I enjoyed your thread this morning!

A few thoughts:
On cooling- How sealed is the radiator and is your "duct" in front he front bumper creating turbulence? You mentioned missing the stock core support- which probably means you don't have the duct panels which channel air to your radiator/IC. I would recommend making a new inlet duct that is flat on the bottom and tapers up from the bumper opening to the top of the radiator/IC. You want the inlet to be about 1/3 of the height of the core and to taper open to prevent turbulence in the air flow.
On electronics- You've got an RE in there- can you just get a Power FC and run FC-tweak with the expansion module? It's reasonably priced and there are new features that are about to be rolled out that are similar to more modern ECU functions. That will allow you to strip aftermarket gauges and just have one additional screen outside of the water pump controller.

 

As you can see, not too good. There is about 8" between the ic and the radiator. The top half is well ducted... or was. Eventually I'll get to redoing it all. Just trying to get it work better before getting to it.
Having a lip finished will let me know where the front will sit so I can begin figuring out where underbody will lay. From there I should be able to figure out where and what I can fit in the front. For example, the upcomming Vibrant twin side-mount oil coolers.

Stand-alone ecu is in the works. Not sure Power FC. I'm not a fan of the lack of fail-safes it offers. The Neo piggyback is getting me by. I definitely see something closer to Haltech Elite or MoTec 880x. I'm way behind on options for this platform as the last 6 cars have all been ecutek onto a stock ecu... spoiled me.

With that transition. Glass work on the front lip is done and bodywork can begin.




Also progress on the spoiler's risers.


Closer!

 

the Power FC has the protections the stock sensors give you, it can't do fuel pressure, there is no sensor, for example
soon its about to have what ever you like, you'll be able to add the sensor.

just fyi

 

@j8fd3s where are you finding information regarding future support for the Power FC? Apexi's site doesn't really have much, or is this a 3rd party thing? Most of the forum seems pretty out of date in that subsection. I've got time to research, if you would point the general direction.

Today has been a hit/miss. Feeling a bit better, still exhausted though. More bad parts came in, a rough set of OEM aero mud guards... or what was listed as "oem," and a bad set leaking of AC-lines (high side @ the 90.)

Not all was lost, I managed to finally fix the pesky ground wire on the interior for good instead of my temp fix. Sadly, the next error in line seems to be the afr/wideband's sensor gone bad (innovate code E8.) Sensor is backordered.

I took a break and wanted to rip on the car, that had now sat idle for a few weeks. This was a chance to check out the louvers, and my first time with the new wheel and shifter combo, which were a treat to have in the car! I do need to figure out if I put my wheel on cooked or the car is needs re-aligned, I'm pulling to the left. I also may need to introduce a spacer into the wheel as 380mm is a bit cramped to my 6'4 legs. It is do able but, another 3/4" would be very welcome. This is about all the good I have to say about the drive.
My drive was a brisk 5minutes in town cruising, 4 minutes highway, and another 10minutes getting back home in 91F weather. The car was screaming at me and struggling to get below 241F even moving! Guess, I know what I need to do, so much for quick fixes.
I also had the oil pressure gauges temp light flashing at me but, I don't actually know what it is set at and assume it had been reset to it's default settings by the battery kill switch, which is probably lower than the rotary's warmed up normal... and the driveway revealed an oil leak. Guess we'll just re-do everything... after paint.

Here is where everything sat, pulled into the driveway just as the low coolant(?) buzzer let out a ring.





I then turned my attention to the last few MIA trim pieces, mainly the A-pillar. I managed to get a beautiful conditioned grey trim piece from Riggs Rotary in Canada. I still need to locate some clips, so a trip to the local Mazda dealership is in order this Saturday.

For the trim piece I used the following process to change it to black. I was a bit worried about getting the black right, luckily the black I've used for an older Subaru fit the bill perfectly! First the part was washed with heavy duty Purple Power degreaser, water, and VERY lightly scrubbed with a gray 3M Scotchbrite pad. The goal was to clean the part and get any gunk in the leather looking texture broken free. I did NOT want to put a scratch into the plastic as it would make it very hard to hide. After cleaning and drying with compressed air a wip down with Wax and Grease Remover was done followed by a 90% isopropyl alcohol just before spraying. The first coats were 2-3 light coats of SEM's (39863) Plastic Adhesion Promoter with 3min flash times. Then on the last coat (before 10 minutes) I painted the part using Hi-Tech's Black Automotive Interior Dye, 2 medium wet coats with 5min between coats. The part will sit for 2 days in my scorching hot garage to fully dry before I handle it, even if it was dry within 30 minutes.

