- 3,987
- Gaithersburg/MD
- landseaair
I imagine people at v8rx7 forums are starting to get jealous?
The New Garage Queen
- Thread starter Troux
- 296 comments
- 24,186 views
Ordering this week:
-Seats and mounting hardware
-Valve cover breather (deleting PCV system for cleaner look, inside and outside of the engine)
-Shift knob (I think I'll be the first to use this knob on an RX-7)
-Koyo triple-pass racing radiator
-Coolant surge tank (I'm going for overkill on the cooling system)
-Spark Plugs
Can't wait to take a picture of how the wiring is setup. It's so neat and organized. I'll be glad I didn't follow a lot of the "just get it running" guys that do the wiring on these.
-Seats and mounting hardware
-Valve cover breather (deleting PCV system for cleaner look, inside and outside of the engine)
-Shift knob (I think I'll be the first to use this knob on an RX-7)
-Koyo triple-pass racing radiator
-Coolant surge tank (I'm going for overkill on the cooling system)
-Spark Plugs
Can't wait to take a picture of how the wiring is setup. It's so neat and organized. I'll be glad I didn't follow a lot of the "just get it running" guys that do the wiring on these.
- 1,759
Why are you deleting the PCV system? From my understanding you need it, other wise the engine's life is reduced.
- 20,145
- Australia
- VIPERGTS01
Get a good one though as some just fill your engine bay with a film of oil after a while. I run a quality baffled catch can which stick has a return of crankcase gases back into intake (law doesn't like atmo PCV here, but still no noticable oil film in the intake after installation) while most my friends run a breather they get a slimey film after a while, plus the can pick on it.
- 1,759
Well not running one at all will lower the engine's life too. I don't remember which one LSx you are running but they make catch cans for them, I think that would be the smarter route. That's just my 2 cents tho.
Let's see, bunch of stuff has been coming from the last order (post #213), and finally today I ordered my mounting equipment!
Hinson just released their new mounting equipment package which fits the new, superior LS2 oil pan, and improves bump steer correction. This is going to take some time to get the engine where I want it, as I'm planning on getting custom-size solid motor mounts.
I also got a new rear differential mount/subframe that also just finished development and testing. It's from a different vendor, and offers better wheel hop sustenance, as well as lighter weight, more rearward weight, and more chassis rigidity in the tranny tunnel, as compared to the commonly used torque arm design that all of the V8 RX7 swappers have been using for years. I ended up paying about $750 more than I originally expected for my mounting equipment, but I'm sure I'll be happy with it.
Almost done with the fuse/relay box relocation to the rear storage bins, and I've also got the dual-speed fan wiring figured out, and I finished all the wiring there is to do on the drivers side of the car. Really not a whole lot of wiring left to do in the chassis.
Now for the bad news...school starts on Monday.
Gotta rush to get **** taken care of before classes start getting in the way.
Hinson just released their new mounting equipment package which fits the new, superior LS2 oil pan, and improves bump steer correction. This is going to take some time to get the engine where I want it, as I'm planning on getting custom-size solid motor mounts.
I also got a new rear differential mount/subframe that also just finished development and testing. It's from a different vendor, and offers better wheel hop sustenance, as well as lighter weight, more rearward weight, and more chassis rigidity in the tranny tunnel, as compared to the commonly used torque arm design that all of the V8 RX7 swappers have been using for years. I ended up paying about $750 more than I originally expected for my mounting equipment, but I'm sure I'll be happy with it.
Almost done with the fuse/relay box relocation to the rear storage bins, and I've also got the dual-speed fan wiring figured out, and I finished all the wiring there is to do on the drivers side of the car. Really not a whole lot of wiring left to do in the chassis.
Now for the bad news...school starts on Monday.
Gotta rush to get **** taken care of before classes start getting in the way.
- 1,759
What rear end did you go with?
Sticking with the stock rear for now. I've done all I can to suppress wheel hop (upgraded trailing arms with heim joints, delrin differential mount bushings, and a much stronger dufferential subframe), so as long as I don't do any hard launching, it should last a while. When it does end up giving, I'll be getting a Kaaz diff into the stock Mazda housing.
- 1,759
Ok, kool. I don't much about the stock rears in the mazdas, so I was curious if they worked or not.
