"Silver Demon v2" build

Discussion in 'Mazdaspeed 3 Build Diaries' started by VTMongoose, Jul 30, 2017.

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  1. VTMongoose

    VTMongoose John/MD1032 Greenie Member

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    To replace the 2012 Mazdaspeed3 that I totaled, I bought this 2007 Mazdaspeed3 which was original owned by Scott aka SilverDemon on MSF, then owned by @HawkeyeGeoff:

    [​IMG]

    The car as received was stock, other than the following:
    -Built motor with Wiseco OTS 88 mm pistons, Pauter rods, Clevite rod bearings, OEM main bearings, BSD, oil pan baffle, L19 head studs, Corksport injector seals (buildsheet forthcoming)
    -South Bend Stage 3 Endurance clutch
    -Bilstein B8 OTS shocks with Cobb springs
    -17x9+45 Enkei RPF1's with 255/40/17 NT05's
    -Greddy CBE
    -A bunch of weird custom shit Scott installed here and there.

    The car came with both Versatune and Cobb Accesstuner Race. I initially used Versatune, but it turned out that the cooling fans don't turn on on my car with Versatune, so I overheated. Decided to switch back to good old Cobb for tuning after that:

    [​IMG]

    My cooling problems didn't end there because I ended up having a bad thermostat. The car would sit at 217-219 degrees even cruising down the highway at 70 MPH. Going WOT would send temps into the 220's. I swapped in a new OEM tstat fixing the problem...bitch of a job, by the way.

    Then after the lawnmower-sized battery Scott installed shorted to the custom battery box Scott made, which included plenty of smoke and general freaking out, my first mod was to install a hacked up stock battery box with a stock battery...

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Then it was time for some real fun. I swapped the following parts over from my 2012 Mazdaspeed3 (I stocked it out):

    -Damond Trilogy Mounts
    -JBR 3.5" Intake
    -CP-E catless downpipe
    -BNR S3
    -Autotechs
    -CP-E TMIC (I traded my Gen2 for a Gen1 via a friend)

    In addition to one of these (XS Power V3):

    [​IMG]

    Then this happened (fixed):

    [​IMG]

    Then this happened, four times:

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Finally I got a friend of mine to mill the flange. Problem solved:

    [​IMG]

    Then I realized I was losing exhaust manifold nuts, for a reason I should have identified when I installed the manifold:

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Problem solved. Once again, thank you Scott... :lol:

    I also had to add crankcase ventilation. The reason I did this is that the car came with a stock PCV system plus the CFM oil breather cap. As soon as I turned up the boost on the BNR, I started getting appreciable amounts of oil thrown out the CFM cap. You figure with the Gen1 valve cover, every time that check valve pops open, the timing chain and blowby gases throw oil out the cap. It's a compact cap with only one baffle and can only do so much. So what I did was I bought a Kozmic VTA can with lines from a buddy in the community, and drilled and tapped the valve cover in the area underneath the baffle. Here are the parts you'll need:

    2 x -10AN to 1/2" NPT fittings
    1 x 1/2" NPT drill and tap kit
    Kozmic can (mine is I think the Focus ST one but I found a way to mount it no problem): http://edgeautosport.com/kozmic-motorsports-oil-catch-can-kit-mazdaspeed-3-2007-2009/

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
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    I used red loctite where the bungs go through the valve cover. The location of my bungs is kind of non-traditional being on the back of the VC close to the manifold as opposed to the top, but I have a TMIC and had to accomodate that. I opted to wrap the lines in fiberglass.

    I then deleted the CFM cap. So far this breather system works perfectly. Crankcase pressure is being relieved (I can see oil vapor deposits in the lines and so forth) but very little if any liquid oil is being pushed into the lines (checked the can after ~1k miles and it was still empty) thanks to locating the bungs under the baffle.

