The CCfablab extended ball joint installed. the installation was a joy. I thought it was going to be a lot worse. My alignment was completely out of whack and i didnt care enough to bring it back to the way it was. i didnt even mark it. At the same time i realized that my wheel alignment hardware was chewed up. I had bought brand new hardware from Ray before i came here and i am happy i did. they came really handy !


@ptrhahn Here is the sikky diff brace installed. with the exhaust installed also. i will be making a new midpipe on wednesday and i might get to modify the tailpipe so it clears the diff brace more. i will let you know next week. current exhaust is 3.5" with the downpipe being 4". On the new midpipe i will be running a Borla XR1 4"


I have determined that the wrong oil weight along with the overheating is probably my root cause for all my transmission issues. the transmission holds fine with all the power but i am chewing synchros all the time. So with all the upgrades i did to the transmission and the shifter i figured its time to add a transmission cooler. I couldnt think of a good mounting solution while i was in the states.
I was initially thinking to mount the transmission cooler pump somewhere on the transmission probably near the harness mounting tabs. i didnt know where exactly or how but once i installed the sikky diff brace, the perfect spot revealed itself.
I love having a 3d printer in cyprus as well as in the states so i can make prototypes and test fits. at the end of the day this is its intended purpose. Not to print toys from thingyverse


after many different iterations i have finalized my design to something like this.



I think given the circumstances, it came out really nice. i ended up replacing the slots with round holes and oversized them slightly. I made it out of 3mm (~1/8") thick 304 CRES. Normally i would tumble/polish and powder coat them but i dont have all my stuff in cyprus. Oh well .. . i do have a LOT of tools and equipment here but i think i have quite a bit more in the states





So it mounts on the studs where the ppf used to bolt on to with some good clearance and it is still well above the Banzai transmission mount. i think its the perfect spot for what i was looking for !
Yes the bolts are too long. the shop i went to had them in 25mm lengths and then 40mm .. 25 was too smal.. and what you see here is the 40mm.. "It doesnt bother me" i kept saying to myself (yes it does) but i did end up adding some silicone caps to make it a little prettier for now until i find some bolts around 32-35mm or whatever the exact measurement will be ...

A lot more stuff coming soon ! for the 2-3 people that follow this thread, stay tuned

 

Interesting concept with the transmission cooler. Where are you going to mount the fluid radiator portion?

 

i have actually finished mounting it today but there has been some
major headaches involving parts not fitting, ordering new parts from Holland, next day air international shipping and many more but i will make a very detailed post about it tomorrow

 

I'm sitting tight for the Costas Racing™ plug and play trans cooler kit.

 

well i did make 2 mounts. One for @JhnRx7 and one for me but dude if you want one i can make more

 

I'm in for it. Ive got manifold exhaust flanges for you if you're interested.

On the Sikky brace, how do feel about the empty exhaust hanger, now that the one on the PPF is gone?

 

I will admit that i dont think it looks good but in terms of functionality i believe the remaining hangers should hold the exhaust just fine. It makes me wonder whether i should make a new mount so that the un-used exhaust hanger can be used but i am not sure if its feasible.it is to be seen.

 

for the transmission cooler i originally went with a 25row series 6 Fanpack from Setrab. This is what was recommended to me from Pegasus Racing even though i will admit i initially thought that a 25row cooler may be excessive but i have no experience with transmission cooling what was needed or not so i didnt question it much.

The original idea was to mount this on the rear diffuser opening and perhaps this is why Pegasus had recommended this size. i estimated what the opening was and that's where things got messy because this oil cooler is too big for that opening. The beauty of having to get dimensions from photographic memory before any prior measurements .
Needless to say, this plan did not work. Trying to find a new location for my oil cooler i realized that my car is just jammed with stuff on the front end . so jammed that i cant use the oem headlights or the oem combo lights
front end consists of 2x 34row Setrab coolers, the Vmount setup which consists of the radiator, intercooler and the condenser. So adding an extra oil cooler of that size upfront is not feasible without compromising something else .
I had to find a different size/shape and i am looking at the car to find a good mounting spot i realized that i could potentially cut the bumper just a bit and fit a much wider oil cooler but much shorter in height
so the width of the radiator which is roughly 24" and for the height, whatever i was willing to cut from the bumper.(added below in a red rectangle for the original idea)

I visited some local scrap yards to see if there's a cooler from a different car that i could use. I am in Cyprus for just 2 weeks with a plethora of stuff that i had to do on the car and this was not going according to plan. The scrap yards seemed like the only option given the circumstances. After failing to find something that could work i thought that it is time to find something else and whoever can get it to me in a day, has my business.

