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Not much movement in the garage but, things are moving.
Replacement RX-8 Fan showed up. They both are now the late model 4-wires. For now I'll go the simpler route and wire them together- then figure out how to manage them with the EWP controller.
Some parts from Chase Bays showed up. I remember when they had just came to market with wire-tuck kits for the FR-S/86/BRZ... man they have come a long way. Top notch product and a pretty good solution to figuring out a fill neck with a high-point for bleeding. I'm going to have to think on how to fit it. Straight off the WP plate was my 1st though but it is far to thick to allow the other line to be next to it. Nothing easy.
Found some missing chassis bits. A local listing popped up for a S5 vert shell for $100. After his last buyer fell through, I made a deal with the seller to come grab parts off it before he scrapped it for the same price. The night after we got back from Greece, I drove down after work with a sawzall in hand and removed the front clip as quickly as I could before the tow truck arrived. The fastest way seemed to be through the frame rails themselves. Managed to get the front latch support, bumper mounting structure. Even snagged the 2 brackets from the lower frame rails to the front fenders! Shout out to Ozark Drift Parts!
I've got a handful of AN fittings, and 15ft of braided SS line on it's way (hopefully before October hits) to finally get to plumbing. Vacation's over!
Got the upper path to the radiator finished. Unfortunately, I simply cannot fit the filler neck inline and had to tee off the hose. The perk being this allos me to make the filler neck 100% the highest point in the system.
Taking forever and hopefully have the fitting here tuesday to finish the line from the rad to the ewp amd start workingnin it's bracket. The only way I can do this is to just buy fitting I think will work and just try to make it happen, trial and error. Buy a fitting, realize I need one 0.5" shorter or tighter angled and repeate.
Got the replacement fan motor installed. I got to experience taki g the fan shroud assembly out of the car with everything installed. Happy to report, while to bolts are a bit tight, it cones out without having to remove anything else- great for future service.
All lines are built, not tested and filled. Shot on where I decided to mount the EWP. Passenger side, low as possible and right between the fans shroud and foreward turbo.
I ended up picking up a Motion Raceworks bracket kit. It doesn't connect to anything yet, but is an isolated clockable mounting bracked for the water pump. The bracket is steel and just needs a mounting point figured out. I'm debathing whether to mount to the frame or the aluminum crossmeneber that supports the v-mount, I'm about 4" below and 5" inward from the frame rail.
I ended up reusing the sensor block the previous owner made. I couldn't come up with anything lower profile or better. Tucked it down low before the ewp, post intercoorler. at thisnpoint the only sensor I still need to fond a hone fore is the low coolant buzzer. I think a nice aluminum overflow tank would be a good option. It is meant to go at the top of the radiator. With how low the v-mount is in the system if the sensor was mounted there too much coolant would be gone already.
Ordered a side mount A/C compressor and alternator bracket kit that was designed for the 13b-rew. It uses an Rx-8 comp and a fd alternator. No clue if it'll clear the upper charge pipe, and I'll have to design a custom idler pulley and bracket to get it around the water lines safely.
Water Pump bracket fabricated and painted. I ended up modifying the Motion Raceworks bracket. I used a piece of 11ga steel and made and upper part bolting it to the frame. I originally went to a 2pc bolt-together part but ultimately could not get the pump high enough up to clear my metal undertray without hitting the fan shroud. A bit of cutting, grinding, and welding and the problem was solved. Etched, sealed and sprayed with some left over Turbulence Grey/Matte Clear I had from my Supra.
And with that- the coolant system it together! I may look for another, nicer overflow tank still so I can hard mount the coolant level sensor to that instead of tapping an AN fitting. I'm currently eyeing Chase Bays, tank which would pair nicely with their identical windshield washer reservoir.
My attention is once again turned back to the front core support and air intake. I'm figuring out how to refit the intake with the newly metal (the black bumper brackets.) I need to figure out where it need to sit so I can mount it before going further. That means it is finally time to buy (another) cooling panel and a pair of OEM hood bumper/stops. With that and the bumper mounted, I should be able to find out how much room I have to work with and start making connecting brackets and intake ducting.
Super tight fit!
