More Pics
 

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Update
 

I got my new Tokico Illumina in the mail the other day. (Thank you Amazon!)

When I removed the LF strut I realized the blown one had been leaking shock oil over everything so badly that a complete strut teardown and rebuild was in order. I also noticed my ball joints were shot so I ordered new ones as well as aftermarket camber bolts in the mail.

After rebuilding the struts and packing the wheel bearings with fresh synthetic racing grease I'm finally getting around to installing the Energy Suspension bushings in the front end. I bead-blasted the lower control arms and strut rods to clean em up before freshly painting them. Why I decided to paint them white I cannot say. Probably not practical lol

http://i1345.photobucket.com/albums/...1.jpg~original

Update
 

Got the ball joints in the mail today so I assembled and installed the suspension back on the car with the energy suspension bushings and replacement Tokico Illumina.

Drives better now of course that there's no blown shock in the front end! Doesn't even feel like it needs much adjustment in the way of alignment either which is a great sign for an old car with new bushings.

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I checked it on the alignment rack today and everything was in the green. The only thing I adjusted was the toe by .3 degrees. That pleases me because it shows this car hasn't been hit so bad that anything got tweaked.

*insert redundant "nice" comment* Awesome thread to read through

Update
 

So I replaced all the bushings in the back with polyurethane. Car feels good... more responsive and planted. My worry that poly in the rear would make the car feel twitchy or oversteer-happy appears to have been exaggerated. However it does make it more obvious the car is screaming for brake and tire upgrades. I'll try and address those issues before the long trip to so cal next month for Sevenstock.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7451/1...9726c58c_o.jpg

Won't start?
 

So earlier today the FB wouldn't start. Originally I thought it was flooded, and upon removal of the plugs this is what they looked like, after about 1,000 miles on the new rebuild.

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Trailing
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Leading
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I replaced them with brand new FC plugs instead, I figure they should hold up a little better than that. However, replacing the plugs didn't solve the no-start issue, and than I realized I wasn't hearing or smelling any signs of fuel being burnt. So I think the issue is probably lack of fuel.

I'm gonna check the fuel filter but I may be facing a bad fuel pump :( I'll update again after I get a chance to remove things and take a look...

Won't start cont.
 

Won't start cont...

So after tapping on the fuel pump (its externally mounted not in-tank) the car starts up proving that the pump
is failing.

I've ordered another pump but it's not an OEM replacement (they want $340 for those) so there's no guarantee it'll fit and/or work properly. We'll see... *crosses fingers*

Won't start? Cont...
 

Ok so here is a pic of the fuel pump I ordered off of Ebay (On the bottom). You can see that its inlet pipe on the right side is bigger in diameter than the Mazda pump (On the top). The outlet fittings on the left also have totally different threads. Both of these issues make the Ebay pump incompatible with my car without a lot of extra work to adapt it.

I have no idea how they can say that pump is a direct replacement for the Mazda pump... but that's what their add said. They even listed the Mazda pump part number. Regardless, I noticed the Ebay pump leaks around the seam where the casing is crimped around the cap making it totally useless. Good thing it was cheap so I didn't get ripped off too badly.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7312/1...57de1e67_c.jpg

However it is not all bad news. I found this in the inlet hose from the fuel tank to the pump this evening. As you can see it is a tiny inline mesh fuel filter. It looks partially clogged in this pic, but it was worse when I removed it. I think this little guy might have been the problem all along?!

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3822/1...d099f4ab_c.jpg

I won't know for sure until a couple days go buy without any starting issues. But after I put the original pump back in and adapted a brand new FC fuel filter in place of the old FB fuel filter it fired right up. :)

It's always the little things that seem to bite one on the a**. :lol:

Brake Upgrade Time!
 

Gonna put all this on the FB today:)

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5500/1...3a62e0a5_c.jpg

very nice!! she's getting a footwork makeover :D

Fuel Pump Woes Cont...
 

