That's a very admirable goal of restoring a stock head unit. I've entertained the idea of putting the double DIN CD player and radio from my old N/A into my TII restoration. For the time being I am still going to go with an aftermarket head unit, but I would easily be able to plug the old unit back in down the line. I guess in some ways it's simply easier to just plug in a brand new aftermarket part than to restore an original. Despite all the effort I've gone to in my restoration, I guess I skimped out there.

I love the lighted key hole! I wonder how many of us still have that feature working?

The only thing I don't like about the red interior is the seats. It's definitely 1980s, that's for sure. Your car is looking awesome, keep it up!

 

Lighted keyhole????

 

Yep. But its not the kind thats actually useful like the MKIII supra (around the key hole) its literally a light inside the locking mechanism that can't even be seen unless the little metal flap is aready down (aka the tip of the key is already in the hole)

I thought about restoring mine, but the feature is so lack luster, its hardly worth the time when there are real mods to be done.

 

it is a lack luster feature. but everything else on the car works fine AND i had the door panel off replacing the speaker so why not

kinda useful. the pics show it lighted up but it turns on when you pull up on the handle why the car is locked or unlocked.

i look at it as another thing to break. all new cars have keyless entry so you wont see it on newer cars.



Sexyness!

Spent a lot of money today.
-70lb box comming from racing beat
-1.5 RTEK
-boost/vac gauge +volt gauge (if im gonna drill the a-pillar trim gonna get 2 useful gauges)


Mazda exterror trim and interror trim pieces came in. But winter just hit chicago and my baby is tucked away untill the salt is off the roads. going to suck once the exhaust comes in

 

Today I installed the Koyo Radiator.

I had the flush out the system ofter seeing what the old radiator looked like. no wonder I was having cooling issues! besides the leaky radiator, I pulled the top "low coolant" sensor to see the inside of the radiator rusting out.



I flushed out the rest of the cooling system. The only thing that has me worried is the heater core. Rust can get stuck in there pretty easily. Good thing i only used the heat 1 time since ive owned it.

I only use honda oem coolant. really expensive stuff good for 100,000 miles really anti-rust. cool blue color, worked with it for 6+ years no problems ever seen.

My breakdown of installing the Koyo Radiator on a S4 Turbo...
-Remove battery
-remove airbox/maf sensor unit.
-Remove top air intake snorkel
-Jack car up
-Remove under body cover
-Drain coolant
-Dissconnect upper rad hose at both ends
-disconnect lower rad hose at radiator (dont matter if you break the radiator snout)
-Disconnect leater hose to radiator at radiator (ver important you dont break anything on the other end of the hose!)
-Remove the 4 10mm nuts on the fan clutch to water pump remove fan out of car.
-Remove fan shroud. 6 bolts

at this point you should be right here



-now before you undo the radiator brackets, undo the 2 wires going to the bottom sensor and carefully (dont break it!) take a 22mm wrench the the sensor and take off the sensor.
-take a 17mm wrench to the top coolant buzzer sensor and remove it.

-now undoe the 4 12mm bolts holding the radiator to the body frame
-remove radiator from the car..
-place old and new radiator next to each other on the ground. put new radiator on something to protect it .

****the new radiator as with all radiators are VERY easy to damage. be very carefull, treat it as glasss or thin sheet metal.**

Transfer the brackets and ALL hardware to the new radiator, all hardware, look closely make sure you got everything.

reinstall going back through each step making sure when you install the sensors you dont over tighten them it will strip and screw you. look at the old sensor ans see how far it went in by the age/color marks.

depending what coolant setup your car had you may need to re rought / cut the resvour tank hose from the top of waterpump housing to the new radiator. either buy a new cap assembly from mazda that does not have the nipple or some how seal it off.

bleed the new system. I had to modify the snorkel (trimmed it) so it will fit properly.


Old radiator





New radiator





Compareson. the new one is way thicker.





I also Pulled out the computer to send it out to rtek. what a pain in the *** to pull out.



Looks like the pcm was replaced at one time? has a dealership sticker on it.



going to install the passenger side trim tomorrow since i have a heater in my garage now!

Since the RX-7 is now in its natral state of being on jack stands, and i have to pull the exhaust anyway, i was thinking of pulling the trans out and replacing the shifter bushings and very noisy input shaft bearing. it would be easy to do it now since i can throw the trans in my other car and bring it to work to rebuild it....

 

Awesome. Subscribed !

 

Great story car looks nice

 

I always hate having to pull back the carpet to get to the ECM, and I've done it hundreds of times now...

 

Great story and clean FC!

 

^^^+1

Also, I hope you opened the heater core when doing your flush. Once I get my AST situated and button up the cooling system I may have to look into this honda coolant...

 

yeah i flushed the core. it was not bad. i only has a little rust residue on the bottom of the radiator... im just paranoid about that stuff..

the blue honda coolant is top stuff in my book. (even smells good!) lol

used it in all my other cars including my old 300zx turbo. never had any rust or corrosion problems. its all premixed so you just pour it in. never have to worry about it.


my racing beat rev TII turbo back exhaust came today!



last night I installed my s5 taillights thanks to (joe) who kept these taillights mint! really well taken care of. thanks again bro.





going to rip out the exhaust this weekend. going to pull the trans and replace the input bearing and shifter bushings. more pics to follow.

and thanks to Landon303 for hooking me up with that microswitch for the drivers door. gotta rip that apart again.

 

Your build is very simililar to mine. Love the work you've done.