Happy Thanksgiving all! Jealous of everyone who got to attend Seven Stock 27!
Slow burn here as parts sourcing and shipping woes continue. havent really played with the car as I've been getting the Evo prepped for winter after getting a tranny upgraded and twin disc clutch.
Ended up grabbing the chase bays' coolant overflow. I wamted a metal one so I could potentially tap it for the low coolant sensor.
I also picked up the matching low profile windshield washer reservoir/pump. I'm thinking they will end up behind the passenger headlamp.
Sourced some hood stops/bumpers. My current goal is to figure out the placement of the black inner-structure infront of the hood latch. I badically want to install it and use the hood and bunper to find a final location before welding up some brackets.
I also ordered a black powdercoated aluminum cooling panel from SCW Performance. This when mounted to the core support and bumper should help with finding my location and help clean up the engine bay.
Also got the JDL MFG billet side mount in! This allows a RX-8 A/C compressor and a FD alternator to both side mounted. I'll need to source a FD ideler pulley. A good starting point to that project when we get to it.
Long time no see. Yuki has become a love-hate relationship. Constant delays and parts sourcing struggles had really, really soured the mood. With constant push back and no small victories, progress had slowed significantly. I haven't updated my cost spread sheet but, I do believe I've past the 15k mark in parts.
Picking up where we left off...
Having not been able to figure out a nice and neat solution to my cooling system, I kept searching and trying bits until I was able to finally get what I had visioned! All it took was 1k in trying random fittings and setups. It anyone needs ANYTHING -16AN hit me up! For realz!
Turns out I just needed pointed in the right direction to find those hyper-specific bespoke fittings. With a few key parts figured out motivation picked up. I went for broke and took my beautiful Chase Bay's radiator fill neck piece and hacked it up, taking off a large chunk of one side before welding it back shut. This, along with an extend -16AN male-to-male fitting got me the clearance to be able to run it inline with no more T (tee) design for the hose routing! That combined with some $140 22orb to -16 conversion fittings and I was able to simplify and get everything to fit! I am a bit worried that the inlet hose might be too tight with engine movement but, can address that when/if it breaks.
It took me 10+years of making an lines to finally give in and buy Earl's lube... and I should've done it day 1! Game-changer!
I also took a minute to mount a Chase Bays coolant overflow (with boil over drain.) It took some work to find some 10x1.0 to -4an fittings to tie the overflow tank into the radiator filler. dished put for some nice black silicone hose that has the wire/strings inside it for added strength. Rotaries and their heat! A cheaper line was ran for the boil over-drain down and out the bottom of the car, should the life choose chaos. I also got and mounted the Chase Bays compact windshield washer reservoir/pump combo! I ended up doing them opposite ends, I wanted both on the passenger side to offset driver weight but, space was too limited. I didn't really photo it but I redid the windshield washer lines to a shorter path. I still need to wire a pigtail to the pump and factory wiring.
Keen eyes will also see that I was able to source a s5 wiring harness to get the 91+ AFM pigtail. I'm not going to lie. I came very, very close to just ordering a Haltech to get around this... had I not blown the years budget already.
With that done there is only one thing to knock out on the coolant side of things, and that is to place the coolant level sensor somewhere. Unfortunately there just isn't room to drill and tap the top of the radiator. I've been flirting with the idea of mounting it to the side of my overflow tank, I just get the feeling that it will be constantly buzzing for false signals. I also have had a bad time sourcing a Mazda sensor that doesn't turn out to be an OMP aftermarket sensor. It'll work but, trying to stay on point with this build.
With that little win, momentum was back!... almost. I bit the bullet and dropped a mortgage payment on parts to build the oil coolers, which then went out-of-stock, then delayed, resulting in my just going back to my original plan, the SakeBomb smart cooler setup... which then got delayed, ended up with bad Kraken cores, upgraded to Setrab cores and the new ETA says they should be at my door next week... (about 1 month after ordering... 7 weeks after making that my next fixation.)
With a bit of a pause. I decided to tackle the A/C or lack-of next. As previously mentioned, I grabbed the JDL MFG side mount kit. This kit is designed to work with the on the 12a, 13b and 20b, and has provisions for a RX-8 A/C Compressor and a FD Alternator... It too has chosen to be a challenge.
