FC RX7 5.0 race car thread

[DonaldG]

Great reads at work. Looking forward to using this as a guide for my build

[Teeson1111]

Mini update!



decided to test fit my subframe before I welded in the flat floor of the cubbies, and surprise surprise toe arms still hit the floor.


started from here



and with the flare on



now this is only a 215/40r17 so in the long run this might have been ok when I have an 18" on. But it could also hit hard or something and still interfere.

soon out came the grinder







(bad pic I know)

and that got me to this





just for the lols I grabbed a skirt and threw it on



HA! the wheel is higher than the skirt, higher than the frame rail even



If I ever get bored and want to try an air ride setup, I guess I can lay frame.

even better is this:



The inner car nerd is thrilled that after quick measurements my camber gain is like 3" over 8.5" of travel, and it will never use 8.5" of travel. I haven't put those white line bushings in yet either, or the parts shop spherical's yet but no binding and ideal camber.

but now of course I have holes in the floor. Looked around the shop and found some leftover pieces from building my exhaust, they seem to do the job and look cool in a kind of lowrider frame notch kinda way.





tacked in place, and fit checked once more



kinda forgot to take photos after this as i was running out of time and getting stressed. Kinda over using a grinder lol





but it's all done and primed now.

Fully stoked on this picture though, i think I need Kiwami's



can't wait to start destroying axles from stretching them

[Teeson1111]

Great reads at work. Looking forward to using this as a guide for my build

thanks!
and lol grain of salt. not everything I do is perfect

[Teeson1111]

Well I've only been putting off updating this for a few months now. In a way its not a bad thing because it means I've been super busy working on the car.



Got Spotify and have been listening to basically everything. I think Kendrick's new album Damn was the first album I downloaded. Worth it too.



Where I last left off was welding the tubs in

Untitled by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

Had to grind the rust off

Untitled by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

Untitled by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

Untitled by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

basically took most of the primer off the tube front


Untitled by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

making sure them gaps are tiiiiiight

Untitled by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

and sanded and prepped

Untitled by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

and voila

Untitled by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

Untitled by Tyson Floris, on Flickr


Made a mount for the brake reservoirs, started with it just welded on but lol I couldn't get the heater core in or out, so had to change that to a bolt on version.

Untitled by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

ended up trimming the heater core/mixer quite a bit. Will have to hold down the flap for the centre vents, disconnected the rod for them as well. planning to put gauges where those were anyway

next up was the brake lines, same drill as before but even more hidden

IMG_1842 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_1843 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_1845 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_1846_2 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

New challenges with there now being a heater core and such to compete with for space.

IMG_1847 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_1848_2 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

this stupid fitting was like $18 but it was the best way to do this. One of those things where they know they have you, if you are buying this fitting its the only one that will work.

boom rear brake line done

IMG_1913 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

made another bracket for the bulkhead connectors for the flex lines to the masters.

IMG_1849 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

bought a few new fittings for the hydro, a bulkhead T and such. Neat things those are

IMG_1863 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

bent up more lines

IMG_1867 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

found it easier to stack 2 nuts and weld them together and then weld them to the car. last time I cut down bolts, but those were a pain to make and if I didn't use one it poked a hole. Also using my line lock solenoid to lock out the rear brakes from being functional instead of holding pressure on the front. I no longer care about being NHRA compliant (not like my local track actually checks or is capable of properly reading the rule book anyway), and want to so sick brake stands/bagel/burnies/rollers.

IMG_1869 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

mocked up with the pedals in place (cut the dash to fit somewhere in there before)

IMG_1870 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

then moved onto the hydro, started with these brackets and more bulkhead fittings

IMG_1871_2 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_1872 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

because I'm on car #3 I have a bunch of things I've kept, like the clips that hold the rear brake lines

IMG_1877 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

aaaaand yet another fit check. close but hits the wheel on top of the rear wheel well first, and the trailing arm on the the body before. Hoping it never gets this close though..

bought some more small things

IMG_1864 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_1865 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

the pins and hiems I'll use later for the tube front but the seat belt bolts...

IMG_1879 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

this is going to be much easier and stronger than last time

IMG_1880_2 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

drilled some holes, grinded for welding

IMG_1883 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

the two in the rear are for the seat mounts, going to use a very similar bracket to what I had in the blue car. I've seen a couple FC's (most notably Jeremy Lowe's) that mount their seats like this in order to sit the seat as low as possible. Passenger side I'll be using the factory mounts.

IMG_1884 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

took a few min to delete the antenna hole

IMG_1886 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

and just for the giggles, and much to my surprise the rear view mirror fits and works. I was expecting it to be blocked but the roll bar if it did fit but its all good

IMG_1912 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

[Teeson1111]

soooooo around this time I started school. I'm an electrical apprentice and I go to school for 3 months a term (or whenever i can get in really). This meant I get to wake up late, shower, and get off after being there for 6 hours. Gives me tons of time to work on my turd

IMG_1889_2 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

Decided to tackle the bulk of the wiring during this time. Wanted background noise, but not music, movie took too much visual concentration. So started with the Maximum Driftcast, kinda interesting but like all podcasts they ramble about stuff thats fairly irrelevant. Some of the guests they have are pretty interesting though. But was more into the stand up comedy that Netflix released by the truckload recently.



watched a lot, and I mean a lot of specials. Theres quite a few that are bad or weak at best but one of the best I watched was the two by Mike Birbiglia. Highly recommend watching.

