My "Blue Devil" matchbox racer build 2.0

[Venom13132]

I'd just get the full ronin kit with axles and call it a day.  Its a little spendy but definitely worth it.  I'm sure you could dip down into Washington and find a pick a part to grab an explorer pumpkin to use.

[Esser]

It's a misconception that the 8.8 diff saves any weight. The weight that the aluminum case saves is made up for by the larger axles.

The larger ring gear has more mass and a larger inertial moment, so ultimately the power to move it is greater than the FD diff regardless of overall weight also.

[tai-lun]

I'd just get the full ronin kit with axles and call it a day.  Its a little spendy but definitely worth it.  I'm sure you could dip down into Washington and find a pick a part to grab an explorer pumpkin to use.

I've been searching around locally, and may have sourced a rear end full pull out. If I can get it, I may just run the current rear end until it inevitably blows up (or not) as I get the 8.8 put together.

It's a misconception that the 8.8 diff saves any weight. The weight that the aluminum case saves is made up for by the larger axles.

The larger ring gear has more mass and a larger inertial moment, so ultimately the power to move it is greater than the FD diff regardless of overall weight also.

Good to know, I'm fine with some weight in the back. If anything, more out back is fine to offset all the boost parts up front. But, like in your build I may have ended up saving some weight or more weight than expected. So much of the LS parts have come off that weighed a lot, and a majority of the turbo stuff is up against the block on the passenger side. It may be a touch front right heavy, but the car with me in it is left middle heavy... something to corner balance in the future. A problem for future me to figure out heh.

[tai-lun]

Finally - reassembly 

Progress before it snowed so much that garage work became unbearable. Nothing too fancy here, LS9 MLS gaskets on after cleaning up the block and pistons. You can also see a full ARP head stud kit installed, this was an unknown at the time if I'd be able to get in the right side head clearing the firewall, or maybe I'd need to angle up the back of the transmission a touch for room. On the left side, that brake booster looked like it was going to have to be pulled out to get enough room to reach the rear bolt going through the heads.



It was TIGHT, but you CAN install head studs and install the heads without pulling anything else. It did require some funky angling of things (I do this on my own) but I was able to get the heads on both sides without shifting or removing anything else to the sides. Success!



And seated before torquing everything in order and to spec.



Beauty snap of the new valvetrain, shiney hehe



Also, a quick shot comparing the OEM LS2 rods that I've been running since the swap and the new Comp one peice harded units. Again, nothing fancy here as it is just for safety at the end of the day and a bit of that peice of mind in the overall setup.



I threw the intake and valve covers on as I won't be at the garage for a bit due to work. When I'm back, it's going to be figuring out fuel fittings as my driver side rear rail fitting hits the firewall right now, I think I have a swivel -8AN that may help on clearance, or I'll order something up as the actual fuel system install won't happen for a bit still - full Radium setup -8AN to the motor, then to the FPR and back to the tank. Getting the steam vent setup is going to be tricky also as there is not a lot of room especially connecting the lines around the throttle body. Not letting air get trapped later is going to be a bit of a challenge I think, but once it's good there should be no problem there.

Next - manual steering rack, alternator and manifold installation 

[tai-lun]

I got a bit of time over the weekend to install the bigger parts, it always tends to be the easier part, and I expect that all the work getting small fittings and sensors etc will eat up more time coming up. It was a good feeling to see several boxes now gone from sitting beside the car. Installing the manifolds wasn't too bad, trying to minimize scratches was tricky especially around the alternator. SUPER tight on clearances, but this kit was run on the previous car for a good while and pushed pretty hard. I have a Ronin Speedworks subframe which was the only difference, but only super tight on the passenger side as you can see in the pictures.

Before installing, a reminder of the heat that gave them colour before.


Something about ultra tight fitment...




I was fortunate to come across a steering rack over on the club, the last one I saw posted was asking over 2K... WTF. This one had no power steering parts which worked out for sending it off to Chips Motorsports to be rebuilt and converted to manual. With the 265 tires up front, it will be a workout to park... but we'll see how that is when the time comes. If it's truly awful, electric assist could be something to add. I was able to space it up almost to the maximum with all the shims from the Ronin Speedworks kit, I can't get the final one in or the rack will hit the pan. This is significantly higher placement for the rack though from before which should help.







