Yeah, the Taurus fan definitely works well. I switched to Ford Contour dual fans when I went to a different size radiator and at the same time I switched to Dorman 902-310 Radiator Fan Relays controlled by my ECU. They're a simple ground-switched PWM and are rated for 40A. I'm using 2 for the dual fans which supposedly draw around 20A continuously. It's nice being able to fade the fans on/off so the alt doesn't pull down the RPMs when volts droop. Also nice since most of the time you don't need all that fan, but you have it if you DO need it.

 

So when we last left off, I had yet to finalize the wiring for the fan. I know based on my nature that the wire routing is going to change a few times before I'm satisfied, but for now it is functional and neat enough to not embarrass me when I pop the hood.



This is the relay I ended up using as per Shaniac's recommendation. The wiring gauge in the socket and the spades on the relay are much larger, so I'm pretty confident it will survive for a long time even with the stress of the Taurus fan.



This is one part of the wiring that is definitely going to be revised. I mounted the breaker for the fan with double-sided tape and crimped some ring terminals to allow easy testing for the fan. What I'd like to do is replace the stock coolant overflow bottle with a generic one, and mount that in the corner near the sub-zero cold start. That corner of the engine bay has space to spare, and this corner is too crowded. Then I can get an aluminum sheet, bend with a sheet-metal brake into a suitable shape, and turn it into a mounting panel that mounts where the coolant tank used to be. That will give me a place to properly mount the fan breaker, the 150A breaker I will be installing for the alternator, and any other future wiring. It also places everything near the stock fusebox.

The current setup is functional enough to start and drive around, it's just a bit ugly to look at. I also don't like that heat from the rad flows almost on top of the breaker, since it might cause it to trip too early. I don't think it will be a problem in application, but it's poor practice to mount it there long-term if there's even a chance of that happening.



This is just a picture to show the clearance with the fan mounting. This fan is a seriously close drop in for our cars. Other than altering the corners on the radiator hose side and making some simple brackets, the fan fits really well. It doesn't collide with the battery tray and there's clearance for the power steering lines. There's plenty of space at the bottom near the sway bar and the pulley stack. I'm really happy with this fan so far.

In testing, I found that the fan turns on at 87 degrees C and off again at 82 degrees C, which converts to 189/180 degrees F respectively. In combination with the Taurus alternator I still held 14.7 volts at idle, and there was no noticeable dip in the idle. 14.7 seems a little high and sometimes it creeps to 14.9, so I may end up getting a new regulator for the alternator. I had it replaced a few years ago but I'd rather not take the risk.

Regarding the alternator, this is also a situation where it's functional and mostly done, but I'll end up revising it again later.



The bracket which I made several years ago wasn't aligned perfectly, and in the process of bending it to align the pulley one of my welds cracked at the seam. Considering I made them with a stick welder and zero welding experience, this isn't surprising. I was able to MIG it back together so it's strong now, but I want to make a new bracket in the future since I'm going to have to change pulleys. When removing my air pump the bolt broke on the adjustment ear, and all efforts to remove the bolt (bolt extractor, head, dremel, drill it out) have failed. The ear is getting pretty mangled by this point, so for awhile at least I'll be running without an air pump. I do want to get another in the future since I like keeping my emissions components, but that will have to wait until everything else is fixed since I can run without one. I've found no slippage on the water pump with the single pulley, but I'm still going to move to a dual pulley later for insurance. I know catalytic converters don't survive as long without the air pump, but mine is going to rust out sooner rather than later anyways.




Here's the old wiring I made a few years ago. No excuses, it's terrible. The main alternator wire is going to be reused, since it's the right length and still very clean. It's left over from my father's old 1986 Maserati 425, interestingly enough.



The new solution. Same wiring for the main cable, new wiring for the +12 for the sensing. I reused the fuse for the sensing wire since it was fine. On the alternator end I now have a proper OEM alternator connector, with a Mazda style connector from Eastern Beaver that connects to the stock harness. It isn't fused currently, but before I start driving the car I will install the aforementioned 150A breaker. It bypasses the original wiring and goes straight to the battery positive.

I mentioned in the last update that AC had hit a bit of a wall. Basically, there was no oil in my system when I took out the compressor to start replacing the o-rings. This means I should replace the compressor, since it has presumably been running without oil (and the refrigerant evacuated quite explosively in a suburb, so if there was any oil it likely got sucked out during the decompression). New compressors aren't available, and I've heard that remans are not very reliable. Even the reman is a few hundred dollars, and I would rather spend my money on being able to drive my Rx7 again rather than being able to have functional air conditioning. I still plan to fix the system, but for now the compressor is in a box in my garage until everything else is solved.

