BigBadChris

iTrader: (4)

It's only because I have been indecisive. I will shoot you a PM about your fuel pump solution. Go big or go home!

Brettus

iTrader: (2)

any progress ?

BigBadChris

iTrader: (4)

The car was removed from a storage unit and is parked outside my mechanics shop. He has worked out the Sohn adapter clearance issue. I know it's not necessary, I know not all people use them, but I think it's a good idea.

Received a new radiator fan from Scott at RX8Performance. That will go in at some point.

Ari still needs to build the engine. He's a great dude, but he moves at a glacial pace.

I think I need a new tune so I can pass inspection. Brett, I'll shoot you a PM this month. I don't need a full tune, just something to turn off the annoying lights on the dash.

Brettus

iTrader: (2)

Hope he gets on to it soon .... good to hear it's still progressing !

BigBadChris

iTrader: (4)

Ari moved it from storage to his shop. He says its next in line, just needs to get a pretty silver RX7 off the lift first.

Johnson Yong

My mech just did testing on fitment of the TD04 turbo. on a 4p 4AT 2004

i have pics, but not sure why its not showing

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

It's an error between the floor and the keyboard.

BigBadChris

iTrader: (4)

Update time.

Install is finished. Put 1000 miles on the motor before removing the bypass pipe and turning on the boost. Build details:

New six port plates
Reused rotors and housings
Rotary Aviation super apex seals
Housings and plates were machined for 10mm studs
Porting by Ari Yallon
Pineapple Racing HD coolant seals
Mazmart oil pressure mod
AN -8 oil lines to coolers
RX8Performance oil pan
RX8Performance oil cooler fans
RX7.com oil cooler thermostats
Mazmart remedy thermostat
RX8Performance radiator and fan kit
RX8Performance Electric Water Pump
Sohn adapter modified to coexist with turbo
CE Auto Electric battery relocation kit
RX8Performance rotary canister trio
RX8Perfomance coolant expansion tank
Greedy coolant temperature sensor
Resurfaced stock flywheel from a donor car
New ACT clutch
JDM five speed transmission
Series 2 starter
Driveshaft from donor car
Deatschwerks 2.5L surge tank
DW250iL pump
AN -6 fuel supply to engine
Stock fuel line is return to tank
KG parts fuel rails
Injector Dynamics 1000cc injectors in P2 and Secondary
Sake Bomb Garage IGN 1A coils
Aeromotive 1:1 rising rate fuel pressure regulator
AEM Truboost gauge and boost controller
AEM UEGO wide and gauge
Dashboard vent gauge pod
HKS SSQV 4 Black Edition Recirculating BOV

Custom RX8Performance low mount turbo kit
Borla exhaust

Rotorpros drilled and slotted rotors
Hawk ceramic brake pads
Edelbrock stainless steel brake lines

Mazdaspeed shocks and springs
Mazdapseed front and rear sway bars
Mazdaspeed front strut tower brace

Optimatrays.com optima 35 tray in trunk

I would never have completed this project without the hard work and long hours put in by Ari and Wayne at RX7.com. They endured endless questions, changes and late night phone calls. Ari built the engine, provided the manual transmission donor car, and located the JDM transmission. He and Wayne performed the auto to manual conversion according to the guidelines published by Rotary Resurrection.

Scott at RX8Performance rebuilt the turbo kit with new pipes, installed the second oil cooler and made custom oil lines. He also provided the radiator, oil pan and full exhaust. Scott was also instrumental in answering my questions and providing Ari and I with assembly guidance. I could not have done it without him.

The car was finished and delivered to me in early July. I drove it to Houston for my father to enjoy. He purchased the car in August of 2005 as a 50th birthday present to himself. My younger sister was learning to drive at that time, so he got an automatic so she could drive it too. He and I always regretted it being an auto, the "paddle shifters" just weren't the same. When the original engine failed, we decided to rebuild the car as a manual and turn it into a true sports car. He was thrilled to see it again, but I told him it couldn't be driven hard because the motor was still fresh and needed to be broken in.

I completed 1000 miles in October and the car went back to RX7.com. They installed the gauges and sensors, boost controller and solenoid, and redid the fuel system. The bypass pipe was removed and the waste gate installed. The brakes and rotors were also replaced at this time. Due to a scheduling conflict (I went to two World Series games in Houston!) we had to postpone the original dyno appointment. Steve Kan asked me to wait two weeks and scheduled it November 11. During that time I took the car to Ari's friend Chris (a local rotary enthusiast who owns a body shop). Chris repainted the lower front bumper and the side sills. Both had been damaged by road debris and rock chips and had become discolored. I could not be more pleased with the work Chris did, the match is perfect and the car has never looked better.

BigBadChris

iTrader: (4)

Yesterday I took the car to Steve Kan at PRT Performance. Steve encountered some boost inconsistencies (spikes and boost loss at high rpm) as well as ignition breakup under boost. Those were sorted out with boost controller and dwell time settings. We got up to 7 psi but began seeing power loss at 5k rpm. We removed the APV stepper motor (the APVs are permenantly open in this configuration). The turbo and the APV motor occupy the same space, so the turbo won. The APV motor had been removed but still connected. We removed it and verified the SSV was working correctly.

At that time Steve had another customer arriving and he wanted a dinner break. I was unable to stay as I had to work that evening, so I left the car with Steve and took an Uber to work. (I work as a video engineer for NBA and NHL games here in Dallas, being absent is not an option).

I will contact Steve on Monday and see where we are. He said he needed more time with the car, he was a little rusty with Cobb tuning on the RX8.

Updates to follow!

Edit: mods, can I get this thread out of AT-specific performance modifications now? I'm a member of the three pedal club now!

