SSM RX7 Build
 

Anyone interested in seeing my FD project that I have been developing over the past two SCCA autocross seasons?

General Specs:

1993 base model FD.

Engine:
Stock re-man engine with about 6K on it.
Custom Precision Turbo HP5530SP with .78 AR T3 exhaust housing twin scroll.
Custom V-mount intercooler
Greddy elbow
Custom V-mount cross flow radiator "Afco"
Custom CAI 4"
Custom HPP Delrin engine mounts

Exhaust:

Custom 3.5" downpipe
Custom short runner turbo manifold divided with twin wastegates
Custom stainless flex joint
Custom 4" exhaust from DP.
Magna Flow 4" round exhaust
Custom 4" tip adjustable angles for sound restrictions

Fuel:

Bosch 044
Custom 5 gal aluminum cell
Custom fuel fill cap mounted on passenger side
-6 AN fuel lines
KG fuel rails
FPR aeromotive import style
Custom surge tank in-tank
ID2000 injectors

Electronics:

Haltech PS2000 tuned by Ludwig lmsefi.com
Haltech EGT's via CAN hub TC2 lmsefi.com
Haltech SSR for Electric water pump
AEM exhaust manifold pressure sensor lmsefi.com
AEM boost control pot lmsefi.com
Greddy boost gauge
NGK wideband lmsefi.com
LS2 coils (soon to be AEM)
Magnacore spark plug wires
NGK racing plugs (ouch) 10.5's
Greedy racing plugs 11's lmsefi.com

Suspension:

Custom valved Koni 28's aluminum body by Pro Parts
Custom spherical bearings on all pick up points.
Tri point front sway bar
Stock rear sway bar
Custom upper control arms ( adjustable on the car!) new design in progress
Custom lower front ball joint, replaced stock with spherical.
Rx7 store toe links and rear trailing arms

Shoes:

CCW 18x11 7.5 backspace fronts with Hoosier 315/30/18's
CCW 18x12 7.5 backspace rear with Hoosier 335/30/18's

Rain set up FNO1R-C 17x10 +35 All four 275/40/17's Hoosiers

Trans and stuff:

Stock trans with short shifter
Stock re-main flywheel
ACT pressure plate
LWFW (TBD) not installed at this time
TN clutch 4 puck solid disc
Kaaz diff set at 66%
Stock PPF
Delrin diff bushings
HPP racing diff brace
Custom HPP torque v-brace
4.10, 4.77, 4,44 gear ( trying to test to see which on is best for the car.


Aero:

Custom front splitter Aluma core ( made by Tomsn16)
New Ciro racing design rear wing.

Body:

Pettit rear flares
Custom English wheel rolled front fender to tuck the 315"s
Awesome bare custom hood with cut out for IC
Racing shield aluminum seats with custom aluminum mounts
Sparco steering wheel


Misc specs:

2510 lbs without driver
Relocated ABS system
Hawker battery relocated
Dyno sheet will be posted soon
SW20 EHPS mounted behind passenger seat.
EWP Craig Davis 7/21/12 installed


This is a picture of the last SCCA race last year held at our own Nashville Super Speedway in October.

http://rotarycarclub.com/rotary_foru...pictureid=2607

Instead of flooding the Thread will a bunch of pictures I will just ad pics that people are interested in or request.

Looking good Carter!

Your car is a purposed built monster.

I'm interested in seeing pictures of the relocated ABS project.

Custom V-mount intercooler
Custom V-mount cross flow radiator
Custom CAI 4"
Custom 3.5" downpipe
Custom short runner turbo manifold divided with twin wastegates
Custom 4" exhaust from DP.
Magna Flow 4" round exhaust
Custom 4" tip adjustable angles for sound restrictions
Custom 5 gal aluminum cell
Custom fuel fill cap mounted on passenger side
FPR aeromotive import style
Custom surge tank in-tank
LS2 coils
Custom upper control arms ( adjustable on the car!) new design in progress
Custom lower front ball joint, replaced stock with spherical.
Custom torque v-brace
Awesome bare custom hood with cut out for IC
relocated ABS system


Do you have pics of these things? LOL!! I'm REALLY interested in the dual WG turbo manifold though. I've been wanting to do the EXACT same thing and I'd like to see what's possible. Are the runners equal length? What size WG are you using?

Also very interested in the custom VMIC. How big is the core on your IC? I'm looking to remake my IC for my V-mount as well. I've been wanting to do a vent in the hood like that too.

