1987 RX7 LS1 Swap

So that pretty much brings us to the Exxon Valdez incident detailed above, I'll try to get back to chronological order now. 

In spite dumping critical fluids all over the course, the car actually ran pretty well that day. 3rd in XSA, roughly half a second back from the class winner, and I knew I was leaving a ton of time on the table still with the old 615s. The new suspension was like magic though, I hadn't realized how much I'd been riding the bump stops until I no longer was. Street comfort was even a lot better, in spite of nearly tripling the spring rates. On the auto x course, balance was much much more neutral and I could get the power down a lot better on corner exit with the rear sway gone. Total night and day difference.

Fast forward to 5/1, points events 1 and 2 for the season. By now the new tires had shown up and I was expecting to pick up quite a bit of time, but the results surpassed my expectations. Took the class win in the AM by 0.8s on a ~38s course while still adjusting to the increased grip. By the afternoon heat, I was running about 1.3s ahead of 2nd place, who was also on new tires for that event, and still felt that there was time on the table. 
 

Unfortunately, the day was not entirely without incident. At the end of my first PM run, I thought I'd noticed the brake peddle get a little soft, a condition which worsened during the 2nd run. I still had enough of the brakes, just not all of the brakes, so I forged ahead regardless, taking a super conservative approach to my braking points. Ultimately diagnosed as a bad MC, now fixed.

Today is events 3/4, with 13 entries in XSA this morning. We'll see if we can keep the streak alive, wish me luck!

Oh, forgot to mention the drivers side door latch mechanism took a E36 M3 on a trip to the post office prior to the last event, so the door is currently stuck closed and I have to Ricky Bobby my way in through the window. I probably look like an idiot, but oh well. #Racecar

Event report from Saturday's double header, while it's still fresh enough in my head:

Big class today, 13 cars in the AM and 9 for the afternoon. Notably absent was the LS Miata, whose owner was on vacation. No worries about keeping heat in the tires, with highs around 90, although mercifully a light cloud cover held the sun at bay. Course layout was a bit different than usual on this lot, short and with some very technical sections.

I feel like I hit as many cones in one day as I did all last season and struggled all morning to put together a run that was both clean and fast. Run 1 was in the 34.6 range, then runs 2 and 3 were down to 32.9 and 33.1, respectively, but with a cone on each. Run 2 I didn't even realize I'd hit the cone and was super stoked ...until I checked live timing. Still, I was holding first place until the 4th run, when both the Civic Si and E36 M3 were able to leap frog me. With the pressure on, I dialed it back just a touch and threw down a 34.1 to take the win. 

Afternoon rolled around and after tagging another cone on run 1, I was running mid 33s consistently, with a best of 33.4. Good enough to hold off 2nd place pretty comfortably, but I was really hoping to break into the 32s. 

Best of all, we finally made it through an event with no mechanical failures! The car is driving and handling better than ever, just need to keep working on that driver mod and I know it's capable of going even faster. Played with the damper adjustments a bit for the first time just to see what it would do, although 5 clicks firmer seemed to have an adverse effect on times so I quickly reverted back to the default settings. One thing I ought to have another look at though is the rear toe, as the rear end seems slightly squirrely under braking. That's really my only complaint though, and it's a minor one.

Next event in two weeks! 

Nice work!  Fun times when the car and driver both do a good job!

Awesome! I love to see a big project come together and see some successes! Nicely done!

Thanks guys, appreciate the kind words.

So, yesterday, points events 5 and 6. Typical summer auto x weather, blazing hot and mercilessly sunny. Course layout was a bit faster and more flowing than last time, which I like. 

After run 1 in the morning, the Civic SI, an unfamiliar Audi TTS, and I were all within a tenth of each other. Run 2, with some heat in the tires, I dropped over a second, but spun coming across the finish and lost the run due to an off course. There was a 90 degree left just before the timing lights and I just got a touch too greedy on the throttle. Fairly sketchy spot too, lucky that it didn't end badly. Third run was decent, but not quite as quick, and the SI had about 0.3s advantage over me going into the final run of the morning. But, as he and I have both done to each other on numerous occasions the past couple seasons, I pulled out a hero run and took the win.

