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WTF-323 Astina/323F buildup

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    WTF-323 Astina/323F buildup

    Hi peoples...I'm going to start with a couple of pics of my car as it sits today and my mods list to go with. After this, you'll have to brace yourself for a read of how the car got to this condition.

    If anyone has any comments or questions, please don’t hesitate to post as I’ll do my best to get back to everyone as soon as I can.



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    Complete Mod List
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    -=Plates=-
    - WTF-323 (Black on Silver)

    -=Engine Hardware/Performance=-
    - Mazda GTR (BPD)(1.8L DOHC Turbo - Rally spec)
    - Power output - 326.0hp @ 21psi (243kw)
    - Best ¼ mile: 12.168sec @ 118.57mph

    -=Engine Accessories=-
    - Microtech LT8 Engine Management
    - Wiseco Forged Pistons (40 thou over)
    - Shot peened and Balanced GTR Rods
    - Balanced Crank
    - ACL Race series Bearings
    - Ported, Polished and Reco'd BP05 Head
    - Fidanza Adjustable cam gears (polished)
    - Gates Racing Timing Belt
    - PWR Aero II FMIC
    - 3" Polished piping
    - Polished GTR Intake Manifold
    - HKS Super Sequential Blow Off Valve
    - Magnecor 8mm Ignition Leads
    - Bosch HEC715 Ignition Coil
    - 3" Stainless Mandrel-bent Exhaust System with Hi-flow cat and Cannon style muffler with 4" tip
    - 3" Stainless Dump Pipe off the Turbo
    - Malpassi Rising Rate Fuel Pressure Regualtor with Autometer Fuel Pressure Guage
    - 550cc RX7 Injectors
    - Walbro GSS294 Fuel Pump (270L/h)
    - AVC-R Electronic Boost Controller
    - K&N Filter Pod in Custom Air Box
    - Custom Radiator Tanks
    - Custom Strut Tower Covers
    - Custom Power Steer, Overflow and Washer Bottles
    - Custom Polished Stainless Steel Heat Shelds

    -=Drivetrain Hardware=-
    - 2nd gen G Series FWD out of a KJ laser
    - Double Syncro 2nd gear
    - Cryo-treated gearset
    - Mazdaspeed Protege LSD (strengthend)
    - PAR Straight cut 3rd gear
    - Custom Driveshafts (not stregthend)
    - 4WD Flywheel
    - Jim Berry Custom 5 Puk 235mm Carbonics Clutch Plate
    - Jim Berry Custom 4WD pressure plate (2100lbs clamp)

    -=Bodywork=-
    - Full Respray in factory Newport Blue
    - Electric Sunroof
    - Jap-spec Familia Badging
    - 15% ES Window Tint
    - Chomed Door, Bonnet and Boot Latches
    - Japspec Familia Front Badge
    - Mazdaspeed Aluminium Badges

    -=Brakes and Suspension=-
    - Mazda V6 Front Calipers
    - ABS Conversion (not complete yet)
    - 270mm DBA4000 Rotors Front and 250.5mm DBA Slotted (silvers) Rear with Lucas Pads
    - KYB Struts
    - King Low Springs
    - Whiteline Camber Pins/Bolts Front and Rear
    - Whiteline Strut Brace
    - Whiteline Rear 20mm Swaybar
    - 18" AMG Rims with 215/35 rubber
    - 15" pair with 205/50 Mickey Thompson ET Street Radials for racing.

    -=Interior and Gadgetry=-
    - Aerotech front seats
    - Full retrim with XR8 style cloth inserts
    - Electric windows install
    - Black carpet flooring
    - Black Roof and Pillar Lining
    - Custom Floor Mats
    - Custom shifter boot
    - Customised LCD instrument cluster
    - Autometer Electric Oil Pressure, Air/Fuel Ratio and Water Temp guages
    - Autometer Mechanical Boost Guage
    - Autometer Shift Light
    - HKS Type 1 Turbo Timer

    -=Stereo Components=-
    - Pioneer DEH-P8450MP Headunit
    - 2x10" Audiobahn and 1x12" Audiobahn subs
    - Kicker IX404 and Schneider 9604 Amps
    - Pioneer TS-C1625 220w Splits in front doors
    - Speaker pods
    - JL Audio 5 1/4" 2ways in stock rear position
    - Philips 200w 6x9's
    - Custom Boot Install
    - Use of Laptop PC with 15.4" Widescreen, DVD playback, MP3 and WMA and other video storage ready for playback though the AUX input of the HU.
    BG Astina + GTR convertion + Microtech ECU + FMIC + 3" Exhaust x 21psi boost = 12.168sec to the power of 326whp

    Here's My Worklog and My YouTube Videos

    #2
    Ok, here's where the story begins!

