ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

Speaking of Lime Rock, I was at LRP a couple weekends ago for some American Le Mans action. I parked in the Japanese car corral and got three parade laps around Lime Rock. Not nearly as much fun as my track day with COM at LRP back in 2007, but I had some good sprints once traffic cleared around 2 into 3 and 5 into 6. We also got a few hot laps in an ISF with a Skip Barber instructor. That was a ridiculous amount of fun! I chose that over a hot lap in an M3, and trust me, it was no slouch! I have a wedding to go to the weekend of the Grand Am return to Lime Rock in September, but cannot wait for another event.



We also went up to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for a NASCAR 301 race for my good friends bachelor party. I didn't think I was going to have as much fun as I did. The power, speed and sound translates so much better in person; making it a pretty awesome automotive atmosphere regardless of the lack of right handers. No bang ups, but a good race nonetheless. Oh, and Kasey Kahne owes me $5! Or maybe Kyle Busch does? Either way, I backed the wrong pony.

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

A little more on topic, I had taken Mia to Wicked Innovations in West Kingston, RI this past Saturday for a fender massage to fit the new set. Came out great! It was nice meeting you there Adam. I can't wait to see your FD in person. Good luck with the body work.

As for the shop, they're geared more towards Subarus, Hondas, and Nissans, but it was fun talking cars with fellow enthusiasts. Their GT35R powered, 560whp WRX wagon was pretty bad ***, as was their turbocharged FG2 Civic with a big brake kit. Definitely some awesome builds coming out of their shop.

Front before:

Rear before:


Front after fender roll:
I need to do some work tucking some things here and there after pulling the splash guards.

Rear after fender roll:



As for progress with the wheels, I have a new inner barrel (thanks Brent, and John at CCW) for one of the wheels. I should be dropping them off soon to have them refinished. I have gone back and forth on the finish and have already changed my mind from the above choice. Flat black appears to be quite the pain to maintain. I am just going to have to make my mind up right as I'm dropping them off, because I have found a lot of good options. I also need to order up the tires.

This month has been hectic but a lot of fun! And there's a lot more to do!

Stay tuned!
- Transmission and differential change from Redline to Neo 75w90 HD (thanks Ray/Malloy for the washers)
- HKS Twin Power ignition amp


edit to the above post for those keeping score at home - my time trial event was actually with CART-CT and not COM in 2007

ZE Power MX6

iTrader: (157)

Lots of great photo, can't wait to see what you doing to those CCWs

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

Sadly, not as much progress to report as I would have liked. I am coming up on ten years ownership, so taking my sweet time has been a running theme.

Cleaned the ARP nuts and bolts for the CCWs.


Had the Classics refinished in satin black and gloss black. A note to anyone else who wants to have three-piece wheels powdercoated: go with a thin coat as these wheels are very precise in assembly. I need to pick up some touch up for that assembly mishap.


Bought some Kumho Escta XS 295/35/17s. Not my first choice for tires (decent grip, a bit chubby), but pretty good option for the 17x11s. I had a really hard time sourcing these, but found a place down south willing to sell them buy one get one free. Made my choice that much easier.

A 275 would have opened up some other grippier options, but would have thrown the gearing off slightly. I am going 255/40/17 up front. In hindsight, I would have gone with a set of lightweight wheels where I could have run 255/40/17s all around. Maybe on the next set.


My fiance bought me some Kics Project R26 lug nuts in black chrome for my birthday. A little excessive, but they'll get the job done.


Picked up some polished bits. Thanks Riz (str8ryd). Need some other bits here and there, but a good start.





My fiance also got me some DEI Reflect-A-Gold for Christmas, so that kept me occupied this evening. I have my unpolished UIM in the bay now, so I am planning on picking up a temp gauge in the Spring and checking to see if the wrap is worth the effort.

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

I headed to Baltimore for the 7th ALMS race of the season. Thanks Dan for being an awesome host, and Ryan and Rich for getting me down to Baltimore. I didn't get nearly as many good action shots as I would have liked, but it was a great event nonetheless.



To do list:
- Transmission and differential fluid change from Redline to Neo 75w90 HD
- HKS Twin Power ignition amp and harness
- Install polished parts
- Finish assembling wheels
- Pick up 255/40/17 Kumho XS for 17x10 front wheels
- Mount and balance wheels
- Suspension tune
- ...

Also on my list for the daily driver:
- Bilstein struts
- H&R springs
- Suspension refresh kit
- Alignment kit
- Align
- TSD road rally

Thanks

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

Happy St. Patrick's Day to my fellow Irishmen! Stay safe out there.

Congrats to Flying Lizards for scoring second in their ALMS GTC maiden voyage.

With the New England winter, there hasn't been much to show other than a collection of parts all over the apartment and garage waiting for install.


