9/3/13
This looks kinda fun.

 

The valvetrain on that head wasn't great, and the cam was rusty, so i salvaged some parts off of some spare motors i had laying around.










Cleaned up and filled some mounts with 98a duro poly. (#CATBOX #SHITTINGINMYLITTER)

 

Remember, working on motors is very delicate work, and must be very measured. Nothing is left to chance.


Back to the mess Michael J. Fox made of the oil pan. Yes, that's RTV on the pickup.


Well, this certainly looks different from the last time we saw this.



Tower of power. (Pre-oil pan)



PROGRESS, COMRADE



Solid start to a $2013 Challenge car. What do you mean the event is in a month?



Vacuum system: FIXED


Removed bullshit. Now can swap injectors without removing upper intake manifold. The peasants rejoice.



If i could offer one piece of advice, it would be this: WEAR SUNSCREEN. (And remember to put this huge-*** shield on the motor before you install clutch, flywheel, transmission, and motor into the car. This way, you don't have to yank it all back out and do it all again! SCIENCE!)



Fixed a clearance issue. TURBO NO HIT BLOCK.



Looks like we're ready to go here. There's a specific order to all this ****. Getting it wrong is guaranteed to give you an aneurysm.



I'M AN F2T, I'M AN F2T, SUCK MY DICK, I'M AN F2T.



THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELLS YOU


Yeahhh... YEAHHH!! TAKE IT ALL YOU DIRTY GIRL



Ironically, this absolute piece of **** car will probably have one of the better 1g MX6/Probe engine bays in North America when i'm done. THooooooper

 

BONUS CONTENT: The cam seal from the old head.



THIS IS PROBABLY FINE.

 

Doin more ****. Mazda likes to use M16x1.25 thread sensors in the water neck area. I like to spend $37 on a quality tap and make that **** my bitch while throwing The Bird to Mazda because ain't nobody got time for dumbass non-standard thread fittings.



SPLOOGE.



It looks empty over here, because **** is missing. On purpose. All of it. Power steering? We don't need that. Spool *********** a lot, so he has incredible forearm strength and will have a grand old time horsing this pig around an autocross course wearing 245/45-16 tires. A/C? Bitch please, the exhaust goes there. You have windows, use them. Inhale the delicious exhaust. Get high.



Addco is a piece of **** company that happens to be the only people left making swaybars for these cars. (Well... unless you count Whiteline, but i'll bite my own dick off before spending $350 on a swaybar for a junk car like this.) HOWEVER, Addco seems incapable of sending bushings and brackets that actually work with their bars on this car. They'll send some to you, they'll charge you for them, but they don't work. I'd rather give $16 to Prothane for some universal 7/8" bushings and brackets in this case, and i'll just grind them bitches down to a tab on one side that fits in the subframe slot. In the front, i modified a set of Energy Suspension Grand Cherokee front swaybar bushings i had laying around for some reason, and stuffed them in the stock brackets. I'm hoping they'll be nice and bind-y.

The sea cucumber now has a fish in its butt. Win win!

 

[b]I don't know how Tomei makes a profit on these super legit adjustable fuel pressure regulators priced at $25 shipped from China, but i for one, am thankful. This probably won't make the car burn to the ground.



Wastegate anus dump tube and some fallopian tubes for my gauges.



These motors don't deserve good injectors, so i decided that some RX7 460s pushed to around..... 50psi base fuel pressure should be sufficient.

 

DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNN

BEHOLD! PROBINATOR!!!! (what the **** does that even mean?



Swank Force Racing skunkwerks. Where dreams are crushed and cars desecrated.



This is not my favorite thing. This car DID previously have an AEM UEGO wideband installed. Previous owner couldn't figure out how why it wasn't working well. Power was being drawn from the radio MEMORY power via "vamp clamp." Ground was to interior light dimmer switch via "vamp clamp." Then he couldn't figure out why the gauge wouldn't shut off, so he attached an in-line toggle switch.

Of course, via "vamp clamps."

WEIRD. I HAVE NO IDEA WHY IT DIDN'T WORK.

