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

[vex]

I'm so glad you made it over here! I see you also got the projector headlights! Love to see more shots of your project.

[TitaniumTT]

Oh there will be more pics, I promise you that. So, onto yesterdays and this mornings activities.

There were some "issues" with painting last night. Bottom line, I finished at 7:15 am this morning. It looks good. The color seems a little off at certain angles. I didn't have the bumper at the perfect angle to the hood/fender when I painted it so the mettalic may have layed differently. I'm waiting till I cut and buff to make a final decision. Also seeing it in natural sunlight will make a huge difference. Note to the home painter - do NOT play with your dogs during flash times. ESPECIALLY if your dog is a husky who just started blowing his winter coat. Somehow a piece of hair managed to get right smack in the middle of the rear bumper. Took a while to tack, sand and recoat. Lucky for him he's a good dog.

Anywho - shiny new painted bumper



With some careful measuring, in bolt is all you need to keep the bumpercover secure



Joe, here's what I came up with. 14ga stainless with a flange nut welded on the inside welded to the fender. All the bolts/nuts are easy access. Bumper comes off in about 5 minutes.



Nothing else done today. Took a 2 hour nap before heading to MSG for a Bruins game..... fender and molding tomorrow hopefully.

[prrex4ever]

Good work, props. Like the paint.

[vex]

Are those the turbos you're going to use for the sequential?

[TitaniumTT]

The brandy new cartridge in the box on the left is going to be the new primary. The one in the center is going to get a thourough cleaning and be reused. The one on the right is going to go on the Wall of Destruction. It was the original primary turbo that was already damaged, and damaged even more severely when the pieces of apex seal passed through it at ~10psi.

I was hoping to have the motor assembled before I started all the body work but parts delays left me with the choice of do nothing, or get everything dusty. Seeing as how everything needed to be hard-core cleaned anyway, I opted to make some dust.

[classicauto]

Nice looking brackets!!

I'll be sure to give you an opinion on the bumper. I will also gladly disect the job I did on my own for you!

Can't wait, getting close! I've still got a bunch to do as well. But it'll come together once I get my front cover back from machining (big hold up at this point)

Keep it up!!

[TitaniumTT]

Originally Posted by classicauto

Nice looking brackets!!

I'll be sure to give you an opinion on the bumper. I will also gladly disect the job I did on my own for you!

Thanks Joe! Yeah I think the bumper may get a re-shoot time permitting. I realized this morning what happened. My "issue" took about two hours to resolve. It was 5 in the morning and it slipped my mind to stir the cup before going for the final coat of base. I think some of the darker colors rose to the top from sitting for so damn long and that's why it's just a **** hair off in shade. What I'll end up doing though is cutting and buffing it and looking at it in direct sunlight. If it looks good in the sun, it'll stay, otherwise, re-coat.

Originally Posted by classicauto

Can't wait, getting close! I've still got a bunch to do as well. But it'll come together once I get my front cover back from machining (big hold up at this point)

Keep it up!!

Yeah it is. How is that front cover coming along? Hell of an idea doing it that way.

Update: Not much done in the last 2 days. Prepped and primed the damaged fender tongiht. Hope to get the molding and the fender worked and painted tomorrow....... err today at this point. Still on sched for the big engine bay shoot Saturday, and engine build next Saturday.

[Whizbang]

love the color used on the bumper. what is it?

[speedjunkie]

Man that's looking good!! Nice work! I agree, that color rocks!

[TitaniumTT]

Thanks guys. Color is Lotus B98 - Storm Titaniumt Mettalic. But if you remember back in '04 the Elise in that color had a brown undertone, I used a different clear than what Lotus called for which took the brown out. Wouldn't you know, like a year or 2 later, Lotus copied me, bastards. I don't know if its the light or the paint being slightly off, but it just doesn't look right in that pic, lemme link another. Tell me if this doesn't work

[TitaniumTT]

S5 molding officially sucks balls. Bought used and the guy who took it off didn't care about the clips in the back. Being plastic and hollow they were creased beyod belief. Spent the last 4 hours applying filler and blocking. I'm now officially behind schedule by a day - $*&%^! Now I need to wake up early tomorrow and prime & surface before work, so I can base/clear when I get home so I don't loose another day ...... damnit.

[Max777]

that sucks about the idiot who sold you the moldings.

however, how do you attach them to the S4 car with the clips anyway? I thought most people just cut the clips off, and glued the molding like the factory S4 pieces?

Or did you plan to cut holes in the bodywork to fit the clips?

[Phoenix7]

Looking good man, love the color.

You HAVE to show us how you made that front brace!

[TitaniumTT]

Originally Posted by Max777

that sucks about the idiot who sold you the moldings.

however, how do you attach them to the S4 car with the clips anyway? I thought most people just cut the clips off, and glued the molding like the factory S4 pieces?

Or did you plan to cut holes in the bodywork to fit the clips?

Infront of the front wheel and behind the rear wheel the clips are still good. All the other pieces I took the clips out and found some 30 Mil body molding adhesive that I'll be using to affix the molding to the body - circa S4 style