When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Gutted the rear doors. What a pain in the ***, because of the multiple layer of panels. The crash beam is thinker than I thought. total weight removed was 22 lbs for both side, so 11 lbs for each side.
Last edited by trackjunkie; 05-13-2018 at 12:30 PM.
Looks familiar. Yes, it's a ridiculous amount of work. Who knew they were so complex. Mostly aluminum but you have to remove it to get the heavy parts out. Great job not damaging the remaining material. I blew a hole through the bottom of the door with my plasma cutter.
Damn you cheated with plasma cutter. The top of the crash beam was the hardest part. I had no idea how I was going to cut it out. Your pics definitely helped a lot. I was thinking of some way to hard bolt the door to the chassis and remove the latches. They weigh a lot.
To get the weight down in your car, I am assuming you had to do much cutting and modification to it by actually cutting metal out??? I am in the process of doing this to my car, too. If I am not going to keep the parts that I take out, is there a trick to getting the panels off without breaking them too badly and, have you taken out the headliner yet? If so, what all is holding it on and how do you get it out along with the airbags? I did not realize the airbag went the entire length of the pillar over the door until looking the other day.
the only metal i cut out so far is gutting the rear doors. everything else i just remove. all the panels will pop out after removing a few screws, if you look around the panels, you'll see the screws or bolts that you'll need to remove. the head liner is held on by the center dome light and front dome lights and sun visor. you should be able to get everything out without damaging anything. my next project is to see if i can make lighter front and rear bumper crash beam.
What all can be removed under the hood without affecting the engine? I have not done much under the hood yet as, I am not sure what can go and what has to stay. I know the wiper fluid resevoir can go. For the time being, I am going to keep my a/c since it works good. Has anyone figured out how to keep the controls for the climate control without having to keep the radio and faceplate? Also, I cannot seem to get the passenger side airbag cover off. Is there something I am missing? I may try to sell some of the parts as long as they come out cleanly.
I heard that Cameron got his down to around 2200 or 2300. Is this with a lot of carbon fiber stuff or cutting out much more than most would do? I have taken out the seat and back stuff including the trunk lid liner. I am going to take the speakers, side airbags, and carpet next and move forward. Thanks for the headliner info and, are there any screws that hold on the handles that are attached to the headliner or, do they just pop off? Thanks so much for the information. As I have time, I am going to take as much out as possible and put better suspension on the car for track use.
Does anyone sell the 5.125 gearset other than Mazda? They want so much for it. I still have the stock 4.444 but, running 215/40/17 RPF1s. It helps a little since the weight is much lighter than stock.
intake box is pretty heavy, get aftermarket intake.
secondary air pump, you'll get check engine light if you remove it. but you can put it back in before you need to get inspection.
stock battery is big and heavy, you can get mini battery
I bought a 5.125 off eBay, as well. I sold it a couple months ago for...$450? The red car came with one in it, and I didn't feel like hoarding a spare.
I saw one for sale from AU for nearly 700 USD.... Wierd how it is so much for a Mazda but, Fords are much cheaper and they are slightly different, too.
I have another question about the headliner. What else is holding it up? I have taken all the screws off at the overhead light and unplugged the vanity lights from the sunshades. I took the plastic 'screws' out at the back, too. Do I have to just pry it out or is there a trick to it or, did I miss something like hidden screws or something? Also, how do you get the front A pillar airbag covers off? I prefer not to break anything, if that is possible. I have both airbags unplugged on boths sides at the rear covers as it is held in by a bolt on both sides.
Got rear wing mounted. I went with aeromotion since I used one on my Evo and liked it, very low drag and we are also a vendor for them. They recommend using the one with the stands that's closest to the center as possible, since the outer edge of the wing is where it's most efficient from clean air. I had to make custom base plates to spread the load. I drew out the design and my buddy Chad from CBRD had them cut and he welded the stands on.
After doing VIR last week with he wing on, it was a huge difference in stability at the back end compare to before. There's actually too much down force that it makes the car push. Even at the lowest AoA setting, there's still some angle, so I'll have to drill some new adjustment holes to reduce the AoA more.
Got the new engine in. Had a new OEM engine build by rotaryengine.com out of Canada.
Cnc porting for all ports
Rx7 full depth seals upgrade
Oil mods
Rotating balance
First time pulling engine out of rx8. Took longer to transfer all the stuff over from old engine to new engine than it was to pull the engine out. Got it all done in about 14 hours. I was rushing because i needed to get in break in miles and tuned within a week, to be ready for racing this weekend.
