Build thread

[speedjunkie]

On the way to Denver on Saturday I monitored air temps between the turbo inlet and at the UIM. Well, I tried to anyway. One of them was reading around 70-75F, the other was reading 11,792F lol. Initially I thought my calculations in the app were off, and I also had the sensors swapped. I thought it was the sensor at the UIM that wasn't reading correctly, but it was the turbo inlet sensor. And after some more digging I figured out what was wrong. Kinda needs an element in order to read. I just hope it didn't damage the turbo or engine.

2018-08-01_10-57-56 by Eric Jausel, on Flickr

The rear sway bars on the FDs came in three different sizes depending on the year, and I picked up a 93 sway bar (17.3mm) from Andy to try in place of my Racing Beat rear (19mm) to see if I can loosen the rear up a bit for more traction and so I don't slide into the turns so much. He told me to swap the bushings though because they were binding up. It looks like the ones that were on there are Energy Suspension 16mm bushings, so I've been looking for 17mm and I'm having a hard time finding some that will fit right. I've found some but they need to stand off from the body a bit to clear another part. Maybe I can shim them. I'm also going to pick up some bushings for the front and get the front bar powdercoated black. It's in pretty rough shape from all the rock chips and I was never a fan of the red anyway.

Andy also suggested getting some Duralast brake pads so it's harder to lock up the brakes on the track. I'm just afraid they won't grab enough on the street in a dire situation. But I'm either going to try that or drive the car a lot more and try to get used to the modulation on the Endless pads.

I've been using 20W50 oil and Lucas oil additive, on Jesse's suggestion, but I've always been concerned that it's too thick, especially considering my oil rarely gets hot enough to thin it out. Andy suggested using 0W30, he loves it. So I'm going to try that.

[RX-7 Chris]

When I did the sway bar bushings for my car, I actually contacted Energy Suspension and told them what size my sway bars were. They told me what parts number to order. The sway bar bushings on most cars are basically the same except for the bar size.

[speedjunkie]

Yeah that's what it looks like from the pics, looks like the outside is the same and it's just the inner diameter that's different. I ended up ordering a couple different ones. One was 17.5mm for an 05 Celica, another one that's basically 18mm that another guy said he ordered, and I ordered a 32mm for the front bar. And all the ones I ordered have zerk fittings so you can lube them while installed. But I'll have to relocate the zerks on the front bushings because they face straight down and that's already the lowest part of the car.

[speedjunkie]

I was able to get an air temp sensor local at NAPA and it works, but apparently it has a different resistance or something because somehow the air coming in is reading hotter than when it's going through the UIM. So I'll have to see if I can change some settings or just swap the inlet sensor to a Triumph one like the one in the UIM.

I ordered two different sets of bushings for the rear sway bars and neither fit. The Celica ones had the right ID but were too large on the outside. The others weren't even close because apparently the guy on facebook didn't read that I wanted them for the REAR bar and I didn't pay attention lol.

I tried to get Duralast pads for the car but they don't make ceramic pads for the front, and I got more comfortable with the Endless pads that are on the car during the last track day. And I got 0w40 synthetic oil to try, so we'll see how that goes lol.

I got the second and last part of the water injection harness the other day (to power the pump) and I finished installing it all tonight. We'll see if it works haha.

I got some new headlight bulbs to try to whiten and brighten them but they're only marginally better, so I'm still somewhat looking into doing a sleek light kit, as long as I don't have to cut metal.

I ordered a fan and switch for one of the oil coolers for when I'm sitting in traffic, so the switch will kick on the fan at 190F. I'll get another fan if I need to and if it'll fit properly. I also got a new thermostat for the oil coolers that will open at 185F because my Mocal isn't operating properly apparently. Adam Griffith suggested I get the thermostat from Improved Racing, so that's where I got it.

I swapped the CAT from Rotary Performance into the car and it smelled really bad at first, but seems to be fine now. And I reinstalled the charcoal canister but it's just venting to atmosphere, so hopefully that takes care of all the smells.

