Jess's 91 BRG LS6 Build Thread

damn this is an awesome build! planing on picking up a miata with my tax return soon. i will probably be referring to this build thread and pming you alot lol. Keep it up! cant wait to see this thing alive!
haha ok, I'm open to answering questions

A few updates, I'm sure I'm forgetting something but everything but the motor has fluid in it now. I've been working with my dad on fabbing the intake up. It's an aftermarket Vette air bridge that is 4" on the TB side and 3.5" on the other, which works perfect because I can use the 3.5" aluminum J bend I picked up on the Summit Racing clearance rack years ago :D

I worked on it a little over break...

A few dash updates (Nikon)...trying to get all the radiuses to match. Still needs some more finishing touches to be ready, but the general shape is there.

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I took the rear bumper off in preparation of fitting the diffuser. I had a b**** of a time trying to get all the holes in the diffuser pieces to line up to get the rivets through. I even did it how they recommended, using bolts/nuts at the ends and in the middle. It literally took me and another person an hour and a half to get just the middle section together.

Here are all the tools I used to put the diffuser together lol...

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This is going to have to wait till spring time when I can get the car on a lift and be parallel to the ground for fitment. I can't get it high enough right now.

So since I can't work on the back of the car... I've moved to the front.

Front crash bars tacked on the new plates. Didn't realize the frame rails aren't parallel. The top is narrower than the bottom...

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The front crash bar assembly will be bolted on, with 4 big (3/8") bolts on each side, with nuts behind inside the frame rails.

They are all welded up now, next is welding angle barstock to the rad support where it was cut to help reinforce it but still allow the Vette intake bridge to fit (tonight).

And here is the intake in it's final place. I will be making a bracket or two to help support it.

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Bumper off:

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The "list":

-Get dash made in carbon, install gauges
-Install hood lift kit
-Install hub/Nardi (waiting till end)
-Install valve covers (waiting)
-Install Carbing dead pedal (waiting)
-Figure out headlights (probably going to go LED and stick my Morimotos in the foglight holes)
-Figure out how to pull the header collectors up (they are too low!)
-Figure out a skidplate
-Figure out exhaust configuration
-Figure out rad hoses (halfway there)
-Cut bumper/mount diffuser
-Buy MAP sensor (lost mine somehow)
-Buy O2 sensor extensions
-Buy tires (thought I would be slick and get 275s for the 10s and then cheap[er] tires and wheels for the street but I'm not about to pay $1k+ for 275s!)
-Once car is running, go to the dyno and get a tune (ECU was reflashed so I could get it going)
-Rollcage
-Eventually upgrade pads. For now I'm running stock Sport rears and Porterfield R4S in the front (came with the calipers)
-WIRING

Body parts: Different duckbill trunk, Project-G side skirts w/corner flares
 
Spent over an hour last night trying to get ONE header off. I've decided the collectors are sitting too low. I'm going to grind the weld at the top of the collector and pull the 2.5" tube at the bottom out, cut about an inch off of it, and reweld it (possibly at a better angle also).

Wee!
 
Updates.

Working on this car is totally hit or miss. Some weeks I get a lot done and other weeks I don't touch it. I haven't touched it since the last post update but I downloaded some pics I took from then...

Crash bar from underneath:
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Core support reinforcement from underneath (yeah, it's confusing to look at from down there):
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The red lines are where the frame rails are. This will not do :/

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A few pics of the headers apart and what the inside looks like in case anyone wondered.

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Gutted one door, woo

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Cut the bumper and temporarily mounted the diffuser to try and figure out what I'm going to do. There IS a method to the madness, I swear.

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Updates...

The diffuser is mounted using spare aluminum bent into a "u" for strength on the rear (tack welded nuts on backside of chassis), the sides will be mounted using clips+bolts through the fender pieces. I have no idea what those are called but they are part of the tub behind the tire.
The forward mounting points of the diffuser go to the subframe tabs. The diffuser piece is slotted and slides through the bolt+nut going through the tab. At least this way if I do manage to snag it, it SHOULD slide out and just bend the rear tabs a bit. A skid plate will be mounted using those tabs, under the splitter also... somehow. The diff fins stick down a good amount :/

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The sides go as far forward as I felt comfortable (past the tire but not too close to the LCA):
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(don't mind it hanging down a little below the bumper, it isn't mounted to the inner fender piece here)
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The diffuser started out as a Warhorse piece and I just added the ends with the help of Jes from Warhorse :)

Exhaust! Full 2.5" with x pipe. Made quite a few trips to Summit Racing and this is what I have so far (flex pipes and o2 bungs to go in this weekend, along with making tips).

Never said the welds were great so... yeah. New Tig welder.

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It's a shame that you won't be able to see the 'mufflers' from the rear because of the diffuser.

