WOW.. very nice man.. looks GREAT.. keep up the good work!

Thanks everyone for the great compliments.


I feel confident that my motor will be good to me for a long run. That just because my builder built many 24hr 12A race motors that never see below 5,000 RPM. Definitely man next time your in town it would be nice to meet you and take you for a speed run. Hopefully it'll be running and have it's 2,000 mile engine break-in period completed by the time your back. Just keep in touch:icon_tup:

Nothing crazy. The shop finally had an open slot for my car to begin swapping over all the goodies. These are just pictures of the car on it way to the shop.

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/103/p2040005ek4.jpg

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/5886/p2040001nc3.jpg

http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/9826/p2040004de7.jpg

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/1556/p2040003pa8.jpg

I know I stole the idea of hanging the piston off the rear, but I thought it was the coolest idea. From what I heard Honda guys say "That's messed up man" about it. Technically I did get the piston out of a Honda.......push-mower.:)

Alright this where it begins to get alot better. Since I already had all the suspension parts preassembled with new energy suspension and delrin bushings along with the custom coilover kit, it was all just bolt-in and go. Within the first couple week of my car being at the shop I prepped for the installation. I ended up pressure cleaning and degreasing areas that have major dirt/grease build-up and washing the entire underbody to remove the 20years of collecting road debris.Plus theres nothing worse than working underneath a car and getting dirty in your eyes. Along with all the suspension part out it probably would be wise to go ahead and upgrade the brake system...gotta be able to stop when shes haulin'. I shopped around and tirerack had a close out deal on powerslot rotors. Well I ended up purchasing powerslot slotted brake rotors for all four wheels. As for pads I didn't want super performance pads that were extrememly harsh on the rotors also I didn't want loud pads either, so I ended up getting a set of EBC "Red stuff" ceramic brake pads. Just to top of the brake system I went ahead and bought stainless steel brake lines from mazdatrix for all four corners. While redoing the front brakes I was noted that it would be good time to replace the tired out front wheel bearings since they were kinda grinding already. By the time I knew it the car already had pretty much a brand new suspension and was noticably lower.

I didn't get a chance to take alot of pictures but I'll add more pics to this post once I get a chance to snap a couple.

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/9973/imag0112ce7.jpg

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/9894/p9290022fc5.jpg

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/9431/p9290021wh8.jpg

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/7361/p9290023co3.jpg

Is that a new custom auto-camber adjust band you got there??

The wheels look good... I'm a fan of the gold and red, well... gold on anything really :)

this is one nice well documented build thread. Keep up the good work. bet you cant wait to get it on the road.

Heh Thanks! I try to keep it neat for fellow rotorheads to easily refer to. As everyone can probably tell by some of the pictures I'm kinda breaking my chronological order of occurrance during this build. If figured I'd just go by sections like to stock==>to repaint bay==>to motor===>to suspension==>to etc,etc....OooOHhh yeah I can't wait just to hear her purring for me again, I've been balled up in major boost withdraws going onto 3.5 years now.

Now for my exhaust. It basically a custom turbo-back 3'' inch splitting into dual 2.5'' inch stainless steel piping. It made from a modified RacingBeat downpipe connecting into an oval Borla XR-1 racing muffler. Exiting the muffler the pipe split into a 2.5'' inch Y, then exiting into the two OBX mufflers. I had the cat removed since it was a power restrictor and we have no emission regulation here in FLA. As for the JGS wastegate since it was a V-band, it won't simply work with the HKS manifold. JR Fabrication and Performance made me a custom adapter fabricated to fit the wastegate and plumb the WG with a Burn's flex pipe back into the exhaust, instead of venting it into the atmosphere. While everything was out, it was best to go ahead a purchase all the rubber hangers from Mazdatrix to ensure a proper fitment. I haven't had a chance to hear it yet, but I'm sure it'll sound good. I'll post up vids/soundclips once shes running, but for now just pics everyone.