That's all for now Hopefully soon I can get more done and have another update, especially since the weather here in Southern Ontario is finally starting to warm up. Until next time

 

One more thing:



I got a great deal on this Racing Beat REV TII exhaust on Kijiji. Complete except for downpipe, which is fine since my car is naturally aspirated. I know it will be a bit louder / larger than necessary, but it's good to have this ready for the inevitable exhaust replacement in my future. It includes the flange from the downpipe, so I'll likely end up buying a header when I need to and using a catalytic converter instead of the silencer. Hopefully I'll be able to get some use out of my current exhaust before I need this, but buying it now (used and for a good price) saves money vs. buying something later when I need an exhaust. And it was a lot cheaper than I would pay for materials to make my own custom exhaust.

It felt seriously nice to pay for something I actually want rather than a maintenance item (like a ball-joint or a bushing). Even if I'm not using it yet

 

As I predicted, I ended up altering the wiring again. It's become frigid again here, but I was able to complete this (though my hands won't stop hurting anytime soon) in my off time over the past few days.



This new configuration allows me to avoid the pile of different cables on top of the battery. The alternator runs through a 150A breaker, the fan through a 70A breaker. The aluminum sheet I used to make the panel also has space on the left hand side that provides future room for cable hold-downs, which I'll need since I still haven't decided exactly how I'm going to neaten up the cables in that area.

The coolant expansion tank will need to be dealt with, but that's not too big a deal. I also seriously need to deep-clean my engine bay, which I plan on doing as soon as it warms up enough I can use the garden hose for rinsing.

 

I decided to install the REV TII exhaust a bit earlier than I anticipated. One of my original mufflers was splitting along the seam. Not sure if it was clogged, I've not seen a muffler fail in that way before. I was also tired of having the exhaust be all one piece from the cat, and it was hanging crooked. When I crawled under and started removing it, I also found that it was hitting the rear sub-frame (!).

Old:



New:



Side-by-side:



I do have the pre-silencer, but I'd prefer to keep my exhaust catalyzed (and I'd be welding either way since I'm not using a downpipe). So I used the leftover flange that came with the exhaust:



A little bit messy, but it's functional. The other side is the flange I added that connects to the pipe coming from my manifold.

I also had to weld a crack in the y-pipe. I'd never welded stainless-steel, and I've consistently heard that it's challenging. So I drilled a hole at either end of the crack and used an angle grinder to grind a trench along the crack to give me something to fill with weld:



Apologies for the crappy phone picture. I have to say, this was the easiest welding experience I've ever had. It's not the most beautiful thing ever (I had to make a few passes, and I had to be careful as the pipe was thin from grinding), but it's functional and it was seriously fun to weld.

Installed:







Now after that was dealt with, I moved on to the coolant expansion tank. Since I took up the place it was occupying with a breaker panel (and that location makes little sense with an e-fan) I decided to relocate the tank to the corner of the bay near the charcoal canister. The stock tank won't fit there, but I found a generic one for $12 that did. First though, I had to relocate the charcoal canister out a couple inches. I used some aluminum to make a new bracket:





And then I had space to install the coolant tank:



The zip tie is just so I can start and move the car, I'm going to make a bracket that allows proper bolt-on mounting. And conveniently as you can see, the barbed fitting on the thermostat neck can be rotated 180 degrees to allow the hose to go the opposite way. This tank has the nipple on the bottom rather than on the cap, but I don't see how it would make a functional difference. There are also much nicer aluminum expansion tanks available, but at over 5x the cost I decided to go with this one and save the money for other parts. I can always change the tank in the future.

I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do next, since I still have a lot left I want to do, but I know I definitely need to give the engine bay a scrub as soon as it's warm enough to use our hose. Until next time

 

Short update, today was a pretty nice day here in Ontario. And by pretty nice, I mean 4 degrees Celsius (39 degrees Fahrenheit). It was rainy on and off, but it's been moderately clear for a few hours.





I got to start it and let it run for awhile with the new exhaust, which manages to be quieter than the previous exhaust despite being quite a bit larger. It's also more aggressive in tone, and the car starts, idles, and revs better. I'm not sure exactly what was causing my previous exhaust to clog, but it was seriously impacting the way the car ran.


And strangely enough, the exhaust smells way better. Still bad, but not nearly as bad as with the previous exhaust (which was so incredibly gross I had to change clothes and shower after running the car). I'm using the same catalytic converter, so I'm not sure exactly what happened there. Regardless, I'm pretty happy with it.

 

So I'm pretty sure I've lost compression on the rear rotor.

I was idling in the driveway two days ago, and I blipped the throttle slightly while watching a voltmeter to see how the alternator voltage was reacting. Around 2.5k the engine began stumbling and idling poorly. I started by inspecting all the connectors on the fuel / ignition side, all was well. I tried a different AFM, no dice. Tried swapping ignition coils and wires, no dice. Inspected all the plugs, rear rotor plugs are coated in gasoline and some soot (possibly just carbon). A little puddle of sooty gasoline appeared under the car from someplace (likely an exhaust gasket). The car still starts (with the pedal floored) and idles at around 750, but it's really vibrating a lot and definitely isn't right. It smooths out at higher revs. It will still idle on its own.

