Lavitzlegend

iTrader: (3)

You could replace it with a closed element sensor if you keep having that thermistor fail. But of course then your temp readings won't be as instantaneous to temp changes as the open element sensor

infernosg

I've considered this. The first one lasted me 1400 miles after sitting for who knows how long. I'm more concerned about understanding why it failed than a more durable solution at this point. I'm wondering if I backfired through the intake. My tune is still rough at this point so it's possible. Still, after looking at pictures online of the IAT sensor I can't understand how the thermistor got out of its cage without being blown to bits. If that were the case, I'd expect to see some damage to the filter as well. I'm hoping it just broke off inside its cage and for some reason I didn't see it sitting in there.

chuyler1

iTrader: (1)

Well mine fell off the counter and had the plastic cage break...but the sensor inside is still fine.

infernosg

It's been a little while since I've updated this. The weather is getting warmer, which means the car is so much nicer to drive. I'm over 1600 miles now and I've made some changes since the last update. The first big change was I had the engine harness re-done. Before my ignition sub-harness was spiraling around the engine bay so I had that changed. A few other leads were shortened/lengthened to clean up the bay a little:


I decided it was time to complete the interior so I picked up another OMP WRC seat and G-Force harness. Now was the time to finally install the Street Faction seat brackets as well.




Since the old seat and harness are expired I move them over to the passenger's side. I'm kind of annoyed OMP and G-Force changed their product designs but I guess that's what I get for ordering parts in 2012/13 and not finishing the car until 2017. Overall, the interior turned at pretty good.




I have an actual black carpet from an S5 that I'll eventually use to replace my "dyed" gray S4 one. The "dye" isn't holding up as well as I'd like and the gray is starting to show again. I'm not in the mood to remove the entire interior again so I'll save that for some rainy day...

I finally replaced the leaking water pump about a month ago. The process is such a pain in the *** with the aftermarket main pulley, FFE trigger kit and custom fan shroud. I had an "oh ****" moment when the woodruff key came partially out with the main pulley causing the front counterweight to fall out-of-alignment. Fortunately, I was able to rotate the engine until I found the key way in the counterweight. It's so nice to not have a water pump leaking coolant all over the front of the engine. Unfortunately, the leak cause some of the paint to lift on the front cover so the engine doesn't look as nice...

I finally got the car aligned and weighed last week. I went with -3/-2 degrees of F/R camber and zero toe all around. Its weight with about a half tank of fuel is 2325 lb according to the print out. That's a lot lower than I was expecting (~2500 lb) and means the car will be around 2500 lb total in track trim with me in it. I did notice the car pulling to the right more after the alignment. I don't doubt the shop's numbers so I'm looking at the car itself. Front wheel bearing play and pre-load exceeded the FSM limits so I pulled disassembled, cleaned and inspected everything. The bearings and races actually look pretty good for having ~105k miles and several track days on them so I decided to re-use them. The bearings were re-packed with Mobil 1 grease and pre-load was set per the FSM. This eliminated all the play in the bearings. I'll check again in 100 miles or so. I also finally addressed the squeaking suspension heard in the videos I posted. It turned out to be the rear swaybar. I pulled the brackets and polyurethane bushings, cleaned and re-greased them and the squeaking is gone.

Aside from completing the break in and getting a final tune the last big project I have is to address the transmission noise and vibration. I get bearing noise in neutral with the clutch engaged (pedal up) and driving in 4th gear, good vibration in 5th gear at highway speeds, and a little vibration in 3rd at higher engine speeds. The plan is to replace the front and rear bearings in the transmission and check/re-set 5th gear end spacing. I probably should be replacing the center bearings but that's an order-of-magnitude more transmission disassembly and I'm trying to make it to a car show on 4/21 and DGRR the following week.

Saavedro88

iTrader: (1)

Man, that thing looks great. Did the pulling stop after you redid the bearings? Who did you end up getting it tuned by?

You trying to do the Japanese Classics Open House? There's also a cruise to the Blue Ridge that day with a local Japanese car group, if you're interested.

infernosg

I think it improved but it hasn't gone away. I almost wonder if my steering wheel is off by like one tooth or something as well. It's hard to tell because sometimes it seems like it wants to pull badly then other times it tracks straight. Perhaps this is just the nature of my suspension (bump steer?) and the fact I de-powered and eliminated all play in my steering rack. Oddly enough Angel Motorsports never responded to me, which seems unlike them from the reviews I've read. Mister banned-from-RX7Club himself, Brian, a.k.a. TitaniumTT, stopped by on his way to Florida and helped me switch over to a MAP-based tune and made some other small changes. I really haven't done much to the tune since last October since it seems to be holding up well even I as increase engine speed (up to 7000 RPM now, soon 8000 RPM). I really can't wait until we can tune a little less conservatively and see what this thing can really do.


