gracer7-rx7

iTrader: (16)

If you hadn't already ordered the BMC, I would have suggested ordering one from a 93 929...

Congrats on having your hands on the car again. Feels good.

wanklin

iTrader: (2)

Actually I have a 929 MC but I chose not to use it for the time being^ And you're right, it does feel good ;o)

wanklin

iTrader: (2)

Update: Due to time constraints, and a lack of motivation to wrench on my scarce free time I have hired a friend, and fellow FD owner, to finish the car up for me. What a great feeling it is to know that the car is in great hands and will be running very soon without having to stress about finding the time to work on it.

Exhaust question for you guys:

Problem I have decided to make the car smog legal in NoVa rather than register the car elsewhere and defeat the system via technicalities. I have decided to run stock LS1 manifolds and a RB dual tip exhaust and am now investigating catalytic converter possibilities. In doing so I have stumbled across compact cat units such as the one shown in the image below which apparently do not require an air pump (which is good since I do not want to have to install one).

Question: Based on your experiences and knowledge about self-contained 3" cats like the one above, is it reasonable to expect a near stock tune LS6 running stock (ceramic coated) exhaust manifolds to pass emissions in Northern VA?

I know that these units are EPA certified for my application; however, I find it curious that these units are marketed by Random Technologies as "Race Only" units. I will be calling Random Technology when they reopen for business on Monday.

I will likely run cat off each manifold then run a muffler after the collector which will bolt directly to the RB catback.

gracer7-rx7

iTrader: (16)

I do suggest calling Random Tech and ask t speak with an engineer. That is the same cat that I am using in the cat I am selling. They offer a set for the Corvette. I think they set it up with one cat per bank to follow the Corvette's exhaust routing. Can't remember the exact flow specs for it but its quite high.

wanklin

iTrader: (2)

The car is almost done gents.

I went up to PA to give Zach a hand on the car last weekend and was pleasantly surprised by the amount of progress that he has made. The engine bay is 99% complete minus the new throttle cable, which is in route from Malloy, and a couple odds and ends. The driveline is complete as is the SuperPro upgrade, Canadian diff upgrade, brake system, hydraulics, colling system and wiring, intake, MAP sensor relocation, Oil pressure sensor relocation, steering system complete, hub replacement, etc. etc.

While I was up a Zach's place we installed a new heater core, the dash and the flying M steering wheel. We also made a run to Autozone to purchase some flex tubing to make a model for the exhaust which we are in the process of designing and made a quick trip out to Best Buy to purchase some speakers and Dynomat for the door speakers and shifter opening.

Regarding the exhaust: After quite a bit of searching I finally stumbled upon a high flow Magnaflow cat that is perfect for this application. It is a small unit with two 2.25" inlets and one 3" outlet which will feed a resonator and finally the RB dual exhaust. This unit eliminates the need for Y's or reducers and allows us to simply design two inlet pipes connecting to each exhaust manifold, and one 3" outlet. Simple as pie. I purchased a set of CNC laser cut stock manifold flanges from Stainlessworks and Zach is going to have a local fabricator make us an exhaust. We will be running the front 2 O2 sensors and deleting the rear 02's in the computer.

The custom fender flares up front made it impossible to run the stock fluid bottles so I ended up picking up a couple black plastic Moroso units that we we mounted out of sight next to the rad.

At this point I am extremely impressed with the work that Zach has done for me on this car as well as the speed with which he has done the work. I am about as picky as they come, and I can tell you that he does some of the cleanest work I have seen -he is a stickler for detail and you can see that by looking at his immaculate white FD.

The car looks better than I imagined, and we even had a chance to start her up for a few seconds before I hopped back I headed back down to VA. I snapped a couple pics with the camera phone which I will try to upload here if I get the time to mess with it.

Also, I need a few more odds and ends to make this project 100% complete which I have listed in this WTB thread: https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=737573

Please give me a shout if you think you can help me out!

Thanks!
Rob

wanklin

iTrader: (2)

Camera phone pics:

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

Lookin' great Rob

dgeesaman

iTrader: (7)

Oh, man that's a nice car. And a nice garage.

I'm gonna give Zach a call and stop by this weekend. I'm finally undusting the FD for the autocross/track day season, so it would be a perfect time.

