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Had an RX-8 as my first car. Had a bunch of cars in between and always missed it. So i pulled the trigger on this one. This car utilizes the Hinson LS-RX kit. They really do make sub-par parts. Seriously, if you guys are going to build one of these, get a V8 roadsters kit and do it right. Had this thing for a solid 2 months and have already have to re-weld brackets.
Plasti-Dip was applied somewhat well. Some spots have runs. So im ripping it all off this spring and going with some Vinyl based AutoDip in Gloss Black.
Engine: LS1 with ported and polished heads, LS6 cam and valvetrain, LS6 intake, FAST90, EGR delete, A/C delete. I am running a 02 WS6 ECU with HPTuners software and PSI conversions PCM. Trans is a built T-56 with a stage 5 centerforce clutch.
Cleaning the intake and what not
Really debating whether to go with boost or not. This thing is a complete monster already, and the torque is unbeleivable, but coming from a 600WHP evo is no easy fret to compare to this. I may keep this snail and do a rear mount in the future if I end up getting bored
PO really wasnt the mechanic type...
I actually enjoy this wheel more than the stocker. Look at all the lights on the dash though. Christmas came early in this bitch. Water temp, RPM, and Oil Pres on top the console. You can beleive me or not, but I got 34MPG on 93OCT taking this thing back home from TN and having a 250lb passenger and over 200lbs in the car of junk. With low PSI tires and a vaccum leak.
Hinson lacks a decent fabrication department. Their butt-welds are extremely weak. This is the rear diff support bracket that snapped when I hit a small bump on the highway. The transmissions crossmember also cracked when I pulled into my driveway last week. I have contacted them and have yet to hear back.
Doin work!
Ghetto-rigged check valve that doesnt even belong there...
Still trying to find how im going to route a true cold-air intake for some lower IAT's and more power. have to get creative with tubing.
76mm twin-scroll...so tempting!
This was the EGR hard-line and it wasnt capped off. it had a pretty large vac leak since 3 days ago when I found this thing shoved underneath the back of the engine.
The car still has the OEM steering rack and everything, I have absolute NO idea on how Im going to get the electric steering to communicate with this thing.
The rear diff will be replaced with the V8 Roadsters 8.8 package.
Its running 409/419 right now without an exhaust. It just had 1 7/8" long tubes into a Y pipe. I need mufflers and a re-tune, but that wont be till spring.
Also going to do an ABS delete and clean the bay up some more.
The interior gets EXTREMELY hot. Almost unbearable with the windows up and sunroof closed. I need to find a way to extract heat from the engine. I may do what Kruzier did on his SR20 project with his hood.
I think the most annoying thing is deff the steering. Once I get that figured it out, its pretty much all downhill from there.
I'm the chief racing steward for a track by my house (Pittsburgh International Race Complex), I get free track time so I will be taking advantage of it and doing multiple DE's, Auto-x's, PCA's and possibly NASA and NARRA TT. This will be the weekend warrior and test subject for different parts and modifications. We should be kicking Foruml8 off sometime early summer 2016.
Very nice. Have you considered going the V8 Roadsters route and swapping the steering rack out for one from a miata? You'd probably have to fab _something_ to make it fit to the subframe correctly, but it could be way less of a pain in the ***. I'm assuming you got rid of the original ecu and that's why you can't use the original rack?
Keep us posted on how you fit that turbo. I'm doing a 5.3 with the V8 Roadsters kit, but I plan on adding a turbo after I enjoy driving it around for a bit.
Yeah, i'm honestly not sure how theyre still in business. Im not here to bash anyone but they really need to step up their game.
Originally Posted by zendrums
Very nice. Have you considered going the V8 Roadsters route and swapping the steering rack out for one from a miata? You'd probably have to fab _something_ to make it fit to the subframe correctly, but it could be way less of a pain in the ***. I'm assuming you got rid of the original ecu and that's why you can't use the original rack?
Keep us posted on how you fit that turbo. I'm doing a 5.3 with the V8 Roadsters kit, but I plan on adding a turbo after I enjoy driving it around for a bit.
Thanks for sharing
Im deff keeping this rack and pump. And no actually I still have the Stock ECU EMS and PCM, im going to buy the trigger wheel off of LS1RX8.com. You simply plug in your stock Crank Pos Sensor and align it with the trigger wheel and that sends a signal to the PCM for electric steering to work. I just found this out today
Good luck with your build, let me know how that kit works out (I heard it's the best of the best). Go N/A for a little...then decide if you want boost. Its very fun to drive and pulls like a freight train. I would only go rear mount set-up, but thats because I will be road racing it and putting it through multiple track days.
Originally Posted by 9krpmrx8
Glad to see you are getting that mess sorted. Please fix all the things and leave it Winning Blue.
Winning Blue is always winning! However, I really would like it black. I've pondered the Evo Metallic Grey, VR, and WWP. Depends on pricing in future. AutoDip will be Plasti-dip out of business. If it were a DD I could justify spending a few grand to get a legit paint job, but for what I intend to do with it the peelable and patchable vinyl-based coating seems fitting.