I tore all that bullshit out and installed an Innovate MTX-L that was snagged on Ebay for $70 shipped. Entire install took about 10 minutes including warming up the soldering iron, with no bullshit hackery, and running the main controller harness in a logical, clean, and convenient location.

The MTX-L is awesome. 3 wire hookup INCLUDING narrowband o2 simulation FTW.



Fuel pump before. I LOVE RUSTY CORRODED PIECES OF ****.



Fuel pump after. Rummaged around through my spare parts and built a new assembly taking the best of what i had laying around. The worst part was googling TWENTY TWO ******* FUEL PUMP PART NUMBERS ON SPRINT'S **** 3G NETWORK TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHICH PUMP WAS THE BEST ONE TO USE.

I settled on a Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 pump because of legendary Mitsubishi reliability.

 

*****-y bov is *****-y.



You like this hotness? Flux welding is fun.







Lovely vomiting sounds imminent.




Going to end up slash cutting the exhaust to be somewhat flush-ish with the bumper. Finalized intercooler piping, just need to get ahold of an 8" piece of 2.5" pipe to finish it, and do some more "clearancing" with the sledgehammer.

Rebuild the VAF harness and extended it last night.

TO DO:
1) Finish intercooler setup. (bead roll, clamp it, clearance, boost leak test.)
2) Re-tap two of the turbo exhaust bolt holes. BLARGH.
3) Install exhaust with gaskets that i need to find. Or just lay a bunch of copper Permatex over it, whatever.
4) Finish battery relocation, including making new power wires for alternator and starter.
5) Re-install dash panels
6) Make gauge panel
7) Install Addco rear sway bar
8) Pads and rotors
9) Struts and springs from red car go on black car.
10) Install new factory lip/air dam at bottom of bumper
11) Replace busted tail light
12) "roll" fenders to clear 16x8 +30 w/ 245/45-16 setup. With a sledehammer.
13) Install coolant overflow tank
14) Install oil catch can
15) Install AFPR
16) Test drive
17) Install PFC FCON and 460cc injectors
18) Turn up boost to Eleventy.



Then i get to tear the motor out of the red car.


We leave in 9 days.

 

That's the end of the black car for the time being. Neither car made it to GRM $2013. Will explain why.

12/6/13

Problems:
1) STILL haven't seen the 88-89 FCON harness in the mail. A little vexing, as there were other parts coming with it that are very useful to me.

2) Speedo gear tab broke off on the black car. This is important. It keeps transmission fluid in the transmission.

3) Innovate MTX-L on the black car is DOA. Car has a big turbo, and the Innovate was wired to do narrowband simulation to the stock ECU. No bueno.

4) I'm retarded and timed the black car 180 out. Easy fix. Not worth ******* with until i get issues 1-3 figured out.

 

And now back to the red car.

Hey guise, guess what!

Guise: What, Concealer?

The red car is going to live forever. Swank Force One will never die.




Attention and stuff for red car gearing up for a quick 'n' dirty ground up rebuild over the course of a week. Ambitious? Sure. But yoloswaggotry and all that. There's meth labs here, i can do this.




EMPLOYING THE STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGY (Go home HKS, you're drunk.)


WHAT THE **** DO ALL THESE LETTERS EVEN MEAN?!?!? I'M SO ANGRY!!!!



Hat. Why? I don't know. It was in my Picasa feed, deal with it.



Suspension and ****. My heart goes out to the victims o- BLARGGGGHHHHHHHH ARE THOSE ******* CHEAPASS EBAY CAMBER PLATES/!?!?!?!



Wow, you're ******* stupid. I can't believe you bought those.



Good thing you got those super pimpy circa 1990 Ground Control coilovers, though. I bet they're still good. What's the spring rates? What do you mean they pre-date the current lbs/inch system that Eibach is using now?


Center caps came in. ALL THE WAY FROM AUSTRALIA. I will do my best to mount them upside down in honor of their homeland.


Apparently i purchased them from Martini Racing. I tried to search the googles for this wondrous form of racing that i'd never heard of before, but all i could come up with was a bunch of ***** sites decrying the effects of drinking and driving.





