Spenser's Street FD

[spenser8797]

Hi all,

Further to my other post, here's the start to my build thread...

1992 Vintage Red Touring X - purchased 07.07.21. Spec wise, not a huge amount going on but a good base. Here's how I bought it:

Engine/ supporting
Rebuilt and street ported by Rotor Torque (under 2k miles at the time)
Stock twins
HKS intakes
Air pump delete
3" exhaust from downpipe to 2.5" rear box
An intercooler with no ducting
Mishimoto rad, OEM fans

ECU/ electronics
Apexi Power FC with hand controller

Fueling
Stock primaries
Bosch 1680cc secondaries on a DM motorsports rail
Aeromotive FPR
Quantum 340lph fuel pump

Drivetrain
Reconditioned gearbox (allegedly!)

Suspension
Tein Flex Z coilovers

Wheels
7Twenty Style 14 18x9.5 ET22

Plan wise, I had intended to stick a front mount on, tune and enjoy for a while. Although after noticing strange boost issues, I got talked into a single turbo kit (SAS Autoworks are brilliantly convincing ) and started ordering parts! More to come...

 

[tomCTR]

Looks nice mate, keep it on the road and enjoy it mate.

 

[spenser8797]

Looks nice mate, keep it on the road and enjoy it mate.

Cheers dude!

 

[spenser8797]

Next up after a service (where we found a leaking turbo oil feed) was getting the car sitting better and sorting the arches out. Someone had attempted to roll previously, but gave up and left them with cracked paint... So we cleaned up the other side, waxoyl'd behind, rolled, got rid of the surface rust and coated with hammerite - not the prettiest but at least they're coated.

Thanks to my mates at Limes Garage for helping out and letting me use the ramp.

Shortly after, my alternator packed up. So it sat for a little while whilst that was getting rebuilt and I chucked a new battery on at the same time. My mate Ash refitted the alternator as I'm pretty useless mechanically lol.

Once the colder weather hit, I could actually use the car... With the current intercooler setup, IATs would quickly jump into the 50s (and higher after heat soak) after 1 pull during the summer and struggled to come down from there. During the winter, it's happily in the 40s (still not ideal) and remains that way after sitting at motorway speeds. I had ordered a front mount by then, but decided to wait and fit with the single kit.

Below is a draggy run from Feb, showing where the car is at currently. The car has/ had a weird boost issue where the second turbo doesn't appear come on much (like the changeover doesn't happen) when planting it below 4k - it doesn't happen all the time. I did a couple of runs starting in 2nd to try and avoid this, but they were around 0.5s slower. The best run was starting in 3rd and I didn't have the boost issue that time. I feel like it could have done better, but IATs were shooting up, so I gave up and haven't tried again since!

 

[Ferrox117]

Next up after a service (where we found mismatched plugs and a leaking turbo oil feed) was getting the car sitting better and sorting the arches out. Someone had attempted to roll previously, but gave up and left them with cracked paint... So we cleaned up the other side, waxoyl'd behind, rolled, got rid of the surface rust and coated with hammerite - not the prettiest but at least they're coated.

Thanks to my mates at Limes Garage for helping out and letting me use the ramp.

View attachment 32866

Shortly after, my alternator packed up. So it sat for a little while whilst that was getting rebuilt and I chucked a new battery on at the same time. My mate Ash refitted the alternator as I'm pretty useless mechanically lol.

View attachment 32867

Once the colder weather hit, I could actually use the car... With the current intercooler setup, IATs would quickly jump into the 50s (and higher after heat soak) after 1 pull during the summer and struggled to come down from there. During the winter, it's happily in the 40s (still not ideal) and remains that way after sitting at motorway speeds. I had ordered a front mount by then, but decided to wait and fit with the single kit.

Below is a draggy run from Feb, showing where the car is at currently. The car has/ had a weird boost issue where the second turbo doesn't appear come on much (like the changeover doesn't happen) when planting it below 4k - it doesn't happen all the time. I did a couple of runs starting in 2nd to try and avoid this, but they were around 0.5s slower. The best run was starting in 3rd and I didn't have the boost issue that time. I feel like it could have done better, but IATs were shooting up, so I gave up and haven't tried again since!

View attachment 32868

Sounds like you’re having similar problems as me fixed one issue the other night, on the drive hom my alternator starting over charging my intercooler is in a similar place but have just ordered a v mount kit which should sort this out, just a labour of love. Got to stick at it

 

[spenser8797]

Sounds like you’re having similar problems as me fixed one issue the other night, on the drive hom my alternator starting over charging my intercooler is in a similar place but have just ordered a v mount kit which should sort this out, just a labour of love. Got to stick at it

Definitely a labour of love lol. There's a guy on YouTube I saw that made a cool duct for the intercooler, but I haven't got the skill or patience for that .

 

[Ceylon]

I owned this for a while, it's a 91 type x, was an auto but was manual converted. Got a bunch of pics if you're interested .

 

[TK1234]

What make intercooler is it? It looks roughly like the size of the pettit cool charge 3 intercooler, which they sell a duct for:

Pettit Racing Cool Charge II / III Intercooler Duct for Mazda RX-7 FD 1992-2002 - Pettit Racing

The Pettit Racing Cool Charge Duct is available in two styles: Cool Charge 3 and the Cool Charge 2. The Cool Charge 2-style Intercooler Duct works - Pettit Racing

pettitracing.com

I think you can look up the measurements of the intercooler itself so if yours is in the same ballpark, this might be a cheaper alternative to going v mount

 

[spenser8797]

I owned this for a while, it's a 91 type x, was an auto but was manual converted. Got a bunch of pics if you're interested .

Oh awesome, yeah anything you have on it would be great to see please!

