Made it out of Dover, Delaware before Irene hit.

Got home yesterday and got most of my mail picked up. Apparently there's some packages that they didn't put slips out for yet, so I'll get those today. Lucky for me they're so overwhelmed with packages they're staying open on sunday. Hopefully they can find the main package I need, my injectors!

I picked up a digital micrometer while I was in the states and measured the thickness of the plates on the use OS Giken twin plate I got dirt cheap. The middle plate measured at 4.5mm thick and the top plate measured at 5mm. From what I understand serviceable thickness is either 3 or 4mm...either way it looks like to use the clutch all I have to do is clean everything up with a little sand paper and I'll be good to go. I'm not too worried about the slight grooves that are there, since I won't come close to maxing out the clutches capacity. It'll be nice to not to have to worry about the clutch...pretty much, ever again.

I also received my 4 turbo cores that I'll be rebuilding and/or converting to hybrids. I got them pretty cheap and it'll be nice to work on them and have one to just swap out without having too much down time on the car.

So tomorrow I should have an update on the car, since I should be able to get the RTEK, injectors, proper fuel lines, and wideband installed.

 

Well, looks like there's going to be a bit of a delay since I can't seem to get the packages that I need.

I went out to try and install the FD alternator and gilmer drive kit. I found that apparently I didn't get the main bolt tightened down all the way when I shimmed the thermo pellet, there was a massive amount of thrust play on the e-shaft pulley. I don't think any damage was done, but lesson learned. I got the water pump pulley on, then went to put the e-shaft pulleys on. The gilmer pulley went on fine, however, the power steering pulley sits out about 1mm further than it should. It was kind of a gamble to see if it would work in the first place, now I hope it will work until I can get the proper pulley from Australia.

Then I went to install the pulley on the FD alternator. The alternator came with a dual pulley, so I removed that. When I put the gilmer pulley on, it bottoms out all the way down to the housing. So looks like I'll have to find/make a spacer to fit that properly.

Tomorrow after work I'm going to wire up the RTEK and wideband controller and install the AEM No-weld O2 sensor bung. I'll also try to get the spacer done for the alternator. Any progress beyond that will depend on whether or not my injectors and OMP lines appear in my mail box.

What a bum day.

 

So things are finally getting resolved.

Last night I got the front cover off and inspected the front stack and luckily all is good. I reinstalled the front cover with a modified RX8 gasket, which is metal. Got the main pulley boss put in a torqued down.

I modified my FPD to turn it into a banjo bolt since my screw had come out and I don't trust the damn thing anyway. The weld I did as part of the mod had a seeping leak so I fixed that today.

I spent pretty much all day today on the wastegate porting. I have stone grinding bits, but I couldn't find the bits that I wanted at any local shops. I'll have to order them from amazon when I need them for other work. I should have the turbo back in tomorrow.

The last hurdle is getting the gilmer drive installed. Just a little tweaking and it should be good to go.

After all that's said and done, then it'll be time to tune, which will be a slow and deliberate process.

 

Glad the front cover gasket is done. Good call on the banjo bolt, those old pulsation dampers are not to be trusted. Using stone bits to port a turbo SUCKS! Been there, done that and it takes forever. Carbide bits are expensive, but they work.

Keep us posted.

 

Well, I decided not to stay out in the garage till the wee hours of the morning again.

Got the FD alternator's gilmer drive pulley installed. Fabbed a spacer from a 17mm deep well socket.

Finished the fuel system...shouldn't have to do anything more to that until I go braided stainless hoses with surge tank setup, etc.

Installed my AEM no weld O2 bung in the front section of the pre-silencer. I decided it was the perfect distance from the turbo and since my down pipe is wrapped, it only made sense.

Tomorrow, more porting...ugh. Install water pump/fan/shroud, UIM and turbo/manifold assembly. I also have to wire up the wideband to feed info to the RTEK and plug the RTEK in. After all that, I have to hope that I stabbed the CAS right and didn't mess anything up...after a double check for leaks, I'll fire her up and if all is well, I'll take her out on a shake down run.

Pray for me...lol

 

Everything is put back together and installed.

I didn't start it though. I've been working on the car all day and I'm pretty fried. Tomorrow I'll double check all my bolts are tight and all the hoses are connected. I also need a new jug of coolant cause the one I had sitting in my garage (and was too lazy to put a cap on) grew mold.

So tomorrow I'll fill/burp the cooling system, double check everything, do the initial setup of the RTEK, do the free air calibration on the LC-1 and let 'er rip.

I'm sure I'll have to tighten the exhaust manifold nuts again to take care of any leaking, but aside from that I should be good to go for a shake down run tomorrow night. Yee haw.

Here's a pic:

 

So I checked everything and started it up yesterday. The car didn't want to stay running or idle. The exhaust manifold was leaking pretty good. I also developed an oil leak from the front left corner of the motor. So, because I was on limited time I shut everything down and left it for this evening.

I went out to the car this evening and immediately went to work looking for vacuum leaks. I was fairly certain that was the culprit for the non-existent idle. Sure as ****, I forgot to hook up the brake booster's hose.

