NoRotors.com - RX7 Engine Swap Forum
Technical Information => Build Threads => Topic started by: viper2oo2 on December 27, 2012, 10:17:51 PM
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Goals: "Quick," "Easy," Cali Smog-legal. Those 3 add up to an E-Rod build, since emissions should be easy, it comes most of the parts I would need (other than trans/cooling/fuel), the wiring harness has like 9 connections that need to be made. I don't want to do anything extra on this build. It's much easier for me to work on a car that I can drive rather than one that I can't, so I want to just get it back together first, and then complete any mods I would like to do (rear end/suspension, etc.)
Plans:
E-Rod (Smog Legal)
T-56
Howe Radiator
Samberg Mount Kit
Power-steering (2004 GTO Pump)
No A/C (San Diego!)
No Rear End Mods/Suspension Mods until it's back together
6 Month Build (HA!!! Not gonna happen....)
Some boring BS background stuff..
After plenty of searching for my "perfect" car, I found an auto SSM base model with a black interior that was clean title an no accidents. It had more miles than I'd like, 164k, but really for a swap car, who cares? The car actually ran, but the paint was crap and it didn't boost correctly, it had a bit of aftermarket goodies on it (Mazdaspeed Exhaust, Mocal Dual Oil Coolers, R1 Strut bar, Greddy Gauges, Tein HA? Coilovers) so I picked it up for $6500 and figured I could part it out and get the real cost down quite a bit.
The car sat around for months while I (mostly) finished my original project car (Factory Five Shelby Cobra), and the time has finally come to build the RX7. I've been collecting parts over the last couple months so I would be mostly ready when the time came, I'm waiting to purchase the engine until I've got the majority of things ready (or Summit Racing has a discount) since the engine comes with a 2 year warranty from the time I purchase it.
I started working on Monday since I had time off from work and then worked all today, I have the engine just about ready to come out, just a couple more things to remove, but that'll probably have to wait till Monday since I've only got a half day of work tomorrow and I'll be gone over the weekend.
I'll post up pictures and parts list of what I've purchased when I get a chance.
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Parts List (at least the start of it):
1993 SSM Base RX7, Clean Title, No Accidents, Running but not boosting correctly, Repainted with paint peeling, Mazdaspeed Exhaust and Oil Filler Cap, ARC intake and piping, Intercooler (can't remember which), Mocal Dual Oil Coolers, R1 Strut Bar - $6500 - $750 for the Engine - $460 Oil coolers - $110 Cats -$170 ARC pipes/BOV/AST= $5010
Manual Pedals - (Long Story) 1993 Salvage Title, No Engine but Manual, Smashed while in Junkyard, Base/R1, Bought for $650, Sold Car for $1550, Sold some parts for $450 and took the Pedals - -$1350 (I won't count this)
LS3 E-Rod for Manual Trans - $7,200 (with 10% off) Link (http://www.summitracing.com/parts/nal-19257234)
Samberg Mount Kit with CTS-V Pedal Mount and no Rear Diff Mount (Because I didn't know I needed it, whoops) - $1490 Link (http://www.sambergperformancefabrication.com/?product=lsx-mounting-kit)
Samberg Rear Diff Mount - $400 Link (http://www.norotors.com/index.php?topic=14640.0)
Front Powerflex Bushings(PFF36-301, PFF36-302, PFF36-303, PFF36-306) - $267
C-West Headlights - $325
RB Swaybar Brace - $45
99 Spec Bumber, 99 Lip, 99 Brake Ducts, Oil Cooler Ducts (going to sell the ducts I think) - $750-115 (99 ducts) = 635
99 Spec Turn Signal (Depo) - $76 99 00 01 02 Mazda RX7 RX-7 Front Bumper Signal Lights BLACK DEPO (http://www.ebay.com/itm/310427285893?item=310427285893&viewitem=&sspagename=ADME:L:OC:US:3160&vxp=mtr)
Alternator - $145 Link (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0031HZR20/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00)
T-56 - DEPOSIT LEFT ($250, $1800 TOTAL) LS T56\BELHOUSING\PRO5.0 SHIFTER
Radiator - Howe 34327RNF, use stock fans - $284 Link (http://www.howeracing.com/p-7454-double-pass.aspx)
Reverse lockout - $80 - (hope it works) Link (http://www.accutach.com/Pages/OSSVSSReverseLockoutUnit.aspx)
Engine Pedestals (C5) - $90 - Link (http://www.norotors.com/index.php?topic=14071.0)
Clutch Master With Clocking Mount (Hinson) - $112 Link (http://www.hinsonsupercars.com/p-472-wilwood-78-master-cylinder-modified.aspx)
Clutch Slave cylinder (Camaro) - $66 Link (http://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-386433-Clutch-Slave-Cylinder/dp/B000S2MJYA)
Clutch Line/Fittings - $60 - Hose (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ear-63010232erl) -- Banjo Bolt (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ear-977503erl) -- Fitting For Slave Cyl (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/rus-640281) -- Link to Thread I Got Parts List From (http://www.norotors.com/index.php?topic=1229.msg15053/topicseen.html#msg15053)
Clutch Speedbleeder (Tick Performance) - $57 Link (http://www.tickperformance.com/tick-performance-remote-clutch-speedbleeder-line-for-c5-corvette-z06-04-06-gto-ls1-f-body/)
Speedometer Correction - Dakota Digital - $80 Link (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dakota-Digital-Universal-Speedometer-Signal-Interface-SGI-5-/261142358814?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3ccd4c2b1e&vxp=mtr)
WRONG Power Steering Pump (2004 fits F-Body, 2005-6 is What I need for Y-body and I had to tap one hole to get it to mount up) - $
Fuel Pump - WALBRO 400 - $146 - Link (http://www.rx7store.net/Walbro_400lph_HP_In_Tank_Fuel_Pump_p/walbro%20400-0001.htm)
CTS-V Alternator Bracket/Bolts - $53 - Link (http://store.gmpartshouse.com/parts/2005/CADILLAC/CTS/V/?siteid=214638&vehicleid=1432727&diagram=BK03682)
LS1 Oil Pan, Gasket, Drain Plug and Hardware w/ Improved Racing Baffle - $419 - Link (http://www.improvedracing.com/baffled-oil-pans/baffled-racing-oil-pan-for-ls1-camaro-firebird-body-p-75.html)
LS1 Windage Tray (not sure I need this) - $19 - Link (http://www.improvedracing.com/windage-trays/windage-tray-for-ls1-camaro-firebird-body-12558253-p-74.html)
LS1 Dip Stick Tube - $16 - Link (http://www.improvedracing.com/dip-sticks-tubes/oil-dip-stick-for-ls1-camaro-firebird-body-12551581-p-73.html)
LS1 Dip Stick Tube - $13 - Link (http://www.improvedracing.com/dip-sticks-tubes/oil-dip-stick-tube-for-ls1-camaro-firebird-body-12551577-p-72.html)
LS1 Oil Pickup Tube - $39- Link (http://www.improvedracing.com/oil-pumps-pickups/oil-pickup-tube-for-ls1-camaro-firebird-body-12558251-p-71.html)
Starter, ACDelco 12617229 - $96 Link (http://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-12617229-Starter-Assembly/dp/B0031IBRZA/ref=au_pf_ss_1?ie=UTF8&Make=Chevrolet%7C47&Model=Camaro%7C432&Year=2010%7C2010&carId=011&n=15684181&s=automotive)
Starter Bolt, ACDelco 11610787 - $5 Link (http://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-11610787-Starter-Miscellaneous-Part/dp/B0065V6A98/ref=lh_ni_t?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER)
Monster Stage 2 Clutch/Light Flywheel, Pressure Plate and Flywheel Bolts (After MC110 discount) - $645 - Link (http://www.coloradospeed.com/monster-clutch-street-series-clutch-level-2-550-hp-tq-19972013-gm-lsx-exc-ctsv-p-12532.html)
Trans mount, Energy Susension 3.1108 - $28 - Link (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CN956K/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
Accutach Reverse Lockout Controller - $80 - Link (http://www.accutach.com/Pages/OSSVSSReverseLockoutUnit.aspx)
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Current Pic:
[attach=1]
20 Days, 84.5 hours
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Looking forward to seeing it. :)
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in for info on how you make the car smog legal
thats what i want to do with mine too
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Where are you located, norcal or socal?
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Don't have many before pictures, but here's one from Monday before I started:
[attach=1]
And here's one from today.
[attach=2]
I got the engine, trans and exhaust out today. Left off yesterday with 2 nuts left on the power plant frame. Got those off and "dropped" the PPF, luckily not on my hand. Once I had the PPF off I couldn't jack from the diff since it wasn't supported, I'm not sure how you're supposed to jack it up without the PPF. I used the mount location for the rear lca.
I couldn't get the drive shaft unbolted, so I just supported it when I removed the engine/trans and it slid out as the trans pulled away. I think that was easier than removing the bolts, at least because it was in park and I'm not sure how to rotate the DS with the trans in park.
Engine came out easy...right after I thought I would have to take the trans off because I couldn't get the engine high enough to disengage from the sub-frame. I had used an L shaped bracket (that came with my leveler) to lift the engine and that was hitting the firewall, so I used just the chain, which didn't catch the firewall, that allowed me to raise and tip the engine enough to get it out. I used an engine leveler and got it out by myself, I figured I was going to have to call a friend to help, but it was easier than I thought.
Here's a pic with the engine out, where you can see the car:
[attach=3]
The joy's of working by yourself...could not get the hoist over the lip in the driveway...and I almost tipped it...but I got it with the jack.
[attach=4]
I don't know how, but I made it up the driveway...
[attach=5]
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in for info on how you make the car smog legal
thats what i want to do with mine too
I'm going to use the E-Rod, http://www.chevroletperformance.com/erod/, (http://www.chevroletperformance.com/erod/,) so the engine package will have a CARB sticker with it, I just have to install all the parts and take it to a BAR Ref to get it fully legal. Hopefully it'll only be twice as hard as I think it will be. They're doing a similar build on motoiq.com - http://www.motoiq.com/projects/mazda/project_mazda_v8_rx-7.aspx (http://www.motoiq.com/projects/mazda/project_mazda_v8_rx-7.aspx)
Where are you located, norcal or socal?
Socal, San Diego.
Current Plans:
Coat the samberg sub-frame in Por-15
Pull the subframe
Replace the control arm bushings before installing on samberg subframe
Install steering rack spacers, bump steer correction and replace rack bushings
Start figuring out what I need to do for the wiring
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I have an E-Rod LS3 kit installed in a customer's FD at my shop right now if you wanted to take a look at it, we've done Erods in a bunch of chassis now.
We're in Irwindale, about 2hrs north of SD.
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I have an E-Rod LS3 kit installed in a customer's FD at my shop right now if you wanted to take a look at it, we've done Erods in a bunch of chassis now.
We're in Irwindale, about 2hrs north of SD.
Yeah, I'd love to see it. Can I just stop by when you're open? I've got family in the area, so I will be there periodically.
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I have an E-Rod LS3 kit installed in a customer's FD at my shop right now if you wanted to take a look at it, we've done Erods in a bunch of chassis now.
We're in Irwindale, about 2hrs north of SD.