    The Astina first started it’s life as a 1.8L SOHC Automatic typical mum car…that was until one of my mates got his hands on it. Now I’m not going to go into details here, because you can read about it as was published in the November 2003 Issue of Fast Fours where it was brandishing FNZ-00M number plates and titled “Super Sleeper”.


    In-between the photo shoot and article being published Paul blew up the motor and the car spent a lot of time in a garage due to lack of motivation, mainly because of the amount of gearboxes that were broken…so he offered it to me for a stupid amount of money without engine or stereo gear.



    On the 1st of January, 2004, the car officially became mine and I pretty much straight away set out removing what was left of the old engine. Not always orthodox, but got the job done. Pics taken 06-01-04.



    This became my home for a few weeks while I stripped out all the old looming that was setup for a Microtech, and installed a factory GTX harness.



    As Paul was my mate, I knew quite a lot, and had worked quite a lot on this car…so I knew what secrets it had. This was one of them…a diff that had be welded up to stop it from breaking and to benefit the car on the drag strip. This was also quite quick to come out. This was also one of my first experiences of pulling apart a gearbox. Another factory diff was sourced and installed. Pics taken 23-01-04.



    I had sourced a GTX engine to install and swapped the VF10 hybrid setup off my old laser onto it. Pics taken 15-02-08



    Maiden voyage day finally came on the 7th March, 2004, and from what I remember, it didn’t go smoothly at all. :lol: I can’t remember exactly what, but I’m sure I got a s**tload of fuel in my eyes, and it was a combination of a few things that stopped it going much further…lack of fuel in the tank was one of those reasons :oops:



    These pics were taken on the 18th of March showing that I had gotten my headunit out of my laser in, and also the modified dash lighting that I had done while the whole putting engine in process was going on.



    Here are some pics from a successful trip into town. It was around this time that I started to realise a real misfortune I was having with the motor. On one of the first voyages I didn’t have anything connected to the breather on the side of the cam cover…needless to say, I ended up with oil throughout everything on the LHS of the engine bay. Was an absolute mission to clean up. This was caused by massive amounts of blow-by due to worn rings. So one of the first “mods” I had to do was install a oil catch can…this will be pictured later.



    Stereo install! I had retained the “install” from what Paul had made, but I had to put my own spin on it. Hardware is 2x10” and an inverted 12” Audiobarn Subs. The amp also had my attention with LED lighting. Shelf for my speakers was designed by me and made as a foreign order by my mate Ribbo. Fitted first go! It also copped LED lighting.

    BG Astina + GTR convertion + Microtech ECU + FMIC + 3" Exhaust x 21psi boost = 12.168sec to the power of 326whp

    Here's My Worklog and My YouTube Videos

    Comment


      #3
      22 June 2004 and it was time for the tired GTX motor to be replaced. I had sourced and imported a GTR head, block and intake manifold, and for the second time now a motor was coming out in my garage. While it was on the stand, I took the opportunity to clean it up. Having the Intake manifold polished was apart of that.



      One thing I didn’t mention earlier was that I had the opportunity to buy back the Microtech that was originally installed in FNZ00M. Well, with the install of the new motor it was time to move across to Aftermarket management. On good advice and price, I got Dave Flood in Western Sydney to do the tuning and the RX Engineering stickers came off. Just shy of 200hp at the wheels was achieved on 12psi of boost. I wasn’t able to wind it up further as the injectors were just about maxed out. A couple of months later, I got the Astina onto the drag strip (the first of many to come). Had a total of 6 passes that night with a PB of 13.952 @ 107.5MPH which was impressive with the stereo still installed.



      Jamboree Show and Shine – September 2004




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      -=2005=-
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      23 April 2005 was the time that 200hp was no longer enough, and knowing that the setup could have more in it, I gave in and booked it in with Dave Flood to work his magic. Additions up to this point were Walbro fuel pump, RX7 460cc Injectors, VL Turbo coil. Fuel pump and coil were easy installs, but the injectors didn’t quite go to plan. Changing the plugs was no hassle for me, but the caps on the injectors were 1mm bigger than factory…so I had to take the intake manifold off and drill the head 1mm bigger (10.5mm). End result was 218hp @ 16psi.



