Murz' 1986 Arctic Silver GXL aka Silver

[FCwidman]

great build! makes me even more excited to do mine. Get it running good yet? I wanna hear what it sounds like

[murz]

Thanks! Haven't got around to messing with it, found out my multimeter had a blown fuse, haven't been in a hurry really to get it running right. I'm over the hump and all that's left is simple stuff, hopefully. Been out of town this weekend, but Friday look what I bought! The price i got for this was a steal, it runs nicely too! Just needs new brake lines.

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It's a 91, bone stock really, with 100300 miles on it. There's some surface rust, but for the most part it's in great shape. She's so quiet compared to my 86. She drives great, minus the fact that brakes don't work...

[~Groll69~]

Bone Stock is getting to be a rarity.  Keep it nice.  I see you got the BBS wheels on both cars.  our vert never had them.  We had some crappy after markets which we got rid of quickly. 

[murz]

Thanks, I'm all for keeping it bone stock as well, it runs really nice and sounds beautiful running! The old air filter had a mouse living in it haha. The headlights didn't work once randomly, and the tach didn't work once either. All very weird, leads me to suspect there's a grounding issue. I really dig the 9k rev limit! Oh, and i believe the 5th and 6th port actuators are stuck too. Anyways, brakes and a tune up this week and I think it will be good. It idles at 700rpms very steady! You wouldn't even know it's running until you give it gas.

[ITSWILL]

Cool man, I can't wait to see one of these!  It seems like I always have at least two of them for some reason too. But it also seems I never have 2 good running cars at the same time!

[murz]

So, the goal was to get her running for the Dream Cruise, which would have been completely attainable, if it wasn't for this Annoying "Newer" Rx7 that took up my time! Did the TB mod outlined here by Fidelity101 You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login (thanks by the way!) and that's about it... I haven't even thrown it back on the car yet... I did paint it though! The plan is to get her running this week sometime or this weekend. I want to enjoy her while I can because... I've been convinced to go the turbo route. I would love to keep the original engine and just make a 6 port turbo, but cost wise it seems cheaper to just swap in a whole Turbo II engine with transmission and all. I'll find something for this engine later on. So with that being said, things I'll be needing.
-T2 engine with transmission and wiring harness. (Will go megasquirt eventually)
-T2 hood
-T2 Differential & Driveshaft
-T2 exhaust
-New Radiator down the road.
-I don't think I'll need a Fuel pump upgrade, or will I?
Anyways, thought I'd update this thread so there it is.

[fidelity101]

its was easier to just put a t2 in it. also replace the fuel pump, they are 20+ years old and terrible. a walbro low flow 255 works great.

[toplessFC3Sman]

Yea, the walbro 255 lph pump is enough to keep up with the turbo engine.  I'm still running the one I put in when originally doing the turbo swap, even tho I'm running bigger injectors and more boost on the BNR stage 2 turbo, and the pump is keeping up just fine.

If I were to do it again, I would:

• Get the car going first on all the stock stuff so you can make sure everything is working properly and as it should, and then know that you're working off of a solid baseline.  This also allows you to drive it around a bit & get the feel for the engine you rebuilt!
• Once you're convinced that everythings working well, then add the megasquirt.  Learning the ins & outs of the megasquirt & tuning is a LOT safer on a naturally aspirated engine - you can't get into boost, lean out or advance spark too much, and pop the engine.  Plus, the wiring harness that you build for the NA engine will work for the turbo engine, and you won't need to buy a bunch of stuff like the OEM airflow meter, pressure sensor, etc.  You just need to plan ahead for the turbo, so leave room in the fuel & spark maps, run extra wires for the boost control solenoid, etc.  Most of the stuff that you'll be tuning for the NA motor like the fuel & spark tables, timing from the CAS, split table, closed-loop O2 correction & idle control stuff will all still be applicable once you go turbo
• Then, when you're comfortable with how its running NA on the megasquirt, do the turbo swap.  Since you'll have re-done the engine controls & wiring harness recently, you'll know what you need and what you can ditch or ignore, so you don't need to buy as much stuff initially.  Most of your previous work will carry over, and you'll really only need to learn the turbo-specific stuff, and then tuning the regions in-boost.