I was looking at the erod ls3 but Im concern of the placement of the cats...
Do they fit the fd without mods being made?
Or if mods are made it wil still be smog legal? Or the referee isnt that hard on erod swap since is already smog friendly
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Yeah, I'd love to see it. Can I just stop by when you're open? I've got family in the area, so I will be there periodically.
You bet, just call the shop to make sure we're here. (626) 472-6360
I was looking at the erod ls3 but Im concern of the placement of the cats...
Do they fit the fd without mods being made?
Or if mods are made it wil still be smog legal? Or the referee isnt that hard on erod swap since is already smog friendly
You definitely have to mod the cat pipes lol. We chopped the cats off and used stainless 2.5" mandrel bends to put them in the correct position, barely clearing the TR6060 and FD frame. Came out great though!
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-gqbwYsK_elE/UOILniM0bFI/AAAAAAAAKEI/G0c-7og-bMg/s912/cat-pipes-welded.jpg)
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-2aSRZgM4zHQ/UOILqt4oWYI/AAAAAAAAKEQ/PA1SGIrpiLo/s912/cats-during-build.jpg)
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You bet, just call the shop to make sure we're here. (626) 472-6360
Awesome, hopefully I'll make it up there before you're done.
Today I got the sub-frame coated in Por-15. First, I cleaned it with "Marine Clean" then soaked it in "Metal Ready" to prepare the metal. I let it dry (with some assist from a heat gun) and then brushed on the Por-15. Let it dry most of the way, which takes forever, I waited 3 hours and it probable wasn't completely ready for the second coat, but I had to leave so I put it on anyway. It's still drying as we speak, I'll put some pics up tomorrow. Next I'm going to primer and paint it gloss black, just to give it some extra protection.
I think I'm going to start an hour and day count (the number I actually work), so when it's all done I'll know how much of my life I wasted on this project. So far I've worked on it 4 days for a total of about 27 hours and have the engine/trans out and the sub-frame coated.
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The dried Por-15 looked good, but I wanted a little extra insurance, so I primered with rattle can automotive primer then sprayed rustoleum professional high gloss black. End result looks fine, a couple of runs and plenty of unevenness, I could have sanded the primer, but since this is going at the bottom of the engine bay, I didn't think it was worth the effort. I do need to clean up most of the bolt holes and the surface that locates the camber bolts.
Here's what I used for the base coat, the 4 oz can was just enough to do 2 coats on the sub-frame:
[attach=1]
Here's the before:
[attach=2]
And After:
[attach=3]
5 Days, 27.5 hours
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I have an E-Rod LS3 kit installed in a customer's FD at my shop right now if you wanted to take a look at it, we've done Erods in a bunch of chassis now.
We're in Irwindale, about 2hrs north of SD.
Are you using an oil cooler with the TR6060, apparently only the Camaro has one as standard?
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I have an E-Rod LS3 kit installed in a customer's FD at my shop right now if you wanted to take a look at it, we've done Erods in a bunch of chassis now.
We're in Irwindale, about 2hrs north of SD.
Are you using an oil cooler with the TR6060, apparently only the Camaro has one as standard?
Yes, the Camaro has a fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger in the radiator like the Corvettes do. In my car, I actually had Griffin add that to one of the radiator end tanks, but in the customer's car we looped the trans cooler lines (using AN lines/fittings, not the crap GM quick-connects) for the time being, and will add a small fluid-to-air cooler once he starts hitting the track. You really only need the trans cooler for sustained high speed, high load stuff like road-racing. Time attack and drift don't get ~1gal of trans fluid hot enough lol.
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Friday - Cleaned up paint on the Subframe and built a (so far) worthless Harbor Freight 6-Ton press
Saturday - Took Off LCA - got stuck a bunch of times and couldn't get the bushings out. Removed old trans from rotary engine and sold engine ($750)
I wrote all the torques I needed to re-install LCA and install new sub-frame:
1) Strut Lower Bolt - 59-86 ft-lb
2) Upper Control Arm (to frame) - 44-54 ft-lb
3) Sway Bar End Links - 44-54
4) LCA Camber Bolts - 59-86 ft-lb
5) LCA to hub (king nut) - 58-79 ft-lb (also mark bolt location when removing)
6) Tie Rod End Locknut - 26-36 ft-lb
7) Tie Rod to Hub - 22-32 ft-lb
8 ) Subframe to Frame - 73-86 ft-lb
9) Steering Rack - 28-38 ft-lb (Loosely tighten rears first then torque all)
10) UCA to Hub - 27-39 ft-lb
11) UCA Bracket Holding lines - 12-16 ft-lb
Removed front wheel, bolts from LCA to shock and the end-link - also needed to remove the end-like to get the LCA off, but found that out later.
Loosened Tie Rod End(TRE) Lock Nut and Removed king nut from TRE and used a mallet to remove TRE.
Removed Nut From LCA to Hub and Heated with a torch and hit ball joint with punch and hammer - FAIL
Heated hub with torch and hit ball Joint - FAIL
Heated Hub and used "Pickle Fork" ball joint removal tool - Success...but only in ripping the dust boot, the ball joint didn't move.
Gave up, met with the guy who wanted the engine, he didn't wan the trans, so I removed it, which I thought was impossible, because I couldn't remove the torque converter bolts (apparently torqued to 150 ft-lbs) with a box wrench, which is the only tool I could get in there. I gave up trying to remove the bolts and took off everything else, including the starter and the hole for the starter gave me enough room to get a "through hole" ratchet in there and a cheater bar. After that it was easy and went back to the ball joints (after like 3.5 hours of talking to the guy and working on the trans).
Used Ball Point Separator (http://www.harborfreight.com/3-4-quarter-inch-forged-ball-point-joint-separator-99849.html), slid the fork part under where the hub attaches and the other side on top of the ball joint. I tightened down as much as I could, wouldn't budge. So I heated it with the torch and eventually it popped, and I mean popped, the whole suspension moved, I'm just glad my head wasn't in the wheel-well.
[attach=1]
Next time I would tighten the tool a little and then heat and then tighten the tool, so maybe it won't pop.
Removed the camber bolts (and the end-link because I couldn't get the LCA out).
I started trying to remove the bushings and found out my press can't fit the LCA in it as it would need to to remove the bushing. Tried pounding on it with a hammer and a socket and figured I was just going to damage it so I stopped and went to O'Reilly to see what loaner tools they had:
Picked up a couple tools for ball joints, hoping I could figure something out, quit for the day.
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Sunday - Removed the LCA bushings then put the car back together to put it back down (not torquing anything), so I don't piss off the neighbors during the week, because it's supposed to start raining and I'm doing all this in the street.
How to get the LCA bushings out:
Pick up these tools (or equivalent) from O'Reilly, I showed the boxes empty other than the parts I used:
Evertough 67045 - Ball Joint/U-Joint Press set
[attach=1][attach=2]
Evertough 67047 - Honda Ball Joint Adapter Set
[attach=3]
On the fwd bushing I pressed out the middle metal part using only the clamp part of the tool, if you don't, you can't push the bushing as far out (these pics show the bushing half way out, because that was when I found out I needed to:
[attach=4][attach=5]
Forgot to take pics of the next part (updated with pic), but I set up the tool the same as in the last pic, but used these adapters:
[attach=6][attach=9]
I used the middle sized "pipe" to press against the LCA and the small flat piece from the honda set to press against the bushing.
I had the wrong side of the large flat piece to press against the pipe because the tool won't fit the correct way.
These pieces need to be off center to fit on the LCA:
[attach=7] like this [attach=8]
To finish it, I used the piece from the honda kit, a torch and mallet/punch to get the bushing all the way out, because the bushing was longer than the "pipe" adapter.
That got the bushings out, I would say it was pretty easy and 100% free.
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I also installed the LCA powerflex bushings. All went in by hand, super easy, I just greased everything and used teflon tape and grease on the metal part of the bushings so it hopefully won't squeak or bind (saw it on motoiq.com on their GD STi project).
[attach=1] [attach=2] [attach=3]
Then re-installed everything because it was supposed to rain, hopefully during the week I'll get the other LCA bushing replaced and the sub-frame installed.
With the time selling (and separating) the engine, it's been 8 days and 38.5 hours.
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Hey viper, new update you might find interesting: Project V8 RX-7 vs the State of California (http://www.motoiq.com/magazine_articles/id/2846/project-v8-rx-7-goin-legit-project-rx-7-vs-the-state-of-california.aspx)
also throw away that damn pickle fork and never mess up a boot again (on page 7 of this article): HERE (http://www.motoiq.com/magazine_articles/id/2220/pageid/3855/project-v8-rx-7-part-vi--installing-the-e-rod-ls3.aspx)
(that was on a tie rod but it works on the ball joint too)
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Hey viper, new update you might find interesting: Project V8 RX-7 vs the State of California (http://www.motoiq.com/magazine_articles/id/2846/project-v8-rx-7-goin-legit-project-rx-7-vs-the-state-of-california.aspx)
also throw away that damn pickle fork and never mess up a boot again (on page 7 of this article): HERE (http://www.motoiq.com/magazine_articles/id/2220/pageid/3855/project-v8-rx-7-part-vi--installing-the-e-rod-ls3.aspx)
(that was on a tie rod but it works on the ball joint too)
You don't have to tell me to read MotoIQ, especially not Project V8 RX-7 (I linked to it earlier in the thread and I've already used many things I've learned from the site during this build). I'm actually the guy who asked about needing to go to a ref even though the kit came with a CARB sticker, thanks for calling me "astute"! Congrats on getting the car smogged and I'm excited that you didn't have to go to a ref, hopefully I'll have the same experience.
I did throw away the pickle fork (well returned it), I actually bought an air hammer to try that trick on the ball joint, but it didn't come with the hammer attachment, just chisels (why would they call it an air "hammer" and not include one!?!?) so I tried the other tool I picked up and it worked, albeit with a bit of heat and danger. When I get to the other side I'll try the air hammer trick.
Thanks for writing about the RX7 build, your articles have been very helpful so far and I only see them becoming even more useful as I really get into the build.
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I use one of these!!
I am quite jealous of the E-rod smog process. There wasn't an E-rod yet when I started. Hopefully I can get my swap past the ref. After reading the Moto-iq articles (which I love) I am definitely going hoodless with the factory airbox on it.
(https://www.norotors.com/gallery/albums/White_94_cali_legal_ls2_swap/Dir_1/medium_861.JPG) (https://www.norotors.com/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=861)
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yep, that's the only way to do it with a swap from a donor.. hopefully you don't have one of the older ls1's that had an air pump--that's an added layer of lameness i had to do too.
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You don't have to tell me to read MotoIQ, especially not Project V8 RX-7 (I linked to it earlier in the thread and I've already used many things I've learned from the site during this build). I'm actually the guy who asked about needing to go to a ref even though the kit came with a CARB sticker, thanks for calling me "astute"! Congrats on getting the car smogged and I'm excited that you didn't have to go to a ref, hopefully I'll have the same experience.
HA! you're welcome! ;)
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Got the tie rod end off the drivers side yesterday and tried to get the ball joint off too, but I found out my air hammer doesn't work and I didn't have time to go buy a new one, I tried using the tools I had to get it off, but I couldn't get it and I damaged threads on the ball joint separator. I'll get a new air hammer today and try again tomorrow.