Here is the old (unknown) side mount alternator only brackets. I don't know if the original 13B-RE had the studs or that was a provision by whoever installed the mount. The alternator that was installed, after doing some research was an 80amp 1991 T2 Mitsubishi unit with a 6-rib pulley swapped on it. This could explain my hot start issues, having upgraded electronics, fuel pumps and a electric waterpump. I really wanted to grab a DC power unit. I've used them on my past RX-7's with great results. I really want to get a fully polished billet or anodized black casing for this one but, with the 2025 price adjustment at $650+ (from $400ish last time I bought one) it just isn't in the cards yet. I did manage to grab a reman '93 100amp FD alternator which will be some help for the time being.
Sadly the JDL bracket hasn't really been a great experience so far. I cannot get a hold of them post sale to find out what is up, but nothing is fitting on this thing, nor does it bolt up to the block. The pictures on the website show a different design from what I've received with things clearanced differently, for example a big cut out on the backside of the bracket to clear the CAS cover... I got none. I also simply cannot get it to fit the FD alternator! Even having removed the bushing, it still doesn't fit. I can however can loosely fit the 80amp S5 alternator! Hurdle 1 will be getting the correct alternator to fit the bracket. I'm hesitant to start modifying the bracket in case I get a response from JDL MFG. Once that is done I'll work on getting it to fit the block. I am able to test fit it using spacers and washers but, that defeats the whole purpose of having a solid billet mount!
I have had Atkins Rotary on speed dial, ordering all the hardware to mount the alt, compressor and ordering all the bolts and bits to get the FD idler pulley figured out. It is crazy how much room the little RX-8 compressor opens up. I am quite annoyed to put that old, crusty alternator amongst the sea of new parts for the time being!
Nothing even comes close to lining up, but that is a problem for later. I want to try to source a 6-rib clutch/pulley for the RX-8 compressor. JP3 motorsports' FD to RX-8 conversion kit is using the 4 rib but, that Is on a separate accessory belt. This will be on the main drive so that won't cut it. A few fellow forum members have done the swap but, sadly the links are dead to the parts. I may just send the compressor to an A/C shop to figure it out.
And a few pics of it loosely fitted up. There is no top-alternator mount fabricated and figured out yet, Just resting on the mount is appear it *the s5 unit* seems to clear the v-mount charge pipes, which is a win.
I hear you on fittings! 3D printing has been a godsend to mock up stacks of fittings. Most manufacturer's don't make CAD models available for test fitting (yet), so unfortunate you still have to end up buying 1 of each to model up, but at elast then you can just order the fittings you need rather than buying a ton and hoping you can stick it all together to make it work. But good on you for sticking with it!
I did some heavy duty grinding to the FD alternator I had to get it to fit on the JDL MFG mount. About 1/8" take on both tabs. I'll commit to more after I get closer to aligning the belts. I also barreled out the bolt hole using a biddies drill press to fit the OEM S5 bolt and nut. The is no longer a bushing on the alternator but the alternator itself will not be used anymore to set tension and remove the belt with the FD tensioner pulley taking the job. I ordered Pettit Racing's 6' Rib alternator pulley and swapped it on. They have a lightweight wider tensioner pulley to go with it but, I'm not sure if I'll need it as I'm reading mixed reports from the 3rd gen guys if the OEM is sufficient. For the RX-8 A/C compressor I did a LOT of digging through the 3rd gen sections and found a company in China that makes a 6-rib clutch-pulley and bearing setup. I'm still waiting for these parts to clear customs. Once it is swapped I can finalize the alternator's positions and clearances to get the sub-assembly lined up. Then off to figuring out how to get it fully mounted and aligned with the crank pulley! Wooh! I'll have to fab an upper alternator mount, for now the old bracket is just a place holder/reminder.
The deet's for the RX-8 6-Rib A/C Compressor pulley are below.
TUYoung Auto Cooling aka: Hyoungcaparts.com (Go to website and send inquiry about parts to their email for the following parts-)
Pulley: HY-CH302
Bearing: 30BD4720
About $125 USD shipped to me to the US.
