t-von

iTrader: (8)

Good! Tell Steve don't be afraid to crank up the boost. Remember Red-Rx7's 20b Fd? He made over 600rwhp at 13.7 psi. Your engine can handle it.

ptrhahn

iTrader: (9)

David,
If there's still junk in the engine, or it's weak, it's going to sooner rather than later even at 15 psi. Might as well assume it's fine, and tune it for what you want... at least you'll know while it's still at the shop.

fd3virgin

[QUOTE=David Hayes;7053806]Okay, so things seem to be wrapping up nicely on the project. I know it's a scary thought but I might actually get to drive the car again

My coils have been swapped out and new MSD ignition AMP boxes per Crispeed's recommendation have been installed. Had a bit of a delay in getting the correct boxes in but that's now been resolved. JEGS sent the wrong unit - it came in the right box but was a DIS-2 unit instead of a 4. Brain at Gotham has everything wired up so the car should be good to go for an awesome Steve Kan "final" tune.

While the car is there, Gotham is working on a few small things. They're replacing the PIAA fog light switch I have with an RX7 OEM one and a few other things like this. The painter is working on painting my radiator shroud with the same black finish as the car and they're also doing the same to my door sills. Speaking of painting, the hood vents have now been completed and the hood is painted. The vent mesh material has been shaped:


The fabricator, Asian Motorsports in Dallas TX, tig welded the ends of the mesh to keep everything tidy:


The shaped mesh inserts were then sent out for black powder coating and were installed in the hood. The final product:





Not quite so final though for me. I'm just not pleased with the mesh inserts - they don't give the car enough of an OEM feel for me. So, I've asked the fabricators to install a different mesh in the openings, the kind used on a Honda S2000 in another thread on the forum:




david, car is beautiful.....i feel for you with all this crap you are going thru. i am in the same boat with my zo6.....lots of money and people not fixing it right. how does the underneath look. i bought a ks hood but the underneath looks like ***. i just wanted to see how it turned out on yours. any rain guards? thanks. kvn

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

^The underside of the hood (you are speaking of this right?) should look fine as it is the OEM hood. I also still have the heat insulation installed so it should look pretty good. Will post pics when I get the car back.

Haven't heard yet from Gotham - hope the engine survived the extra pound of boost.

mirabile

Update on the extra pound?

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

^No extra pound Steve doesn't want to do it. Spoke with him yesterday about this and have decided to call it a day at 15 PSI. No reason why but I don't want to go against the tuner's wishes.

The engine turns out to be a "C" series so it has the upgraded shaft. It doesn't have though what Steve wants, which is extra oil lubrication going to the center rotor.

I'll get the car back (soon ) and worry about this later.

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

The project is now complete and I'm very happy with the way things look. Here are several pics of the completed hood and the new vents:





The mesh material is aluminum and powder coated flat black to give it an OEM feel. You've also asked what the underside of the hood looks like. I've kept the insulation material and Asian Motorsports (body shop/painters working with Gotham Racing) inset the mesh under the insulation and cut holes for the vents:




So, I'm pretty happy with the way things now look. Hopefully it will help with heating issues but it still retains a stock look. How will it handle rain? I really can't answer this. Some one mentioned rain guards for vents but I know little about this. Maybe someone can detail what this is.

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

I had AJ and Brittany also touch up a few other items on the car:

My aluminum door sills:



And my radiator shroud thingy:



Finally, by popular demand, another shot of the woman behind the mask:

RX7UP

Looks good Dave... The rain gaurds are a tray that goes underneath the vents to catch the water from splashing all over the engine bay... The trays have funnel like holes that drain the rain water in strategic places that wont wet any vital engine components.

Dwayne

ptrhahn

iTrader: (9)

Hood looks great!

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

Any ideas were to buy these? Any pics?

onemeansaturn

The hood came out really nice. I like the new mesh much better. It's great to see a project where corners aren't cut.

Joe

HDP

iTrader: (2)

Since the vents are custom, the rain guards would have to be custom as well.

IRPerformance

iTrader: (41)

Getting water on the motor shouldn't hurt anything if all your wiring is done properly. What do you think happens when you drive in the rain?

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

^Little umbrellas automatically pop up to protect the engine I know things get wet underneath but I thought if something exists that could help, why not try to find out about it?

FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

David, the discussion re: rain guards is as old as the forum lol. The topic's been beaten to death. It's simply a fact that there is no danger in running a hood w/o any rain guards in the rain, provided the vents aren't right above a vital electrical component like the alternator lol. Otherwise, don't worry about it. Your money is better spent elsewhere. Countless FD owners - including myself - have THOUSANDS of miles on vented hoods w/o using any rain guards with absolutely NO ill effects.

~Ramy

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

^Thanks. Sounds like I might be chasing an urban myth

wanklin

iTrader: (2)

Or you can just pop a set of guards off of an Impreza (hood vents stock) and call it a day ;o). Although I tend to agree with Ramy that rain won't hurt your engine, it does result in rust, discoloration and electrical risk (how ever small and insignificant). I think it's reasonable to assume that penny-pinching vehicle manufacturers like Subaru install these things for a reason.

ptrhahn

iTrader: (9)

^^^^^

Think about all of the things OEM's install that you don't need though. I doubt David's car will see much of any rain anyway, and when it does, he'll be right there to wipe it down w/ a chamois when he gets back to the climate controlled garage!

wanklin

iTrader: (2)

^^ Good point. This is no DD ;o)

CMonakar

If you really want more than 15psi, you should call Abel at Flaco. He recently tuned my friend's 20b setup to 18-19psi on 91 octane pump gas. Obviously that is closer to the limit, but he has a lot more experience than Steve with 3 rotor setups, so I would trust his judgment if he feels comfortable with it. You're running 93 octane with water injection right?

I think you're going to hit a traction limit before you hit a boost limit in any event, so I wouldn't get too hung up on extracting maximum hp unless you're into triple digit wheel spin.

David Hayes

iTrader: (6)

^Yes, right about the traction issue. The rear was breaking loose through 3rd gear when I drove the car last and that was at 450 WHP.

I spent some time on the phone yesterday with Cam Worth, owner of Pettit Racing and he says the engine is built to 500-600 WHP so I'm calling it a day at 540. Two experts, Cam and Steve, have now spoken

rotary crazy

540 rwhp its great in a under 3000lbs car, im looking for 500 rwhp out of mine and I would be happy with 480 rwhp

Old Slow Coach

Hood vents turned out very nice!

gonzz

When is the car getting picked up?