Money?

I don't have one (yet)! Stupid U-haul won't let me use their trailers unless my tow rating is 5000 lb (it's 4500 lb). But if you're serious I can find a way.

Is there some way to utilize the MAP just for fuel correction for like altitude and ambient conditions? Like not load-based tuning but just simple corrections? The TPS is a Haltech (GM?) three wire unit.


S5 non-turbo rotors, RX-8 e-shaft and gears, S4 TII irons, S5 TII housings, and OEM Mazda seals (upgraded to FD corner seal springs) except NRS ceramic apex seals. It's got a large street port from Defined Autoworks geared more toward top-end power. Racing Beat pulley up front and their aluminum flywheel out back and everything's been balanced by Mazdatrix.

:rofl: Everytime I needed a trailer from U-Haul I always had a 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee v8 w/tow package and then I would show up with a 1998 XJ, 5k tow but they wouldn't let it slide, and I was always towing a Miata :lol:

I would have to go through the software again but there should be some baro correction if using Alpha-N

The sensor should be ok, my concern would be the linkages and the instal. The projay and rotary works TB are notorious for having too much slop and they just turn out to be a fucking nightmare to tune. Almost as bad as a microwrech and their whole strategy using the TPS to bounce between maps for crank, idle, and cruise.

Damn, should be able to get past 200rwhp with that. I'm assuming the redline is somewhere in the 9500-10000k range?

Time to get this moving again! I got a good amount of hours work in this weekend and the chassis wiring is 99% complete. I just need to do the reverse wires. I had a slight hiccup with the CPU and the OEM alarm but it turns out I just needed to permanently ground a lead I had previously removed. I can now retain the stock door chime/ignition reminder without having the horn go crazy every time I open the door.

I've got the harness and seating positions sorted so now I need to figure out a carpet solution and the interior can go back together.

I haven't had it apart in a while but I seem to recall it being pretty snug. I'll have to pull the TB again before I'm done so I'll check it out.


Yeah, the plan is to keep it at or below 10,000 RPM. If it's still making power above that I'll get longer air horns or something to shift the power curve. Although the engine is balanced I don't trust the transmission at those speeds. I may find myself looking for a replacement in the near future.

I've been curious about the transmission issue with the higher rpm applications. What do you have in mind for a replacement? Could the factory NA trans be rebuild to deal with it?

They can be rebuilt assuming the housing(s) isn't cracked, which I've seen happen. I think S5 N/A RX-7 had the highest horsepower engine in front of this particular transmission. OEM-wise the Miata added a double-synchro'd second gear and helical reverse gears in the 90's but I think was it in terms of revising. Maybe there are some upgrade parts available in the Miata aftermarket world.

The only thing preventing me from finishing the interior is the carpet. My original '89 had the black interior, which I preferred so I kept everything that wasn't somehow connected with the automatic seat belts. This '86 came with the gray interior. It was easy enough to paint all the plastic trim but I'm left with the gray carpet. I tried my hand at dying last night. Unfortunately all I succeeded in doing was dying the edging.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/1V...=w1689-h950-no

Even then, up close the edging looks to be more a very dark purple instead of black.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/5T...=w1689-h950-no

I used liquid Rit dye with the hottest water available to me. I know dying plastic (nylon? rayon?) requires high heat and apparently this wasn't enough. I had no way of keeping the heat up over the hour the carpet was submerged so that probably didn't help either.

So now what? I don't want to leave the carpet as is. I thought the black upper/gray lower look might work with the dark edging but I'm not sold. Leaving the carpet out isn't something I want to do. I have a bunch of black vinyl and fabric spray paint I could try. It worked well enough on the vinyl door pieces. I'm not to concerned about texture. I just don't want the color to rub off.

One of our local guys dyed his grey carpet black successfully. He used a kiddie pool and a shitload of dye. It turned out really good. I'll see if I can get some more info for you.

I'm curious what he did to make it work. The biggest difference between what I did and what I've read most online is the length of time the carpet was submerged. I followed the dye instructions of 30-60 minutes (I did one hour) but I've read some people leaving the carpet soaking for as much as a week.

I decided to put more trim in as a test. I don't know, maybe the two-toned look could work...