 

[spenser8797]

What make intercooler is it? It looks roughly like the size of the pettit cool charge 3 intercooler, which they sell a duct for:

Pettit Racing Cool Charge II / III Intercooler Duct for Mazda RX-7 FD 1992-2002 - Pettit Racing

The Pettit Racing Cool Charge Duct is available in two styles: Cool Charge 3 and the Cool Charge 2. The Cool Charge 2-style Intercooler Duct works - Pettit Racing

pettitracing.com

I think you can look up the measurements of the intercooler itself so if yours is in the same ballpark, this might be a cheaper alternative to going v mount

That's handy cheers, I've bought a front mount now, but would have gone for that this time last year

 

[spenser8797]

Next up (April), I chucked some 6.5" speakers in the front. Although they still sound rubbish, so I'm thinking to upgrade the wiring, get a new head unit and possibly stick a small amp somewhere next.... The car came with the funky Bose kit which wasn't working - I'll rip the rest of that out and store somewhere when I get a sec.

By here I'd pretty much ordered everything I needed for the single turbo conversion. Power wise, I'm aiming for a responsive 400whp and took advantage of SAS Autoworks' offer to develop a kit for the Garrett G series turbos. Ordered so far:

Air pump delete kit from Petit
SAS 3" exhaust
SAS turbo kit with a Garrett G30-770 1.01 AR
Treadstone front mount
Fast reacting IAT from a chap on Facebook
GM 3-bar map sensor from Banzai
ChaseBays AST delete
AEM water temp, oil temp & AFR gauges
Full fuel kit from FFE (ID725 & ID1700, FFE rails, FuelLab FPR etc)
IGN-1A coils and Walbro 450 kit from IRP
Stage 3 Competition Clutch & Ultra Lightweight flywheel (4.39kg)
Greddy elbow (of course!) and Greddy OLED boost controller

Then in an attempt to recover financially, I got rid of my less expensive Mazda!

 

[spenser8797]

July update...

The car took a trip over to The Performance Shop who fitted my my clutch & flywheel, skirts and exhaust. The flywheel made a massive improvement to feel imo, I don't think I'd go back to stock weight again. The exhaust was also a massive difference, much deeper tone and finally one that doesn't leak!

Whilst at TPS I took the opportunity to get the wheels refurbed. I wanted something dark, but not too dark. Went with a colour that comes on some of the new Alfa wheels. Final result below!

No changes throughout the summer, other than dailying the car to bed the clutch in. In October I ordered a set of PS5s (255/40/18) for the rear. I think I need a small spacer and to raise a touch - as I'm not happy with the fitment but it's not far off!

 

[spenser8797]

Winter update...

Colder weather is the only time I can use the car without IATs shooting up, so winter prep began! Stuck the car on a ramp and thankfully found no surprises underneath - pretty impressed with the underneath considering the age. All jetwashed and undersealed.

Next I finally fitted a set of LED headlights. This is probably the best £25 I've ever spent on a car lol, the difference is actually insane! Note: you have to trim the heatsink thing down and cut the rubber boot to get the new unit to fit, but otherwise a quick install.

Late Jan/ Feb my PFC commander shat the bed, so I sent it off to FC-Hako in Australia for an LCD replacement. Unfortunately it was right around the Royal Mail cyber incident which lengthened the delivery time by quite a bit. Didn't end up getting the commander back until March - the longest the car has sat in my ownership! So much crisper now replaced though:

 

[spenser8797]

Spring update:

S.A.S started the turbo kit in March! I've nicked the pictures below from what he sent me (mocked up on his shop car):

Here's a link to his Insta with better pics of the manifold.

Aside from that, I noticed a puddle under my rear passenger seat, so out came the interior... Looked to be coming from either the spoiler or the plug under the triangle pieces at the rear - re-silicone'd and seems to be holding up for the moment.

Whipped off the spoiler too, taped up temporarily and the car is slowly turning into a 10-footer lol. Looks so much better though.

Just waiting on the downpipe/ finishing touches at present. Once that's done, I'll get the turbo and gate sent off to Thermomet for insulating, exhaust manifold, UIM, LIM & elbow off to be Cerakote'd and I'll get some DEI wrap for the DP. Was hoping to everything sorted for mapping in May, as I have a Ring trip in June - but timelines couldn't be met unfortunately.

Fingers crossed I can make the June mapping day as the car is pointless in the summer. Popped to Halfords on a mildly warm April day and intake temps were up to 67 degs after being parked up for 30 mins!

 

[spenser8797]

May update:

My mate Ash helped me strip the car down (by that I mean I watched him strip the car down lol). Was surprised at how small the block is with most of the bits removed. Also fitted a wiper delete which I think looks better than the wiper I never use - I'll eventually get the hatch holes welded up and painted, but that will wait as the whole car needs paint really!

 

[spenser8797]

Got the car and parts over to The Performance Shop & SAS this month - unfortunately didn't make the June mapping slot with Marco, but we should be good for July. Forgot to put pictures up of the bits back from Cerakoting too!

 

[Ferrox117]

Got the car and parts over to The Performance Shop & SAS this month - unfortunately didn't make the June mapping slot with Marco, but we should be good for July. Forgot to put pictures up of the bits back from Cerakoting too!

View attachment 36178View attachment 36179
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View attachment 36182

That’s how I want my Inlet mani! looks wicked!

 

[spenser8797]

That’s how I want my Inlet mani! looks wicked!

Cheers dude! I'm happy with how it came out, just got to try and keep the satin free from greasy fingers!

 

[spenser8797]

Dyno is booked for 22nd July and the guys over at The Performance Shop having been smashing bits out over the last couple of days! Getting there

 

[rx_dreamer]

good use of stock ash tray