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my first try at messing with 3d design and printing. had my friend printed out of abs, but i didnt like how it fit. so i just used 2.5" aluminium tube and flared it.
also picked up all the stuff i need to make cool shirt cooler. about $100 in parts, vs $350 for a FAST one.
Last edited by trackjunkie; 03-20-2018 at 12:34 PM.
Was the mazdaspeed version the basis of your intake? What was required to relocate entirely behind the bumper cover instead of blocking the radiator?
Yeah I didn't like how the Mazdaspeed intake blocked so much of the radiator. Just need a 3.5" 90° pipe, cut to length and green stuff filer. Teamrx8 had a custom k&n filter made and I was going to go that route but it will take too long. I'm going to Dyno test with filter on and off and see if there's any hp different to warrant a larger filer .
Got the rear shocks on finally and weigh car. She's more heavy then I thought. Looks like I won't need to run balast, actually need to find way to lose some weight. 2780 just the car, without driver. On oem wheels and street tires. With rpf1 and Hoosier, it will be 50 lbs lighter. I also used a bigger batter because I thought I would need balast, I guess I can go with a lithium battery now.
all the plastic panels are out of the car. rear door is not gutted but it doesnt look like there's much metal there, the handle is removed.
front door still have power window and glass. stock flywheel/clutch and header. about 3/4 tank of gas. still gotta remove the rear wing and appearance package.
also gutted your head light? whats the weight of the rear door glass. ill probably find spare doors to gut out.
i'll probably leave the hand held extinguisher out also.
Last edited by trackjunkie; 03-23-2018 at 11:22 AM.
Rear doors weigh about 3 pound (they are aluminum) once the steel frame and windows are removed - there's lots of weight to lose there. Same with fronts but I left one of the sheet metal braces. Of course windows are heavy. I have a lexan rear but it weighs the same as OEM glass so don't bother. Removed the diagonal braces behind the rear seats (cage covers stiffness in this area). Gutted headlights only so that I could mount the oil coolers higher.
wow, 3 lbs rear door. ill look into gutting it out then. the diagonal brace behind rear seat is already removed. did you leave the rear bumper crash beam in?
Apparently there is a lot of weight that can be cut out of the rear. I'm at 3200lbs with Driver and fuel. Which is way over weight. About to talk some chalk to the car and start marking it up and then start cutting.
RacerBowie is running a car in EP and got down to 2400lbs dry. He recommended doing a lot of cutting in the rear.
I read his comment in the weight reduction thread. It's hard for me to see where I'm leaving 200 on the table. I still have the dash bar in but that can't be more than 10. I can see a bare minimum cage that will just meet the requirements could save me 50. Rear bulkhead is required in STL but if not in EP, 15 could be cut out. I run the stock engine/engine bay harness. Could lose 20 there. Fuel tank weighs the same as a cell. That car must look like Swiss cheese.
yeah i can't imagine what the car looks like at 2400 lbs dry weight. i thought i would be around 2600 lbs before i put it on scale, and was really surprised im nearly 2800 lbs. i could probably drop another 80 fairly easy. my target competition weight is 2850. and i weigh 170 lbs with gears. so i need to get the car down to 2680. lighter flywheel when i do new engine, and lighter headers will help. maybe lighter brake calipers when i decide to upgrade brakes.
got screen done for oil cooler and radiator.
temporarily brake duct until i can make a more permanent backplate. hose doesnt rub with stock wheels at full lock but i haven't tried the rpf1 17x9 +45 yet.
also rolled the fenders. it probably doesn't need it but i'll probably try thick spacers to get more track.
Last edited by trackjunkie; 04-03-2018 at 08:53 AM.
Did the front wheel studs. I didn't remove the hub but you might as well, it just 4 bolts to remove the wheel bearing and hub and press out studs. The rear will have to press out the hub for sire, so I'm going to replace the wheel bearings also while the hub has to be pressed out .
Which studs did you use? I have longer studs in the rear, but not on the front. I would feel a little better if the studs stuck all the way through the lug nuts.
Which studs did you use? I have longer studs in the rear, but not on the front. I would feel a little better if the studs stuck all the way through the lug nuts.
i used arp 100-7719 recommended by Teamrx8. they fit front and rear. i haven't driven the car yet. hope to get it out on the track this weekend for a shake down run.
the front hub is easy to remove, just 4 bolts. but it might be stuck from corrosion. i screw in some longer bolts in the back and hit it with impact hammer. spray a lot of liquid wrench in the back of the hub.
Last edited by trackjunkie; 04-04-2018 at 09:25 AM.
Which studs did you use? I have longer studs in the rear, but not on the front. I would feel a little better if the studs stuck all the way through the lug nuts.
If you are a Mazda Motorsports member, and you should be, you can get the ARP studs from them at the racer's discount price.
got the car all back together yesterday and took it out for a short drive. the power steering doesn't work. the power steering light is on the dash. I wont have time to diagnose and fix it before track event this weekend. would it hurt the anything or make it worse if the drive the car while the power steering is not working.
i drove crx and nsx without power steering on track before, it's no fun but manageable. big sticky tires is even worse.
so after searching through the forum, seems like the common issue with the wire harness. so unplugged the short harness and cleaned the pins. plugged everything back in but no luck, still had the code and no power steering. then drove to local shop where a guy had an rx8 parts car and picked up a used steering rack. wanted to get the control module also but he already sold it with the engine and ecu. got back to the shop and went to start the car up but the batter was kinda drained(small battery) and took awhile to start, battery was so drained it almost didnt want to turn over. i turned the ignition off for about 10 seconds, then tried to start again. it turned over and engine started and the power steering light went away and power steering worked. took the car around the block and everything worked great. woot.
got the car on the dyno yesterday after fixing the power steering. did a couple pull on the stock map then loaded the versatuner performance tune base map and did a couple pulls. didn't have much time to fine tune, just wanted to make sure it was safe enough for shake down run at the track this weekend. will fine tune it next week for official class number.
Great progress.
I am very interested on this build.
Did you do anything to get more camber?
On my track car I only got -2.1 in the front. Rear has more room but i find my front limited.
Tire wear shows that I could benefit from more.
03-20-2018, 12:30 PM