Next I moved underneath and checked out the exhaust manifold. A couple of the nuts weren't as tight as I would have liked, so I tightened them a bit. Word to the wise, if you get a tubular exhaust manifold, expect it to be a pain in the *** to tighten the nuts that hold it to the motor.

Last I started looking for sources of the oil leak. I put a little more torque on the front cover bolts, but then realized the leak was coming from higher than where it initially looked. It seems as though I have damaged my oil cooler return line. So tomorrow after work I'll be pulling the P/S bracket and checking out the line. Hopefully, if need be, I can get a new line made locally for cheap.

I also had a chance to set up the scaling for my wideband on the RTEK. It now reads accurately. So with that info and being able to idle the car, I warmed it up and set the idle using the RTEKs built in variable resistor. The car now idles right around 750rpm and at 11.0-11.5 AFR.

Looking forward to hopefully taking her out on a shake down run this weekend.

 

Running a little rich there....

 

Yeah, once I get my oil leak sorted I'll be able to run the car enough to tune the fuel. I'm pretty anxious to get to that part, lol.

 

Well, seems luck just isn't on my side lately.

The oil leak is coming from the front cover. I'm pretty sure the RX8 gasket isn't working as intended. The leak is coming from the large "lobe" just below the CAS. I believe this is where the front cover gasket extends to the o-ring area. If I remember right the FC gasket goes around the o-ring. Well, if I remember from my install, the RX8 gasket goes over the o-ring. I think this is causing it to push oil along that tab of the gasket and leaking it out the side. It's not a pissing leak, but it's pretty steady. I also have good oil pressure.

I'm pretty sure I'll have to pull the front cover to fix it, but I'm not real sure what to do about the gasket. I can't afford the wait for a FC gasket.

Also, the gilmer drive isn't performing exactly the way it should, too. The belt seems to be walking back and forth on the pulleys. I think something is out of alignment, but I'm not sure what. I really need to get the car road worthy this weekend...I may have to switch back to v-belts until I can sort this out.

 

Well, got the car back together...again. I replaced the o-ring with a nice, plump, new one. I'm waiting for the RTV to cure. In the morning I'll put the oil in and fire it up.

During the course of disassembly, it was discovered that my thermal pellet had come apart and wedged itself in my e-shaft. I tried, in vain, to get it out. Given the position it got stuck in, it should still perform it's job adequately. I'll monitor oil pressure behavior to ensure it's not going to be an issue. If it does become an issue I'll be right and properly screwed for at least a week or more while I wait for a replacement "plug" to come in. Not only that, but I have no idea how I'll remove it.

So keep your fingers crossed for me tomorrow. Hopefully everything works.

 

Well, no dice. It ended up leaking anyway. So I created a RTV patch of sorts and I'm gonna try that to see if it works. I'll know when I get home from work today.

If it's not leaking then I finally move on to the tuning phase. I'll be picking up my Walbro 255 today and that will go in just before I start messing with the fuel. I'll be using a timing map that has been determined to be pretty safe.

Hopefully in a couple weeks I can get the car setup with an appointment in Luxembourg for a dyno pull. We shall see.

 

What's fuel pressure set to? My idle is 12.5-13 at the richest, usually its around 14.0 I'd be interested to see how much adjusting you can do w/the variable resistor, it never seemed to make a significant difference for me (not enough to run the 20b afm for sure).

Sucks about the leak, I was thinking about using the renisis gasket on my next motor, but maybe not...
I just installed an oil pan baffle and brace and modded the oil pressure regulators. I took a 600 mile trip and still haven't gotten around to checking for leaks, I guess subconsciously I just don't wasn't to find any I suppose lol

 

Fuel pressure is set by the factory FPR...I think that's around 40psi. A fuel pressure gauge is on my list of things to buy.

Once I can run the car without any oil worries, I'll be able to do more adjusting with the idle.

I don't think it's so much the gasket as it is just a weak spot. There's no bolts near by to help it seal in that area. Next time I pull apart the front cover I'll just dab on some RTV in that area and continue to use the RX8 gasket. It's nice to not have to RTV the water pump and everything...it's all one gasket.

 

So I checked the oil leak...it is still seeping a bit, but it's liveable until I'm willing to pull the front cover again.

I installed my Walbro 255 fuel pump and buttoned up the power steering. The off I went.

According to my RTEK log, it looks like my wastegate porting is holding boost at 8psi. I saw a brief spike to 8.4psi, but that's still pretty good for a 25mm port job.

I ran stock fuel and timing, both of which will change very soon. I've attached the log. Analog 2 is my wideband and is scaled 0v = 7.35, 5v = 22.39 for those with PL viewer. The file is just a renamed log file, just delete the .zip off the end and it'll work in PL viewer. I'm aware that I only logged coolant, MAP, and AFR, but those were the main ones I was concerned with. I plan to log just about everything on future drives so I can gather as much data as possible and use it to adjust as needed.

 

Here's an expanded log that I just got through doing. It would have been much longer, but it stopped logging after skipping across my passenger seat during the drive. Some day soon I'll take a video of my "test route". It's pretty fun. Anyways, let me know what you think.