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Dn...=w1689-h950-no

I wasn't planning on putting the side carpet pieces in but after this I think I'm going to have to. I just need to find something to do with the tops where the speakers used to be. It wouldn't be hard to just make a lid out of something but a big part of me wants to cut the sides down so the rear damping can be adjusted without any trim removal.

You can use spray paint, some folks have used that as well. Myself, I would see if someone
has a black interior being parted out. Carpet is usually not that expensive when parting
and its pretty easy to ship.

I've seen dyed carpets and you can always tell even on the best jobs.

I think the spray is my only option now. I've had some fibers from the carpet sitting in a small jar of bleach for over a day and it's not changed color or disintegrated. If bleach won't affect this stuff no off-the-shelf dye will.

The problem is I have an S4. The only S4's with black interiors are the 10AE versions so interior parts go for big money. The S5 carpet is actually slightly different (narrower) because of the automatic seat belts. Aftermarket is an option but that will run me $200-250 and it'll come with the rubber and jute backing I don't want.

^I wouldn't be so certain that's the case - chemical reactions that make bleach strip the color out of dyed fabric/synthetic is not necessarily the same as what makes the color take in the dying process itself. You just may need to find the right dye for the material and/or dying process (i.e., more time, heat, etc.)

Didn't know that, too bad the S5 carpet won't fit - black seems pretty common on the S5's. When I got my S5, I wanted to retrofit to the S4 manual seat belts in and ditch the S5 motor-mouse belts, only to find too much of the interior bits were changed between S4/S5, making the job a major PITA. Eventually I got used to them :rofl:

If you use SEM interior paint with a stiff bristle brush. Spray your first coat heavy, work it in while wet with the brush, then let it dry, then apply your second coat heavy(will allow you to hit the spots missed) and work it in with the brush, then let it dry completely.

By working it in with the brush, you won't have the crunchy carpet.

My old detailer did this to restore carpet, worked like a charm.

-Tim

Black paint works alright.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Bd...=w1689-h950-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/3i...=w1689-h950-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Pq...=w1689-h950-no

The last picture was taken at ~8 PM, which is why it has a yellow/brown tint. Everything turned out pretty good. I think I did three coats on everything. I laid down heavy coats and used a nylon scrubbing brush to even everything out. The backing didn't really take the color so you can still see gray through the fibers if you look hard enough. It's a little stiffer overall but wouldn't be noticeable to someone not familiar with the original texture.

I've got most of the interior back together now.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Wv...=w1689-h950-no

I managed to break the warning cluster surround. Considering it's the original one from my 89 I think it's managed to last quite a while. Hopefully I can repair it versus looking for a new one. The only thing not installed are the storage bins. The roll bar interferes with their operation so I need to come up with something. I'm thinking about cutting the covers in half and adding a second hinge kind of like bi-fold door.

Can someone remind me how the warning cluster functions during startup? As in, what lights come on/off and when. It's been so long since I've had this thing running I can't remember and I've hacked up the wiring harness so much I don't know if I've messed anything up.

Testing my photo-sharing capability..

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/5b...=w1689-h950-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/yy...=w1689-h950-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/hF...=w1689-h950-no

Damn, looks good man!

Apparently i have missed this build thread for the past couple of years.

Great work, I hope it makes over 230 with it being a big 4 port. SCCA Eprod motors make ~230hp with a 6port street port and a Webber IDA with 42mm chokes.

Is that to the wheels? If so, that's reassuring since I'm effectively running a 55 mm IDA setup.

There's really not much left to do. I need to mount the radiator shroud and fan, wire in the reverse lights and oxygen sensors, and get some spark plug wires. After that it's a matter of setting up the ECU and display and getting a baseline tune. I've been poking around Haltech ECU Manager and RacePak DataLink programs and I think I understand the setup process. It's setting up an initial tune that has me stuck. If anyone is in, or knows someone in the Richmond, VA area familiar with tuning rotaries let me know!

what door panels are those?

I made them myself out of the original vinyl top halves and ABS plastic. Since the car is a base model it was easy to separate the halves of the door panels. I used the original cardboard bottom pieces as templates for the ABS plastic. I painted the vinyl black and covered the ABS in knock-off Recaro fabric from eBay. The door pulls are just red nylon straps secured using two of the holes for the original handle.