The High-Tech Industries automotive paint/dye was something I bought off an Auto-Magic detailing truck (think Snap-On tool truck but, automotive cleaning supplies.) The color was recommended to touch up a few scuffed bits on my first Subaru BRZ track car. The color was loosely matched to the OEM seats (HT-470 BLACK) by the driver on the truck. This color ended up also, to my surprise, matching the 10th AE black interior damn near perfectly! The sheen is slightly off (being faded plastic vs fresh paint) but, I have no doubt it will look beautiful in the car. I need to pull the Autometer dual gauge pod and spray it too as it is just a generic black that is darker than the rest of the interior.







Also got the RE Amemiya hood trim in, stripped it down to the fiberglass/gelcoat by using bumper-safe aircraft stripper gel and took a few minutes rattle can prime it. I need to clean up the backside, fix 2 chips, fix 1 crack on the 2nd vent, a fe gouges where I had to physically scrape off the paint. I haven't bothered fitting it and I have heard most people were pretty disappointed in the quality of the part. I've seen it look good (Silver88FC's car for example which sold me on it,) so I have faith.

Guess this marks the completion of sourcing aero for the car! Check one off! ... or... do I need some Pan Speed mirrors still?




Till Next Time.

 

Not much progress this weekend but, a shot-sighted plan formed.

A-pillar was officially married to the pillar pod! Looks pretty good, Trying to source some new metal clips (Mazda OEM GJ1268865) to hold it on. The trip to the local Northtowne Mazda dealer was a bust, parts/service department no longer open on the weekends. In my search online I came across this post, using Ford door panel clips to hold it together. Another added advantage being the plastic clips are weaker than the metal ones so you a less likely to break the trim pieces taking them back apart in the future! I know I have some of these somewhere in the garage so back to it!



Anyways, got it in the car minus a few things... it doesn't really fit well. There is simply too much wiring crammed behind where the bottom clips are, preventing it from clipping into place. For now it will do, realistically I need to go through and extend all the harnesses so the pigtails/connectors are all a couple feet away from the connections, even so I don't know if I can fit it all. Each gauge has an "IN", "OUT" connectors. The AFR gauge basically has an HDMI cable and the Dual Oil Pressure/Temp has a wire for each senor. Each sensor wire is roughly the size of a battery cable/10ga... so yeah, very tight. It's in and not going anywhere, when it gets away from 99F outside, I'll hop under the dash and get it all plugged back in and soldered. [sigh]




While there I also took the time to figure out what I needed to get the AFR working again, A new Bosche 4.9 sensor and a heatsink part. It turns out the AFR sensor is only rated for use in a <1700F temperature range. Anything above it, say a boosted rotary (cough cough) need to be pulled out of the exhaust stream to prevent it from over heating. Luckily Innovate sell a pricey part for this that does so all while ensuring that it still gets enough air flow to work properly. So an Innovate HBX-1 High Heat, Heat-Sink bung extender was also ordered. While shopping around I did find that Innovate offers a combo boost and AFR gauge, if what I have is fixed I may order it so I can get rid of the boost gauge in the center console, which is the last one in the way of fitting a nice double-din head unit/screen. This means audio, and a shift boot surround are the only things left to make a 'complete' interior! WOOT, WOOT!


Did a few little things as I needed a pick-me-up before the wallet bleeds. Got a RX-7 emblem on the back. It's temporary, still nice looking a bit more complete.


Also test fitted the RE Amemiya hood vent. I was going to quickly hop in the car and see if it helped underhood temps but, we have hit 100F+ today so it wouldn't be a fair comparison with yesterday. I got it in but, had to fix front 2 mounting points (center and left side) which were damaged by the previous owner. Look past the shitty rattle can primer or my big old "should've waited for the paint to dry" finger prints... I'm going to need to make a tab in the recenter to prevent the scoop from arching up in the rear. It also appears that plenty of the hood can be cut to allow more venting if we ever get there.





Alright the next bit is just a reference and place holder for me (and you.) I'm committed to start ordering bits for the cooling stack next. First up some dimensions of the radiator already in the car, it is very beefy and customized, I however do not know the brand or if it is single/dual pass. One plus is there are already a ton of brackets welded to it, making future work more inviting. I'm not sure if I should keep it, or just replace. I do remember reading that a 26" was possible with the plastics/battery tray removed (which is already done.) I plan on making my own shroud and duct, and keep the AN fittings. Right now I think the main thing it boils down to is what the biggest dual fans I can cram in will be.