      25 April 2005 and I had new window tint fitted. I changed it from the black to more reflective stuff. Before and after pics posted.



      Up until now, I have been running on a totally standard G series gearbox. Earlier in the year I had sourced a G5M01 gearbox out of a ’94 model variant. Meaning 28 spline stronger diff from factory. I wasn’t planning on keeping it though, but I had sourced all driveshafts for it to fit…I imported myself a Mazdaspeed Protégé LSD from NZ which also had 28 spline inputs, also got a gearbox cooler and modded the box to suit. To top it off, I ordered a 5 Puk carbonic clutch with 2100lb pressure plate from Jim Berry. The ceramic clutch that Paul originally had installed was just too harsh for my liking.

      BG Astina + GTR convertion + Microtech ECU + FMIC + 3" Exhaust x 21psi boost = 12.168sec to the power of 326whp

      Here's My Worklog and My YouTube Videos

      Comment


        #4
        Once again, I became bored with the power previously set (even though I did win a dyno day) and I imported a GTR Turbo and manifold setup ready to bolt onto the rest of the GTR engine I already had. I had the manifold bead blasted to tidy it up and a stainless steel flange laser cut from the original gasket to make a new 3” dump pipe. Reggie modified my exhaust and made me the new dump pipe to suit. I’ve included a pic of the comparison between my old VF10 and the VF23. Due to running a microtech, it was booked in once again with Dave Flood to see what the new setup could produce. Results on the 4th September 2005 yielded 273Hp @ 19psi.


        There’s a lot more pics and video floating around which I’ll add in at a later time of Jamboree 2005, but here’s me mid burnout from a pro pic (which I bought) and a pic of Team Tocko just about to leave after a hard days racing. The astina managed a PB of 13.039 @ 111.8mph. Despite Ross’s time that bettered me by 0.043 seconds which gave him a 12sec pass and all the glory, this event still goes down as one of the most enjoyable Jamboree’s thus far.



        Me being me and always fiddling, I added new lighting to the stereo install and also gave the tail lights the Japspec mod. Other pics are of my dash again and also the AVCR electronic boost controller. Pics taken 06-12-05.



        I can’t remember the exact course of events here, but in short, at Jamboree and after I was experiencing power loss. The engine simply wasn’t performing as well as it used to at higher boost levels. After comp tests were done, I resigned myself to thinking that the rings were on their way out due to a drop in compression compared to when I first got the engine. My fix for this was to buy another complete GTR setup which I acquired by pure chance. I got a complete GTR engine rebuilt with Arias 20thou over pistons approx 25,000km old, complete GTR loom, GTR ECU and AFM. I also bought a FWD G series gearbox with a PAR 1-3 Straight cut gearset. However on disassembly of this, there were major issues with it, so I retuned it and got my money back. Once again, for the 3rd time in 2 years of owning the Astina, it was taken off the road for a different engine to be fitted. Before fitting though I removed my polished intake manifold off the old engine for swapping, port matched the intake and exhaust manifolds to gasket size as well as the head, prettied up the turbo and heat shields. Pics taken between 27 to 31/12/05

        BG Astina + GTR convertion + Microtech ECU + FMIC + 3" Exhaust x 21psi boost = 12.168sec to the power of 326whp

        Here's My Worklog and My YouTube Videos

        Comment


          #5
          --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          -=2006=-
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          Just continuing on with pics from the swap. Here we have my general freshen up of the head and block in appearance, the assembly and installation. The GTR loom was installed (GTX loom sold off to some dude out west who wanted to put a GTX into a Laser…seriously, who’d do that) and adapted to run with my Microtech setup. Engine installed on 09-01-06.



          14-01-06 brought good and bad news. Good news first…New number plates!! Finally I got number plates that I was happy with a suited the car. For me these plates are the cherry on top of the cupcake. As long as I have the car, it will be WTF-323 and when I sell the car, it will be sold as WTF-323.
          Bad news, I had the new engine setup dyno tuned made only 213hp. This was 60hp less that my previous PB and less than the power I achieved with a VF10 hybrid turbo…talk about gutted. A bit over a week later there was a dyno day at RX Engineering and the guys agreed to put my car up at the completion and have a quick squizzy. Justin managed to get the power up to 232Hp but the power curve was totally different and showed the engine loosing power very early. The car was still good to drive, but simply not as exciting.



