TitaniumTT's I hope I make it to DGRR '09 Build [Archive]

TitaniumTT

03-07-2009, 10:36 PM

Just like the title says, I hope I can get my Most Ungrateful Mistress done in time to make it to DGRR '09

She started life as an '88 SE and for the last 25 months I've been working on a 13B-RE swap with REW sequential twins, Motec M820, AIM dash, dual Mocal Oil Coolers, HMIC w/name brand that I won't name i-cooler, Griffin Rad, Exedy Twin Disc Clutch, Stance c/o's, KVR brakes, R/B sways with MT adjustable links, Corbeau seats, harness's, rollbar, custom 3-point strut tower bar w/engine torque brace, custom lower arm bar, custom rear bar, custom this custom that, etc etc etc...... basically I built more parts for this car than Mazda did at this point.

About 6 weeks ago she came to life for the first time. She lived an amazing 4.5 hours before the motor blew. The motor in question was an import that had been rebuilt before it was imported. Had REW housings and sleeves, but was still stock ported. The motor arrived about 5 years ago when someone bought it. They let it sit in thier basement for a year before selling it. The kid who bought it let it sit in his garage for a year before selling it to me. I let it sit in my garage for a year before I started working on this project, which has taken me over 2 years at this point. Every once in a while I would pour a little oil into the spark plug holes and rotate her over by hand. The seals sounded good and when I tested the compression on the bench I got 105F/107R. I decided to leave the motor alone. BIG mistake. One of the side seals was carbon locked and after enough heat cycles it must have cracked and let loose. When pulling the blown motor apart a good chunk of side seal was missing. The first apex seal in rotation was 90% gone, the second cracked, and the third just barely pinned down. The front face of the front rotor had all the side/corner seals pinned completely down and LOCKED tighter than a virgin.

Regardless, I bought a second motor that wasn't what I thought it was, neither did the original owner. Shop will remain un-named but you know who you are :suspect: So I had to get a set of S5 n/a housings to complete that motor as well. Does it end? We hope so, with DGRR! So, what's left to do..... lets see I need to

Finish painting the front and rear bumpers (hopefully early sunday morning they'll be done, the primer surfacer is kicking as I type..
work and paint FR fender, all molding, engine bay, subframe, motor, trans, various bracings
Powder coat EVERYTHING under the hood including ducting, HMIC "frame" mis brackets, tanks, links, bars etc, waterpump assemblies :rolleyes: alternators, TB brackets, engine mounts, etc etc
Finish the un-named shops porting, port the S5 housings,
rebuild the motor,
build a new 2-stroke tank
install the motor,
mount and align fenders, bumpers, hood
re-work the down-pipe
finish the exhaust tips
Build a belly pan
put the interior back together
break the motor in
cornerbalance the car
refinish the BBS RII's that I'm getting
Dropvent and work/paint the hood.
and the most difficult part is going to be registering said most ungrateful Mistress. The wonderful state of CT took my registration check in 11/07, cashed it, but then denied registration because I hadn't passed emmisions.... The car was running while they were "transitioning" from a state inspection to local shop inspections. The toughest part is going to be getting through that. Anyone know of any friendly shops in CT?

So, what's the countdown? 37 days to go..... yikes. 1 more hour and I can block the surfacer so hopefully tomorrow one thing can get crossed of the list. Some pics in the meantime. Oh ClassicAuto - I'll snap a pick of what I did to the fender to mount the bumper after our convo. Looks pretty sexy, mainly becuase it can't be seen. The front bumper....... ugh, total tally was about 12 hours of working it to make it right. Lemme know what you think when you see the finished product in person ;)

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4580&stc=1&d=1236483745

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4581&stc=1&d=1236483745

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4582&stc=1&d=1236483745

vex

03-07-2009, 10:47 PM

I'm so glad you made it over here! I see you also got the projector headlights! Love to see more shots of your project.

TitaniumTT

03-08-2009, 08:12 PM

Oh there will be more pics, I promise you that. So, onto yesterdays and this mornings activities.

There were some "issues" with painting last night. Bottom line, I finished at 7:15 am this morning. It looks good. The color seems a little off at certain angles. I didn't have the bumper at the perfect angle to the hood/fender when I painted it so the mettalic may have layed differently. I'm waiting till I cut and buff to make a final decision. Also seeing it in natural sunlight will make a huge difference. Note to the home painter - do NOT play with your dogs during flash times. ESPECIALLY if your dog is a husky who just started blowing his winter coat. Somehow a piece of hair managed to get right smack in the middle of the rear bumper. Took a while to tack, sand and recoat. Lucky for him he's a good dog.

Anywho - shiny new painted bumper

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4603&stc=1&d=1236561527

With some careful measuring, in bolt is all you need to keep the bumpercover secure

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4604&stc=1&d=1236561527

Joe, here's what I came up with. 14ga stainless with a flange nut welded on the inside welded to the fender. All the bolts/nuts are easy access. Bumper comes off in about 5 minutes.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4605&stc=1&d=1236561527

Nothing else done today. Took a 2 hour nap before heading to MSG for a Bruins game..... fender and molding tomorrow hopefully.

prrex4ever

03-08-2009, 08:14 PM

Good work, props. Like the paint.

vex

03-09-2009, 11:41 PM

Are those the turbos you're going to use for the sequential?

TitaniumTT

03-10-2009, 05:19 AM

The brandy new cartridge in the box on the left is going to be the new primary. The one in the center is going to get a thourough cleaning and be reused. The one on the right is going to go on the Wall of Destruction. It was the original primary turbo that was already damaged, and damaged even more severely when the pieces of apex seal passed through it at ~10psi.

I was hoping to have the motor assembled before I started all the body work but parts delays left me with the choice of do nothing, or get everything dusty. Seeing as how everything needed to be hard-core cleaned anyway, I opted to make some dust.

classicauto

03-10-2009, 08:08 AM

Nice looking brackets!!

I'll be sure to give you an opinion on the bumper. I will also gladly disect the job I did on my own for you! :lol:

Can't wait, getting close! I've still got a bunch to do as well. But it'll come together once I get my front cover back from machining (big hold up at this point)

Keep it up!!

TitaniumTT

03-11-2009, 11:53 PM

Nice looking brackets!!

I'll be sure to give you an opinion on the bumper. I will also gladly disect the job I did on my own for you! :lol:

Thanks Joe! Yeah I think the bumper may get a re-shoot time permitting. I realized this morning what happened. My "issue" took about two hours to resolve. It was 5 in the morning and it slipped my mind to stir the cup before going for the final coat of base. I think some of the darker colors rose to the top from sitting for so damn long and that's why it's just a **** hair off in shade. What I'll end up doing though is cutting and buffing it and looking at it in direct sunlight. If it looks good in the sun, it'll stay, otherwise, re-coat.

Can't wait, getting close! I've still got a bunch to do as well. But it'll come together once I get my front cover back from machining (big hold up at this point)

Keep it up!!

Yeah it is. How is that front cover coming along? Hell of an idea doing it that way.

Update: Not much done in the last 2 days. Prepped and primed the damaged fender tongiht. Hope to get the molding and the fender worked and painted tomorrow....... err today at this point. Still on sched for the big engine bay shoot Saturday, and engine build next Saturday.

Whizbang

03-11-2009, 11:56 PM

love the color used on the bumper. what is it?

speedjunkie

03-12-2009, 06:07 AM

Man that's looking good!! Nice work! I agree, that color rocks!

TitaniumTT

03-12-2009, 08:35 AM

Thanks guys. Color is Lotus B98 - Storm Titaniumt Mettalic. But if you remember back in '04 the Elise in that color had a brown undertone, I used a different clear than what Lotus called for which took the brown out. Wouldn't you know, like a year or 2 later, Lotus copied me, bastards. I don't know if its the light or the paint being slightly off, but it just doesn't look right in that pic, lemme link another. Tell me if this doesn't work

http://forum.teamfc3s.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=38035&d=1173920962

TitaniumTT

03-12-2009, 09:41 PM

S5 molding officially sucks balls. Bought used and the guy who took it off didn't care about the clips in the back. Being plastic and hollow they were creased beyod belief. Spent the last 4 hours applying filler and blocking. I'm now officially behind schedule by a day - $*&%^! Now I need to wake up early tomorrow and prime & surface before work, so I can base/clear when I get home so I don't loose another day ...... damnit.

Max777

03-12-2009, 10:10 PM

Phoenix7

03-12-2009, 10:25 PM

Looking good man, love the color.

You HAVE to show us how you made that front brace!

TitaniumTT

03-13-2009, 09:08 AM

that sucks about the idiot who sold you the moldings.

however, how do you attach them to the S4 car with the clips anyway? I thought most people just cut the clips off, and glued the molding like the factory S4 pieces?

Or did you plan to cut holes in the bodywork to fit the clips?

Infront of the front wheel and behind the rear wheel the clips are still good. All the other pieces I took the clips out and found some 30 Mil body molding adhesive that I'll be using to affix the molding to the body - circa S4 style

TitaniumTT

03-13-2009, 09:09 AM

Looking good man, love the color.

You HAVE to show us how you made that front brace!

Which front brace? The one that the i-cooler and rad mount to or the one that supports the bumper and the the horns mount to?

rotarybeat1287

03-15-2009, 10:16 PM

If this car makes it to DGRR '09 then my shutter button on the D80 is going to melt off. haha.

TitaniumTT

03-16-2009, 10:24 PM

If this car makes it to DGRR '09 then my shutter button on the D80 is going to melt off. haha.

Lol - thanks. We'll see. This weekend is kinda do or die. I got alot done last weekend and am cranking as much as I can during the week so we'll see. Over the weekend I started off with the S5 molding wall of shame..... Still pissed that I actually paid $$ for this crap. More than likey when I have the time I'm going to buy new door moldings. THe other moldings aren't hollow so they're a little stronger and easily workable, but the door moldings are so long and flimsy, the putty ends up being stronger than the plastic and when you try to block it down, it doesn't block so well.... oh well,

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4730&stc=1&d=1237260747

And this is what I finished with, I can live with it for the time being

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4731&stc=1&d=1237260747

The fender got a few dings from being shuffled around for two years. Same fender, same corner of the garage, you'f think I'd learn..... hopefully I have

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4732&stc=1&d=1237260747

Interior........ it was complete on Saturday morning, now it's in shambles. A few things to tidy up behind the dash as well as install the ducting. Also has to get the pad off so I could finish up some welding, and most of it had to come away to pain the bay.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4733&stc=1&d=1237260747

Ah the bay............ just need a little more prep and she's all set. I welded up all the unneeded holes on the firewall, closed off the AC holes becuase that won't be going back in. Cut alot of stuff off that wasn't really needed tonight with the plasma and welded it all up. With any luck I'll be able to finish the prep tomorrow and get everything taped off and paint first thing Wed before work.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4734&stc=1&d=1237260747

Still need to finish the porting on the irons and start and finish the housings..... and then paint the engine and tranny, powdercoat some misc stuff......damn.... lots left to do....

vex

03-16-2009, 11:24 PM

I really need to learn how to weld. This is getting a little ridiculous. You supply me with no shortage of envy at all your many skills.

WE3RX7

03-17-2009, 12:17 PM

This build is fantastic. I'm a little jealous that yet ANOTHER RE FC build is underway, lol... but its all good.

Is that the shine front bumper? I was planning to use the same one on my build and I really like what you did for the oil coolers. I'm going conventional FMIC though, so not sure it'd work out so well.... but there's time to change ;)

I'd come to DGRR just to see this car by itself! Great work... and good luck...

TitaniumTT

03-17-2009, 12:54 PM

I really need to learn how to weld. This is getting a little ridiculous. You supply me with no shortage of envy at all your many skills.

Thanks. Welding is an awesome skill to know. Between that and fiberglassing, there really isn't anything that one can't build. It's expensive to start. My MIG has already paid for itself 5 times over with some side jobs that I landed, my TIG on the otherhand..... not so lucky and 3x the price.

TitaniumTT

03-17-2009, 12:59 PM

This build is fantastic. I'm a little jealous that yet ANOTHER RE FC build is underway, lol... but its all good.

Thanks, It's been underway for about 3 years now. This is the last huge push to get her done though. Hopefully I'll have her fired by the end of the weekend. We'll see though.

Is that the shine front bumper? I was planning to use the same one on my build and I really like what you did for the oil coolers. I'm going conventional FMIC though, so not sure it'd work out so well.... but there's time to change ;)

I'd come to DGRR just to see this car by itself! Great work... and good luck...

Yeah it is the shine front bumper. It looks great but I was honestly a little dissapointed with it. There were a ton of waves that needed to be worked out. I spent a HUGE amount of time on it and there are still 2 places that I'm not entirely thrilled with. You can't see it in the pics as you need to catch the light just right to see them, but they're there.

I don't see why the dual oil coolers wouldn't work with a front mount. When i start assembling I'll take some pics and show you what I mean. I think it would work out just fine. It's the support bar that I built that would screw everything up.

UPDATE - got the car into the "Annex" this morning. Will finish the prep & tape tonight and hopefully spray the bay tomorrow morning before work. This week is going too fast, Time will tell.

vex

03-17-2009, 02:25 PM

Thanks. Welding is an awesome skill to know. Between that and fiberglassing, there really isn't anything that one can't build. It's expensive to start. My MIG has already paid for itself 5 times over with some side jobs that I landed, my TIG on the otherhand..... not so lucky and 3x the price.

I was looking at some TIG welders. I'm really liking the price of the econo tig. It's about twice as expensive as a cheap MIG but you get a lot more versatility than the mig

TitaniumTT

03-17-2009, 03:06 PM

WE3RX7

03-17-2009, 03:32 PM

I have the shine fenders and they look pretty good, although they'll need some prep.

I'm concerned on the FMIC because of where the pipes connect to the end tanks. I havent got it welded up yet though so some creativity would come in play.

I'll look forward to your pics when you get the HMIC setup. Very inspiring though...

vex

03-17-2009, 04:25 PM

I was told to stay away from the Econo-TIG. While it has some of the needed fuctions, it's just not as nice or compact, exact etc etc. I went for the Sync 200 Roller. Love it. The "balance" for one is something that I didn't think that I would be using all that much but I constantly find myself adjusting it. The Pulser is something else that was nice to have in the beginning. Set it really low and it helped get a rythm going. Make sure you have suffiecent Amps though. My last house only had a 30A wall socket so I couldn't run over ~110 amps without fear of popping the breaker. Now I have a 60A and can use more adequate amps. Subsequently my welds got a lot nicer on 1/8"+

I've heard it both ways. For my ability I think the Ecnotig is going to be about as expensive as I'll look (1200-1300) and that's about as cheap as TIG's go. I think for just learning on and getting able to weld correctly it will fit my bill perfectly (considering it's extremely similar to brazing). I would like to practice and weld aluminum and get very good at welding that. Steel seems to be a bit more forgiving. We'll see though.

Roen

03-17-2009, 10:03 PM

Boo for losing the two tone of the S4 moldings.

TitaniumTT

03-17-2009, 10:33 PM

I've heard it both ways. For my ability I think the Ecnotig is going to be about as expensive as I'll look (1200-1300) and that's about as cheap as TIG's go. I think for just learning on and getting able to weld correctly it will fit my bill perfectly (considering it's extremely similar to brazing). I would like to practice and weld aluminum and get very good at welding that. Steel seems to be a bit more forgiving. We'll see though.

Steel yes, stainless no. I've TIG SOOOO much more AL than steel or stainless though that my TIG steel welds look like cripe. My MIG stainless weld look more like TIG welds though. I dunno man, I'd rather buy something that I can grow into rather than out of. I have a good friend with a Lincoln 175 but it doesn't do 1/4" :scratch: I don't get it either, anyway..... there have been times when we needed to use my MillerMatic 175 becuase it will do 1/4" cleanly sooooooo, yeah. I'd rather go bigger and grow into it than buy something that I grow out of. I wrestled with this ALOT when I bought my Plasma cutter. I ended up with the Hypertherm 35 becuase well, it'll cut what I can weld. Haven't run into an instance where it hasn't been sufficient but I'm always worrying that I will. Probably becuase it's the smallest they make. But, I've cut 3/8" with it.

Boo for losing the two tone of the S4 moldings.

Boooooooo nothing. Wait till you see what I did with the ass of the car.... err what I'll be doing tomorrow. & hey, if I don't like it, I two-tone it one day. The worst part of it, and the main reason I did it was becuase of the vent in the nose. There is no clean way of breaking that line for the mettalic black that the molding was.

Update - Cocked and loaded for spraying the bay tomorrow morning. Should have some pics up tomorrow night if I can get the porting done that I want to.

vex

03-17-2009, 10:41 PM

Steel yes, stainless no. I've TIG SOOOO much more AL than steel or stainless though that my TIG steel welds look like cripe. My MIG stainless weld look more like TIG welds though. I dunno man, I'd rather buy something that I can grow into rather than out of. I have a good friend with a Lincoln 175 but it doesn't do 1/4" :scratch: I don't get it either, anyway..... there have been times when we needed to use my MillerMatic 175 becuase it will do 1/4" cleanly sooooooo, yeah. I'd rather go bigger and grow into it than buy something that I grow out of. I wrestled with this ALOT when I bought my Plasma cutter. I ended up with the Hypertherm 35 becuase well, it'll cut what I can weld. Haven't run into an instance where it hasn't been sufficient but I'm always worrying that I will. Probably becuase it's the smallest they make. But, I've cut 3/8" with it.

Not to derail your thread or anything, but I've been looking more and more into it. I really like the stats for the dynasty 200, but when I started doing more digging into tig welders I came acroos the longevity-inc.com welders. They seem to have an All in one TIG that also doubles as a Plasma cutter. Here's a link:
http://www.longevity-inc.com/product_details.php?id=24

I've never heard of them before, but I'd like your opinion on it. It seems like a steal of a price for a TIG & Plasma. But if it's low quality or not something I'd be able to benefit from I may pass over it. I honestly don't see me welding anything bigger than a 1/4" right now. But I'd like to know your opinion.

Roen

03-17-2009, 10:41 PM

The phone pwns you.

TitaniumTT

03-18-2009, 08:16 AM

Not to derail your thread or anything, but I've been looking more and more into it. I really like the stats for the dynasty 200, but when I started doing more digging into tig welders I came acroos the longevity-inc.com welders. They seem to have an All in one TIG that also doubles as a Plasma cutter. Here's a link:
http://www.longevity-inc.com/product_details.php?id=24

I've never heard of them before, but I'd like your opinion on it. It seems like a steal of a price for a TIG & Plasma. But if it's low quality or not something I'd be able to benefit from I may pass over it. I honestly don't see me welding anything bigger than a 1/4" right now. But I'd like to know your opinion.

I would stay away from any multi function machine like that. Especially one as cheap as that. Did you read the warranty? limited 3 yr where you pay all the shipping after 30 days. Doesn't exactly sound like a company that stands behind thier product. Miller has a what? 5 yr warranty?
The dynasty's are expensive and ridiculoulsy flexible, to much for anything that I would do. I still say sync>econtig. Maybe used?

The phone pwns you.

No the shower does, I'll call ya later. When are you back?

Roen

03-18-2009, 01:33 PM

Saturday AM. Gone Wednesday PM.

JShiz

03-18-2009, 04:38 PM

fap. fap. fap. i need to learn how to fiberglass...

Roen

03-21-2009, 01:41 AM

the phone pwns you again.

