tIIforever

Can any one tell me what mods i should do and in what order for my rx7 its got 105 on the compression so its in good shape.

Node

iTrader: (1)

wow, stealth laser and 3kgt, you sure must love turbo AWD :-D

PraxRX7

I have also considered modding my T2, if you want to do it safely I recommend the following in order(I am going to explain this like I was explaining it to someone who knows nothing about modding, because quite frankly I am still learning this shnit and think that it is the easiest way to explain it):

For all modding:

Better Radiator
Front Mount Intercooler
Electric Fan (make sure it is set up right or you may overheat)
Proper Gauges (Boost, Air/Fuel, Exhaust Temp., Water Temp, Oil Pressure, Fuel Pressure)

Those are mods to help reliablity and to monitor the enine to stop engine exploding (or prevent anyways..remember those stock gauges suck and are innacurate, but those aftermarket ones are not just for show, you need to monitor them frequently.)

From here you have 2 choices, do you want more HP or are you already a happy camper?

I am going to explain this from 2 perspectives. Now people are saying that the stock turbo's can put out about 12 psi max with proper setup..

This is when the real modification begins, you will want to prepare your car for testing, fresh oil, fresh tranny oil, fresh diff fluid, check all engine hoses/belts for imperfections, make sure your engine is running perfectly before starting mods(water pump full functionality, aoil circulation good, new filters for fuel/oils) (if you have high milage you should consider a rebuild or a new motor purchase before you decide to do mods (This will allow you to choose a porting if you wish to do a port, I recommend nothing bigger than a street port if you want your car to be living more than a year, but if you are going to port the motor, you should read further ahead, as that is a major mod and you need to make sure your system can handle it....main part to pay attention to is the fuel injection/pump system part of this post, also if you plan on running anything over 18 PSI I reccomend considering 3mm apex seals, which requires machining of your rotors to fit larger seals (I think stock is 2mm on your car), you also have the options here for lighter rotors)

Now that you have the right gauges, you need something to control stuff with...2 options:

Full blown ECU or Piggy-back

If you want full tuneability and know how to tune the ECU of your choice (requires knowledge of all the settings on an RX-7 pertaining to safe levels of pressure/fuel-air mixture etc that the engine can handle (many people do this through trial and error...and lose many engines because of it), also you will need to install the proper sensors for that ECU otherwise it will not get the right kind of signal that it needs and may not be fully tunable that way... if you know all that then a full blown ECU is what you should go for...however if you have no knowledge of that stuff (like me) then you should take the alternative route:

The ECU piggy-backs, ex: Air Fuel Controller, AVC (boost controller)...these are probably a little bit easier to use than a full blown ECU, however you still need to be very careful to monitor your air/fuel ratio's and your fuel regulation and pressure.

Once you have chosen one of these you can move ahead to choosing an Exhaust system, which you are now prepared to handle (the 88 turbo's wastegates are crap so you will have to either port it or go to an external wastegate if you desire more boost and/or bigger turbo).

Now we move to the question: How much HP do you want? well ask yourself, would you be happy with (ballpark figure) roughly 220-300 HP? If so then your Porting choice plus stock turbo should get you there (on an 88 turbo with no porting you might see 235 HP, again a ballpark figure @12psi) Or you could go with a full new turbo for higer PSI (ball bearing I recommend maybe T04 something or other)...you will get significant results the more PSI you achieve )

Now if you chose either one of those you still have to check the following: Is your fuel system running lean at your current PSI (if you go below just a little rich while you are on the gas, I recommend upgrading the fuel system (you will HAVE to upgrade the fuel system with a bigger turbo.) Bigger turbo could mean custom exhaust manifold and/or intake manifold.

Upgrading the fuel system will require a custom fuel rail, bigger injector sizes, and a better fuel pump/filter to meet the higher fuel demands (as well as proper programming of your ECU and/or piggy backs)...

At this point, you should have no more money left..but hey, you have a car that runs safely and for a long time at high HP with a fair bit of reliability (probably crappy gas mileage though), cooling system that can handle the heat, fuel system that can handle the needs, gauges to monitor everything, and one hell of a back ache from leaning over your engine compartment to fit all this crap in there....but... your not really done are you?