Current Radiator, unknown dual pass, 2 core.
(Height x Width x Depth)
Total: 20" x 23" x 2.5"
Core: 20" x 19.5" x 2.5"





My current goal is get together and start getting in the parts. I think I want to avoid V-Mount and keep with a traditional stack. Having access to the engine is very much preferred right now.

Right now here is what is on my list:

-
-Vibrant side mount dual oil coolers (replacing the OEM one currently between the rad and intercooler, in front of the pusher fans.) Each will be ducted to the side bumper openings. This gets it it's own air and removed from the center stack. I don't think they will need fans. but are optioned for them.

- Radiator Max core size is 23x18 that will fit between the frame rail openings. Currently looking at the JEGS 26" dual pass. I'm mainly considering going larger as I want to fit dual 12" fans. I cannot really find anything with a larger core without stepping up to 28". Will likely keep the -16 AN lines. I really like the simplicity of not dealing with hose clamps. I'm not 100% sure if ditching the current radiator is needed but, am weighing my options.

- Fans Pull Type to a 1/16" thick aluminum shroud. mounted and sealed behind the radiator. Targeting 2800CFM+. Probably something like a dual Spal High Performance 12" Which is 1687CFM each (3374 dual.) #30102025.

-OEM S4 AC Condenser, need to find one to mock up the cooling stack, will sit directly in front of the radiator.

-Water Pump unknown. Part of me want to keep it electric, another part just wants to go back to the simplicity of a mechanical pump and thermostat. Either way it can be done after the cooling stack and ducting is made and working.

- New metal coolant overflow tank/reservoir that isn't zip-tied to the intercooler piping.

 

its a 3rd party thing, you might start here https://www.rx7club.com/power-fc-for...rface-1165446/
this little box basically makes the PFC like the JDM tuners would have had it in 2001.

 

If the car is getting that hot you’ve got a serious issue with coolant flow or tuning.

one thing you haven’t brought up is oil cooling- what is in place for it?

 

Keep in mind the top duct is blocked off by the oem bumper. Original owner had a huge cutout ramming air into the radiator, completely bypassing the Fans, Intercooler and Oilcooler. This might have been why the setup was deemed okay.

The car has a stock S4 oilcooler free-floating between the intercooler and the electric push fans. TBH in the past I've never maxed out the stock intercooler on my other 7's. It was always more than adequate 98% of the time. I do know that oil cooling is equally important as the water. I plan to still address it for peace of mind. I want to make sure whatever I do with oil isn't masking any issues on the water side.

Doing more research I find that the fans in the car are 10" Pro-Air P/N 30208 CP81310... push and pull type (setup as push.) They are rated for only 650CFM each! They sit about 1" in front of the radiator, probably blocking more airflow when not running.
I'm still not sure on the -16 AN fitting for the Radiator hose. It was chosen as that is the size fitting the Black Mamba Racing front cover/blockoff plate and Davies Craig water pump use. All rads that I'm finding usually only have a -16AN inlet, the outlet is still a bit old 1.5" rad hose. Lastly if you looks at the pics, you'll notice a little loop around box behind the radiator (between it and the engine.) This little aluminum box is basically a way to mount all the EWP's sensors. I wonder it having it remotely off the radiator is also causing a false reading as the aluminum 'box' isn't cooling down. Kind of odd the end tanks of the rad weren't just drilled and tapped for temp sensors.

 

A little progress, a near miss, and a bunch of research this week as I dive into the cooling.

Decided on a few things. Going DIY with the cooling. I just cannot find anything that suits me. The good news I am going to make the radiator work. I can find a few 26" rads but, nothing with a bigger core than what I have. I really wanted bigger as I did not think I could get the CFM I wanted from a fan smaller than 12". Common sense would be to just go with a Ford Taurus fan but, I do want to keep the EWP and it takes up too much space. So with that said it was time to mock up a shroud. I'll hand this off to my metal guy and let him water jet and bend it on his brake. It will be made from .040 Aluminum. The good news- well I managed to find a configuration that lets me work with my current radiator and go with dial 12" fans. For fan's I've got it down to either Delta PAG Brushless fans OR Perma-Cools's 19112 High Performance monster. Both ridiculously powerful while still allowing excellent pass through. Delta is currently the one's I'm leaning towards though I'm not to certain about adding another stand-alone controller to the mix for complexity's sake.

