Michigan Rotary Club
Generation Specific => 3rd Generation Specific => 3rd Generation Build Thread => : murz October 03, 2017, 05:02:27 PM
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Now I've done it... prepare for a long story...
Ever since I've been able to drive I've wanted an RX-7, this is mainly due to my friend having an FC and driving us around in it when we were in high school. The first time I saw an FD was back in 2007, I immediately fell in love with the car and knew one day I'd get one. In Japan, the first day I was there, the first picture I took was of an FD, it's always been my dream car. For a while I was totally happy with my FC's, but after finishing up my degree and buying a house, I realized I was in a position where I could afford an FD. I've always looked at the FD market, just researching their prices and what a good deal is. After Woodward dream cruise, I kicked my search into high gear, this is especially true due to fact that ITSWILL would be willing to help me out in finding one and bringing it back home.
After a few weeks of searching, calling people and inquiring about their cars, I finally found one. This one was in Nashville, Tennessee, it was red, but more importantly, an R1 and rust free, with new paint. ITSWILL and I agreed on a date to drive down there and pick it up, and the seller agreed on the date and price. I was looking for something that I could drive, but wasn't already highly modified, this was definitely it as compared to others I had inquired on. I had prepared the garage for a new addition.
(https://i.imgur.com/FfpAOwb.jpg)
We headed down to Nashville early in the morning and got to the seller's house early afternoon. The sellers were a married couple that were crazy about rotary cars, in fact they had 3 FDs, 1 turbo SA, 1 RX-8, and 1 REPU. When I got there I was amazed at how damn good the car looked in person, it was then that it hit me that I was actually about to purchase my dream car. We took the car for a test drive, and the seller even let ITSWILL drive the REPU following behind us, and encouraged him to rev it like hell, needless to say the sellers were really cool, oh and I got to drive the REPU as well while ITSWILL drove the FD back to the seller's house. (The REPU experience was really cool on its own!)
(https://i.imgur.com/Iyec05I.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/9jtyV7O.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/e3HLWUh.jpg)
As we loaded the car on the trailer, you could tell the sellers were really emotional, they even recorded it on video check out their YouTube page! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq5TbqviKcMObnJeh2DB7CA (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq5TbqviKcMObnJeh2DB7CA)
(https://i.imgur.com/f7b5dsV.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/aGib5cg.jpg)
The drive home consisted of us staying the night at ITSWILL's brother's house (it was coincidentally his birthday too) and having a mean BBQ and much needed sleep. I had chick-Fil-A for the first time, and had breakfast at Taco Express, we also stopped at the Corvette museum, all in all it was a good trip. Also, the car got so much attention from people giving thumbs up, to asking to have their picture taken next to it.
(https://i.imgur.com/6gLhs1J.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/GAek8N5.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/UI1prGU.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Ikb8Lc4.jpg)
We got home and had it in the garage just before midnight, the whole trip took 42 hours. Big thanks to ITSWILL for driving! It was a great time actually.
(https://i.imgur.com/lPM1Zj3.jpg)
Once i finally had time, I installed the undertray that was off at the time of purchase, this was really easy and I didn't even need to lift the car. The clutch engaged really high on the pedal, this was adjusted and is much better now. The throttle cable had a good inch or two of slack, this was adjusted to just a few milimeters of slack. The rear strut bar was added and I decided to take the car for a spin.
(https://i.imgur.com/eWHzjOs.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/SbA0Wd4.jpg)
First thing I noticed is the idle is a bit inconsistent at times, reminds me of a poor TPS adjustment on the FC's, which is very well possible on the FD as well. It doesn't want to stall, it just gets a bit lumpy at times. There's no low end, this is due to the fact the turbos are ran parallel instead of sequentially, this is typically done for reliability and better fuel economy on the low-end. At WOT, the thing hauls ass actually, it may not be as fast as ITSWILL's cars (ahh hhem) but it's damn quick for me. Boost response is nice, the car rides very smoothly, and there are no clunks in the suspension. There are a few shakes and noises from the interior, which I've actually managed to correct a few of them. I drove for about 40 minutes, checking for any issues, in that time I had a few thumbs ups, one guy asked if the car was made in 2010, and another thought it was the new Supra.