          Australia day on a Oz Mazda Club/AstinaGT cruise, my luck with the car hadn’t got any better. The cruise was to the central coast, and then for a drive along the Old Pacific Hwy…my car had made it to just over the Brooklyn Bridge and that’s where 3rd gear let go. With no other way home, I worked up the courage to just drive it back and hope that I didn’t do any further damage. I had a spare G series box at home (the old FNZ00M box), and the diff was swapped into it and the car was going again a couple of days later.



          Lacking power and after breaking a gearbox, I was still keen to get out to the track at every opportunity. On the 1st Feb I attended a Wicked Wednesday meet with a few mates and throughout the night, it was a constant battle to get a clean run out of the car. The first one was the only one where I got a clean run and the engine wasn’t missing. This was the PB time of the night with a 13.349. I was still very impressed considering how much power I was missing. To me this showed the potential of a 12sec pass once I got the power back up to where it should have been.

          Video Here


          In the lead up to April, the ignition problems with missing got worse and were at a point where I had to do something about it. Having another Astina in the carport I was able to switch and swap parts to see what helped or didn’t. Coil, dizzy and plugs…no luck. Swapped the leads over and BAM! The car was a totally different car to drive. Just from leads I reckon I gained over 20hp. I couldn’t believe it…I would have never thought that leads would have this kind of effect on an engine. Just to clarify, I had installed my original leads off the old motor onto the new one. In hindsight, worn rings were probably not an issue with the old motor.
          Now that the engine had been re-energised, I had to get it back on the dyno. It was booked in on the 4th of April where it made 261.4Hp @ 18psi. Whilst on there, Justin had suggested to get rid of the VL coil and replace it with a Bosch unit. This allows more timing input due to a higher dwell time which stabilised the power curve up top. New Magnecor leads were fitted a couple of weeks later.



          Next major upgrade was brakes. I had played around with different callipers (eg, RX7 4 spots, VY Commodore) but neither would be a suitable upgrade due to the practicality of making them fit. Next solution for me then was to get 94-98 model BA Astina V6 brake assemblies. To retain my rims, I had the hubs switched back to 4 stud. To finish off the upgrade I used ’00 MX5 DBA4000 series rotors and Lucas pads. As you can see I gave them a freshen up along with a cam cover to match. Pics taken 06-05-06.



          From here on until May 2007, pics and info are going to be a little sketchy. I had my laptop stolen in March 07 and I hadn’t done a recent backup. The pics that I’m using to jog my memory are from ones I had already uploaded to imageshack. My apologies if I forget anything or can’t provide clearer pics into what was actually done.
          BG Astina + GTR convertion + Microtech ECU + FMIC + 3" Exhaust x 21psi boost = 12.168sec to the power of 326whp

          Here's My Worklog and My YouTube Videos

          Comment


            #6
            In the words of Freddy Mercury…”Another one bites the dust”. 3rd gear again. This time I was able to source a 3rd gear out of a GTR familia gearbox. Simple pull out, strip down, clean out, swap gears, put back together, and put back into car. Pics taken 21-5-06



            With Jamboree 2006 looming, and gearboxes being broken, I thought I better do something about it. I contacted PAR in Sydney who manufactures a straight cut 3rd gear which is a direct bolt on into the G series box. I arranged it as a group buy, so a few members also benefited. I still had the gearbox that I broke 3rd gear in on 26th of January. I totally stripped down the gearset and packaged it up and set it down to PAR to have it all Cryogenically treated. The guys were kind enough to do this for me for no extra charge. Box was reassembled and installed on 2-9-06.



            Here’s my first “real” exterior modification to the car since I got it. I picked up an aftermarket sunroof off Ebay being sold by formaz in Sydney for $50 delivered. It was basically the roof of an Astina that they sent me. I originally bought it for the glass panel so I could swap it over to the SP I also had, but at that time, I didn’t realise it was aftermarket and was never going to work, so instead of going to waste, I installed it into WTF-323. This was a MAJOR decision for me, as it’s not everyday you go and cut a massive hole into the roof of your pride and joy. I tracked a bloke down in the Newcastle area who was willing to do the swap at the cost of $500. End result on the 10-9-06.



