Andrew R LS2 T-101 dogbox FC

[Andrew R]

found a decent deal and I'm takin it.

60,000 miles 

1st matter at hand is 5 lug conversion,  then I'm going to save up for the swap! I will log the progress here.  * I'm excited!



***UPDATED***   8-19-2009

here is a brief look at the current season...   









Donor car, 2005 GTO 1900 miles, owner is swapping in a LS3














Attached is an Excel file of proposed parts, it is by no means a complete list yet, it's a work in progress...  If the rotary can hang on long enough to finish the season the build will start in Oct...  If not I get a head start on my winter project.


Here is the short list:

Gutted...  I mean nothing on the inside but business... drift car.

LS2/T56  possibly a used NASCAR 4 speed, still up in the air.
Torquer V3 231/234 .643"/.598" 112 LSA
Valve springs, retainers, pushrods  (going with TSP package)
Engine is a longblock so I need all the F-body accessories/brackets
Turn One PS pump
ATI crank pully
Bunch of ARP/Katech bolts
LS6 intake manifold, injectors, TB ( may need bigger injectors)
F Body ECU and Harness  I have HP Tuners
8pt cage (built by me )
3qt accusump with manual valve
Canton remote Oil filter
Canton oil cooler
F-Body Pan/tray
Improved racing baffle
Melling High pressure oil pump
Sumped Fuel tank
Walboro 255 inline pump
Aeromotive filter
Aeromotive FPR
-8 Stainless lines to -6 return (everything done is SS lines)
Aeromotive fuel rails
JTR  1-3/4 Longtubes
3" straight out the rear (no mufflers)
RPS twin friction clutch and RPS custom FW  32lbs combined weight
Wilwood 7/8 MC with adaptor
Granny's mount kit with solid motor mounts
C5 Vette DS (modified)
remote bleeder (if I go T56)
Big radiator and be-cool 2600cfm fan

I have a good bit of this stuff still quite a bit to accumulate....  expecting build to be done in early-mid spring 2010

Here ya go snitches:

I cannot go lower without a good roll and pull in the front....  I'm borrowing the fender roller this week... 





Baller lugs:



nice flush fit:

[Andrew R]

DIFF SAGA

After doing some research and looking into many options I decided that I'm going to stay with the TII diff. I then started to research aftermarket LSD units and decided that OS Giken was the way to go, it is nearly double the price of a Kazz or Tomei unit -but the testimony from hardcore SCCA, BMW club racers, running the diff for 3 seasons without a rebuild made me pay more attention and do more research. Several race teams have disassembled the unit to inspect and repair only to simply reassemble it and put it back in. I asked the rep at OS for pricing on rebuild parts and he simply said that he has never sold any -However if you ask Tomei or Kazz they know the rebuild kit price right off the top of their heads, and suggest doing it every season... and from what I heard Tomei and Kazz are indeed the same unit

Another couple factoids that impressed me is that the OS unit can simply be dropped in and go... it is machined with such precision that no "break in" is needed... however I will still change the fluid after my first event. Also came to find that Toyota is the parent company. The diff is also "tunable" meaning you can adjust the torque setting and timing for engagement.

anyway here it is:


OS Giken 1.5 way
new seals, bearings, ect and proper stub shafts
MMR Diff bushing






Took it to my transmission guy:

RX-Truck:




The OS unit requires these stubbies:
From OSGiken.net

For Viscous LSD equipped vehicles, exchange with Genuine Mazda side flange pn: P019-27-270B x2 and snap ring pn: P016-27-421 x2. Open differential vehicles need no additional modification

new vs. old

The new ones, well they are used but new to me are in front with the VLSD stubs behind



I was concerned about setting the backlash properly and did some investigation...

I  talked to a reputable local rotary shop (KDR Rotary in PA) and they told me to cut the FSM specs in half when setting it up. The first few they did to the lower end of the FSM specs and ended up with way too much backlash later down the road. He said after a short "break in" of a few 100 miles I'll be in perfect shape.