S5 lights aren't original though. But they do look nice.

Just remember that you need and FCD and ported wastegate before you boost or just don't boost while driving. IF you can drive it this time of year?

 

No i cant drive untill the salt is off the roads. most likely late april.

As for the FCD I have Rtec 1.5 on its way. includes a built in fcd.

I was on the fence with the s5 tail-lights. My old rx-7 was a 89 GTU and had them so I always loved them. I still have the old s4 tail lights boxed up in the attic if i ever change my mind, but i am pleased with the look of them and everytime I see them it reminds me of being 18 again. lol

I have a aftermarket boost gauge to closely watch my boost psi. the guy at racing beat must hate me for asking so many questions when buying the exhaust but he says I should have no overboosting problems if I retain my factory airbox/filter. (that I still do)

Im going to keep a eye on it. If i have problems I am going to pull the turbo out and send it to BNR for a rebuild and ported wastegate.

 

Love the Rev II system! Way to not cheap out on the important stuff. Worth every penny. The s5 tails look great btw. Saying they shouldn't go on there is like saying you shouldn't date the hot girl because that is to typical.... go for the less dated ugly one.

 

Lol good comparisen... 91 turbo? true turbo? if so congrats! that rare as hell.

Today I Installed the drivers door window sash and door bodyside molding.

Old





New




sorry for the crappy pictures, i need more lighting in the garage, spent too much on the garage heater.

Then I pulled out the VERY HEAVY factory exhaust. God that was heavy. made room for the new REV II.

I am posting my Bönez 2.5" Downpipe for sale too since i no longer need it. less than a year old only a few hundered miles i paid $151.00 shipped selling for $50 plus $15 shipping. replaces the first cat.



I also posted a new post on my trans. but here is the long story short....

I had a grinding noise drom the trans when engine was running in neutral at a stop. If i pressed the clutch pedal the noise would go away. So im guessing input shaft bearing.

I also had a very sloppy shifter so i ordered the shifter bushings as well.

here is what I found....




im assuming those are the shifter bushings that i cant find?

i pulled the bell housing off the trans and it looks like with the tools at the shop i should be able to pop the front input shaft bearing off. the shaft has some wiggle at the front bearing but the bearing itself does not look destroyed like i thought it should be. its just a light noise it makes at idle that you cant hear with the radio on.

Also found the center trans crossmember bushing is broken. the side puck mounts are still good. common problem ive read. another 60 bucks to the rotary debt

ill know more next week when i have it at work taking it apart. We are getting 8 in of snow right now so im stuck in the house.

 

When I installed a clutch in my N/A I had a new grinding noise that I chalked up to the bearing being new. After about 5k it went away.

Shifter bushing are usally the first thing I change on a new (to me) RX7 and You'll like how new bushing feel.

You've invested so much why risk blowing the motor. IF you have the time might as well port the wastegate now. I hit fuel cut twice with the REV TII system with everything else stock. Heck I even boost creep with a very ported s5 wastegate& TID in 4th gear. I'll stop harping on you about this but just wanted to let you know eventually your going to have to port that wastegate.

You have any plans on removing emissions?

 

I have the airpump, acv, and egr removed/blocked off. Im gonna give it a try im running rtek 1.5 so no boost cut, just have to worry about going over 11 psi

 

sigh i already have the air pump and exhaust and trans out. might as well pull the turbo out and port it.

 

Spoken like a guy who owns and rx7

I wish I would have kept my emissions on. Wifey doesn't like the smell in the car after boosting. Prob would of been the same because I got rid of the cat.

 

Great work as usual. That window trim makes such a huge difference. I love the progress and the mods you are doing that do deviate from stock. They are very close to what I have planned once mine is eventually running again. Nothing extravagant, just a little extra power.

 

been a huge parts clusterf*ck lately... too many wrong parts comming in and i send them back. /// end rant. nothing worse than waiting 1 week for gauges and headlights then find out they shipped the wrong ones then wait for them to get them back so they can send me the right ones.

Found out they cant fix my radio :-(

found 2 radios on ebay both unknown condition for 30 bucks last ditch effort for them to fix it. as they said if they had a few parts ones laying around they can make it work.

 

today i brought the trans to my shop and replaced the input shaft bearing. it was a pain but i took my time and dident break anything. just waiting for the shifter spring wednesday and ill put her in then.

kinda debaiting on removing the turbo now or waiting till i put the trans in so there will be less stress on the motor mounts when breaking bolts loose on the turbo.




new crossmember, as the bushing popped out on the old one. 2 trans mounts still good.



broken shifter spring... got new bushings too.

 

Ran into a issue with replacing the spring. There is a little pin spring that holds the shifter bottom to the shaft. well it needs to come out to replace the spring. it is a pain. not its a big issue as my drill bit snapped off inside it.

im gonna try a few more tricks. but im up poop creek now.

spring;



pcm came back from digital tuning. rtek 1.5





trans is holding the turbo project up for now. ahhhhhh pleasures of a rx-7 owner

 

A proper sized punch takes out the roll pin very easily. I made the mistake of trying a nail, screwdriver bit, and drill bit first, then bought a punch and was done with it in 2 minutes. Good luck!

 

lol yeah i got it out with a punch.

old pin




spring in place





going to put the trans in tomorrow, im off friday so ill have the turbo out if i dont run into any more issues

anyone know if you are sopposed to put fluid of any kind in the top shifter box? im going to grease the hell out of it if not.