So I spent about a month stripping wires, labeling things, relocating things etc. Kinda changed my thoughts a bit on soldering vs crimping but we'll see how this turns out. Basically the larger gauge wires I crimped and use 3 in 1 heat shrink on and the smaller stuff I soldered and used 3 in 1 on. Also took all the factory crimp joints and covered them with heat shrink. Cuz that tape stuff is nasty

IMG_1907 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

not a lot of visual progress here, especially for the amount of time it took

here's mocking up for lengths and to make sure I didn't accidentally delete something I needed

IMG_1918 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

wanted to get this down to 1 bulkhead connector instead of 2, so after a lot of planning and figuring out that all I had to do was drill the ford connector and push some plastic out in order to insert more pins in it, thats what I'm doing


IMG_1921 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_1922 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_1923 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

Wanted to keep the same location for the battery switch as before

IMG_1919 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

this presented a new challenge as I wanted to keep the fresh air vents and the blower fan

IMG_1962 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_1920 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_1963 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

makes getting the blower fan and power wires a serious task but really I shouldn't have to take it out ever

worked on placement of the bulkhead connectors.
IMG_1924 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

one day I would love to do a full mil spec/raychem/fancy harness so I'm leaving enough room for an aluminum plate should I find and buy a mil spec connector. Was trying to find one on eBay, mated pairs come up but man you can't hesitate on it when you find one.

IMG_1925 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

Ecu and remote TFI fit nicely where the RX7 ecu went. Not sure how the remote TFI will do being in the interior and under a cover. Seen a few mustang guys put them in their interior but can't find any real data whether it gets too hot or not.

Now I had a few goals for the fuse panel. I wanted in removable from the car, and more serviceable, and to retain my glovebox. Where I had it before was kinda hard to get at, and not nearly as tidy as I had hoped it would be.

IMG_1927 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_1928 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_1929 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

space I had was again very limited and awkwardly shaped.

IMG_1959 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_1961 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_1958 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_1960 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr



played with some ideas until I had something I thought could work.


then back to the lab again

IMG_1943 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_1944 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

used all the old stuff from the previous 2 cars and had the blue cars unmolested harness in the other room as a reference tool. I like using factory colours and the pins.

IMG_1982 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_1985 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

got my engine harness sorted, its also quite modular and not 1 piece with the body harness like last time. Vast improvement and important for when I no longer have a v8.

I don't even want to talk about how many times I had to go back to the parts store for consumables, or how much all that nickel and dimming added up to, but started here

IMG_2010 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

experimented with a label maker and clear heat shrink. Those 3M heat shrink labels are cool and all but that printer is out of my budget

IMG_2013 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_2014 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

figured out quickly what I can and can't do this way, order of the process was very important.

IMG_2015 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

the only piece i'm reusing from this is the bottom piece, and well the hinge too. The front piece I need to be CNC cut (I did a quick and nasty cut just to be able to build this) and the upright piece is a touch short. Also planning on doing something black on the bottom of it, like carpet or abs.

then to this

IMG_2024 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_2025 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

bought a Weatherpak connector in a large enough gauge for the ignition wires and fan wires. Not very sold on it, was supposed to be crimp but after trying it I added solder just to be on the safe side. I wish there was an ideal connector in the rx7 harness cuz I don't yet trust this.

IMG_2071 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

had done some work for my old boss, a marine mechanic, a long time ago and finally banked that favour


IMG_2045 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

and done mostly

IMG_2075 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_2074 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_2073 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

need to deal with this though...

IMG_2073 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

leave you with a small pro tip: when I would go to re organize or add heat shrink to a wire I would wrap tape around the connector and mark the location of it before I removed it. do one at a time. pictures of the connector are also good, maybe a tad slower though and sometimes hard to get the trace in the shot. having a complete harness in the next room was a huge help for this

IMG_2037 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

[I_Haz.:R32]

I love all this detail work. These pictures are like pron for people that enjoy well organized/ thought out wiring and fabrication (like me). Keep up the great work dude!

[190Evan]

All this organization looks solid. Curious as to why you wen with the ford connector that lacked pins rather than a mil spec variant? Power distribution looks great nonetheless.

[Teeson1111]

All this organization looks solid. Curious as to why you wen with the ford connector that lacked pins rather than a mil spec variant? Power distribution looks great nonetheless.

thanks. Purely cost. I already have the ford connector, Milspec is pricey, and usually smaller gauge wire.