What is the v-brace you're talking about? And what about the FPR makes it euro style, what do you mean there? Really I'd just like to see how you have all this stuff set up.

I was thinking an english wheel could be used to change the fenders, but I'd been told the metal was too flimsy. Originally I was going to try to get mine done like that too but I went a different direction.

Pretty awesome, man! I'd actually like to see pics of the whole car but I know you don't want to flood the thread. This list would be cool but if you can at least put up pics of the VMIC and turbo manifold that would be great.

Thanks for the interest. I will have to dig up some pictures on the ABS relocation. Here is a picture of the tank install with the ABS unit next to it. I mounted the ABS unit behind the passenger seat next to the tunnel. Also I pulled the ABS ECU from the Left rear and relocated it where the rear right speaker was located. I eliminated all the wiring from the driver side all the way around to the passenger side, the ABS ECU wiring harness basically circled the vehicle. I only had to splice about 10 wires to the unit itself. It was not as difficult as I thought it was.
I will dig up some more pictures, these are not that great for the ABS relocation. Also I used the -3AN speed flex lines with aluminum banjos from the unit all the way to each wheel.

Goals:

Weight reduction, relocate weight to the lightest corner of the car.

ABS ECU = 2.2 lbs
ABS unit = 14 lbs

relocated to right rear corner of car.

Removed 7 lbs of steel fittings, tees, brackets from the stock brake lines.

I have not had any issues with brakes, 2 seasons of racing so far. Well except for the master cylinder failing at NSS last year.


http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...uelTank001.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...uelTank008.jpg

SpeedJunkie:

Thanks, I do have pictures of everything...Just need to find them all. I can post them slowly. I have the next two days off so I have plenty of time. :)
The FPR is just a compact design, nothing special. just smaller. I guess it sounds cool.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/AEI-13105/

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...7/IMG_9948.jpg

Pictures of the manifold build

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...117_133419.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...d/100_9439.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...d/100_9436.jpg

I could not find a decent aftermarket fender to my liking so I had someone make some for me. The metal is really thin as you say but the English wheel does a nice job stretching the metal out. The only issue with this set up was cost. It really hurt the pocket.. The pictures do not do the fenders justice. They look stock. But try fitting 315's on 11" wide wheels with stock fenders.

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...422_121844.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...7/100_9299.jpg

I will make another post for the V-mount set up.

SSM allows custom control arms? Hmmmm

Yes

Speedjunkie pics:

V-mount stuff,

HOOD, stripped of paint and cutting hole for IC vent.

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...309_175840.jpg

Intercooler, core is 18x12x2.5, I also welded the IC pipes so I would eliminate hoses blowing off at a race.

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...202_225446.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...130_190732.jpg

4" CAI

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...202_225427.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...202_224956.jpg

AFCO dual pass radiator. This radiator is split in the center. The entry is on the passenger side and the water flows over and up to the driver side to exit. I also used the stock fans on the bottom.

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...7/100_9431.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f.../img0628mi.jpg

Carter is my hero........

soooo you're not allowed to duct after the radiator, but intercooler is OK? sounds like that rule is broken.. (I'm XP btw, same ducting rules)

HOLY fuck I just typed out a bunch of stuff and it's all gone now. FUCK!!!!

I see what you mean about that FPR. I've seen those before but I didn't know they were referred to as Euro.

That fuel cell is crazy. I can't believe it fits under the bin, and I like how it uses all the previously unused space as it angles back. Those fenders came out really nice too! Do you have fans mounted to the back of your oil coolers? That ABS relocation must have taken an amount of work I wouldn't want to do LOL. Seems like it would have taken more than you're letting on lol. I like that CAI too. I was thinking of doing something similar, just not that far forward, maybe just where the filter is beside the headlight. Oh I like that heat shield above the DP too.

I love those short runners. SUPER short. Do you have any problems with oil drainage from the turbo to the pan? Do you still use the front oil drain hole? I have two EGT bungs I'd like to weld in too, looks like there might be room on top of the runners. Not sure if it would be easy to get in there around the turbo to install them though. Did you get that exhaust flange from Racing Beat? Did you use 304 or 321 for that runner? I can't believe you were able to route the WG dump back into the exhaust too, that's awesome. I have so much trouble putting mine back together with just one WG as it is. I'd love to do this though and cut down on noise. And I love the 4" DP, but I don't want to get rid of the resonated MP and GReddy Ti, so I'm not sure a 4" DP alone would be very beneficial. Are you running water/coolant to those wastegates? If so, where did you route them from and back to? I bought the same ones and I'm trying to figure out where to source the water from.