Tried to do a compression test and found that for whatever reason my tester isn't behaving normally. The overall reading works (which makes sense, but isn't very useful to me) but holding the valve in doesn't give me pulses, it gives me nothing.

Regardless, I know that I have air. I was able to confirm spark by plugging a spare CAS and spinning by hand while watching the plugs. I have fuel, though possibly too much of it. I can't imagine the timing is out, since I didn't touch the CAS in the engine. This leaves the two options of:

1. Blown seals on one rotor (rear most likely due to gassy plugs).

2. Stuck injector in the rear primary port, causing so much fuel to spray in that I am instantly flooding out the rear. Unlikely, but possible.

Either way, the only way to proceed is to take off the intake manifold (and exhaust, to look for bits of seals). My in-person university classes are moved online, and I'm not working for the time being as I am in one of the risk categories for COVID-19 due to a health condition. Sometime in the next few days (it's going to warm) I'll be able to pull out the injectors and see what I see. I'm not optimistic.

 

Today I stripped the intake / exhaust so I was looking at just the bare block. Took a couple hours, but this was what I was left with:



It was not a job I wanted to do, but since the exhaust manifold gasket was leaky I was going to be in there anyways. I also found my fuel lines (only 3 years old) were cracking a bit, so it's a good thing overall that I took out the intake. One thing I observed: Both rotors had buckets of fuel in them. I turned the engine while listening for pulses (which sounded fine) and fuel was gushing out at first, then spraying. I don't know how much is normal, but there was definitely a lot.

On the upside, I didn't find anything concerning in my exhaust or intake manifolds. No bits of metal, just the usual carbon.

I stuck a bore-scope in the exhaust ports and observed each apex seal, all of them look normal front and rear. I can also see that the housings aren't showing any weird marks. This doesn't mean my compression is healthy, but it doesn't look like anything catastrophic occurred. Not a sure thing by any means, but still reassuring. My rotors have very little carbon too, only a bit in the recessed portion. I also tested my injectors and found no leak-down that I could see, and they all worked as normal with 12V applied.

So my workflow from here on out is going to be this:

1. Remove "downpipe" and look inside and into the catalytic converter for anything unusual. If I find no metal:

2. Buy another compression tester and redo test. If good results are confirmed:

After that, I'll probably get the injectors cleaned and reassemble. If it's still dumping in loads of fuel, the only options I can think of are wiring / ECU / Air Flow Meter problems causing way too much fuel.

 

So I was able to get my compression gauge to work (I had removed the wrong valve) and unfortunately compression is zero on the rear rotor. I get one intermittent pulse of 10psi every so often, but not the regular pulsing it should be. Front has consistent pulses of 90psi. Seems like the rear has lost one apex entirely and damaged the other two enough that it won't hold compression, resulting in so little compression it can't even fire on one face.

So what now? Well, I definitely won't have enough disposable income to rebuild my engine anytime soon. Luckily I future-proofed slightly by buying a complete S4 NA engine awhile back, but it's disassembled. And while the housings and rotors appear pristine (nearly new, in fact), the front, rear, and middle plates look like they'll need resurfacing or replacing. I may be able to substitute the plates from my existing engine, but I doubt it and I won't know until I disassemble the engine. I also have to figure in the cost of an engine stand, making an adapter for the 13B, the flywheel socket, measuring tools to check specs on parts, etc. Regardless, between the exchange rate (down to 1 CAD = 0.69 USD), the fact that I haven't been working due to COVID-19 and may not be for awhile, my engine build is going to be a long while away.

I also know that I won't be able to do a "budget" rebuild. There are times when I've saved money by restoring or reusing parts that could've been replaced, but I won't do that with an engine. I have enough used seals and whatnot laying around to build a new engine now, but I want my engine to last a long time and make decent power. This means taking extra time to save and plan for the future. At least this provides an opportunity to do things like remove the exhaust diffusers, polish the intake ports, shim the oil pressure regulator, etc.

Until then I'm going to focus on doing any task I can do for $0. This means first cleaning the garage, making new work tables, boxing up the parts I won't be using for awhile, and clearing out the parts I can sell (I have extra intake manifolds, and that sort of thing). I do have an opportunity to seriously clean the engine bay now that it will be empty at some point. I'm not sure when I'll be posting in this thread again, or exactly what I'll be posting since the main part of my project is suddenly on hold until I can accrue the funds to do it responsibly. School comes first, maintaining my Celica so I can get to/from work and school comes second, putting away savings for the future comes third, so the Rx-7 comes only after that. And even then, unexpected costs pop up frequently.

Honestly it's definitely discouraging for something like this to happen when I was finally seeing progress and nearing the point where I could drive my car again, but on the other hand it's better that this happened in my driveway, where I didn't need a tow. And it happened before I did things like spend money on carpet or speakers or anything unnecessary. Overall, I'm going to view this as an opportunity for an improvement instead of a setback.

