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Looks factory!!!
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sick bro
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Finally had a warm weekend so a lot of progress was made. I had to remove the intake again in order to get the speedhut oil pressure sender and adapter installed. I also had to slightly trim the firewall lip to help clear the wire harness.
https://i.imgur.com/aamiSCi.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Ki3oKhQ.jpg https://i.imgur.com/jnsMycY.jpg It was surprisingly warm out today despite the 6 inches of snow on the ground! https://i.imgur.com/tqYd44u.jpg I bought a cheap Pioneer radio to install in the empty hole on the dash, and wired it up. To my surprise the retractable antenna works still. https://i.imgur.com/SNROusQ.jpg It was time to fill up the coolant system. I used a AirLift system, which vacuum fills the entire coolant system. I pulled a 30in vacuum on it and it took about 3 full gallons to fill. Zero bubbles and no need to burb the system with this method! https://i.imgur.com/36nOBSK.jpg https://i.imgur.com/RtDu5wn.jpg https://i.imgur.com/eWZtCvX.jpg It sucked up the fluid until it was full to the brim. https://i.imgur.com/GYWN9T8.jpg I installed the plugs and wires, as well as some vibrant heat sleeves on the wires for added protection. Here are some shots of the "completed" engine bay. Just waiting on an oil catch can and it's basically how it will look: https://i.imgur.com/AeujsGm.jpg https://i.imgur.com/nVhdjOV.jpg And I finally found a cover for my fuse box lol https://i.imgur.com/NB043k5.jpg |
It's getting close!
I started re-installing all of the factory panels and bumper, it took some time to get the body lines correct again. I decided early on that I would delete the factory hood latch, and went with an aero catch setup. The install is a bit of a pain, but I was able to do a clean setup. Started by drilling a 1.5 inch hole and working off of that. https://i.imgur.com/2D7hbhx.jpg https://i.imgur.com/5KTjTtm.jpg I chose the mounting location behind the headlight, it looks cleaner in this location IMO https://i.imgur.com/RDdCgS3.jpg https://i.imgur.com/9KgQ5ev.jpg https://i.imgur.com/mvpWQ5b.jpg Finished result: https://i.imgur.com/qD8JLcs.jpg https://i.imgur.com/E6HRBJU.jpg https://i.imgur.com/s7pXAg0.jpg Time to start the engine! I primed the oil system using a drill pump, and held it at 40 psi for a few minutes and made sure oil got into the valve covers. https://i.imgur.com/FZAx3nv.jpg https://i.imgur.com/vpmaRD8.jpg My little drill pump jig works will, I put a clear section in to see the oil going through to make sure you're pumping. I will have to upload a video, but the engine fired right up on the first attempt! It's almost ready for the first drive, just have to do a quick alignment in the garage. |
Make sure to post video of start up and first drive. :tup:
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working on the video!
I was able to wash the car for the first time in a year. It moved out under its own power, very promising. Clutch grabbed great, but I lost brake pedal pressure. I think my master cylinder is just bad, it grabbed a little then went to floor like it blew out a seal, got a new one on the way. Bunch of pics in the decent weather! The paint still has zero miles on it, shines up great. https://i.imgur.com/AQSCSJh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/KAbB4ij.jpg https://i.imgur.com/G7M34fY.jpg https://i.imgur.com/6r7nqyB.jpg https://i.imgur.com/tNTI0Et.jpg https://i.imgur.com/MKNX2yW.jpg https://i.imgur.com/AJyDlf5.jpg https://i.imgur.com/tWuTCD7.jpg |
Looks awesome!
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First drive was a success, thoughts so far: I have never driven an FD until the other day when i first drove mine haha. The seating position is very nice, I am 6'1" and sit comfortably, but thankful I'm not any taller. The steering wheel angle cannot be adjusted, and it does not telescope. It just happens to be in about a perfect spot when the seat is in an upright "drivers" position. Visibility over the front of the car is fantastic, view of the road and the size of the front of the car is very clear, the hood slopes down nicely to help achieve this. It makes the front of the vette seem like a boat with it's looonnngggg hood and front bumper. I ended up replacing the master cylinder after the first one failed. I bled every corner and they feel amazing now, very grabby. Running Hawk HP pads. The clutch is a twin disk, and has similar clutch feel to my EM1 civic. Very light pedal, will be nice for the long trips through town. Clutch master cylinder is from an 80's landcruiser - very robust. One of my more favorite things about the car so far are the speedhut gauges, the programmable features and ease of adjustment is very nice. All gauges function and have warning lights that can be adjusted. The look of the gauges make the car feel very "complete". The only item I ave left to work on, which I will be tackling this weekend, is the exhaust. I have been driving around with small pipe extensions off the headers, brutally loud. I drove it down the street and filled up the tank for the first time, very exciting! https://i.imgur.com/OKxD1BQ.jpg |
Me from 20 years ago is absolutely freaking out over this build.