So after driving around merrily these last few days, my engine suddenly decided to cut out on the freeway in a construction zone where there are concrete barriers blocking both shoulders.

I had no choice but to flip up my hazards and coast to a stop blocking the entire right lane. I called 911 of course, and they sent out a patrol car and a tow truck. However because of all the traffic it took them a good 20 minutes to arrive.

In the meantime, I lost my faith in the patience and good will of humanity as people cursed and honked a storm at me as they roared past. Others not able to see much past their own noses nearly rear-ended me, or swerved into other traffic at the last second trying to avoid getting caught behind me.

And perhaps most amusingly, the same tow truck driver that towed me back over a week ago when my pump first died out happened to be the one to show up. His first words to me were... "Hey I thought you fixed that fuel pump?" To which I naturally replied. "So did I!" lol

Kind of a scary experience. I'm definately gonna have to find a decent aftermarket external pump.

Take a page from NASA. Get two or three with switches to enable critical system back ups. ;) I have toyed with the thought of going to a belt driven external pump. I've had my share of problems with electric pumps as well.

Fuel Pump Woes Cont...
 

Hmm an on board backup pump? Not a bad idea... I may do this later on.

Fuel Pump Woes Cont...
 

I just pulled out the fuel pump assembly again, here's a pic to show you what I'm working with... This whole thing bolts up under the car in front of the fuel tank and rear axle.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3794/1...2ccb223b_c.jpg

I'm headed over to a local speed shop this afternoon to see if they might have a fuel pump in stock that I can use. If not, I'll wait and order one online. The trouble is I've noticed that most aftermarket fuel pumps use the same size fittings for inlet/outlet. I have to make sure I can get one that has fittings for a 1/2" inlet and 5/16" outlet.

Fuel Pump Woes Solved
 

So I got a new fuel pump installed today, it's a Carter.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5544/1...daed313d_c.jpg

Nice go drive!

That's the idea... all the way to Sevenstock :hurray:

Got Rear Ended :(
 

So on my way to pick up some used wheels/tires this evening in the FB some punk in a Honda Civic rear ended me. I was waiting in traffic to go through a toll booth before I got unto the bay bridge. There was no warning at all, no squealing tires or brake noise, just a thump completely by surprise.

It was a dark colored little EG hatch driven by a young male asian driver. No front plate. I flipped on my hazards but there was no where to pull over and traffic was thick so I was going to wait till after the toll booth to find a shoulder assuming this guy was gonna follow me.

However, he started falling back letting people merge in between us and when I got through the toll and got to a shoulder he was gone. I reported a hit-and-run over the phone, my neck hurts a bit, but thankfully the FB isn't damaged. It was just the right speed too not hurt the car but hurt me.

New Wheels for The White Comet
 

15x7's with fresh Falken Ziex 912's... not a performance tire by any means but they still feel worlds better than old bald tires! This fb is good enough to go hit up the backroads on the regular now.

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Update
 

I went for a spirited drive through the mountains last night, and today I noticed the sound of a dragging brake from the right rear. Upon inspection there's nothing wrong with the brakes at all, its my rear-axle wheel bearing that has too much play... allowing the axle shaft to actually put pressure on the pads under lateral load in left hand turns. So I ordered bearings for it, should be able to fix that on Monday.

Update
 

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So I changed the oil today after about 2 months and 2k miles. I burned through an extra 4 quarts during that time which was starting to get bothersome. My oil pan drips a bit but not enough to leave a puddle on the ground every morning. It also smokes a bit on startup, but that's not unusual for a rotary.

I was starting to wonder why I was burning so much oil and today I finally figured it out. I noticed the control rod for the mechanical Oil Metering Pump was being held up in the mostly open position by a section of engine wiring harness held up by a misaligned bracket. That means my car was always feeding mid-to-full-throttle levels of oil through the oil injectors at all times, even at idle. No wonder I was burning so much oil, and that also explains why my plugs were getting so oil fouled before.