(https://i.imgur.com/rYQuWHk.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/YKxViBJ.jpg)
What now? Well I want to drive it more, learn how it handles and from there do light modifications. I need to replace a tie rod boot, and fix the 5th gear grind (involves removing transmission and replacing a synchro.) Then, wheels and tires, cold air box, better air shrouding, inter-cooler, suspension, get a PFC, and maybe turbo upgrade or single turbo route. There are a few good modifications done already, such as upgraded Koyo radiator, downpipe, high-flow cat, boost gauge, deleted AST (air separation tank) boost controller, new suspension parts and bushings.
Expect a lot more pictures to come over the next year.
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It was a good trip for sure. Driving the REPU was a hoot for sure.
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Driving the REPU, I felt like I could die a horrible death at any moment, it was slow, the steering was the worse I've ever experienced, the carburetor would fuel starve on corners, the 4 speed gears were spread out a lot, and it made all sorts of noises. It was an absolute blast!! It was a uniquely horrifying fantastic experience, I want one.
And now I also want Chick-Fil-A too.
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Congrats on bringing it home. I want a red one too mostly stock, but with the sun roof. Beautiful car!
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congrats! looked like a fun trip too!
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Got some more pictures over the last few months, finally getting around to posting some. Added a M2 Carbon intake, cleaned up some things, added some things, tightened up and replaced a few things as well, nothing major though.
(https://imgur.com/YRQ9oli.jpg)
(https://imgur.com/v91nAcA.jpg)
Friend's 2002 Z06, he flew to Seattle and drove it back through a few snow storms and mountains.
(https://imgur.com/rnrTjyS.jpg)
(https://imgur.com/tE03ywR.jpg)
3 Red RX's.
(https://imgur.com/dWhCj60.jpg)
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(https://imgur.com/bjYaEaH.jpg)
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Replaced the Oil pressure sender unit this weekend, for such a cramped engine bay, and being mostly stock, the entire ordeal took me 5 minutes from removing it, to replacing it with a brand new one. Tested the car and the oil pressure gauge is reading correctly finally, before it would show either 0 PSI or maxed out on the gauge. It's crazy that the FD gets over 100PSI during high RPM operation, had me worried but it's normal.
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I'm really looking forward to this Saturday having our FDs lined up!
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Replaced the stock intercooler with an upgraded Peter Farrell Supercars unit. It also came with a custom intercooler duct as well. It took about an hour getting the new unit on, due to the cramped engine bay, and having to re-locate things. Also added on a replacement Map pocket lid, that my car was missing. I need to replace the entire surround eventually, due to a cracked piece, but for now the map pocket lid looks way better! I'll try to get pictures up soon.
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Map pocket installed. (Didn't have to take the door panel apart, which is nice. This is from Bubbletech)
(https://i.imgur.com/XuT4Z60.jpg)
Installed, it sits a bit crooked, I think this is due to retaining the stock pipes, I'll mess with it and see if I can straighten it out. I retained the stock cowl that is designed to connect the intercooler duct to the intake duct, just to keep a stock look to it. I had to modify the underside of it in order to fit with the new intercooler duct, which is huge. (https://i.imgur.com/F7WlOtj.jpg)
Size Comparison outside of the car
(https://i.imgur.com/YBVltHr.jpg)
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Wow, that is an absolutely minuscule intercooler! I think even the OEM T2 one is bigger, and the water-to-air core I got (which are much more effective) visually looks like it's got more surface area as well. Yikes
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I think you're right, I'd bet the T2 top mount has more surface area, and probably cools better than the stock SMIC on the FD. Another big issue with these is the factory intercooler duct, one side of it goes to the battery, and the other goes to the intake, which prevents any efficiency to the stock SMIC. The Duct for the new one is fully sealed against the intercooler, and it extends out beyond the radiator a bit more than the factory one does. Also, it doesn't share with the battery or intake, solely dedicated to the intercooler. When I bought the car, it didn't have a duct anyways, so I'm sure it's going to love life now. You could tell after a WOT pull, it would lose power before.
