true. The front of it measures 31", 28" long, and it's 29" at the back. So it'll cover more than the opening. Here's how it looks on a junkyard car
01-06-13, 10:30 PM
#45
Full Member
Am I wrong in stating GFRP (sometimes referred to as simply FRP) = Fiberglass? (GFRP standing for glass fiber reinforced polymer)
Shouldn't really matter, it's not exactly a structural piece, probably won't endure a whole mess of stress.
Seeing it in the context of the other car's hood does calm any notion of it being undersized, I don't see how a vent of that size could restrict air flow through coolers your size.
Shouldn't really matter, it's not exactly a structural piece, probably won't endure a whole mess of stress.
Seeing it in the context of the other car's hood does calm any notion of it being undersized, I don't see how a vent of that size could restrict air flow through coolers your size.
01-07-13, 08:37 AM
#46
Senior Member
That's exactly what I'm going to do! So what tablet did you get there? I was looking at some of the smaller tablets, maybe a 7 inch. I'd want something that I could take out of the car so it wouldn't get damaged in the heat down here, but still large enough to be functional. So is it pretty much like I'm expecting? My amplifier has a dual RCA aux input port, and headphone to dual RCA cables are abundant, so that wouldn't even be an issue. I'm just wondering about how it would mount so that I could be able to take it out and put it back in.
You can check out the pics here. They're kind of spread around but I'm using a Nylon strap to use as my pull release. Porsche GT3 Style.
https://www.rx7club.com/build-thread...1005029/page4/
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
rx8volks
Canadian Forum
0
09-01-15 11:02 PM
98, ac, charging, coated, compressor, connect, customisbetter, dash, intake, knightsports, manifold, mazda, megasquirt, mount, pantydrenching, powder, protege, rx7, tablet, wire