 

The pain is all too familiar. My sympathies go out to you man. It couldn't be worse timing, with gas sitting at 70 some cents and summer just around the corner.
Good luck with the build man.

 

I blew my engine in April of 2017... not cool.

 

After feeling sorry for myself for a day or so, I decided to spend a few days on other projects. Sometimes when you can't make progress in one area, it's better to take time in a different area so you keep up that "momentum". When I don't keep up momentum, my projects languish. One big project has been cleaning and reorganizing the entire garage, but I also took a couple of other unrelated projects that had been stalled for awhile and finally pushed through.

Converting my Toshiba T3100e to flash-based storage and replacing the CMOS battery. Not fun since the entire thing has to be disassembled (and it requires use of a Dynamic Drive-Overlay for non-stock drives), but rewarding:





Also working on a Powerbook 100. Replaced all capacitors and currently working on de-yellowing the ABS case.

I started constructing a go-kart using a snowblower engine I've had in the shed for 10+ years, and it looks like I'll be able to get that done or nearly done for $0. So far I just rebuilt everything except the block itself (re-using all the old parts):


I should have all the parts I need except a drive-belt, so that should be a nearly free project that can tide me over.

Regarding the Rx7, after taking the requisite break it was time to get back to it. You don't get to choose the cards you're dealt in life, but you get to choose how to play them. First thing was engine removal. I already had it down to the short-block, so it was just a few more steps to be able to pull the engine. Surprisingly, not that difficult. As long as you have a second person (for safety and for an extra set of hands) it goes pretty smoothly:





Then I put it on my very professional "engine stand",



It's a pallet I made on a little cart with four casters. It's not fancy, but it's mobile and it's sturdy. It'll be fine for disassembly, but I'll need to obtain a proper stand for assembly. Unless I make something, which could be the case. As you can see I stripped down the entire front stack. I'm waiting on the 54mm socket to take off the flywheel. It wasn't cheap, but it's impact rated. Unfortunately it's estimated that it won't be here until May 9th due to delays from coronavirus.

Once it arrives my plan is to disassemble this one and see what I see. Anything obviously destroyed I'll turn into art, otherwise I'll clean it and store it with my other engine parts. Then I need to obtain the measuring tools (micrometers, dial indicators) and spec them out. Hoping I have good irons here, since I think my spares are too worn. I won't know until I measure but the grooving is pretty significant:

 

Thanks It's a sad feeling, but it is what it is. At least it gives me an opportunity to know that the next engine is built right, rather than constantly wondering about it's internal health.

 

In addition to pulling the engine, I started the process of scrubbing my engine bay clean of all the dirt, oil, ATF, etc that had accumulated.

Before:



(The Cusco under-brace makes a convenient transmission support so you can move the car with the engine out)







And the worst bit:





I'll definitely give to need the harnesses some attention, but the brake fluid leak ended up worse than I thought. It ate all the paint on the frame rail. Luckily, it seems the metal is unfazed by this, so I just need to clear the area and de-grease before painting it. Despite the crumbly look, there is no rust damage other than the surface rust visible in this photo. Also, take a look at this steering line:



Clearly someone decided to tighten the line without using a wrench on the opposing fitting. I was able to un-twist it by bending it back with a wrench, hopefully it didn't rupture anywhere.

 

My weapons of choice for this cleanup were Scrubbing Bubbles (big mistake, do not use this) and Engine Degreaser:



Now, I generally try to tread carefully when it comes to chemicals. I tried "Scrubbing Bubbles: Fantastic" on the gunk, and it left a lot of the more aggressive grease untouched. I decided to step it up a notch and try the foaming bathroom cleaner. Of course, the smart thing to do was to test in an inconspicuous area:



As you can see by the dry area in the middle, it worked okay right? Especially considering the paint in my engine bay was already quite dull.

Wrong.



I put the flash on to exaggerate the problem in the photo. In person it's not so bad, but it is noticeable.

See anywhere that's dry, like the firewall? I'm not sure if it was the Scrubbing Bubbles itself or a reaction with something in the engine bay, but it's oxidized. I assume the Scrubbing Bubbles has oxidizers in it. It went from sort of dull to definitely really dull, and somewhat splotchy. It's fixable, but irritating. Either way, steer clear. My method of fixing it was to just put WD-40 on a cloth (not even damp, just a small spray) and wipe it on. Then wipe it off. The "correct" way to do it is to strip the engine bay and polish everything, but it's tough to get the polish out of the nooks in the bay. The WD-40 also has a solvent effect on grease, so anywhere the foam didn't reach can be cleaned that way. If the garage situation changes and I have more space, I may go the route of actually stripping the bay to polish it. As it is, I share the twin garage with the rest of my family, and we're also in the middle of cleaning and reorganizing it. Since I monopolized one side of the garage for ~3 years with my car on jackstands, I'm reluctant to start disassembling everything again unless absolutely necessary.

