Brett_Murphy said:
The only thing I'd be concerned with is stripping away the film of oil on things that need a film of oil. It looks like you use that, get some ATF in the spark plugs, hand turn it and go from there.
Everytime your thread pops up, I remind myself I don't want or need another RX-8.
Yeah, I think you're right, it would strip any lube right out. I think I would change the oil after using it just in case.
Need another RX-8 -- It was pretty cold yesterday and it fired up fairly easy and had been sitting for 2 weeks. So it does fairly good for a junkyard motor. I was going to rebuild the old engine, but I think I am going to sell the bits from it and see if I can get my total down to $2000. Fix the vacuum / oil leak and maybe (big maybe) drive it to Florida this October.
The Mopar CCC (second from right) has melted the carbon completely this morning and the ATF (far left) is not doing to bad. I'll leave them for 5 days and then see what has become of the results and post another picture. Other 2 are not doing much.
Ok, so 5 days and a week* later they look the same.
Results:
1) The Mopar CCC is the best thing for breaking down carbon, no flakes left, Ford makes something similar.
2) The ATF will be the second best and it doesn't complete break the carbon down, there were still small pieces.
3) The cheap degreaser broke the grease down but not the carbon flakes.
4) The Simple Green makes the grease and carbon flakes really clean. 
*We had a death in the family, I know all of you will understand.
Ok so I have been putting off fixing the vacuum leak because I wasn't driving my "toy" in the salty winter crap.
Now its nice, grrr, I have to fix the vacuum leak first.
I am pretty sure it is under the intake midsection around the solenoids. So I remove that section.
Its tight to get to the bolt on the back of the intake and I can't find my u-joint so I made this work:
The solenoids plug into a vacuum chamber fed from else where. Each has a little rubber ring it slides into. I "think" maybe this is where the leak is?
I know this will make them hard to remove later but I add a little rtv to each and reseat them:
And then reassemble the entire contraption so it looks good. "Maybe" it'll not leak?
AND, it still leaks. 
Listening with my trusty piece of pve pipe, I believe it may be the used intake gasket where the intake meets the irons on the keg.
Since I am on a test drive, I decide to drown my failure in a chocolate shake. Darn, maybe I should fail more often....
Im going to pull Smoky's motor, so I got the backhoe and started digging, wait, let me back up.
I want to pull the engine out of Smoky and fix several things. It starts and runs fine which is NEVER a reason to not pull an engine.
However, I guess my back and skin are kind of tired of working on a gravel floor. And the jerk that built this barn, whose user name rhymes with "Vent-Balve" didn't dig enough of the hill out. So when it rains water seeps into the ground under the wall. Then I have a damp gravel floor.
So I started digging little trees out that had started to grow behind the barn.
I had been working for a while when I decided to take pictures.
And since its hard to tell scale....
The hill came down at about a 45 degree angle, so when I started this wouldn't fit here. I hate to take out trees and there are 2 large oaks toward the back. But I should have taken more hill out 15 years ago when I built this.
So once the rough digging is done, I drop the backhoe, add a 3 point hitch and attach the box blade.
I will say the 'Bota is the best thing I have bought in years, when its not digging it makes the best wheel barrow I ever had. The manual attachment that goes with it is not my favorite though...
And for now it is at this point, clean, mostly flat (sloped to drain though). The next parts are a retaining wall and french drain. I plan to add drainage in the barn then after that we are going to start pouring concrete floor. Once that is done I get to pull the motor! 
Yesterday the sky opened up and let loose with a short flood. The barn floor is dry. So the alley is working.
The next step is to remove the hill in front of the barn. The slope will be part of the retaining wall.
I have been working on that. It also is where the garage part of the house will go when we build.
These 2 shots should give a better idea.
Tomorrow morning the gravel is supposed to be delivered, I will have a much better place to park.
If Pyro had been home, I wouldn't do this. But it got everything out of the way as I dug the hill up.
It also shows the hill before I cut it down.
I'm to tired to park the cars. A cop would get me for impaired driving.
Weather says feels like 93, my ____! Lucifer would be sweating.
2 loads of gravel. Spread 1.5. The 400 foot drive took the rest. The truck spread that.
Fixed the timbers also and when I'm done I will have seriously increased my parking.
I going to pass out now, thanks for your attention.
That's a lot of rocks, also that's a funny yellow car you have there.
That is not the car you are looking for, move along, move along.....
Just registered for my first autocross event, the 22nd of September in Independance MO.
Not knowing the class system, I picked the slowest class street.
All of my racing experience in the past was straight line so this curve thing is sort of new .....
Your car will technically be in a silly class. A combination of gutted interior/rollcage, suspension work, and r888 tires mean you'll land in some super prepped class, it doesn't really matter unless you're going for points. They'll help you day of get the car into the "right" class relative to the modifications. Most regions will have a "novice" subclass you can compete in so you have more relevant competition if you choose to do it regularly.
Before camp stove gas and scrubbing.
And after. Lost a little paint and gloss.
Airbrushed the light rust and lubed the stub so the steering wheel slides on and off smooth.
After doesn't seem to look different but it is much smoother.
