Mazda MX-6 Forum banner

Freds FE3 into the ute swap DONT POST HERE.

82K views 187 replies 7 participants last post by  fredio54 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello all,

it has been a long time coming, but at last, the progress is happening thick and fast. I'll be chucking my story and some supporting pics in here to keep you entertained. Hopefully this will inspire some of you to post up your projects and stop this forum from being completely dead.

To keep this thread contiguous and tidy, please DO NOT POST HERE. I have asked the mods to delete posts in this thread for that reason. Save them the work please.

If you are reading this, you may as well let this page load and read through it, but for the subsequent pages, unless you havent seen it before and have dsl, i recommend searching for what you want to see in this thread :

http://www.mx6.com/forums/fe-dohc/1...ndex-thread-please-dont-post.html#post1918523

That thread contains every post directly linked and indexed so you can search for anything you are interested in without opening extremely large slow to download pages of this thread. It also contains a full listing of everything of interest to an fe3 owner/modifier. It should be your first port of call anytime you need to know anything.

here is the comments thread :

http://www.mx6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=182352

enjoy!

Fred.
 
See less See more
#127 · (Edited)
i edited the first page today such that you dont have to click the links to the pics, they appear as per the rest of this thread.

a todo list to help me remember what i need to sort out before i turn the key when i get back :

check ms for corrosion
check oil level
check fuel hose for softness
check fuel for cloudiness/water
check tank for emptiness
check battery area for corrosion
charge and desulphate battery
crc cylinders and crank without plugs and fuses

afterstarting and warming up
change coolant
add flush for oil and change for a new batch of mineral
with new filter

before driving fast :
route wastegate to pre throttle
driver seatbelt
spring on throttle
check valve on brake booster
knock sense setup
recalibrate wideband
upgrade to release code and retune with wideband

will edit with more stuff as i think of it.

fred.
 
#128 · (Edited)
i wrote a list of parts that i need to pick up this morning. it sort of merged into things to do also, so there is some overlap with the earlier list.

i'm putting it here so i dont lose it...

FRONT END :
carbon, kevlar, glass
resin which sort
core balsa/nomex/foam
steel tube
steel plate
ally for mounts etc
intercooler plumbing tube
extra silicone ?
silicone or change from Al driven
lexan/equiv rear and side windows
glass/carbon door shells
glass/carbon bonnet
glass/carbon guards
glass/carbon bumper
steel for T bars to protect it/me
remove steel strips from back of cab
dent from roof
find some light sound deadening that works.

BRAKES :
big rotors 300x30 maybe more for front, 250x20 at rear (alloy hats for weight? carbon ceramic too expensive?) (steel on rear for more weight?)
big calipers (alloy bodies for weight?)
bigger master cylinder (to feed big calipers? probably dont need this)
steel for brackets
5 stud front hubs (bongo friendy or late normal bongo?)
5 stud rear axles (bongo friendy or custom?)
mintex m1166 pads made up to suit. or other off the shelf pads like ultimates if the rotors are big enough.

DRIVETRAIN :
spare R ute box to swap bits into.
gearset from either rx7 or 929 for better ratios throughout
taller diff (possibly long nose if i can find one with a good ratio)
if long nose, shorten driveshaft
diff modified to be tight same as before.
rx4 diffs were 3.6 apparently! try to source new r&p for them.

ENGINE :
bigger injectors : min 680cc, max 1000cc unless i go alchy (probably not easy tofind alchy for daily use, and it eats the damn pumps too...)
small bb turbo approx 400 - 600cfm vf34,vf22(subbies),t28(late silvia),td05 16g(non bb, but possible) (hoping to support 2.0 to 6500 with 100%ve)
steel for new downpipe
new oil line
new air filter adapter
lighter wastegate spring
boost control on ms
fan control on ms
something to block the radiator
traction control,launch control, flat shift on ms
shift light output on ms
pwm idle valve and control via ms
pcv system, sucked into manifold, blown out into airbox both via cans light, small, efficient cans.

