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The Red Fastback - MA8 Project Thread


SirPaperbag
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So, a few boxes full of fun-parts arrived yesterday... :D

 

IMG_20230815_094720.thumb.jpg.f7575d6901562b4653b6505643e69a1c.jpg

 

IMG_20230908_104959.thumb.jpg.067d2156abe3aa23b9ac5ed4c1081328.jpg

 

I'm still trying to find a good machining shop to get a port and polish, a valve-job and to get the rotating assembly properly balanced, but things are slowly progressing on the new engine build.

 

It's going to be unconventional for sure, but I'm going to be fully building an N/A D16Z6 that I've bought for this project.

Forged conrods, high compression pistons, stage 2 camshaft, lightened flywheel, the whole nine yards.

 

I've also done some test-fitting already and it seems that the 'LITE'-series of conrods from Skunk2 doesn't require any notching of the block to fit, which is a huge win in my book!

 

Though I had to cobble together a pseudo-piston from a few pieces of plastic and foam for the test-fit, as the pistons I bought are .5mm oversize and I haven't had the block bored out yet.

Worked super well, though!

 

But I'm super stoked to see what kind of power gain this is going to get me, and especially how high I'll be able to rev it.

Components-wise it should be fine up to 9.000 or even 10.000 RPM, but we all know that it probably won't make much or even any power up that high in the rev-range.

 

Based on my research into other all-motor D16 builds and B20 builds I'm confident that it should definitely hold up to 9.000 relatively comfortably, as many people in the states rev their stock-rod B20s that high without much issue, running only ARP rod-bolts and nothing else. (B20 engines have the same stroke as D16s, btw)

 

It's going to be a while until things get moving properly, but the first step has been taken and all that's holding me back right now is finding that machining shop! :D

 

Some folks are probably going to ask why I would take a D16 that far instead of just going B-Series, and I'm going to answer that by telling you that a B-Series swap costs around four to five thousand Euros where I live. If you can even find one...

That's a lot of money for just a stock engine and trans.

And it's also why I'm going to spend about the same amount of money to build a D-Series that is going to make roughly the same power, as well.

I simply want a built engine. Simple as that. I've always wanted to build a proper all-motor engine and I finally got the chance, both time- and money-wise to do so, and I'm going to do it! :D

 

I've also been doing some research into getting a road-legal bucket seat, or any kind of seat to be honest, because the stock seats are just too high for my tastes and I constantly have to lean forward when I'm stopped at a red light.

Someone else on this forum already made an extremely helpful post about the seat rails from Planted Technology, which helped me immensely, but I've also found a local engineering company here in Germany which is able to fabricate everything in-house and even get it entered into the car's paperwork the legitimate way.

That comes with its price though...

 

Well, anyways. That's the current state of my project.

See ya 'round!

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A nice box of engine treats there matey. Nice one for going your own way with the build as well - that's what it's all about really 👍😎

Hope you get sorted with somewhere to do the work. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Although the B series ws fun in my VTI, I've always found the D series is more refined/smooth in comparison. Just my own personal view of the D series having owned the D14, D16 and the B18. Fair play to you mate, looking forward to seeing this one progress.8-)

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  • 2 weeks later...

So, did a good bit of work to the car again.

This time I installed a proper mounting bracket for the cold air intake as the old hacked-off and jury-rigged intake mani bracket looked pretty bad, to be honest.

 

20240302_113032.jpg.d4947c6093457e8d898a7cf8d0be9097.jpg

 

20240302_113036.jpg.eb2a2b379a1988fa52f07057156279e8.jpg

 

Also installed a pair of much more serious sounding horns than that little beeper that the car came with.

They sound a lot better than the OEM one did, and are quite a bit louder on top!

 

20240302_113048.jpg.09e0a5d64d656938c534b38e01b0d188.jpg

 

After that I installed a set of new bumper screws - the original ones were completely rusted and cruddy, and one almost stripped completely when I took that bumper off!

 

20240302_114450.thumb.jpg.f9e469620e4c5cc9c1a540aa1a84ae19.jpg

 

Then I got to work on my seat-project.

As I said in my last post - the original seats make me sit a bit too high for my own tastes and I have been looking for either some high-quality (road legal) seat rails for aftermarket seats from either Recaro or some other brand, or a completely different way to sit lower than the original seats would allow me to.

 

As it turns out ... you can fit CRX seats on the original M-chassis rails if you drill out the rivets and fabricate an adaptor plate out of steel (10mm thick in my case).