 

Finally got the exhaust manifold tightened to where it's not leaking. Only in the process I noticed that at some point the nipple on the top of my BOV broke off...if it ain't one thing it's another.

Tomorrow I'll super glue the nipple back on and work out my idle a bit.

Coming soon, video of the sweet gilmer drive sounds and maybe a video of me driving to work...exciting stuff, I know. LOL

 

sounds like its coming together! Those logs look pretty familiar, seems like its running decent. The stock FPR is useless for anything other than the stock fuel pump, so you can either tune out the extra fuel (more work) or get an aftermarket FPR (less work).

I need to replace my turbo as There is only 1 stud left holding the DP so I can start tuning again. The extra air getting sucked in is throwing off my WB reading.

 

When I eventually go parallel with my fuel system I'll replace the FPR with an aftermarket one...until then, it's gonna be the OEM one.

Why not just pull the turbo and remove the two broken studs and replace them? If you don't have the tools to do it, I would imagine any machine shop should be able to pull them out for cheap.

 

So last night I did the TB mod. I don't know if it was the mod itself or the TPS calibration attempt afterward, but I picked up a boat load of low and mid range power! Very happy. Although my TPS specs out at 7k ohms which apparently means it's bad. Also, the RTEK continues to see TPS positions that are inconsistent with the pedal. At zero throttle it reads 6% and at WOT it reads 83%...another indicator that the sensor is bad I suppose. So I'll get one on order. I'm planning to switch to MAP based timing and punch in the new map this week and continue tweaking things.

 

Because it will be faster to replace the studs on the otherwise perfect condition s5 turbo sitting on my shelf and swap that in. Also I can make a hybrid out of the one that's on there now since it has bad seals from no bov and a small chip missing from one turbine fin and I need to rebuild it anyway.

Those results are putty much the exact opposite of what the tb mod provides, so my guess is the tps. I haven't converted to map based timing yet (because of the aforementioned afr tuning issues) but from what I've read THAT is where u should expect some noticeable mid range gains.

 

Well, I finally fixed my oil leak. I completely finished the job, jack up to jack down, in 6 hours. Would have been 4 if I had air tools (angle grinder with gasket removal pads). I ended up just putting a little red RTV around the OMP supply orifice on both sides of the gasket and the problem is solved. That little leak sure made a big ole mess though.

I also raised my suspension so I no longer have any front fender rub, now I don't have to worry about my speed just because of the road roughness. Because of the new height I now have a bit more understeer than I'd like, so I'll be working with shock settings to trial and dial that out. I think the next suspension purchase is going to be bushings...control arm and sub frame bushings. Once I get some spacers for the rear wheels I'll also replace the DTSS bushings with OEM new...I know most people delete the DTSS, but I rather like it and if you can learn to drive with it, only provides an advantage.

Higgi will be visiting soon and should be bringing me some goodies: a good TPS, a driver's door moulding, and a NA hood (for me to hack up for my v-mount project). So look for those to start coming together soon. I'm contemplating using an aftermarket FD radiator since it already sits in the v-mount position and should be large enough to handle cooling duties. I may also use some FD OEM fans...not sure how well they work though. The radiator is really the only thing that's an unknown for me...the rest is pretty well planned out and I'm looking forward to implementing it.

 

Well, it has been quite some time since I last updated this thread.

I traded my GSXR for a 94 Nissan Pickup. So now that I have a winter ride I put the RX7 into full on project mode. I have also came up with a direction for my build: Lapping the Nurburgring...in what time, I haven't decided yet.

So, when we last left the car it had resolved oil leak...that decided to show back up. So I'm going to revert back to the OEM front cover gasket and hope this solves the problem for good. I had toyed with swapping in a 13B-RE from a '94 JDM R1 that I got my hands on for cheap, but decided to just work with what I got. Instead, I'm selling the motor and using the profit to do a complete rebuild on the brake system.

Full on project mode means I have a much less constrained time line. I also came up with alternate parking for the wife's van, so I can put the RX in the work garage until it's completely finished. This also means I can do some things I've only really dreamed of doing.

Phase one will be; I had intended to do at least a partial seam weld job...now I should have a rotisserie soon and will be doing a full seam weld job. I'll also be doing a lot of weight removal (sound deadening removal, etc) and the few body repairs that need doing. After that's all done will be Phase two.

Phase Two will consist of a paint job, inside and out and also (obviously) cleaning everything (subframes, undercarriage, etc). Phase two will also be the beginning of the V-mount portion of the project.

Phase Three will be the mechanical stage. I'll be coating, modding, prepping and putting every ounce of effort into getting the motor to it's final power level. That includes the hybrid turbo, finishing the IC setup and ensuring all the weight I can get out of there, is gone.

Lastly, Phase Four will be doing the last few tidbits and tuning it all. Suspension setup will have to be completely re-done because of the lighter weight and affected bias. Engine tuning will be completed on a dyno and checked for streetability.

Then the lapping will begin.

Thoughts?

 

Love this idea, I only get to lap my fc on gran turismo, and I am envious of anyone that does it in real life. Im really looking forward to seeing what you do.

 

The track will decide your time for you, no need to worry about that beforehand.