Here is my mock-up on the shroud. with 12.10" placeholders. I still have to do a bit of fancy trimming to go around the inlet/outlet but, the non-symmetrical fan placement is perfect for the dual pass and should give me enough room on the bottom driver side to create a bracket for the water pump to mount to. I need to read on idea placement of the water senors. I'm tempted to just mount them to the radiator end-tanks and ditch the whole remote coolant block. The cardboard template is currently configured at a 1" depth off the back of the radiator surface. From what I've read this is ideal as long as the seal is good. Not sure if I'll add louvers or flaps in the dead spots of the shroud.




As far as Oil cooling. I'm probably also going to go DIY, on my previous Subaru track car's I had a ton of success with Setrab oil coolers. I really hoped Vibrant would come through but, it seems their FC3S kit in the video is vapor-ware as neither phone or email were able to get a response on ETA/release or preorder. That being said once I get the bumper back off, it won't be hard to just copy it. A series of 2 19 row's ran through an Improved Racing 185F thermostat/bypass should easily tackle the job, If I can get around the pop-ups.

First up the previously mentioned oil leak. Oil Pan? Probably. Will have to clean and recheck later. Also a good look at how much lower the intercooler sits...



First off, I got my new 4.9 LSU Bosch sensor in! Here is is with Innovate's heat-sink. It's a pretty neat machined adapter... not sure if it is $85 neat though. The air goes in, makes a 90* up to the sensor and another 90* out the backside. It puts the sensor about 1.25" out of the way of the exhaust with my existing M18 bung that is welded to the pipe. Innovate recommends a 1" thick spacer/bung for their 4.2 sensor to prevent overheating. The bung welded to the exhaust was maybe 0.25" thick. I don't know if the 4.9 sensor is the same but, figured it might have been the issue, allowing it to overheat.



The sensor coming out was caked. Definitely oil fouled. Not sure how long it was in the car, if it is from a rich tune or bad premix. I do think the senor is a little close to the turbo's. IIRC it should be at minimum 24" downstream from the engine or turbo. Might be a future project.


The hardest part of the install was getting the o2 heat-sink orientated correctly. There is a little dimple on one of the sides of the nut. This mark matches the inlet/intake side and has to be 100% facing the incoming exhaust for the sensor to be able to work correctly. 3-4 tries were needed to get it aligned correctly (when tightened.) I used a piece of tape to better see the mark as the sun had already began to set.


Unfortunately that is when things went sour for the evening. When getting the car off jack stands the wheel on my Roush Racing jack kicked out shuttering the car. I was in the middle of pulling the front right jack stand out from under the car when it cam down... right onto the floor board. Ripped out 2 spot-welds and left a nasty dent... good thing I'm a paint/bodyman by trade. Add it to the list! That was when I decided to call it a night. With that done, all that remains it to calibrate the sensor. Innovate makes that pretty easy, unplug the senor and KOEO until the error code E2 displays. Then key-off, plug the sensor in and retry. Cali(brate) will flash and the process with begin. First Htr will display display and once the preheating cycle is finished you should be good to go. Fingers crossed!

 

your radiator is big enough it should be ok. oil cooler too, although sometimes when you put an IC in front of the oil cooler it doesn't like it.
you should take some hardware store foam, and seal the radiator to the car better. step one is just to make all the air from the grill opening go through the radiator

i'm headed in the same direction with mine, there is a speed (60-65mph) where the cooling system stops working, lol
i'm thinking of doing some testing,

 

Are you going to put hinged slats in the areas that don't have cutouts? It won't be a bad idea as it will be a relief for air to pass through at high speed.

 

Thanks guys!

Your pretty close... except for the foam. Going to go a little bit more hardcore than that. Keep in mind there is no metal in front of the hood latch bracket on my car (other than existing ducting which will be redone.) Hope ot turns out as pretty as this.


This is why I need the "cooling stack" built and installed first. What I can do/duct infront of it will all depend on where, and how the components sit. With the pushers becoming pull fams and an a/c condenser being reintroduced, I feel it is a bit of awaste to try and template out any duct work at this stage. After cooling is redone, if it is still bad, it pretty much has to mean the cooling passages in the block are clogged. Rebuild time!