    So my current experiment is one that isn't going well. First let me show the baseline I started with. So again this is on all the bolt-on's I mentioned above, sans the CP-E TMIC. I used the stock TMIC for a while because my car was missing the rear IC bracket.

    [​IMG]

    So the car was making 400 ft-lbs and about 350 hp at the wheels. Keep in mind the exhaust manifold was still leaking at the time, hence the delayed spool. I only got one good log where the manifold to turbo connection wasn't leaking like a sieve and yes, that's 21 psi at 2977 RPM's logged and 400 ft-lbs at 3000 RPM's! I use 35 degrees of VVT, 100%WGDC, and I think 3.5 degrees spark advance at 3000RPM's to accomplish this.

    [​IMG]

    Then I decided to change things up, since I had the turbo out to check the hotside for flatness. I bought a MAC 46A-AA1-JDBA-1BA 4-port solenoid and a turbonetics 30326 2-port wastegate actuator. This is the type of actuator where the second port goes to the rear of the wastegate diaphragm, so when the solenoid is energized you can send boost to the backside of the wastegate diaphragm to help keep the wastegate closed. This was all done for experimental purposes, with the goal of improving spool.

    [​IMG]

    To get the turbonetics actuator to fit, I had to cut and bend the extremely thick rod (pain in the ass) and shorten the arm a little bit. I also had to slot my BNR S3 WGA bracket and drill out the center section a little bit because the second port was making contact with the compressor housing and I needed to rotate it out of the way. I was not optimistic about this setup going into it because the turbonetics actuator spring is super weak. I think Turbonetics advertises this actuator as being a 7-12 psi actuator. I found when testing it, no matter how much preload I put on it, it wouldn't crack at any more than 10 psi. Sure enough, even with 100% WGDC, the spring tension + boost pressure on the backside is not enough to keep the wastegate flapper closed, and although there are brief moments where I can make 18 psi/2.45 calculated load or so, most of the time it blows open and I'm making 14/2.20 or so.

    Fortunately for me, I was up at Justin's shop in New Hampshire where my buddy was getting tuned and while we were troubleshooting a problem that ended up being a clogged cat, I scooped up a fully functional BNR S4 actuator. That's going on the car probably today. Now, I think there's a lot of potential for this thing to overboost with the S4 actuator because if I'm not mistaken, the S4 hotside's wastegate flapper is a little larger than the S3's, so the extra surface area on that flapper is going to assist with balancing the extra spring pressure. We'll see. It really would not bother me if it overboosted a little bit.




    The S4 actuator cracks at about 20 and is fully open at about 40 psi. The S3 actuator cracks at about 12-14 psi and is fully open at about 30 psi.

    I also installed "Version 2.5-ish" of my custom Bilstein (B6)-Ground Control suspension on the car. This suspension is the best MS3 suspension I've ever driven on! Revalving was done by Delta Vee motorsports in Michigan. Springs are Eibach 600 lb/in front, 750 lb/in rear:

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Very much looking forward to getting an alignment dialed in, some RE71R's mounted, and seeing what this setup can really do!

    By the way, the "Final" plots are Rob at Delta Vee's work. The other dynos are Bilstein's screwups! They assembled one of my fronts wrong, and the rears were totally fubar'd! Try to work with Bilstein was one of the worst experiences in motorsports of my life. The rears alone were revalved or rebuilt by them a total of 4 times I think, with screwups every single time, and my shocks were held up for 5-6 months at a time.

    edit: @Raider I can't get the Amazon links to display. Can you look into it?
     

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    Last edited: Aug 1, 2017
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  2. Sho

    Sho Silver Member

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    Good to see this former ohio car is still alive. Thing was mint when scott had it!
     
    Sho, via a mobile device, Jul 30, 2017
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  3. Maisonvi

    Maisonvi Platinum Member

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    Not sure about anyone else, but about 75% of the pics arent showing up.
     
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  4. KiwiFlavor

    KiwiFlavor Greenie N00B Member

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    Yeah not showing up for me either.
     
