My last engine swap build thread, FANTASTIVA

[freshtiva]

The first snag of the day happened when I tried to install a Oxygen sensor. Hadnt thought much about it, guess I should have. The OBX header has the bung hole on the wrong side and guess what, it lines up perfectly with the lower radiator tube. Had to take the header off (which required loosening up the radiator and moving it to the side) so I could drop it down to install the sensor. After that I had the standard 1/16" clearance. The highlight of the day was finding a plug in the EGT harness that matched the stock festiva plug so I only had to splice the wire once. A small but celebrated victory.

[drddan]

Grind it and cut it to fit, you go Fast! Beat everybody! :p

[eurotiva]

I had to grind a small amount from that area for clearance.

[freshtiva]

The latest development from Snagsville Missouri

[BigElCat]

Straight airflow into the throttle body is by far the best. A battery relocation isn't too hard to do.

This is a full size 24N battery in back of Festus. It uses a plastic boat box inside the stainless outer box. Notice the battery disconnect switch behind the passenger side seat.


I read Advancedynamix's thread on maxxing out the Festiva for handling. He said keep as much weight as far foward on the car as possible. I understand the theory, but in my application, this set up does great.

I have the Aspire struts and springs on back, so that would make a difference.

[Christ]

I know it's a lot more work, but I would be tempted to switch to a smaller battery and move it to the spot where the original air box was. Maybe using a custom stainless battery tray. Then, put the VAF meter where the battery was and run a small cone filter. Much more efficient in terms of air flow and use of space. I think it would be well worth the added effort..............especially considering how beautiful your engine bay looks! I smell another FOTM winner.

You may think you're going slow......but you could probably do 4 BP swaps in the time I'm taking to do a simple B6 rebuild & swap!

There are also several types of batteries that could use the wasted area under the seats, leaving a much cleaner engine bay.

As well, there's the "in the trunk" mod, and if you're running a full interior, two motorcycle batteries fit well behind the rear trim plastic. The smaller L/G batteries may also fit there, but I wouldn't waste money to find out.

I believe there's also room behind the console where the Mazda ECM generally is for a small battery.

[blkfordsedan]

I know it's a lot more work, but I would be tempted to switch to a smaller battery and move it to the spot where the original air box was. Maybe using a custom stainless battery tray. Then, put the VAF meter where the battery was and run a small cone filter. Much more efficient in terms of air flow and use of space. I think it would be well worth the added effort..............especially considering how beautiful your engine bay looks! I smell another FOTM winner.

You may think you're going slow......but you could probably do 4 BP swaps in the time I'm taking to do a simple B6 rebuild & swap!

[KJ4YXY]

You have a nice set up in your place!
I am so jealous!!
Nice work too!

[Christ]

That $14 180 on eBay is a good price for a one-time buy. I'd go on that, then get whatever pieces you need from the scrap pile out back of your garage. You're likely to sand and paint them anyway, so surface rust etc won't matter, and you can use the PVC unions or get silicone couplers to mate everything up.

[Christ]

Yes, if you can find a 2" sink trap there, use that. You need a "J", not a "P" trap.

Either that, or you can probably have the muffler shop grab a 180 and make the rest of the pipe. Most McMufflers can't do 180 bends. They can hardly do 90's without crushing the pipe into a flat section.

Something else you can try... if you can get another BP manifold - Cut off the opposite end, weld an alum plate back on. Drill the hole for the TB and studs, and mount it on the other end.

HOWEVER - This makes a fairly nice, straight intake path, keeping things neat. But (isn't there always one?) if you do this, you'll need 1. a fairly thick plate and 2. to port that plate to no more than 12* continuous angle from small inlet to large outlet, else you'll have yet another flow restriction there, because air will attempt to expand too quickly and lose velocity at the entrance to the plenum, causing a "stacking" effect aft of the throttle plate.

[Levitan]

I would think Home de Pot or other box stores would carry a one eighty in PVC, like the trap under your sink or whatnot. Should be a clean and easy solution.

[FestYboy]

^ that's the idea, though i wonder if HomeSchlepo or Howes would have that available in PVC?

[freshtiva]

You might be much better off getting a 180* U-bend of mandrel pipe in the same diameter and painting it black to match, or reconfiguring your intake piping to delete those bends.

Some thing like this ? I wonder if I went to a muffler shop if they would make the whole piping from the VAF to the intake mani.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Schoenfeld-Exhaust-Tubing-U-and-J-Mandrel-Bend-2-25-OD-180-Deg-J-Bend-Steel-/390415520076?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5ae694114c&vxp=mtr

[Christ]

While I really like the intake piping in it's home-made style, I have to tell you that it's introducing a serious restriction to flow in the pair of 90's near the throttle body.

A 90* bend like that cuts flow by a significant amount, increasing with increased velocity.

You might be much better off getting a 180* U-bend of mandrel pipe in the same diameter and painting it black to match, or reconfiguring your intake piping to delete those bends.

[freshtiva]

Yes but I never was really satisfied with the brackets, plus I could never fully test them out for long term use

Well lets go, back to the drawing board...I need one :p