Yes to the flaps. I odered some universal rubber ones from Be Cool Racing voa Summit Racing to make work. I believe they are 3×2.5" each.

As for progress, not much past spending money. Got the gauge wiring extended and the new sensor installed. Sadly not enough battery to fire up, my jump pack was falting too. Not sure if I have something wrong with the wiring or just the battery being too dead. 10.5v trying to crank, not even a full rotation or huff. It was getting dark so, will figure it out this weekend.





And a pic of last night near miss experience. Jack stand did it's job. -Just wish it didn't happen while removing it.

 

Still figuring out my cooling stack parts and planning. During the wait, we bounce back to other aspects that need work. I got the car running. My dumb ***... I cut the ground wire to reground it in a closer location and forgot to reground the other half of the wire I cut. Anyways, she fired right up and we have a working AFR gauge! With that said it looks like we are idling right around 12.5-13.1 AFR. A bit off from 14.7 but nothing worth stopping everything for. I did a quick run around the block and it isn't running lean so I won't be attributing to the cooling issues to the tune.

Speaking of cooling. I've already began ordering components and doing a deep dive into the FD3S's cooling systems, the aftermarket offerings for it, and why the R&D done on it was so. Hoping to use data from the 'favorite child' platform since there is simply more comparison data available. Heavily studying the Greddy/Trust 3rd gen V-Mount and Pettit Racing's SMIC setups and I feel a lot more confident. The Greddy V-Mount seems to have the perfect angles, and engineering to the duct-work to satisfy the heat forward twin turbo's. The Pettit kit has me looking at not over building and just stuffing the biggest core's possible in the openings. Also really paying attention to providing the turbo's with fresh air intakes themselves as apart of the system so the system isn't working as hard to cool hot air. I feel more confident in the path chosen.


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Anywhooooo--- I jumped back into the aero this week. Goal being to get them both roughed in, primed and mounted to the car and out of the garage. I won't worry about finish work as no point, given the car is a ways out from paint.

Onto the custom S4 lip. Mission almost achieved. Did the final glass work on the backside and just had the cosmetics to tackle on the front side. Nothing a little milkshake and sanding can't fix!



And some good old PPG Omni primer!

Here is where the almost came in, while my work looks good, the primer revealed a hidden crack(s) on the side I missed in the gelcoat. Will have to grind, glass, and repair it before moving on. Happy to see it looking all in one color.



With that out of the way, back to the high-rise spoiler. Where I left off I found the side mounts ended up being about 1/8-1/4" short compared to the centers. So after laying down some wax paper, I began wetting out about 9 sheets of fiberglass. The existing part (with a sanded face) and then brushed with resin and pressed onto the layers I just laid out. Wax paper was put over the topside and weight placed on top so they can cure into one piece.




The parts will then be re-cut out, drilled and checked for height. If it is correct I'll go ahead and bond it permanently to the spoiler and head into the design work and shaping!

 

Not as much progress as I hoped.

Spent a lunch break cutting and grinding the spoiler mounts back out after adding another 1/4" in height to them. The wife even took a few minutes to help me test fit to make sure everything was happy, it was actually a little high which is where I wanted it. I still need to grind off the gelcoat off the spoiler and the sculpted details on the bottom side.






...And was quickly reminded that this replica spoiler sucks. Hind-sight, just modify an ebay wing cause it might have better quality than this thing and way less money. 1 layer of glass in spots... not even a MM thick! Anyways, the I made do and got it mostly level. It was at this point during a test fit the rivet nut inside the spoiler let go. So much for reusing their mounts. I'm not worried as my fiberglass work is study. Without the rivet nuts as an option, I ground on through, knocked them out as they released.




The spoiler was then married to the raisers one last time. Some tappers were used to firmly keep it clamped while the resin cured.



While the resin had time to cure I turned my attention towards a little(r) project, windshield washers! I had previously grabbed a new set of squirters from Mazdatrix and now 3 different bottles because sellers don't know how to unclip the pigtail, instead of cutting the harness. I used some universal 5/16 hose from oreillys and quickly laid out what I'd need. Upon first test, no good. 3 bad pumps, and a bad low fluid sensor on 2 of them. At this point I have the pigtail so I will probably just grab a universal doorman pump/bottle and call it a day. As far as the low fluid sensor, IIRC you can just connect the 2 wires together to shut the buzzer off. Task failed successfully!