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Ball joint is still stuck, I finally tried the air hammer "trick" but it wouldn't budge. Tried heat, the scissor thing I have and beating it, but nothing worked, another hour down the drain on this stupid thing.
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Ball joints are non-service items!!!
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Ball joints are non-service items!!!
The ball joint is stuck in the hub, I'm not trying to remove it from the LCA, just trying to remove the LCA from the car to replace bushings. I've got some more tools that I'm going to try today.
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Got the ball joint out using the tools I picked up. Pretty sure at some point I damaged the threads, so I'm going to need a new LCA. That's not too bad, the real bad thing that happened today was I found out I missed the summitracing.com 10% off discount, so now I have to spend an extra $800 on my engine.
I think I got the ball joint off with this tool I borrowed from O'Reilly (it popped, but I thought it was because the tool slipped off):
[attach=1][attach=2]
But I would recommend getting this tool (http://www.amazon.com/OTC-7315A-Universal-Tie-Remover/dp/B000F5LJ3M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1358044695&sr=8-2&keywords=otc+front+end), but I bought this set (http://www.amazon.com/OTC-6295-Front-End-Service/dp/B0002SRH7O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358044695&sr=8-1&keywords=otc+front+end) so I wouldn't waste more time if that tool didn't work, but that's the tool I would use, same one Daniel recommended:
[attach=3]
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Since I want to keep this moving along and wanted to watch the NFL playoffs I started early this morning and it was freezing. The car was covered in ice for like 2 hours from the time I started (I thought I lived in San Diego?).
Since I got the ball joint off yesterday, I took off both the LCA's so I could remove the subframe and install the samberg one. Probably could have left them on, but seemed like it would be easier since I was going to take them off to install the bushing anyway. Once I got the LCA's off I had to decide how to hold the car up without the subframe (which is what I had the jackstands under to hold the car). I was going to make some wood adapters to hold the car where you jack it up to change a tire (cut a slot in the wood so the bead wont bend), but I didn't cut a big enough slot and decided to put jackstands under the frame rails in the front, just behind the sway bar mounts. This is where I put the jack stands:
[attach=1] [attach=2] [attach=3] [attach=4] [attach=5]
Seemed pretty stable and I'm not dead so I guess it was fine. I think it was sitting on the part of the sway bar mount that attaches to the frame rail.
To remove the subframe, I held the PS rack with a ratcheting strap and used a jack to hold the back of the subframe, then removed all but one of the front nuts holding it up. Removed the nut while holding the subframe then lowered the jack at the same time as lowering the subframe.
[attach=6]
Done:
[attach=7]
This ended up being way easier than I thought.
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To install the Samberg subframe I cut a piece of 2x4 and placed it under the subframe under the engine mounts (close to the center of gravity) and balanced that on the jack. I raised the jack making sure that the subframe went on level (each side hit the guide pins at the same time) so it wouldn't catch on the guide pins if it didn't go on straight.
[attach=1]
Went on super easy, after it was in place, I applied some locktite and tightened each nut/bolt holding the subframe a small amount at a time to again make sure it went on straight, until they were hand tight, then I torqued each to 86 ft-lbs.
[attach=2]
I also replace the steering rack bushings and installed the steering rack with the spacers, but I didn't take pictures of that after it was done. I did use the grease they supply with them, but I'm pretty sure those aren't supposed to move, so I wouldn't think they would squeak.
I re-installed the LCA's (I need to weld the piece on to the camber bolts, but don't have a welder so I'll do that later) which was a bitch with the side with the new bushings (had to use a rubber mallet, the jack and some leverage using the handle of a hammer and the ground) but the other side with on easily. I'm not sure if the subframe was a little off or what but it seemed OK, just tighter than expected.
I built up the tie rod ends, I used locktite so hopefully they won't come apart (there's also a nut you tighten down, but I wanted to be safe). I'm not sure you need the extra nut on the adapter sleeve, since it makes the tie rod end longer than the original ones, but I put it there for now.
[attach=3]
I installed them, but didn't torque them. I didn't torque them yet or put the cotter pins because I'm going to have to set the approximate camber later and adjust them when I do that.
[attach=4]
I put it all back together and put it back on the ground, other than the side with the damaged ball joint, I'm keeping that on the emergency jack since I can't get the nut on the ball joint. I also sent a guy a payment for some front suspension components (I only needed the driver's LCA but he wanted to sell the LCA/Hub/UCA/Caliper as a set, so I bought the complete front suspension). So hopefully I'll have that next weekend or the week after.
I've been working now for 11 days (working days, not the amount of days since I started) and 47.5 hours.
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Swapped out the brake pedal for the manual brake pedal. I had to drop the steering column to get it out, but it wasn't too bad. I didn't realize the studs that hold the pedal to the firewall are the only things holding the brake booser/MC on the car, so when I tried to put the manual brake pedal on, the studs pushed away. Took a couple tries to figure out what was going on, but then I just jammed it up their with a rubber mallet to hold it on and it went on easily.
[attach=1]
I started to put the clutch pedal and the wilwood master cylinder on, with the Hinson modification (which is a bolt welded on to the end of the pushrod so it's longer and the correct thread and the Hinson plate to rotate the clutch master cylinder. I didn't realize it didn't come with bolts or studs, so I picked up some grade 10.9 M8x1.25 bolts, some 40mm and some 70mm.
I first clearanced (filed down) the hole for the master cylinder so the new one would fit. It didn't take much to get it to fit. The hinson plate doesn't have much extra space for the bolts, so it's hard to get them to line up, I think I'm going to have to file down the bolt holes. I bolted the clutch pedal up first so I could slide the bolts in with the master cylinder, I think it's going to work, but I couldn't finish tonight so we'll see what happens.
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I got the clutch master cylinder/pedal in today. Had to file down the hole in the firewall a bit and install the 2 bolts that hold up the clutch pedal but not the MC so I could slide the bolts in and the pedal wouldn't fall. That made it a bitch to thread the nut on the left side, but I could get it in.
I had to use the 70mm bolts on both sides (so I could put the nuts on)and I had to file/sand (with a belt sander) down the bolt shank/threads just under the bolt head so they had some play in the tiny holes in the hinson adapter (should be bigger and wish there was a bit more material around the hole- see pics). I also sanded down one side of the bolt head until it was just about even with the shank so it had some clearance to the MC. Seemed to go in pretty easy once I had those in and I now have 3 pedals!
Hinson Mod:
[attach=1]
Hinson Plate (on MC):
[attach=2]
3 Pedals! (And a ton of tools)
[attach=3]
13 Days 53 hours
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It's been over a week since I've worked on the build, I was waiting to get my LCA and also had family in town over the weekend and we installing doors (in the house) during the week.
Started by replacing the bushings on the replacement LCA using the same procedure as before, only this time the rubber part of the bushing separated from the metal sleeve (the oil filled one), so I had to take that out separate.
[attach=1][attach=2]
To get the metal sleeve out, I used a file (I couldn't find my hack saw and figured the triangular file would be eaiser to control and not damage the LCA) to cut a groove in the sleeve, then used punches to bend the sleeve over at the groove until it broke through and I could punch the sleeve out.
[attach=3]
Finally got it out, just took about 1.5 hours extra and it looked like this:
[attach=4]
Installed the new bushings, the same way as before (just push in).
[attach=5]
I removed the drive-shaft (finally) using my impact. It was way easier than I thought, without the PPF the diff tipped forward giving me access to all the bolts. I wouldn't have wanted to do that if I wasn't going to replace the diff bushings.
I replaced the bushing on the second had Samberg diff mount I purchased, using the tool I used to remove the bushings and a c-clamp to get the bushings flush.
[attach=6]
I started installing the diff mount, but I couldn't get all the bolt holes to line up yet, I've been wrestling with it for a while but gave up as it was getting dark. Hopefully I'll get it done tomorrow.
14 days 58.5 hours
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Finished the install on the Samberg diff mount today. It was easy once I figured out how to do it (not using pry bars). After getting the diff part mounted and the bar mounted onto the bushing, I was able to get about half of the bolts to line up just using a flat screw driver and pry bars to pry on the peice until it lined up. I couldn't get the rest of the bolts trying to pry it under the car, so I loosened all the diff bolts and the bolts to the car that I had already installed and found my phillips screw driver.
On the samberg mount there are 4 sets of bolt holes with 2 close to each other. To get everything to line up, I used a Phillips screwdriver through the hole that was the most off and put it into the threaded bolt hole. Then I forced the mount in the direction it needed to go and threaded a bolt in the closest free hole and tightened it while still forcing the mount over with the screwdriver in the other hole. With that one bolt tight, the other bolt threaded in easily. I had to do that for 2 sets of holes, the other two sets of holes I could get in with just prying on the mount, but if I were to do it again I would use the phillips screw driver to position each hole since it was pretty easy. I would also install the two pieces together before I installed them on the car, but I'm not 100% sure that would be easier, since it was too difficult to do under the car.
I've now got the car off of the two jacks (one for the diff and one for the LCA) that were holding it up and I need to start working the fuel system, the electrical and getting the cooling system prepared (mount the fans to the radiator). I think that's about all I need to do before ordering the engine, other than making sure I have all the accessories I need for it.
15 days 60.5 hours.
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Loving the detail man. New members will be appreciative. Keep it up and if I remember correctly; I got my FC built all with time taken off from work.....12 days to be exact over a whole 3/4's of a year. So at around 9 hours per day and I will throw in another 20 hours of misc, the total would be safe to assume close to 138-140 hours to do a complete swap(on a FC anyway)
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Loving the detail man. New members will be appreciative. Keep it up and if I remember correctly; I got my FC built all with time taken off from work.....12 days to be exact over a whole 3/4's of a year. So at around 9 hours per day and I will throw in another 20 hours of misc, the total would be safe to assume close to 138-140 hours to do a complete swap(on a FC anyway)
Thanks! I'm hoping mine takes around that much time, I think somewhere near 140-150 hours seems pretty reasonable to me.
I finally had some time this weekend to work on the car after having to put in OT and then getting sick.
I got the new fuel pump (Walbro 400, hopefully it's not too big...) installed. It was pretty easy to get in and out, just unhook/unbolt everything and pull it out. It helped to have hose pliers (http://www.harborfreight.com/3-piece-long-reach-hose-grip-pliers-37909.html) and picks (http://www.harborfreight.com/4-piece-pick-and-hook-set-66836.html) to separate and pull the fuel hoses off.
