Tornado Silver Time - Now with 100% more REPU and 20b
 

Picked up the car march 26, 2010
Photos from the PO

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...ef4094417e.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...3a8406d16e.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...62f77b9152.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...4b27268a05.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...fecd36532b.jpg


My plans are pretty basic for this. It's my first car

Background:

I picked it up in WV for 1200$ after the P/O gave up on trying to fix it. The car had been in a small front end collision and only had 77k on it! PO Spent $3000 on a rebuild and couldn't figure out why it would randomly die. Drove 7 hours down to look at the car. Doesn't die as he explained. We exchange title/money and I drive away. We go two miles down the road - stop to get 2 cycle oil for safety reasons and come back out and it wouldn't start.

Stopping for 2 cycle

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...c609692c26.jpg


So we drive 4 hours back to where we stayed for the night, and head back down the next day. Car fires right up... and we top off at a gas station and head back up north. We make it back to the family we stayed with no problem. Car doesn't stall or anything. I was quite proud making it back driving stick for the first time without stalling. I let it idle outside so we can run inside for our bags to head home. As I walk out to the car, it dies...and now it wont start again. We let it sit for 3 hours and pray it will start up - and it does! We head out again and 30 minutes down the road something comes off from under the car. I heard a banging sound right under me thinking somethings gonna take my legs off. We pull over and i look under and see a loose cable. we're in the middle of bumblef*** WV so I tell my girlfriend to rev the car while i use string to tie thing thing up from hitting the ground. Then it dies again.... Turns out the car had low compression and thats why it wouldnt restart.

It was now 8 at night, we had another 3 hours to get home with classes the next day and a dead car half an hour away from family. We had a tow truck take it back to the grandparents and we headed home to come back down next weekend - with a trailer.

When we came back it started up and we pop it up on the trailer and head home. Now it's time to get it off the trailer. Try to start it up - nothing. Turns over but wont start. We roll it off and up into the driveway and try the basics - de-flood, add oil to the housings , check spark plugs....still nothing. How did this car drive 4 hours straight and now it wont even start up?! Then we checked the basics. Spar-OUCH yes we have spark. No air blockages..FUEL! We pop a fuel line and crank. Nothing. We pop open the back, pull out the fuel pump and try it connected to the battery. still nothing. Slap in a new pump and it fired right up. Ever since then it has never given me problems minus needing to use a fuel cut off switch.

Finally home!

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...bd210fc80a.jpg


After a wash and wax

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...faa6f87bd4.jpg


This morning after a little snow, yes it saw quite a few snow storms and trips to the mountain.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...f58be6c98d.jpg



My Plans:

This is my only car so its my daily and I cant afford more than a weekend of downtime so there wont be any complete tear downs or engine swaps..On the other hand, I will be doing my best to keep it clean - stock - and upgrade with what I can afford and see as a fun project. These are my goals

RTEK 2.1 ECU upgrade
Tokico Illuminas/KYB AGX + lowering springs
Complete my 3 gauge din cluster setup (water temp - oil press - future boost gauge?)
Nice set of 16x8 rims
Do something about the underbody for winter driving
Sound deaden the rear(loud resonance)


Since I've owned it I've done:
Fuel pump!
Complete new exhaust - RB header - bonez high flow cat - RB catback
NEW working radio + new speakers all around.
New air filter setup
Aftermarket water temp gauge
Put way too many miles on it...:(

Shortly after, I found another solid deal for about the same price.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...1c975cd249.jpg

jan 30th, 2010 - aquarium in the trunk!
 

Yesterday I figured out why my car was collecting an aquarium in the rear. The P/O never put the drain lines in the drain holes. Upon inspection...

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...6a3f0cd0a0.jpg


Car had seen water all the way up to here

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...4512578526.jpg

March 26, 2011 - Making the sloppy cougar a little less sloppy
 

So yesterday I got my new stock bumper put on. Found a local giving away a bumper and got it painted for cheap when my car got hit so the paint was already mixed.

Here is the old bumper....