I pulled the engine to reseal the oil pan. Turns out the o-ring was cut in two places, and also it's not really an o-ring but a rubber cord that's stuck together at the ends. I messaged Len (Bacon Racing) to see if he had replacements and he said he'd send one but then he said that I was supposed to use sealant in addition to the o-ring, and I decided I didn't want to wait anyway. So I decided to use the sealant in the o-ring groove and let it dry, then put some more sealant around the edges, but I didn't wait long enough and installed it all still uncured. Unfortunately I feel like it's not actually going to seal, so I believe I'm going to redo it. I really don't want to have to pull the engine again just to seal the pan again.

I test fit the heat shielding on the LIM and turbo manifold and was surprised and pleased to discover that they both fit haha. This serves another purpose as apparently the exhaust gases are too hot for the ceramic coating because it's flaking off.
2018-08-13_09-59-16 by Eric Jausel, on Flickr

Since the engine was out I swapped the turbo gasket to a multi-layer one that I got from Grimmspeed. I didn't realize they had T4 gaskets as well, I use their 3" multi-layer gaskets on my exhaust and I love them. I'm swapping to IRP engine mounts to drop the engine back down so I don't have to use rags to protect the UIM lol. And I'm going to try to make the heat shield for the ignition coils this time. I've thought about getting the LIM and UIM port matched but I'm not sure it's worth it, so I decided to skip it, at least for now.

I dropped off the transmission to Precision Standard Transmissions today to see if they can figure out why it's leaking, and I took the other transmission that it's pieces so they can assemble that one too.

I noticed a drop of coolant on the radiator so I did a pressure test and it has a tiny leak, so I dropped it off at Matt's Radiators today and he said he'll try to fix it but he doesn't guarantee it'll work. So I might be buying a new radiator, yet again. This shit is getting old.

I have rigid collars to put between the subframes and the chassis and I test fit some of them on my old rear subframe to see which ones go where, and I'm a little disappointed because they still have some play. I'm not looking forward to installing them, but I suppose I'll try sometime soon haha.

I sent off the speedo and tach to Speedhut to get new gauge faces (removing the turbo rotor and putting RX-7 in the Mazda font on the tach) and adding cruise control support to the speedo. Hopefully it works. I'm thinking about simplifying the wiring and doing a couple 20 pin connectors.

I plan to pull the dash to investigate the AC issue, and also fiberglass the airbag pocket to clean it up. And I'm also going to install the new dash plastics, and I'll have to use filler and modify my door plastics to match the new ones, which are smooth 93 plastics.

I invited my Dad out to go to the First Saturday car show and Golden Super Cruise and then the track day next month, so now I have to have the car back on the road sooner than I'd planned. At least I have some more motivation now.

[Dwduc]

What day are you going to the track? I was thinking about going to the Emich one if I have my crap together by then, It is always a scary event, But can't beat the price.

[Shadowden]

When is Emich? I need to get out too. Kind of waiting for cooler days at this point, but also running out of days.

[speedjunkie]

I was talking about the PPIR Time Attack but I'd love to go to some other tracks. Is the Emich day at HPR?

[speedjunkie]

I resealed the oil pan again today, and I think it was more effective this time. I did the inner bead first, in the o-ring groove, and let it dry. Then did another bead between the bolt holes on the outside of the first bead and that one wasn't set all the way when I installed the pan. I really think it'll seal well this time though.
2018-08-14_09-48-24 by Eric Jausel, on Flickr

Unfortunately, this kinda bit me in the ass. Well, an old problem did. The one bolt hole for the engine mount has the first several rows of threads missing and I was using a long bolt for it to reach the threads further back, and it was working fine. I was torqueing it down tonight and the end threads on the bolt were messed up and it started to loosen up when it should have been torqueing. Ugh. I'm gonna see if I can get a new bolt tomorrow. I really hope it's not messed up for good. That's really gonna bother me having just the two bolts holding that mount on. It'll probably be fine, but I don't like it.
2018-08-14_09-47-52 by Eric Jausel, on Flickr

I'm about half way through making the heat shield for the coils too. I'd kinda like to fiberglass a duct to go up from the back of the coil pack to the vent on the hood so the air passing over the hood pulls out the warm air from the coils. I'm curious whether this shield will help or actually just hold heat in around the coils.

[Dwduc]

That motor mount bolt would worry me, I know you don't wanna pull the pan again but I would want to put a Timesert in there for peace of mind!