I love all this detail work. These pictures are like pron for people that enjoy well organized/ thought out wiring and fabrication (like me). Keep up the great work dude!

thanks!

[Teeson1111]

a buddy recommended this album to me



Really liked Glass Animal's single off their first album ("Gooey") but was underwhelmed with the rest of it. Will have to re-listen because How To Be A Human Being is amazing through and through.

taking a break from wiring for a bit;

IMG_1949 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

long time ago my parents gave me a gift card to a local speed parts store, so I had ordered the necessary parts to convert the factor 5/16th fuel lines to -6 AN. For some reason they only had Aeromotive steel fittings in -5, I learn later that Russel makes aluminum ones are a bit cheaper but oh well.

IMG_1950 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

flared a test one just to make sure this was all gonna work

IMG_1956 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_1955 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

relocated one of the line holders and welded captive nuts to hold it in place. The factory lines usually dip under the rear seat tubs but since I cut those out, I cut the lines shorter. This also allowed me to snake the fuel lines around

IMG_1951 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_1954 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

also added a line holder, ended up looking exactly like the factory ones.

IMG_1952 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

done and done.

Ordered some stuff off of Aliexpress. Knowing that usually when I buy stuff off eBay it requires modification. Some stuff however is good, and works and fits as advertised. The trick is knowing whats good and whats not. Usually this has to come first hand, the reviews on the site are a joke. Usually too these are items that someone else has done the R&D, sent it off to china to be mass produced and then copied and sold by other people. What drives me crazy is when people slap their company name on it and sell it for 400% markup. I was at Formula Drift the other weekend and there was at least 2 vendors selling Alibaba parts for significantly higher prices than listed. Moral of the story, its not a rep part if its made in the same place. And don't send your stuff to china.

And hey if I find I can buy decent stuff off of Aliexpress than I'll continue to do so

with that rant out of the way

IMG_2039 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

catch cans. they have a little dipstick and everything. Other than the inlet being only a -6 (feel like it should be bigger) these seem pretty good. I really like the way the Radium dual cans look, going to try and replicate that.

IMG_2041 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

universal washer fluid bottles. Planning to use these for the radiator water sprayer, not sure the pumps will supply enough pressure but I'll find out.

IMG_2068 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

coolant reservoir

IMG_2069 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_2090 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

now the reason I went this way at all, friends have bought these "greddy" gauges and they work great. They aren't 100% the real deal though, the case looks the same but they do not use a brain box like the real ones. They are just a standalone gauge. But they look neat. The water temp gauge however didn't work out of the box. The seller has shipped me a new gauge, but its apparently on the slowest boat from China as I've been waiting over a month for it now. Most stuff took 2-3 weeks to arrive.

IMG_2040 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

now the worst purchase I've made so far. Its an oil filter relocation kit, advertised to use a 3/4-16 thread pitch filter. However its very close but it doesn't fit. The outer diameter of their adapter is 2mm larger than an actual 3/4-16 thread. So all the filters I've tried do not thread on and its fairly loose threading onto the engine. Needless to say I won't be using it as it is. Also lol at the spelling on the box.
I've reached out to the seller, who's in disbelief that this could ever happen as they've been selling it for 6 years blah blah blah. I've asked for a refund but no dice.

IMG_2092 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

made a bracket for the washer bottles

IMG_2093 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

they fit nicely where I had planned in the drivers side cubby

put my big boy pants on and tried welding the gussets by myself best I could

IMG_2094 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_2095 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

They kinda make the gaps between the cage and chassis bigger than they are, this is because I went to the middle of the bar in an effort to make the logo a legible size. I think they'll look better black after paint, kinda hoping the windshield doesn't cover them.

IMG_2096 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

might have to back them with white or something if I want them to stand out.

So with the wiring mostly done, the fuel lines worked out, and the majority of the welding in the interior done the next logical thing to do was drop the engine in.
Now because I have to push this thing in and out of the garage to work on it, once the weight of the engine and trans was added I wouldn't be able to do so on my own.

IMG_2142 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

goal was to start with this on friday evening, and have a running car by saturday night.

had a few things to finish once the engine was in though

IMG_2145 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

made a crossmember, this car was an automatic and the transmission crossmember I had from before (grannies) was for a manual which does not fit. not 100% sure on my driveline angles, and it may bump the steering rack as it sits but I'll modify as needed. For now its clears everything including the speedo cable and leaves ample room for an exhaust.

IMG_2146 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

primed

IMG_2148 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

gloss black. Cuz I still like gloss black things under the car

IMG_2150 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr


IMG_2147 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

bad pic but cut the power steering bracket to clear the oil pressure sender.

IMG_2153 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

went and bought new braided line for the fuel lines as the old ones were too short and I had used them for the rear lines to the tank. Must say the newer Performance World line is much easier to work with then the old. I've never had one leak until now, but as they almost always are it was an assembly issue and the rubber part of the line didn't grab the hose end and blew off. The new line almost seems to have glue holding it to the rubber hose.