TitaniumTT

03-22-2009, 12:43 AM

fap. fap. fap. i need to learn how to fiberglass...

Fiberglassing is fun, between that and welding, there really isn't anything that you can't build..... add a CNC mill as well and sky's the limit.

the phone pwns you again.

Normally I'd say, "LOOK AT THE FRICKEIN TIME," but I was actually painting.......... until 6 in the morning.

So it looks like the "Do or Die Weekend," turns out to be a die... two things. I had my oil pump machined and it didn't show up on time. Can't finish the long block until Monday night at the earliest. The bigger dissapointment is DAVE GIBSON'S ENGINE BUILDING ABILITIES. Short story on how I came upon this motor. Someone spent 7 years and $25,000 on an FC project which included a Dave Gibson built, ported, REW ported housings, cryo treated bearings, etc etc etc. The straw in his project was when the motor seized after 25 minutes of idle. S6 thrust plates/bearing in an S4/5/cosmo stat gear = spun the main bearing, toasted the needles/thrust, ate the stat gear and cooked the e-shaft. Everything internally was is great shape, or so I thought. Even if I got a few plates, a rotor and a pair of housings out of it I would be happy. So $500 later and it's mine. Whats wrong with it, or what was wrong with it
I had to finish the intake porting, no polish, looked like he stopped after the stone and the ports themselves leave something to be desired.
RE housing, RE sleeves.. RE SLEEVES for a GT42 turbo
Non-coated bearings
& I guess tolerances don't mean shit for side seals, some were .03mm, others as high as .25mm. After a 6 hour marathon game of musical side seals and pulling some from the other blown Cosmo and from the n/a that I pulled apart, all but two are within .08-.05mm, 1 @ .1 and the last @ .15mm. I can live with that. The bottom line though is that not ONE of the seals that I took out I reused in thier original slot. Some I discarded all together. They either looked like they were clearanced with a bench grinder, had multiple angles on the seals, one was even missing a piece and it was on the housing side, not the spring side. How some people get decent reps is beyond me. I may actually start a seperate thread with pics of these seals, that's how disgusted I am.
So after sourcing a replacement set of housings and porting them, finishing the porting on the intake, re-clearancing all the seals, the motor is finally ready to be stacked, first thing tomorrow.

Some pic since the last update -

Fresh new engine bay - still wet - yummy

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4772&stc=1&d=1237701211

Shop cleanup day - the FC gets a little sun

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4773&stc=1&d=1237701211

Back inside and reassembly begins.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4774&stc=1&d=1237701211

I swear, engines are much more compact when they're assembled. Worst part is, that's not all the pieces either. I had everything ceramic coated in 3600* flat black. I for one can't wait to see it assembled

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4775&stc=1&d=1237701211

One more pic.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4776&stc=1&d=1237701211

vex

03-22-2009, 01:53 AM

Sucks to hear about your engine. I hope you get 'er put together and running on monday! Do it!

TitaniumTT

03-22-2009, 09:06 AM

I should have a shortblock today, longblock Monday, maybe in the car Tuesday. I still have alot of little things to powdercoat and paint before the engine actually starts. I have some big things to powdercoat as well. I bought a piece of 2'x8' sheet steel to make an extension on my over to hopefully get the bigger pieces in. We'll see. If shes running by the end of the week, I'll be happy

WE3RX7

03-23-2009, 10:28 AM

That sucks man! Another reason why I am rebuilding my own engines from now on. You just cant trust another builder, regardless of reputation.

Hope the rest of the stack goes well! Good luck!

Trots*88TII-AE*

03-24-2009, 12:17 AM

Looking good B. I'm sure you'll have it all back together soon enough.

classicauto

03-24-2009, 08:33 AM

Funny you mention Dave gibson engines.

I've seen a couple of plates he layed his "rotary air flow engingeering" degree on. Face, meet palm.

TitaniumTT

03-24-2009, 09:57 AM

That sucks man! Another reason why I am rebuilding my own engines from now on. You just cant trust another builder, regardless of reputation.

Hope the rest of the stack goes well! Good luck!

No you really can't. I have a friend who knows Gibson personally. I called her up to ask her opinion of his engine building skillz...... she didn't lie. But she choose her words carefully. Regardless, it was still the cheapest way to get this thing back together. And now I have a NEAR PERFECT set of RE Housings to sell too.... any takers?

The rest of the stack went..... meh. I had to do the front rotor twice because the assist piece kept breaking. I figured out the trick though,
take a piece of release tin foil and place on a flat surface.
apply glue
put pieces together
fold foil over apex seal and place a thin piece of sheet metal over joint
hold everything tightly for 60 seconds
peel foil off
using a razor, shave the glue away.

Then on the rear rotor I was removing a corner seal to set the apex springs in. The seal popped out and fell into a cooling passage :banghead: I got lucky and was able to retrieve it with a magnet. The last corner seal I pulled out with a magnet, as I will be doing for the rest of my life.

So the stacking went ok, but assembling everything has been slow and painfull. Everything being ceramic coated I'm chasing everyt thread and last night broke a tap in the turbine housing..... oh I was pissed. So now I've got a date at a machine shop later today.

Looking good B. I'm sure you'll have it all back together soon enough.

Thanks T, looks like I had to order a few more little pieces that won't be here until Thursday. So I'm going to assemble everything I can and hopefully get it in the car Thursday night. Hopefully fired Friday, cruising around over the weekend.

TitaniumTT

03-24-2009, 10:19 AM

Funny you mention Dave gibson engines.

I've seen a couple of plates he layed his "rotary air flow engingeering" degree on. Face, meet palm.

What exactely was wrong with them? The shape of the ports, more exactely the "tips" weren't radiused much more than stock. They were cleaned up slightly, but nothing drastic. The finish on the ports looked like was just stoned, something that I really don't do alot of, most of my porting starts with a cutting bit, then I feather it in as much as possible, sometimes not even a single pass with a stone before going to the sandpaper rolls. WHen cleaning up Gibsons work, I used some med grit rolls and then alot of work with "the flapper". In my experience the flapper does a very good job of finishing off the port, especially where it meets the plate surface. It's slow going without a doubt, but it's always easier to take more material off than add some in :rofl:

Anyway, a few shots from the stacking adventures on Sunday

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4813&stc=1&d=1237908524

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4814&stc=1&d=1237908524

My newly acquired S5 n/a housings that I ported and swapped the sleeves on

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4815&stc=1&d=1237908524

The rear plate needed ALOT of work. Probably a good 45 minutes worth of clean up, here's the result though

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4816&stc=1&d=1237908524

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4817&stc=1&d=1237908524

TitaniumTT

03-24-2009, 10:33 AM

The SLOW process of re-assembly begins

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4821&stc=1&d=1237909447

MMMMMMMMMMMM, ceramic coated goodies

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4822&stc=1&d=1237909447

And that'll do it for tonight. Need to powdercoat the waterpump ASSEMBLY as well as build a new 2-stroke tank. Chadwicks idler was bigger than I though and now my tank no fit no more. Nothing against the idler, its a beautiful piece, just slightly bigger than I thought it would be. Not a big deal though, perfect excuse to build a new tank, bigger and better fitting. The old one left something to be desired anyway, good excuse I guess. This will actually be the third tank..... I still don't know why things take me so long :rofl:

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4823&stc=1&d=1237909447

vex

03-24-2009, 10:59 AM

classicauto

03-24-2009, 10:59 AM

WE3RX7

03-24-2009, 12:10 PM

The ports on your block look really great now! Nice build!

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you on a sure first-start attempt!

TitaniumTT

03-24-2009, 12:26 PM

Sounds like your engine adventures went a lot smoother than mine. I'm trying to figure out if I want to buy a pressure tester or build one from lowes/homedepot. For some reason I have 1 inner coolant o-ring left over. It's causing me to second guess my work so I'm going to pressure test the coolant passages to see if I did remember to install all the o-rings or if I just screwed up somewhere and forgot one o-ring. Honestly I don't think I screwed up but it's causing me enough doubt that I want to make sure. The funny thing is, I installed all the Outer rings--so I can't think of any reason why I would suddenly skip installing an inner ring since I do them both at the same time (outer and inner).

Ouch, sorry man. I hate to say it but I wouldn't chance it, I'd pull it apart. You're talking about the gas seals right? The orange ones? If you know you started with the right amount, I wouldn't waste the time with a tester. It may hold during the test but once combustion pressures start, I doubt vaseline and holymar will hold it. I'd just be safe and crack the thing open.

The ports on your block look really great now! Nice build!

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you on a sure first-start attempt!

Thanks. I'm satisfied with the intakes, and really happy with my exhaust ports. I haven't needed to port anything in years so I practiced on a pair of junk housings. Like riding a bike though, by the time I got to the one pictured, it was my third attempt.

TitaniumTT

03-24-2009, 12:29 PM

Sexy stuff man!

The ports I saw of dave's (no pics, although the guy who has the plates may...) was basically this. Picture a stock primary port, and monster street port on it. Now, instead of actually PORTING the runner and bowl to its new larger shape - you simply taper from the street port back into the stock port............yeah, seriously. I thought he was shitting me because I've seen some weird stuff, but that was a whole new level.

(The plates were out of their silver "800whatever-HP" widebody FC that barely even started)

Seriously, that's what these pretty much looked like. The secondary ports are really just smoothed and feathered almost stock ports, which in all honesty is what I was looking for. I don't want big ports, I want a civilized 400RWHP. THe primary ports though, are probably just like the ones you're referring to, the angle to the plate at the tip is pretty abrubt. I would have to do some SERIOUS cutting to make it the way I would really want but then the port itself would be huge, so eff it. I cleaned it up the best I could and we'll see what it does.

The trailing edge of the port is pretty much the inverse of this port

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg113/Charlies7/Mazda%20-%20Spring%2009/DSC03421.jpg

David Jerome porting stolen from Charlies thread

TitaniumTT

03-24-2009, 12:30 PM

Alright, I'm off to the hydraulic shop for some goodies :D

Max777

03-24-2009, 01:07 PM

Damn, T! How long have you been aaround rotaries to get to this level of build quality? It looks like there is lots more for me to learn yet, your work looks simply amazing!

TitaniumTT

03-24-2009, 01:20 PM

Thanks Max.

12 years....... 12 years with rotaries. I bought this car when I was 18.

Sad part is I've only driven her about 1,300 miles in the last 5 years. 2 years to paint, drove 1,207 miles in the year she was on the road, then Feb 2007 she came off the road for the swap, 4.5 hours of running/driving before the motor popped, and now hopefully she'll fire Friday... fingers crossed.

I hope to have the rest of the motor assembled tonight, except for the few allen plugs that I need that will be here Thursday... or so I hope.

Hmmmmm, that's assuming I can jury rig the 2-stroke can until I can build a new one this weekend. Too much to do! three weeks til DGRR!!! ARGH!!!

vex

03-24-2009, 02:18 PM

Ouch, sorry man. I hate to say it but I wouldn't chance it, I'd pull it apart. You're talking about the gas seals right? The orange ones? If you know you started with the right amount, I wouldn't waste the time with a tester. It may hold during the test but once combustion pressures start, I doubt vaseline and holymar will hold it. I'd just be safe and crack the thing open.

That's the thing. I'm not sure if it's an extra one or not. I know if it is not an extra one then it's one that should have gone on the intermediate housing since that's the only one I can't vividly recall. I'll go ahead and break it apart just to make sure I have it all together. *Sigh*

Whizbang

03-24-2009, 04:38 PM

yea im busting ass to get my FB done before i leave for basic training. Time constraints suck.

vex

03-24-2009, 09:01 PM

TT, I went ahead and tore it down again. I had all the seals installed. I guess I did get an extra fire seal. First time for everything.

TitaniumTT

03-24-2009, 09:52 PM

TT, I went ahead and tore it down again. I had all the seals installed. I guess I did get an extra fire seal. First time for everything.

Wow.... that's interesting. Don't you feel better now knowing though?

yea im busting ass to get my FB done before i leave for basic training. Time constraints suck.

Yeah they do, especially when you realize that there is a teflon front cover seal missing and you're going to pay 10X the price of the part in shipping to get it here by the weekend :banghead: I may have to call in a favor @ the dealership.

You've come along way from a carb'ed 12a to a 'squirted ITB 13B 6P though. I likey the motor. I thought about building a crazy n/a motor than realized that for not that much more after all was said and done, I could go turbo. Then the project became 3x what the n/a would've been. You planning on attending DGRR?

TitaniumTT

03-24-2009, 10:07 PM

So I did get a few things done tonight. I went to the hydraulic shop and had them silver soder a -6AN fitting onto the oil feed line. Then I got a -6 - -4 adapter. A -4 would've been ideal but the size of the fitting would've required it to be drilled out that it would leave too little matterial. I generally CAN'T STAND adapters, but I can live with this. Note - this is not the actual line I'll be using..... I ordered an all black fitting to go along with the theme

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4836&stc=1&d=1237951133

Something else I decided to try, No more stock fasteners. The last motor I had I either powdercoated or painted all the fasteners. It didn't last. So this time around I'm changing everything out to be either a stainless acorn nut, or a button head. It's also been brought to my attention that I'm getting old and grumpy. Little things are starting to piss me off, like different length fasteners. So I studed the front cover with stainless and loctited them in there. Now all I need is a handfull of acorn nuts and washers. Should limit the grumpiness a little ;)

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4837&stc=1&d=1237951133

This porting was already done. It always surprised me how little time Mazda spent on the oil system. I think this 1/2 mod is something that alot of people over look when building an engine. Sorry if this makes you break the engine apart again vex ;)

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4838&stc=1&d=1237951133

Something else I thought I'd try with this build. I never liked the fact that there isn't a positive seal with the oil pump. Yeah it's machined, yeah people never seem to have a problem with it, but wouldn't it be nice if you were a little more certain about the pump not pulling in air or pumping out oil? I thought I'd give this a try. A good friend of mine has a CNC mill, he accepted my challenge and this is what we have.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4839&stc=1&d=1237951133

Insert the o-ring, apply a smear of hylomar on the OUTSIDE of the ring only, this keeps it from getting into the pump itself, and we should have a pretty well sealed oil pump. We'll see though. I'd like to see 30 psi @ idle as opposed to the low pressure warning light flicker when she drops to idle. That always causes me a little concern. Meh, we'll see.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4840&stc=1&d=1237951133

WE3RX7

03-24-2009, 10:18 PM

I'm starting to hate you :)

In a good way. Lots of good thoughts on the oiling system though. I'm all for studs as well... I'm going to use full studs in my next build instead of tension bolts...

vex

03-25-2009, 12:15 AM

I have no idea what you did there or how to do it. Maybe when I aim to break some things on the car with the power of the engine ;). Right now though, I'm looking to get into the mid to upper 200's.

TitaniumTT

03-25-2009, 08:11 AM

I have no idea what you did there or how to do it. Maybe when I aim to break some things on the car with the power of the engine ;). Right now though, I'm looking to get into the mid to upper 200's.

If your oil pump isn't on yet, take a look at the galleys. THey're rough cast, with no real flow lines to them. I spent a 1/2 hour just smoothing everything out, especially on the vacuum side of the pump.

I'm starting to hate you :)

In a good way. Lots of good thoughts on the oiling system though. I'm all for studs as well... I'm going to use full studs in my next build instead of tension bolts...

lol - thanks... I think :rlaugh: Wait a day or two until I start getting the car back together. I did some things there that you'll want to kill me over. For example, have you seen my engine harness yet?

classicauto

03-25-2009, 08:47 AM

Nice job on the oil pump. Did similar mods on mine. I used some silk thread as per Allen's (13b-rx3) suggestions, the oring was beyond my capability/willingness to invest in. Very badass though sir! :)

WE3RX7

03-25-2009, 09:12 AM

Engine harness eh? I have not seen yours... hell, I haven't seen mine in about two years :)

vex

03-25-2009, 09:32 AM

Engine harness eh? I have not seen yours... hell, I haven't seen mine in about two years :)

I'll give you a hint: I'd be tempted to thieve his harness for what's on it and how it's made.

TitaniumTT

03-25-2009, 11:19 PM

I'll snap a few pics of my harness.... Maybe link a few from TeamFCS3

So, another slow night with not much accomplished. Still powdercoating and prepping a bunch of stuff. The last part is coming in tomorrow..... the nylon seal around the o-ring in the front cover :banghead:

Anywho - since I'm a pic whore.... here's some more

New EGT probe and the stainless line is for the ole' e-map

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4851&stc=1&d=1238041854

Turbos on and all the oil/coolant lines run. Yes I powdercoated the coolant lines. I'm trying not to miss any detail this time around

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4852&stc=1&d=1238041854

And the twins pretty much done.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4853&stc=1&d=1238041854

Waterpump assembly just sorta hanging out. Not going to snub that up until I get the front cover completely dealt with. Which will hopefully be tomorrow

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4854&stc=1&d=1238041854

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4855&stc=1&d=1238041854

vex

03-26-2009, 09:23 AM

so many wires and lines!

For the front cover do you wait until you've mounted it before putting on the front ring (I think it's an oil control ring or something--the orange one)?

WE3RX7

03-26-2009, 01:57 PM

Being that this is going into an FC, any reason why you decided to keep the RE water pump housing and cap configuration?

I'm drooling over your progress though... looks very very clean!

Your not planning to use a CAS system either?

classicauto

03-26-2009, 02:00 PM

If he's waiting for the nylon seal, its likely the o-ring that will cause 0 oil pressure if it falls out or breaks. The one coming off the oil pump feed in the front iron. should be mounted when the front cover is (finally) mounted along with the front cover gasket etc.

TitaniumTT

03-26-2009, 10:13 PM

so many wires and lines!

LIES! That's the simplified version of everything. You should see what a stock 13B-REW or RE looks like!

For the front cover do you wait until you've mounted it before putting on the front ring (I think it's an oil control ring or something--the orange one)?

If you're referring to the front e-shaft seal, than yes. I generally set the end float..... which took 4 hours today (lots of sanding that spacer down on by flat/level/true workbench with some 320gt paper, restacking everything, retorqing the hub, rechecking, and repeating but I got it to .0018" :icon_tup: ) flip the motor so the e-shaft is vertical, stack everything for the last time, instal the oil-pump sprocket, chain, put a little hylomar in the oil passage, put the nylon ring in, the o-ring, lay down a bead, put the gasket on, lay down a bead of rtv on top of the gasket, put the front cover on, torque that down, put the oil-seal in, put a little oil on the inside of the seal, put a little oil on the front hub, install the front hub, replace the o-ring on the front hub bolt, then a smear of silicone on the bolt itself, torque that down to whatever I was using when setting the end float. That's important to note. If you torque it down more than you were doing when you were setting it, it could be out of spec. I used 105 ft/lbs. Slightly higher I know but it makes me feel all warm inside.

If he's waiting for the nylon seal, its likely the o-ring that will cause 0 oil pressure if it falls out or breaks. The one coming off the oil pump feed in the front iron. should be mounted when the front cover is (finally) mounted along with the front cover gasket etc.

Yup, that was the one I was waiting for. Apparently Gibson believed that the hardware store nylon washers were good enough. When the engine arrived, I saw a nylon washer, assumed it was the right one because there was a good bit of casting left visible so I only ordered the o-ring. When I went to assemble everything the o-ring wouldn't fit. My mistake for assuming. Oh well, didn't hold me back, there was plenty else to do.

TitaniumTT

03-26-2009, 10:25 PM

Being that this is going into an FC, any reason why you decided to keep the RE water pump housing and cap configuration?

