SMF Ford Probe - F2T and Other Oddball Mazda Content

Those wheels look so nice on anything they get hung on. That's a great picture; I never thought that the 1st gen Probe looked like an 8-series BMW until now.

Very interested in power numbers and what the car is like after you get this all together.

Took a big step forward today. The block and head were joined briefly to check valve clearances and quench.

Everything checked out, tons of room for more lift later, and quench is exactly where it should be at 0.039.

Waiting on a new head gasket before the block and head are joined permanently, and I still need to build an exhaust manifold, but it's mostly simple nut and bolt assembly after that.

I managed one picture before my phone died:

For future reference if you want to polish metal then red Scotchbrite works really well. We use it at my aerospace shop and I used it to clean up a set of old stock cams I got from the MR2 forums.

It's tough enough to remove light rust and whatever is caked/burned/stuck on the bearing surface but not abrasive enough to harm the surface.

You can get it either in rectangle pads or in wheels you can put on a bench grinder.

Hmmm... I know scotch brite is good for hard steel items, such as camshafts, but for soft, very finicky things like aluminum bearing surfaces? I'd rather not. Scotch brite tears in to aluminum pretty decently.

Nothing new to note, aside from a freshly rebuilt distributor with Mazda parts that have a Mitsu logo on then, and picking up some 1018 scraps to start building my manifold jig with. I'll try to get started on it Friday at work over lunch. I haven't mig'd anything meaningful in over 4 years, so this should be interesting.

I ran event #5 for this year last night, and the car was the best it's ever been. I made some minor front end changes, along with losing a few pounds between events, and it seems to have payed off. My best run (which was 0.3s off what I could have run, if not for a stop box DNF) was good enough for 11th on raw, 8th on PAX, and the SP category win at the event. Kind of crazy that an oil burning, 90whp making, overweight, underprepared, failed Ford product could manage that. I'd like to thank our club's street tire modifier.

I'll update with pictures later once I get them, but there are pictures of my run group for once, and with my FWD E36 M3box being decently quick this time, I should be in a few of them.

On to actual tech, or rather more I-haven't-done-this-before type questions. I'm looking to put in an order for materials for the runners on the exhaust manifold. I'm looking for either 321 or 304, depending on price. How many 180's does it take to build an exhaust manifold? It's rather compact, it's not like I'm build a set of long tubes or anything. What wall thickness? Anyone have input on where to order from? I can go exercise my google fu, but input is always appreciated.

12 valves ftw! I'm enjoying your progress

In action! (I know the one running light isn't on... It's a module/relay issue, I haven't diagnosed further than determining that all the wiring is good). Probably one of the best pictures I have of it.

I should try taking a piece of white scotch brite to a piece of aluminum at work then run the profilometer across it to see how bad it messes with the surface finish..would be an interesting test.

Small little update. I'm currently ordering material for my manifold, so I'll have some interesting stuff soon, but for now I have this.

I put it together over lunch yesterday, and I couldn't find the wire I wanted, but these welds didn't have to be perfect (not that my skill level would have allowed that), as they only need to roughly locate the head flange and turbo flange in relation to one another.

Oh, and the head goes on the block to stay tomorrow.

Make me one while you're at it.

If you're planning on running an EFR or Airwerks turbo, then that'd be possible, I'm not sure on price, though. Each manifold is ~300 in materials. The manifold is going to be divided housing/"twinscroll" specific, so it's probably of no use to anyone running a standard T3 footprint turbo.

Bit of an update today.

Ran two more events, won SP in the first, blew away second place to score some good points, couldn't figure out the second event's course, finished 3rd, but only 0.5s behind the Mr. 2 second in the championship, so I retained the overall lead.

Got to work over the last bit on my oil pan, here's a pic dump. I'm no professional welder, so it's not always pretty, but it's together. Between my baffle, the stock baffle, and the windage tray, oiling shouldn't be an issue.

Wow. It's been a year since I updated this? I've been slacking.

What's happened? The car is now on 17x10s and R888s, I've been driving it as much as I can, but a broken hand in the middle of the season and some travelling have made me miss more events than I'd like.

I'll just dump my post from another board about my trip to nationals here to get this going again. Forgive the simplistic language in some spots. The other board isn't very racing oriented and I was writing for my audience.

TWOPOINTWO DOES NATIONALS

To preface this I have to explain a few things:

This year was meant to be a bit of a last hurrah for my "race program" if I can call it that. I've been accepted in to an engineering program and as such, I'll be returning to school, effective today. I'll continue to race the car and make improvements, but any large scale changes are on hold until at least March.

To that end, I decided to make the 4.5hr drive to the CAC National Autoslalom Championships. This is the Canadian equivalent of the SCCA's event in Lincoln, albeit on a much smaller scale. The event alternates between eastern and western Canada, with this being the closest it's been to me in recent years, so I really had no reason not to go.

