LS2 FD RX-7 matchbox build 2.0
08-28-2019, 04:32 AM
#63
Thanks!
There was a fellow on the NoRotors forum "jpetuzzi" who made them, different height cowls and some with vents. I don't believe he's been making them for a few years though.
It's been a while since the last update, with quite a bit of up and downs with the car. Also, the ol' Photobucket account went dead so I'll be adding some new pics in here. The car was hit on one side of the bumper so it went in for some paint and custom work. Lot's of black accents, new front splitter, and rear diffuser along with clutch change. You can see my new hideaway plate that will be handy when I am needing to get more air to the rad, or don't want the disgusting front plate showing. I also had the body shop install new high-quality mesh in all the vents, the same material all the Lamborghinis and Audi's are using.
Also attended a car show (won best Mazda! woot!) and did some track day time finally, figuring out what needs updating and changing.
TRACK DAY:
The Good:
- AP brakes, I was running Ferodo ds2500 pads on all four corners instead of the Hawks and do they ever work well! Still one of my favorite additions in recent years, there is so much confidence in the brakes that you can really get a grip of how soon to brake and pressures for corners. I have no ABS, just a bias controller and no lockups as your foot feels directly what is happening.
- MGW shifter, much better than last time out with the OEM shifter and Steeda handle, the rubber boot did tear though so that wasn't so great...
- Tires, still on my Pilot Super Sports, they are not continuing the tires in the sizes I use so, unfortunately, I'll have to find some new rubber when the season is up.
- Aero, front end has immense grip compared to last track day on Kumho XS which are more competition tires. No understeer or oversteer, the car felt very neutral.
- Clutch, LS7 with RAM flywheel was very nice. Easy on the shifting and ol' left leg all day.
- LS2, not a hiccup. An absolute workhorse that rewarded being pushed, this is why we do what we do here.
The Not So Good:
- Heat in the radiator, it was a hotter day on track (37C/98F) and I could feel and see it with heat radiating out the hood vents. I know LS's run hot but I was sitting at 220-238F water temps before heading in for hood up cooling off. I'm going to duct the rad to help with airflow and add on an oil cooler too, but I'd like to get my temps during lapping a bit lower if possible. Street driving I usually sit at 190-195F.
- Suspension, my Quantums are great. But, they are a circuit focused coilover so I was not getting enough damping in the rear with our more bumpy track. I can hear and see where I'm bottoming out and raising the rear is not going to fix this. A more suited "road race" setup is going to have to be put in.
- Seats, Mazdaspeeds will have to be changed.
- I don't have AC and everything but the condenser in the dash is out. But, the heat was enough that remnants of what was there was leaking out and dripping onto my headers. Time to pull the dash again and finally rip out the last part of the system.
- Keeping cool, my helmet was disgusting between sessions. Everyone's was, but with no AC it was that much hotter and that means faster fatigue during the day. Some kind of in-car cooling is going to have to be figured out. I've been looking at cool shirts (my god are all the systems expensive), and I'll continue to look at what the spec Miata drivers are doing as they are very DIY and have less space than us for coming up with a solution.
I'm running the Misimoto single pass radiator, I'll have to get a custom unit from Howe or Ron Davis to keep temps down.
Other than that, most of my go-fast parts like the new ITB's, PRC heads, cam, etc are going up for sale now. The local tuner and shop I like is gone, and I want to focus on seat time, suspension improvement, tire improvement, and driver improvement. There is a much larger reason around my departure from doing the ITB's, I'd like to of gone that route but it's something I'll get more into another time if folks are interested.
Look for a whoooooole lot of parts in the marketplace soon!
There was a fellow on the NoRotors forum "jpetuzzi" who made them, different height cowls and some with vents. I don't believe he's been making them for a few years though.
It's been a while since the last update, with quite a bit of up and downs with the car. Also, the ol' Photobucket account went dead so I'll be adding some new pics in here. The car was hit on one side of the bumper so it went in for some paint and custom work. Lot's of black accents, new front splitter, and rear diffuser along with clutch change. You can see my new hideaway plate that will be handy when I am needing to get more air to the rad, or don't want the disgusting front plate showing. I also had the body shop install new high-quality mesh in all the vents, the same material all the Lamborghinis and Audi's are using.