When is the open house? Might be better to take my SA to that one.

Saavedro88

iTrader: (1)

Try swapping your front tires from left to right, sounds like a tire pull.

The Japanese Classics open house is on 4/21. I thought that was the show you mentioned you were trying to get to.

infernosg

Someone else made that same comment. I've never experienced tire pull before but it does seem like a possibility. I wonder if driving 1600 miles without a real alignment could have caused this. Before the alignment I did have 1/8" total toe in the front: -5/32" (out?) on the driver's side and 9/32" (in?) on the passenger's side. Perhaps that caused the right side of the tires to wear and now with the alignment corrected they want to track to the right. My tires are directional so I may swap front->back and see if that changes anything since rear toe was 0 before and after the alignment.


No, I'm headed out to western VA with some old college friends on the same day.

theDevilX

Looking fantastic! Definitely my favourite build on here.

How is the ITB set up running now? I'm considering going down the same route with my own NA so I'm interested in how its working out for you?

infernosg

Thanks! It's been a long work-in-progress.

It's running as well as can be expected since I'm running a break-in tune: rich fuel mixture, conservative timing, etc. It starts, idles, and cruises fine in warmer weather. I have no idle control so cold starts are rough and it wants to stall while coming to a stop if the oil temperature is less than 140 deg. I don't have the transient throttle map finely tuned so it doesn't like very quick throttle inputs. I have no issues driving around town and in traffic though. I see no reason why a properly set up and tuned ITB arrangement couldn't be daily-driven.

I think a big issue with a lot of the ITB setups is they put the injectors upstream in the intake just behind the throttle plates. This works okay with the off-the-shelf setups with short intake runners from Racing Beat, Mazdatrix, etc. In my case the injectors are located ~12 in. from the intake ports. Combine that with large changes in airflow associated with small changes in throttle position and I think that's where my transient throttle hesitation comes from. It takes too long for the fuel enrichment to hit the intake ports after the throttle is opened. I'm hoping we can tune around this with the asynchronous injection settings. If not, I have a FFE primary fuel rail and ID725 injectors I can install and run a parallel, staged setup. I may end up doing this anyway because with injectors in the stock primary location I know I could achieve a stable idle at lower RPM and leaner air-to-fuel ratios.

chuyler1

iTrader: (1)

I think the problem you mention can be tuned out, although I haven't solved it yet on my build. I think you need to approach in the same way people mod the Nikki carb for mechanical secondaries. First you need a lot more fuel, so they add gaskets to increase volume. Second you need to spread that fuel out over a longer duration, so they modify the linkage to spread that fuel out.

My Adaptronic ECU tries to use map prediction for the majority of the transients, but it has some compensation values: asynchronous gain %, transition time, and persistence. There isn't a ton of documentation but what I think it represents is the extra fuel to squirt as a percentage of the current map reading VE, the duration to provide that extra squirt, and how quickly it should taper off. I can get plenty of fuel on initial tip in, but I'm at the point where it goes a touch rich, full lean, then settles back in. I think I need less squirt and more persistence, but it's easier said than done when you don't have the vehicle sitting on a dyno. I've flooded it a number of times trying to get it right.

infernosg

My issue is the opposite of yours. On initial tip-in I go lean and after a second the fuel seems to "catch up" and I can peg the wideband at 10:1 before it settles out. I need more initial squirt, as you put it, and less persistence. The Haltech has similar features to the Adaptronic although they're named differently. In additional to the usually enrichment and decay rates I can set how much of the enrichment is asynchronous and the maximum number of asynchronous pulses per enrichment event. I'm not sure about any predictions though. I've played around with the transient settings a bit. I even maxxed everything out and that didn't appear to change anything other than cause the engine to flood in rapid on-off throttle movements. I'm hoping it's something we can tune out once I'm done breaking in the engine. I'm sure my fuel and timing tables aren't optimized and that's not helping.

chuyler1

iTrader: (1)

I'm sure you'll figure it out. I think for my next build (12a for the 1st gen) I'm going to dual stage it with very small primary injectors as close as possible. I should have had the motor built with an SE center plate but i didn't think of it until later. Having them closer should resolve the "wetting" issue of a long runner. Anyway, keep at it and share the settings you end up with. I'm sure others will find it useful. When I crack the issue on my Adaptronic I'll post a new thread.

infernosg

If not, I have the provisions to add injectors like you're describing. I just passed 1700 miles today and am now hitting 8000 RPM, which sounds amazing by the way.

Even with the new brackets I wasn't able to get the driver's seat low enough to prevent the steering wheel from blocking the shift lights and turn signals, so I gave in a bought a larger wheel.



