UPDATE: New hardware was bought and we extracted the broken stud.  This time we used the correct torque specs and now everything works again.  HC’s engine actually sounds great for a higher mileage RX-8 engine.  -LionZoo (P.S. Time to update that About page since I’m no longer an engineer.  Now I’m even less human!)

So last night i tried to install the waterpump and thermostat after i’ve been putting it off for weeks. I wanted to get everything in before the track day on saturday. The install is pretty simple really, remove battery, loosen alternator belt, unbolt the waterpump, installed new one in reverse order, until i lost a bolt in the engine bay. I didn’t have a magnetic wand on hand (i know  i know) and the lighting wasnt too great, so after spending a good 30 minutes looking for it, even taking off the alternator, its soo amiss. Then maybe its the late hours and loss of concentration, i lost ANOTHER nut in the same spot. Then i decided that its probably a good idea to pack up and finish the next day before i make anymore mistakes. Then the worst of the night happened. While putting on the pulley, i over torqued one of the bolts and sheared it. Devastated, i hurriedly threw everything back together and locked the car up and went straight to sleep. This morning i find out i’ve been reading the torque specs wrong on the install diagram. While the rest of the components are marked in ft/lb, the pulley bolts are marked in in/lb, FAIL on my part for not catching that. Well i went out and bought the appropriate tools for relocating my lost nuts and extracting the sheared bolt. As well as some extra hardware to finish the project, hopefully it’ll be a much better night (fingers crossed)

pictures of the damage to come.