After WD-40:



It isn't greasy, in fact it feels like... well, paint. Wipe it on (sparingly), buff it off. It doesn't look weird, it isn't sticky, it doesn't attract dust. After an hour or so, it doesn't even smell like WD-40. The only real disadvantage is that it would likely fade again if I get de-greaser on it, but it can be quickly reapplied.

Here's a comparison of the "fixed" side and the "non-fixed" side on the hump in the middle of the firewall:



The fading is still exaggerated by the flash (intentionally). It isn't disastrous, but I also can't leave it the way it is. In the middle is where I wiped it down with WD-40.

The driver's side isn't totally done, since I need to wait until it warms up a bit to actually clean things more. It should be warm in the next week or two. Consequently, I haven't yet painted the frame rail. I did paint underneath the battery tray though:



I'm not going to blend/polish paint that is going to be invisible when done, but I did use the colour-match paint I have so it matches the bay fairly well. Once I finish cleaning everything properly it should be close enough that it isn't noticeable. I also used a small colour paint pen to get the places I couldn't spray. The heater in the corner was necessary because it was too cold for paint to cure today.

That's all for now. Hopefully I'll have something a little more interesting next time, like engine disassembly. Either way, the fact that I continued progressing with the project at all was more important to me than the exact nature of the work itself.

Until next time

 

i know my method is really time consuming and overkill. i will remove everything (in sections), and i will wash, and wax all the painted panels, basically i treat them like the outside of the car. it takes forever and is probably overkill, but it does work

 

I came to that conclusion today.

I went out and stared for awhile, trying to rationalize not fixing it properly and couldn't, especially since the limiting factor for my project is funds and not time.

Everything's going to come out completely and get a proper polish and wax. Especially since I have an opportunity now that the engine is out to reach every nook and not cut corners here.

 

you will be glad you did that. i did mine in sections, basically its easier to remember how it went back together.

 

That was the original plan, but over the course of a few hours things took on a momentum of their own:







Everything is disconnected/removed other than the hardlines that run along the firewall, the steering column, the brake lines, and the clutch master cylinder. The engine harness is zip tied to the firewall lines to keep it up, the body harness is draped along the inside of the bay.

I worked from yesterday morning until ~6, and then this morning put in another hour or two before everything was taken apart. It actually went surprisingly quickly, other than a few stuck bolts. The oil cooler mounting bolts were not happy, and I'll need to replace the mounts on both sides. There were also two stuck fittings on the AC lines:



This one took 4 hours (spread across yesterday and today) to get apart. Constantly heating it, oiling it, swearing at it, and then repeating the process. I also heated it with a torch and then used compressed air to try and rapidly cool the aluminum line and the copper fitting to shrink it. Eventually it split. I didn't know copper and steel could seize together, but they did.

The other was up top, connecting the tube going into the car to the one running along the firewall. That one wasn't weathered much, but Hercules himself must have tightened it because I needed to put a lot more strength into it than the others. It was also the only fitting to have a green o-ring, so somebody decided to replace just one ring instead of all of them and then they just refilled the system.

I'll clean all of my AC components and then put them in a box and store them. Since it's a low priority compared to the engine, it doesn't make much sense to put them back in. I'll also need to get the condenser pressure tested, since it is in really ugly shape.

I can't roll the car out yet to actually clean the bay itself or the harnesses, since there is currently a car blocking it in the garage. So I spent the rest of today focused on cleaning the AC lines, Condenser, oil cooler lines, and oil cooler.

 

So I started with this in the morning:







And after a long day with much scrubbing, I ended up with this:









The condenser just got a good de-greasing, since I don't have paint for it and need a pressure test before I know if it is even usable. Most of the day was spent on the oil cooler.

I don't know why someone would do this, but the somebody who owned or worked on the car before me decided to paint it. Now I could live with a satin black oil cooler rather than a shiny aluminum one, but it looks like it was glossy Rustoleum, and it only covered about 60% of the cooler. Maybe he ran out of paint, who knows. I elected to remove as much of it as possible.

I used a variety of brushes, chemicals, a torch, and sandpaper on it. The streaks you see on it above are just water marks. Everything is fairly clean except for the fins themselves, since I can't really get in there to remove the paint without damaging the fins more. I also spent a good 40 minutes picking rocks out and straightening the fins.

There is still a little paint on the end tank in the crook of the welds, and around the fittings (where I didn't want to scrub with detergent because I would risk getting something inside the cooler). I can clean that, but I'll need to get some smaller brushes or a little wire wheel for my dremel. Either way, it's better than it started.

The lines are a bit deceptive. They are definitely cleaner now, but the photos above don't show this:





Both the AC lines and the oil cooler lines have spots where the ATF leaking from the power steering pump softened them. I can't tell if either was technically leaking, but I certainly can't put these back in the car as is. The AC lines will be on the back burner, like the rest of the system.

