I'm putting off the turbo and wastegate...
 

But not for very long. I had "ordered" the turbo and wastegate already, but was going to pay with my IRS tax refund. But the turbo and wastegate do me absolutely no good until the Haltech is in and all the needed fuel delivery equipment is installed.

So rather than buying the turbo right now, I'm going to pay for the Haltech, the injectors, fuel pump, pressure regulator, the RX7 ignitor-toggle module, MSD DIS2-HO and a pair of MSD DIS coils.

That's not exactly gonna all be covered by the tax refund wink.gif but this will ultimately get the project moving along at a faster rate.

Still on schedule to drop the block at the machine shop next Friday.

-Red-

red man...are you ever going to stop working on that damn engine? :D why dont you just give me all that money your spending and ill make it for you. LoL.. with a 200 shot of nitrous and a reciept :D :D :D

Yeah, I thought my tax refund was going to finish paying the car off. But I was mistaken . . .my initial figures had me owing $1k, but after running the official numbers, I only owe like $200 or so. Still sucks, 'cause I had plans for that money . . . smile.gif

And last year I got a refund. DOH!

Looks like I'll have to wait a bit for the turbo anyway, since I need to research upgrading engines or getting fuel maps for the 1.8L.

So Red,
what is the order you're doing the upgrades? or more important, are you doing them in batches (to help isolate the many gremlins that will pop up)?

ac

[ January 30, 2002: Message edited by: Curtas ]

You have it exactly right: I'm indeed going in "batches" to eliminate as many gremlins as possible :cool:

First step is the engine build. In two weeks (well two weeks and two days) I will have a brand-spanking "new" engine -- new pistons, rods, bearings, seals, gaskets, springs, blah blah blah you get it. I'm going to drop this engine into the car without changing a damn thing except the spark plugs. Stock computer, stock fuel delivery, all the same parts I have right now. This way, if anything starts acting up, I'm almost guaranteed that it's something actually with the engine itself.

Once the engine is broken in and working at 100% with all the stock fuel/computer equipment, we drop in the MSD parts. I doubt this will cause many problems, so after a week of "observation" we'll install the Haltech + RX7 Ingitor toggle + 720's + Bosch pump + FPR. THIS will be probably the hardest part of the whole ordeal. We know the engine is working, we know the MSD is working, so any problems at this point are likely computer related.

After all the fuel, ignition, computer and engine equipment is happy I will finally bolt on the manifold + turbo + wastegate + plumbing + bov + IC. If it starts acting dumb, it's more than likely because the turbo setup is missing something.

Then when it starts making 400WHP and turns the transmission into sand :D I'll swap out for my hybrid tranny, Quaife and likely one of those multi-disk clutches that Cheuk has been recommending. If the stock pressure plate eats itself alive after 300lbs of torque, then I fully intend to destroy it :D

Full suspension rework is after the tranny; coilovers, poly bushings everywhere I can get to, lower and upper tie braces and a big-brake upgrade.

In about a year and a half when it's all done :cool: I'll worry about making it look good.

-Red-

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>Originally posted by Red:

In about a year and a half when it's all done :cool: I'll worry about making it look good.

-Red-</div>

when this happens. come talk to me LoL
:D :D :D

Red-

Sorta off topic, but sorta not.

have you given any thought to using the "digital" DIS-2 unit? From what I can tell, it should give you better control over spark timing and such vs the Haltec.

My only concern is how the haltec would handle being second-guessed. My guess is not well, unless you have "A MASTER" like The Hitman tuning them both, it is better to go with just the "normal" or "HO" DIS-2 units.

The reason I ask is that my "dream" is to go with a programmable Digital DIS-4 and control each cylinders spark seperatly, rather than the 'waste spark' system we have now.

Your thoughts? Or am I just over complicating things as usual?

The DIS-4 wiring setup would be, um, very interesting wink.gif to engineer onto these cars. And while I'm very sure we could do it, it would still not be an optimal setup.

There's no way in hell I could begin to figure out timing on INDIVIDUAL cylinders -- I can guesstimate a general rule and the Haltech is advanced enough to do everything we need.

So no, after spending $1150 on a Haltech, I couldn't validate the need to spend another $150 extra on a secondary ignition timing mechanism. Just not needed smile.gif

-Red-

dunno if this is a concern or not, but you might want to think about a grenade blanket for the tranny if you're leaving it stock and waiting for it to blow... Hate to have it send a gear through you and then you paid all that money for an engine, it blows the tranny and kills you eh?

Hahahahaha! I was kinda joking about the tranny grinding into sand, but you bring up an interesting point.

Still, I've NEVER seen a FWD with enough power to blow input-shaft parts out of the bellhousing. Old-skool domestics are certainly capable, but you suppose this little rice grinder can do that?

I'm actually most concerned not about the drive gears but actually the pressure plate shelling into multiple pieces. Hmm, that could be nasty huh? Damn...

Aw screw you, now you're making me nervous, bastard! :D

-Red-

Nervous like when your little sister puts her finger right next to your eyeball and says "I'm not *touching* yoouuuu" while you are squaling to mom in the front seat who is turning red while dad's knuckles turn white on the wheel? :D :D :D

Seriously though dude, it's something to at least seriously consider. Heck even a reinforced firewall is better than nothing. I read a story of a guy who lost a buddy to a blown driveline. Then he had his life saved by a piece of boilerplate between him and the spinning bits. It was a long time ago, and drag-domestics, but still...

...our track have some grip here, not like some *other* countries. :D **cough*korea*coughcough** :D :D