Hello,

So my first "build thread" here I posted in a wrong section apparently .

Anywho, I have now owned 3 Rx8s, 2 3rd gen Rx7s, and about 8 2nd gen Rx7s. The only two rotary cars I have remaining are my 2005 Rx8 and my 1993 Rx7.

My initial build was going to be on my Winning blue Rx8. Unfortunately, the car was horrific in the rust department and I got shafted by a friend's little brother on the bodywork.


So now it brings me to this build. I bought this Shinka off of a buddy of mine in Northern Minnesota.

It originally came from Indiana.

Little bit of the specs on this car:
Year: 2005
Model: Rx8 Shinka
Mileage: ~100k miles on the chassis
Color: Purple looking color ahah

After wanting to build a NASA car for several years, I believe I have finally found a car worth building. I say this because the body is pretty clean with no rust and the suspension geometry on this 8 is much better than my Rx7. Besides, these cars you can find a lot easier than the Rx7 (wouldn't want to crash that ).

I have a buddy that some may know who races NASA ST-1 Class in his 3rd gen. His name is Damian. Runs the Twin Visions FD. Super badass car. Him and I have been talking about what to do with this setup. We came to the ultimate and most common sense conclusion: get this car running and driving and then make sure its reliable.

With that in mind, I have broken down to basically a simplification of the swap and not trying to get crazy horsepower. After all, who really races on road courses with more than 400whp and maintains reliability on a 2 rotor?

My goal is to get this running by next year 2017.

So far I have the car pretty much completely gutted. One issue I have been having is removing the front lower control arms. Those are a PITA!

I have one more arm to remove in order for me to be able to work on replacing the bushings with the PowerFlex bushings I have.


What engine I am running?
I am going to be running the 13BRE engine.

What transmission am I running?
I plan on running the stock 6spd transmission right now. I am aware of its weakness, but really I just want to get this thing running before worrying about more of a job. If I am able to get everything set up and then find out that I need to only replace my transmission I am golden :D.

What flywheel and clutch am I running?
I plan on running the Racing Beat lightened flywheel with replaceable surface. More expensive, but I think it will make sense so i can just replaces surfaces vs. replacing an entire flywheel.

I plan on running a 6 puck unsprung ACT disc and ACT Heavy duty Pressure Plate. My buddy Damian runs that on his 20b FD and has had nothing but good results for it. Very aggressive for the road, but not so bad on the track.

What suspension setup will I have?
I am running PowerFlex black series front lower bushings. I will have my dad make me some delrin upper wishbone bushings and I am running powertrix coilovers (I got them for a decent deal used...this is why).

What is my WHP goal?
I have no idea. I am only going to have it tuned for 12-15psi

What ECU am I running?
I got a deal on a Motec M2R with custom harness so I will be running the Motec system.

What Wheels and tires am I Running?
Currently I plan on running my 18x9 +42 Square setup Super Advans w/ 255 40 18 tires.



Well I have so many more things, but I would really appreciate for any feedback on input while I am building this car. It would help me out a lot as long as the comments are useful obviously.



Well, this is an intro post. Hopefully I have it in the right section this time, but Pics will be coming in shortly.


Thanks for tuning in,

Nick

 

Good to see your here now, in the cool guys w/better engines section

 

Hahaha right? Took me a while!

I'll get pics up here shortly.

 

what NASA class are you targeting?

 

For now just TT

But when I become more familiar with my car and driving it I would like to bump into an ST class.

 

Engine bay:


Engine:


Cramped shot:




Then I started removing the interior:












Removing the Deadening material

 

More pics




Two of my super advans had some slight curb rash, but got those fixed up




Engine fitted:


Here is how I got the 13BRE fitted into the rx8 engine bay:
1) Used the rear 13BREW cross mount
2) Used a remade defined auto 20B engine mount brackets (for 3rd gen)

Yeah that is it ahahhaha.

The way the engine sits in the bay almost seems like it was made for the 8. The engine does not move at all. It is snug like a glove. I put this in by myself so it was a little bit annoying to get it to fit properly. I did not have a flywheel or any clutch setup installed while I was test fitting because I wanted to make sure it would even work. I was super surprised that it did.

Another pic



Pics before dryice was used when I removed the under dash boxes (WHAT A PAIN!!!)