You still need a suspension that can handle your HP, tires to handle the insane speeds and acceleration you will have, a clutch that won't slip at those high HP numbers, upgraded brakes (depending on HP) so that you can still stop, better flywheel, bigger crazy tach, huge spoiler, pinstripes and a partrige in a pair tree...and you probably already removed that air-pump and most other accesories like ABS and Power steering (which I am keeping =P stupid ABS never works though...=(

So all and all if you want to mod your car seriously without any drawbacks...this is the way (or part of the way) to do it based on what I have read on the forum and researched on the net. I may not be %100 accurate in what I told you, anyone else that thinks so can tell me what I missed (and please do..I still have lots to learn)

There you go..hope it helps,....Good Luck!

goodspeed

good write up....heres what i recommend..

boost gauge
air/fuel gauge
fcd
super afc
boost controller

then for power...
full exhaust
intake
set to 10 psi and fly!!!!

Im running 8 psi, and hitting 10 in 4th gear, because I dont have my boost controller, and even with the stock fuel system Im still actually running rich, Im still tuning down my injectors at higher rpm's.... the stock fuel system if more than adequate to handle mild modding... I love the super afc.... I can tune if perfect.


as soon as I get the manual boost controller, Im going to install my downpipe and then my exhaust is complete and I will set the boost controller to 10 psi.

With just an intake and midpipe, super afc, I put down a
14.6 at 95 mph at the track!!! With my downpipe and boost controller running 9-10 psi in all gears, I should have a good chance of creeping into the high 13's......or at least 14.0's....which is probably good enough for me....

PraxRX7

I make 15.337 @ 90.04 MPH @6.9 PSI w/ full tank of gas, spare tire, and hatch full-o-junk.

I can almost bet that my 1/4 mile is more along the lines of 14.887 w/ enough gas for one run, no spare tire, empty hatch (every spare Lb counts in the 1/4 mile...I know because as my fuel went down I was pulling significantly faster times. (also it was my first time drag racing...and I had been driving a standard for only little over a month...needless to say my clutch is still being replaced in the shop and my wallet is growing thin.

That is ok though, my plan after winter is to be running 14.5 or lower @10-12 PSI...we'll see what all I can afford...reliability mods come first!

turbojeff

iTrader: (30)

First mod is tune it up, new fuel filter, plugs, wires. Flush brake fluid, clutch fluid, etc.

My old 87 TII ran 14.8's and a 14.7 with just a HKS cat-back and a K+N drop-in. Trap speed was 94-95 mph.

Otherwise put on a FCD and a DP and presilencer and that should have you in the low 14's. My friend had an 88 TII with a DP and presilencer and HKS filter on the stock inlet duct and ran a 14.098@98.xxx the same day I was running the 14.8's.

Jeff
87 TII, undergoing mods currently...
93 R1 13.59@102.85

BOOSTD 7

Without reading anybody elses list, here's mine ... I wanted to reply because I'm going to archive this thread. Since you're a Turbo guy, I'll write this aimed for turbo's.

First - baseline the car, set a goal and a budget. Part of baselining the car is making SURE everything is running right. Don't think about modding the car before it's running right. Do all the regular maintenance things; spark plugs, fuel/air filter, flush radiator, check belts, adjust TPS, etc. Then check the compression (your 105 is good), and make sure you're making the right amount of boost by installing a good boost gauge. Once it's all just right, you might want to get it on a dyno to know how much you're making without mods.

Set your budget and goals - will it be a street only car? Will you drag race, autocross, road race? What's the budget and how much of the work can you do yourself? Also consider if you must meet emissions or not.

Stage 1 mods - I say the first mod should be exhaust. If you don't need to meet emissions, that makes things much easier - you would just get a downpipe and midpipe. If you do, then keep your airpump and get a good high-flow cat to go with a downpipe. For a catback, choose wisely. Apex stuff is loud and really Honda-raspy sounding, especially with an open exhaust. If you have an open exhaust, and still want your ear drums when you turn 30, then get something that's not a straight-through design, like Racing Beat.

Next mod should be intake. There's 1000 ways to do an intake, so whatever works and fits in your budget.

By this point, you'll be running around 220-230 hp and should start thinking about getting more fuel. When you choose, consider your goals. Do you want 250 hp or 450 hp? If you're just aiming to get 250 or so, then my suggestion would be to get a Walbro in-tank fuel pump and a rising-rate fuel pressure regulator. That along with the stock injectors will be good for 260-280 hp. One cronic problem is bad wiring to the pump, and in-turn low voltage. Use a multimeter and see how much voltage the pump is getting while the cars running - it should be close to what voltage you're getting at the battery. If it's not close to 14V, then you should run new wiring to the pump.