Fuel pump looked good and I took a pic so I would know which way is positive and negative:
[attach=1] [attach=6]
Here's what came in the install kit - which turned out to be worthless, I reused the original bag and didn't use the hose (I did use the butt connectors):
[attach=2]
Here's the comparison of the bottom of the pumps, with the rubber mount:
[attach=3]
To install the pump, I swapped the old bag and the little metal piece that holds it on to the new pump. Then I had to figure out how I wanted to mount the pump and connect it to the outlet pipe. I was going to use the provided hose and just cut off the end of of outlet tube and slide the hose a couple inches onto the pipe and use 3 hose clamps on it (since it doesn't have a barb). BUT, I decided I could adapt the o-ring and plastic spacers that the original pump used. I think the plastic spacer just holds the o-ring in place and the o-ring is what actually seals it. Because although the pump outlet was the same size as the original (I think) the barb on the end was too big to fit the spacer, so to fit the spacer I used a hack saw to cut through one of the sides (on the back in the picture) and then cut a flat spot in it because the pump outlet was too close to a ridge and would have sat too high, I used a razor blade to clean it up once I cut through:
[attach=4]
I installed the o-ring and the the top spacer (blurry pic), I doubt the top spacer is needed, but put it anyway to be safe):
[attach=5][attach=7]
I slipped the rubber sleeve over the pump outlet (it didn't fit when I put it on the fuel pump assembly first). I oiled the o-ring because it wouldn't slip on easily, then I held the fuel pump vertical so the spacer wouldn't move and pushed the assembly onto the pump.
To mount the pump into the assembly, I shaved the rubber part down where the plastic part of the bag hit it and wouldn't let it sit straight. There was a space between the rubber mount and the pump, so....I found a rubber PCV grommet and shaved down to fit in the gap (it was triangle shaped, so I cut it into a triangle), I didn't take a picture of it. I screwed in the bottom mount on with the grommet at the bottom to hold the pump on. I also used a hose clamp to hold the pump, just in case something went wrong.
[attach=8][attach=9]
I re-installed the pump assembly in the car. Overall pretty easy, just took a while because I couldn't decide how to mount it so it would seal correctly. If I chose wrong and it doesn't seal I'll have low fuel pressure and I'll change....something....
16 Days, 66.5 hours
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Sunday, I started going through the wiring diagrams and sites to map out what I need to wire up. I've got everything figured out now except the fans, starter wiring and the battery relocation. Not sure how much time I spend on it since I was working inside on the computer to figure it out.
17 Days, 70 hours.
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Sweet build!
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Got into doing the actual wiring this weekend. I got most of it done (Water temp gauge, Reverse Lockout (Accutach), Back-up lights, Tach, Speedometer and Dakota digital), I ended up changing some things from what I had planned as I went along and once you're actually doing the wiring it becomes more confusing than it should be. I have plenty of pictures and descriptions of what I've done, I'll post pics/details up during the week.
I also found this fuel pump comparison when I was trying to figure out what current the pump would draw so I know what size wire to run:
http://www.radiumauto.com/blog-page.php?Radium-Engineering-s-Ultimate-Fuel-Pump-Test-73 (http://www.radiumauto.com/blog-page.php?Radium-Engineering-s-Ultimate-Fuel-Pump-Test-73)
19 days, 82 hours
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I finished some more of the wiring today. I've got some time now so I'll post up what I've done. I'll only have the connections on the RX7 side and since the E-ROD harness is simplified, the connections to the E-ROD harness won't help a lot of people. The car is also an automatic, so some things may be different for manual cars. I removed the glove box, A/C condenser and the heater fan to give me some room to work on the wiring. I removed the A/C condenser when I removed everything since I won't need it.
The connections I needed to find to hook up to the E-ROD harness were:
Water Temp Gauge
Oil Pressure Gauge
Tach
Speedometer
Reverse Lights
Check Engine Light
Low Oil Light (not sure if I can use this)
Low Water Light (at least need to ground this so it won't go off)
Cooling Fans
Fuel Pump
Start Signal (and add Clutch Switch)
Reverse Lockout (I'm going to use an Accutach to do this)
Alternator Charge Indicator
Battery Relocation
I've got everything done now other than the fuel pump and the start signal, I'll post how I did everything and hope that I haven't screwed anything up, because I can't test anything until I get my engine.
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Since I went though wiring diagrams to find eveything and recorded everything in my notes, I'll post it all up (what page it's on, wire color, connector).
Water Temp Gauge
Yellow/White (page z44) wire at connector X14 goes to the water temp gauge and needs to be connected to the water temp sender.
The X14 connector is located behind the glove box, see the two pictures for the connector location and the wire I cut (and connected a blue wire to go to the water temp sender).
Connector:
[attach=1]
Wire (Y/W)
[attach=2]
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Tach
Yellow/Blue wire in B1-01 goes to the tach and gets hooked directly to the tach output, I hooked up a yellow wire. One of the instructions I read said that the black wire in the connector needs to be grounded, but looking at the wiring diagram it looks like that goes to ground already, so I didn't do anything with it.
[attach=1]
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Speedometer
I hooked up the speedometer through a dakota digitalSGI-5 to convert it to the correct signal. To hook up the SGI-5 I needed to find the Speedometer (gauge) wire, power, ground, the RX7 needed the signal ground wire to be grounded (I think) and (later) the signal from the E-ROD harness. All the wires I had were either 14 or 16 gauge, so to hook into the Dakota I found some other wire I had that was 18 or 20 ga and fit better in the Dakota. My wires are for an auto and are different for a manual, I believe manual has Green (speedo gauge wire) and Orange (sensor ground) instead of G/B and Y/L for the
Speedometer Gauge Wire:
Green/Black wire at X14 hooks up to the Dakota "Output 1"
[attach=1]
Signal Ground
Blue wire at X14 is the signal ground and I spliced it to the same ground wire as the dakota (not 100% sure that that's what needs to happen), don't have a picture, I'll try to add it later.
Power (Used to power a couple things other than the Dakota)
Yellow/Blue wire at X14, hooks up to Power on the Dakota and also powers - Reverse Lights (to the switch), Reverse Lockout Solenoid and the Accutach (reverse lockout controller)
[attach=2]
Ground
I could have just added a ground, but since there are so many already wired and not used, I chose to just splice into a wire that was already there. The Black wire at X05 is what I used for the ground, it connects to the Dakota ground and also used as a ground for - Cooling Fan Relay and Accutach
[attach=3]
So now I just need to hook up the brown wire from the E-ROD harness which is the VSS. I set the Dakota up with the switches OFF-OFF-ON-ON hopefully that'll be close.
[attach=4]
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Cooling Fans
I wanted to keep the stock fans as they were originally hooked up, I figured it would be easiest and probably work best. After reading a bit I figured out that I would need to ground 3 of the relays to the the fans to turn on to the medium setting (and hitting the A/C button would turn the fan on to high if they were already on, or to low if they weren't on, I removed the A/C so the button would only control the fan).
I'm copying what MotoIQ.com did, I'm going to use the stock power and relays to power the fans, so I will use the signal from the ECU to close a relay that will be hooked up to the fan relays and will ground them which will turn on the fans. I found which relays needed to be grounded (2,3,4) and cut the wires in the engine bay...then I thought about it and since the ECU will be in the cab I should put the relay there. I soldered the wires I cut back together and found the wires in the cab that went to the fan relays in the engine bay. To make the relays work I needed to make these hookups:
Wires to Relays 2, 4 (same wire) and 3 - when grounded these will turn on the cooling fans
One wire to Relays 2 and 4. White/Blue wire at X05, goes to the switch side of the relay
[attach=1]
Wire to relay 3, was supposed to be Black/Red according to the wiring diagram, but the wire that lined up with the connector pin diagram was Black/Yellow, so I used that one, I hope I'm right.
[attach=2]
Ground
I needed to ground the relay (so it would operate when the ECU sends the +12V signal) and ground one side of the switched side of it, so when the relay is closed it will ground the fan relays, turning them on.
Ground wire was take from the same place as before, Black wire at X05:
[attach=3]
With all those wires found, I needed to hook them to the relay. I bought a relay pigtail from kragen and hooked it up like this:
Pin 30 and 86 go to Ground
Pin 87 goes to both fan relays
Pin 85 goes to the ECU for the +12V signal
[attach=4][attach=5]
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Low Oil Light
I'm not sure how this light is triggered, maybe grounding or +12V, I haven't looked too much. I think I don't need to do anything with this wire, but I'd like to have it available in case I want to use it as a warning light.
Blue wire at X12 (gray connector in engine bay on drivers side with 12 pins):
[attach=1]
Low Water Light
This wire needs to be grounded or the light/buzzer will go off.
Brown/White wire at X12:
[attach=2]
Alternator Charge Indicator
I think the alternator needs to be hooked up to a small resistance to work, I believe hooking the alt up to this wire will serve the same purpose and will let the alternator charge.
White/Black wire at X11 (gray connector in engine bay on drivers side with 4 pins):
[attach=3]
20 Days, 84.5 hours
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good info here
did you already buy the ls3?
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good info here
did you already buy the ls3?
No I haven't bought it yet, I want to get everything done that I can before I get the engine since I don't have much room to store stuff and there's a 2 year warranty on it from the day I purchase it so I'd like to install the engine as soon as I can after I buy it. I just need to finish the wiring and mount the fans to the radiator and I think that's all I need to do before I buy the engine.
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good info here
did you already buy the ls3?
No I haven't bought it yet, I want to get everything done that I can before I get the engine since I don't have much room to store stuff and there's a 2 year warranty on it from the day I purchase it so I'd like to install the engine as soon as I can after I buy it. I just need to finish the wiring and mount the fans to the radiator and I think that's all I need to do before I buy the engine.
I actually just ordered it and it's supposed to ship 3/11. I found a 10% off coupon for summitracing.com and used the coupon to save me $800.
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Oh
How much you got it for?
I just order mine from summit as well 7653$ to my door
Where did you find the coupon ?
If I find a coupon they will still take it as least that's what I was told from the rep.
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Oh
How much you got it for?
I just order mine from summit as well 7653$ to my door
Where did you find the coupon ?
If I find a coupon they will still take it as least that's what I was told from the rep.
Total price was $7,200 to my door for the manual trans version. Looks like summit has different prices for different areas because I can't find a price that matches yours.
I PMed you the info, but in case other people are wondering, summit has been giving out one time use coupons at the World of Wheels and Autorama shows, I'm not 100% sure they still are giving them out and the one I found expired yesterday, but you could probably find someone who picked one up from one of those shows or get one from a show yourself. I've found a couple people giving extras away on forums and one for sale on ebay (all of which I missed) but eventually found someone giving one away for a donation to a charity and was able to get it.
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I bought my stater and clutch and flywheel today. From what I've seen, people seem to like Monster Clutches so I went with them. I was debating between the stage 2 and stage 3, I was leaning towards stage 3 because I really like hard griping clutches, but it looks like if you don't use them on the track they will squeal and chatter when used on the street, so I went on the safe side and went for a stage 2 (since it holds more HP than I will have anyway).
Starter, ACDelco 12617229 - $96 Link (http://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-12617229-Starter-Assembly/dp/B0031IBRZA/ref=au_pf_ss_1?ie=UTF8&Make=Chevrolet%7C47&Model=Camaro%7C432&Year=2010%7C2010&carId=011&n=15684181&s=automotive)
Starter Bolt, ACDelco 11610787 - $5 Link (http://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-11610787-Starter-Miscellaneous-Part/dp/B0065V6A98/ref=lh_ni_t?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER)
Monster Stage 2 Clutch/Light Flywheel, Pressure Plate and Flywheel Bolts (After MC110 discount) - $645 - Link (http://www.coloradospeed.com/monster-clutch-street-series-clutch-level-2-550-hp-tq-19972013-gm-lsx-exc-ctsv-p-12532.html)
I bought an extra bolt for the starter because I think it should come with one, but I need two, if I have to buy another one I will.