The wheel and hub setup I went with is from my FD. It is a works bell quick release with MoMo wheel. I was again surprised that the FD wheel hub worked perfectly with the Rx8.

 

So I surprisingly got the passenger side control arm out without much of a hassle.




However, I always know that there is at least one bolt or issue when removing parts









My Shop lol (cleaning process)

 

Some rear links:


My ECU


Custom harness for the ECU


My front lower control arm bushings (front and rear. Need to order a strut bushing yet and upper wishbone bushings made)




Closer pic of the steering wheel and hub setup I am using




Anyways, I am in the process of trying to still remove the driver side lower control arm. It is such a pain. But, I decided to hold off on working on that so I could clean my garage a bit. I have been buying 7s and 8s and parting them out for several years and as many people know parts start to pile up.

So I am getting a scrap pile ready for iron and aluminum.




Well that is where I am at right now. I will post more pics up when I get further along my process. Kids start school again next week so I will have a lot more free time.

Ordered my AN fittings and adapters from Summit Racing today so I should be able to fab up my Nylon braided oil cooler lines when they arrive.

Should be fun.

Thanks again for tuning in

-Nick

 

Lots of great parts.... keep up the good work

 

yeah, I read that.

TTU? TT1? TT2? TT3? or what hp/weight target....

(longtime TT and PT competitor, burned out, doing autox now)

 

So I'm not sure what hp/weight I will have.

I know I'm just going to tune it for 12-15psi. Thus, I don't really know what I'll be hitting haha

I'm hoping to be under 3000 with around 350whp

But I'm far from even predicting my numbers -_-

 

ahh gotcha - plan for some flexibility to move weight & power up/down so you can hit right at one or two of the class limits then.

 

Sounds like a good idea. I appreciate the input. Lets just hope I can remove this dang driver side lower control arm so I can get this build underway.

 

Some progress. Pics will be posted later today.

I have finished removing both front lower control arm assemblies. WOW WHAT A PITA.

I also finished securing the oil cooler lines.

I will be less vague when I post pics up later.

Thanks again for tuning in.

-Nick

 

I feel your pain. I had to cut both of mine out and it isn't a fun job. If i didnt want to reuse them it wouldn't havre been so bad...but I needed the arms for the Speedsource lower camber adjuster install

 

Yeah it was horrible. Now I am having issues with the ball joints




Ok let me gather my sanity back.






shutterfly is really losing the quality of pics.


After putting the 8's front back on we went to eat at Kyotos. All you can eat sushi.



ANNNNDDD we are getting another Boston terrier in a few weeks too!





Ok so I have made a video that I will be uploading to youtube and linking the video to here. Just gives a basic overview of my oil cooler lines and upgrade.


My story why you should always get quality fittings.

I generally always get my an fittings from summit racing. I do this because they generally are the least expensive route for fittings and free shipping after $99. As many people know, AN fittings are not cheap and you will exceed $99 pretty quickly.

I spent a total of around $250 to make my own oil cooler line upgrade. This beats Racing beats price by over $200!

I am a huge proponent of saving money by doing it yourself if you're capable of doing it.


Oil Cooler setup--What I used:
~15 ft of Earls pro nylon braid -10AN hose (I did not use that much line, but its what it came in)
5x18mm x 1.5mm x -10AN adapters (4 for the oil coolers, 1 for the oil pedestal)
1x16mm x 1.5mm x -10AN adapter (for the front cover on the 13BRE or 20B)
*Note: when you use the rew or renesis you retain the 18mm x 1.5mm x -10AN adapter. the only reason I am using the 16mm x 1.5.mm x -10AN is because I have the 13BRE
5x 90* -10AN fittings
1x 45* -10AN fitting
6x 1" adel clamps

The 5 90* fittings are used for the oil cooler and the front cover. The 45* is used for the rear oil pedestal.

You use adel clamps you can buy at LOWES or Home Depot for around $1.60 per 2 pack. You will need 3 of these packs.


Apparently I did not take a pic of my final setup and I only took a video. So what I will do is take some more pics later today of the final setup for people that are interested and to show how I set my cooler lines up. Remember that the engine has been removed and it will only be pretty much my lines in there. Use your imagination


Thanks again for tuning in. I will be uploading my video and linking it as well as taking pics of my setup.


-Nick