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Would also like to hear about the character of the car with a V8 vs the rotary. How are the highway manners now and how well did the extra sound deadening work?
I wasn't able to find a set of off the shelf long tube headers that fit. I tried the Hinson, some fbody headers off ebay, borla trailblazer ss and borla cts-v. The cts-v were the closest fit, but they would need to be modified to fit. The steering shaft is in the way of the #3 primary. The Hooker Blackheart mid length headers look like they might fit, but I never tried them. I'm going to have a custom set of 1 7/8 made later this year.
That is what I was thinking, I would have to have a set made up if there is room or shave the frame rails prior to the swap to give room. 1 3/4" is the smallest I want to go due to the heads I have for the engine.
I was just trying to stay with a newer chassis for parts as I am tired of sourcing parts for the 240s we have to keep them working right.
I took quick vid of what my exhaust sounds like. Mine might be a little bit more aggressive than yours :D. Audio quality is terrible, but it sounds like a beast in real life.
Know mine is also now a running car thought I would share here!! Thanks for the advise on the ABS etc. Glad the exhaust parts worked out. I didn't use the CAN module as I didn't need it for ABS and well, decided to go a different way for gauges and dash.
That's awesome! Glad you got it finished, it looks amazing. Let me know the next time you're at MSR-C or Eagles Canyon, I'd love to come check it out in person.
That's awesome! Glad you got it finished, it looks amazing. Let me know the next time you're at MSR-C or Eagles Canyon, I'd love to come check it out in person.
I sent you a message a have a few questions. Thanks
Stubbs, thanks for the great build thread. I' in the planning stages of my next build. I'm going to stuff an overpowered LS into SOMETHING small, nimble, and can turn.
I'm test driving a rx8 tomorrow to see if my wife likes it enough to take it on a weekend trip. If she does, I've got an rx8 lined up.
I had a couple questions, can you tell us what you did for the steering rack? what able axle shafts? you swapped to a getrag rear, right?
Stubbs, thanks for the great build thread. I' in the planning stages of my next build. I'm going to stuff an overpowered LS into SOMETHING small, nimble, and can turn.
I'm test driving a rx8 tomorrow to see if my wife likes it enough to take it on a weekend trip. If she does, I've got an rx8 lined up.
I had a couple questions, can you tell us what you did for the steering rack? what able axle shafts? you swapped to a getrag rear, right?
The steering rack is a NC Miata rack that's been clocked to clear the oil pan.
I'm using an aluminium ford 8.8 IRS out of a Lincoln Mark VIII. I rebuilt it with a 31 spline diff to use beefier Cobra style stub shafts from the V8R kit.
Did you ever check on your bump steer measurement? Interested in what you found and if you addressed it, what you did to correct it?
Mark
I did some quick measurements and did have a bit of bump steer. I don't remember exactly but I think it was ~1/4" toe-in from full droop. That's way more than I want, but how often is the car going to be going over the full range of travel. I need to re-measure it over the real world travel range. I talked to Shandelle about it and he said that the NC with essentially the same subframe doesn't have any bump steer. It could be the RX8 outer tie rod causing the issue, or maybe the control arms are different lengths, I'm not sure. I bought a bump steer corrector kit from Stephen at ls1rx8.com, but haven't installed it yet. I think any mustang bump steer kit can be used though. I've been told the Mustang ball joint taper isn't quite right but it's close, apparently Mazda used an odd taper, and there's nothing off the shelf that's exact.
The only thing I'm not sure of is what is the bump steer of a stock RX8. I couldn't come up with a stock car to measure at the time.
I haven't put any more effort into it yet as I've been working on my fuel system, and I need to drop the trans and have it rebuilt since the one I got has junk 2nd gear synchros. I'll let you know if I figure anything else out.
I have non-DSC ABS pump also and need to connect the hydraulic lines to their corresponding calipers. I noticed that you marked your pump in the attached picture. Are you 100% sure of the markings? and am I reading correctly?
F=front port on the master cylinder
R=rear port on the master cylinder out
RL = rear driver side wheel
RR = rear passenger side wheel
FR = front passenger side wheel
FL = front driver side wheel
I ask only because the markings on RX8 ABS pump with DSC are different--their hydraulic lines are routed differently than your markings. Would you clarify?
good afternoon sir, was wondering if you could help me, I am trying to wire the ac and cant seem to find a signal from the a/c selector on/off switch .i thought the red and white wire from the a/c amplifier would work but i am not getting any signal .thank you for any help, danny smith
It's been a while since I did the A/C wiring so I had to look back over my notes. I believe the red/white wire coming from the a/c amp is a ground signal. The way I have it set up in my car is red/white running to the green/black on the a/c relay. From the black/yellow on the a/c relay going to the red/white on the refrigerant pressure switch then out the light blue/black wire to the compressor clutch. The red/black wire goes to my high amp relays that control my cooling fans, black goes to ground. Pressure switch controls everything, kicks the compressor in and out as needed, and kicks the fans on as needed.
I don't precisely remember why I did it this way, I think it had to do with the routing of the existing harness wiring and the new location of the pressure switch.
I've been thinking of redoing it to have the LS ecu control the compressor as it gives better control over fan run time and compressor overspeed control, but I've got other projects on my plate and it works fine as is.
Hi Stubbs, was just wondering how the rim/tire combo is working for you? Did you have to do any mods to make them fit?
Do you have any rubbing or any other problems? I assume you lowered the car, do you have any alignment specs? Thanks
No fitment issues in the rear, plenty of clearance. I lightly rolled the rear fenders, but it wasn't needed.
Front cleared the fender lip without issue. However, the clearance between the control arm and inside of the wheel is tight at full lock. Mine would just barely rub the inside lip at right full lock, but not left. I found the original alignment wasn't done properly and the tie rod lengths weren't equalized after toe was set. This made the right tie rod assembly effectively longer than the left which is why the right side rubbed and not the left. With corrected tie rod lengths it might just barely touch.
The car is lowered, but not slammed. I don't remember off the top of my head what the measured height was, probably about 1-1.5" lower than stock
Current alignment is 2º front camber 1.5º rear camber, 6.25º caster, 0 toe front and rear.
If you have the V8roadsters sub-frame double check your rear lower control arm. The pocket that the control arm sits in isn't as deep as the OEM sub-frame so if you dial in too much caster the back of the control arm around the bushing will press against the back of the pocket and cause a clanking noise and cause some funky alignment issues. 6.25º is about as much as I could get while having a reasonable amount of clearance.