            Dyno time! After only having the boost at 18psi the last time it was dyno’d, I knew the engine could handle more. Once again I got Justin to do the tuning for me…basically just a high boost job. End result, 286Hp @ 21.5psi and a new PB! Just perfect for me to head off to Jamboree with.



            Jamboree 2006 – again, what a fantastic event it is. It was me this year that came out as victor of the Team Tocco club with a PB run of 12.75 on the brakes (DYO racing) @ only 96mph. Throughout the weekend the car was floorless with consistent runs of low 13’s and high 12’s. Other PB’s for me were MPH @ 114mph and 60ft at 2.00sec

            BG Astina + GTR convertion + Microtech ECU + FMIC + 3" Exhaust x 21psi boost = 12.168sec to the power of 326whp

            Here's My Worklog and My YouTube Videos

            Comment


              #7
              On Thursday 28-9-06 I was supposed to be heading back to Newcastle, but Ross and Ryan convinced me to stay and run at the Test and Tune night so that I could get the PB that the car was capable of. Well I’m glad I stayed….the whole night the car ran consistent 12’s with the PB of 12.54 @117mph. Other PB’s were again MPH @ 117.24mph and 60ft @ 1.917sec. Over the past 2 week period, not only did the car drive from Newcastle to Gold Coast (over 900km in itself), numerous trips from Goldie to Brissy, and also from Brissy to Willowback and then back to Newcastle, it also did a total of 12 1/4mile passes and not one single breakage or failure! This by far is my greatest achievement.




              Over the Christmas holiday period I of course had something planned to keep me busy. I had purchased a complete SP Astina power window setup off Sean (FPV-18L) which was needing installing. Because the door trims were going to be changed, in the lead up I had sourced the material used to re-trim the car originally so it would all match. But this time to add my own style to it, I had “Mazdaspeed” embroidered on. I also found a pair of door pods which I was happy to install. End result…





              --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
              -=2007=-
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              Up until this point, I was so happy with the car. It hadn’t missed a beat at all. January 11, 2007 at 11am I was on my way to a mates house when it happened…a guy infront of me had locked up due to someone infront of him stopping unexpectedly, and basically left me with no where to go, except to skid into the back of his ute with a tow bar fitted. Not a single scratch on the back of the ute, but my car was left looking like this.



              As you can see from the pics, I did a bit of the teardown myself, but I was in do way going to attempt the repairs myself. The off the top of the head replacements were going to be Bonnet, RHS popup headlight assy, Nose cone, Bumper, Radiator support panel which has to be picked out (de spot welded), Vertical bonnet latch support, Bonnet latch, RHS guard (maybe - might be able to be straightened), All the above has to be resprayed, then...new intercooler 550x250, new transmission cooler and new radiator. I had a particular smash repairer in mind that I wanted to take the car too, and because of that I had to wait until the last week in February until I could drop it off to get repairs started. Now I’m not going to mention any names throughout this due to things being MY OWN opinion, and keeping things nameless can’t get me into any trouble.

              With me supplying the majority of parts, the quote I got to repair was $3500. Not only was this to “fix” the accident damage, but it was to paint a lot of exterior parts like roof (due to a big scratch), doors (chips and colour code of plastics) and rear bumper (also to colour code). Due to the amount of painting involved, it got me thinking “why not change the colour?”. As good as the Astina looked in grey, it was always very dull for me and hard to get a good picture out of. I also wanted a colour that would stand out more on the track…so after a painstaking process of trying to decide on colours, I committed to have it resprayed. I had chosen a colour that would stand out on the car, but still retain a factory look. Unfortunately the majority of pics to follow were all taken with my mobile phone, as I kept forgetting to bring the camera. Included in the pics are the new PWR 600x300 intercooler and the bumper I had sourced, modified like the old one and so the cooler would fit.


              BG Astina + GTR convertion + Microtech ECU + FMIC + 3" Exhaust x 21psi boost = 12.168sec to the power of 326whp

              Here's My Worklog and My YouTube Videos

              Comment


                #8
                The process of pics above took these guys over 10 weeks to do the job…something I wouldn’t have been too worried about, but I wanted the car back 2 weeks earlier due to an event I wanted to attend. I had told the smashies that I wanted it back by a cut off date 6 weeks prior…not only did I get it back after 10 weeks, I wasn’t impressed with the amounts of parts that had been lost or damaged either. None the less, I had the car back *yay finally* and they had agreed that once I had the intercooler fitted I could bring it back to them and they would fix the **** ups for no extra charge.

