Resurrection of BountyHunter's '07 GT

08-03-2019, 02:58 PM

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derkenblosh

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Resurrection of BountyHunter's '07 GT

So... this will be my Third RX-8 and I don't think i'll be lucky enough to keep her (thought I was getting a raise with my new position / promotion, but I'm thinking that's not going to happen)

This all started with looking for a cheap "driver" for while I work on all the needed work on my Stage2 BMW 335D (usual BMW stuff)
... I was actually looking for a beater status MX-5, but stumbled into the forums (as I usually do)... low and behold, BountyHunter had his car up for sale, with a reported flooded motor @ $2500obo (basically selling as a possible roller), and then he updated his post that the car was back up and running, but never changed the title or price, and this all was the week before I was going to be in SoCal! Timing just seemed to be just too perfect, along with the price. I Messaged and verified that we could get a compression check before the sale, and that if it was passing numbers i would cover the cost of the test and buy the car for the asking $2500. (BTW, the number were all great, gotta love pre-mix owners)

On to a month later...

Raised the car back up to stock ride height on the Coilovers
Removed the majority of the Clear-Bra (keeping the headlights and bumper corners for now)
Installed the LRB Undertray+uprights
Wrapped Koyo Radiator with Closed Cell 2"+ Backer-Rod
Custom Cut a bumper-length front splitter from Plywood
Braced front splitter/undertray with turnbuckles with open eyes to allow lip to 'give' on 'off track excursions', but strong enough to withstand ANY amount of downforce *JIC*
Replaced a bunch of missing / loose bolts on the aftermarket sway bars / links (added threadlocker)
Installed the included resonated midpipe
Claybar'd the entire car
Sealed & Waxed the paint (Chemical-Guys)
Tuned the ECU with Mazaedit:
- Increase OMP oiling by 20% on cruising, and 10% on the upper RPM and Load range
- Turn the fans on sooner 87c and 97c (she runs under 204 with the AC on and 108*f Vegas temps now)
- ...More tuning will be done soon, but this is a good start. I still premix, as old habits die hard and it smells yummy
Installed the included D585 coils, they ended up actually being bad (mazda dealer told him they were the cause of the motor failure, and no ****! they weren't wrong!)
- Checked Plugs (looked great / light-tan)
- Removed dead D585 coils (motor wouldn't even start)
- Put stock RevC coils back on
- Got a set of the NEW gen BHR coils and wires and she runs AMAZING, feels like a brand new car (RevC coils had no steam past 6k, but at least they didn't misfire)
  ... BHR did not want to honor the warranty, whatever, small business owner, and this is 7 years later and i didn't purchase THIS set from him...
  I'm happy with his products, so that's why I found another set from a local club member vs buying a new set directly from BHR.