My engine is now supposed to ship tomorrow, we'll see if it does, but i think I'm almost ready for it. I still need to finish the electrical (the starter routing, the battery re-location and the fuel pump wiring), add the reservour to the clutch MC, modify the clutch slave cylinder, mount the fans to the radiator and find a power steering pump pulley (for an 04 GTO). I think that's just about all I can do before I get the engine.
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Good to see you're engine is on its way soon. I'm payin pretty close attention to this once since it's very similar to my plans/goals. Keep up the good work! :cheers:
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OK, I've been lazy on updating the thread, but I'll take a little time and show what I've done.
Still on wiring:
Reverse Lights - pg z66 for manual trans, z100 for auto (mine):
Both of the wires will go to the back-up light switch on the T56 (doesn't matter which side).
Yellow/Blue wire at connector x14 provides power to the switch for the back-up lights (this also powers 3 other things, Dakota Digital, Reverse Lock-out Solenoid and the Accutach).
[attach=1]
This is the connector for the Back-up Light switch (the side the power wire and the wire to the lights goes to doesn't matter), purchased from Current Performance Wiring (http://www.currentperformance.com/Connectors/LS1_LS6.html)
[attach=5]
I ran 1 power wire to the trans, then split it into two for the Back-up light switch and the Reverse Lockout Solenoid.
[attach=4]
Brown/Black wire at connector x14 goes to the back-up lights themselves, needs to be connected to the switch (itwill be powered when the switch is closed, in reverse gear)
[attach=2]
Check Engine Light - I tapped into the wire at the EL unit connector (pg z30), it's also shown on z46:
Connector is B1-20 In the passenger foot-well above where the ECU used to be. I removed the heater blower to get to it (to make it easier, but probably didn't need to). The Orange/Black wire is the wire you need to power for the CEL to come on.
[attach=3]
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Reverse Lockout Solenoid - I'm not sure if I've described this before, but what I'm going to use an VSS/OSS T56 Reverse Lockout Unit (http://www.accutach.com/Pages/OSSVSSReverseLockoutUnit.aspx) to control the reverse lockout solenoid (RLS). The unit connects to the vehicle speed sensor and grounds the solenoid when the signal is at very low frequency or slow (the vehicle is stopped or nearly stopped). The unit needs 4 connections and the Solenoid needs 1 extra (power, it's grounded by the Accutach):
VSS Connection - This will go to the same speed signal going to the Dakota, which will come from the E-Rod Harness (Brown Wire)
Power (for Accutach and RLS):
Power for both the Accutach and Solenoid come from the Yellow/Blue wire at connector x14 that also provides power to the switch for the back-up lights, Dakota Digital
[attach=1]
The solenoid needs it's own connector (GM part number: 12101857 or ACDelco # PT249) I bought from Current Performance Wiring (http://www.currentperformance.com/Connectors/LS1_LS6.html).
Power goes to one side of the connector (I don't think it matters which side, but I copied what GM had - Power is the red wire, "ground" (to the Accutach) is the yellow). I ran 1 power wire to the trans then split it to two, one for Back-up Lights and one for the Rev Lockout Solenoid
[attach=3][attach=4]
Ground
Same Ground Connection as Dakota, Black Wire (for Auto anyway) at X05
[attach=2]
Solenoid Connection (To Solenoid Ground)
This comes from the Accutach controller wire (white), just directly connect the two wires. No picture of it hooked up, but here's the accutach hooked up, I bought a trailer connector from O'Reilly so I can disconnect it easily.
[attach=5]
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Oil Pressure Sender (to oil pressure gauge) - on page z44 of the manual
Gray/Red wire from connector x12, in the engine bay on the drivers side
[attach=1]
I started running the larger wire to the fuel pump and pulled off the rear quarter panel. I saw it was the original speaker...even though the previous owner had installed an amp, why would he put all that effort/money installing an amp and not replace the speakers??? I actually had 2 rear speakers from another RX7 I had, so I decided to replace them while I had it apart.
I removed the speaker bracket only to find out that the speakers are glued to it, so I ripped them off with some pliers:
[attach=2]
I had to cut the connector and solder on connectors for the new speaker. For the driver's rear the Yellow/Green is + and the Yellow/Blue is -
[attach=3]
Then installed the new speaker:
[attach=4]
21 days 87.5 hours
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Cant wait to see your shiny brand new engine when it gets in! :popcorn:
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Cant wait to see your shiny brand new engine when it gets in! :popcorn:
Got is on Friday, just too busy "playing" with my new toy to post...but since you asked....here are some pictures (they didn't attach correctly, so I just listed them in order):
Being delivered, Stuffed into my garage(x2), Inside the box (that doesn't look like an engine!), Finally...what I've been waiting for! (x2)
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OK, I've been busy working on the car and haven't really felt like updating the thread, I've gone through a lot of stuff, so I'll try to post this week to catch up with what I've done. Apparently you can't easily insert images into the text anymore...so now my post will just have pics at the end.
After unpacking the engine and the associated parts I wanted to modify the EROD harness to mate with the RX7. Since I was going to drive the stock RX7 cooling fans with the stock relays, I needed to take the EROD ecu's output for the fans and connect it to the stock RX7 relays.
I found out after going through the wiring that the EROD ecu sends a ground signal to turn on the fans, same as the RX7 ecu, so the extra relay I added (to turn the +12V signal into ground to turn the fans on) wouldn't be needed for the fans. Luckily though, since I was using the EROD cooling fan relay to run the starter solenoid I needed that added relay to turn the +12V "Start" signal from the starter switch into a ground signal to turn on the old EROD "cooling fan" relay which was now my starter relay. Make sense??
So I found the wires that ran the cooling fan relay (unfortunately there are two wires that go to the same relay, which means I needed to find and splice 2 wires instead of one. Once I found the wires, I would cut them and splice a wire to each side:
1) The two wires that go to the relay would be connected to the added relay which would turn the "start" +12v signal into a "ground" signal
2) The other side of the wires that goes to the ECU could be connected direcly to the ground side of the RX7 fan solenoids.
Pictures:
1) The connectors (I will splice into 2)
2) Shows the green (fan relay) wire I'm going to cut (I'm touching it with the exposed wire)
3) Shows the green (fan relay) wire pulled away from the rest
4) This shows the green wire spliced and the destription of where it goes (the blue and green wires will be spliced together later). The ECU side will be directly connected to the stock RX7 fan relays and the relay side will be connected to the output side of my added relay that turns the "Start" +12v signal into a ground signal
5) Shows the blue wire at the connector, there are two blue wires, make sure to use the one that doesn't go to the pedal (the one that isn't grouped with other wires in a braided tube)
6) Shows the pin out which shows the multiple blue wires (the bottom one that's underlined is the one we want, to fuse box 7D)
7) Shows the blue wire spliced into with the description of where each go to, same as the green wire (4).
8) Shows how I checked that I picked the correct wires, I put the ground side of the solenoid to the - side of a 9V battery and touched the wire to the + side, and made sure that the wire was then connected to the power circuit (and also that when the battery wasn't connected the wire was not connected to power)
I also worked on routing a thicker fuel pump wire, but after splicing two wires together (because I bought one that was too short) and screwing up the fuel pump connector (I pulled out the original wire that went to the connector, then tried to epoxy it back in, which failed) I decided to buy a longer wire and wire the fuel pump up a better way, which I'll show later.
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I wired up the start signal to the clutch switch (since mine was originally auto) and from there to my added relay for the new starter relay.
1) Shows the connector, had to splice into the blue/black wire at the start swtich (x03)
2) Shows how I spliced into the wire, since I used a thick wire (too much for my soldering iron to take) I used a butt connector, covered it and the wires in flux and then soldered it with the torch (all shown in the pic). I then ran that wire to the clutch switch.
3) I connected another wire to the other side of the clutch switch and ran that wire (same color) from the other side of the clutch swith behind the dash to run to the relay I added to run the "start" relay on the EROD harness, that was originally the cooling fan relay.
23 days, 103 hours.
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Well, I'm still way (a month) behind on updates, so here's what I did on 3/13.
I had attempted to rewire the fuel pump, but when I did I ended up pulling the metal part of the connector that connects to the wire out of the plastic connector. I attempted to epoxy it back in, but that didn't really work and I wanted to make sure my wiring could take the current of a pump that's probably too big.
I decided to run wires directly to the fuel pump and found a thread showing how (http://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/fuel-pump-rewire-right-way-901511/). I did the same thing. I used these connectors from McMaster car (picture 1). 7807K13 (http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/119/839/=mbgezn). These are plastic connectors, but they don't need to hold pressure, just keep gas fumes from escaping.
I should have drilled a 3/4 in hole in the fuel pump, but I didn't have a 3/4 metal bit. At which point I should have bought a 3/4 in metal bit. But instead I used a 3/4 wood bit to score a line in the metal and then drilled a 1/2 in hole and used a file to enlarge the hole to 3/4. (picture 2)
I didn't have a 3/4 npt tap so I used a threaded pipe to start the threads (which really didn't do much, I just enlarged the hole until the connector threaded in.
To make sure the connector sealed and stayed in place I epoxied it and then installed it as it was designed (with the plastic nut on the inside), pictures 3 and 4). I plugged the holes with wire and installed it temporarily until I ran the actual wire.
24 days, 105 hours
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I used TXL 10 gauge wire from painless so it hopefully won't degrade the coating sitting in fuel. PRF-70700 (http://www.summitracing.com/parts/PRF-70700) and PRF-70701 (http://www.summitracing.com/parts/PRF-70701).
I ran the wires through the bulkhead connector then soldered on the connectors for the fuel pump wire and connected it (picture 1).
I installed the assembly in the car and routed the wire through the car (picture 2). I grounded the ground wire to the drivers door (where there was already a ground) Picture 3.
I ran the power wire through the drivers fender into the engine bay (where it will connect to the erod harness) - pictures 4/5. I poked a hole in the rubber plug as you can see. I went back and wrapped both wires so there won't be any problems.
Start wire for e-rod:
I also added a start wire for the E-Rod, just spliced into the start wire I had run before (hopefully after the clutch switch, not before, but I'm not 100% sure right now). Picture 6.
Improved Racing Windage Tray:
You can see the differences in picture 7. I installed the windage tray into the oil pan, making sure to use the correct torque and locktite (I don't want a bold coming loose). there was some flex in the tray because the vertical parts seemed to be a little long, but, I decided that was to make sure it sealed well, but I don't know, could be build quality issues either in the tray or the pay (casting looks pretty bad). Picture 8 shows it installed.
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Also on this weekend (3/16-17) I redid the connector on the slave cylinder (to -3an) and installed the tick speed bleeder. I followed the instructions here (http://www.norotors.com/index.php?topic=1229.msg15053/topicseen.html#msg15053). I just replaced the gm fitting with the an fitting and installed the line.
Picture 1 shows the speed bleeder installed and the GM connector removed (held in with the pin shown) with the -3 an ready to go.
I did run into a problem with the an fitting, the diameter was too large and I had to sand/file it down to fit..but I had already damaged the pin (because I thought the fitting was all the way in but it wasn't, so the hole didn't line up with the slot in the connector). Luckily the an fitting comes in packs of 2 so I was able to use one that wasn't damaged for the final.