http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/4...6071653ak7.jpg

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/9399/imag0136by9.jpg

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/9590/imag0138vd8.jpg

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/6390/imag0135aw6.jpg

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/4861/imag0134rd1.jpg

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/8224/p9290020vx6.jpg

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/3961/p9290019jt1.jpg

Let me know what ya think? :001_005:

Yep - those are some big pipes.... I like it.

shes coming along quite nicely. i cant wait to hear it

Looks really good... my only concern are the tips being so close to the bumper. Being a boosted car and having a high chance of flames/heat, I'd look at adding some bumper protection :)

What did you use on the heat shields for the exhaust? Just high-temp paint or ??

Ehh... not really a fan of bumper protecters, but I get where your coming from. As for the heat shields I just sanded and cleaned them up, then sprayed them with high degree engine paint in a aluminum color. I know already that the paint isn't not gonna last but they do look nice for now...soo O'well.

Now for the electronics I have the Wolf 3D mounted in the glove box. You all have seen the HKS turbo timer mounted on top of the steering column. As for tuning I'm aiming to get the best possible tune out of the motor on the street. My plan is to minimize the time spent tuning on a dyno, not that I'm being cheap but if I can have the car tuned to the streets I personally believe it would be much better. Speaking of tuning the Wolf has memory cards that save tuning maps for different setups. In my case I have two cards one map for running E85 and the other for pump fuel. Anyways to aid in street tuning I went ahead and bought the Innovate LM-1 wideband controller and the LM-3 auxbox datalogging system.

Here's the Wolf mounted into the glove box it has hand-controller that plugs into one of the serial jacks, but I don't have it on right now. This is probably gonna sound really ghey to alot of you, so flame on but I'm thinking about having a removable tray that I can set my laptop onto to during tuning or monitoring.
http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/1598/p9290015zn3.jpg

The Innovate datalogging system
http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/5...7214402nk3.jpg

http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/460...7214400tz8.jpg

http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/118...7214401wn3.jpg

Almost ready to fire it up????? When do you think you'll have it ready?


The laptop tray isn't a bad idea, others have done it.... personally I just set it in the seat next to me though, lol... set the resolution high enough to read at a glance, lol...

As of now it still needs a alittle bit of wiring to do, finish up the intake for the turbo, and plumbing the fuel system. I have to save up for new stainless steel lines and fittings for the fuel system<---not so cheap. You'll see the fuel system setup on my next update.

Here's an example picture of what the laptop hooked up to the ECU would show.

http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/4...5621111yt0.jpg

Do you need AN fittings for the fuel line? I've got a handfull of new ones laying around the garage I have no use for I can hook you up w/ for cheap....

Well...I don't know exactly the right angles/amount of fittings I need to complete the system. Maybe I'll give you a shout in the future. Oh also what brand are they?

No worries, just let me know. I usually over buy a ton of them for misc projects. I'll have to check, but I think mine came from Summit this time around... they are the typical blue/red AN anodized finish.

My fuel system setup:

Okay currently as of now the fuel is about 75% completed. I need to have all new bigger stainless steel fuel lines ran from the tank to the engine. Beginning from the tank to the injectors. I'm still using the original fuel tank no rust anywhere inside or out. JR Fab & Per modified the fuel pick-up with a now aluminum tube, -10 AN fittings, and Aeromotive SS fuel filter. Sucking the fuel thru the pick up is the Aeromotive A1000 external fuel pump with another SS fuel filter encased in a Aeromotive inline filter case. From there I should have the lines on soon, so I'll just add to this post when it's completed. The lines then go to the Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator into the Y-block & fuel rails. Last the Blitz 850cc side-feed primaries and Marren 1600cc top-feed secondaries.