Actually it's an FD waterpump assembly ;) You'll see why I went this route when I get some pics of the HMIC system up. It works oh so well and looks OH so sexy

I'm drooling over your progress though... looks very very clean!

Thanks... Now I just need to get it in the car..... actually I need to get some stuff on the car. It hasn't changed in a week. Kinda depressing.

Your not planning to use a CAS system either?

No, I am. I just tapped the opening off for paint. I actually stabbed the CAS tonight as well as
Finished the end float
Installed the Front Cover
Finished the turbos
Finished the fuel
Got the UIM mounted
Modified and Installed the Oil Pan.

Left is to powdercoat all the springs on the TB and assemble it, put the motor mounts on, finish the mounting for the coils, but I can't do that until the motor is swinging........ oh, dissasemble and powdercoat an Alt.... Yeah, trying not to miss any detail. Hopefully it doesn't keep me from actually attending DGRR.... um - new used wheels will be here tomorrow. Need to refinish them which will take about a week probably..... Anyone wanna come help out this weekend? Free beer.

So yeah, I cut off the drain plug and welded on a -10AN bung. No more changine gaskets and no more drain plug leaks for me! And with the Banzai Brace there shouldn't be any leaks, and if there are, they'll be easy to spot because I powdercoated the pan Plantnium SIlver. I would've liked to have painted it, but I used the last of the paint last night on the Pre-spool, wastegate, and turbo control actuator.

TitaniumTT

03-26-2009, 10:27 PM

Note to anyone using the 13B-RE oil pan with different housings, the baffle for the regulator needs to be trimmed. I learned this AFTER I layed down a bead of RTV. I was beating the shit out of it cursing the Banzai studs until I looked at it and realized what the problem was..... Oh well, it's curing now.

s4.5 turbo gxl

03-29-2009, 09:23 AM

i am completely envious of the extent of your build. but my car is in the very beginning of the build. just finally got the bay completly stripped and working of cleaning cleaning and more cleaning.

Max777

03-29-2009, 01:13 PM

BTW, to update my earlier comment:

What I like in the build the most, is that this car follows both Function AND form! To me, this aspect is very important, because a lot of people tend to focus on one and ignore the other.

WE3RX7

03-29-2009, 08:39 PM

Its been a long weekend, where's an update, lol....

Agree w/ Max BTW...

jtbshaw

03-29-2009, 09:51 PM

This is crazy man! I thought I was the only one that had this wild idea that my FC would be ready by DGRR 09. What was supposed to be a 7 year project for myself and my 9yo son was jump started 3 weeks ago when I trailered a dead TII back to the shop. Now the project has turned into a 6 week deal. As of this past week we were still pulling things off. This week and until 4/15 we will be busy installing the new stuff and fabbing up the new parts.

Not trying to jack your thread...just wanted to say that you are not alone brother and great work so far. If you need some help on that aluminum welding let me know...I tig everyday. Let's get these cars ready and hookup at the Gap!

Todd B.

TitaniumTT

03-30-2009, 12:59 AM

i am completely envious of the extent of your build. but my car is in the very beginning of the build. just finally got the bay completly stripped and working of cleaning cleaning and more cleaning.

Thanks!

BTW, to update my earlier comment:

What I like in the build the most, is that this car follows both Function AND form! To me, this aspect is very important, because a lot of people tend to focus on one and ignore the other.

LOL.... a good friend of mine was helping me stab the motor in today and was making some comments about the "form" aspect of it. He seems to think that its a little much. So my comment was, "So you're saying that when we do your car, if we can't get an oddball fastener in Stainless, you're not going to powdercoat it?"

He sighed and rolled his eyes as I pointed out a few bolts that I powdercoated last night :rofl:

Its been a long weekend, where's an update, lol....

Agree w/ Max BTW...

Thanks... update coming now as I just got out of the shower after spending a LONG time on it today. Some bad things happened.... dropped a washer and couldn't find it. Thought maybe it fell into the y-pipe... took the compressor housings off the turbos.......... SUCK. A few other little things slowed us down. Hoping to fire her off tomorrow....... err later today at this point.... sigh.

This is crazy man! I thought I was the only one that had this wild idea that my FC would be ready by DGRR 09. What was supposed to be a 7 year project for myself and my 9yo son was jump started 3 weeks ago when I trailered a dead TII back to the shop. Now the project has turned into a 6 week deal. As of this past week we were still pulling things off. This week and until 4/15 we will be busy installing the new stuff and fabbing up the new parts.

Not trying to jack your thread...just wanted to say that you are not alone brother and great work so far. If you need some help on that aluminum welding let me know...I tig everyday. Let's get these cars ready and hookup at the Gap!

Todd B.

Thanks Todd. Definately come find me. My TIG'ing has improved greatly once I got a powersouce that could handle the 60A that the machine needs. Trying to weld 1/4" AL with 110-115A just won't cut it.

need RX7

03-30-2009, 01:17 AM

Sexy build, man. :icon_tup: You have good skillz.

TitaniumTT

03-30-2009, 01:18 AM

Alright, so here's the update. Got the engine finally assembled late Friday night. Here's a few shots of that.

Turbo's finally . FINALLY finished.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4919&stc=1&d=1238394643

I also modified the stock oil pan and powdercoated it. Banzai pan brace as well

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4920&stc=1&d=1238394643

Shots of the completed engine

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4921&stc=1&d=1238394643
http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4922&stc=1&d=1238394643

And my Exedy twin disc clutch. I LIKE this clutch. Its a little grabby, but not nearly as hard a pedal as the old ACT with the Extreme PP. I used to love stiff clutchs, the stiffer the better, than I had ~65% of the cartilidge removed from my left knee. Now I don't Like them so much.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4923&stc=1&d=1238394643

TitaniumTT

03-30-2009, 01:23 AM

Sexy build, man. :icon_tup: You have good skillz.

Thanks

So here's why my engine harness is specieal. It plugs into the firewall :D Never again will I have to drop a motor in, run a harness, and then put the engine back together. I've gotten spoiled.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4924&stc=1&d=1238394974

Chassis harness run.... top secret, I should even be showing this off.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4925&stc=1&d=1238394974

Oil Coolers installed

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4926&stc=1&d=1238394974

Bulkhead fitting for the oil coolers

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4927&stc=1&d=1238394974

And the oil coolers plumbed

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4928&stc=1&d=1238394974

TitaniumTT

03-30-2009, 01:27 AM

Tight fitting fitting. 120* I believe. Yes they are run in series and yes I have my reasons for it

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4929&stc=1&d=1238395194

Mocal Oil T-Stat

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4930&stc=1&d=1238395194

And finally in its new home

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4931&stc=1&d=1238395194

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4932&stc=1&d=1238395194

Intake piping

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4933&stc=1&d=1238395194

TitaniumTT

03-30-2009, 01:29 AM

I'd say, "look what arrived from the powdercoater," but I am the powdercoater. I leave you all with this teaser pic of a frame I built to mount some "stuff." The stuff will be mounted later today.....

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4934&stc=1&d=1238395380

I can stand on the end closest to the motor and only get ~1/2" of deflection out of it. Shit is STRONG. All 6061 AL

need RX7

03-30-2009, 01:43 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pXfHLUlZf4

I can't wait to see this thing finished. Freaking awesome. That firewall harness connector is genius!

vex

03-30-2009, 02:06 AM

Thanks

So here's why my engine harness is specieal. It plugs into the firewall :D Never again will I have to drop a motor in, run a harness, and then put the engine back together. I've gotten spoiled.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4924&stc=1&d=1238394974
Do you know how much I hate you right now? Just kidding.. I love you, but I hate how poor I am so I can't get my cannon plugs yet :(

Chassis harness run.... top secret, I should even be showing this off.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4925&stc=1&d=1238394974
Gank... Actually, I may not do that yet since I don't have the cannon plugs and the hassle of trying to modify that harness to work would piss me off... But some day.

WE3RX7

03-30-2009, 08:37 PM

Ha - I've got the same (almost) plugs for my harness, not installed to the firewall yet. I haven't decided where I want to run them through exactly. Looks awesome though, can't wait....

WE3RX7

03-30-2009, 08:42 PM

BTW - I need new pants! I'll send you the bill :)

TitaniumTT

03-30-2009, 10:22 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pXfHLUlZf4

I can't wait to see this thing finished. Freaking awesome. That firewall harness connector is genius!

Thanks, I LOVE those connectors...... that song cracks me up

Gank... Actually, I may not do that yet since I don't have the cannon plugs and the hassle of trying to modify that harness to work would piss me off... But some day.

Yeah that harness was a MEGA-PITA to relocate. Not entirely worth it. A ton of wires had to be extended, some shortened, and the ones that were shortened were off the main fuse block so the factory connectors had to be reused. It wsa a 2 week long trial and error ordeal that also resulted in one bent fender from an adel clamp.

Ha - I've got the same (almost) plugs for my harness, not installed to the firewall yet. I haven't decided where I want to run them through exactly. Looks awesome though, can't wait....

Thanks, in hindsight I should've put them somewere else to hide them a little more, oh well.

BTW - I need new pants! I'll send you the bill :)

LOL - I have a tower of towels sitting ontop of the engine hoist for a reason ya know ;)

So no updates tonight, total bust of a night. Work kicked my ass, the only thing that I got accomplished was powdercoating the strut tower bar and bending the downpipe into place. I have no idea how it happened, but it seemed to angle itseld up 3/4" The v-band wasn't sealing so hot. It took me with the oxy/ace-torch and my 170lb buddy with a 4' jack handle inserted into the pipe to coax it back into place. Lines up perfect now though.

Regardless, no more pics tonight. I'm hoping tomorrow is a lighter day so I can get some stuff accomplished tomorrow night.

s4.5 turbo gxl

04-02-2009, 09:44 PM

any updates yet. im excited to see what new awesome thing you do with this car

prrex4ever

04-02-2009, 11:31 PM

That wiring job is hands down the best I've ever seen. Totally awesome.

MotoTek

04-03-2009, 09:06 AM

I'm really liking that paint job, and wire tuck. Really nice job mate.

TitaniumTT

04-04-2009, 08:45 PM

Thanks guys. I'll give the full update tomorrow afternoon/evening

TitaniumTT

04-05-2009, 04:08 PM

So updates............

When I left off we were dicking around with the exhaust.... well, the exhaust is done, Tips and all. I started out by making a new 2-stroke tank... I dunno why, But I only have one picture of it. Holds about a qt and a half and works well.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5008&stc=1&d=1238966585

After that was in place I could finally install the strut tower bar.......

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5009&stc=1&d=1238966585

After that it was time to mount up the radiator

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5010&stc=1&d=1238966585

Stock FD waterpumps are awesome for VMIC/HMIC setups. The outelets point in great directions. That od looking hose that joins the lower hose at the waterpump to the hardpipe is a stock FC hose. Than the same hose for the slight angle to get into the rad came from the same section of hose. So whe it's time to replace hoses, I still need a stock easily accesible hose rather than trying to source some wierd shit..... good shit

TitaniumTT

04-05-2009, 04:21 PM

So now we start with the ducting, using the shine auto bumper so both the intercooler and the rad have thier own seperate vents.

Duct work in the sides of the fram and on the bottom as well

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5011&stc=1&d=1238967386

Duct work continues for the intercooler

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5012&stc=1&d=1238967386

Duct work is finished

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5014&stc=1&d=1238966447

By this time its ready to fire......... & I do. Classic Auto owes me a beer ;)

Now it's about 6 in the evening on Friday and I'm lewft with a choice. I HAD an appt set for dyno time on Monday & I need to break the motor in. A very good friend of mine is having a b-day part in Jersey some 50 miles away. I think, this is perfect - 100 miles of break in on saturday, a few hundred more on sunday, then 200 miles to the Dyno.... PERFECT. So I decide to work until the car is DONE.... I finished bleeding the brakes @ 11:00 saturday MORNING after pulling an all nighter.. I'm getting too old for this shit. Off autobone for some wipers, a quick blast to the car wash and it's off to Jersey.

TitaniumTT

04-05-2009, 05:00 PM

A few things of note from the drive......

Coolant temps - never got above ~178* while moving. The only time they climbed higher was when I was sitting in traffic. Then they got to 185* when the fan kicked on.

Oil temps - the highest I saw was 167* and that was sitting in traffic. Usually they hung around 150*

Oil Pressure - holly hell! The first time I started her up I FREAKED OUT becuase the pressure was climbing, climbing, climbing from about 70 PSI @ a fast cold idle to >110 PSI around 2500 rpm cold and 2800 RPM hot. What freaked me out though was the voltage on the sensor was being reported to the MoTeC, but was out of "range" for the AIM, so it read 0.0 PSI and the warning light went off. I had to do the first two heat cycles with the laptop open and a seperate Dial Gauge visible that was outputting the voltage for the oil pressure sender.

Idles great, runs really well even though she running WAY rich and everything seems to be bedding in nicely. Still haven't done a comp check but that'll be soon.

So I get to autobone, the car wash, and the gas station, someone comes up to me at each place to say something about the car......... something like....... "do you drift"

So anywho, I head off to Jersey and procceed to get ridiculously lost, so much that my GPS was lost.... I swear the people who built NJ said, "our state is going to suck, so lets make it impossible for people to leave" ;)

Driving down this one main drag about 2 miles from the house where I'm supposed to be and I slam a pot hole.... thanks Jersey. Later in the evening the good friend of mine hit the SAME pothole and bent his rim. So I'm fuming made at this point becuase I'm late, just hit a pothole, and then I start to smell something......... "is that fuel or is that exhaust?" I think to myself. That smells like fuel. I pulled up to a light and the car stahled... "WTF??? she's NEVER stalhed when warm.." someone honks at me becuase the light turned green, so I fire the car up and the low fuel pressure light comes on. "MOTHERFUCKER!!!!! FUEL LEAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I punch the gas to get some momentum up to make it to the next side street which is approaching (i was on a main drag, no place to pull over) kill the engine, kill the battery, pulled down this side street and in one deft move I reached behind the passenger seat with my right hand while my left hand un dis the harness and went for the handle. I leap out of the car, pull the pin in the extinguisher, pop the hood and look at a fuel soaked engine bay with fuel spraying out of the #1 secondary injector. Not spraying ontop of the engine either mind you, but spraying in a 90* sweep from the Alt to directly on top of the turbos!

I stood there poised for about 5 minutes waiting for the fireball that never came, thank god.

So I call my buddy who thankfully wasn't too inebriated to come pick me up in his Fiances Mazda 3. Good thing they didn't take his MS6 - no towhooks. So he picks me up and we run to the HD to buy a towstrap and some line. I fashioned a bridal from the corners of the strut bar to directly infront of the intercooler so the hook doesn't scratch the front bumper. We put a pad down just in case. Now we can't close the hood though. So I tied a bolund around the hood catch, wrapped the line around the strut bar and then tied a rolling hitch to the tow strap. The thought being the load on the tow strap will keep the hood closed.

Well the rolling hitch, the knot that's not supposed to slip down a line slipped. I guess it didn't like the flat towstrap and the hood FLEW UP while moving. With enough load to break.... not pull out, but BREAK 4 of the 6 rivets that were holding the brackets for the hood struts. :banghead:

Regardless, we got the hood re-tied, and finished towing it to his buddies house were we proceeded to eat and drink copius amounts of alcohol.

The next day, this morning actually, after spending 1/2 hour arguing with the guys @ U-haul that say my Cherokee can't tow the Mazda, and me saying that I've done it twice and back and forth an back and forth they finally let me take the fricken trailer. Thier trailer weighs ~300-400lbs less than the 7.. regardless, she's home now and I have an interesting phone call to make to Tim Marren tomorrow about the Marren injectors and the custom fuel rails that he built for me and why a fricken pothole and 35lbs of rail pressure is enough to jar an injector loose.

Cars, maybe I should start collecting stamps.

I must say, I LOVE my XJ. We call her The Mighty XJ. Really nothing this truck can't do.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5017&stc=1&d=1238969716

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5018&stc=1&d=1238969716

need RX7

04-05-2009, 06:58 PM

EJayCe996

04-05-2009, 08:22 PM

WE3RX7

04-05-2009, 09:26 PM

TitaniumTT

04-05-2009, 11:02 PM

How does the XJ take towing the FC? Coincidentally, I'm about to buy an FC in Texas and tow it back with my dad's XJ. What engine is in yours and is it all stock? Do you think we'll have any troubles with the 4.0 I6, using the same U-haul trailer you used?

Sorry to threadjack

1998 Jeep Cherokee Sport, 4.0L, 5spd, 3.07:1 rear
Magnaflow Hi Flow Cat, Borla catback - both necessities, factories rotted out
OME 3.5" lift, BFG 31" mudders
I built the rear swing out for the full size spare.

There's alot of weight over the rear and I've found that it's REALLY hard to adjust the tongue weight with those trailers. That's the problem. That and the trailer weighs almost what the car does - 2100lbs!!!! The tires are a touch too big and on some of the bigger bumps the tires were actually rubbing the molding. On a few hills I found myself dropping to 4th gear.

That being said, the stock tire size is a 225/75/15 - 28.25". I've got 31" tires on there, so I lost ~8% of my torque becuase of the size. When I first put the tires on it was noticable. Nothing to make me want to re-gear the rig but definately a little slower.

She'll tow it, but good luck convincing the asshats at U-haul. Took me a while of argueing with them saying I've done it twice
but th computer says no
I've ACTUALLY done this TWICE
but the comp says no
has the comp actually done this?
No
Well I have
The comp says no
Palm meets face

I would try to borrow a set of smaller tires and be prepared to re-drill and mount the rear straps to better distribute the weight, or just creatively secure the car. Fill up with 93 and you'll be fine. Or source a better trailer.

Auto or 5spd? The auto's have a 3.55:1 rear. I don't know what the OD in the tranny is though. You might have better gearing. I run ~1700 RPM @ ~65 on the highway. WHen I was downshifting into 4th for some of the hills I was @ ~2200 @55-60. SOOOOO much torque in that engine

Lemme put it this way, we call her The Mighty XJ for a good reason

TitaniumTT

04-05-2009, 11:09 PM

Wow, even as I read I was probably panicking the way you did not knowing what I was gonna read next about the outcome considering the amount of time, money, blood, sweat, and obscene swearing you've put into that car. I'm glad things didn't escalate past a fuel leak.

Yeah me too. I'm still in shock that the fuel didn't ignite. I'm thankful, but still in awe. I mean spraying RIGHT ON THE TURBOS

TitaniumTT

04-05-2009, 11:13 PM

Jeeps have plenty of power for towing w/ the I6 4.0L. I have a TJ and the only issue is the wheelbase, stupid laws - they won't let me tow a car trailer even though it can easily pull that much weight!

Glad to hear you got it running, so close to DGRR though, I'm sure you can get it ready for the trip though. Sounds like that was the only issue (albeit a big one) but still.. one big issue is better than 5 little ones.

Well.... there's a few things that still need to be done. The fuel leak is a big issue, we're hoping the solution is quick and easy and hopefully I'll be able to get a look at it tomorrow. If the solution I have doesn't work, the trip is pretty much off. If it does work, than the list is only

Refinish my 4 BBS's and get a new set of tires
Build a Belly Pan
Vent the fuel tank
get an S4 A-pillar and stereo surround
Finish breaking in the motor
Dyno Tune
Emmsions & registration (the worst part)
and an alignment

I SHOULD be able to get everything done in time, it's really the emmsions so I can reg the car. Stupid CT retarded emmsions laws

need RX7

04-05-2009, 11:18 PM

1998 Jeep Cherokee Sport....
Thanks for the input. My dad's is an auto, bone stock down to the tires. I actually printed the pic of yours towing the FC to show them, lol. If U-haul gays out on us, we'll probably be able to find a trailer from somewhere else. Or we might have to get another vehicle altogether, since it is a 1000+ mile trip.
hmm...

