Shadow102's RX7 NA build thread

[Shadow102]

Ok quick little update as i said LIM is done and i have pics uploaded. Also picked up the miata trans today and got it taken apart. Looks in great condition and should just take being swapped over after i replace the two front bearings (my fault moving a little fast) just gotta pick up a spare NA case now unless i feel like dealing with down time of the car.

 

[aMaff]

damn, that is nicely shined up. Take it from me: Spares are never a bad thing. Pick up another trans for cheap, swap the miata guts in, and have yours waiting as a spare for if / when something breaks.

 

[SpooledupRacing]

VERY NICE!!!!!

I should have had you do my intake lol..

 

[Shadow102]

WWOOOOOOOO sign me up for the next drift event i am ready...lol J/k

Anyway got some stuff accomplished this weekend. Like i said earlier picked up a rear chunk from a 88 GXL (i assume GXL) containing a S4 clutch type diff. Spent most of the day sunday just taking my time and installing it. I chose to leave the subframe up and just pull the chunk out by itself due to my lack of man power. Wasnt really hard at all and the biggest pain was taking off the three front diff mount nuts/studs. I do have to say one thing though thank god for southern cars i probably would have still been stuck had this been a northern car.
Found a nice empty freshly paved slightly damp parking lot to test the diff in. Car feels great now steps out alot more predictible and hooks up nicer as well. I have driven viscous diff cars (most miatas) and the clutch type is so much nicer since it works alot sooner.

Also got my sandwich plate adapter on saturday and installed it saturday night. Gotta finish up with gauge wiring but shouldnt be much longer for that. i can start using toyota filters now too since its all the same threading.

 

[TheDirtyGoatee]

How pissed is your coworker going to be once he see's the gem he sold you.

Lookin' good Korey.

 

[SpooledupRacing]

Nice!!!

 

[Shadow102]

gauges are in and hooks up for oil pres and oil temp. so much nicer than the stock oil pres. gauge it reacts quick and is more accurate

 

[Shadow102]

Got back from vacation and had my spare water pump housing sitting here waiting for me (thanks dave) got it all cleaned up yesterday also drilled and tapped the hole for my water temp sensor. Went back today and fitted the sensor along with removed some of the inner material so the sensor would see plenty of flow. The benefit to all this extra work is that the temp sensor will be reading the actual engine coolant temp at all times where as alot of people put the sensor after the t-stat and only see engine coolant temps after the t-stat opens up (assuming the t-stat doesnt malfunction which this location will also alert me to). Also took the time to prime and paint the housing. Going back tomorrow to prime and paint the top upper intake mani the same color and polish the "13b fuel injection" logo on top.

This weekends project is going to be constructing a belly pan as ambient temps are rising and i dont like how high my oil temps are getting.

 

[kcbhiw]

Looking good, Korey!

 

[Shadow102]

Well ran into some good and bad over the weekend.

The good is that I am heading to work right now with a manual trans so I can use its case and everything for the miata gears I have waiting. Just going to have to pick up a s4 crossmember before I slide it in (s4 trans case) gotta thank velocifero for the trans.

Other good thing was I came up with a good ducting solution using home air ducting for my oil cooler thinking that should solve my oil temp problems.

This is where the bad starts I notice at cruising in any gear above 3-4k rpm my oil temps start to rise steadily. Driving around on saturday I was seeing temps as high as 230-240 which is in the danger zone. So I messed around with it for a bit and pulled the oil cooler t-stat thinking it was either broke or not working. It passed the water test but I tried to drive the car without it....yeah bad idea not only did the temps climb but they went higher than ever so back in went the t-stat. Also decided to check to make sure the oil temp sensor was working properly so I removed it and checked it against my laser temp gun seemed to be several degrees off so it got swapped with my spare temp sensor. Checked it againts the temp gun again and it was pretty right on....the down side is that temps are still getting to the 220-230 range if I do any sort of hard driving for more than a couple minutes.