After spending some time online trying to find the ideal cooler given the circumstances i came across this
https://www.setrab.com/products/slm-cooler/
I love the setrab coolers. I have used others in the past and i have been happy with them overall but i believe setrab is just on a different level .
So, who has this in their actual stock and can ship it to me next day air from anywhere? Who knows!
I figured its easier to find a shop in Europe as opposed to anywhere else. just because its much closer and the chances of them having it in stock is much higher

I came across the QSP products in the Netherlands. I have been to the Netherlands more times than i can count and the Dutch have always treated me very well.
https://www.qspproducts.nl/en/qslm-5...w-qsp-products

I called QSP products on Monday morning , right at their opening time, I spoke to Joep and the variant i was looking for was in stock and ready to ship right away and to be received the following day for a very reasonable price given the circumstances. A lot better option than me flying to Amsterdam and driving a couple of hours to their facility to pick up, which i was willing to do 100%. I ordered a couple more things and i received everything the next day.
This is not a sponsored post in any way (nobody sponsors me or gives a crap about me ). Nor did i receive anything to say this but QSP has gained a customer. Thanks QSP and Joep ! I will be definitely coming back for more stuff.


so fitting the cooler in this orientation. i realized that there could potentially a better spot for it.


SO after trying my luck with everything i thought there is a very easy mounting solution with minimum compromise.



I got a 65 x 9.5 cm 2mm thick Aluminum sheet metal that i formed on a press brake at roughly the angle i thought it would get the maximum flow without blocking the rest (around 25degrees). Lined it up and drilled it on the HKS air separator plate. So the intercooler gets all the fresh air, the radiator gets all the fresh air and the half condenser from HPI gets decent air flow
I might add a bracket on the bottom side of it but for now i will leave it as is . The lines are still a work in progress as i need to pull the transmission pan out and weld the fitting on

 

Wow that trans pump is so much smaller than the Tilton one I had.

Re: Diff brace, the other I was looking at was the Fisch tech, which with the longitudinal arm might make for an easy place to graft an exhaust hanger on. I belive its similar weight to the Sikky. Did you get a weight on the Sikky and the PPF?

P

 

Might be just me, but I don't like how the Fisch stuff bolts together on such thin pieces. Looks like less than 1/4 in from edge of bolt hole holding it together to edge of structural support. They are nicely made with CAD though, so maybe they have engineering report when designing it that shows it's not a problem.

 

I'm surprised you didn't stick the trans cooler inside the rear bumper somewhere... I've seen a few race cars at local events and they have the trans and diff coolers placed in the back somewhere.

 

i will have to agree with that. it doesnt appear strong enough but who knows. a picture may not tell the whole story.


That was the original plan. stuff it in there and use the biggest cooler possible to help with the location of the poorest flow. This was the reason why i went with the fanpack cooler as opposed to a regular cooler.
I am pretty pleased with how it came out to be honest. Its is a smaller cooler yes but it is at the location with the most flow. I hope it works.
I will eventually do a differential cooler at some point in the future so for that one it will have to be in the back in the bumper somewhere

 

Love to see you puttin' in work buddy! Maybe I missed it, what specific brand and weight trans fluid have you been running?

 

i have tried a whole bunch of different ones.

this is the current one i am running now

i have tried
redline lightweight green 80w140
redline heavyweight shock proof 80w-140
some other Motul GL4 75w-140

I will be running mt90 gl4 from redline with the new cooler and hope for the best

 

How did 75/140 or 80/140 work in the trans? Did it effect how it feels?

I've been running Amsoil 75/140 in the diff for a while with no noticeable difference in feel, but it prevents the fluid from thinning out on track and weeping out of the drain plug like 75/90. I love Amsoil, I used their 20/50 motor oil as well, until my local retail source stopped carrying it.

 

I currently use the MT90 in my Spec Miata. Works well but takes a bit to warm up compared to MTL. Have used Amsoil transmission oil before and will probably switch to it in the Miata soon. The Amsoil 75/90 shifts smoother when cold compared to MT90 and my sources say that the oil analysis says it holds up better in race conditions. I will probably switch to the Amsoil in the FD when it is running again.

 

it seemed to be working fine but i think using that heavy of an oil is what is causing my issue with the synchros. i cant say that with certainty as i dont have any data to go by. Sure, i am assuming that the oil is cooking in there but i dont know this for sure . I am adding a k-thermocouple in the transmission and in the diff (in the near future) to have some data for before and after.

 

I will admit that the Amsoil seemed to be the smoothest of them all but the damage is already done so nothing will fix it unless i crack it open and rebuild it

 

I have been wanting to replace my mid pipe that is 3 1/2 inches to a new mid pipe that it is 4 inches. while I have been very happy with the magnaflow mufflers for over 17 years I have decided that I wanted to try something different and therefore I chose the Borla XR1.

I’ve come to realize that with the new differential brace, I was getting quite a bit of interference with the exhaust. It would only fit because of the rubber exhaust hangers.







We end up making a new exhaust hanger that actually mounts on the chassis instead of the deleted power plant frame, and I am pretty happy with the results in terms of mounting it and also how the XR1 sounds and most importantly the drone has decreased significantly.




Desperate need of an undercarriage and engine bay wash

 

I'm curious to see if you wind up having to make some slight tune mods going up to the 4".... you may even get a small hp boost. man, I like how professional your stuff always looks. I'm the same way....no half *** stuff ...pro or no go!

