Hi folks,



I'm working with a FD3S in a situation where I don't need the cabin heat. I'm considering how to remove the system to save weight, and have come up with three obvious solutions:

1. Loop the line and just remove the heater core.
2. Block off the cabin heat line ports with some sort of cap - if so, what? Maybe a 1" piece of standard hose with a plug on the end?
3. Remove the cabin heat fitting (cut off and drill it out?) and drill/tap for a plug.

I'm leaning toward option 3. I haven't reassembled my engine yet, so I should be able to do a good job of cleaning out the chips. And if it's tapped, I can always install a threaded fitting if I want to use the port again. Any reason not to go this route?



Thanks,

Chad

 

The plug in the hose sounds fast,easy and instntly reversable. Plus the hose is already there.

No mods to the engine at all. Just cut the hose off 3" from the casting, plug it and apply a hose clamp.



Lynn E. Hanover



My racer (95 RX-7) with her clothes off. Note the Borla muffler and 4" exhaust pipe.

 

Lynn, how big is that muffler? Looks huge.

 

I forgot, so I went out to the shop and measured it.



It's an early Bola stainless with a 4" center tube. That center tube has (I think 7 smaller tubes) packed into the center tube. The body is 20" long. The center tube is 26" long. The body is 6 3/4" in diameter. I has heat wrap tape on it, so it may actually be 6 1/2".



Under 93dB measured 50 feet from the track centerline on the left side of the cars (the outside of the race track)at a location where you need full throttle. This is done to protect the folks who live near the track. It used to be 95 dB but with 5 or 6 Mazds running at once it was in fact too loud even for me. I did not complain about the change. At 95 dB Mazdas were the only cars needing mufflers, so it was real loud.



Lynn E. Hanover



In this picture, the muffler is the same one, but the pipe runs all the way out the back. The tail piece was reversable back then because the idiots at the SCCA let the sound people switch the equipment back and forth from side to side. Only protecting the nearby houses half the time.

 

Sorry to distract from the gorgeous muffler. =) But one last question. What kind of pressure is this area under? It's halfway around the coolant loop, and a small port. Do I have to be worried (like, "three band clamp" worried) about the line or plug blowing off, or just go with it?

 

Any opening in the coolant loop would see the pressure cap value plus the differential pressure generated by the water pump, which is inverse to its distance from the pump. So probably 30 PSI max. Not a problem for a Chinese hose clamp or better.





Lynn E. Hanover



The picture is a rear iron milled from aluminum billet, with a removable wear surface. Not yet available. Built for a single rotor aircraft engine.