IMG_2152 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_2151 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

Im planning on running the heater core tube so I swapped one of the hose ends here to a 90 instead of a 120.

IMG_2156 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

with that I just plugged everything else in, realized I used an accessory off the ignition harness in place of an ignition (though its labeled ignition 2 but functions as an accessory, thanks mazda) but was otherwise good to go.

IMG_2157 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

will probably have to make a battery box as I can't find one on the internet that will fit in this space. Also need to find the battery group that is short and not a Porsche battery.

IMG_2158 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

with everything super temporary,and the clutch bled

IMG_2159 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

some super ghetto improvising, it runs and drives.

IMG_2164 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

[Teeson1111]

Portugal. The Man.

If you haven't heard of them, you probably will soon (or you just did because I told you). A bit weird but super catchy indy pop-ey. Woodstock has some good stuff on it, and they also have a few other notable songs worth finding.

so with the engine running its time to get the rest of the stuff in order. Still needs a coolant system, wiring cleaned up, aero fitted, etc on and on.

finally manned up and cut the VW mounting brackets off the rad

IMG_2187 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_2188 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

started sorting out the holes I cut in the rad fan

IMG_2189 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_2191 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

had to get a bit creative to tack it in place

IMG_2192 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

then glue the back

IMG_2197 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

forgot to take a final picture but I added glue to the top. should have just masked it and left the glue there but i goofed and started sanding it.

IMG_2198 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

made a bracket for the oil filter relocation, even though I'm not 100% sure what I'm using yet. I put a bend in it so it would meet up with the sway bar bracket, but the pic doesn't really show it.

IMG_2199 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

neither does this one

IMG_2200 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

so I was going to use the stock FC oil cooler because they are huge and have a built in thermostat. Turns out 25 years and thin aluminum is not a good combo. this was what came off from taking the brackets off with my impact gun. Even more came off when i tried to clean it. Its pretty clogged through the fins. So looking into other options, probably aliexpress or B&M.

so next up then is the power steering cooler

IMG_2201 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

long time ago Neil gave me an old Mk3 supra oil cooler, so made a mount to hide it in an inconspicuous place.

IMG_2202 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

checked wheel clearance, plenty of room.

IMG_2204 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_2205 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

I'm mildly concerned its gonna get destroyed by rocks from the wheel but worst case I make a guard of some kind

IMG_2203 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

cut a bunch of weight and added some clearance to the hood. Still weighs to much, especially compared the my dads vert hood

so with some help from my buddy Kris we did the over fenders one evening. he came over with his Rivnut tool

IMG_2219 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_2220 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_2221 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

can I just say Rivnuts are the coolest thing

IMG_2222 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

because these are cheap rep's, they don't fit perfect. Or even close in the case of the drivers side one. But a buddy who works at a body shop gave me a tip using a heat gun and a air sprayer to rapidly cool the fibreglass, you can get it to where it should be. Still need to spend a bit more time on it.

IMG_2229 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

IMG_2224 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

end of last season my clutch master had failed, it was leaking fluid out the front boot and all over my feet.

IMG_2223 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

here's why; thats not really round anymore. I was hoping to use a 3/4" bore this time, as the 7/8 makes for pretty firm pedal pressure but I don't think the 3/4 is moving enough fluid.

Next I set out to get my rear subframe in order

IMG_2230 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

I had bought those Whiteline bushings to negate some rear negative camber, so had to get the old ones out.

IMG_2231 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

pretty tough to get it all lined up and in the vice, especially with the weight and size of the trailing arm. so I came up with this. Needed to use quite a bit of torch action to get them out, make sure to remove the tape once its in place

IMG_2232 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

and now that I had ruined the paint on it, and frankly it wasn't very good in the first place, I wire wheeled all the flaking paint and rust down and sanded it all down

IMG_2234 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

painted them and let them dry

IMG_2242 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

then spent way to long setting up for this pic and started assembling

IMG_2246 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

first problem I encountered was that Whiteline apparently doesn't do their homework. This was too wide buy a few mm

IMG_2247 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

then the bushing was too wide inside the arm by a few mm, and when I pressed it all in it seems the ID is too tight on the sleeve (it kept bulging out) and the OD of the bushing was a little loose for the trailing arm. Needless to say I'm not impressed, seems to have more play than the old spherical but it does do as advertised for the camber.

IMG_2248 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

shaving it all down

IMG_2249 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

forgot to take pics of the PSM trailing arm spherical conversions, but almost broke my vice before switching to the 3 ton press. Was really awkward to fit the whole arm in the press but I found a way. Also, very important pro tip here, assemble the sleeves on the bearing, then put them in a freezer for like 2 hours before even trying to press them in. If theres not ice building up on it, leave it until there is. I did the first one after leaving it in for like 20 min, was a huge fit. 40 min later I go grab the other and it just pops right in, using the 3 ton press both times.

also a thing I noticed, I was told that poly bushings in the trailing arms and solid everything else would cause binding. I never found this myself but after installing the spherical conversion and seeing how much it pivots through the range of motion I now understand where that train of thought comes from. But that was on the shop floor, once the thing was back in the car the bushing sat very straight. I credit this to my ride height and to the PSM riser bushings.

