Great build, looking good so far.

 

Thanks! Its been an interesting road to making a 2 car garage feel like a shop. :-)

So far, its been all IR Performance.




So an update:
Had to ream out the top right hole in the RA OMP Adapter. I ended up just drilling it out to 5/16" which worked perfectly. This unit is a very tight fit. I am also hoping to not have clearance issues with the BNR twins by using the Mikuni OMP.







Now I am having a problem with one of the exhaust studs. The lower stud on the front housing doesn't feel like it wants to torque down. I can get them all to click at 30 ft.lbs, but the bottom right one feels like it is just spinning at anything higher than that. I am worried that I have a stripped exhaust stud. Any ideas?

 

I'd take it out, see if there are any shavings on it. If there are shavings, then you were stripping some aluminum out.

Try putting a bolt in, maybe you'll get lucky and it will grab at 30lbs. If not, then it's helicoil time.

 

Lol love the title! Can't believe I didn't see this thread earlier.

 

At IRP, RX-7 drive you!

 

There may have been some "influence" involved. I will be working on the interior of the car next since I have time. And will have to hold off on buying parts for the engine at the moment. Plus, I already have the carpet and black plastics, etc to do the interior conversion.

Also, Extremely happy with all the pics I was sent of my engine being built. I never got to see the rotors when I purchased them, as the company sent them directly to you. It was nice to see the machining they did.

After handling them, what did you think? Did they make a noticeable difference in the weight?

 

So, being laid off, I am now taking some time to start installing or working on the things that I can.

Here is the FFE Primary Rail and their 60-2 trigger wheel. I haven't decided what to do for pulleys just yet since I only have an alternator and the AC pump to be driven off the main.











So, explaining what the injector pics are showing: The riser for the rail happened to seat perfectly into the injector adapter. I used that riser to tap the adapter into place. Once the o-ring made it into the boss, it went in smoothly. And I did not have to beat on it. Just some gentle tapping with a bit of spit-lube. ;-)

 

Today was dedicated to tearing the interior apart to install my new black carpet... and by new, I mean the shipping label said October of 2008. I was very fortunate that the carpet and batting had not been destroyed by vermin. Especially after it spent a year in a storage unit in a not so secure box. And years spent in multiple different garages.

New carpet, letting it recompose itself.



Found this during the teardown: dafuq?



The wifey and I made good progress today: Oh, this tan carpet will be for sale once I get the black one in and all ironed (not literally) out.



More to come as I start to be somewhat productive with my time out of a job.

 

That box is am amplifier for the stereo system iirc.

 

I was thinking it had something to do with the stereo after I saw the "Clarion" printed on its label. I just didn't realize how strung out the non-Bose system still is. Oh well, I guess it is time to plan for a different head unit. After removing the factory stuff, I don't really want to put it back.

I have been battling with my desire to leave things looking stock inside. And as such, I don't want a head unit that doesn't blend well. I currently have no really good ideas.

 

Good stuff in here!

 

I can't seem to find anything from nakamichi below the $500 threshold, which in my current state of joblessness means it will have to be a wishlist item for now. But they doo look like they would blend in decently.

Next step for me: Remove the dash. Then its carpet installation and cutting and hoping and all that stuff... And hopefully, no more gouging deep into my skin on stamped steel.

 

Update: Found out that my exhaust stud was definitely stripped. Searched online for a helicoil setup. Kept getting distracted by the "master sets" and complete kits" and realized I'm broke. Went the route of "Hey, can I borrow that?" and saved a bunch of money. Being laid off sucks the big one.

So here is the gist of the process.

The cause:


The fix:


THE SCARY PART!! A mistake in his process means my back-up plan of purchasing a "Big-sert." If that doesn't work, then Plan C is probably around $2200 total after labor. So, Being EXTRA careful.





Time to add the threads:





Cleaning as I go. Used a light cutting fluid to make the threads as smooth as possible.



Came out nicely.



Now for the insert:



I drilled so it would go about 1-2 turns past flush. I know the instructions only say to go .25-.50 turns past, but I wanted the stud depth to match the rest of he exhaust studs.



Breaking off the little piece of wire inside (this is part of the instructions, i promise)


All done!

 

I called around and O'Reilly has the best prices should I need to go purchase any different ones. I was just fortunate to borrow this setup to save on some cash.

I used a 13/32 drill bit for step 1, as per the instructions.



On a complete side-note:

I purchased this flywheel YEARS ago. (not quite as long ago as my carpet from 2008). I was told by Japan2LA that it was a FEED flywheel weighing around 11 lbs and that it had been resurfaced but not taken down enough to affect performance. Can anyone confirm that it is in fact a FEED flywheel?

