rx7ttlm
10+ Year Contributor
- 342
- 2
- May 20, 2008
-
Portland,
Oregon
My 1991 GSX has been a tale of highs and lows over the last 2 years. (I guess that is the way of the DSM guy) I bought the car from a friend in Norcal. Within the first month I owned it the hood latch failed and smashed the hood into the sunroof at about 45mph showering me in glass and searching for a replacement sunroof before it rained again. I do live in Oregon, so rain is a forgone conclusion. Soon after that I was on a parts run to the local mitz dealer when my alternator crapped out. After getting things slightly sorted. Upgraded to DSM link V3 lite, 16g turbo, and all the goodies. I was having Idle surge and overheating issues. Finally I was caught out after thinking I had repaired the overheating issue with a new radiator and a hose popped off. Before I knew it my engine was losing power and had me parked on the side of the highway waiting for a tow. The head gasket had said good bye. After my Career in Motorsports as a Chief Mechanic on a Grand Am team I am back in school finishing my BS in Mechanical Engineering, so this project could be finished in 5 months or 3 years depending on the interest level of my fellow students and friends.
Lucille after the sun roof incident at the apartments I lived in at the time. Now she is hanging out in the garage waiting more parts / time.
I finally got on the ball and contacted Rally America regarding the status of my racing license and if I would have to start as a Novice or if my previous racing experience would allow me to compete in a reasonable class. Last Friday I got the good news from Mike Hurst of Rally America. I have to submit my racing experience and schools in a package to them. I Went to the Jim Russel racing schools Mechanic's Training Program back in 2005 after I got out of the Marine Corps for something to do. Part of the program is you get half of a race season in formula Mazda. Previously I was concerned about having to run a non turbo fwd eclipse to comply with the Novice rules, because it would be ###.
As of now I have half of the car torn apart and the short block will likely come out this week and get a tear down inspection to see what parts can be used again. I will likely be entering in Production GT in 2014. I know I will not have the fastest car but it should be fun either way without spending a small fortune on an WRX or similar car. IF someone has a set of Hot Bits dual adjustable rally dampers they want to donate that would be great. I still need to read the rule book from front to back. But I think the general idea at the moment is to run E85 (it meets the specific gravity requirements), 1050 fic injectors (on the shopping list), 2.0 liter engine (specs will vary with what I can get away with as far as mods, intake etc), Looking like speed density on link, if not it will be chipped with EPROM since I have the hardware to do so. not sure which turbo I will run since rally turbos are short life items. Example, from what I understand no turbo forced performance makes is suitable for use in a inlet restricted turbo. This will be some what of a dual purpose car, at first it will likely just be a non caged car with all the standard rally mods registered as a street car so I can shake down the car on the highways legally to iron out all the issues. And possibly entering her in a chumpcar or similar even as an NA car for shits and grins before I get to far in the build.
Rewiring for Saturn alternator swap, hint: Make sure you measure the resistance in your wiring or you might have an overcharging issue.
ARGH stock makes me want to barf...
After the Head gasket blew the engine had a butt load of water in it to the point where I figured I put a hole in a cylinder... It sat long enough to corrode the cylinder walls enough to where I wasn't scared of throwing in the towel on this engine. I had been getting intermittent knock while tuning her to 20 lbs on link. When tearing the car down to pull the engine out I found the drivers side front axle carrier had loosened from the axle cup. I haven't finished digging into it but I am confident that could have been the cause of the intermittent pulling of timing under boost. I had bought cv boots to rebuild the axles so it wasn't a big deal to tear them down and replace broken bits. I will try to find the video of me turning the engine over with the water shooting out of the plug holes as the girlfriend video taped it.
After reviewing the rule book for PGT I might be changing the plan to Super Production to allow for more modifications.
Lucille after the sun roof incident at the apartments I lived in at the time. Now she is hanging out in the garage waiting more parts / time.
I finally got on the ball and contacted Rally America regarding the status of my racing license and if I would have to start as a Novice or if my previous racing experience would allow me to compete in a reasonable class. Last Friday I got the good news from Mike Hurst of Rally America. I have to submit my racing experience and schools in a package to them. I Went to the Jim Russel racing schools Mechanic's Training Program back in 2005 after I got out of the Marine Corps for something to do. Part of the program is you get half of a race season in formula Mazda. Previously I was concerned about having to run a non turbo fwd eclipse to comply with the Novice rules, because it would be ###.
As of now I have half of the car torn apart and the short block will likely come out this week and get a tear down inspection to see what parts can be used again. I will likely be entering in Production GT in 2014. I know I will not have the fastest car but it should be fun either way without spending a small fortune on an WRX or similar car. IF someone has a set of Hot Bits dual adjustable rally dampers they want to donate that would be great. I still need to read the rule book from front to back. But I think the general idea at the moment is to run E85 (it meets the specific gravity requirements), 1050 fic injectors (on the shopping list), 2.0 liter engine (specs will vary with what I can get away with as far as mods, intake etc), Looking like speed density on link, if not it will be chipped with EPROM since I have the hardware to do so. not sure which turbo I will run since rally turbos are short life items. Example, from what I understand no turbo forced performance makes is suitable for use in a inlet restricted turbo. This will be some what of a dual purpose car, at first it will likely just be a non caged car with all the standard rally mods registered as a street car so I can shake down the car on the highways legally to iron out all the issues. And possibly entering her in a chumpcar or similar even as an NA car for shits and grins before I get to far in the build.
Rewiring for Saturn alternator swap, hint: Make sure you measure the resistance in your wiring or you might have an overcharging issue.
ARGH stock makes me want to barf...
After the Head gasket blew the engine had a butt load of water in it to the point where I figured I put a hole in a cylinder... It sat long enough to corrode the cylinder walls enough to where I wasn't scared of throwing in the towel on this engine. I had been getting intermittent knock while tuning her to 20 lbs on link. When tearing the car down to pull the engine out I found the drivers side front axle carrier had loosened from the axle cup. I haven't finished digging into it but I am confident that could have been the cause of the intermittent pulling of timing under boost. I had bought cv boots to rebuild the axles so it wasn't a big deal to tear them down and replace broken bits. I will try to find the video of me turning the engine over with the water shooting out of the plug holes as the girlfriend video taped it.
After reviewing the rule book for PGT I might be changing the plan to Super Production to allow for more modifications.
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