IMG_2254 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

then even though more important things are left to do, I decided to loosely fit the skirts. such a mess that makes

IMG_2257 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

put the hatch on, a rear bumper, S5 tails, 18" rear wheels, 17" front

IMG_2261 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

you can see how bad the drivers side rear over fits, I'll be adding glass to have it even loosely match the other side

IMG_2260 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

before putting the fancy suspension back in we thought the rear looked way wider than the front. But now that the rear subframe, full Villains kit with 40mm balljoint spacers, and wheels that kinda fit front and rear it doesn't look as different

The blue fenders are off my car that was written off, and while they are in rough shape in a few spots I plan to roll the stock grey ones this shell came with to a similar roll

IMG_2258 by Tyson Floris, on Flickr

and here's where we are for now. lot of work down, lots to go. Almost at the point where I'm gonna be stuck waiting on parts to arrive before I can make progress, which is a nice feeling because that means there is less to do. While it does wear my patience thin sometimes, I really do feel thankful for the outlet for my creativity and problem solving skills this car is. hopefully it functions the way I intended and I don't wreck after a season and a half again...

[YOLO7]

I've just spent the last few evenings reading through this forum - and I must say its awesome. Its has some great info and a great story with drama and action. i'm sold on the forum and have subscribed.

[95naSTA]

Loving all the fab work in here.

[Teeson1111]

I've just spent the last few evenings reading through this forum - and I must say its awesome. Its has some great info and a great story with drama and action. i'm sold on the forum and have subscribed.

thank you! appreciate that. lol never thought of the roll over or whatever as drama, more as something that just happened

Loving all the fab work in here.

thanks my dude

[Teeson1111]

I feel like I start every update with an apology for it being so far apart. I’ve outdone myself this time as its been almost 6 months haha. I’ve been kinda selfishly working on my car instead of taking the time to write an update. But i’ve been taking photos still, at least when my phone lets me. The battery was failing and it was shutting off randomly but got it fixed. I’m busy as ever these days, getting engaged in October didn’t help.. but I’m in the process of getting a garage space thats 5 minutes from my house and that I can leave the car in, no more roll in/roll out so that should speed up the progress.

where we left off:





getting the car running in the time span I did meant I had a few things that weren’t ideal. Took some tinfoil (lol thats what it looked like Ford did anyway, work with what ya got) and joined the 2 bits of shield and cleaned up the wiring a little on my ecu patch harness.
I have a debate with myself ongoing with how I do these harnesses, I know each connector is a possible point of failure but its so nice having modular pieces that are easy to remove and service/change. I also have been using a lot more crimps and 3in1 heat shrink this time around compared to last.






one of the problems I had with the last chassis that I never dealt with was how terrible it was to bleed (this is a 5.0 problem though and I’ll explain why) and how poorly connected the hoses were on a not very efficient old radiator. Remember the goal is hot lapping. The problem being that the water neck puts the hose straight up and on a mustang over the alt, making it the highest point and kinda an air trap in that section of hose. Last time I just made this work but the hose was slightly kinked and hood clearance sucked.

First things first, need to get the rad mounted so I can see how much room I have





This was my idea from the begginging of doing a tube front. Easy to change, easy to make (once my indecisiveness and need for quality is appeased anyway). It also makes easy ducting and half of its done already. I plan to add rubber washers later for some isolation from vibration.





ehhhhhh thats kinda tight. Wouldn’t mind more room to work on stuff but also good for keeping the rad away from anything that could damage it.
SPOILER ALERTN: I later changed my mind, if the front end gets bumped 1. the rad is probably gonna get hit anyway, 2. the thing its attached to will shift and move the rad anyway.



took this ugly thing



and cut it up some. Got the hookups from Andy, helps knowing a welder who frequently goes to a supplier and has a generous heart





So we have what I call water neck version 1.0
While this raises the fill point highest, not the prettiest thing and Gerard at Serial Nine didn’t like it lol. Gerard’s the kinda guy who when he suggests something is worth heavily considering. He’s a smart guy that has an extremely high regard for quality of design and manufacturing, take a look at Serial Nine’s parts catalogue and you’ll understand. He also explained the water neck they used to do for JZ’s (similar ish to the FD Rx7 AST delete I see many people make, Forcefed for example) and so after I got it back from the welder I dropped it off with to tack it so I could check the fit before he did a final weld, I fully abandoned it lol.







it fit fine, cleared the hood and would probably have worked ok. I did a ton of reading on swirl pots, header tanks, and breather tanks and worked up a new idea.

also china a summit came through, except for the part where I ordered the wrong master cylinder rebuild kit.





I’m the kinda guy that plans ahead and doesn’t order until I have enough to get the free shipping lol. Bought some stuff I won’t need for quite a while.