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...67c493288e.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...f51da3edf2.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...70400ba715.jpg



got the bumper off...5 out of the 6 studs were rusted. had to weld some new ones on. glad i didnt try this at home

March 31st, 2011 - The frost king
 

Last night I added some Frost King Insulation (cheap noise reduction and insulation from Home Depot)

I covered the back trunk area along with the vertical spare tire space. I got rid of the annoying exhaust drone considerably but I need to cover more. Also plan on getting some dynamat like material to cover vertical locations since they seem to be the most susceptible to making vibrations.

My speakers dont have to be turned up nearly as much and once summer comes around we will see how well it is insulated. Last summer it would get up to around 110 in the car when I walked out to it at lunch time (with the sun roof open BTW). Hopefully this will bring temps down a bit and not work the A/C so hard. Maybe I'll tint the rear hatch to bring temps down also.

April 1st , 11:07 pm
 

So...april first. engine blew up at 11 PM.

the story in the next post.

April 1st , April fools! i wish this was a joke...
 

Driving to West Virginia from Delaware for my girlfriend's grandfathers 80th birthday party. Her 626 has had a CEL for a little while and figured it would be best to take my car(lol...) I had about 200 miles left before my normal oil change so I ran home and changed my oil before we left.

I go to pick up my girlfriend and we get about half way through the trip and my car started to sound a little funny. The exhaust didnt sound as crisp. Not sure how to describe it but it was definitely different.

A little later my ankle started to hurt so I ask my GF to drive. We pull over and she hops in the seat, wait for traffic to clear and she starts going. smooth in first....smooth into second...get into third and the car started shaking like crazy. We pull over and she puts it into neutral and it wouldnt hold an idle.
"oh **** wtf do we do...half way there, and half way home"
I call up my rotary mechanic and he confirms it popped a seal, said it was drivable and I cant do anymore damage than whats already been done.

Due to having it floored more often it ate through gas a little faster, and made some wicked back fires due to all the unburned fuel from the blown rotor going right into the exhaust. So we get to our destination. Call everyone we talked to - let em know we made it, try to find people to pick me up. No one was really available or wanted to so I figured I was going to have to try and make it back. At this point I figured if it broke on the way back, I would be closer to home than if someone picked it up from where we were at. Fast forward 4 1/2 hours and we made it home. Pulled in the drive way and shut it off. The motor had one final voyage it will make and that will be a 20 minute drive south to the shop where it will be rebuilt.

April 8th and 9th, Heart Surgery!
 

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...4df2d2e58f.jpg

The first of many times I will see this bay empty...

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...6c199c5b89.jpg






https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...ebdf763227.jpg






https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...5ad5830351.jpg

lucky enough it never gouged the face, but it did chatter quite a bit.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...fcd65740d6.jpg

April 23rd, o2 sensor and amp/sub
 

No pictures, but I got a cheapy o2 sensor. My diagnostic LED I added showed that my O2 sensor was causing my car to act funny when it was warming up. Went out and bought a replacement 20$ sensor and the code went away

Oh, and Happy Easter!

April 26th, presilencer > gutted cat
 

So today I ventured and put my racing beat presilencer on. I got everything buttoned up and turned it on and it was still ridiculously loud :mad:

Well it turns out I forgot to tighten up the part after the Y pipe going to the exhaust muffler. Wow, it was so quiet now... I couldnt believe it.

May 6th, New rims and rubbers!
 

waiting on 5 lug. spent 2 1/2 hours going up to a junkyard for 5 lug hubs and my gps took me to the wrong one, by the time i found the other one they denied me entrance because it was so late in the day.. i'll have to head back up soon to grab the hubs so i can put these new wheels on

also ordered KYB AGX's, just waiting to order some eibach progressive springs

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...e4a415bb7c.jpg

May 10th, 2011 - 5 lug swap commence
 

Well after finding those nice rims I had to go get a 5 lug swap

I called a few days prior and the guy had told me 60$ a hub, so I was kind of afraid I was going to be spending all of my cash... but when I went to finish and pay he goes OK, 20$ a hub and 15$ a caliper, 70$ please. Oh! and since they were taking pictures of people in the yard, I got a 5$ discount for allowing them to do that too.