As for the oil cooler, I'm going to price out a set of OEM lines. I'm sure they aren't cheap, but they're the best quality. I know there is a write-up in the archive about making custom AN lines, but OEM lines feel like the safest bet to me considering how robust and well-made they are.

 

We had another nice sunny day here, which meant I had to capitalize on this opportunity and work on my Rx7. I still can't roll the car out of the garage to continue on the engine bay since there's an Alfa Romeo with no starter in the way, so I tried to find something else to work on.

Way back I bought a fiberglass replica of the stock Sport duckbill spoiler on eBay. I wont go into detail since I believe I already described it, but at the end of the day I was refunded and the manufacturer refused delivery of the returned spoiler. So it made it's way all the way back to my garage, still defective.

Here's a very old picture of the problem:



At the passenger side end of the spoiler, the top bows upwards away from the body. There is also a slight pull inwards on the outside edge. The end result is that the curved portion that hangs down on the side is trying to interfere with the body of the car. When I got the spoiler, I tried to use heat to reshape the fiberglass, which worked about as well as you would expect it to (read: not at all). Today I decided to take another crack at fixing it.

Now, body work is like fine art and I'm like a toddler who has just learned how to finger-paint. My end results turned out alright, but I'm not going to pretend I knew what I was doing beyond using common sense and looking at YouTube videos about shaping fiberglass. I also can't speak to the longevity of my work yet, so I'll be leaving it in the sun on a few hot days this summer and seeing what happens before I install it on the car.

I started off by doing this:



In order to be able to actually fit on the car, I needed to take out the inner face of the spoiler. This prevented it from interfering on the car and it doesn't rely on me flexing the fiberglass. Since fiberglass doesn't seem to like flexing, I didn't want to try any repair that would force the fiberglass to do something it doesn't want to do.

Next I needed to make a new bottom surface for the spoiler that actually mounts flush against the car. Luckily, the car makes a perfect form.



My idea was to put a dollop of fiberglass filler on the edge of the spoiler and press it down while I placed the spoiler to form a place where it mounts flush, but this didn't work. The consistency of the filler means it doesn't like being compressed, so it just wouldn't squeeze out the way I intended. I first used cling wrap, but after one use I realized it wasn't really great for this. I moved to just masking the entire area with green painter's tape, which is what you'll see in subsequent photos.

The next attempt worked a lot better:







This time I placed the spoiler on the car, held it firmly in place, and then worked filler in along the edges starting where the spoiler bows up and out and working around to the corresponding place on the bottom. Then I cut around it using one of those plastic bondo spreaders. Once it dried, it came off like this:



I'll still need to fill in the gaping hole, but it actually mounts flush on the body now. This does add thickness, so the spoiler is much taller on this side than on the other.

Driver's side:



Passenger's side:



A caliper measurement tells me I added about 6mm of material at the highest point, tapering down until the edge of where I added filler. Of course, this needed to be taken down.

The original fiberglass is hollow, meaning I would definitely be sanding down into empty space if I just went to it with the sander. So I added more filler along the underside of the top panel through the hole I cut in the back. This way once I sand down through the original fiberglass, I'm sanding into the filler. Then I masked everything and started sanding.



I made sure to try and move evenly and not stay in one space for too long, at the same time as spending more time in the places where I added lots of bulk. I also needed to preserve the curve on the top piece, which makes a beveled edge along the inside of the spoiler. I don't have that many in progress photos (don't want dust on my camera), but after sanding to the right height, bondo, glazing putty, and then a few passes of high build primer and sanding, I ended up with this at the end of the day:





It's hard to know that it's the right height since the height varies along the spoiler, so I measured out from the center using a measuring tape and marked a few spots on both sides with a pencil. Then I measured at a few places on the driver's side and tried to match the height within 1mm or so on the opposing side, mirroring the driver's side as much as possible. I ended up with a pretty close match, and I mock installed it on the car to measure around the rim to ensure it hadn't grown closer to the hatch on the one side. Everything looked about right.

This is where it's going to stay for now, since I'm out of primer. I think it needs one or two more passes with glazing putty to fill some small pinholes, and then a proper pass with a finer sandpaper than I have on-hand to smooth the inside of the curves. Lastly I need to fill that hole I cut on the backside. After that, I'm going to paint it satin black (SEM Trim Black, which is the same as I plan on using for the side trim).

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the apparent results considering I have almost no bodywork experience. I am admittedly unsure what will happen when it gets really hot in the sun, so as I mentioned previously I'm going to set it out in direct sunlight on a few hot days this summer and see if it warps or does anything unusual. It shouldn't, since I made a conscious effort to work around the original shape of the fiberglass rather than bending it and forcing it into a shape it doesn't want. Worst case scenario, it didn't work and I wasted a few hours further breaking a broken spoiler.

 

It lives!




But before we get to that, when I left off:

- Spoiler needed minor filling, painting and mounting

- Engine bay needed cleaning and polishing/waxing

- Harnesses greasy and crumbly, injector connectors beyond repair or reuse, most of the harness tape needing replacement.

