For the 5 years I was boosted on the auto... Yes.

For the 750 miles manual, nope and driving the car now NA I would've been completely happy if I had not tried.

 

I am 6'7" and have no problem with my clutch in my 8. I assume even if you did the swap, the clutch petal would be located in a similar position as stock.

 

Thanks, Love Hounds. Maybe I'm just built different? I tried driving my buddies 2004, and there just wasn't enough room to maneuver. My mechanic has assured me he can move the seat rails back a few inches "it's just metal, dude!".

 

The clutch pedal goes in the exact same place as it would if it were a manual from the start. All of the mounting points are there... waiting for the pedal.

 

Shell, did you run the car in a manual transmission with the adaptronic and the 4 port ecu, or the adaptronic and the 6 port?

 

For the first year or two I ran 4AT motor and ECU w/ Cobb NA
Then I ran 4AT motor and ECU w/ Cobb + GReddy for another two or so years
Then I ran 4AT motor and ECU w/ Adaptronic + GReddy + MEP for another two or so years
Then I ran 6MT motor and 4AT ECU w/ Adaptronic + GReddy + MEP for about 4 months
Currently I'm running 6MT motor and 6MT ECU stock

Epifan transferred my MEP license for me to the new 6MT ECU and gave me my baseline (dump) hex file. I'll be using it to suppress P0420 to pass inspection but plan to cut either my stock midpipe or TXS catback (whichever is easier) to go full stock w/ no divine intervention.

 

If I understand correctly, you were able to suppress the CEL that would be caused by removing the entire transmission?

 

yup... U0101 but you also lose TSC/DSC and cruise control

 

Well, that was a great plan for about five seconds. My buddy has an REW swapped RX8, he never drives it.....because the traction control doesnt work. He said 300whp without traction control isnt a recipe for success. Since the dude has run a 9 second 1/4 mile, I trust his judgement.

Edit: I wasn't mocking you, Shell dude. I had my own brilliant plan to do a five speed JDM swap. All the fun of rowing your own gears, without the messy brain transplant.

Best of luck, Shelldude. I hope you find a car that your wallet and your heart can agree on.

 

thanks man.... i'll probably hang out here from time to time regardless of what I drive.

and yeah, I solved the wallet issue about 4 months ago. 10 year bumper to bumper warranty and 350 whp to keep me satisfied.

 

There is one of those in my apartment building. His is more of a titanium silver. Chrome wheels, red brake calipers. Its the most grown up boy racer car I have ever seen.

 

it feel like a boat compared to my lowered 8 but is still fun to drive... handles well but again not as nice as my 8.... the power though... heh.... i really do enjoy the extra power with no fuss.

 

Engine is out of the car. It had to come out the bottom, which was a little more than Ari bargained for.

It is getting torn down this week, and we will assess what went wrong.

In other news, after the engine is reinstalled, this thread will need to be moved out of the AT section. Six port five speed swap, here I come!

 

 

I think you'll have a **** ton of fun with the 5 speed!

 

Whats the problem, Team? Have I stopped being entertaining?

 

Where did you find the 5 speed?

 

JDM importer here in Dallas.

 

How much and did they have more?

 

That's where I got my motor/trans combo

 

400. And I am not sure if they have more. Ari is also interested in one, but everytime we talk about it, he says "I dont know, I have too many project cars". (He gave me the idea, he was looking for one to mount up to his REW swap'd 8).

 

Engine has been torn down. Ari said he had never seen an engine like this before. Front rotor was in good shape, just a lot of carbon on the rotor itself. The back rotor was not so good. The oil control rings were worn very heavily, and the side housings were etched from wear. Ari said the rear rotor looked much much worse than 30k miles. I asked about oil injectors, he said that wasn't the issue. Likewise the oil squirter inside the e shaft. The oil pan (with less than 10 miles on both it and the oil!) and the oil were filthy with carbon. Black stains everywhere. I am not sure what would cause that.

He is hesitant to immediately rebuild, as we need to be certain that we know what caused the accelerated wear. I can appreciate his caution, I would hate to build a new motor and be right back in this spot.

The six port vs four port debate continues, likewise the auto vs manual. Ari says he can do the work, but has several questions and concerns. He is of the mind that a four port will respond better to turbocharging, given the longer power stroke. He is also quick to point out that when Mazda introduced the turbo 2, there was a high power turbo four port, and a low power NA six port. Likewise, the 20b is only two intakes per rotor. I cannot argue with those points. Instead I look to the number of successful turbo six ports, and the power numbers they produce.

I will be honest, I have many questions and very few answers. I will continue to research the six port swap, and try to track down the needed parts from local junkyards. I cannot say that I am pleased, considering I started this project the day after Memorial Day, and it is now the middle of October. I am beginning to question if I have the resolve to continue this project. I will of course lose a ton of money, since used turbo kits don't exactly hold their value. Likewise, my engine is currently in twenty pieces, so I am several thousand dollars away from a running and driving car.

Time to dig deep and think the long thoughts.

 

Maybe the omp itself ?

 

I asked about that. The apex seals and side seals were in good shape, which he felt eliminated the OMP as a cause.

 

I've seen some pretty bad wear in the side plates (while side seals looked ok) from insufficient omp oiling ...