mdpalmer's ls1-fd rx-7 build thread

[LNF_AJ]

I've had the same problem with my go pro but haven't taken much time to try and figure it out.  Also sadly i would've put my 42lb injectors in but... my wideband took a shit so i haven't gotten to take a try at tuning my car yet.

[GregD]

There's a thread over there about recommended laptops. Check it out.

I just picked up a netbook to use for tuning.  I went netbook because my laptop was almost too big to be stable in the pass. seat, plus the battery life sucked in it.  The netbook is smaller, lighter, has more disk space than my old laptop and the netbook battery life is 8 hours !!!  Oh, and it was under $200...   Waiting on a serial to USB adapter (for my LC1 connector) before I try it out.

[digitalsolo]

I have an IBM Thinkpad X61 Tablet.    2-3 hours of battery life, and it converts to a "slate" so you can hold it one hand and write on the screen with the other.   SUPER handy if you're street tuning and don't have someplace nice to set the laptop to type.  I can walk around a parking lot and work on the tune.   They're pretty cheap now too, 200-300 bucks, and Thinkpads are pretty rugged, as notebooks go.

[mdpalmer]

So I got my HP tuners package in the mail and it was missing a USB cable. Great. Talked to the distributor and he sent an email out to the HP tuners guys... they're a reseller and the packages arrive to them sealed. So whoever @ HPT packed it up missed it. I could probably get another generic cable to work but f that I paid for this. I'll wait. Nice thing is that the reseller is very responsive and shipping was very fast.

Driving home from work last Friday and right before I turn off to my street in front of my house the car sputters... the wideband went straight to 16:1 and then "air"... car was dead. I rolled it to the side and got a nice curb spot. Tried to start it again but didn't hear fuel pump prime like it normally does. After about a 5 minute wait I decide to give it another shot, it does start up but can only drive it about 100 ft before it dies again.

Problem was that the connection I made between the battery and fuel pump hot wire was melting. See pic. I checked the voltage at the pump, with the key on... barely got 6 volts. 20 amp inline fuse was still intact. The wire was hot as shit when I touched it though. See pic of the connector I used, it was a harbor freight (yeah, I know, I know) heat shrink type. It was very solid, or so I thought, when I made the connection. The thinner 12 ga wire started to back out of it, esp. with any kind of heat to it. Anyway, I cut it out and soldered the wire, no problem so far. The connector is not even warm now, that's a good sign!

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Also see attached pics of my gauge setup, in case anyone is curious. Stock cluster oil press/water temp are dead, replaced with VDO vision and also oil temp. The gauges are really cheap (about 20-30 bucks) and they work great. Have had them for over 5 years when I had the rotary. I have been meaning to take the labels off the wideband mounted to my steering column but haven't done it yet The display is kind of obnoxiously huge but at least you can't miss it if you're tuning 

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Also tried out the gopro camera again with the "other" rear window on the camera. I tried it before with the waterproof backing (no holes in it) and it rattled like crazy. I put the cover on with the holes in it and it sounds a lot better Check it out.

http://youtu.be/iEdbQkDXhnw

[Defenistrator]

If it was possible to use HP tuners without their special cable with it's embedded circuitry, I would have already torrented it and been playing with it on my Cobalt.  That's the only thing I miss about my old Turbo Dodge: with about $75 in equipment and chips I was flashing my own ROMs and doing all the tuning myself.

[LNF_AJ]

Well i'm glad to see i'm not the only one having open spaces in my dash lol.  At least your tach and speedo work.

[GregD]

Well i'm glad to see i'm not the only one having open spaces in my dash lol.  At least your tach and speedo work.

You can buy DIN-sized panels pre-drilled for 2 and 3 gauges, I'm running 3 gauges in a DIN-panel with my radio mounted below it.

[thetastelingers]

Well i'm glad to see i'm not the only one having open spaces in my dash lol.  At least your tach and speedo work.