So...I got all of this for $65 :bigeek::bigeek::bigeek::bigeek:

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...6d493085c4.jpg



Now, I'm waiting to get a set of rears. I didnt have the right tools to get the shaft out of the hub for the rears, and whoever tried to remove the brake calipers before me snapped the bolts into the hubs so they were basically trashed :( Once I get some springs and rear hubs my car will be going under one hefty transformation!


oh, and my other package came in too.... :wink:

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...7415d78bfc.jpg

May 18th, Shocks and springs
 

I got tired of waiting so I decided to swap my shocks and springs. My old shocks were toast. The rears were horrible and the fronts seemed smooth but with no rebound and very little pressure compared to the new units.
The new units are KYB AGX shocks and Eibach pro-kit progressive style springs. The ride is very comfortable and the car feels so much better around bumps and through the turns. I am excited to get my bushings done to really bring out the potential of this car.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...8e50737003.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...7ce105b098.jpg

August 8th, 2011
 

A few weeks before this, my daughter was born.

Engine has about 4k miles on it.

Has s5 LIM due to s5 midplate. The 5th and 6th port actuators are only opening up about half way since its electrically activated with some vacuum pump thing....its silly and I need to fix it. I wasnt allowed to take the actuators off while it was on the dyno to see what it would do with them open :(

I plan on getting the rtek 2.1 for this in the future to see if I can get close to 200. that would make me happy.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...659d8fdf63.jpg

February 12th, 2012
 

It's been a long time since I've updated this last but there is good news!

Turbo parts are coming in. Picked up a bunch of parts for $250. The turbo has minimal shaft play - but I want to rebuild it since I already have it out. I still need a bunch of parts and hope I can get them all with my tax return.

Parts I have:
Turbo +oil/water lines
Exhaust Manifold
BOX
Intake Manifolds
TB
Intercooler
Fuel Rails

Parts I need:
Downpipe
TB cable
Bigger fuel pump
Turbo AFM
Turbo Pressure sensor
Misc gaskets
Turbo rebuild kit + balance
RTEK ECU
wideband
boost gauge

Overall I'll be spending about 1500$ in total. 500 of that is for the ECU to modify fuel and timing.

February 17th, 2012
 

I've been looking into it...I've changed my mind and I plan on building a Megasquirt in the very near future. In the end I save some money since I dont have to search for an AFM, pressure sensor etc - PLUS I get many more features out of it! I'm a little worried about rewiring the car since this is my first car and I've never done more than slap on replacement parts. Fingers crossed.

March 2nd, 2012 - megasquirtin'
 

Last week I ordered my Megasquirt II and set off on building it. It took roughly 10 hours to finish, mostly because I went slow to make sure I did not mess up. I did put one diode in backwards - but caught my mistake before burning it out. I was relieved to fire up the Megastim along the way and find out that everything was working according to plan.

March 29th, 2012
 

And that takes us to the present date. I have acquired 85% of my Turbo swap items. I'll be picking up a down pipe this weekend and getting my turbo rebuilt soon also.

Update time!

Picked up a T2 hood, the guy i bought it from claimed all RX7s came with fiberglass hoods, no steel or aluminum...

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...56939bc89b.jpg



The hood was pretty chipped up so I decided to plastidip it until I get it paint matched.

I got a box from racing beat a few weeks ago

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...d87754a9d0.jpg



I am now making sure I have all the little things before I take it down to a friends shop and start the overhaul.
I have the turbo rebuilt and hybridized(custom milled housing with 60-1 wheel, t3 hot side)
intake manifolds,(s4 t2)
downpipe(racingbeat)
ecu and wiring harness(megasquirt)
wideband(innovate)
boost controller(controlled by megasquirt)
boost gauge(prosport)
relays,fuses,fuseblock,misc wire

I know i need some weatherpack connectors, some hose clamps for the intake piping, a filer and pipe for the turbo inlet, and a few other tiny things.

Love your car, Ive also got a k8 gxl just like it. good to see a fellow member with the same ride! :nod:

Lookin good!

How are you planning to handle the intake manifold situation? I ask because I saw the metal S5 LIM gasket in that box from Racing Beat...

Also, what are the details on the engine itself?

Thanks guys!