What brand IC core is that? Did you do the same size piping on both ends of the IC? I've been looking at Bell IC cores and I'm trying to figure out what size to get so it's not too big and not too small. My main goal is response. Have you ever used a different IC and different exhaust manifold with that turbo? If so, is there a noticeable difference in response between this setup and that one?

Thanks for sharing!

Looks awesome as always Carter!

Good point but I do not have any "ducts" in or on my car. Also the cardboard was just used as a template (only good picture I had). The final design is 4 inches away from the IC. This means that the hood has a "vent". Rules say hoods are free. Also my hood is vented less than most after market bling bling ones. Thanks for the concern.

Answers for speedjunkie:

Do you have fans mounted to the back of your oil coolers? Yes one 10" fan.

Do you have any problems with oil drainage from the turbo to the pan? Not at all, and I am using the front drain also. I believe I use -10AN on that one.

Did you get that exhaust flange from Racing Beat? Yes

Did you use 304 or 321 for that runner? 321 SS from Burns stainless. everything is 321 up to the 4". The 4" exhaust is 409 and it starts at about the rear of the transmission.

Are you running water/coolant to those wastegates? Not at this time. This is one of my next season projects because I have over heated the rear diaphragm twice at a race limiting my boost to 15psi which = slow. Also I might have to relocate the WG since it is close to the DP.

I can't believe you were able to route the WG dump back into the exhaust too, that's awesome. It was not easy, also in SSM we cannot run open WG's. All exhaust must exit rearward of the rear axles.

What brand IC core is that? Did you do the same size piping on both ends of the IC? the IC is a cheap ebay core, I was experimenting and did not want to spend big bucks on a IC if it did not work. Also it is 2.5" in and out. I think I have pretty good response if not too much sometimes. Bell IC cores would be my first choice too.

Have you ever used a different IC and different exhaust manifold with that turbo? If so, is there a noticeable difference in response between this setup and that one? I have not had anything different, I plan to change something this year if I have time. I went from a stock set up to this so with that it was a BIG difference.

Im loving that exhaust manifold...to the point Ive decided to make it...I needed one anyway.

Thanks Brent. BTW Brent will be testing my new design on my upper A-arms. They are pretty bad a$$ IMO. I have been running mine for two seasons but he will testing then on the track, mine have only seen AutoX's.


And the list goes on with pictures.

The first pic is the custom surge/anti slosh tank installed in the 5 gallon cell. It basically fills itself with the return. If the tank fills to the top I have a drain hole on the top of the tank to drain excess out. The little red thing on the right is the one way valve which is mounted on the opposite side of the picture. I do not have a LP pump feeding this but I can run very low on fuel and still not starve. I have estimated by weight that I have been down to 2 gallons with no issues. Also I have mounted the stock low gas warning light inside the surge tank. If the light comes on that means the surge tank is below half way ( it has never came on). Oh! did I mention that my stock sending unit is still operational. :)


The second pic is a picture of the fuel pump with filters. I used chevy truck stock filters. If they fail at a race I will not be stuck since every Advance or Autozone has these in stock. Also (Speedjunkie) you can see the custom V-brace in this picture. it attaches the diff cradle to the car and helps with PPF flex (maybe).


The best thing about this fuel pump set up is that the stock plastic cover fits over it and hides everything. I removed it for the picture but I run the plastic to protect the pump and filters from rocks and such.

I see that you said that you are relocating your wastegates...any idea of what you are going to do to them? Just extend the runners rearward?

dont mean to call you out, this has been a confusing rule for me, and probably a pile of other people. They say no ducting after the radiator, but hood is free, so theres all kinds of room for interpretation there. isnt a fan shroud considered ducting? how far away from the rad/intercooler does the hood material have to be to not be considered ducting? i know you've been running with the big boys for a while, so maybe you've accumulated a clearer defination than i have.

Pics of the final hood vent. No issues with the big boys at Nationals this year that we know of.

Ok, I thought I might have seen evidence of that, but I thought maybe those things were just holding the screen on the back.

So glad to hear you don't have any issues with oil drainage. I'm kinda worried about the waste gate being heat soaked though, but I guess water cooling will help that. Have you thought about where you're going to get the water from and route it back to? Where are you thinking of relocating it to? Have you thought about making a heat shield for that WG?