INTERIOR :
switches for manual disable/override of spark(four switches for individual cylinder cut),fuel(four two way switches for changing the bank of any injector),fuel pump(disable and override),boost control(disable),fans(disable and override),tail lights(disable)
mounting hardware for ms and wbo2
build custom ms to c128 80pin adapter or more serious ECU and code to suit etc.
wire for sequential with new code/hardware possibly add gpio or equivalent for more IO if i dont do the improved ECU variant.
shift light
tacho wiring
wideband readout digital cheap arse or possibly moaks ometer
0 - 30psi pressure guage from an air place, not an auto shop!!
oil temperature and pressure guages
light carbon or glass fixed buckets
steel for rails to attach them
4 or 5 (or 6?? wtf were they on about on top gear last night) point saftey belts

SUSPENSION :
heavier front sway bar?
rear sway bar?
smaller lowering blocks
non SS hardware
15 16 or 17 inch light alloy 5 stud wheels and race rubber
ditto and wet road rubber
ditto and smoking rubber (need only 2 of these, and no need for light..)

sorry for the bumps, but its just my way of keeping all the info together and organised.

fred.
 
#129 · (Edited)
some of you might have been wondering what i was doing through 05/06 while posting on here and showing nothing much :

http://s50.photobucket.com/albums/f323/fredio54/ute%20pics/chassis%20pics/

this among a lot of other things, its the chassis gone from rust to gloss. reinforced, sealed and unsealed in different places, and coated so well, it may never rust. ever.

heres some text to describe it all :

me said:
there are photos from before, photos from during (welding,
reconstruction to look exactly stock ;-), and filling of unneeded
holes that allow water and dirt inside) and after all painted and mint
:)

you can see some of the bits that i replaced...

ie, large bits.

one of the images is a bit broken, there is a matching image somewhere
of that same section after painting, and its really hard to tell that
its not original ;-) good effort i thought.

at the back, i replaced really big bits, on the rhs rail, it was about
1m long of the bottom thats new. on the left, about 400mm. at the
front, that 200mm piece only on the rhs.

inside the rails, i found over an inch deep of dirt and crap. soaked
in salt no doubt from years of carrying commercial ice to our boat.

so thats why i closed the tops and sides as much as i could, and
opened up the bottom and reinforced the bottom to tie all my patches
together with i think 8mm round bar? maybe 10, i'm not sure.

also note that the insides are painted the same way, the pics arent
great, but you can kinda see it. best photos i could take, sorry about
the quality of those inside ones...
comments are still welcome :p

http://www.mx6.com/forums/fe-dohc/182352-freds-fe3-into-ute-swap-comments-thread-8.html#post1811559

fred.
 
#130 ·
I entered all of my mods thus far into the "garage" feature on amazd, heres the link

AMAZD :: Garage

i knew i had a lot, but 109, and with maybe half that again to come :)

its the only itemised list i have really...

there is a rating section too, a few of the nasty fraud loving croud there have decided that rating it at 1/10 is a fun hobby. if you should choose to rate it more reasonably, who am i to stop you ;-)

fred.
 
#131 · (Edited)
just got these from a mate. HOLY SH|T do i look wasted!



jeeeeesus! 3 hours sleep for 30 days in a row! LOL. near death. literally, i nearly wrote off the skyline about 5 times the night before i left nz. off the road sideways through grass and gravel and back on. over an island. lack of sleep and me driving just dont jive.

and this is easily the best shot of the engine bay as i was driving it complete with duck tape and cable ties for the toilet and over flow.



and here are the rest :

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f323/fredio54/DSC_2275.jpg
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f323/fredio54/DSC_2277r1.jpg
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f323/fredio54/DSC_2278.jpg

and that my friends is why flat decks are the best! :) i used to build all my sub boxs on the back of that ute too. now its even more flat than it was. mint.

EDIT :
The front with the ms master "mops" prior to running the engine.

The back in the garage after seeing what its like to spin the wheels in 5th!


fred.
 