Lastly, I went back and tackled the cracks in the front lip I missed. Grind, glass, sand repeat. They were cause by flexing between 2 air voids (the dark spots in the 2nd picture) in the original workmanship @ Corksport. I'll put some more primer on it when the spoiler is ready for it's first round.

 

Got the basic lines and shape of the spoiler knocked out and fitted to the car. Moved the wing back another 1/8" to allow the hatch to open without contact. All is now roughed in, time to buckle down and make it pretty!

Mind the gap

 

Long time no see. I've been slowly toiling away at here with what little time I've had. Life through some curve ***** my way and it knocked my momentum down a peg. But as they say, "Keep on keeping on!"


Tracked down parts to get my rear wiper setup functional again. It took a few used parts to make what you see. A hour-long soak in warm bleach water was done to get the bottle cleaned up and somewhat presentable (should anyone peel back the carpet.) The rear washer system it working but, I am having issues with the rear switch. Seems I'm destined to never have a FC that doesn't require it's switch contacts cleaned somewhere on the vehicle. I also took some time to install new tail light gaskets while the rear was apart. I made an OEM S5 set work as I couldn't find any S4 ones. Just had to stretch/deform the gasket and punch a few holes to get her to fit.


I gave in and sourced a new S4 shift boot and surround. I had to slice and restitch the top to make it a bit smaller as it kept sliding down the Mazdatrix short shifter's shaft. I then wet the leather thread, and pulled and reinserted it backwards (so that the strings were now on the front side of the shaft) tied it and cut the excess. This ended up working out great but, I'm going to be cursing myself next time I need to service it. I 'm really happy with how the drive-ability is now that everything has been replaced. Like new! The only thing I really may still do I find a steering wheel spacer as another 0.5-1.0" of leg clearance would be perfect!



Tracked down a set of mazda (miata) grommets for the firewall to help get everything isolated, and sealed up.


I got the OEM+ aero spoiler finished up and into gelcoat. The whole thing took way longer than I wanted and I am only about 80% satisfied with the product. I ended up having to cut the damn thing open, back filling the inside, add more fiberglass layers, and then filled it with a 2-part foam to give the backbone strength. I dropped off on the progress pics, with the amounted frustration. Upon test-fitting it sometime ago, the captured nuts broke loose making for a fun Friday night extraction.
In the end they were drilled and the 'legs' were made solid. I'll drill and use some lag bolts/screws into the fiberglass to hold it on. Whenever I get back to it. I still need to shave the antenna hole on the body itself too before making everything final.







Finishing up the aero will wait, I'm happy it is all roughed up and in primer. Car doesn't look as janky anymore (from 20ft back! lol) The priority now has shifted to getting the car into the garage as the last few parts are ordered this weekend get the front end fabrication started!

 

Long time no post. I managed to get the car into the garage and ready for the winter projects... sadly life had other plans. BUT, they are almost out of the way and I can finally show off what madness I have in-store for Yuki. A rule I learned long ago was to never take apart another car while fixing one already. It's been a hard lesson learned but, I am proud of my ability to restrain myself here. The last project before returning to the Mazda is getting my Evo re-tuned after a turbo/eng failure around Thanksgiving. A run-ins with a bad shop, and a lot of money later and it finally looks like there is light at the end of the tunnel. And with a bit more diagnosis we should have her dialed in. I hope within a next week and a half. Until the Evo is out, she is pushed to the far side of the garage. :/




With there finally an end in sight to the 'distractions,' I can finally let you all in on what I've been scheming.

1st off. Finishing up the loose bits on the interior. I grabbed a Pioneer DMH-2660NEX 6.8 Touch screen head unit. I've decided to restore a bit of audio to the car, as well as add in a few modern amenities such as blutooth, backup camera, apple carplay/android audio, and gps navigation. To install this I ordered some FAF Engineering's mounting brackets. I've yet to test fit it all but, I may need to grab a non-cdplayer S4 dash trim to make it fit better. As far as speakers, nothing fancy just enough for a little background noise and to hear the navigation/phone. I grabbed some 4" Kenwood KFC-1069PS 4" 2-Way speakers that I hope to install under the dash in the old OEM locations. I do not have plans to put speakers in the rear shock tower of the car at this time as my Fortune Auto coilover's adjusters will be in the way. I'm not sure if there is a solution for this, will look into later after getting the front working. As far as the gauges in the dash, they are getting the boot. I picked up an Innovate multi-gauge that does both Boost and AFR (with failsafe) to replace my single Innovate AFR gauge in my pillar pod. As far as the DC electric waterpump/fan controller, it is going into the glove box for now with the audio alarms set to max.

