Check out mini cooper s batteries, smallish and lightish with pretty decent cca. Lots of 6 cyl BMW guys use them to shave some weight.
Check out mini cooper s batteries, smallish and lightish with pretty decent cca. Lots of 6 cyl BMW guys use them to shave some weight.
I have the stock Mazda power steering cooler on the return line and it had a rubber hose connection to the pump so it is not under much pressure. I did replace the rubber bit with a fresh power steering return line from the auto parts store.
Well It has been a very long time since iv shown any progress so here we go again.
Start with the power steering hose. Got some parts from work and had to order a fitting to go from the mazda rack to the 6an for the stainless line.
Hard to see with the mess of wires but its installed and looks good in there!
Next up was the intake manifold. I had the gasket set sitting and waiting for a long time so I pulled it out from the bottom of the parts pile. I took a tap and ran it down all the the threads to make sure they were clean and ready for the install. I cleaned out the oil galley and they checked the gaskets for fitment. They needed a bit of trimming and they were good to go. I also got some oil and poured it into all of the lifters and down onto the cam before I installed it since this motor has been sitting for a while having some oil on the moving parts it should be better for the first start up. And to anyone thinking I forgot the paper towels in the motor I did not they were just the last things to go before the manifold went on!
To finish up the intake I installed the water neck. I also ran heater hose to the car and the little hose from the intake to the water pump. But as you can see that has a kink in it so it looks like I will have to see if napa sells a new hose just for that.
Got the new wilwood 1" master cylinder. Got it through work for cheap and started mocking it up to the car. I could have just drilled new holes through the fire wall but the top bolt would be very hard to get to so I decided to make a plate that will use the stock mazda master cylinder studs to bolt the bracket to the car and new studs to bolt the wilwood master cylinder to. This also moved the master cylinder away from the car just enough to use the mazda rod coming off the pedal.
Then I went to bench bleed the system and install it into the car only to find that I don't have a fitting that will take my clutch line and make it fit the the new master cylinder... They joys of building a car, so that will wait for another day.
Another project was getting the drive shaft in. So I used the spacer that came with the drive shaft and it all went in very well good to know that the car should be able to drive on its first test drive right after we fire it up for the first time!
Then I put the wheels back onto the car and dropped it back onto the ground (not a easy job with it so low, had to remember which end to drop first and which end had to sit on 2x4's and ect ect ect... low car probs)
Then from there it got pushed out of the shop so I could clean my mess...
One thing I did like to see is that the front of the car does not seem to be sitting very low which I hope it means that it is still close to the weight of the old 13B that used to live in there. I still need to put headers and the wet stuff (oil, coolant, trans oil) but I think I hit my goal of staying close or under the stock weight!
Hope this keeps everyone interested I know it was very nice to see the car on the ground and the hood over the motor and not the roof for once.
That looks good. Really good.
Can't wait to see it around.
More done on the car tonight!
Found the fitting that I needed at work so that put me in business! Here is the setup off the car. I decided to just bleed the system on the car since the wilwood master had a bleeder on it.
Got the fluid moving and after bleeding the slave for a little I let it sit then went up top and did the rest from the master. That made a huge difference and it only took a few tries to get the full pedal movement. Going to let it sit and bleed it again tomorrow.
Don't know if I ever showed the slave but here it is. New bolts are needed with nylock nuts this was just a easy way to take it on and off fast.
Also a shot of the drive line.
Now I need to sit back and make a list of the next steps. Here is where im at.
This list is in no order just trying to get my list of what needs to happen down on "paper" so I can see what needs doing.
Seems to be getting close, but I know better now haha
Good Work!
I will open this for discussion, i have the clutch installed and the car is in the air. I have somone jump in and put it into gear and press the clutch. I can then spin the drive shaft back and forth. It is not as free as when its in neutral but it does spin. I can also hear the clutch rubbing as I spin the drive shaft. Does this sound right to you or do I still need the slave cylinder to push a bit more?
Weird question... Does the resistance change if you change gears? For example, is it harder to spin the shaft in 1st versus 3rd?
If yes, then I think you might need to get slightly more throw.
This is just thinking out loud.
In first, spinning the driveshaft spins the clutch FASTER than in third. All other friction in the trans should be the same. Therefore, it would be more friction from the clutch therefore, it would tell me there needs to be more travel for the slave cyclinder.