Okay, that's enough threadjacking. FCs coming along good, I'm glad it didn't catch on fire :rofl:.

TitaniumTT

04-05-2009, 11:52 PM

1000 plus miles is tough. I don't think I'd do 1000 miles though. There has to be a lighter trailer. Penske's are aluminum and MUCH nicer than the u-haul garbage.

Yeah, I'm pretty stoked she didn't go up in flames either. It would really make all those, "Fix it with fire," or, "No, it's fucked! Torch the car, collect the insurance," jokes/comments really ironic

classicauto

04-06-2009, 10:25 AM

Man random fuel leaks bit the both us in the ass lol

Car looks awesome though, congrats and best of luck with the tuning and break in.

I'll mail you a CDN beer if you don't make DGRR :lol:

Whizbang

04-06-2009, 10:27 AM

i am scared to pressure my system for the first time.

TitaniumTT

04-06-2009, 01:28 PM

Man random fuel leaks bit the both us in the ass lol

Car looks awesome though, congrats and best of luck with the tuning and break in.

I'll mail you a CDN beer if you don't make DGRR :lol:

Yeah whats up with that? I dare say that a leak in the middle of a braided line is cause for a little more concern though... WTF?

Thanks on the compliments. I spoke with Tim Marren and he is sending me a handful of grommets and spacers and new o-rings so HOPEFULLY I'll still be able to attend. SO up in the air right now though.

i am scared to pressure my system for the first time.

Before I fired her off I turned the fuel pump on and cranked the FPR to 80PSI. I'll be running ~40 +14lbs boost so we ramped her up to 80 without starting the motor to look for leaks. I would do that first before you fire her off. The first leak we found was on a gauge, yes a mechanical gauge that I had @ the end of the rail. So we pulled the gauge and put a plug in. Then the injector worked it's way into the LIM boss and popped out of the rail.... Cars.............

jtbshaw

04-06-2009, 01:44 PM

EJayCe996

04-06-2009, 06:45 PM

i am scared to pressure my system for the first time.

Ari from RP just called me about my injector order and what I was gonna do and I basically immediately asked if he could do the proper injector modifications (1600cc secondaries) so I didn't have to do it myself like I was going to. :rofl::rofl:

Hopefully one less thing to worry about when I get my car's swap underway.

TitaniumTT

04-14-2009, 11:19 PM

Wow man, at least you're driving yours. I'm still pulling things from mine. Glad to see you are nearing the finish of the car and looks like you are going to make to DGRR with ease. This week will consist of many long nights for me. I have two major hurdles to overcome....the first being my fuel setup (I have to build a new tank w/sump to run the A1000 pump) and the FMIC setup. The rest is just putting the new stuff on.

LOL!!!!!! I wouldn't say with ease, there have been many a long night since the last update, so much that I haven't been updating the thread. It's been wake up, go to work, go home play with my dogs for a bit, hit the shop, the shower, bed, wash, rinse, repeat. Good luck with your project.

I needed some encouragement as it is almost overwhelming what I am trying to accomplish. Your thread has provided me the kick in the booty that I need. We need to try and hook up in NC. You've done a nice job on your car!

Yeah we do:icon_tup:

Ari from RP just called me about my injector order and what I was gonna do and I basically immediately asked if he could do the proper injector modifications (1600cc secondaries) so I didn't have to do it myself like I was going to. :rofl::rofl:

Hopefully one less thing to worry about when I get my car's swap underway.

Yeah, I don't like to mess around with fuel, I'd rather let the pro's do it. Good call.

TitaniumTT

04-14-2009, 11:52 PM

So I guess it's time for an update -

Many a long night has been spent sorting out little issues but most of them are dead and gone.

Over the weekend there was a bad drivetrain vibe that developed while I was getting some breakin miles on her. I knew the rear wheel bearings were bad so we went ahead and replaced those, what a fricken nightmare. The bearing wistle was gone but the vibe remained. So we started jokeying around tires because mine are about 10 years old, literally. Vibe remained... now we're getting annoyed. Swap the driveshaft (mainly because it was on there so tight we had to beat the piss out of it to get it off the pinion plange, I figured we might have done some damage....) a little better but it was still there. Now we're pissed. So right after we swapped the driveshaft my buddy and I went back to the annex, back up on the stands she went and he helped out until midnight and I carried on until 2:30 in the morning swapping the rear out and double checking EVERYTHING else on the fricken car. Vibe was finally gone. So I went to sleep.

Woke up around 8:30 and got on the road. Plan was to meet Ihor @ IRP @ 10 and pick up my 140 amp alt, and then head over to meet Dave @ KDR for some dyno tuning.... well driving through Jersey I started to get this nasty rotten egg smell. I figured it was just Jersey :suspect: When I got to IRP I shut the car off and heard this sizzling noise coming from behind me. The Optima redtop that I relocated to the passenger bin was scalding hot to the touch, fuming and just a generally unhappy battery. Soooooo we let the car.... and bat cool down a bit, did a little troubleshooting and said eff it.... Ihor swapped the alt right there for me. Great guy, pleasure to deal with and the alt of course kicks ass. Where as before I had 14.5+ volts and the voltometer neddle bouncing with whatever music I had playing at the time, the new alt holds 13.5 volts rock steady regardless of the lights, wipers, heater, fogs, stereo it doesn't matter, it just stays.

So with Ihors help I got back on the road and off to KDR. While we were swapping the alt I noticed that my charge pipe had broken in half..... cheap chinese aluminum didn't like the temps used for the ceramic coating I guess and it became brittle and cracked, then broke. HUGE boost leak. So I nursed her over to KDR where we put a coupler on it so we could at least tune her.

After sorting through some mechanical issues with the TB sticking EVER so slightly and a few calls back and forth to Motec to figure out why the BAC wasn't turning off and keeping the idle at 1600.... we started making some pulls. First pull..... 131 hp @ 1lb :rofl: After some troubleshooting (like 2 minutes) we figured out that in my sleep deprived state I got the lines from the boost and vac chambers crossed. (Good to have EVERYTHING on hand. I brought the wiring schematics for the Motec, all the pin-outs and even the schematic for the twins with ALL the vac boost lines color coded - that was the saving grace) The end result was the turbo control valve was closed, the charge control valve open, and the charge relief valve open. What that means was turbo control was closed and NOT proving exhaust to the secondary turbine, the primary turbo was boosting to atmosphere through the charge relief valve and backspooling the secondary turbo through the open charge control valve.... and still making positive manifold pressure.

So after a few hours working through various driveability issues and and other things we made some REALLY nice pulls. End result was 313 RWHP @ 7.5ish PSI and 7k RPM with conservative timing. I'll be back in a few weeks after some hard miles to and from DGRR to up the rev limit, up the boost, and MAYBE play with the timing... probably NOT play with the timing though.

My first time meeting Dave @ KDR and I really can't say enough good things about him. Very proffessional, VERY thourough and not at all afraid of the new software. Between the two of us working together it went incredibly smooth. I'm really looking forward to getting back on his dyno in a few weeks to turn up the boost and start playing around with the sequential turbos... like REALLY looking forward to working with Dave again. GREAT experience with both IRP and KDR today.

Some food for thought though..... and think about this.... stock FD makes 215 RWHP @ 10lbs...... I made 313 RWHP or 146% of RWHP at 75% of boost level, and with a lower redline. The torque curve KEPT CLIMBING strait to ign cut. Brian is very pleased. Brian is also making ~5lbs @ 2400 in 5th running NON-sequential. There's alot left to get out of this motor me thinks

So left to do on the "I Hope This Is the Last Fucking List," list that I have tacked on my wall is

install FTP lenses
Mount Inverter
Wire Inverter
Refinish my 3 other BBS rims
cut and buff the FR fender and bumper
glaze the entire car
Mount new tires that should be here tomorrow.... err today actually
get hub rings machined down
and my brakes still suck, they start off good and get squishy after a few hundred miles... so Thursday morning I'm going to install a new master and see if that helps it at all.

Looks like tonight is going to be another all nighter. I'll take Thursday off, work through the night Wed, nap a little on Thursday morning and then take off for DGRR. Thursday night in VA where we're stopping will be my first real nights sleep in probably 3 weeks.

vex

04-15-2009, 01:07 AM

Looks like tonight is going to be another all nighter. I'll take Thursday off, work through the night Wed, nap a little on Thursday morning and then take off for DGRR. Thursday night in VA where we're stopping will be my first real nights sleep in probably 3 weeks.
Where at in VA? If you're heading through Blacksburg you're welcome to swing by and I'll show you around town and you can see my project that's about ready to get kicked into overdrive in the next few days.

Max777

04-15-2009, 08:24 AM

Wow, I'm glad you got it done in time!

Unfortunately, not all of us had the same luck. :D

WE3RX7

04-15-2009, 10:13 AM

TitaniumTT

04-15-2009, 03:49 PM

Where at in VA? If you're heading through Blacksburg you're welcome to swing by and I'll show you around town and you can see my project that's about ready to get kicked into overdrive in the next few days.

We're staying in winchester along 81. Don't know where blacksburg ius and there are 3 in VA :rofl:

TitaniumTT

04-15-2009, 03:50 PM

Wow, I'm glad you got it done in time!

Unfortunately, not all of us had the same luck. :D

That's a shame.... these cars are never "done" though

TitaniumTT

04-15-2009, 03:54 PM

Fantastic build, really.

We'll have to talk at DGRR.. I want to see this thing! You giving ride alongs :)

A friend of mine and I are both build REs right now. His for an FB, mine for my FC and we're both anxious to see what these motors can make and I'm very interested in seeing the stock twins behavior! He's got an APEXi single for his and I'm running a larger single on mine, but if you can pull out 313whp at 7.5psi on the twins... at only 7K... that gives us both big hopes.

Glad you're going to make it.

Where in VA are you stopping through? I'll gladly trade you dinner for thought, lol...

Thanks. Definately have to chat it up for sure @ DGRR.

As for the RE's power potential.... it would be on par with any other ported rotary really. THe intakes are larger so that certainly helps but it's the entire package that makes or breaks the HP. I did everything that I could possibly do to make this motor as effiecent as possible. I ported everything, portmatched everything, ceramic coated everything etc etc etc... so the motor is really as effeicient as it can be. Proof is in the numbers. I'm making more power at less boost than some FD guys running the identical turbos and manifold. So yeah, I'm pleased. Next time on the dyno we'll start horsing around with the twins in sequential and try to get full boost by probably close to 2k, and up the boost to 14.

Stopping in Winchester VA for the night. Plans got changed so HOPEFULLY we'll be there by dinner. I'll be all hopped up on redbull, smokes and mt dew though ;) Where are you located?

WE3RX7

04-15-2009, 07:27 PM

TitaniumTT

04-15-2009, 10:07 PM

werd, actually changed the reservations to Harrisonburg for Thurs night. Right off of 81. Figure split the driving in half, and plan to get to the damn around 3:30. That's the plan anyway. Aight, I'm off to knock the the "This Better Be the Last Fucking Allnightyer Thrash List," list which consists of

Finish refinishing BBS rims
Mount new tires
machine hub rings
replace master cylinder
bleed brakes
replace waterpump
change oil
mount inverter
wire inverter
Wema sender
Glaze car
vacuum
fail emmisions test

I think that's it. Not too bad but I won't have the Master or the waterpump until 10:30 and I'm planning on leaving @ 1. I love cars. Gonna have to up the Redbull dosage me thinks ;)

rotarybeat1287

04-15-2009, 11:47 PM

Congrats on the car man! I really am amazed by it. The build up is just insane and I give you props on the amount of detail that you have put into your FC. I can't wait to see it and snap away w/ my camera! Gotta couple of SB-600 flashes that will be used remotely and that should compliment your fresh engine bay nicely!

-Allen

vex

04-16-2009, 02:35 PM

I live in NOVA, but I'm about 1.5 hours from Winchester. I'll be leaving for DGRR at my home in Culpeper which is about 2.5 hours from Winchester, lol... I assume you're hitting up 81 to roanoke, lol... We'll catch up at DGRR...

TTT, Blacksburg is about 30minutes to an 1 hour south of Roanoke on 81. You should come, I'll introduce you to Taboring ;)

misthael

04-16-2009, 11:05 PM

I wish I could be at DGRR just to see this car. What a build. Good job.

rotarybeat1287

04-20-2009, 12:01 AM

working w/ a couple more right now but here is a teaser! Love the car man. Super nice and I was blown away at the detail in person! Congrats and major props! Very well done!

I was trying for a while to get some nice shots but was being REALLY careful w/ the tripod and flash to not get in the way of everyone and watching out for the cars.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii149/Rxtuner/DealsGapRotaryRally2009238.jpg

Phoenix7

04-20-2009, 12:19 AM

glad to see you made it! Car looks clean as hell.

Herblenny

04-20-2009, 08:01 AM

The car was VERY well put together and thanks for coming out to the event!

Brent

04-20-2009, 09:17 AM

Car looks great!! Would love to see some more pictures of it.

lt1_fd3s

04-20-2009, 09:22 AM

this car is beautiful!!! i'm in love with it. and Brian is an awesome guy! the car made the trip down, it only started having issues the last hour or so (?) but he got it fixed over the weekend and it made it back home for him...

hopefully he will chime in

Nutsid

04-20-2009, 05:10 PM

TitaniumTT

04-21-2009, 12:27 AM

I wish I could be at DGRR just to see this car. What a build. Good job.

Thanks man, I appreciate it.

working w/ a couple more right now but here is a teaser! Love the car man. Super nice and I was blown away at the detail in person! Congrats and major props! Very well done!

I was trying for a while to get some nice shots but was being REALLY careful w/ the tripod and flash to not get in the way of everyone and watching out for the cars.

That is an incredibly cool picture, thanks for the compliment:icon_tup:

The car was VERY well put together and thanks for coming out to the event!

Thanks Phil, and thanks for having the event. I had an AMAZING time despite the problems. SOOO looking forward to next year,

TitaniumTT

04-21-2009, 01:27 AM

I was really curious as to where you went to, Brian. I'm really glad I came over here to see the pics from DGRR. I actually saw pictures of your car and without even knowing it was yours I thought to myself, "The amount of detail and craftmanship that went into this car definitely looks like it is Brian's." Absolutely amazing job. Absolutely beautiful.

Thanks Dustin. Glad to see you on this forum

Car looks great!! Would love to see some more pictures of it.

Think you! I don't think I have anymore that I haven't posted up yet, we have a few action shots from Sundays Dragon run that I'll be posting soon. There are a few in the DGRR pics thread, it's so wierd to see pics of my car that I didn't take.

this car is beautiful!!! i'm in love with it. and Brian is an awesome guy! the car made the trip down, it only started having issues the last hour or so (?) but he got it fixed over the weekend and it made it back home for him...

hopefully he will chime in

Thanks Tray, well the trip down was "interesting." The plan was to spend Wed night finishing up a few things and to get my new tires mounted, get the emmisions done, and blast out of dodge around 1 PM Thursday. After an allnighter Wed I drop my rims and tires off ~9:30 Thursday morning and then head over to the emmisions test station. First thing they did was back the car into the machine dinging the drivers door right on the lip, this is with me screaming at the guy to "MIND THE F*@&ING DOOR!!!!" So they get it on the rack and start the test. The test is a 25 MPH rolling test and the tester is holding it @ 25mph............. in first gear.......... running about 120psi. He pops the oil line feeding the turbos and oil starts pouring all over the turbo's smoking like a bejezus. I jump over the counter and run into the test area screaming, "SHUT IT DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I looked at what was going on and found 220* oil and water temps that quickly climbed to 250* once the car was shut down. SHe wouldn't start hot and all kinds of words were exchanged....... the adjuster is coming tomorrow.

So I drove the 1/2 mile home, got there ~ 12:30..... 1/2 hour before we're supposed to leave and call the pres of the co that did the test. An hour later we've got an agreement and now I'm at a crossroads. I don't give up and I don't know when to quit so @ ~ 1:30 The people that I was supposed to meet later that day are on thier way to my house and parts start flying off the car. By 3:30 I've got the broken line in my hand and I'm out the door to get it repaired, pick up my rims/tires and a new waterpump. My VERY good friend decided to come by after work and help out. He was hoping to attend DGRR but his fiance started working that week so she really couldn't take the time off... too bad. So by ~ 5:30 we've got the line repaired and all the parts that we need and it's all elbows and and wrenchs flying all over the place. Fixed the line, re-installed basically the entire turbo system, replaced the waterpump, checked all the fluids, bleed the brakes and now it's time for a comp test..... VERY low compared to what she was making when she had 50 miles on the motor.... as far as I'm concerned Hank Mays, the guys that did the emissions test & overheated her owe me a motor.

So decision time. It's 11 o'clock Thursday night and I've been awake for 40 hours strait now.... no joke.... and we go for a rip around the neigborhood. Everything looks and sounds good and there's still enough power to break the tires (Azenis RT-615 in a 255/40/17) loose in 2nd. Eff it, I've worked too hard and have wanted to go to this event for 2 years, we're outta here - 11 hours late, we get on the road @ midnight.

By 4:30 in the morning I have broken my record and have been awake for 44.5 hours - I'm done and we trade off and I sleep for 3 hours riding shotgun. Ever sleep in a corbeau seat? I don't reccomend it :lol:

We made it to the hotel @ 7:30 in the morning, took an hour nap, took a shower, had a conti breakfast and got back on the road.

About an hour out from Nantahalla Villiage my fuel pressure light starts flickering..... interesting..... starts getting worse so we pull over and check the fuel pressure and it's low.... interesting.... adjust the FPR and get back on the road and it seems to be doing ok. So we get into some twisties and as soon as I get on boost or the secondaries kick on the fuel pressure drops to ~15-20 psi - very not good. I can hear the pump SCREAMING bloody murder and I think ok, I HOPE it's the fuel sock and the pump is cavitating. So she gets nursed around and after dinner and after getting pulled over by a cop we get directions to Wal-Mart to get a can of acetone. We make it back to the cabin and pull the fuel pump and let the sock soak overnight in a tub of acetone. The next morning we put everything back together and head over to the car show. Still doing it. The pressure is better, the noise quiter but the problem remains - great - fuel pump failing. One of my friends that helped me the night before suggested hitting up one of the vendors - great idea and probably saved the w/e. So after many dealings with Brian from Rotorsports Racing I finally got to meet him and he thought the same thing I did, fuel pump. Luckily he had one Cosmo Fuel pump left. Out came the crackberry and a few minutes later he had a paypal and I had a new pump and sock.

So right there at the entrance to the lodge myself and three friends yank the pump again and replace it. Set the pressure and viola!!! The noise is gone, pressure is great, lets go for a rip down the dragon! Before we even got to 28 the problem was still there.... now I'm annoyed but the pump is still silent so we know that was one sympton killed. We head back to the cabin and check the last two things - FPR diaphram and the mail fuel filter. My filter is the Marren replacement with the paper cartridge not the washable stainless and it's NASTY and basically clogged. WONDERFUL. So a couple friends drove me to the neareast Advanced Auto to look for a filter. We leave with a ford truck EFI filter because it has the 3/8" "barbs" then we went to Lowes to get the parts I needed to adapt the -6 line to a 3/8" hose. Back to the cabin we go after a stop for some large quantities of alcohol.