Geared a little too low for some, being a 4.10. Lots of people lately have been swapping them out for the '03-'04 Cobra rear ends, which have better aftermarket support, but requires custom axles and subframe, and adds some 60 lbs or so. I don't have a problem with the stocker, since it's been the same one that gets swappers up to 30MPG on the highway, so I'll rock it as long as it lasts.
- 1,759
Geared too low? 4.10's sounds perfect for the T56. That's what almost everybody goes with in the F-body crowd that has the T56.
CAMAROBOY69
Premium
- 18,567
- Michigan
- CAMAROBOY69
I cant see the pics to that Camaro. Are there any pics of the interior?
Yes 4.10 are just about perfect for the T-56. Thats what I have in my 69 Camaro. I have 4.11 gears but its pretty much the same thing.
http://www.motoraddicts.com/news/coolestcamaro84403
The Camaros came with either a 2.73 or 3.23, from what I remember, and the GTOs are 3.46.
The Camaros came with either a 2.73 or 3.23, from what I remember, and the GTOs are 3.46.
Rotary Junkie
Premium
- 9,810
- Canton, MI
- RJs_RX-7
Some Camaros wound up with 3.42s IIRC...
CAMAROBOY69
Premium
- 18,567
- Michigan
- CAMAROBOY69
- 1,759
All the fourth genereation F-bodies cam with 2.73, 3.23, and 3.42. The 3.42's were only in the 6 speed cars, while the auto's came with 2.73's and could be upgraded to 3.23's.
The 4.10's are the popular choice I see guys go with for gear swaps for the 6 speeds. I've never really heard anybody complain about them for any application so IMO you have th percet set for your car.
I can't see the pics of the Camaro either, something about upgrade to photobucket pro. It is interesting that they would put a Japanese motor in there, can't say that I've ever heard of that. Curious of whether or not is sounds good.
The 4.10's are the popular choice I see guys go with for gear swaps for the 6 speeds. I've never really heard anybody complain about them for any application so IMO you have th percet set for your car.
I can't see the pics of the Camaro either, something about upgrade to photobucket pro. It is interesting that they would put a Japanese motor in there, can't say that I've ever heard of that. Curious of whether or not is sounds good.
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Coming from a former Supra owner and lifetime Supra lover, I'd definitely say it was a downgrade, but they are a SEMA-caliber shop, and part of their job is being as unique as possible and doing the unexpected.
Try searching Google for 'EVS Motors 2JZ Camaro.' That should nail it.
So despite some interesting classes, I'm not exactly excited about school taking up my former free time. I'll have to pull off some creativity with mounting the coolant surge tank. I've got the passenger bin layout finalized. It's crammed in there with the fuses and battery, but it's a snug fit, for sure. That was not an easy project!
Try searching Google for 'EVS Motors 2JZ Camaro.' That should nail it.
So despite some interesting classes, I'm not exactly excited about school taking up my former free time. I'll have to pull off some creativity with mounting the coolant surge tank. I've got the passenger bin layout finalized. It's crammed in there with the fuses and battery, but it's a snug fit, for sure. That was not an easy project!
Update: I've spent a lot of time getting shafted with this project. First the subframe that never was, which ended up costing me about $400, then the set of headers I got (pictures earlier in this thread) didn't fit, and weren't the right diameter (1 3/4" runners, needed 1 7/8"), which ended up costing me $600 to pay for someone else's mistake/lies, and my second attempt at buying a subframe/mounting kit that was originally schedules to be ready by last May or June just finally arrived early December. So what have I done/planned while I've been waiting?
Full wire removal and tuck in the engine bay and throughout the car. Also redoing the entire engine harness to hide it as much as possible, using high temp wire loom and electrical tape. The modded wiring is going to look fantastic, and the engine bay is going to be completely minimalized. I can't wait.
Getting a full engine bay repaint done. It will be fairly annoying, but as soon as I get the engine mounted up, I'll be pulling it right back out to have the engine bay first completely smoothed (all extra holes filled, useless bumps/mounting surfaces smoothed to be flat) and painted the factory color.
Powder coated just about everything under the hood that I could. Really excited to get this stuff back on.
Bought new headers that I'm 99% sure will fit this time. Getting them ceramic coated to match the rest of the bay, and then I just have to find some nice, loud mufflers.
I finally have pretty much all the parts I need, so it's just a matter of having the free time to put it all together, and I'm hoping to have it at the body shop by mid February.