Now to the main event!
Dual Smart Cooler Setrab 19 row oil coolers have landed! This is SakeBomb Garage's FD3S setup. They run bespoke, integrated thermostatic bypasses on top of each core. The main advantage of this VS running inline cores of a single thermostat is that you don't get to huge spikes in temp and oil pressure changes when it opens and closes. Also both coolers do not need to be open at the same time if the car is not requiring it. I originally ordered these with the Kraken cores because I wasn't even sure they would fit and was already way above my budget. Chris @ Sakebomb called me up before shipping and highly recommended the Setrab cores as the Kraken cores were having some issues. I also had been texting with them month prior to get dimensions on these parts as I wasn't sure they would even be an option in the FC chassis.
And I got them to fit!
They are still just mocked up and only clear the crash bar by millimeters but, I feel a lot better getting past this challenge. I have crude brackets formed and will come up with something better once I get some more flat stock aluminum in. I also need to order rubber isolated washers, mesh rock guard grilles (I'n not running wheel well liners,) and possibly a pair of Pegasus (or other brand) rear mount fan units and shrouds. If I get fans I would only be able to run a single fan on the rear towards the outsides due to space between the frame rails. Plumbing needs to happen still. It shouldn't be too bad as Sakebomb sent me some various FD lines to start with and my current leaking FC oilcooler, front cover and oil filter adapter are already switched out to -12AN fittings.
First up to get the coolers solid though, the tolerances are minimal so in order to prevent rubbing it needs to be STOUT! Yuki is getting there-
I finally got the accessories mounted. I had to have some custom machined 1/2" billet spacers and 10x1.25 36mm allen/hex head bolts to fit. It now sits on the engine clearing everything it didn't. The JDL MFG mount is slotted and I am as far back as I can be. to get closer to the crank and away from the return line on the coolant/radiator which is a tight gap already!
No luck on the FD3S pulley. The dual belt is simply too far forward to clear the V-mount and the A/C Compressor and Alternator would no longer clear the hose and intercooler piping.
I turned my attention back to the unknown pulley that was on the car when I bought it. I flipped it around, added a 1/8th washer and tired to mount it, the spacing is almost perfect! Sadly, it appear the FC hub doesn't have an equal bolt pattern and I cannot get all the bolts to line up. I am not sure if I should just ream-out the hole or if it means I will need to source a custom pulley. I will play with it a bit more. If I enlarge one of the bolt holes, I am confident I could TIG the excess closed so there wouldn't be any play. My worry is that I may throw the pulley off balance and do harm to the engine.
Got my 6pk pulley to work. Ordered another oem fc pulley. I bolted it to the current one and used it as a guide to drill new holes. A new set of self centering drill bits made this super easy. I then used the oem FC bolt washer piece, drilled it and made it into a spacer to sit behind the pulley, shimming it outward. After carful fitnent i found an orientation that made it so only one hole had to be welded shut and redrilled. Not my favorite solution but will do.
From there the jdlmfg mount as aligned and modified (clearanced) to fit. Work was done to clear the oil lines and lower the tensioner bolt to clear the CAS. Custom 14mm billet spacers were used to shim the bracked off the block. 22mm allen/hex 10x1.25 bolts were ordered to secure the bracket to the block.
Swapped out the Pettit Racing 5pk alt pulley for a 6pk Franklin Performance one from Vinney Fab.
After that masking tape was used to lay out the belt routing, cut and measured to determin length. I went pretty close to the exact size as I couldn't find anything bigger locally. I was also worried about the tensioner pulley being able to adjust for more length.
Getting the belt on is not bad but, the compressor-to-rediator clearance is not big enough to fit it by without some serious shaking. Will need readdressed later.
And the belt is on. Finally!
I started working on an upper alternator bracket using a universal small block Chevy bracket from Spectre. It would have to mount behind the alternator. So some more R&D is needed.
Slapped the front together and can finally start thinking about making the A/C lines!
Even though traffic is down the content on the forum is arguably better. You have a ton of work into every challenge with this car since just about everything is custom fit. Great work and it seems like you're almost done!