M Pizle, this is the base model, not GXL :) I agree it is nice to see another K8 out there! I am hoping to get some of those sweet Mazdaspeed sport seats. Like these: http://rupewrecht.com/forsale/fs_ms_seat_redsports3.jpg

Sharingan, This is a S4 rotating assembly with an S5 center plate due to having one on hand when it blew last summer. Current engine has a little under 8k miles on it. The engine builder didn't realize this until putting the LIM on and saw that the gaskets werent lining up. I currently have an S5 LIM with an S4 UIM on the rebuilt engine. Aaron Cake recommended the metal gasket over the paper filter which is the other reason why i went this route.

A box from racing beat is always a good thing :)
Maybe I missed it, but what are you doing for rails if you are going to use those physically tiny subaru injectors?

beefhole The subaru injectors fit the stock fuel rails. They will be my primaries with 1000cc secondaries.

I'm curious of what o rings I need since the other side doesnt have any (or a pintle cap) Can anyone give me info??

Here is a picture of all my accumulated parts minus the boost controller. It was in a different box when the picture was taken. Am I missing anything? For obvious reasons the turbo, intake and exhaust manifold, intercooler and blow off valve are not pictured. Is there a difference in the NA and T2 throttle body?

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...29674952_n.jpg

You sure they fit? Look how much shorter they are in the pic!

Well...if they dont I can sell em and get another 2 ID injectors. I got the subaru injectors for cheap. I should be able to sell em easily. (I hope!)

ah close enough haha, so yours doesnt have leather seats then?

Nope they are the cloth seats with vinyl backing. I would be happy with Turbo 2 seats in red but they are hard to come by.

I must have really gotten lucky on finding mine in such good shape then. I wish I knew more about the engine stuff though cause its slow... haha

love the build man.

mmmmmmm.. tornado silver :)

i can't wait to get mine back on the streets

-sean

I like your style!

Tuner Studio is much better than using MegaTune. I got forced to go with TS after flashing from 2.1.0 to 3.1.1. If you end up using a USB to serial adapter, I can find you the proper driver you'll need. If you use the driver that comes with the cable, you'll end up blue-screening your laptop within about 3 minutes of tuning.

Thanks guys!

AGreen I'm going to stick with using the serial cable. I thought about buying the usb mod kit but I have no need for USB since i bought the serial adapter. I just see it as one more thing to go wrong. Do you have any rotary tuning guides I can look into? I've tried tuning info but haven't found much. (as in a guide for what to do in what order)

That's what I was talking about, the USB-serial adapter cable (or adapter plug, if you used the one from DIYautotune). You need a certain driver for it, otherwise your tuning laptop will freak out and blue screen your ass.

As far as rotary tuning guides, I used a compilation of Aaron Cake's writeup, coupled with the one from DIYautotune's website. I can post you an msq file, but don't expect it to be plug and chug. Everyone's car is different. For instance, I use 550 primaries and 720 secondaries on the stock turbo with stock ports. It's wired up as shown here . I used the writeup on DIYautotune to build it up, so I'm using the same Zeal Daughterboard you are. If yours is a MS2 v3, then my tune should work pretty well, but maybe run a little rich if you ever get those Subaru injectors to work.

Yeah the if you could send the MSQ that would be great! I do have the ms2 v3.

If I post a few pictures could you verify I have the zeal board wired in properly? for some reason I feel it isnt in 100%.

Uh... the construction phase of mine was done so long ago that I really couldn't tell you a yes or no. If you have specific questions I could possibly help, but I don't think I could just take a look at it and know :)

I'll get you the .msq. I'd have to go out to the car to get the laptop, and I'm too lazy to get it right now :lol: If I do forget in the next couple days, then just pm me.

Got bored of being lazy :lol:

If you are installing a port matched TII LIM to the 6 port block, I actually recommend the earlier paper gaskets. They will seal better against the TII LIM.

Damn!well i need to get the LIM to UIM gasket anyways.

Thanks AGreen, I'll compare it to the settings I have currently!

[QUOTE=driftxsequence;11110024]Thanks guys!