Not sure if this is good reasoning or not....
pushing the pedal in doesn't center the clutch, it just pulls the pressure plate off of it. You may hear it scraping lightly because it hasn't moved off the flywheel, it didn't really have to. Kind of like an outboard brake pad.
If I could rotate by hand with the clutch pedal down, it shouldn't give you any problems going into gear or creeping with the clutch down. I think I'd go for it and worry about it if the car has a tough time shifting or creeps with the clutch down.
Thanks guys! wvumtnbkr good brain storm I will test your theory tonight. I will more than likely start the car for the first time on jack stands. That will give me room to see any leaks or other issues as well as test the clutch/trans/rear end.
Going to grab a battery on my way home!
Also Dusterbd13 I have lost your email if you still have mine shoot me an email so I can grab that carb some time. Or PM me not to sure how to PM on this forum but I will figure it out!
Call me at 828-260-1254.
Carb is still on the shelf.
Skervey wrote: Thanks guys! wvumtnbkr good brain storm I will test your theory tonight. I will more than likely start the car for the first time on jack stands. That will give me room to see any leaks or other issues as well as test the clutch/trans/rear end. Going to grab a battery on my way home! Also Dusterbd13 I have lost your email if you still have mine shoot me an email so I can grab that carb some time. Or PM me not to sure how to PM on this forum but I will figure it out!
Don't be surprised if your rear wheels move a bit (if they are off the ground) with the trans in neutral OR with the clutch pressed in.
wvumtnbkr wrote: Don't be surprised if your rear wheels move a bit (if they are off the ground) with the trans in neutral OR with the clutch pressed in.
I was thinking about that and how my motorcycle always did the same. I assumed the motorcycle did because of the wet clutch but never thought about the car doing it. I figure as long as the wheels don't take off as if I was driving the car I should be fine.
Well tonight did not go as planned. I hooked up the new battery and more or less nothing... I have power to the dome lights and headlight and that's it. The main fuse is not blown everything seams to be in order. With the battery hooked up and key out of the ignition the dome light work and the head lights will pop up and down and turn on. Nothing from the raideo or HVAC (did not try to bump the starter) So can anyone see somthing im not? We know that power is getting to the mazdas main harness because of the lights but it seems like the ignition is doing nothing like its unplugged.
Does anything have power in accessory or run?
Battery grounded to engine and chassis?
Miss a battery connection to the harness?
Alternator hooked up?
Ignition switch connected?
Dusterbd13 wrote: Does anything have power in accessory or run? Battery grounded to engine and chassis? Miss a battery connection to the harness? Alternator hooked up? Ignition switch connected?
Nothing changes when in accessory or run.
Battery grounded to the chassis as it was with the rotatory and everything worked the rotary was still in the car.
Don't think I missed a connection to the harness. There was not a whole lot left of the harness when I got it. All of the EFI parts were removed, I only removed what granny speed said I didn't need.
Alternator was hooked up all but one wire, the green wire that goes to 12v when the car is in run. Don't see how that will change it but iv been wrong before.
Ignition should be hooked up I have not messed with it only removed that cluster to hook up the speedo cable. And the cluster lights up when I turn the lights on.
To me it seems like I am missing a connection of some kind. I guess I need to sit down with granny speeds stuff and go through it. I was really hopping this part would go easy I hate tracking down issues with wiring.
The plot thickens! So I tested to see if 12v was getting to the ignition switch (key) and it does well kinda. The bottom wire on the switch a larger blue wire has 10.53v when the key is turned to the off position. Then when the key is turned to on/run I loose the 10V's. So it shows that power is getting there but then lost. Makes me think its something to do with the alarm. Im looking into the blue wire and the alarm now wish me luck!
Well kinda feel silly I found the issue but not know fot to wire it into the car
Connector X-01...is located on the side of the main fuse box, located just ahead of the driver’s side strut tower. ...Black...when the rotary’s engine harness is removed from the car, a vital wire is lost that runs from the 80A fuse in the main fuse box to the large stud on the back of the RX-7’s alternator, and also to the ignition switch through connector X-23 (a large single terminal connector located between the main fuse block and the driver’s strut tower). This wire was originally black, and very thick, appx. 10ga. Be sure to replace it with wire of at least the same capacity, that connects all three points in the circuit.