My dad was away for the weekend so I did this



I had told him i wanted to drill 4 holes in the floor long ago and he was ok with it but I knew after I did it he’d have forgotten and say “hey whats these in the floor”.
I was not wrong.

But took him a while to spot anyway



this style of concrete anchor we used to use quite a bit at work, but a few years ago they were kinda frowned upon and wedge anchors took over.

I marked the holes, drilled them in, took a bolt and cut the head off then with a grinder made a slit. This way I can use a flat head to get them in and out. Slather some anti seize in there so they won’t stick and i won’t have any issues with dirt and grit getting in there.



they are pretty flush with the floor, can’t feel them stepping on them or rolling a jack over them. And from a distance you (or old man Floris without his glasses on) can’t see them.



since I got some more brake lines from summit, I put all my calipers on including the hydro e brake ones.



removed as much from them as I could that I don’t need



not sure if I did something wrong here but needed to notch the rear of the knuckle a little to fit the bolt. This is using a villains kit, other thing I’m not sure of is if I’m supposed to flip the calipers from side to side or not. Havent spent enough time bleeding them yet, and they could be seized for all I know.





So back to the water neck situation. Spent some time on the internet, spent some time asking a few people who know more than I do, and made a rough idea to start from.









Was on the fence here about using the OEM water neck at all. And after learning about welding aluminum, decided against. Would probably weld terrible and look hokey.



So plan b.

Plan b presents a real problem though, I don’t have a mill, i don’t know anyone with a mill and I didn’t really want to pay for a CNC or anything to make the step for the thermostat. sooooooo I came up with a plan.



Drilled a hole with a hole saw to get the centre, then bought a carbide die grinder bit that cuts flat on the bottom. Tried this twice to get it right but basically used a drill press as a mill. Isn’t the prettiest thing but thankfully its inside the part when its installed and hidden.



Started by tracing and copying the factory neck shape, but quickly didn’t see a need for that and took it down to the minimum for a cleaner look.





Also spent some time sanding the edges flat and making it look better before tapping it for the barb fitting.



'





thanks to the magic of free electrical tape from work, I could see it all fitting. Not being able to at least tack the thing was really frustrating. Working with aluminum was quite different than anything I’ve fabricated yet, a good learning experience though. Much different approach to it than steel. and then make it, give it to a guy to tack so I can fit check before final weld, have it sit on a shelf for 2 months before getting it back untouched and without my money. We’ll come back to the water neck again later.







sold the 100 to buy a truck (thats a whole different story) but kept the wheels off it, so played a bit more with wheel fitment. 17/18 is kinda stupid low





Bent the bash bar and tacked it buuuuut didn’t like how it fit at all. Trimmed the upper bar tube but its too close to the headlight and fender. first tap and it would take out the headlight and frankly thats not the point. Also didn’t like how the lower one sat/looked. Too low and would probably take out the fender.







Note in the last picture the rad support, as I completely re did it to sit the radiator forward.







also put some m6 nuts in the bottom so I can attach ducting to it

so bashbar version 2 (which is really just a trimmed V1 for now but who cares) has the bumper mount on it finally. well tacked. debated a long time between on the chassis or on the bash bar. On the chassis; in an accident the bumper would crush and so would the bash bar. could maybe put the bumper back on without the bash bar, but pretty good chance the bumper mount would get damaged anyway. On the bas bar; bash bar has to fit decent for the bumper to fit, in an accident the bumper will move with the bash bar but it already would anyway. mount was a little easier to make and looked better. less to no chance of damaging just the mount.



note these are version 2 rad support brackets, but oh yes theres a version 3 coming



this was an idea I have to Anthony Bell for mostly, he suggested a L bracket or angle mount that hooks the bumper to hold it in place. I took that a step further and made the L bracket bolt on and adjustable in height and position.






first time with the bumper properly mounted. yay.



tacked the nuts in place for these MSD ignition box mounts that Im going to use for a catch can mount later



Finally put the rest of the brakes back together after getting another rebuild kit

Started on an idea I’ve had for a loooong time.





Originally I was thinking a rod into the centre console that would actuate a master turned on its side and the reservoir mounted in the cubby. Even contacted Wilwood to see if this would work. They said once its bled then turn it and it should be fine. But having brake fluid over carpet like that wasn’t appealing. With some more talk at Serial Nine, why not use the factory cable to operate the master?
This first version is pretty ugly, but I wanted a working proof of concept and some messing with the ratio before spending time and money on a final product. So far it works but seems to still have air in it even after bench bleeding. Which leads me to think that the brake calipers are wrong or something along those lines…





made fan to radiator brackets









In my head these were supposed to be a lot simpler. But as things always do it wasn’t that straight forward. Forgot to take a pic but made all the hardware match too



China sent me this. Another remote oil filter mount but this time it has a thermostat.







Rough idea of where its gonna go. Have a bunch of stuff to place first. And figure out if i can fit a sender on the back of it.