Fitted the new battery for the RX 8 into the ZX 2 for this autocross. I will put the old RX 8 battery in later. I had to reroute and extend the cables. Added a hold down and I should be ok for tech inspection.
So let me get this straight... the good engine (came spare with the car, was an auto 6 port) but that has since exploded with the bearing issues I see, and the old bad engine is already out and disassembled?
long story short I want rx8 rotors and counterweights if you got 2 to spare in good shape...
No the spare (auto 6 port) is running fine. The rotors from original motor might be good for an engine you were going to torture and kill. They ground against the front and center irons, there are gouges in them at the leading edges. The irons might be able to be ground?
I'm going to use the rear iron when I build the engine in it. Its untouched by the destruction. I was going to put the correct counter weight in also, so I will have an auto counterweight left over.
There were a couple of RX 8s in Pick n Pull (KC) lately, I didn't get up there and I figure the engines are gone now.
On the ZX2, I took it around the "block" so to speak, first time I have gotten to stand on it, that engine ain't really stock. For a first time autocross it has enough that it will be fun, but not so much that I will be distracted. At least that's my, admittedly, naive, opinion.
It may rain, if so I think I might leave the tow tires on. If its just damp the R888's should hook up?
ah so they are paperweights then? I still may be interested in the counterweights though. I need to start piece feeding my engine together, not sure if i want to jump to Rx8 rotors yet or let the S5 NA ones go one more round.
In reply to fidelity101 :
I have a 6 port Renesis I've been meaning to part out. I'm pretty sure it has smoked oil control rings but I haven't had it open. (engine that came out of the black RX8 at the work car show). I didn't think you could use RX8 rotors in a 13B though, side seals are further out.
Sorry Bent-Valve for the thread jack. If you need any manifold parts let me know... just taking up space in the garage cabinets.
RXBeetle said:
In reply to fidelity101 :
I have a 6 port Renesis I've been meaning to part out. I'm pretty sure it has smoked oil control rings but I haven't had it open. (engine that came out of the black RX8 at the work car show). I didn't think you could use RX8 rotors in a 13B though, side seals are further out.
Sorry Bent-Valve for the thread jack. If you need any manifold parts let me know... just taking up space in the garage cabinets.
I'm interested in the rotating assembly basically if its in good shape. The rings can be replaced but as long as the bearings/rotor surfaces are good I'm interested. Im TBD on e-shaft as the one in the engine now is an rx8 as well so really the key parts for me are rear auto counterweight and front counterweight.
With the side seals further out you can port it more on an rx7 13b, however you need to to machine the rotor groove for rx7 apex seals because they are taller and overall better.
I'm slowly starting to piece together my next engine as this current one is about to hit 6 years old and the compression ghosts are leaving...
so no rush at the moment, Should be building the engine sometime early 2020 lol but it makes the cost easier to swallow if I start looking way in advance. I need to open up the existing engine and re use the irons and stat gears but I have good spare housings that need a port job and a good cleaning and I'm a few seals away from a fun rebuild.
What’s mods you have on the zx2? I swapped an S/R ECU and ghetto modded the intake on mine. That lil zetec Motor amazes me how good it pulls for what it is.
ZX2 - No clue. Accordianfolder gave it to me and I pulled it home. I know how it tows, not what makes it go.
It is a debug ecu of some sort. You have key it on then off then on to start it. It just runs stronger than what I think stock should feel like.
And tomorrow it shows 100 % rain all day on my first autocross so I'm going to leave the r888s at home and run it on the tow tires that have good tread.
A jack and a spare just in case and I am all set.
It won't be an faster or make me a better driver but I'm cleaning up the paint, removing stickers and painting the hood a smooth black.
Progress so far.
It's stuck. Tried fingernails, razor blades and heat. Argh.
I had a stripping disk for grinder. A little to aggressive even with a delicate touch.
So a cheap electric sander, more razor blades and some X years old bondo I found in the shop and this is current status.
Next I'll smooth and prime, sand some more and post pictures of the result. I'm curious if the foam roller / thinned paint technique really does come out smooth.
And I have some black vinyl coming to make numbers and class letters.
Plan A, B and C all have jumped ship.
So on to Plan 9, from Outer Space....
Foam rollers and stuff got kind of expensive for just a hood. So I got some spray paint and primer.
Yes gloss black is not the brightest choice on a haphazardly prepped surface, but you only live once.
This will be better but will still show up.
This ding filled in nicely and I sanded the chip and feathered it.
Waiting for primer to dry now.
Mostly I painted the scratches left by the stripping wheel and sealed the body filler.
In reply to Bent-Valve :
Not to undo all your work, but I wonder if there are any black hoods in the junkyard. Zx2s and escorts were all over the junkyards in Nashville at least.
Yes, I looked and there are like 12 total in pretty close yards. But 108 miles round trip to the closest is still a good morning,
And then it turns into a few more hours due to the SOS, you know how it is,
I'm going straight for the car on row 48 and a glint from the other side of the yard might be...anything.
Edit: for those not logged in " Yeah, I was diagnosed with "SOS", you know Shiny Object Syndrom...ooh look at that... "