I think I've often complained how much I didn't like my original ignition coil mounting location (behind the driver's headlight). I'd been toying with the idea of moving the coils to the top of the engine, and even went as far as making a temporary mount out of ABS to see if it would work. I finally decided to transfer the concept over to .060" aluminum:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Lp...=w1560-h878-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Qz...=w1560-h878-no

My intake really has made life difficult. If it weren't for this thing I'd still have a top-mounted alternator and I've have more room for the coils. They're about 1/8" from the bottom of the filters.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/rM...=w1560-h878-no

Add some custom Magnecor wires and that's all:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/r0...=w1560-h878-no

I'm nearly done with the sub-harness for the reverse lights and oxygen sensors. After that I'll mount the radiator shroud and fan. Then, it's done, I guess. My engine harness isn't ideal, but that's getting resolved later in the Summer. But really, the only thing preventing me from getting it started is my lack of knowledge/confidence to set up a base tune.

I have the same set of coils on my FC. I managed to mount all 4 of them in the space vacated by the stock trailing coils, and even repurposed the lower stock coil mounting bracket & upper stud mount in my design. I'll post up pictures later (don't have them on my work computer).

Anyway, I fabricated up some simple AL brackets, and using a combo of long bolts, AL spacers and strategic stacking of the coils in a 2X2 configuration, and a bend on the top bracket (to line up with the top stud), it all in fits neatly there.

It's been a while since I've updated this. I had to pull the engine a couple weeks ago because it started leaking coolant when tried to fill it up. Apparently I forgot to add sealant around the threads of the engine studs, which isn't required if using tension bolts. I got that sorted out and put the engine back in last weekend.

I'm now getting very close to firing this thing up. The engine is back in the car and it's holding oil and coolant. I powered up the ECU and display and everything works. I calibrated everything except the fuel level input. I attempted to synchronize the engine and ECU but by then I think I drained the battery too much and wasn't getting any spark. I got one or two flashes from the timing light and then nothing. The steady-state battery voltage was 12.0-12.2V but I failed to note what it was while cranking. The cranking amperage must have been low because my display was resetting every time I hit the starter. I'm getting a good, steady engine speed signal so I don't think it's a trigger problem. I checked the IGN fuse and it was intact as well. I suppose I could have fried the relay but I put the battery back on a trickle charger and I'll try again tonight. If it turns out to be a battery issue I'll pull the larger battery out of the yellow RX-7 and try that next.

Not sure if this is going to work but here's a picture of the completed engine bay:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/lp...=w1689-h950-no

geez dude.... can you come help me with mine.... I want mine to look like that haha

I got the engine and ECU synchronized and calibrated the fuel level sensor on Saturday. Sunday morning I primed the fuel pump for the first time to make sure there weren't any leaks. Fortunately there were none so everything was looking good for a Sunday afternoon start up. I pushed the car out of the garage, enabled the injectors, primed the fuel pump, hit the starter, and... nothing. Maybe one or two little bumps of ignition but no start.

Time to pull the plugs to look for signs of fuel. I pull the L1 plug and it's bone-dry; not a whiff of gasoline. I pull the L2 plug and immediately there's a strong fuel odor, so the front rotor isn't getting any fuel but the rear is. I've already verified the injectors are good by hooking them up to a 12V power source so I broke out the multimeter and started testing for continuity:

Injector to sub-harness break-out connector: "Beep"
Injector to engine-side bulkhead connector: "Beep"
Injector to ECU: "Silence"

It turns out 3/4 wires in the sub-harness connector were wired incorrectly. After de-pinning and correctly re-pinning that connector there's continuity from the ECU to the injector. Just to be sure I also went back and checked the ignition wires. Fortunately those are all good.

Hmmm. . Mine was that exact same way!

I assume yours wouldn't start either? I figured it might at least start on one rotor.

Last night I tried to better set the base fuel pressure without the engine running. The Aeromotive FPR doesn't hold pressure long after the pump is turned off so I had my wife watch the gauge and note the peak pressure during priming. It was ~60 psi at first time around so that might explain the excess fuel. I got it to ~45 psi and called it good enough.

I'm certain I flooded the rear rotor. I squirted a 1/4 teaspoon of 2 stroke engine oil into the both rotors and cycled the starter until I just about drained the battery. My intake and garage still reek of fuel though so I don't know how much good that did. Tonight I may put the spark plugs back in, keep the injectors and fuel pump disabled, crank the engine, and see what happens.

