My Wankel obsession, on going build thread (Pic heavy)
01-19-14, 11:48 PM
#1
My Wankel obsession, on going build thread (Pic heavy)
I am not quite sure where I am going with this, but given that I have owned at least 5 Rx-7's with two S5's currently I though I would start my own thread and see where this leads.
First off is my red GTU (Right)
My civic to the right
The mighty swap, bought originally for my 84 rx-7
Got this car for $750 due to erratic idle and after replacing all vacuum lines, intake gaskets, throttle body mod and adjusting the throttle stop she finally purred like the alley cat she is.
Currently, this car sits in great shape overall. The car passed emissions with flying colors
the sad thing is the dash as the previous owner broke some stuff and the sun claimed it's life. This s5 will be getting a full track car treatment (as you read you'l understand why) that means stripped interior.
My other gem is this Turbo II, I bought it from a (former by now, I suppose) member. This thing has just 86k original miles all original car for the exception of a few minor mods like a boost gauge, ground control suspension with racing beat anti-sway bar etc.
I always wanted a TII car to have some fun and modify...but after much consideration I decided to leave the car unmolested and instead put most of my mods to my N/A car, the plans are to do a full port job (Still undecided on the type of porting) on the N/A block and some other power mods, LSD diff swap either the spare torsen from s FD I have or a clutch type LSD out of a S4.
This will be a temporary thing though as I am planning on getting a full TII swap for the car that will be built for either track or drift.
First off is my red GTU (Right)
My civic to the right
The mighty swap, bought originally for my 84 rx-7
Got this car for $750 due to erratic idle and after replacing all vacuum lines, intake gaskets, throttle body mod and adjusting the throttle stop she finally purred like the alley cat she is.
Currently, this car sits in great shape overall. The car passed emissions with flying colors
the sad thing is the dash as the previous owner broke some stuff and the sun claimed it's life. This s5 will be getting a full track car treatment (as you read you'l understand why) that means stripped interior. My other gem is this Turbo II, I bought it from a (former by now, I suppose) member. This thing has just 86k original miles all original car for the exception of a few minor mods like a boost gauge, ground control suspension with racing beat anti-sway bar etc.
I always wanted a TII car to have some fun and modify...but after much consideration I decided to leave the car unmolested and instead put most of my mods to my N/A car, the plans are to do a full port job (Still undecided on the type of porting) on the N/A block and some other power mods, LSD diff swap either the spare torsen from s FD I have or a clutch type LSD out of a S4.
This will be a temporary thing though as I am planning on getting a full TII swap for the car that will be built for either track or drift.
01-20-14, 11:00 PM
#3
Cleaned and painted TII wheels
Well, at the shop today I painted one of the three sets of Turbo II wheels.
[/B]All cleaned up [/B]
As dark as coal, hell yes.
Gotta wait for the paint to fully cure...God, I love black.
what do you guys think metal valve stems look vs. rubber?
[/B]All cleaned up [/B]
As dark as coal, hell yes.
Gotta wait for the paint to fully cure...God, I love black.
what do you guys think metal valve stems look vs. rubber?
Last edited by rxmiles; 01-20-14 at 11:17 PM.
01-22-14, 11:45 PM
#7
Thanks, I love the car and of course like most of us do, I wanted to do some heavy mods to the Turbo II, but after trying to install the downpipe and feeling my heart sink I just decided to keep it just as it is, and enjoy it. Reason being is this car is perfect as a is and once modified I'm afraid it will loose some of it's character as it was intended to be....Low mile TII's are nearly impossible to find specially unmolested examples. The only mods this car has are a K&N drop in filter (to be replaced since I don't trust them), Fully adjustable Ground Control suspension, racing beat sway bar and strut bars front and rear, S4 lower control arms, prosport boost gauge and a tow hitch (for a trailer tire) all done by a fellow rotorhead that autocrossed the car a couple times a year. 
That being said, I am going to modify my other S5
That being said, I am going to modify my other S5
Last edited by rxmiles; 01-22-14 at 11:54 PM.
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03-06-14, 07:45 PM
#8
The Downpipe install and thoughts
The day I bought the car it came with a really nice, stainless downpipe as well as tons of other good parts.