Here's the fuel pick up

Before:
http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/965...uelpumpvl5.jpg

After:
http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/2491/dcp0375zt7.jpg

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/3526/dcp0372qh1.jpg

I removed the spare tire and decided to have the fuel pump mounted rear. I know it's gonna be super loud and annoying inside the car, but no one on the outside will suspect this big fuel pump.

http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/9347/p9290018ib4.jpg

http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/9316/p9290017aw7.jpg

Last the fuel pressure regulator mounted onto the side of the UIM.

http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/7...9290024ts4.jpg

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/3951/p9290008pf9.jpg

New to add to the fuel system setup:

Here is my new stainless steel fuel and return lines.
http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/8476/imag0190pk9.jpg

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/3514/imag0211jv9.jpg

Almost there, cant wait for vids of it firing up!!

I like it!

Here's my last update before the end of 08'. Now that I have the motor dropped into the engine bay with all of the wiring hooked up, but stilling looking like a mess. When planning the design setup for my 7 I wanted something different or at least a "not so common" setup. So I thought it would be a cool factor to have a V-mount intercooler setup done. After doing alot of research and designs I went ahead and requested for fabrication of brackets, aluminum ducting, and modifications that are needed to be done to have a functional VMIC setup. As for the radiator I have a Koyo and for the intercooler its a 24x11x3 core with 2.5'' inlet/outlet. As for the intercooler piping the intake side was custom made from 2.5'' aluminum U-Bends. For the outlet side JR Fab&Performance modified the stock Cosmo 13B-RE elbow to fit the 13B-REW throttle body. Anyways... on with the good stuff. Enjoy and Happy NeW YeaRS!!!!

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/8062/p9290036re2.jpg

http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/1684/p9290029aj7.jpg

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/8044/p9290028rr7.jpg

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/4118/p9290027mz5.jpg

http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/3038/p9290024en8.jpg

The fabrication setup isn't completely finished yet as you can tell. More of the ducting still needs to be completed along with blocking off the area where the radiator and intercooler V or meet at. I hope you all like it and let me know what you think!! :001_005:

Nice!! Haven't checked this thread in a while, looks like you've made alot of progress :icon_tup:. Can't wait to see it fired up. :driving:

Your kicking me 13B-RE ass on progress, lol.

Looks good though. Interesting setup on the VMIC too. I'm sure you're thinking of a good hood to use by now :)

Cant wait to see it done and all cleaned up....

Been a while since I last updated so I guess I'll update. Well since I now have the VMIC setup in my FC, all of you are probably wondering what hood setup do I plan to use. Originally I was planning to join the group buy for the sexy style hood awhile back, but I decided not to. When I looked at the location where the vents were on the sexy style hood they were a bit further back than I wanted. I'm not bashing on that hood but I was more looking for vents that would sit directly over the intercooler so that we could place a seal between the hood and the intercooler. The reason being is so that all the air that passes thru the intercooler will only go out the vents. Since I had that N/A aluminum hood we decided to cut the hood and mount a fiberglass vent. I found vents similar to the sexy style from I believe "Raceonusa," anyways I went ahead a bought it and now have it fitted onto the hood. I'm sure you'll either like or dislike with what I've done with it, but everyone has their opinions. So on with the PICS!!!! I thought I had more pics of the vented hood but I'll be sure to get more pics when I get around to it.

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/807/imag0052oa5.jpg

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/3974/p9290007sf2.jpg

http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/7907/p9290012rw7.jpg

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/8559/imag0053bc3.jpg

With the hood supports all cut up the aluminum hood is extremely lighter, but much more flimsy feeling. It so light that dropping the hood from about 2.5 foot drop doesn't completely close onto the hood latch as would a steel hood. I think I might end up having to use hood pins, but I hoping I don't have to.

Not bad. Are you planning on molding the vents to the hood completely or leave it somewhat "styled" as though it was added on? Just curious...

Start that sucker up!

I would use hood pins, regardless BTW... and don't wreck head on!