Next up, COOLING. I've decided to go above and beyond and do a full RX-7 (FD3S) and RX-8 (Series II) swap! After racking my head around individual parts, I decided best to look at Mazda itself for the path forward. Utilize already proven design and development. HOWEVER that isn't to say I don't have a few 'tricks' in store.

As far as cooling. So far I have a pretty solid plan. I will be utilizing the FD3S GReddy/Trust fully ducted V-mount intercooler kit which has just shown up! IMO this is the most fully finished, over-engineered, and tried and tested offering for the FD. JP3's RX-8 AC condenser brackets were also ordered to tie it together, eliminating the need to figure that puzzle out. For the fans I grabbed a new FD OEM shroud to bolt onto the GReddy parts and ordered the Series 2 RX-8 fan upgrade kit (5/7 blade fans and variable motors) to fill out the shroud. The fans should hopefully be here in 2 weeks. This is already a proven upgrade on the FD cooling system. I'm still a little iffy on the electric water pump. Part of me says just ditch it and go back to mechanical for less worry, we'll see how it plays with my part selection. If I had the stock frame/core support, I suspect I couldn't even consider this package. Given the previous owner cut everything but the hood latch out, I'm confident I can figure out a solution. If not I guess it is time to convince the wife to let me get a '99 too! I made sure to order to full GReddy V-mount kit that also includes the newer twin intakes and power steering should I want to go that route in the future. I know the car's current intake will be in the way. I will be going the Haltech Elite route in the future but, for the the big ol' oem air sensor housing will remain and get relocated.

So with that said, the plan outlook for the cooling portion.
1. Get the cooling stack built/assembled as one part.
2. Fit assembly into the (wrong) car, as far back as possible without interrupting the engine's serviceability.
3. Figure out what is needed to connect the water lines/hoses/remote reservoir/EWP and get it working.
4. Create ducting to tie the FC front to the GReddy ducting parts together and beautify!

Once cooling is sorted, I can then focus on getting the A/C functioning. For the engine side I decided it best to copy JP3 Motorsports and do an RX-8 (w/ R134-a conversion.) I've already sourced a full new OEM condenser w/drier and compressor. I will have to do some research into the 13b-RE block itself and figure out what accessory bracket I need (be it 13b-t or 13b-rew) to remount the compressor and alternator like OEM. Currently there is an aftermarket low/side mount alternator bracket is in it's place. The alternator is currently running of a ribbed belt and not the 13-bt V-belt so even less work should have to be done to the RX-8 compressor to get it in series. The hard a/c lines should be the hardest part but with JP3 motorsports offering a full kit for both FC and FD and GReddy V-mount Rx-7's I'm confident I can figure out a (costly) solution.




I'm made zero progress on sourcing a plan/parts for the oil-coolers. Vibrant never did release their kit. I suspect that pulling from the FD again is the answer with a simple Setrab or Mocal cooler side-mounted directly behind the passenger/driver bumper openings. Both the FD and RX-8 utilize dual coolers so maybe the FC should too. Time and testing will tell. What ever I do I am confident that the oil cooler will not be in the center cooling stack.





Few more weeks and we shall get to work!

 

 

Got the RX-8 condenser trimmed and mocked up with the JP3 Motorsports brackets, sadly my order was missing the little brackets that lock it into the radiator. Already contacted them and they are getting them to me this week waiting for them to ship out this week!

I'm trying to get everything mocked up on the bench as a self contrained assembly before it goes into the car. I don't know the exact angle, but I'd like to get it close as possible to the FD3S it was developed on. Then build the FC to match it.

 

It's interesting to see the FD v mount going into the FC. I'm enjoying this project!

 

Apologies for the oversight regarding the missing pieces! Things can get out of hand when packing out all of the kits. Appreciate your understanding and glad the replacements made their way to you!

 

Yeah, thank you Jason for getting them to me so quickly!
Got them in place!




Not much progress... more parts hording.

Grabbed Pettit Racing's last AST Swirl Tank. The FD3S has a bit more complex cooling system than the 2nd gen. With the radiator being so far down and in a v-mount configuration I figure a bit more de-airing couldn't hurt. With my electric waterpump I also will no have a way to fill and burp the system with the OEM thermostat housing/neck deleted.