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wow what a build, #jawdrop
I bet ripping through gears in that thing will give a huge catecholamine rush.... curb weight of an s2000, power of a vette, I wouldn't be surprised if you ever decided to sell it on bring a trailer u'd def get at least 40-60k for this clean of a build. |
Love the build. :tup:I installed the SpeedHut gauges in my Z. I love them too.
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Tackled the exhaust this week. Got it up on a buddy's lift and worked for about 20 hours to get this fabbed up, lots of work! https://i.imgur.com/9N1eHnC.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Vkys9iT.jpg The setup is as follows: JTR 1-3/4" headers 3" Y-Pipe into a vibrant merge into 3.5" Borla XR1 3.5" Then at the end there will be an Apexi muffler Here is the progress so far https://i.imgur.com/ORlsEQe.jpg https://i.imgur.com/aLuc0ao.jpg Here is Luis the welding Guru at work: https://i.imgur.com/Y9lU7Q9.jpg https://i.imgur.com/naKgMEl.jpg https://i.imgur.com/BC768SI.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Vq2MtH4.jpg https://i.imgur.com/WQynZfD.jpg That was about all we had time to complete. Hopefully next weekend we can knock out the muffler tail section. Goal is to make it less than 103db at 50 ft, which is what most tracks require. |
Rear section of exhaust finally completed.
https://i.imgur.com/xfAf2Pw.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Al2wbRc.jpg https://i.imgur.com/TJqGr3N.jpg https://i.imgur.com/yRm1FOL.jpg https://i.imgur.com/eC1CZ5n.jpg https://i.imgur.com/4MOS8jq.jpg Still trying to track down some small gremlins to get it driving correctly. |
Had a semi nice day out and detailed the engine bay. It started raining moments after finishing, I should have some good video made once the weather gets nice out. It seems this winter has been drawn out a couple months too long!
https://i.imgur.com/gTKBfUn.jpg |
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Nice Read w/Quality Workmanship!
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Wow!!! Absolutely phenomenal car.
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I finally got into my appointment at the tuner. I drove the car around for about 100 miles to get things broke in, changed oil, then headed to the dyno tune!
It put down 382hp, which is right in line with what most stock LS3's do on the dyno. More importantly it drives perfect, even with the aggressive RXT clutch. Torque is everywhere! https://i.imgur.com/7OZTBng.jpg https://i.imgur.com/uiOXeaP.jpg?1 https://i.imgur.com/lXGuBnq.jpg https://i.imgur.com/ofaDSnx.jpg working on uploading the dyno vid |
That car is beautiful, and this thread seriously delivers! You've done a really amazing job...congrats!
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That kind of instant torque has to be a lot of fun in such a light little car.
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Finally got the vids uploaded! Dyno vid and some exhaust noises.
https://youtu.be/r1W6DxtHWS8 https://youtu.be/QMcfAYrgWYQ |
Got a lot done this past weekend!
First I swapped out to the newer style 99 spec taillights. They do give it a more modern look, and are more suited to the typical RX-7 jdm look. They are also brighter. https://i.imgur.com/iQaLLFW.jpg I then adjusted ride height to about where I wanted it and went in for an alignment, made such a huge difference in the way it drives. I had attempted to align in my garage with tape measure but I can only get it so close. Once it was on the rack we could see the rear thrust was completely off. It got dialed in, and now it drives like a whole new car! https://i.imgur.com/ipUJMSo.jpg https://i.imgur.com/XdSgh6N.jpg I did some driving and test hits and it sure does hook up much better. Still need to roll on the throttle in second, but third is fairly solid now. I ran into an issue with my fuel gauge reading funky. It would bounce to full every now and then, and after some troubleshooting I was able to narrow it down to the sending unit in the tank. I bought a replacement float and resister unit and swapped it in https://i.imgur.com/2Efc656.jpg?1 It did the trick. I brought the car out to its first car show as well, parked next to a buddy in his MKIV Supra. The car got a lot of attention. Although the FD gets dwarfed by the Supra ha, it's small size really shows. https://i.imgur.com/2hvtgUm.jpg https://i.imgur.com/LQAMnhA.jpg https://i.imgur.com/hDzweKH.jpg All in all it was a successful weekend and it felt great driving to and from the car show, car is getting so close to getting all the minor bugs worked out. Engine now has about 200 miles on it, and is on its second oil change of break in oil. |
It's crazy how much bigger the Supra and Corvette are. It's been awesome watching the journey!