You can buy DIN-sized panels pre-drilled for 2 and 3 gauges, I'm running 3 gauges in a DIN-panel with my radio mounted below it.

I made mine out of an old sign and covered it with some old vinyl wrap.

[LNF_AJ]

Well i'm glad to see i'm not the only one having open spaces in my dash lol.  At least your tach and speedo work.

You can buy DIN-sized panels pre-drilled for 2 and 3 gauges, I'm running 3 gauges in a DIN-panel with my radio mounted below it.

Yea I already had plans to cover it up.  I have a HSW nitrous kit and was gonna build a mount and mount the window switch controller there.  If that plan falls through I'm gonna plan on doing that.

[mdpalmer]

I've had the same problem with my go pro but haven't taken much time to try and figure it out.  Also sadly i would've put my 42lb injectors in but... my wideband took a shit so i haven't gotten to take a try at tuning my car yet.

Put the rear window that has the slotted holes on it onto the housing... it gets rid of that annoying rattling

Well i'm glad to see i'm not the only one having open spaces in my dash lol.  At least your tach and speedo work.

lol I'm keeping that area open in case i need to run more wires etc. When I'm satisfied I'll put the radio and a spare DIN pocket I have back in.

Well i'm glad to see i'm not the only one having open spaces in my dash lol.  At least your tach and speedo work.

Tach works, speedo does not Will fix that this weekend

Little update. Got a new laptop. It's really nice. I'm not sure I want to use this one for tuning because it's semi clunky and huge. Lenovo Ideapad z560. I'll tell you one thing... it's great to have a new computer. It's light years ahead of my old laptop which I bought over 6 years ago. Here's a pic of the new comp.





Some pics of the HP Tuners hardware. You get a scanner unit, a piece of hardware for hooking up your wideband O2, OBD II-scanner cable, scanner-laptop USB cable (which they missed on my shipment, see pic below), and CD-ROM with their software.

All the stuff:


The cable they missed (generic piece of course)


Pic of the cable ends.


HPT scanner.






Here's a couple of pics of the OBD II port and Dakota Digital sig calibration unit hardware install. I took the A/C crap out (evaporator, box, etc.), so I used the edges of the plastic that used to mate with the evaporator box. I drilled undersized holes and screwed some self-tapping screws I had laying around into the holes. It feels pretty stiff. Edge distance for the screw is marginal (pullout load), but I think it will be fine since I won't be putting too much stress on the connector.





Another pic of the dakota digital, I was laying on my back looking up with this pic.

[mdpalmer]

So had the car aligned and corner balanced today. See attachment/pics. Nice tech write-up HERE.

Here’s the summary (all weights are in POUNDS, distance in INCHES):
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Basics:
-1993 Mazda Rx-7 (FD) touring
-Little more than ¾ tank fuel
-NO A/C
-YES P/S (stock mazda rack + f-body pump)
-Full interior (mostly.. see notes below), no BOSE or glove box
-2002 alum block/heads ls1/t56 (Camaro z28 pullout/rebuild)
-155 lb driver
-Samberg setup (radiator/intake/mounting/bumpsteer correction kit)
-Pettit Trak Pro Stage 2 adjustable height/damping coil over shock setup
-Gram Light 57 optimise wheels (17” diam), 235 (f)/265 (r) tires
-Otherwise stock suspension
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Results:
-Car weight (no driver): 2907
-Car weight (little fatty in driver’s seat): 3062

-Front weight/distribution: 1531/50%
-Rear weight/distribution: 1531/50%

-Left Front/Right Front: 802/729 (delta = 73)
-Left Rear/Right Rear: 804/727 (delta = 77)

-LF+RR: 1529
-RF+LR: 1533
-Cross weight delta: 4

-Left Weight/Right Weight: 1606/1456 (delta = 150)

