As long as the radiator is in the factory position the entire engine bay is just a huge mass of hot air looking for a heat sink

The only solution is to relocate the radiator in a V-mount position exhausting down under the car and ducting the incoming fresh air into it with some diverted off to the engine bay

Mazda really f'd that up IMO

 

Yep--unless you are traveling greater than 30-35 mph the engine bay is going to heat up. At speeds greater than 35 mph there are a few little things you can do that help. But hit slower speeds for any length of time and it will get hot again.

 

Nature of the beast it seems, I'll admit performance aspect black may not have been the most intellectual discussion. But I am more than satisfied with how it turned out and how clean it will make the build. Will have to wait and see what my IAT's turn out to be.

 

Quick update, unfortunately this will be the last update until late May as I wont be in the states to work on the car. So here's how everything sits as of now. Motor is fully assembled just needs coils and pulley's and is ready to go in. Engine bay is reassembled as much as I can until I get new coolers and Radiator in. On the bright side at least when I get back all these parts will be here waiting for me so getting everything up and running wont take long at all, shooting for a late June completion date assuming I can snag up a good deal on a transmission between now and then

Here's how she will be sitting docile for a couple months

 

just read the whole thread (so far), and this is awesome. i am looking to do something similar down the road. very very good stuff. looking forward to the rest and may just have to beat your door down when working on my 8. props on doing it all the right way!

 

Starting to get that spring time itch, to bad I'm 10,000 miles away from my garage

Ordered:

Coolers
Lines
Fittings
Gauges
TB bypass

And the pile grows.

 

keep ya head down then--come home and get to work!

 

and its my time to see some progress

 

I honestly wish I had the ability to rebuild a car like this, keep it up. =)

 

Its not that bad, once you get started. Im just wrapping up all my parts purchases. Ill be home in 51 days, so the car will be running in the next 52 days

 

Good work. Pettit is one of the engine builders I am considering for a future rebuild along with Mazmart. I wonder if they will install the Mazmart oil pressure regulator to increase oil pressure?

Has anyone done a creamic coat on the LIM to keep it cool.

 

I ordered the Mazmart regulator separately, its not that hard to swap out. Shouldn't need Pettit to do it for you.

Now if only paul could give me a price on the rest of my parts so I can send him a lot of money

 

*Update*

On the verge of ordering my last part, the S2 trans. When I talked to my parts guy at the dealer 3 months ago I received a price of $2200 ish for the trans. Called him on the phone today and its now $2800 plus tax seems really high

So I contacted MazdaTrix and they can have one shipped to my door for $2400, I have never purchased anything from them and have not heard a lot of talk about them. Are they reputable, or would I have to worry about receiving the wrong/damaged parts or nothing at all.

 

The are reliable, but you would be better off buying a used one. It will be half the cost. I've seen them go used for $1200~$1500.

EDIT:
In fact...
here you go.

$1000 + 2 quarts of gear oil.
https://www.rx8club.com/mw-sale-want...5/#post4476764

 

They are reputable from what I have heard. Call different dealerships, the parts guys get a cut so some dealers are **** suckers and mark **** up. Here locally I have seen 50% price differences between dealers, it is insane. heck even on services the mark ups are nuts. One of local dealers charges $100.00 for a compression test and the other dealer down the road charges $168.00.

I would call Rosenthal Mazda or Med Center Mazda.

The problem with used ones is they can say it had whatever mileage they want on it. Mine is used but I am pulling it put of an R3 with 9,000 miles on it so I know the mileage.

 

Considering anything I buy used I wouldn't feel safe enough to install and expect to last unless I also had it rebuilt, and since the quality of "Mazda" rebuilt trans are not worth a damn and would put me up to around what a new one would cost anyways I just prefer to buy new.

That and I am notoriously analytical I really just don't like used parts, a more expensive outlook but I spend less time re-replacing things.