I thought about molding the vent to the hood, but in the long run with the hood being so flimsy the molding would end up cracking from driving, Florida heat, and opening/closing the hood. When I bought the vent it came predrilled so I'll just end up riveting or bolting the vent onto the hood. Who knows maybe one day I'll get a pair of those fiberglass rear fenders that I could pop on just to match that style.

Haha....shes just isn't gonna start up right now. I just got my new stainless steel fuel line. Now it just has to be bent to the car. Soon one of these days she'll move.

Lol - I have to live vicariously through you right now....

You'll have to make DGRR one year with that car. Maybe we'll both have 13B RE FCs by then up and running....

Sweet ride and yes i agree. with that set up DGRR is a must!!

lol WE3RX7 you probably don't have to wait too long (fingers-crossed) WE3RX7 til' I get a video up here one day. I just added a picture of my fuel return line post #99. I ordered the rest of the fittings/lines and 1/2'' braided hoses but those idiot part dealers "forgot" to place the order. Also just a little bit more wiring for the ECU and datalogging system.

DGRR is definitely on the "to do list one day" along with Bay Bottom Crawl and Sevenstock. I need to complete all the cosmetic flaws before I attend to any major events like such. It would be a damn shame to have a clean bay and motor in a multi- primer colored FC.

Bay Bottom Crawl, is that the key west bar crawl??

Sounds good... I'll keep checking back in to see how its going....

Okay not much too update on I been really busy with full time college. I been working on the elbow/intercooler pipe. Anyways I'm using an FD's throttle body which has 4 mount points. We decided to use the original 13B-RE's aluminum elbow, but it has 3 mounting points. Anyways JR Fab & Per welded an adapter so that the elbow would fit. At the same time I had the thicker parts of the pipe ground down to reduce any turbulance inside. I been working on it here and there, still needing some work :banghead:. So here's my progress so far.

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/3419/pa050001gi5.jpg

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/913/pa050006gc5.jpg

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/633/pa050005la2.jpg

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/8540/pa050004gt1.jpg

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/4729/pa050007iy5.jpg

You can go to post #102 to use as a "before" picture of the elbow/piping

WooHoo!!! I finally got my stainless steel fuel and return lines completed. All I can say is that they are beautiful. I had the lines bent exactly to the factory lines. They're definitely noticably larger in diameter then factory lines. For my fuel lines I'm running 1/2'' inch, and as for my return lines I'm using 3/8'' inch.

http://img60.imageshack.us/img60/1537/imag0210jn7.jpg

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/8194/imag0211qr2.jpg

All we have to do is plumb the lines in and then the fuel system is completed. The motor is not quite ready to fire up, but it's getting VERY close. Just need to finish up all the little things that seriously adds up quick.

Did you do the bending w/ a hand tool or some kind of JIG? I was thinking about going this route as well with mine vs all braided stainless.

Nice fuel lines that's the same size I am using. If ya don't mind what size turbo are using? Pretty much look's like same setup in my Rx2 you are going to have fun.

I see now you are using a gt40 turbo car is going to hit hard on boost.

Just a quick update: well I checked on the progress of my car this weekend and I got REALLY good news. Now that the fuel system and all the fittings were now connected all we need to do is prime the lines and add all the necessities. Really what is left for it just to fire up is the last wire connection to the coils. I can't wait just to hear her again after three years. What really sucks is that I won't be able to drive it because alot of little things still have to be done, such as the VMIC ducting/intake piping/data logging/mounting the hood vent/ etc plus I don't have sufficient funds for registration and insurance.
Well hopefully we can have my car started up within this month or next. Vids will be coming!!!!

Patience is not my vurtue, j/k. Good to hear...

Count me in for the updates on this thread. The car is being done absolutely fantastic. I'm really impressed with the progress up to this point.

Wow...very swwweeett finally hit the 3,000 views on my build. I guess that's not too shabby for a thread posted 5 months ago. Anyways I'm happy to see everyone is enjoying (or hating) my build thread. Thanks everyone!!!!