Examining the oil itself revealed a lot of metal particles, which isn't all that unusual on the first couple oil changes on a fresh rebuild ...but still if I still see that much metal in the oil on the next oil change I will be a little worried.

I was running Valvoline VR1, but now I am stepping it up to the real deal Idemitsu synthetic rotary racing oil w/ premix. I decided to disconnect the oil metering pump altogether and see how much oil I use by premixing instead.

I premixed my bridgeported 12A in my other FB so it's not all that new to me. I remember it burned less oil then this GSL-SE was up until now so premixing should help this 13B burn less oil as well. (And I damn well hope so at $10 a quart)

Lighting Upgrade
 

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So as I've been saying, the FB was in need of better lighting. I searched through the junkyard and found some pretty decent halogen foglights on a Z28 Camaro that featured aimable brackets. (And just in case, I also grabbed another set of brackets off another Camaro)

Then I went about mocking up how I was going to mount them on the car, which took a while... but I think this design works well. I'm using both sets of brackets, two of which I had to hammer flat. It's very solidly mounted, bolted directly to the aluminum bumper and also the bumper support bracket. I designed it so that if the bumper does get jammed in on its shocks for whatever reason, the brackets connecting it to the bumper support will separate and not damage the foglights or the brackets. (In theory anyway...)

I bought new bulbs for em, along with new headlights and aimed them up against the side of Walmart after it got dark. Should work way better now, but I still want to add in some high powered auxiliary lights to throw light further down the road.

good work thus far! can't wait to get my GSLSE up and about for some fun runs down Calistoga or Skaggs.

Rear Wheel Bearings
 

So like i said a few days ago, I needed to replace a wheel bearing today. It's actually a rather arduous process on an FB. Funny how the rear axle kinda looks like a rotor if you look at it like this...

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After you remove the axle-shafts you have to loosen the bearing retainer beside the wheel bearing via air-chisel before you can remove it with a hydraulic press. It's quite a tedious chore let me tell you... because after every minute of chiseling you need to sharpen the chisel. It took me approximately 20 minutes of time per axle to loosen the retainers.

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After pressing off the wheel bearing from the passenger side axle (the noisy one) this is what I saw...

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I am holding the bearing spacer in this pic, which has formed a sharp knife-like edge where once it was flat... you can see the damage it did to the actual wheel bearing lying flat in the picture. It was literally cutting a groove into the ball bearing(s) cage after the bearing seized. And when it seized, the bearings inner race spun on the axle shaft also wearing a groove into it, ruining the axle shaft in the process.

Thankfully I had a spare axle at home with two good axle shafts in it... but that meant I had to spend more time getting yet another retainer off... argh... I don't look forward to doing this again someday.

Coolant Leak
 

Soo... apparently I started to have a coolant leak about a week ago. I noticed the low coolant light come on a couple times and I finally tracked it down to the water pump housing where it connects to the front iron. Here's a pic of when I started work on it a few days ago.

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You'll see I marked the source of the leak here on the water pump housing with a white circle.

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Now when Johnny Tsunami and I finished putting this engine together before we put in the car, we opted to use Right Stuff liquid gasket in place of a normal gasket.

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Until now it held up fine, but I think I know what caused the leak. Mazda uses a pair of copper washers as spacers in between the water pump housing and the front iron to equalize the tension on the gasket. If you don't use a gasket, and use RTV instead, you really should remove these spacers. Otherwise, the water pump housing won't mate totally flush with the front iron and eventually you'll get a leak. Here's a pic with the water pump housing removed, with the spacers I mentioned circled in white.

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Now rather then reassemble this again with RTV and take my chances, I opted to cut my own gaskets out of some high quality, blue rubberized FelPro gasket material. You can see the blue gasket material here for the waterpump itself, the housing, and also the water neck/thermostat cover.

