phenryiv1's Rally Cross 87 325- Caged, B25 Swapped, Rear suspension refresh Last Page

[irish44j]

I really wish that I had remembered that before I ordered my OEM ones. I have an e-torx set and those would have been MUCH easier than the 2x nut method.

you should have remembered, especially since when I got the e-torx one you made sure to correct me on calling them e-torx and not just regular torx, lol...

[phenryiv1]

Some progress this weekend!

Got the Passenger side CAB installed. Thanks again, Condor!



This one took about 30 minutes, start to finish.

Also, I stripped a bunch more crap of off the roof. No more visor shield, no more sunroof shuttle, no more random canvas-like material on the roof:







Removed the glovebox in prep for the motor removal:



This MIGHT need to be refreshed:



I also got the exhaust manifolds installed, complete with new studs, nuts, and gaskets.

Gaskets:



Studs installed:





Sack-o-nuts:



Manifolds installed:







Lastly, I received my Wedge Engineering seat bracket for my OPM seat. I only got the driver's bracket (at least for now) btu the install was not too bad.

Bracket:





Had to slot the hole for the sliders ever so slightly:



Also had to use an oversized nut as a riser so that the slider adjustment arm did not interfere with the flat frame of the Wedge bracket:



Finished product:

[phenryiv1]

And on to the bigger news: The B27 is removed!

I had good weather and an excuse to take off from work so I removed the b27 in prep for the b25 install. The removal was messy buy fairly uneventful. I had to pull off the oil pan to use on the new motor, but otherwise the swap should be fairly simple. The new motor had a PS delete, so I need to get the PS pump and pully off of the old motor and onto the new one but that should be fairly simple.

[phenryiv1]

Okay, more updates:

So I started the B25 motor swap yesterday. I go tthe car in the garage (it was in the 60s so why not?) and started disconnecting and labelling things. Not a lot of pics- I was dirty as hell and wanted to keep the camera somewhat clean. Plus this is a build thread, not a how-to thread, so you get what I got.

On a related not, yes, that is a few seatbelts being used to pull the motor. I have a load leveller and some proper lifting straps, but I was initially going to use the seatbelts just to shore up the motor while I was disconnecting thinge but the motor mounts broke off as soon as I lifted the motor and tus I could no tput it back down safely. Not that lifting it this way was sone safely either, but I stayed WAY out of the way at all tomes and it got the job done. The re-install with the B25 will NOT be the reverse of the removal.

First, hood off:



Some stuff disconnected and labelled:



Most things disconnected:





Note that I said "most" things were disconnected. I forgot the clutch line, the brake booster hose, and the ground strap to the oil pan. I neded up breaking the ground strap. Oops.

In the end, I also had trouble getting the shifter to drop out of the trans tunnel, so I just pushed it down with my hand and pulled the motor from the front.

I used some plywood to rest the trans while I pulled the engine & trans forward:



And out...



Hanging freely so that I can remove the oil pan (I did lower it and support the motor mount arms with rhino ramps and the trans with a 2x4 configuration):



And the money shot:

\

I need to determine what in the engine bay can be removed and what I need to keep, but this was a good start.

I did pull the oil pan, PS pully, belt, and some other small odds and ends. I still need to pull and clean up the PS pump and transfer it and the pully to the new motor, but that will come later.

[phenryiv1]

Found this on charcoal canister removal. Linked here for my ease if recall. http://spece30.com/forum/43-fuel-sys...nister-removal

Just read this entire thread. http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=205598 Inspiring,and full of win.

Interesting thread on crank scrapers: http://spece30.com/forum/46-oiling-s...j-crankscraper

Need to do this...http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=193348

[phenryiv1]

Some sweet updates!


So I decided to go pretty much all-out on this car...at least in terms of safety. I wanted to control my personal movement in the seat during events, O ai wanted to get race seats. The OMPs were a great fit (though ugly) but I wanted to run harneses with them. To make harnesses safe...roll bar or more.

I looked at a Kirk bar like what Josh (Irish44j) has and the price was not bad...$475. I can do that. But what KILLED me was the $160-165 to ship them. I have accounts with every major carrier and I have shipped lots of big, heavy items all over the country. NOTHING has ever cost that much to ship.

So I was looking in my SCCA packet and saw an ad for built race cars and cages/roll bars. After about a month of research, debate, and discussions, I bought a full 10-point cage from S&W Racecars (http://www.swracecars.com/).

I found some solid recommendations for their cages for Lemons and Chump e30 vehicles, and the price was simply awesome. The SHIPPED price of a full 10-point cage was less than the base price of the Kirk roll bar. Even with the install (I can't weld), it will cost only slightly more than the shipped price of the Kirk bolt-in bar but will offer substantially more protection and greater rigidity. The tradeoff is also higher weight, but I can live with that.

I'll explain my full logic later, but for now, pics:





The cage arrived in ONE DAY after shipment, and only took 4 days for them to fabricate.

The setup is being installed by RP Performance (http://www.rpperformanceracing.com/), a shop located on the grounds of Summit Point Raceway. Because I live and work so close to there, it is VERY convenient. They are known for Mazda work (particularly Spec Miatas), but they do a lot of installs of Piper cages. Piper motorsports is a highly-recommended cage builder in this area, but with RP being 20 miles from me, I thought it would be a good idea to talk to them. After 3-4 discussions, some emails, and me sending them info about the cage, we agreed to make this happen.

The install is scheduled to start tomorrow and should only take about a week. I had to get the car all prepped in a hurry, since I only have about 4 weeks until the first event and I still have to get the motor back in.