I made it my first mod to install the downpipe in place of the precat and pipe. Well, I always research before doing any mods and kept reading that installing a wide downpipe will cause the turbo to overboos and the engine will hit fuel cut.
This disappointed me.....so I tried once to install it anyways and just take it easy until I could get supporting mods. First try did no go well, of course the 25+ year old nuts and studs will give you a hard time.
I snapped the studs and stiped the nuts.
I used the shops thread cutter, specs are M12x1.25 for the studs that attach the cat to the downpipe.
No shaft play that could be felt, this is a good time to inspect your turbine. Check closely for chipped fins and check shaft free play
Luckily I did little damage to the studs I was able to chase them and got them good. My other option was to drill them out and use new studs pig PITA.
Side by side comparison of the downpipe vs the precat. I did not realize though that the downpipe is a couple inches longer which will push your whole exhaust back.
Well here's my thoughts. The downpipe is a must mod in my mind I have had no issues with over boosting at all. The car pulls really well. My car is completely stock otherwise and never hit fuel cut. That being said it's an S5 with better wastegate, I live at altitude (Think Denver) too which might help. The turbo will spool smoothly up to around 12psi (It runs higher PSI stock in the mountains)
Car feels much stronger and it's super quiet as I still have the rest of the exhaust untouched and passes emissions with flying colors.
DOWNPIPE NOW!
I made it my first mod to install the downpipe in place of the precat and pipe. Well, I always research before doing any mods and kept reading that installing a wide downpipe will cause the turbo to overboos and the engine will hit fuel cut.
This disappointed me.....so I tried once to install it anyways and just take it easy until I could get supporting mods. First try did no go well, of course the 25+ year old nuts and studs will give you a hard time.
I snapped the studs and stiped the nuts.
I used the shops thread cutter, specs are M12x1.25 for the studs that attach the cat to the downpipe.
No shaft play that could be felt, this is a good time to inspect your turbine. Check closely for chipped fins and check shaft free play
Luckily I did little damage to the studs I was able to chase them and got them good. My other option was to drill them out and use new studs pig PITA.
Side by side comparison of the downpipe vs the precat. I did not realize though that the downpipe is a couple inches longer which will push your whole exhaust back.
Well here's my thoughts. The downpipe is a must mod in my mind I have had no issues with over boosting at all. The car pulls really well. My car is completely stock otherwise and never hit fuel cut. That being said it's an S5 with better wastegate, I live at altitude (Think Denver) too which might help. The turbo will spool smoothly up to around 12psi (It runs higher PSI stock in the mountains)
Car feels much stronger and it's super quiet as I still have the rest of the exhaust untouched and passes emissions with flying colors.
DOWNPIPE NOW!
04-29-14, 12:55 AM
#12
I have a reason to suspect that my OMP might not be working properly, I seem to have an intermittent code 20 and I can not see any oil usage at all. However foreseeing this situation I have been running premix as a "fail safe" I will be checking the OMP system to see if there's truly a fault.
Adaptronic is in the plans as well. I plan to use the standalone on a otherwise stock car, is there any downfalls to this? We'll see since I want to be able to tune before going further with mods.
Adaptronic is in the plans as well. I plan to use the standalone on a otherwise stock car, is there any downfalls to this? We'll see since I want to be able to tune before going further with mods.
07-08-14, 12:51 AM
#13
*sigh* well my much loved TII just got some bad damage today after spinning out at over 120mph, car runs and drives fine but it sustained severe body damage after taking out quite a bit of barbed wire fencing and ending uo in a ditch. I will post pics, though and maybe parts.
Kind Regards,
Lmiles
Kind Regards,
Lmiles
07-14-14, 08:35 PM
#16
Well, today I decided to clean up the TII and see how she looks. The car runs amazing, drives straight and true. There's a noticeable exhaust leak but the car is fine besides the body damage. Instead of selling it I think I might give new life to this previously clean and purist car. The car might receive wider fenders front and rear to cover the damage to the left rear quarter panel for now. I am going to remove some weight by carefully removing the passenger seat, rear carpet, spare tire, rear windshield washer fluid reservoir etc etc.
The hood was undamaged other that some scratches.
The hood was undamaged other that some scratches.
07-15-14, 11:18 AM
#20
Removing some weight.