So in going with the temp gun thing I decided to research a little further. After driving I pulled the dipstick and got about 200 degree temps at the tip. The real shock was I took temp readings at the oil cooler, now mind you from what I have read I shouldn't be able to even touch the oil cooler because it should be full of hot oil and in the mid 100 degree temp range and even higher with the temps I am running, temp gun said 90-100 degrees across the matrix. Had a friend stop by and suggest that either one of my oil cooler line or the oil cooler itself is clogged so that's the next thing to tackle this week is removing the oil cooler and trying to flush it out.

 

[SpooledupRacing]

looks good, glad that housing worked for ya.. I should have drilled and put a temp sensor in mine before I installed it !!!

Sorry to hear about the cooling issues.. Take it from me...If you DON'T have the plastic shields in that go between the radiator and the front bumper you will overheat.. those HAVE TO be in there or you need a radiator panel

 

[Shadow102]

Upper intake plenum is finished and painted I should have some pics up tonight it turned out not too bad.

Rx7 trans case is almost finished being cleaned...its been sitting under velocifero's deck since we removed it almost two years ago so it needs a nice long bath. I will have before and after shot up after its finished. Right now the issue I am having is I have almost the entire gear set disassembled but am having trouble getting the counter shaft out as it seems pressed into a bearing. I need to pull up a fsm and see if it gives me how to pull it apart so I can get to the input shaft.

Lastly I am hopefully picking up a mint plastic belly pan saturday before I hand over the car for a week to do some work on amaff's s2k. Wierd thing though yesterday was I couldn't go over 3k rpm without the temps rising (good god a rx7 is boring at below 3k rpm) and if I did bring a single gear up to redline oil temps would rise at least 15 degrees. However yesterday I stopped (my gf found the silencer I lost weeks ago in a median woot) and had to make a u turn temps we're about 198, slide the car sideways on the u turn and proceded to wind it up from 1st-begining of 4th since I was almost home and temps got only to 205...so I dunno what's going on.

 

[SpooledupRacing]

just make sure all your plastics are on.. if not the temp will jump dramatically.

 

[Shadow102]

Yeah that's why I am picking that up...might as well put it in place before I jump into anything big like the e-shaft thermo pellet and flushing the oil cooler.

Also since I am so busy at work I went back at the trans...pulled up the fsm which was helpful until I came upon a lock nut. Its like a 36-38mm lock nut but its all the way down the output shaft. Looks like I am going to have to call over to mazda and borrow the sst to get this off.

 

[Shadow102]

here are the pics i took of the trans and upper intake mani. Trans is coming along nicely and cleaned up decently. First pic is the before pic and the other two are the afters. Also found out that i can in fact get the sst through my connection at mazda...the tool itself is about $56 but stupid mazda freight adds about $20 to that but might as well as i will get several uses from it and i cant find it anywhere else currently.

 

[SpooledupRacing]

Are you apart of Mazda comp or are u buying that through the dealer???

 

[Shadow102]

Buying it through the dealer.

 

[Shadow102]

Quick update I got my car back friday and installed the belly pan. The temps have become a little more stable and will hold 180-190 a little better but I can still raise the temps into the danger area. I am going to order the e shaft thermo pellet tomorrow and have it put in for next weekend hopefully.

 

[Shadow102]

I knew I forgot to update this...
Any way shimmed the thermo pellet last week (still waiting on the plug replacement) and the idle presure went up but still not where I think it should be. So I need to move onto the oil cooler there may be a problem there. Temps still climb not as bad as originally thought though.

Picking up my water pump housing seal and water pump today so I can get my gauge up and going this weekend and compare water temp.

Also if I can find one I am going to pick up a "yoohoo" belt (gates 3L220) and finally ditch the airpump.

 

[widgit117]

Long way to go... Starting off with a nice lead though.
Good luck with the build.