I don't have this wire plugged into anything. So this must be my issue. I was just going to ask and see what I need to do with it.
First- Does this mean that the wire in the picture need to be wired to the 12v comming from my altinator (cant I just wire it to the point where the altinator is being wired into the main fuse? saves wire that way)
Second- where and what is connector X-23 he does not elaborate further down. I would love to see a pic of it and know what it does.
Thanks again guys!
Alternator stud would be preferred. Constant power, as well as takes some of the load off charge circuit wire to battery. If it were my harness thats what id do.
Hey look at that! I fixed my own issue! I gave the black wire in the pic 12V and the car light up like a Christmas tree! I will more than likely call granny speed to figure out the best way to wire it in.
With the good there is some bad
-Oil pressure gauge maxed out just sitting there. Bad ground?
-Sun roof motor makes noise but does not open. (May be able to open it manually and clean lube the rails)
-Either the gas gauge does not work or im out of gas, both sad!
Well this is a big step now I can really start to test me wiring and the ignition system to see if we are getting spark and what not. Hope to have things moving soon and get it running.
Duster- meant to call you on my way home from work today... and I forgot that I rode my motorcycle... Then got into this mess as soon as I got home.
Time to catch yall up with whats going on.
Stopped into NAPA and garbed some more parts last week. I got a 650CCA battery that was a little smaller and lighter and stronger then the mustang and the explorer batters. Also a lower rad hose don't know what it came off of but you can see the number if you need one the same shape (AKA copying my rad setup witch is cool!). The hose did not want to fit, it was a little to small on the water pump side but with some work I got it on and a good hose clamp and we were good to go.
Here is it on the car its hard to see but the hose is a prefect shape and even leaves room for the oil filter adapter from the explorer motor.
A can of gloss black high temp for the valve covers. I ended up adding the PCV port to the oil fill neck because it would have a baffle under it to keep from dumping oil into the motor. As well as being close to the fire wall on the passengers side witch is where most of my wires and hoses will go.
So then we get to the wires! My largest issues was I had missed the main power to the car the one wire black connector right under the fuse box under the hood. Once I gave that power the car came to life!
This opened some new issues. For one the starter solenoid is not getting power when I turn the key to start. Might just have to bypass it and run a push button start. Also the oil pressure gauge goes up to 110psi and stays for some reason should be showing no pressure right? More on that issue later
I also checked the MSD to see if it was working and of course it was not. So I checked the switched power (the smaller red wire on the MSD box that gets connected to the ignition power) and the wire I had it connected to was not getting power. So I ran a new wire from the stock mazda coil and ran it to the MSD box.
I then ran the test that you can run by jumping off the two signal wires and then I got some spark!
The pic is not amazing but the MSD box and MSD coil really put off a good spark, and that is with oil spark plugs. I also hooked a spark plug up through the distributor and spun it over by hand and was getting good spark so it looks like its all working well!
Here is the coil im running.
Then I made a mount for it, don't know if I will run it upside down or not, once I run the wires I will know where things need to be.
Then did the shopping that I was most looking forward to! Feels close now that I have the oil and filter! I also picked up new plugs and the coolant bypass hose. Only thing I forgot was power steering fluid.
Well that's it for today I will have more to post about later on but that's enough for one run. Things are looking good though!
Been a few days since Iv made a post but I have not slowed down I just moved to another project. I made this little lamp for may dads birthday. Grabbed a old ford 2 barrel carb and spent two days cleaning the gunk off and this is the end result.
Now for the car, this motor has been sitting for sometime so more than likely the oil has all fallen in to the oil pan and most of the motor is dry. So before I hit the starter I want to make sure that oil is in the motor and is able to lube it asap so I don't wear down to much. So I found a guy at work that had a oil pump priming tool for fords.
So I filled the motor with oil by putting oil in with the hole for the distributor so the oil pump will have some oil in it. Then I ran the tool with a drill on the pump and started to spin it up. It was a good feeling when the pressure started to build and I could feel it in the drill. After a little bit I saw oil come out of the rockers so I knew I was good to go.