#132 ·
Beautiful work Fredio. I love the turbo manifold. What kind of MIG machine do you have?? I may get myself a MIG in the future for steel works. Any pics of the Intake manifold? I see you built yourself as well no?

Hey, though with all the fuel and electrical in the same box it makes me a bit nervous. Wouldn't that heighten the risk of a fire??

You Ute is crazy man. Any estimates on power??
 
#133 ·
You arent supposed to post here, but it can stay :)

i guess i didnt link those threads inside so here they are (thanks for the reminder) :

power estimates based on datalogs of AFR and injector duty :
http://www.mx6.com/forums/fe-dohc/1...drag-runs-probably-bogus-but-interesting.html

intake manifold thread :
http://www.mx6.com/forums/fe-dohc/188491-2-bagel-intake-manifold.html

as for fuel + gas, i asked the certifier, and he was sweet with it. i have to say, it makes me a LOT less nervous than having fuel pump wiring inside the tank with fuel vapour! (even though i realise that its so rich in there that it wouldnt ignite)

the wiring is also solidly done, nothing will get hot or come loose in a hurry, and all the hoses are protected from chafing, so there is not going to be a leak either. the relays are sealed units, so wont present a problem.

ALL wires from the battery are fused, including a 100amp breaker on the starter line. no wires exit the box unfused, and none inside the box go more than about 10" unfused. its pretty safe and well thought through :)

I have a Cigweld 180se 230v unit. its full sized and takes 25kg rolls. i saved and bought it brand new a few years back. i love it. a mate has it in nz now borrowing it until my return. he helped me out plenty, it was the least i could do, besides, i needed it to weld the door of my container shut :)

Thanks for your comments :)

the next person (or your reply) should post them in here though :

http://www.mx6.com/forums/fe-dohc/182352-freds-fe3-into-ute-swap-comments-thread.html

Fred.
 
#135 · (Edited)
i went through today and finished fixing all the many many many links to my photobucket account that didnt help you find the pictures i meant for you to see at all.

if you were following at the time, you've seen them as i referred to the first page and a count back from there, but if you can along later, unless you have been through all 800 pics, you wont have seen quite a few of them. even the ones at the top of this page were hardish to find... most pages had some silly links like that, but i fixed a few a month or so back. i went through today and found all that i could.

many of thep pages are so long that the page renderring is broken LOL.

you get that.

for those that like utes, heres a unique one, not really fe3 related, but it could have been! antz, you know you wanna ;-)

bongo ute with nice spray job :
http://www.rangimods.co.nz/pics/antz_truck7.jpg
http://www.rangimods.co.nz/pics/antz_truck8.jpg
carrying its new engine home :
http://www.rangimods.co.nz/pics/antz_truck10.jpg
bongo ute with 3.5 rover v8 hanging out through the deck! :
http://www.rangimods.co.nz/pics/antz_truck15.jpg
http://www.rangimods.co.nz/pics/antz_truck16.jpg
heres how it started :
http://www.rangimods.co.nz/pics/antz_truck2.jpg

with the mid mounted engine, the man says that it handles very well, and i believe him :)

heres a vid of his speedo accelerating, he tells me its VERY inaccurate, but even if its as bad as he says, its still pretty quick. it only weighs 980kg/2160lb so i'm not surprised its fast!

YouTube - V8 Bongo Truck

antz thread :

RangiMods :: View topic - 1996 Bongo Truck - now with a 1969 rover V8

also, i had a tidy up of my youtube account, and this 'playlist' contains all the ute vids :

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

i note not many of them have been rated with 5 stars!! ???? just joking, i dont really care. but i did note that 5 star vids are the ones that appear at the end of others similar vids, and at the moment, there are some pretty crap vids of other utes appearing there ;-)

fred.
 
#138 ·
I now own a van :)










Why the hell do you own a van fred... they asked.

Well, it comes with 5 stud diff and front hubs which means cheap n easy 5 stud conversion and disk brakes for fred for the ute. The ute will stop as well as it goes :) Hooray for that!