Dialing back the rear dampers 5 clicks on that last run really seemed to help settle the rear in a few spots on course, so I left them there for the afternoon and came out running consistently quick. But after run 3 I stepped out of the car and found something dripping, right about the same time someone had come over to let me know a call had come in from one of the course workers stating the same thing. FFS, here we go again . I'm earning a rep as the leaky guy and I really don't like it. I was still sitting in first and confident my time would hold, so back to the pits we go to see what's up.

PS fluid this time. One of the fittings in the conglomeration of berkeleyery connecting the pressure hose to the rack had come loose. One of those things that you look and and go "that's a failure waiting to happen" and rarely do they disappoint. Burned my arms pretty good on the headers tightening it back up and topped off with 10w30 to get me home, but at least no tow truck this time.

tough spot to get a pic, but there's a banjo to -6 AN, then a 90 -6, then a 45 -6, then the hose from the pump.

But wait, there's more!

Decided to stop at the beer distributor on the way home and when I came back out the car wouldn't start. Dead battery. Called a buddy to come give me a jump and while sitting there waiting I began pondering the problem. Car started fine all day and clearly it hadn't discharged in the 5 min I was inside the store, so it must be a charging problem, right? Then I had an aha! moment. The low voltage plug on the alternator had caused me issues once before and sits right in the vicinity of that PS hose, so I pop the hood and sure enough the hose had rotated when I tightened it and was stressing the wire going to the alternator. Jiggered around with it a bit and it seemed to be charging OK once we got it jump started. 

The culprit (not the large gauge ground wire, small weather pack plug on the alternator, PS line running through the middle of the pic)

So I've made a few resolutions following yesterday:

1) berkeley AN lines and fittings, I need to make a visit to a hose shop

2) If something looks like it's going to fail at some point, it probably is. Redo it now until waiting for the inevitable, which will almost certainly be at a less convenient time and place.

3) I think it's time to start trailering this thing. E36 M3 happens when you're racing, especially in a heavily modified vehicle, and these recent incidents have me hesitant to travel far and it's holding me back from what I want to do with this car. Unfortunately my truck is also an LS swapped Frankenstein GMT400, so how much more reliable is that thing going to be, especially with 5k+ lbs on the bumper? Probably going to dump both that thing and my FRS in favor of a decent pickup, but that's another thread...

Have a couple days off work, finally getting around to dealing with the door latch mechanism. This is a royal PITA.

In reply to Furious_E :

hi there, how you connect the speedometer to the pcm or wherever you do with the connection to put the speedometer to work?

In reply to luis ojeda :

See back on page 3. It's an electronic unit from a 3rd gen Integra fit into the RX7 cluster. Gauge face swaps right over, trim the housing to fit, and fasten it in place. Wire up leads for power, ground, and speedo signal from the PCM.

It works in that it displays a speed and more or less scales correctly (odo matches gps), but I have never been able to get it reading accurately for very long, it's about 20mph high currently. I think I need to add a positive stop at the 0 mph position and play with the clocking of the needle, but it's not that big a deal as I usually have Torque running with a gps speedo anyway.

Door opens again, so no more Dukes boys routine, although I can't lock it or it jams right back up. It seems that there is a linkage in the lock mechanism that is moving past a toggle point and jamming, but I'm not sure there is much I can do about it because a) new latch mechanisms are NLA b) I can't see jack E36 M3 in there to figure out what exactly is causing the problem and c) removing the latch assembly for repair seems likely to cause far more issues than it will solve when the dozen or so very brittle looking plastic clips attaching the rods for the door handles and locks inevitably shatter (not that I'm confident I can access them all anyway.) 

So I guess we just won't lock it from now on...

In reply to Furious_E (Forum Supporter) :

It would be *so rad* if manufacturers, if they weren't going to start reproducing NLA plastic bits, would provide models for 3D printing. I suspect there's an aversion to releasing design information like that and allowing any Tom, Dick, or Harriet to print the parts in whatever inappropriate material they have lying around... But it would nearly solve the NLA plastics thing, that just doesn't have much of a workaround.

Actually that seat looks like a royal PITA, lol.

In reply to Jesse Ransom :

That would be incredible, although I don't see it happening form the OEMs. Seems like a great idea for a side business though.

In reply to docwyte :

Lol it's not so bad with the padded cover on, I'm just in the process of removing it in the pic above. I've done 2+ hours each way to Pocono no problem.