Now that I knew oil was getting up to all of the lifters and rockers I put the valve covers on for good. Then I put the drill back on the oil pump and ran it for a good long time. I only let enough oil come out before so I could see it I did not want it to all leak out so I wanted till the valve covers were on to really pump the oil. I also had someone sit in the car and check the oil pressure gauge while I was pumping. So the oil gauge goes up to 116psi when the car is on and no pressure is in the motor. Then when I start to pump it goes all the way back to 0 and stops... Don't know what the deal is with that but I do have a old oil pressure gauge that I picked up a kit to install it and see what happens then.
I also filled the trans with oil but I will need to run back and get a little more I didn't have enough to fill it with just 2 quarts. I also spilled a little when I was filling it through the shiftier then a day later when I looked under the car I saw that it was "leaking" at the rear seal. But I cleaned it up and put a fresh towel under it so I can see if it was leaking or just left over oil from the spill and as of now it looks like left overs. But I will keep my eye on it. It was also leaking a bit of oil from the oil pan. Seems like I didn't have the filter on tight enough or the oil level sensor. Now they seem to be fine.
I had been thinking about how to cap the third line for the rack when it hit me I would use the stock mazda hard line then just fill the end with weld. Simple and effective and will look stock.
I installed that and grabbed some PS fluid and filled it up. Then rocked the wheel back and forth and it burped and puked and all kinds of stuff. But the next day when I came out and looked under the car I had seen that it was leaking so I will have to take it back off and grab some new o rings for it.
I also picked up some amazon deals. Coolant overflow tank, as well as 12v relays. The relays are $10 each at advanced and $4.50 on amazon or you can get 5 for $10 on amazon so I went ahead and grabbed a few extra. These also came with pig tails so it should look good and stock in the car.
I still don't know why the key is not giving the starter 12v but its ok because I kinda wanted to do a push start but if the key worked then I was not going to mess with it. But the key does not work so now I get to wire a sweet push start! So I don't want a silly led button that everyone will see and I want it in strange place but easy to use. So iv seen on race cars they will have switches on the roof so that's where I wanted my start button. So the passenger sees the action of starting the car and its more of a presses. (don't know why it matters but you know RACE CAR!) So I was going to put it up with the sun roof controls on the headliner.
I then found a push button switch in my tool box.
So the original plan was to make the driver side map light black and just have the button on top of it so I can see the little red button and go from there but once I got inside of the light I found a sweet little trick that mada was using. The plastic cover is only held on one side. when you press on the light to turn it on it works like a leaver and pushes the far side down witch presses a switch not unlike the switch I am going to use. So I figured I could just pull the stock switch from the light and replace it with my new switch and wire it in. That way you will never see the button and it will be a anti theft kinda deal. So I made the plastic work with the new switch.
The new switch was much shorter then the old one so I glued a little nut on the clear part of the light so that it can fully press the stitch all the way down.
I then found a good 12v source from the sun roof and made sure it only had 12v when the key was in the run position. Then wired it all in. Once it was in the car I tested it out. That's when I figured out why the switch had been left in my tool box. The switch is always on and when you press it it turns it off. That would be no good for a starter I need it the other way around so I jumped on my bike and ran to the only parts store still open but they didn't have any so I ended up just riding my motorcycle and finding some sweet roads, then turned back to home why my face shield filled up with bugs.
So that's where I am today still need to grab the carb and a few more little things but we might be getting close!
Come on out tonight. Im laying floor, but have the carb laying out for you.
Dusterbd13 I was out of town last Friday I will have to get with you one day this week. My weekend are booked for the most part which is why this thing is taking forever to get done!
Headed to the hardware store this afternoon to grab a new button and return some random bolts. So ready to start it up!
Still have some updates to come but I have the carb! last big piece to get the car running! Big thanks to Dusterbd13 for hooking me up. Needs a rebuild and a little cleaning but it should be perfect for my setup.
Also what are yalls thoughts on a bypass for the fuel? Any tricks for getting fuel to flow past the regulator without having it all go and not being able to run pressure to the carb? I was thinking of using a brass needle valve and open it up until fuel is able to run through but still builds pressure for the carb. Something like this.
Also looking at air cleaners what are yalls thoughts on this?
Its a drop base and a filter top 14" round. I think it should fit but without having it here I would have no idea...
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