- Oil cooler lines leaking (hose eaten by abrasion and ATF)

- Something messed up inside my steering rack

- No engine



To finish the spoiler after filling, priming, sanding, and then filling again about 100 times, I built this jig thing:



I picked a day with no wind to avoid getting debris in the paint. I chose SEM Trim Black. Pricey stuff, but it really does leave the perfect finish.

Then brought it inside to dry:




At one point I almost opened the garage door and ruined my own work, but luckily I caught myself before actually pressing the button This paint also takes 2-3 days to completely dry.



I mounted it using 3M Super-Strength molding tape. I mounted the badges using the same tape because I really hate drilling holes in the body and my car (’86) originally had no spoiler and decals for the badges.




The problem area sits flush with the car now. I still hate bodywork, but it’s nice to have a project work out.

(to be continued)

 

Since I had the paint and primer out already, I cleaned and refinished the cowling. Also vacuumed out all the leaves and detritus that was underneath it in the intake.



Relocated the license plate for three reasons:

- I like the look better when it’s to the side

- Once I was hit in a parking lot, and the location of the plate drastically increased the damage to the bumper

- At speed, the bolts that hold the plate into its bracket vibrate against the bumper trim and damage it.

I understand that there used to be brackets made commercially for this task, but I made the bracket out of a flat piece of aluminum, two M6 bolts and two rivnuts. Then just flip the license plate bracket upside down and bend the arms to the contour of the bumper and you’re done! Cost ~ $4 (aluminum was an off-cut from the local metal store).

(to be continued)

 

Cleaned out the entire engine bay, removing every piece. Scrubbed every inch of it. Washed it clean, then polished and waxed the whole bay before reinstalling everything. I used all new fasteners in the entire engine bay and on the engine. One day I may get the brackets plated, but that’s low priority.

I can’t seem to find the photos I took of the frame rail repair, but luckily it was all surface rust. Cleaned up fine with a wire wheel before rust converting (for good measure) and painting with colour-match paint.

I don’t have in-depth pictured of the entire process, but it’s nice and shiny now. You can also see the state of the old harness: everything was very crumbly and saturated with fluids (Oil? ATF? Who knows?). I unwrapped all of the body harness and used zip-ties to keep the splits where they were stock, then re-wrapped with silicone self-fusing tape. I ended up using fabric-style TESA tape for the engine harness and liking that better, so I will likely re-wrap the body harness at some point soon so they match.



New injector connectors! My old ones didn’t even have the clips anymore…






I took one look at the price of OEM oil cooler lines and decided to make my own. Unfortunately my local hydraulic shop closed at some point, so I’m left without someone who can make new lines near me. Never used AN line before so it’s a bit of a learning curve, but for less than $200 I now have a new set. No leaks so far. I’ll be keeping an eye on them for awhile for seepage, but barring the possibility of catastrophic failure I think they’ll work fine.

I had created a thread for my steering rack issue because it was quite unusual. Basically at certain points (once a rotation) the steering would become hard and there would be a grinding noise. I’d already rebuilt the pump, so I thought the rack was the problem. Pulled it, bought a rebuild kit, and rebuilt it. Interesting experience but ultimately useless since I still had the same problem after reinstalling it.

So then I noticed some marks on the subframe. Turned out that the bolt on the collar where the shaft meets the rack was scraping the subframe, causing the noise and tough spot… So I rebuilt a perfectly good steering rack. At least I got to learn how a steering rack works

The real problem was that the steering rack bushings were so worn and sloppy that the rack was twisting in its mounts. I found aftermarket polyurethane parts for less than OEM and went with those. No idea if it makes a difference for NVH since the tires already take up much of the vibration.




I had originally intended to keep the power steering system in this car, but I’m pleasantly surprised how easy it is to turn the wheel at a standstill. I’ll be trying it out de-powered (no lines, no fluid in rack) for awhile before I commit to properly de-powering the rack or reinstalling the pump.

(to be continued)

 

So now for the engine. I took apart the old engine from the car, and it was well and truly dead. Broken coolant seals (weirdly no symptoms though), and a broken coolant seal groove on the front plate. Middle and rear plate technically re-usable but near spec. Front and rear stationary gear bearings worn. Both housings had gouges on the combustion side (as if the rotors were wobbling?). Not really sure what causes that, unless maybe the e-shaft is bent. High spots on either end of the apex seals. All of the apex seals were Mazda 3-piece, so either this engine was not “rebuilt” as the PO told me but replaced, or it was the original engine at 380k km.

Rotors and stat gears themselves were alright.

If you’re interested, you can see the internals in this thread, but really I don’t know what to make of any of it. No idea what in particular caused the lost compression.

My next idea was to rebuild the spare 13B (in parts) that I had in the shed, but then I still needed a front plate (worn beyond spec), a rebuild kit, and I knew that I would have wanted some upgrades while I was in there. Rx8 stat gears were only marginally cheaper than bearings, a used Rx8 e-shaft was looking quite affordable, and a mild intake and exhaust port were in the plans. I was getting pretty excited about picking up some extra power. I even spent hours grinding out those stupid exhaust diffusers.