In reply to Furious_E :

ok that's pretty cool but now the big question is how you connect the wires in the speedometer?

In reply to luis ojeda :

It's been a minute, so my memory is slightly hazy, but IIRC they're marked for power, ground, and signal and you just screw some ring terminals on.

Ok so once again I've been derelict in updating this build thread, so we have some catching up to do.

7/17, events 7/8:

Here's where the win streak comes to an end in another classic XA battle. LS swapped Miata guy was back with his new coil overs and as expected significantly quicker. He gains the edge after the first run by nearly 1.5s, I take the lead after run two by 0.050, he fights back on run three with a 0.3s advantage. 

Meanwhile, a new contender has entered the ring, as Mr Audi TTS has brought his son out to his first ever auto x and wouldn't you know he's one of those alien driving freaks, hanging just outside the fray about 0.3s behind me in third place. Wouldn't you know it, he throws down a blistering fast fourth run and takes home the win, while I settled for 3rd.
 

As luck would have it, we ran second heat in the afternoon, keeping a wary eye on some ominous looking clouds during our work assignment. I think we all got one run in before the lightning started, and with local radar not looking promising for the next few hours, the decision was made to call it. So event 8 essentially got wiped.

8/7, events 9-10:

I seem to recall feeling like I did not drive particularly well this morning, but looking back at the results Miata guy and I were within 0.2s through the first two runs. TTS kid was back again and fast out of the gate, holding about an equal gap over the Miata guy. By fourth run, I need over 0.3s to catch Miata guy and 1.4 to catch the TTS, pushed it too hard, got out of shape, and missed a gate. Third place again.

The TTS guys bailed on the afternoon event, but another father-son team in an E36 M3, who I've run against before at Pocono, managed to find enough time since the morning to get themselves right into the mix. The kid took a slight lead on me after run one, while Miata guy picked up a cone and landed in third. I ended up coning  run two, while Miata guy jumped into the lead. I coned again on run three (same one I think,)  which I remember being really pissed about because it was a blazing fast run and I had no idea I hit the damn thing until I checked live timing, while Miata guy had an off and the Bimmer jumped into the lead by about 0.04s.

Sitting third heading into run four, I was feeling pretty good about my last run, just needed to steer a few mm further away from that pesky cone. Bimmer guy went first and was unable to improve upon his third run. I was next and threw down a solid run, good enough to move into the lead by 0.2s. Miata guy was last and pulled out a hero run, claiming first by 0.4s. 
 

Win or lose, these are the kind of days that keep me coming back to bake in a parking lot in 95 degree heat. Hats off to a great battle and well deserved win. 

Ok, now we're current again.

10/2, events 11-12:

Course walk looked like a scene out of a post-apocalyptic zombie flick:

Some stiff competition this day: The TTS guys were back, Miata dude had another local hot shoe codriving with him, and an unfamiliar but serious looking Civic Type R  had shown up as well. After a chilly start to the day, we were happy to be running third heat, by which time the pavement had warmed considerably. Good to see fellow GRMer AWSX(some numbers) there codriving with one of our regulars in his supercharged SSM Miata.

I felt that I drove pretty well, and indeed I bested Miata guy for the first time since he got his coil overs, but TTS kid keeps getting quicker and quicker, taking home his third class win now in as many events. I think he and the CTR both had me by over 1s, landing me another third.

The TTS bailed again on the afternoon, leaving me to hold off the Miata again and chase the Civic. Very fast and flowing course this week, which had me bouncing the limiter in a couple spots. One of those was just before the entry to the slalom, which required just a dab of brake to get settled in for. Well on run one I guess I grabbed too little, came in hot on cold tires and spun bigly at the second gate, sending a few course workers running. Oops. 
 

But I figured this was a good omen:

Sure enough, runs 2-3 we're clean and tidy, right about where my fastest from the morning was and ahead of Miata guy.
 

By run four, I had second place locked up and nothing to lose, and wouldn't you know it I managed to drop over 0.7s, pulling within 0.3 of the CTR. Even though it wasn't good enough for the win, I still felt great ending the day on that note. I felt like that was my best run of the year, I'd given it all she had and picked up the 44.xx I'd been chasing all day. 
 

And perhaps most importantly, that was enough to lock up the class championship for the season!

Two events still to go on 10/30.