I also installed the oil pan and removed the flywheel. I thought about using the RTV on the full oil pan but I decided the normal seal would be fine and putting the RTV everywhere would just make it very difficult to remove the oilpan, so I just put the RTV in the specified locations (front and back cover seams). Picture 2 shows the oil pan installed and the flex plate removed.
To hold the engine I built some stands (one for each side of the engine, so I could remove/install the stands with the engine on the hoist) that work the same way as the shipping crate held it, just a little higher so I could work on it easier. Picture 3/4
26 days 119 hours
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I enjoy following along on this one. Thanks for posting!
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Update from 3/23-24 - installed corvette fuel pressure regulator and replaced all hoses, installed E-ROD charcoal canister and mounted small battery
I was going to install the FPR in the engine bay and not worry about the replacing all the hoses, but I decided I should replace all the hoses since I was using a larger pump that probably what's needed (so it'll run at higher pressure). I also decided to mount the FPR in the stock RX7 filter location to free up some room in the engine bay - hopefully there isn't too much of a pressure drop in the fuel line from the FPR in the back to the engine in the front.
To install the fpr I followed this thread (http://www.norotors.com/index.php?topic=4241.0) - obviously just changed it for an FD, so I won't go though hose routing. I also used info in this thread (http://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/daleclarks-20-minute-fuel-filter-change-905141/) to help removing the old hoses. Let me tell you WD-40, hose picks/hose pliers (harbor freight) and also cutting the end of the hose all make this a bit easier, but let me tell you it sucks, I spent basically the whole weekend "hugging" the diff. Those hoses are hard to get off. I did remove the stock charcoal canister since I don't need it and need some more room.
I used the stock fuel filter mount so I could put the FPR in the original location. I picked up some longer bolts, one I used as a stud on one side of the mount and the other I used to tighten the strap part of the mount (it's metal I don't know what to call it), I had to drill a hole in the FPR sheet metal mount for this bolt to go though. You can see what I did in pictures 1-3, including where I mounted it.
For the inlet of the FPR the hose lengths I used were both 24 inches, they were a bit long, but that length allowed them to turn 180 degrees without kinking (picture 4). I routed those to the fuel pump and used fuel hose clamps to secure them, picture 5.
On the outlet I used the doorman fuel tube and bent it as shown in picture 6. I'm not 100% happy with the small kinks, so I bought a new tube bender and I think I'll re-do the tube at some point. I was expecting to put the shorter end in the FPR but it seemed to be a little better fit with the longer end in the FPR, but it really didn't seem to matter. The hose has to turn 180 degrees again, so exact placement wasn't important, again I used a hose that was about 24 in long. Now that I'm writing this, I'm wondering if I could have flipped the FPR around so the hoses wouldn't have to turn so much?
I connected the outlet hose(picture 7) to the original fuel feed tube (outside tube) and then zip-tied everything to keep it a bit organized and out of the way, which was pretty important because I had to use long hoses to keep them from kinking.
I also couldn't find my hose cutter, so I used my hose pliers to hold the hose and then used my razor blade to cut the hose, that gave me pretty straight cuts (picture 8 ).
Next was the charcoal canister.
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Installing the charcoal canister was one of those things that you just find random scrap to complete the project. The canister doesn't really have any obvious place to mount it. There are no holes or nuts or anything like that. There's one slot at the top that I used, but even that really wasn't great.
To mount it I found an L bracket I wasn't using (from a radiator overflow tank from a 95 mustang) and cut it up and riveted a strap to it. I used the nut on the bottom of the bracket to pull the strap tight with a nut (after drilling a hole in the strap). That would hold the canister from moving up/down and moving one direction horizontally (since the canister was bigger on one end).
To hold the other end I used a smaller/longer L bracket I found (don't know where it's from) and a captive nut. The captive nut was also used to hold the L bracket up to the car. Pictures 1-3 show the L bracket mounts and how it was mounted on the car - horizontal between the fuel tank and the rear subframe.
I was going to keep the bracket from rotating by keeping one the vertical side long and butting it up against the frame...but when I did that I found some brake/fuel lines were close to it and if it moved it would damage those. I ended up using the slot in the canister to secure the cannister from rotating. I drilled a small hole in the rear subframe. I bent up a threaded-rod and into a Z type shape (picture 4) to line up with the slot and the hole. I used 2 nuts and 2 washers on each side of the slot and each side of the hole to hold things steady. Picture 5 shows it.
The canister was then securely mounted, so I just needed to hook up the hoses. To go to the tank I needed to go from 5/16 hose to the larger hose (maybe it's 3/4" I don't remember, but I know I bought 1 size too small and just forced it on...with some WD-40). I used a multiple adapter to go from 5/16 to the large hose but really just shoved the 5/16 hose inside of the other one and used hose clamps to hold it (picture 5).
I routed the hose to the engine up and around the subframe (where the fuel tubes go) and connected it to the original tube that was used for the fuel tank vent (innermost one).
I zip tied the hoses to keep them secure and moved on to the battery.
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Edit: either that battery was too small or I ruined it by draining it quite a few times. The car would barely start or not start when it was hot and I hooked up another battery to it and it was fine. Upgraded to the Miata battery and seems to be able to start when it's hot now.
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/SSBQ/MIATA/07053.oap?year=1995&make=Mazda&model=Miata&vi=1190933&ck=Search_battery+-+automotive_1190933_3173&keyword=battery+-+automotive (http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/SSBQ/MIATA/07053.oap?year=1995&make=Mazda&model=Miata&vi=1190933&ck=Search_battery+-+automotive_1190933_3173&keyword=battery+-+automotive)
I am relocating the battery to the rear bin and using a tiny batter (Gruber 18 amp (http://www.gruberpower.com/12-volt-18-amp-hour-ah-battery)), I'm not sure it'll be fine to use all the time, but for $50 it was worth a shot.
I used a normal battery mount to hold it in the bin. I bent a threaded rod into an "L" like normal battery mounts have, just shorter (Picture 1).
I "drilled" holes in the bin to line up with the mount after I placed the battery where I wanted it. I didn't actually drill, I used the L shaped threaded rod (when it was like 2 feet long, before I cut it down) and used a torch to heat the short end. Once it was hot enough I used it to melt 2 holes in the bin to put the threaded rod in later (picture 2)
I also prepared the ground point behind the passenger door for the ground cable picture 3. I don't have any pictures of the battery cables I prepared, but I'll have to take some.
28 days, 135 hours.
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:popcorn:
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:popcorn:
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:popcorn:
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Lol 18ah? It might not even turn the engine over, that's like a lawnmower battery.
Where did you end up putting the charcoal canister, in the back somewhere? Didn't really see. We put it in front of the passenger tire below the headlight, fit great and seemed the least horrible.
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OK, still catching up, on 3/29 I installed the pilot bearing/flywheel/clutch.
Pretty easy and straight forward....except I didn't have a socket big enough to install the pilot bearing (largest I had was a 27mm). I kept the pilot bearing (and dowel pins) in the freezer so they would be smaller and easier to install. I was using the back of the socket to install it, which I think was fine, but for some reason I decided to turn the socket around...and I smashed part of the bearing (picture 1). So I had to go pick up a new one at a GM dealership, only $20, wasn't too bad. I removed the old pilot bearing with the tool from O'Reilly, but only used one "claw" on the tool since they both wouldn't fit. It was easy to remove since it was just installed. I then used the damaged bearing to install the new bearing so I wouldn't damage the new bearing, which worked well...so if you don't have a good tool to install the pilot bearing just buy another to install it....
In case you were wondering I'm using the "large" pilot bearing because the trans I have was installed on an LS7 and had the input shaft machine down for the LS7 pilot (large) bearing.
I installed the dowel pins on the flywheel and cleaned it and the pressure plate (Monster clutch stage 2 with 18lb flywheel). I bought new bolts that come with the GM sealer/locktite. I installed everything as specified by Monster, including Red Loctite on the pressure plate bolts (don't want that coming loose). Pic 2 shows everything installed.
I chose the stage 2 Monster clutch with the 18lb flywheel because I've heard good things about Monster (just looking on the forums) and they were the cheapest with a good reputation. I chose the stage 2 because I want a stiff clutch but the stage 3 apparently will start chattering and squealing if you don't drag race it enough. This is going to be my daily so I don't think I'll race it enough and I don't expect to make too much power.
At this point I checked the bell-housing on the engine and found there's space where the flywheel isn't protected (picture 3 - yes I know the starter goes there...but below it). After quite a bit of searching I found the covers on ebay, starter dust cover (http://www.ebay.com/itm/370748693682?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649) and dust cover (http://www.ebay.com/itm/360450541566?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649). Picture 4 shows the ones I bought, I show the part numbers, but I've heard they don't make them anymore(?) I show them here but got them a week later.
29 Days, 140 hours
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Lol 18ah? It might not even turn the engine over, that's like a lawnmower battery.
Where did you end up putting the charcoal canister, in the back somewhere? Didn't really see. We put it in front of the passenger tire below the headlight, fit great and seemed the least horrible.
But...it's a big lawnmower battery! The (warm) cranking amps seem OK (720A 5s, 360A 30s, the Miata battery CCA is only 320), the CCA would probably be the problem, but I'm banking on living in socal keeping it warm enough that I don't have to worry about it. I've seen people run similar ones, the most popular one is the pc680 looks like the same specs, just more expensive. If it doesn't work I'll just get a bigger one, but it was worth a shot at $40.
I put the charcoal canister right in front of the fuel tank, this post (http://www.norotors.com/index.php?topic=14610.msg212680#msg212680) shows pictures, but they suck because they're from under the car, also I made the worst mount every, but that's the junk I could find.
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On 4/2-4/3 I installed the trans on the engine...then checked the clutch and removed the trans because I screwed it up.
To install the engine on the trans, I flipped the pallet that the engine came on (picture 1) over and put the trans on it so I would have some room to install the engine on it. I got the trans almost all the way on and it caught slightly on something...so I used bolts pull it in...whoops, not supposed to do that as I found out later researching it.
After thinking about it all day at work, I decided I would remove the clutch master and depress the clutch before removing it. This would allow the clutch to recenter so I wouldn't cause more damage when removing it. I thought I could just used the clutch M/C on it's own to depress the clutch, but after trying to do that for a while (and using a jack to do it...stupid I know). I removed the pedal from the car and used it to bleed and depress the clutch. I checked in the bell-housing to make sure the slave cylinder was actuating and that nothing was leaking (actually kind of glad I check this with it out of the car. I removed the engine from the trans and it slid right out. I checked the clutch and the pilot bearing for damage and didn't see anything (pictures 2-3), so I put it all back together (picture 4).
On a side note, I kind of wish I would have used the GM fittings for the slave cylinder instead of the -3 an because I think the GM fitting is better to have since you can remove it without taking the trans off, not sure the price difference though.
31 days, 144 hours.
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update us. which wire did you wire in for the tach on the ls3 harness
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I used the tach output wire from the GM Controller Kit "bulkhead" connector with a 10k pullup resistor (conveniently tied into the supplied 'ignition switched' pink wire). Works great.