I thought your hood was an "Induction style" I guess it's been awhile since I saw it. I guess either way it would cool the coils weather it is pulling air out or pushing cool air in.

The Emich event is at HPR on Sept 23. It's $70 for the morning, $90 for afternoon, or $125 for full day. I'd like to go but there is so much going on at home I really don't know. If I can make it I will just do the morning sessions. It would be sweet to go chase you and Shadow around!

Have you actually done a track day at PPIR or just the autocross? I have heard some scary stories about the trackdays that make me feel it's not worth it for the cost. I think I would be afraid to push myself without a fully caged car and full safety gear. At least the first two turns, the rest doesn't scare me.

[speedjunkie]

Well it definitely doesn't make me happy, that's for sure. I'm going to ACE Hardware to find another bolt for it and maybe a tap to clean it out first. It's been kinda sketchy since the engine was built but it was ok because the bolt at least made contact with good threads. I don't remember if I torqued that one down when it was built. But I did torque it the other day when I first resealed the pan and it felt fine.

No the FEED hood has the two vents at the back. I thought about trying to run a duct to the coils but space is very limited.

I'll be checking into my dad's timeshare in Florida on Sept 23rd so that's a no go for me anyway. Sounds fun though. Seems like it's really hard to get a track day at HPR.

As far as I know the only track days at PPIR are the time attack/autox events. Those are the only ones I've done anyway. One last year and so far just one this year. But neither time did I feel it was dangerous.

[Dwduc]

The vents being at the back is what made me think it was an induction hood. They usually have the vents at the back to draw in high pressure air from where the windshield meets the hood.

HPR track days are easy to get, the Emich one just has extra allure with the low price so it's madness. They usually do 1 to 2 per month.

PPIR does full track days, the next one is Sept 2nd. If you decide to do one of those definitely let me know. I'll try to man-up and run with you! But I know I'll chicken out on the oval part for the first several sessions. That big ole wall is SCARY!

[speedjunkie]

Oh well then I'm not sure, maybe it is an induction hood lol. There's a lot I don't know about aero but I would figure the vents have air going out and not in. IDK

Sept 2nd is the next autox day, it's the first Sunday of every month. Although I think they've done other track days too recently and I know they've been doing classes too, which I'd also like to attend. I'm not trying to race around the outer track next to the wall, screw that lol.

I got a bolt to tighten down in the engine mount hole, but it's not torqued. I'm afraid to try to torque it down haha, but it's pretty tight still. I'm going to borrow a cleaning tap and get a time sert from Brad and see if I can fix this.

I finished the heat shield for the coils, although now I'm thinking about changing it. I was thinking maybe having the shield as close as it is will hold heat in instead of blocking it from the engine, and if I made a piece to rest over the top of the engine it would leave the heat sinks on the coils open more to air and also block the heat from the harness. The harness runs right behind where the shield is so with the shield there the harness is still exposed.
2018-08-17_11-34-26 by Eric Jausel, on Flickr
2018-08-17_11-33-15 by Eric Jausel, on Flickr
2018-08-17_11-33-53 by Eric Jausel, on Flickr

[speedjunkie]

I made another heat shield to cover over the engine to block as much heat as possible. It turned out pretty nice, but now I'm wondering if I should scratch using the first one I made the other day and just do another small strip to cover the distance between the new shield and the coil bracket.
2018-08-18_10-03-48 by Eric Jausel, on Flickr
2018-08-18_10-04-16 by Eric Jausel, on Flickr
2018-08-18_10-04-38 by Eric Jausel, on Flickr

There's a good bit more space above the coil heat shield than I thought there would be. So maybe it wouldn't hold heat in afterall.
2018-08-18_10-04-56 by Eric Jausel, on Flickr

I tried installing the fuel collector box today, unsuccessfully. It's not big enough to fit the pre-filters on the pumps.
2018-08-18_10-05-36 by Eric Jausel, on Flickr

I pulled the racing seat out and decided to use some expanding foam in a Ziploc bag under the center console because it's cracked from me putting pressure on it to get out of the car. I just hope it doesn't expand too much and make a mess in the car. And I hope it works, but after trying to use the foam for the oil cooler ducts, I'm not holding my breath haha. But I'll be putting in the new center console and I don't want it to meet the same fate, so I'm going to use the foam if it works and also fiberglass the shit outta the underside of the console.