The Event The event was 3 days, starting on the morning of Aug. 21 with a driving school, followed by test and tune that afternoon. Aug. 22nd and 23rd were two competition days with awards being handed out at the end of the day Sunday.

The Venue The event was hosted in Ft. Macleod, AB, using part of their functional regional airport. I say functional because that means the surface is still regularly in use by planes, and as such has to be maintained and is very smooth. Disused runways get bumpy very quickly. The other thing this means is that all of the landing lights are still in place along the runway. These can do serious damage to a car and are not especially cheap to replace. You don't want to go off.

The surface at this venue also has huge amounts of lateral grip. The grip for acceleration/deceleration seemed to be somewhat less than the surface I'm used to, but my car has no power so that didn't affect me aside from the launch. It is possible that the area of the Tarmac that started the run simply had less grip for some reason.

Day 1 Through some miscommunication, I ended up as the first alternate for the school and wasn't actually guaranteed any seat time. It appeared as though we might have a no show, but he eventually showed up late, and wasn't ready to go for his run group, but he drove further than I had and had technically registered before me, so I didn't make a fuss.

Thankfully for me, one of the Edmonton locals I had driven down with had a coil pack go bad on his S2000 part way through the school and this allowed me to take his spot for the final run group. This was also the first time I let anyone else drive my car in its current form. A professional instructor is more than likely not going to harm your vehicle any more than you. Riding in the passenger seat is a totally different experience. Received the same two comments I usually get, being that it has great initial turn in and surprisingly good brakes. For all the naysayers, that was the eventual overall national PAX champion commenting on my stock caliper and rotor based braking system. Our cars have good brakes. Don't ever doubt it.

Nothing much to comment on from the rest of day 1, as snow rolled in after the school and the afternoon test session was essentially cancelled.

Day 2 Alright, I was local SP champion last year, and the car was much improved this year. I was feeling decent about my driving abilities, but this is Nationals. There were two fully prepped CSP Miatas on Hoosier A7s. I don't have a chance of beating them. They were both being co-driven so that gave me a highest hypothetical finish of 5th. There was also a fully prepped ASP STI, but he was protested quite rightly for illegal modifications and bumped out of class.

I struggled with the course on day 1 as well as adapting to the new tire and wheel package on the car. I drove decently, and ended up setting a time I was somewhat happy with, but I couldn't find the "zone" or "flow" with course layout that day. I was beaten by both CSP Miatas as well as one of the DSP spec Miatas by 0.2s. I'll have video from my fastest run of the day up shortly, but I wasn't very happy with the way I drove.

However, I was the highest placed car on Toyos at the end of the day. More on that later.

Day 3 Final competition day. I was in the final run group. The surface and ambient temps were much higher than day 1, very good for everyone on R compound tires, especially with the breaks between runs being so long that it was impossible to retain any tire heat. Good for me, but also good for everyone else that I was competing against.

The course layout had changed between day 2 and 3, so the first run was used to get used to the course. I was not entirely unhappy with run number one, but this course was very fast compared to local events and I was definitely driving scared in some places. I was hugely off the pace. Time to get focused and sack up. For run two, I dropped 1.6s from run 1, which in a world of tenths is huge. Very happy with that run, just one small mistake in a low consequence area. I was still 0.2s back from the DSP Miata ahead of me. I tried improve again on run 3, but I was too late on the brakes for a very important section and although I feel I was faster everywhere else, the run ended up 0.3s slower.

Although Hoosier A7s are the tire to have, I was on Toyo R888s. The Hoosiers are probably 1.5s quicker at least, but they are much softer and wear much more quickly. Not exactly friendly to someone who is still developing as a driver. Toyo was also the main sponsor of the event. I was still the top car on Toyos.

Results So, I was beaten in class by 3 Miatas. Two were co-driven. I ended up 6th in SP as a result. In FSP however, I was 1st. I got to walk away with a nationals trophy for that. Also, with Toyo being the main sponsor and me being the top car on less than competitive Toyos, I ended up walking away with a free set of Toyos. That's worth about $1500.

Now, on to some eye candy: [URL=http://s15.photobucket.com/user/jamesjozef/media/84488933-5D85-4CF6-9211-7308BC29B611.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://s15.photobucket.com/user/jamesjozef/media/71361CF5-EFF1-4F57-AD87-3489B4423F97.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://s15.photobucket.com/user/jamesjozef/media/402B5E5A-7928-45BB-B633-9CC957648BB6.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://s15.photobucket.com/user/jamesjozef/media/01F41A58-DC28-4AB8-8ACD-C373F056E399.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://s15.photobucket.com/user/jamesjozef/media/87A27319-67FF-4214-88ED-38335D9D10CA.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://s15.photobucket.com/user/jamesjozef/media/941E4E37-8BD3-4E48-B0C1-84A93AA0FD4A.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://s15.photobucket.com/user/jamesjozef/media/805F1BCD-48E5-417C-85D0-F1F440B03CE6.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://s15.photobucket.com/user/jamesjozef/media/600DCB60-CB92-4CAB-99B7-52DB1C2B9D51.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://s15.photobucket.com/user/jamesjozef/media/7E9E4397-6F62-409B-9948-064A91DAB145.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://s15.photobucket.com/user/jamesjozef/media/9249F30E-2738-4D01-8F80-94CF9ECE2AEA.jpg.html][/URL]

I'll update this with more media as I find it/as it's made available.