Dave

cabaynes

iTrader: (4)

Are those rear flares from the current model miata? They look similar

wanklin

iTrader: (2)

Damn, I am in NY City this weekend, but maybe we can all go grab a steak and a beer here within the next month or so. The car is running now so don't hesitate Zach to ask Zach to start her up for you ;o)

By the way, if anyone knows someone with a nice RB dual cat-back available please let me know. We are in need of an exhaust to work off of so we can design and fabricate the rest of the exhaust track and get this bad-boy on the road!

wanklin

iTrader: (2)

Negatory. I'm sworn to secrecy, but I can tell you that are made from German steel ;o)

finneymc

dude that car is so ****** sick! can you imagine a corvetter pulling up next to you and thinking "little ricer, imma show him real muscle and leave him in my dust" and then you just spank the **** outta him till his face is as red as his ***.....lol i would love to be there when it happens.

wanklin

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for the props Rich and finneymc ;o)

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

Yes, I could rib you about the "V8 thingy" not belonging in an FD, but this is the best example of a car done right. Your car looks OEM and the craftsmanship is outstanding. Congratulations and post some vids of how it sounds!

mrb63083

iTrader: (4)

That car looks gooooooooddd. Great work.

Dan Stevenson

Good to see some progress on the project. Hope you get the car on the road soon.

With all of the work that you are doing, is there anything you could put over the painted surfaces of the car to protect the paint? I almost always work with the fender proctectors, but they don't cover everything.

ptrhahn

iTrader: (9)

BMW M-Roadster/Coupe.

wanklin

iTrader: (2)

Haha Thanks. I'm hoping she'll be nice and stealthy. Between the stock LS6 (with tune), the cat, 3" resonator and a Racing Beat dual tip I imagine that the car will have great road manners and make little noise outside of WOT. I guess we'll have to wait and see how that all pans out.

BTW, I got a chance to drive Zach's pristine white heads/cam (430ish RWHP) LS1 FD and that thing is a beast. 285s just don't provide enough grip for that car, though I doubt the 315's will either. lol.

I was also happy with the feel of his Maval rack and the over-all road manners. We did, however, notice a little bit of noise creeping in through the shifter opening so we resolved that problem on both of our cars by applying multiple layers of Dynomat on the trans tunnel. I also used some Dynomat on the doors to seal my speaker brackets.

With all the torque that is going to be on tap ith my 4.10/1 rear end, I am glad that I went with the Spec 3+ lightened pressure plate and flywheel option to reduce some of the drive-line inertia at dead stop and help rev's overall.

Hats off to Zach Keller, he is doing a FANTASTIC job and is every bit as **** about the build as I am ;o)

wanklin

iTrader: (2)

Thanks Dan.

To be safe we did the paint in two phases. First I towed the car down to my body guys to get engine bay, interior and undercarriage painted then picked up the car to install the engine, trans, diff, etc. Once the driveline was in I took the car back and had them paint the body. Since then we've done mostly light bolt/wiring work which isn't too harmful for the paint as long as you are careful.

The very last phase of the body work will come once the car is completely sorted out. ONce I know everything is good to go and that I won't need to remove any panels to access anything, I will go ahead and pay a body guy to align the panels to factory spec.

I guess to answer your question, I didn't really need more than some fender covers and a good waxing because I am so nervous about scratching the car that I won't even let my sleeve rub against it. lol

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

In the future, consider using Quiet Car for sound dampening. It sprays/rolls on and weighs a lot less than Dynamat. It also outperforms Dynamat and like products by a factor of 3X or so.

I have a write up of the product here on the forum. Search for Quiet Coat for the thread or go to http://www.quietcoat.com/ for more info.

str8ryd

iTrader: (473)

Rob, this sounds sooo similar to what I did. I also painted mine in two stages and I'll be taking it back to the bodyshop one last time to make it perfect before I start to drive it. It's hard being this **** about everything. Really starts to drain you. I love the fact that you decided to share the build with the community though. I've documented my build also, but I like to be a little more low-key so I don't post much about my car anymore these days.


When's the projected completion date? I know you're close...stop holding out on us!


Oh, and sorry I never PM'd you back with pictures about that part. I really don't want to sell you mine as it wouldn't look right on your FD. If it's not good enough for mine it's not good enough for yours

wanklin

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for that info David. Hopefully that will help someone else out. I wasn't too concerned about weight since this is a medium effort street car that will see sparse recreational track use.

wanklin

iTrader: (2)

I hear ya. I kept my build private for a while then eventually decided that it might be fun to share. About being ****: I wen through three sets of brake lines across the fire wall before I got fed up and bought all new lines because they weren't mint enough. I think we both have a serious problem.... I can say that I've attenuated my one-upsmanship, but my OCD is still alive and kicking. ;o)


The completion date is whenever we get the exhaust finished. It's looking like I will be driving the car within the next month or so, but Zach can take is much time as he needs to get it completely sorted. It'll definitely be done by summer.

Ahh no worries, I will probably just slap a new one on and call it a day.

jmeyer93

iTrader: (1)

you have built a sick FD man!!!!! that thing must sound mean...

wanklin

iTrader: (2)

it's definitely loud straight out of the anifolds ;o) lol

Zach just notified me that my tachometer is not functioning. Looks like I need to give Ramy a ring or get another one....

Still searching for a set of black seat belts if you know anyone! thanks,
Rob