Brettus

iTrader: (2)

Check all the vacuum hoses are piped up correctly and for boost leaks ! If spark and afrs are good it then comes down to making sure all the air produced from the turbo is going to the right place !

BigBadChris

iTrader: (4)

Please don't laugh, but I did hear a lot of noises under the hood during a pull. (Was watching the SSV) We had to relocate the boost line to the AEM controller and blow off valve. It was plugged into the vac line coming off the UIM, drivers side. We tapped the intercooler pipe and got boost from in front of the throttle body instead. I wonder if that other line under the UIM wasn't capped properly, I could have been hearing a boost leak.

​​​​​​Will touch base with Steve tomorrow morning.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

Thought maybe you went with the Adaptronic. That’s his specialty.

BigBadChris

iTrader: (4)

Strange he didn't mention that. He mentioned that he had not done an RX8 on Cobb for some time but thought it was still the best option. I hate to throw more money at the problem, but if Adaptronic is what he's best at then maybe that's the way to go.

Brettus

iTrader: (2)

There are numerous spots that could be leaking, jet air hose where it meets the steel line is a classic spot . I always ask people to do a boost leak test before I even attempt to tune . Waste of time tuning a leaky setup .

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Boost from in front of the TB? From the UIM is where it should be, each with it's own port. And why did you mess with the APV's?

Brettus

iTrader: (2)

in front of throttle for ebc controller is actually better than post throttle- better throttle control. But the blow off valve should definitely be post throttle.

BigBadChris

iTrader: (4)

The turbo and the APV stepper motor cannot share the same space. Turbo wins that one. It was something that I wasnt aware of when I bought the kit (four port motor at that time) and I just had to deal with when we made it a six port. I was less than thrilled when it came up, but cant cry about it now. Make the most of it and move on.

Will double check where BOV was plumbed. The techs at PRT were doing the work, I was just holding the flashlight as needed. We were on the dyno so things were a little rushed.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Well that's not how my HKS is setup and I have never seen another EBC that recommends it to be set up that way. But everyone has an opinion I guess, so whatever works.

Sounds like a heck of a setup, I can't even imagine how you will get it running right on the Cobb with the APV's open all the time. I love Steve and he tuned my turbo RX-8 on the Cobb but you definitley have to have everything running right before he can do his work.

And if you are considering the adaptronic, I'd suggest that you wait for the new plug an play to be proven first.

Brettus

iTrader: (2)

Yeah a lot of them do recommend you do it that way ..... I'm just saying it's better pre throttle not necessarily that those instructions are wrong.

With it post throttle , precise throttle control becomes an issue when the turbo spools quickly .... not so much on a slow spooling turbo. It's quite a subtle difference , something you will only notice when you are trying to feather the throttle on high speed corners at medium to high rpm .

BigBadChris

iTrader: (4)

I am going to reach out to Williard. He has the same kit and I think Kane did the tune. I assume he found a way to make it work with Auxes open all the time.

I agree 100%. If I go that route, no reason to spend money on the current (old) model. I would not want to be the guinea pig for the new one, either. Speaking of Adaptronic, how did Hoss's setup turn out?

RX-Tuner

Congratulations on getting it on the rollers Chris, looking forward to your results. Steve shouldn't have any issues tuning it with the APV open, it's like tuning a large streetported 4-port engine.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Willards engine **** the bed in short order so I wouldn't be modeling anything after his build but why start making good decisions now. Send it.

Hoss's setup turned out fine but he is not taking advantage of the larger turbo and the Adaptronic is more useless than the Cobb IMO. The issues with the current tuning options is drivability, not WOT runs. Mine is running well on the E85 mix but it's still finicky at random times for no apparent reason so I have settled at not ******* with it anymore since it runs great 90% of the time.. But running E85 is another PIA even though I have a couple of stations close that carry it.

BigBadChris

iTrader: (4)

I didnt know his engine failed, thats a bummer. I thought he did the rebuild himself but I could be mistaken. Ive tried to be polite to you for a long time now, but you just pop back up and talk crap. I know Ive heard that "why start making good decisions now" line before.

You dont like me, you dont like the decisions Ive made? Thats your right. But please take it somewhere else. You and I both know what that comment is about and who it was directed towards, and I wont have it in my thread. Take your vendetta against Scott and go vent somewhere else. There is a time and place for those opinions, and it isnt in my build thread.

This build did not go the way I planned, anyone can see that. I dont blame Scott, Ari, Wayne or myself for the problems that occurred, thats life, **** goes wrong sometimes. I have done and am doing the best I can with the information I have. Maybe it will work, maybe it wont. Saturday afternoon put a smile on my face from ear to ear, because the months of waiting, the second guessing and the thousands of dollars had finally turned into something.

I stopped posting on here because I didnt have a lot of news to report, and frankly because I was sick of justifying my decisions to the internet. The only person I have to explain them to is myself and my builder, and even he understands that the customer is always right because its MY DAMN CAR.

Ill update this when its finished, I am waiting for a call back from Steve.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

So sensitive, and you don't know **** because I wasn't referring to any one bad decision in particular, I was just referring to the path of the build all together. I could care less who you blame or don't blame and it's your money, keep doing it how you're doing it.

If you feel like you need to justify your decisions on the internet, then that is on you, don't whine to me about it.

Brettus

iTrader: (2)

Williards engine let go from a coolant seal failure ... And BTW I did the tuning for him (and am doing the rebuilt engine too as far as i know) . It's very easy to sit back and point fingers but it's actually a really hard thing to get a turbo 8 running properly . That fact that you (9k) openly admit that yours doesn't run 100% doesn't mean it couldn't if some more effort were put into it .