Last edited by trackjunkie; 10-11-2018 at 10:43 AM.
Some winter upgrades. I can really turn the car into NASA ST5 car this year since i'm no longer running TTD class. I had to keep the car TTD legal last year.
two new rear exhaust section. one muffler for tracks that have sound limits and some street driving and one straight pipe to cut some weight. takes less than 5 minutes to swap them and dont even need to jack to car up. also cut the rear pumper permitted for ST5 rules.
Last edited by trackjunkie; 02-25-2019 at 09:16 AM.
installed new Tilton 5.5" clutch and aluminum flywheel. reinforced the clutch pedal while i'm doing the new clutch. although the tilton clutch pedal feels softer than the stock, which is a good thing. i went with the white pressure plate spring which is the lightest one they have and is rated for 300 torque. these clutch also have a very narrow window of disengagement, any over travel will reengage the clutch and damage the pressure plate spring. so it's important to have a clutch pedal stop. the clutch pedal travel is about half now, which is also a good thing. the bad thing is trying to take off from a stop. but shifting is lightning quick. hoping the low MOI of the disks will increase the longevity of the S1 tranny synchro.
also installed a new OSG diff with 5.1 final drive. did some test drive on the street to break in the final drive and the diff was pretty hot. hopping i dont have to install a diff cooler. will see if the temp doesn't get as high after the FD breaks in.
Last edited by trackjunkie; 02-25-2019 at 09:29 AM.
KBD Mazdaspeed replica bumper. fitment was decent. some trimming required at the side marker to fit, but it's still not sitting flush. not a huge deal since it's a race car and not a show car. still need to make a miata style air dam and under tray. the bumper is also heavier than oem one. but sure by how much but noticeable when holding them. also going to notch the front crash beam to allow more air flow to the radiator and cover up the oil cooler hole some with the air dam.
Last edited by trackjunkie; 02-25-2019 at 10:02 AM.
Interested to hear what you think of those cnc exhaust ports. That's a new mod that I don't think anyone on here has tried yet. Let us know how it feels and what kind of power it makes if you bother dyno testing it.
I think possibly the biggest advantage to the Mazdaspeed bumper cover might be the simpler curve in plan view. I bet it’s a lot easier to fit an airdam to. Mine is going to require some massaging with a heat gun.
I’m real interested to see what yours ends up like.
Interested to hear what you think of those cnc exhaust ports. That's a new mod that I don't think anyone on here has tried yet. Let us know how it feels and what kind of power it makes if you bother dyno testing it.
I had it on the dyno the other day to test the straight pipe vs muffler and both made 199 whp peak with pretty much exact power curve. This was on a mustang dyno running e85. my car with the original engine at 74k miles when i bought it made 167 whp on 93 pump gas on the same dyno. i'll need to find a dynojet locally to get certify numbers for NASA classing.
the biggest difference i notice is exhaust note, it's definitely a lot louder.
Last edited by trackjunkie; 03-14-2019 at 08:05 AM.
I think possibly the biggest advantage to the Mazdaspeed bumper cover might be the simpler curve in plan view. I bet it’s a lot easier to fit an airdam to. Mine is going to require some massaging with a heat gun.
I’m real interested to see what yours ends up like.
yeah, on simple curve on top. and i also didnt want to hack up my stock bumper in case i need it for different classing.
I had it on the dyno the other day to test the straight pipe vs muffler and both made 199 whp peak with pretty much exact power curve. This was on a mustang dyno running e85. my car with the original engine at 74k miles when i bought it made 167 whp on 93 pump gas on the same dyno. i'll need to find a dynojet locally to get certify numbers for NASA classing.
the biggest difference i notice is exhaust note, it's definitely a lot louder.
I had it on the dyno the other day to test the straight pipe vs muffler and both made 199 whp peak with pretty much exact power curve. This was on a mustang dyno running e85. my car with the original engine at 74k miles when i bought it made 167 whp on 93 pump gas on the same dyno. i'll need to find a dynojet locally to get certify numbers for NASA classing.
the biggest difference i notice is exhaust note, it's definitely a lot louder.
Nice. With the 5.11 diff this car is going to be properly fast now :-)
Awesome to see all the work you have put in.
05-11-2018, 07:05 AM