All in all though it was looking pretty pricey, meaning it would take awhile to save up enough disposable cash to spend on it. Not to mention trying to find that front iron.

I contacted someone parting a few Rx7s near me, and he had none. He also quoted me $1000 for a S4 NA engine (unknown year and mileage) out of a 10AE car (you're reading that right)… The price was “fair” in that he could probably make that by parting it and selling the parts, but I wasn’t about to spend that much on a mystery engine.

But then I lucked out; I saw a post on Kijiji (Canadian Craigslist) for an S4 NA transmission, 80k km. Then another post from the same seller with an NA diff, axles, and driveshaft… Everything someone would sell if they were doing a TII swap…

So I messaged the seller on the off chance that he had the engine, and wouldn’t you know it, he did! I offered him $400 for the short block (a price I could stomach if it turned out to be blown inside), but he said he wanted to keep the engine because he could keep all of the accessories on it and keep things organized rather than boxing things up. So I offered him $500 and a Rubber-maid bin, and he accepted








Came with an Exedy stock replacement clutch that was almost new, decided to use it rather than my current one. I have a similar replacement on my Celica and I really like it. Not like I’ll be breaking the clutch with a stock S4 engine anyways.



Marks on the engine… The person I brought it from was under the impression it was original, but there are marks on the rotor housings and a similar mark on the oil pressure regulator. Maybe a rebuild?

I had the next day off, so I wheeled it outside just to wash it. Then I thought “Well, I should put it on the hoist”. Then I thought “Well, maybe I’ll at least connect it to the transmission”. And long story short, about 8 hours later the engine was installed. Shoutout to my brother for hitting it with a mallet and plank to seat it in the transmission while I manhandled it to try and get it aligned.



Also repainted and resealed the oil pan and pickup, since it integrates into the engine mounts and the pan was leaky.



I ended up polishing (only to 80 grit) the lower intake. I originally just wanted to remove that bump that the stud for the ACV makes, but I saw lots of casting marks and ended up just polishing the whole thing. I forgot to take an after picture of all the runners unfortunately, but there’s one here. I didn’t port match the manifolds because I understand that the lips are sometimes left deliberately to prevent reversion.



Also installed the water pump and housing. I used sealant instead of a gasket, not realizing the clearance was so tight that this causes the impeller of the pump to interfere with the pump housing… Now there is a lot of aluminum dust in my coolant, and I can’t use this housing with a gasket in the future or there is too much clearance. I have a few spares luckily, but this one works fine for now.



Got an aftermarket coolant reservoir that actually fits properly. I only needed to add one hole for a rivnut, and used a stock hole for the other bolt. It’s snug, but I like it better here than the stock location which is now occupied by breakers.



All of the intakes (and alternator) are painted with VHT Wrinkle-Black, and I polished the fins on the dynamic chamber with 2000 grit sandpaper before repainting the letters. All new gaskets, o-rings, fpd delete kit, and OEM OMP lines from Atkins. New injection lines for good measure.

And well, it runs! Poorly.

The first problem was a misfire and lumpy idle. I realized the alternator was the culprit: When it was charging the car ran great, when not charging these symptoms appeared. Maybe the coils really need the full 14V to spark hot enough to run properly. I had rebuilt the alternator myself, but an error I made may have damaged the rectifier, so I left it with a local alternator shop I trust for repair. I’ve spent enough time on that alternator that I just want an expert to fix it at this point.

Second problem was a large quantity of acrid blue smoke. I was worried about the oil control o-rings, but when I created a thread people advised trying it without the oil cap on and that fixed the issue. I was temporarily venting the crankcase into a pop can, and I guess there was too much restriction. Installed a catch-can.



I don’t really like the location, but it’s fine for testing purposes.

One other weird thing is that my old CAS would always stab in such a way that I needed to turn it all the way to the right to get it timed. So I tried a different CAS (the original from my car) and it needs to be turned all the way to the left to get it timed… I’m assuming I’m at fault here, but I’m stumped. I’ll try it again once I get the alternator back from the shop.

I also need to replace the strut mounts and spring perches before getting an alignment. They were passable a few years ago when I did the suspension, but now they are definitely showing dry-rot. The cost of replacing them all with OEM is putting me not too far from the cost of the Ground Control coilover conversion kit, assuming I can resell the Tanabe springs for something near what I paid for them. Not sure what I’m doing there yet, but they are safe for a test drive at least.

Lastly, the famous 4000rpm hesitation. Going to add a ground and see if it helps, in which case I need to inspect my stock grounds again.

And that brings us to today. I can’t do anything further until the alternator is back, but once I install seat-belts the car is technically road-worthy. There is still a lot ahead, but at least I’ll (tentatively) be able to drive my car. Updates to come soon