Also, if you're going to be doing it, I'd get the differential & half-shafts from an S4 - generally people like the clutch-type LSD better than the viscous type, plus the torsen LSD from an FD just drops in with the S4 half-shafts (but not with S5).

You can either go with the T2 hood or with a front-mount IC - they both have their drawbacks.  The top-mount IC with the T2 hood tends to heat-soak much more readily and doesn't get as much airflow as a front-mount, so it can't cool the charge as much, BUT it is much less volume that the turbo needs to compress air into, so boost response is better and its more compact.

I've been using the racing beat cat-back system that I originally got when my 'vert was NA, and then a collection of test-pipes to connect to the stock downpipe, so you shouldn't have to replace the whole exhaust system if you don't want to.

[fidelity101]

I run one in my NA carb, its just cheaper and better than a used/new stock one. EVERY used stock one is on its way out I feel by now. Lots of them are SUPER noisy/angry sounding. Its just not worth the hassle because a 2nd hand one will be replaced soon or is already not up to spec anymore.

[murz]

Thanks guys! Yeah i'll probably throwing in a complete t2 engine with trans. Any pros to a jdm spec? I'll be taking out the rebuilt engine, maybe make something out of it, like a bridge ported six port turbo. Who knows! So the only part i might have difficulty getting is the t2 differential. I'll probably run it stock for a bit then start the upgrades, but it will be ran with a rb downpipe either way and keep the current exhaust system presilencer back. Yeah i plan on getting a new megasquirt rather than a used one.

[murz]

Sorry, didn't notice but, How much $ are the fuel pumps running? Have a link?

[toplessFC3Sman]

If you want to use the NA diff with the turbo trans, you'll need a custom driveshaft to hold you over until you go with a turbo rear end.

IIRC, the pumps were about $100 or so for the whole kit

[murz]

Wow i have no reason not to get that kit then! I kinda like the LSD diff i have on it currently. What's the pros to going turbo diff? They're both 4.1's? Or is it just stronger and made for higher power?

[fidelity101]

they are both 4.10s but the t2 diff has larger axles, thicker driveshaft and 8" ring gear compared to NAs 7"

[murz]

So, I acquired an S4 Turbo Limited Slip differential that will be going into the "Turbo GXL", with that being said I'll still need axles, which isn't all that difficult to find, worse case scenario being Autozone, I can't believe they actually sell them! Thanks Will.

I haven't mentioned this yet, but the engine I'm most likely going to grab is an S5 JDM Turbo engine...  it comes with the transmission, ecu & harness, powersteering, a/c etc.

However, it doesn't look like it will come with a mass air flow sensor or throttle cable. I do have an S5 NA mass air flow sensor, but I read it can run on one, but will run rich with that instead of the turbo MAF. However, seems like autozone has the turbo MAF (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login) just in case. It's got me thinking too, the chassis side wire harness (Alternator, starter, etc) will probably need to be S5 as well. I doubt the S4 connectors would work in this application, however if it's just something as simple as using an S4 alternator then I'm good, as I have one. I'm terrible ( as in I have no experience) at  fabricating wiring.

I plan to use the racing beat downpipe ( You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login), but I'll also need to get a fuel defender (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login) This thing I think... This will prevent boost creep from the free flowing exhaust, thanks Topless (correct me if I'm wrong). Maybe just get bigger injectors? While I'm at it, I should install a new clutch, RB engine mounts (which I have), and a new throw out bearing.

Really wondering how different a JDM S5 engine really is, and how much of a hassle it will be installing and getting it running into an S4 chassis. I plan to get her to push 250 whp - 300 whp, more in the future for sure, but for now I think that's rather conservative while being fun and safe. Anyways thanks guys for the help and advice so far, I'm new to engine swaps and turbos in general, so this is all new to me.

Oh, and I found my first picture I took of the car back in 2012.
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