With a friend of ours holding the light and Tray doing unmentionable things behind me we jury rig the filter and fire her off. Start heading towards the village for the banguet and YES!!!!!!!!!! FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!! Fuel psi rises with boost as opposing to falling to 0!!

At the banquet I was really surprised and actually honored with Best FC considering some of the other cars there, really, thank you all. We headed back to the cabin for the last night. Woke up the next morning, added a friend who drove from TX and the lunatic who drove from San Fran to our caravan, ran the dragon and headed back home. Both the new additions are actually sleeping in my quest room right now. No issues at all on the drive home thankfully!

So that's my story and I cannot wait for next year's event. Before the banquet while Tray was helping me with the filter he said something interesting, he said, "I hope this doesn't discourage you from come down again next year." My reply was simple, "ABSOLUTELY NOT! I've had an amazing time and by next year I should hopefully have all these little issues sorted out and actually be able to enjoy the car as opposed to working on her." All the time and effort was worth it to get down there to enjoy the cars, the event and the company....... and Tray grabbing my ass to wake me up in the morning.... that was probably the highlight. I will definately be back next year and actually have some plans for the car over the winter. Nothing drastic, but a few things. A new 6-spd tranny is one thing for the winter.

Nutsid

04-21-2009, 02:05 AM

What six speed transmission are you going to be using, Brian?

lt1_fd3s

04-21-2009, 06:31 AM

:rofl: well, you yanks just need a good molesting when you come down to WNC!!!

My5ABaby

04-21-2009, 07:57 AM

I was very close to stealing your car...

classicauto

04-21-2009, 09:05 PM

Brian, was great to meet you at the gap, too bad I didn't get to chase you through it - the event is always so busy, but was a treat to see your ride and chat a bit - you definetely deserved that award my friend, that car is automotive/rotary ART - you da man.

:)

Fidelity101

04-22-2009, 11:20 AM

pics! or vids...

TitaniumTT

04-22-2009, 08:50 PM

What six speed transmission are you going to be using, Brian?

Rebuilt and Modded RX8 6-spd. The ratios are about perfect for the engine when revving to ~7.5 and I'll be setting the rev limiter to ~8 in few weeks

I was very close to stealing your car...

Did we at least get to meet and chat? That's one of the greatest things about these events. Sadly though I didn't get a chance to really chat with many people as I was late getting there then had to find parts :banghead: The new fuel system that I'm going to start this weekend should be Armegeddon Proof though. Next year I'll give ya a ride :driving:

TitaniumTT

04-22-2009, 08:53 PM

pics! or vids...

I'll get some more up soon ;)

Brian, was great to meet you at the gap, too bad I didn't get to chase you through it - the event is always so busy, but was a treat to see your ride and chat a bit - you definetely deserved that award my friend, that car is automotive/rotary ART - you da man.

:)

It was great to meet you too Joe. Your car is just stunning. I did take the time to examine her, twice and you did an amazing job with her. It is a shame that I spent more time chasing my own tail than chasing you through the Gap, but there is always next year.

Thanks for the compliments Joe, coming from a body guy to someone that painted thier own car, that means alot.

:rofl: well, you yanks just need a good molesting when you come down to WNC!!!

Well I do have a purty mouth, but my goateeeee is fuzzy like one of dem verginas you WNC boys seem to avoid so I may be ok. /southern accent

TitaniumTT

04-22-2009, 09:14 PM

Some Pics
http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/rotarypics/DGRR%202009/IMG_7693.jpg?t=1240453937

Working on the Fuel Pump no doubt
http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/rotarypics/DGRR%202009/IMG_7699.jpg?t=1240454129

Definately working on the fuel pump here
http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/rotarypics/DGRR%202009/IMG_7722.jpg?t=1240454264
http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/rotarypics/DGRR%202009/Caravan%20to%20NY/IMG_7852.jpg?t=1240454527

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/rotarypics/DGRR%202009/Caravan%20to%20NY/IMG_7411.jpg

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/rotarypics/DGRR%202009/Caravan%20to%20NY/IMG_7414.jpg

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/rotarypics/DGRR%202009/Caravan%20to%20NY/IMG_7422.jpg

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/rotarypics/DGRR%202009/Caravan%20to%20NY/IMG_7425.jpg

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/rotarypics/DGRR%202009/Caravan%20to%20NY/IMG_7430.jpg

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/rotarypics/DGRR%202009/Caravan%20to%20NY/IMG_7431.jpg

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/rotarypics/DGRR%202009/Caravan%20to%20NY/IMG_7432.jpg

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/rotarypics/DGRR%202009/Caravan%20to%20NY/IMG_7777.jpg

Yes, we ran the Dragon Sunday morning in the rain

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/rotarypics/DGRR%202009/Caravan%20to%20NY/IMG_7805.jpg

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/rotarypics/DGRR%202009/Caravan%20to%20NY/IMG_7814.jpg

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/rotarypics/DGRR%202009/Caravan%20to%20NY/IMG_7815.jpg

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/rotarypics/DGRR%202009/Caravan%20to%20NY/IMG_7820.jpg

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/rotarypics/DGRR%202009/Caravan%20to%20NY/IMG_7826.jpg

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/rotarypics/DGRR%202009/Caravan%20to%20NY/IMG_7831.jpg

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/rotarypics/DGRR%202009/Caravan%20to%20NY/IMG_7866.jpg

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/rotarypics/DGRR%202009/Caravan%20to%20NY/IMG_7869.jpg

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/rotarypics/DGRR%202009/Caravan%20to%20NY/IMG_7904.jpg

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/rotarypics/DGRR%202009/Caravan%20to%20NY/IMG_7776.jpg

Probably one of my favorite pics

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt156/rotarypics/DGRR%202009/Caravan%20to%20NY/IMG_7805.jpg

vex

04-22-2009, 09:54 PM

I def need to make it up to your place sometime and have you teach me a lot of fab stuff.

TitaniumTT

04-22-2009, 10:06 PM

Get here in the next few weeks. I'm re-doing my intank fuel setup. I'm going to use the Cosmo pump that I bought @ DGRR as a lift pump (total overkill but I needed the pump to make it home, plus it's really quiet) with a Bosch 044 as a pressure pump, WEMA sender and a built in surge tank. Everything will drop in as one unit with two lines to connect outside the tank and one wiring connector. Should be fun.

I also still need to build a belly pan but I tend to think that's a rather large undertaking.....

vex

04-23-2009, 12:11 AM

Nutsid

04-23-2009, 12:51 AM

I love the pics, Brian. Especially the ones with you and AJ carving around. When he wakes up tomorrow (he is asleep on my couch now), I'll make sure he gets to see this thread. He doesn't even have an account over here yet.

JShiz

04-23-2009, 01:26 PM

Do you have Higher res photos? I would love to use one as a desktop background

WE3RX7

04-24-2009, 10:28 AM

Good to meet you Brian - great car, didn't dissappoint. I will need a ride next year though. I should be just nearing the end of my build by DGRR '10.

The belly pan is something that "seems" simple until you start laying it out. I'm not looking forward to it just yet, but luckily my future father-in-law has all the materials and tools I need since he deals w/ this stuff all day.

Good luck on that fuel setup and your next dyno session... we're looking for even more stellar numbers from that beast!

TitaniumTT

04-24-2009, 07:08 PM

I would, but I aim to finish my car this week, and I have finals half-way through may then my internship starts. It's going to be a busy, busy, summer.

As it should be. Good luck with the car and the finals

I love the pics, Brian. Especially the ones with you and AJ carving around. When he wakes up tomorrow (he is asleep on my couch now), I'll make sure he gets to see this thread. He doesn't even have an account over here yet.

Thanks Dustin. Poor AJ, is his ass still hurting from Ohio?

Him not having an account over here is something that needs to be fixed pronto

TitaniumTT

04-24-2009, 07:24 PM

Do you have Higher res photos? I would love to use one as a desktop background

Alyssa (NeatoCheatoFB on the evil forum) took all the pics. There is a link to her photobucket dealie in the DGRR section over there. Aside from that, maybe PM her? She still has my camera. I didn't take ONE picture except for a few on my phone. She had the camera almost the entire trip and true to form, my car needed constant attention

Good to meet you Brian - great car, didn't dissappoint. I will need a ride next year though. I should be just nearing the end of my build by DGRR '10.

Good to meet you too Bill. Gladly, I think I promised 3 rides and one person to drive her. I better not have any mechanical problems next year. Which means I better hop on the underbody cancer and the tranny swap EARLY so I'm not thrashing literaly the day we're supposed to leave.

The belly pan is something that "seems" simple until you start laying it out. I'm not looking forward to it just yet, but luckily my future father-in-law has all the materials and tools I need since he deals w/ this stuff all day.

Oh believe me, I know all about that. I expected to get all my duct work done in a weekend, took me two weeks. Ridiculous. The Belly pan I should be able to get done in a weekend though...... famous last words. It should be realatively simple. Ducting the big brake upgrade will be something interesting though..... :suspect: oops, I said too much :rofl:

Good luck on that fuel setup and your next dyno session... we're looking for even more stellar numbers from that beast!

Well I don't think the numbers will be all that stellar because the motor is hurt. She's low on compression because of the Hank Mays Goodyear overheating and busted oil line fiasco. Actually have an adjuster coming to the dyno session on the 16th (been booked) so we can run her on the dyno to prove to them that she's low on power and run a compression test to show that she is WAY low. Last time I ran a comp test she was @ 90psi when a week earlier she was @ 110 with 50 miles on the engine. They basically owe me a new motor. I'm going to run this motor for the rest of the year and enjoy the car. When I break her down for the cancer and tranny, I'll rebuild her then. I would still like to see 350 RWHP though. Even though the motor is weak, I THINK she is still capable of that. Time will tell..... like three weeks time will tell.

I'm really pissed becuase I wanted to do this motor in three stages and get HP numbers from all three stages.

Stage 1 - BONE stock twins
Stage 2 - Ported twins
Stage 3 - BNR Stage 3 twins.

With a hurt motor I don't think I'll have reliable data for stage 1. I suppose I could run stage 2 at 7k and wastegate and see what she does and make an educated guess as to the MAX the stockers wold make, but it's a guess, not a dyno sheet. Whatever, they're gonna pay.... and pay large.

MaczPayne

04-25-2009, 12:44 AM

Brian, I have never seen a more meticulous build. Wow is all I can say!

How do you like those Corbeaus? I have the same ones in my car

Between a Jeep and my car, my income is quite strained. Stay tuned for my build after graduation though, I should be pretty adept at TIG by then :) Baja SAE is providing a lot of seat time!

If my math is correct, you're 30? For some reason I thought you were much older!

If I had gotten my motor done earlier, I would have done a road trip out to DGRR as a break-in, maybe next year!

MaczPayne

04-25-2009, 12:49 AM

Dang internet!

JShiz

04-25-2009, 12:57 AM

Alyssa (NeatoCheatoFB on the evil forum) took all the pics. There is a link to her photobucket dealie in the DGRR section over there. Aside from that, maybe PM her? She still has my camera. I didn't take ONE picture except for a few on my phone. She had the camera almost the entire trip and true to form, my car needed constant attention

I'll just bug Cheetos on AIM later.

. Ducting the big brake upgrade will be something interesting though..... :suspect: oops, I said too much :rofl:

Say Wot?

FC3S Murray

04-25-2009, 09:44 AM

TitaniumTT

04-26-2009, 09:03 PM

Brian, I have never seen a more meticulous build. Wow is all I can say!

Thanks Johnson, make the trip next year I'll give you a ride.

How do you like those Corbeaus? I have the same ones in my car

I like them, the non-reclinable thing is starting to bug me a little, and the lumbar could be a little more supportive. I'm getting old and after 16 hours in those things I was popping aleve like candy. Actually whenever I need to take aleve I usually take 6 at a time. There's a container of them in the car now :rofl:

I MAY look at some Brides, or some reclinable seats over the winter. Something that seats you lower but offers more padding. I dunno, we'll see. For 3 hour runs they're great, after that I tend to slouch a little and my back get's stiff. I did sleep in the passenger one for like 2-5 to three hours the first morning though and woke up feeling fine. I wouldn't rec it though. The honduh with the reclining seats was way better. I was able to curl up :lol:

Between a Jeep and my car, my income is quite strained. Stay tuned for my build after graduation though, I should be pretty adept at TIG by then :) Baja SAE is providing a lot of seat time!

NICE! TIG is a great thing to learn. I would definately be leaning as much as possible and building as much as possible out of AL. PITA to weld compared to MIG'ing mild steel but the weight savings are def worth it.

If my math is correct, you're 30? For some reason I thought you were much older!

Yeah, I'm an old bastard. I was actually getting alot of shit about it over the walkies. There was one instance where we were getting off the highway, I was running 3'rd behind the FD who was behind the honduh, the honda made some smart ass comment about being old and slow so I dropped a gear or two, went roaring around the FD on the exit ramp, lite them up through the left hander onto the intersection to get around the honda and into the gas station first..... AJ (Duffman) in his FB bringing up the rear made some comment like, "what a jackass. Look at the old bastard in his midlife crisis mobile." I lol'ed, can't win for losing.

If I had gotten my motor done earlier, I would have done a road trip out to DGRR as a break-in, maybe next year!

DO IT! It doesn't dissapoint. As far as I'm concerned there are nicer FC's and FB's there than there are a 7Stock. And the event itself is far better than 7Stock.

TitaniumTT

04-26-2009, 09:03 PM

I'll just bug Cheetos on AIM later.

Did you get them?

Say Wot?

:suspect:

TitaniumTT

04-26-2009, 09:16 PM

GREAT JOB on the FC Titanium!! I followed some of your build on the rx7club but have never had a chance to sit down and read the entire process. This forum doesn't get the slap from the super duper military firewall so I can actually enjoy my break time at work.

Thanks!:icon_tup:

Your attention to detail and form over function inspires me. I always pay attention to every little detail on my FC and it is nice to see that the trend is common.

Thanks again, I think I did the fuction is as important as form... my friends rag on my pretty hard for my OCDisms

I would say go for the BNR stage 3 on this motor. She should hold up as long as the parameters are all conservative and in check. You will be getiing a replacement anyway right? Anywho, your engine is beautiful, your FC is gorgeous and you my friend deserve a beer! :)

Cheers!

We'll see. The BNR's are ~$2500 and right now my primary turbo has ~3,000 miles on it and if the secondary goes we're looking @ $350 to replace it plus some gaskets. We'll see what happens though. If I get bored with the power and want more than yeah I'll do it, and if that get's boring I'll to tandem GT32's or something, but now we're talking 2-3 years out.

As far as the motor goes, as far as I'm concerned, the adjuster (if I can prove there is damage which I can) "my lawyer," and even Hank May as in Hank Mays Goodyear - yes I am entitled to a new motor. I still haven't had time to run a 3rd comp test but she's low. While on the dyno I was pulling ~18" of vacuum and now the best I can get is ~14 so the motor is def hurt and down on power. So with more boost and rev's hopefully I can get back to the numbers I want to be @, ~350 RWHP and if I can than the rebuild will wait until the winter. If she doesn't make that power, then we'll figure something out. More than likely though I'll just continue to run this motor for the next 7 months and enjoy the car. I'm not going to fix the ding until winter either.

FC3S Murray

04-26-2009, 10:07 PM

I honestly think 350rwhp is PERFECT for the street. Anything higher in my mind is great for the track but really useless(besides freeway pulls) on the street.

I was shooting for 400 on my motor BUT since it is a S4 13BT and I have the dreaded thin rear casting, I am going to keep my tune conservative and my boost at 15psi. She already hauls ass so I am pretty content. We will see what the dyno says...

Anyway sucks about the motor. I wish you the best of luck and smooth progression with the hic-up.

theorie

04-27-2009, 08:24 AM

yeah man hope you work everything out.

car is looking great!

NeatoCheetoFB

04-27-2009, 02:59 PM

Did you get them?

Yes he did :)

GoodfellaFD3S

04-27-2009, 05:43 PM

Ah, I didn't realize this was your car......I remember meeting classicauto when I was checking your FC out (I voted for it for best in show btw :)) but don't know if we met or not.....

JShiz

04-27-2009, 07:44 PM

Yes he did :)

CHEETOES!!!!
:icon_tup:

Fidelity101

04-27-2009, 08:34 PM

your sig is huge

Turbo II Rotor

04-27-2009, 10:05 PM

Hey Brian congrats again on your Best Fc win.

87 t-66

04-28-2009, 09:10 PM

looks bad ass. i can't wait until i can do a complete overhaul on my car like yours. i wish i would have came across this thread earlier!

TitaniumTT

04-29-2009, 06:16 PM

looks bad ass. i can't wait until i can do a complete overhaul on my car like yours. i wish i would have came across this thread earlier!

Thanks Adam

Hey Brian congrats again on your Best Fc win.

Thanks Scott

Ah, I didn't realize this was your car......I remember meeting classicauto when I was checking your FC out (I voted for it for best in show btw :)) but don't know if we met or not.....

Best in Show?!??!?! Damn, Thanks alot Rich. That's quite the compliment especially considering not only the other cars there but your beautiful machine as well.

We did meet, briefly. I was the one that won the S4 N/A gasket kit, that mentioned I had just picked up the IRP alt from Ihor three days earlier:icon_tup: Hopefully next year I'll have all the little issues ironed out so I can enjoy the show, meet & actually chat with people such as yourself as opposed to hunting down parts so I can drive back to CT

Fidelity101

04-29-2009, 08:09 PM

you just got an s4 gasket set?! you should have told me this last weekend since I just had to get a LIM gasket from mazdatrix since there are nearly no mazda dealers in michigan

TitaniumTT

04-29-2009, 08:40 PM

Sorry Man, I actually have plans for the kit though :suspect:

So I figure since we're still all on a DGRR high................ Cabin Sharing, and reasons to definately do it with strangers

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5407&stc=1&d=1241056947

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5408&stc=1&d=1241056947

In all honesty though, I had a great time with this group and hope to have the same crowd again next year.

vex

04-29-2009, 09:01 PM

:lol: one day... one day...

Fidelity101

04-29-2009, 09:10 PM

hopefully next year I'll make it out there

Turbo II Rotor

04-30-2009, 05:24 PM

OMG, the photos finally come out. I hope next year is just as awesome.

Nutsid

05-06-2009, 06:17 PM

Brian, do you intend on going to Sevenstock this year? If so, I wish you could find a way to bring your FC out (even though I know it is a slim shot in hell.)

TitaniumTT

05-06-2009, 07:01 PM

I would like to go to 7Stock this year but unfortuneately I can't. A very close friend of mine is getting married the Friday before, 09/25 so sadly I can't make it out.