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Did some interior updates, I was able to score a really nice OE Nardi steering wheel with the red stitching from Japan. It is a hair smaller than the stock FD wheel, which helps give a bit more leg room. The wheel feels super nice in my hands and flows well with the rest of the interior.
https://i.imgur.com/jv5vYBi.jpg https://i.imgur.com/gjBz9IZ.jpg https://i.imgur.com/DKgzCrJ.jpg I deep cleaned the floor mats and got them to an almost like new condition. I have an auto-x I'm planning to go to this weekend and bought a set of 17" RPF1's that I'm awaiting from tire rack for the event. |
Amazing work and great job documenting everything.
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Finally had time to do some more driving, I just got back from completing One Lap of America with Toyota (in a Prius lol). My LS3 engine currently has 700 miles on it, and is on the third oil change. I have been taking special care to break in this crate engine:
Initial oil used wen I fired it up was the BR30 Gibbs break in oil First oil change was at 100 miles using a second change of the break in oil Second oil change at 300 miles using conventional valvoline oil Next oil change will be at 1,000 miles and switching over to full synthetic I did do some break in drives varying the load and rpm, but definitely did not go easy on it. Based upon some research iv'e done, it's best to get the engine up to operating temp and then try to load up the rings quickly to help them seat. This last oil change I did a full weekend of auto-x, and it was a blast. This was the first outing for the FD, and I was able to place in the top 5 for the weekend. This was even on street tires (200tw RE71), while three others in the top 5 were on slicks. I was super happy with how the car performed. I picked up a set of RPF1's for track and auto-x duty. They saved me 8 lbs a corner over the XXR's that were on it, you can really feel the weight difference in the car https://i.imgur.com/REJDAre.jpg The first morning on Saturday was a hard rain, but quickly cleared up and the rest of the day was dry. https://i.imgur.com/8oXaykx.jpg I went out and did some shake down runs first thing, the tires grip extremely well for being a tiny 255 square setup. I am able to dead hook 2nd gear which was not possible previously. The tein suspension did surprisingly well. With some tweaks to the shocks it was handling predictably. https://i.imgur.com/HfUpMlj.jpg https://i.imgur.com/w3I2Xav.jpg The second day there was a lot more competition, and the weather was a bit hotter than the previous. On my last run the RE71's did start to get a little greasy and spin a bit. These tires definitely need to be cooled down between runs. Despite being a small auto-x track I was able to hit 70mph (top of second). https://i.imgur.com/wipW2br.jpg I was super impressed with the car's practicality so far, I drove to the event (1.5 hours away) and honestly was not sure how it would do being the first long drive I have taken in the car since completing the build. It rained on the way there and on the way home, but the car made the journey no problem. Ride comfort on the road is not too bad either, and exhaust does not drone. My passenger could have slept if he wanted to lol. https://i.imgur.com/QEryPxV.jpg Next auto-x is on the schedule! and hopefully going to try and get some track days at NCM scheduled as well. |
Awesome work! Such a quick build, too!! :tup:
I'd really love to see a video at some point :) |
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At this event there was a photographer thankfully, here is the photo dump from the event:
https://i.imgur.com/a62th4q.jpg https://i.imgur.com/ay6wNnF.jpg https://i.imgur.com/pFXVIOC.jpg https://i.imgur.com/DAfQnwC.jpg https://i.imgur.com/UiOfFPV.jpg https://i.imgur.com/efq2pEX.jpg https://i.imgur.com/RqIZCNO.jpg https://i.imgur.com/rq0BIQv.jpg |
Got my car weighed just for shiggles.
This is with half tank of gas https://i.imgur.com/qmXf8rm.jpg Definitely needs corner balanced, but super stoked with it being almost into the 2600's. Some different seats and lighter calipers should get me there. |
I went to a car show this past week and they had a dyno competition there. I put the FD on the rollers and did a couple runs. With some small changes and a new ported intake manifold I was able to lay down some better number: 434hp and 440trq
It was enough to win a trophy for the highest HP NA V8 at the show! https://i.imgur.com/LgXf81L.jpg https://i.imgur.com/ozeJ9CU.jpg and the badass camshaft trophy! https://i.imgur.com/j8Tdeeq.jpg |
Oh man that trophy is fire! Congrats!
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Finally updates.
