You are flying again Mike! Nice to see that coming together. I can't wait to get some video of your first drive . That thing is going to sound ??? I have no idea actualy but I bet it will be impressive

My Home Depot carries Lincolin Welders. This morning I found welding wire! I hope my Miller doesn't mind strange wire. The wire is in and fab is moving forward!

I need to work on a list of crap to finish. All the little details. Like my crank pully is loose and water pump is only hand tight. I also have new coolant hose for under the car. Sitting in a box coiled up.

Sometimes I think I should have just fixed the clutch on the V8 and drove it. Then I think about how ridiculous and fast this car will be. I hope my 930 Turbo brakes will be enough stopping power!

As long as it has taken to get this complete, I think I will drive it for a year before I strip it for paint. That will give me time to enjoy it, work out the bugs and have fun before it sits on jack stands for another year...

I got the intercooler brackets installed. I beefed up the firewall with some 14ga steel. There is a small gusset onder the bracket. I found some poly bushings to isolate vibration. Below a bent up some 1/4" stock and welded to the lower firewall brace. everything fits and everything clears...

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Here's a shot of the bottom...

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Great job on the linkage and exhaust! I need to build the same linkage for my car!

I get my wire from Home Depot. I buy it in the 5lb spool and keep spares.

This engine is so small, I can work on the front of the motor... Notice my pulley with one bolt. I noticed my turbo drain line not hooked up. Missing bolt on water pump. water pump pulley missing 2 nuts... etc...

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Got my shift rod connected...

I had to bend the rod around the engine but it works great. very smooth ande tight...

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That's it for now. I have to get ready for Father's Day...

Spent a few on the car after work. Mounted my spring loaded license plate holder. This will hide my hitch receiver hole when not in use. I also cut the exhaust tip square with the rear of the car. The outlet looks even bigger now. It's a 4"x5" oval, slightly angled down. I might even be able to get a stock valence to fit. With a little mod. Anyone have one they want to get rid of?

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Awesome progress Mike!
That exhaust looks mean.

Dude, I'm expecting this to be you when you're done!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgsKjjhib0o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgsKjjhib0o


It won't be quite that radical. It will be fun!

I have a feeling that engine doesnt make over 150lbs of tq..

Make sure to invest in a good fire extigisher. You know the joke at most tracks is if there is a fire it must be a Mazda.

I've got 2 new ones! I've been thinking about installing a fire system. Halon maybe. Can't hurt...

Installed vacuum hoses from my BOV to my Boost Controller to my Waste Gate. Also cut a piece of 3" pipe lengthwise and welded it into the trunk. This wil alow my hitch pin to be inserted into the receiver tube.

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Any purists turn away now! I guess you may not be reading this thread anyway...

I installed the intercooler heat exchanger in the rear quarter panel. It is ducted with a NACA duct into the fender. It was hard deciding to cut the quarter panel but, it can be repaired if I don't like it. Im using the 914-6 oil tank knock outs to route the coolant hose to the intercooler. There will be a fan on the back side of the heat exchanger to pull ari through it. I have to fab an inner fender skirt to shield road debris. Im thinking of louvers to send the air down in the same direction of the tire rotation. This should create a slight draw of air when in motion. Here are some pics...

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More...

They are lexan and semi flexible...

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Primer

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More...

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Inner fender view...

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Very interesting mike! That looks like it will work out pretty well.

I forgot to mention it's mounted at an angle. The front is flush with the inner firewall. The rear is close to the fender to make tha air flow and room for the fan.

Today I worked on the cold air intake. I used another NACA duct (can't have just one). I built a steel box, hemmed the edges and fitted a gasket where it touches the body. I need to fab the top still to enclose the air filter. I used 3" tubing welded to both the box and the side firewall. I will connect the tubes to the NACA duct with brake cooling hose. I built this old school since I don't have a metal brake. Blood sweat and tears... And a BFH! Hand hammered all of it and used some 1x4's and clamps to make a getto brake.

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My clutch showed up today. Too bad it's raining in California toaday. It's a SPEC Stage III+ unit. Came with new Sachs TOB and tool. The disc looks like a copper composit. It even came with stickers to make my car faster! The instruction say I have to drive for 500 miles in stop an go traffic to break in the clutch. I'm worried I won't be able to find any traffic in California

Looks like great quality stuff. I can almost make my car go

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More, just for fun...