On the bright side though, his future wife is VERY much into the whole 7 thing. She was the one pushing for the two of them to go to DGRR but she started work that week so they had to cancel. Anywho, for their 1 yr anny they're talking about roadtripping out to Cali from CT. Not just for the event but for a vaca as well. I would probably ship my car to AZ, drive out with my dear friend, pick up my car in AZ, and then his wife @ the airport and cruise out to 7Stock 13 together. Enjoy the w/e, ship the car back to CT and hop a plane. My oldest friend lives in Newport Beach and we have had long standing plans to do some canyon carving together, and I need to kick ass M3 owning ass down the PCH and then up it again:driving: Not to mention I owe Daniel a stint behind the wheel for letting me rape his Miata to and from the liquor store more than a few times last year :rofl:

Moral is, the car will be there, but not this year sadly. Which was why I was not going to let anything keep me from DGRR. But now that I've been to DGRR, I can honestly say, DGRR > 7Stock. Interestingly enough..... shipping a car and flying to get it vs driving it out there are about the same cost when you add everything up. Hotels were the deal breaker. I'm too old to stay in anything but Marriots, Hiltons etc. so that was ~$400 each way right there less I wanted to hook up with some BAW'lers along the way... which I wouldn't mind at all..... hrm... so with some proper planning driving may actually be cheaper. Shipping was ~$800 each way, gas would be ~$550, plus food, stops, hotels, etc, days off from work have a cost... blah blah blah....

When are you heading east :rofl: Just ask AJ, as long as you like big dogs, I got beds

Nutsid

05-06-2009, 07:07 PM

I'm not sure when I am heading east, but I know for certain that I am going to try my damnedest to make it out to DGRR next year. I have already got the week prior to SS and the week following scheduled off of work, so I think there are going to be a few of us BAWers driving out to California, and making a few pit stops on the way to visit people along with once we are there.

Regardless, I can't wait to see this car in person. It just sucks that it may be later than sooner.

Oh and yeah, AJ showed me the pictures of your dogs when he was here. Those dogs are definitely big, but he also said that they were some of the best trained dogs he had ever been around. If I ever make it up that way I'll definitely let you know. I don't have any problems at all with big dogs. :icon_tup:

TitaniumTT

05-06-2009, 09:31 PM

Ah cool about the no probs with big dogs. That was also nice of AJ. He's just happy that I didn't send ~250 lbs of teeth at him :rofl: Nah, I'd never do that.

Shit Dustin, maybe try to head down for Trays little Oct shindig? I'm kinda hoping to attend that. I was thinking about heading to Zoom Fest, but it may be too long of a drive. Then again, since 7Stock is off this year, maybe I'll head down.... who knows. Either way, whenever you decide to head east, I have a bed waiting for ya. And there's always the Oct mt runs.

stylEmon

05-21-2009, 03:29 PM

man, this makes me want to stop my build, because it's hard to imagine it will ever shape up to this!!

Great car all around!

TitaniumTT

05-26-2009, 09:54 PM

Thanks Nick.

So I figured it was time for an update of sorts since the next week is going to be utter madness.
05/16 - went to the dyno for a comp test for the insurance claim and then we were going to do some more dyno tuning for the 05/17 Auto-X event. My grand debut after stepping out for about 7 years.
So we got to KDR and ran the comp test. The front rotor had three bounces all in the high 112's for PSI. Not bad, consistanct is the word I would use. The rear rotor showed us two bounces @ low 113's and one at 88 psi.... WEAK! Definately a problem. Dave tends to think it's a stuck side seal from the heat. So back and forth with the insurance adjuster a few times that day and then I said to Dave,
So Dave, ya wanna strap her down and have some fun? (with a naughty look on my face)
His reply - You'll break her.
Really?
Yeah, she's hurt and she'll break
But Dave, I've put over 2k miles, close to 3 since the overheat
Yeah, but none on that (as he points to the dyno)
Really? (I say with a powty look)
I can call Enterprise for you right now if you want. Enterprise, They'll take you there (or whatever thier slogan is, I was too busy laughing my arse off with the group of guys that were around)
We all had a good laugh and hung out for a few more hours before I drove back to CT. On the way back I did some light sequential tuning, got home, had a few beers with a friend and decided, fuck it, I'm racing tomorrow
Went to the Auto-X and had a fricken BLAST
http://www.cartct.com/results/05-17-09/05170907.jpg
http://www.cartct.com/results/05-17-09/051709253.jpg
http://www.cartct.com/results/05-17-09/051709360.jpg
http://www.cartct.com/results/05-17-09/051709361.jpg
http://www.cartct.com/results/05-17-09/051709362.jpg
http://www.cartct.com/results/05-17-09/051709361.jpg
http://www.cartct.com/results/05-17-09/051709359.jpg
http://www.cartct.com/results/05-17-09/05170942.jpg
even though I finished not so well. A few things need to happen. I need more seat time, I need to rebuild the engine, I need the sequentials working, I need a higher rev limit, I need the FE tranny, I need an oil baffle pan, I need something in the filler to keep the oil from working it's way up to the cap and then OVERFLOWING OUT OF THE OIL FILL CAP! and I need some race rubber. We're hoping to get all but the race rubber sorted before the next event on 06/07.

Anywho, in talking with Dave, the original thought was just to crack the rear iron off, fix the stuck seal and run her for how-ever long. Then I remembered the gasket set I won (thanks IRP) and realized that for ~$700 I could rebuild the entire engine. So, that's what the plan is now. I forsee two all nighters in the next week to get her done in time, but I expect to be back on the dyno with Dave on 06/03. So fingers crossed. My new gaskets, side seals and springs, corner seals and springs, and RA Super Seals and springs arrived today. Wednesday night is one all nighter to get the engine out and everything cleaned. Then over the next few days clearance all the seals and then a second all nighter on Saturday to get the engine assembled and dropped into place. Should be a brutal week but whatever - keeps me young :rofl:

TitaniumTT

05-28-2009, 08:58 PM

Well, that plan was shot to hell. Turns out it wasn't a stuck seal, but instead I managed to break my second side seal :banghead: Well I didn't do it, Goodyear did hen they overheated the engine. I clearanced everything on that side of the rotor to .05mm. When she cooked the seal must have pinned and broke. I'll get some pics up in the very near future but there is a .185-.25" piece of side seal missing. It scored the housing on the way out and took out the turbo's :banghead: :banghead: As per Mazda the twins aren't serviceable so I should be getting a new pair of '99 spec twins out of the whole deal becuase, well it's a superceded number. Lucky me.... not really. If I was lucky I would've been able to enjoy my car unhurt for more than 160 miles. ::banghead::banghead::banghead::

Right now the engine is disassembled and the car is in pieces. I'm so pissed off at the whole thing that if the insurance co gives me any more shit tomorrow I'm going to have the car towed to Dave, all the pieces shipped, and the company can pay him to rebuild the engine, port the housings, paint the housings, assemble the car, break it in and dyno it, oh yeah, new turbo's too.

So we'll see what happens tomorrow............

need RX7

05-28-2009, 09:11 PM

:( That sucks man. I hope it all works out okay, with the least amount of headache possible.

TitaniumTT

05-28-2009, 10:30 PM

Least amount of headache would've been, here's the shit that's damages, here's what'll cost. Great, thanks for the check. Instead it's been dragging on for OVER 6 weeks at this point. Faxing parts lists, driving 6 hours for a comp test, faxing that, faxing appraisals, mazda invoices, and everything that they can think of. I've had enough, they've managed to suck the joy out of the car for me. I really just want to wave good bye to it and pick it up in a month or so when Dave's done. I'll miss a few auto-x's and the Limerock track day that I so BADLY wanted to go to but at least it'll be done.

They've been claiming all along that I'm trying to turn a profit on this whole thing which I really wasn't. I wanted fair compensation and they put up a hell of a fight. They don't know who they're fucking with is what it really comes down to :rofl:

Whatever, It'll probably be $9,000 for KDR to do everything (turbo's, painting and porting new housings being a big part of that) but they don't want to cut a check to me for the parts. I don't understand.

FC3S Murray

05-29-2009, 06:57 AM

Stick it to 'em man!!

Hopefully after your insurance company pulls their dick out of their ass'es they don't spread the word to other insurance companies on how expensive rotary costs are. :)

I have wanted to just give my car to a shop and let them do the dirty work BUT in Montana I AM the shop.

Hang in there and before you know it you will be back on the road. BTW 99 spec turbos will be nice.

TitaniumTT

05-29-2009, 10:04 AM

They should make ~12 RWHP more at the same boost level and the response is supposed to be even better. That is kinda frightening actually. As the stockers are basically instant.

I tried to warn them when this first started that it was going to be an $8-10,000 claim and when they heard $4,200 for a soft rebuild they were all exited. I asked what happens when Dave cracks the motor open and finds trashed housings, warped rotors, scored endplates etc etc etc and they never answered me. That's when I cracked the motor open. They still haven't answered me yet today. I'm going to call them in a bit. I was VERY explicit that I wanted this done with today. I'm going to call and re-iterate that and then add that my attorney will be involved come Monday. I'm so sick of this shit.

classicauto

05-29-2009, 11:06 AM

I get sick of dealing with insurance companies. I feel your pain.

Slip and squirm and wiggle their way out any way they can. But boy, a day late on your policy payment and hell will rain down from the skies on you - and it won't be covered :lol:

Best of luck bro!

TitaniumTT

05-29-2009, 11:50 PM

:rofl: Yeah, I bet you've had more than your fair share of insurance dealings. What they don't realize is who they're trying to fuck with :lol: I've been on both sides of the shit in the insurance industry so I know what I'm entitled to and what I'm not. So.......... I'm done after this last e-mail to them. Now they want the Alldata time for engine removal, overhaul and install. It's 18.7 hours BTW. How fucking ridiculously optimistic is that? And why the fuck am I looking this shit up? Isn't this the adjusters fucking job? He told me how much he earns a year. I thought to myself, Fuck, you get paid that much to jerk people off and you don't even get your hands sticky.... Where the fuck do I sign up? /Tangent.

So I gave them a cashout number, they said no way. I told them they have until Monday night to decide to either pay me, or authorize KDR for everything including two new housings, and a new set of twins. I continued with, one of my best friends is an attorney. He's in CA until Sunday morning. Sunday night I'm buying him a few beers and we're discussing this and he is going to be involved come Tuesday if it's not resolved. We'll see how that plays out. I have yet to drop the bomb on them that my attorney friend was present for some of the engine rebuild, he was there 30 minutes after Goodyear overheated the engine, took a LONG lunch break that day :lol: , and he was there that night compression checking the engine with me and two other witnesses when we found the engine down 20psi from a week earlier and that one low bouce from the broken side seal. I'm waiting to drop that one until last.

Whatever, they're also asking for the Mazda list prices for all the parts. I just sent them a list with $8,602.79 worth of parts on it :rofl:

vex

05-31-2009, 03:46 PM

wait... 3 engines, 'xplain!

TitaniumTT

05-31-2009, 05:17 PM

First was the used RE that I bought three years ago. That lasted 4.5 hours before, ironically, the same failure happened, just for different reasons. The side seal was carbon locked and broke a few inched from the corner seal. The side seal chipped the Apex seal which finally broke and took out the other two apex seals and the housing, and the rotor. Than this motor lost a piece of side seal and took out a housing........ but the Apex seals are intact..... but that's irrelavent becuase they won't be reused. So that's two motors, I'll be building, or Dave will be building, engine number 3 very soon.

As long as I make the Limerock Track day, I won't have to kill anyone. If the scumfuck spermburping ins co decides not to cash me out, it looks like Dave will have the car for 4-6 weeks which makes me a sad panda.

Although it will give me time to get some work done on my boat. Maybe get that in the water before fall :rofl:

TitaniumTT

06-02-2009, 11:52 PM

So the Ins co decided that they will cash me out for the parts that I know were damaged. Tomorrow I'll be going over everything again just to be extra certain that I didn't miss a warped plate or a warped rotor or something horrible like that. If everything turns out OK, then I'll be clearancing side seals this weekend and may actually get her done in time for the Limerock track day. That would be SOOOOOOOOOO fucking awesome as I should be rocking some Work VSXX's wrapped in Toyo RA1 r-comp tires too. My pants are tight just thinking about it

Roen

06-03-2009, 02:15 AM

Boo....when is track day? I'm coming back 6/21.

TitaniumTT

06-03-2009, 09:00 AM

Track day is 6/18. Come back a day early and hit the auto-x with me and maybe Alex & Maya on 6/21

FC3S Murray

06-03-2009, 09:28 AM

TitaniumTT

06-05-2009, 06:08 PM

Yes, Yes it does. Shit, I auto-x'ed mine the day after the comp test and accidentally hit the rev limit once or twice. I'm pysched though. After talking with Dave I decided to use the 13B-RE housings that came with the second motor. I have been half-assedly trying to sell them for some time now. I spoke with Dave about them and he suggested using them. He has seen no appreciable difference on the dyno using them vs the TII/REW housings. For those of you who don't know, the ports on the Cosmo motor dive downward after the port opening to meet up with the restrictive exhaust sleeves. Upon seeing this, I opted to buy a set of good condition S5 N/A housings and port those.

Dave was telling me the first set he did when he re-used the Cosmo housings, he welded the area up and then ground it down to meet with the sleeves. The next next identical motor he built he just put the sleeves in. Dyno says no difference. Sooooooo, this motor should be slightly stronger than the last becuase the housings are in better shape. They are near mint.

The rest of the parts that I need to rebuild the shortblock should be here Monday. Everything has been cleaned. Left to do is port/paint the new housings, clearance all the side seals, and pull the turbine cartridges to see if there was any damage to the turbine blades when the chunk of side seal passed through it. I'm hoping that the piece or pieces were so small that no damage was done. If there was damage I'll have to buy new cartridges. I was hoping to get the efini twins, but I just don't have the patience @ this point. I would have to wait a few weeks while the snails and the center piece were out getting ceramic coated. Instead what I think I'll do is buy the twins in a few months and tear them apart. Get a second mani as well and send everything to David Garfinkle for some porting. Then have the pieces shipped to my ceramic coater, then back to me so I can have them for DGRR '10. Along with a few other additions. New undercoating, new paint, new hood, extra gear "in the tranny" :suspect:

So anywho, still hoping to make LimeRock. Really hoping now becuase I just paid for my Work VSXX's with some RA1 rubber that should arrive in a week..... should be a fucking BLAST. I need to get some sort of in-car camera for that.....

So stay tuned. More pics and dyno numbers to come.

EJayCe996

06-05-2009, 08:59 PM

I need to get some sort of in-car camera for that.....

WTF ARE YOU WAITING FOR THEN?!?:rofl:

TitaniumTT

06-05-2009, 10:51 PM

Engine rebuild, dyno, getting my camera back from a fellow forum member........ I may just show up at her house unexpectedly to collect. Be good breakin mileage. She's ~3 hrs away. I suspect I'll have one in time.

JShiz

06-05-2009, 11:35 PM

Good to hear about your engine getting paid for. Next time i have legal issues, you'll be getting a pm.

EJayCe996

06-06-2009, 01:16 PM

Jshiz, the key is explicitly using "scumfuck spermburping" with the ins co.

JShiz

06-06-2009, 02:25 PM

So that's what I've been doing wrong. I guess "Anal Turd buckets" wasn't explic enough

TitaniumTT

06-06-2009, 04:21 PM

:rofl: I was lucky in my situation because everything was so miticulously documented. not only by me but by the state of CT. CT video tapes all of thier emmisions tests. So, at the hieght of my being jerked off, to the point where the blisters turned to bleeding sores I told them, "listen you scumfuck spermburpers. Either this gets settled so that I am indemnified, or I am calling a lawyer, getting that tape, all my pictures, all my documentation and I'll see you in court where I will go after the full amount to have a shop repair the damage as well as attourneys fees, rental car, etc etc etc."

That's when things started happening rather quickly. So, if you're ever in a situation like that, document everything you can. The cameraphone is such an awesome invention. I can record video and voice notes on my crackberry as well. Basically don't go for more than you think you're entitled to, stand your ground, and document EVERYTHING. Send emails instead of voicemails, "Spermburper, this is the THIRD time I have sent you what you asked for. See e-mails dated, blah blah and yada yada..... etc etc etc.

TitaniumTT

06-06-2009, 09:35 PM

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Maybe. So pre-overheat I had ~30-35psi of oil on a hot idle. Post Overheat I had ~15+ish. Dave said check the main bearings. Rear main is out of spec about a thou and a half. So Renni rear gear is being ordered. 3 window etc etc etc. Also noticed tonight some gawd awefully slight scoring on the e-shaft. So it looks like I'll be ordering a renni e-shaft as well. FrankenWankel gets more Frankened?

Should give ever so slightly better acceleration from the lower rotating mass and the 3 window rear just gives peace of mind spinning to 7800+

Hrm, better housings, tighter tolerances on the side seals, lighter e-shaft, should beat 313 on wastegate :reddevil:

vex

06-07-2009, 12:07 AM

Sounds like fun! I think I just fixed my smoking problem and rather simply too. lol. $6 worth of pipe. It's a tight fit, but it makes for a much nicer transition from the turbo to the oil pan.

I would however like to see an in detail write up from you on how you spec your engines and build them; work area, seal grinding, new parts replaced, etc. I still have a lot to learn in that respect and I still need to track down vac leaks. I suck at it. I know I have one and I'm pretty confident I know where it's coming from, but I can never find it with the propane method. I think I'm going to make a smoke machine one of these days.

Document your engine build!

TitaniumTT

06-11-2009, 02:43 AM

OK, I don't think there is really anything special about the way I go about it.

I like to replace all the seals and springs but if I don't, I spec them damn carefully. The last engine I built I actually spent more time playing musical seals and grinding very little off a few here and there than I spent clearancing all 12 new seals for this engine.

A good friend has a sharpening stone that is 220 on one side and 1000 on the other. So what I do is use the 220 side until the seal just barely fits in place, then I move over to the 1000 and grind until it clears the .05mm. If I can get the .08mm in there I move it around to a few different sides until it fits right. Had to do this twice on this motor. If the seal is free but the .05mm won't fit, there is the potential that you are at .049mm and a few strokes will put you out of range. You can always take more off but you can't put it back on so I always count my strokes and check every 7.

The cutting fluid I use is a dream. Cuts though the seals like nothing. So friken fast. Oh, I also buy 14 seals instead of 12. I broke one and the other is a backup now. So nect time I only need 13. but 13 is bad joo joo so I'll still get 14.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5653&stc=1&d=1244706453

For anyone wondering about the 13B-RE housings. They are a PITA! The exhaust sleeves don't line up like the normal housings do, and there is an insert for the egr deal so it can't be tapped. I have a few shots of the port, the TII/REW sleeve, and the plug that I had to make. I was FURIOUS at this little bitch. I took some 3/8" plate that I had laying around and hand fit it to .550" round and then pounded it into the port. HOURS wasted with this. Why did I do this you ask? Well, the sleeve seems like it would allow a decent amount of exhaust gas to get out and up into the LIM heating it. Bad scenario. So now it's blocked off.

As for the ports, I spoke with Dave about these housings. He has seen no appreciable difference with the sleeves mis-alinged. I know, doesn't make sense, but his dyno doesn't lie. I was originally going to hock these housings and buy new REW housings. Now I'll save those gems for the next engine which will be even more beasty.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5650&stc=1&d=1244706453

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5651&stc=1&d=1244706453

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5652&stc=1&d=1244706453

So, after the rotors are set and all the seals are in place, Apex seals and assit pieces glued, springs layed out, and everything has been cleaned and recleaned, and recleaned I start like this.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5654&stc=1&d=1244706453

Then I spend a good deal of time putting hylomar on the housings. Being careful to make sure that it stays on the water side of the compression seal. Don't want that nastiness getting into the combustion chamber. Then one iron @ a time I put the vaseline on for the o-rings. I have a bunch of syringes that I use for epoxy work that make keeping the vaseline pretty neat.