LS fest was in early September, and I had a ton of prep work I needed to do. One of the main points being a corner balance and an aggressive auto-x alignment. I was happy with my RE71r tires for now although wider on all 4 would have been desirable, just couldn't source CCW's in time. I took my car to a shop in Louisville, KY called The Winning Formula - they specialize in performance alignments. I told Aaron exactly what I was going to be doing at LS fest and what I expected out of the car. I chose to compete in the Grand Champion Event which consists of two different auto-x set ups, a drag race, and a road course type challenge. I figured this would be a great way to really test the all around performance of my setup. I trailered my car to The Winning Formula, they have a ton of cool projects going on there. Here are some photos from the journey: https://i.imgur.com/w1SThz6.jpg https://i.imgur.com/2GbS67r.jpg https://i.imgur.com/v1Z4CKC.jpg https://i.imgur.com/2msrIPD.jpg Do you even Miata???? https://i.imgur.com/w2vprrm.jpg https://i.imgur.com/NdGGBkb.jpg They even had a minty fresh stock FD they were working on. https://i.imgur.com/1kdKaYB.jpg https://i.imgur.com/9S0CWdp.jpg They got my car on the rack and got to work. https://i.imgur.com/qA30Gez.jpg Here is what Aaron ended up with on the corner balance and alignment. It is a fairly aggressive setup, but a good compromise for all of the events I plan to participate in. He was impressed with the way the car drove, and I could immediately feel a difference once I took it for a spin. Aaron was able to catch some small issues with some joints that had loosened up over the break in period, so I'm thankful he took his time to look over my work. He also raised the rear of the car up 5mm to aid in traction. https://i.imgur.com/csWWElH.jpg I trailered the car back home and went over the rest of my drivetrain components, checking for other fasteners that loosened up any and snugged them all up. I changed oil again, washed the car, and deemed it ready for some abuse!! https://i.imgur.com/zEJR6FA.jpg |
All loaded up and ready to go down to Bowling Green at the NCM track! Super excited to compete with other LS's and get some nice advice from other drivers. I'm a bit in the minority with a import car there, but that's okay I like the uniqueness of it all.
https://i.imgur.com/7YFKQIM.jpg https://i.imgur.com/pA0jKuL.jpg I drove down with a buddy that has an LS swapped rx8 that was also competing: https://i.imgur.com/SXOdocT.jpg LS fest was packed, there were over 200 competitors for the Auto-x. they split them up between two groups (one at each track) to let everyone get their runs in. On the second day we switched locations. https://i.imgur.com/OWzEe2h.jpg https://i.imgur.com/wwTX3eB.jpg https://i.imgur.com/cEEFqQw.jpg https://i.imgur.com/hW9dtlw.jpg saw a fellow norotors friend "Kevin Doe" there, with his much more purpose built FD! It was nice being able to talk to someone with similar setups! https://i.imgur.com/7mFZCol.jpg Some on course photos below. Yes this is me loosing traction and hitting a cone lol. https://i.imgur.com/OpicMGK.jpg https://i.imgur.com/lt7rfl2.jpg After all the day's festivities I was able to relax while the car show happened. I got a lot of questions and compliments on the swap: https://i.imgur.com/pLyeFCB.jpg The first night was the drag race. I knew I wanted to see what the car would do, but I was also afraid to break my stock Mazda rear diff and not be able to compete in the next day's races. So I left off idle and completely fugged the 60 foot, but was still satisfied with my time and trap speed despite the slow take off. In line waiting to make a pass: https://i.imgur.com/cTQ77zx.jpg And the slip... https://i.imgur.com/U6NFoke.jpg My goal is to come back when not on street tires and make a better pass! the event also made it apparent how much the 4.10 rear gear was holding me back. I was having to shift into 5th to cross the 1/4 mile which was killing time and trap speed. The traction is also hard to control with the 4.10 on the track, some courses I had to shift as well. A gear change is in the near future. All in all, I ended up placing in the top 15% of the entire group based upon the Auto-x times. I was super happy with this, as the cars in front of me were purpose built cars dedicated to auto-x. And I was on the smallest tires at the event ha! It's some good motivation to get a new tire setup and come back next year. |
So I made the first road trip in the FD, a trip to Tail of the Dragon. It was my dream to take this car down there at some point, and so glad I did. It was over 1,000 miles round trip, and the car never had a single hiccup. I was able to go with some buddies from work: 2JZGTE IS300, C6Z, and STI swapped RS. All of us were in the same realm of speed, I drove down on my auto-x setup and ripped on the dragon, it was a blast. Pics below.
https://i.imgur.com/2zgGHY1.jpg https://i.imgur.com/s2QhWKb.jpg https://i.imgur.com/iG2vr87.jpg https://i.imgur.com/uVunuf7.jpg https://i.imgur.com/OHioioO.jpg I made it to the top of one of these mountains, amazing views!! https://i.imgur.com/Lsx8ij6.jpg https://i.imgur.com/DxgGFJI.jpg And Also got to do some drags with the C6Z, and we were neck and neck - a drivers race for sure. This has lead me to the decision to do the next logical step... a simple cam swap for some more cheap power. |
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