I pulled the Racing Beat rear sway bar to put Andy's in but I need to get a bigger drill bit to ream out the bushings to fit the stock bar.

I'm going to pull the rear brakes off and put some shims on them to try to get rid of the groaning noise I get during light braking. I left them off before because they wouldn't fit with the powder coating and I didn't want to grind it off just to fit the shims, but I think that's where the noise is coming from. And I noticed that all the bolts and other pieces in the suspension arms have surface rust, so I'm going to blast them again and probably get them cadmium coated. I got other stuff nickel plated before and it's OK, but I'm wondering if cadmium plating will be more durable. I don't think I got these bolts plated or anything last time, I think I just sand blasted them, which in hindsight was idiotic haha.

[speedjunkie]

I checked out the expanding foam in the Ziploc bag...I don't know why I even try messing around with the expanding foam, it's let me down twice now. Didn't work worth a shit, so I'm just going to fiberglass the shit out of the underside of the console, hopefully that will help. And maybe put a piece of foam under there too.

Dave brought down the cleaning tap and helicoils from Brad today, so I fixed the bolt hole for the engine mount and the one on the bottom side of the car, although the one on the car is still a bit sketchy. I couldn't get the tang to snap off of the coil and when I turned a bolt into the hole the coil went in further. I think it'll still work though. We'll see.

I finished reaming out the sway bar bushings for the rear bar and installed it. Now after talking to Andy I'm planning on swapping the stock front bar back in too. But I only have one bushing and I'm not sure I can find the right sizes, and I need to get the brackets from Andy too.

[speedjunkie]

I've been working like crazy on the car the past several days and I can't fully remember what I'll I've done. I've run into a few different issues that are holding up progress.

I went through the engine bay cleaning, touching up paint, putting new heat barrier where it needed to be, etc. I started swapping out the oil cooler thermostat but I'm waiting to put the engine back in before I make the mounting plate for it. I need to grind the turbo compressor housing a little bit because I think it's been hitting near the strut tower.

The radiator shop (Matt's Radiator, great shop) wasn't able to fix the leaks so he didn't charge me, but I gave him some money anyway since he spent a good bit of time on it and it's hard to find good people/shops like that. So now I'm on the hunt for a new radiator and this is the third one that has failed since about 2008. Well, the second one I guess since the first replacement from 7store was drilled through the core when they modified it for V mount. I'm thinking of getting a custom one made from AFCO or Ron Davis or something, but I'm not sure how long that will take and if it will be worth it.

I started installing the rigid collars on the front subframe and one of the alignment studs came out with the nut but I soaked it in something like PB Blaster overnight and it worked. Both bolts for the front subframe had some rust on them at the base so I sand blasted those along with the other suspension and brake caliper bolts and brackets at Fort Carson auto hobby shop and I rushed to get to Ximpak to drop them off before they closed, and the lady said the electroless nickel plating wouldn't hold up on the bolt heads so I'm going to call Colorado Cadmium Plating to see how much that will cost. I believe they bolts come cadmium plated from the factory, so I figure that should work.

Andy doesn't have the sway bar brackets so I'll be buying those, I'm going to polish all the drive pulleys again, and I replaced the small hoses on the catch can because they were nasty and brittle.

The fan for the oil cooler came with a bracket that's way too small for the cooler, and it's a 5" diameter fan so I'll either be making a bracket for it or getting a larger fan and trying to use the bolt holes on the oil cooler mounting brackets.

I ordered some connectors from Corsa-Technic again so I can make a little harness for the grounds on each housing, that way I don't have to remove the coils every time I pull the engine.

I replaced the steering rack bushings since I got them with the kit a couple years ago. I'm not sure how I was able to do it before with the engine and everything in haha. And I put the shims on the rear brake brackets so hopefully that will get rid of the groaning noise I sometimes get at stops.

I feel like I'm forgetting a lot of things I did, but this is already way long. Oh, I also almost finished the smoke tester. I just need to JB Weld the soldering iron into the lid and add the sock and oil.