My FD build
Another part from RHD Japan showed up on my doorstep today, a Mazdaspeed oil filler cap. I love the amount of detail that went into the design of this. It is polished aluminum, the threaded part is plastic and there is a rubber seal also. This will compliment the polished RE Speed oil filler neck!
If it's from Fujita Engineering (FEED), it's going into the build! Here's some pics of my new pulley set. These replace the water pump, alternator, and e-shaft pulleys. The belt was included. Since I'm eliminating the power steering, a/c, and emissions' air pump; these will be the only pulleys used. I'm thinking of relocating the alternator to the a/c pump's location also and using the Xtreme rotaries bracket. That will require a different sized belt, I'm sure. Enjoy the pics and I'm always interested in what you guys think.
Here's the pics, and no - it's not the lighting, the carbon looks blue. Not what I was shooting for to match the silver c.f. interior. Still these are nicely constructed and go with the look I want. I'm thinking i might have these rewrapped or painted along with the car. I had the optional anti-glare blue lenses added. The holes from the stock mirrors will be filled in when I have the bodywork and paint done.
Another couple of shots showing the blue lenses. Here's the picture from Craftsquare's website, doesn't look as blue as the ones I received. There was no option for a black base, so I figured silver carbon was a better choice, not to mention that the black c.f. option is single weave and wouldn't match the twin weave carbon that I've picked for the exterior. I think I'll paint the base black to match the trim and rewrap the mirrors in twin weave black carbon to go with the Feed handles.
Well, here's an update. I'm putting in my order with Tial for my twin turbo setup-finally. Gary and I have been going over my goals with the car and we've decided to run 2 GT3076 Garrett turbos each with .82 a/r. for spirited street driving rather than full out racing. These are both oil and water cooled, ballbearing units. Also as mentioned we're going with TiAL's stainless steel V-band housings. We've changed our thoughts of running the large V60 wastegate to 2 TiAL 44's for better response. We're also upgrading to 2 of the newly designed TiAL Q bov's. The manifold and exaust will consist of stainless and everything forward of the turbos in aluminum. I'm going to get everything polished as I'm building a show car. As for the level of boost, now we are thinking around 22psi. We'll add an A/I setup for some safety also. Probably methanol vs. water. Fuel will remain pump gas for simpicity. I'll post pics of the parts when they arrive. Stay tuned!
Well, I drove out to see Gary and the car last night. He's removed enough stuff in the engine bay to the point where we could test fit the Apexi intercooler. There is about 2" of clearance on both of the endtanks and 6" from it to the motor. It should work. We'll be modifying the endtanks later when the turbos arrive. It's nice to see all the plastic and clutter gone. I still need to order an intake elbow from Feed before the piping goes in. We removed the factory spoiler and installed the Feed adjustable one. It looks awesome! Really goes with the lines of the car, yet adds an aggressive touch. I sent out the Craftsquare mirrors and Craft Company rear canards to be wrapped in twin weave c.f. as well. I also tried out the vertical door hinges again with no problems and looked at some deutsche type plugs for the wiring. It's all slowly coming together. I didn't take any new pics but I'll get some in a few weeks hopefully when the TiAL stuff shows up. Stay tuned.
I'm planing on going the electric water pump route to clean up the engine bay and deal with the cooling inefficiencies of the factory system. I looked at some other people's setups, and found out about a company called Meziere. They make some great products, that I'm considering using for my project. There are a couple of bracket options that allow you to use the stock inlet/outlet ports to connect A/N fittings to. They make a radiator that is already configured for the water pump. A clean look is achieved by eliminating the water filler neck and pump pulley. The water pump pulley would've suffered from belt contact anyways with my setup. Eliminating the hoses and clamps and going with A/N fittings and lines will not only look better but will add reliability also. I'll be configuring the pump to stay on after the motor is shut off for aid in an extra cooling off period for the turbos as well as the engine.
Here's some pics of the X-treme rotaries' alternator relocation bracket. Should help to clean up the top of the motor. Shouldn't interfere with changing the spark plugs either.
To strengthen the motor I'm using X-treme rotaries' stud kit. Machining is required for installing these. I'm lucky that my builder is a machinist that can do this for me. Add the GZ oil pan and I should have a strong motor.
I found a couple of options for attaching the oil drain lines from the turbos to the motor. These T-flanges are available thru A-Spec Tuning and Himni racing. I'm converting all the lines to accept A/N fittings. The turbos have arrived, I'll get some pics up soon. Building the manifold is the next step.
Can I ask a really basic question? What are A/N fittings? I see lots of references to them, but can't find anything that tells me what they are? Yeah, I'm no mechanic.
A/N refers to army/navy; used by the military on aircraft, these fittings come in different sizes/diameters according their -#or dash number. A/N fittings are generally made out of aluminum and are anodized, which gives them their colors. Blue and red are common but, black and silver are becoming more available and popular. A/N fittings are pretty expensive but provide a secure and reusable connection. Braided stainless and kevlar lines are typically secured with this type of fitting. Depending on what is traveling thru the lines; fuel, oil, coolant, air, etc., longevity of up to 10-15 years can be expected. I'm mostly concerned about performance and aesthetics, so these fit the need. To protect the finish, use the anodized a/n wrenches. Fitting types can be; push on, quick release, or the common threaded ones. Some come tapered pipe thread. The military is replacing A/N fittings with M/S fittings (military standard) which are made from steel, don't have a taper/flare, and lock when tightened. Here's a pic of my oil catch tank with some plumbed in. These fittings are available thru Mr. Gasket (shadow series) and are sold at Blood Motorsports in Auburn, WA.
The new spoiler is mounted, you'll notice that a lot of thought was put into the design as it flows with every curve of the car. I'll most likely lower the center deck, this is the upper position. Also in the first pic, this is the door's new range of motion, before going vertical. I manage to enter and exit without having to raise the door. Hopefully when the fender is back on, there wont be any reduction of travel horizontally. Enjoy the pics! I went a little over board on the amount that I took.