  5. VTMongoose

    VTMongoose John/MD1032 Greenie Member

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    So weird. They all work for me. @Raider what is going on man? I copied and pasted all of them directly into my post.
     
  6. Raider

    Raider Administraider Administrator Platinum Member

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    Photobucket?

    Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
     
    Raider, via a mobile device, Jul 31, 2017
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  7. VTMongoose

    VTMongoose John/MD1032 Greenie Member

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    Nah I copied and pasted the images from my Google account into MSO but it seems somehow it retained the actual URL instead of copying the images to MSO's hosting. I guess I'll have to work on hosting them on my imgur...gah.

    Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk
     
    VTMongoose, via a mobile device, Jul 31, 2017
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  8. Raider

    Raider Administraider Administrator Platinum Member

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    It's Google user content with a mile long url. Upload here my man.

    Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
     
    Raider, via a mobile device, Jul 31, 2017
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  9. VTMongoose

    VTMongoose John/MD1032 Greenie Member

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    I just realized it's because I used Chrome. Apparently copying and pasting within Chrome will do this.

    Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk
     
    VTMongoose, via a mobile device, Jul 31, 2017
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  10. VTMongoose

    VTMongoose John/MD1032 Greenie Member

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    All images were re-uploaded to imgur and should display now. Sorry!
     
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  11. Silverdemon

    Silverdemon Greenie N00B Member

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    My once extraordinary car.....it is sad to see it like this now.


    That's not the battery I installed, mine was a braille, and it fit perfectly, hence I drove it with that battery and box for almost 20k miles with zero issues. The manifold nuts were one time use, and the studs had to be that short to fit the CPE exhaust manifold in, zero issues with that set up. The crankcase evacuation system I had in there worked with a GT35R pushing 36lbs of boost, and I never had to modify the valve cover, but it looks like all that was taken out before you bought it.

    It's sad to see the car was stripped like this before it was sold to you.
     
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  12. VTMongoose

    VTMongoose John/MD1032 Greenie Member

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    Hey man! We actually met at the CP-E dyno day a couple years ago. I had my red Gen2 at the time with a couple bolt-on's and a K04. I have a lot of respect for what you've done for the platform as a true trailblazer, as well as your incredible fabrication skills!

    I agree that the car was certainly much more individualized and unique when it was in your possession. Geoff tried for months, but couldn't sell it as-is, although the atmosphere kit, intake manifold, and the other stuff are going to another nator. My goals for the car are quite different than yours were I think. I'm aiming for a streetable car that has above average, predictable response in every aspect I care about (acceleration, lateral grip, braking, and steering), mainly building the car for autocross, track, and of course Dragon usage! I guarantee the suspension alone isn't like anything else the car has had in its previous lives.

    There are plenty of big power builds out there right now. Along the east coast alone, we have dozens of speeds over 600 whp, and that kind of thing doesn't interest me in the slightest, because when we get to the dragon I'm already halfway to the next corner with my small turbos before those people even spool up.

    And yeah, the PCV system was bone stock when I got the car. I never read about your system. The system I put on there is working great, though, and cost me next to nothing, so I'm pretty happy with it. Good to know the studs were installed for a reason. I thought to myself, "what the heck was this dude thinking?" And I would never have known the manifold nuts were the serrated kind (which you notice I also used) until recently when I pulled them all off. The originals were reused enough times that they didn't have any serrations on the back anymore.

    Right now the car is running cheapo bolt-on's leftover from my Gen2 (I mean come on, I had them sitting around, why not) but in the future (maybe next season, maybe the season afterwards) pretty much every single part will get replaced with stuff I have planned for it. Turbo, downpipe, manifolds, etc. So it'll be a little more unique at that time. But honestly this block's been bored 3x, and depending on how this build wears, I might be looking at building another short block before I even worry about swapping to a more optimal turbo setup. Who knows? My plan is to get as much seat time in as possible for now, and keep the car clean and in good operating condition. I even bought a Camry so I can keep it off the road in the winter.