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Big push on the car this weekend. About 11 hours today. I had to go backwards a little. I realized my turbo flange gasket was missing. I had to unbolt a ton of stuff to get the turbo off. Then I realized the mounting bolts were to short. Along with everything else I was doing I made 3 trips to the auto parts store, 2 trips to orchard supply hardware and 2 trips to the HD. I lost my clutch mounting bolts. They are new and in a bag in a safe place somewhere in the garage. Nobody had hardened metric bolts. I had to old school it by hardening the bolts myself. Heated them until red hot and dunk in a can of old oil; repeat several times. Not sure the actual hardness but they will work for now. Clutch is in, new bushing on the fork. I finished the top to my fresh air box and got it plumbed to the outside. My radiator overflow tank is mounted. Most of the misc loose bolts are now tight. I mounted the heat exchanger fan in the rear quarter. Need to find a pump and plumb it. Tomorrow I will try to finish the cooling system by replacing the under body hoses and finish my shroud modifications. I think I can have this running by August. I pulled the motor in November. This has raken way more time and money than I originally thought.

Here's some pics...

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I had to clock the turbo outlet to the passenger side and use a U bend to get it in front of the motor. Two 45's later and its into the intercooler. Just need some more couplings to show up and it's done...

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Did the tranny removal the old fashion way. On my back and lifting it in/out. It was actually easier than the floor jack...

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Here is the heat exchanger with fan mounted. Need to wire it up but I'm saving the remainder of wiring for the end.

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Spec makes good stuff. I have a Spec flywheel in my Audi, one of my favorite purchases.



I hate those days where everything goes wrong... Good lookin progress none the less!

Like an alien movie soundtrack. In high def, THX and all the other acronyms. Mad frickin 10' hornets swarming.

Can't wait Mike. Is it going to hunt like a banshee, or idle smooth?

It's a JDM motor. I did no porting to it so it should have a good idle. When I rebuild it (enevitable) I will do a pretty serious "street port" and it will have a lopey idle. At that point I can push the boost and get around 500hp and stay reliable. I'm not sure I need more HP. FYI for those that want to know. A master rebuild gasket kit is $1300 no bearings included. they're actually fairly easy to rebuild if all the rotors and housings are good. Lucky for me, Atkins Rotary in Oregon has the gaskets I needed for the intake. Most FLAPS do not cary ANY Rotary gaskets. Not even a water pump gasket.

Today I tackeld the cooling system. I used some 1-1/8 ID high temp hose. I was running 1" green stripe hose. The added diameter should make a huge difference in flow even though the increase is small. when routing my hoses, I found the front trunk pan was cracked in 5 or 6 places. It was from the battery tray being bolted by the PO and then racing with it. Shitty setup. So I had to repair the pan before I could continue. I then welded the battery tray to the floor in 8 places. The floor pan has no flex anymore I fabed up a new shroud to cover the added oil cooler and radiator. I'm actually getting good at bending sheet metal getto style. I need to buy a brake! HF having any sales? The radiator floats on rubber isolators. No bolts to the car. I had to make a few more trips to HD and the hardware store. I made a copper reducer from 1-1/2 to 1-1/4(they didn't have one I could buy). None of my Renegade hose adapters would work on the lower rad outlet. I also ditched the Renegade water filler tank for an inline 1-1/4 unit. The rotary engine needs 13psi caps so I got 2 new ones. The one on the radiator is a Mr. Gasket unit with built in thermometer. I removed the clamps on the fuel lines only to discover I left a fuel line loose under the intake manifold. I think I have to pull it off to get to it. Once that is done I will check all the oil lines and coolant lines. I think I can fill 'er up with liquid. This is the start of my 9th month of this engine conversion. I'm ready to enjoy driving it for a while...

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Hers a shot of the battery tray and my complete exhaust ready to go back in.

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Here's a comparison of the Gates green stripe hose (Left) to the new 1-1/8" hose I'm running (right). Also pictured are the Renegade reducer fitting(left). Notice the reducer is 1-1/4" to 7/8"-3/4". The fitting on the right shows the smallest size I'm using 1-1/4" but I'm stepping up to 1-1/4" entering all devices. The 1-1/8" hose can strech over the 1-1/4" fitting. Clearly the Renegade reducer flows less than my new system. I had atleast 3 of these reducers on my V8 system. These larger reducers should help the stock RX7 water pump move liquid.

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Here's a shot of the under car water lines. They run in the factory indentations and hang down about 1.5" below the car. I have hit speed bumps with my old lines with no adverse effects. There was no damage to the old lines. I just wanted to install new larger lines. Some people like copper but I would have ripped the copper apart many times over. I used insulated Adel clamps with an added layer of shrink tubing.