Also attended a car show (won best Mazda! woot!) and did some track day time finally, figuring out what needs updating and changing.
TRACK DAY:
The Good:
- AP brakes, I was running Ferodo ds2500 pads on all four corners instead of the Hawks and do they ever work well! Still one of my favorite additions in recent years, there is so much confidence in the brakes that you can really get a grip of how soon to brake and pressures for corners. I have no ABS, just a bias controller and no lockups as your foot feels directly what is happening.
- MGW shifter, much better than last time out with the OEM shifter and Steeda handle, the rubber boot did tear though so that wasn't so great...
- Tires, still on my Pilot Super Sports, they are not continuing the tires in the sizes I use so, unfortunately, I'll have to find some new rubber when the season is up.
- Aero, front end has immense grip compared to last track day on Kumho XS which are more competition tires. No understeer or oversteer, the car felt very neutral.
- Clutch, LS7 with RAM flywheel was very nice. Easy on the shifting and ol' left leg all day.
- LS2, not a hiccup. An absolute workhorse that rewarded being pushed, this is why we do what we do here.
The Not So Good:
- Heat in the radiator, it was a hotter day on track (37C/98F) and I could feel and see it with heat radiating out the hood vents. I know LS's run hot but I was sitting at 220-238F water temps before heading in for hood up cooling off. I'm going to duct the rad to help with airflow and add on an oil cooler too, but I'd like to get my temps during lapping a bit lower if possible. Street driving I usually sit at 190-195F.
- Suspension, my Quantums are great. But, they are a circuit focused coilover so I was not getting enough damping in the rear with our more bumpy track. I can hear and see where I'm bottoming out and raising the rear is not going to fix this. A more suited "road race" setup is going to have to be put in.
- Seats, Mazdaspeeds will have to be changed.
- I don't have AC and everything but the condenser in the dash is out. But, the heat was enough that remnants of what was there was leaking out and dripping onto my headers. Time to pull the dash again and finally rip out the last part of the system.
- Keeping cool, my helmet was disgusting between sessions. Everyone's was, but with no AC it was that much hotter and that means faster fatigue during the day. Some kind of in-car cooling is going to have to be figured out. I've been looking at cool shirts (my god are all the systems expensive), and I'll continue to look at what the spec Miata drivers are doing as they are very DIY and have less space than us for coming up with a solution.
I'm running the Misimoto single pass radiator, I'll have to get a custom unit from Howe or Ron Davis to keep temps down.
Other than that, most of my go-fast parts like the new ITB's, PRC heads, cam, etc are going up for sale now. The local tuner and shop I like is gone, and I want to focus on seat time, suspension improvement, tire improvement, and driver improvement. There is a much larger reason around my departure from doing the ITB's, I'd like to of gone that route but it's something I'll get more into another time if folks are interested.
Look for a whoooooole lot of parts in the marketplace soon!
08-28-2019, 05:51 PM
#65
Thanks!
It's been a long process, tackling installing some valvetrain safety with Comp truion upgrade, KRC power steering setup with adjustable pressure, oil cooler, and maybe start looking at rear end maintenence. I haver some pretty tired looking axles and I'm sure my diff would like a rest too.
In place of and using the funds from all the go fast parts that were planned for the car, I'm looking at Feal coilovers, flat underbody aero and rear wing options. Will be a long way for all of those but starting to look into what would be ideal.
It's been a long process, tackling installing some valvetrain safety with Comp truion upgrade, KRC power steering setup with adjustable pressure, oil cooler, and maybe start looking at rear end maintenence. I haver some pretty tired looking axles and I'm sure my diff would like a rest too.
In place of and using the funds from all the go fast parts that were planned for the car, I'm looking at Feal coilovers, flat underbody aero and rear wing options. Will be a long way for all of those but starting to look into what would be ideal.