Originally Posted by sonicsdaman
Pittsburg is pretty close you should come out to some of the meets this spring, I would fancy a ride in a v8 swap just to know how it is
Ugh man...I've been to so many and I honestly wouldn't care to come back next year. It's just a massive Ego-fest and who has more power and money than others. Waterfront meets, parking garage meets, titled-kilt meets, it's all relevant. I might come out to one to promote Formul8, but going to them for years sort of burns you out. PM me your # and we can meet up sometime next spring. I wouldnt mind comparing the two. That would be dope!
Car looks great! Glad to see another in better hands
In regards to the cold air setup, while I know it wouldnt be quite as easy as I had relocated my PCM's for last year to make space, but lowering the rad down to an angle similar to stock position was the single biggest improvement update I did to mine.
I was always running 120-175f intake temps, especially if I was in traffic, also had overheating issues, and I found with the rad being lower down, it dropped my engine running temps from 220-230f to 195-200f , and my intake temps never went more then 10f above ambient unless I was sitting in traffic in which case it would heat soak a bit, but moving forward again it would cool right down. Maybe something to look into? Gives more space for fitting your intake tube without it being right behind the rad
I have a 26x16x3 Rad in my car, still a little tight for me, maybe tighter for you with the EPS rack. I know you say your happy with your steering, but honestly, the mustang hydraulic rack in the RX8 with LS pump, is the best steering feel ive ever experienced in my life, absolutely love it! Drove my other RX8 and my LS swapped one back to back in the summer and despised the feel of the steering. Though, to each their own
Car looks great! Glad to see another in better hands
In regards to the cold air setup, while I know it wouldnt be quite as easy as I had relocated my PCM's for last year to make space, but lowering the rad down to an angle similar to stock position was the single biggest improvement update I did to mine.
I was always running 120-175f intake temps, especially if I was in traffic, also had overheating issues, and I found with the rad being lower down, it dropped my engine running temps from 220-230f to 195-200f , and my intake temps never went more then 10f above ambient unless I was sitting in traffic in which case it would heat soak a bit, but moving forward again it would cool right down. Maybe something to look into? Gives more space for fitting your intake tube without it being right behind the rad
I have a 26x16x3 Rad in my car, still a little tight for me, maybe tighter for you with the EPS rack. I know you say your happy with your steering, but honestly, the mustang hydraulic rack in the RX8 with LS pump, is the best steering feel ive ever experienced in my life, absolutely love it! Drove my other RX8 and my LS swapped one back to back in the summer and despised the feel of the steering. Though, to each their own
Thanks man
Hm, see, on mine the rad is angled quite a bit. The top of it is about 2-3mm below the front support beam. Do you have some pics of your set-up on to how far down you mounted it? What fan system are you using? I have a massive 14" pull fan, and even running 50/50, my temps absolutley never climb above 173F even in stop-n-go. If you are still running your crash support bar, that will block ALOT of air. I took mine off and it probably took up a solid %20 of space. I emailed Hinson and asked for detailed pics for their Cold Air Intake setup a long time ago. But I believe the ones that other company's make for the FD LSx swaps are almost exactly the same and will fit our cars. I'm gonna dig on the RX7club and see how much clearance those guys have with their intake setups from the TB to the rad. 4" piping will be used.
Does your interior get extremely hot as well?
I've never heard of a mustang rack being compatible, only the RX-7 and Miata racks. That's very interesting though. Are you comparing the EPS to the mustang rack or the EPS without power to the mustang rack?
ah, the beauty of plasti-dip. the rest of the body is okay. some spots are pretty scratched up and other spots have had body work done. the previous owner said this car was heavily vandalized when he bought it at auction. the gentleman's girlfriend caught him cheating and thus the outcome was some damage to the car. talk about a shitty day.
Ordered an APR GTC-200 with 2.5" risers.
Next week I'm going to start making some vents in the hood, pretty much plagiarizing Kruizers blueprint for his SR20 build.
Within the next month or so it will have some vinyl on it. I have a great deal on some flat white so I believe im going that route unless other opportunities arise.
Damn, yours runs real cold! I think the LS motors want to be above 190f according to all my old GM documents I had from when I worked there.
I never really had much interior heating issues once I covered up all the openings from the engine bay, initially I was getting a ton of heat coming up around the shifter, but made a rubber lower boot that seemed to make a big difference.
I think your rad may be larger overall then mine, with the 16" height of mine I was able to move it fairly low down, I have mine setup with a single SPAL fan and it works excellent!
Heres the best shot I have of my rad positioning from before the tear down. Interesting note on the crash bar, I was thinking about how I can reconstruct the front end of the car, my only concern is stiffness, as when I would hoist the front of the car in the air to remove the engine, the front end of the car flex's like ******* crazy, mostly the frame rails in front of the rad support, like almost 1/4" it would flex upward, maybe not vital if its in front of the strut tower? didnt notice any flex behind them.
The mustang rack is not a bolt in option, I had to custom fab mounts for it, and then make up a steering column to fit it, but I was very happy with the outcome. I am comparing to the working EPS from my parts car, as I didnt really drive my car before I swapped it as I bought it from a kid that damaged the front end of it.