 

Forgot to attach the images

 

Forgot to attach images

 

Attaching the rest of the images just in case something happens to photobucket.

 

From searching around, it looks like the flywheel is a pettit?
Pettit Racing

Either way, time to get some hardware and mount that thing up! I must have purchased this flywheel over 4 years ago. Time flies.

 

So, I keep finding parts I've purchased over the years. After selling my pineapple racing dual egt setup, I was a bit depressed about not having a way to monitor egts. Well, I hit the jackpot and found these in yet another bin of parts:



Purchase date in 2009, no wonder I forgot about them. lol. I can hardly remember what I had for lunch yesterday.

Time to start drilling and tapping the stock twins manifold. I also found the signal conditioners in the same bin. It look like I paid $35 each back in 2009, but they are now only $20 each at 3rd Brake Flasher.

Also, reading up on The Sensor Connection, I have found that they claim that shortening the lead from the sensor up to a few feet should not adversely affect the accuracy. That may or may not be useful depending on how I route everything.

 

So not to be a doomsayer but where did the chips and little tab you broke off end up? I'm too lazy to find a picture to see but best case it's in the oil pan and worst case it's in a coolant passage. How are you going to get them out?

 

I used a screw driver and a rag to clean the hole out. The tab came out easily on magnetic screwdriver tip. (Must br some high quality stainless :-P )

The stud hole does not come in contact with a coolant passage. It is an isolated bolt hole.

:-) no worries on the doomsaying. The answer is neither the oil pan or a coolant passage. The shavings and tab ended up in my garbage can.

 

Keeping with the them of drilling and tapping: Dual EGT install on stock twins:

Here is the reference picture I used, thank you to the forum member that originally posted it up. I believe it was Speed of Light iirc.



Chuck Norris is watching you!

 

Hopefully these last as long as others have had them last. Some have claimed in the 15k miles range. I have not finalized the depth of the probes yet, but there has to be a sweet spot of less restriction in the exhaust flow, whilst still getting a solid and accurate reading. Test fit is showing positive results so far, and I have access to a tube bender should I need to bend the rear sensor a bit more.

 

Found a stash of old pictures on an old computer I decided to fix recently. I remember getting a transmission in pieces when I purchased the car. Te previous owner had purchased probably $800 worth of new parts to rebuild the original transmission and had swapped in a replacement to do for the time being. Well, I ended up with boxes of parts and a factory service manual... and precisely ZERO experience with transmissions at the time. This was about 6 or so years ago. So, being the 22 year old that figured h had nothing to lose, I went to howstuffworks.com and read up on the basic principals. Then used the sop manual to start the assembly process.

It was actually the most memorable part of the process so far. I learned how the Mazda 5 speed actually works down to the little spring on the inside each hub side with the 3 keys and the synchros and everything. I ended up using the 5th/Reverse pairing afterwards to teach people the basic workings for a few years until I just paid a shop to finish the job. The good news is the shop owner said that the work I had complete was done correctly. If he only knew how ghetto I was doing things back then. But it was SO MUCH FUN! SO here are a few pics of my first project on my FD (aside from taking the engine out).

How the transmission was delivered to me. I am surprised at the number of boxes the original owner managed to get inside the FD without damaging the interior. It was a trick to get everything out. Yes, all the extras came inside the car.


Just one of the receipts with most of the transmission parts that came still in their Mazda packaging. He was really planning a complete overhaul.


I should have gotten pictures of this assembly process, but I didn't. I really wish I would have. Then you would have had some more to laugh at in my ghetto rigging practices with my Harbor Freight press. It was an awesome learning experience and a good way to get proficient with the FSM.


Getting ready to press some bearings in.


Needed something to block the end of the tube... at the time, I considered myself resourceful, now I consider that move "time to have another beer" worthy.


I still have that black toolbox too! Use it almost every day.

 

This is my grandparent's garage. It has undergone so many transformations and clean-outs since, its almost impressive. At the time, the garage I had rented at my apartment complex had to be emptied so they let me use their garage for 6 months. One catch, I had to clean up a spot to use. I have pictures of that mess too.



The drop off of parts. Still had to bring the tail housing... left that at home for some unknown or un-remembered reason.



And here's a shameless plug for the guy that did a great job of finishing my basket case of a transmission. When I called and asked if he would be willing to finish the assembly of a transmission and double check my work, he said "Oh, a basket case eh?" My response was "I'll bring in it two baskets if that helps"