Should have some more frequent updates to come, and I'll try to take pictures. For now, here's $300 worth of powder coating.
Full wire removal and tuck in the engine bay and throughout the car. Also redoing the entire engine harness to hide it as much as possible, using high temp wire loom and electrical tape. The modded wiring is going to look fantastic, and the engine bay is going to be completely minimalized. I can't wait.
Getting a full engine bay repaint done. It will be fairly annoying, but as soon as I get the engine mounted up, I'll be pulling it right back out to have the engine bay first completely smoothed (all extra holes filled, useless bumps/mounting surfaces smoothed to be flat) and painted the factory color.
Powder coated just about everything under the hood that I could. Really excited to get this stuff back on.
Bought new headers that I'm 99% sure will fit this time. Getting them ceramic coated to match the rest of the bay, and then I just have to find some nice, loud mufflers.
I finally have pretty much all the parts I need, so it's just a matter of having the free time to put it all together, and I'm hoping to have it at the body shop by mid February.
Should have some more frequent updates to come, and I'll try to take pictures. For now, here's $300 worth of powder coating.
- 1,397
Keep on Truckin
Some more updates: Hinson's customer service has gone down the drain, which resulted in my headers (ETA: late December) to arrive a couple weeks ago. They have been the major hold up, and now that I have them, I am getting quite busy with school (summer classes have no problem piling on the homework). So with the headers, I'm finally able to finish up the engine side of the wiring harness, which will still take a couple hours to sort out the routing (keeping power circuits away from signal circuits, extra protection on circuits nearest headers, and of course making things neat and hidden, yet serviceable).
I also had the top end refreshed with new oversized valves and cleaned heads and pistons, and had a thinner head gasket installed while in there (11.25 or so compression, wee!). At the same time, got my underdrive pulley installed, along with a two piece timing cover (allows for easy cam swaps), and an adjustable cam gear.
I got the battery and fuse boxes mounted in place, which makes a VERY snug fit in the bin behind the passenger seat, thanks to some creative pairing of the engine bay fuse boxes.
I also built a new connector that will be the only connector for all the engine-body connections, for which most people use a bunch of single, crimped wire connectors from Radioshack. This will make things cleaner and more serviceable. Generally more OEM. I paid special attention to match wire colors with the new wires.
This next part is called an inner fender brace (waited about 6 months for this imported piece). For those not familiar, it goes under the fender to better strengthen a part of the body that normally twists when under loading from the suspension. Adding bracing to this part improves turn-in and steering response. As you can see in the picture, it's in kind of an L-shape. I shaped an extra member of 3/16" steel that will be welded into place to better triangulate the load. Perfectionist engineer at work again...
Don't think I've shared the rest of these. Here's a huge mess of wires I removed from the car:
Oil cooler and custom fan relays mounted (hidden behind bumper and under headlight):
Headlight and driving light relays hidden under other headlight:
Entire front wiring harness tucked behind front bumper:
Engine on stand, sitting on solid aluminum motor mounts, mounted on subframe:
Engine accessories blacked out:
I've got a little more wiring to do, but I've gotten all of the wiring shown above wrapped up so far. It's coming together nicely, just waiting on free time. Off to work now.
I also had the top end refreshed with new oversized valves and cleaned heads and pistons, and had a thinner head gasket installed while in there (11.25 or so compression, wee!). At the same time, got my underdrive pulley installed, along with a two piece timing cover (allows for easy cam swaps), and an adjustable cam gear.
I got the battery and fuse boxes mounted in place, which makes a VERY snug fit in the bin behind the passenger seat, thanks to some creative pairing of the engine bay fuse boxes.
I also built a new connector that will be the only connector for all the engine-body connections, for which most people use a bunch of single, crimped wire connectors from Radioshack. This will make things cleaner and more serviceable. Generally more OEM. I paid special attention to match wire colors with the new wires.
This next part is called an inner fender brace (waited about 6 months for this imported piece). For those not familiar, it goes under the fender to better strengthen a part of the body that normally twists when under loading from the suspension. Adding bracing to this part improves turn-in and steering response. As you can see in the picture, it's in kind of an L-shape. I shaped an extra member of 3/16" steel that will be welded into place to better triangulate the load. Perfectionist engineer at work again...