    Out of curiosity, why the rear strut tower brace?? What kind of grip (measured) did you pick up from that? Or did you not have an accelerometer datalogger at the time?
     
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  13. ThatRed68

    ThatRed68 Greenie Member

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    Correct me if I'm wrong, but I dont think minor tweaks to chassis stiffness will greatly affect peak grip levels. Its more about having more predictable suspension movements. If anything It would make the care feel more sure-footed and direct.

    Total side note, I recently started doing chassis stiffness bench marking and relating it to steering feel. I haven't gotten to analyse peak grip numbers yet.
     
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  14. Silverdemon

    Silverdemon Greenie N00B Member

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    Sorry, Not my strut bar.
     
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  15. AYOUSTIN

    AYOUSTIN Greenie Member

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    Something's not adding up. 88mm is a first overbore, stock bore is 87.5mm. Regardless, that engine shouldn't have to come apart anytime soon.

    Definitely move off the stock flange turbo when you can.
     
  16. VTMongoose

    VTMongoose John/MD1032 Greenie Member

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    Ask Geoff. I'm not sure when it was bored to 88.0 from 87.5, whether Scott did it or Geoff did it when he first put these Wisecos in. Most recently when he spun a bearing, they only took off a small amount to clean up the walls, then honed. The pistons were reused. The builders claim PTW clearance is still only like 0.0045", which I have a hard time believing, but whatever. The motor drinks oil at a somewhat disconcerting rate (~0.5 qt/1k with 5W-40 and ~1 qt/1k with 5W-30) but has reasonable leakdown numbers (0-10-5-10) and >=185 compression on all four. My UOA showed the motor's happy, so I'm just gonna keep running it until it dies! I'll probably recheck leakdown in another 3-5k miles to see how she's wearing.

    I think my preliminary plan for when this build dies is to reuse the cylinder head and get a new block I can bore to 88.0.
     
  17. AYOUSTIN

    AYOUSTIN Greenie Member

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    Hmm sounds like a leak to me. An engine that healthy that doesn't fill up the catchcan wouldn't burn oil like that.
     
    AYOUSTIN, via an iPhone, Aug 7, 2017
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  18. 78jdbronco

    78jdbronco Greenie Member

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    How can you do all that but complain about the thermostat?
     
    78jdbronco, via a mobile device, Aug 11, 2017
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  19. VTMongoose

    VTMongoose John/MD1032 Greenie Member

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    I didn't have remote hose clamp pliers. Otherwise it would have been a half hour job.

    [​IMG]
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    Yesterday this happened, while I was driving no less. Made for one of the most interesting "limp the car home" experiences of my life.

    For sure this is the last straw with the GC camber plates. I am so done with those things. The shock broke right where that ghetto tapered washer meets the shock. Luckily I hadn't put my B8's and Cobb springs on my buddy's car yet, so I took the GC CO kit off my B6's and put it on the B8's with the stock top hats. The car rides like shit now compared to the Delta Vee revalved shocks but it at least is back up and running.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Sadly I talked to Rob and it looks like I will need to buy a completely new shock and also have it revalved to match the passenger side...

    edit: Oh, I forgot. I put the S4 actuator on the car with 3.5 turns of preload and on spring it holds 21-22 psi across the board perfectly. Not spooling any earlier than it did with the S3 actuator sadly, but it does work very well indeed and seems more consistent in the low to mid RPM's, although it could be my imagination. I had to totally redo the BAT ignition reduction tables because it's been hot as balls...I'll cover that another day.
     
    Last edited: Aug 11, 2017
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  20. Easter Bunny

    Easter Bunny Professional Engineer Motorhead Platinum Member

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    try going to 10w-xx weight oil, you might just be losing it on startup.
     
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