Is there any concern welding the 321 to the 304? Mainly about cracking where the 321 meets the 304 flange? About the 4" though, is it not started at the back of the turbo? Or are you saying you started using 409 at the rear of the tranny and prior to that it's 321? That must have been pricy for all that 321 lol. So THAT'S why you plumbed them back into the exhaust. I wonder if there is some kind of quick disconnect for that piping to make it easier to connect.

Yeah I can understand using a cheap core for an experiment. Do you notice any drawbacks to that ebay core? I guess it's working for you if you're racing with it lol. I'm still wary of what size core to get, I'd rather experiment with a cheap core too but if it works I don't want to build another one with a name brand core. Although maybe it would still be worth it to try.

So as far as response, what would you say about how much difference there is between this and stock twins?

That fuel setup is crazy haha. I'd love to do something like that, I'm just not sure what all to do.

Thanks for the help!

No problem, It is always good to get another opinion on the interpretation of the rules. They are confusing. I have not received a clearer definition but my competition has not had an issue with it. They even ask why I did not run the opening all the way up to the IC.....

:confused: guess my posts dont show up or something

Yea, I missed the question.

First I am going to water cool them and see if that helps. I currently have the rear wastegate wrapped with heat shielding but it still melts the diaphragm. My plan is to pull the engine soon for a swap and investigate what I can do to help the issue. I really do not have a good fix at this time nor do I want to re make the manifold or DP.

See above post on WG answer. On the exhaust, I really do not know if welding the two different types hurt anything but I have not had any problems so far. the breakdown of the material is this.

1. Manifold 321ss
2. 3" vband 304ss
4. 3" to 3.5 transition 321ss
5. DP 3'5" 321ss
6. flex joint 304 ss
7. 3.5 to 4" transition 321ss
8. 4" straight section 26"s, 321ss (removable to be straight or Magna flow)
9. 4" from #8 back to Magna flow in rear 409ss

My plan was to run 20 ga. 321 all the way back but it was hard to justify the cost to material advantage.

On the IC, my intake temps get a little high. 145F-175F range during a race on a 90+ degree days. Not sure if it is the IC or the nature of the beast. I usually run 19-21psi so the intake temps get up there. The example I pulled up happened to be a little cooler day might have been 80 degrees at the most. not really sure.

The stock twins are no comparison to the single I have on it now. Best way I can explain it is it would be the difference in a C6 Z06 compared to a stock RX-8.

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...logexample.png

ok, since Im going to be fabricating kind of based on what you have, I was interested in what you were going to do to remedy the diaphragm problem. Perhaps bringing the front w/g forward off the runner towards the headlights and extending the dump-to-dp pipe to the same location and extending the rear w/g rearward and have it dump further down in the dp. Hopefully water-cooling will help and I can copy that too lol. Good luck.

OK gotcha, so you already made a heat shield and still doesn't help. Well, shit. I guess water and/or relocation is the only choice then. Have you ever wrapped the DP as well to try to help with that or is it against the rules?

I'm not sure how you kept all those materials and locations straight in your mind haha, but thanks for the info! I thought you went straight from the Vband on the turbo to a 4" DP. Gotcha. And I can completely understand not doing the whole thing in 321ss, not worth the benefit vs cost. Was there a specific reason you got an RB flange? Someone else suggested getting that one too but I don't yet know why. I'll get it anyway though, no biggie.

As far as the cooling efficiency of the IC, I've never measured my temps so I wouldn't know how they compare to yours, but I know current VMIC works pretty well as far as cooling. I just think I might be able to get less pressure drop with something with smoother flowing end tanks. Then comes the problem of the air moving too fast to be cooled efficiently...and for that I was going to use 2.75" exit and 3" entrance piping. But flow/CFM is where I'm stuck right now. Not that it really matters, I'm not racing, just trying to give my all to build my favorite street car haha. MAYBE it'll see the track someday, but I've never paid attention to rules and regulations so I'm so far past it now and it's not worth going back.

So you're saying the single responds faster than the stock twins? Or are you talking just about the power it delivers? I didn't think any single would respond as fast as the twins. I was hoping short runners and an efficient IC would help though.

Sorry for all the questions, but thanks for responding anyway.

I think only the rear WG was being affected though, since he mentioned it being close to the DP. I'm curious how the front is working too though.

Cool, glad to see another fabricator. just stay tuned to the thread and I will let you know how the relocation goes and or the cooling. My racing season starts in March so I need to do something before then.

I was planning to do 3.5" all the way back but I changed my mind half way through the project. No reason, that is just the way it turned out. Also I would not bother with over thinking the IC, we are not building F1 cars. Just get what fits and build it. Over analyzing things will just slow you down.