At least I got the display set up. I won't know if the speed or odometer works until the car is moving but everything else appears to be functioning properly. The only issue is I can only display fuel level in liters.

Mine wouldn't start because of a number of factors, not just from the injector wiring. But yeah, I would think it would fire on one rotor.

Well, I got it started. I think it was a combination of too much fuel and the throttle being too open. I backed off the throttle stop to around 3% (was 5%) and immediately the engine started to catch more and more with each start attempt. When it finally caught it idled around 700 RPM and was running super rich (<11:1). After adjusting the throttle stop and the fuel settings I got it to idle fairly consistently around 1000 RPM. I played with it for over an hour, varying engine speed from <1000 RPM to just over 3000 RPM. I ultimately stalled the engine with what I think was a lean condition. I tried to restart it but after two failed attempts (too lean again?) I had drained the battery. I'll try again tomorrow but I'm thinking I may have to set up some kind of post start enrichment strategy.

I'm not sure how to embed videos from Google Photos. Does this link work: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1Q...I3akVubllYdE1R?

Sorry for the noise. The fan had just kicked on. It's idling around 1000 RPM. Anything less and it gets a little rough/unstable. It's quieter than I expected, but I haven't taken it much over 3500 RPM or about 10% throttle. Tuning is turning out to be difficult. No-load idle is pretty much sorted out to 4000 RPM. Tuning under load on the road is painful. Going from no load to load is requiring a massive increase in fuel due to the large changes in incoming air volume associated with small throttle movements. I assume this is handled by transient throttle adjustments but I read not to mess with that until the base fuel map is sorted. This would be much easier on a dyno. Any advice is welcome!

This is super exciting. But no the link doesn't work.

I can get the car to start, idle, and rev freely up to 4000 RPM. I'm sure it can go higher but I'm hesitant with the engine not broken in. Transient throttle situations and anything with more than 10% load is causing lean situations that cause the car to die. I literally can't drive it out of my driveway at this point, which is beyond frustrating. Unfortunately, it looks like I'm dead in the water until I can find some assistance because this is beyond me.

How experienced are you with tuning? That is something that I have always wanted to know more about but I haven't been willing to dedicate the time to it. That's really the most intimidating thing to me about starting from scratch.

Not very. Most of my experience is with piggy-back units in piston-engined cars. Just altering fuel and timing to improve power at partial and wide-open throttle. I don't have any experience starting from scratch. I've relied heavily on Chris at Ludwig Motorsports and Brian (TitaniumTT) just to get where I am now.

New kid takes time away from working on the car. I managed to get a couple things done this week while off of work:

-Changed oil and filter. Went with 10W40 weight this time and I'm still seeing 40+ psi of oil pressure at idle.
-Moved my vacuum manifold to the top of the intake manifold. The previous location allowed residual premix to pool in the vacuum manifold.
-Added a 1 bar MAP sensor to give me the option to tune with speed-density.
-Added 6 more oz of premix to bring the ration closer to 1.5 oz to 1 gal fuel during break-in.

The last one really messed with my tune, I think. What worked before was now running very lean so I had to add a bunch of fuel back. I've got it running again but I haven't got it out on the road yet. Hopefully I'll get a chance this weekend.

I've also ordered a FFE primary fuel rail and two ID725 injectors. I think relying on two ID1000 injectors in what are essentially secondary injector positions is going to prevent the car from running smoothly. Hopefully running smaller injectors in the stock primary location will smooth out idle and part throttle conditions. Vacuum sits around -6 psi at idle but peaks around -10 psi revving the engine in neutral below 3000 RPM. Hopefully this is enough to use speed-density tuning.

Lastly, and not sure if this'll work, but here are the latest pictures:

https://goo.gl/nyPmgn

https://goo.gl/ZyMHhE

They don't show. . on my phone at least.

Trying something new. Maybe this worked.

TinyURL redirect to Google Photos?
It looks like your Google Photos account isn't set to public viewing...


-Ted

Tried Google's own url-shortener this time. The issue is the album IS set up for sharing but Google has apparently done-away with the ability to embed images. They would rather the system only work through links and invites. It seems like whatever work-around I find is only temporarily. For example, I tried TinyURL over the weekend and I was able to view the pictures when viewing this site incognito. I checked again this morning and they were "x's." Even the album link: https://goo.gl/photos/6cLWLXYDxTRiWYtG6 doesn't work for everyone.