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Been busy replacing/fixing things with this car as of lately. I decided to tackle replacing the air pump with the Pineapple racing idler pulley system. Everything was going smooth until a bolt broke on extraction, this caused the bolt to pretty much weld itself into the water pump housing, several hours were spent trying to extract the remaining pieces with all sorts of drill bits and what not. The bolt would not come out, and was just causing a bigger mess (steel on steel surrounded by aluminum). I've also had a small coolant leak around the top of the water pump that I couldn't quite track down, but wasn't from the water pump leak-hole thing that usually spews coolant when they fail. I decided to replace the housing entirely, including the thermostat, while re-using my old thermostat neck (This is a rare part that includes the ability to bolt on an S5 radiator cap that's needed to delete the AST), so I had to paint that to match the newer housing, all in all it looks good under the hood now. Now I'm waiting on replacement belts to come in, the Pineapple racing kit supplied a belt, but it was too small, this is due to the fact that my car apparently doesn't have the stock water pump pulley size. The P/S belt is apparently the hardest thing to find in the world, even Summit Racing didn't have it, so I'll reuse the current one until the new one comes in next week.
Hopefully have this car all bolted back up soon, work has kept me busy, and the only time I've had to work on it has been the hottest of the hottest days (works great when you have a sensitivity to heat + bad back). Also, more upgrades will be coming soon, including a PFC, Tein lowering springs with stock shocks (I read the Howard Coleman thread on Rx7club religiously to find the right setup, it's a great read! https://www.rx7club.com/suspension-wheels-tires-brakes-20/howard-colemans-fd-chassis-setup-723617/ (https://www.rx7club.com/suspension-wheels-tires-brakes-20/howard-colemans-fd-chassis-setup-723617/))
Next up is to find the right wheel tire set-up, though I'm in no rush as I have to wait for more money. Pictures will come soon.
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The guy I bought my car from said he had the Howard Coleman setup on it too. Prolly why have the Tein springs
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Ah, didn't know you had Tein springs on your car, I haven't installed mine yet. Another thing that I forgot to mention, is my clutch pedal breaking in half, I ordered a replacement pedal, but I was sent a brake pedal instead. So, waiting on that as well. I really just want to drive it!
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Finished putting everything back together under the hood. Without the air pump, things look a lot better, you can see the primary turbo as well now, and the fact that I had room and space to clean things up. Was it worth it installing the Pineapple Racing Idler pulley? Maybe, considering I had to take the entire water pump housing unit off, and flush the coolant (probably a good idea anyways, though it looked clean and not worn out.) Even if I didn't snap a bolt, I'd have to take off the housing regardless because the lower stud didn't have enough clearance to install the pulley bracket and had to be removed and replaced with either more slack or the replacement bolt PR supplied.
The front suspension was replaced spontaneously by Will and I Friday night, it looks 100 times better, even though the wheel isn't flush with the wheel. I'm really looking forward to driving it and seeing how it performs. I'm sure it's going to be more of a harsh ride though.
The only thing that's really limiting me now is wheels and tires, (and maybe the cat-back) this is exactly where I want this car to be for now.
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So finally got around to getting Tein S Springs installed all around, I reused the stock shocks, and have to say so far i'm a huge fan of the this setup. I can tell the car is more stiff, but not uncomfortable at all. The car looks 100X better as well, though it could use spacers or after market wheels and tires.
Springs installed.
(https://i.imgur.com/aqpRM3w.jpg)
Replaced some interior parts here and there, though I still need to replace the steering wheel (perhaps with a late model RX7 Nardi wheel?) and if i'm feeling crazy, get R1 seats (since this is an R1 afterall), though I enjoy the base seats.
(https://i.imgur.com/WFPztEz.jpg)
Finally have the engine bay back together, the PR idler pulley eliminates the air pump, and you can see the primary turbo now. Of course I've got some new belts installed too. Not sure if I mentioned this too, but I gave the car a coolant flush and changed the oil and used a better oil filter than the crap that was installed from the PO.
(https://i.imgur.com/3iiLKvu.jpg)
The clutch pedal has been fixed, thanks to Will hatching an idea to repair the clutch pedal assembly. Basically, once I removed the assembly, it wasn't as bad as I initially thought. I'll post what we did in a separate thread. Gotta say, with the springs, the repaired clutch assembly, the car feels much better now! Next up, PFC install!
(https://i.imgur.com/CpOSi4T.jpg)
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It's amazing how much the car changes just by lowering it slightly. Looking really good man.
