TitaniumTT's I hope I make it to DGRR '09 Build

[TitaniumTT]

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 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 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