I was going to use the FC oil cooler buuuuut it kinda disentitgrated so I’m now going with a normal one but need a thermostat. This one happened to come with an adapter for the apparently 2 different types of 3/4x16 thread.



which now makes the one I bought not completely useless. Ahh china…



which brings me to a slight rant about the dangers of buying from china. Bought an oil cool in November trying to beat the rush of the holidays. Well they claim they shipped it, the tracking shows it made it to Canada customs but no further. After it had been in customs for like a month, (usually 2-3 days is all it takes) the seller told me to be patient and wait. So I did for a bit, asked them again in a week or two, gave me the same answer. I persisted that there was a problem, same answer. So called Canada Post, who told me there is definitely a problem but they can’t do anything for me as the shipper needs to open the claim not the receiver. So told the seller, they kinda did nothing until I threatened them with leaving bad feedback and such so they claimed they contacted the shipping company. I have no proof of this and Canada Post has no record. Im past any protection Aliexpress has to offer and I left feedback so the seller doesn’t care. They have my money, they could care less now. So I’m out like $75 cdn. great.



Put the cat back from the blue car on, and the X pipe from the old car. Cut out the X due to it kinda being bashed and destroyed and in a bad place. Le sigh, doing the exhaust for the 3rd time too.

But means theres time to improve.





Version 2.0 of my miata hydraulic slave conversion bracket. Sits much more out of the way now.





so if I’m going to redo the exhaust it ought to be better than before. More room by the slave and the trans mount should tuck it up nicely. Need to make a heat shield for the slave still







Primed my rad support and put it all back in again. Dont know why that necessitated 3 pics but here ya go.



Cozy fit in the back with the washer bottles and hydro



but I have access to it all without removing anything. I can’t recall right now if I can open the lid or not. I think i may have to make the hinge quick release.





Voila Bashbar version 2.5 or well 3. whatever.
Bent new bars, used ERW instead of DOM.







So this is the fit with the crumple pieces at their full length.

and here is the fit with the crumple zones fully compressed. leaves a bit of room to spare, bottom bar sits lower









We also have this little tab for possibly the most rice thing I’ve done yet







now obviously that isn’t a functional tow strap. But can’t help like the look. Plan is to make a solid metal hook that bolts to the lower tube front bar, just haven’t done it yet.





mounts better now but doesn’t fit the fenders at all.











Spent some time messing with it, trim the bumper a little here, bend the fender blah blah barely any better. So my buddy Tito who works at the body shop I got it primed at told me to unbolt the fenders and if that didn’t do it cut them.





So I did that and it got good. Can zip tie it on and have stay on. But now need to make a different mount of some kind to keep the fender sitting proper. Going to keep the other ones though, that way I can roll fenders or if I ever go to a stock bumper for a time.

one of the next things on the list, speedometer cable. Found the ends of an FC and a 5.0 are pretty similar. Bought a 5.0 cable (lol $27 love it) and put the trans end in, pretty easy cuz thats the trans it goes into. But the cluster end had to be modified a little.



Pulled the cable out of the sheath and plugged it with a piece of rag. Then took and angle grinder and cut it pretty short. Maybe even too short actually, another 1/4” on it wouldnt hurt.





Then the cluster side just needed the relief moved back so the plastic clip can grab it. Haven’t had the car at anything faster than a crawl due to the brakes but spinning the other end seems to move the needle.



Cable is actually a little bit long if anything, but I also filled in the stock hole (by accident) and made a new one a little closer. If you ran it like factory I’ll bet its perfect.

another FC to 5.0 hybrid piece, power steering line. I am debating just buying the AN parts and doing it that way but since I’m cheap I’ll try this first. Its not that pretty which is annoying so I may do that anyway but now I want to know if this will work.



took the 5.0 power steering line and the FC, found a place that I could put a union fitting. Surprisingly the 5.0 line fits a -6 flare prefect.



however the FC line (bottom) is considerable thicker wall metal. So after much time wasted grinding it down carefully, then hand sanding to make sure its smooth and somewhat uniform…



lets hope it holds. The union and tube nuts/flare are rated for enough pressure but I’m not sold until I see it work.



Borrowed s pair of 19” wheels to see how it made my insides feel.









it
tickles
my
fancy

I think this is 215/40r18 18x9.5 +20 something, 40mm BJ spacers up front (dont quote me on that) and 19x9.5 +10 (also not sure on the offset cuz I messed with spacers a lot that evening) with a 265/35r19. Probably go with a different tire but need to do some trimming of the front of the fender. being that low the trailing arm is pulling it forward. That is if i even go this route. 19 cool and all but at this ride height its not even really functional and 19’s are $$$$. Tire is almost resting on the top of the wheel well. Which makes me think air ride and drifting but later later maybe if even one thing at a time.