There's a few other little things you can do, like better spark plug wires, Redline water wetter in the radiator and Redline in the diff and tranny. Things like lightening the car can also go a long way. If you don't need emissions, remove the airpump. You can also yank the A/C, power steering, sound deadening, and all kinds of little stuff. It adds up...

Stage 2 modsTo go beyond the 260-280 hp range requires a whole new level of mods and money! The most important thing at this level is fuel. You will either need larger secondary injectors or additional injectors. There are many ways to accomplish this. In order of my personal best to worst, they are:

• Stand-alone engine management system such as Haltech, Wolf 3D, Electromitive, etc
• Dedicated additional injector controller
• Piggy-back computers like all the HKS, Apex, etc stuff
• Putting 680 or 720 cc injectors in the secondaries

The best, but hardest option is the stand-alone system. This will give you unlimited upgradeability and flexibility, but you don't want to take this task on without knowing what you're doing. You'll also want a dyno with a wide-band O2 sensor nearby. Without the knowledge and proper tuning equipment, don't get a stand-alone. Additional Injector Controllers or AIC's are good, but can be limited. You're still using the stock ECU to run the stock injectors, but you then plumb in extra injectors somewhere in the intake. Again, you need ways to properly tune the car after the AIC. Piggy-back computers such as the F-CON and the Super-AFC can work, but are very limited. And putting 680's in the secondaries is only an option for the most non-descriminating RX-7 owner.

So now you've got your fuel system chosen to support your hp level. What turbo do you need to go along with it? The stock TII turbo can do up to 280 hp or so. If you get an ugraded hybrid stock, you can go up to maybe 350, and if you get a big single turbo, the sky's the limit. A good choice for around 400 hp would be a Turbonetics 60-1 Hi-Fi. The extra cost and time with the big single would be that you can't use the stock manifold. This means you'll need a custom downpipe, manifold, external wastegate, and oil/coolant plumbing to go to the turbo. With the stock turbo and stock hybrid, they're a bolt-on fit.

Keeping the intake charge is also very important, so you'll need a front mount intercooler. Actually, a bigger IC would be a good idea at any point during the modification process, but by here it's absolutely necessary. Either buy a kit that has everything you need, or get a Spearco core and have somebody make tubing for you. Either way is good, the custom way is cheaper and more fun though There's also lots of good IC's to be found in junk yards. Volvo's, turbo trucks, all kinds of things have big front mount IC's on them stock that can be adapted to work, with a little massaging by a welding shop.

I guess it's worth mentioning that a rebuilt ported motor wouldn't be a bad idea here either. I suggest using the Hurley apex seals, but it's not necessary. 3mm seals are also a good idea, but not necessary. If you can keep your car from detonating, you don't need 3mm seals ... but they do give you a little extra protection just in case. Have a nice big, smooth port job done and you'll be good to go.

Those are the biggies, other little things that would be needed are a better blow-off valve, EGT gauge (you can never have to many gauges), better radiator and possibly electric fan, boost controller, a stonger clutch like AKT or RPS turboclutch, possibly a lightweight flywheel ... and more that I can't think of right now.

Stage 3 mods - Warning, don't go to stage 3 unless your paycheck and wife can handle it. Things like full roll cages, racing seats, $2500 wheels, tow vehicles and trailers ... that's Stage 3. I think my car is somewhere in Stage 8 right now

Suspension mods - don't forget about your suspension. First thing to do is shocks and springs. Again choices - do you want adjustability or not? If you don't, get the Tokico blues and some springs like Eibach or Racing Beat. If you do want adjustability, get Tokico Illuminas and the Grond Control coil-over setup. Other things you can do to the suspension are stiffer sway bars, camber plates, new stiffer bushings.

Brake mods - you gotta stop this thing. Keep good brake fluid in your car at all times! Make sure and bleed your fluid at least once a year and use good fluid. For street use brake pads, the Hawk HPS or Axis Metalmasters will do good. Rotors, you can either use good stock ones, or get some slotted rotors. The stock calipers should be good for most uses. If you want a big brake kit, they're very expensive!

There's an infinate number of possibilites and combinations available. Just do your research, and take your time doing modifications.