Fender Height (in):
LF/RF: 25 1/8 | 25 1/8
LR/RR: 24 7/8 | 24 15/16

NOTE: date is wrong.. not sure why they put 7/11 on it. maybe dreaming of slurpees? 
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Cliff’s notes:
-tech was surprised how close I got the toe on the front (eyeball job )
-went pretty well except took them a couple trips back and forth to the scales to set the corner weights
-have a little bit of play in the toe control link on pass side (not to mention a curbed wheel.. dammit!), not too bad but it won’t get any better
-guys at shop were amazed the car was that balanced (front/rear in particular) given the motor setup
-had a little more than ¾ tank of fuel, just filled up day before and drove about 20 miles before I went to shop (probably down a gallon or so from full)
-I must have put on some weight b/c last time I weighed myself (when I was working out/surfing all the time… about a year ago) I was 140ish.. I stepped on one of the corner scales and I hit 155. Damn.. I’m only 5’4” or so.. so if you run the BMI (body mass index) calcs.. I’m obese. Time to trim some fat 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Details: (some will call this overkill… but WTH devil’s in the details…)

1.   93 FD touring, pretty much completely stock bodied
2.   No rear wiper (plugged hole)
3.   No bose
4.   Samberg radiator/intake setup + some four M12 (?) nuts to allow hood to shut
5.   Heating lines on water pump looped for now (long story), lines on firewall capped off
6.   Running steam tubes front and rear
7.   Samberg mounting kit (motor, trans, diff)
8.   Samberg bumpsteer correction kit (tie rod ends + hardware, rack spacers)
9.   Samberg throttle cable bracket
10.   Civic throttle cable
11.   LS1/T56 (all alum, from 2002 camaro), stock pistons/rods/block/crank etc.
12.   vette engine mount brackets
13.   Hot Rod Lane (forgot their other name) biscuit (mmm makes me hungry) motor mounts + hardware
14.   Extra 4 ga. Engine block ground cable (19”) on pass side head to frame rail
15.   MGW shifter, Cobra shift knob
16.   Hinson steel driveshaft
17.   LS6 valley cover + grinded portion of block + PCV hose
18.   Trimmed firewall lip, chopped off intercooler/cross member brace brackets, trimmed shifter hole
19.   RX7.com (rotary performance) diff bushings
20.   Pettit Trak Pro Stage 2 adjustable height coilovers
21.   6 qt. oil, lots of coolant, ~4 qt trans fluid, ~2 qt diff fluid, little more than ¾ tank gas
22.   Stock Mazda 4.10:1 rear end (I’ll see how long it lasts, it’s got 120+k on it)
23.   No A/C (evaporator, condenser, lines, etc. all gone)
24.   Yes P/S (PSC modded f-body pump), PEZ p/s line/fittings, stock mazda rack /w new boots
25.   NGK TR6 plugs
26.   NAPA plug wires
27.   ABS yes/umodded
28.   Airbags yes/unmodded (wires tucked from engine bay under metal support/above fender liner)
29.   Improved racing oil pan baffle/f-body oil pan
30.   Converted f-body engine harness
31.   Gram Light 57 optimise wheels (17x8.5 +40 f, 17x9.5 +38 r)
32.   Dunlop Dirreza DZ101 tires (235/40/17 f, 265/40/17 r)
33.   Black ebay lugnuts :p
34.   Powerslot brake rotors
35.   Hawk HP+ brake pads
36.   Hinson clutch setup (Wilwood 7/8” m/c + spacer), 30” long clutch line from speedway motors (too long IMO), line covered with fire proof hose
37.   Full interior, sound deadening (nothing added, all stock), & stereo headunit (minus a piece or two of plastic, and NO glovebox, mf’er is broken, one scuff plate missing b/c tabs broke), NO BOSE (but have bose carpet & hatch cover)
38.   Antenna + motor in place
39.   Dakota Digital speedo correction box mounted above glove box
40.   NGK AFX Wideband O2 mounted on steering wheel column, O2 sensor in pass side bank for now
41.   Front O2 narrowband sensors, NO rear O2 sensors (yet…)
42.   2002 Camaro z28 exhaust manifolds + Magnaflow cats (CA legal), air pump ports blocked off (for now)
43.   2.25” piping to/from cats --> 3” y pipe --> M2 3” exhaust (same one I had on rotary setup)
44.   5.3l heads (706 casting), CNC ported/polished, dual valve springs, Titanium retainers/seats (basically like TSP Stage 2.5 heads)
45.   LS7 lifters & trays
46.   TSP hardened chromoly pushrods
47.   Katech con rod bolts
48.   LS2 timing chain
49.   224/228 duration (i/e), 0.568/0.588 lift @ zero lash, 114 LSA +2 advance cam
50.   LS6 oil pump
51.   LS7 clutch pressure plate/disk, LS2/LS7 flywheel (Double check me on the interchangability. Sucker is heavy)
52.   Nippon Denso “Supra TT” fuel pump
53.   Misc wiring, fasteners
54.   HP tuners MPVI Pro pigtail for WBO2, OBD connector mounted (more like hanging out) behind glove box
55.   Rear bins have buckets 80-95% cut out
56.   Fuel pump relay mounted to pass side bin by battery
57.   Hinson battery relocation “kit” (alum bracket, two long bolts/washers, two nuts for retention, welding cable)
58.   Optima Red Top 75/25 battery relocated to pass side bins (33 lbs)
59.   Battery fuse to starter located on pass side floor in bin /w plastic enclosure and M4 (IIRC) socket cap screws + wingnuts under the car
60.   Cloth stock FD seats (I love these seats), mismatched pass seat belt buckle (it’s brown.. need to find a black one)
61.   Frank’s (fly rx7 from old days) Triple gauge pod /w 52 mm gauges (oil press, water temp, oil temp)
62.   5/16” rubber fuel lines used/ w one FD hard line, C5 vette regulator mounted on rear subframe
63.   Russel stainless steel brake lines
64.   Dual oil coolers mounted but lines/thermostat/fittings/whatever are not run yet
65.   ARP head/water pump/thermostat bolts
66.   New GM crank pulley bolt (torque to yield type)
67.   New engine coolant temp (ECT), air intake temp (AIT) sensors
68.   Comp Cams LS1 trunion upgrade (replaces needle bearing setup), stock rocker arms