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Thanks man, what a difference it makes! I just need some after market wheels now. Drove it all day today, this setup works really well with the street surprisingly. Car has no issues in the heat as well, in fact the high speed fans never turned on, just the low speed (I wasn't beating on it today, which typically causes the higher speeds to turn on after a while).
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Replaced both axle seals, no more leaking! Was about a 3 hour job, the first axle took about 2 hours, then the 2nd one took 30 minutes, and another 30 minutes to replace the differential fluid. Wasn't that difficult, but definitely a PITA and messy. It helps taking off the entire brake caliper and rotor if it's being done solo.
(https://i.imgur.com/uP4sMlb.jpg)
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Power Fuel Controller (PFC) is now installed, running on the base tune for now. The idle is much better, it idles at 750RPM no problem now, before it would jump around a bit.
I've been monitoring the air and water temps this weekend, when I drove to LBI yesterday, temperature was at 90 degrees F outside, the highest the water temp got to was 85c, which is around 185f.
The way home I monitored both water and air, air sat at 40c, and would quickly go up to about 50c when sitting at a traffic light, it would go back down to 40c after cruising for about 2 minutes. I did a few pulls and temps wouldn't rise that much, highest I saw water temp go to was 89c Water temp never exceeded 85c on the way home, which was probably 95f outside. Air temp never went beyond 50c, and only rose that high during stops.
This tells me my air intake temp was around 10 degrees above ambient temperature, and my water temp is in the normal operating range, not bad! I know I was sweating my balls off the entire time yesterday.
Now, the only issues I'm really having is that during light load throttle blips for downshifting (anything below 3k really) it bogs a bit, you can hear intake suction. Anything more and it's fine though, I reset the PFC to see if that helps, and it didn't seem to make a difference. The other issue is that my boost controller doesn't seem to work at all, I'm definitely over boosting, even with the controller set all the way down or even off. I looked over the vacuum lines and they're all fine, I'll have to do some testing with it.
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Congrats on the sweet ride.... looks great! Especially an R1... very nice.
The guy who recovered my OEM shigt knob also does steering wheels and e-brakes.... his steering wheel recovers are masterful work. I can dig up the info if you like....
I think the FD OEM wheels look great..... your idea of spacers, coupled with the lowering with the coil overs, is sound. It will give it a great stance. I wish i did that on my FD and my 2nd NSX. A friend just did that on his NSX, which suffered the same problem of cars from that era -- too high in the back and wheels way inset --- and the end result looks great.... nice stance and retaining the originality.
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Thanks! Yeah send me his info if you have it, that will help me decide New Steering wheel or reupholstered one.
What am I going to do with the wheel situation, that's the biggest question I have right now. After market? Or retain the stock wheels, get some good performance tires (upgrade to 245 most likely from 225), and get some spacers in there to clean things up. Stock wheels would save me quite a bit of money, considering I've spent my Car project funds for the year already. I'm split in the middle right now. I'm also a huge fan of the stock look with flush stock wheels too, but I'll admit how sexy the car looks with some nice after market multi-spoke wheels.
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hulanfd3s.... see the thread below:
https://www.rx7club.com/detailing-restoration-284/recovering-my-shift-knob-wheel-e-brake-911397/ (https://www.rx7club.com/detailing-restoration-284/recovering-my-shift-knob-wheel-e-brake-911397/)
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Drove the FD this past weekend for about 10 minutes (would have been longer, but was between appointments) just to ensure everything is working right. I think I have to re-tune the TPS a bit, as it stumbles a bit sometimes if I tap the throttle to downshift at low RPM. Also, I need to replace the passenger door handle, this broke off last year, I have the parts, just need to get to it. Also, if I can find the funds, I need to get wheels and tires! Anyways, going from my sonic daily driver to an FD was quite the leap this weekend.
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Ending up replacing the stock bus steering wheel with a miata nardi wheel. These are a few mm smaller in diameter than the stock wheel, look better, and aren't hard to fit. Luckily I bought one with the turn signal cancel notches done, and wiring plug and play. It's easy when your car didn't come with cruise control, so just the horn it is. Easily one the best mods i've done so far, the stock wheel feels better with steering, grip and I don't bang my knees on it anymore.
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Car has been unchanged really, besides the fact that the CPU2 is starting to go, I'll need to fix that soon. I'll get some pictures up sometime when I get around to it.