M Pizle, this is the base model, not GXL :) I agree it is nice to see another K8 out there! I am hoping to get some of those sweet Mazdaspeed sport seats. Like these: http://rupewrecht.com/forsale/fs_ms_seat_redsports3.jpg

:icon_tup: i got mine in black diffrent style but it was worth the 2 months wait lol comes from AUS sea ship really good seller he always keeps u updated :nod:
Nice Color Choice BTW hope it stays S4 TSM :D

Had a good weekend! Stopped by a guys house in jersey right down the road from JPR Imports and picked up a set of S4 T2 rims for $20!

Right before that I took a trip up to northern philly and met up with Arkadyzv and picked up a clutch slave,master and a strut bar for $100.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...13ea777fbf.jpg




So now....what can I do to refinish these wheels? They dont have to be perfect. I am planning on making them track wheels for when I go to NJMP. I have a friend who can sandblast them, and then I'd want to polish em and clear coat them so they are pretty again. I did a bit of searching but couldnt find much on here. anyone have any tips?

Also! I was looking in "race car tech" and had a bit of trouble finding if anyone has used these as track rims. I know FD wheels are an inch wider and can accommodate more rubber...but I paid 20$ for these rims, so I'm gonna make due. That being said, what are some good race tires? TireRack showed me 6 options for race only tires, and NTB showed nothing. I'm not sure where else I could look for tires.

Sand blasting is a good start , although if your goal is to polish them you might consider a chemical stripping agent like aircraft stripper.

Since you want to be cheap, look into some advan ao32's you can find them used/shaved pretty easily and in the right sizes. I got a set of 245/45/16's for $50 and they are narrow for there listed size so they would fit on the stock wheels.

I thought I read 225 was the widest for the T2 rims? Stock is 205/55/16.

Small world dude, I just bought an S4 turbo block from the guy you got the wheels from. I've got the megasquirt wired, but I didn't get the zeal board to finish 'er off yet. We should meet up sometime, I haven't been able to make it out to the 95 meets lately.

Where do u get this gasket? Mazdatrix only offers the Metal one. The 86 6ptT I made originally had a paper gasket was never abled to find another it was replaced by the metal which like u said does not seal well. are you talking about the gslse lim gasket it's paper does it fit? What's the part # to this paper gasket?

I cant see how those injectors fit, did you try them yet?

rob x x 7I have not tried them yet. I might just skip em and get some 1600 cc secondaries and use the ID 1000s as primaries.

m33p0n3 do you have the gold s5? where in DE are you? I am north of wilmington, right by concord high school.

I just spoke with my mechanic buddy whos gonna help weld some oil and water lines and he will be able to help me out some time next week. Once that is done I plan on wiring up the megasquirt and driving it up to JPR for a solid tune. I figured thats a better choice than risking blowing it by trying to tune myself.

You're planning on using 1000 primaries and 1600 secondaries on a stock turbo on a stock block? That's a lot of fuel. You will probably flood the hell out of it with the .msq file I sent you :lol:

It's actually a silver s5, just really dirty so it looks gold. I just moved, so i'm down in fair hill now. Still trying to scrounge funds for the build, but it's coming along.

AGreenIt's a streetported block, with a 60-1 hybrid turbo. I know it may be overkill, but it's better than not having enough :) I am going to look at the 820cc injectors and see if they will fit or not today. I'll take some pictures.

m33p0n3 Do you have the crashed in rear passenger side? Not sure if we have talked already or not. :) PM me your cell number!

So last night I went to see how this would go....

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...13522888_n.jpg

They dont fit! :( Then I grabbed my ID injectors and saw that they were the same height...but included spacers to mount up to the stock location.

I'm wondering if I can do something like that with the 820s. If not I'll have to find different ones.

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...79134068_n.jpg

AGreen what size injectors are you running?? also! I noticed a few differences, can you explain the difference to me? I set mine up according to the aaron cake megasquirt page.

You selected two injectors instead of 4. How are they wired and why?

Your ignition input capture is rising edge, i had selected falling edge.

trigger wheel settings: every rotation of crank, mine is set to cam. i assume i missed this one.

the maps are fairly close. I'll try the stock current one that I have. if that fails I'll try yours for sure. I'm so excited to get this thing together!