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I used the tach output wire from the GM Controller Kit "bulkhead" connector with a 10k pullup resistor (conveniently tied into the supplied 'ignition switched' pink wire). Works great.
That's what I did, except I don't have the pull-up resistor yet, the tach doesn't seem to work without it. As far as an update, I've been busy working on the car instead of updating. I got it started and it throws a code for lean, but I'm 95% certain that the problem is my shitty welds that leaked on my temporarily positioned cats. I've since cut the cats up again (like I was planning) and am redoing the whole exhaust. I will have someone else finish welding it (I'm just tacking it together) which I'm hoping will happen this week. Once I get it running, I'll go through everything I've done, I've been taking pictures, so I have it all, just haven't been posting.
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Lol I didn't put the pullup resistor in there just for kicks, of course I put it in because neither the stock tach nor the Speedhut ones work without it haha.
Never seen a lean code on a crate motor without a fuel pressure problem - it's the front o2's that report that AFAIK. Make sure you've got the fronts and rears properly arranged.
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sorry for the crappy drawing but is this kinda what you are meaning for the (tied into ignition)
(http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee273/prelude-all-the-way/tachwiring_zps23316a53.png) (http://s230.photobucket.com/user/prelude-all-the-way/media/tachwiring_zps23316a53.png.html)
will this wiring work?
Or should I splice the white and pink together then add resistor to yellow/blue
thanks
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Yup, that's correct. You just have to decide whether to do it on the GM side or the 'mazda' side. I did it on the Mazda side.
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I am not exactly sure what you mean by "mazda side" or "gm side"?
I am assuming you mean mazda wire (yellow/blue) or gm wire (white)
that you instead of wiring the resistor to the (white) you wired to the (yellow/blue)
so you have resistor at (yellow/blue) and (pink)
btw appreciate the help. im gonna tackle the wiring issues Saturday
would you mind if I pmd you Jordan? you seem very knowledgeable about ls3 wiring
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GM side meaning the pre-wired Controller Kit side of their connector. Mazda side would be the 'other' side - most people don't want to chop into the Controller Kit's wiring, especially if it's on an E-rod where any modification can make your legality questionable.
Shoot me an email Rob, I'll be out of town this weekend and I'm trying to not bring a computer haha.
I am not exactly sure what you mean by "mazda side" or "gm side"?
I am assuming you mean mazda wire (yellow/blue) or gm wire (white)
that you instead of wiring the resistor to the (white) you wired to the (yellow/blue)
so you have resistor at (yellow/blue) and (pink)
btw appreciate the help. im gonna tackle the wiring issues Saturday
would you mind if I pmd you Jordan? you seem very knowledgeable about ls3 wiring
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Lol I didn't put the pullup resistor in there just for kicks, of course I put it in because neither the stock tach nor the Speedhut ones work without it haha.
Yeah, I haven't put it in yet... but I'm putting in the pullup resistor in before I start it next. I didn't put it in because the article on motoiq didn't show a pullup resistor, but once the tach didn't register I was pretty sure it needed one or that I hooked up the wrong wires.
Never seen a lean code on a crate motor without a fuel pressure problem - it's the front o2's that report that AFAIK. Make sure you've got the fronts and rears properly arranged.
You haven't seen how terrible my welds are...I think leaks in the exhaust just upstream of the front O2 sensors would cause them to read incorrectly. I checked fuel pressure before I started it and all I did was idle it. Yes, the fronts check for lean, rears check catalyst efficiency, both are labeled clearly and I've got them in the correct order.
ls1_rob: if you've spliced the white and the yellow/blue wires together you can connect the resistor to either wire anywhere along either wire as they are now one wire, just make sure you put the resistor in between the 12V and the white or y/blue wire. Your picture is correct and you can move the resistor up or down (in the picture) so it only connects to yellow/blue, white or both wires, doesn't matter.
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Well, I'm stumped and seem to be screwed. Engine starts no problem and idles pretty rough. It throws P0171 and P0174 lean bank 1 and 2. It was throwing those codes when I know I had an exhaust leak, so I fixed that and then started it again, still shows the same codes. It also needs to have the crank learned, so it shows those codes too.
I first checked fuel pressure and it was at 50 with the engine off but running it showed 70 psi. I don't think high fuel pressure could be the problem (should run rich, not lean), but maybe I'm wrong and that is the problem???
I checked for vacuum leaks by spraying carb cleaner all over the place and no change in engine speed. The engine pulls 18 inHg at idle and 20-21 inHg at 1000 rpm.
Front O2 sensors show usually around 0.050V and if I rev it up to 1000rpm and then let off it'll go to 0.850V or 0.900V and then back to 0.050V ish (it fluctuates around that). Rears are usually the same.
MAF reads around 0.6 lbs/min at idle (don't know if this is close to correct or not) and fluctuates around that quite a bit.
I just checked for vacuum leaks using a cigar smoke and pressurized it though the brake booster hose.
I have the brake booster hose blocked off when I'm running, just in case the booster was leaking.
I checked for exhaust leaks by having my wife cover the exhaust and I didn't hear anything that sounded like a leak, but I'm going to pressurize the exhaust with smoke right now.
I disconnected the MAF and the engine seemed to run better, BUT then just died.
Any ideas?? I'm basically out of ideas.
Anybody know if I can test sensors somehow? Or is there a test where I disconnect sensors to see if it runs better?
I'm going to post this in the drive-train section too.
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Your lean codes are weird. Where are you testing fuel pressure, at the rails schrader valve? Why does it change engine on/engine off?
Your o2's could be backwards as well, the harness is certainly long enough. MAF isn't the issue unless it's throwing a MAF code, and even with the 3/8" vacuum hose disconnected the engine still runs OK, so I doubt that's it. The whole crank relearn thing doesn't change how it runs by much.
Do both o2's move together when you rev it/etc? I'm guessing you've got an o2 problem.
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Your lean codes are weird. Where are you testing fuel pressure, at the rails schrader valve? Why does it change engine on/engine off?
Your o2's could be backwards as well, the harness is certainly long enough. MAF isn't the issue unless it's throwing a MAF code, and even with the 3/8" vacuum hose disconnected the engine still runs OK, so I doubt that's it. The whole crank relearn thing doesn't change how it runs by much.
Do both o2's move together when you rev it/etc? I'm guessing you've got an o2 problem.
Yes, I agree these codes are weird. I thought for sure it would be a vacuum leak but the two test I've done (carb cleaner and smoke) haven't shown anything.
Yes, I'm testing fuel pressure at the schrader valve. The two things I can guess on why it changes with engine on is either, 1) with the battery only, the pump only gets 12V and flows a little less, with alternator on and pump getting 14V it has enough flow to overpower the regulator, or 2) It needs more time to pressurize to the full amount the regulator lets it than the 4s I've let it run with the engine off (two 2s primes).
I have the sensor marked "rear" on the harness as the downstream, which has the white connector, the attachment shows the O2 sensor I put in the rear. If it doesn't look correct, let me know.
[attach=1]
"even with the 3/8" vacuum hose disconnected the engine still runs OK, so I doubt that's it."
Do you mean your engine runs fine without that hose connected? I haven't run with any hose disconnected, just the MAF and I can't find any vacuum leaks if they are there.
On my OBD2 reader one O2 sensor is on a page and the other 2 are on the other, so I haven't looked at both front O2's at the same time, I can use my other OBD2 reader and connect it to my phone so I can see both of them tomorrow.
Is there any way to check for an O2 problem? I could replace 1 and see what happens, but I'd rather not spend the money before testing it if I can. I'm also concerned that there's a wiring issue causing this that I'm not going to be able to find.
Does the PCM itself need to be grounded? I grounded the 3 eyelets on the harness to the block (I had originally grounded them to the frame but moved the to the block...well the head...today since the manual says to ground them to the block). But I think those are the only grounds for the E-ROD I did, other than 2 2ga wires from the block to the frame.
Thanks for the help.
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I forgot to mention that I did find a tiny exhaust leak (maybe a porous weld) just after the front O2 sensor on the passenger side. I don't think it's the problem (as it's only 1 side and it's very small), I could only find it using a shop-vac to pressurize the exhaust and check with soapy water for bubbles. I didn't find any exhaust leaks up stream of the O2 sensor and the exhaust flanges didn't show any problems.
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OK, I've figured out the problem. I had a 90 degree coupler like 6 inches in front of the MAF and it can't get steady flow with that up ahead of it. Looks like a 45 might work, but not sure how I'm going to fit the intake now.
Thanks for all the help guys, hopefully nobody else will waste as much time as I did for something like this.
Now that I've got it running I'm going to try and catch up with what I've done and upload the pictures I've got.
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4/6-4/7
I found the parts to cover the spaces between the T56 bellhousing and the LS3 block, where you can see the flywheel, 24261712 and 24261714 a little hard to find, but I found them on ebay, they're called dust covers I think.
[attach=1]
I was installing the the starter and it seemed to be hitting the dust cover, so I started cutting that up, only to find that I had purchased a 2010 camarao starter thinking since this was an LS3 that would work, but I needed an LS1 starter to fit the bellhousing. I got super luck as that was the last day I could return the starter, of course I had to ship the starter back to Amazon that day and found out I didn't have enough ink to print the label and the run order. I asked the UPS store if they could print our a file for me if I brought it in and they said "no". WTF? Ok so had to pick up new ink and then go back to my house and print the label and then go to the UPS store to make sure it got recorded as shipping that day. What BS, and a waste of time, but I got my $100 back, so that's fine.
I also swapped over the exhaust manifold from the crate motor manifolds to the camaro manifolds provided with the E-ROD kit. Straight forward swap just basically line up the old gaskets and then torque the bolts down in the patern (basically from the middle out, 15 ft-lbs then 18 ft-lbs). I also swapped over the dipstip tube, which I thought wouldn't fit, but then I figured out it doesn't go thought the same two exhaust ports as the original one.
[attach=2]
I installed the oil pressure sender. I just picked up parts from Pepboys and maybe home depot along with a gauge adapter from Amazon. I used a 45 and then a tee with one side blocked off (so I can install an aftermarket gauge if I want) and then the sender inthe other side, with the sender facing down so it takes up less space. I made sure to use locking thread sealant, so it won't loosen up or leak.
[attach=3]
[attach=4]
I also cut off the brakets in the engine bay that I thought would interfere with the install and the trans mount. I found the best way to remove the brackets was to drill the welds most of the way through and then use a screwdriver/mallet/pliers/prybar to bend them until they break off. I think I also cut through them with a grinder to take them out in sections. I do know that using the grinder to actually remove the brakets didn't go well and I remove a little bit of the frame rail, which I didn't like. I didn't remove the complete trans mount as I didn't feel it was necessary and now that I've got evertying installed I haven't had a problem with that. I painted over the spots so they shouldn't rust.
[attach=5]
[attach=6]
33 days, 157 hours
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4/13
Engine install time. Finally time to fill the void in my life (and my car) with an engine. I had two of my friends who were supposed to help me install it, but one had to go to a funeral and the other went to coachella. Screw it, I don't need friends when I have an engine leveler. I had two of my friends who don't work on cars on standby in case I got to a point I needed someone else's help (and hopefully that wouldn't be when my had gets stuck).
I installed the wiring harness right before starting the install so it would be easy to connect everything up. I don't know if this was really worth it, but the harness didn't really get in the way much during the install process, so it was fine.