Damn, yours runs real cold! I think the LS motors want to be above 190f according to all my old GM documents I had from when I worked there.
I never really had much interior heating issues once I covered up all the openings from the engine bay, initially I was getting a ton of heat coming up around the shifter, but made a rubber lower boot that seemed to make a big difference.
I think your rad may be larger overall then mine, with the 16" height of mine I was able to move it fairly low down, I have mine setup with a single SPAL fan and it works excellent!
Heres the best shot I have of my rad positioning from before the tear down. Interesting note on the crash bar, I was thinking about how I can reconstruct the front end of the car, my only concern is stiffness, as when I would hoist the front of the car in the air to remove the engine, the front end of the car flex's like ******* crazy, mostly the frame rails in front of the rad support, like almost 1/4" it would flex upward, maybe not vital if its in front of the strut tower? didnt notice any flex behind them.
The mustang rack is not a bolt in option, I had to custom fab mounts for it, and then make up a steering column to fit it, but I was very happy with the outcome. I am comparing to the working EPS from my parts car, as I didnt really drive my car before I swapped it as I bought it from a kid that damaged the front end of it.
Hm, i'll have to read up on some tech data for temps.
I just bought a nice delrin shift ****, so now i wont get 3rd degree burns on my palms when i drive!
Wow, your rad looks extremely thin. Mine is pretty damn massive. Are you running 50/50? Here is mine.
its level with the support brace.
dont mind the wires. the GT-C bumper REALLY helps with airflow. ill post a pic below of another build ive seen where the dude cuts the whole front support out and replaces with a tubular support for maximum airflow.
well theres a **** ton of room after the subframe. however, im going to have a nervous breakdown trying to fit a 3" exhuast through this setup.
these diff bolts are entirely too low. i cant even back down my driveway without griding them on the ground. they need to go.
i will be mounting a 10 core oil cooler on these two bolts. the cooler location lines directly up the side vents on the bumper, from there i will make custom ducting forcing the air directly into the cooler. im still undecided on going accusump or just going with a nice windage tray and crank scraper. mo' research, mo' money!
How thick is your rad? Mine is 26x16 and 3" thick, but probably only 2.25" thick core area. I ran 50/50 approx in mine through the summer.
Thanks!
I have no idea the exact specs, its pretty damn big, though! I will be running straigh distilled and water wetter. I will only be driving this car to the track, and at the track.
Figured out I had a huge coolant leak coming from the water pump to the heater core. The return line had a crack in it and was facing down, so even with the engine running I couldnt see the leak.
Getting rid of the stock HU for a double din,
So this is the heater core delete bypass tube. Fits perfect
Burnt coolant on the manifold runner. it must have been spraying.
nipples to the heater core, need capped
took the EMS and ballast out of that massive black box. going to mount to the side of the fender well.
extending the wires on the IAT sensor and plumbing into the intake. this thing was so well tucked under the intake manifold...
Need to find a strap-down kit for the battery.
Hopefully I can figure out a way to delete the ABS. its taking up entirely too much room and one of the lines are in contact with the exhaust manifold runner. not good.
got some corbeaus out of a friends auto-x R32. will be putting them in sometime soon.
Still undecided on paint...any thoughts? Was thinking OD green.
Running this on my car, pretty similar to the taylor from summit, Also upgraded the battery to a bigger one with more CCA to turn that V8 on. Im also gonna say Fvuk it and order a high torque mini starter, the one i have from orielys "new" seems weak LOL
Last edited by yokohamaboi; 12-13-2015 at 09:46 PM.
The one I have is BRAND new. So I'm still tossing the idea of going Li-Po and putting this big battery in my daily. This came with a battery box and everything but it didn't really fit too well in the recessed area of the trunk :/ so I will probably have to custom fab some mounting brackets for it to fit snug. Thanks for the link!
I should probably upgrade this starter but I will probably run it until it dies lol
Ugh god...maybe when 500hp gets boring and I find the room to fit a 76mm back there
Thermostat is being a ****. Won't open, and when the car gets over 170 it wont start back up again. To make matters worse, this ECU is hard-tuned on a dyno using HPTuners software, so even if I bought their handheld tuner, I couldnt have it communicate with the ECU to run data-logs or run scans or anything. I really hope its just the Crank Pos Sensor and nothing with ignition. Its deff getting fuel and the fuel pump is working %100. The starter and alternator are doing their job, and the coolant sensor is spot on so its not faulty.
Im calling HPTuners tmrw to see if theres absolutely any way possible to scan this ECU without having to be bent over and fucked by a shop and charged over $500.
Battery tie-down is complete. Next is ABS relocate and a custom sway bar and mount to clear the OEM steering rack and oil pan. It has too much bump-steer.
okay for some reason its not letting me upload the final pic. basically you get a 12" length 3.5" tube and put a fitlter on it and it ends up sitting right beside the rad support beam and causes no heat soak.
I solved the coolant and start-up issues. Had to dump coolant directly into the water-pump and t-stat housing and during me squeezing the rad hose while the car was running with the rad cap off it blurped out some coolant into the intake and misted the MAF. so i cleaned it and now it runs like a champ.
11-17-2015, 08:47 PM
