2015 Build Thread

Wow it's been awhile since the last update. Not that I haven't been working on it, just haven't taken many pictures and posted anything.
Got the intake manifold planed and reassembled with new gaskets. Installed all sensors and catch can port.





Cleaned and rebuilt the starter:





Clutch and lightweight flywheel cleaned up and ready for installation:



This goddamn AWR oil pan... Not known for amazing quality (it would sweat through some of the welds) but unfortunately it's the only deep sump oil pan available for the Mazda FS engine. So, I had Beyond member legendboy touch up some of the seams for me with his TIG, and weld in a couple of bungs for my turbo oil return and oil temperature sensor. Once that was completed, I had the flange planed flat (welding will often cause warping, this is unavoidable) and installed the pan with Permatex Right Stuff silver.







 
With the engine now off the stand, the flywheel could be torqued down and the clutch installed.







One last look inside the bellhousing before the transmission is installed.



Transmission now installed and torqued down.





Engine leveler installed and hoisted up ready to go back into the car. Towels to protect nicely painted valve cover.

 
Finally, after close to three years, the engine finds its way back into the car!







Snazzy rebuilt axles were installed next.







After that, I got onto a bit of a roll bolting s*** up and didn't really stop to take many pictures. Not much to mention as most of the work I did was underneath the vehicle anyway.
 
For those not familiar with my oil system, the oil pump has been internally coated to decrease tolerances and ensure maximum pressure is delivered. The internal regulator has been removed, and I am running an external Peterson unit which allows me to run my oil pressure at whatever I choose. With this setup, I've seen 40psi at idle, while still nothing over 100psi at full RPM. Anything higher you risk blowing seals and oil filters.

I used to have the regulator mounted to the firewall, and the oil filter back behind the strut tower. With the power steering and AC deleted, I now have much more room up front so I decided to relocate those things for ease of access.

Deciding to mount the regulator now to the front of the strut tower, I needed to fabricate a bracket out of some aluminum plate.

The plate was cut to size, trimmed, and corners rounded.





After bending the two 90* angles and drilling the mounting holes, I could test fit the new bracket.





With the bracket finished, it was bead blasted and painted for a stealth look.



For the filter block (which also features a pressure gauge for easy underhood adjustment and my turbo gets its clean oil directly from here.) I decided to mount it on the forward frame rail to allow easy access for my frequent oil changes.

Again, I fabbed up a bracket from some aluminum in the fame fashion as before, and drilled and tapped the frame rail and filter block for some sturdy M8x1.25mm bolts.



The finished product:





Both components shown. Will need to measure out some new lines, but I have all the required hose end fittings that I'll need.

 
Holy crap. Amazing attention to detail. Circuit, I'm sorry honey but you've been beat for thoroughness lol.
 
Holy crap. Amazing attention to detail. Circuit, I'm sorry honey but you've been beat for thoroughness lol.


Thanks so much! I admire Circuits build as well, that's the great thing about these cars is that they're so unique these days, it's great to have as many quality builds as we can get.
 
Sorry it's been awhile since the last update. Had a bad snowboarding accident and ended up breaking my hip and my back.

Ended up buying the requisite fittings, and building lines to finish up the oil system. The oil comes out of the block, into the regulator, the excess pressure is then dumped back into the sump. The regulated oil continues into the remote filter, and from there back up into the block. The turbo pulls clean oil directly from the filter assembly.

I made sure to use proper line brackets and spacers for a truly "factory" look. Notice also the red accents on the lines. Subtle but sweet.







I had to use the alternator belt tensioning bolt to mount a line bracket, and I ended up breaking it. Mazda wanted $13 for a new one, I decided to make my own and cut threads all the way up a grade 8 metric bolt. Yay.



That's all for now. Once my back heals up a bit I'll make some headway.
 
Sorry it's been awhile since the last update. Had a bad snowboarding accident and ended up breaking my hip and my back.

Oh my god. That does not sound fun at all. What happened if you dont mind me asking. I'm an avid snowboarder and this type of thing always scares me.
 
Oh my god. That does not sound fun at all. What happened if you dont mind me asking. I'm an avid snowboarder and this type of thing always scares me.

Too much speed off a booter. Cleared the transition and landed on my back. On the flat.
 
Oh boy, haha. I've done that before, not to that extent, but it was an icy hardpack day, and i bruised my tailbone pretty good.
 
Nice to see you're still working on the Mazda! Keep it up. Just bought another car and came here to reminisce. Great Forum!
 
With the oil system completed, I could get to work on bolting up some of the rest of the engine parts. A nice little wire bracket will keep all the wires behind the engine free from chafing, and make it look proper.



For the intake manifold, I decided to clean it up a little more than I had. I stripped the paint, and ground off a lot of the extra material that was in the way. Once you've taken away the texture of the factory "cast" finish, it'll never look right again. I decided to give it a very light speckling with some dupli-color trunk paint, and finish it with high temp engine enamel. The end result is a manifold that has that factory texture back.









With the paint dry, the rest of the manifold accessories could be bolted on. After a new gasket was fitted, the manifold was torqued to the head.



 
With the manifold fitted, I could attach the fittings for the boost gauge, and bracket some of the wires so they look neat.





The polished caps on the catch cans didn't really fit the look of the engine bay anymore, so I decided to brush them. Before (left) and after. With the catch can connected to the AN fitting on the manifold, I could get the hoses looking nice.







I turned my attention to the wastegate. Cleaned, polished, and with the 15psi spring. I use the Haltech boost controller for anything higher.





 
More misc. wire brackets used to keep everything tidy, and the intake side (non check valve) catch can mounted.







Sumbitch... Exhaust studs always snap off on me. Next project is to remove these bastards, and rebuild the turbo. Nothing especially wrong with the turbo, but with the amount of power I'm demanding from this thing, a rebuild wouldn't hurt. It's been sitting in the basement for close to three years.



Stay tuned for more!
 

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