So after pulling the motor last week, I encountered several issues related to getting the car to RP for the install. It was about 28 degrees today, so we got the car in the garage and did our best to not freeze to death. I was able to get some work done, which was a good thing.

First, the driveshaft had to be removed. The flange was hitting on the O2 sensor when the rear wheels turned, so off came the entire exhaust, heat shields, and out with the driveshaft. That was 2 hours I should not have had to spend.

I also pulled the dash. It was a royal PITA, particularly since I had not really planned to do it in cold weather.



So that the main hoop could be located properly, I did install the driver's seat:





And while I was at it, I moved the old motor out of the garage and put the new one in the front of where I park the WRX. This will let me do some final assembly while the car is at RP.





The only bad thing is that I will have to swap output flanges on the trans. This was supposed to be an eta trans and mate with my existing driveshaft. Looks like I'll have to swap the trans or swap the flange. An issue for another day.

[phenryiv1]

So the assembly of the motor will involve swapping the oil pan from the eta motor and adding this:



I got this from Guten Parts (http://www.gutenparts.com/) in prep for possible track days/HPDEs in the future (more later on that). Guten just launched a new website, so check it out.

This is a crank scraper that was originally from TC Motorsports (http://www.tcmotorsports-store.net/m20oilpanwit.html). The crank scraper will help with oil starvation issues on track. Not a huge deal in RallyCross, but beneficial if I do DE events down the road. Cheap insurance, IMO. Info on the crank scrapers, in general: http://spece30.com/forum/46-oiling-s...j-crankscraper

I also have my Condor Speed Shop motor and trams mounts to install this week. I'll get some pics of that process.

Guten also supplied me with some powdercoated "is" springs to replace the unbelievably rusty ones on the car right now. I have all new upper mounts, so while swapping on the new mounts I will be installing these low-mile "is" springs.



No comments on the colors, please. They were testing colors and I got a great deal on them. They will be covered in mud after 5 minutes on the car.

[phenryiv1]

Found this pic of the stance without the motor in the car.

[irish44j]

next you gotta get your cosmetic game on, once the car is all together :)

[phenryiv1]

next you gotta get your cosmetic game on, once the car is all together :)

Too cold to paint. Ugh...

[95maxrider]

Patrick, you crazy.

[irish44j]

nick....your thread is short on updates son....

[95maxrider]

nick....your thread is short on updates son....

Amassing parts isn't really worthy of an update....nothing much has gotten done recently. The next couple weeks should have plenty of action though!

[phenryiv1]

The update:

I got up and dragged the car to RP Performance first thing on Monday morning (it was a federal holiday so I dod not have to use leave).





That part was the positive stuff.

On a not-so-positive note, I realized yesterday morning that I had neglected to consider the removal of the sunroof and cassette from the car. Not only is it 30+ lb. high up, it is 30 lb. of dead weight, and with the additional weight of the cage going in the car, I need to save any weight that I can. On top of that, this isn't a bolt-in cage that would let me remove the cage later to remove the sunroof. Once the roll cage wa sin, it was in for good, thus the sunroof was permanent.

So after talking to Irish44j on the way to RP, I nearly called and cancelled the appointment, or at a minimum showed up, let them re-validate their estimate, and then go home and pull the sunroof and install the cage later- maybe even mid-season.

I got to RP and saw this beautiful sight:



Nothing but track cars. These were just a few of them.

RP:



So after meeting TJ, the fabricator with whom I had spoken on the phone over the last couple of weeks, I took a tour of the shop and he showed me some other cages that he had installed in the Miatas and RX7s that they work with. They had several non-Mazdas, and I looked them over as well.

We went out to my car and took a look at the cage and discussed the install, and after some debate and discussions on cost, I laid out where I was on budget, needs/wants, etc.

Since people like pictures, here is the cage:



I had not only forgotten to factor in the sunroof removal, I had forgotten to consider that this past weekend I had to spend $400 ourt of my build fund to cover my season subscription for the rallyX series. With that and the additional need to remove the sunroof, I was in a financial bind, as I want to have this done but I don't want to cut corners.

I spoke with TJ about maybe only installing 8 of the 10 points in the cage, as th einitial quote was for an 8-point cage and then I added the 9/10 points at the last minute when I ordered the cage from S&W. We agreed on a price with RP removing the sunroof and doing an 8 pt. install, with the 9/10 points being done later. The sunroof was to be left off of the car and I would worry about re-install of the metal skin and the sealing off at a later time.

I left the car and rolled out, feeling pretty good but a little pissed at myself for getting ahead of myself with the install. Truth be told, I could have waited until the mid-season break to do the cage and harness install and I woudl have had my build fund replenished AND I could have removed the sunroof myself- for free.

Last shot of the car as I left, plus some dirty e-thiries banner love:



So I figured I'd hear back later in the week about the install of the cage.



2 hours later, RP's number comes up on the phone. Uh-oh...this can't be good.

Actually, it was. The sunroof removal went like clockwork, and he was offering to do the full sunroof removal (including wellding in some support bands and welding the old roof panel in place for a solid roof as opposed to me sealing it off with caulk) and the full 10-point install plus wellding in my harness tablets for just a littl emore than we had discussed in the morning. Apparently, RP wanted to do the job RIGHT the first time, and I was willing to up my budget a little to let them do so, so it all has worked out so far.

As of the last discussion, I should even have the car back in time for the weekend so that I can try to get on the motor re-install.

More pics of the cage as that happens.

[irish44j]

nice :)