Finally got the CCW's squared away. Thanks to Scott at Long Beach Custom Fabrication for the powdercoat, Joe for help with the assembly, Jon at Kaizen Tuning for mounting and balancing, Hunter for helping with wheel and tire install (even though you should have been doing your homework!), and Heidi for letting me turn our spare bedroom into an automotive storage room and our kitchen table into a work bench. The set ups not perfect yet, but I will close that wheel gap up a bit once the salt clears.

Setup rundown for reference: CCW Classics 17x10(F), 17x11(R), 7.5" backspacing; bengal black (gloss) outer barrel finish, black magic (satin) center finish; ARP wheel hardware; Kumho Escta XS 255/40/17(F), 295/35/17(R); Kics Project R26 Lug Nuts



I've got 130 pounds of JDM goodness and some twill carbon fiber bits on the way, with a laundry list of work to do!

I'd say stay tuned for updates, but as you can see, I work (sadly) at a glacial pace with the distance between our apartment and garage.


NEEDED: black (leather or suede) passenger seat with rails. I want to take the RX-7 to my wedding but Heidi does not want to take the Sparco Sprint back. Please PM me pics and a price. I am only going to use it for a day, but I'd like it to be in clean, good condition (no tears, rips, stains, cigarette burns, etc).


Cheers!

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

I made it back to the garage a couple weeks ago to get Mia ready for spring, with hopes of actually driving her. Yes, the timing is late, but my Mom's garage is not heated. My garage motivation is usually directly correlated with warmth.

I was more than happy to find this waiting for me: a 2001 transmission with low mileage (supposedly). My current transmission has been grinding 1st through 3rd since my last track day. Since an inevitable replacement will cost much less than a rebuild, I figured I'd run my current one into the ground and have this on stand by. And I figured I might as well get a Series 8 transmission if I had to get one.

Many thanks to Amir at Lucky 7 Racing. I know you had a hard time with shipping, so I really appreciate your effort in getting this out around getting your car ready for the race season. Good luck this year!

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

Ended up blowing a strut on one of my hood dampers. Thanks Ben for helping me with replacement parts.

Sans hood, she's all buttoned down and ready to go. Seems like the reasonable way to keep her right? I should have done all this last year when we did the v-mount.

Cleaned the upper intake manifold and throttlebody out for install:

That's a lot of sand! Definitely much better in the paint bucket than in my engine

My LIM was not left uncovered, but this reminds me that I need to pick up an SBG nut blocker


Unsuccessful bootleg alternator pulley removal technique. I had to order a Banzai Racing ISC block off plate for the UIM anyway, so not a bad place to call it. We'll be back with an air compressor and impact wrench


I am strongly considering having my waterpump, thermostat housing, alternator bracket, engine hoist bracket, AST, and torque brace polished or chrome plated. This will push my time with assembly back, pushing my seat time back...

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

After putting it off since 2005, I am finally having my tail lights converted. Thanks Tom (theorie)!


I'm going to replace all bulbs before install. Not necessary, but it will make sense with the next post. I also need to clean this area out a bit. Again not necessary, but I'll feel better.

Ready for shipment.


And the conversion. Tom's work of art:

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

My fiance was quite surprised when she received a 6'x3'x1' package at work. I really should have given her a heads-up.

Is a diffuser actually useful on a street car without a flat bottom? No. Do I love carbon fiber? Hell yup! I went with the more extreme Shine Auto Project Pro diffuser with center air diverters in twill carbon fiber.

From what I gather, the install isn't exactly rocket surgery. I had some questions and couldn't find any guides on how to best install, so I'll throw up a how-to guide in a few weeks.



Toby doing a once over inspection of Shine's carbon fiber quality

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

I was going back and forth on a spoiler, trying to decide between a '99spec VIS knockoff with Odula center from Texas or Shine's low profile taillight spoiler. I knew I would have to buy a carbon fiber hatch if I went '99spec. Irrational right? I didn't want to have to put holes in my stock hatch to eventually have to put holes in a carbon fiber hatch down the road. That's just how my mind works with my RX-7 build. Probably why it's taking me forever to get to a point where I would consider her "finished". (apart from all of the imperfections glaring me in the face everytime I'm in the garage).

Oh, and the Shine low profile spoiler just looks down right sexy. Decision made!



Toby missed this blatant blemish...

...so Ellie decided it was time she stepped in as my aero/body work inspector


That's it for now. Cheers!

ZE Power MX6

iTrader: (157)

A lot of nice CF parts you got there, does the lip spoiler cover the whole top part of the tail lights?

Scrub

iTrader: (25)

RICK!!! Looks great buddy! I might be up in your area in the next few months, we need to get together man.