Bought my first new part for the next Miata build. SOMETHING BIG. EPIC. GUARANTEED TO MAKE MIATA ENTHUSIASTS EVERYWHERE VOMIT UNCONTROLLABLY.

 

Got an old HKS EVC2, but because i got it from a Probe owner, it's broken. Sad trombone.



Measuring things on my shitty Chinese camber plates for fun and activities.



Maybe i can stick my dick in it.



Time to junk the car.



What the **** am i supposed to do with all this ****?



Wow.
Much Australian.
Very spring.
So rev.
Wow.

 

The red car was a whole 'nother ball of wax entirely compared to the black car. That car was on the verge of killing me.

Casualties/Damage
1) Head gasket. Blown for probably.... the last 4 years.

2) Inner tie rods both had 1/8" of in/out play, and were looser than a Taiwanese boy.

3) Outer tie rods both blown

4) Driver's side ball joint boot gone, joint separating

5) Driver's wheel bearing fell out in 3 pieces.

6) 3 of the 4 bolts that hold the front of the north/south crossmembers to the front support were gone. My transmission mounts to one of these. Seems legit.

7) Just about 1/8" of carbon buildup on all 4 cylinders

8) Turbo horribly blown, mixing coolant and oil, and tons of bearing noise

9) #2 and #3 main bearing worn. Distinct polished sections on cylinder walls front and back. Side to side still has crosshatching.

10) #1 and #4 cylinder apparently ate part of my first turbo or something. 30-40 deep scores down the cylinder walls.

11) 4 chunks of magnetic material found in oil pan.






What do we do about it?

We "fix" it.

November 9th. Leaving in 4 days.
MX6 Kit!



1 hour in.



This looks delicious. I'm sure oil dripping into my transmission onto my clutch is fine.



2 hours in.


LOL RAEP.


NEW MOTARRRRRRRR

 

11/10 - leave in 3 days

And we're down to nothing up front. Looks promising.




Long story short, though. I didn't make it. Still fighting a couple things.



But....


*****.






I HAVE driven it about a mile. I'm stupid, so i threw a built head on top of the old fucked up bottom end, because.... meh. F2T. None ***** given. It's really hard to drive now. I may have ruined it.

 

Building turbos takes an important tool. A 5lb sledgehammer.


The razor blades are to cut myself after i realize i just put in all that work to put another stock CT26 on my car.


Warped flanges? Fixing it the correct way involves messing with exhaust/wastegate clearance issues. REMFLEX TO THE RESCUE.


Here we have why OEM gaskets just leak like crazy. The cutouts for the adapter bolts go around the fire ring, so only 50% of the fire ring is contacting, which makes for high spots.



Gauges came for Gaijin Garbage.




Just gotta set ride height this weekend and get an alignment, then i get to see how terrible it is to build 25psi by 2500rpm on a turbo this size.

 

12/23/13

Runs again. Can't keep the ******* upper timing plate from spewing oil. Done the job three times now, most recently with an OEM Mazda gasket, torqued to FSM specs, put a straight edge on the plate to make sure it wasn't bent, and it's good.

Finally straightened out valvetrain, exhaust leaks are 100% gone, and it seems i've probably had a bad turbo on this since day 1. Lots and lots of spooly sounds at idle.

Very pissed off sounding car.

 

12/30/13

Figured it out. Not a happy camper.

So i guess now i get to throw my good head out, port one of my old ones and send it to the machine shop again (And let them know that i'd rather they not drop it again), buy another gasket set, and do all the ******* work all over again.

Everywhere you see the weird wavy ripple crap is bowed IN 1/16" or more. Also notice the damage to the cam journal.

 

1/27/14



Old NLA Mahle 0.030" pistons because i don't trust newfangled things and wish points ignitions were still things.


My bottom is ready.


Fits nicely in a Miata passenger seat. Best truck evar?


Oh we lube-y, huh?


TAKE IT ALL YOU DIRTY GIRL!!!!!






