this is a really cool project, love seeing stuff like this.

just a comment on the pulley stuff. the stock FC pulley setup is only good until 7000 rpm, after that you start getting water pump cavitation that gets worse as the RPMs go up.
i'm not quite sure how the RB diameter differs from stock, if at all, but just a little explanation of why cooling might be compromised.
depending on the car and setup this might not even matter, as demonstrated but the different experience Eric and Al have had. Eric's car could have very well been experiencing cavitation of the pump, but if the cooling system is up to par it might not even be noticeable.

 

The RB main pulley is significantly smaller than stock, and the alternator is the same diameter as stock.

We also have a very large water pump pulley, but it's only single belt. If we run into cooling issues, we'll swap that on.

 

I forgot to add that I am using a water pump I got from an old GT2 Turbo II racer. It has different vanes than a regular pump. I have never had an overheating issue when I am using this pump. As well I have internal mods to the water pump housing that I think eliminates a lot of the cavitation issues. In the housing there is a 3/4 hole that provides the bypass when your thermostat is closed. I sealed that up entirely and 100% of the coolant is sent to the rad and none gets turned back into the motor.

I am not sure which of these things works to help keep my car cool, but I have no water temp issues, just too cold issues.

Eric

 

Holy crap I was behide this thing when it was on a trailer!!!! on the Highway from greenwood/kentville area to I think Windsor!!! I was going to Halifax that Sunday night it was I think at the start of fall. It was the best drive ever!! my passanger thought I was nuts!!!

 

well i think that explains it, heh.

 

We were returning home in September from an auto slalom at the Digby Municipal Airport. Must have been then.

 

Fixed the exhaust, now it's all carb noise;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PiBGRNBeh4

 

Loud Noises!!!

 

looks and sounds great

 

It's one hell of a lot quieter than when the header was still leaking!!!

 

you guys shouldve heard it when it was running open header...

 

I just listened and watched the newest video. I am even more certain that you need way smaller chokes. I know the car was cold and all, but just listening to the way the car picked up the throttle convinced me. It sounds a little soft on throttle opening.

If you can afford, beg, borrow or steal some 42/43 mm chokes get them. Also look at the timing and make sure you have enough advance on leading and trailing. The car won't sound so soft any more and will pick up the throttle like an F1 car. The car and your lap times, especially at AMP, will thank you.

By the way, it all looks very nice and I can't believe that you payed the BIG $$$$$$ for the Racing Beat system. The next change I would look at would be selling that exhaust as soon as you can and get either a true dual set up or go to a single 3" pipe from the collector merge out the back. Just some FYI from someone who has tried many many things. The new exhaust shouldn't cost more than $300 bucks.

Eric

 

Hi Eric. Thanks again for the tips. It's a learning experience and always open for insight.
The chokes are high on the list, but priority has been getting the car "show-worthy" for this week. I have another month to make it "track worthy."
It's got the 46mm's in it now, and it picked up nicely when we put bigger air jets in it. The smaller chokes (I'm thinking around 42mm, as you mentioned) should help even more.
As for the timing, that hasn't actually been set at all yet. Just lined up the pulley, lined up the distributor and dropped it in. Haven't tweaked it at all yet. I'm hopeful that will help as well.

As for the exhaust, I'd love to go to something cheaper and lighter. But, the car had a single 3" on it when we got it. We were told it was too loud and not to bring the car out with the exhaust the previous owner had on it.
So, I put a collected dual on it. It was better, but still flirting with the noise limit.
The RB True Duals on it now are probably 1/3 as loud as the collected duals I just took off. (When they break in, I'm sure they'll get a bit louder.) Plus, the price wasn't THAT bad, since we have a semi-sponsorship thing with RB, so A) We got a good price and B) They like us to have as much RB stuff on the car as possible.

 

you might be interested in a little research i did about designing a NA exhaust system:
https://www.rx7club.com/rotary-car-performance-77/exhaust-header-collector-pressure-wave-theory-677785/

 

Coldfire: Thanks! Interesting read.

 

Well, she made her debut this weekend. Engine still isn't fully broken in, so had it limited to 7500rpm, and we were fighting some mechanical issues, but we finished 2 races in a higher position than we started, and I've already knocked 1sec. off the best time I ran with the car last year, so things are heading in the right direct.

Engine pulls great and slams into that rev limiter pretty hard if you don't may attention. (btw, has 46mm chokes in it right now, and bigger airs. Going to finish breaking it in first, then start tuning it)

I had a great battle going with a Porsche 914-6 for pretty much the whole race. He has 205hp at the wheels (recently dyno'd) and I could just pull him in down the back straight.

Jenn wasn't feeling well today, so decided she didn't want to race. Friend of ours has put a lot of time into the car, and used the car last year for his school and school race last year. He hadn't done a race yet, so let him use the car for that.
Of course, he's the one in the car when the resident track-photog. takes a snap.

*edit: Joe, I just noticed the RPM logo's we added showed up nice in the pictures. We also have a banner running across the rear hatch.