Per S4 manual page 9-44
Backlash is supposed to be between 0.09-0.11mm (0.0035-0.0043in)

I had mine set to .0010 inch = 0.0254 millimeters which is a bit tight -but will work out perfect according to KDR, Mazdatrix and some board members.

[Andrew R]

OK got everything back today...  I'm going to clean it up a bit -but it came out nice...   here it is:






here is the MMR bushings:





Going in tomorrow afternoon :naughty:


I also installed some custom knuckles for more angle,  dorifto!   just need to build and install the tie rods.

[Andrew R]

 15x8    +0 in the front
15x8     -4 rear

I went with these because my pathetic NA rotary cannot spin the 18's while drifting.

LS2 on the way!!!

[Andrew R]

OK here goes...


you all know the modified knuckle -with the stock rod end pick up...  look a few posts above if you don't.

Here is the modified knuckle:

   

Now you'll notice right off that the ID of the new pick up point is different... larger and not tapered like the factory pick-up.

This posed the issue of finding a heim joint that would work, by work I mean thread on to the factory tie rods and have a 14mm ID for the new pick-up point. I know the mazdatrix ones would work...  but they are procey and suck donkey dick... I threw out the question on a few sites and George from AZ informed me that the S13 rod ends were the same thread pitch as the FC, M12x1.25 and that a Ksport S13 kit might just work.  Now K-Sport S13 kits come with a tapered bolt in them as well that is easily removed leaving a 14mm ID heim joint thats mated up to a M12x 1.25 buckle...   perfect!  I now have proper parts!   I know K-sport sucks -but I'd rather spend $100 for a set and figure out exactly what I need then get something baller once I know it's going to work.

here is the new rod end and straight bolt
NOW I KNOW THIS IS NOT A CASTLE BOLT ECT -TEST FIT HERE!!!  SO DON'T SAY ANYTHING! I KNOW ALREADY!  proper bolts are on the way.

here is the K-sport rod end with new non-taper bolt:
[SIZE="3"](again this will be replaced with a castle bolt)[/SIZE]


Stock vs. K-sport.


time to fit it:



as expected fits right on:




Now it is simply a matter of attaching the tie rod to the spindle! almost done!!!   or am I? 

here is the two put together:



Mega angle!  -but wait...  no adjustment!

if you look back at the pic above of the rod end and the tie rod put together you'll notice that I have it run in as close as I could get it, or as short as I could make the tie rod...

that was still too long, when I assembled everything back together with the Steering wheel centered and the tie rods adjusted as short as possible I was toed out on both sides really bad, could not drive the car bad!

If you look at these pic closely you can clearly see the toe out:


 


AGGGGHHH!!!   :mysmilie_174:


OK...  I need to shorten the tie rod...  -but not too too much and the female buckle is threading the whole way onto the tie rod, look at this pic again:



now I could remove the tie rod itself and have it threaded deeper and shortened... I'm thinking that is a pain considering I don't really have the tools to do that. 

Thought now is shorten the female buckle a bit and the male end of the heim a bit for some adjustment to bring the toe back in a bit...  I don't need that much adjustment and before I run off and have the tie rods machined I'm going this route.  I'm thinking about a 1/2 inch off each will do the trick.

left the car in parts for tonight and will go trim down the rod ends tomorrow then post results.

People that wanna still run the stock pick-up points

You could drill out the factory pick-up point to 14mm ID and run these no problem...  I don't think you would need to trim the buckle or really do anything but the drilling...  I gave the tapered bolts that came with the kit to Miro to take to VIR this weekend as back-ups just in case -but when he is back I'll test fit them, this might be a bolt on affair -but we'll see.

OK I'm beat hope this helps some people out.

[Andrew R]

How much angle do you think the K-sport will give? Seems simple with just having to drill out to 14mm and bolt on. By the way I think we met at one of the club loose night moves. I was the guy talking to you about my FC with the VG30 swap. Well thats changing to a 4.3L V6 now haha..Good luck with the swap..