Well I was doing 120mph in the heavy rain because I was blinded by rage ( I have been dealing with an inheritance issue for years and the meeting was earlier that faithful day) I was hitting boost in 5th when the rear wheels broke traction, I tried to correct my angle but nothing helped. I am not even mad about the damage considering I walk out unharmed or didn't harm others.
I have started driving the car much more and it feels great like nothing ever happened, but there's the body damage, perhaps some fiberglass fenders will do the trick.
For the time being I worked this morning on selling some parts and carefully removing others. TO clarify non of the TII interior is for sale....for now.
Hood might be going to paint or if I go V-mount it will get replaced with a fiberglass unit.
After the accident there has been a power drain I can't find for now, so I swapped the battery with my Honda's (The horror) battery which is half the size and the weight (Speculated, not verified) The car fires up just like it does with the OE one.
The GTU servings as storage for the rear carpet and bins
Bat demon face thingy
All done
I have started driving the car much more and it feels great like nothing ever happened, but there's the body damage, perhaps some fiberglass fenders will do the trick.
For the time being I worked this morning on selling some parts and carefully removing others. TO clarify non of the TII interior is for sale....for now.
Hood might be going to paint or if I go V-mount it will get replaced with a fiberglass unit.
After the accident there has been a power drain I can't find for now, so I swapped the battery with my Honda's (The horror) battery which is half the size and the weight (Speculated, not verified) The car fires up just like it does with the OE one.
The GTU servings as storage for the rear carpet and bins
Bat demon face thingy
All done
07-17-14, 10:04 PM
#22
Sooooo.............. I might be buying a 76 RX-5 Cosmo 
for only $2000 this week..That being said, will any one loan me that money? haha if I can sell something or work out a deal this car will be mine
As far as the TII goes the damage is not bad. I ordered a Walbro 225LPH fuel pump for it and will be posting a "Fuel pump DYI" for every one.
Now after the accident the exhaust broke at the Y-pipe were the cat meets the rest, so it came completely off. As much as I enjoy the nimble rumble of the TII tickling my ***** I might want to get rid of the toxic fumes generating at the center of the car and entering the cabin...Any one have any ideas for a single straight 3'' exhaust?
for only $2000 this week..That being said, will any one loan me that money? haha if I can sell something or work out a deal this car will be mine As far as the TII goes the damage is not bad. I ordered a Walbro 225LPH fuel pump for it and will be posting a "Fuel pump DYI" for every one.
Now after the accident the exhaust broke at the Y-pipe were the cat meets the rest, so it came completely off. As much as I enjoy the nimble rumble of the TII tickling my ***** I might want to get rid of the toxic fumes generating at the center of the car and entering the cabin...Any one have any ideas for a single straight 3'' exhaust?
07-18-14, 09:47 PM
#23
Well I just got my Walbro fuel pump and I could not wait to install it. It took about 20 minutes all together and the car feels great. Seems to have slightly more power throughout the entire rpm band, not much though. All together I am super happy so far no noise.
As far as the DYI I will have to do that later I'm tired and need to properly wire the pump.
As far as the DYI I will have to do that later I'm tired and need to properly wire the pump.
11-28-14, 08:13 PM
#24
Back to business. After selling the TII and crying myself to sleep every night over it, I decided to dust off my current rx-7 and disassemble the whole front end in preparation for a swap. I could have kept the TII and swap everything to the base model car, but I needed money at the time and was not motivated after the wreck, so the car sat for a while. I have plans however of doing a *sigh* LSX swap or a 13B-rew swap. I am heavily inclined to LSX since rotary engines are getting harder to find, and very pricey. I love the triangle but the cost to go V8 is certainly appealing...
12-09-14, 08:37 PM
#25
Well, I am still not sure what will be of my current rx7. It might get a LS1 or a 13B-RE, since the
13B-RE engine mounts are similar to those of the FC and I might have found one the scales are tipping in favor of the rotary. There's just something about the wankel.
Watch this video I put together for potential buyers of my current engine for sale, compression and all.
13B-RE engine mounts are similar to those of the FC and I might have found one the scales are tipping in favor of the rotary. There's just something about the wankel.
Watch this video I put together for potential buyers of my current engine for sale, compression and all.