I love the last picture. So much.

No more excitement for this? I thought pictures of a Probe on 3 wheels with eBay flares might cause a little more of a stir.

Did I mention I got the car on scales at Nationals? 2625lbs. For a car that supposedly rolled off the lot at 2730, I'm impressed. The only real weight reduction effort has been the removal of the auto-belts. I still have stock seats that are berkeleying heavy, a huge battery, and a bunch of other unnecessary crap to be removed before next season. I think a sub 2600 weight with the heavier turbo engine and trans is realistic.

Anyways, the next and final local event is on the 27th. I can't defend the SP title this year, as the broken hand caused me to miss too many events. I'll be out for pride. Last Sunday, I manage a best ever raw finish of 5th AND a best ever PAX of 4th overall. I could have been 4th and 3rd, but I lightly grazed the first cone of the run that time.

I'll be under the car in preparation for this event and I'll have lots of pictures of what was required to fit 275/40/17s up front. I'll make my first "tech" post in a long while.

How's the transmission holding up? The flares really changed the look of the car; the slab sides really define the stock appearance.

pres589 wrote: How's the transmission holding up? The flares really changed the look of the car; the slab sides really define the stock appearance.

I miss how "innocent" it was without the flares. Too bad for me, because there's no turning back. I really wanted to do box flares, but I couldn't find a cost/time effective way to do it. These flares will eventually be painted black, and the side mouldings will be replaced with a strip of black vinyl to keep the trim line going, as the trim on bumpers is molded with the bumper and thus isn't removable.

The transaxle... Well, it's still in one piece. After running two events with the new tires, I changed the fluid. I had RP Synchromax in there for the past 2 years, and I couldn't find any signs of internal issues in the fluid. I now have Redline MTL in it, and though it may feel slightly worse when cold, I feel that the trans actually shifts better once the fluid is warm.

To my knowledge, the weak point on these when used in conjunction with R comps is the differential. I'm praying it holds together for the remainder of this season. I wasn't doing it any favours last event, though. We run on a road course, and I was hitting the curbing fairly hard in two spots. Unloading and then violently loading the diff as that wheel returns to the ground can't be good for longevity.

I also launch at >3000rpm every run, so I'm not expecting this transmission to last very long. I have an H box waiting to go in next year, equipped with an LSD. I'm hoping that will be a somewhat permanent solution. If not, Toyota box?

pres589 wrote: How's the transmission holding up? The flares really changed the look of the car; the slab sides really define the stock appearance.

Non-turbo car, transmission will likely hold as long as the turbo i mailed to him stays out of the picture.

what turbo are you going with? any mods on the turbo engine?

Turbo is a BW Airwerks S257. The engine has forged pistons for a compression ratio of ~9.2:1, tight squish, lots of port work, etc... Looking for ~325whp on reasonable boost with this build. I have aftermarket rods sitting on a shelf if need be, but I thought I'd save them as at my desired power level I didn't feel they were necessary.

I'm going to drive the absolute piss out of it on Sunday. In theory, it should be the last even that that the current engine/trans have to endure. The current engine will then become the starting point for a crazier F2 build. Maybe a 2.0L crank? Maybe an 8 or 16V head? That's best left for another thread when the time comes.

I've had some free time due to two herniated discs in my back, so I've been doing what any GRMer should and building an exhaust manifold.

The unequal port spacing on the F2 really makes building a twin scroll manifold interesting, I've gotten it somewhat figured out. I'm still not 100% happy with runner number 4, but at least I'm making progress again.

This is a great thread.

Little feedback on the trans...

When you lifted the case off and that little ball went rolling to somewhere... That ball goes under one of the bolts on the case, after the case goes back on insert the ball, the put the bolt in, I think there is also a spring involved. It has something to do with the shifter.

Can you provide more info on the limited slip diff??

Progress is looking good!

In reply to TED_fiestaHP:

That's ancient history now. I found the ball the next morning and all is well.

The differential is a helical limited slip unit, 2.1:1 bias ratio. Good for far more power than I've seen out of an F2. I'll break 3rd gear in this trans. long before the differential.

Any specific details you were looking for?