I think that’s mostly everything

[thetastelingers]

So are you driving it daily now?
I need to do a total for mods on mine, but I am lazy.
Haven't updated the build thread in months.

[mdpalmer]

Driving it about 2 or 3 days a week, it's kinda annoying my driveway setup, it's single file, so if a car is in the d/w we have to move it so I can get the FD out. I've had a few other little things pop up here and there, fixing one bug at a time. I will add another update discussing that later... for example,

-I wired my backup light in line with the pcm switched power (what the hell was I thinking, if that fuse pops no switched power to the PCM), the f'n backup light wire melted on my cat converter and shorted and I had to reroute/fix that,

-I also tweaked the hell out of the firewall heater hose line (I was gonna put some fire proof hose on the hoses since they pretty much sit on the exhaust manifolds) when I removed the heater hoses (man they were STUCK on the firewall lines.. I think they're copper, very easy to bend) so I had to loop the water pump ports for now (interestingly, car seems to run cooler... it sits right at 190 no matter what now.. before it would go to 210+ in traffic  )

Also working on my tune. I have most of the low rpm/load stuff settled as of yesterday, will work on some WOT next weekend, I have to have this thing dialed in for an autocross coming up  Car runs pretty damn good if I do say so myself. Can't wait to dyno it.

Anyway, haven't seen anything on your car in a while. I understand about being lazy.. I didn't even touch my car for almost two months at one point, let alone update my build documentation/thread/etc.

So are you driving it daily now?
I need to do a total for mods on mine, but I am lazy.
Haven't updated the build thread in months.

[Brismo7]

Hey bud! It was good seeing you the other night. Your FD is looking Great! Let me know when you ready to Dyno it, I'll come with you and we'll do a Dance of joy after the dyno. lmao. Take Care bud.

[Brent]

Looking good Mike!