Fred.
 
#139 ·
May I present a man well known in his parts, legend in his own time, and never given enough credit, em_knaps :

YouTube - MVI 0947

ROFL, I achieved a burnout from 11,000 miles :)

Excellent.

Fred.
 
#143 ·
It'll be a SOHC FE like all the commercial vehicles, do you know if its the fuel injected version or not ?
 
#142 ·
I need to ditch those corolla arms :

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f323/fredio54/100_4434.jpg
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f323/fredio54/100_4435.jpg

I filled my ute mounts with windscreen urethane and it does make a big difference to stiffness, however it does not make them any stronger. What happens if you drive the car hard is that LHS (drivers side for you yanks) side of the engine tries to lift up under hard accel and eventually succeeds by ripping the rubber in half. There is no good solution to this bar replacing the mounts with a different design.

Here are some pics :












Should be pretty easy to fab up something similar. Key point is that they are retained by steel, so the rubber can wear out and your engine won't come out through your bonnet like it will with the stockers (or even mazdaspeed miata ones).

I broke 3 ute mounts with 80hp and one skyline mount with 150hp. Hence the 400hp ute is reinforced, but the corolla arms I used are heavy and ugly and in the way. They need to go and this is the solution.

Fred.
 
#144 ·
of course it's sohc :p but the bell housing would make it all easy and the mounts would be right. It has to be injected, the carby ones would never make 105hp without becoming dogs down low. In fact "Fuel system Electronic fuel injection pump" - yep, injected. in fact, it's a 12v variant "Engine type їеОдДѕОу4µ¤ЕыOHC12ҐРҐлҐЦ"

Ps, do you know where the comments thread is? ;-)

Having a dozey morning? A bit hung over perhaps? lol

Fred.
 
#145 ·
I don't have this in my possession yet, but these should be shipped to NZ at some point in the nearish future. The will allow me more room to use a larger filter and/or adapters and what have you for oil cooling if I end up needing it.









As it stands I can't fit a ryco Z150 in there because the steering shaft is too close with the bigger OEM oil cooler/heat exchanger. The Z150 (SA fram/filpro ph2979a) is standard fitment on another F engine with exactly the same journal sizing and oil pump setup and thus perfect for this application according to both the OEM and myself.





I had enough trouble getting a Z148 (not Z148x which is small and shitty) on there as it's fairly tight even with at 120mm long, let alone the nice big 150x80 unit.

That will be arriving in the same box with the cam gears :) I can't wait!

Fred.
 
#149 ·
Tonight a bit of history was made that could influence the future of this project (top secret for now). Additionally, I rebooked my ticket to stay in the USA for another week. For those that didn't know I was here in the USA, I'm still heading down the east coast (Madison Wisconsin right now) and will spend a little time in LA before leaving, maybe SD too.

Tomorrow will be exactly a month before I leave the US and just a little more till I arrive home to start work on poluting the sky with thick white smoke. Yippee, this day has taken a long time to come, as has the one in a month.

Fred.
 
#151 ·
I'm back baby, in smoking, screaming, glowing, spooling, whistling, whining, rattling, burning style!! Oh yes, it's fast alright :) If I had more fuel I'd be doing a top speed run on the motorway tonight, but alas, I don't.

Some issues with the old girl...

Numero Uno: I drove it hard without an air filter... and the cable from the boost solenoid folded back under accel and with the wind rushing into the turbo... and got eaten half away... and chewed up the compressor wheel a tiny bit. I'll just run the turbo till it shlts itself and get another then. It's fine enough.

Numero Dos: It started up on 3 cyls and only after a few mins ran on 4, sounded millions of times better even in neutral on 4 :)

Numero Tres: The clutch cylinders had unbled themselves and didn't work for a while. Do now though.

Fuel system is all A OK.

I REALLY need a PCV setup that flows enough and doesn't spray oil everywhere :-/

Vids and frontal pics!! to come :)

Fred.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top