Ordered in a full set of Silicone FC heater hoses from HPS Performance and a slew of -6 and -16 Fittings and line from Jegs. I'm not sure if I'll convert the Greddy kit to -16AN line or just do an adapter. I'm not for or against Stainless braided lines, just whatever I can get to work, simple and cleanly.

Here is a loose guide of what I have going on with the car currently. (Minus the heater side.) It was put together well but a lot of the system is extremely restricted. The turbos and sensors both seam odd to me, not that I've really looked at a many other twin 13-B-RE or 13b-REW setups as almost everyone goes single these days. Both turbo's are being fed coolant by the rear iron. The line then T's off the 2nd turbocharger. Both drain lines converge by another T fitting and then dump intop of the Black Mamba Racing waterpump blockoff plate in a location that I believe was meant for a temp sensor originally. From there it passes through about 1' of -16AN line into a aluminum box that has 3 sensors (OEM level, temp, and on for the waterpump's controller kit.) Exiting there it does and "S" shape through some hard pipe before switching back into -16AN line and into the top of the dual pass radiator. The coolant exits the bottom of the radiator and then travels to the other side of the radiator into the electric waterpump. It then makes a hard 90 and goes back upwards into the engine block's waterpump's block-off plate.

While it is a bit messy, the path of flow I believe is pretty good. On the turbo's my only complaint is the T splits favors the rear turbo, and the return is 90 degree dropped into the outlet. My second observation is the sensor 'block.' It is an aluminum box tapped for 3 sensors in a row, and fed with -16AN fittings. I think I may be having an issue with this block causing air. I'm constantly getting the car screaming for low coolant, intermittently. I've went through the wiring and even replaced the sensor. I'm not sure if it is air, turbulence or the location but, this is where I'm looking. I also believe this being mounted directly behind the radiator and taking in hot coolant out of the engine/turbo might be having a heat soak effect on the sensor block, also contributing to the temp's reading high. I've already typed out my thoughts on the air path into the radiator earlier so I won't be repeating that. But combined I think I've got it figured out on why the current setup just isn't working.


Really the only other big new I've got is I found a electric self contained power steering! This uses the manual rack and has the entire system integrated into the steering column. I was a little hesitant but, the after watching some reviews and learning more, I'm 100% on board. I also really love the fact that it includes a dial to turn up and down the feedback. OFF when you want it, and ON for those annoying parking lot situations! Best of all, I don't have to worry about mounting a PS pump and can keep my alternator where it is (side mounted.)
https://epowersteering.com/purchase/...-steering-kit/

 

I have been keeping up with this and most of your build is way above my understanding, keep up the good work.

However, I was looking into the same electric steering. It seems pretty straight forward. I have an extra steering column and an additional fuse block added already for the wiring.If I remember correctly the steering motor with this setup is 10 amps. And if I am not mistaken, you can adapt the power rack to work without a pump?

There are some downfalls with this electric setup. Most still would not go back. There are some writeups here on electric steering if anyone is curious.

I won't be to quick to change mine out. I haven't driven my car in 10+ years and perhaps I am just remembering how the power steering felt, incorrectly. Back then if felt like it was to easy to turn the wheel.

 

Yeah you fully delete the pump, fluid and de-power the rack (or swap in a manual rack.) If your doing the delete you will save about 17lbs. If you also swap the rack you save an additional pound. The main benefit of swapping the rack is the ratio changes. A de-powered rack will turn slower than the manual rack. The ePowersteering.com kit adds 22lbs... so you do gain weight but, are shifting it more towards the center of the car so that is a plus.

The only remotely negative info I could find on this kit come from the miata crowd and ePowersteering.com has already offered a fix. The complaint was the adjustment **** included on the base kit. Basically, you need more assist at low speeds and less assist at speed, so the only way to change it in those scenarios is with the ****, difficult to do while driving. ePowersteering.com now offers an automatic speed sensing controller so you don't have to worry about adjusting the **** or you can have the assist only turn on below a certain speed! That sounds like a sweet spot for me. I've also read about a few people complaining about the size of the motor under the dash too when doing clutch kicks.

I should have said, had I not. This car currently has a de-powered hydraulic rack. I guess I should probably type out a full mod list while I'm at it...

 

The 3 port turbo rack is the best steering ratio. I depowered mine and will be running the epower steering. My friend has it on his fd and it’s great. He had is hooked up to micro switches on the trans so it only engages the power assist in first and reverse.