I will post my dyno chart and let you figure out if the twins are better. Although for a street car I would get a bigger turbo like a GT35 or so. The street is another world compared to auto crossing.

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...ompsondyno.jpg

I was on the computer at work when I responded last so I didn't even see the graph you posted then lol. I'm eager to see how you remedy the WG issue, and the routing of the cooling lines as well.

I hear ya. I've thought about that myself, especially since I probably won't even plan to race it anymore haha.

I have a 500R-SP currently, and I'm putting in a BW EFR 7670 when I get home. That's what this manifold will be for.

Thanks!

Truer words have never been spoken :cheers2:

^I agree, but I also don't want to end up going with a different design and end up with worse results, know what I mean? I'm trying to move forward here, not backwards LOL.

Build update
 

I have started my engine swap on the FD. I will be doing this in stages so I can make the races I plan to attend. I am trying not to get too many projects going at once.

Stage 1:

Engine swap, built by David Jerome.
Excessive LIM ( Thanks Jeff Kiesel)
Newer transmission from 36K donor car (Thanks tomsn16)
Swap diffs (I was planning on testing out some things for the first race)
Addition of EGT probes so I can log the exhaust temp. (Thanks Ludwig)
Addition of back pressure sensor to log pressure in manifold. (Thanks Ludwig)
Fix damaged fender ( Thanks to my body shop dude and Brent for the donation!)
Dyno tune ( Ludwig)

Stage 2:

Electric water pump controlled via Ludwig installed Haltech
Electric power steering pump from S2000
Relocate Alternator. ( not yet decided)
Maybe play with different exhaust housing based on the data from stage 1 results.


Also here are some pictures of the damage I did last Sunday.

I have been studying my waste gate issue and I am pretty confident I have figured out the problem. I still plan to run coolant though them since I have water cooled waste gates but I do not think they are getting over heated. The cause that I have figured out is that I was using the Anti lag function on the Haltech and that was the cause of the burned up waste gates.

here is what I have thought about.

1. I raced my car for half a season with out any issues.
2. I used the Anti lag launch function at a couple of races mid way through the season.
3. Next race blown waste gates. I repaired the waste gates after I found the problem. unfortunately I raced at the Toledo Ohio Solo with low boost as a result.
4. New waste gates installed for Nationals, first day of Pro Solo ( using ALS ), resulted in low boost for second day. I finished third but maybe the Low boost helped more than hurt.
5. Turned ALS off for good after that and I have not had an issue since. Also the waste gate that had the most damage was the rear one. Yes, it is closest to the exhaust but it also has the most direct "straight" path from the exhaust.

Haltech has a disclaimer on using the ALS they should ad "will destroy waste gates" :cheers2:

Also added more pictures for ABS, Diff brace and exhaust tip.

It's def. the offseason! I was extemely happy with the engine David built for me a few years ago. Using ALS seals?

Paint those ugly fenders :D

What's with the exhaust tip? Maybe I missed it.

I'm SO glad you figured out the wastegate problem, because that means I won't have to run water to mine LOL!

The exhaust tip is adjustable, I can point it to the left, right or down. I have a spring that hold it in place. Also you can see each hook for the three adjustment points. The adjustment is to direct the exhaust away from the sound meter on the course. We have a 100 db limit and mine is anywhere from 92 to 98.5 dbs.

Oh OK gotcha. I figured it was so you could point it but I couldn't think of why. Makes sense haha. I'm surprised they let you do that, I figured they'd have a cow about that.

As a part of the relocation, did you separate out the ABS ECU, or is it still incorporated into the full body harness as from the factory? Supposing the latter, do you have any intention of separating it out and removing all that excess factory body harness for weight savings/wiring replacement and simplification?

Thanks again for sharing so much of your build. Good luck with the continued project.
-ryan

Yes, it is still incorporated in the harness, I do not have any intention on doing anything else to it since it is working.

I started making a new oil fill neck that I will ad a catch can to later for my vented PCV set up. Also I am trying to get ready to dyno this weekend. I will try and update everything before my dyno tuning session. I also added a picture of my two helpers.

Love the welding jig Carter.

Some more pictures of the over flow tank set up and new DS2 coil mounts. I did ad a vent line to the rear turbo drain which feeds the other side of the tank. I will let everyone know how this turns out in an Auto-X. Hopefully I can keep from spitting out half a qt. a run.....
Slow progress but it is getting together slowly. I also tried to Dyno the car last Saturday but I will go again due to some boosting issues I had.