Fas7tom

Nice one going ! Love to see the car wit all those nice carbon parts!

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

Thanks. The spoiler does cover the whole top of the taillights and a portion of the side. It is adhered to the top with 3M. This is why I'm replacing all the bulbs during install.


What's goin' on Dan?! It's been a while. Thanks for the complement.

Let me know when you're in the area and if you need a place to stay. We'll definitely have to get together.

Have you guys fabricated a rear mount/trunk/or roll bar fire extinguisher yet? Could you bring up a 2.5 pound halotron extinguisher with you? And a nut blocker?


Thanks. I can't wait to see it all mounted up as well. I feel like we have a few hours of headache ahead of us with install first though.


A polished waterpump and my converted taillights should be here by the weekend. Then Mark, Brian, Tony, and I are going to put in some serious work Sunday to get her ready for an event at my alma mater (UMass Amherst) next weekend.


Everyone heading down to Deal's Gap Rotary Rally: stay safe and have fun!

I will try to make it a point to not squirrel away a room full of parts next winter so I can actually have my car ready for the road trip down and back.

Scrub

iTrader: (25)

Sounds like a plan, maybe grab some delicious Northeast brews

Yup, rear hatch mount is complete, roll bar mount still in the works.
Here's the rear hatch mount -> link
I can definitely bring those parts with me.

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

Awesome! Just keep your expectations low; we have some good bars, but nothing nearly as cool as 1984.


Thanks, but no longer necessary. I know I've needed a fire extinguisher for a while, but this had me order one up immediately.



Nothing new as far as this thread goes, but I was pretty psyched when a kid from VWVortex decided to post some pics up of my CCW refinish project on his Wheel Snob page.

I still need to bring the car to Kaizen Tuning for a suspension tune, corner balance, and alignment before I am fully happy with the finished product. This of course means I need to get the car buttoned back up so I can actually get her out of the garage.

Looks like a nice New England weekend coming up, so we should be able to cross off a lot from the list.

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

Progress...

Brian's work:

Mark's work:

My work (just a test fit on the ducktail, but I am liking where this is going):


Not so much progress:



Thanks Mark and Brian for another cold day spent at the garage, Adam for getting out of your sick bed to take the spoiler for a clear coat, and Tony and Tom for stopping by.

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

We've had a little automotive A.D.D. around the garage lately: prepping the Audi for a potential sale, sway bars and endlinks on Brian's WRX (feels like a whole new car, should be autocrossing it soon), and my friend Jared's bad *** turbocharged Miata



My best friends and master mechanics - Mark (left) and Brian (right). Both have hundreds of hours into my car with me, and get pissed everytime I get something new and we have to tear my perfectly running set up back down.



Just about all squared away. Nothing new, just more shiny parts I'll need to clean



Upped the insurance and took her out for ~100 miles of hoodless fun (took a page out of Bubbles book)! Mark giggled the first time he stepped into it



My buddy Adam clearcoated my Shine low-profile spoiler and my Mom gave me a hand installing it last night. I can definitely feel the weight with the CCW's, but the car is still as nimble as ever and still handles like she's on rails. The test ground was seven laps around a closed rotary. Try as I might, I couldn't break the 295's loose.




Throwback location - the first shoot was better, circa 2007



Back a few stages, but some cool pics I found after Adam blended my bumper and fenders. These pics were from the Quabbin Reservoir, where I'm getting married in September


Peek-a-boo!

Ceylon

iTrader: (3)

That intercooler looks great! Cars coming along nicely

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

Thanks!


I ended up going to the garage for the weekend with the intentions of getting the rear diffuser on and hanging out with some friends. I started to put the N1 hood back on, but am having issues with stripped bolt holes; I may have to go with four hood pins. I ended up having to throw the stock hood back on. Made me miss the N1 hood that much more! The v-mount temps stayed relatively the same with the non-vented hood vs the vented hood, but would heat soak much quicker.

I was on my way to what I thought was a Cars and Coffee meet Saturday only to find out that it was today instead. One of the best mistakes I've made! I called my friend Tony and we grabbed coffee, and had waaaaay more fun with the car portion! We saw a VR '94 R2 on our way back and ended up stopping to check it out. The owner stepped away from his karate lesson before we drove away, and we got to talking. Nice to finally have an RX-7 friend close to the garage.

Tony's brother Tommy bought an NA NSX recently that I've been anxious to check out. We ended up taking our cars out for a little cruise. I took a ride with Tommy in his NSX while Tony took the FD. We ended up at Starbucks and Tommy tossed me the keys. I had driven an NSX back when I was 17, but not like this! It is amazing how well it handles and sounds in stock form. So much fun!