Yeah I remember meeting you!  get that thing together and come slide!

With just the rod ends you should see a few degrees, nothing major -but any little bit really helps with the FC -stock angle is SHIT and makes it really easy to spin. The Knuckles Scott makes are DOPE...  I have such insane angle for an FC:









OK made some progress...   oil cooler and all that rotary garbage is out. It's tough because I do not have much time during the week -but I'm trying to get an hour or 2 in a night.
I found tons of little surface rust and areas literally stripped of paint due to leaking fluids... I'm thinking to blast the engine bay and paint it.

[Andrew R]

Rotary puke damage:





Getting there!  cleaned up pretty good!  I sold the wheels Friday so I was unable to push the car outside to give it a good wash and degrease. My new wheels will be here Monday so I'll throw them on and go from there.  I don't really wanna pay someone to paint the engine bay... I'm going to look into alteratives.




New wheels:



They will get powder coated something sick...  RPF1 17x8 and 17x10


here is a pic with 315/35/17 drag radials in the rear... they are MASSIVE!!!  I'll run these on the street.

could be spaced out a bit.




I'll get some better pics up tonight


here is how she sits now:

[Andrew R]

here are the final specs on the trans...  tire will prob be a bit shorter than 26"




Trans came in today:



here it is after an hour of cleaning and some engine enamel:




only what...  4 months till I get to use it 

Here are a few more pics:




one for scale:

[Andrew R]

Read the instructions again :-)

The T56 does not have a bearing retainer snout, so there is nowhere to mount the bearing. The piston inside the bearing buts up against the bearing retainer and the body of the bearing is what moves. Once you see it, it will be very clear how it can't work with a T56.

Andrew

:runaway:

Man I feel like such a noob with all this fancy transmission shit... every time I think I got it figured out something changes.


Anyway...  stich welded the engine bay this morning.

Welds came out pretty good considering I have not really welded much in YEARS.




Sorry this one came out blurry:




^^^  no worries FYI Andrew has great history in the trans biz and helped me out a great deal when deciding to go this route. It seems that that these trans must have come from Tex with a bearing retainer and the hot ticket was for guys to switch them out -ALL used ones I have seen do not come with it.  QMI was a sister company with Tex and they even assumed it had a bearing retainer

soooooo  anyway.

I went back over to the shop in the afternoon today and did some crap that I thought was going to be a pain...  the subframe bushings.

Air motherfucking hammer to the rescue. I had BOTH out in about 15min.




Here is the MMR bushings -fit right in no issues.



Here's a pic of the whole subframe -my friend Nick at Elite JDM in philly hooked me up. This sub is in awesome condition! I welded up all the seams and am going to re enforce the mount for the diff as I will be going solid.



Here's some better shots of the stitching...  I ground down a few high spots -and I did burn through the body in 2 spots that I'm going to have to go back and repair :runaway:  I have plenty of 16g sheet metal sitting around.

-shit, never mind they are blurry again...




also snapped a few shots of the trans to send to quartermaster if there is an issue...  in fact I may just reach out to the tech I spoke to tomorrow.

[Andrew R]

Soooo   I paid for my engine in full in June 09....  after nearly six months of being dicked around I picked it up today!!!!!


LS2  1900 miles....   bonertown!  :naughty:

 







Also got a Grantelli 90mm MAF and some other goodies...  getting there!

got some good work done today... I was working on the cage but ran outta gas for the welder.  The blasting and painting continues!  Like I said before -expect to see this color wherever I can use it.













The arm is dry and the spindle is not:

[Andrew R]

Boredom and lack of funds has me cleaning all the time. Here is the knuckles ect back on the car -I'm going to tear it apart and do the front LCA as well -this looks too nice not too.

I also did the camber mod on the coilovers -basically you slot the upper part where the bolt is so the bolt rests on the body of the shock -you get about 2.5* more neg camber doing this. I'm going to weld some washers on each side to prevent any movement.
 