 

I got lucky a few years ago and managed to take a pair of these seats off a guy for jsut 250 bucks total. :)

 

Here's how the first prototype looks like:

 

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20240304_130351.jpg.ef412d8c791db509c2699cf849b2ef60.jpg

 

This was only to take a look and see if my idea could even work to begin with, and if it would make me sit lower than the OEM seats would, but as luck would have it ... this combo works flawlessly and I sit about 5 to 8 centimetres lower than I do in the stock seats! :D

 

They are also quite a bit more comfortable, if a bit worn-out. Real plushy. :)

 

But as things stand right now I'll just make a few more refinements to my adaptor brackets, give those seats a thorough cleaning session and maybe add some more side bolstering to give them a bit more of a sporty feel and I've got myself a nice pair of OEM Honda seats that do exactly what I want from them! :D

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Coming along nicely mate! I'm deffo replacing DDs "meep-meep" horn too, looking at maybevfittjng one from a MINI of all things as they're quite beefy!

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  • 1 month later...

Took the time to do some more work on the ole Fastback today and installed a nice upgrade for the interior.

 

20240417_162725.jpg.6aa9a6871d9e3d412e15b502da438ce3.jpg

 

 

20240417_163109.jpg.bc0d41493097dca709b1ff484b0d5ee2.jpg

 

 

The object in question being a very nice short shifter from Hybrid Racing and a set of stiffer shift-linkage bushings from Hardrace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The installation was pretty straightforward - take off the interior trim that surrounds the shifter, undo a few bolts and take out the b*tch pin, take off the old shifter and replace all the original parts with the shiny new ones.

Even the rubber gasket went on there relatively easily, with a bit of lubrication of course ;)

 

 

20240418_185407.jpg.669138a6e6810cb0488966502fe7c0a5.jpg20240418_190904.jpg.811287e1441f203b7a455bd6e72877dc.jpg

 

And the finished product looks like this:

 

 

20240418_191447.jpg.f8f2d993730cfbadb26bb80adfce457d.jpg

 

Had to take out the small plastic ring out from the top of the shifter boot to be able to install the 'swan neck' part of the shifter on top of it, but I really like the way it looks (and feels)!

 

The biggest hold-up was the size of the hole where the shifter bolts onto the shift linkage. Had to take off some material or otherwise I'd have to choose between either only having gears 1 through 4 or gear 3 through reverse. Nothing bad though.

File down, reinstall, take off again and file down a bit more and boom - bob's your uncle.

 

There are still some vibrations to chase down, but nothing a bit of lubricant/machine oil can't fix.

All in all, I'd say it was a huge upgrade for the driving experience - it's super notchy and rowing through the gears almost feels like racking a gun at times.

 

I'd give the shifter itself a solid 9/10, feels well built, installation is straightforward and well documented by Hybrid Racing, they give you all the hardware you need and you don't have to damage or reuse old components (except filing down that linkage hole, but that's a M-chassis issue only).

 

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23 hours ago, SirPaperbag said:

Took the time to do some more work on the ole Fastback today and installed a nice upgrade for the interior.

 

20240417_162725.jpg.6aa9a6871d9e3d412e15b502da438ce3.jpg

 

 

20240417_163109.jpg.bc0d41493097dca709b1ff484b0d5ee2.jpg

 

 

The object in question being a very nice short shifter from Hybrid Racing and a set of stiffer shift-linkage bushings from Hardrace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The installation was pretty straightforward - take off the interior trim that surrounds the shifter, undo a few bolts and take out the b*tch pin, take off the old shifter and replace all the original parts with the shiny new ones.

Even the rubber gasket went on there relatively easily, with a bit of lubrication of course ;)

 

 

20240418_185407.jpg.669138a6e6810cb0488966502fe7c0a5.jpg20240418_190904.jpg.811287e1441f203b7a455bd6e72877dc.jpg

 

And the finished product looks like this:

 

 

20240418_191447.jpg.f8f2d993730cfbadb26bb80adfce457d.jpg

 

Had to take out the small plastic ring out from the top of the shifter boot to be able to install the 'swan neck' part of the shifter on top of it, but I really like the way it looks (and feels)!

 

The biggest hold-up was the size of the hole where the shifter bolts onto the shift linkage. Had to take off some material or otherwise I'd have to choose between either only having gears 1 through 4 or gear 3 through reverse. Nothing bad though.

File down, reinstall, take off again and file down a bit more and boom - bob's your uncle.

 

There are still some vibrations to chase down, but nothing a bit of lubricant/machine oil can't fix.

All in all, I'd say it was a huge upgrade for the driving experience - it's super notchy and rowing through the gears almost feels like racking a gun at times.

 

I'd give the shifter itself a solid 9/10, feels well built, installation is straightforward and well documented by Hybrid Racing, they give you all the hardware you need and you don't have to damage or reuse old components (except filing down that linkage hole, but that's a M-chassis issue only).

 

Looks sweet that man! 
 

Some of the vibration you mentioned could be from the stiffer or solid bushes you’ve fitted, quite a lot of gearbox vibration gets transmitted through those. Either that or whilst in gear the shifter actually sits on top of the the exhaust, I know when I had mine adjusted to as low as it went, so the shortest possible throw, it’s would knock into the exhaust. Have a completely different setup now but the Hybrid Racing one does looks good man! Well done 

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