Started on the body mounted splitter. First saw this on Nate from Villains car, but peeping Kam Cadwell’s insta posts gave me more inspiration. I think I’m gonna use wood though, its cheaper and I plan to wreck it quite often. Better than fibreglass. Trying to get my friends on board so I can make a bunch of these things, but lengths will differ from car to car.





welded the mounts on. Thought about making them bolt on, 1 bolt through the middle would do good. Probably go to that if I break on of these but the idea is that the wood breaks, the the tubes break as they are really cheap and easy to make and kinda thin wall.





painted them with a paint called “Chrome Aluminum”, wished I could have made these in alu but close enough I guess.

Also prepped and painted my bash bar



had to warm up the paint, its pretty cold out





I always like to start with the jams/corners welds just to make sure they get good coverage





finally got sick and tired of my $150 “snap-on” (weller) butane soldering iron being a pile of garbage and ordered a plug in bench from china for $50. Couldn’t find anything local that was reasonable that got goo reviews, so far its earned it. works well, has a sleep mode to make the tips last longer. wakes up as soon as you bump the pen.



now, I spent too long doing this





but MAAAN what a feeling. all of it cleaned in solvent and then soapy water. organized all the SAE from the metric, grouped like hardware, grouped bolts that have a specific purpose. organized; love it.

Lets return to the great water neck tale.



The welder helping me out with this (his name is travis) gave me some tips to help improve the weld-ability of this piece. I had made butt joints that are flat but apparently aluminum doesn’t penetrate the material like steel, you have to fill it and it needs a space to be filled. It also will shrink when it cools faster and more than steel so you must use filler.
So he tacked it for me and I took it home to test the fit and make it easier for him to weld where I can. Surface prep is big too, I took acetone with me to clean it right before he worked on it. Was much nicer being where the welder was and being able to help him make sense of my marks and for him to give me the advice he did.









Fits pretty good for welding it off site from the car I’d say. The welds I think are good for what I gave him to work with. The big filled one is somewhat covered by a silicone coupling as well.







Here it is all cleaned up and gone over with a scotchbrite pad.





however the other win from travis shop was what else had laying around…



some time along the build, I was pulling the car into the garage and the clutch wouldnt disengage (needed a bleed) and drove straight into a cart and then into the wall. I have no brakes keep in mind… bash bar wasn’t on yet.. still rolling in and out of the garage… it kinda scared me. And pissed me off because now I needed a headlight, thought I had a spare but I did not. Once I calmed down and moved on with my life keeping the bigger picture in mind, was casually looking around while that water neck was being welded. Saw a few FC parts laying around and asked if he happen to have a headlight.



He sold me this for a song. To think the big man upstairs has me covered, taking what seemed like a bad thing and showing me to trust in him even in the small less than important things like a hobby cuz I never would have asked about a headlight unless I needed one and now I have this sick vented one.

Heres how it the thermostat fits. Dropping the temp from the 190 the mustang is supposed to have to a 170. Was hoping they had a 180 but they didn’t so I’ll try it.
I feel like thats too low and the ECU will stay in cold enrichment but we’ll find out, 190 is too hard for the cooling system to keep up.







the bottom bolt of the water neck is a bit tricky but far from too difficult with an allen key.



Wised up and bought another WRX drain plug and tapped it this time instead of ghetto fab JB welding the sender in place.
have yet to install though.



me gusta





So now that I have a soldering iron that actually works time to go back to wiring. Wiring is particularly interesting to take pics of though







got the signals and headlights working, or so I though. Also had some trouble with the HVAC logicon, but thankfully my dad has a fully stock mostly functional S4 vert in the garage to help me figure it out. And the local RX7 chat I’m involved in.

Mazda’s electrical engineering on this car is terrible. I could do better honestly, and thats a real shot because I’m a lowly electrician with a car audio background who just has an opinion. Theres so much excess wires and weird joints, and extra parts, and things that do nothing, and overly complicated methods of making what should be simple stuff work.

The headlights still don’t make full sense to me, but I really wanted to use aftermarket ice cube relays for them vs mazdas proprietary headlight relays.

but I blew up a light switch first.



Am trying to keep it so I can use any old jumper harness and switch assemblies, for the wipers too but I don’t think that’s going to happen. Fixed the joint I burned up (green wire, which was a ground) and altered the switch output to an unused pin and changed it on the jumper harness. bleh. aside from the headlights not going up and down with the light switch (but works with the other switch) its all good now. Found a lot of things that didn’t work like I thought they did when I first did the harness in the spring last year. Made a lot of corrections and changes. spent way too much on consumables too.

have a few more connectors to make, need to put the dash in to get lengths correct first. Ordered a crimper for some of the terminals too.



so this is missing something



first one I ordered was too long so I sold it on craigslist and bought the same thing but shorter.



plan was to make it sit like there





against my better judgement I even used their included rivets, which sucked compared to the Pop-rivet brand ones that I couldn’t find.



and then ya know, cut my rad mounts again to make templates for version 3.0

So now you’re caught up. next time I’ll hopefully be in a new garage and actually have bled the brake and put coolant in it and maybe have done a burnout. just a little one tho…

[Benwalsh91]

Man this is a work of art!