 

there is still an elephant in your room.

actually in your engine compartment. i see lots of heat exchangers everywhere and without a doubt the most amount of heat being exchanged is out the back of your intercooler.

unfortunately it is being exchanged into your motor. please focus some of your wonderful expertise on relocating your intake.

 

Good to see you're still posting.

 

Hey Howard,

I know it is my least optimized section and let me explain further what happened.
I was at the track on Sunday with ambient temps around 43-45C (110-115F). oil temps and coolant temps were just fantastic. I did not see the coolant go past 93C and the oil Temps did not go past 90C.. Not bad, all things considered. The intake temp though was the only thing that would go run hot.
on the track the intake temp was around 35-38C with the methanol. On my way out i thought to pass by the drift section and just have some fun since my tires are completely shot

Obviously with the slow speeds and where the intake is, My intake temps were well over 60C and this is when things can get ugly. Thankfully nothing happened.
I am revisiting the intake idea but i am considering fitting it inside the bumper between the bumper and the intercooler. I will have to cut up the bumper for that, I will find a solution.
Thanks Howard



Thanks dude!!! greatly appreciated


After being stuck in Europe for 2 days, I have managed to return.
I managed to get a lot of things done during my short stay. so some updates are coming...

 

So this trip is finally a wrap,
Even though it was not as hot as June it was still very hot. the first few days were fine but then the temps were around 110-115F everyday.
I did not get to do all the things i wanted to do but for the most part it was a mostly successful trip. 2 weeks is not enough but oh well what can i do.

OEM PPF vs SIkky diff brace. While i didnt measure it with the same scale.
there's a 10LB difference between the 2. So upgraded and lighter. Thanks Sikky ! i had mentioned that i thought i was going to hate it but instead i love that thing





Sakebomb garage Methanol Tank and FEED spare cover compartment do not fit together. We ended up cutting the feed box and redid the fiberglass and the fitment is pretty good. There is A LOT OF cutting involved
I had replaced the OEM carpet with this vinyl i bought in Japan made for the FD floor, and cut it up so it fits like this.
I dont think this was the right approach, as this vinyl is not as flexible and it is a little too thick. I will revisit this idea with something different. Possibly with the OEM carpet back in place

Mele Design Battery tray
MeLe Group-35 Rally Spec Battery Mount – MeLe Design Firm
I had spoken with the owner on the phone and we ended up agreeing on this battery tray . Bare in mind the battery sizes in europe are different than the standard US batteries.
Very pleased with this battery tray...
I will reroute the cables properly when i will redo the carpet stuff





I did replace the lights as i have mentioned in a previous post.

One thing i did not realize is that the feed combo lights (HID vs Halogen) use different mounting brackets
THe used kit i got to make my mounts was the HID kit vs what i had on my car was the Halogen version . I ended up drilling one extra hole on the bracket for a proper fitment. Not too bad i suppose but it would have been nice if i didnt have to do that.
I also got LED bulbs from superbrightleds.com to decrease the load on the pdm. ALL bulbs are now LED, including the interior lights, license plate bulbs etc

fixed height bracket

Height adjustable bracket



I ended up making a nice plug and play harness for all the lights on the bumper and on the headlights.
The lights are super bright now so i can see where i am going at night, without blinding anyone. The S1 i use for the high beams are just amazing. the S2 are great for low beams and if i ever need any additional light, the bumper lights are there. the light warmth is matching in all 3 of them so i am pretty happy about that



Mean!!!

 

So I left my car with my friend at his shop. to take the transmission out and rebuild it and at the same time, replace the carbonetics differential with an OS giken one.
Nothing wrong with the carbonetis but i liked the OS giken more when i was using it.

So the diff rebuilding went great, no issues and i have added a thermocouple so i could monitor the temperatures as i may have to add a cooler in the future. I have ZERO data on how hot the diff gets. Since i am using the TC4 thermocouple amplifier, i have decided to add a temp sensor on the diff and a temp sensor on the transmission



The Carbonetics 1.5 way diff will be up for sale shortly if anyone wants a low mile carbon LSD

And then we went for the transmission rebuild.

I did buy whatever is available from mazda. All bearings synchros etc, the 2 available forks, the seals etc
I did suspect that only the 4th gear synchro would have been chewed up but i was completely wrong

Grenaded the 4th gear bearing, damaged the mainshaft, and the end play on the transmission was bad enough to wear the face of the 4th gear. Not too bad all things considered.



and the best part of all that.
The transmission case cracked !!
even after welding it together, it did not stack right according to my friend. We suspected that the case twisted and cracked... woops. So i suppose this is the limit of the stock case.
We ended up rebuilding it using parts from different transmissions i had laying around and it is back on the car along with the new diff... All within 2 days...

I think it is finally time to upgrade the transmission... my initial approach was to get a magnum XL from Grannas as it is a complete kit and call it a day but then i can't digest that cost at least for the time being...
I will wait it out a little but i think the transmission swap is inevitable...