Went for my first drive in a long time...
 

First, the tech lessons learned:

-I found that teflon paste is useless shit, especially for oil fittings. High pressure oil pushes the goop out of the threads and then they bleed oil. I thought it was my technique that was off, but I was wrong. After 3 failed tries to fix the leak with teflon paste, I fixed it by using Permatex Ultra Grey gasket maker for thread sealant. It works GREAT. You just coat the threads with it, screw them in, let it sit and BOOM no leaks at all. Dry as a whistle. It does dry pretty quick though (5-10 minutes probably), so you can't screw around with it.

Actually ultra grey is great for everything, I highly recommend it. It's sort of like a soft version of JB Weld for when you don't need unbreakable permanence or high tensile strength. I used it to assemble the lighting module on my Westach, seal my water pump housing and now to seal the oil hose fitting threads. It's flexible, sticky, heat/corrosion resistant and strong.

-the new motor mounts kick ass. Fuck those ebay braces, mazda competition mounts are the shit. It makes the whole car vibrate a little, but it's not that bad. The upside is HUGE. Shifting is like stock again and the engine doesn't flail around under the hood. This is the answer to the 2-3 shift retardedness everyone complains about.

-SPAL fans are a nice step up. Much thinner, lots of airflow. The whole coolant mod thing in general worked out nicely. Coolant is a constant 190F at the radiator outlet, oil is a constant 195-200F at the oil filter.

The adventure:
Did a 4 gear pull on the street in front of my neighborhood, got pulled over for reckless driving and holy shit fast in a 35. Got a warning, though. Fuck yeah.

Oh yeah and the whole oxygen sensor thing is behind me now. Everything is working great.

Heh, don't have much to add but thanks for the tips you lucky bastard :D

Why do you need any goop in the first place, is there a problem with your fittings? That said, I'm a big fan of UltraGrey, especially the Permatex Right Stuff in the pressurized can. So much better than squeezing a tube.

C

Good tips. I don't feel any extra vibes at all with the MazdaComp mounts, maybe mine are worn. I had MMRs in for a couple weeks.. talk about extra vibration!!!!!!11!!!!one!!

good stuff....how fast is holy shit fast?:)

I'm going to have to come by to see it. I just got my car running and it's up in Tallahassee now.

About 100 or so on a semi-deserted stretch that passes under the freeway between two residential areas. I had pretty much slowed back down before I realized that anyone was chasing me.

Cop said he had to go up to like 86 or 87 mph to catch up to me. He lectured me about how a kid could have run out but realistically this is impossible. Everything is set back like 50-75 yards from the road. Even a car wouldn't have been able to surprise me pulling out. That being said, I felt that arguing with a cop who was giving me a warning instead of a ticket would have been REALLY stupid.

I'm still figuring out the boost control. I'm getting stupid compressor surge issues. Basically I get a big spike of boost around 4000 rpm because the wastegate is always fully closed at that point (compressor isn't making lots of boost) and then suddenly the compressor hits its stride and seeing the closed wastegate, it just cuts loose.

The solution I've done in the past is to set the WG RPM setting so that it hits exactly 100-200 rpm before the compressor wakes up- the WG solenoid goes to normal duty cycle, the flapper opens a bit in anticipation and the car settles into a stable 18 psi of boost to redline.

I'll probably have it figured out sometime this week if the rain will stay away.

You on a stock motor? Lucky bastard, I've never gotten a warning.... Hope you learned from it though.

No, pauter/wiseco bottom end with a 99 top end. 20 psi on a stock bottom end is probably suicide.

I've gotten 3 warnings so far. Cops here are pretty cool. I think they secretly are relieved that I'm not a snotty college kid or a thug (the two main demographics of Tallahassee).

Hey hey hey. I think thats why TPD hates me. I got a warning for my exhaust. I'm sure they would have no problem beating me up and taking me into jail for speeding considering some of the stories I've heard.


I'm sure 20 psi on that turbo is absurd. Are you on stock compression?