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I also decided to put on heavy-duty gold-plated battery terminals and some thicker gauge wire for my extra grounding cables.

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I use Zerex G05 Antifreeze (which I recommend for an older import car) and distilled water. After burping the coolant system for a while and a test driving it temps are back to normal.

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Nice work, Nar !

any chance you can take a pic of the cabin fuse box cover?

Thanks :)

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12A Engine Swap
 

So I've decided to abandon the GSL-SE 13B engine and swap to this...

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I found this 12A engine in a pull yard a few month's ago in an earlier-model FB that was apparently junked because its differential exploded. This 12A has obviously been rebuilt, and the irons are painted the same Mazda blue that my other 12A was in my RX3. A sign from the rotary gods??? ...Of course it is!

As far as I can tell this 12A isn't ported, so I am going to pull it apart to be sure it's worth using and bridgeport it. I'll be using a Weber with this manifold... (Thanks Whizbang!)

http://i56.servimg.com/u/f56/18/69/1...h/uobk7810.jpg http://i56.servimg.com/u/f56/18/69/1...h/jrtthg10.jpg

And once this 12A is ready it's going to be mounted to this FC subframe custom-fitted to my FB. Along with FC rack-and-pinion steering, front suspension/struts, and 4-piston brakes.

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woo! ill lend a hand with the swappage!

12A Engine Swap (Cont.)
 

I'd appreciate any help you had to offer. Just curious, with your car did you choose to go with the 12A transmission because of the better ratio's? Or did you consider adapting a stronger 13B transmission on it?

Some more pics of the 12A

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200whp is my goal with this 12A on a streetable tune. I don't think a 12A could easily do much better then that, but a 13B could. I know the most powerful bridgeported 13B I ever heard of made 355hp! 0_0 *

truth be told the 12a and the 13b transmissions are both M-type. there is no difference in durability. Not until you move up to the R type (turbo transmission) Mine is the 12a case, with miata gears. Which was in my old rally car for a couple years without issue.

Ah so you are running miata 5 speed gears which features a non-overdrive 5th gear correct? Also, I forget did you say you have another Weber somewhere?

check out the trans diff FAQ

Mazda Miata Gearbox
1st: 3.136
2nd: 1.888
3rd: 1.330
4th: 1.00
5th: 0.814

12A Engine Swap (Cont.)
 

vs what I'm running right now...

Mazda Rx-7 87-88 13B 6PI (Type M) Gearbox
1st: 3.475
2nd: 2.002
3rd: 1.366
4th: 1.00
5th: 0.697

and my original GSL-SE transmission...

Mazda Rx-7 84-85 13B (Type M) Gearbox
1st: 3.622
2nd: 2.186
3rd: 1.419
4th: 1.00
5th: 0.807

I agree the Miata gearbox seems like a good bet. Lower 1st and 2nd gears should be better in the mountains and the shorter split between 2nd and 3rd should improve overall driveability. The .814 overdrive should even allow for some acceleration in 5th... hard to say if it could improve overall top speed though. In the past when I've tested top speeds on various cars, the rev-limit in 4th gear is the maximum gear-limited top speed unless you have enough power to overcome all that wind resistance in an overdrive gear. (Or just happen to be driving down a really long steep hill)

Reading up about modifying the miata input shaft got me thinking though... I saw this pic on Mazdatrix and I was wondering if it was possible to use an RX7 input shaft on a miata gearset? That would simplify things a lot.

http://i.imgur.com/jFdDTCW.jpg

However, after searching about it, it seems that it has been tried with no success.

the longer first is better all around. short 1st is useless

So I decided to give up on the fb project. I traded it for a Corrado VR6 that also has upgrades to its brakes and suspension. I was too impressed after driving it to say no.

But by no means am I giving up rotaries themselves. If I coulda kept both I would. I'll still be attending rotary meets and helping friends with their RX7's, so I'll be involved in their scene indefinately no worries.