So assembly did not happen today. I'm a little more than dissapointed..but tomorrow is a new day.

My inspiration

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I found this in my nephew's Hot Wheels collection. It was originally mine many years ago...hell a couple decades ago. It was a gift shortly after my father bought his first RX-7...an FB. I had forgotten I even had it, but it's kinda nice to see my inspirations as a kid turned into an adult hobby.

Keep after it, you will get it eventually. Just remember that it is a project and a hobby, that should help to keep you from working so hard at it that you burn out.

^ Thanks, I got stressed out trying to get as much done as possible before starting a new position. Now that I've started I'm content waiting. And good thing. I've needed to replace a couple cracked water jacket seals. I had to decide about a middle iron that got corroded mysteriously. While waiting for the water seals to arrive I decided to buy new side seals for one of the rotors.

Story on the side seals are that I bought an FD rotor as a replacement. I meticulously kept track of the side seals and corner seals. Kept track of which slot each one came from. My original good rotor I did not keep such good organization. When it came time to spec out the side seals I found some interesting numbers. Every one of the FD side seals and corner seals were in spec between the two. On the FC rotor I could not find one that was in spec. They were all at .007, one or two was at .008. As reference FSM specs are .0025-.006.

I'm going with new side seals on the FC.

Other updates:
I've got the subframe on the original turbo vert dropped. Differential off and ready to go. I also moved the red turbo vert to my sister's pole barn to make the swap happen. The pole barn is large enough that I can put the verts side by side. Get both subframes and differentials off and swap them.

As an added bonus her family lives on a lake. When it gets too hot I jump in the lake....literally.

As soon as the heat wave passes I'll start prepping body parts for paint. Ideally I'd like to paint the hood, scoop, side skirts, front bumper, lip and touch up a few spots on the body. We'll see how much time allows for.

The waiting is the hardest part...... (in my best Tom Petty voice)

water seals are here. New side seals were on back order from Atkins and the dealership wanted $15 a piece for them. Side seals are now on their way.

In the meantime I've got all the molding off the hood. I was going to paint both the OEM and MS scoops. BUT the OEM scoop is pretty far gone and needs ALOT of work to save it. The front bumper is off. All I need is time so I can get to an autobody supply shop for my wetsanding.

Engine is mostly assembled. I have to check end play on the eccentric shaft. To do that I need to take the engine either to a friends shop or any shop that will use their air tools to torque down the flywheel nut so that I can test end play.

The other option is to research how to torque down that nut with a 150lb torque wrench and a big bar. I know it can be done but not sure what's involved with the whole process. If anyone can toss me some advice it'd be greatly appreciated.

In the mean time I was concerned about whether my turbo blanket would fit so I mocked things up to make sure I didn't have to make any changes. The blanket does touch the LIM and thats with only minimal torque on the nuts. I think it will work out just fine though. I put the UIM on for the hell of it.

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:lol: minivan

No worries about the ~360 lb-ft torque spec in the FSM.

Most 1/2" impact guns are rated around 250 - 500 lb-ft.
Just zap it with the gun for about 10 seconds.
Good enough.
Don't forget the thread sealant / locker on the threads and mating face of the nut facing the engine.


-Ted

Actually its a Prius if you took enough time to look :P I am driving a minivan at times though. What I really love is driving the minivan to my friends tuner shop and the looks the dorifto kids give me.


I talked to the friend who owns a shop. His impact gun is rated to somewhere in the 200s. I was concerned about it but he says he's put a flywheel on an RX7 and they've had no issues with it.

I've used my Sears Craftsman Professional *electric* 1/2" impact gun in a pinch - that's all we had at the time.
That gun is only rated at 270 lb-ft.
I typically use Permatex "PST" (pipe sealant with teflon) to seal the flywheel nut to the flywheel / rear counterweight and Loctite red on the threads.
I've never had the assembly loosen.


-Ted

He told me how much his impact wrench was rated for and IIRC it was in the 220s. His shop is just down the road from where I work. If his air tools will be enough it'd be an easy process to have the partially assembled engine in the van with the stand. Put it on the stand at his shop. Hit the nut with his impact gun. Test my endplay at his shop. Remove the nut and drive everything over to the garage where the swap is happening. Once the engine is fully assembled I can repeat the process just before install.

I honestly just tightened my flywheel nut with a huge breaker bar to "Frikkentight" german specs... It never came loose lol. And yes, you need to put locktight on it too.

Love the build progress. I also had some of my stuff powdercoated during my own rebuild and it looked so awesome out of the car. Then once it was in the car I couldnt see it anymore...

Point is, Think of all the stuff that goes ON TOP of the UIM/LIM/engine and get that powdercoated too! I forgot a few things (brackets mostly) and they dont look as good rattle canned as my powdercoated stuff. stuff like block off plates, AC bracket, oil filler neck, throttle cable bracket, IC piping, BAC valve.

I also went through the trouble of polishing the Mazda logo on my engine, but its kinda depressing how impossible it is to see after it's installed.

I got all the parts I chose to have done either black or silver. My cold side of the turbo is the same silver as my homemade TID and my IC charge pipe. I got my InfiniIV strut bar ends the same silver. Eventually I'll get the actual bar done in red, probably the same time I do my front brakes.

I did all my pulleys in the same black as the rest. I didn't do my p/s and a/c bracket. I have an a/c only bracket that I'll eventually be using but need to get the matching a/c compressor.

Ted, my endplay came up way off. If I'm reading my dial indicator correctly I'm looking at .005 rather than the .0016-.0028. I took the keg to the friends shop to use his air tools. I tested it there. It's still in the back of the van cause I'm waiting for someone to come home and help me lift it out.

The only things I can think of are these:

1. My Atkins dvd states that I should have 60lbs on the front bolt. I checked my FSM and it says 80-89ish.
   
2. Or maybe that I didn't put the crush washer on front bolt. I wasn't sure when to put it on. During endplay test or wait for final assembly of the front cover, oil pump, etc. I erred on the side of caution, not wanting to crush my crush washer when testing end play.

I left the flywheel tightened down and once help gets here I'll get the engine back on the stand and play with more torque and the crush washer.

IIRC my front spacer is a "K" and buying thinner spacers is an option of course, but having almost twice as much as the end spectrum of movement seems like an awful lot. I did have to replace a rotor and housing. But was hoping that using mostly the same parts would mean not having to get a different spacer.

Nah, I think you're overthinking it.
We just normally hand tighten the front eccentric shaft bolt and then check endplay spec.
I've only had to adjust one down or one up front he original spacer in some cases.
I just took a peek at the FSM on the available spacers, and you're still within the available spacer options - you need like a -0.003"?


Yeah, that's the problem with changing out housings - that's what causes the different endplay clearances. :(
0.003" is like paper thin - ever see the clearance gauge for that amount?
Stop beating yourself up about it...


-Ted