Cost:
Block clean, bore, cut crank 0.010" and polish, recondition and shot peen rods, press pistons onto rods, and balance whole assembly: $400
Pistons: $30
Rings: $18
King Race bearings: $38

Total cost for fresh 500hp bottom end: $486

You ******* still liking your Mazda BPs?

 

2/6/14

Motor is painted. Picking it up on Saturday. (And the ginormous intercooler you see. Will probably make its way onto the MX6 to simplify routing.)

 

2/8/14

You guys want updates?

TheNuge and I went down to Memphis to grab all those parts and my new bottom end. Picked up a hitchhiker on the way home.

 

That mostly brings us up to present day.

I'll post details on the new head that was worked by a friend out in Portland when i'm more bored.

In the meantime... let's talk about wheels and tires.

I value the opinions of you guys. Like your buttholes, they smell like roses.


'm having a wheel/tire dilemma. Unfortunately, i don't think there's any way to affordably make a set of Snowflakes work.



Dilemma: Tires are REALLY expensive for the FD wheels. Like... REALLY expensive, and options are limited. RE-11s for $830 delivered or RA1s for $990. But, i love my FDs.

Solutions:
1) Sack up and continue feeding the car expensive tires, and get some solace in the fact that each set of tires should last two seasons.
2) Ditch FDs for street use (Possibly keep for race use, as R-comps are cheaper than street tires in this size, or just sell them to offset solution #3)
3) Move back to 17s and be delighted by cheap tire options.

If #3, i'd be going to a 255/40-17 tire, which will require some more rolling/body work. Not scary, just time consuming.

Would be looking at 17x9-10s, and tires would be in the $500-600 delivered area. (NT-05s, RS-Rs, etc)


So, now i'm going to spam you guys with wheels. Vote.

1) Keep FDs, sack up with tire cost.

2) SQUARE wheels G33 17x9 +15 (~$550 shipped): SQUARE Wheels G33 Model - 17x9 +15 5x114.3 (Set of 4 Wheels) - Enjuku Racing Parts, LLC

3) CNT CT-4 17x9 +30, white ($500 shipped): 17x9 CNT Ct 4 Wheels 5x100 5x114 White Rims Subaru WRX STI Scion TC Fr S | eBay

4) STR 518 17x9 +22, bronze ($570 shipped): 17x9 STR518 5x100 114 3 22mm Bronze Wheels Fits Mitsubishi Eclipse 1995 2012 | eBay

5) STR 520 17x9 +20, machined ($570 shipped): 17x9 STR520 5x100 114 3 20mm Silver Wheels Fits Honda Civic 2006 2013 Stance | eBay

6) JNC 001 17x9 +25, gold ($600 shipped): 17x9 JNC 001 5x114 3 25 Gold Classics Wheel Fit VW Jetta Golf Passat Beetle | eBay

7) STR 513 17x9 +20, white ($600 shipped): 17x9 White Machine Lip Str 513 Rims 5x100 5x114 3 Honda Toyota Dodge Ford | eBay

8) Varrstoen ES330 17x10 +22, hyper black ($760 shipped): 17x10 Varrstoen ES330 5x114 3 22 Hyper Black Wheels Aggressive Fitment | eBay

9) Varrstoen ES330 17x10 +22, matte black ($760 shipped): 17x10 Varrstoen ES330 5x114 3 22 Matt Black Wheels Aggressive Fitment 5x4 5 Rim | eBay

10) 17x10 STR 606 +20, gunmetal ($600 shipped): 17x10 Gun Metal Str 606 Rims 5x112 5x114 3 Mercedes Audi Toyota Lexus | eBay

11) 17x9 Rota RT5 +25, hyper black (~$750 shipped): 17x9 Rota RT5 - Hyper Black (5x114.3/e25/73) Wheeldude.com - Professional wheel dealer.


I know that offsets are all over the place, but i picked that range because i already have 20mm spacers necessary to make the FDs work. They'll all "fit," with varying amount of work, may or may not require spacer.

I think i can sell the FDs wrapped in the half-dead Star Specs for $400-$500 pretty easily.

So... cast your vote! 1-10

Picture of Swank Force One is below. Custom powdercoated hollow spoke FDs, 20mm spacers, 245/45-16s.