We ended up back at their garage and Tony tossed me the keys to his track prepped S2000. It's always fun when you get the green light to redline someone else's car! He just dialed in his KW suspension set up, felt quite responsive.



I thought my weekend couldn't get any better, but it did! I was driving back from Tony's and saw that a battery dealership was opened. I have been having issues with my Westco Mini Miata battery and was going to order another, but picking one up on the spot was even better. I ended up going with a 15lb Odyssey P680 battery. No more having to leave the car running during errands or having to get a jump. That routine lasted a whole day, which was more than enough.

I gave my friend Adam a call after I resolved the battery issue. Adam recently bought his forth (!) Porsche - an '82 911 SC Coupe - and I wanted to check it out. We ended up heading to his shop, and he tossed me the keys to his brand new baby. I've driven his C4, which I thought was a hell of a work out to drive, but this thing was on a whole other level! The rawness was so cool! The finish is a BMW 2002 color that my camera could not do it it's full justice.




We ended up at his shop and I saw his other baby for the first time - a '66 912 - that he has hundreds of hours into with restoration. He also has an '86 911 Targa and a '90 964 C4.

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

Tony ended up meeting us at Adam's shop and suggested that we lower the RX-7. This day keeps getting better! I of course didn't have the Kics Project lug nut locks on me, so had to head back to my garage then up to Tony's garage.

Three times up and down on the driver side, two times up and down on the passenger side, some math, some blood, and I am now 0.81" lower in the front and 1.31" lower in the rear! This is the first go at it, so I'll see how I like it with some more seat time. I may need to bring the rear up a bit or have Adam flare the rear fenders out to put my mind at ease.


Before:



Math:



After:


I ended the night at my friend Andy's house. Sadly the college drinks kept his '97 twin turbo Supra in the garage. This day was soo close to being perfect!



Finally made it to the Cars and Coffee meet this morning. Some pretty cool cars. This is Ashwin's VR R2.



The moral of this story is that it is great to own a cool car, but it's waaaay better to have generous friends with awesome cars! Like I said, making the mistake of going out to what I thought was a meet and ending up driving an NSX, S2000, '82 SC Coupe, meeting a new RX-7 owner, and lowering my car was probably the best I've ever made! Thanks Tony for the help with the suspension and Adam for the help with that scratch.


Next up, we're all going to the White Mountains / Kancamagus Highway for some driving. I need to square away the hood issues, paint the tail light plastic covers, Sonax clean the wheels (those HP+ pads sure get dusty!), bolt down the Odyssey P680s, and tweak the dampening. Should be a great summer!

ZE Power MX6

iTrader: (157)

A lot of nice picture, car looking great as usually

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

Thanks Henry!

Thanks Gordon - anytime! The pictures of Adam's P-cars really doesn't give them the full justice they deserve.



It's been a while! Where to begin...


I sold Adelia to a gentleman in Pennsylvania (side note - said gentleman is holding my Bruins plates and Flying Lizard Motorsports plate frame hostage for some reason; if you see Adelia with my plates in the Philly area, please PM me or jack them and drop 'em in the mail)...



...and bought Stacia, a 2012 Subaru Outback 3.6R Limited. She isn't as much fun as Adelia was and is more common, but is way more practical. Oh, and the flappy paddle gear box and torque of the 6 cylinder boxer keeps me happy. The Evo IX idea made little traction with the wife, so we "settled". I have a 19mm STi sway bar I need to throw in, should clean up some of the body roll.




I read an article a while back about an RX-7 igniting during a hellafrush photoshoot, and it scared me into dropping everything to order up a single-pin quick release extinguisher mount (DragonFire) and a 2.5 pound halotron extinguisher. Thanks SakeBomb Garage!



Completely abstract pin ribbon idea - I imagined this will be the first thing that comes to mind if I ever need it



My factory mats have been showing their age for a while, and have been collecting dust on a shelf for years. It was long overdue, and I figured I'd get something nice for my special lady friend's (as SBG and the Dude say) feet. I picked up a set of JasonS' berber luxury touring floor mats and non-Bose cargo mat. Incredibly soft, perfect fit, high quality, with a factory look and way better than factory feel. Jason worked with me to get exactly what I wanted and rushed them out for my special day (see below). Stand up businessman with awesome products.




I also picked up a SakeBomb Garage passenger footrest. Great quality! That's currently getting recoated satin black; the factory silver coat clashed too much. Pics to follow eventually.

ZumSpeedRX-7

iTrader: (12)

Mark and I installed the Shine Spec-RE Pro Diffuser with Center Channel Air Diverters.

It was way easier than I could have imagined it would have been had I tried to tackle it alone. We took our time, measured several times before drilling, and bounced ideas off eachother to make it work.

Here is a full install write up for reference.





Measure thrice, drill once!