So starting with the front plate on the stand the vaseline and o-ring's go in. Then the dowel pins lubbed with some oil. Then I squirt some oil on the main bearing, and where the side seals and oil control rings would rotate. I use normal mineral oil for this - in the old squirter. Then I saturate the housings with 2-stroke oil smearing it everywhere, in the new red plastic one. I do my cleaning with carb clean, so that takes all the oil out of the pores that are supposed to retain the oil. Then the rotor goes in, e-shaft and center plate. Pretty normal I think

TitaniumTT

06-11-2009, 02:57 AM

So here we are with the center plate (and the new RX8 eshaft) but no o-rings. I like to do them one surface at a time. What if right? Don't need those bastards swelling so.........

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5656&stc=1&d=1244706952

Put them on along with the dowels. The dowels are there for alignment. Why put a housing on and have to move it? I've moved o-rings out of place before trying to align a housing. now I just put the dowels in first.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5657&stc=1&d=1244706952

Apply liberal amounts of oil

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5658&stc=1&d=1244706952

Insert rotor...... With the last engine, on the last corner seal before the thing was done it was being stubborn. It finnaly moved and jumped out of it's hole and hopped into a collant passage :banghead: It took me about 15 minutes to fish it out with a magnet wrapped in electrical tape becuase it kept pulling towards the irons while I was trying to get it down to the front plate. THen it wouldn't pass through the housing so I had to shave the tape. It was an infuriating nightmare. I was seeing red. Anyway, now when I take the corner seals out I use a magnet to pull them out so something like that can't happen again.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5659&stc=1&d=1244706952

And then the plate and the tension bolts. Pretty normal or so I think. Tomorrow, or later today actually, I'll set the end float and start putting the periperals on. Still planning on being at KDR on the 17th for a dyno and then hitting Limerock the next day.

I bought a set of Work VSXX's of a friend who is parting his car. They are 17x8 & 17x9 wrapped in 235/40 & 255/40 RA1's. I got them for a deal that I couldn't pass up. I can't wait to so some damage to them. They should be here today... WOOT!

87 t-66

06-11-2009, 05:35 PM

did you get the wheels from someone in ohio? looking good brian!

EJayCe996

06-11-2009, 05:55 PM

Well then there should have been pics by now... not a good look TTT......:icon_no2:

:001_005:

TitaniumTT

06-11-2009, 11:47 PM

did you get the wheels from someone in ohio? looking good brian!

Thanks Adam. Yes I did. They should've arrived today but instead when I got home there was a note saying we tried to deliver, but we're too fucking lazy to carry 200lbs of wheels/tires from our truck so instead we're going to leave you a note. The bastards never even knocked. I have two big guard dogs and they didn't make a fricken PEEP all day. Lazy asses. So I'll be signing that signature release and there will be pics tomorrow :)

TitaniumTT

06-11-2009, 11:49 PM

Well then there should have been pics by now... not a good look TTT......:icon_no2:

:001_005:

:rofl: Not my fault FedEx enjoys gargling sperm. I'll get some pics tomorrow.... It'll be late, like really late. Maybe even Saturday...... wait, it's already Friday, so yeah, pics by tomorrow the latest ;)

EJayCe996

06-13-2009, 10:49 AM

Our FedEx its pretty cool here. Its always the same guy in his Ryder rental truck(... his FedEx one must have broke or something... times ARE hard right now :rofl:) and he happens to be a fish tank and car guy. He typically hangs out for a bit, after dropping off my constant influx of parts, and asks about the 200 gal aquarium by the front door as well as my FC and my friend's STi (the FedEx guy owns a Subie himself) that's over every once in a while to be detailed.

TitaniumTT

06-15-2009, 04:37 PM

She's ALIVE!!!!

Started right the hell up @ ~6 this morning. Ran great until the t-stat opened then the coolant temps SHOT to 205*...... fucking air bubble. Oil temps stayed @ 160 though. Shut her down burped the system, started right up again and we sat there and idled for about 1/2 hr. Then I go some much needed sleep, droped her off the stands and so far the first 10 miles have been flawless. Ran a comp test this morning too........ after ~ 1/2 hour of idle she's making 125+ psi in the front & ~130psi in the rear. I are very happy. Now I just need to log a metric fuckton of miles before the dyno on Wed............. anybody wanna come to CT and break my car in tonight while I sleep?

classicauto

06-15-2009, 04:46 PM

I would've but I left the USA on saturday :lol:

Good job man, can't wait for power results!

JShiz

06-15-2009, 05:11 PM

Fly me to CT and I'll do it

EJayCe996

06-15-2009, 06:28 PM

Congrats!

and....

NICE WHEELS!:icon_tup:

I'm sorry I couldn't resist :rofl:

chickenwafer

06-15-2009, 10:13 PM

I love your build man, so badass. I've debated having my engine in the 8 blacked out when I rebuild it, you are really convincing me :) Also on the harness tuck- love that.

MaczPayne

06-17-2009, 10:26 PM

Brian, what's your brake setup? Glad to see her back again! I need YOU at our local tracks! Would be nice to drive with ya!

TitaniumTT

06-18-2009, 12:18 AM

I would've but I left the USA on saturday :lol:

Good job man, can't wait for power results!

Damnit, oh well.... next time ;)

Fly me to CT and I'll do it

:rofl: it was tempting.... it really was

Congrats!

and....

NICE WHEELS!:icon_tup:

I'm sorry I couldn't resist :rofl:

Yeah I did promise those didn't I.... Aight, I'll snap ONE tonight just to relive... whatever ;)

I love your build man, so badass. I've debated having my engine in the 8 blacked out when I rebuild it, you are really convincing me :) Also on the harness tuck- love that.

i had it done by Anthony Bulger @ Sport Tuner. Awesome guy to work with, great prices and his turn-around time is what he says it is. how can you ask for anything more. I had everything done in their high-temp ceramic coating which honestly makes a huge difference. One of my pipes broke and I had to weld it. The coating rejected the welding heat like no-ones business. Great stuff.

As for that harness tuck :banghead: I'm dreading helping my buddy do it. It's nice when it's done but I suggest alot of booze after the fact to help you forget the pain that you went through

Brian, what's your brake setup? Glad to see her back again! I need YOU at our local tracks! Would be nice to drive with ya!

Hell yeah it would be nice to drive with ya Johnson. As for my brakes, right now they are stock 4-pots with KVR x-drilled and carbon pads. They work great. Over the winter though I have something nasty planned :suspect:

Aight........ so on with the update........ or lack thereof. First let me comment on Dave @ KDR. The guy is a fricken SAINT not to mention a hell of a mechanic and tuner as well. That being said.........

I left work late last night and made a 240 mile loop around CT for some miles, since none of you sissys wanted too ;) Got home ~2 in the morning, cleaned my garage up so I could change my oil in the morning. Got to bed around 5, woke up @ 8 to help a buddy move his rig the alignment shop. Then I changed my oil and left. I got held up in construction traffic, then a car fire stopped 287 in both directions (I got pics of the carnage though, a Camry somehow managed to spin, bust up both ends, roll, land shiny side up and then errupt into flames. Had I been 2 minutes earlier I would've missed it all but instead I got to watch them put the fire out...) regardless... I was like 3 hours late. So we strap her down and make a few mild pulls. Problems right off the bat, WAY lean.... like high 13's in boost lean. Also the boost control was non-existant. Spikes to 20. I'll spare the details but it ended after swapping maps, checking vaccuum diagrams, dicking with this, horsing with that, pulling and changing fuel lines, swapping them around thinking the feed was feeding the back of the reg and destroyed the diaphram, reagardless of what we did, we couldn't get the girl to fatten up. To add insult to injury the FP sensor puked completely on the way out. So we had no idea what the FP was as one of Daves friends borrowed his kit. So we had to set the fuel pressure off the rail with a tranny system tester and I left, after keeping Dave late for a while, like a long while. I was all set to get a hotel and hit her again in the morning but Dave was jammed Thursday so we decided to just set the pressure and nurse her home........ guess what I found when I got home? Another clogged fuel filter. (Yes it's 1 in the morning & I'm on 3 hours of sleep, a few Redbulls and it was a high tobacco consumption day... yet I still had to know WTF was going on & I'm still gonne get pics of my rims.... bastards ;) ) Yeah, after maybe 1200 miles my filter clogged again. Not to mention ~ 700 miles ago I dropped the tank to clean it out BY HAND.

Here's my thought. I've seen a METRIC FUCKTON of boats blow motors, clog carbs, eat filters from the inside and detroy fuel tanks from the Ethanol that was put in a few years ago. It's very prevelant in the marine industry where tanks tend to be very old and sedimenty being that they sit 1/2 thier life with the same fuel just fermenting. Years ago the ethanol would break up all the sludge and send it throught the rest of the fuel system. That's pretty much how I got my boat as cheap as I did. The first tank of ethanol fuel and the boat ran for 20 minutes before 4 out of 6 carbs were clogged. CLOGGED. Over powered the fuel filter and bam. Done. So I bought the boat, drained the tank, rebuild the carbs and it ran for 30 minutes before she started running like shit again. I put a drainable fuel/water/sludge seperator on and the bowl was BLACK, as in the fuel was BLACK. As in it looked like 20 year old coke was being poured out. This was after I drained the tank mind you. So I drained it again and the shit that was coming out was disgusting. Then I opened it up and put a pressure washer in there. MORE shit came out and it looked like there was no end. SO I hauled the tank from the boat - 32 gallon tank. Then I took a length of chain and put it in the tank and rolled it around, put a few gallons in, drained it and continued this for hours. The crap that came out was UNBELIEVABLE. So this was year one of the ethanol in the marine industry. After a bunch of tanks were cleaned or replaced, the next year it was just water in the fuel. So much to the point that engines were still blowing and carbs were still getting clogged. Not from sludge, no no no, that's all been cleaned out. Now its water in the fuel. Apparently the ethanol attracs water. Alot of boats actually have mold around the vents... charming isn't it? Incidentally, there is no real "charcoal canister" crap in the marine world. They are all pretty much vented to atmosphere. Like the tank in my 7 :)

This year I have heard a bunch of stories about fiberglass/epoxy tanks being replaced. Apparently the ethanol wasn't content with collecting water, dispersing sludge and blowing motors constantly, now it's attacking fiberglass. There is one tank in particular that I worked on that is so soft you can leave a fingerprint in 5 year old fiberglass. When I drained that tank, CHUNCKS of epoxy were coming out. It was ridiculous. The floats were "epoxied" shut and the thing is in need of some serious carb work.

So, what does all of that rambling have to do with me? About 5 years ago when I painted my car I dropped the tank. I peeked inside and saw a shit-ton of rust. So I did what anyone else would do. I took it to a shop to have it boiled out and EPOXY COATED. The only thing that I can think of why I clog so many socks and now 2 filters in 4k miles is the ethanol is attacking my coating and sending epoxy through the entire fuel system. Now I'm debating whether or not I should pull my injectors and send them to Marren to have them double checked. He's local so overnight is the same as standard UPS and I have an appt with Dave next Wed (I'm getting a hotel room local so today's crap doesn't happen again, becuase this is the second time)

So that's the story. 1 all nighter, one night till 7 in the morning, and one till 5 in the morning all so I can make today's (@ this point) track day @ Limerock and Sundays auto-x. Maybe I'll e-mail a few of the BMW/Porsche clubs and see if they'll let me beat up on them at the track under thier club for a day seeing as mine only has one day @ Limerock. I know the club I belong to allows provisional one day memberships. Anywho, lemme go snap a pic or two of meh new rims, that I was hoping to have bolted on today.

The only bright side to this, I have tomorrow off for the track day. Now since I'm not going, maybe I'll uncover my boat, it's only more than half-way into June :banghead:

TitaniumTT

06-18-2009, 12:44 AM

Work VSXX - 17x8 +35 & 17x9 +35 wrapped in shaved Toyo Proxes RA1's. 235/40 & 255/40. Identical to my BBS's just more grippy. Therefore more gooder for the track day that I was supposed to be taking part in today

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5712&stc=1&d=1245304382

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5713&stc=1&d=1245304382

Happy now? Map I PLEASE get some sleep now? ;)

JShiz

06-18-2009, 12:48 AM

Nice wheels. Too bad my SE can't use them or i'll jack them... :suspect:

WE3RX7

06-18-2009, 11:17 PM

Being that you have had no sleep, I wont crack on your spelling of the words "Map I"... but yet, go get some sleep, lol.

I can only hope that by your dealing with all these setbacks and issues that your car will be simply a force of unstopable rotary power when you do finally get your track day in!

I havent had time to snag that software yet, but when I do - I'll hit ya back on the PM..

Keep it up man, you're keeping us other SE guys alive with hope...

TitaniumTT

06-18-2009, 11:34 PM

Ah shit man...... yeah, lemme know when you want those. I did some light tuning tonight... I'll post up a few data logs. I got her down to .75L. Pig nasty rich but safe. I also changed the AIM around a little to keep a better eye on things such as L & MAP... Lemme hop a shower and I'll post up a few data logs. She's strong though. As strong as the old motor. Rich as all get out but we'll take car of that next Wednesday and squeeze some more ponies out of her. Getting the basline fuel map should be pretty quick and painless. Now I need to decide if I should up the revs, or go for the low RPM high load sites while on the dyno and then start horsing around with the sequentials? I think I'll go for the sequential stuff as I found a different clubs autox on the 28th that I want to hit up.. meh, we'll see.

Log coming soon, Bill, hurry up and snag that V3.x software so I can send you a few maps to play around with. You won't be disapointed, I promise.

TitaniumTT

06-19-2009, 01:35 AM

~68* night, mostly highway runs, but the ones you see are 1st & 2nd gear pulls. The AIT's are in F and the coolant/oil temps are C ;) HMIC FTMFW

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5719&stc=1&d=1245393616

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5720&stc=1&d=1245393616

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5721&stc=1&d=1245393616

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5722&stc=1&d=1245393616

classicauto

06-19-2009, 10:45 AM

Brian, what kind of EGT probe are you running and where's it at?

Just curious on your readings as it appears to steadily rise the longer you're in it. My probes do the same, I feel I can only get an accurate reading of EGT by doing a full 1st through 4th gear pull redline. At which point I will see approx 900C by 7500RPM in 4th.

And those datalogs are sweet BTW, awesome software.

TitaniumTT

06-19-2009, 11:21 PM

Hey Joe, running a type-k thermocoupler that is mounted dead center in the stock exhaust mani. I've got to check my setup as those egt's seem rather cold meaning that the timing is advanced which I don't think it is. I guess it's possible that the L is cooling it but I'm not sure about that much..... we'll see on Wednesday when I'm back on the dyno.

BTW - I'm happy with the fuel curve for now. It's good and safe. I did some pretty light sequential tuning. The transition needs alot of work as the pattern is like 7-5-7 but holy shite do they spool and FAST. Wednesday should be fun.

I LOVE the software. I'm a very visual person and the datalogs are a dream for me to use. Can't say enough good things about the Motec stuff

MaczPayne

06-21-2009, 01:03 AM

Damn, makes me want to move to a Motec!

Mmmm... RA1's. Those will surely put a smile on your face.

TitaniumTT

06-21-2009, 05:18 PM

Damn, makes me want to move to a Motec!

I know, after using the V3 stuff, nothing compares. I really think it's JUST the cost that keeps more people out of Motec's

Mmmm... RA1's. Those will surely put a smile on your face.

We can only hope:driving: Depending on what class they stick me in next week will determine if they go on or not. If they stick me in the Novice class, I'll run the Azenis, if they put me in Street Mod, the RA1's will make their debut. I was the ONLY person in SM that wasn't on race rubber and while I didn't throroughly get my ass handed to me, lets just say it was gentle placed on my lap :rofl:

Nismo

06-22-2009, 07:41 PM

Brian the car is incredible, I hope to see it someday... Also I don't get the plate... O Pistons do you orgasm for pistons or something?

TitaniumTT

06-22-2009, 10:44 PM

Holy Bejeezus it's Kevin! How they hell are ya man? Haven't heard from you in a while. Thanks for the compliments man. You may get a chance to see her yet as I am planning a trip at somepoint to Rochester NY for some corner balancing and alinging. You'll definately have to hop the border if we're that close, damnit.

As for the "O"..... check the sig foo! It's a "ZERO," not an "Oh" :banghead: I really don't understand why people don't get that. Even my buddies Fiance asked, "why is it "Oh-Pistons?" Maybe becuase we're dropping an LS in his TII? Dunno, maybe I should pimp slap both of them? Dunno. I don't orgasm over pistons, they generally wet themselves when I'm around............ the ladies too ;) Mr. Spoolin, panty wetter extradinaire :rofl:

TitaniumTT

06-24-2009, 11:11 PM

So motor number 3 is coming out and being cracked open. A not so brief summary of the last 40 hours

Woke up early yesterday morning, went to work, came home late, paid some bills, reserved a hotel in Bethleham PA, spent an hour on the phone with a good friend discussion paint, spent an hour on the phone with a woman, got into the car around 10 ish..... I think. Dropped the fuel tank, changed the sock, for the third time, cleaned the main filter, swapped tanks, got everything inspected, double checked, running great, took all the old gas and dumped it in my boat, ran to the gas station and put 5oz premix in a 5 gallon jug, added 3 gals gas, put that in the car, drove the car to the gas station, picked Roen up in Queens around 3 in the morning, drove to PA and got to the hotel @ 5:30ish..... Roen PASSED THE FUCK OUT soon after the PA border and it was all I could do to keep the hysterics down as I watched this bobblehead in the seat next to me bounce around, snore and drool for the better part of an hour. The bastards canceled my room. So we had breakfast, grabbed a LOT of coffee, a few Red Bulls and headed for KDR - early for once. So we hung out until 10:30 until we strapped the car down. I asked Dave if we could do a compression test before we started on the dyno just so we knew. I was heartbroken. Front rotor is screwed with 3 bouces of unevenness with the low being 101 and the high around 113 and one in the middle. The rear was PERFECTLY even but low at 115 I think. I haven't slept in 40 hours incase you didn't realize.

Now, after the motor had some idle time I compression tested the motor and it was ~125F & ~130R. The compression should have gone up. The only thing that we can think happened was the seals warped or something bad happened during th high 13 AFR 20 PSI spike. The 15 PSI spike made 346 @ 4800.

Dave and I spent HOURS UPON HOURS today combing through a bunch of different datalogs and the map itself and there is NOTHING in EITHER that would cause the motor to be damaged, save those two pulls last week.

Inspecting the plugs showed really nice rich running evenness and the results of a healthy amount of premix becuase I was over oiling her. 8OZ in the tank plus the OMP.

What we think happened was the epoxy coating in the tank that claimed 3 socks and 3 filters made its' way past the filter and into the injectors. Pinning one of them and allowing a lean run condition. The Closed Loop Lambda is set to allow for 20% enrichment and 5% enleanment. During the dyno pulls last week we were seeing high 13's. This was really becuase of a lack of fuel pressure. What might have happened was the front was way lean and the rear dead on giving the average of 13.9. Not to mention for the last 1100 miles when the L was pig rich, the front could've been lean and the rear WAY rick. We'll find out soon enough as the injectors are going to Tim Marren tomorrow morning so hopefully by Friday I'll have an answer on the injectors. They are being sent labled so if his says serial #whatever of fucked, and can say, yeah, that was #1 secondary, that killed the motor.