Fresh and clean! 





I also tore into the wiring harness lastnight...  after playing around a bit and reading my confidence is high and I think it just going to take a bit of time -but will come out nice.


Wiring fun:





 

crap removed so far:




going to bed soon...  tired and I don't wanna cut any wrong wires :ohnoes:

It's all in the detail so they say...  I'm going to label every connection -heat shrink nearly every wire -should come out nice. I'm in Lancaster PA with my Mom now and don't have the right tools to de-pin the connectors to get the heat shrink on -I'll do it tomorrow at the shop.

[BAD-LSX-7]

i like the color hahahaha

[Andrew R]

Ordering up some goodies...

3qt accusump
manual valve
mounting brackets
check valve
Canton remote oil filter
Canton oil cooler thermostat (bypasses cooler until 215*)
and all the fittings/line...

I'm doing the entire fuel/oil system with nylon braided hose instead of stainless braided -not really into bling and the nylon is easy to work with -love this stuff!

Removed the fuel tank from the car today did some surface rust repair and I'll be replacing the rear subframe with the worked over one (toe/camber links DTSS elim spherical bearings, fresh paint)  damn those rear tow hooks had a good 1/8" of rust scale on them -hit them with a wire wheel and then some dupli color rustfix -this stuff is great!


This stuff neutralizes rust and then dries into a black primer -sandable and very easy to work with -only downside is it takes quite some time to dry and smells pretty damn bad/toxic  oh yeah and if you use it within 50 yards of a spark or flame your going to die in a fire...  on the can it says something like "prone to cause flash fires"  :eek3: 


After poking around a bit underneath the rear I'm considering solid mounting the diff to the cage...  I'll play with this a bit later down the road.

Got the slip yoke for the trans coming and my brakes -just going with SS line and stock calipers, x-drill rotors


 
 



some more goodies:



engine is going in soon!





Flex-a-lite 2500cfm 16.5" fan






Once the engine is in place I'll do all the shrouds ect...  both the fan and rad are very nice!

Also got a bunch of ARP fasteners....  FW,WP, Balancer and some other stuff...

 

[Andrew R]

Prepping for the engine fit -bellhousing was supposed to be here Monday -I'm going to pick it up and the UPS hub (hassle) today.

Clutch, FW look great -installed the F-bod pan, Improved racing baffle and got a new oil pickup tube -just need the damn bellhousing. 





all three should be together tonight!



Booooya!









 

[Andrew R]

Got two of these:



Howe Dual Mufflers are made for applications where a 2 into one is either not allowed of will not fit. The 3-1/2" Louvered Muffler is the easiest to fit in your system and is also the lightest. Its performance is much the same as straight 3-1/2" pipe. The louvered core is wrapped with a fiberglass mat to help deaden sound. All dual mufflers comewith a 3-1/2" tail pipe.

I went for the 30" length -going to fit them like the N1-there will be an X-pipe.

Also got these for some heat barrier -I'll be putting them right by the trans: 



I have just about everything now -just need time to put it together.


Pulled the engine and did all the final prep:

Stripped -primed and painted engine bay.
Installed Melling High volume oil pump
sender for oil pressure and oil/water temp gauges
torqued FW and clutch assembly
set up/shimmed TOB

Engine will be put in for good this week...  should be running very soon.





I chose to keep above the crease on the firewall factory paint... came out nice!



Fabbed up the rad support:





Trans mount: (my welds are getting pretty fucking good)






And the moch-up money shot -this is the general idea of the set-up -rad is going to be lower though.





^^^  ducting will get done later down the road...  like I said that was simpl a moch up to make sure there was enough room.

Relocated the fuel pump -it sits about 1/2" lower than the sump now -came out pretty nice. All the fuel lines are run -10 from the sump to the filter then -8 to the rails and regulator -then a -6 from the reg to the stock hardline for a return.