                No sooner did I get it back 2 days later the car was going no more. I was on my way to my mate’s workshop to fit the intercooler and thought, it’s been two days of very easy running so I’ll bring it up onto boost (I didn’t like the idea of getting stuck into an engine after it hadn’t been running for 3 months as well as not having an intercooler fitted). I got to about 3psi when I backed off, and when I did the revs didn’t drop when I pushed the clutch in. I quickly stabbed the throttle again, and then all was ok. Hmmm, weird. I drove for about 300m when the engine started running on 3 cylinders (I had experienced this before simply due to fouled plugs and thought nothing of it because I did have a vac leak the night before and it was running really rich) but only intermittently. After about 1km, not only was the 4th cyl not coming back in, but I noticed a knocking sound from the motor. This is where I shut down and called for help and got towed to the workshop (wasn’t far). The first thing I did was a comp test to see if that could give me any indication as to what was going on and it tested fine. Upon cleaning up the sparkies to put back in, I noticed that one had the end bent over and was touching the electrode. There’s only one way this could have happed and that was impact. A spun bearing was the first thing that came to mind, but on further inspections (I had a spare head at home) I realised this wasn’t a possibility as the piston would impact the head before hitting a plug.



                The next day the head was removed and that’s where what had happed to the spark plug became plainly obvious. There were smashed up pieces of metal sitting on top of number 2 piston, and the first thing I did was put a magnet to it and it stuck. The metal was more than likely steel and completely foreign to my motor as nothing on my intake path is steel…it’s either Stainless or alloy, either of which isn’t magnetic. In my opinion there’s only way that steel could have gotten in there, and it’s from where the car was two days earlier. Not saying it was intentional, but I do think accidents happen. No.2 piston was badly damaged on the top, and was later to be revealed that the top compression ring was stuck due to compressing down of the top of the piston. The underside of the head was also damaged with burrs on the edge of the combustion area, bore had been scored and there were impact marks on the turbine impeller from some of the pieces exiting. So there you have it, Astina off the road once again to have the engine completely rebuilt.



                There was one other process that went on whilst the engine was out that I’ll mention now…I decided that I would turn from the mechanic to spray painter. Engine bay was totally stripped down, prepped and painted. I did all this myself and am wrapped with the results I got.

                BG Astina + GTR convertion + Microtech ECU + FMIC + 3" Exhaust x 21psi boost = 12.168sec to the power of 326whp

                Here's My Worklog and My YouTube Videos

                Comment


                  #9
                  Here’s a quick and nasty of the rebuild and what parts were fitted:-
                  -Wiseco 40thou over pistons
                  -BP05 (non turbo) head which I port matched to gasket size
                  -ACL Race bearings on the mains and big ends
                  -Fidanza adjustable cam gears which I polished
                  -Exintake cam mod the Yanks do
                  -Redrilled a new hole in the wastegate flap arm to provide a longer pivot throw to try and stop over boosting which the Brits do
                  -Gates Racing timing belt
                  -ACL VRS kit
                  -Freshly painted cam cover (in two pack) paint matched to the familia badge (waited ages for this also from the smashies)

                  The following work was performed by Robertson Bros at Mayfield. These guys get my full recommendation for anything to do with engine rebuilding.
                  -Head was ported, polished and reco’d
                  -Block bored out to 40thou and specifically matched to pistons
                  -Rods shot peened and balanced along with pistons
                  -Crank linished and balanced with flywheel, clutch and harmonic balancer

                  The gearbox also had attention with me getting a GTX 4wd primary shaft and fitting a double syncro 2nd gear. 4th and 5th gear were also changed again to a taller ratio (cheers Ross). Due to all the changing of parts, I did my own cryotreating this time just to ensure that everything was going to be as strong as it could be.

                  All the disassembly and reassembly was done by me with the occasional help from my mate Reggie. It’s Reggie’s workshop where the car stayed and I used for the rebuild process. If you ever need stainless steel welding or anything to do with piping (intercooler kits, exhausts, manifolds etc etc), Reggie is the man.

                  For the record the engine started and ran first go. Installation of engine and vehicle driving on the 22 July 2007.