Water lines wrapped and fitted into place, getting the hot side all bolted up was a bit of a challenge for clearance of tools. It took some disassembly and reassembly of the turbo to get the procedure down, not that I want to be doing any of it anytime soon again. Slip joints, and there is is a huge block mount brace as well. The housing I left loose so that it can be clocked properly when the rest of the piping is on. I need to order some more fittings and small parts as the "street" downpipe not only will hit the HVAC firewall outlets, but also my Mazda cluster water temp gauge sensor. I don't care as much about that gauge myself, I may find a way to source that in a different location, but the HVAC is something to sort out.





Right now, I am thinking the only way to get a good downpipe in there to clear the HVAC lines and even that water sensor will be to go oval in the piping. I can keep my Katech valve covers still which is nice, I may even still mount the coils up top, but getting the downpipe to work will be something for the fab shop to take on later.

Next up:
- Cutting and plumbing the steam vents
- Mounting the coolant overflow/catch can breather tank
- Mounting up the rad to test fit for changes in position/fittings as I want to have heat at least (AC has never been on the car...regrettably)
- Changing the position of the water pump so it is a bit lower and better for hose clearance
- Installing the updated trans mount and end links from Ronin Speedworks

[Esser]

Looking great! I noticed there are no 02 bank sensors, will be running a stand alone ECU?

Two things I noticed from my manual rack:

1. You do not want to just stuff those ronin spacers in there. You need to actually measure bump steer before making adjustments, you can really screw up the handling by having the rack too high. There are some discussions on this board about bumps steer that should help. Making even minor 1/8" changes makes a huge difference in bump steer.

2. The manual steering becomes easier when you run less caster. I went from 6 degrees of caster to 3 and steering was MUCH easier at a stop. But less caster sacrifices some handling on track so it's a trade off.

[tai-lun]

Looking great! I noticed there are no 02 bank sensors, will be running a stand alone ECU?

Two things I noticed from my manual rack:

1. You do not want to just stuff those ronin spacers in there. You need to actually measure bump steer before making adjustments, you can really screw up the handling by having the rack too high. There are some discussions on this board about bumps steer that should help. Making even minor 1/8" changes makes a huge difference in bump steer.

2. The manual steering becomes easier when you run less caster. I went from 6 degrees of caster to 3 and steering was MUCH easier at a stop. But less caster sacrifices some handling on track so it's a trade off.

The regular downpipe and Ti hood exit exhaust (which I won't really be running on the street for obvious reasons) has the 02 sensor fitting, the fabricator who ran this whole setup before had run both versions with the single 02 tuned on HP tuners and wastegate only (10psi and later 15psi springs), he mainly ran the hood exit version though. Like them I've got HP tuners, but locally I don't have anyone who is known for tuning unfortunately so I have been contemplating a remote tuner to get started. The previous motor this setup was on was a stock LS6, so there is some differences in there.

I'll try to get a photo of the down pipe next time I'm at the garage to show where it's located, as well as the hood exit pipe.

Good to know about the spacers, I'll put things back to how it was before I think and bring the extra spacers with me to the alignment shop which does all my adjustment work. They tried to get more adjustment before, but the power steering lines kept hitting the pan back then. I've made a note on the reduction of caster to help with the steering, really appreciate the knowledge from your setup!

[Esser]

No problem!

Unfortunately you will have to measure bump steer yourself, there is nothing an alignment shop will be able to measure or correct on the fly. Youtube has some really good videos on some at home fixes you can do in the garage to measure and correct.

Also see here https://www.norotors.com/index.php?topic=18400.0

I really like the elec water pumps! jelly of your setup there. I want to do one in the future, it would be nice to have full fluid flow while sitting still.

[tai-lun]

No problem!

Unfortunately you will have to measure bump steer yourself, there is nothing an alignment shop will be able to measure or correct on the fly. Youtube has some really good videos on some at home fixes you can do in the garage to measure and correct.

Also see here https://www.norotors.com/index.php?topic=18400.0

I really like the elec water pumps! jelly of your setup there. I want to do one in the future, it would be nice to have full fluid flow while sitting still.

Thanks! I'll be doing this when I get my front more setup, right now I still have to throw in the old tie rods...wherever I left them. I do have new Ronin Speedworks ones as well, so it's whichever ones I come across first heh.

[tai-lun]

Only some small things getting done as I was out of commission due to health, but progress is still progress.

ATi damper finally installed, I think this was sitting on my shelf for at least 8 years or so. I used the ARP bolt rather than getting a new OEM unit for that cleaner look. The alternator only bracket is on too, though my alternator started hitting one of the manifolds. I sliced off the extra aluminum on the casing and it clears fine. I may look into a more compact alternative in time, something that is smaller but has the same or better output. If anyone knows of a more compact unit that is high output, let me know.