I also decided to bend the firewall lip up instead of cutting it off, just in case if was somewhat structural. I don't think this has hurt me too much, the wires are kind of difficult to get behind the engine, but I don't think that would change much if I had cut the lip off.
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I also removed and replaced the last of the RX7 fuel hose, and attempted to kill myself with with a hose pick while doing that (the attempt was unsucessful). I should have bent the fuel tubes closer to the firewall, but I didn't realize how close the exhaust manifolds would be, so get those things close and maybe even put a heat sheild around them if you're doing your build. Definitally a mistake to not do that and I'm going to have to figure out what I can do with the engine in to fix that now. the picture with the fuel hose (and the capped center tube (since my return line is at the axel.
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I Jacked up the rear of the car so I wouldn't have to angle the engine quite as much and used the emergency jacks to raise the front a little bit so the hoist could get unterneath it. I got the engine out of the garage and pushed it to the front of the car (moving an engine hoist is a bitch on asphalt). I also should have removed the hood latch (which I did with the engine in the air). The engine had to go super high to get over the frame and super angled to get into the trans tunnel, but I got it there, I did thing it was going to fall over and kill me, but it didn't.
I removed as much of the trans tunnel as I thought I needed to make the shifter fit, but as I found out later, I needed to have removed a little bit more.
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It was a pretty simple install really, the only problems I remember running into were that I ran into the hood latch and had to remove that and the trans got stuck on something (I didn't know it was the trans at the time) and I removed one side of the rear chains holding the engine so I could rotate the engine more. The engine needed to rotate more, but it was hitting the firewall with the L-braket and hitting the trans in the other direction. I realized after I removed that L-bracket and got the engine in that I really just needed to get the correct angle on the trans to get it in (I don't remember now if it was up or down) and I'm not 100% sure that L-bracked would fit with the engine in, but I wrestled with it and used wratcheting straps to pull the engine against the hoist (ratcheting straps are your friend) and got it in without too much drama.
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I left the bolts in the pedestal so they would slide in when I got the engine lined up and I was able to line the bolts up on the engine mounts eventually. I tightened them a little and left the trans on a jack and called it a day. You can see all the straps I used to line up the engine during the install.
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34 days, 164 hours
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4/14
AFter getting he engine in, I needed to get the Trans mount in. I think this may have been more difficult than the engine install. I started by wiggling the engine and checking to make sure it was seated well on the engine mounts (I didn't want to drill the holes and then find out the engine wasn't sitting correctly. I tightened the engine mount bolts and then I guessed way wrong on the location of the moung and cut the heat shield way too close to the back of the car. Once I got closer to installing hte mount, I figured that out and cut the correct portion.
Mounting the trans mount is pretty self explanitory, just takes a lot of work to get it in level, basically just install the mount on the transmission (with the poly-mount too) and jack the trans up until it hits both sides evenly. I definitly hit it with a rubber mallet quite a few times to get it to where I was happy with it. Check to make sure the trans is about in the correct position (the center of my output shaft ended up at about 5.75 inches).
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Then mark/drill the holes, test fit the backing plates and mark and drill the holes for that. Then install eveything permanently. I didn't like how the plates fit, the bolts went through where the tunnel rounded, so I also added/cut washers to fill the gap and make everything line up a bit flatter. The bolts on my backing plates also didn't line up with the trans mount, so I had to oval the holes to get them to fit.
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The mount was angled a little upward, but I figured that was fine.
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What I cut out of the old trans mount was fine and left me with plenty of room.
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35 days, 171 hours
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4/17
Took the day off from work to do some wiring. Got the batter wires run to the starter and the box, along with the starter wire (using the cooling fan relay of the E-ROD fuse box). I ran 0 gauge wire from the battery to the starter and from the starter to the E-ROD fuse box, then on to the box that originally had power from the RX7 battery. I put some head sheild on them since they run past the exhaust manifolds. I used an accordian boot I had as insulation on the starter wire.
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I wired up the bulkhead connector for the GMPP controler harness. I ran power to the alternator and wires for the speed signal and tach signal. I should have added a pullup resistor to the tach signal, but I didn't know I needed it (I added it after I started the car).
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I ran all the wires (speedo/tach/DBW pedal/OBD2 connector) into drivers wheel well and cut up the blank rubber plug (that I had run the fuel pump wire though) to run the wires, then I sealed it a bit more with some RTV. I had to shave down the plastic seal (without damaging how it closed) to get them to fit, but they did. I didn't have to de-pin any of the connectors, just squeezed them through, starting with the biggest (OBD2 I think).
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36 days, 179 hours
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4/19
I redid the the ignition wire from the E-ROD, it needed to be hot in "run" and "start", not just start as I had originally hooked it up. I jused a GM weatherpack connector.
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37 days, 180 hours
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4/20
As my car was an auto, I didn't have the correct connector for the clutch saftey switch, so I cut the wires and used another GM weatherpac connector. I re-wired the starter wire to go though that connector instead of a spade connector on the clutch pedal original connector.
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I also wired up the speedo and tach and CEL wires to the RX7 wiring, using conectors. The wiring is now a mess, I'd like to go back and re-run things to clean it up...but only after I know everything works well.
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38 days, 184 hours
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4/23-4/24
I cut up and tacked one side of the cats in place temporarily, so I could start the car before completing the exhust. I just used a straight peice cut at an angle (it was crap) and I re-did it later. It was a good test to find out that I can't weld though, so not worthless and got a little experience in fabricating an exhaust.
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There were stickers on the CATS, so I took them off (don't know if it mattered or now)
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40 days, 189 hours
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4/27
Got the expansion tank mounted, just used a metal strap to hold it in, right behind the ABS unit.
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Also fabricated and ran the wire from the alternator output to the RX7 forward fuse box and then to the E-ROD fuse box.
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And hooked up the oil pressure sender wire.
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41 days 193 hours
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5/4
I mounted the RX7 fans to the radiator (using mostly aluminum L brackets and bolts/washers). I used the original mount points on the bottom, just drilling a large hole in the L bracked for the plastic shroud and a small hole for a zip tie as back-up.
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Then I started test fitting the radiator in the car to figure out what type of mounts I needed.
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I also installed the driveshaft and tested the ecu as I had all the wires hooked up.
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I tested the fuel pump and didn't think it was working, but it was only turning on for 2 seconds after the key and the relay will show that is has 12V when unplugged as the ECU must check for continuity but then not close the relay when plugged in. It confused the hell out of me since I was seeing what was needed to close the relay when the relay was unplugged but then plugging in the relay would not close it.
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42 days, 201 hours
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5/11
Mounted the radiator. I had aluminum plates welded onto the radiator to use as mounts. I cut much of the plates off so it would fit (as I expected I would have to). Then used aluminum L brakcets to hold the radiator with rubber windshield washer bushings so hopefully the radiator won't brake when it expands or the car shakes. I had to cut some more brackets off to mount the radiator. The bushings (with the metal insert) were perfect for the standard small bolts (10mm head) to fit in and and I just had to drill the through the plate on the radiator. I lightly tightened the bolts with some locktite so the nuts would hold and the radiator won't be overstressed. I don't have good pictures of the radiator install when I was doing it, but I'll add some of the finished product later.
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I drilled holes in the bottom of the brackets and mounted those to the frame.
I cut the intake tube shorter and I also cut a hole and glued (JB weld) the MAF boss onto the aluminum tube. I also mounted an adapter for the fresh air tube (again with JB weld) after the MAF.
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THIS INSTALLATION DIDN'T WORK, THE OFFSET WAS WRONG WITH INSTALLING THIS WAY, I HAD TO TAP THE HOLES IN THE P/S PUMP AND USE BOLTS FROM THE FRONT AND 3 WASHERS TO SPACE THE PUMP BACK TO GET IT TO THE RIGHT OFFSET SO IT WOULD STOP SQUEAKING. THE P/S PUMP NEEDS TO BE ALMOST TOUCHING THE CYLINDER HEAD FOR THE OFFSET TO BE CORRECT. I installed the power steering pump, which was not awesome to do. I was using a 05-06 pump from a GTO which mounts to a spacer on the head, but the offset is incorrect. What I had to do to get it to line up is, I used a CTS-V (05 I think) bracket. That bracket is supposed to have 3 bolts that go to the pump, but the pump only has 2 bolt holes, so I used only the two bolts. But with the GTO pump the bolts don't have enough space between the head, so I ground down the heads of the bolts until they didn't hit the cylinder head. I bolted the pump to the bracket and then the bracket to the head. Hopefully only having 2 bolts won't cause problems.
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I finished building the power steering hose (I had already built one side and attached it to the P/S rack so it wouldn't get contaminated. I installed the pressure fitting and hose on the steering rack and the power steering pump. I used locking sealant and locktite to make sure it wouldn't move
I don't have pictures of building the hose, but here's the video I followed:
Power Steering Hose Assembly (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LovY7kedyE#)
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I also filled up trans fluid. I was going to use one of the little hand pumps (soap dispensers) but I decided that would suck balls and I remembered that I had used a pesticide sprayed to prime the oil system on a mustang engine and still had it. I removed the fitting I had used, filled it up with fluid, stuck the end of the hose into the trans and started pumping. I'm really glad I did it this way, it took like no time at all and was super easy. I think the sprayers are like $20 and are much better than spending $5 on a soap dispenser (hand pump).
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43 days, 209 hours
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The pesticide sprayer idea is great for filling transmissions! Can't believe I never thought of that haha. We have a fluid transfer pump here but it leaks a little bit, impossible to get a trans done without getting fluid all over your hands.
Glad this thing is finally running :)
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The pesticide sprayer idea is great for filling transmissions! Can't believe I never thought of that haha. We have a fluid transfer pump here but it leaks a little bit, impossible to get a trans done without getting fluid all over your hands.
Glad this thing is finally running :)
Yeah, it's really nice. I had used one before for priming oil and I almost didn't think use it to fill the trans. All you do is pump it up and let it run, once you fill it up you just open the pressure relief valve and you're done.
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5/19
I got the radiator hoses on and figured out. I used Gates 25526 flex hose for the lower hose and used the two hoses that are supposed to be used for the Samberg radiator and an aluminum coupler to create the upper hose (since the LS3 is on the drivers side).
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I added the fittings and hoses to the expansion tank, using 3/8" silicone hose (vibrant) for the hose from the radiator to the bottom of the tank and 1/4" silicone from the cylinder head to a fuel pressure gauge adapter (with a 1/4" nipple) that merged with the 3/8" hose. The 1/4 hose is on the cylinder head port, but not connected to the fuel gauge adapter in the picture.
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I added and glued (JB weld) a port for the fresh air tube to the valve covers.
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I also repaired part of the under-tray with some sheet metal.
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44 days, 215 hours
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fire it up
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Your Build thread is a joy to read... I'm about to start wiring and your detailed photos are very helpful.
Keep up the good work!
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San Diego I see. I too am located in sd. Keep up the good work.
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I'm glad I stumbled on this. I remember looking at the E-Rod when it was being released. I could of sworn it was Edelbrock but maybe because I was also looking at the supercharger. I thought the engine came with a wire harness and CAT.
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:wave: Any update on this build?