With luck I'll have the motor apart this weekend and we'll be able to see what happened and what needs replacing. I'm so depressed, 4 motors in 4 months WTF?!?! I think Dave is almost equally dissapointed. He said again today if there ever was a car that could make 400RWHP sequentially, it's this one. Again, Dave is a fricken saint and a joy to work with, even under these circumstances, I can't say enough good things about him.

On that note, good night and sig changed.

TitaniumTT

06-24-2009, 11:22 PM

Oh yeah, for Bill. A few maps/datalogs

that are apparently way to big even when zipped to be uploaded. PM me an email addy pal and I'll shoot them off to you

antman0408

06-25-2009, 12:59 AM

If I read this sooner, I would have gone to KDR to see your car. I guess you'll be going back to KDR again, so maybe I'll get another chance to see you. I've been following your build from the beginning, and it is truly impressive and makes me want to build my car up to your level. I'm on my 4th engine too, so don't feel bad. I probably had the same mileage between builds as you, but you had it in a much much shorter time period. I finally got everything sorted out on the last one, so don't give up.

TitaniumTT

06-25-2009, 10:50 AM

Thanks for the compliments. I'll actually be @ KDR on Saturday. I'm going to rock an allnighter on Friday and toss the keg in my truck and head out there so Dave and I can tear the thing down to see what the EFF happened. With any luck by the end of the holiday weekend I'll be breaking in engine #4. I'll be going back for a dyno soon, hopefully in time to make an Auto-x on the 12th, skeptical, but definately in time for Pocono on the 20th. Keep checking back man, I'll be back to KDR @ least 3 more times in the next 4 weeks. Dave is just the man, that is all.

classicauto

06-25-2009, 11:51 AM

need RX7

06-25-2009, 09:52 PM

:( Good luck man.

TitaniumTT

06-26-2009, 12:19 AM

Good gawd!

4th will be the charm, I'm going to lay down Masin's law on you now - " you're not allowed to blow anymore engines!" :)

This one must be exceedingly frustrating because of the fact that its not dead - just weak and you know it. If the thing idled on one rotor you'd likely be much happy about pulling it apart!

Keep it up B - the car will find its chee.

"and on the fourth day he made another rebuild. And he said it would be good. And it was good."
:lol:

:rofl: I should hire a minister to sprinkle some holly water on the block as I'm assembling it. So a good friend of mine ( who's Jewish) dropped by today to lend a hand pulling the engine, breaking it down to a keg and getting it in the back of my truck. We're wrenching away and I said, "There's gotta be some bad joo joo in this shop." He replied with, "what, another racist crack!" :lol:

:( Good luck man.

Thanks, I'm in good spirits though. Picked some sludgy shit outta the #1 primary injector and 2 of the three studs on the primary turbine either gauled or stripped on the way out. So I PRAY that the housings/irons/rotors survived.

TitaniumTT

06-26-2009, 12:37 AM

So I gotta toss out a HUGE thanks to a close friend of mine, Sunshine on a few forums. We might be putting an LSx in his TII but he still has love for the rotary. It took us four hours from the time I drove her in till the time the engine was in the back of my Jeep. Full damage assesment on Saturday.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5762&stc=1&d=1245995324

MaczPayne

06-26-2009, 02:16 AM

Perfection is fighting against you! You're no stranger to challenges though :)

TitaniumTT

06-26-2009, 09:43 PM

:rofl: No I'm not. I have a defeat complex. I don't know what it is, therefore I do not know how to accept it.

I ordered a second TCA today from my Motec guru so I can see F vs R egt's. I don't think it would've saved this engine but I'll be logging them from now on. I told him what happened, how long it took us to get the thing out. His comment, "You're getting too good at this. You don't need anymore practice so stop it." :lol:

Le sigh, you're all right. Lets hope this is the last one. Lets pray, lets sacrifice a few virgins..... maybe. Does anyone do the pube thing? Maybe I will this time.

vex

06-27-2009, 01:20 AM

Pube thing?... Good Luck B, I'll be tearing out my rear end tomorrow and putting it all back together later on that day. Hopefully that will solve my vibration problem. We'll see though. GL

TitaniumTT

06-27-2009, 04:46 AM

Yeah, drop a pube in each housing when assembling for good luck. I've never done it, wondering if I should.

classicauto

06-27-2009, 08:56 AM

I actually kissed my rotors during my last assembly. Its holding up well, maybe give that a shot :lol:

TitaniumTT

06-27-2009, 12:52 PM

:rofl: Sounds good to me. So I'm at KDR right now waiting to see a 500WRHP 500R run.

Damage assesment - warped Apex seals. Everything else is PERFECT. Already ordered new seals and will be ordering new side seals on Monday. I'm leaving the e-shaft, irons, bearings, stat gears, and rotors here for Dave to Cryo. Hopefully pick up before the holiday weekend and start my own fireworks on Monday. Lets hope.

FC3S Murray

06-27-2009, 04:45 PM

I actually kissed my rotors during my last assembly. Its holding up well, maybe give that a shot :lol:

I am gonna fucking MAKE OUT with this engine build.:) Tongue in everything!

Damage assesment - warped Apex seals

DAMN! You warped RA Super Seals? You definately went lean then. Those injectors were the problem right?

TitaniumTT

06-27-2009, 09:21 PM

Yeah, BIG time warpage. I haven't heard from Tim yet as to how bad they are, but picking that shit out of the primary was a pretty good indication that they're fucked. And if the combined AFR's were ~ 13.5+ imagine what the front only was if the rear was pretty spot on. I'm thinking 15-16 under 15-20psi. A little frightening. Regardless, I called Laura and have a set of seals and springs on their way to me now. Im planning on picking up my cryo'ed parts on thursday/friday and will hopefully have a long block my Tuesday, so back up and running by the 8th and maybe make Pocono on the 20th.

I may make sweet sweet love to the exhaust ports :rofl:

EJayCe996

06-27-2009, 09:35 PM

*cough*ceramic*cough*...... this isn't where I parked my car... :leaving:

TitaniumTT

06-28-2009, 08:28 PM

:rofl: It was rec'd to me to use the RA Supers so that's what I went with the first time and the second as well. We'll see.....

I've never really heard anything too special about the ceramics. Mostly internet rumors and myths and no real experience.

What's your take on them?

EJayCe996

06-28-2009, 10:04 PM

Well given the properties of ceramics, in general, they can withstand a lot of heat and aren't exactly something that warp easy (most will average in the 2500*F range and special types well over 5,000*). But on the other hand, depending on the grade/type of ceramic, they can be extremely brittle which is the part I'm still trying to figure out why those few that are running ceramics and have detonated on them slightly and had no damage are giving credit to the ceramic for not breaking like steel seals probably would. The main issue is none of the ceramic seal makers will divulge the technical information of the construction of them.

I'm actually amazed I remember any of this from my science classes :rofl:

TitaniumTT

06-28-2009, 11:01 PM

FC3S Murray

06-29-2009, 06:55 AM

EJayCe996

06-29-2009, 12:32 PM

I dunno, maybe I'll try them eventually, but not with this engine. I'm not looking for ridiculous amounts of power from a teeny tiny turbo cranked to 30psi and overheating the shit out of everything.

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

vex

06-29-2009, 01:25 PM

The price is something that also causes me "concern." Breaking a set of $280 seals is, not ok but not tragic. If I lost a set of $1800 seals.... I would kill. Actually Kill.

From what I understand,
NRS lowered thier price to about $1,200 for a set of seals and springs
Ceramics give much better compression than steels before being broken in, but I haven't heard anything of what the comp is like after bedding the engine in. Actually, I got very similar results to the ceramics with the last engine I built - ~130psi.
When they do break, the just disintegrate leaving the housing in-tact.

I dunno, maybe I'll try them eventually, but not with this engine. I'm not looking for ridiculous amounts of power from a teeny tiny turbo cranked to 30psi and overheating the shit out of everything.

Meh, I'll talk to Dave when I'm there next.
Depending on the seals construction will dictate the disintigration characteristics. The brittle-ness of the seal itself will only come into question when the elastic deformation stress is exceeded. Here's an example of a probably ceramic make up and stress strain curve
http://www.azom.com/Details.asp?ArticleID=3016
http://www.azom.com/work/8h671h3yBi479IPZxIsu_files/image001.gif

As you notice the elogation percentage is extremely low when dealing with the elastic deformation portion of the curve. These of course are in the tensile strength directions and for our purposes we would need to see the compressive strength readings and deformations. This however would appear to be valuable data as ceramics usually have much higher numbers when comparing their compressive strength (stress/strain) and their tensile strength (Much on the orders of magnitude).

TitaniumTT

06-29-2009, 09:23 PM

1800 for seals would be hard to justify. NOW if I made over 6 figures a year then no biggie. Uncle Sam pays me well but not THAT well. :)

BTW man, when you shipped those housings, did you buy the signiture verification as well? Need to know if I need to be home when they arrive. Thanks bud.

Yeah, if you're competing and need every advantage regardless of cost, then sure. You gotta pay to play. Fine, but for a street car? I can't see the expense.

Yeah, I bought everything, always do, sig veri, ins, tracking..

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Instead, I'm using two tiny turbo's cranked to 15-20 and looking for 400 wheel. Highest sequential rwhp that I've ever seen has been 380, and Dave actually tuned that car. We wanna break that.

Depending on the seals construction will dictate the disintigration characteristics. The brittle-ness of the seal itself will only come into question when the elastic deformation stress is exceeded. Here's an example of a probably ceramic make up and stress strain curve
http://www.azom.com/Details.asp?ArticleID=3016
http://www.azom.com/work/8h671h3yBi479IPZxIsu_files/image001.gif

As you notice the elogation percentage is extremely low when dealing with the elastic deformation portion of the curve. These of course are in the tensile strength directions and for our purposes we would need to see the compressive strength readings and deformations. This however would appear to be valuable data as ceramics usually have much higher numbers when comparing their compressive strength (stress/strain) and their tensile strength (Much on the orders of magnitude).

So the english translation is they're stronger ;)

But seriously, are we talking 10% stronger when detonated, 50% 100%?

vex

06-29-2009, 10:18 PM

Yeah, if you're competing and need every advantage regardless of cost, then sure. You gotta pay to play. Fine, but for a street car? I can't see the expense.

Yeah, I bought everything, always do, sig veri, ins, tracking..

Instead, I'm using two tiny turbo's cranked to 15-20 and looking for 400 wheel. Highest sequential rwhp that I've ever seen has been 380, and Dave actually tuned that car. We wanna break that.

So the english translation is they're stronger ;)

But seriously, are we talking 10% stronger when detonated, 50% 100%?

Let me look up some stress/strain for carbon steel. I'm honestly surprised that stainless steel isn't used for seals...

vex

06-29-2009, 10:38 PM

Yield Strength (MPa) Ultimate Strength (MPa) **From Wiki**
Structural steel ASTM A36 steel 250 400
Steel, API 5L X65[1] 448 531
Steel, high strength alloy ASTM A514 690 760
Stainless steel AISI 302 - Cold-rolled 520 860
Cast iron 4.5% C, ASTM A-48 130 200
Titanium alloy (6% Al, 4% V) 830 900
Tungsten No Yeild 1,510
Silicon carbide (SiC) N/A 3,440
Sapphire (Al2O3) N/A 1,900
Silicon, monocrystalline (m-Si) N/A 7,000
http://www.bssa.org.uk/cms/Image/Comparison%20of%20structural%20design%20in%20stain less%20steel%20and%20carbon%20steel.gif
Structural steel at different temperatures.
http://911research.wtc7.net/mirrors/guardian2/fire/lamont2-8.gif
http://us1.webpublications.com.au/static/images/articles/i40/4003_11lo.jpg
http://nanopedia.case.edu/image/stress-strain%20curve%204.jpg
It's pretty accurate in how you are able to read them.

These however are all in elongation. You'll notice however that when you have a rather high plastic deformation stress you'll have a much smaller strain alotment. This means that the higher the stress the material is able to withstand the less able it is to deform under load.

vex

06-29-2009, 11:02 PM

I'll have to break out my old school materials book in a little while.
More info:
http://www-g.eng.cam.ac.uk/125/now/mfs/tutorial/non_IE/charts.html

need RX7

06-29-2009, 11:46 PM

I wish I could understand this stuff :( I am severely mathematically challenged :rofl:

vex

06-30-2009, 07:06 AM

Just look at the graphs and pay attention to the numbers on the bottom. The numbers on the bottom is the strain which for all intents and purposes is change in length/original length. So if you have a .0002 it means there was an overall increase in length during the tensile (stretching) testing. The elastic deformation is the stress that can be applied to the material and still have it return to it's original form and shape. Plastic deformation is what occurs when you exceed a specific point and there... wow, I typed this last night and completely forgot about it.

Anyways there's a point where the material will always return to normal, anything beyond that point the material will deform and eventually break.

TitaniumTT

06-30-2009, 08:41 PM

Stainless is kind of a shitty material to work with and when you heat it, it likes to move ALOT. WAY more than any other allow that I've ever welded. I dunno, maybe I'll give the ceramics a try, but not anytime soon.

SOOOOOOOO - Got some interesting news from Tim today - apparently my injectors weren't the culprit. It's really a shame that my FP sender puked that fateful day. It could've been a fuel pressure issue all along. I do feel better knowing that the injectors are ok though. Even though I might be replacing them with some better spray pattern injectors. This is of course if I can't get that silky smooth idle back. Whatever, time will tell. So I think I'll be picking up my cryo parts on Monday which means back to breakin by the end of next week? Maybe..... Or maybe I'll start my hood instead :devil:

vex

06-30-2009, 09:33 PM

Stainless is kind of a shitty material to work with and when you heat it, it likes to move ALOT. WAY more than any other allow that I've ever welded. I dunno, maybe I'll give the ceramics a try, but not anytime soon.That's true. Stainless has a high heat elongation coefficient, something to consider when choosing materials. You can actually get some stainless without high heat elongation. Hell, you could get some Nickle based alloys if you really wanted to.

SOOOOOOOO - Got some interesting news from Tim today - apparently my injectors weren't the culprit. It's really a shame that my FP sender puked that fateful day. It could've been a fuel pressure issue all along. I do feel better knowing that the injectors are ok though. Even though I might be replacing them with some better spray pattern injectors. This is of course if I can't get that silky smooth idle back. Whatever, time will tell. So I think I'll be picking up my cryo parts on Monday which means back to breakin by the end of next week? Maybe..... Or maybe I'll start my hood instead :devil:

FC3S Murray

07-03-2009, 11:43 AM

SOOOOOOOO - Got some interesting news from Tim today - apparently my injectors weren't the culprit. It's really a shame that my FP sender puked that fateful day. It could've been a fuel pressure issue all along. I do feel better knowing that the injectors are ok though. Even though I might be replacing them with some better spray pattern injectors. This is of course if I can't get that silky smooth idle back. Whatever, time will tell. So I think I'll be picking up my cryo parts on Monday which means back to breakin by the end of next week? Maybe..... Or maybe I'll start my hood instead

Hmmm? What have you narrowed it down to then? Didn't you have the fuel pump replaced when you were at the dragon?

TitaniumTT

07-05-2009, 09:21 AM

Yup, the RP pump that I replaced YEARS ago starting having low fuel pressure when we entered NC. We stopped, up the pressure and things seemed ok. Then we met up at the damn and whenever the secondaries came on, the thing fell on it's face and FP went to like 15psi with the fuel pump screaming like a stuck pig. So that first night we pulled the pump and found the sock pretty well clogged. So we let that sit in acetone overnight.
The next morning we reassembled and went to the show. The sock was flowing MUCH better. Tried boosting on the way there and the same thing happened. As soon as the secondaries came on - splat. The pump started screaming again so we figured the pump went bad. So luckily Bryan from RotorSports Racing was having a special on the cosmo pumps so I bought one and myself, AJ, (duffman) and Scott (TurboIIRotor) pulled the entire rear of the car apart (for the second time in 12 hours) to replace the pump and sock right in the middle of the show :rofl:

So we get the thing back together and the same shit, as soon as boost hits, the pressure goes to nill. Now I'm pissed, the world turns red and I start looking for virgins to rape and pillage. Missed the Dragon run and head back to the cabin. At this point it's either the reg or the filter. Reg is fine, filter is CLOGGED. So we make an hour drive to the nearest advanced auto to get a phord 3/8 barb EFI filter, then to Lowes for some 1/4"npt to 3/8" bard fittings and back to the car to put the thing together. FINALLY fuel pressure. So we went to the banquet, and drove the dragon the next day in the rain, which was still a blast.

Car ran great all the way home and it wasn't until a day or two later that the fuel pressure started getting a little low, nothing to cause concern but fluttering a little lower than usual. I bought the Marren washable stainless filter and put that in saving the fittings and hose from the EFI filter just because. and now everything is fine again.

Few weeks later I order a bosch 044 pump and intank sock and install that. MOTHERFUCKER was that thing loud. PAINFULLY loud and it seemed to get louder the longer you drove it but then would quite down after you restarted it. Apparently that's "normal." The pump pissed me off to the point that I changed it out. When I pulled that pump sock was getting clogged. Now I'm pissed again and drop the tank and clean it out by hand. Wiping everything down with a paper towel and it was coming out as white as it was going in. Now I'm confused. Whatever, I clean the cosmo sock, put that back in the tank that I'm convinced is clean, set the FP and head off to the dyno. My FP sender pukes on the way to Dave but it was set before so I'm happy. Then the thing goes way lean on the dyno and we can't figure out why. We start pulling lines and making sure everything is as it should be. I remember now when we pulled the feed line off at the tank there was ALOT of pressure between the pump and the filter, didn't think much of it at the time. We can't figure out what the problem was so we put everything back and I head home. I used the overall fuel trim to add 10% across the board and had to bump it to 15% and then 20% to keep the lambda's in check. What was happening was the sock and the filter were getting clogged, again. I found this out when I got home and pulled the filter, poured in some acetone and none came out. My thoery, the bosch flows so much more and doesn't drop off at the higher pressures that it was able to just force fuel through the filter but the cosmo pump couldn't.

So I cleaned that washable stainless filter, bought a new cosmo sock, put a new sender in, SWAPPED FUEL TANKS and a week later went back to Dave. Did the comp test and found two low bounces in the front. We went through the entire map and the datalogs and found nothing wrong. So now the anger has turned to depression and we left. Driving home I'm thinking fuck this car, this is retarded, 4 motors in 4 months? BOOOOOO, this car is getting jack standed till Oct when I do everything else that I want to do. About 2 minutes later a Prosche Carrera 4S comes racing down the on-ramp, my buddy made a comment like, there's a car you could beat up on when the motor's put back together. Fuck that, I'll beat up on him now. So we start fucking around and I started pulling on him in 4th @ ~120 before I almost ended up underneath a tractortrailer. Now I'm thinking, fuck that Oct bullshit, this engine's getting hauled tomorrow. And it was, within 4 hours a close friend and I pulled the engine, stripped her to a shortblock and had her in the back of my truck. 2 days later I was back @ KDR so we could break her down and see what happend. That's when we found the two warped Apex seals. So I left everything with Dave for cryo and now I'm planning on snagging those this week.

So I know the filter was clogged while on the dyno. I also have come to find out that the ethanol is breaking down fiberglass fuel tanks in the marine world. 5-6 years ago when I started restoring the car I dropped the fuel tank. It was all sorts of nasty so I went to a machine shop, had them boil it out and epoxy coat it. I'm almost certain it's the ethanol breaking down the coating and clogging everything up. I'm AMAZED the injectors are fine.

So yeah, that's my story, ethanol blows moose. Cost me an engine.