                  I managed to get some 550cc RX7 injectors just before the car went on the dyno in preparation for the power I was hoping to make….it turned out they weren’t needed. I had noticed that the engine was down on vacuum on idle and also down on torque, but what I didn’t expect was to put out just over 200hp @ 18psi. The power curve resembled something that an N/A engine would produce. It was a joint decision that it was most likely the cam mod that was causing drama’s. My regret is that there was no attempt made to adjust the timing on them, I simply went back to a known “good” setup which was with factory cams. Once changed, I regained my 21inHG of vac on idle and also the torque I was missing. A couple of weeks later, Justin had his 2nd go at seeing what we could get out of the rebuilt setup, but even this time it wasn’t without troubles. Result was 280.2hp @ 18psi but that was all the boost I could get out of it. Justin was of the opinion that the turbo was on the way out and that was the reason why it wouldn’t produce over 18psi. Once again, it was disappointment with the car. The 2nd dyno sheet I have posted is a comparison of my previous PB and the current power. There’s only 6hp difference, yes, but when you look at the boost curve, it comes on much slower and this is what takes the “sting” out of the driving enjoyment. The only positive thing this dyno had done for me was to show me that the engine did have potential to make the power I wanted it to if I could get the boost back to the 22psi mark of the previous PB.



                  Finally the car was ready to be unveiled…these pics represented WTF-323 was back! Pics taken 4th August.

                  BG Astina + GTR convertion + Microtech ECU + FMIC + 3" Exhaust x 21psi boost = 12.168sec to the power of 326whp

                  Here's My Worklog and My YouTube Videos

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I’m going to show you another one of the issues that raised its head with the process of having the car resprayed. Because the outside was looking pretty spick and span, it was time to give the interior a decent overhaul due to the condition it was in from it being at the smash repairers. Keep in mind here the amount of time that had passed since it had been getting undercoated and resprayed. Pics taken on 26th August. What you’re seeing is the car STILL flooded with water. In total it took 3 days in the sun for the rear seat to dry out and over 2 weeks for under the carpet to dry. Basically, if I had the choice over again, I would have never gone ahead with the respray…the end result worth respraying, but all the **** that I’ve had to put up with to get it to this point simply wasn’t. This is another prime example of why I’ll never be going back to this smash repairer. However, they did fix all the issues I wasn’t happy with and replaced extra parts that should have been replaced originally for no extra charge.



                    Here’s a showcase video that was put together. All footage care of Miss Mia (my girl) and I did the editing. Footage taken on 9th September.



                    Due to my new found love of 2 pack clear coat, I gave the poor acrylic attempt another going over…this time with the desired result. Pics taken 16th September.




                    3rd of October marked the install of a Digital LCD cluster to suit the Astina. A big thanks once again to Ross for bringing this back for me. This is also another prime example of me being me and the fact that the screws didn’t remain in it for long. My famous blue LED’s were fitted to the night section of the lighting.




                    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    -=2008=-
                    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


                    Not much happened at the end of last year, mainly due the purchase of our MY07 Surbaru Liberty, a total lack of motivation toward the Astina (was no longer enjoying driving it for a number of reasons) and funding being a lot tighter. However 2008 seemed to be kicking off pretty good…unfortunately not for one of my mates (Luke) though. His GTR familia was taken off the road due to an accident. For me, this allowed me to borrow his turbo and see if I could prove whether mine was faulty or not, or whether I had to send mine away to be rebuilt.

                    Results – I swapped just Luke’s core and compressor onto my setup and it seemed to be a little bit more responsive, but even with wastegate pressure disconnected, it still wasn’t producing over 18psi. This was kinda news I wanted because it ment that if I could find what was causing it, mine would make over 18psi.

                    After picking a few brains and asking a few questions I got some wire and tied the wastegate shut. Here we have a before I tied it shut and an after it was tied shut with a 21psi boost cut of the boost curves (mapped by my AVCR boost controller).


                    As you can see the boost went up quicker than a honeymooner’s dick!! Now I was onto something. Once the turbo was off again, I could have a bit more of a fiddle and the actuator was in my sights. I swapped the pivot point back to the factory location and it was noticeably harder to open by hand…meaning it’d be harder to be pushed open by exhaust gasses. I put a washer on the mounting point just to be safe and increase the pre-tension just slightly. Result is a nice kick in the pants to 10psi and same as usual, the boost would creep up to 16psi @ 7000rpm. I lived with it for this long, so I will continue to…I hardly run under 16psi anyway.