OMP Velocita 380. At 380 mm it's noticeably larger than my 350 mm Sparco R345. It also has "zero" dish instead of the 65 mm of the Sparco. Overall it puts the steering wheel in a more comfortable position and I can finally see my full display; notably the shift lights. The larger diameter also helps with low speed turning.

I want to make it to DGRR this year and in order to do so I have two things to accomplish:
1) Get headlights aimed properly
2) Replace front and rear bearings in the transmission and check end play.

(1) is easy and I'll have that done this weekend. (2) is still waiting on parts to come in. It looks like I'll be pulling some long nights in the near future.

2Fierce

iTrader: (7)

The dedication to this build is astonishing, can't wait to see how she runs once fully tuned and dialled in. Keep up the inspiring work!

Ratang

infernosg

Thanks! It's getting closer. The only comparison I have is my '79 SA. They both weigh the same, ~2350 lb, and the FC pulls way harder. So I can confirm it makes at least 100 hp, LOL!
You'll note the number of pictures decreased as time went on. A lot of times, though, I took photographs so I knew how stuff was supposed to go back together. Someday I'll probably print some of the more notable pictures and hang them in the garage/office.

Ratang

djSL

iTrader: (5)

I'm glad to see this build is still progressing! Fantastic work. We have basically the same engine/ throttle set up so when mine's complete, I'd be interested to see the power difference. Albeit, mine is a peripheral port.

I apologize if you've already covered this, but what seat rails are you using (sliders, fixed, etc). I'm having a hell of time getting my Momo seat to fit without my head hitting the roof and I'm only 5' 10".

*Edit: I see you're using Street Faction brackets. Are rails still necessary?*

WondrousBread

Out of curiosity, how did you dye the carpet? I've been investigating the possibility of dying mine black, and people seem to recommend RIT (though it isn't made for synthetic fibres), or SEM Color Coat (rattle can vinyl/fabric dye). And if it isn't holding up, what would you do differently next time?

infernosg

Yes, using the Street Faction brackets now. They combine the base and side mounts so nothing else is needed other than hardware. Before I had a Wedge base and generic OMP steel side mounts. No sliders. Headroom was an issue for me as well (I'm 5'-10" too). With the Street Faction brackets I can fit four fingers between my head and the headliner. I also don't have a sunroof. That alone will take away at least 1".

RIT will not work unless you can essentially boil the carpet while you add the dye. I tried this on the rear carpet and only the stitching actually took the dye. I ended up using an upholstery spray paint. I laid it on pretty thick and worked it in with a brush. It actually looked pretty good but it isn't durable.

2Fierce

iTrader: (7)

Bump for my favourite FC on this forum

infernosg

I've taken some time off since DGRR. Spring/Early Summer is a busy time for me so I haven't had much opportunity to work on the car. I'm in the process of reinstalling the evaporative emissions equipment (charcoal canister, PCV, etc.) though. I'm sick of the garage always smelling like gasoline. Hopefully my engine generates enough pre-throttle body vacuum to open the top port on the PCV. After that I need to address a leaking inner CV joint. The next big task is to pull and formally rebuild the transmission with all new bearings, etc. I just need some time for my bank account to recover.

In the meantime I continue to drive the car and work on the tune. It's completely broken in now. I really need to get on a dyno and tune the ignition map because I'm sure I have something like 10-15 degrees of advance I could add. At DGRR I discovered my base fuel map was way too lean and closed loop control was masking the issue. I've made some changes and gotten the base map closer to where it needs to be and that has greatly improved throttle response. I'm toying with the idea of moving my injectors to the primary location though. It would significantly improve idle and light throttle smoothness and also clean up the engine bay by stuffing everything under the intake manifold. The only unknown is if it would hurt higher-RPM performance since the fuel would have less time to mix with incoming air. I really don't want to run secondary injectors because the two ID1000's have proven to be sufficient at maximum power while also being stable enough at low duty cycles for idle. I already have a set of ID725's but I think 2x ID725 as primaries and 2X ID1000 for secondaries would be overkill. In that case I could completely shut off the primaries and only run on the ID1000's if it were proven that the higher location is better at higher RPM.

chuyler1

iTrader: (1)

Regarding fuel smell. I bet you have a fuel leak somewhere. My garage never smells like fuel and I don't have anything set up for PCV or charcoal canister. And if something smells in my garage, the whole house smells. My wife would let me know. She'll yell at me for using brake cleaner.

infernosg

I think it's more likely fuel is permeating the lines than a small leak. I notice the smell of gasoline is definitely the strongest when I'm near the fuel lines and not necessarily at a connection. The first tank of fuel had dye in it and I checked the lines regularly for signs of leaks. Maybe I should do another check. In hindsight I probably should have kept as much of the factory hard lines as possible. Do you still have them? Regardless, running a charcoal canister and PCV won't hurt performance. It's just added complexity. I never took the time to understand the system originally so I ripped it all out years ago.