Don't think I've shared the rest of these. Here's a huge mess of wires I removed from the car:
Oil cooler and custom fan relays mounted (hidden behind bumper and under headlight):
Headlight and driving light relays hidden under other headlight:
Entire front wiring harness tucked behind front bumper:
Engine on stand, sitting on solid aluminum motor mounts, mounted on subframe:
Engine accessories blacked out:
I've got a little more wiring to do, but I've gotten all of the wiring shown above wrapped up so far. It's coming together nicely, just waiting on free time. Off to work now.
- 8,480
- P_Balance
What's the fender brace for if the car is a garage queen?
- 3,987
- Gaithersburg/MD
- landseaair
It's a track car.
It won't come out very often, but when it does, it will be thrashed at the corners. Also forgot to mention I put in my driver's side Sparco Pro2000 seat and 5-point G-Force harnesses (passenger side when I'm finished tooling around under the dash). No point in a solid suspension if you fall out of your seat putting it to use.
On that note, I also finished piecing together my custom suspension. It's all-aluminum, double adjustable Koni race shocks (3012s) with threaded bodies, and 16K front/14K rear Eibach springs. Once I get the car on the road, first stop is a suspension specialist down the road from me where we can find wheel rates and corner weights and choose shock rates for each wheel to center-balance the car. It's gonna be a SOLID suspension setup that's gonna outperform any off the shelf crap, and should come out right around $3K, which was my target.
A rare day without homework or work, I spent a bit of time on the car. First I'll show you what the fender braces look like after they are properly triangulated to withstand the suspension loading, and painted to prevent rusting.
Here's after mounting the headers on the engine. Note that I removed the cheesy logo that was tack welded onto each front primary. You can also see the TINY gap between the oil pan and the steering rack. This is the challenging part for swaps for the FD.
Tonight I finished mapping out the starter-area wiring, which is a pain because there is a very tight spot between the block and the starter, and another between the starter and the header, where lots of wires are run through. As you might imagine, heat is quite an issue down there. Ceramic coating will help some, but carefully choosing the wire routing and wrapping it all up with protective (expensive!) looming should make for a safe harness. I didn't realize it until attaching a few clips and wrapping a few wires, but the engine side of the wiring is coming to a close. To finish up the wire routing, I had to attach the tranny, which meant...
I put the engine back on the ground and installed the clutch, which I took my time cleaning. The engine isn't actually on the ground, it's resting on wood on top of wheel dollies, so I can very easily roll it around on the floor, while keeping it clean, and still having plenty of room to work on it!
Tried to give a good idea of just how tight a fit these headers are. You can see there's only a millimeter between the primary and the bellhousing, but tucked under the headers is an oil cooler adapter block (the black thing with blue tape on it) that's got about 5 or 6 atoms between it and the headers. Yikes!
The engine and tranny are together and almost ready to roll into the bay. A few small things to tidy up first!
Here's after mounting the headers on the engine. Note that I removed the cheesy logo that was tack welded onto each front primary. You can also see the TINY gap between the oil pan and the steering rack. This is the challenging part for swaps for the FD.
Tonight I finished mapping out the starter-area wiring, which is a pain because there is a very tight spot between the block and the starter, and another between the starter and the header, where lots of wires are run through. As you might imagine, heat is quite an issue down there. Ceramic coating will help some, but carefully choosing the wire routing and wrapping it all up with protective (expensive!) looming should make for a safe harness. I didn't realize it until attaching a few clips and wrapping a few wires, but the engine side of the wiring is coming to a close. To finish up the wire routing, I had to attach the tranny, which meant...
I put the engine back on the ground and installed the clutch, which I took my time cleaning. The engine isn't actually on the ground, it's resting on wood on top of wheel dollies, so I can very easily roll it around on the floor, while keeping it clean, and still having plenty of room to work on it!
Tried to give a good idea of just how tight a fit these headers are. You can see there's only a millimeter between the primary and the bellhousing, but tucked under the headers is an oil cooler adapter block (the black thing with blue tape on it) that's got about 5 or 6 atoms between it and the headers. Yikes!
The engine and tranny are together and almost ready to roll into the bay. A few small things to tidy up first!
- 3,987
- Gaithersburg/MD
- landseaair
You're doing an amazing job Troux!
seems like your pics are having issues though, haven't been able to see them yet.
seems like your pics are having issues though, haven't been able to see them yet.
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