                    With new found inspiration appearing, I get in the mood to take pics…so Mia and I once again set out to find suitable locations to showcase the Astina. Pics taken 24 February.




                    The opportunity to go to Bathurst again with fl.com had once again arisen, but this time as a memorial for Craig (maz80y), buy many of the mates I had formed were also going to be there and many of them hadn’t seen the Astina wearing its new clothes in the flesh. With the amount of fun we had last time in the Liberty, I wanted the Astina to go this time, and I wanted it to be going well…this meant tune time! I made my instructions pretty clear this time, I wanted a new PB and I wanted to push the turbo as far as it would go to get it. I also wanted the whole tune cleaned up so there power delivery was smooth and no missing. End result was Justin had it on the dyno for over 4 hours and it came off excellent. Far exceeded my expectations…some say I could have pushed the boost harder, but the amount of power that was made is bordering on unsafe for the rods. I’m happy and the car is once again fun and good to drive. Dyno'd 26th March 2008.

                    Result.
                    BG Astina + GTR convertion + Microtech ECU + FMIC + 3" Exhaust x 21psi boost = 12.168sec to the power of 326whp

                    Here's My Worklog and My YouTube Videos

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                      #11
                      Pics from the day at Bathurst.





                      With the car now running so well, and the Sport Compact event, Compak Attak looming in May, I was starting to think whether or not I should compete. If I was going to, I'd need some wheels and tires, so it was the perfect motivation for me to pull my finger out and paint the left over pair of wheels that weren't stolen. Last year i had these sand blasted and etched primed, so the continuation on of that was to rub back, undercoat, paint and then clear. Results came out fantastic for a backyard job. To complement the rims I purchased some Mickey Thompson ET Street Drag Radials. Pics taken 11/5/08.




                      Compak Attak 18/5/08. What can I say about this event but expect the unexpected...the car was floorless all day. A few little issues on the first run, keeping in mind, this is the first time I have raced the car since September 2006 and I had a couple of boost setup issues, but other than that, all was great. In my normal tradition, i drove to the event and also managed to drive home after a total of 6 passes. To my amazement, PB's were set all round, the first of which coming on my 3rd run with a pass of 12.37secs which put me as 2nd fastest qualifier in Street FWD. My overall PB however was set on my last run of the night as a free run (grudge), passing in a time of 12.136sec @ 118.57mph with a 1.829sec 60 footer.






                      Thats pretty much how we do it here in Aus...so there you have it as I know it. I will be adding more pics and vids as I find and upload them. I hope i didn't bore you too much, but I wanted to try and make it as comprehensive and exact as I could.

                      As I said earlier, all comments welcome.
                      Last edited by ROB-80E; 09-20-2008, 08:01 AM.
                      BG Astina + GTR convertion + Microtech ECU + FMIC + 3" Exhaust x 21psi boost = 12.168sec to the power of 326whp

                      Here's My Worklog and My YouTube Videos

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Sorry about all the posts too, Guys...this forum coding wouldnt let me link more than 25 images in one post. So yeah, alot of pics means alot of posts, and also made the process of posting this up rather tedious. But oh well...done now!
                        BG Astina + GTR convertion + Microtech ECU + FMIC + 3" Exhaust x 21psi boost = 12.168sec to the power of 326whp

                        Here's My Worklog and My YouTube Videos

                        Comment


                          #13
                          How well does the heat shield hold up being held in by just the VC bolts?

                          I was thinking of doing something similar but didn't want another rattly piece of metal in the engine bay.
                          Beater=/= Sleeper

                          Originally posted by kozzman555
                          kitty, you are a hilarious woman
                          Originally posted by HopelessCow
                          there is one thing i dunno what is that call,a thing look like a gun, u press the button and stick to the metal and it makes firework, do i need that thing?and what s the philip head screw drivers?
                          Using Linux for anything serious besides server or software dev is like using a tin can and a string for telecommunications.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Nice Work....
                            sigpic
                            R.I.P 93 Mazda 1.8 Turbo
                            now BP26(GTX) on a 91mazda323 381whp @18psi with microtech lt8..
                            91 mazda 323 v6 klde

                            Comment


                              #15
                              wow. beautiful car.

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