The belt space maxes out at 33.5" so I found a slightly shorter belt that should fit... if NAPA ever emails be back that it has arrived...useless.

The water pump is finally installed properly, I had to make some room on the frame rail side to avoid rubbing on the rad pipe. It wasn't touching, but it was just a bit too close for my liking. I am still planning to find a way to integrate the heater core into this in some way.



Hanging out, new roof on top of the roof. I also took the cutting wheel to the back bumper to clear the new diffuser and underbody setup. Unlike that disgusting eyesore, and debatably functional thing Rob Dahm is running on his car from Battle Aero - this one had actual CFD in the design. Also, I'll be getting any visible parts coated black. The underbody is like a giant box of stainless/aluminum lego, I'll take as many pictures of the process as I can for anyone else who wants to make their own. There are provisions in the rear diffuser for a diff/trans cooler too which is a nice touch. As my exhaust is centered though, I am not sure if I will have room for coolers.







RX7 doing RX7 things to the factory bumper.... lol



Unfortunately my Katech covers touch some of the fuel and breather setup, so they came off to go up for sale along with the coil relocation. I am going to use OEM covers again but I have extra breathers on both, two in the passenger side and one driver side which is closer to the tank. I filed down the really big casting joins, and then hit these with wrinkle red. This will not be for everyone for sure, but it's been a look I've liked on many of my cars over the years. And I'm doing the same to the turbo inlet which is likely to really divide some on the look, but my build so whatever and I want some engine bay flair on top of the flair.









Woo... Honda vibes, or Ferrari if you into fancy Fiat's 

[Venom13132]

Looking good!

[driftnfb]

dang that elec. w/p setup saves SOOOO much room........man! love that idea. I saw deltapag has one......

[spacevomit]

Cant wait to see some diffuser updates!

[tai-lun]

Cant wait to see some diffuser updates!

Diffuser update!

I got a bit of time to get the back setup, it is made up of several pieces which makes mocking it up alone under the car a bit of a challenge heh. Here you can see why the bumper was cut to make room for the higher air movement to work with the rear wing. Below is the main diffuser which connects to the flat floor which I will be starting installation of later. Any air trapped from the wheel wells, and pulled in from the NACA ducts to cool the transmission/differential will exit from the space between the bumper and diffuser.



Here is the new front splitter, it's at least 15% larger on all sides then the last one which was already big. This has mounts on the frame rails pictured below, but I can't use them as my intercooler pipes are in the way. For a rotary v-mount setup they would clear just fine though. I picked up some Racebreed splitter mounts with quick release pins which use the tow hook mounts during their labour day sale, I will have to trim them a bit, but they should work.





I was able to wrap up most of the fuel system setup also, two in tank pumps with a lift pump. It should be more than enough for what I need them to do, they make some of the nicest parts for our cars. I run -8AN from the tank to the motor, all along the frame rails like OEM. Once through the fuel rails the line goes to the FPR and then back to the tank. I have SEP 850cc (94lbs at 58psi) injectors on the motor itself.

[tai-lun]

Boooooost stuff!

I am going back and fourth fitting the street exhaust to check fitment and spacing for spark plug wires and what else I need to clearance. This tight engine bay of ours got even tighter haha. The pipe actually looks way tighter than it is, you could still change spark plugs with the exhaust and manifolds in place much like before. I didn't have part of it coated as I knew I'd want to do some changes to how it passes down to the main exhaust, but you can see where the 02 is located on this "street" exhaust.







One of the main reasons I wanted to modify it can be seen here, it touches the heater core pipes form the fire wall. The original fabricator never ran this pipe as the build was the shop demo car, but he also did not run a heater at all in his FD. I'm in Canada, so it does get chilly enough I use my heater... especially on the night cruises and we even have evening track days here now too. I am going to go with a oval instead to clear the pipes with room for hose and to haver room between the firewall and headers.



Speaking of tight clearances.... my turbo "filter" came and JUST fits lolz



Unlike before, everything has been coated or wrapped in DEI shielding. So much DEI wrap on this thing now... every hose, pipe, wire... everything that could be near heat has been protected. I had my transmission harness catch on fire before, so I am really not taking any chances when adding this much more heat. Also, fancy ARP bolts where they are visible just because heh.





Finally, with the hate pipes bolted on to see. 
I am starting on all the wiring tuck so it is similar to how it was before and then I need to address the leaking coilovers (I am going to try to get them rebuilt... if not, Ohlins with custom spring rates) and finishing the fuel pump wiring before the flat floor install starts.