In other news I received my COT wing and FM mounts (not pictured):

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I'm not sure why I haven't subbed to this thread yet. I'm envious of your metal-working skills. Want to help me figure out a good ducted-radiator setup for my RX-7? :)
 
I'm not sure why I haven't subbed to this thread yet. I'm envious of your metal-working skills. Want to help me figure out a good ducted-radiator setup for my RX-7? :)

+1. the diffuser and exhaust set up are jaw dropping...
 
with such a nice diffuser i can't wait to see how you set up the cot wing.
 
As far as the diffuser goes, the middle part is a production piece. I designed the ends and sent the CAD file to the same company to have them cut and bent. I don't have a brake large enough or heavy duty enough for 1/16" material lol!

The radiator is sealed off as well (bracket design + weatherstripping) but I don't think I have any pics of that.

:)
 
Are you going to floor off the entire bottom of the car as well? What are you doing for a splitter in the front of the car?
 
Are you going to floor off the entire bottom of the car as well? What are you doing for a splitter in the front of the car?
That is the plan. I originally tried tucking everything up above the frame rails, even altered the tranny crossmember attachment point so nothing was hanging down..... Then I put the 2.5" pipe in the hole on the crossmember and realized it was all for nothing, the pipe is lower than the frame rails. :mad:

I will make a oil pan skid plate and a diff skid plate and then attach material in between. As for the splitter I planned on using birch plywood but picked up the NASCAR splitter (huge thing in pic with COT wing) for cheap so I will try and adapt it.
 
If anything is doubled in here from previous pages, I apologize. I'm doing a mass update of build threads on separate forums that are all at different stages of the build :lol:


UPDATES

I bought universal steering rack boots, somehow both of mine were torn. The dealer wanted $60/side and I'm not about to pay that! I haven't had a chance to put them on because.........

The wiring is almost done!

A few people helped out and eventually what happened was:

-Speartech engine harness
-Painless (T-Bucket) chassis harness
-Kept OEM rear end light wiring (tucked--running through the rocker)

Most of it is wired up in the car, all of the front end light wiring is routed but not attached. I still have one bug to work out with the running lights... I have no idea why but they only turn on when the headlights are on (ie: the "running light" setting doesn't work). I'm wondering if it has to do with how the Mazda combo switch is wired compared to the Painless relay/fuse block set up. I gave up on flash-to-pass (I don't think I have ever used it). I managed to get a spare set of o2 harness extenders that I chopped and wired up the o2s finally!

What I'm waiting on:
-Turn signal lights to arrive (tomorrow)
-I need to figure out what size LED running light I can fit in the headlight opening
-How to seal the Morimoto H1 projectors for use in the foglight holes (home depot special)

I cranked it over real quick yesterday (no fuel and coils unplugged) just to make sure all the wiring was correct, and it is. I plan to add gas, flush the fuel lines, fill it with coolant, and then it should be good to go as far as starting it. I put oil in it a few months ago.

For a car running the bare minimum, there are still a lot of wires. XD It will get all tucked up, I was just working with routing stuff last night and this was how it was left. I can't even give you a number of times I had to cut a zip tie, undo electrical tape, or reroute wires, so I stopped making it pretty until it was DONE. :fp:

Everything under the hood got the heat shrink/adhesive filled butt connectors, the ones under the dash are normal butt connectors. I looked into the aviation grade solder-filled connectors but.... the normal kind are more readily available and I don't expect this car to see too severe weather conditions so I don't think there will be a problem.



I temporarily mounted the gauge cluster as well. I reused a Mazda connector on the gauges so I can unplug them easily.








A few little things here and there, too.... found a lower radiator hose that works (had to splice in a tube in between two pieces after searching through 3 parts stores inventory to no avail), the top one is a clusterf*ck due to how close the rad is combined with how much room I have next to the Mezeire water pump. I'll try and get pics later but it isn't the prettiest thing :(

Put some heatshielding (Spliced tube--DEI I think) on the fuel lines running near the exhaust as well.

Oh, and the exhaust is done. Still trying to find someone with a booth big enough to allow it to be ceramic coated. :/ I may end up trying some heat shield mat with better adhesive than the real thin gold and silver foils. Neither of those wanted to stick to my heat shield paint in the tranny tunnel, AT ALL.

The tips didn't quite turn out how I wanted, but I can only do so much because the mufflers have only so much area to exist in, so when they are angled like they are I ended up with a tear drop-shaped tip instead of an oval. It's hard to explain but I tried everything, and it took days lol.

This was before I cleaned the hole in the diffuser up and painted the whole diffuser:



Tires and wheels mounted:





Picked up a seat:

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Sneak peak at what's to come:



In other news, I picked up a new DD and only modded it a little bit. Just K&N/Borla catback/BBF GT3 4 point bar.

 
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