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Axles are back in. You can see the interference of the wastegate pipe to the clutch cable. They don't actually touch and the wastegate is actually in front of the axle not under it. I insluated both the WG pipe and the clutch cable. I'm hoping it will be OK.

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Wow. You have done some serious work. I look forward to seeing that car running around town and hearing it.

Spent a little time tonight getting my Cold Air Duct in place to the NACA. It was a bitch working inside the fender...

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I realize I need practice welding upsidedown... I welded up this exhaust hanger to help support the front half of the exhaust.

Goober welds!

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I always turn up my heat setting or turn down my welding speed when welding upside down. However it looks like itll hold!

very impressive work thus far. i'm curious to hear how it sounds when you get to fire it up.

Thank You.

I'm so close to getting it running I can almost taste it! A couple more weekends of work and I'll be tuning the EFI. When I get it running I will post a video of it and you will all hear how good or bad it sounds. The part that sucks the most is the 500 mile break in for the clutch. No full throttle launches or it voids the warranty. 500 miles of stop and go traffic.

After that, I'm gonna hammer on it and see what will break...

I'm going to drive it for a year before I paint it. Unless I win the lottery

Got started on the plumbing to the intercooler. 3/4 fittings and hose. Found a cool inline filler so I don't have to go into the fender to top it off. I still need to source a pump. May hit up pick n pull for a BMW pump (Thanks Strawman). I picked up 5 quarts of Red Line Water Wetter today. I will fill both cooling systems with it. I've used it before and it works great. Royal Purple, Purlpe Ice works good too.

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I pulled a gromet from my parts car and ran the hose through it. This is the one behind the dash normally for the heater controls. Just cut the inner hole bigger.

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This engine requires a oil catch can/ oil breather. I searched online for one but didn't like what I found. I made this one from a scrap of 3" tubing. I welded on nuts and then drilled and tapped tham for 1/8 NPT fittings. The top connects to the air inlet right near the air filter. The bottom drains to the engine. The side connects to the oil filler tube. Welded on a bracket and painted it with "chrome" paint.

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Which chrome paint did you use? Progress looks great!

Dupli-color. It looks more like polished aluminum than chrome. Great reflectivity though.

I went to the junk yard today to pick up some BMW pumps. I told them they were heater control valves but they said they were water pumps. I guess they're smarter in Fermont than Sacramento at pick n pull. I ended up with 3 Hella pumps. I relocated my Radiator overflow tank to make room for my heat exchanger tank. The tank is T'ed into the pump inlet. The other side of the T is to the heat exchanger. The pump outlet pushes to the intercooler. The intercooler pushes to the heat exchanger. The inline filler has an over flow line that I connected back to the tank. I drilled 3 small holes in the first stage of the cap to allow air/water to flow back to the tank. This allows the system to self bleed back to the tank. This way the air will work out of the system automatically. I ran the pump for several hours with no problems. I used my Fluke lazer thermometer to get some readings. The radiator hose was 130F in the sun. The intercooler hose was 85F. They are positioned right next to eachother. The radiator has no fluid yet so the test was not completely fair but I do think the system will work well. The radiator overflow tank has been moved to the trunk. I punched a hoe in the floor for the fill connection and ran the hose under the car back to the connection at the radiator filler. The intercooler has been finalized and the pressure tubing is connected.

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Here you can see the bottom of the overflow tank and the starter installed. I ran a 4/0 power cable from the disconnect up front. I then ran a #2 to the power terminal on the firewall to power my rear fuse panel.

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Here is a shot of the radiator overflow tank. I'm not happy about its location but I ran out of room in the engine bay at the elevation I need. I think it will be OK due to the gasketed screw on lid.

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Here is a money shot of the engine bay. Everything else fits good. The only available room is too close to the turbo. I could have mounted my overflow bottle there and it would be OK as long as it had water in it. But if it ever went dry in would melt. I'm down to a little wiring, fluids and tuning. My WB O2 module should be here this week so I can finish the wiring. Then tripple check all the hoses and fill the systems and bleed. Almost there...

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Awesome Mike! I can't wait to see that sucker on the road. I'll be a little closer to your neck of the woods this weekend. I'll be in Monterey thursday-sunday. Just wish it was up & running so I could go for a ride. I will be flat towing the LE down so I can take off from my wife's family reunion. If your in the area at all give me a call

I've used that stuff!

Everything looks really great so far! I really like the BMW pumps.

Here's is a pic of my new oil cap in honor of Dr. Evil and his proctology expertise.

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Here is a pic of my HKS blow off valve. Plumbed and ready to go!

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