Funny thing is, this is "My" area dealer. They all know me and I am good friends with the GM there, so I get the best prices. Unfortunately they are a multi brand dealer and only one of the parts guys is worth a damn. I don't recall his name so i couldn't ask for him.

You know its going to be a bad conversation when the first thing he says is "I can't order any parts for you without a VIN#, even if you do have the P/N"

 

Yeah, most dealer parts guys are idiots. The stuff I have been told over the years is just mind blowing. Last month called the parts guy at my dealer for a price and he told me a 09+ RX-8 starter would not fit on my 04'. I told him the tranny and starter both fit in a 04-08 RX-8 and he got all pissy and said, "I think I would know, I have been doing this for 20 years". I just laughed.

One of our local SARX guys works at that dealer as a tech and while he is no Rotary expert by any stretch, he is at least is trying to learn and has the right attitude. He says all the older techs and parts guys all hate being told when they are wrong and will defend a wrong position to the death,

One of our members was told by a dealer tech that her 19" wheels and too sticky tires were the reason her Mazdaspeed clutch failed after only a couple thousand miles,

 

Its done, trans ships out today. With that I now have all the parts to wrap this build up.

 

Finally getting some TLC time to do reassembly, should be running by the weekend depending on the parts I am waiting for. Little teaser........







Because I am retentive, and I had 5 months to think about all the mistakes I could have made, I need help clarifying one thing. The APV Valve position unit, needs to be at 1 o'clock (shown below) now is the at full clock or counterclockwise, also which is open and which is closed. As I do not want to take the motor out to fix this later I need to be quite sure I have it correct.

 

Busy weekend, before I start the 9-5 rigamarole its time for an update.

Bulk is done just working on the finishing touches plus some electrical work this afternoon and then its ready to be fired up.


Motor in W/ BHR coils


S2 Trans W/ a little color (install was much easier than expected, fits like a glove.)



PPF back in (forgot how heavy and awkward this thing is)


Oil filter relocation, for some reason my kit came with no 90 degree fittings, but after running out and grabbing some this thing mounts perfectly right next to the starter on the crossmember and makes access real quick and easy.





Pulley's in I will let you all guess on the brand (I know I am going to get a lot of hate or envy I'm good either way )


Finally the all debatable Oil Coolers from Rx8performance. Install was a bit time consuming as the lines are not the most flexible and getting the best routing path was trial and error, once everything was routed fitment was perfect. All coolers, lines, fittings, tstat fit with only minor modification the the splash tray.





Still hoping for the 4th to be able to drive it, waiting on a part from Mazda as the trans did not come with the shifter plate and the S1 wont work . Aeromotive should be here later today compliments of Shelldude, thanks for holding it for me . Then one other surprise tid bit that I am waiting on coating, I should be able to run a temporary until it gets finished though depends on how anxious I get.

 

Nice work.

What kind of oil coolers does that kit use? The price of that kit seems ridiculous unless they are high end coolers. But judging by the quality of his oil cooler fan kit I bet they are cheap stuff. Were your factory coolers damaged?

 

I honestly didn't even think to look for the brand, I will when I get home.

Yes I think the price is a bit steep, but considering the RB lines for an extra 500 bucks you get new coolers and an external tstat in an all in one kit that is ready to bolt in. To me it was worth the cost as I did not want to mess with sourcing and building my own. I'm sure I could have done it cheaper, I just would rather pay the money then spend the time needed.

Stock coolers were not broken, but 10 years without guards, most fins where bent, paint chips, lines were corroding pretty bad.

Just time for a replacement.

 

Cool, hopefully they are efficient coolers. But without spec sheets you will never know. Are you monitoring oil temps?

 

Yup, will be interesting to see what my readings will be.

Upgraded regulator plus Pettit's machining of the internals will post up logs and numbers when I have some.

 

Cool, it will be interesting to see what oil pressure readings you get. When I had the Mazmart regulator my pressures were very high (130psi or so) and with my pineapple one I max out at 100psi which I think is better.